IST (Intelligent Transportation Systems) Annual Report for 2007-2008. Human-Centered Technology to Enhance Safety and Mobility

摘要

Record gas prices grabbed headlines this spring and summer and were credited with pushing transit ridership to new highs in Minnesota and across the nation. As prices hovered around $4 a gallon, transportation policy analystsand drivershad to come to grips with the potential for high fuel costs to reshape the United States transportation landscape. Even with prices easing, it appears that higher fuel costs will induce permanent changes in transportation policy and travel behavior. Other factors are also contributing to a surge in the popularity of transit. Growing public awareness of the environmental impact of greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sectorhighlighted in a recent University of Minnesota study commissioned by the state legislatureare causing many commuters to rethink their travel options. And frustration with high congestion levels may also be contributing to commuters choosing transit. The continued success of the Hiawatha light-rail line, which has so far recorded an increase of more than 15 percent in total ridership during 2008, is one more indicator that the public is ready to embrace new transportation options. Today, the old paradigms of building more cars and paving more roads are proving inadequate for the challenges of transportation in the 21st century, and the public is looking for new options. The ITS Institute is working to provide these options through research in the areas of intelligent vehicles, traffic management, and policy studies. One example of these efforts is our participation in the U.S. Department of Transportations Urban Partnerships Program, which enables metropolitan areas to partner with the federal government to implement cutting-edge technologies and management practices. This year, the ITS Institute, the Minnesota Department of Transportation, the Met Council, and other transportation stakeholders formed a partnership that was one of four metropolitan areas selected to participate in the program. This successful team effort is an example of the interdisciplinary collaboration that the ITS Institute and other University Transportation Centers were created to achieve.