2023 CTS Transportation Research Conference Program

Thursday, November 2, 2023

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Thursday, November 2, 2023

8:30–10:15 a.m. • Welcome and Opening Keynote: Roadways for People—Building Safe, Just, and Affordable Communities

Moderator
Kyle Shelton, Director, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota

Keynote Speaker
Lynn Peterson, President, Metro Council, Portland, Oregon 

Guest Speaker
Charles Zelle, Chair, Metropolitan Council

In this presentation, Lynn Peterson shared highlights from her new book, Roadways for People. The book showcases new possibilities in transportation engineering and planning using a community-based-solutions approach to address the transportation needs of the most historically marginalized members of the community. 

Following her presentation, Peterson was joined by Charles Zelle for a discussion of the challenges and opportunities for metropolitan mobility. Their conversation explored how two of the nation's largest regional governments are navigating transportation decision making and what it looks like to include communities in the process.

10:30–11:45 a.m. • Concurrent Session 1: Strategies for Preventing Crashes

Session Moderator: Tony Fischer, Metropolitan Council

Mitigating Vehicle Collisions with Small Animals 

Presenter: Tricia Markle, Minnesota Zoo 
Additional authors: Christopher Smith, MnDOT; Seth Stapleton, Minnesota Zoo

Development of a Snowplow Driver-Assist System 

Presenter: Brian Davis, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota  
Additional authors: Max Donath, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota; Nichole Morris, HumanFIRST Laboratory, University of Minnesota

An Overview of the Newly Developed Smartphone App for Lane-Departure Warning  

Presenter: Imran Hayee, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Minnesota Duluth  
Additional authors: Nafisa Tasnim and Attiq Uz Zaman, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Minnesota Duluth 

Minneapolis Crash Study and Action Plan: Taking the Next Steps for Vision Zero  

Presenter: Ethan Fawley, City of Minneapolis

10:30–11:45 a.m. • Concurrent Session 2: Highlights from the University of Minnesota’s Accessibility Observatory

Session Moderator: Andrew Owen, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota

Pandemic-Induced Transit Service Reductions and Impact on Access to Opportunity in Large US Cities 

Presenter: Eric Lind, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota
Additional authors: Andrew Owen and Shirley Shiqin Liu, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota

Spatial Gaps Between Job Access and Public Transport Needs in Mexico City

Presenter: Dorian Bautista, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota

A Multiple-Destinations Access Metric for Decision Makers 

Presenter: Saumya Jain, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota

10:30–11:45 a.m. • Concurrent Session 3: Improving Project Evaluation Methods to Promote Managed Lane Equity

Session Moderator: Beth Engum, Bolton & Menk

Presenters: Frank Douma, Camila Fonseca-Sarmiento, and Adeel Lari, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota; Brad Larsen, MnDOT; Paul Morris, SRF Consulting
Additional author: Jerry Zhao, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota

10:30–11:45 a.m. • Concurrent Session 4: Pavement Performance

Session Moderator: Kristy Morter, Hennepin County

Using Data Analytics and Thermal Couple Output to Monitor Performance of Pavement Systems at MnROAD 

Presenter: Joseph Podolsky, MnDOT
Additional authors: Emil Bautista and Raul Velasquez, MnDOT

Improvement of Asphalt Mixture Design to Mitigate Low-Temperature Thermal Cracking 

Presenter: Vishruthi Manickavasagan, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota Duluth
Additional author: Manik Barman, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota Duluth

Pavement Marking Decision Tree for Local Agencies 

Presenter: Nicole Bitzan, SRF Consulting
Additional authors: Jon Jackels, Michael Marti, and Brooke MacInnes, SRF Consulting

11:45 a.m.–1:30 p.m. • Luncheon and Afternoon Keynote: Transportation Insecurity—Deepening Our Knowledge Base and Refining Measurement to Advance Transportation Equity

Opening Comments
Nancy Daubenberger, Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Transportation

Keynote Speaker
Alexandra Murphy, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Michigan

One in four Americans—and more than half of those living below the poverty line—experience transportation insecurity, a condition in which a person is unable to regularly get from place to place in a safe or timely manner. These numbers are nearly double the percentage of people who experience food insecurity in the United States, a form of material hardship that has received much more attention.

In this presentation, Alexandra Murphy introduced the Transportation Security Index (TSI), a new, validated measurement tool that directly captures the experience of transportation insecurity at the individual level regardless of mode or geography. Murphy explained the added value of thinking about—and measuring—mobility through the lens of transportation insecurity, shared recent empirical findings about transportation insecurity in the US, and illuminated several use cases for the TSI for planners, policymakers, researchers, and practitioners. 

