Year: 2014

RSG received an Engineering Excellence Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Vermont (ACEC/VT). The merit award honors RSG’s “Exit 12 & VT 2A Scoping Study” as an exemplary engineering project in the “special studies” category. The study, sponsored by the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, investigated transportation alternatives to address traffic congestion, enhance safety, improve bike-pedestrian connections and accommodate anticipated economic growth in the study area.

The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) recently highlighted RSG’s work on the Puget Sound Travel Study. On PSRC's website, the blog entry notes a strong survey response rate and RSG’s role as an independent research firm.

RSG recently received a Sustainable Design Award from the Boston Society of Architects, a chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The award recognizes the SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry Gateway Center in Syracuse, New York. RSG Director John Hinckley worked with Architerra to provide air quality modeling and permitting for this LEED certified building.

RSG Vice President, Maren Outwater, was recently nominated to chair a sub-committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB). Sub-Committee ADB10(4) – Behavioral Processes is a part of the ADB10 Committee – Traveler Behavior and Values, and focuses on the behavioral processes governing activities and travel of individuals and households, but also firms and goods movement. The committee is open to a variety of methods of inquiry and is supportive of qualitative, quantitative and integrated approaches, particularly given emerging challenges associated with understanding and modeling decision processes over time, space and/or across individuals.

The Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) recently published a report titled, “Characteristics of Premium Transit Services that Affect Choice of Mode.” RSG led the project, which seeks to improve the transit industry’s understanding of mode choice determinants, and to offer practical insights to the forecasting community so that mode choice models and transit path-builders can better represent and distinguish important mode characteristics.

RSG Senior Consultant, Steven Gayle is featured in the spring issue of the ITE Public Agency Council Newsletter. The ITE Public Agency Council Chair, Terry Little, interviewed Steve about his career in transportation planning and involvement with ITE (Institute of Transportation Engineers).

RSG Director, David Saladino, presented alternative concept plans for traffic circulation and streetscaping at the public meeting in Dover, NH. The study is focusing on building consensus for innovative approaches to reconfiguring the streets, streetscapes, and public realm that will improve the safety and experience of downtown Dover.

RSG Co-founder, Dennis Meadows, will speak following a screening of Planetary Limits: A Last Call, a documentary based on Meadows’ groundbreaking book Limits to Growth. The screening will take place April 1st at 5pm at Dartmouth College. The one-hour film will be followed by a reception and Q&A session.

A peer-reviewed journal article co-authored by RSG Director, Steve Lawson, RSG Senior Advisor, Peter Newman, and others, was published in the latest issue of Leisure Sciences. The article, titled “Photograph Presentation Order and Range Effects in Visual-Based Outdoor Recreation Research,” explores potential biases in visual-based recreation research. Visual-based research refers to the use of computer-edited images and/or other visual representations to simulate conditions in recreation settings and is one of the most widely applied methods to assess the social acceptability of visitor experience and resource conditions.

The work of RSG Senior Advisor and Tuck School of Business professor, Scott Neslin, is featured in Tuck’s Winter Forum. The article titled “Does Doing Good Mean Doing Well?” outlines Scott and colleagues’ work to determine whether consumers' feelings about corporate social responsibility have caused them to be more loyal. The full research findings will be published in the International Journal of Research in Marketing.

RSG Senior Director, Peter Plumeau, was recently named to the national expert panel responsible for overseeing a new Transportation Research Board (TRB) project, “Strategies for Maintaining Air Service.” This project will explore strategies being implemented by smaller and medium-sized airports, their communities, and local businesses to reduce costs of services to carriers in order to maintain air service. The panel will help researchers identify and outline successful programs and activities that airports are undertaking to retain air service, including what is known or uncertain about their effectiveness over time.

Voters attending Hartland, Vermont’s Town Meeting recently voted to spend up to $450,000 to move forward with a plan proposed by RSG to realign the town’s main intersection, Hartland Three Corners. The proposed realignment plan will simplify the overall intersection, increase safety and mobility for pedestrians by adding crosswalks across all approaches, and create a significant increase in green space at the intersection. Final design will likely proceed in 2014, with construction starting as soon as 2015.