The faculty and graduate students of the UPRM transportation engineering group participate in projects covering different research areas. Major areas of transportation research at UPRM include:

  • Road Safety Analysis
  • Traffic Operations
  • Geometric Design
  • Transit
  • Transportation Planning
  • Transportation Network Design
  • Intelligent Transportation Systems

Some of the transportation research projects conducted at UPRM focus on the following topics:

  • Impacts of roundabouts on traffic safety
  • Demand forecasting models for paratransit systems
  • Effectiveness and acceptability of mobile applications for crash reporting
  • Road pricing strategies for travel demand management
  • Analysis and evaluation of transit quality of service
  • Evaluation and modeling of geometric design consistency
  • The use of driving simulators for the design of highway features
  • Public-private partnerships for the funding of transportation projects
  • Parking management systems for travel demand management
  • Transit network design models that account for equity issues

UPRM is a member institution of the University Transportation Research Center (UTRC), the Transportation Informatics University Transportation Center (UB), and the Safety Research Using Simulation University Transportation Center (SAFER-SIM). These centers and other institutions fund the research currently being conducted at UPRM. For example, the research being conducted as part of the SAFER-SIM partnership has resulted in the creation of a driving simulation laboratory.

 

In addition to the research conducted by faculty and graduate students, undergraduate students that are members of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Student Chapter conduct practical research projects that benefit the community.