Feature Channels: Travel and Transportation

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Irvine, Calif., Jan. 23, 2017 – The University of California, Irvine is poised to be the first college campus in the nation to convert its buses to an all-electric fleet. The student-funded and -operated Anteater Express shuttle service is acquiring 20 buses from BYD (Build Your Dreams) for $15 million.The vehicles are being built at the company’s Lancaster plant to roll onto campus for the 2017-18 academic year, joining a hydrogen electric bus to provide more than 2 million pollution-free rides annually.

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Driverless car expert Tim Chapin, interim dean of the College of Social Science and Public Policy at Florida State University and professor of urban and regional planning, believes that it may finally be time to start taking this technology seriously. Chapin, whose current research interests revolve around how Florida’s demographic trends influence urban patterns and transportation systems in the state, believes that forward thinking tech companies will be agents for dramatic change in an industry that, for decades, has been largely defined by slow and iterative progress.

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Using medical data collected by trauma experts at the University of Michigan, elderly and obese dummies are being used to help car manufacturers create safer vehicles for today's drivers.

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As commuters shimmy past large, lumbering trucks on the road, they may glance over and wonder, “How safe is that driver next to me?” If the truck driver is in poor health, the answer could be: Not very. Commercial truck drivers with three or more medical conditions double to quadruple their chance for being in a crash than healthier drivers, reports a new study led by investigators at the University of Utah School of Medicine.

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Thanks to West Virginia University Teaching Assistant Professor Pete Gall, the problem of pilot integration when airlines merge may be coming to an end for the world’s largest airline group.

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Scientists at Fermilab and CERN considered many options for delivering fragile components of the CMS detector to Geneva. Their answer? Buy a seat for the component on a commercial airline.

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Researchers have developed a new tool for cities to optimize electric bus systems, which has now been used in Sweden’s first wireless charging bus system, launched in December.

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Driving while impaired (DWI) causes more than 10,000 deaths per year in the United States. Although enforcing criminal sanctions for DWI is the traditional response, the success of these measures has been inconsistent. This study looked at risk perceptions as a method of reducing the frequency of DWI - in other words, whether the threat of being apprehended for DWI can deter people from engaging in this behavior.

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State laws requiring ignition interlocks for all drunk driving offenders appear to reduce the number of fatal drunk driving crashes, a new study by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Colorado School of Public Health researchers suggests.

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Raise your hand if you want children to be more active! What about the opportunity to access safer sidewalks and cycle paths so they can ride or walk to school? Americans in cities across the country all raised their hands this last election cycle to vote for change within their communities, giving their citizens the right to enjoy their city on foot, bicycle, skates, or any mode of active transportation they choose.

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ECS, in partnership with the Toyota Research Institute of North America (TRINA), a division of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. (TEMA), is requesting proposals from young professors and scholars pursuing innovative electrochemical research in green energy technology.

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A quarter-century ago, the Department of Energy began a program, led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, to support U.S. development of ceramic matrix composites. In 2016 a new aircraft engine became the first widely deployed CMC-containing product.

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Holidaymakers concerned about fresh volcanic eruptions causing flight-disrupting ash clouds across Northern Europe might be reassured by a study setting out the first reliable estimates of their frequency

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New research from Washington University in St. Louis’s Olin Business School shows price hikes in ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft during peak use times, such as New Year’s Eve, can actually benefit both drivers and consumers.

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A clump of just a few thousand brain cells, no bigger than a mustard seed, controls the daily ebb and flow of most bodily processes in mammals -- sleep/wake cycles, most notably. Now, Johns Hopkins scientists report direct evidence in mice for how those cell clusters control sleep and relay light cues about night and day throughout the body.

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A study based on massive amounts of data offers a new way to forecast flight late arrivals and departures and to schedule crews based on expected needs during holiday and other seasonal travel. The new approach could help to cut delays that both frustrate passengers and cost the airlines large sums.

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But what some parents may not plan for ahead of vacation: accidental poisoning risks, gun safety and Uber rides.

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SPOKANE, Wash. – The future is now for a dozen Gonzaga University senior engineering students who are gaining hands-on research experience with “connected vehicles.” The technology is expected to form a high-tech communication infrastructure that will enhance traffic safety and improve the effectiveness of driverless cars.

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Whether it’s planes, trains or automobiles, the nation’s transportation systems are growing rapidly and present a number of challenges related to safety as well as sustainability. FAU will receive $1.4 million per year from the United States Department of Transportation, for five years, for its Freight Mobility Research Institute, housed within FAU’s College of Engineering and Computer Science.

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The hustle and bustle that comes with the ‘most wonderful time of the year’ can unfortunately lead many to disregard of important safety precautions.

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In September, an APL experiment, in collaboration with the Surface Targets Branch of the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, worked to advance the state of the art of collaborative, autonomous USV behaviors to higher speeds and larger numbers of vessels.

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It is often faster to ride a bicycle through Chicago than to take an Uber or public transportation, find researchers at DePaul University’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development. In a new study, “Policies for Pedaling,” researchers track the relative speed of bicycle travel, analyze the behavior of cyclists and recommend policy changes that would accommodate the growing popularity of cycling on city streets.

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The University of Delaware's Yushan Yan believes that fuel-cell vehicles are the way to develop zero-emission vehicles. To make the process cheaper, they're developing alternative technology, the hydroxide exchange membrane fuel cell (HEMFC), because of its inherent cost advantages.

