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News Archive

Eileen Herbers named among top transportation students in the country

January 9, 2024 (Virginia Tech News) – A fifth-year doctoral student in biomedical engineering and mechanics at Virginia Tech, Eileen Herbers, was named the Student of the Year for the Safe-D: Safety through Disruption University Transportation Center. Herbers was presented with the award for her work on measuring the potential safety impact of automated driving systems at the Council of University Transportation Centers Awards Banquet preceding the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting on Jan. 6.

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute researchers to deploy smart work zone in Wise, Virginia

May 19, 2022 (Virginia Tech News) – Designed to protect roadside workers and motorists, the work zone system creates a boundary and alerts workers when they approach its edge, keeping them safe from potential hazards.

Alexandria Rossi-Alvarez named University Transportation Center Student of the Year

March 28, 2022 (Virginia Tech News) – Alexandria “Alli” Rossi-Alvarez, a doctoral student in the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech conducting research at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), has been named a University Transportation Center (UTC) Student of the Year.

CIITR’s Jason Wu Applies LiDAR Sensors to Safety, Traffic Monitoring

February 18, 2022 (Texas A&M Transportation Institute) – Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) researchers in the Center for International Intelligent Transportation Research (CIITR) are currently implementing a pilot roadside LiDAR-based traffic monitoring system at international ports of entry (POEs).

ATSSA Announces Innovation Awards at 52nd Annual Convention & Traffic Expo

February 15, 2022 (ATSSA Blog) – A Dynamic, Real-Time Smart Work Zone, which is a virtual work zone to warn workers of danger using a cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) base station, Smart Cones and Smart Vest devices, received second place. That item was presented by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute of Blacksburg, Va.

Episode 21. Innovation U: In a transportation research rivalry, everyone is a winner.

November 16, 2021 (Thinking Transportation Podcast) – Greg Winfree and Zac Doerzaph, leaders of America’s two most prominent transportation research agencies, share their insights on the nation’s mobility priorities, and what university-based research can do to support those priorities. (They talk a little about motorcycles and teleportation, too.)

Get around more sustainably with e-scooter credit

November 8, 2021 (VTNews) – E-scooters on the Blacksburg campus make getting around sustainably an easy option. A new $10 e-scooter credit is making it even easier.

E-scooters return to Virginia Tech, providing opportunities for research

August 18, 2021 (Augusta Free Press) – A fleet of approximately 200 e-scooters will be fully deployed beginning Aug. 25. Fifty e-scooters will be outfitted with Virginia Tech Transportation Institute sensors and data collection equipment that allows researchers to study riding behavior.

Driver safety at forefront of Virginia Tech Transportation Institute research on hard-braking and other hard acceleration maneuvers

August 17, 2021 (VTNews) – In this public impact research, VTTI researchers are using advanced machine learning and statistical methods to examine key characteristics of high G-force events and their connection with crashes and develop machine learning models that can help predict crashes from high G-force events in real-time.

Use / Safety Data To Be Collected As E-Scooters Return to VA Tech

August 17, 2021 (The Roanoke Star) – Beginning Aug. 19, 100 new e-scooters will be available at university ride-share stations using the Spin app for short commutes across campus.

E-scooters return to Virginia Tech, providing opportunities for research, alternative transportation

August 16, 2021 (VTNews) – They’re orange, they’re electric, and they’re back: e-scooters will soon reappear on Virginia Tech’s Blacksburg campus as a continuation of a naturalistic driving study led by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and Ford-owned micromobility company Spin.

Google Maps uses machine learning research developed in-part by VTTI

August 14, 2021 (Augusta Free Press) – Virginia Tech researchers are studying such maneuvers, known as G-force events, to help identify risky behaviors, risky drivers, and risky conditions prior to the crash.

Increasing safety for electric cars and pedestrians

November 18, 2020 (VTNews) – An interdisciplinary research group at Virginia Tech is using an award of $550,000 to create a virtual environment to test safety measures for the interaction between electric vehicles (EVs) and pedestrians. The award is an 18-month project funded by the Safety through Disruption (Safe-D) University Transportation Center.

When you ride Uber or Lyft with your kids, do you use car seats? You should

February 23, 2020 (The Dallas Morning News) – Passengers under age 5 may constitute a tiny share of customers for Uber and Lyft, but those fragile riders deserve more attention as the industry grows.

