Ongoing Projects (2020-Present)
Transportation for All
Driver to Non-Driver Transitions: Related Health, Mobility, and Safety Outcomes
• PI: Kate Hyun
• Co-PIs: Yeonwoo Kim (Kinesiology) and Evan Mistur (CAPPA)
• Sponsor: Wisconsin DOT, 2025-2026
We propose a comprehensive, data-driven understanding of (i) how individuals transition into non-driving status, (ii) how this shift impacts their safety, health, and mobility, and (iii) how contextual factors such as geography, demographic profile, and access to support services moderate these outcomes. By integrating individual-level longitudinal data with geospatial information, the study will offer actionable recommendations for WisDOT to develop responsive and effective policies that promote aging in place and improve quality of life, supporting the non-driver transition.
Toward Safe and Independent Senior Mobility: Development of a supportive tool to self-assess driving performance for community-dwelling older adults
• PI: Kate Hyun
• Co-PIs: Seri Park (Villanova University)
• Sponsor: National Academy of Medicine, Oct 2021 – Dec 2022
The overarching goal of this study is (i) to understand the relationships between aging and driving by characterizing the in-depth correlations between older adults’ perceived driving patterns and observed driving performance and (ii) to develop a supportive tool for older adults to self-evaluate their driving performances and for agencies to support older adults’ mobility decision making.
Developing strategies to enhance mobility and accessibility for community-dwelling older adults
• PI: Kate Hyun • Co-PIs: Kathy Lee (Social Work) and Caroline Krejci (Industrial Engineering) • Sponsor: USDOT/ National Institute for Transportation and Community, Sep 2019 – Aug 2021 Transportation is essential for older adults not only to provide a social link between home and community but also to enable access to living essentials, such as groceries and medicine. This study seeks to understand transportation access, opportunities, and barriers faced by older adults, and investigate how transportation strategies and planning policy can better shape their mobility options. News & Media
Smart City and Future Transportation
Eco-Routing Research: Vehicle Efficiency Optimization with Road and Weather Data
• PI: Kate Hyun
• Co-PIs: June Park, Jinzhu Yu (Civil Engineering)
• Sponsor: Hyundai Motors, 2025-2026
This project aims to develop data-driven approaches for the eco-routing problem by leveraging granular datasets including weather, traffic, and topography. We will create synthetic traffic environments and realistic scenarios for evaluating optimal EV routing; and produce a practical and scalable simulation platform to validate the eco-routing strategies’ effectiveness.
Analysis the Use of Green Pavement Markings-Intersection Safety for Non-Motorized Users
• PI: Katie Kam • Co-PIs: Kate Hyun, Steve Mattingly, and Taylor Li (Civil Engineering) • Sponsor: TxDOT, 2020-2022 More communities are using green pavement markings to delineate at intersections where cyclists should wait at a traffic signal, start a left turn, or cross the roadway. This project will investigate the safety and behavioral implications of using green colored pavement and their performance to help inform an agency opinion on their use in Texas communities and possible inclusion in the Texas MUTCD.
Assessing the Value of Next-Generation Scenario Planning for Emerging Transportation Technologies
• PI: Stephen Mattingly (Civil Engineering)
• Co-PI: Kate Hyun
• Sponsor: TxDOT 2019-2021
With uncertainty about potential impacts of emerging vehicle technologies, many times not really known until the technology is actually deployed to the public, the traditional transportation modeling methods are inherently inadequate. To assist TxDOT with testing out a scenario-based approach to overcome that shortcoming, this research project shall develop the following:
1. A scenario planning framework that involves identifying trends and influencing factors, projecting those influencing factors, gathering expert feedback, and assessing probabilities of impact of emerging transportation technologies.
2. Scenarios relevant to Texas from that framework.
3. Toolkit of strategies to help public agencies react to and proactively pursue a scenario.
AI, Data Fusion and Digital Twin in Transportation
Exploring the use of Crowdsourced Data Sources for Pedestrian Count Estimations
• PI: Kate Hyun (UTA) • Co-PI: Stephen Mattingly, Sirisha Kothuri (Portland University) • Sponsor: USDOT/National Institute for Transportation and Communities, 2021-2022 Crowdsourced data has the potential to provide the coverage across the network to quantify exposure. A nationwide study currently in progress by Portland State University (PSU) and University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) is evaluating these emerging data sources for their role in bicycle volume estimation across the network. This study will develop models to investigate the role of crowdsourced data sources in pedestrian volume estimation and compare the derived volume estimates with those obtained from the pedestrian actuation data and State DOT-based pedestrian count programs (if available).
