RSG, in partnership with STV Incorporated, recently presented key findings from our independent review of an ultra-high-speed ground transportation system (UHSGT)—which would connect Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, and other key points in the Pacific Northwest—during a meeting of the Washington State Legislature Joint Transportation Committee (JTC) on Tuesday, June 20, 2023.

The JTC had been considering advancing the UHSGT idea forward to a more detailed development phase. However, before that, they sought our team's expertise to perform a neutral, impartial review of the assumptions used in prior studies on this topic. Our team focused on three aspects as part of the transportation forecasting process we undertook:

1. Assessing the quality and reasonability of past studies.
2. Identifying additional factors for consideration in the UHSGT's future development.
3. Drawing insights from other high-speed ground transportation systems for UHSGT development.

After conducting detailed due diligence, trade-off, and governance and procurement analyses, we found that the methods and tools used in prior UHSGT studies comply with industry standards. The assumptions were applied appropriately, generating credible results. However, our review also exposed some features and assumptions that, although suitable for current study levels, lack the robustness required for investment-grade analyses needed for advanced project development. The final report is available here.

RSG and our client partners at the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) received the “Best Panel Presentation” award at the Transportation Research Board's Conference on Innovations in Travel Analysis and Planning. The presentation was given by Adam Argo, Principal Planner at ODOT. RSG Director Jonathan Slason co-presented the topic.

The award-winning presentation, titled “Oregon Transportation Plan: Case Studies of Utilizing Scenario Planning in an Era of Rapid Change and Uncertainty,” focused on our team's joint efforts to develop an innovative scenario planning model for the Oregon Transportation Plan (OTP). The OTP is an outcome-driven plan guiding Oregon's transportation system for the next 20-25 years. It prioritizes equity, safety, sustainability, economic vitality, and multimodal travel options.

ODOT, with RSG's expertise, employed a financially bounded modeling approach to explore investment prioritization in an uncertain future. The project integrated cutting-edge tools like VisionEval and TMIP-EMAT. This collaboration enabled the evaluation of thousands of potential futures, offering quantitative insights for statewide planning use by practitioners. The OTP addresses key questions regarding investment choices, prioritization strategies, and the influence of emerging technologies and climate change.

For more information on the Oregon Transportation Plan Update, click here. To learn more about RSG's strategic transportation planning service and how it supports scenario planning work, click here.

RSG Senior Consultant Isaac Old, INCE Bd. Cert., will present at the 2023 Conference on Wind Turbine Noise at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, on Wednesday, June 21, 2023.

Isaac's presentation, titled “Wind Turbine Directional Noise Reduced Operations – Description and Measurement,” will discuss the concept of Noise Reduced Operation (NRO) modes in wind turbines. His study sheds light on how these modes can be used to diminish sound emissions under varying meteorological conditions and time periods. His presentation will cover descriptions of how NRO modes function and measurement results from a project where they have been applied. Isaac coauthored the presentation's paper with Timothy Carson of RWE CleanEnergy, LLC.

Who? Isaac Old, INCE Bd. Cert., Senior Consultant (RSG)

What? Presentation at the Conference on Wind Turbine Noise

Where and When? Isaac will be delivering his presentation in person on Wednesday, June 21 at 2:20 p.m. local time in Dublin, Ireland. The conference runs from June 21 through June 23.

Greg Mandelman joins RSG as Vice President of Market Research and brings nearly 20 years of experience tackling complex social and analytical challenges around the world.

Throughout his career, Greg has been integral to the success of transformative projects, with a focus on conducting behavioral energy research and modeling transportation electrification trends. He has overseen a multimillion-dollar portfolio of behavioral energy research, led a team of statisticians and analysts at a major utility company, and designed an electric vehicle energy impact forecasting model for state regulators in California.

“I’m thrilled to join RSG,” said Greg. “RSG does what few firms can by pairing data collection with modeling and analysis to deliver exceptional client solutions. In addition to this, RSG’s focus on behavioral research means I can continue to help clients in the energy and vehicle electrification spaces while being part of a larger team that delivers unmatched research and analytics.”

Greg's experience leading behavioral research in the transportation and energy sectors will help RSG continue to deliver exceptional survey-based research services to our clients while expanding into new, high-growth markets.

Ken Kaliski, Principal at RSG, was appointed as Project Leader for the revision of ISO 1996-1 during the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) ISO/TC 43 “Acoustics” Plenary Meeting in Montreal, Canada, held from May 2 to May 6, 2023. The ISO 1996-1 is an international standard on acoustics, focusing on the description, measurement, and assessment of environmental noise.

In his new role, Ken's duties will include managing the ISO standard's content to create an updated international standard. This task will require collecting the most recent research for drafting the standard, fostering agreement among the global community, and facilitating several comment and response rounds. ISO delegates will then vote on the updated standard. Ken will supervise the process as Project Leader.

“I'm thrilled to take on the Project Leader role for the revision of ISO 1996-1, Acoustics — Description, measurement and assessment of environmental noise — Part 1: Basic quantities and assessment procedures,” Ken said. “I eagerly anticipate contributing to a global agreement to enhance the procedures that practitioners rely on. I'd like to extend my gratitude to the previous Project Leader, Stephen Keith, the US delegation for their nomination, and Douglas Manville, the Convenor of Working Group 45.”

RSG's noise control engineering service depends on national and international standards like ISO 1996-1. Ken's role as Project Leader will ensure these standards remain current and relevant. The final revised standard will contribute to enhancing our service quality and helping our projects earn acceptance from clients and regulators.

RSG Consultant Reid Haefer will present during the 2023 ITE Northeastern District Annual Meeting on Friday, May 12, 2023.

