Projects

Sustainable Transportation – Logistics – Supply Chain Management – New Mobility – Resilience

Ongoing Projects (2023-2026):

1. Incorporating Infrastructure and Vehicle Technology Requirements, Changes in Demand, and Decarbonization Policy Considerations into Freight Planning

  • Funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation through the National Center for Sustainable Transportation. PI

2. Supporting Infrastructure in the Transition to Zero Emission Trucks and Sustainable Freight in the San Joaquin Valley

  • Funded by the Statewide Transportation Research Program (STRP). PI

3. Empirical Assessment of Land Use and Other Policy Impacts on Warehousing Location Choices in Southern California

  • Funded by the California Department of Transportation. PI

4. From Load to Load, a Spatiotemporal Analysis of Freight Demand and Renewable Electricity Availability & Cost to Inform Charging Infrastructure Development for Medium and Heavy-Duty Vehicles

  • Funded by the Statewide Transportation Research Program (STRP). PI

5. Strategic Resilience: Enhancing California’s Multimodal Goods Movement and Infrastructure Resilience Against Disruptions

  • Funded by the California Department of Transportation. PI

 

Recently Completed Research Projects (2019-2024):

1. Improving the Efficiency of the Urban Freight System in California

  • Funded by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). PI

2. Wildland Urban Interface and the Built Environment: Design, Evacuation and Retreat Under No-Notice Fire Hazards

  • Funded by the National Institute of Standards (NIST). PI

3. Development of Public Dynamic Spatio-Temporal Monitoring and Analysis Tool of Supply Chain Vulnerability, Resilience, and Sustainability

  • Funded by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). PI

4. Improving Public Safety through Spatial Synthesis, Mapping, Modeling and Performance Analysis of Emergency Evacuation Routes in California Localities

  • Funded by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). PI

5. Contending with Changes in Shopping Behaviors through Technology, Innovation, and Improved Last Mile Logistics

  • Funded by the California Resilient and Innovative Mobility Initiative (RIMI). PI
  • Final Report.

6. Energy and Emissions from E-commerce: Implications for a Decarbonized Future

  • Funded by the Network for the Digital Economy and the Environment (nDEE), Yale University, Sloan Foundation. PI
  • Final Report.

7. Development of Sketch-Planning Tool for Sustainable and Resilient Urban Goods Movements

  • Funded by the National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST). PI
  • Final Report.

8. Cargo Routing, Health Impacts, and Disadvantaged Communities

9. Truck Idling and (Searching for) Parking Impacts on Environmental Justice Communities

  • Funded by the Road Repair and Accountability Act (SB 1). PI
  • Final Report.

10. Coping with the Rise of E-commerce Generated Home Deliveries through Innovative Last Mile Technologies and Strategies

11. National Impacts of E-commerce Growth: Development of a Spatial Demand Based Tool

12. Resilience (Response and Recovery) of Different Last-Mile Distribution Strategies

13. Optimizing Bikeshare Service to Connect Affordable Housing Units with Transit Services

14. Truck Flows in New York State

  • Funded by Resources for the Future (RFF). Sub-Award UC Davis PI
  • Final Report.

15. A Review of Cargo Bikes and Light Electric Freight Vehicle (LEFV) System Performance, Impacts, and Infrastructure Requirements

  • Funded by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the Pacific Southwest Region (PSR) UTC. Co-Principal Investigator
  • White Paper.

16. Jobs and Automated Freight: How Automated Vehicles Affect the Freight Industry and What to Do About It?

  • Funded by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST). PI
  • White Paper.

17. Supply Chain, Mobility, and Accessibility Impacts from Precautionary and Opportunistic Buying Behaviors

18. I-5 Freight Zero Emissions Route Operations (ZERO) Pilot Study

  • Funded by the San Joaquin Valley Regional Planning Agencies. PI

19. Development of a Logistics Decision Support Tool for Small and Medium Companies to Evaluate the Impacts of Environmental Regulations in  California  (10-19-06/21)

  • Funded by the Road Repair and Accountability Act (SB 1). PI
  • Final Report.

