Urban Transportation Center

UTC Spring 2025 Seminar Series

Topics that center on rail transportation were the focus of the online Spring 2025 Seminar Series.

February 20:  Insight on the practice of using data to increase rail safety and bolster the state of good repair was the subject of “Leveraging Emerging Railway Track Health Data for Railway and Rail Transit Track Condition Assessment.”  Dr. J. Riley Edwards of RailTEC at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign led the discussion. Download the zoom recording and presentation.

March 20:  A presentation on how to improve the iconic Chicago Union Station was delivered by Rick Harnish, Executive Director of the Chicago-headquartered High Speed Rail Alliance.  The webinar, “A Rail Revolution Begins with Fixing Chicago Union Station,” included an analysis of planned upgrades from Amtrak and the State of Illinois.  Download the zoom recording and presentation.

April 17:  The results from a just-finalized FRA freight study were addressed in “Quantifying and Improving the Energy Consumption of Railroad Track Maintenance and Material Transportation.” Our featured speakers were Dr. C. Tyler Dick, Ph.D., P.E. Assistant Professor, Texas Railway Analysis & Innovation Node (TRAIN), and Dr. Pasi Lautala, Ph.D., P.E., Professor, Civil, Environmental & Geospatial Engineering and Director, Michigan Tech Transportation Institute.  Download the zoom recording and presentation.

UTC Fall 2024 Seminar Series

The impact and future of autonomous vehicle technology were the focus of online presentations last fall.

September 19: The debut Fall 2024 presentation, “Autonomous Vehicle Deployment in Arizona,” addressed the history and introduction of autonomous vehicles in Arizona and why the state is a prime location for AV testing. Featured speaker Amanda Kindle,  Stakeholder Relations Manager with ADOT/MVD, discussed current AV operations and regulations.  Visit this link to access a Box folder with the A/V recording, audio only, Chat comments and PowerPoint presentation.

October 17:  The second presentation, “Bridging the Gap: Addressing the Last-Mile Problem with AMoD,” featured a comprehensive look at the transit last-mile connectivity problem. Our speaker, Dr. Alireza Khani, Associate Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities,  presented insight on a recent study involving employing autonomous vehicle bus service to address last mile issues related to the Miller Hall Mall in Duluth. Please send an email to Edward Bury to request a link to a Box folder with the zoom recording and PowerPoint presentation.