Exploring Data Fusion Techniques to Derive Bicycle Volumes on a Network
• PI: Kate Hyun • Co-PI: Stephen Mattingly (Civil Engineering), Sirisha Kothuri, Joseph Broach (Portland State University) • Sponsor: USDOT/National Institute for Transportation and Communities, 2019-2021 Bicycling continues to increase in popularity nationwide, and efforts to better measure riding activity, along with how to interpret available data and to assess the impacts of cycling, are developing along several tracks. Bicycle volumes are useful for measuring trends, prioritizing infrastructure investments, and as exposure/activity measures in safety, public health and other studies. The research proposes to develop a method for evaluating and integrating emerging sources of bicycle activity data with conventional demand data and methods, and then apply the results to several locations to predict network-wide bicycle volumes. The outcome of this study is expected to better predict and estimate to planning problems such as safety, public health, and equity analyses. News & Media
Logistics and Freight Transportation
NCHRP Synthesis 53-17 Integrating Freight and Active Transportation into Policies, Programs, Plans, and Project Development
• PI: Kate Hyun • Co-PI: Seri Park (Villanova University) • Sponsor: Transportation Research Board, 2021-2022 Active transportation and freight are important issues for state departments of transportation (DOTs) when considering at some point every traveler is a pedestrian and everyone relies on freight. However, freight elements have not traditionally been incorporated into active transportation policies, planning, design, implementation, and construction. Likewise, active transportation elements have not traditionally been incorporated in freight policies, planning, design, implementation, and construction.The objective of this synthesis is to document state DOT practices, tools, and approaches related to the integration of freight and active transportation policy, programs, plans, and project development.
Data Driven Identification of COVID-19 Impacts on E-Commerce and Freight Movement
• PI: Kate Hyun • Co-PI: Stephen Mattingly • Sponsor: USDOT/ Transportation Consortium of South-Central States, 2021-2022 This research will comprehensively explore the current trends of online and off-line shopping activities by utilizing data fusion and analytics to gain insight into how e-commerce might influence future passenger travel and freight movements. The study will investigate how last-mile operations have impacted network disruptions, air quality, and safety. Understanding the freight movements at micro-levels will provide valuable knowledge on effectively allocating resources and developing policy and planning strategies, such as adjusting parking policy, promoting off-peak delivery, and adjusting the capacities of roadway infrastructure, to properly control and manage increased shipment movements to preserve existing infrastructure, reduce congestion and air quality impacts, and enhance road safety.
Network analysis to identify critical links for relief activities during extreme weather events
• PI: Kate Hyun
• Co-PIs: Steve Mattingly and Taylor Li (Civil Engineering)
• Sponsor: US DOT/Transportation Consortium of South-Central States, 2020-2022
The proposed research identifies the criticality of network links by identifying the community impacts from network disruption. In particular, this study focuses on developing a network index to determine the critical network links of the communities in a Hurricane-prone area. The outcome of this study will answer the following important questions for disaster planning,
management, and recovery.
What are the impacts of network disruptions on communities?
Which road links should be given a higher priority for disaster restoration during the response and recovery phases of extreme weather events?
Interactive GIS Map
Transportation and Health
School Zone Project
• UTA PI: Kate Hyun
• PI: Seri Park (Univ. of Nevada, Reno)
• Sponsor: National Institute of Health, 2025-2027
TBD
Understanding Young Drivers’ Distracted Driving Behavior
• PI: Kate Hyun
• Co-PIs: Seri Park (Univ. of Nevada, Reno)
• Sponsor: National Motorist Association, 2021-2022
The project’s overarching goal is to understand the extent of distracted driving behavior and its impact on safety among young drivers who have diverse cultural background and built-environments. This project will quantify driving impairment and physiological changes when involving secondary tasks to develop a data-driven model to predict crash risks of distracted driving for young drivers aged 15–20-year-olds. The project team will use hands-on driving simulation experiment (i) to understand the relationships between young drivers’ perceived driving patterns and observed driving performance and (ii) to explore the impact of secondary tasks on young driver’s driving behavior between two contrast subject groups (e.g., novice vs experienced young drivers), and (iii) to provide informative and data-driven guidance to help develop safety driving educational materials targeting young drivers.
