Several staff members from NDSU’s Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute participated in the Transportation Research Board’s national meeting in Washington, D.C., Jan. 22-26.
The meeting attracted more than 11,000 transportation professionals from around the world and included more than 4,000 presentations in nearly 650 sessions and workshops covering all modes of transportation. The Transportation Research Board is one of the six major divisions of the National Research Council. Institute staff members presented the following research papers:
“Analyzing Investments Needed to Support Oil and Gas Production and Distribution,” NDSU associate director Denver Tolliver – The paper described a study to forecast road investment needs in the oil and gas producing counties of North Dakota during the next 20 years in light of the expected growth. The study focused on roads owned or maintained by local governments. Co-authors were associate research fellow Alan Dybing and former researcher Subhro Mitra.
“County Road Survey for Transportation Managers,” Kimberly Vachal, director of the institute’s Rural Transportation Safety and Security Center – The paper detailed a survey of North Dakota county road managers regarding safety practices, training and resources. Responses establish a benchmark for understanding common practices and opportunities to promote safety on the state’s rural roads. Co-authors included associate research fellow Mark Berwick and Jason Baker, formerly of the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute.
“Using Laws, Enforcement, and Sanctions to Increase Seat Belt Use on Rural Roads,” also presented by Vachal – The paper described a review of enforcement and crash data from rural roads in 32 states. Findings will be useful in promoting more efficient seat belt interventions for rural areas based on alignment with state and local driver characteristics. Co-authors include institute researchers Donald Malchose and Laurel Benson.
“Predicting Truck Crash Involvement: Commercial Driver Behavior-Based Model,” Brenda Lantz, director of the institute’s Transportation Safety Systems Center – The paper outlined research to identify truck driver behaviors that are significant predictors of future crashes. Co-author of the paper was Micah David Lueck of the American Transportation Research Institute. Lantz also chaired a meeting of the Transportation Research Institute’s Truck and Bus Data Subcommittee.
“Marginal Cos Pricing and Subsidy of Small Urban Transit,” associate research fellow Jeremy Mattson – The study analyzes economies of scale and density as a rationale for subsidizing transit agencies in small urban areas. The rationale for subsidies is an important issue as many agencies have experienced recent reductions in operational funding. David Ripplinger, formerly of the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute and now with the NDSU Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics, was a co-author.
“Transportation and Health Care Use for Older Adults in Small Communities,” also presented by Mattson as an invited paper – The study estimated the impacts of transportation and travel distance on utilization of health care services for older adults in rural and small urban areas.
“Application of Attitudinal Structural Equation Modeling to Intercity Transportation Market Segmentation,” presented by Mattson – The paper describes research, focused on rural and small urban areas that used modeling techniques to predict various transportation mode shares based on factors such as socioeconomic characteristics and attitudes toward travel time, flexibility and privacy. Co-authors include Ripplinger and associate research fellow Del Peterson.