ANNUAL REPORT2 0 1 9 F I S C A L Y E A R

Advancing Transportation Through Innovation

ANNUAL REPORT2 0 1 9 F I S C A L Y E A R

01

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T SMission & Vision

Message from the Director

Facilities & Institute Infrastructure

Project Highlights

Centers, Groups, & Initiatives

Sponsors, Clients, & Partners

Outreach & Community Engagement

Presentations, Honors, Awards, & Services

Publications

Stakeholders

02

03050713415159637991

M I S S I O N & V I S I O N

03

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

(VTTI) conducts research to save lives, save

time, save money, and protect the environment.

Researchers and students from multiple fields

are continuously developing the techniques and

technologies to solve transportation challenges

from vehicular, driver, infrastructure, and

environmental perspectives.

As one of seven premier research institutes

created by Virginia Tech to answer national

challenges, VTTI has effected significant change

in public policies for driver, passenger, and

pedestrian safety and is advancing the design

of vehicles and infrastructure to increase safety

and reduce environmental impacts.

04

MESSAGE FROM T H E D I R E C T O R

T O M D I N G U S ph.d., chfp

Director of VTTIPresident of VTT, LLC

Endowed Professor of Engineering at Virginia Tech

05

Enhancing Transportation Through ResearchFor more than 30 years, VTTI has been at the critical juncture of the development and the deployment of transportation initiatives. Our researchers have evaluated the efficacy of pavement materials, lighting design, mobility alternatives, and vehicle design. At each opportunity, we endeavor to determine how these aspects interrelate to human use prior to their implementation in the broader transportation system. Essentially, our goal for more than three decades has been to help our sponsors, clients, and partners from the public and private sectors determine through objective, data-driven research how the transportation community can be made not only more efficient but, above all, safer.

To meet this goal, it is imperative for this institute to look ahead, to anticipate the evolutionary needs of the transportation system. And in no area has the transportation system so drastically changed than in the incorporation of advanced-vehicle technology. An increasing number of production-level vehicles are being rolled out with increasing levels of connectivity and such automated driving systems (ADSs) as lane-keep assist, automatic emergency braking, and adaptive cruise control. With such rapid advancement comes the inevitable question: “When will we all have self-driving cars?” It’s a logical question, and I have no doubt that, when widely deployed, such cars will positively affect safety, mobility, and efficiency. But, our goal at VTTI is to help those invested in the deployment of these advanced technologies ensure their development is performed thoughtfully and responsibly, that it meets the needs of users, and that no unintended consequences occur. Taking such an approach is absolutely necessary, because the technology will develop for some time, and premature deployment will lead to not only lives lost, but an unnecessary “retrenching” that could delay deployment for a number of years, resulting in even more lives lost. That is why we devote our professional lives to working across the public and private sectors to conduct studies and provide research data necessary to the safe development and deployment of advanced-vehicle technologies.

Toward this end, we are working with members in our Automated Mobility Partnership (AMP) to promote the development of tools, techniques, and data resources—including our naturalistic driving studies—to support the development and evaluation of ADS. We are working with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to modify the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) relative to the proper design of vehicles that may not have manually operated driving controls, such as steering wheels or brakes, or even (in some cases) onboard occupants. We are working with nearly 40 other organizations under a NHTSA contract to consider electronics safe reliability, cybersecurity, vehicle automation, and related human factors. We are providing hands-on opportunities for next-generation engineers, researchers, and designers through our new InternHUB initiative, which fosters collaborations between industry partners, VTTI researchers, and leading students from Virginia Tech.

These are but a handful of examples of the work being conducted at VTTI by an industry-leading team of research faculty, staff, and students. To learn more about what we have accomplished during Fiscal Year 2019, please continue reading.

06

FACILITIESi n s t i t u t e i n f r a s t r u c t u r e

SURFACE STREET

LIVE ROADWAY CONNECTOR RURAL ROADWAY EXPANSION

HIGHWAY SECTION

07

VTTI has an infrastructure worth more than

$120 million that includes multiple test beds

used extensively for real-world, impactful

transportation research across both broad and

edge-and-corner scenarios; more than 120,000

square feet of building space in Blacksburg and

Alton, Va.; and more than 100 owned and leased

instrumented vehicles, including connected-

automated light and heavy vehicles. VTTI also

recently purchased an autonomous micro-transit

shuttle that has been instrumented and deployed

for a variety of automation research projects.

08

01. Test Beds Headquartered at VTTI, the Virginia Smart Road is a controlled-access facility managed by the institute and owned and maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). The road is built to Federal Highway Administration specifications and features seven roadside equipment units and two mobile roadside equipment sites that facilitate connected-vehicle communications; an optical fiber communication system; Ethernet fiber transceivers and Ethernet switches; a connected-vehicle-compatible intersection controller model; varying pavement sections and in-pavement sensors; 75 weather-making towers capable of producing snow, rain, and fog; a differential GPS base station for precise vehicle locating; a signalized intersection with complete signal phase and timing control; a wireless mesh network variable control system; and variable pole spacing designed to replicate more than 90% of national highway lighting systems.

In 2017, the institute held a ribbon cutting/groundbreaking ceremony with partners VDOT and Virginia Tech to unveil four unique expansion projects, each building upon the Smart Road testing capabilities and now collectively known as the Virginia Smart Roads: 1) The Surface Street, which features a residential/urban layout with real and reconfigurable buildings, roundabout/stop-controlled intersections, automation-compatible pavement markings, and connectivity to the Smart Road; 2) The Live Roadway Connector, providing a seamless transition between live traffic and the closed

test tracks of the Smart Roads while bringing the total length of the highway section to 2.5 miles; 3) The Rural Roadway (Phase 1 opening Fall 2019, Phase II opening Summer 2020), which will be the first of its kind to facilitate advanced-vehicle testing on a controlled rural roadway environment, with hilly, winding roads; short site distances; and infrastructure built to 1965 standards; and 4) The Automation Hub, located on-site at the Virginia Smart Roads and facilitating short turnaround projects focused on advanced-vehicle testing in collaboration with VTTI researchers, industry leaders, and Virginia Tech students, among others.

FACILITIES

v i r g i n i a s m a r t r o a d s

HIGHWAY (2.5 MILES LONG)ability to create rain, snow, fog, and ice

SURFACE STREET SECTION reconfigurable urban test bed

RURAL ROADWAY EXPANSION first of its kind to test advanced vehicles in a controlled rural environment

LIVE ROADWAY CONNECTOR allows seamless transitions between livetraffic and controlled test beds

09

The Virginia Smart Roads are designed to complement the public testing capabilities offered by the Virginia Connected and Automated Corridors. In 2014, VTTI partnered with VDOT to unveil the Virginia Connected Corridors (VCC), which comprise the Smart Road and Interstates 66 and 495, as well as U.S. 29 and U.S. 50 (i.e., one of the most congested corridors in the U.S.). The VCC is facilitating the real-world development and deployment of connected-vehicle technology via dedicated short-range communications and cellular technology. Using more than 60 roadside equipment units (RSEs) located along the corridors, VDOT and researchers from multiple institutes across the Commonwealth are implementing connected applications that include traveler information, lane closure alerts, and work zone and incident management.

VTTI partnered with VDOT, Transurban, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, and HERE (a high-definition mapping business) to unveil the Virginia Automated Corridors (VAC) in 2015. This initiative provides an automation-friendly environment that auto manufacturers, government agencies, and suppliers can use to test and certify their systems, providing a system migration path from test-track to real-world operating environments. The VAC leverages extensive

experience in on-road safety research to provide efficient solutions to automated-vehicle testing. The VAC was developed in answer to the Virginia governor’s 2015 proclamation declaring Virginia “open for business” in the realm of automated vehicles. The proclamation allows the testing of any automated vehicle on Virginia roads under the guidance of VTTI. The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles will support research efforts performed by VTTI in accordance with the proclamation. With assistance from the Commonwealth of Virginia, the VAC will advance the development, testing, and deployment of automated-vehicle technology, with the ultimate goal of helping stakeholders create robust automated and autonomous vehicles.

Faculty and students associated with the USDOT-awarded Safety through Disruption National University Transportation Center (Safe-D National UTC)—a consortium led by VTTI with partners Texas A&M Transportation Institute and San Diego State University— have access to the Virginia Smart Roads and the VAC/VCC to perform research into disruptive technologies, such as automated and connected vehicles, big data analytics, and transportation as a service. Current UTC projects include assessing the impacts of connected-vehicle technology on automated-vehicle safety, developing a connected smart vest for improved roadside work zone safety, using disruptive technologies to support safety analyses, modeling driver responses during automated-vehicle failures, and determining the safety perceptions of transportation network companies by the blind and visually impaired.

