Driving the Ambitious $30M Plan for an Autonomous Vehicle Test Track and Research Center
Innovation and the automobile industry are on the move at UConn -after four years of planning, coordinating, and developing, a major project is moving closer to reality in Connecticut:
UConn’s Board of Trustees recently approved an option agreement to sell 105 acres in the southwest portion of the school’s Mansfield Depot Campus to a private company — Promesa Capital LLC — headed by Cortese, who would lead a group of investors in developing the site as the region’s first-ever connected and autonomous vehicle test track and research facility. Such a facility, Jackson and Cortese said, would be a boon for the university and region, helping make UConn a leader in autonomous vehicle research, technology and safety. “My goal is to raise the stature of UConn to a school where world-class research takes place on this technology, and students come to UConn specifically to work with leading faculty on projects that will change the way we travel,” Jackson said. “UConn will be transformational in terms of research and will provide a world-class facility to open opportunities we’ve never had before for the future of transportation.” August 15 Hartford Business Journal The endeavor has the potential for lasting positive impact in areas including innovation, research, investment, and the economy, and Eric Jackson -director of the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center at UConn -is at the forefront of this exciting development.
If you are a journalist looking to know more, let us help. Simply click on Jackson’s icon to arrange an interview today.
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2 min
Fewer cars, but more fatalities - What's happening on America's pandemic roadways
Fewer vehicles are traveling on America's roadways during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but the number of fatal car crashes in 2020 increased exponentially compared to the same time period in 2019.
UConn expert Eric Jackson, a research professor and director of the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center, and behavioral research assistant Marisa Auguste examined the increase in a recent essay published by The Conversation:
Curious about traffic crashes during the pandemic, we decided to use our skills as a social scientist and a research engineer who study vehicle crash data to see what we could learn about Connecticut’s traffic deaths when the stay-at-home orders first went into place last March. A partnership between the Department of Transportation, local hospitals and the University of Connecticut discovered what many people intuitively knew: Traffic volume and multivehicle crashes fell significantly during the stay-at-home order. Statewide, daily vehicle traffic fell by 43% during the stay-at-home order compared to earlier in the year, while mean daily counts of multivehicle crashes decreased from 209 before the stay-at-home order to 80 during lockdown. What was unexpected, however, was the significant increase in single-vehicle crashes, especially fatal ones. During the stay-at-home period, the incidence rate of fatal single-vehicle crashes increased 4.1 times, while the rate of total single-vehicle crashes was also up significantly. Data about all crash types in the state, whether singleor multivehicle, tell a similar story. Although preliminary, police reports have placed the 2020 year-end total for traffic deaths at 308, a 24% increase from 2019. While the researchers said that it's unclear why this counterintuitive increase in fatalities on the roads has occurred, their advice to drivers? "Check your speed" and "don't drive angry."
If you are a journalist looking to know more about this topic, let us help. Simply click on Eric Jackson’s icon to arrange an interview today.
Biography
Dr. Jackson is currently the Executive Director of the Connecticut Transportation Institute (CTI) and the Director of the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center (CTSRC) at UConn. The CTSRC assisted in the complete overhaul and modernization of crash data and safety analysis in the state.
Dr. Jackson’s current research has focused on improving the crash data collection process in Connecticut as well as providing public access to crash data and transportation safety analysis tools. This includes the Connecticut Crash Data repository, developing software and systems to analyze transportation safety, linkage of crash, roadway and social factor databases to improve transportation safety.
Dr. Jackson also leads the CTSRC’s Safety Analysis Team in the development of new software and methods to allow Connecticut to fully implement the Highway Safety Manual methods with the Connecticut Roadway Safety Management System (CRSMS). Through database design and data integration the CTCDR and the CRSMS provide researchers, planners and the Department of Transportation with timely, accurate and complete access to motor vehicle crash data and analysis.
His previous research efforts include conducting research on driver behavior and vehicle dynamics impacts on vehicle emissions.
Areas of Expertise
Autonomous Vehicles
Safety data integration and analysis
Transportation Data Systems
Web-based data collection, distributuon, and analysis
UConn is best known for its basketball team, maybe even its academics. But did you know there’s a think-tank on campus doing interesting research on transportation?
Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Connecticut Transportation Institute’s mission is to innovate on hardware and software to make our travels faster, safer and cheaper.
CTI’s Executive Director Eric Jackson says “we have access to a huge network of experts from all disciplines on campus,” though most of their $7.5 million annual budget comes from the Connecticut Department of Transportation and federal agencies involved with highways.
High-tech driving testing facility planned at UConn campus
NBC Connecticut tv
2024-10-01
Some hope new technology could help make driving safer and researchers believe UConn could play a major part.
From an area filled with abadoned buildings to a state of the art driving testing facility, there are big plans in the works for UConn’s Depot Campus in Mansfield.
“We're very focused on how to make the roadways safer,” Connecticut Transportation Institute Executive Director Eric Jackson said.
Police, DOT urge caution on the roads after fatal motorcycle crashes
NBC Connecticut tv
2024-08-13
“These latest two fatalities put us at 42 motorcycle fatalities year to date. That puts us up around 7-8% of where we typically would be this year,” said Eric Jackson of the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center at UConn.
“Cars are driving a lot faster than they typically would. There are more aggressive they're running red lights and running stop signs and that's obviously bad for motorcyclists because any time that a car and motorcycle collide, the motorcyclist is going to lose,” Jackson added.
Connecticut turns to technology to address truck parking
Land Line online
2024-06-06
Connecticut is working on a truck parking app for drivers traveling through the Constitution State, but the researchers developing the app hope the technology can go beyond state lines and perhaps spark investment in parking expansion.
Truck parking is very much a safety issue. Eric Jackson, associate research professor at the University of Connecticut’s College of Engineering, has dedicated his career to transportation safety. Jackson is also the executive director of the Connecticut Transportation Institute, which works with both the U.S. and Connecticut Department of Transportation.
UConn is studying trucking in CT. The issue big rig drivers face might sound familiar.
Hartford Courant print
2024-06-02
“Truck parking has been a major focus of the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) for the last four or five years,” said Eric Jackson, the executive director of the Connecticut Transportation Institute and the director of Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center. “We are trying to find ways to accommodate truckers and make it as efficient as possible.”
Jackson said his organization is in the process of creating a parking inventory across the state.
UConn researchers warn of deadly trend on roads, seek solutions for safer driving
WTNH tv
2024-03-20
“There are a lot of things drivers do behind the wheel that tend to cause or lead up to a person being involved in a crash,” Jackson said. “So how can we use vehicle automation or how can we use safety features within vehicles to prevent those crashes from occurring?”
Researchers are also looking at crashes involving motorcycles. Motorcycle accident deaths are up 700% this year to date with 7 fatalities, according to Jackson.
“We’re seeing a dramatic increase in motorcycle fatalities this year partly because we’ve had a fairly warmer winter,” said Jackson.
Most CT drivers 'scanned hundreds if not thousands of times' by 'unregulated' license plate readers
Hearst Connecticut Media print
2024-03-11
Most of the license plate readers currently in use in Connecticut are affixed to cars, either police cruisers or vehicles owned by private companies, according to Eric Jackson, executive director of UConn's Connecticut Transportation Institute, which studies traffic and crash data in the state
Jackson said “there's no citations issued” by a license plate reader. “It's a tool that law enforcement can use, either as they’re driving through parking lots or as they're driving down the road.”
Why don’t we use more driving simulators to teach teenage drivers?
Popular Science online
2024-02-05
“We can put people in scenarios that they may never experience and make them aware of the risks and dangers [of driving],” Eric Jackson, Executive Director of the Connecticut Transportation Institute (CTI), a research center at the University of Connecticut, tells PopSci. In addition to compiling car crash data to track trends, Jackson’s team operates a variety of driving simulators to study driver behavior under different conditions such as when a driver is impaired or distracted. CTI’s simulator collection includes a car mounted on actuators with a surround screen, and several motorcycle simulators. They also use desktop and virtual reality simulators.
Will CT's crackdown on ATVs and dirt bikes lead to fewer street takeovers? Spring will show.
