TRB’s Annual Meeting attracts thousands of transportation professionals from around the world to cover the latest research across all modes of travel. Among them, CAIT researchers will be presenting their work at lectern sessions, workshops, and poster sessions throughout the 103rd annual TRB meeting this January 7–11, 2024. See select sessions featuring CAIT experts highlighted below.
Lectern Session 3023—Automated Vehicle Testbeds and Weather Applications
- Tuesday, January 09 8:00 AM- 9:45 AM ET
- Dr. Peter Jin, DataCity Project Manager at CAIT and Associate Professor at Rutgers
Testbeds are a critical resource in ensuring the safe, reliable, and efficient operation of automated vehicles and other emerging vehicle technologies. These testbeds also offer unique opportunities to assess the performance of automated vehicles during adverse weather conditions. Such experiments may promote the development of safety standards and certifications for the industry. This lectern session will demonstrate such automated vehicle adverse weather driving use cases at various testbeds throughout North America.
During the session, CAIT researcher Dr. Peter Jin will be giving a presentation titled “Weather Impact from the View of High-Resolution Sensors: Observation from DataCity Testing Ground.” This presentation will report the weather impact on traffic and prevailing self-driving sensors observed from CAIT’s DataCity Smart Mobility Testing Ground in NJ. Furthermore, given that the testing ground is located within a flood zone, some proposed scenarios for roadside equipment preservation and disaster data collection will be discussed.
Workshop 1022—Climate Change Effects on Asphalt Mixture Performance Prediction: What Are the Gaps and Challenges?
- Sunday, January 07 9:00 AM- 12:00 PM ET
- Dr. Hao Wang, Professor at Rutgers University and CAIT Researcher
The impact of climate change on transportation infrastructure is a topic of critical interest. Future weather patterns will influence the thermal and moisture impact to asphalt concrete mixture properties and performance in flexible pavements. Thus, the characterization of coupled environmental–mechanical influences will need to be adapted, as the balance between load-related and environmental-related phenomenon is likely to shift. As such, better understanding and modeling of coupled phenomenon will become increasingly important for proper material selection and design. This workshop will share recent advances in this topic and discuss the challenges, opportunities, and perspectives through group and panel discussions.
Lectern Session 2136—Cross-Examining the Cross-Section
- Monday, January 08 1:30 PM- 3:15 PM ET
- Dr. Jie Gong, Associate Professor at Rutgers and CAIT Researcher
At this session CAIT Researcher Dr. Jie Gong will be joining Rutgers colleagues for a presentation titled “The traffic calming effect of delineated bicycle lanes.”
Researchers analyzed the effect of a bicycle lane on traffic speeds. Computer vision techniques were used to detect and classify the speed and trajectory of over 9,000 motor-vehicles at an intersection that was part of a pilot demonstration in which a bicycle lane was temporarily implemented. Researchers found that the effect of the bicycle lane (marked with traffic cones and plastic delineators) was associated with a 28% reduction in average maximum speeds and a 21% decrease in average speeds for vehicles turning right. For those going straight, a smaller reduction of up to 8% was observed. These findings suggest an important secondary benefit of bicycle lanes: by having a traffic calming effect, delineated bicycle lanes may decrease the risk and severity of crashes for pedestrians and other road users.
Poster Session 2054—Recent Freight Rail Research
- Monday, January 08 3:45 PM- 5:30 PM ET
- Dr. Xiang Liu, Associate Professor at Rutgers and Director of CAIT’s Rail Program
CAIT Researcher Dr. Xiang Liu and students from his lab will be presenting during Monday’s poster session. Look out for their poster titled “Freight Train Derailment Severity Prediction: A Physics-Informed One-Dimensional Model.
Lectern Session 3194—Recycled Plastics in Asphalt Pavements
- Tuesday, January 09 3:45 PM- 5:30 PM ET
- Dr. Tom Bennert, Director of the Rutgers Asphalt Pavement Lab at CAIT
This session will explore the latest developments in utilizing recycled plastics in asphalt pavements. Researchers will dive into current practices and possibilities, followed by a real-world case study on plastics’ impact on asphalt mixtures. Attendees can gain insights into transportation departments’ perspectives on performance, safety, and the environment. The session will conclude with a framework for evaluating recycled materials in asphalt, with a focus on plastics.
CAIT researcher Dr. Tom Bennert will present his research titled “Impact of Plastics on Asphalt Mix Design and Field Performance: A Case Study” during the session.
