Technology advancement is bringing many changes to the transportation system. Some well-known examples are connected and autonomous vehicles and on-demand mobility services (including the ridehailing services such as Uber and on-demand home deliveries). In short term, these emerging technologies and services may enhance the efficiency of transportation system operation, improve traffic condition and residents’ quality of life. In long term, they will change people’s perception of travel time and traffic safety conditions, and reshape their behavior. It has already been shown that the on-demand deliveries increase freight trips without reducing personal shopping trips. Policy makers are concerned that these new technologies and service forms may further reduce people’s perceived travel costs, inducing more travel activities and longer commuting distances, adding to the current congestion and urban sprawl conditions, and resulting in increased externalities. Some innovative demand management initiatives are thus being investigated, including new pricing schemes, new ride matching algorithms, and new facility planning and operation strategies. To get prepared for the changing trends, it is necessary to understand (1) how residents perceive these new technologies and service forms; (2) How they are ready to adapt to such a new transportation era in terms of technology/service form adoption and behavioral change; and (3) their reactions to potential demand management strategies.

The goal of this proposed study is to analyze public opinions on the emerging transportation technologies and service forms in New York State (NYS) and assess the influence of travel demand management strategies through diligent data collection and analysis. In pursuit of the research goal, the proposed project will achieve the following objectives:

•      - Acquire detailed information about public opinions towards emerging transportation technologies and
•        service forms in NYS through a two-fold survey, and develop a comprehensive database;
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•      - Develop rigorous analysis framework that characterize public opinions and their expected behavioral responses,
•        identify connections between residents’ socioeconomic characteristics and theirresponses; and quantify the effects of
•        demand management strategies on respondent reactions; and

•      - Based on the findings, simulate the future transportation system performance with the influence of
•        emerging transportation technologies and service forms in NYS, with and without demand management
•        initiatives, proposing optimal strategies that improve future transportation system operation efficiency.