The Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS) at the University of California, Berkeley named RSG Principal Johanna Zmud, PhD, as an ITS Senior Fellow for 2022. Johanna is one of only five Senior Fellows selected this year. The award recognizes her extraordinary contributions and dedication to the transportation field.

As a Principal at RSG, Johanna supports clients' needs around transportation technology and emerging mobility. She has cofounded several firms and worked in both the public and private sectors on travel behavior and transportation research.

As an ITS Senior Fellow, Johanna will continue her important work at RSG while shaping the industry conversation. Senior Fellows can collaborate with ITS faculty, staff, and students to improve transportation education, research, and practice.

Jim Brogan, PMP, joins RSG as a Vice President and brings over 25 years of experience in multimodal planning, operations, strategic planning, transit planning, and investment support at the national, state, and local levels.

Jim has helped state DOTs, MPOs, ports, railroads, transit agencies, and regional coalitions across the country more effectively identify and address multimodal issues within their planning and investment activities.

Jim's strategic mindset and emphasis on improving outcomes will empower RSG to continue to deliver unparalleled transportation and mobility insights to clients in both new and established markets.

We're excited to safely gather at the 2022 Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting this month.

Many of the workshops and sessions this year will focus on the equity, resiliency, sustainability, and safety of the transportation system. RSGers are presenting individual posters and lectures on several related topics, including big data, COVID-19 travel changes, airport choice modeling, rail demand, and traffic noise modeling.

RSG is proud to be a Bronze Patron of the 101st TRB Annual Meeting, which attracts thousands of transportation professionals. Its sessions cover all transportation modes and inspire thought-provoking industry dialogue and change.

RSGers attending the Annual Meeting are following TRB's COVID Health and Safety Procedures, outlined here. A complete Annual Meeting program is available on TRB's website.

Kyeongsu Kim, PhD, joins RSG as a Director and brings over 15 years of experience in travel demand modeling and data analytics. Kyeongsu has led numerous innovative data analytics and modeling projects and has a proven track record that exceeds client expectations. Importantly, his analytical and project management skills will allow us to continue to bridge the project delivery gap between consultants and government agencies.

Jonelle Hanson, AICP, joins RSG as a Director and brings over 12 years of transportation planning experience in the public and private sectors. Her primary interests are in strategic mobility planning and long-range transportation planning. She is also researching the manufacturing of landing infrastructure for delivery using drones, or Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). Jonelle's experience and expertise will allow us to continue to help clients plan for and adapt to rapidly changing traveler behavior.

The Zephyr Foundation has awarded PopulationSim its “Zephyr Software Badge” after RSG Senior Director Joel Freedman nominated the program. The award was made after Zephyr's Software Badging process found that the population synthesis program is easy to use, useful to Zephyr's community of users, and contributed to a common problem space.

RSG originally developed the population synthesis program for the Oregon Department of Transportation and its partner agencies. It replaced multiple population synthesis tools being used throughout the state at the time. Unlike other population synthesis software products, PopulationSim handles multiple geographies and avoids algorithmic errors. Moreover, RSG built it using software engineering best practices. This reduces the likelihood of bugs and enhances its utility to users. RSG included PopulationSim in the Python-based ActivitySim modeling framework, which we also led the development of.

RSG Director Michelle Lee coauthored a peer-reviewed paper, titled “The 2019 Conference on Health and Active Transportation: Research Needs and Opportunities,” which was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The paper discusses expert conclusions from the December 2019 Conference on Health and Active Transportation (CHAT).

Active transportation, which includes activities like bicycling and walking, has well-known public health benefits. These modes, when replacing personal vehicle trips, can also reduce emissions. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed new opportunities for active transportation. At the same time, the pandemic highlighted societal inequities around transportation access and health.

Michelle and her fellow authors present a conceptual model, based on CHAT sessions, that could assist practitioners in overcoming barriers to the development and use of active transportation infrastructure. The paper also identifies crucial research gaps. Importantly, the paper emphasizes the importance of coupling additional research with plans for dissemination and implementation.

Lucia Maloney, PMP, joins RSG as a Director and brings over 15 years of experience in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Her primary interests lie in innovative product delivery for local/regional transportation planning efforts and capital projects. Lucia's experience and expertise will help us continue to offer clients unparalleled insights into household- and person-level travel behavior.

We have officially opened our new downtown Denver, Colorado, office location. The new office signifies continued growth in and demand for RSG's energy and noise control engineering services.

“I'm thrilled to see Denver added to our diverse portfolio of office locations,” said Stephen Lawe, CEO. “As interest in renewables has grown, so has the demand for our services that integrate advanced statistical approaches and modeling with traditional acoustical analyses. Our Denver location will help us meet this demand.”

In addition to our headquarters in White River Junction, Vermont, RSG now has offices in six other locations. These other offices include San Diego (CA), Portland (OR), Chicago (IL), Washington, DC, and Burlington (VT).

RSG Principal Johanna Zmud, PhD, and Senior Director Mark Bradley will both present at the Complete Trip – ITS4US Deployment Program Performance Measurement webinar. The webinar will describe our team's work in Buffalo, New York, as part of the Complete Trip – ITS4US Deployment Program. The goal of the program is to solve the mobility challenges of all travelers in accessing jobs, education, healthcare, and other activities.

Buffalo, New York, is one of five deployment sites chosen. The proposed deployment in Buffalo combines accessible trip-planning services, community-based shuttle services, and intersection pedestrian safety technologies. Johanna and Mark will describe our team's work on Phase 1 of the deployment, which included the development of a Performance Measurement and Evaluation Support Plan.

Who? Johanna Zmud, PhD, Principal (RSG) and Mark Bradley, Senior Director (RSG)

What? Complete Trip – ITS4US Deployment Program Webinar: Buffalo, NY (Webinar 3) hosted by ITS Joint Program Office

Where and When? The webinar is virtual. Johanna and Mark are presenting during a session on Tuesday, November 9 at 1:30 p.m. ET. The webinar registration link is below.