64th Transportation Research Forum Schedule

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Thursday, April 27th Sessions

​​​Pre-Conference Activities​

9:00 am - 12:15 pm 

​​Technical tours ($30 fee). Approximately one mile of walking is involved for each tour.  All depart from 1 E. Jackson.   

Tour 1: Moving Millions: Chicago’s Rail Passenger Terminals, 10 am - 12 pm. Includes visits to Chicago Union Station and Ogilvie Transportation Center (formerly Chicago and North Western Station), our two busiest rail terminals.   Transportation consultants Erik Cempel and Mark Walbrum will be our hosts.  

Tour 2: Chicago River Renaissance, 10:15 am - 12:15 pm. This tour will explore freight and passenger transportation as well as environmental topics.  Angelia Millsap, arborist, and Craig Phillip, Vanderbilt University, and former CEO of Ingram Barge Co., are among the guides.  Mr. Phillip will join the tour at 10:45 am  

Tour 3: Agricultural Transportation and Supply Chain Innovation, 9 am - 12:00 pm.  An outing via a chartered minibus exploring the role of Chicago’s extensive rail and river systems to agricultural transportation and making stops at several South Side facilities.  This tour begins with a riverside stop with Craig Phillip, Vanderbilt University and past CEO Ingram Barge Company, commentary from rail expert David Phillips, and a stop at Green Era Chicago, a major food waste recycling facility.  You will be joined by US Department of Agriculture officials.  Our guide will be Deborah Carter-McCoy. 

​​​​12:15 - 12:55 pm

Briefing for Full Conference Select Registrants (1 E. Jackson, Room 8002)
 Small group discussion on trends in public transit ridership and planning led by Chris Kopp, National Practice Leader, HNTB. Open to all Conference Select registrants, which is just $50 more.

​Regular Conference Activities 

​​All of Thursday's sessions will be held in DePaul's Conference Center, 1 E Jackson, 8th Floor​. 

​​​Symbols: *presenter | + graduate student presenter​

​​1 - 1:25 pm

​Welcome session (Room 8005)  

Introduction by Joseph Schwieterman and our host committee.  Greetings from the three co-host universities, the University of Illinois Chicago, Northwestern University, and DePaul University.  Screening of short film on TRF. 

1:30 - 3:00 pm

Panel 1: Gender and Experiences of Personal Safety in Transportation (Room 8005) Moderator: Frank Douma, University of Minnesota

• Our panel, Alyssa Ryan*, University of Arizona, Ying Song,* University of Minnesota, Greg Lindsey*, University of Minnesota, Jordan Kocak,* Hennepin County, MN will discuss notable research findings about gender-issues related to the design and performance of transportation systems. Each panelist will briefly present research on different aspects of the topic before Q&A and discussion.
  

Session 1: Mobility Innovation and Policy in Metropolitan Chicago - Graduate Student Session (Room 8002). Moderator: Timothy Grzsiakowski, consultant

• Performance Metric for Equity & Microtransit: Comparing Modes in a Suburban Setting, Amy Hofstra*+, Kazuya Kawamura, P.S.S. Sriraj, University of Illinois Chicago. Click here to view paper​. 
  
• Analysis of Supply Failures in the Chicago Transit Authority Transportation System Based on Zip Code and Its Impact on the Effectiveness of the System as a Whole, Genevieve Buthod*+ and Patrick Ronan*+, Loyola University Chicago. Click here to view paper.
  

​​​3:00 - 3:20 pm: Coffee Break sponsored by High Speed Rail Alliance

​​3:20 - 4:50 pm 

Panel 2.0: Perspectives on Chicago's Public Transportation System (Room 8005), Moderator: Chris Kopp, HNTB

• Panel Discussion with Suzanne Mosher, Amtrak; LeAaron Foley, Lime; Jesse Elam, Cook County; and David Kralik, Metra, each providing updates on key Chicago-area projects and advice on careers in transportation. Each panelist will provide timely updates on different initiatives underway before Q&A and audience discussion.
  
• The Evolution of Chicago's Commuter Rail System, presentation by John C. Allen, consultant.​

“Flash Presentation" Research Showcase (Room 8002). Moderator: Allison Woodward, DePaul University. 

• Brief 10-minute presentations and Q&A with some of our poster presenters who have submitted academic papers. Each will share highlights, inviting you to visit their posters starting at 5 pm. For the flash-presentation lineup, see the Poster Session below.

​Session 2.1: Technology and Autonomous Vehicles (Room 8009), Moderator: Alyssa Ryan, University of Arizona​

• Parking Infrastructure Redistribution and Pricing in the Era of Autonomous Vehicles, Mohammadhosein Pourgholamali*+, Mohammad Miralinaghi, Samuel Labi, Purdue University. Click here to view paper.
  