Hearst Connecticut Media print
2023-12-28
"They don't have brake lights, they don't have mirrors and most of them don't have headlights — they don't have a lot of the safety equipment," Eric Jackson, director of the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center at the University of Connecticut, said. "They're not made to be driven on pavement, most of them are made to be driven on dirt roadways.”
2022 was the deadliest year for car crashes in Connecticut
CT Mirror online
2023-10-20
"Unfortunately, the only thing that we really know that works is more enforcement. We're seeing that with the speed cameras that are being set up in work zones. That as more and more people start getting morning tickets in the mail, we're seeing an improvement in behavior as people drive through work zones," said Eric Jackson, the Executive Director of the Connecticut Transportation Institute and the Director of the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center at the University of Connecticut.
As Connecticut street takeovers turn deadly, cities look for new ways to stop ATVs, dirt bikes
Hearst Connecticut Media print
2023-09-04
The off-road vehicles are not intended for public streets.
"They don't have brake lights, they don't have mirrors and most of them don't have headlights — they don't have a lot of the safety equipment," said Eric Jackson, director of the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center at the University of Connecticut. "They're not made to be driven on pavement, most of them are made to be driven on dirt roadways.”
Meet the duo behind an ambitious $30M plan to build the region’s first autonomous vehicle test track facility, research center
Hartford Business Journal print
2022-08-15
Such a facility, Jackson and Cortese said, would be a boon for the university and region, helping make UConn a leader in autonomous vehicle research, technology and safety.
“My goal is to raise the stature of UConn to a school where world-class research takes place on this technology, and students come to UConn specifically to work with leading faculty on projects that will change the way we travel,” Jackson said. “UConn will be transformational in terms of research and will provide a world-class facility to open opportunities we’ve never had before for the future of transportation.”
Conn. Transportation Institute aims to prevent wrong-way crashes
WTNH - Channel 8 tv
2022-07-27
Eric Jackson, executive director of the Connecticut Transportation Institute, said that in a typical year, there are around three to five wrong-way crashes, but this year, they’ve already seen 11 on the roadways with five months to go.
“What we see is the vast majority of fatal wrong-way crashes involve a driver that’s impaired by either drugs or alcohol,” Jackson said.
Jackson said the wrong-way crashes aren’t happening because of bad signage or confusing on-and-off ramps, but rather, this is a human behavior issue.
Officials and experts are now discussing what can be done to stop wrong-way drivers. Eric Jackson heads up the Connecticut Transportation Research Safety Center based at UConn.
The center collects data and analyzes crashes around Connecticut. Jackson says may times crashes often have at least one if not more high-risk factors like speeding, drugs, or alcohol. He says sometimes there is even a lack of seatbelts.
“Right now, what we’re also looking at are other states seeing this issue. Are there other states seeing wrong-way drivers? Hopefully we’ll have an answer for that soon,” says Jackson.
Deadly wrong-way crashes are up in Connecticut. What's being done about it?
Fox 61 tv
2022-07-05
This is where at Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center at the University of Connecticut comes in. The center collects and analyzes crash data across the state as they find the most effective ways to stop wrong-way drivers.
"We're really starting to look into the causes of those crashes and we're trying to understand why they're happening and how we can prevent those in the future," said Eric Jackson, the center’s director. "We've been working on developing what's called wrong-way rumble strips so that if you drive across these rumble strips the correct direction there's very little vibration in the roadway and back into your vehicle but if you drive the wrong direction it feels as though you have a flat tire.”
With e-scooters popping up in CT, are the state’s streets safe enough for them?
Hearst Connecticut print
2022-07-04
Eric Jackson, the executive director of the Connecticut Transportation Institute at the University of Connecticut, which oversees the state’s Crash Data Repository, said it’s difficult to get an idea of how many accidents involve scooters statewide because there’s no category capturing data specifically on the vehicles.
The crashes, he said, seem like an “abnormality as of now, just due to increased risk-taking behavior post COVID.
“I think these might just be a symptom of the bad driver behavior we are seeing all over the place now and less on scooter or moped use,” Jackson said.
