Chair: Marianne Hatzopoulou – University of Toronto
Vice-Chair: Greg RowanGould – University of New Mexico
Vice-Chair: Alex Bigazzi – University of British Columbia
Subcommittee Overview
- This subcommittee was established prior to the 2012 TRB Annual Meeting
- The role of the subcommittee is to:
- Identify, coordinate and prioritize research ideas relating to transportation and air quality and develop a robust research agenda for the Transportation and Air Quality Committee
- Coordinate development of research ideas to be included in the Research Needs Statements (RNS) database. Assist in the Committee’s efforts to facilitate the funding of these research ideas through TRB, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and other national and state research programs
- Collaborate with other committees through the Committee Research Coordinator (CRC) network – this is part of a TRB initiative to develop peer reviewed research statements to be included in the RNS database, and to foster sharing of research needs and progress among committees
Subcommittee Activities
- Regular conference calls to discuss research ideas and research needs identified by research subcommittee members, and the project-level and regional-level subcommittees
- Identification of priority research areas for transportation and air quality
- Participate in CRC workshops, webinars, and activities
- Development of research needs statements and inclusion in RNS database
- Pursue funding opportunities for the research ideas through various avenues
Research Proposal Development
- Pursuing High-Priority Research Ideas:
- TRB’s comprehensive resource
- Prioritized research needs should be fleshed out into statements/proposals
- RNS Template – committee lead, collaborators, title, funding required, background, potential benefits, objective of the research, relationship to existing body of knowledge, project tasks, and follow-up, and implementation activities
- Identify a “champion” and collaborators to gain support
- Within TRB – other committees through the CRC initiative
- AASHTO committees [needed for Cooperative Research Program (CRP) projects], State Departments of Transportation, etc.
- Existing resources and tools to improve your statement/proposal
- TRID – Transportation Research International Documentation – integration of Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS) and International Transport Research Documentation databases (ITRD)
- Research Needs Statements (RNS) Database
- Research in Progress (RiP) Database
- Practice-Ready Papers Database
- Tools for RNS/problem statement development guidance
- Useful Diagram – “From Research Needs to Research Result”
- How to Write an Effective Research Statement – written guidance
- How to Write an Effective Research Statement – webinar
- How to Write an Effective Research Statement – presentation
- How to Write an Effective Research Statement – presentation talking points
Funding Sources
- Avenues for Funding:
- List of funding sources
- Cooperative Research Programs
- National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Regular Projects – projects for each year selected by AASHTO’s Standing committee on Research (SCOR). Deadline for NCHRP Regular submissions – September 15, 2015.
- Synthesis Studies Program – Proposal topics can be submitted by individuals or TRB committees. Deadline for NCHRP Synthesis submissions – February 13, 2015.
- NCHRP 25-25 Program – The AASHTO Standing Committee on Environment (SCOE) is looking for quick-response research ideas relating to environmental issues under the NCHRP Project 25-25. The funded research projects typically range in cost from $35,000 – $125,000 and must be completed in less than 15 months. AASHTO will identify research priorities and once priorities have been identified, “champions” in state DOTs will be identified to assist with the selection process of projects that can go to the RFP phase. Proposals should be submitted to TERI before June 1, 2015.
RNS Under Development
Regional Transportation Air Quality Analysis Subcommittee: 2015 Research Broad Areas and Specific Topics under each Area – Doug Eisinger
- Improving modeling tools and methods to more accurately forecast heavy-duty diesel vehicle activity and goods movement
- Data fusion – Jenny Narvaez
- Truck activity/identification of hot-spots – Jenny Narvaez
- Improving modeling tools and methods to accurately forecast non-truck (light/medium duty) vehicle activity
- Spatial and temporal distribution of activities – Chris Porter
- Local drive cycles and rural activities
- Optimizing control strategy development to yield co-benefits across criteria pollutant, air toxics, and greenhouse gas emissions reductions
- Guidance to estimate co-benefits of multiple pollutants – Kevin Black, Jim Wilson
- Developing cost-benefit information for control strategies, particularly to help prioritize use of Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program funds
- Guidance for states to evaluate cost-effectiveness of diesel control programs – Madhu Venugopal
Project-Level Air Quality Analysis Subcommittee: 2015 Research Ideas – Christopher G. Voigt
- Assessment of the state-of-the-practice for project-level air quality analysis modeling – John Koupal, Chris Tennet, Kevin Black, Madhu Venugopal
- Improving travel activity data for project-level air quality analysis – Reza Farnezah, Karen Sentoff, Bitt A. Holmen
- Assessment of the contribution of highway emissions to local air quality, including critical review of brake wear, tire wear, and cold start emissions – Michael Claggett, Cecilia Ho, Kevin Black
- Data inventory and modeling: one-stop online data resource/library – Jane Lin, Sandeep Kishan, Cecilio Ho, others TBD
- Mining of FHWA vehicle operations data – Michael Claggett, Sandeep Kishan
- CEQ GHG additional research and guidance to support state DOTs and MPOs – (Placeholder pending FHWA guidance & determination of need for additional research to support state DOTs & MPOs)
- Background concentrations: EPA-approved methodology for exceptional-type events – Ashley Graham
- Pilot program for state-specific programmatic agreements for PM and MSATs – John Zamurs
Research Ideas in Other Areas – Joe Zietsman
- Developing a guidebook for streamlining transportation conformity process – Jackie Ploch, Reza Farnezah, Christopher G. Voigt, Madhu Venugopal
- Improving modeling tools and methods to accurately quantify the impact of vehicular emissions on population health exposure – Kirsten Koehler, Suriya Vallamsundar, Sandeep Kishan, Christopher Zevitas, Kanok Boriboonsomsin, Christine Kendrick