Transport Studies and Research Group, Trinity College Dublin

2003

YEAR BOOK

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Trinity College Dublin

Aoife Ahern

Transport Studies and Research Group, Trinity College Dublin

The Transport Studies and Research Group (TSRG) is based at the Civil Engineering Department, Trinity College Dublin. This group is very active in transportation research both in Ireland and internationally. With the construction and imminent opening of Luas, the congestion problems faced by Irish cities and towns and the need for better inter-urban and inter-regional transport, transportation research in Ireland will continue to be of the utmost importance.

The research interests of the TSRG are wide ranging. The group is continuously expanding and there are now 2 postdoctoral research fellows and 10 PhD students working in the TSRG.

The TSRG is conducting the following transport projects:

� Impacts of Luas on travel behaviour
� Public perceptions of inter-urban public transport
� Developing transport strategies for cities in the developing world
� Impacts of transport induced air pollution
� Evaluation of real-time passenger information on the Lucan Quality Bus Corridor
� Traffic modelling
� Freight distributions in Dublin City Centre
� Advanced data analysis of public transport data.

One of the most important developments to take place in the TSRG this year has been the setting up of TRIP - the Centre for Transport Research and Innovation in People. This is an interdisciplinary group, comprised of researchers from University College Cork and from Trinity College Dublin and from the areas of Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Computer Science, Psychology, Geography and Economics. The objective of this group, which is led by Civil Engineering, TCD, is to bring together expertise from different fields to find solutions to the transport problems faced in Ireland and to encourage collaboration between the different fields. There are 4 thematic areas that are covered by TRIP: travel demand, quality of life, transport and the environment and transport safety.

One project in TRIP looks at the impacts that the new Luas will have on travel behaviour, and uses theories borrowed from social psychology to improve the models currently used to describe modal choice and travel decisions. This project is headed by Dr. Aoife Ahern (TSRG) and involves collaboration from Dr. Margaret O'Mahony (TSRG), Dr. James Killen (Geography) and Dr. Myra O'Regan (Statistics) along with 1 PhD student.

The TSRG is headed by Dr. Margaret O'Mahony. The other researchers working in this group are Dr. Aoife Ahern, Professor Donal O'Sullivan (Visiting Professor of Transport Engineering), Mr. Hugh Finlay, Dr. Dermot O'Dwyer, Dr. Biswajit Basu and Dr. Brian Broderick.

Contact: Dr. Aoife A Ahern, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Trinity College, Dublin 2;
Tel: +353-1-608 2387; Fax: +353-1-677 3072; E-mail: [email protected]