THE 15 ,000-SQUARE-FOOT AUTOMATION

HUB INCLUDES A FIVE-BAY GARAGE, A

MACHINE AND WELDING WORKSHOP, AND

AN EXTENSIVE TOOL SET

10

FACILITIES02. Blacksburg Facilities The traditional laboratories at VTTI are housed in four buildings totaling more than 90,000 square feet. Building I is 30,000 square feet and houses office, laboratory, and garage facilities. Low-service laboratories include facilities dedicated to driver interface development, eye-glance data reduction, lighting research, accident analysis, accident database analysis, pavement research, and traffic simulation. The National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence building comprises 22,000 square feet of office and laboratory space. VTTI expanded its on-site capacity by 7,000 square feet of warehouse space and housing for a paint booth facility and a lighting lab. An additional 24,400 square-foot annex was opened in 2013 to support the continuing growth of VTTI.

To supplement and support the research endeavors of the institute, facilities feature a fully staffed garage and machine shop to instrument experimental vehicles. Technicians and engineers use full-scale machine and welding shops, electronics laboratories, and garage facilities to customize transportation hardware and software designed to collect large amounts of data. These facilities are also used to support the maintenance and expansion of the Smart Roads systems and capabilities. Additionally, VTTI occupies an adjacent

seven-bay, 12,600-square-foot garage. This facility is used to store the VTTI instrumented vehicle fleet and the equipment necessary for research and Smart Roads operations.

Information Technology at VTTI provides end-to-end systems development and support that enable and enhance the research mission and vision of the institute. Services provided include support for daily information technologies, comprehensive computational and data analytics systems engineering, information security expertise, advanced application development, computational systems administration, and database administration.

VTTI IT experts continually work with research groups to develop and optimize solutions that support ongoing projects and research, establish data analysis pipelines for production-level research, and create custom solutions for special projects. IT is the core of the data-intensive research program at VTTI, with “Big Data” computational and storage infrastructure leveraging four data center facilities. The main VTTI facility houses systems to support institute operations and provides network segmentation to secure data reduction labs and a secure data enclave. A second data center located at the Virginia Tech Andrews Information Systems Building houses the bulk of the VTTI high-performance computational, database,

11

and storage operations. Computational systems in the Andrews facility can also be dynamically configured to virtually reside within the VTTI secure network, creating an “Algorithmic Enclave.” Additional data centers at Steger Hall on the Virginia Tech campus and at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute in Roanoke, Va., provide redundancy and operate to ensure data retention and resiliency. Continually growing capacities include a 4.2 PB database and associated storage, 10.2 PB Network Attached Storage (NAS), and 7 PB archive storage. Compute processing is driven by 1,920 cores and 37 Graphical Processing Units (GPUs).

03. Southern Virginia Facilities Affiliated with VTTI and Virginia Tech is the Global Center for Automotive Performance Simulation (GCAPS), located in Alton, Va. GCAPS is a world-class facility that provides revolutionary services for both vehicle and tire, including testing, simulation, and modeling. GCAPS comprises the National Tire Research Center (NTRC), the Southern Virginia Vehicle Motion Labs (SoVa Motion), and the Virtual Design and Integration Laboratory (VDIL). Collectively, these initiatives provide the full range of services essential for creating a more dynamic product through both virtual and physical development. GCAPS also works closely with amateur, semi-pro, and pro race teams to provide cutting-edge services that help race cars perform at the top levels.

Located adjacent to GCAPS is the Virginia International Raceway, to which VTTI has access for the performance of connected and automated projects in a multi-use

testing environment that includes both closed-course and open traffic conditions. The raceway track can be configured to five different courses ranging from 1.1 miles to 6.8 miles and includes such topography as hairpin curves and blind passes.

04. Accelerated Pavement Testing VDOT and VTTI launched an accelerated pavement testing program in 2015, which uses a heavy-vehicle simulator that continuously applies a weighted load to test pavements for several months. This testing simulates the natural wear and tear caused by heavy trucks on road surfaces. The program is expected to result in cost savings in road maintenance and will enable VDOT to determine how different pavement designs and materials respond to load testing prior to integration on the road. Since its inception in 2015, the program has resulted in nearly $2.16 million in expenditures.

05. VTTI Vehicle Fleet The VTTI vehicle fleet is uniquely instrumented for specific experiments. Researchers use the vehicle fleet for Smart Roads tests, and experimental test vehicles are used to develop new instrumentation packages and complement research endeavors. Several of the vehicles are long-term loaners from vehicle manufacturers, VDOT, and other partnering organizations. All vehicles are maintained in-house when possible with fully functional garages and a machine shop. Loaned vehicles are maintained in cooperation with the organization that provided the vehicle.

12C O N T R O L R O O M A U TO M AT I O N H U B

PROJECTh i g h l i g h t s

13 14

PROJECTh i g h l i g h t s

01. In September 2017, a VTTI-led team was awarded $4.9 million to provide the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) with research findings relative to options regarding technical translations of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). These include performance requirements, test procedures, and related Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance test procedures based on potential unnecessary/unintended regulatory barriers identified for self-certification and compliance verification of innovative new vehicle designs that may appear in vehicles equipped with automated driving systems (ADS). The FMVSS Considerations for Vehicles with Automated Driving Systems project is focused on vehicles that may not have manually operated driving controls (e.g., steering wheels, brakes) and may or may not have onboard occupants. The first phase of this project will finish during FY20, with a second phase expected to be awarded and research continuing through July 2021. More information about the project and related stakeholder meetings can be found at https://vtti.vt.edu/fmvss/.

02.VTTI continued to collaborate with 38 various organizations, including Booz Allen Hamilton, Bosch, Continental, GM, Google, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Southwest Research Institute, and Volkswagen/Audi. Together, they work under the NHTSA Vehicle Electronic Systems Safety IDIQ contract. This team was organized to respond to all aspects of the NHTSA project, including

electronics safe reliability, vehicle automation, cybersecurity, and related human factors considerations. To date, VTTI has received awards of more than $16.4 million under this contract.

03. VTTI continued to propose task orders released under a contract from the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academy of Sciences potentially worth an initial $2 million, with the possibility of additional funds. The task orders are designed to: 1) Identify critical issues associated with connected and automated vehicles that state and local transportation agencies and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) will face, 2) Conduct research to address those issues, and 3) Conduct related technology transfer and information exchange activities. VTTI is completing work on the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) 20-102(07) Implications of Automation for Motor Vehicle Codes, which explored the impact of automated driving systems on motor vehicle codes and other related domains.

04. The VTTI Automated Mobility Partnership (AMP) program was officially launched in 2018. This program brings together 13 industry leaders and aims to promote the development of tools, techniques, and data resources to support the development and evaluation of ADS. AMP is leveraging the naturalistic driving data housed at VTTI to develop a scenario library of crashes, near-crashes,

RE

SE

AR

CH

PR

OJ

EC

TS

15

and epochs. Data analytic techniques are then applied to inform decision making in different scenarios with rates of occurrence (e.g., identify prevalence) and descriptive kinematic analysis (e.g., parameter and measurement variances). Additionally, virtual tools are being used to reconstruct the scenarios to support the development and evaluation of ADS performance.

05.VTTI and partners Texas A&M Transportation Institute and San Diego State University — with support from VDOT — continued to conduct cutting-edge research via the Safety through Disruption National University Transportation Center (Safe-D UTC). The Safe-D UTC entails a planned $2.8 million per year in federal funding for five years, funding the study of how best to maximize the safety benefits of integrating technologies such as automation and connectivity into the transportation system. Motivated by an overall desire to promote safety on U.S. roadways, the Safe-D UTC focuses on three key areas:

1: Performing innovative research that is led by the largest consortium of transportation safety researchers in the nation and is largely focused on advanced-vehicle technologies, transportation as a service, and “big data” analytics2: Education/workforce development3: Sharing research findings with the broader transportation community through a robust technical transfer

16

PROJECTh i g h l i g h t s

process.