• Robots at your doorstep? Acceptance of near-future technologies for automated parcel delivery, Spencer Aeschliman*+, Maaher Said, Amanda Stathopoulos, Northwestern University. Click here to view paper.
  
• Perspectives on Micromobility in Postpandemic Times, Isabella Downes, Circuit. 
  

​​5:00 - 6:30 pm: Poster Session & Reception

​​​​Reception area adjacent to Room 8005 in the DePaul Center (1 E. Jackson). 

Poster Session- 5:00 - 6:30 pm

• Did the HOS Changes Modify the Refrigerated Truck Behavior?, Yue Shan*+, North Carolina State University
  
• Englewood Nature Trail Agro-Eco District for the Transportation Research Forum, Bweza Itaagi*, Tanya Ward, Growing Greater Englewood
• Going the Extra Half-Mile: Constructing Demographic Ridership Models for the Chicago Transit Authority, Trevor Roberts*+, DePaul University
• Impacts of Ride-Hailing Services on Transportation Network Performance in the Birmingham Region, Virginia Sisiopiku*, Furat Salman, University of Alabama Birmingham (RS)
• Impacts of COVID-19 on Motorcycle Safety in Florida, Hongyun Chen*, Madalyn Smith+, Amelia Lawson+, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (RS). Click here to view.
• Development of Safety Performance Functions (SPFs) for Motorcycle Crashes in Florida for Pre and Post-Pandemic Conditions, Hongyun Chen*, Charles Hruda+, Tate Grant+, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (RS). Click here to view.
• Ingredients In the European Conversion to Regional Rail and Their Application to U.S. Commuter Rail, Robert Munson*, Rail Passengers Association, Illinois Council Representative (RS). Click here to view.
• Understanding the Safety Performance of Elder Pedestrians in Florida, Hongyun Chen*, Sarah Murray+, Brock Pennington+, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. Click here to view.
• Driver Anomaly Detection System Using Sensor Fusion, Tumlumbe Juliana Chengula *+, South Carolina State University (RS)
• A Data-Driven Approach to Evaluate the Equity Performance of Transportation Investment Programs, PS Sriraj, Jaeyong Shin, Pooria Choobchian+, Pietro Buffoni*+, University of Illinois Chicago (RS)
• Synthesis of Automated Multimodal Data Collection Techniques and Applications in the U.S.Maria Bassil*+, University of Texas Austin
• Change Orders in Highway Agency Construction Contracts: Trends and Lessons Learned, Hessam Arefkhani*+, Aishwarya Sharma*, Suyash Padhye+, Samuel Labi, Purdue University
• Impacts of Emerging Transportation Paradigms on Highway Design, Maintenance, and Expenditures, Zainab Saka*+, Isaiah C. Mwamba+, Samuel Labi, Purdue University
• Nearshoring of the Textile Industry: The Potential for Latin America, Anthony Pagano*, University of Illinois Chicago and Juan José Cabrera-Lazarini, and Samantha Sepúlveda Santos*+, Tec de Monterrey, Mexico
• Next Day Delivery: Comparing the Size and Operating Characteristics of Amazon Air, FedEx, and UPS, Carrie Craig, Allison Woodward, Joseph Schwieterman, and Janson Busby, DePaul University
• An Investigation of Location-based Factors Influencing Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Time, Cuthbert Ruseruka*+, Judith Mwakalonge, Saidi Siuhi, South Carolina State University and Gurcan Comert, Benedict College
  

TRF Reception, 5:30 pm-6:30 pm, with brief remarks by the host committee at 6:15 pm. Beer, wine, soft drinks, and light-food items, including vegetables, flatbread, and pizza. It will be held in the same area as the Poster Session.

A half-hour walking tour for graduate student participants will begin at 6:45 p.m. followed by an informal dinner. 

​​Friday, April 28th Sessions

All of Friday's sessions will be held in the Daley Building, 14 E. Jackson

• Reception and Rooms 1601 & 1638 on the 16th floor.
  
• ​​Rooms 802 & 803 on the 8th floor.
  

​​​Symbols: *presenter | + graduate student presenter 

​8:45 - 10:15 am 

​Session 3.0: Public Transportation, Electric Vehicles & Shared Rides (Room 1638). Moderator: Patrick McCarthy, Georgia Institute of Technology.

• Vulnerability and Coping Strategies: The Experience of Public Transit Users in Addis Ababa, Mintesnot Woldeamanuel*, Eleni Gebremeskel, California State, Northridge. Click here to view full paper. 
  
• Examining On-Demand Transportation Services with a Focus on Shared Rides: Use and Users, Attitudes, Perceptions, Barriers, and Solutions, Austin Sibu*+, Ipek Sener, Todd Hansen, Texas A&M Transportation Institute. Click here to view full paper​. 
  