Smart Cities Connect 2019: How to Make Smart Transportation a Success

October 8, 2019 (StateTech) – Autonomous vehicles and smart transportation systems rely on a wide range of underlying technologies and infrastructure, experts say.

E-Scooters have taken over many college campuses. Now scholars are studying the phenomenon.

September 20, 2019 (The Chronicle of Higher Education) – At Virginia Tech, 300 e-scooters from Spin, a Ford Motor Company subsidiary, were unveiled this month. Fifty feature extra equipment — accelerometers, sensors, GPS devices, and front-facing cameras — designed to give researchers a glimpse into riders’ experiences.

Scooters rolling onto Virginia Tech’s campus

September 6, 2019 (The Roanoke Times) – The scooters are here. That would be the electric ones, which have been popular and controversial on city streets across the country, that were made available for use on Virginia Tech’s campus as part of an 18-month study conducted by the university’s Transportation Institute (VTTI).

Virginia Tech introduces electric scooters for fun and to cut down on commute time

September 3, 2019 (ABC 13 Lynchburg) – Virginia Tech has introduced Spin scooters on campus to cut down on commute time to class for students and for fun.

Va. Tech launches safety study of electronic scooters

September 3, 2019 (WTOP) – Some people might think scooters on D.C.-area roadways are a menace, but a study just launched by Virginia Tech aims to help make their use safer. The school’s Blacksburg, Virginia, campus has 300 electric scooters equipped with forward-facing cameras and sensors that will provide researchers with hard data if there’s a wreck.

Virginia Tech welcomes eScooters to its campus

September 3, 2019 (WFXR Roanoke) – Virginia Tech Transportation Institute has joined with the scooter company Spin to provide students the ability to scoot around campus. Also, VTTI will be conducting studies to streamline the use of Alternative Transportation, this research will help aid other campus’ and cities across the country.

Electric scooters take off at Virginia Tech for first-of-its-kind safety study

September 3, 2019 (WSLS 10 Roanoke) – Virginia Tech students are now getting across campus with electric scooters and helping with research at the same time.

Virginia Tech to study e-scooters on Blacksburg campus

September 3, 2019 (WDBJ7 Roanoke) – Students were impressed as they checked out the new e-scooters that are now appearing on campus. The company Spin is rolling out about 300 of them, and partnering with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute on a year-long study.

RWJF funds TTI to study CAV’s health and safety impact

August 30, 2019 (Traffic Technology Today) – The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has awarded the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) a grant to evaluate safety and health concerns related to implementing connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technologies.

For Virginia Tech’s transportation woes, e-scooters could do the trick

August 28, 2019 (EdScoop) – Virginia Tech has turned its Blacksburg campus into a living laboratory as researchers try and determine if electric scooters could help solve transportation challenges facing students.

What if your college gave you the option to scoot to class?

August 27, 2019 (WFXR) – Michael Mollenhauer, from Virginia Tech, discusses the study being conducted on the use of electric scooters around campuses.

300 electric scooters will slide onto campus this fall

August 25, 2019 (Collegiate Times) – The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) will team up with Spin, a dockless mobility system, to bring electric scooters on campus for a pilot study on naturalistic scooter-riding starting Sept. 1.

Getting there: Virginia ranks high in highway report

August 25, 2019 (Fredericksburg.com) – The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and Ford-owned Spin—described as a “micromobility company” with e-scooters in 45 cities and campuses—have joined forces to place 300 e-scooters for students and faculty to use on the campus as part of a study, according to a news release from the college.

Electric scooters slide onto campus this fall

Scooters deployed at Virginia Tech are sensor-laden

August 23, 2019 (Ford Authority) – The challenge for Spin and other companies operating similar scooter and e-bike fleets is that they don’t know how to keep riders safe. What’s not clear for Spin right now is if its that the scooters are somehow unsafe or if accidents are happening because of roads aren’t designed for electric scooters and bikes, or if it’s a combination of the two factors. To try and figure this out, Spin is deploying scooters on the Virginia Tech campus that are packed with sensors. The sensors allow Spin to go on a virtual ride along and see how the scooters are operated. Spin and the researchers on the program at Virginia Tech says that anyone who hops aboard one of the sensor-laden scooters will be asked if they want their data used for research purposes.