20. Dock-based and Dockless Bikesharing Systems: Analysis of Equitable Access for Disadvantaged Communities (10/19-06/21)

21. Cargo Routing and Disadvantaged Communities (01/20-03/21)

22. Development of Incentive Programs to Foster Sustainable Freight Operations and the Use of Zero and Near-Zero Emission Vehicles in Last-Mile Distribution (10/17-02/20)

23. Automation, Electrification, and Shared Mobility in Urban Freight: Opportunities and Challenges (01/19-01/20)

24. Emission Impacts of Connected and Automated Vehicle Deployment in California (01/18-05/21)

25. E-commerce, Warehousing and Distribution Facilities in California: A Dynamic Landscape and the Impacts on Disadvantaged Communities (10/18-02/20)

26. Fighting for Curb Space: Parking, Bike Sharing, Urban Freight Deliveries, Ride-Hailing, and Others Users (01/19-02/20)

27. Analytical Modeling Framework to Assess the Economic and Environmental Impacts of Residential Deliveries, and Evaluate Sustainable City Logistics Strategies (10/18-02/20)

28. 4 Revolutions in Urban Freight: On-Demand Economy, Automation, Electrification, and Sharing (03/18 – 02/20)

  • Funded by the Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways (STEPS) Program at ITS-Davis. PI

29. Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Freight Patterns in Southern California (10/18-01/20)

30. Active Transportation and Community Health Impacts of Automated Vehicle Scenarios: An Integration of the San Francisco Bay Area Activity Based Travel Demand Model and the Integrated Transport and Health Impacts Model (ITHIM) (01/19-04/20)

 

Inactive/Completed Projects:

1. Estimating Activity and Health Impacts of First and Last Mile Transit Access Programs for Work and Shopping Trips Using Shared Mobility Services in a Metropolitan Area (01/17-06/19)

  • Funded by the U.S.DOT and the Center for Transportation, Environment and Community Health (CTECH). PI
  • Final Report.

2. Automated Vehicles and Central Business District Parking: The Effects of Drop-Off-Travel on Traffic Flow and Vehicle Emissions (10/18-12/19)

  • Funded by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST). Co-PI
  • Final Report.

3. Sustainable Freight Development in China

  • Funded by the China Energy Foundation. Co-PI

4. Development of a Freight System Conceptualization AND Impact Assessment (Fre-SCANDIA) Framework (01/17–06/18)

  • Funded by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). The freight system is a key component of California’s economy, but it is also a critical contributor to a number of externalities. Different public agencies, private sector stakeholders, and academia are currently engaged in the development of the California Sustainable Freight Action Plan (CSFAP). This plan will put forward a number of improvement strategies/policies. However, the freight system is so complex and multifaceted, with a great number of stakeholders, and freight operational patterns, that evaluating or assessing the potential impacts of such strategies/policies is a difficult task. To shed some light, this project will develop a freight system conceptualization and impact assessment framework of the freight operations in the State. The framework will be able to analyze the main components and interactions of key supply chains, the type of freight activities that have the largest impacts, and identify which economic agents’ decisions/regulatory actions affect a particular impact the most. The framework will be based on a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Methodology that will be modified to support multidimensional cost/benefit appraisals that considers both direct benefits (e.g., delays, costs, accidents, maintenance) and social benefits to non-users which include impacts on regional and national economies as well as environmental and health impacts. PI

5. Analysis of the Application of Freight Models and the Establishing of Models for Beijing

  • Funded by the Beijing Transport Institute.  Co-PI

6. Estimating Travel Demand, Energy and Emission Impacts of First and Last Mile Transit Access Programs Using Shared Mobility Services (01/17–12/18)

  • Many urban and rural regions and the U.S. are trying to determine the feasibility and benefits of bridging the first and last mile transit access gap through partnerships between transit agencies and shared mobility providers (e.g., Lyft, Uber, Bridj). The proposed project would develop and integrate a first and last mile shared mobility service with the San Francisco Bay Area activity based travel demand model (MTC-ABM) and the dynamic assignment model from the MATSim framework.  Moreover, the team will a) use the proposed model to evaluate the use of zero emission vehicles (e.g., electric vehicles) to provide the shared mobility service; and b) explore the potential benefits of autonomous and connected vehicles to improve the service. Principal Investigator

7. Which of 3 Revolutions in Highway Trucking?  Comparative Assessment of Hydrogen/Fuel Cell, Electric/Catenary, Electric/Inductive Charging Systems in California (11/17–12/18)

  • Achieving ZEV long-haul trucking will likely play a critical role for California to achieve its GHG and NOx emissions targets. This is a major challenge since battery systems are not expected to provide sufficient range for long haul trucks. No recent study has compared the three major options for achieving long haul ZEV operations:  a) hydrogen/ fuel cell, b) catenary electric trucks, and c) dynamic inductive charge electric trucks. This study will provide a comparison from both a technology/ operations standpoint and a cost standpoint, and will survey fleets to help identify barriers to adopting these systems as compared to today’s dominant diesel trucks. If fully funded this would include re-calibrating our highway model to assess the dynamic transition to each of these pathways and gain insights from a spatial perspective. Co-PI