• Prescriptions for anticipated adversities in highway agency finance in the era of electric vehicles,  Chishala I Mwamba*+, Deepak Benny+, Samuel Labi, Purdue University. Click here to view full paper. ​
  

Session 3.1: Rail and Road Investments, Tradeoffs, and Safety, Moderator (Room 802), Moderator: Jack Ventura, Surface Transportation Board, retired

• Assessment of crash frequency and severity for at-grade intersections near highway railroad grade crossing, Paul Olukoye*+, Dr. Judith Mwakalonge, Dr. Saidi Siuhi, South Carolina State University. 
• Solutions for State Highway Agencies to Satisfy Matching-Funds Challenges in the IIJA Era, Deepak Benny*+, Samuel Labi, Purdue University. Click here for full paper.
• Studying Property Owners’ Decision-Making Process to Trade Land in Run-Down Areas with New, Accessible Apartments, Ali Mohammadi, Shima Mafi, Pooria Choobchian*+, Sybil Derrible, Hojjatollah Soleimani, P.S. Sriraj, University of Illinois Chicago​. Click here for full paper.
  

USDA Session #1: Food Supply and Fresh-Food Access, and Agricultural Shipments (Room 1601), Moderator: Kranti Mulik, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

• Innovations in Food Accessibility: A Comparison of Evaluation Frameworks to Study Crowdsourced Delivery Participation,  Gretchen Bella*+, Elisa Borowski, Amanda Stathopolous, Northwestern University. Click here to view full paper. ​
  
• Spatially Explicit Method to Measure Accessibility to Nutritious Food, Trilce Encarnacion*, University of Missouri, St. Louis. Link to full paper coming soon. 
  
• Examining Variation in the Cost of Refrigerated Specialty Crop Transportation, Shellye Suttles, Indiana University. ​

​10:15 - 10:30 am: Coffee break sponsored by C. Gregory Bereskin

​10:30 - 12:00 pm

Session 4.0: Implications of Climate Change for Transportation (Room 1638), Moderator, Brandon Bordenkircher, University of Chicago

• Challenges in Local Transportation Policy, Planning, and Implementation for Decarbonization in Japan, Hiroyuki Iseki*, University of Maryland.​
• A Novel Framework for Calculating the Environmental Impacts of Airport Operations, Gonçalo Soares Roque*, Institute of Transport Science, RWTH Aachen University. Click here to view full paper​. 
  
• Trading on energy storage and payload – an analytical model for freight train configuration, Max T.M. Ng*+, Adrian Hernandez, Pablo L. Durango-Cohen, Hani S. Mahmassani, Northwestern University. Click here to view full paper​. 
  

​Session 4.1: Travel Choice and Demand Modeling (Room 802), Moderator: Ian Savage, Northwestern University

• Health Factors, Mode Choice, and Time-Cost Trade-offs: Evidence from Out-Patient Trips to Health Care Facilities​,  Patrick McCarthy*, Georgia Institute of Technology. Click h​​ere for full paper. 
  
• Innovative Travel Data Collection and Analysis Methods, Kshitij Sharma*+,  Diomo Motuba, PhD, ​Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute, North Dakota State University. Click here for full paper.
• Level of Service in Construction Zones and Role of Free Flow Speed on Capacity of Work Zones, Hongjae Jeon*, Rahim F. Benekohal, the University of Illinois Chicago. Click ​here for full paper.​ 

• The Impacts of Season Extension on Upper Great Lakes Shipping,  Daniel Rust* and Richard Stewart, University of Wisconsin Superior. Click here to view full paper. 
  
• Maritime supply chains through US ports under Covid-19: An analysis of resilience, congestion and economic ripple effects, Ricardo Ungo* and Anthony Pagano, University of Illinois Chicago. Click here to view full paper. 
  
• Overview of US Dredging Policy and Analysis of Factors Affecting Bids and Costs of Public Dredging Contracts, Heidi Schwiezer, North Carolina State University​​. 
  

Session 4.3: Air Passenger Transport Economics and Analysis (Room 803), Moderator: Agatha Kessler Fentress, Aerial Futures & Fentress Architects

• The Network Impact of Consolidation of Full-Service Airlines in the 21st Century, Michael McCormick*, George Mason University. Click here for full paper.
  

• Airline Schedule Variability in the Covid Era: Analysis of the Impacts of Covid19 on US Airline Schedule Planning and Service Delivery, 2018 – 2022, Aisling Reynolds, University College Dublin. Link to full paper coming soon. 
•  Air Travel Inter-Island Connectivity: The Case of The Bahamas, Tamilla Curtis*, Wilfred Manuela, Embry Riddle University (RS).  Click here for full paper.