The Safe-D UTC award is representative of the hard work and dedication VTTI researchers have collectively put into studying the future of transportation. It provides a continued opportunity to work toward the safe and efficient development and deployment of the next generation of vehicles and technologies, inform national discourse about how best to mitigate rapidly growing transportation challenges, offer students unique hands-on experience in the field of transportation research, and provide more opportunities in the workforce.

06.VTTI continued to serve an integral role in the Virginia Tech Intelligent Infrastructure initiative, particularly in the area of advanced-vehicle research and development. In partnership with VDOT, the institute is expanding its Smart Road testing capabilities. The Surface Street Expansion and Live Roadway Connector were both completed during FY18, and completion of the first two phases of the Rural Roadway expansion is anticipated during FY20. Collectively, the expansions are dubbed the Virginia Smart Roads and will facilitate edge-and-corner, tailored, advanced, unique test-bed options for self-driving ground vehicles.

07.The Virginia Smart Roads also includes the Automation Hub, located adjacent to the Surface Street expansion. The Automation Hub houses advanced-vehicle initiatives to facilitate cutting-edge collaborations focused on advanced-vehicle research and ongoing development. The Automation Hub also serves as home to the InternHUB program, which was initiated with soft-start partner Continental Automotive. The InternHUB fosters collaboration between industry partners, VTTI researchers, and leading students from Virginia Tech. Student interns work for industry partners while in Blacksburg through collaborative sponsored research with VTTI faculty. Each summer, the interns leave Blacksburg for positions at their respective industry employer for a direct integration into the company’s business and engineering processes.

08.VTTI continued to develop relationships with both public and private sponsors. This year, VTTI initiated several new relationships with proprietary sponsors, which are likely to result in continued funding in future years.

09.VTTI concluded work on a contract sponsored by NHTSA to study how driver expectations for partial vehicle R

ES

EA

RC

H P

RO

JE

CT

S

17

automation change how drivers interact and use partial vehicle automation with different capabilities. This unique project uses a vehicle customized by VTTI that operates at different capability levels to manipulate capability independently of driver expectation.

10.In conjunction with VDOT, VTTI continued to expand the capability and utility of the Virginia Connected and Automated Corridors (VCC/VAC), with expenditures during FY19 of more than $738,000, which includes VTTI’s contribution ($4.86 million from inception to date). VTTI extended the VCC architecture to support the broadcast of signal phasing and timing data for 30 intersections on the Route 7, US 29, and US 50 corridors in Arlington County, Va. VTTI also added a real-time process that makes VCC data available to the VDOT smarterroads.org public data-sharing website.

11.In partnership with VDOT, VTTI created a proof-of-concept work zone builder (WZB) application. The WZB is a tablet application that allows VDOT work zone inspectors, as well as construction contractors, to lay out their work zone designs over a photo map while suggesting placement of various work zone features based on the requirements of the Virginia Work Area Protection manual. WZB compiles the completed work zone design into a data package that is published to the VCC Cloud, where it can be made available to connected and automated vehicles and

will fulfill the requirements for VDOT work zone management. The proof-of- concept WZB is being used to provide specifics for a fully featured version 1.0 of the application.

12.VTTI procured and installed a real-time kinematic GPS correction system on the VCC in Northern Virginia to support higher accuracy GPS data. The system provides additional GPS information to GPS receivers, enabling greater accuracy in location coordinates. The GPS real-time kinematic system will be used by VTTI to support demonstrations and research activities that require greater accuracy, such as lane-level connected-vehicle applications and pedestrian applications.

13.Following successful completion of the Advanced Message Concept Development project conducted with the Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership (CAMP), VTTI was awarded the Event Data Configurable Message project. This project aims to develop and evaluate connected-vehicle message architecture for flexible vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications.

14.Virginia Tech is one of 13 universities globally that have a preferred status for conducting research with Ford through the Ford Alliance program. A VTTI researcher acts as the Ford Alliance manager for Virginia Tech, helping coordinate Ford PI/Virginia Tech PI matchmaking and the development and submission of proposals from PIs

RE

SE

AR

CH

PR

OJ

EC

TS

18

PROJECTh i g h l i g h t s

across campus that ultimately compete for Ford research funding. During FY19, VTTI/Virginia Tech were awarded $3.6 million in contracts under this program.

15.VTTI continued to serve as a subcontractor to Morgan State University on its Tier 1 UTC, Urban Mobility & Equity Center (UMEC). UMEC is federally funded as a Tier 1 research center through the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. UMEC seeks to bolster the scientific foundation and discern equity implications for policies that focus on urban mobility. UMEC will contribute to the body of knowledge on which planning and policies are based by researching transit/paratransit and freight planning and operations; buyers’ acceptance, affordability, and government promotion of connected and automated vehicles; and the distribution of transportation costs and benefits, including user fees and taxes. Research focus areas include increasing access to opportunities, smart cities, novel modes of transport, systems integration, analytical tools to optimize movement, and regional planning.

16.VTTI was awarded one competitive project as part of UMEC, focused on devising eco-driving strategies for hybrid electric vehicles.

17.VTTI was awarded a Ford effort on developing tools to evaluate the mutual interdependencies and interactions of transportation and communication systems.

18.The Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) and VTTI completed work on an ARPA-E-funded project developing the Collaborative Optimization and Planning Transportation Energy Reduction control architecture. The architecture represents a complete solution for the TRANSNET goal, with comprehensive transportation network modeling, a decision-theoretic approach for system optimization, and explicit human behavior and influence modeling to maximize real-world impact. This project leverages PARC competencies in model-based control of complex systems and human cognitive modeling, the recognized leadership of VTTI in transportation modeling and control, and substantial incumbency of Xerox as a provider of transportation service solutions to U.S. cities to create a project that is meaningful, executable, and transitionable.

19.VTTI continued its work on a U.S. Department of Energy project to develop a novel Eco-Cooperative Automated Control (Eco-CAC) system that integrates vehicle dynamics control with connected- and automated-vehicle applications. The approach is revolutionary in that it develops a next-generation, vehicle dynamics-controlled connected- and automated-vehicle system that builds on existing connected- and automated-vehicle technologies to reduce the energy/fuel consumption of internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), battery-only electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and hybrid electric vehicles

RE

SE

AR

CH

PR

OJ

EC

TS

19

(HEVs). The development of the Eco-CAC system will involve the following key steps and components: 1) Develop a connected-vehicle eco-routing controller that can be used with the above vehicle types. This unique eco-router will compute vehicle routings optimized for the individual user and entire system. 2) Develop a speed harmonization controller that regulates the flow of traffic approaching bottlenecks in the network. This controller will be fully integrated with the vehicle router, resulting in a unique strategic controller that can route traffic away from congested areas and regulate the flow of traffic entering congested areas. 3) Develop a multi-modal (ICEVs, BEVs, PHEVs, and HEVs) Eco-Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control-I (Eco-CACC-I) controller that computes and implements optimum vehicle trajectories along multi-intersection roadways in consideration of dynamic vehicle queue predictions. 4) Develop an Eco-CACC-U controller that provides local longitudinal energy-optimal control in consideration of the homogenous and non-homogeneous vehicle platooning of ICEVs, BEVs, PHEVs, and HEVs.

20.VTTI continued to work with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and AASHTO to provide data sets and support to several state department of transportation research teams working on Phase III Implementation Assistance Program projects. The goal of these efforts is to identify safety problems and generate countermeasures that reduce risk and prevalence. As these

projects move into the implementation phase, deployment of research-driven countermeasures to improve traffic safety is expected.

21.VTTI worked with FHWA to provide data sets to several research teams working in the second phase of the FHWA Broad Agency Announcement related to traffic safety countermeasures. These efforts have transitioned from a pilot research phase into full investigations and continue to leverage the VTTI naturalistic driving data to decrease risks across all roadway users.

22.As part of its role as operator of the Second Strategic Highway Research Program Naturalistic Driving Study (SHRP 2 NDS) data set, VTTI provided data to support dozens of research projects, primarily geared toward advancing transportation safety, as sponsored and performed by academic institutions, state departments of transportation, the federal government, research organizations, as well as private industry partners. VTTI is in the planning stages for the next phase in the operation of this data set, which will begin in April 2020.

23.VTTI was awarded additional projects to increase accessibility to and improve the research value of the SHRP 2 NDS data. These projects include de-identification of trip origin and destination, integrating weather data with NDS data, and developing an NDS machine-learning data set. Work continued on past related projects

RE

SE

AR

CH

PR

OJ

EC

TS

20

PROJECTh i g h l i g h t s

intended to allow for remote access to some data and cataloging of eye-glance behaviors during crashes, near-crashes, and sample periods of normal driving within the SHRP 2 NDS.

