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Researchers Participate in Transportation Meeting

Posted: Feb 13, 2008

Picture of Kimberly Vachal, Jill Hough, Dave Ripplinger, and Subhro MitraSeveral researchers from the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute (UGPTI) participated in the Transportation Research Board's (TRB) 87th Annual Meeting Jan. 13-17 in Washington, D.C.

The TRB Annual Meeting brings together more than 10,000 policy makers, administrators, practitioners, researchers, and representatives of government, industry, and academic institutions for a comprehensive look at all modes of transportation. The meeting offered more than 3,000 presentations in nearly 600 sessions. The TRB is a part of the National Academies of Science.

Kimberly Vachal, UGPTI advanced research fellow, presided over a panel discussion addressing concerns about transportation and energy. Specifically, the panel discussed the implications of bio-energy in transportation and the demand for ethanol as a critical factor in transportation system's adaptability as essential to the U.S. economy.

Vachal also chaired a meeting of the Agricultural Transportation Committee. The meeting featured a presentation on the importance of a reliable waterway system to agriculture and committee members worked through logistics of the Food Aid Workshop, participated in a roundtable discussion, and generated research topics among other items on the agenda.

Jill Hough, UGPTI advanced research fellow, gave a presentation on exploring travel behavior of elderly women in rural and small urban North Dakota using an ecological modeling approach. Her presentation was part of a panel discussion on the reality of travel behavior implications for an aging population.

Dave Ripplinger, UGPTI associate research fellow, facilitated a panel discussion titled "New Approaches to Improving Paratransit Services." Panel topics addressed transit schedules, demand-response and fixed-route transit, agency-dedicated vehicle transportation, and coordinated transportation.

Subhro Mitra, UGPTI transportation engineer, presented a paper, "Development of Statewide Freight Transportation Model to Assess Impact of Highway Spring Load Restrictions." The paper details his development of a model to estimate freight transportation cost savings that would be realized by removing spring load restrictions from North Dakota roads.

Published in NDSU's staff newsletter
It's Happening at State
Feb. 13, 2008

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