Category: News
The San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec. 11
Cited: Sarah Catz, research associate and lecturer of urban planning and public policy
Read the full article here.
Faculty and students associated with Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California Irvine (ITS-Irvine) have 23 presentations at the 103rd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board!
The following courses will be offered by UCI transportation faculty in Winter Quarter 2024. Most courses meet Monday and Wednesday from January 15* through March 15 (plus the following week for exams). For more information, contact the course instructor (see: https://engineering.uci.edu/dept/cee/faculty-staff/faculty).
- CEE 122 / 229a. Transportation Systems II: Operations and Control (4) (Jin, MWF 10-10:50am)
Introduction to fundamentals of urban traffic engineering, including data collection, analysis, and design. Traffic engineering studies, traffic flow theory, traffic control devices, traffic signals, capacity and level of service analysis of freeways and urban streets. Laboratory sessions - CEE 125. Transportation and the Environment (4) (Ramirez Ibarra, MW 11-12:20 pm)
Analysis of the impacts of motor vehicle transportation on the environment. Introduction to life cycle analysis applied to transportation. Basic economic tools for transportation externalities. Transportation planning, urban form, health, and the environment. Transportation sustainability. - CEE 220B. Travel Demand Analysis II (4) (Borowski, MW 8:30-9:50 am)
Methods of discrete choice analysis and their applications in the modeling of transportation systems. Emphasis on the development of a sound understanding of theoretical aspects of discrete choice modeling that are useful in many applications in travel demand analysis. - CEE 221B. Transportation Systems Analysis II (4) (Hyland, MW 2-3:20 pm)
Advanced mathematical methods and models to address logistics and urban transportation problems. Topics include network flows, advanced optimization techniques, network models, and heuristic algorithms. - CEE 228A. Urban Transportation Networks I (4) (McNally, MW 3:30-4:50 pm)
Analytical approaches and algorithms to the formulation and solution of the equilibrium assignment problem for transportation networks. Emphasis on user equilibrium (UE) comparison with system optimal, mathematical programming formulation, supply functions, estimation. Estimating origin-destination matrices, network design problems. - CEE 298. Transportation Data Analysis II (4) (Dean, MW 12:30-1:50 pm)
Spatial econometric models, confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation models, discrete choice models.
* Many UCI faculty and students attend TRB in Washington during the week of January 7-so it is likely that most courses will start the following week.
First posted on UCI News by Brian Bell
Research by UCI’s Institute of Transportation Studies promises to “make a difference for the state,” according to California Secretary of Transportation Toks Omishakin, who met last week with ITS faculty, students and staff on campus.
The comment followed presentations by institute researchers – ranging from undergrads to postdocs – on their multidisciplinary work.
The topics included suggestions for closing gaps in “transit deserts” in Southern California; studying black carbon and PM 2.5 pollution emitted in freight corridors; air quality sensors in Greater Los Angeles; and research into how more people working from home affects transportation infrastructure and low-income residents who don’t have access to a car.
Omishakin also heard from an ITS grad student on landfills and efforts to strengthen recycling, as well as a presentation about the growing need for battery charging stations and how services can be designed in ways that are equitable and efficient.
One researcher discussed the explosive growth of ecommerce and the placement of warehouses in the Inland Empire region. Others outlined their collaboration with Caltrans (on a project to improve traffic detection sensors around the state) and the REMADE Institute, a Department of Energy-funded program to improve the efficiency of U.S. manufacturing.
“The history of our industry has focused on how to build things, whether it be from understanding concrete mix to pavement mixture to issues related to signalization to move vehicles,” Omishakin noted, reflecting on opening remarks by ITS director Stephen Ritchie. “To end up in a setting like this and to see faculty and students are thinking much more broadly about the issues is something that is touching and moving to see, because you all are clearly more focused on the things that are impacting people day-to-day and definitely the future, as well. I think it’s spot on.”
He added, “From what I’m hearing today, there’s no doubt that a lot of the work you’re doing is going to be something that makes a difference for the state, not just be a dust collector somewhere in the research portal; it’s going to be very relevant and usable.”
Professor Jean-Daniel Saphores, has renewed his main membership at TRB AMS40, Alternative Transportation Fuels and Technologies, for three years.
Faculty and students associated with Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS) at the University of California Irvine will present 20 papers at the 102th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board of the National Research Council of the Academies of Engineering and Science, which takes place in January 2023.
List of ITS-Irvine Presentations
Siwei Hu, a 3rd year Transportation System Engineering PhD student co-advised by Prof. Hyland and Prof. Jay, has been chosen to receive the 2022 ACSE Transportation Vision Scholarship. The award was presented at the ASCE-OC History and Heritage Night on November 3rd, 2022.
The article featuring ITS funded survey of Santa Ana residents was originally posted on LA Times
Homeowners in the downtown area, with its tightly packed bungalows and historic charm, also stand to benefit if property values go up.
But some Santa Ana residents fear the streetcar will accelerate changes already underway, forcing longtime Latino-owned businesses out as trendy restaurants and bars sprout up around quinceañera shops.
In the Lacy neighborhood where Rojas lives, many endure overcrowded conditions and pool their paychecks to make ends meet.
Any increase in prices is an existential threat to renters — and, possibly, a threat to Santa Ana’s identity if longtime residents leave the working-class, majority-Latino city and are replaced by a wealthier, whiter population[…]
This article was originally posted on the UCI Newsroom and included in the Spring ’22 issue of the UCI Magazine.
Not long ago, smog was as much a part of the Southern California landscape as the Hollywood sign it sometimes obscured. Though less visible and greatly diminished, air pollution is still a part of our lives, says Jun Wu, a UCI professor of public health in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health.
“We still see a lot of adverse health effects,” she says. “Concentrations of fine particulate matter have even risen due to wildfires. And while outdoor pollution temporarily dropped during the COVID shutdown, we published a paper showing that indoor pollution increased, because with everyone staying indoors, there were more combustion byproducts from cooking, more chemicals from cleaning products and so on.”
Wu and her department colleagues and students track such data, particularly in underserved communities, to present stakeholders such as health officials and civic leaders with information and potential solutions.
“I look at environmental exposures of people to various agents, such as air pollution, noise, heat, wildfires, etc. and also at the health impact of those exposures,” she says.
For example, Wu is collaborating with Alana LeBrón, a UCI assistant professor of public health in the Department of Health, Society and Behavior, on a study of lead contamination in Santa Ana and its effects on children’s health and academic performance. In addition, she’s helping communities tackle concerns about air pollution and wildfire impacts, including industrial and firework emissions in Santa Ana.
Wu’s work isn’t all about dealing with problems: “I’m very excited to be exploring the beneficial effects that parks and other green spaces can have on better health outcomes for people – how they can help relieve stress, improve concentration and encourage physical activity. Trees can also absorb certain chemicals from the atmosphere, while a tree canopy provides shade. Unfortunately, the vulnerable communities that have more pollution are also the communities that have less green space, so the goal is finding ways to address that.”