24.VTTI continued to operate its own Dataverse repository, providing indexing, citation, and storage for transportation data sets generated within the initiatives of the institute. The repository provides direct access to dozens of data sets, along with metadata for more than 100 data sets that can be accessed after a data use license is executed by the interested researchers.

25.Institute researchers continued work with the FHWA to provide support and expand the capabilities of a secure data enclave at the Safety Training and Analysis Center, which allows secure access to the SHRP 2 NDS data for federal employees, state departments of transportation, and their research partners. Work undertaken during FY19 is expected to expand access within the center to include the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Supervised Practice Driving Study.

26.ISO Technical Report ISO/TR 21974-1:2018: Naturalistic Driving Studies – Vocabulary – Part 1: Safety critical events was published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The report provides a standard vocabulary for coding the characteristics of safety-critical events (e.g., crashes, near-crashes) occurring in naturalistic driving studies,

thereby creating a common terminology for monitoring, coding, and analyzing naturalistic driving data. The ISO Road Vehicle Ergonomics subcommittee—on which several VTTI researchers serve as contributing members—continues work in this area and is currently preparing an updated technical report to add a vocabulary for the assessment of driver behaviors and conditions.

27.ISO Technical Report ISO/TR 21959-1:2018: Road Vehicles – Human Performance and State in the Context of Automated Driving – Part 1: Common Underlying Concepts was published by the ISO. The report introduces basic common underlying concepts related to driver performance and state in the context of automated driving. VTTI contributes to this task force as a co-convener and is currently supporting efforts for a second part to this technical report, to be published in 2020.

28.ISO Technical Report ISO/TR 23049:2018: Road Vehicles – Ergonomic Aspects of External Visual Communication from Automated Vehicles to Other Road Users was published by the ISO. VTTI contributed to this technical report, which provides guidance for developers of visual external communication systems for automated vehicles.

29.Under the guidance of a VTTI faculty member, a group of Virginia Tech engineering graduate students won the international championship for the 2019 Collegiate Student Safety Technology

RE

SE

AR

CH

PR

OJ

EC

TS

21

Design Competition (SSTDC), hosted by NHTSA in the Netherlands. A panel of vehicle safety engineering experts from around the world awarded the students for their rear-end collision safety feature, called Pre Rear-End Positioning and Risk Extenuation System (PREPARES). When an imminent collision is detected via an algorithm, PREPARES beeps and flashes a bright light across the top of the windshield as a warning to the driver and passengers. The alert prompts vehicle occupants to sit upright and face forward in the seconds prior to impact, thereby reducing the severity of whiplash and other soft tissue injuries.

30.VDOT and VTTI continued its accelerated pavement testing program, which uses a heavy-vehicle simulator that continuously applies a weighted load to test pavements for several months. This testing simulates the natural wear and tear caused by heavy trucks on road surfaces. The program is expected to result in cost savings in road maintenance and will enable VDOT to determine how different pavement designs and materials respond to load testing prior to integration on the road. Since its inception in 2015, the program has resulted in approximately $2.16 million in expenditures.

31.In partnership with VDOT, VTTI initiated and is leading a $3 million pooled-fund project that is supporting the implementation of traffic speed deflectometers (TSDDs) across the United States. To facilitate effective implementation of TSDDs and incorporation of the TSDD data into pavement management decision making, the research team is developing guidance on: 1) Data collection protocols, 2) Data interpretation guidelines for network- and project-level applications, and 3) Development of a framework to implement continuous deflection measurements as part of the agency’s pavement management system.

32.VTTI has partnered with the Virginia Transportation Research Council (VTRC) to instrument and monitor a section on Interstate 64 to quantify the response of recycled pavement sections subjected to known loadings and to monitor the performance for one year. This will facilitate a better understanding of the behavior of the recycled materials and facilitate their use throughout the state.

RE

SE

AR

CH

PR

OJ

EC

TS

22

PROJECTh i g h l i g h t s

33.VTTI was awarded a VDOT project to document the early functional and structural performances of various pavement recycling projects in Virginia and to quantify the life-cycle cost and environmental benefits of different treatments in comparison with traditional rehabilitation approaches.

34.VTTI was selected to develop a pilot pavement friction

management program for the North Dakota Department of Transportation under Pavement Surface Properties Consortium – Managing the Pavement Properties for Improved Safety.

35.VTTI began work in collaboration with several departments across campus to develop a health and injury control center in 2014. This evolving center is designed to enhance research opportunities that promote driver health and wellness and reduce injuries. To date, collaborating departments include Fralin; Psychology; Biomedical Engineering; Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise; the Virginia Tech Center for Autism Research; Computer Science; Gerontology; Construction; the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute; the Virginia Tech Child Study Center; and the Virginia Tech Child Development Center. During FY19, faculty and researchers working under this initiative submitted white papers and proposals to several organizations, including the Center for Transformative Research on Health Behaviours, the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program, NSTSCE, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), NIH, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the NCHRP of the TRB, and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Through these efforts, the team continues to search for funding opportunities and possible collaborations.

36.Institute researchers collaborated with Virginia Tech departments, 23

including Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, to foster dual appointment opportunities among VTTI faculty where strategically advantageous. Four VTTI researchers now hold such appointments, with a fifth dual appointment anticipated during FY20.

37.VTTI continued as a subcontractor to North Carolina A&T State University on its Tier 1 Center for Advanced Transportation Mobility (CATM) UTC. CATM is a consortium consisting of three higher education institutions: North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (lead), Virginia Tech, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – Daytona Beach. These institutions collaborate on projects focused on identifying solutions to mobility concerns within two primary areas:

1) Enabling safe and efficient mobility for vulnerable road users2) Optimizing mobility in emergencies

The center conducts research, outreach, and educational activities to address the transportation needs of an extremely broad spectrum of the U.S. population, thereby helping the nation maintain its competitive advantage in the global economy. VTTI researchers are leading CATM UTC studies focused on providing first- and last-mile connectivity for vulnerable road users (VRUs); providing an application development platform to assist VRUs in moving through any

space from a current location to a destination; and surveying VRUs to better understand their unique mobility problems, perspectives, needs, and hoped-for solutions.

38.VTTI continued to work with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the NIH-National Eye Institute on a naturalistic driving study assessing vision impairment among older drivers. Driving is a highly visual task, and older adults have a high prevalence of vision impairment compared to other ages. Most studies addressing visual risk factors for MVCs by older drivers use vehicle accident reports as the primary outcome, an approach that has several methodological limitations. Naturalistic driving research methods overcome these challenges and involve installing a high-tech yet unobtrusive data acquisition system (DAS) in an older driver’s own vehicle, operating whenever the vehicle is turned on. The DAS continuously records multi-channel video of driver and roadway, sensor-based kinematics, GPS location, and presence of nearby objects in front of the vehicle, providing an objective measure of driving exposure (miles driven), which are all recorded onto a data drive in the DAS. In this naturalistic driving study, the purpose is to examine the relationship between seniors’ vision and crashes and near-crashes, lane-keeping, turning at intersections, driving performance during secondary task demands, and the role of front-seat passengers. Results of the on-

RE

SE

AR

CH

PR

OJ

EC

TS

24

PROJECTh i g h l i g h t s

road driving evaluation are compared to objective indicators of driving safety derived from the naturalistic data. Data collection for this project was completed in November 2018; analysis efforts are ongoing.

39.VTTI researchers with the Safe-D UTC examined senior drivers’ adaptation to mixed-level automated vehicles. The aging of society will continue to impact all of society’s major institutions in a variety of ways for decades to come. Major areas that will be affected include finance, housing, health, and transportation. Automated-vehicle technology has the potential to assist older drivers by reducing exposure to hazards. Such technology can help compensate for declining functional health and related abilities often seen in seniors (e.g., cognition, perception, psychomotor skill, and physical abilities such as strength, balance, flexibility, stamina, and reaction time). However, this can only work if technology designers, policy makers, and other stakeholders fully consider the needs and feelings of this growing cohort. The objective of the proposed project is to examine seniors’ attitudes toward automated-vehicle technology prior to any substantive exposure or use, then again after having

the opportunity to explore and use automated-vehicle technology in the real world for six weeks. Participants were asked to complete before/after and weekly surveys and contribute to focus group sessions. Analysis efforts are underway, and the results and data will be productized and shared with key stakeholders.