1:45–3:00 p.m. • Concurrent Session 5: Safety of Vulnerable Road Users

Session Moderator: Joe Gustafson, Washington County

Design, Development, and Testing of a User-Centered Smart Traffic Sign for Traffic Control Near Work Zones

Presenter: Bradley Drahos, HumanFIRST Laboratory, University of Minnesota

Exploring the Role of Law Enforcement in Pedestrian Safety Intervention Programs

Presenter: Nichole Morris, HumanFIRST Laboratory, University of Minnesota

Pedestrian Safety Impacts of Dedicated Right-Turn Lanes

Presenter: Curtis Craig, HumanFIRST Laboratory, University of Minnesota 
Additional author: Nichole Morris, HumanFIRST Laboratory, University of Minnesota

1:45–3:00 p.m. • Concurrent Session 6: Location Matters—Equity Implications of Transportation Decisions

Session Moderator: Lisa Austin, MnDOT

Utilizing Arts and Culture to Mitigate the Negative Impacts of Transportation Infrastructure on Communities

Presenter: Brenda Kayzar, Urbane DrK Consulting 
Additional authors: Julie Cidell and Andrea Pimentel Rivera, Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Jessica Oh, MnDOT

Beyond Residential Segregation: A Spatial-Temporal Approach to Measure Social Segregation Using GPS-Based Activity-Travel Survey

Presenter: Xiaohuan Zeng, Department of Geography, Environment, and Society, University of Minnesota 
Additional authors: Yingling Fan, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota; Ying Song, Department of Geography, Environment, and Society, University of Minnesota

Commercial Gentrification along Twin Cities Transitway Corridors

Presenter: Noah Wexler, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota
Additional author: Yingling Fan, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota

1:45–3:00 p.m. • Concurrent Session 7: When Do Ponds Work?

Session Moderator: John Gulliver, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering, University of Minnesota

Presenters: Ross Bintner, City of Edina; Noah Czech, City of St. Cloud; John Gulliver, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering, University of Minnesota; Ben Janke and Poornima Natarajan, St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota; Ryan Johnson, City of Roseville

1:45–3:00 p.m. • Concurrent Session 8: Results from the First Year of Evie Carshare

Session Moderator: Will Schroeer, East Metro Strong

Presenters: Erin Kayser and Russ Stark, City of Saint Paul; Paul Schroeder, HOURCAR; Will Schroeer, East Metro Strong

3:15–4:30 p.m. • Concurrent Session 9: Connected and Automated Vehicle Research Highlights

Session Moderator: John Rodeberg, SEH

Preliminary Insights from Automated Vehicle Deployments in White Bear Lake and Grand Rapids, MN

Presenter: Frank Douma, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota 
Additional authors: Alexander Lee and Evelyn Weiner, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota

Quantifying the Traffic Flow Risks and Impacts of Stealthy Cyberattacks on Automated Vehicles 

Presenter: Raphael Stern, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering, University of Minnesota 
Additional author: Tianyi Li, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering, University of Minnesota

Assessing Risky Driver Behavior Near Low-Speed Automated Vehicles and How Signaling May Play a Role

Presenter: William Kessler, HumanFIRST Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota

Teleoperation and Its Role in an Autonomous Vehicle Future

Presenter: Rajesh Rajamani, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota

3:15–4:30 p.m. • Concurrent Session 10: Using and Improving Transportation Data—Accuracy Matters

Session Moderator: Mauricio Leon, Metropolitan Council

Efficient Pedestrian and Bicycle Traffic Flow Estimation Using Mobile Data Sources, Considering All Possible Paths

Presenter: Simanta Barman, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Minnesota 
Additional authors: Michael Levin and Raphael Stern, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering, University of Minnesota

Accuracy of APC and Farebox Ridership Estimates on Metro Transit Buses

Presenter: Gordon Parikh, SRF Consulting 
Additional authors: Joseph Kapper and Jacqueline Nowak, SRF Consulting; Brandon Whited, Metropolitan Council

Predicting Traumatic Brain Injuries and Severe Injuries Using Linked Traffic Crash and Hospital Data 

Presenter: Nadav Cassuto, Minnesota Department of Health

3:15–4:30 p.m. • Concurrent Session 11: How Human Stories Shape Policy

Session Moderator: Corrin Bemis, Bolton & Menk

Presenters: Corrin Bemis, Bolton & Menk; Bethany Brandt and Jonathan Ehrlich, Metropolitan Council; Jessica Schoner, Safe Streets Research; Linda Spohr, Zan Associates; Darcie Vandegrift, Metropolitan Council

3:15–4:30 p.m. • Concurrent Session 12: Twin Cities Shared Mobility Progress Report

Session Moderator: Will Schroeer, East Metro Strong

Presenters: Camila Fonseca-Sarmiento and Robin Phinney, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota; Meredith Klekotka, Metro Transit; Elliott McFadden, MnDOT; Will Schroeer, East Metro Strong