Unlike Rhode Island, Connecticut has a slightly different set of challenges: more square mileage, and, more impaired drivers…at least on a percentage-wise basis.
“When we started looking at what percentage of our fatalities are due to an impaired driver, Connecticut’s always in the upper 30s to 40% of our fatalities are impaired driving-related, I think the last year that the stats have been released on in 2020, Montana was at 46% and Connecticut was 40%. We were the top two states in the country in terms of impaired driving," Jackson said.
At the same time, crash data experts like Jackson are researching other ways to alert wrong-way drivers, including rumble strips that will make noise if people drive the wrong way over them, plus other innovations.
Connecticut’s highways have been less congested because of the pandemic, but more crashes and deaths have been reported in 2020 and 2021. Our roads are now deadlier than they’ve ever been and there are fewer police and less enforcement on Connecticut roadways.
“We are seeing a record number of fatalities over the past few months and over the past few years,” said Dr. Eric Jackson, Executive Director for the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center.
“Our year-to-date trends are around 30 to 40 fatalities higher than they have been, probably in the past 20 to 30 years,” said Eric Jackson, director of the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center (CTSRC) at the University of Connecticut.
Jackson said during the pandemic, with fewer cars on the road, speeds began to escalate into the 80 and 90 mile per hour range. Those higher speeds, according to motorists we spoke with Tuesday, still exist on some roadways.
Researchers found sharp increase in deadly car crashes following Connecticut’s early COVID-19 pandemic restrictions
Hartford Courant print
2020-11-11
The research codifies what has been reported by transportation officials and law enforcement immediately in the weeks that followed the early COVID-19 restrictions.
By the beginning of May, 25 more people died in crashes in the state this year than last, according to Eric Jackson, executive director of the Connecticut Transportation Institute at the University of Connecticut. The figures, Jackson said, were 87 deaths through May 1 in 2020 and 62 deaths during the same period in 2019.
There are fewer cars on the roads during Connecticut’s stay-at-home order, but there are more deadly crashes, data show
Hartford Courant print
2020-05-12
Tempted by the open roads created by coronavirus stay-at-home rules, drivers are speeding and causing more deadly wrecks than in the past two years, UConn crash data show.
As of May 1, 25 more people died in crashes in the state this year than last. Eighty-seven people have died in crashes in 2020, compared to 62 who died in the same time period last year, according to Eric Jackson, executive director of the Connecticut Transportation Institute at the University of Connecticut.
As pot proliferates, new concerns behind the wheel
FOX61 online
2019-05-06
Eric Jackson, the director of the research center said, “there’s very little research on impairment and marijuana and alcohol are not the same.” Jackson and his team are trying to push for the technology that would do the same type of thing that a breathalyzer does for alcohol detection -- but such devices don’t exist yet.
Groundbreaking documentary focuses on distracted driving
ABC tv
2019-04-01
We're back now with an eye-opening new warning about distracted driving. As we kick off distracted driving awareness month. The national safety soul says nine Americans die in distracted driving accidents a day. Now a look at what keeps your eyes off the road. Reporter: Some are calling this the new drunk driving. Take your eyes off the road for just a few seconds. As you're about to see, a few seconds could be all it takes.
According to Eric Jackson, the director of the transportation safety research center at UConn, the simulator will help educators, students and the public, better understand the increasing presence of autonomous vehicles.
"There are substantial safety benefits that will come from automated self-driving cars," Jackson said. "And it's not just self driving cars, it's connected vehicles too."
Hoping for a test drive: UConn, area towns interested in self-driving cars
Journal Register print
2018-05-12
Eric Jackson, a research professor at UConn’s School of Engineering and the director of the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center, reached out to the town of Mansfield about applying for the program, and interim Town Manager John Carrington said recently town staff is supportive of the idea.
Jackson said UConn would be a good setting for the program, testing the technology in its shuttle system on campus. Jackson said he has meetings set up with university officials to discuss the program, and said he already has had talks with an autonomous vehicle company that is testing the technology at the University of Michigan.
