November 3, 2026

UC ITS Kicks Off New Research to Address California’s Transportation Challenges

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Through funding from the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (Senate Bill 1), the UC Institute of Transportation Studies (UC ITS) is launching a new slate of research projects aimed at advancing California’s transportation, climate, and equity goals.

This year’s portfolio features work on transportation funding and pricing, electric vehicle adoption and charging infrastructure, automated and connected vehicles, traffic safety, wildfire resilience, and housing and land use. Together, these projects demonstrate UC ITS’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that public investments and policies are grounded in rigorous research and deliver tangible benefits for communities across the state.

Explore the new projects launching this fall below.

Understanding the Current State of, Changes in, and Decision-Making on Responses to Homelessness on State Transportation Lands

Research Team:

Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris (lead), Jacob Wasserman, Hao Ding

UC Campus(es):

UC Irvine, UCLA

Translating Transportation Risk: Using Public Humanities to Explain Insurance and Infrastructure

Research Team:

Genevieve Carpio (lead)

UC Campus(es):

UCLA

Mobility Wallet Community of Practice

Research Team:

Madeline Brozen (lead), Sang-O Kim

UC Campus(es):

UCLA

State Preemption vs. Local Planning in Communities Near Transit: Evaluating Housing Capacity and Equity Under SB 79 and Housing Elements

Research Team:

Paavo Monkkonen (lead), Aaron Barrall

UC Campus(es):

UCLA

A Detailed Accessibility Tool for Land Use and Transportation Planning and Monitoring

Research Team:

Tatsuya Fukushige (lead), Dillon Fitch-Polse

UC Campus(es):

UC Davis

Interview-Based Insights into Ridehailing Drivers’ EV Adoption to Advance the Clean Miles Standard

Research Team:

Yongsung Lee (lead), Basar Ozbilen, Giovanni Circella, Mollie Cohen D’Agostino, Sina Nordhoff

UC Campus(es):

UC Davis

Assessing the Operational and Rider Impacts of Transit Bus Automation in California

Research Team:

Michael Hyland (lead), Mollie Cohen D’Agostino, Kari Edison Watkins

UC Campus(es):

UC Davis, UC Irvine

From Upgrade Costs to Bill Impacts: Measuring How Managed EV Charging Changes Local Power Grid Investment and Affordability Across California Communities

Research Team:

Alan Jenn (lead)

UC Campus(es):

UC Davis

Mapping California’s Used EV and Battery Ecosystem: Pathways to Retain Value, Reuse Batteries, and Improve Transportation Affordability

Research Team:

Francisco Parés Olguín (lead), Gil Tal

UC Campus(es):

UC Davis

Investigating How California Manages Mobility Data: Lessons from Autonomous and Shared Mobility

Research Team:

Basar Ozbilen (lead), Yongsung Lee

UC Campus(es):

UC Davis

Developing a Framework for Comparing How Established and Emerging Transportation Revenue Sources Affect Different Groups

Research Team:

Brian D. Taylor (lead), Jacob Wasserman, Tierra Bills, Hao Ding

UC Campus(es):

UC Irvine, UCLA

Using AI-Assisted Democratic Deliberation to Build California Transportation Programs That Reflect Public Will

Research Team:

Rachit Dubey (lead), Michael Manville

UC Campus(es):

UCLA

SAFER-AV: A Simulation-Supported Framework for Efficient and Reliable Automated Vehicle Evaluation

Research Team:

Chen Tang (lead)

UC Campus(es):

UCLA

Addressing Past Harms and Environmental Justice in Urban Highway Transitions: An Integrated Analysis of Freeway Removal, Freight Rerouting, and Electrification in Oakland

Research Team:

Regan Patterson (lead), Lilith Winkler-Schor, Donya Negahbani

UC Campus(es):

UCLA

Impact of Protected Bike Lanes on Air Pollution Exposure and on Cyclist and Motorist Stress

Research Team:

Suzanne Paulson (lead), Nigel Wilkinson-Maitland

UC Campus(es):

UCLA

Using Combined Data Sources and Modeling to Understand Truck Activity Patterns and Environmental Justice Impacts

Research Team:

Ran Wei (lead), Nanpeng Yu, Qingfang Wang

UC Campus(es):

UC Riverside

BayPass++: Designing Fair Pricing and Revenue Sharing for an Integrated Regional Mobility Pass

Research Team:

Manxi Wu (lead)

UC Campus(es):

UC Berkeley

Transitioning from the Gas Tax: A Modeling Tool for Designing Road User Charges in California

Research Team:

Alex Bayen (lead)

UC Campus(es):

UC Berkeley

A Framework for Integrating Automated Vehicles with Public Transit: Using Differences in Rider Demand and Social Networks

Research Team:

Marta Gonzalez (lead), Aparimit Kasliwal

UC Campus(es):

UC Berkeley

Passenger-Focused Analysis and Optimization of BART Schedules

Research Team:

Chiwei Yan (lead)

UC Campus(es):

UC Berkeley

Right Place, Right Process: Early Results from AB 130’s CEQA Exemption for Housing

Research Team:

Ben Metcalf (lead), Zack Subin

UC Campus(es):

UC Berkeley

Who Moves to America’s Fast-Growing Exurban Communities, and How Do Households Fare?

Research Team:

Maximilian Buchholz (lead), Alex Ramiller

UC Campus(es):

UC Berkeley

Evaluating the Safety Impact of California’s AB 413 “Daylighting Law” Using Near-Miss Data in Berkeley and Oakland

Research Team:

Julia Griswold (lead), Atul Subedi, Matthew Raifman

UC Campus(es):

UC Berkeley

Advancing Safety Reporting Standards for Automated Driving Systems: From 70,000 Miles of Real-World Operation to Policy Guidance

Research Team:

Pei (Peggy) Wang (lead)

UC Campus(es):

UC Berkeley

Informing California’s Transportation Funding Future: National Policy Review, Research Summary, Expert Interviews, and Research Roadmap

Research Team:

Susan Shaheen (lead), Brooke (Schmidt) Wolfe

UC Campus(es):

UC Berkeley