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A Saint Louis University germ expert suggests strategies to cut your risk of getting sick if you travel during the holidays.

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While investigating mass transit accidents, especially in air travel, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials often rely on digital clues left behind in flash memories of any and all electronic devices—both personal and professional—at a crash site. With the physical forces and high-temperature fires associated with many crashes, memory units are often damaged and sometimes unreadable. Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York have figured out how much damage memory units can sustain before becoming unreadable and new repair techniques to retrieve clues off of damaged units, which might help prevent future tragedies.

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In what is believed to be the first proof-of-concept study of its kind, Johns Hopkins researchers have determined that large bags of blood products, such as those transfused into patients every day, can maintain temperature and cellular integrity while transported by drones.

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Your commute to work may be smoother in the future, thanks to new federally funded research at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

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The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded approximately $14 million over five years to a multi-university, regional transportation center led by the University of Washington to fund research aimed at improving the mobility of people and goods across the Pacific Northwest.

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Aer Lingus and the Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support at Saint Joseph’s University have partnered to develop a visual guide that helps individuals with autism and related disorders prepare for and experience air travel.

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A program to educate teens about distracted driving—including a tour of a hospital trauma center and testimony from a trauma survivor—can increase awareness of the dangers of texting, cell phone use, and other distractions while driving, reports a study in the Journal of Trauma Nursing, official publication of the Society of Trauma Nurses.

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With the holiday travel season under way, airline travelers want to feel safe. Sandia National Laboratories has developed a new course now being offered to the aircraft manufacturing and airline industries to help them better inspect the new solid-laminate composite materials now being used more in aircraft like the Boeing 787 and the Airbus 350.

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Detroit, once a mecca for those looking for a good job and a better life, is now seen by some as what Dr. Rebecca J. Kinney calls a “beautiful wasteland.” A wasteland because of the perception of its postindustrial devastation, and beautiful because of its potential to rise like a phoenix from its ashes to reclaim its place among the country’s great cities. But who will this gleaming new city be for?

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The recent catastrophic NJ Transit train accident in Hoboken highlights one of the perils of undiagnosed sleep apnea – the threat to transportation safety. As in several other recent calamitous accidents, the engineer fell asleep at the wheel due to a medical condition that causes sleepiness, and the presence of which he was not aware. When an individual operates a vehicle of public transportation, whether it be a train, a bus or a plane, many lives are in their hands. Anytime the operator of one of these modes of transportation becomes drowsy, or worse, falls asleep at the controls, many lives are immediately placed in jeopardy. This is why these safety-critical personnel should be screened and monitored for their fitness for their work, including identifying the presence of sleep disorders. In fact, the Federal Railroad Administration is expected to issue a safety advisory this week stressing the importance of sleep apnea screening and treatment.

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MiRA, which takes a systems view of the driver in the context of the environment, represents a step toward the detection and classification of inattention.

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Fewer motorcycle riders who are involved in crashes across the state of Michigan are wearing a helmet, and the state’s trauma centers have seen a 14 percent increase in head injuries among motorcyclists, since the state’s partial repeal of its universal helmet law in April 2012, a new study finds.

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In this month’s release, find new embargoed research about: effects of Michigan’s motorcycle helmet law repeal; exposure to contaminated drinking water in North Carolina neighborhoods; and health disparities among poorest and wealthiest U.S. counties.

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CHAPEL HILL, NC – Do you have questions about the Zika virus and how it spreads? If you’re traveling this holiday season, do you know how to protect yourself from Zika? Do you have questions about Zika and pregnancy? Do you know all the ways the virus can be transmitted? What about the likelihood of a Zika epidemic here in North Carolina?

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New University of Michigan research vehicles will be open testbeds for academic and industry researchers to rapidly test self-driving and connected vehicle technologies at a world-class proving ground.

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In 2014, the 74,763 new energy vehicles sold accounted for only 0.3 percent of total automobile sales in China that year. So a group of researchers set out to find out what motivates or influences consumer to purchase electric vehicles within seven cities in China. They report their findings this week in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy.

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According to Dr. Julie Bailey, holiday travelers who bring pets along run the risk of compromising their trips or endangering pets, if they don’t plan ahead. Last-minute flyers may not realize airline rules may change, sedative or other drug options for pets depend on advance planning, and pet comfort require preparation.

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Millions of people will be traveling next week for Thanksgiving. Deep vein thrombosis can fatal for travelers if they sit for too long on a plane or in a car.

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Binghamton University researchers have devised a new computer model that can more accurately predict delays faster than anything currently in use.

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The State of Mississippi has joined Alaska, Oregon, and Hawaii as a full member in the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) led Pan-Pacific UAS Test Range Complex (PPUTRC), one of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) seven Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Test Sites.

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The Empa Innovation Award 2016 went to chemist Sabyasachi Gaan and his team. The researchers were recognized for the development of new, non-toxic and environmentally friendly fireproofing agents for the production of flame retard polyurethane foams, which are used in mattresses, seat upholstery and insulation modules for house façades, for instance. The prize was awarded on November 8 against the backdrop of the Empa Technology and Innovation Forum.

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During the AVS 63rd International Symposium and Exhibition being held November 6-11, 2016 ,in Nashville, Tennessee, Taraneh Bozorgzad Moghim and a team of researchers from the University of Surrey in the U.K. studied how the high-performance organic coatings used on aircraft surfaces physically and chemically degrade after exposure to ultraviolet light and ozone at high altitudes.

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