Winter 2012 - ITS-DAVIS WEEKLY SEMINAR SERIES
Time: January 20,2012 , 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Location: 1065 Kemper Hall, UC Davis
Speakers: TRB presenters
1:40 pm to 2:00 pm: Elizabeth Gordon, Graduate Student, Transportation Technology and Policy
2:00 pm to 2:10 pm: Joel Bremson, Graduate Student, Transportation Technology and Policy
2:10 pm to 3:00 pm: Poster Session:
Yuche Chen, Graduate Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Joshua Miller, Graduate Student, Transportation Technology and Policy,
Geoff Morrison (2), Graduate Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Zhenying Shao, Graduate Student, Transportation Technology and Policy
David Van Herick, Graduate Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Justin Woodjack, Graduate Student, Transportation Technology and Policy
Speaker: Elizabeth Gordon, ITS-Davis Graduate Researcher
Title: Safe and Normal: Social Influences on Formation of Attitudes toward Bicycling
Abstract: Many daily trips in the U.S. are less than two miles, but even in communities with extensive bike infrastructure, most of these short-distance trips are accomplished by automobile. Previous research has shown that cognitive and attitudinal factors affect transportation mode choice, even when infrastructure enables bicycling as a feasible transportation option. This study uses qualitative methods to explore the connection between social influences over the life-course and current attitudes and behaviors toward bicycling as a step toward understanding how attitudes towards bicycling are formed. Fifty-four residents of Davis, California, between the ages of 25 and 65 responded to a self-administered questionnaire and open-ended interview questions about their experiences with bicycling throughout their life. Frequent mentions were made of both positive and negative bicycling-related experiences that involved interactions with peers, family and the wider community. We analyzed the relationship between the quality and quantity of these experience types and the respondents’ reported attitudes and behaviors in relation to bicycling. The participants were sorted into groups based on liking of biking, frequency of biking, and identification as a bicyclist. The mentions of positive and negative peer, family and community influences from the participants' interviews were compared across groups and quotes from interview transcripts were used to provide depth and explanation. Results suggest that respondents' perceptions of whether bicycling is safe and normal are particularly correlated with their bicycling-related attitudes and behaviors.
Biographical Sketch: Elizabeth Gordon is a second year master's student in the Transportation Technology and Policy program. She entered the program after completing her undergraduate degree at The George Washington University and working for a few years in the field of environmental conservation in Washington, DC
Her work with TTP faculty advisor Susan Handy includes investigations of the attitudinal and land use factors influencing the choice to utilize non-automobile transportation modes, and she assisted principal investigator Yunshi Wang with a project about early adopters of e-bike technology in the region.
She's a bike enthusiast, and her research interests include the equity implications of spatial mobility and promoting the most effective methods for encouraging non-automobile mode choice.
Speaker: Joel Bremson, ITS-Davis Graduate Researcher
Title: Autopia: A Serious Game about Long-range Alternative Fuel and Vehicle Transitions
Abstract: Autopia is a serious game/agent based model hybrid used to examine long range alternative fuel and vehicle transition scenarios. Several patterns have emerged from the use of the system. A "feature gap" problem exists when comparing alternative vehicles (e.g. hybrids, PHEV, BEV) to conventional gas powered vehicles at the same price point because alternative drivetrains are more expensive than conventional ones. High fuel prices can create significant problem for alternative vehicle adoption as the added expense reduces vehicle budgets, putting more expensive alt. vehicles out of reach. Oil dependence can be easily exploited. Reaching a fleet average of 54.5 mpg in 2025, as called for by the new CAFE standard will be difficult. Battery drivetrain technologies are much more popular than hydrogen pathways.
Biographical Sketch: Joel Bremson is a PhD candidate in Transportation Technology and Policy with an undergraduate degree in History. Prior to attending graduate school he worked as a software engineer in Silicon Valley. His long distance commute to work kindled his fascination with the challenges of transportation. His dissertation research, a serious game about long-range vehicle and fuel transitions called Autopia, combines his interests in transportation, social science, and computer modeling, seeking to better understand the processes that determine this complex system.
Joel lives in Davis, CA with his wife, Bessie, and daughter, Ila.