8. Evaluating the Use of Zero-Emission Vehicles in Last Mile Deliveries (10/16–05/18)

  • This projects seeks to evaluate the benefits and disbenefits from using zero emission vehicles for last mile deliveries. The project will study last mile requirements, and compare them with profiles of zero emission vehicles. Moreover, it will include a comprehensive literature review and analysis of the impacts of online shopping (and the associated residential deliveries) and shopping trips; and compare the system requirements of commercial vs. residential deliveries. Principal Investigator

9. Analysis of Potential Improvements in Passenger Travel from Implementation of Freight Demand Management Programs (03/16–12/16)

  • Funded by the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California Davis. This project will analyze the travel time and environmental impacts resulting from the implementation of passenger and freight demand management programs. The research focuses on the San Francisco Bay Area. Principal Investigator

10. Warehousing and Distribution Center Facilities in Southern California: The Use of the Commodity Flow Survey Microdata to Identify Logistics Sprawl and Freight Generation Patterns (10/15–03/17)

  • Funded by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). Using Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) Microdata and other Census products, the project will estimate econometric and spatial disaggregate models to characterize the amount of freight generated as a function of economic variables of the establishments. Principal Investigator

11. DOE-ARPA-E: The Connected Traveler (10/15–12/18)

  • Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, this project seeks to boost the energy efficiency of personal trips and the overall transportation system by maximizing the accuracy of predicted traveler behavior in response to real-time feedback and incentives. The proposed framework will combine transportation modeling with behavior theory, reimagining transportation as a system of travelers and decision points, rather than one of the drivers and roads. UC-Davis Co-PI

12. Sustainable Freight Systems: VREF CoE-SUFS (03/16–05/17)

  • Funded by the Volvo Research and Educational Foundations. Development of freight generation and freight trip generation econometric models using statistical software. Using estimated models and geographic information systems and modeling tools, analyzed the relationship between freight trip generation and land use. Use of commodity flow data to analyze the selection of shipment size and frequency. UC-Davis Principal Investigator

13. White Papers on Emission Reducing Efficiency Strategies to Incorporate into the California Sustainable Freight Strategy (10/15–06/16)

  • Funded by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). Deliver actionable white papers examining freight efficiency strategies with the greatest potential to increase system efficiency, cut shipping time or costs, and reduce air pollution (include discussion of the merits, challenges, implementation mechanisms, and potential champions/sponsors). Principal Investigator

14. Methodology to Assess the Impacts of Congestion on Supply Chains (01/15–12/16)

  • The key activities of this project include assessing the key features for a methodology to assess the impacts of congestion on supply chains in urban areas; and providing support to the development of the pilot phase of the methodology is various Latin American countries.

15. NCFRP 25 (Phases 1 and 2): Freight Trip Generation and Land Use (01/11–08/16)

  • Funded by the National Cooperative Freight Research Program. Development of freight generation and freight trip generation econometric models using statistical software. Using estimated models and geographic information systems and modeling tools, analyzed the relationship between freight trip generation and land use. Use of commodity flow data to analyze the selection of shipment size and frequency.

16. NCFRP 44: Factors Influencing Freight Modal Shifts (06/13–08/14)

  • Funded by the National Cooperative Freight Research Program. This research projects is aimed at understanding the factors that affect the freight mode shifts in the United States. The project will use the Commodity Flow Survey Microdata to estimate mode choice models and identify the influential factors. This project will also develop a handbook for public practitioners describing the research findings.

17. Impacts of Freight Parking Policies in Urban Areas: The Case of New York City (04/14–08/14)

  • Funded by the University Transportation Research Center. This project that tries to understand the impacts of freight parking policies in urban areas. The analysis will be done by development micro simulation tools to understand freight parking behavior. The tool will be developed using a set of freight parking discrete choice models estimated from data collected in New York City.

18. Development of Urban Mobility Policy for the Transport Ministry in Colombia (04/14–08/14)

  • Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). For this project I am advising about the different aspects to be considered in the new national urban mobility policy to be released by the Colombian National Government.

19. NCFRP 38: Improving Freight System Performance in Metropolitan Areas (02/12–08/14)

  • Funded by the National Cooperative Freight Research Program. Analysis of national and international city logistics and urban goods movement strategies to produce a regional public planning guide to improve freight movement system performance. Development of a decision support system for planning agencies to select the optimal strategies to improve their urban freight system.

20. Design and Development of Sustainable Policies for the Freight Transportation System in Mexico – Phase 2 (11/13–04-14)

  • Funded by the Mexican Environmental and Natural Resources Department. For this project I developed general measures to quantify the benefits for the urban freight system from implementing sustainable freight transportation policies that are part of a Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) plan for the country.

21. Design of an Integrated Strategy for the Sustainable Urban Mobility for the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley – Phase 1 (09/13– 02/14)

  • Funded by the Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá planning agency.  For this project I developed a methodology to assess the externalities of the transportation system in the area. In addition, I helped propose a set of sustainable public and private interventions for a comprehensive sustainable urban program.

