Engineering Commons^™

Vermont Transportation Energy Profile 2021, Jonathan Dowds, Dana Rowangould

University of Vermont Transportation Research Center

Slightly more than one-third of the total energy consumed in Vermont is used for transportation (see Figure E-1). Transportation energy is overwhelmingly derived from fossil fuels, with over 95% coming in the form of gasoline and diesel fuel. Transportation is also the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the State, accounting for 39.1% GHGs in 2017.

Consequently, the 2016 Vermont Comprehensive Energy Plan (CEP) included three goals and nine supporting objectives related to reducing transportation sector energy consumption and GHG emissions (VDPS, 2016). The 2021 Vermont Transportation Energy Profile (“the Profile”) is the fifth installment of a biannual …

Synthesis Of Technical Requirements And Considerations For Automated Snowplow Route Optimization: Final Report, Jonathan Dowds, James Sullivan

University of Vermont Transportation Research Center

DOTs and other transportation agencies are increasingly using automated methods for snowplow route optimization, which have been demonstrated to produce significant savings when they result in the implementation of new routes. However, many route optimization projects have fallen short of implementation due to technical/operational issues with the routes produced or institutional barriers to change. These shortcomings can be substantially mitigated with improvements to the process of soliciting, selecting, and managing the route optimization software or service provider. This project’s objective was to provide DOTs with the tools needed to make these improvements. The key lessons from this project are provided …

Ccrpc Active Transportation Plan Evaluation, Gregory Rowangould, Eliana Fox

University of Vermont Transportation Research Center

The UVM Transportation Research Center (“TRC”) evaluated the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (“CCRPC”) 2017 Active Transportation Plan (“ATP”) to determine the current implementation status of the plan’s recommendations and develop a strategy for implementing and prioritizing the ATP’s remaining projects and recommendations.

Access To Secure Ballot Drop-Off Locations In Texas, Karner Alex, Dana Rowangould

University of Vermont Transportation Research Center

Safe access to voting during the Covid-19 pandemic was a concern across the US. In Texas, a push for mail-in voting during the November 2020 presidential election was significantly scaled back when the governor restricted each county to one secure ballot drop-off location. We evaluate the effect of this change, finding that it increased travel times to drop-off locations for drivers and public transit users by 18 and 32 minutes, respectively, in the most affected county. When evaluated across the state, the policy had a disproportionate effect on eligible Asian, Black, and Latinx voters.

A Comprehensive Transit Accessibility And Equity Dashboard, Willem Klumpenhouwer, Jeff Allen, Lisa Li, Rick Liu, Mitchell Robinson, Diego Da Silva, Steven Farber, Alex Karner, Dana Rowangould, Amer Shalaby, Mary Buchanan, Steven Higashide

University of Vermont Transportation Research Center

The TransitCenter Equity Dashboard tracks how well public transit systems in seven densely populated urban regions in the United States serve their riders and how changes to transit service affect riders over space, time, and cost constraints. The dashboard presents a series of charts and interactive maps that can be used to evaluate variations in transit accessibility and equity. It was created using publicly available data and primarily open-source software. All measures can be accessed by users seeking to conduct their own analyses. Results demonstrate differences in agency responses to COVID-19 as well as baseline transit service levels provided to …