Operations

The Center for Transportation Analysis (CTA) conducts research in support of enhancing the performance of surface transportation systems. The staff has considerable experience in modeling traffic networks, analyzing and interpreting associated results, and in predicting future traffic network situations. Advanced traffic management research, new low-cost traffic management assessment technologies, and temporary loss-of-capacity have also been core themes of the CTA. Recently, emphasis has been placed on incident management, work zone safety/management, and enhancing the efficiency of commercial vehicle operations (primarily through integration of new technologies for enhancement of heavy vehicle inspection processes). Because measures to enhance surface transportation security (STS) will strongly affect surface transportation operations, STS is a new thrust area for CTA.

Primary Contact:

Focus Areas:

  • surface transportation systems
  • traffic networks modeling and analysis
  • advanced traffic management
  • incident management
  • surface transportation security

Selected Presentations

Highlights

Transportation Energy Data Book: Edition 31
On July 31, 2012, ORNL release Edition 31 of the Transportation Energy Data Book (TEDB). The TEDB is a compendium of data on transportation with an emphasis on energy. Designed for use as a desktop reference, the TEDB was first published in 1976 and has continued to Edition 31. The TEDB is produced by Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

ORNL Sustainability Summit
On May 2-3, ORNL held a Sustainability Summit to advance the deployment of sustainable technologies in the southeast. Diane Davidson developed and moderated at the Sustainable Transportation session, with Ron Littlefield, Mayor of Chattanooga, along with ORNL's Stacy Davis and David Greene.

U.S. DOE's Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting
David Greene, Zhenhong Lin and Jing Dong attended the U.S. DOE's Annual Merit Review (AMR) and Peer Evaluation Meeting in Washington, DC, May 14-17, 2012. David's presentation, "Fuel Cell Vehicle Penetration Relative to Vehicle Portfolio," and Zhenhong's presentation, "Impact of Program Targets on Vehicle Penetration and Benefits," were reported on by Slate and the Green Car Congress.

White House and U.S. DOE sponsored "Energy Data Jam"
David Greene participated in the White House and U.S. DOE sponsored "Energy Data Jam" at Stanford University On May 21, 2012. The invitation only workshop brought together "40 of the most innovative entrepreneurs, software developers, chief executive officers (CEOs), energy experts and policy makers to discuss how we can unleash the power of data, technology, and innovation to help with our pressing energy goals."

Vehicle Technologies Program Fact of the Week
Stacy Davis, Bob Boundy, and Susan Diegel develop Facts of the Week that are posted on the DOE Vehicle Technologies Homepage. For the month of March, half of the top 10 landing pages for the DOE Vehicle Technologies Homepage were Facts that they have written. (A landing page is where one enters the website for the first time.) "The FOTW pages are our biggest traffic-getters" says Suzanne Williams who compiles the Vehicle Technology website statistics for DOE.

 

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