Year: 2017

Last week, the New York State DOT published the final market study on a proposed Central New York Inland Port. The study, led by RSG Director Steven Gayle, assessed the potential viability of a new Central New York Inland Port facility in the Syracuse area. Such a facility, offering a direct rail link with the Port of NY and NJ, has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of shipping to the region and reduce large trucks on the nearby interstate.

Learn more at: https://www.ny.gov/sites/ny.gov/files/atoms/files/Inland_Port_Study.pdf

An article authored by RSG’s Jerry Hendricks, “Respondent Engagement Requires Engagement,” was published last week on “The Research Insighter.” The piece responds to a disturbing trend in quant research—imposing arbitrary constraints on the survey instrument in the name of superior practice. In Jerry’s words, “Respondent engagement requires engagement. If we want consumers to take time out of their busy schedules to answer our questions, we need to keep it interesting!”

RSG Director John Hinckley’s article “Emission Control for Anaerobic Digesters” was published in the October issue of BioCycle. The article, which is part two of a two-part piece, discusses how the air permitting process can be thoughtfully anticipated to avoid significant project costs and delays.

Published since 1960, BioCycle is the leading magazine on composting, organics recycling, anaerobic digestion, and renewable energy.

RSG Director John Hinckley’s article “Air Quality Permitting for Anaerobic Digesters” was published in this month’s issue of BioCycle. The article, which is part one of a two-part piece, discusses how the air permitting process can be thoughtfully anticipated to avoid significant project costs and delays. 

Published since 1960, BioCycle is the leading magazine on composting, organics recycling, anaerobic digestion, and renewable energy.

RSG Director Steve Gayle was a member of the research panel for the Transportation Research Board (TRB)’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) report “Advancing Automated and Connected Vehicles: Policy and Planning Strategies for State and Local Transportation Agencies.”

The report assesses policy and planning strategies at the state, regional, and local levels that could influence private-sector automated vehicle (AV) and connected vehicle (CV) choices to positively affect societal goals.

The RSG report “Estimating Truck Trip Generation for Airport Air Cargo Activity,” co-authored by RSG's Kaveh Shabani, was just published by the Transportation Research Board’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP).

The existing literature and research regarding air cargo facility-related truck trip generation rates is limited in both scope and detail. In addition, the complexity of the modern air cargo industry makes it difficult to obtain the data necessary to develop truck trip generation rates. This synthesis of practice compiles information from experience to develop methods and tools to support the planning and development of roadway infrastructure at a range of airport sizes and types of cargo facilities.

An article authored by RSG's Jerry Hendricks, “Consumption is More Social Than You Think,” was published yesterday on “The Research Insighter.” The piece, fusing together Jerry’s sociology background with his current work in consumer research, explores the dynamics of the consumer experience in an increasingly complex social world.

An article authored by RSG's Jerry Hendricks, “Consumption is More Social Than You Think,” was published yesterday on “The Research Insighter.” The piece, fusing together Jerry’s sociology background with his current work in consumer research, explores the dynamics of the consumer experience in an increasingly complex social world.

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently honored RSG again with the prestigious When Work Works Award for 2017, recognizing RSG’s use of effective workplace strategies to increase business and employee success. Applicants are evaluated on factors associated with employee health, well-being, and engagement: opportunities for learning; a culture of trust; work-life fit; supervisor support for work success; autonomy; and satisfaction with earnings, benefits, and opportunities for advancement.

Three of RSG’s offices were eligible to apply—White River Junction, Burlington, and Chicago—and all three were honored with the award. RSG welcomes this national honor for the third year in a row—reflecting the company’s commitment to workplace excellence and a unified culture spanning geographies.

RSG Senior Engineer Erica Wygonik co-authored the article, “Evaluating the Impacts of Density on Urban Goods Movement Externalities,” which was recently published in the Journal of Urbanism. Compared to previous research on the subject, this article examines the impacts of replacing passenger travel for shopping with delivery services over a broad set of externalities (VMT, CO2, NOx, and PM10) in both urban and rural communities.

Last week, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) issued a statewide news release titled “Updated research looks in-depth at how poor road conditions will impact Oregon's economy.” As the title suggests, the release explains that funding shortfalls for infrastructure will have significant negative impacts on the state economy and resident’s quality of life.

One of the reports that the release references, “Rough Roads Ahead 2,” relied on the Oregon Statewide Integrated Model (SWIM) to study an issue that many state DOTs are facing—declining revenue accompanied by increasing costs due to the need to maintain and/or replace deteriorating infrastructure. RSG’s Joel Freedman and Ben Stabler helped build the model that was used for the analysis, and—along with RSG’s Nagendra Dhakar—assisted Oregon DOT staff define alternatives to be tested in the model, analyzed model outputs, and interpreted results.

See Oregon's Rough Roads/Pavement Reports website for more information.

Two RSG-involved projects received recognition at the American Council of Engineering Companies of NH (ACEC NH) Engineering Excellence awards banquet last week.

RSG assisted AECOM by collecting and analyzing traffic and survey data for the “NH Statewide Rest Area and Welcome Center Study,” which received an honorable mention.

In addition, the RSG project “Your Guide to Promoting Walking and Bicycling Accommodations in New Hampshire” received a Silver award. The guide, completed in collaboration with the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) and its Bicycle & Pedestrian Transportation Advisory Committee (BPTAC), informs bicycle and pedestrian stakeholders on how to most effectively engage in the transportation project planning and design process. The final product marries complex technical content with reader-friendly design and language, serving as both an outreach and educational resource for the public.