September 2020
Ph.D. Student Jiawen Fang Gains Recognition for
Last-Mile Delivery Research
METRANS researcher Jiawen Fang focuses her work on sustainable freight and the social and environmental impacts of innovative technological interruptions such as Amazon Lockers, truck electrification, and ride-sharing platforms. Jiawen's academic journey started in Peking University in China where she received a bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning with a special interest in spatial analysis. She is currently pursuing the Spatial Analytics Certificate with a concentration on advanced spatial analysis tools, which she applies to her work in her doctoral research program at USC’s Sol Price School of Public Policy.
METRANS Executive Committee Member Tyler Reeb
Moderates a Series on Empowering the New Mobility Workforce
METRANS Executive Committee member Dr. Tyler Reeb moderated a three-part webinar series with the Eno Center for Transportation to discuss significant themes from his new book, Empowering the New Mobility Workforce, with subject matter specialists in education, industry, and government. Reeb also serves as the Director of Research for the CSULB Center for International Trade and Transportation.

The first webinar in the series focused on promoting resiliency in the transit workforce. The second episode, The State of Transportation & Mobility Workforce, focused on the needs for the future of the transportation and mobility workforce as a general workforce development challenge, how COVID-19 has highlighted the need for better transportation, and the necessary steps the workforce can take to address these needs. “It’s hard to overemphasize the importance of mobility,” said panelist Dr. Genevieve Giuliano, who noted that personal vehicle transportation can be 30 times as efficient as public transportation in providing access to jobs, meaning that transit options, although designed to be the most affordable, are still not practical options for most low-income workers. “I think what we really need to think about is how we can reduce that divide [between car accessibility and public transport accessibility].”  

Dr. Giuliano was joined by Brian Cronin, Vice President of Human Capital for ICF International; Stephanie Ivey, Director of the Southeast Transportation Workforce Center; and Lischa Brooks, Executive Principal of the East High School
T-STEM Academy in Memphis. The webinar was co-moderated by Paul Lewis, Vice President of Policy and Finance at the Eno Center for Transportation.

The third installment of the webinar series addressed ways to empower the supply chain workforce to implement new standards of resilience. That webinar featured Rick Blasgen, President & CEO, Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals; Kristin Decas, CEO and Director, Port Hueneme; and Ian R. Roark, Vice President of Workforce Development and Strategic Partnerships, Pima Community College. Reeb and Romic Aevaz, Policy Analyst, Eno Center for Transportation, served as co-moderators for the webinar. 

If you are interested in watching The State of Transportation and Mobility Workforce with Dr. Giuliano, please click on the icon below. 
RESEARCH
PSR Researcher Dr. Oceana Francis Develops a Training Program to Educate Officials on Stormwater Issues and Best Practices in Management Design  
The United States is increasingly becoming an urbanized nation. According to the most recent U.S. Census estimates, approximately 80% of the U.S. population lives in urban areas. Urban populations rely on robust infrastructure systems of transportation, utility services, housing, and more. As regions become progressively developed, water systems such as rivers and streams are diverted, channeled, or cut off and replaced with impervious surfaces such as roads, buildings, and parking lots. The combination of a loss of natural waterways and increased impervious surfaces creates a compounded problem of impeded stormwater drainage and a need for more careful planning and infrastructure to manage storm runoff. Oceana Francis, Ph.D., P.E., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Sea Grant College Program, University of Hawaii at Manoa, recently completed a research project, “Stormwater Drainage Design and Best Management Practices with Applications to Roadways and Climate Change,” that discusses best practices in addressing these issues. University of Hawaii is part of the Pacific Southwest Region University Transportation Center, and Professor Francis one of the Center’s affiliated researchers. 
Dr. Miguel Jaller Examines the Reshaping Potential of the 3rd Revolution of Transportation on the Freight Industry  
The mobility of people and goods has shifted as new and innovative technology transforms the transportation industry. The alleged “Transportation Third Revolution (3REV)” has seen the inclusion of new technology like electric vehicles, automated and connectivity features in personal vehicles, and ubiquitous ride-share platforms that have radically altered the options available to travelers. While such changes have been seen in many sectors of the transportation industry, the freight sector has fallen behind in the process of adopting these new technologies.
Recently Completed Research Projects
METRANS researchers from our member institutions have recently completed the following projects in the three topical areas of: integrated management of freight and passenger systems, sustainable and efficient urban freight transportation, and urban mobility. To learn more about specific projects, please click on the title to access the research briefs and reports.
UPCOMING EVENTS
PSR Research Seminar:
Taxonomy of Daily Travel and Time Use Patterns Using Sequence Analysis to Explore Schedule Fragmentation and Gender Roles

[ featuring Konstadinos (Kostas) Goulias (UCSB) ]

Thursday, September 24th at 12 PT
Industry Outlook 2020:
Industry Perspectives on Responding to COVID

[ featuring Michael Christensen, Mario Cordero and Phillip A. Washington ]

Thursday, October 1st at 12 PT
PSR Research Seminar:
Knowledge Networks for Infrastructure Systems: Bridges as Case Studies

[ featuring Lucio Soibelman (USC) ]

Thursday, October 15th at 12 PT
PSR Research Seminar:
Cost-Sharing Mechanisms for Ride-Sharing Knowledge Network

[ featuring Maged Dessouky (USC) ]

Thursday, October 22nd at 12 PT
PSR Research Seminar:
Street Network Models and Indicators for Every Urban Area in the World

[ featuring Geoff Boeing (USC) ]

Tuesday, October 27th at 12 PT
The METRANS Transportation Center was established in 1998 as the first University Transportation Center in Southern California. METRANS is a joint partnership of the University of Southern California (USC) and California State University, Long Beach (CSULB).

METRANS' mission is to solve transportation problems of large metropolitan regions through interdisciplinary research, education and outreach. Its three primary objectives are: (1) fostering independent, high quality research to solve the nation's transportation problems; (2) training the next generation transportation workforce; and (3) disseminating information, best practices, and technology to the professional community