All Research Products

The National Center for Sustainable Transportation's primary output from research is reports and white papers. Many projects also produce a Project Brief to summarize and highlight the policy and/or research findings and implications. NCST research also produces journal articles, conference papers, books, dissertations, theses, presentations, and posters. The NCST has also created various tools that can be used by policymakers and practitioners, such as models, calculators, and planning tools.

Dataset: Input data for short-term water level forecasting at 3 stations near HWY 37, Sonoma/Marin County, California

Research Product Type
Data
Researchers developed a data-driven, site-specific method that can be implemented at multiple vulnerable sites throughout San Francisco Bay and other low-lying coastal areas across the State of California. A simple statistical model combined with forecast error correction is used to produce a 4-day water level forecast at 3 stations near HWY 37, Sonoma/Marin County, California. 

Comparing Travel Behavior and Opportunities to Increase Transportation Sustainability in Small Cities, Towns, and Rural Communities

Research Product Type
Associated Publication
This study aims to dive deeper into understanding how people travel and their perceptions and opinions about various components of travel in a majority rural state. By speaking directly with Vermonters through in-person interviews, the authors obtain uniquely personal points of view and analyze them for commonalities and differences between urban, suburban, and rural Vermonters.

Travel Behavior in E-commerce: Shopping, Purchasing, and Receiving

Research Product Type
Research Report
The growth of urban e-commerce has had enormous impacts on urban transportation and land use. However, there remain questions regarding the overall impact of online shopping on passenger travel and vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This project focuses on how delivery preferences affect individual travel behavior in California and the Greater Los Angeles Region.

Dataset: Travel Behavior in E-commerce

Research Product Type
Data
These datasets contain the raw data collected from the two separate but related surveys to explore the potential of automated parcel lockers as an alternative for residence deliveries.

Travel Behavior Trends During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Research Product Type
Policy Brief
The proliferation of digital devices and online services over the past decades has changed how people travel, enabling new mobility options and offering greater opportunities for e-commerce and telework. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers modified their plan to understand new trends, such as increased remote work, online/virtual meetings, and e-shopping, as well as changes in travel.

Multi-Modal Travel in Yosemite Valley

Research Product Type
Research Report
In this study, the researchers examined traffic volumes and patterns in Yosemite Valley, the heart of Yosemite National Park.

Updating the Induced Travel Calculator

Research Product Type
Research Report
With Calculator use increasing, the Institute of Transportation Studies at University of California, Davis (ITS-Davis) initiated a project to update the National Center for Sustainable Transportation’s Induced Travel Calculator and improve its functionality based on recent data and empirical research.

Dataset: National Impacts of E-commerce Growth - Development of a Spatial Demand Based Tool

Research Product Type
Data
The tasks of this project employ different combinations of methods to enable the prediction of e-commerce shopping behaviors for each metropolitan statistical areas of interest at the individual level as well as the quantitative calculation of externalities. Methods used include Weighted Multinomial Logit models, time series forecasting, and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations.

Demonstrating the Life Cycle Assessment Framework for Complete Streets

Research Product Type
Policy Brief
The researchers assessed whether the LCA framework was useful in identifying whether a complete street delivered, or was likely to deliver, the intended performance and benefits, and the social and health conditions of the neighborhoods receiving the benefits.

Planning Can Maximize Benefits and Mitigate Negative Consequences of Future Travel Increases from E-Commerce

Research Product Type
Policy Brief
Researchers at the University of California, Davis developed a forecasting model to quantify the potential impacts of future e-commerce on emissions and transport activity under different scenarios with assumptions about penetration levels of various technologies (e.g., electrification, rush deliveries, crowdshipping, and automation/efficiency improvements).