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Nikhil Menon, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Center for Urban Transportation Research
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620
P: 001 813 337 9124; E: nikhilmenon@usf.edu; W: https://nikhilmenon.in

AREAS & METHODS – RESEARCH/TEACHING

  • Emerging Transportation Technologies – Autonomous Vehicles, Shared Mobility
  • Application of Emerging and Native Transportation Data Sources
  • Data Collection Experiments in Transportation – Stated Preference Surveys
  • Travel Behavior and Forecasting
  • Transportation Planning and Economics
  • Equity Issues in Transportation
  • Statistical and Econometric Modeling Techniques

 EDUCATION          

  • University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA – Ph.D., Civil Engineering (Transportation), August 2017
  • University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA – M.S., Civil Engineering (Transportation), December 2015
  • Instituto Superior Técnico [MIT Portugal Program], Lisbon, Portugal – MSc., Complex Transport Infrastructure Systems, January 2013
  • National Institute of Technology, Calicut, India – B.Tech, Civil Engineering, May 2011

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

  •  Center for Urban Transportation Research, Tampa, FL, USA
    • Adjunct Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering, since August 2018
    • Postdoctoral Research Associate, since September 2017
  • University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
    • Graduate Research Assistant, Civil & Environmental Engineering, August 2013 – August 2017
    • Writing Consultant, USF Writing Studio, August 2014 – December 2016
    • Graduate Teaching Assistant, Civil & Environmental Engineering, August 2013 – December 2014
  • Center for infrastructure, Sustainable Transport & Urban Planning (CiSTUP), Bangalore India
    • Transport Planner, April 2013 – August 2013
  • Instituto Superior Técnico [MIT Portugal Program], Lisbon, Portugal
    • Graduate Researcher, September 2011 – January 2013 

PUBLICATIONS

$, if supervising student.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Papers

  • Barbour N., Menon, N., Zhang Y., Mannering, F. (2019). Shared automated vehicles: A statistical analysis of consumer use likelihoods and concerns. Transport Policy, 80, 86-93.
  • Menon, N., Barbour, N., Zhang, Y., Pinjari, A., Mannering, F. (2018). Shared autonomous vehicles and their potential impacts on household vehicle ownership: An exploratory empirical assessment. International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, 13(2), 111-122.

Peer-Reviewed Technical Reports and Scholarly Publications

  • Zhang, Y., Wu, Z., and Menon, N. (2018). Florida Aviation Activity Forecast Methodologies and Tools Development. FDOT Project BDV-25-977-36
  • Ozkul, S., Pinjari, A.R., Davis, D., Seggerman, K., Menon, N., and Chen, Q.S. (2016). Evaluation of Logistics Led Economic Development. FDOT Project BDV25 977-04.
  • Menon, N., Ozkul, S., Pinjari A.R. (2015). Freight Mobility: Success Factors for Logistics Activity Center (LAC) Growth. FLITE 56 (2)
  • Pinjari, A.R., Augustin, B., and Menon, N. (2013). Highway capacity impacts of autonomous vehicles: An Assessment. White Paper to the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA). http://civil.iisc.ac.in/~abdul/uploads/9/6/7/8/9678119/abdul_pinjari_autonomous_vehicles_whitepaper_recent.pdf

Journal Papers under Review

  • Menon, N., Zhang, Y., Pinjari, A., and Mannering, F. A statistical analysis of consumers’ perceptions towards automated vehicles and their intended adoption. Under Review at Transportation Planning and Technology.
  • Menon, N., Lin, P-S., Rangaswamy, R., Kourtellis, A., Chen, C., and Bertini, R.L. A Statistical Analysis of Public Perceptions and Opinions from a Low-Speed Automated Shuttle Demonstration. Under Review at Transportation Research Record.
  • Working Journal Papers
  • Yuksel, E. $, Bertini, R.L., Ozkul, S., Menon, N., Staes, B, and Palaio, L. A Contemporary Approach to Visualize Urban Freight Movement by Leveraging Mobility Data Portals. Target Journal: Transportation Research Record.
  • Menon, N., Ozkul, S., Pinjari, A.R., Davis, D., Seggerman, K., Ozguven, E.E. State DOT Investment Criteria Targeting Economic Development Enhancement through Freight and Logistics Related Projects. Target Journal: Transportation Letters.
  • Staes, B. $, Bertini, R.L., Menon, N., Yuksel, E. $, and Palaio, L$. A Framework for Identifying Candidate Autonomous Vehicle Shuttle Routes in a University Environment Leveraging Readily Available Campus Mobility Data. Target Journal: IET Intelligent Transport Systems.
  • Palaio, L. $, Bertini, R.L., Menon, N., Niels, T., Yuksel, E. $, and Staes, B$. Lessons from Comparing Bike-Share Usage Across Explanatory Dimensions: System Size, Weather, Location, and Trip Purpose. Target Journal: Case Studies on Transport Policy.

