News & Event Highlights

"Making it (Tele)Work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory"

Telework poster June 27, 2012 - ORNL's Sustainable Campus Initiative presented a seminar called "Making it (Tele)Work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory." The presentation was made by Diane Davidson who is the director of the Center for Transportation Analysis at ORNL. Mrs. Davidson discussed telework, an innovative workplace strategy and sustainable business practice that can reduce ORNL's carbon footprint. A driving force for this new practice is based on findings from the ORNL 2010 Commute Survey and Recommendationsreport that recommended ORNL implement an aggressive strategy to reduce single-occupant gasoline vehicles on campus to help address Scope 3 greenhouse gas reduction requirements in the White House Executive Order 13514.This seminar described the potential benefits of telework. For example, telework offers a number of potential benefits for an organization: better employee retention, enhanced recruitment, compliance with commute trip reduction goals and reduced carbon emissions, to name a few. There are lots of reasons why employees may want to telework; like saving money, saving time, reducing stress, and being able to work on projects that require concentration, without the usual office distractions.

Diane has 30 years of experience in executive leadership and transportation management, planning, and operations. She has conducted research on telework programs at major corporations, developed telework training materials for Middle Tennessee businesses, and served as chair of the Tennessee Telework council.

New methodology to estimate national fuel economy rates

November 15, 2011 - The Office of Highway Policy Information of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) tasked ORNL’s Center for Transportation Analysis with formulating new methodology to estimate the national fuel economy rates (miles per gallon) for passenger cars, as well as light, medium, and heavy duty trucks.  The purpose of the new methodology is to ensure that total vehicle miles traveled, number of vehicles, and total fuel consumption statistics are both consistent and reasonable.  Shih-Miao Chin was the project investigator for this significant work.   The methodology has been published as Table VM-1 in Highway Statistics.  The FHWA’s news release for this event can be found at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pressroom/fhwa1155.htm.

2011 Press Releases

Raceway to Driveway
FMCSA renews committment to CMVRTC
 Davidson reappointed to TRACS
Davidson elected to Board of Directors of ACT
Sujit Das presents at DOT workshop
CTA outstanding mentors named
Fuel from Food
Lin and Greene receive R&D Award
CTA is ready to TRAVL!
David Green Receives Edward L. Ullman Award
Sujit Das appointed to TRB's Committee on Transportation Economics
Roltek receives 2010 Small Business Award for their work with CTA
Inaugural issue of CTA Newsletter
Want to Green Your Commute? Learn about Vanpooling on March 8 at ORNL Cafeteria
Oscar Franzese and Bill Knee receive Pyke Johnson Award for Best Paper
Model of Feedstock and Supply Process Operation of Biomass Steam Plant
Pat Hu Named Director of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics

2010 Press Releases

ORNL is ready with ORNLReady
Public Release of 2009 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) Data
Real-Time Dynamic Brake Assessment Project Completed
ORNL Main Campus Traffic Analysis
New version of Freight Analysis Framework released
CTA Staff nominated for TRB Pyke Johnson Award
 Commercial Vehicle Safety Technologies Showcased in Tennessee

Highlights

Transportation Energy Data Book: Edition 31
On July 31, 2012, ORNL release Edition 31 of the Transportation Energy Data Book (TEDB). The TEDB is a compendium of data on transportation with an emphasis on energy. Designed for use as a desktop reference, the TEDB was first published in 1976 and has continued to Edition 31. The TEDB is produced by Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

ORNL Sustainability Summit
On May 2-3, ORNL held a Sustainability Summit to advance the deployment of sustainable technologies in the southeast. Diane Davidson developed and moderated at the Sustainable Transportation session, with Ron Littlefield, Mayor of Chattanooga, along with ORNL's Stacy Davis and David Greene.

U.S. DOE's Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting
David Greene, Zhenhong Lin and Jing Dong attended the U.S. DOE's Annual Merit Review (AMR) and Peer Evaluation Meeting in Washington, DC, May 14-17, 2012. David's presentation, "Fuel Cell Vehicle Penetration Relative to Vehicle Portfolio," and Zhenhong's presentation, "Impact of Program Targets on Vehicle Penetration and Benefits," were reported on by Slate and the Green Car Congress.

White House and U.S. DOE sponsored "Energy Data Jam"
David Greene participated in the White House and U.S. DOE sponsored "Energy Data Jam" at Stanford University On May 21, 2012. The invitation only workshop brought together "40 of the most innovative entrepreneurs, software developers, chief executive officers (CEOs), energy experts and policy makers to discuss how we can unleash the power of data, technology, and innovation to help with our pressing energy goals."

Vehicle Technologies Program Fact of the Week
Stacy Davis, Bob Boundy, and Susan Diegel develop Facts of the Week that are posted on the DOE Vehicle Technologies Homepage. For the month of March, half of the top 10 landing pages for the DOE Vehicle Technologies Homepage were Facts that they have written. (A landing page is where one enters the website for the first time.) "The FOTW pages are our biggest traffic-getters" says Suzanne Williams who compiles the Vehicle Technology website statistics for DOE.

 

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