Electric scooters roll onto Virginia Tech campus for pilot study

August 22, 2019 (Augusta Free Press) – The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) is partnering with Ford-owned micromobility company Spin to conduct a naturalistic driving study of scooter riders on Virginia Tech’s campus. Starting on Sept. 1, 300 e-scooters will be available at university ride-share stations for check-out using the Spin app for short commutes across campus.

Ford’s Bid for Safer Scooters? Sensors Everywhere

August 21, 2019 (Wired) – Partnering with Virginia Tech, Ford-owned Spin is gathering data from its scooters to see where things get dangerous and how to keep riders safe.

Virginia Tech study issuing 300 electric scooters on campus, exploring safety concerns

August 16, 2019 (ABC 8 Richmond) – As electric scooter usage is becoming increasingly popular in cities across the country, it’s also been met with controversy. Through a research study conducted by Virginia Tech’s Transportation Institute (VTTI), 300 electric scooters will be rolling out on campus to learn more about their safety concerns.

Virginia Tech issuing 300 scooters on campus, exploring safety concerns

August 15, 2019 (WFXR Roanoke) – As electric scooter usage is becoming increasingly popular in cities across the country, it’s also been met with controversy. Through a research study conducted by Virginia Tech’s Transportation Institute (VTTI), 300 electric scooters will be rolling out on campus to learn more about their safety concerns.

Getting there: Virginia ranks high in highway report

Hundreds of e-scooters to hit Virginia Tech, to test benefit and community response

August 14, 2019 (WSLS 10 Roanoke) – New scooters will be a way for hundreds of students to get around the Virginia Tech campus starting next month, and university researchers want to know what the community thinks of them.

Scooters to offer another transportation option at Virginia Tech

August 14, 2019 (The Roanoke Times) – A fleet of 300 electric scooters will be rolled out on Virginia Tech’s campus next month through a study by the university’s Transportation Institute. E-scooters from Ford Motor Company subsidiary Spin will be usable on Virginia Tech’s campus starting at 7 a.m. until a half-hour after sunset, and will be removed at night and in advance of “high-traffic events” like football game weekends, graduation and during inclement weather. Their movement will be restricted to campus by a geofence that will cause them to slow to a stop when they leave Tech.

Students Win International Vehicle Safety Design Competition

June 25, 2019 (The Roanoke Star) – A group of Virginia Tech engineering graduate students won the international championship for the 2019 Collegiate Student Safety Technology Design Competition (SSTDC), hosted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the Netherlands, June 10-13. (Coverage of Safe-D Student Support Project PREPARES Student Support (VT))

Students win international vehicle safety design competition

June 19, 2019 (Virginia Tech Daily) – A group of Virginia Tech engineering graduate students won the international championship for the 2019 Collegiate Student Safety Technology Design Competition (SSTDC), hosted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the Netherlands, June 10-13. (Coverage of Safe-D Student Support Project PREPARES Student Support (VT))

Student engineering team advances to global vehicle safety design competition

June 7, 2019 (Virginia Tech Daily) – What began as a class project on vehicle safety has led to international recognition for a group of Virginia Tech engineering students. The team is heading to the Netherlands for the global competition, held during the 26th International Technical Conference on The Enhanced Safety of Vehicles on June 10-13. (Coverage of Safe-D Student Support Project PREPARES Student Support (VT))

TTI/Safe-D Researchers Recommend Safe and Economical Lane Wandering Pattern for AVs

April 25, 2019 (TTI News) – Among the many apparent differences between Automated Vehicles (AVs) and human driven vehicles, one of the most significant is how AVs position themselves within a traffic lane. In other words, how do they stay in the lane safely? (Coverage of Safe-D Project Pavement Perspective on AV Safety through Optimizing Lateral Positioning Pattern)

Recent study fuels awareness of child car seat use in rideshare vehicles.

November 27, 2018 (Collegiate Times) – With the exponential growth of rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft over the past few years, child passenger safety has become a growing concern. As these services have been continuing to grow in popularity, families have run into issues when it comes to safely utilizing these more popular transportation options. (Coverage of Safe-D Project Factors Surrounding Child Seat Usage in Ride-Share Services)

Who Is Responsible for Providing Car Seats in Rideshare Vehicles?

