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A team led by University of Maryland (UMD) Associate Professor Xianfeng “Terry” Yang presented award-winning research at the 2025 Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) annual meeting, held in January in Washington, D.C.
In their work, Yang and his team identified methods for helping personnel from the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration’s Coordinated Highway Action Response Team (CHART) remove roadway debris more efficiently while reducing the safety hazards involved in the task. More specifically, they evaluated the performance of a specially designed blade mounted on the front of emergency response vehicles to improve debris removal capabilities.
Their study previously won a regional High Value Research Award from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Yang and his co-authors, Yaobang Gong and Sayantan Tarafdar, received support for their work from the Maryland State Highway Administration.
Post-doctoral researcher Yaobang Gong (left) and doctoral candidate Sayantan Tarafdar co-authored the study.
Other papers presented by Yang’s group covered topics such as the placement of charging stations for commercial electric vehicles, the impacts of the Key Bridge collapse on freight and other traffic, and improving safety at signalized intersections. Yang also chaired poster sessions on resilient transportation and emergency evacuation.
Many other members of the UMD civil and environmental engineering faculty also chaired committees or presented research at the TRB annual meeting along with their students and postdoctoral researchers. They included Cinzia Cirillo, Qingbin Cui, Dimitrios Goulias, Deb Niemeier, and Paul Schonfeld. Researchers at the department’s Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory, including Rick Ayers, Mark Franz, Charles Lattimer, and Michael Pack, also presented and led sessions.
UMD Civil and Environmental Engineering at TRB
Below is a summary of lectern sessions, lightning talks, papers, and posters presented by UMD researchers at the 2025 TRB annual meeting.
Lightning talks:
Visualizing National Traffic Impacts of 2024 Total Solar Eclipsea Charles Lattimer, University of Maryland
Visualizing Changes in Regional Traffic After the Collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge Michael Pack, University of Maryland, College Park
Lectern Sessions, Papers, and Posters:
Assessment of the Impact of the Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse on Regional Traffic Sara Zahedian, University of Maryland, College Park Mark Franz, University of Maryland, College Park Dhairya Parekh, CATT Laboratory Przemyslaw Sekula, University of Maryland, College Park Michael Pack, University of Maryland, College Park Charles Lattimer, University of Maryland
Locations for Electric Truck Charging Stations and Impact of Battery Technology Improvement Zheyu Li, University of Maryland, College Park Youngmin Choi, University of Maryland, College Park Paul Schonfeld, University of Maryland, College Park
Transfer Learning-Based Prediction of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Demand: Bridging Data Gaps Between Colorado and Minnesota Farnoosh Roozkhosh, University of Georgia Angela Yao, University of Georgia Behnam Tahmasbi, University of Maryland, College Park
Integrating En Route and Home Proximity in Electric Vehicle Charging Accessibility: A Spatial Analysis in the Washington Metropolitan Area Asal Mehditabrizi, University of Maryland Behnam Tahmasbi, University of Maryland, College Park Saeed Saleh Namadi, University of Maryland, College Park Cinzia Cirillo, University of Maryland
Bi-Level Optimization for Strategic Commercial Electric Vehicle Charging Station Placement Sayantan Tarafdar, University of Maryland, College Park Yi Zhang, University of Maryland, College Park Yaobang Gong, University of Maryland, College Park Xianfeng Yang, University of Maryland, College Park
Spatially Varying Relationships Between Metrorail Ridership and Its Determinants in the Washington Metropolitan Area Zhan Peng, Tohoku University Hiroyuki Iseki, University of Maryland
Analysis of Traffic Stops and Race in Maryland Roumen Vesselinov, University of Maryland Kartik Kaushik, University of Maryland, School of Medicine Joseph Kufera, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Alicia Chavez, National Association of State EMS Officials Komal Bhagat, University of Maryland, Baltimore Ian Turner, University of Maryland, School of Medicine Elena Vesselinov, Queens College