40.VTTI continued to collaborate with the University of New South Wales (UNSW) on the Australian Naturalistic Driving Study. Led by researchers at the Transport and Road Safety Group at UNSW and Monash University Accident Research Centre, the Australian consortium supporting this research effort also included funders and stakeholders from the central government and a broad array of industry partners. The goals for this effort are to document normative driving behaviors in Australia and to investigate the interactions of motor vehicles with bicyclists and pedestrians. VTTI continues to support data analysis activities for this project.

41.VTTI collaborated with researchers from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and partners in the rideshare industry to identify factors that affect when parents of young children use or R

ES

EA

RC

H P

RO

JE

CT

S

25

do not use child safety seats in rideshare vehicles. This information is being used to create an informational website designed to educate both parents and rideshare drivers about existing laws and regulations across the country, as well as the benefits and guidelines for usage of child safety seats. The final report is currently under revision, and a journal article is in preparation. Additionally, the research team conducted significant media outreach for the project.

42.VTTI worked with researchers at the University of Virginia to investigate the driving performance of newly licensed teen drivers with autism compared to newly licensed drivers without autism and experienced adult drivers. This study uses a unique dual-methodology interface, where the same participants drive in a driving simulator followed by driving an instrumented vehicle on a similar course on real roads. Results have been analyzed, and multiple journal articles have been submitted or are in preparation.

43. VTTI partnered with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute and Chalmers University on a project sponsored by the Automobile Alliance that is evaluating various epidemiological methods of estimating crash risk using naturalistic driving data. The final project report was submitted in November 2018, and the research team is working on several additional publications.

44.VTTI researchers worked with the Transportation Association of Canada and the Canadian Council of Deputy Ministers of Transport to develop a website for the Canada Naturalistic Driving Study. This website provides a public portal to allow researchers and interested safety professionals a method to assess what type of data are available within this public data set, as well as a query tool to assess not only the type of data but also the quantity of data available within this naturalistic driving data set.

45.VTTI researchers conducted additional data coding to better assess parent/teen interactions and secondary task engagement by teen drivers using the Uniform Naturalistic Teenage Driving Database. This additional data coding was performed by VTTI researchers in collaboration with researchers at the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development and EMMES, Corp. Data reduction is complete, with plans to pursue additional funding for analysis.

46.VTTI researchers evaluated the prevalence of the engagement of driver assistance systems by drivers and secondary task engagement and errors when using driver assistance systems. This work is sponsored by the State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. Data reduction is complete, and the research team is working on data analysis and a final report to be submitted in October 2019.

RE

SE

AR

CH

PR

OJ

EC

TS

26

PROJECTh i g h l i g h t s

47.The impact of driver monitoring and feedback on teen driver secondary task engagement was evaluated for an NSTSCE project. This study used the Driver Coach Study database where case-cohort control segments were identified and coded by trained data coders. Using these newly coded data, the prevalence of secondary task engagement was evaluated as compared to the control study, which indicated a decrease in high-risk secondary tasks in the presence of a monitoring and feedback system. Analysis for the project is complete, and a final report has been submitted to NSTSCE for review.

48.An onboard multimedia training program was developed by VTTI researchers to teach drivers about the automated-vehicle systems that are present and available on a vehicle. This multimedia presentation used a tablet display on the center stack and an instrument panel display. This project was conducted for the Safe-D UTC.

49.VTTI completed an FMCSA project to research how developers of highly automated commercial vehicles (HACVs) and their applications can ensure safe testing and deployment. VTTI used existing performance data from commercial vehicle drivers to develop performance baselines that may be applied to future HACVs. These baselines are specific to both operational domains in which HACVs are expected to be deployed and how their capabilities are expected to develop. The investigation assessed which drivers should be used to

define a baseline across each operational design domain and different vehicle conflict types (i.e., low-level conflicts, near-crashes, and crashes). VTTI also investigated how developers plan to ensure sensor integrity and performance, how vehicle maintenance and inspection will be handled, and the roles FMCSA may have in these processes.

50.VTTI completed an FMCSA project to research the barriers that are limiting the adoption of automatic emergency braking (AEB) technology on commercial vehicles. This technology has the potential to mitigate or prevent heavy-vehicle crashes and reduce fatalities on U.S. roadways. VTTI investigated both technology barriers and market barriers that affect fleets’ perceptions, return on investment, and decision making on AEB. VTTI also developed strategies for overcoming those barriers to accelerate the adoption of AEB systems.

51.VTTI continued working with NHTSA to acquire approval from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget to proceed with the Field Study of Newer Generation Heavy Vehicle AEB Systems, which was originally awarded in September 2016. Once approval is acquired, VTTI will instrument data recorders on 150 heavy vehicles equipped with AEB systems during revenue-producing operations. The study will use the data to evaluate real-world performance, understand how drivers interact with the systems, and provide data for modeling the safety benefits of

RE

SE

AR

CH

PR

OJ

EC

TS

27

the technology.

52.VTTI partnered with San Diego State University to develop models for predicting individual crash involvement based on various driver characteristics—such as driving style, demographics, behavioral history—using naturalistic driving data. The project also involved collaborations with Delft University in The Netherlands and the driving analytics company SmartDrive. The research team identified enduring personality characteristics and behaviors of drivers to predict the likelihood of future crashes and high-risk behaviors.

53.VTTI collaborated with NSTSCE to investigate truck following distances and car cut-in behavior in naturalistic conditions. Cut-in is often mentioned as one of the possible hurdles for wide-scale deployment of truck platoons. Even if a platooning application can safely handle cut-ins, they can disrupt the platoon and greatly reduce benefits in terms of fuel savings, safety, and transport efficiency. This project used existing naturalistic driving data housed at VTTI to study car cut-in behavior. A cut-in detection algorithm based on the radar data was developed. A major focus of this study is analyzing the gap between the lead vehicle and the host vehicle (i.e., subject vehicle of the study) before and during cut-in events to quantify the probability of a possible cut-in during real traffic. The project also investigates how a cut-in event changes the behavior of a following vehicle and

the potential safety concerns related to such behaviors.

54.VTTI is leading an FTA-funded research project with the New York City Transit Department of Buses. This project is designed to enhance pedestrian, bicyclist, and vehicle operator safety by identifying the limitations of current mirror configurations that accommodate a range of operators.The project will lead to the development of a uniform set of guidelines for low-floor transit buses and demonstrate a mirror solution set in New York City.

55.VTTI is partnering with Pierce Transit, the Washington State Transit Insurance Pool, and the University of Washington on a project funded by FTA to demonstrate collision avoidance performance on buses in Washington. As a subcontractor, VTTI will evaluate driver attitudes and trust in warning-only collision avoidance systems and evaluate the systems in a sample of real-world active braking system avoidance events. The methods will include comparing longitudinal driver reports to system alert records and collecting/measuring the motion of unrestrained passengers on buses with and without active braking.

56.VTTI developed a tool to help fleets calculate the ROI on advanced safety technologies. This ROI tool is a customizable calculator that allows fleets to enter information about their own operations (or use national averages if they are unsure) to understand the

RE

SE

AR

CH

PR

OJ

EC

TS

28

PROJECTh i g h l i g h t s

ROI that different technologies may have within a five-year window. The purpose of this study is to create a web-based version of the calculator to ease dissemination efforts and to eliminate complexity associated with an Excel-based version.

57.VTTI will develop training materials about defensive driving and safe driving for snowplow operators. Each winter, snowplows are struck by other vehicles, costing agencies money in repair and replacement costs and affecting traveler safety due to lost plowing time. Rear-end collisions and crashes during turning movements are two common types of crashes. Although snowplow operators are rarely at-fault in these crashes, training operators on defensive driving practices—and reviewing general safe driving practices—may help reduce the likelihood of collisions caused by other drivers. This project has been developed by Clear Roads, an ongoing pooled-fund research project aimed at rigorous testing of winter maintenance materials, equipment, and methods for use by highway maintenance crews.

58.VTTI researchers worked on a project funded by NSTSCE to conduct a literature review of Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke (PVH) and the current systems available to help counteract this occurrence. Researchers also designed a study that evaluates currently available original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and aftermarket systems for PVH.

59.VTTI partnered with the Virginia Tech Psychology Department and Texas A&M University to evaluate tacit communication behaviors of drivers at pedestrian crosswalks. The data collected in this project were used to successfully defend a psychology department dissertation.