Motivational Technology to Increase Physical Activity
• PI: Kate Hyun • Co-PIs: Kathy Lee, Chrstoph Csaller, Xiangli Gu, Angela Liegey-Dougall, Steve Mattingly • Sponsor: Trustees at communities Foundation of Texas, 2021-2022 With elevated awareness and concerns of infectious diseases such as COVID-19, the importance of overall health and wellbeing has been highlighted.This study develops a two-phase intervention for older adults to increase near-term physical activity and behavior changes toward an active life over a total of 32 weeks of interventions. The study directly improves older adults’ health outcomes – building muscle mass, enhancing body strength and balance to improve daily independence, reducing sedentary behaviors and increasing social participation. The identified measures represent important health outcomes for older adults to prevent the most frequent injuries from falls and obesity and improve their immune system. The findings provide insight into the impacts of social activities and peer engagement on physical and psychological health while practicing social distancing. News & Media
Education
RET Site: The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) RET Site on Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure for Urban Communities
• PI: Nur Yazdani • Co-PIs: Kate Hyun, Melanie Sattler, Victoria Chen, Wei-Jen Lee, Muhammad Huda • Sponsor: National Science Foundation, 2021-2024 The project will provide pre-service and in-service high school teachers, primarily from inner city and other high-needs schools, with stipends/support for engagement in research with faculty/students, industrial/academic advisors and prior RET teachers. Teacher summer activities include curricular module development, workshops, webinars, mentoring and site visits. Follow-up during the academic year includes a workshop to share developed modules with non-RET teachers, classroom visitations, evaluation and dissemination.
Summer Multicultural and Interdisciplinary Learning for Engineering in Transportation
• PI: Jiyoon Yoon • Co-PIs: Kate Hyun • Sponsor: USDOT/ Center for Transportation Equity, Decisions and Dollars), 2021-2022 SMILE in Transportation is a novel approach to increase the knowledge of the future science teachers in transportation and to develop a unique teaching methodology that incorporates the backgrounds of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) students into teaching engineering of transportation. The data collected from the pre-and the post-surveys of the participants’ science affinities (interest, self-efficacy, attitudes, & identity), cultural competencies, science knowledge tests, and the interviews at the end of the project will be used to improve future teachers’ understanding of transportation and other cultures and their skills in developing culturally-responsive instructions to teach transportation, as well as to update SMILE workshop for future sessions.
Previous Projects (2017-2019)
Food Waste to Fleet Fuel: Development of the F4 Framework
• PI: Melanie Sattler (Civil Engineering) • Co-PIs: Kate Hyun, Arpita Bhatt (Civil Engineering), Victoria Chen, Caroline Krejci (Industrial Engineering), Ardeshir Anjomani (CAPPA) • Sponsor: USDOT/ Center for Transportation Equity, Decisions and Dollars), 2019-2022 As cities strive for more sustainable transportation systems, many are considering renewable fuels for fleets. Many cities already have anaerobic digesters that convert sewage sludge at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to biogas. Because of its abundance in landfilled waste (22%), food waste is of current critical concern to the US Environmental Protection Agency. The overall project goal is to facilitate food/yard waste conversion to vehicle fuel, and help cities/regions answer the questions above, via development of the Food/Flora Waste to Fleet Fuel” (F4) Framework. The F4 Framework will include: 1) Tools for input data collection, 2) Cost Optimization Model, 3) Food/Flora-Waste-to Fleet Fuel Model, 4) Food/Flora Waste Separation Policy Survey and City Guidebook.
Evaluating Improved Transit Connections for Ladders of Opportunity
• PI: Stephen Mattingly (Civil Engineering) • Co-PIs: Kate Hyun, Noelle Fields (Social Work) and Courtney Cronley (Social Work, University of Tennessee) • Sponsor: USDOT/National Institute for Transportation and Communities, 2017-2021 This project will examine more innovative options, such as: subsidies, hybrid ride sharing business models, flexible routing, smaller transit vehicles, transit-sponsored bike share programs, and social carpooling to meet first and last mile needs and increase mobility for all users, especially underserved and disadvantaged populations. The research team will evaluate the service effectiveness of new strategies including performance measures focusing on economic viability, equity, health, and access to opportunity.
The Impact of Increased Adverse Weather Events on Freight Movement
• PI: Kate Hyun
• Co-PIs: Stephen Mattingly (Civil Engineering)
• Sponsor: USDOT/ Transportation Consortium of South-Central States, 2019-2021
With significant increases in freight volumes, the impacts from severe weather events to port truck traffic may cause an economic loss in Texas and throughout the region. Although the adverse weather events significantly impact transportation infrastructure and networks, a lack of understanding on the scope and magnitude of a weather event’s impact on freight movement persists. This project aims to characterize the port truck movements by identifying operational patterns by associated industry and service types and evaluate system response during adverse weather events. The research will focus on identifying (i) truck activity from the port of Houston, (ii) capturing truck flow disruptions due to Hurricane Harvey, and (iii) identifying flow changes and recovery process during and immediately after the adverse events.