22. Improvement of the City Logistics Practices in Curitiba, Brazil (01/13–02/14)

  • Funded by the Inter-American Development Bank. As part of this project I serve as a liaison between the bank and the consulting firm conducting the project. In addition, I provide expert support in city logistics concepts and implementation. Specifically, in the design of the methodology for the implementation of urban distribution centers for the city.

23. Integrative Freight Demand Management in the New York City Metropolitan Area (08/06–10/13)

  • The research focuses on the impact of various incentives on carriers and receivers on the willingness to shift to off-hour deliveries. The analysis required the development of discrete mode choice models to understand the receptiveness of organizations to a proposed set of incentives. As part of the project, the environmental, economic, and social impacts of the shift in operations were analyzed using traffic simulation. In addition, collected noise data from delivery operations was used to develop noise mitigation strategies. Funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

24. Critical Infrastructure and Urban Mobility (01/12–12/12)

  • Use of travel demand models to identify critical infrastructure for the city of Medellín, Colombia. Identified the city’s most critical links by modeling the impact in travel times by the reduction of capacity or disruption of a specific link in the network. In addition, analyzed the effects on other metrics such as vehicle miles traveled, and volume over capacity ratios.

25. Feasibility Study for Freight Data Collection (01/09–05/10)

  • Funded by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) Analyzed different data collection techniques for freight-trip demand modeling and developed a freight trip data collection framework. Analyzed freight trip generation patterns for the NYMTC area.

 

Disaster Research/ Risk Management/ Disaster Behaviors/ Humanitarian Response

1. Federal Highway Adaptation Plan and Recurring Natural Disasters (10/15–10/16)

  • Funded by the University of California, Davis. This project will generate a mitigation and adaptation plan for the road infrastructure against natural and recurring disasters.

2. Disaster response to the Valparaiso Fires, Chile: Estimation of Optimal Emergency Stocks and Delivery Plans (09/14–08/15)

  • Funded by the University of California, Davis. Coordination problems and material convergence are evident in every natural disaster. This work analyzes the first response of authorities and emergent groups during the fire of Valparaíso. The goal is to estimate the aid demand to provide guidelines to improve the response and reduce the material convergence in future events.

3. Social Capital in Areas Affected by Natural Disasters and Armed Conflict (08/14–08/15)

  • Funded by the University of California, Davis. This research focuses on identifying opportunities for improving the coordination and capabilities of doubly affected communities (i.e., armed conflict and natural disasters) when preparing for or responding to natural disasters in Colombia.

4. Characterization of the Disaster Logistics Responses in the Aftermath of Natural and Technological Disasters in the Atlántico State, Colombia (03/15–01/16)

  • This project evaluated the risk management and disaster logistics response of the different municipalities and put forward a set of recommendations to improve the different stakeholders’ capabilities, including the civic society.

5. Collaborative CDI-Type II: Cyber Enabled Discovery System for Advanced Multidisciplinary Study of Humanitarian Logistics (01/12–08/14)

  • Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). This research is aimed at developing new paradigms for humanitarian logistics modeling that explicitly incorporate deprivation costs and material convergence. This project expands the findings from my Dissertation work in terms of material convergence to disaster areas.

6. NSF-RAPID: Field Investigation on Post-Disaster Humanitarian Logistic Practices under Cascading Disasters and a Persistent Threat: The Tohoku Earthquake Disasters (04/11–08/13)

  • Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Analysis of the governmental and non-governmental humanitarian logistics response operations in the Tohoku region. Work included the analysis of primary and secondary information, and the use of geographic information systems. Development of recommendations for disaster response planning.

7. NSF-RAPID/Collaborative Research Field Investigation on the Comparative Performance of Alternative Humanitarian Logistic Structures (02/10–05/12)

  • Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Field work and analysis of the different supply chains involved in disaster relief activities after the 2010 Haiti’s earthquake. Three main types of logistics structures were identifies: Agency Centric Efforts, Partially Integrated Efforts, and Collaborative Aid Networks.

8. NSF-HSD/DRU: Contending with Materiel Convergence: Optimal Control, Coordination, and Delivery of Critical Supplies to the Site of Extreme Events (01/07–02/12)

  • Funded by the National Science Foundation. Analysis of the material convergence problem. The field work and research conducted indicates that, after disasters, material convergence brings much needed supplies, but also large percentage of low priority content.

9. SGER: Characterization of the Supply Chains in the Aftermath of an Extreme Event: The Gulf Coast Experience (08/06–05/07)

  • Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Analysis of the humanitarian supply chains, their characteristics, and challenges after Hurricane Katrina. The project also introduces a number of policy recommendations for the improvements of disaster response operations.

 

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