Reid's presentation, titled “Data-Driven Sidewalk Repair Prioritization” will discuss our team's work with city officials in Burlington, Vermont, to develop an innovative data collection technology and a custom, interactive data tool in Shiny. The presentation will describe how the tool helped city planners prioritize repairs by efficiently allocating repair budgets based on sidewalks' conditions, proximity to other poor-condition sidewalks, nearby land uses, and equity considerations.

Reid gave a similar presentation on this topic during ShinyConf2023 in March 2023.

Who? Reid Haefer, Consultant (RSG)

What? Case study presentation, titled “Data-Driven Sidewalk Repair Prioritization” during the 2023 ITE Northeastern District Annual Meeting

Where and When? Reid is delivering his presentation on Friday, May 12 during Session 6A: Improving Accessibility, Safety, and Sidewalks for All. This session runs from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. ET.

Several RSGers will present on noise control engineering topics during the NOISE-CON 2023 Conference from May 15-18, 2023, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Emma Butterfield's presentation, “Construction Noise Modeling for Solar Projects,” will explore the challenges of modeling construction noise for large solar projects and discuss various scenarios for worst-case predictions.

Ken Kaliski and co-author Hugo Rost will present “Background Sound Levels in Rural Areas of the US,” which will provide a collection of ambient sound level data for over 150 rural locations in the northeastern and midwestern United States, supplementing existing standards.

Dana Lodico's presentation, “Noise Modeling of Short Safety Barriers in FHWA's Updated Traffic Noise Model (TNM) Version 3.1,” will compare modeling methods for calculating the performance of short safety barriers in reducing traffic noise using the newest FHWA TNM version.

Who?

Ken Kaliski, PE, QEP, INCE Bd. Cert., Principal (RSG); Dana Lodico, PE, INCE Bd. Cert., Senior Director (RSG); Emma Butterfield, Senior Analyst (RSG); Hugo Rost, Analyst (RSG)

What?

Presentations during the NOISE-CON 2023 Conference

Where and When?

The presentations will be given in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Emma Butterfield presents on May 15 from 4:00 p.m. to 4:20 p.m.

Ken Kaliski and Hugo Rost present on May 16 from 10:30 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.

Dana Lodico presents on May 16 from 2:40 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

RSG Principal Ken Kaliski, PE, QEP, INCE Bd. Cert. will present during the 184th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.

Ken's presentation, titled “Challenges in Post-Construction Sound Monitoring for Rural Wind Projects,” will discuss the unique challenges faced during post-construction sound monitoring for rural wind projects. The presentation will cover various issues such as safety, wildlife, harsh weather conditions, access to remote sites, difficult protocols, and noise contamination, and how these issues arise in the context of several recent post-construction sound monitoring campaigns. The advantages and disadvantages of the wind turbine shutdown method will be compared with other methods that don’t require wind turbine shutdowns, such as measuring under high wind shear conditions (low ground wind speeds and high hub-height wind speeds), proxy locations, and wind speed binning.

Who? Ken Kaliski, Principal (RSG)

What? Presentation titled “Challenges in Post-Construction Sound Monitoring for Rural Wind Projects” during the 184th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America

Where and When? Ken is delivering his presentation on Tuesday, May 9 at 8:45 a.m. ET (7:45 a.m. CT).

RSG Director Jon Slason will present during the 2023 New York State Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations Conference on Tuesday, May 9, and Wednesday, May 10, 2023.

Jon's first presentation, titled “VisionEval – Open Source Strategic Transportation Planning Tool for Long-Range Planning,” will discuss how strategic modeling tools can be employed to understand multiple scenarios as part of the long-range planning process. RSG was part of the original team that designed and implemented VisionEval, and we have since assisted in its implementation across the United States.

Jon's second presentation, presented on behalf of RSG Director Kyeongsu Kim and titled “Online Model Input/Output Analyzer for Visualization,” will discuss an online tool RSG developed to visualize model input and output data, such as socioeconomic (land-use) data and highway network link files. The tool, called Analyzer, provides at-a-glance views of model input data in maps, tables, and charts, making it similar to other visualization tools. The tool also allows users to review and edit scenario input files, including highway and transit network link attributes.

RSG is a proud Copper-level sponsor of the 2023 New York State Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations Conference.

Who? Jon Slason, Director (RSG)

What? Two presentations, titled “VisionEval – Open Source Strategic Transportation Planning Tool for Long-Range Planning” and “Online Model Input/Output Analyzer for Visualization,” during the 2023 NYSAMPO Conference

Where and When? Jon is delivering his two presentations on Tuesday, May 9 at 9:30 a.m. ET and Wednesday, May 10 at 1:45 p.m. ET.

RSG Consultant Robert Wertman, AICP, PTP, will present during the Tennessee Model Users Group (TNMUG) meeting on April 21, 2023, in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee.

Robert's presentation, titled “A Data-Informed Modeling Approach in Fort Wayne, Indiana,” will discuss our team's experience working with Convergence Planning to develop a trip-based travel demand model for the Northeast Regional Coordinating Council (the metropolitan planning organization for Fort Wayne, Indiana) that uses trip-based aggregate modeling methods fused with passively collected data that results in a data-driven incremental forecast method.

The TNMUG was established in 2004 to improve modeling and forecasting capabilities within the state through the exchange of information about travel demand modeling and forecasting.

Who? Robert Wertman, AICP, PTP, Consultant (RSG)

What? Presentation, titled “A Data-Informed Modeling Approach in Fort Wayne, Indiana,” during the 2023 TNMUG meeting

Where and When? Robert is delivering his presentation in person on Friday, April 21 at 3:15 p.m. ET (2:15 p.m. CT)