Air Quality Monitoring Strategies and Modeling of Chronic Health Risks Related to Traffic-Related Air Pollution
• PI: Steve Mattingly • Co-PIs: Kate Hyun • Sponsor: North Central Texas Council of Government, 2020-2021 The study investigates the data sources available to synthesize with air quality data in an effort to isoloate the role that individual factors may plan in confounding or modifying the health effects of traffic related air pollution.
Access to Opportunities: Redefining Planning Methods and Measures for Disadvantaged Populations
• PI: Stephen Mattingly (Civil Engineering) • Co-PIs: Kate Hyun, Noelle Fields (Social Work) and Courtney Cronley (Social Work, University of Tennessee) • Sponsor: USDOT/National Institute for Transportation and Communities, 2017-2021 This project characterizes transportation gaps that result from system deficiencies at a regional scale. We will measure these gaps’ impact on well-being in terms of health (physical and psycho-social), access to opportunities (work, personal, business, etc.), and community connectedness (social, civic). This program will develop a roadmap for future research that can transform transportation planning practice to better account for disadvantaged communities.
Evaluating Lost Capacity Due to Technology Related Behavior
• PI: Kate Hyun • Co-PIs: Steve Mattingly and James Williams (Civil Engineering) • Sponsor: North Central Texas Council of Governments, 2018-2020 With new technology (i.e. smart phones and in-vehicle entertainment systems), driver distraction, and therefore delay at traffic signals, may have increased. This study will investigate the assumed start-up delay versus actual start-up delay due to distractions. The study will determine if the current assumptions used for modeling and operations need to be adjusted to more accurately reflect actual delay associated with new technology or other in-vehicle distractions.
Helping Environmental Justice Populations Maintain Access to Opportunities in Boomtown
• PI: Jandel Crutchfield (School of Social Work) • Co-PIs: Kate Hyun and Courtney Cronley (School of Social Work, University of Tennessee) • Sponsor: USDOT/ National Institute for Transportation and Community, 2018 – 2019 This study uses a community-engaged interdisciplinary approach to assess the gaps between economic growth and transportation infrastructure development, and the impact of potential gaps on access to opportunities for environmental justice populations within North Central Texas. The project will measure residents’ perspectives of the economic growth in the area over the past decade, the extent to which transportation infrastructure has matched the economic growth, and the implications for access to affordable quality housing, employment, quality public education, as well as engagement in cultural and social activities.
News & Media : When Growth Outpaces Infrastructure: Access to Opportunities in Suburban Boomtowns
Characterizing Handitran and Via Users: A Comparative Analysis of the Riders and Their Travel Patterns
• PI: Kate Hyun
• Co-PIs: Stephen Mattingly (Civil Engineering), Noelle Fields (Social Work) and Courtney Cronley (Social Work, University of Tennessee)
• Sponsor: City of Arlington, 2018-2019
The proposed research demonstrates how on-demand paratransit service in the City of Arlington can be utilized as a viable transportation option that contributes mobility and social equity for older, disabled, and lower-income populations. The proposed study is significant as study findings will have important implications for Arlington as an age-friendly community. The results from this study could be used to identify planning and operational strategies that support efforts to invest in smart technologies that enhance transportation infrastructure for all residents across income-levels and demographics and ultimately promote employment and economic activity.
News & Media
Social Media Analysis for Transit Assessment
• PI: Won Hwa Kim (Computer Science) • Co-PIs: Kate Hyun, Gorden Zhang (Georgia Tech) • Sponsor: USDOT/ Center for Transportation Equity, Decisions and Dollars), 2018-2019 The impact of personal opinions, attitudes, and belief is significant in decision-making processes for public transportation service. This study will employ recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) for big and complicated data analysis for evaluating transit service. Using big data collected from social media such as Twitter, we propose to 1) capture transit riders’ perception and sentiment when there are changes in the transit system in various temporal and spatial spans and 2) evaluate transit service including efficiency, equity and reliability and 3) implement a web-based interactive platform with a real-time data streaming and GIS map system. Research Website : Ride hailing service assessment
How can Interdisciplinary Teams Leverage Emerging Technologies to Respond to Transportation Infrastructure Needs? A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of Civil Engineers, Urban Planning, and Social Workers’ Perspectives
• PI: Noelle Fields (Social Work)
• Co-PIs: Kate Hyun, Stephen Mattingly (Civil Engineering) and Courtney Cronley (Social Work, University of Tennessee)
• Sponsor: USDOT/National Institute for Transportation and Communities, 2017-2018
This study seeks to explore how engineers, planners, and social workers interact around issues of transportation and transportation equity and to identify opportunities for enhanced collaboration and training in anticipation of emerging transportation needs for environmental justice (EJ) populations. The study will assess the current level of knowledge amongst professionals (engineers, planners, and social workers) about the training needs of the other professions under investigation and their own preparation for collaborating across disciplines in order to improve transportation equity for EJ populations. The study also seeks to identify the benefits and strategies for engineers, planners, and social workers in collaboration on transportation infrastructure and policy decisions.
