Research Overview

The objective of the AERIS research program is to generate and acquire environmentally-relevant real-time transportation data, and use these data to create actionable information that support and facilitate “green” transportation choices by transportation system users and operators.  Employing a multi-modal approach, the AERIS program will work in partnership with the vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications research effort to better define how connected vehicle data and applications might contribute to mitigating some of the negative environmental impacts of surface transportation.

Research Goals

The core scope of AERIS is the idea of facilitating green transportation choices.  The program is intended to:

• Support research into the generation, capture, standardization, and use of real-time data present in the transportation system to enable environmentally-beneficial choices by system users and system operators. 
• Leverage existing research and stakeholder activities to create a unique body of knowledge and experience that demonstrates the most effective uses of ITS to reduce the negative impacts of transportation on the environment.

Research Questions

The AERIS research program is structured around research questions that encompass both the issue of information availability as well as the feasibility of providing greater “choice” to decision makers.  These questions include:

• What vehicle-based data is available – What is the data quality & validity?
• How can vehicle-based data be integrated with existing traffic and emissions data?
• What cross-modal public sector applications are needed and what are their benefits?

View an expanded version of these questions.

Research Approach

The AERIS program has six major activities focusing on research questions and projects. The program intends to use extensive foundational research as a basis for moving forward with more focused research projects.  AERIS will also strive to leverage the work being conducted through vehicle to vehicle communications, other multi-modal research programs, and mode-specific research programs.

Track 1 –   Establish the Foundation (Analytics)

Undertake foundational analytics to support a rigorous research program that leverages connected vehicles research and data sets/standards to assess what environmentally-relevant data can currently be acquired, assess if this is the “right” data, examine if there are data gaps, and undertake research that will create the most useful data sets and information to support “green choices.”  This foundational research will identify opportunities for further research to develop specific strategies for improving environmental decisions by public agencies and consumers and for improving environmental outcomes through ITS.  More>>

Track 2 – Identify Candidate Strategies and Applications

The objective of this track is to identify a number of ITS applications/strategies that can effectively reduce/mitigate the negative environmental impacts of transportation. This track includes screening and characterization of applications/strategies, assessing technology need, conducting high-level cost benefit analyses, and a review and down-select to a set of candidate applications/strategies that seem to be most effective and/or innovative. 

• The Program has identified six Transformative Concepts or bundles of applications; each Transformative Concept encompasses a set of applications which individually achieve environmental benefits.   AERIS applications are technological solutions designed to ingest, process, and disseminate data in order to address a specific strategy. More>>

Track 3 – Analyze and Evaluate Candidate Strategies and Applications

The objective of this Track is to examine in-depth the narrowed field of applications/strategies, conduct detailed cost-benefit analyses, modeling, simulations and other activities to validate initial results from Track 2 and further down-select for the most robust applications/strategies. More>>

Track 4 – Recommend Strategies/Applications for In-Depth Testing

Strategies found to offer significant benefits, and reasonable costs, of potential deployment under Work Activity 3.2 will be considered for further investment in in-depth testing.  More>>

Track 5 – Policy and Regulatory Research

This track is specifically oriented toward contributing to the achievement of objectives under the Policy Goal. Research will be undertaken as appropriate and necessary to support work in Tracks 1-4. More>>

Track 6 – Stakeholder Interaction

Identify, meet with, learn from, cooperate with, and get the support of a wide range of stakeholders.  Included is attendance at a wide range of workshops, conferences, meetings, etc, to gain knowledge, cultivate support and buy-in for our research, and leverage existing stakeholder activities.

Resources/Archive

• New Report Available: AERIS: Eco-Vehicle Speed Control at Signalized Intersections Using I2V Communication
• Recording of October 17 Webinar now available
• Fall/Winter 2012-13 Webinar Series Scheduled
• AERIS: Eco-Vehicle Speed Control at Signalized Intersections Using I2V Communication
• IdeaScale Page Launched to Support Webinar Series
• AERIS Transformative Concepts and Applications Descriptions (August 2012)
• AERIS: State-of-the-Practice Scan of Environmental Models
• AERIS Fact Sheet
• AERIS Workshop - Presentation [PDF 4.81MB]
• AERIS March 2012 Workshop Agenda and Read-ahead materials
• AERIS Workshop Update and Reminder
• Engaging the International Community-Research on ITS Apps to Improve Environmental Performance
• An AERIS Data Environment Based on Existing Systems Development
• State of the Practice of Techniques for Evaluating the Environmental Impacts of ITS Deployment
• Applications State of the Practice Assessment Report
• State-of-the-Practice Assessment of Technology to Enable Environmental Data Acquisition
• State of the Practice Scan of Behavioral and Activity-Based Models
• AERIS Fall-Winter Webinar Series: Presentations
• ITS World Congress October 2011
• ITS JPO to Host Fall Webinar Series on Connected Vehicles and the Environment
• AERIS July 2011 Transformative Concept Workshop – Breakout Session Summary [PDF]
• AERIS July 2011 Transformative Concepts Workshop
• Fact Sheet: Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) awardees and project descriptions (PDF)
• AERIS Webinar I (December 8, 2010); an introduction to AERIS
• AERIS Webinar II (February 9, 2011); review of State of the Practice report findings
• AERIS Program featured on White House Blog
• AERIS High-Level Roadmap

Research Contacts

To learn more about this research, contact:

Marcia Pincus
Program Manager, Environment (AERIS) and ITS Evaluation
ITS Joint Program Office
Research and Innovative Technology Administration
 (202) 366-9230
marcia.pincus@dot.gov

Robert Ferlis
Technical Director, Office of Operations R&D
Office of Operations Research and Development
Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center
Federal Highway Administration
(202) 493-3268
robert.ferlis@dot.gov