How Much Will the Detour Cost?: Impacts on Road Freight Transportation by the Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse Yaobang Gong, University of Maryland, College Park Kaitai Yang, University of Maryland Yi Zhang, University of Maryland, College Park Xianfeng Yang, University of Maryland, College Park Di Yang, Morgan State University
Optimizing Vehicle Routing for Multi-Commodity Distribution with Route Redundancy Jie Liu, Kunming Institute of Technology Ying Zhao, Kunming Institute of Technology Paul Schonfeld, University of Maryland, College Park Mingwei He, Kunming Institute of Technology Bo Du, Griffith University Yue Xie, University of Cambridge
Lectern Session: Using Big Data for Rural Transportation Through the Regional Integrated Transportation Information System Rick Ayers, University of Maryland
Lectern Session: Equity in Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure: A Case Study of Baltimore City Nneoma Ugwu, University of Maryland, College Park Chester Harvey, University of Maryland, College Park Deb Niemeier, University of Maryland, College Park
Assessing Equity Shifts in Rural and Urban Infrastructure Funding After the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Through a Longitudinal Analysis of RAISE Grants Qadri Shaheen, University of Maryland Qingbin Cui, University of Maryland, College Park
Economic Impact Analysis of Uncrewed Aerial Systems for Bridge Inspections in HDC Counties: A Case Study in Kansas State Man Liang, University of Maryland, College Park Yunfeng Zhang, University of Maryland, College Park Yize Li, University of Maryland, College Park Qingbin Cui, University of Maryland, College Park
Capturing Emission Reductions Using Carbon Credits: The I-64 Case Study Huan Zhou, University of Maryland, College Park Qingbin Cui, University of Maryland, College Park
The Effectiveness of Gender Equity Initiatives in the USDOT Hiring Process: An Analysis from 2017 to 2021 Zahra Halimi, University of Maryland Dongyang Zhen, University of Maryland Qingbin Cui, University of Maryland, College Park
Assessing Disparities in Road Transport Services in Kenya: A GIS and Machine Learning Approach Rishav Jaiswal, McMaster University Manoj Jha, University of Maryland Hellon Ogallo, Maryland State Highway Administration A Archita, Indian Institute of Technology, Palakkad
How Does the Public Charging Network Fuel Plug-in Electric Vehicle Uptake? Lavan Teja Burra, Purdue University Cinzia Cirillo, University of Maryland Joshua Linn, University of Maryland, College Park
Evaluating Commercial Origin-Destination Data: Insights from a Multi-Vendor Comparison in Virginia Aliakbar Kabiri, University of Maryland, College Park Zachary Vander Laan, University of Maryland, College Park Stanley Young, Eastern Transportation Coalition
Development of a National Humped Rail Grade Crossing Database and Exploratory Dashboard Przemyslaw Sekula, University of Maryland, College Park A. M. Tahsin Emtenan, CATT Laboratory Sara Zahedian, University of Maryland, College Park Mark Franz, University of Maryland, College Park Ateet Maharjan, CATT Laboratory
Development of a Functional Conflict-Based Safety Performance Function for Signalized Intersections Using the pNEUMA Data Tianyu Shen, Morgan State University Di Yang, Morgan State University Kun Xie, Old Dominion University Hong Yang, Old Dominion University Xianfeng Yang, University of Maryland, College Park Mansoureh Jeihani, Morgan State University
Data Quality Evaluation of Mobile Device Location Data: A Literature Review Yixuan Pan, University of Maryland, College Park Qianqian Sun, University of Maryland, College Park Mohammad Ashoori, University of Maryland, College Park Guangchen Zhao, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Aref Darzi, CATT Laboratory
Exploring Heterogeneity in Value of Time on Express Lanes from Passively Collected Big Data Shihan Lin, University of Maryland, College Park Erika Spissu, Transurban, Inc. Cinzia Cirillo, University of Maryland
A Machine Learning Framework for Transportation Asset Management Mohammad SafariTaherkhani, University of Maryland, College Park Narjes Shayesteh, University of Maryland, College Park Kaveh Farokhi Sadabadi, University of Maryland
A Study on Maryland Transit Administration Bus Service’s Stop-Level Reliability from an Equity Perspective Using Archived General Transit Feed Specification Real-Time Data Mohammad Tanvir, Morgan State University Joseph Aina, Morgan State University Celeste Chavis, Morgan State University Vanessa Frias-Martinez, University of Maryland, College Park Gregory Newmark, Morgan State University Shawn Campbell, Morgan State University
