Institute for Future Mobility

MOVING PEOPLE AND GOODS

Expanding opportunities for communities and economies to thrive

Mengjun Wang installs LiDAR on the top of a robot dog.
Songyang Liu runs a drone delivery computer simulation to test research.
Several people stand along a eroded shoreline of the Tennessee River.

Mobility is the vital connection between people, businesses, and the goods and services that enable modern life. But what does it take to get from Point A to Point B quickly, safely, reliably, and economically? UT researchers collaborate with nonprofits, public transit agencies, the US Department of Transportation, and Fortune 500 companies to answer this complex question. 

Our applied research paves the way to improve safety, economic opportunity, and environmental impacts across urban, suburban, and rural areas.

A train crosses the Tennessee River on a bridge with its reflection in the water.

UT’s Approach

Mobility directly impacts quality of life for individuals and communities. We seek to understand and inform cost-effective and sustainable mobility policies and everyday choices. Public transportation and micromobility are key focal areas; themes include studying the impacts of new transit tools and technologies like transit ticketing apps and evaluating micromobility purchase incentives. Faculty also conduct cutting-edge safety research related to micromobility options, pedestrian infrastructure, and connected and automated vehicles.

We seek to improve freight transportation as well. This backbone of the US economy is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, yet freight logistics and supply chains are vulnerable to acute climate-related disruptions. UT researchers tackle those interconnected challenges from multiple angles, from emerging last-mile delivery technologies to nationwide intermodal logistics.

Researchers affiliated with UT’s Center for Transportation Research, for example, are leading a multi-institutional effort to develop a cognitive digital twin for the entire US intermodal transportation network. Funded by the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, the project will enable transportation decision-makers to prioritize for time, cost, and emissions with a clear understanding of tradeoffs. UT leads the multi-institutional Center for Freight Transportation for Efficient and Resilient Supply Chain, a US Department of Transportation National University Transportation Center focused on improving mobility of people and goods. UT’s highly ranked graduate supply chain programs are a hub for relevant thought leadership, talent development, and research.

“The challenge we’ve accepted in our ARPA-E project is developing a solution that will cover the entire country: millions and millions of tons of goods, many companies and ways to plan logistics, across rail, water, and roads. To make the greatest impact, we will translate our research into working prototypes available to industry partners and government agencies.”

—Xueping Li, Dan Doulet Faculty Fellow and Professor, Industrial & Systems Engineering

Distracted driving in the Driving Simulator Lab in the John D. Tickle Engineering Building at the University of Tennessee.
Working on a robot dog at the University of Tennessee.
Students riding a scooter along Ped walkway at the University of Tennessee.
Wakling a robot dog with LiDAR sensors near the Smokey statue near Ayres Hall on the University of Tennessee campus.
Using a simulator to test drone delivery for in the John D. Tickle Engineering Building at the University of Tennessee.

Highlights

Xueping Li, Dan Doulet Faculty Fellow and Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, talks about disigital transportation planning.

Transportation Planning Goes Digital

Xueping Li, professor of industrial and systems engineering and Dan Doulet Faculty Fellow, is leading a multi-institutional team in a first-of-its-kind undertaking: developing a cognitive digital twin for the US intermodal transportation network. The project addresses freight’s climate impact while increasing the sector’s efficiency and resilience.

Learn more about Li’s US Department of Energy–funded project.

University of Tennessee professor Catherine Schuman

Schuman’s Team Controls Tricky Engines with Neuroporphic Network

Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Katie Schuman, her graduate students, and collaborators at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have successfully tested a new brain-inspired computing system. They developed the system to improve the efficiency of the enormous, dual-fuel engines used by many cargo ships and trains.

Hear more from the researchers.

Portrait of Oriana Calderon

From Hoarding to Donating: Researching Strategies for Disasters

Consumers tend to hoard items in the aftermath of disasters and pandemics, exacerbating challenges and stressing supply chains. A recent publication by Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Oriana Calderón explores freight demand management initiatives that could mitigate the impact of hoarding during shortages of critical items.

Learn more about this study.

Candace Brakewood, Allison Rewalt, Chris Cherry

Unique Bus Stop Research Analyzes Fatal Pedestrian Crashes

Pedestrian fatalities in the US have increased significantly in recent years. Researchers in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering are seeking to better understand the risk factors— specifically those for pedestrians accessing buses. Their ongoing research can be used to inform bus stop safety improvements across the country.

Read more about this research.

A woman rides a mountain bike in a forested area.

Facilities & Initiatives

A variety of programs, facilities, and equipment support UT research in this area.

Several people stand around supplies on the edge of a body of water.

Researchers

  • John Bell.

    John Bell

    Department Head & Niedert Professor of Supply Chain Management

    Logistics and supply chain management, vehicle routing, facility location selection, hazardous material transportation, and supply chain strategy and risk

  • Yemisi Bolumole.

    Yemisi Bolumole

    Ryder Professor, Supply Chain Management

    Third-party logistics and transportation outsourcing, transportation policy, business-to-government interactions and SCM’s broad implications for multiple stakeholders and for society

  • Candace Brakewood.

    Candace Brakewood

    Associate Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering

    Public transit and micromobility

  • Chris Cherry.

    Chris Cherry

    Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering

    Micromobility, safety, sustainability, travel behavior

  • David Clarke.

    David Clarke

    Research Associate Professor

    Railroad education and training, rail safety

  • Brad Collett.

    Brad Collett

    Director, Tennessee RiverLine; Professor, Plant Sciences

    Landscape performance, specifically watershed stewardship through low impact development, and sustainable planning and design

  • Courtney Cronley.

    Courtney Cronley

    Associate Professor, Social Work

    Emerging transportation technologies, electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, modeling latent travel demand, smart mobility

  • Tom Goldsby.

    Thomas Goldsby

    Dee & Jimmy Haslam Chair in Logistics

    Logistics strategy, supply chain integration, theory and practice of lean and agile supply chain strategies

  • Lee Han.

    Lee Han

    Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering

    Traffic engineering, application of advanced technologies to transportation, intelligent transportation systems (ITS), system modeling and simulations, traffic flow theory, traffic operations, transportation data and information systems, emergency evacuation and management, crash records and analysis, transportation logistics, operations research, 3D visualizations

  • Mingzhou Jin.

    Mingzhou Jin

    Department Head & John D. Tickle Professor, Industrial & Systems Engineering

    Logistics, transportation, supply chain management, operations research and data analytics

  • Alex Scott.

    Alex Scott

    Assistant Professor, Supply Chain Management

    Supply chain policy, transportation sustainability and safety, market dynamics and governance structures in the transportation industry

See all Moving People & Goods Faculty