60.VTTI researchers worked on an NSTSCE-funded project to investigate risky behaviors of pedestrians. Researchers will use previously collected data sets, with the goal of developing new sets of video reduction protocols for future use.

61.VTTI researchers worked on an NSTSCE-funded project to investigate the rate at which different conditions and maneuvers in automated-vehicle operational design domains (ODDs) occur.

62.VTTI researchers worked on an NSTSCE-funded project to leverage naturalistic driving data to analyze vehicle kinematic variables toward the evaluation of roadway infrastructure design.

63.VTTI and the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research at Virginia Tech were awarded a subcontract under the University of Kentucky to introduce an autonomous shuttle car into room-and-pillar coal mines. Funding originates from the Alpha Foundation, which was established to improve mine safety and health. This is a four-year project involving a cognitive

RE

SE

AR

CH

PR

OJ

EC

TS

29

work analysis on the framework of the organizational work domain, which is important for understanding and outlining the constraints in replacing manual roles with automated systems. Further work involves development and testing of the autonomous shuttle car vehicle.

64.The VTTI-affiliated Global Center for Automotive Performance Simulation (GCAPS) has established many new clients in the India tire and transportation market. GCAPS is also realizing significant growth in China relative to tire testing, tire modeling, and vehicle modeling, thereby providing great upside potential. GCAPS has also completed joint tire test research with UAB.

65.Through the U.S. Department of Energy project Investigating the Health Impacts of Outdoor Lighting, VTTI has measured the impact of lighting on melatonin levels in realistic outdoor lighting levels. Over a 14-week period, 29 participants were evaluated for melatonin in driving, pedestrian, and sleeping conditions, resulting in collection of more than 1,800 melatonin samples. The samples are currently being assessed, and the results should provide guidance for decision makers selecting

light sources for outdoor spaces and inform the public about the potential health impacts of outdoor lighting. This project is a partnership between VTTI and Thomas Jefferson University.

66.VTTI was awarded a federal project to consider pedestrian lighting, both to provide visibility of and for pedestrians. The work includes a test on the Smart Road highway section using drivers and on the Surface Street Expansion using both adult and child pedestrians.

67.VTTI continues U.S. Department of Energy efforts to consider the limitations of the acceptance of solid-state lighting (SSL) through an investigation of the impact of adaptive lighting in a city environment. Using Cambridge, Mass., as an example where adaptive lighting has been implemented in a city, the team is planning to investigate the public acceptance of a lighting system that dims at certain points during the day. The project also considers criteria such as crime and crash statistics. Additional investigations will include factors such as system maintenance and overall cost.

68.VTTI was awarded an NCHRP project to investigate the impact

RE

SE

AR

CH

PR

OJ

EC

TS

30

PROJECTh i g h l i g h t s

of LED roadway lighting on driver sleep health and alertness. The objective of this research is to develop a guidance document for state departments of transportation that:

1: Describes the effects of LED roadway lighting on the sleep health and alertness of drivers, with attention to the illuminance, duration, and spectral power distribution (SPD) of the LED lighting2: Compares these effects to those of high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting and the absence of roadway lighting3: Suggests methods to mitigate the effects, if any, of LED roadway lighting on sleep health and alertness

69.VTTI was awarded a project by the Illinois Center for Transportation to study the effects of intersection and midblock crosswalk lighting designs on pedestrian visibility. The results will inform the development of new lighting standards for crosswalks at intersections and midblock locations.

70.VTTI was awarded a small project to investigate the safety benefits of narrow-beam LEDs for lighting crosswalks.

71.VTTI has completed a project in partnership with WSP to develop guidelines for the implementation of

SSL in roadways. This project was funded as NCHRP Project 5-22.

72.VTTI is investigating the lighting at intersections for VDOT. Twenty-five urban and rural intersections will be investigated using in situ lighting levels and crash statistics to consider the required lighting levels at intersections.

RE

SE

AR

CH

PR

OJ

EC

TS

31

73.VTTI continued to investigate the impact of lighting on driver behavior through continued studies of measured lighting in Washington and North Carolina, along with California data. This effort is in its third phase and considers a variety of lighting alternatives.

74.VTTI has been awarded a project considering the possible impact of low-cost delineation systems on curve performance. This will include the nature and frequency of solutions (e.g., bollards and chevrons) relative to drivers and driving performance in a wide variety of applications ranging from interstate roadways to rural applications.

75.VTTI has been awarded a project by the Illinois Department of Transportation to consider high-mast lighting applications. This effort will include crash assessments, in situ lighting assessments, and alternative design developments.

76.VTTI completed a project that considers how VDOT conveys travel information to truck drivers. VTTI conducted surveys and interviews of truck drivers and other industry personnel to determine how they receive such information, what information is most important, and in what ways dissemination of the information could be improved.

77.VTTI continues to support the FHWA in the implementation of roundabouts and the assessment of their performance. Flying drone videos are being used during this project wherein the vehicle path and behaviors are considered.

78.VTTI continued its efforts in working with the visibility of police vehicles. Eight agencies, including state police in Virginia, have had new lighting

RE

SE

AR

CH

PR

OJ

EC

TS

32

PROJECTh i g h l i g h t s

and markings added to their vehicles to assess visibility and officer comfort.

79.VTTI completed a project that investigated contributing factors and the impacts that they have on fixed-object crashes. The project used the SHRP 2 NDS data, which included detailed video files, time-series data, and roadway information for nearly 2,000 events relevant to fixed-object crashes. The results provided insights into how and why fixed-object crashes occurred and what countermeasures could be used to prevent such crashes.

80.VTTI continued working on an FHWA project to quantify the lives saved and injuries prevented nationwide due to the use of a selected number of safety infrastructure categories. This is the first attempt made nationwide to estimate the safety benefits of key transportation safety infrastructure devices. The project will enable federal and state transportation agencies to qualitatively demonstrate the fatalities and injuries prevented by transportation infrastructure investments and provide justification for needed infrastructure.

81.VTTI provided extensive support for various lighting and visibility applications within the Commonwealth of Virginia. The color of light sources, particularly LED, has been a major topic of discussion. Through this effort, a new policy on lighting and light type was developed and implemented by VDOT.

82.VTTI partnered with researchers at North Carolina State University on a CATM project focused on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for optimizing the routing of emergency vehicles to avoid congestion and obstructions.

83.In 2018, VTTI acquired a low-speed autonomous vehicle shuttle that will be used to support research on last-mile integration with bus transit for the mobility of VRUs, such as seniors and the disabled.

84.Nanosonic has contracted VTTI researchers for assistance with an SBIR project focused on icephobic coatings for wind turbine blades and the potential impact on nearby transportation and natural resources.

85.VTTI conducted research involving the use of automated placard readers to effectively provide advance notifications to critical facility operators. The project assessed the readiness of automated hazardous material placard readers for their reliable and effective roadside deployment. Findings from the study indicated that several hazmat placard readers were readily available for deployment, and they provided capabilities for installations requiring specific features.

86.VTTI is working with the Appalachian Regional Commission on a project that evaluates the extent and impact of the Interstate 81 corridor and its relevance to the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS).

RE

SE

AR

CH

PR

OJ

EC

TS

33

The intent of this project is to use more objective sources of data (e.g., origin-destination traffic data) to better define the corridor.

87.VTTI is conducting the NSTSCE-funded Evaluation of Truck Parking Needs in a Changing Regulatory Environment project. The purpose of this project is to work with fleet safety partners and/or fleet management system providers to acquire hours-of-service data and geographic location data. The ultimate goal of this study is to inform the decisions made by truck parking providers, planners, and other stakeholders.

88.SBIR work will be conducted in partnership with Nanosonic and other Virginia Tech researchers on the use of conductive coatings on roadways for communication transmission.

89.The VTTI-affiliated Center for Injury Biomechanics continued to conduct groundbreaking research into injury biomechanics, injury modeling, and transportation-related injury biomechanics. Transportation-related projects awarded included the NHTSA-funded FMVSS Considerations for Vehicles with Automated Driving Systems project (VTTI serves as the PI) and providing biomechanics findings for ATD design and responses in ADS-equipped vehicle crashworthiness.

