| Spring/Summer '07: Beyond the Hybrid
Rensselaer's
transportation center focuses on the big picture to energy
Mention energy efficiency, the environment, and transportation in the same breath, and most people think hybrid cars. There’s another, more systemic way to approach the issue. One center at Rensselaer has taken the lead in it.
“We need new decision-making paradigms in transportation that help to curb both energy consumption and environmental impact,” noted William A. Wallace ’61, director of Rensselaer’s Center for Infrastructure and Transportation Studies (CITS) and professor of decision sciences and engineering systems. “We also need innovative computing and information technologies to make our transportation operations more efficient. Fortunately, current federal transportation policy presents a major opportunity to pursue both needs— and we have taken advantage of it.”
Pioneers in Managing Demand
Part of CITS research zeroes in on consumer decisions. “In order to reach sustainability, the users of the transportation system—all of us—need to modify our behavior,” said José Holguín-Veras, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rensselaer. “Demand management can help shape that behavior.”
Hence the pioneering work from CITS in this critical area. In one project, Holguín-Veras has focused on policies to increase commercial deliveries during off hours (7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.). By taking these vehicles off the road during peak hours, the policies would reduce traffic congestion and the air pollution that inevitably accompanies it. These benefits, in turn, would enhance the competitiveness of heavily traveled urban areas, many of which have been in decline for decades.
Holguín-Veras’s team began by investigating the idea of higher tolls during peak hours; unfortunately, such a policy gives the receivers no reason to change their behavior. So the researchers developed policies that combine the higher tolls with financial incentives to receive off-peak deliveries. The result could be as much as a 25 percent shift in deliveries to off hours.
The numbers have attracted the attention of one federal agency. The U.S. Department of Transportation is now considering a major follow-up project that includes a large-scale pilot test.
Solar-Powered Electronic Tag Readers
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| Wireless, solar-powered electronic tag reader. Such devices would require no energy from traditional sources to power the system, and their ability to work anywhere, anytime, could greatly increase their deployment. |
The center is actively collaborating with government agencies, private concerns, and another university to develop a prototype wireless, solar-powered electronic tag reader. Such devices would require no energy from traditional sources to power the system, and their ability to work anywhere, anytime, could greatly increase their deployment—and the energy efficiencies that the system creates.
To begin the project, the researchers will deploy six units in Rensselaer’s intelligent transportation systems (ITS) test bed—six miles of freeways, four miles of arterials, and two miles of city streets in New York’s Capital Region, equipped with sensors, video cameras, and satellite technology, which CITS uses regularly to test new concepts.
“The solar readers will allow us to monitor travel times between reader locations for vehicles equipped with the tags,” explained Wallace, head of the project team that includes two CITS staff members, Jeff Wojtowicz ’02 and Earl “Rusty” Lee ’78. “Ultimately, the readers could be used to manage traffic during special events and incidents, where backups often lead to substantial expenditure of energy and emissions.”
Back to Fundamentals
What would a fully optimized transportation network looklike? Answering that question requires a look at the fundamentals of transportation—and serious expertise in modeling.
Fortunately, CITS has both in its newest researcher. “I focus on developing the fundamental models to optimize the performance of transportation networks,” said Satish Ukkusuri, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, who joined Rensselaer in 2005.
As part of that effort, Ukkusuri uses the myriad advances in IT and wireless communication technologies to design and operate smooth-running transportation systems. One can see the influence of those technologies in his areas of expertise: not just transportation network modeling, but also intelligent transportation systems and computer simulation for Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) applications, among others.
In one current project, Ukkusuri is developing a “one-stop shop” document that transportation agencies can use to keep up on emerging technologies. Together with the New York State Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC), he seeks to identify and evaluate these technologies, foresee future advances that could impact travel behavior, and formulate best practices for using the technologies in modeling and planning.
Ukkusuri’s position as Howard N. Blitman ’50 P.E. Career Development Professor in Engineering has helped advance his research. “I am using the award to develop new network models that account for uncertainty, information recourse, and vehicular ad hoc networks,” he explained.
Addressing the Urgency
The stakes in all these research areas are, of course, high. “On the one hand, the transportation sector consumes 20 percent of total primary energy, while emitting two-thirds of carbon monoxide and about half the ozone,” Wallace said. “On the other hand, transportation is a pillar of the American economy: one of 10 employees works in the field.”
CITS aims to address all these issues. “We need radical improvements in productivity, reliability, environmental friendliness, and cost effectiveness if we’re to preserve our natural resources and keep pace with civilization’s needs,” Wallace said. “In this Center, I believe, we have the people to produce the breakthroughs we need.”
Visit: www.rpi.edu/dept/cits/
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