Sustainable Transportation Systems Program
A large mirror helps show the drivetrain of a hybrid electric school bus.
The goal of the Sustainable Transportation Systems Program (STSP) is to develop knowledge about the energy and environmental aspects of moving people and goods.
Program objectives include the following:
- Improve transportation energy efficiency and reduce emissions through roadway design, traffic operations, and community design and planning
- Advance the use of sustainable fuels, technologies, and energy efficient transportation modes
- Increase understanding of the economic and environmental impacts of renewable fuels and encourage use of sustainable transportation energy sources
- Investigate economic models that encourage more efficient passenger and freight movement
Contacts
For more information about STSP research, contact
- Shauna Hallmark, program co-leader, shallmar@iastate.edu, 515-294-5249
- David Plazak, program co-leader, dplazak@iastate.edu, 515-296-0814
Research projects
In Progress
Completed
- Alternatives to Truck Engine Idling
- Appropriate Traffic Calming Techniques for Small Iowa Communities (TR-523)
- Coordination of Transit and School Busing in Iowa
- Evaluating Speed Differences between Passenger Vehicles and Heavy Trucks for Transportation-related Emissions Modeling
- Iowa Produce Market Potential Calculator
- Plan for the Mississippi River Trail in Iowa
- Research Support for the Missouri Legislative Forum on Transportation
Other projects
- Workshop on transportation and land use awareness to better integrate land use planning and transportation planning
Research focus areas
Biofuels
- Assuring adequate infrastructure to support first (grain) and second (cellulose) generation biofuels industries
- Evaluating and mitigating the impact of biofuel production and distribution on transportation infrastructure, including pavements, gravel roads, structures, and railroads
- Cellulostic biofuels industry inbound and outbound logistics…from harvest to final consumer markets
- Use of biofuels industry co-products and by-products to improve transportation infrastructure
- Multimodal transportation logistics systems for the bioeconomy (highways, railroads, waterways, and pipelines)
- Assessing the fuel efficiency and emissions of biofuels
- Fiscal impact of biofuels production and use on the transportation system
Sustainable community development and design
- Increasing the quality of public transportation and encouraging cycling and walking facilities, services and environments
- Encourage sustainability in community design and vision to bring people and their needs closer together, and to make cities more vibrant and walkable
Transportation efficiency and air quality
- Improving the efficiency of automobile use, such as using more fuel efficient vehicles, driving more efficiently, avoiding cold starts, and car pooling
- Improving the efficiency of commercial vehicle traffic such as the use of idling reduction technologies and better route planning
- Using telecommunications to reduce or replace physical travel, such as tele-commuting or tele-shopping
- Reducing fuel use and emission through roadway design and traffic operations
- Incorporation of "complete streets" and "green streets" concepts in Iowa urban design standards. (Joint effort with Statewide Urban Design and Specifications)
- Modeling microscopic vehicle activity as input to modal emissions modeling
- Assessing the air quality impacts of transportation strategies
Other transportation environmental impacts
- Roadway water run-off and water quality issues