Study of Transit Systems in Grand Prairie and Arlington
• PIs: Kate Hyun, Stephen Mattingly (Civil Engineering), Noelle Fields (Social Work) and Courtney Cronley (Social Work, University of Tennessee) • Sponsor: University of Texas at Arlington, 2017 - 2018 With increasing ridership, a public transit system needs to provide sufficient mobility that its users do not feel as a significant burden. This project estimates a transit demand model for Arlington-Grand Prairie area where we do not have conventional transit system (fixed route transit system), using the data from existing transit in Dallas, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) system. This paper aims to identify the key factors (community, land use and public transit operating characteristics) deriving transit ridership and to understand the impacts and improvements of the new transit system in Arlington-Grand Prairie area.
Monitoring Daily Activities and Linking Physical Activity Levels Attributed to Transportation Mobility Choices and Built Environment
• PI: Stephen Mattingly (Civil Engineering)
• Co-PIs: Kate Hyun, Jun Oh (West Michigan University)
• Sponsor: USDOT/ Transportation Research Center for Livable Communities, 2017-2019
Physical activities become an importance part of human lives for healthy living. Although there are various types of physical activities, non-motorized transportation options like walking, running and cycling provide natural ways of being physically active. This study proposes to identify and categorize health outcomes impacted by daily physical activity and quantify the amount of physical activities by different transportation mode users in different areas associated with their daily travel activities. By employing recent wearable devices with sensing and GPS tracking technology, the amount of physical and cardiovascular activities will be quantified by travel activities and transportation mode used. This research will help in incorporating human health into transportation planning by addressing health outcomes impacted by physical and cardiovascular activities associated with transportation options.
Assessing the Impact of Air Pollution on Public Health Along Transit Routes
• PI: Stephen Mattingly (Civil Engineering)
• Co-PIs: Kate Hyun, Jun Oh (West Michigan University)
• Sponsor: USDOT/ Transportation Research Center for Livable Communities, 2017-2019
This study seeks to investigate the role that individual (e.g., age, income, race/ethnicity, smoking status, diet, physical activity, health status) factors may play in confounding or modifying the health effects of traffic-related air pollution. The study will also explore aggregating these individual level factors to create socio-economic profiles and indicators of health risk due to traffic-related air pollution along transit routes. The researchers will characterize the risks related to traffic-related air pollution for different socio-economic profiles along transit routes.
Assessing Viability of Carsharing for Low-income Communities
• PI: Kate Hyun
• Co-PIs: Courtney Cronley (Social Work, University of Tennessee)
• Sponsor: USDOT / Center for Transportation Equity, Decisions and Dollars, 2018-2019
Despite of successful implementation of Carsharing technology,transportation engineers and policymakers have not fully considered aspects of social equity such as the accessibility and affordability of the program across populations and communities. This study seeks to explore current carsharing implementation and to assess the technology as a viable transportation option for the low-income and transit-dependent population.
More information
Technical Report
Path to developing influential Hispanic leaders: Unprecedented workshop sessions to attract Hispanic girls to executive positions in Civil Engineering
• PI: Sharareh Kermanshachi (Civil Engineering) • Co-PIs: Kate Hyun • Sponsor: Engineering Information Foundation, 2018-2019 Diversity breeds more creativity and a better decision-making process than a group of like-minded individuals is able to, by providing effective and interesting communication networks and visions. Yet, engineering sectors suffer from lack of diversity, as most women are hesitant to pursue a career in these fields. This project aims to conduct a series of workshops to attract young Hispanic female students to leadership and executive positions in transportation engineering. The research team also explained the fundamentals of successful careers in academia or industry, and introduced women who are successful in both governmental and private entities. Students were also informed of the growth potential of available positions in the near future that lead to holding secure job positions, and the impact of these civil engineering jobs on people and communities.