2018

Freight vehicles are significant contributors to pollutant emissions that affect local and regional air quality, causing public health and environmental justice concerns. Vehicle electrification, connected and automated vehicles, and intelligent transportation systems have emerged as pathways to reduce the impacts of freight movements. Participants will explore these three converging technology trends and will identify actions necessary to achieve a smart, sustainable, and sensible freight system.

The workshop will start with four short presentations that will provide background information on the subject of the workshop, followed by a breakout session to identify research needs in a few key areas (e.g., technology integration and evaluation, technology deployment and market acceptance, supporting public policies). Then, the participants will regroup to summarize the research needs, rank them, and finally conclude the workshop.

Part I: Setting the Stage (70 min)

In this part of the workshop, there will be four speakers. Each speaker will discuss the current and emerging landscape of freight transportation, especially as related to vehicle electrification, connected and automated vehicles, and intelligent transportation systems, from different perspectives. The goal is to set the stage for the discussion in the breakout session. 

Presenters include:

Chris Atkinson, Program Director, Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy

Kerry Cartwright, Director of Goods Movement, Port of Los Angeles

Matt Miyasato, Deputy Executive Officer, Science and Technology Advancement Office, South Coast Air Quality Management District

Charles Liou, Manager, Environmental Initiatives, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey

Part II: Brainstorming (50 min)

In this part, the workshop participants will be invited to participate in one of the three breakout groups—technology, market, or public policy. Each group will have a facilitator and a note taker. The facilitator will seed the discussion with prepared questions. The participants will be charged with discussing and identifying research topics under the theme of the group that are needed to achieve a smart, sustainable, and sensible freight transportation system. The breakout sessions will conclude with a vote on three most pressing research questions from each group.

Part III: Getting to the Finish Line (60 min)

In this final part of the workshop, a representative from each breakout group will present the list of research topics identified during the breakout session. After all the presentations, each workshop participant will be asked to vote for the three most important and urgent research topics. The voting scores will be tallied up and the ranked list of research topics will be made. Volunteers will then be sought to develop research need statements for submission to TRB.