Project #3: Systems of Systems

April ’24 Updates

Project Leads: Yuanrui Sang, University of Texas at El Paso, & Patrick Singleton, Utah State University

Key Accomplishments for this Quarter:

  • Task 1: Investigated use of MATSIM for transportation modeling. Integrated various tools for power distribution modeling from OpenDSS. Assembled various data from Utah that may be useful for developing simulation models.  
  • Task 2: Implemented research computing to support fine spatial scale InMAP (air pollution) model runs for larger modeling domains. Analyzed concentration of organic air pollutants within PM2.5 samples collected in Salt Lake County. Visited SLCo to discuss ongoing research work with community members across the county and disseminated initial findings to individuals. Solicited community feedback about methods to improve our analysis of sources of particulate matter. 
  • Task 3: Presented eight papers at two conferences (Transportation Research Board, IEEE-FISTS), and had four abstracts accepted for an upcoming conference. Submitted paper to Travel Behavior & Society journal. Paper published in Sustainability journal. Working on a paper linking insights on EVs and equity from both traditional and social medias.  
  • Task 4: Calculated the greenhouse gas emissions of various transportation modes, finding that electric scooters and electric bicycles are the most climate-friendly modes. Work featured in Washington Post article.
  • Task 7: Improved the scalability of the visualization software by limiting client-side data transfer and simplifying server-side data management. Extending the evaluation of reduced pollution of EV by allowing users to increase interactively the amount of electrified vehicles of a particular category. Preparing publication for IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference (ITSC).  

Industry and Innovation Highlights:

  • We welcome data that IIB members would be willing to share in the areas of EV adoption (purchase and use), vehicle tracking, charging behavior, electricity demand, etc.
  • The EV aggregation work done in Task 6 is a continuation of the collaborative work done during the INTERN Program (funded by NSF) with Ford.  

Advancements in Alleviating Barriers or Challenges to Widespread EV Adoption:

  • Task 2: The emission analysis unveils the impacts of EV integration on emissions produced in the transportation and energy sectors. 
  • Task 3: Our analysis of survey data from Indiana is helping us understand the perceptions and knowledge gaps regarding EVs and EV charging systems. This information could help to educate the public and provide EV charging solutions that better address consumer concerns.  
  • Task 4: The enhancement of tools to analyze vehicle energy consumption at a national level is helping to better model the levelized costs of various EV charging technologies, to inform policymakers and industry about the most cost-effective paths forward.  
  • Task 6: The EV aggregation work reduces the burden of EV integration and provides benefits to the power grid. 

Advancements of Interest to Marginalized or Underserved Communities:

  • Task 2: Our work on air pollution monitoring and modeling is leading towards findings about disproportionate air quality and health impacts on different population groups. The team is meeting with local government officials and community leaders to get their feedback and help disseminate findings.  
  • Task 3: Our comparative analysis of traditional news articles and social media posts regarding EVs and transportation electrification shows that such public discussions are rarely centered around equity issues. Thus, there is an opportunity to frame local news stories and community discussions on EVs/charging around equity topics and to engage and highlight the perspectives and considerations of members of underserved communities.