90.VTTI maintains a small data center on its campus and has a much larger high performance computing

(HPC) infrastructure co-located at the Virginia Tech Andrews Information Systems Building to take advantage of internal and external high-speed networking and the physical space required to house clustered servers, multi-petabyte HPC storage systems, and a multi-petabyte (PB) DB2 data analytics system. Continually growing capacities include a 4.2 PB database and associated storage, 10.2 PB Network Attached Storage (NAS), and 7 PB archive storage. Compute processing is driven by 1,920 cores and 37 Graphical Processing Units (GPUs).

ADDITIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTSSAE Award for Excellence in Oral Presentation2019 SAE World Congress Luke Riexinger, Faculty Advisor Clay Gabler

Gundolf Beier Foundation Award International Research Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury (IRCOBI) Conference Luke Riexinger, Faculty Advisor Clay Gabler

Best Student Scientific Paper in Student Symposium Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine 2018 Conference Samantha Haus, Faculty Advisor Clay Gabler

Best Student Poster Presentation Award 2019 OSU Injury Biomechanics SymposiumMichael Katzenberger, Faculty Advisor Andrew Kemper

Best Student Paper Award 2018 International Stapp Car Crash ConferenceDevon Albert, Faculty Advisor Andrew Kemper

RE

SE

AR

CH

PR

OJ

EC

TS

34

PROJECTh i g h l i g h t s

01.VTTI houses approximately 90% of the national and international naturalistic driving data in the world. With onsite data reduction labs and extensive analysis experience, the institute realized the role it could play in helping others mine and reduce its data to answer subsequent research questions about driver behavior and performance. The labs provide abundant opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to receive advanced training and participate in data reduction and analysis activities conducted at VTTI. During FY19, the Data Reduction Group at VTTI employed 60 current Virginia Tech students, of which 52 (87%) were undergraduates.

02.In collaboration with affiliated faculty in the departments of civil and environmental engineering, industrial and systems engineering, psychology, and statistics, VTTI is offering the Human Factors of Transportation Safety Graduate Certificate Program (HFTS GCP). The certificate program is designed to create and deliver to students in-depth knowledge and marketable skills applied to the research, evaluation, maintenance, improvement, and protection of all ground transportation users and their communities, all from a human factors perspective. Students enrolled in the program will become leaders in the field of transportation safety within the Commonwealth, across the nation, and internationally.

03.In collaboration with TRB of the National Academy of Sciences, VTTI generated and made available transportation data sets that were delivered free-of-charge to nine graduate students around the country, selected through a competitive process, to support their theses and/or dissertation research.

04.VTTI administered a connected- and automated-vehicle training program for VDOT employees at the request of VDOT. The program was designed to provide information, relative to VDOT operations, about connected- and automated-vehicle development.

05.VTTI maintained a VCC website that describes all aspects of the VCC, including the purpose, technical description, goals, and how interested third parties can become involved. More information is available at https://www.vtti.vt.edu/vcc/.

06.The Safe-D National UTC is dedicated to fostering education and workforce development opportunities. Each research project funded through the Safe-D UTC must include student support at any level (i.e., undergraduate and/or graduate). During FY19, Safe-D UTC researchers reported supporting 48 university-level students on their projects, including 14 students from underrepresented populations. Safe-D encourages project teams to include students in every E

DU

CA

TIO

N &

OU

TR

EA

CH Additional information may be found in the Outreach & Community Engagement, Media Coverage, and Presentations sections of this report.

35

aspect of research, such as reviewing literature and methods, assisting with the development of experimental design and study protocols, assisting in executing a research experiment, contributing to project reports and publications, and presenting research results at conferences and seminars. Most research projects funded through Safe-D also contribute to a student’s thesis or dissertation.

07.Safe-D National UTC researchers were actively engaged in teaching efforts at each of the consortium universities.

08.Safe-D UTC activities aim to inspire and educate the next generation of transportation professionals at all levels of education, . Safe-D research projects must include an education and workforce development component as an output of each project. This requires project teams to identify specific education and workforce development products from their projects for development and dissemination. These products can include K-12 curriculum modules to be used by teachers at various levels to educate students about the results of project research, full university-level course development, and educating the public about various aspects of research and transportation safety.

09.Safe-D National UTC researchers focused on encouraging students to pursue STEM fields and enter the transportation workforce through events such as the VDOT Northern Virginia District Annual Transportation Career Fair,

the Virginia Tech Science Festival, and outreach performed with K-12 teachers and directly with students in their classrooms.

10.During the 5th Virginia Tech Science Festival, Safe-D National UTC and VTTI researchers hosted an exhibit called “Technology in Motion – How Computers Move Us.” This exhibit aimed to teach festival participants about the advanced technologies being implemented in the area of transportation. Attendees could participate in several demonstrations, including observing representations of themselves as they traversed a LIDAR sensing field and learning about the different functionalities of instrumented helmets, wristbands, and vests.

11.During 2019, the Safe-D National UTC supported the collaborative summer internship program held at Texas A&M Transportation Institute. Through this program, interns are matched with mentors and research projects, including many led by Safe-D faculty, to gain hands-on experience in transportation research.

12.The Safe-D UTC is committed to supporting partners at consortium members’ respective state departments of transportation. For example, the UTC participated in the 14th annual VDOT Transportation Career Fair. This event targets high school students from the surrounding area, introducing them to careers involving the transportation industry. Along with more than 100 different exhibitors spanning the industry (e.g., construction, military, government), Safe-D researchers and students spoke

ED

UC

AT

ION

& O

UT

RE

AC

H

36

PROJECTh i g h l i g h t s

with hundreds of students about the mission of Safe-D and VTTI, the types of projects that are conducted, and careers in transportation. The event provided an opportunity to display innovative endeavors happening within the transportation industry and to inform students and excite them about the future of transportation.

13.With support from public and private sponsors and the Safe-D National UTC, the VTTI InternHUB is providing advanced training and practical hands-on experience to students in a variety of transportation-related areas and the opportunity to collaborate with faculty across Safe-D consortium universities.

14.Safe-D National UTC researchers presented at various science fairs and science nights held at schools across Virginia and in partnering states.

15.VTTI researchers visited Sudley Elementary in Manassas, Va., to showcase transportation research, demonstrating different types of advanced-vehicle technologies to five classes of elementary students.The demonstrations included explanations of how advanced vehicles work and how they can improve driving safety.

16.VTTI maintained membership within the ISO Road Vehicle Ergonomics subcommittee and coordinated the development and publication of two technical reports: 1) Automated-vehicle terms and definitions and 2) Automated-vehicle visual external communication.ED

UC

AT

ION

& O

UT

RE

AC

H

37

17. VTTI was awarded a project through the FMCSA High Priority program to provide key information to driver education students on how to safely share the road with commercial motor vehicles. This project will involve onsite education and hands-on demonstrations at 25 high school driver education programs. VTTI submitted a proposal to the FMCSA High Priority program to expand the scope of its current Share the Road education project.

18.VTTI co-organized the breakout session on Automated Vehicle External Communication and Human Factors Implications at the Automated Vehicles Symposium in San Francisco, Calif.

19.VTTI will participate in the Global Entrepreneur Partnership hosted by Virginia Tech Outreach and International Affairs and VT KnowledgeWorks. Student teams and faculty representing 14 institutions from 12 countries will explore resources for entrepreneurs, insights on starting a business, considerations of expanding into new markets, and entrepreneurship support programs and innovations. Student teams will present their business concepts for $45,000 in cash prizes.

20.VTTI hosted the 7th International Symposium on Naturalistic Driving Research in Blacksburg, Va.

21.The Driving Healthy website was updated to provide information and tips for commercial motor vehicle drivers. The information includes Eating & Living

ED

UC

AT

ION

& O

UT

RE

AC

H

38

PROJECTh i g h l i g h t s

Healthy and Prevention & Screening. The website is useful not only to professional drivers but also to the general public.

22.VTTI continued the development of the FMCSA Data Repository, which, when opened, will host a number of FMCSA data sets that researchers can use to improve traffic safety and operations. These data sets will be available to researchers at no cost.

23.VTTI continued to operate the InSight website, which makes information and data elements of the SHRP 2 NDS available to researchers around the world at no cost. Version 3.2 of the website, including functionality and data updates, was prepared for release during FY19.

24.VTTI began working on a Data Visualization Portal, which will provide several free-access analytics sets for use, along with private credentialed access for sponsors.

25.VTTI hosted numerous research groups in its secure data enclave, which allows for access to sensitive portions of the naturalistic driving data housed at the institute.