​12:10 - 1:35 pm 

TRF Awards Luncheon. Location: 243 S. Wabash, 9th Floor, a four-minute walk from both 1. E Jackson and 14. E Jackson. Sponsored by Urban Transportation Center | the University of Illinois Chicago.   ​

Full Conference Select registrants are invited to a private mixer with our luncheon speaker from 11:50 am – 12:10 pm just outside the luncheon venue.

1:45 - 3:15 pm

Session 5.0: Policy and Technical Issues involving Automobile and Truck Transportation (Room 802), Moderator, Jill Bernard Bracy, University of Missouri-St. Louis

• What Drives the Acceptance of Shared Autonomous Vehicles: Empirical Evidence from California Vehicle Survey, Md Mokhlesur Rahman*+, Syracuse University, and Jean-Claude Thill, University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Click here for full paper
  
• Automobile Maintenance Costs, Used Cars, and Private Information, Monica Hartmann*, University of St. Thomas. Click here for full paper. 
  
• Evaluating the Impact of Embedding a Matching Platform on the Diffusion of Truck Platooning Technology, Pooria Choobchian*+, Hevar Palani, Lauryn Spearing, Bo Zou, and Edward Bury, University of Illinois Chicago. Click here for full paper​. 
  

Session 5.1: Airline Economics and Aircraft Noise Impacts (Room 803), Moderator: Laurence Audenaerd, Northwestern University​

• Capacity Structure of U.S. Airports from an Economic Perspective, Fecri Karanki*, Volodymyr Bilotkach, Purdue University. Click here for full paper. 
  
• Assessing the Impacts of Northeast Alliance between American Airlines and JetBlue Airways, Li Zou*, Chunyan Yu, and Daniel Friedenzohn, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. Click here for full paper.
  
• The Cartel Before the Horse? More Analysis of the Early 2000s Air Cargo Cartel, James Nolan*, University of Saskatchewan, Zoe Laulederkind, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee*+. Link to full paper coming soon. 
  

USDA Session #3 (Room 1601), Moderator: Peter Caffarelli, U.S. Department of Agriculture​

• ​A Look Back and Ahead: Updates from USDA, Kranti Mulik and ​​Peter Caffarelli, US Department of Agriculture​
• The Impacts of COVID-19 on U.S. Agricultural Exports Using Container-Level Export Data, 2013-2022, Jake Wagner*, Washington State University
• Perspectives on Illinois Agriculture Policy, William Kling*, DePaul University​

Session 5.2: Maritime and Global Commerce (Room 1638), Moderator: Subhro Mitra, University of North Texas​

• The Blue Economy: Impact on the Panama Maritime Cluster, Zoila Yadira G. de Castillo, Ph.D.* and Onésimo Sánchez, Universidad Tecnologica de Panama, Anthony M. Pagano, University of Illinois Chicago, Miguel Verzbolovskis, Global Center for Climate Mobility, Ricardo Ungo, Ph.D., Old Dominion University. Click here for full paper. 
• The Development of the Port Infrastructure Sufficiency Index,  Ju Dong Park, Gyeongsang National University. Click here for full paper​. 
  
• Nearshoring and Foreign Direct Investment Trends in Mexico and their Potential Freight Transportation Impacts on Texas-Mexico Border Crossings,  Michael S. Bomba, University of North Texas. Click here for full paper.
  

​3:15 - 3:30, Coffee Break 

​​​3:30 - 4:55 pm 

​Session 6.0: Rural, Local, and Campus Transportation (Room 1601), Moderator: Erik Cempel, Cempel International Transportation Consulting

• America's Rural Intercity Bus System: A Review of Federal Transit Administration's 5311(b) Program Mark Szyperski*, On Your Mark Transportation. 
• Willingness to Pay for not Meeting Heavy Goods Vehicles in Rural Roads: A Discrete Choice Experiment, Stephen Kwasi Nkesah, Nord University*+, and Johann Holmgren, Molde University College. Click here for full paper.
• Campus Multimodal Transportation Interaction and Conflict: Case Study of the University of Maryland, Hiroyuki Iseki, Ph.D., Maureen Madden*+, Aliya Mejias*+, Marta Woldu, Matthew Spaniol*+, Samuel McCormally, MCP, Lawrence Schoen, P.E., University of Maryland. Click here for full paper. 
  

• Exploring the Potential Impacts of Autonomous Vehicles on People’s Travel Behaviors, Md Mokhlesur Rahman*+, Syracuse University and Jean-Claude Thill, University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Click here for full paper. 
  
• Career Motivation for Commercial Pilots, Brett Michael Watts, * Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (RS). Click here for full paper.
  
• Revisiting Key Factors Influencing EV Adoption, Alibi Shokputov, University of Maryland*​. Click here for full paper. ​​​​​