Jackson said that testing the technology at UConn would be a boon to the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center, which examines crash data in hopes of finding ways to reduzce the number of crashes and crash fatalities in the state.
“Having that research here in a hands-on way would expand our research and really help us see the potential impact of this technology,” he said.
Connecticut May Use High Tech Tools to Stop Wrong-Way Drivers
NBC News tv
2017-02-21
Since many of the drivers in wrong-way crashes don't survive, it's difficult to determine where they got onto the highway going the wrong way.
"Knowing exactly where to put those in is going to be the challenging part," Eric Jackson with the UConn Crash Data Repository, said. "To determine exactly where those hot spots are and those confusing interchanges where people are going the wrong way."
With the number of deaths totalling more than 50 in 2016, the state reached the highest number of pedestrian fatalities related to motor vehicle accidents since 1995, said Eric Jackson, director of the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center, which runs the crash data repository at UConn. Data is still being compiled and updated, Jackson said, but a search on the repository this week revealed that there were 54 pedestrian fatalities from motor vehicle crashes already reported for last year.
Analysis of a Method for Bias Reduction in Electronic Travel Surveys
The 2012 91st annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board Washington, DC - 2012
Contingent Valuation of Built Environment elements Using Personalized Scenarios
The 2011 90th annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board Washington, DC - 2011
Digital Preservation of a Highway Photolog Film Archive in Connecticut.
The 2012 91st annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board Washington, DC - 2012
Analysis of Real-World Lead Vehicle Operation for the Integration of Modal Emissions and Traffic Simulation Models
The 2010 89th annual meeting of the Transportation Research Boar Washington, DC - 2010
Show All +
Articles
Traffic is down on American highways during the pandemic, but vehicle deaths are up – here’s how to stay safe on the road
The Conversation
Eric Jackson and Marisa Auguste
2021-03-09
Although there are fewer cars on America’s roads since the pandemic began, the number of fatal car crashes has increased.
Early nationwide data supports this counterintuitive finding: Although daily trips from households fell by as much as 35% in 2020, preliminary traffic fatality count data for the first nine months of 2020 shows 28,190 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes - a 4.6% increase compared with the same period in 2019. The same trend has been reported in countries outside the U.S., such as Australia, where less traffic has not produced fewer road deaths.
Analysis of Real-World Lead Vehicle Operation for the Integration of Modal Emissions and Traffic Simulation Models.
Journal of the Transportation Research Board
Jackson, Eric and L. M. Aultman-Hall
2010-01-01
New models and data are needed in microscopic traffic simulation tools to allow effective use with newer modal tailpipe emissions models. Traffic simulation models offer the ability to simulate large, second-by-second vehicle operation data sets as input for emissions models. However, more data are needed to improve simulation of second-by-second vehicle speed. This research analyzes and models the vehicle dynamics of unconstrained drivers in real-world driving situations based on road geometry. Vehicle dynamics data were collected by using an instrumented vehicle driven by 22 volunteers over a 17-mi predetermined test route. The objective of this research was to analyze and model the nonrandom speed variations in unconstrained lead drivers. The results of this study suggest that horizontal and vertical curvatures have a significant impact on the second-by-second operation of an unconstrained lead vehicle. Furthermore, these nonrandom changes in speed are important considerations since they can produce considerable variations in the level of tailpipe emissions.
Modal Analysis of Vehicle Operation and Particulate Emissions from Connecticut Transit Buses
Transportation Research Record
Jackson, Eric and Britt Holmen
2009-01-01
Transit buses represent a significant source of particulate exhaust emissions, especially in urban areas, but few previous studies have quantified these emissions by using real-world, onboard sampling while the vehicles operate in the transportation network. In this study, real-world particle number emissions for hybrid diesel–electric (HDE) and conventional diesel (CD) buses are examined for various vehicle operating conditions and road types in the Hartford, Connecticut, region. The results presented in this paper are based on analysis of the unique second-by-second Connecticut Transit on-road transit bus emissions and operations data set collected between January and November 2004. The modal analysis results indicate that hybrid buses operate differently than do conventional diesel buses. Although the distributions of vehicle specific power (VSP) values (in kw) were similar for the two bus types, the distributions of engine operation parameters (load and speed) were different. More important, VSP alone cannot be used to distinguish between vehicle types for modeling engine operation of, and possibly emissions from hybrid and conventional vehicles. Furthermore, modal analysis of ultrafine particle emissions indicates that in some situations the HDE buses do not outperform the CDs and may even produce higher emission rates than do the CD buses tested. Thus, there are routes and conditions in which transit authorities should avoid the use of HDE buses similar to those tested here when particle emissions are of concern. The observed high particle emissions on steep uphill grades for hybrids indicate that careful route selection for hybrid buses is warranted to optimize the environmental benefits of the hybrid vehicles.
