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Home Division of Research & Innovation News & Impact University of Memphis to Help Advance the State’s Transportation System

University of Memphis to Help Advance the State’s Transportation System

Leveraging expertise for state-wide initiatives

The University of Memphis was recently awarded a $1,000,000 contract with the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) through the University Technical Assistance Program (UTAP). The purpose of this program is to receive assistance from state-based universities to help advance the state’s transportation system through statewide and/or regional planning initiatives using state-based university faculty and staff resources, leverage institutional expertise and increase partnerships with state-based universities, and increase the ability for state higher education institutions to provide technical services beyond typical research related opportunities. The program moves innovative transportation technologies and practices into the hands of the people charged with maintaining Tennessee’s local transportation systems. The awarded contract is effective as of August 1, 2022, and terminates July 31, 2024.

The UTAP program historically was offered only to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. This year, TDOT opened the opportunity to other state-based universities with no more than 6 contracts being awarded. The contract awarded to the University of Memphis includes 21 faculty members from ten departments and is headed by Dr. Shahram Pezeshk, Chair and Professor of Civil Engineering. The UTAP program focuses on the following scope of services:

1. Planning analysis and support

  1. Statewide data collection, data analytics, and the monitoring of existing conditions
  2. Analysis of economic and demographic trends, land use practices, and transportation demands to identify critical transportation corridors and hot spot areas for improvement Program implementation and management
  3. Development of long (and/or short) range plans and programs that identify operational and mobility strategies for people and goods’ movement
  4. Support metropolitan and non-metropolitan transportation planning studies and efforts in Tennessee
  5. Support and analysis of new transportation technologies
  6. Integration of multimodal freight issues into statewide planning
  7. Support and develop case studies utilizing American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) planning tools such as PlanWorks, TravelWorks, EconWorks, and SHRP2.

 

2. Program Implementation and Management

  1. Analysis and implementation of new operations management techniques and processes, and support for ongoing operations management processes
  2. Evaluation and improvement of transportation related programs and processes
  3. Guidance and interpretation of state, federal, and regulatory agency policies and requirements
  4. Conducting community outreach activities to ensure adequate local participation within planning processes
  5. Workforce training and augmentation
  6. Technology transfer programs and outreach
  7. Transportation focused continuing education programs
  8. Technical assistance to transportation agencies including MPOs and RPOs

 

3. Executive level policy analysis support

  1. Highway finance, revenue analysis, and benefit cost analysis, etc.
  2. Transformational technologies
  3. Time series and multi-state highway performance comparisons
  4. Non-roadway freight transportation issues

 

4. Research program support

  1. Quick response research projects
  2. Tool development for planning; program assessment; analytics
  3. Support technology transfer from research findings to specific program areas
  4. Collect and consolidate research ideas and needs
  5. Review and examine previously conducted; on-going; and upcoming research projects and provide recommendations for potential enhancement in operation procedures and implementation

 

5. Review and application of national trends and best practices

6. Federal grant application support

7. Data analytics and visualization

8. Computer simulation modeling solutions

9. Big data solutions

10. Emerging transportation and policy support
 

The following faculty members from the University of Memphis are involved in the UTAP contract:

Dr. Shahram Pezeshk Chair and Professor, Civil Engineering
Dr. Sabyasachee Mishra Associate Professor, Civil Engineering
Dr. Mihalis Golias Professor, Civil Engineering
Dr. Stephanie Ivey Professor, Civil Engineering, Director of the Southeast Transportation Workforce Center and Director of the West TN STEM Hub
Dr. Charles Camp Professor, Civil Engineering
Dr. Claudio Ivan Meier Associate Professor, Civil Engineering
Dr. David Arellano Associate Professor, Civil Engineering
Dr. Adel Abdelnaby Associate Professor, Civil Engineering
Dr. Martin E. Lipinski Emeritus Director, Intermodal Freight Transportation Institute
Dr. Brian Waldron Associate Professor, Civil Engineering, Director of Center for Applied Earth Science and Engineering Research (CAESAR).
Dr. Farhad Jazaei Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering
Dr. Angela Antipova Associate Professor, Earth Sciences
Dr. Reza Banai Professor, City and Regional Planning
Dr. Alexander J. Headley Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Dr. Andrew Hussey Associate Professor, Economics
Dr. Weizi Li Assistant Professor, Computer Science
Missy Marshall Executive Director, Keep Tennessee Beautiful
Dr. Alistair Windsor Associate Professor, Match Sciences, Director of Institute for Intelligent Systems (IIS)
Dr. Myounggyu Won Assistant Professor, Computer Science
Dr. Hongmei Zhang Professor, School of Public Health
Dr. Bonny Banerjee Associate Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Institute for Intelligent Systems

 

For more information on the TDOT UTAP program, please contact the Division of Research & Innovation at researchdev@memphis.edu.