CM2 at the 98th TRB Annual Meeting

Last week, transportation policy makers, administrators, practitioners, researchers, and representatives of government, industry, and academic institutions gathered in Washington, D.C. for the Transportation Research Board (TRB) 98th Annual Meeting. CM² was there in full force with 26 researchers from all of our partner and affiliated institutions participating in 53 total events/sessions. 10 of the poster and lectern sessions focused on research supported by CM² funds:

• Dr. Sandra Rosenbloom’s “Effects on Aging Populations” presentation during the lectern session, The Equity Equation: Meaningful and Innovative Strategies That Define and Address Unmet Needs in Underserved Communities
• Greg Griffin and Dr. Junfeng Jiao’s “The Geography and Equity of Crowdsourced Public Participation for Active Transportation Planning” during the lectern session, What Crowdsourcing and Social Media Tell Us About Public Engagement: Recent Research
• Dr. Ming Zhang and Hao Pang’s “Understand the Multi-Level Effects of the Built Environment on Trip-Chaining Behavior” during the poster session, Emerging Research Topics in Land Use and Transportation Planning and Policy
• Chris Bischak and Dr. Junfeng Jiao’s “Lightning Talk: Understanding the Spatial Distribution of Transit Captive Populations in 52 Major US Cities” during the lectern session, Access to Public Transportation: Measurement and Impact: Lightning Talks
• Chris Bischak and Dr. Junfeng Jiao’s “Understanding the Spatial Distribution of Transit Captive Populations in 52 Major US Cities” during the lectern session, Access to Public Transportation: Measurement and Impact
• Lisa Loftus-Otway, Stephanie Levine, and Paulina Urbanowicz-Pollock’s “Identifying Organizational Changes to Facilitate Metropolitan Planning Organization Mega-Region Planning” during the poster session, Collaboration and Innovation in Performance-Based Metropolitan Planning, System Management, and Analysis
• Nelida Herrera and Dr. Brian Wolshon’s (with Zhao Zhang and Scott Parr) “Assessment of post-disaster reentry in megaregions” during the poster session, Collaboration and Innovation in Performance-Based Metropolitan Planning, System Management, and Analysis
• Yantao Huang and Dr. Kara Kockelman’s (with Neil Quarles) “How Will Self-Driving Vehicles Affect U.S. Megaregion Traffic? The Case of the Texas Triangle” during the poster session, Collaboration and Innovation in Performance-Based Metropolitan Planning, System Management, and Analysis
• Dr. Gian-Claudia Sciara’s “Regional Land Use and Transportation Sustainability: Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and the Art of Nudging Local Governments” during the poster session, Collaboration and Innovation in Performance-Based Metropolitan Planning, System Management, and Analysis
• Nelida Herrera, Efe Tuncer, and Dr. Brian Wolshon’s (with Zhao Zhang and Scott Parr) “Effect of shadow evacuation on megaregion evacuations” during the poster session, Collaboration and Innovation in Performance-Based Metropolitan Planning, System Management, and Analysis

Additionally, Greg Griffin and Dr. Junfeng Jiao’s research on “The Geography and Equity of Crowdsourced Public Participation for Active Transportation Planning” also has an early acceptance to the journal, Transportation Research Record, and can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0361198118823498. Student and faculty researchers received great feedback and questions on their CM² projects and appreciate all meeting attendees who participated in their sessions.

Prior to the start of the TRB Annual Meeting, CM² Assistant Director for Administration, Inessa Ach, and CM² Assistant Director for Research, Lisa Loftus-Otway, attended the Council of the University Transportation Center (CUTC) Reception and Annual Banquet along with TSU Professor and CM² researcher Dr. Carol Lewis as well as UT Austin School of Architecture student and CM² GRA Chris Bischak, who received the Outstanding UTC Student of the Year Award.

In addition, Inessa Ach presented at the Mega-Regions Subcommittee meeting on Monday, January 14^th, to discuss CM² UTC activities. Other agencies present at the subcommittee meeting included the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Greater Washington Partnership.

CM² looks forward to continuing to share the results of the center’s research on megaregions at future TRB meetings. Researchers and administration in the center are particularly excited by the “12 Critical Issues in Transportation 2019” identified by TRB, which highlights the importance of understanding and planning for megaregions under Critical Issue #2 “Serving a Growing and Shifting Population” and Critical Issue #7 “Governance: Managing Our Systems”.

Lectern Presentation: “The Geography and Equity of Crowdsourced Public Participation for Active Transportation Planning” by Greg Griffin and Dr. Junfeng Jiao