RSG’s Mark Bradley will present at the Big Data Meets Survey Science Conference (BigSurv20) on Friday, November 13 at 11:45 a.m. ET.

Mark's presentation, titled Smartphone-based travel surveys: An example of controlled data fusion, discusses findings from work done with RSG's Jeff Doyle. Their research offers unique insights into “controlled” data fusion methods that can be used to impute trip purposes and modes in cases where the reported data from household travel surveys are suspect. The presentation gives background on the smartphone-based survey approach and experiences, describes the fusion/imputation methods developed and applied thus far, and discusses future directions for development.

This second edition of BigSurv20 is being held virtually this year on Fridays throughout the months of November and December. BigSurv2020 gathers a diverse group of practitioners who discuss how big data and data science can improve the quality of statistics production and use.

BigSurv20 registration is free and required to attend. Attendees receive access to the full event program and can view the prerecorded presentations and ask questions of the presenters during the last 15 minutes of each prerecorded session. Click here to view a recording of Mark's presentation.

The Institute of Noise Control Engineering (INCE) honored RSG Senior Director Kenneth Kaliski, PE, QEP, INCE Bd. Cert. with The William W. Lang Award for the Distinguished Noise Control Engineer. The award, which is given every two years, acknowledges Ken’s meaningful service to and enthusiastic support of INCE Board Certification, notable contributions to the field of wind turbine acoustics, and use of rigorous analytics and novel approaches to advance the field of noise control engineering.

INCE’s traditional awards ceremony was canceled this year due to the pandemic. Instead, INCE’s president, Michael Bahtiarian, INCE Bd. Cert., traveled to RSG’s headquarters in White River Junction in September to present the award to Ken in person during a socially distanced ceremony attended by a small group that included RSG’s CEO (Stephen Lawe), President (Thomas Adler), and members of RSG’s acoustics services team.

Ken has been with RSG for over 30 years since our founding in 1986. During that time, he served for 15 years on our Board of Directors. His work focuses on community noise monitoring and modeling, architectural acoustics, transportation noise, and industrial noise control projects. He also works on complex modeling projects in the fields of market and energy research. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors for INCE where he is Board Certified, he is certified as a Qualified Environmental Professional through the Institute of Professional Environmental Practice and is a member of the Acoustical Society of America.

To read more, check out this article in Vermont Business Magazine.

Working with data requires a unique skill set to ensure accurate processing and handling while delivering the greatest benefit to users. On Thursday, November 12 at 2:00 p.m. ET, join a group of experienced transportation data scientists for a Data Workflow Tools + Tricks learning session sponsored by Zephyr and organized by RSG Data Scientist Leah Flake.

Attendees will learn from experts in the field as they share how their workflows help them extract knowledge from data and model output, the tools they rely on, and lessons they’ve learned from working with data.

RSG's Eddie Duncan will present at this week's Quiet Drones e-symposium in Paris, France on Tuesday, October 20. The event has been organized by INCE/Europe in association with CidB and with support from the International Institute of Noise Control Engineering.

As drone technology takes off, this first-of-its-kind event gathers acousticians, governments, and industry experts to discuss drone noise issues and solutions. Eddie will present the findings from his paper, “Commercial Delivery Drone Routing: A Case Study of Noise Impacts.” The paper was co-authored by RSG's Ken Kaliski, Isaac Old, Erica Wygonik, and Justin Culp.

Noise will become an increasingly important issue facing communities as more companies begin drone delivery operations. Our latest white paper, “Three Considerations Around Drone Noise and Strategies for Mitigation,” explores some of these issues and offers proactive solutions for policymakers and industry leaders. You can read our white paper here.

RSG Vice President Maren Outwater and Senior Consultant Stephen Tuttle to present today at the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT)’s 35th Annual Fall Planning Conference on the effects of COVID-19 on transportation and planning. As Illinois develops its first-ever Statewide Travel Demand Model, IDOT has used the Phase 1 Model to perform various analyses and simulations. Their presentation will share how big data and the model were used to measure changes in vehicle miles traveled and other travel metrics due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As pandemic-related travel changes vary by person, community, and region, we’re continuing to collect valuable data through our COVID-19 Transportation Insights Panel to help clients better understand and forecast them.

Eno Transportation Weekly (ETW) published an op-ed authored by RSG's Eddie Duncan, Erica Wygonik, and Ken Kaliski on drone noise annoyance and mitigation. Their article, titled “Annoyance and Drones: How Optimizing Flight Paths Can Reduce Potential Noise Impacts,” is based on research and insights presented in our latest white paper on the same topic.

ETW is produced by The Eno Center for Transportation (Eno), a non-profit charitable foundation offering rigorous, objective analyses on the problems facing transportation and providing ideas for, and a clear path toward, possible solutions. For nearly two decades, their ETW publication has been the premier federal transportation policy publication for transportation leaders across the country.

In ITE Journal’s September issue, RSG Director Steven Gayle highlights the importance of public policy in ensuring rural Americans have access to the same technologies and services currently reshaping the transportation industry.

According to the most recent census data, more than 58 million Americans live in rural areas. Ensuring these residents have equitable access to telecommunications services and broadband is a prerequisite to paving the way for future mobility technologies like ride-hailing services, automated and connected vehicles, and drone delivery.

Check out the full article to read more about the path ahead for transportation planning in rural communities and the unique role public policy plays.

On Monday, September 14 from 1-3 p.m. ET, RSG's Ben Stabler and Joel Freedman will help conduct a learning session on ActivitySim. Sponsored by Zephyr, the session will (1) provide updates on ActivitySim project goals, current work program, regional implementation status, and future plan; and (2) include hands-on instruction on downloading, installing, and running ActivitySim, running scenarios, and summarizing and evaluating results.

RSG has been building ActivitySim for over five years for a consortium of Metropolitan Planning Agencies (MPOs). The ActivitySim project is a multi-agency partnership aiming to advance travel demand forecasting practice and cost-effectiveness through shared development of software tools and shared agency experience. ActivitySim has implemented an open source, Python-based version of this activity-based model using best software development practices and popular data science libraries.

The path ahead for drones looks more promising than ever. But as drones take off, noise remains an unresolved issue despite recent research confirming the sound from their operations is uniquely annoying. 

Even with the Integration Pilot Program (IPP), a federal initiative aimed at safely deploying the technology through public-private partnerships, no detailed guidance exists at the federal level to inform drone design or routing with noise in mind. Without a clear regulatory framework, drone flight path modeling offers the greatest promise to commercial drone operators looking to chart a path ahead without jeopardizing the momentum of the moment. 

Want to learn more? Check out our latest white paper that explores three considerations around drone noise and provides a roadmap for how to proactively plan for and mitigate annoyance associated with continuous overhead drone delivery operations.

Data standards empower collaboration and help provide the infrastructure for building community tools. Tune in today from 2-3:30 PM ET for a Panel on Industry Data Standards, hosted by Zephyr and led by RSG Director Ben Stabler.

The discussion will introduce standards such as Open Matrix (OMX), General Model Network Specification (GMNS), Open Street Map (OSM), General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS), and Project Card Standard