Description
Back to topTransportation science is a broad area attracting researchers from many different disciplines, such as applied mathematics, engineering, operations research, robotics physics, etc.
Transportation in broad terms has been part of human activities since early history (see studies on traffic in ancient Rome). The birth of the modern era for vehicular traffic can be dated to 1920-30 with the advent of large-scale use of cars. It was precisely in the 1930s that Greenshield collected data using a camera and generated the first fundamental diagram (plot of flow versus density). The first partial differential equation models appear as early as the 1950s with the seminal work of Lighthill, Whitham, and Richards.
Recently, the advent of innovative technology and the availability of large data sets created a demand and opportunity for new research using mathematical and computational models,including in areas such as robotics, autonomy, artificial intelligence, cognitive science,economics, and others. On the other side, there is an increasing interest in estimating the impact of traffic on society, from congestion to pollutant emissions, and the need to design efficient and equitable transportation systems aligned with the needs of different groups,while reducing the negative impacts of congestion and other traffic inefficiencies. This aspect attracted the interest of social scientists and other groups.
The long program will explore new avenues of research by bridging different research communities and considering the impact of traffic flows at the societal level. The issues addressed will include but are not limited to, equitable transportation systems, technology impact on efficient transportation, energy and environmental footprint of vehicular traffic, automation and robotics and its social acceptance, large-scale data for traffic monitoring, and others. This program is timely, as human society is facing the challenges brought by increasing urbanization, pollution and the related climate change.
The program will consist of an introductory tutorial workshop, which will bring up to speed young researchers or those starting to work in the area for the first time. Then four specific workshops will cover the main goals of the long program.
General Information on Long Programs
Long program participants spend time (generally, anywhere from a few days up to the full length of the program) in-person at IMSI with other researchers, creating new collaborations and generating new research in the program’s focus area. Participants who are only intending to apply for a workshop should not apply for the long program but should apply for the relevant workshop(s) instead. Long program participants can be PhD students, postdocs, faculty, or researchers outside of academia such as national labs, industry, government, etc. There is some funding available, and funding can be requested in the application.