Driver and Road Type Effects on Light-Duty Gas and Particulate Emissions
Transportation Research Record
Jackson, Eric, Yingge Qu, Britt Holmén and Lisa Aultman-Hall
2006-01-01
An instrumented minivan on a 30-mi (48-km) test route was used to measure second-by-second vehicle operating characteristics as well as tailpipe particulate and gas emissions. The research objectives were (a) to quantify the variability of gas and particulate emissions between 12 drivers and (b) to measure the relative emissions levels on freeways, signalized arterials, rural two-lane arterials, and local roads. The results reaffirm that individual drivers significantly affect emissions levels. All emissions concentrations were also systematically related to road type. Furthermore, drivers could be grouped by emissions level, but these groupings differed by pollutant and by road type. More data are needed to elucidate driver–road type interactions and to characterize the regional driver pool for more robust microscale emissions models. The relative importance of driver type compared with the importance of other factors known to affect emissions needs to be quantified. Finally, two key issues were identified as affecting the accuracy of instantaneous emissions measurements: instrument response time effects on data alignment and accurate quantification of the full range of on-road exhaust flow rates.
Jackson, Eric, Lisa Aultman-Hall, Britt Holmén and Jianhe Du
Transportation Research Record
Jackson, Eric, Lisa Aultman-Hall, Britt Holmén and Jianhe Du
2005-01-01
This paper evaluates the ability of Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to determine accurately the second-by-second operating mode of a vehicle in the real-world transportation network. GPS offers the ability to obtain second-by-second velocity directly and to obtain acceleration data indirectly from a vehicle traveling in the real-world traffic network. Although GPS has been used successfully in travel behavior and route choice surveys, the uncertainty in accuracy of velocity and acceleration data obtained from the GPS warrants further investigation to gain a better understanding of the range and spatial distribution of vehicle emissions. In this study, data from two GPS receivers and a Scan-Tool were collected over five repetitions of a 65-mi route. The results indicate that GPS receivers perform as well as the ScanTool when measuring velocity. Furthermore, the GPS receivers determined the 1-s operating mode of the vehicle successfully when measured against the ScanTool. These results will aid in the future development of vehicle emissions models and allow for an analysis of real-world emissions based on real-world operating mode data.
Aultman-Hall, Lisa, Eric Jackson, Charlie Dougan and Soon-Nai Choi
2004-01-01
A large field-measured international roughness index (IRI) data set was collected in the summer and fall of 2001 on 650 highway kilometers with sections containing full-depth hot-mixed asphalt (HMA) and HMA over portland cement; the set was used to investigate the relationships between IRI, rutting, and pavement cracking. Parametric statistical analysis, linear regression, and neural network models were used with a large database of 65,530 observations (10-m intervals). The goal was to investigate the relationship between both rutting and cracking (estimated from photolog images obtained at the same time field data were collected) and IRI. Specifically, the objective was to determine if these relationships were consistent enough to allow IRI, the more easily measured quantity, to be used as a surrogate for the others or if the effort and resources to collect all three measures were necessary in pavement management programs. The results indicate that while statistically significant relationships exist between IRI and both cracking and rutting, these relationships are not strong enough for IRI to be used as a surrogate measure for pavement condition. The weak predictive relationships are further evidenced by the lack of success in training a neural network that could significantly outperform linear regression models. It was concluded that IRI, while appropriate for measuring rideability, was not appropriate for measuring cracking or rutting.
