News & Announcements
PSR
Friday, January 29, 2021
The goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption stemming from vehicle usage calls for creative solutions in unexpected areas. Michael Zhang, Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of California, Davis, along with Graduate Researchers Hang Gao and Shenyang Chen, examined the potential of using variable speed limits (VSL) to lessen environmental damage. Variable speed limits allow the speed limit to vary depending on traffic conditions. ...
PSR
Monday, January 11, 2021
The Pacific Southwest Region (PSR) University Transportation Center (UTC) starts the new year by honoring exceptional students from member institutions for their promise in the transportation field. Students – at all levels - are recognized for their technical and research merit, academic, and leadership capabilities.
Sam Speroni, doctoral student at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Luskin School of Public Affairs is PSR’s 2020 U.S. Department of Transportation ...
PSR
Thursday, December 3, 2020
A commonly cited concern found among transit riders is the danger of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is a common occurrence in everyday transit environments (e.g., train stations, train wagons, buses, and bus stops). Each step of the journey until the transit riders reach their destination is a potentially hazardous situation. UCLA Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris and ...
PSR
Thursday, December 3, 2020
In an era of growing calls for racial and economic justice, researchers are increasingly interested in the role that gentrification and displacement may play in exacerbating existing inequalities for disenfranchised communities. Gentrification is the concept of neighborhoods changing by bringing in new businesses, improving housing, and attracting wealthier residents. Gentrification leads ...
PSR
Friday, October 30, 2020
One phenomena of the modern era is the increasing connectivity of individuals to their surroundings—as well as to each other. Noteworthy leaps in navigation technology, such as a growing number of people with GPS in their pocket via their mobile phones, have allowed dynamic industries like ridesharing to emerge.
With increased connectivity, ridesharing has become more real-time, flexible, and user-based as individuals are increasingly able to adapt their routes and coordinate ...
PSR
Thursday, October 1, 2020
On September 24, 2020, METRANS, the Pacific Southwest Region University Transportation Center (PSR) and the TRB Standing Committee AME20, Women and Gender in Transportation, launched their respective Fall 2020 Webinar Series with a collaborative event. Titled “Taxonomy of Daily Travel and Time Use Patterns Using Sequence Analysis to Explore Schedule Fragmentation and Gender Roles,” this first event showcased the travel behavior research ...
PSR
Friday, September 25, 2020
Sixteen students from Pacific Southwest Region (PSR) University Transportation Center partner universities, including two METRANS student workers, were recently awarded California Planning Foundation scholarships.
The California Planning Foundation (CPF) was established by the American Planning Association (APA) California Chapter in 1970, with the goal of furthering the planning profession within the state of California. The Foundation generously awarded scholarships to a total of ...
PSR
Thursday, September 3, 2020
The United States is increasingly becoming an urbanized nation. According to the most recent U.S. Census estimates, approximately 80% of the U.S. population lives in urban areas. Urban populations rely on robust infrastructure systems of transportation, utility services, housing, and more. As regions become progressively developed, water systems such as rivers and streams are diverted, channeled, or cut off and replaced with impervious surfaces such as roads, ...
MetroFreight, PSR
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
METRANS researcher Jiawen Fang focuses her work on sustainable freight and the social and environmental impacts of innovative technological interruptions such as Amazon Lockers, truck electrification, and ride-sharing platforms. Jiawen's academic journey started in Peking University in China where she received a bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning with a special interest in spatial analysis. She is currently pursuing the Spatial Analytics Certificate with a concentration on advanced ...
PSR
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
The mobility of people and goods has shifted as new and innovative technology transforms the transportation industry. The "Three Revolutions in Transportation" (3REV) has seen the inclusion of new technology like electric vehicles, automated and connectivity features in personal vehicles, and ubiquitous rideshare platforms that have radically altered the options available to travelers. While such changes have been seen in many sectors of the transportation industry, the freight sector has fallen ...
