“SMART” for Grad Students The Sustainable Mobility and Accessibility Research Transformation Master’s Project

The SMART Master’s Project Team Team Members: –Nicholas S. Cucinelli –Eric W. Hesse –Carrie E. Pasch –Ruth X. Scotti –Eric H. Wingfield Advisor: –Dr. Thomas N. Gladwin, Max McGraw Professor of Sustainable Enterprise, UMBS/SNRE

Our Clients The University of Michigan SMART Initiative –A university-wide initiative to conduct a comprehensive, integrative, and long-term investigation of the complex dynamics of mobility in coupled human and natural systems. EMBARQ: The World Resources Institute (WRI) Center for Transport and the Environment

What the he** are we doing? Our role in support of the SMART initiative: –Conduct a thorough literature review –Interview researchers in mobility, complexity, urban planning, etc. –Develop a set of conceptual frameworks –Build a systems dynamics model incorporating mobility, people and biota –Ground-truth this model through field work –Publish these our results to inform policy and sustainable business decisions (perhaps also producing short digital film for educators and others)

Project Activities/Methodologies Conduct a comprehensive literature survey of the present state of research within relevant disciplines like traffic modeling, energy and transport engineering, land use planning, CO2/climate change research, and local air emissions studies Interview mobility experts in general and those attending the summer 2004 SMART roundtable at the University of Michigan Define the initial conceptual frameworks for systems dynamics model Develop our skills in systems dynamics and related modeling tools by participating in a summer training program offered by the Center for the Study of Complex Systems Refine our conceptual models through follow-up interviews with mobility experts, relevant site visits, and field interviews with transportation decision makers in government, business, and civil society Design a systems dynamics model that identifies critical sustainability metrics, indicators, and systemic behaviors to inform sustainable mobility decision-making Communicate these findings through a written report, possibly augmented by a multimedia presentation if funding and resources are available. This report will include a summary for future investigation by the SMART Initiative

Results/Deliverables Create a systems dynamics model that frames the political, economic and social factors impacting transportation challenges of modern cities Leverage this model to uncover a set of indicators that are conducive to the development of sustainable mobility systems for mega-cities Compose recommendations that target key decision makers in government, business and civil society in mega-cities relevant to EMBARQ Recommend useful technical and/or policy solutions Identify outstanding research questions to be pursued by EMBARQ in continuing partnership with SMART

Workplan/Timeline We could get more specific if you’re game or just base it on what we’ve said above. Maybe it need sot be broken out into research methodologies and deliverables?  All team members have already completed four months of systems dynamics training under the guidance of our faculty advisor, Professor Gladwin. 

Budget Purpose Cost/Unit# of UnitsTotal Cost 3-day complexity seminar $5003 persons$1500 Conferences $5005 person$2500 Required software licenses VariableTBD$500 Publications/documents VariableTBD$500 Office suppliesVariableTBD$675 Local travel $ miles$700 Client meetings$24002 trips$4800 Travel expenses* ~$ trips$18000 Opus expenses $15011 copies$1650 Publication fees $1003 pubs$300 Total$31,125