Stochastic Models for Airport Terminal Capacity Expansion Planning Ziyue Li, Florida A&M University-Florida State University Qianwen Guo, Florida A&M University-Florida State University Paul Schonfeld, University of Maryland, College Park
A Conservative Car-Following Model Based on Adverse Weather Conditions Kaitai Yang, University of Maryland Yuan-Zheng Lei, University of Maryland, College Park Yi Zhang, University of Maryland, College Park Xianfeng Yang, University of Maryland, College Park
A Data-Driven Framework for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Traffic Safety Countermeasures A. M. Tahsin Emtenan, CATT Laboratory Rohan Aras, CATT Laboratory Sara Zahedian, University of Maryland, College Park Ateet Maharjan, CATT Laboratory Mark Franz, University of Maryland, College Park
Tradable Equity Credits and Internalized Revenue Maximization: A Nonlinear Programming Model for Promoting Equitable Public Transit Services Xin Wu, No Organization Kailun Liu, Villanova University Dongyang Zhen, University of Maryland Ya Ji, University of Maryland Xinshu Shang, No Organization Qingbin Cui, University of Maryland, College Park Chenfeng Xiong, Villanova University
Achieving Equity in Electric Vehicle Charging: Spatial and AI-Driven Evidence from Maryland Dongyang Zhen, University of Maryland Samrad Babaee, University of Maryland, College Park Zahra Halimi, University of Maryland Qingbin Cui, University of Maryland, College Park
ROADFIRST: A Comprehensive Enhancement of the Systemic Approach to Safety for Improved Risk Factor Identification and Evaluation Shriyan Reyya, University of Maryland, College Park Yao Cheng, Maryland Department of Transportation
A Potential Field-RRT-Star Algorithm for Mountain Railway Alignment Optimization Incorporating Environmental Suitability Analysis Xinjie Wan, Central South University Hao Pu, Central South University Paul Schonfeld, University of Maryland, College Park Yang Ran, Central South University Taoran Song, Central South University Wei Li, Central South University Ting Hu, Central South University Lihui Peng, China Railway Siyuan Survey and Design Group CO., LTD
Unveil Short-Term Traffic Change in Baltimore After Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse Yaobang Gong, University of Maryland, College Park Yi Zhang, University of Maryland, College Park Kaitai Yang, University of Maryland Sayantan Tarafdar, University of Maryland, College Park Xianfeng Yang, University of Maryland, College Park Di Yang, Morgan State University
Bridge the Distance: Surveying a Path Forward Post the Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse Di Yang, Morgan State University Tianyu Shen, Morgan State University Mansoureh Jeihani, Morgan State University Xianfeng Yang, University of Maryland, College Park Shanjiang Zhu, George Mason University Beyah Baylor, Morgan State University
Analyzing Car-Following Behavior Using an Empirical Prior Statistical Learning Framework Kaitai Yang, University of Maryland Yuan-Zheng Lei, University of Maryland, College Park Xianfeng Yang, University of Maryland, College Park
Improving Highway Safety and Efficiency: Field Evaluation of New Debris Removal System Yaobang Gong, University of Maryland, College Park Sayantan Tarafdar, University of Maryland, College Park Xianfeng Yang, University of Maryland, College Park
Quantifying the Impact of Complete Streets: An Elasticity-Based Approach to Mode Share Shifts in Travel Demand Models Sevgi Erdogan, Syracuse University Cinzia Cirillo, University of Maryland Arefeh Nasri, Transportation Research Board Javier Bas, No Organization Mohammad Al-Khasawneh, University of Maryland, College Park Mohammad Nejad, NA
A Machine Learning Framework for Enhancing Road Resilience Mohammad SafariTaherkhani, University of Maryland, College Park Narjes Shayesteh, University of Maryland, College Park Kaveh Farokhi Sadabadi, University of Maryland
State Highway Infrastructure Financing Using Matching Funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Qingbin Cui, University of Maryland, College Park Saeel Shrivallabh Pai, Purdue University Samuel Labi, Purdue University Deepak Benny, Purdue University
Driver's Attention and Cognitive Behavior: T-Consciousness Impact Sepideh Eshragh, University of Maryland, College Park Farzad Ahmadkhanlou, University of California, Irvine Sina Mousavi, Cosmointel Research Center Naghmeh Rezaie, University of Delaware Mohammad Ali Taheri, Cosmointel Research Center
February 20, 2025
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