October 28, 2020
The Lake Nona, FL autonomous shuttle is operated and owned by Beep. (Image from https://www.go-beep.com/move-nona)
Studies Led by UFTI Researchers Evaluate How the Public Perceives and Interacts with Autonomous Vehicles 
Dr. Pruthvi Manjunatha and Dr. Lily Elefteriadou of the UFTI are working on two studies to evaluate how other vehicles and pedestrians interact with Autonomous Vehicles (AV). The first study will evaluate the AV shuttle in Gainesville, FL, while the second will evaluate the AV shuttle in Lake Nona, FL. With more and more autonomous shuttles being deployed across the United States, it is important to understand how humans interact, perceive, and behave with AVs. The two studies will evaluate elements such as car-following behavior for vehicles following the AVs, and the behavior of pedestrians around AVs. Find out more about the studies here.
Dr. Mehri "Mehrsa Mohebbi, Equity in Transportation Initiative Lead, UFTI
Dr. Mehri “Mehrsa” Mohebbi Joins UFTI, Leads Transportation Equity Initiative
The UFTI welcomes Mehri “Mehrsa” Mohebbi as the Lead Researcher for the Equity in Transportation Initiative. Dr. Mohebbi has over 12 years of professional and academic experience focusing on equity issues in urban and regional planning in the United States and overseas. Since May 2020, she has been serving on the Planning for Health Equity, Advocacy, and Leadership (PHEAL) steering committee. Read more on Dr. Mohebbi here.
UFTI/McTrans Welcomes Dr. Fabio Sasahara as Associate Engineer
The UFTI welcomes Dr. Fabio Sasahara as Associate Engineer at the UFTI/McTrans Center. Dr. Sasahara specializes in applications related to the Highway Capacity Manual (HCS). He will be engaging with software developers to expand the HCS, provide customer technical support for clients, including training and conducting webinars. Dr. Sasahara has a Ph.D. in transportation engineering from the University of Florida, where he led research that developed new methods for the HCM under the supervision of Dr. Lily Elefteriadou, Professor and Director of the UFTI.  Read more about Dr. Sasahara here.
Dr. Fabio Sasahara, Associate Engineer, UFTI/McTrans Center
Dr. Gustavo R. de Andrade, Associate Engineer, UFTI/McTrans
UFTI/McTrans Welcomes Dr. Gustavo R. de Andrade as Associate Engineer
The UFTI welcomes Dr. Gustavo R. de Andrade as Associate Engineer at the UFTI/McTrans Center. Dr. de Andrade has over 13 years of experience in transportation engineering consultancy, where he has contributed to and led projects on travel demand and revenue forecasting for PPP, multimodal planning, cost-benefit studies, road safety, training, and development of customized tools for clients focusing on road capacity level of service analysis. Read more on Dr. de Andrade here.
Dr. Khiem Tram, Associate Professor, UF Department of Civil & Coastal Engineering/ESSIE
Affiliate Spotlight: Dr. Khiem Tram
Dr. Khiem Tram is an Associate Professor in the UF Department of Civil & Coastal Engineering specializing in Geosystems Engineering. Geosystems engineering is the application of scientific methods and engineering principles to the acquisition, interpretation, and use of materials related to the Earth's crust for solving engineering problems. Read more to discover how Dr. Tram’s work relates to transportation engineering.
REGIONAL UTC STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: A Virtual Conference for the Southeastern Region
November 4, 2020
The Freight Mobility Research Institute (FMRI) at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) located in Boca Raton, Florida, is hosting a virtual UTC Spotlight Conference to showcase the recent research and innovations of students from universities in the Southeastern U.S. To register, visit the conference website.
REGISTER NOW!
Interstate Transit Research Symposium
December 2-4, 2020
The University of Florida Transportation Institute, in collaboration with the California Department of Transportation, and the T-SCORE University Transportation Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology, are hosting a free, online event that will discuss the latest in public transportation research in the United States.

For the agenda and to register, click here.
Upcoming Webinars
When: November 4, 2020

Time: 12:00 PM, ET

Presenters:
Dr. Dimitra Michalaka, The Citadel
Dr. Michael Hunter, Georgia Institute of Technology


This webinar is based on STRIDE Project H -Strategies for Mitigating Congestion in Small Urban and Rural Areas
Strategies for Mitigating Congestion in Small Urban and Rural Areas
Despite the common perception that congestion is primarily an issue in large urban areas, both rural areas and small urban areas (under 50,000 population) also experience congestion; they frequently lack the resources needed to address congestion. This webinar covers the study conducted to identify key characteristics of rural and small urban congestion, resource constraints pertinent to rural and small urban communities, and resources developed for use by rural and small urban agencies to help with congestion mitigation.
If you are interested in exploring previous STRIDE Center webinars, click here.

To view recordings of past webinars, click here.
University of Florida Transportation Institute
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