November 19, 2018 (NBC4) – Buckling kids into their car seats is a daily routine for many parents as they get in the family car. But when using rideshare services, car seats are often not available, making getting from point A to point B with a small child more complicated. (Coverage of Safe-D Project Factors Surrounding Child Seat Usage in Ride-Share Services)

‘It’s a very big mistake’ | Study shows parents skipping proper car seats in ride-shares.

November 15, 2018 (WUSA) – A recent study showed ride-share drivers admitted to taking kids without car seats. WUSA9’s Whitney Wild shares her first-hand experience with how drivers reacted to her calling for a ride share without a car seat. (Coverage of Safe-D Project Factors Surrounding Child Seat Usage in Ride-Share Services)

Does Your Child Need A Car Seat In A Cab, Uber Or Lyft Car?

November 7, 2018 (WLNY) – A new study finds that many people across the country are confused about if their child needs a car seat in a cab or ride-sharing car, especially with the rise of Uber and Lyft. Experts say the laws are inconsistent from state to state. (Coverage of Safe-D Project Factors Surrounding Child Seat Usage in Ride-Share Services)

VT study finds many parents don’t use child safety seats in ride-share vehicles

November 2, 2018 (WSET) – A new Virginia Tech study shows that parents are not providing appropriate child safety seats while riding in Uber, Lyft, or other ride-share vehicles with their families. (Coverage of Safe-D Project Factors Surrounding Child Seat Usage in Ride-Share Services)

Study buckles down on child car seat use in ride-share vehicles

November 1, 2018 (AAAS EurekAlert!) – Traveling with young children can be a challenge. As ride-share apps continue to surge in popularity, transporting children safely via these services has become a growing concern. (Coverage of Safe-D Project Factors Surrounding Child Seat Usage in Ride-Share Services)

New study buckles down on child car seat use in ride-share vehicles

November 1, 2018 (Virginia Tech Daily) – Traveling with young children can be a challenge. As ride-share apps continue to surge in popularity, transporting children safely via these services has become a growing concern. (Coverage of Safe-D Project Factors Surrounding Child Seat Usage in Ride-Share Services)

Uber-ing with a child: Site details various seat laws around DC, nation

November 1, 2018 (WTOP) – The advent of ride-booking (or “ride-sharing”) services, such as Lyft and Uber, has revolutionized how people earn money and, of course, how they get from point A to point B. It’s also raised questions about how parents can get around with their little ones safely and legally. (Coverage of Safe-D Project Factors Surrounding Child Seat Usage in Ride-Share Services)

Safe-D Inspires Students at Huge STEM Expo

April 24, 2018 (TTI News) – Safe-D students and researchers from VTTI and TTI took part in the largest science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) event in the nation April 7–8, 2018. The USA Science and Engineering Festival Expo in Washington, D.C., was attended by about 350,000 students, science and technology educators, researchers and parents. (Exhibit featured EWD tools from Safe-D Project K-12 STEM Program: Exploring the Science of Retroreflectivity)

How Blind People Use Ride Sharing Services

April 10, 2018 (Eyes on Success) – For various reasons, people who are visually impaired may feel reluctant to use ride sharing services such as Uber and Lyft. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Chris Simek and Michelle Plunkett of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute about their research into ride sharing services for the visually impaired and how the experience can be improved. (Coverage of Safe-D Project Safety Perceptions of Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) by the Blind and Visually Impaired (BVI))

Driving The Future of Transportation Infrastructure

January 11, 2017 (SDSU NewsCenter) – The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has awarded a five-year grant that, including matching funds, will total $28 million to a consortium consisting of San Diego State University, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI). The center is named “Safety through Disruption (SafeD): Goal Zero” and will be led by the VTTI.

TTI Awarded Millions For Safety, Air Quality, Waterway Transportation Research

December 16, 2016 (Texas A&M Today) – In the UTC research priority area of Promoting Safety, Texas A&M Transportation Institute is a consortium member of a National Tier center titled Safety Through Disruption: Goal Zero, which is led by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). San Diego State University is also a consortium member.

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and partners named a national safety center by U.S. Department of Transportation

December 11, 2016 (Virginia Tech Daily) – The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced the award recipients of five highly competitive national University Transportation Center grants, naming the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and its partners Texas A&M Transportation Institute and San Diego State University — with support from the Virginia Department of Transportation — as one of two national safety University Transportation Centers.