METRANS National Center for Metropolitan Transportation Research

1. METRANSNational Center for Metropolitan Transportation Research Annual Meeting February 2, 2001

2. METRANS Vision • Prominence at National and Local Level • Known as the Center for Strategic Thinking on Transportation in Metropolitan Areas • Leverage the METRANS Seed to Build a Major Program in Transportation • Positive Impacts on Transportation • Collaboration Across Disciplines and Campuses with Implementers

3. METRANS Highlights Close ties to the agencies, issues and people of Southern California: • 2nd largest region of the country; • Largest container port in the country; • 3rd largest airport (largest for originating traffic) • Worst (maybe second worst) air pollution • Huge influx of immigrants

4. State DOT Support • Caltrans has matched DOT support dollar for dollar • Caltrans participates in review of all proposals • Caltrans has joined in supporting METRANS events and outreach

5. Metropolitan Transportation Theme • Building from ties in Southern California • Addressing high priority issues in large cities • Specific focus areas in: • goods movement • mass transit • infrastructure renewal

6. Collaboration • Joint effort of a private university and a public university, in close proximity • All funding decisions made through joint executive committee • Proposal selection process encourages joint proposals, across disciplines and campuses

7. Multi-Disciplinary • Engineering • Civil • Electrical • Industrial • Mechanical • Public Administration • Planning • Business Administration • Economics

8. Quality • Center embraces principle of peer review • Faculty are active in publishing within peer reviewed journals; books on transportation • Faculty are funded through competitive programs, such as NSF • Faculty are active in editorial capacity for peer reviewed journals • Faculty participate in national committees • Regarded nationally and internationally among top universities

9. Efficiency • First to receive 2nd year funding • One of first to have strategic plan approved • Top-notch center administrator • Quick to respond to requests; quick to process funding • On-time, on-budget

10. Impact on Campuses • 15 faculty at USC/8 faculty at CSULB have participated in METRANS projects • 9 of these faculty are new to transportation • 30 students have been supported • Greatly enhanced the awareness of transportation activities at USC/CSULB among local transportation community • Established national ties through CUTC

11. METRANS Outreach • Transportation in the Next Millennium • eTransport Conference • One DOT Community Building Forum • ILWU Town Hall Event (3 years) • Intelligent Transportation Systems Journal

12. Transportation in the Next Millennium • 3 day event at the California Science Center • 1-day professional conference, attended by 80 people • 15 exhibitors, including SCAG, MTA, SCAQMD, Toyota, PATH, CTA • High school art competition: 90 Participants • Presentations on transportation careers by: Honda, PATH, Locke Transportation Academy, Cypress College, Art Center College of Design

13. Julian Dixon Award for Transportation Imagination, Innovation and Design • First: $500 for student; $200 for school; • Scholarship to Art Center College of Design • Honorable Mention: 10 awards of $150 each • Sponsored by Toyota and SCAG

14. One DOT Community Building Forum • 150 attendees, professional and community • 20 speakers, Including METRANS director • Event held at USC Davidson Conference Center • METRANS administrator provided logistical support, arrangements • USC students volunteered to provide check-in, provide logistical support

15. ITS Journal • ITS America affiliated scholarly journal • Focus on information technology in transportation • METRANS Director named editor-in-chief; creating an affiliation with the center

16. METRANS Research Program • Areas: 1) goods movement, 2) transit, 3) infrastructure renewal • All projects involve students • Regular limit: $50,000 • Cross campus/cross school limit: $100,000 • Research initiation limit: $20,000 • assistant professor, or • never funded before in transportation

17. Collaborators on Projects • Caltrans (most projects) • Southern California Association of Governments • South Coast Air Quality Management District • LAX • Access Services, Inc. • Metropolitan Transportation Authority • City of Los Angeles • Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles • ILWU

18. Selection Criteria • Impact on solving transportation problems • Significance as original research • Student involvement (required) • Collaboration • Impact on research program • Capabilities • Clarity/quality of proposal

19. Selection Process Continued • Results compiled by METRANS Administrator; numerical ratings produced by each; other proposal characteristics compiled • Executive committee (4 USC/4 CSULB) reviews results • Secret ballot used to fund/not fund • Final budget adjustments made by METRANS office

20. Proposals Submitted: 00/01 • 17 proposals submitted • About $900k in funding requested • 2 of these were joint CSULB/USC • 1 was joint Business/Engineering at USC • Area split: • Goods movement: 8 • Transit: 7 • Both Goods/Transit: 1 • Infrastructure: 1

21. Newly Funded Transit Projects • Giulano Travel Patterns of the Elderly • Meshkati/Rahimi/Driver Investigating the Role of Driver Decision Styles in Highway-Rail Crossing Accidents • Toossi Assessment of Hybrid Vehicle Control Strategies in Metropolitan/Urban Transit Systems • Bukkapatnam/Dessouky Distributed architecture for real-time coordination in transit networks • Banerjee Freeway Bus Station Area Development: Critical Evaluation and Design Guidelines • Williams Solid State Sorption Air Conditioner System for Containerships and Vehicles

22. Newly Funded Goods Movement Projects • Parentela Developing Risk Model for Commercial Goods Transport • Grobar An Integrated Approach to Managing Local Container Traffic Growth in the Long Beach/Los Angeles Port Complex Phase II • Ioannou/Chassiakos Dynamic Optimization of Cargo Movement by Trucks in Metropolitan Area with Adjacent Ports • Hall Alternative Access and Locations for Air Cargo • Kosmatopoulos Design and Optimization of a ConceptualAutomated Yard Using Overhead Grid Rail

23. Research Budget • $560k allocated to projects (supplemented by some non-Caltrans matching funds) • 11 projects selected • 6 transit/5 goods movements • 15 faculty supported • 13 students supported (most receive half-time salary + tuition)

24. Total Budget(approximate, fully loaded) • Research Projects: $560,000 • CITT Tech Transfer: $75,000 • Administrator: $45,000 • Director: $30,000 • Assoc Director (education): $15,000 • METRANS Office M&S/Travel: $10,000 • Other Tech Transfer/CSULB Admin/Conference/Web Page: $125,000

25. 01/02 RFP • Budget similar to last year • Due Date February 23 • Would like to see infrastructure proposals, in addition to transit and goods movement • Can download at www.metrans.org

26. Center Competion • Process begins October 1, 2001 • Decesions by February, 2002 • Opportunity to Double Funding • 10 Centers Selected from Group of 17 • Everyone’s Help is Needed to Succeed

27. Today • Goods Movement Issues • Intermodalism: National Perspective • Technology, Freight and Congestion • Planning for the Future: Panel Discussion • Reception/Demonstrations • Award Ceremony