26.The InSight Canada Data Access website continues to be operated. The website makes data elements from the Canada Naturalistic Driving Study available to researchers around the world at no cost.

27.VTTI researchers and staff serve on multiple TRB committees

and subcommittees. These include the Committees on Statistical Methods; Safety Data, Analysis, and Evaluation; Winter Maintenance; and Air Quality and the Subcommittee on Unmanned Aerial Systems. These researchers provide valuable input into a broad range of transportation concerns.

28.A representative from the Safe-D National UTC presented program activities to high school students at the Thomas Jefferson Symposium to Advance Research (tjSTAR). VTTI emphasized careers available in transportation and opportunities available to students under the Safe-D Education and Workforce Development Program. tjSTAR is an annual, day-long symposium at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, the Governor’s School for Science and Technology in Northern Virginia. The event offers the opportunity to share student research projects and learn about future research opportunities and potential careers.

29.A VTTI researcher serves on the selection committee for the Alphonse Chapanis award given by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. The award recognizes the best student paper submitted to the annual meeting of the society.

30.A VTTI researcher served as the conference chair of the 2019 Quadrennial meeting of the International Commission on Illumination (CIE).E

DU

CA

TIO

N &

OU

TR

EA

CH

39

31.VTTI hosted the 2nd Annual CATM Symposium on November 5, 2018, at the Warm Hearth Village in Blacksburg, Va. The symposium provided students, researchers, and affiliated faculty from the member consortium the opportunity to share updates on projects funded through the UTC. Mohammed Yousuf, program manager for the US DOT Accessible Transportation Technologies Research Initiative, provided the keynote address.

32.VTTI secured a grant from the National Safety Council Road to Zero Coalition to expand its Sharing the Road (STR) with Trucks program. The goal of the project is to further increase newly licensed teen drivers’ knowledge of safe driving practices related to STR with commercial motor vehicles. During the project, VTTI will conduct 15 hands-on demonstrations in driver education classes throughout the mid-Atlantic region during the 2019-2020 school year. VTTI will also create an implementation manual and instructor toolbox that allow drivers’ education teachers to recreate the STR with Trucks program.

33.VTTI co-organized a breakout session on Trucking Automation: Highly Automated and Platooning Cargo Transport at the Automated Vehicles Symposium in San Francisco, Calif. VTTI is coordinating the same session for presentation in Orlando, Fla.

34.VTTI was featured in a news story that ran on NBC 4 in Washington, DC, that highlighted the Virginia Smart Roads Surface Street facilities and new

protocols being developed to test a new AEB system for transit buses that may help mitigate the risks to pedestrians in traffic. This work is funded through the FTA, in partnership with the Washington State Transit Insurance Pool, Pierce Transit, and others.

35.VTTI researchers are involved with the Illuminating Engineering Society Roadway Lighting Committee, the Vision Science Committee, the Discomfort Glare in Outdoor Nighttime Environment Committee, the Resilient Lighting Committee, and the Outdoor Environmental Lighting Committee.

36.A VTTI researcher was elected as a representative for research faculty to the Virginia Tech Commission on Research.

37.A VTTI researcher organized and advised a Virginia Tech student team on their Pre Rear-End Positioning and Risk Extenuation System (PREPARES) project. This team submitted their novel active safety system concept to the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV) competition organized by NHTSA. The team won the national competition and advanced to the international competition in Eindhoven, where they took the international championship for the United States.

ED

UC

AT

ION

& O

UT

RE

AC

H

40

CENTERSg r o u p s & i n i t i a t i v e s

41

Center for Advanced Automotive Research

Center for Automated Vehicle Systems

Center for Data Reduction and Analysis Support

Center for Infrastructure-based Safety Systems

Center for Injury Biomechanics

Center for Public Policy, Partnerships, and Outreach

Center for Sustainable Mobility

Center for Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure

Center for Technology Development

Center for Technology Implementation

Center for Truck and Bus Safety

Center for Vulnerable Road User Safety

Global Center for Automotive Performance Simulation

I-81 Corridor Coalition

International Center for Naturalistic Driving Data Analysis at Virginia Tech

Motorcycle Research Group

National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence

Safety through Disruption (Safe-D) National University Transportation Center (UTC)

42

CENTERSCenter for Advanced Automotive ResearchZac Doerzaph, Director

The Center for Advanced Automotive Research focuses on the development, research, and evaluation of next-generation automotive systems. The center is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of dedicated individuals who are passionate about improving the safety and efficiency of our nation’s transportation system. This team strives to solve a broad set of challenges associated with integrating cutting-edge technologies into the vehicles of tomorrow. Primary research areas of the center include crash warning/avoidance/mitigation systems, connected vehicles, driver-vehicle interfaces, crash causation, and vehicle automation.

Center for Automated Vehicle SystemsShane McLaughlin, Director

The Center for Automated Vehicle Systems uses an interdisciplinary approach to studying all aspects related to the automation life cycle in the field of transportation. The center conducts pragmatic research based on a scientific approach that emphasizes the importance of safety, security, reliability, and user acceptance. The center is anchored in applied research and is strengthened by collaborations with national and international partners in vehicle automation, including Google, General Motors, and other groups involved in the research, planning, policy, and production of automated vehicles. The goal of this center is to strengthen the safety benefits of automation across all levels of the transportation industry.

Center for Data Reduction and Analysis SupportMiguel Perez, Director

The Center for Data Reduction and Analysis Support provides standardized access to and analysis of naturalistic driving study data sets housed at the institute. These data sets currently comprise 2.5 petabytes of information

g r o u p s & i n i t i a t i v e sabout real-world driver behavior and performance. Users include researchers within and outside of the institute, government entities, and automotive manufacturers and suppliers. Center services include coding of video and audio data, data quality assurance, data standardization, data mining, event selection, and data analysis. The center actively supports data analysis collaborations with external institutions.

Center for Infrastructure-based Safety SystemsRon Gibbons, Director

The Center for Infrastructure-based Safety Systems focuses on roadway-based safety systems, such as lighting, visibility treatments, pavement markings, signage, signals, barriers, the interaction of visibility with roadway design, and weather considerations. The center houses the Lighting Infrastructure Technology Group, which conducts research into such topics as sign legibility in foggy conditions and the effects of lighting sources, and the Eco-Transportation and Alternative Technologies Group, which represents a partnership between the institute, the Virginia Department of Transportation/Virginia Transportation Research Council, the Virginia Tech Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science, the Virginia Tech College of Engineering, and the Virginia Tech Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation.

Center for Injury BiomechanicsWarren Hardy, Director

The Center for Injury Biomechanics is a partnership between the institute, the Virginia Tech Department of Mechanical Engineering, and the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences. The center conducts research into injury biomechanics, injury modeling, and transportation-related injury biomechanics. Center work includes an in-depth study of 1,000 road-departure crashes at 24 sites across the U.S. to determine conditions such as speed and topography. Other transportation-

44

Z A C D O E R Z A P H

S H A N E M C L A U G H L I N M I G U E L P E R E Z

R O N G I B B O N S

43

related injury research includes car crash tests, large-scale tissue testing, NASCAR-Indy restraint testing, advanced restraint tests, guardrail evaluations, child seat evaluations, airbag-induced eye injuries, the development of a synthetic eye, elbow joint injuries from side airbags, wrist injuries, upper extremity dummy design, posterior rib fractures from side airbags, child dummy neck evaluations, small female neck interactions with side airbags, airbag out-of-position testing, and the development of a pregnant occupant model.

Center for Public Policy, Partnerships, and OutreachMyra Blanco, Director

The Center for Public Policy, Partnerships, and Outreach assists with the needed models of regulations for advanced vehicles, such as driver assistance systems and connected and/or automated vehicles. The center provides research to ensure state and federal policies are based on relevant data, develops partnerships to assist in the advancement of new systems, and enhances the research areas and sponsorship diversity of the institute. The center works with stakeholders whose interests are affected by governmental decisions on federal, state, local, or international levels in the development and implementation of automated vehicle systems.

Center for Sustainable MobilityHesham Rakha, Director

The Center for Sustainable Mobility conducts research relevant to society’s transportation mobility, energy, environmental, and safety needs. The center translates the results of research into realistic and workable applications, creates and provides tools needed to apply developed knowledge and processes, and educates qualified engineers to meet today’s transportation demands and tomorrow’s transportation challenges in the areas of transportation network control, large-scale transportation system modeling