Based out of our lead consortium member office at VTTI in Blacksburg, Virginia, Anne Deekens is a creative, hard-working, and effective communicator – she will be happy to schedule interviews, provide news releases, arrange publicity partnerships, and schedule connected technology demonstrations on behalf of the Safe-D National UTC. Thank you so much for your interest and we look forward to working with you!
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.
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.
October 8, 2019 (StateTech) – Autonomous vehicles and smart transportation systems rely on a wide range of underlying technologies and infrastructure, experts say.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
August 27, 2019 (WFXR) – Michael Mollenhauer, from Virginia Tech, discusses the study being conducted on the use of electric scooters around campuses.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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))
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))
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))
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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))
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.
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.
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.