CONFERENCE ACTIVITY

Presenting author italicized, if other; $, if supervising student.

Peer-Reviewed Conference Products

  • Yuksel, E. $, Bertini, R.L., Ozkul, S., Menon, N., Unnikrishnan, A., and Garg, R. (2019). Leveraging a Permanent Freight Data Collection Infrastructure and Archive System: Visualizing Urban Truck Temporal and Spatial Dynamic. 98th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington D.C., January 2019 [Talk]
  • Menon, N., Zhang, Y., Pinjari, A., and Mannering, F. (2019). A statistical analysis of consumers’ perceptions towards automated vehicles and their intended adoption. 98th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington D.C., January 2019 [Poster]
  • Menon, N., Pinjari A.R., Zhang Y., and Zou, L. (2016). Consumer Perception and Intended Adoption of Autonomous Vehicle Technology: Findings from a University Population Survey. 95th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington D.C., January 2016 [Poster]
  • Ozkul, S., Menon, N., Pinjari, A.R., Davis, D., and Seggerman, K. (2016). Determination of Success and Deterrence Factors for Logistics Activity Center (LAC) Development. 95th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington D.C., January 2016 [Poster]

Abstract Peer-Reviewed Conference Products

  • Staes, B. $, Yuksel, E. $, Menon, N., and Bertini, R.L. (2019). Visualizing Transit Network Performance by Leveraging Big Data. 9th International Visualization in Transportation Symposium: Visualization in Action, Washington D.C., November 2019 [Talk]
  •  Yuksel, E. $, Staes, B. $, Menon, N., and Bertini, R.L. (2019). Visualizing Urban Freight Movement by Leveraging Mobility Data Portals. 9th International Visualization in Transportation Symposium: Visualization in Action, Washington D.C., November 2019 [Talk]
  •  Menon, N., Lin, P-S., Kourtellis, A., Chen, C., Rangaswamy, R., and Bertini, R.L. (2019). An Empirical Analysis of Consumers’ Perceptions and Opinions from an Automated Vehicle Demonstration in Low-Speed Environments. AUVSI Automated Vehicle Symposium, Orlando, FL, July 2019 [Poster]
  •  Menon, N., Lin, P-S., Kourtellis, A., Chen, C., Rangaswamy, R., and Bertini, R.L. (2019). An Empirical Assessment of a Week-Long Automated Vehicle Demonstration in a Low-Speed Environment. Florida’s I-3 Transportation Showcase, Orlando, FL, June 2019 [Talk]
  • Kocak, T.K., Gurram, S., Doyle, S., Menon, N., Bertini, R.L., and Stuart, A.L. (2019). Air Pollution and Equity Impacts of the Tampa Bay Next Transportation Program for Tampa. Association of Environmental Engineering & Science Professors Conference, Tempe AZ, May 2019 [Poster]
  •  Menon, N., Pinjari, A.R., Zhang, Y., Mannering, F. (2018). Understanding the Influence of Consumers’ Perceptions towards Automated Vehicles on their Intended Adoption: A Cluster Analysis Approach. Automated Vehicle Symposium, San Francisco, CA, July 2018 [Talk]
  • Pessaro, B., and Menon, N. (2018). University of South Florida Campus Autonomous Transit Feasibility Study. Automated Vehicle Symposium, San Francisco, CA, July 2018 [Poster]
  •  Menon, N., Pinjari, A.R., Zhang, Y., and Mannering, F. (2017). Autonomous Vehicles: An Empirical Assessment of Intended Adoption from Consumers’ Perceptions. Florida Automated Vehicle Summit, Tampa, FL, November 2017 [Poster]
  •  Menon, N., Pinjari, A.R., Zhang, Y., and Mannering, F. (2017). Autonomous Vehicles: An Empirical Assessment of Intended Adoption from Consumers’ Perceptions. 5th Annual UTC Conference for the Southeastern Region 2017, Gainesville, FL, August 2017 [Talk]
  •  Menon, N., Pinjari, A.R., Zhang, Y., Mannering, F., Srinivasan, S., and Jin, X. (2016). Understanding Consumer Trends in Vehicle Ownership with the Introduction of Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAVs): Findings from Multi-Population Surveys in Florida. TRANSPO 2016, West Palm Beach, FL, November 2016 [Talk]
  •  Menon, N., Barbour, N., Pinjari, A.R., Zhang, Y., and Mannering, F. (2016). Understanding Consumer Trends in Vehicle Ownership with the Introduction of Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAVs). Florida Automated Vehicle Summit, Tampa, FL, November 2016 [Poster]
  •  Menon, N., Pinjari, A.R., Zhang, Y. (2015). Consumers’ Perception, and Intended Adoption of Autonomous Vehicle Technology: Results from Multi-Population Surveys. 9th UTC Spotlight Conference, Washington D.C., November 2015 [Poster]

 RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

{Sponsor Agency} [Role]

Current Projects as Postdoctoral Research Associate, Center for Urban Transportation Research

  • Toward a Florida Automated, Connected, Electric and Shared (ACES) Transportation System Roadmap {Florida DOT} [Automated Lead]
  • Measuring the Impact of Florida Scenic Highway Designation {Florida DOT} [Task Lead]
  • Measuring Transportation Network Performance During Emergency Evacuations: A Case Study of Hurricane Irma and Woolsey Fire {Center for Transportation Equity Decisions and Dollars, UTC} [PI]
  •  Air Pollution and Equity Impacts of Proposed Freeway Expansion from a Health in All Policies Perspective {Center for Transportation, Environment, Community & Health, UTC} [Task Lead]

Past Projects as Postdoctoral Research Associate, Center for Urban Transportation Research

  • Campus Automated Shuttle Deployment Initiative {National Center for Transit Research, UTC} [Task Lead]
  •  National Capability Assessment in Traffic Analysis Fundamentals and Development of a Model Curriculum on Performance-Based Planning for TSMO {Leidos, Federal Highway Administration} [Task Lead]
  • Transportation System Simulation Manual {Leidos, Federal Highway Administration} [Task Lead]

Projects as Graduate Research Assistant, University of South Florida

  • Understanding Consumers’ Perceptions, Intended Adoption, and Anticipated Travel Behavioral Impacts of Autonomous Vehicles [Task Lead]
  •  Florida Aviation Activity Forecast Methodologies and Tools Development {Florida DOT} [Task Lead]
  •  Development of Success and Deterrence Factors for Logistics Activity Centers {Florida DOT} [Task Lead]

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Graduate Courses

  • TTE 5501: Transport Planning and Economics – Fall 2018: 28 (27/1); Fall 2019: 31 (29/2)

Undergraduate Courses

  • EGN/EGS 1113: Intro to Design Graphics – Fall 2013: 28; Spring 2014: 28; Summer 2014: 16; Fall 2014: 68
  • TTE 4005: Transportation Engineering II Spring 2014, as TA.

INVITED TALKS

  • How Floridians Travel: Findings from the National Household Travel Survey 2017. Cambridge Systematics, Tallahassee, FL, March 2019.
  • Autonomous Vehicles: An Empirical Assessment of Consumers’ Perceptions, Intended Adoption, and Impacts on Household Vehicle Ownership. Center for Urban Transportation Research Transportation Webcast. University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, August 2018.
  • Understanding Consumer Trends in Vehicle Ownership with the Introduction of Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAVs): Findings from Multi-Population Surveys in Florida. University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, November 2016.
  • Emerging Automotive and Transportation Technologies – Autonomous Vehicles. University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, December 2014.

 PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE

{Sponsor Agency} (Proposed Budget) [Proposed Role]

  • Protecting the Most Vulnerable in the Face of Disaster: Investigating Evacuation Dynamics & Its Implications for Planning & Public Health. {Center for Transportation Equity Decisions and Dollars, UTC} ($119,375.39) [PI]
  • Improving Transportation Performance Measurement via Open “Big Data” Systems. {Center for Transportation Equity Decisions and Dollars, UTC} ($128,721.52) [Co-PI]
  • Equity Aware Planning for Future Mixed Connected & Automated Vehicle Traffic. {Center for Transportation Equity Decisions and Dollars, UTC} ($199,999) [Task Lead]
  • Demonstration of Campus Multimodal Automated Driving Systems. {USDOT} ($1,810,915.45) [Demonstration Operations Manager]
  • Improving Transportation Performance Measurement via Open “Big Data” Systems – Phase 2 – Multimodal. {Center for Transportation Equity Decisions and Dollars, UTC} ($85,552.52) [Task Lead]
  • Measuring Transportation Network Performance During Emergency Evacuations: A Case Study of Hurricane Irma and Woolsey Fire. {Center for Transportation Equity Decisions and Dollars, UTC SEED Grant} ($30,000) [PI]
  • Assessing Changing Preferences and Travel Behavior in Autonomous Long-Haul Trucking. {Center for Transportation Equity Decisions and Dollars, UTC} ($30,000) [Co-PI]
  • Market Penetration of Autonomous Vehicles in the United States: A System Dynamics Approach. {Mineta Transportation Institute} ($30,612) [PI]
  • Assessing the Impacts of Shared, Autonomous Vehicles on Transportation Disadvantaged Communities – Phase 1. {Center for Transportation Equity Decisions and Dollars, UTC} ($23,000) [Co-PI]

GRANTS AND AWARDS

  • Center for Transportation Equity Decisions and Dollars (CTEDD) SEED Grant ($30,000) for Measuring Transportation Network Performance During Emergency Evacuations: A Case Study of Hurricane Irma and Woolsey Fire, February 2019
  • Conference Travel Grant ($500) to attend the 95th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, 2016, Washington D.C., January 2016
  • Georgia Brosch Memorial Scholarship ($2,000) – Center for Urban Transportation Research scholarship for attracting the best and brightest to careers in transportation, November 2015
  • Conference Travel Grant ($500) to attend the 9th UTC Spotlight Conference on Connected and Automated Vehicles, 2015, Washington D.C., November 2015
  • MIT Portugal Corporate Scholarship, Lisbon, Portugal (€7,000) – Recognition for outstanding applicants into the MIT Portugal Program, awarded a full scholarship, September 2011

 SERVICE

Journal & Conference Peer Review (numbers in parentheses)

  • Journal of Transport Geography (5)
  • Transportation Letters (2)
  • Sustainability (1)
  • Transportation Research Record/TRB (21)
  • International Chinese Transportation Professionals Association (3)

Funding Agency Peer Review (numbers in parentheses)

  • Council of University Transportation Centers (2)
  • California State University Transportation Consortium (1)

Supervision and Mentoring Activities

  • Mentored several graduate students as a senior Ph.D. student at the University of South Florida
  • Mentored Masters, and Ph.D. students as Postdoc at the Center for Urban Transportation Research
    • Eren Yuksel, Ph.D. Student, University of South Florida
    • Brian Staes, M.S. Student, University of South Florida
    • Lori Palaio, M.S. Student, University of South Florida

Involvement

  • Editorial Board Member, American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, since May 2019
  • Friend, Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committees on
  • Friend, Visualization in Transportation (ABJ95), since January 2019
  • Friend, Transportation Demand Forecasting (ADB40), since January 2019
  • Friend, Effects of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on Travel Choices (ADB20), since January 2019
  • Friend, Women’s Issues in Transportation (ABE70), since December 2018
  • Friend, Social and Economic Factors of Transportation (ADD20), since January 2018
  • Friend, Traveler Behavior and Values (ADB10), since January 2016
  • Friend, Vehicle-Highway Automation (AHB30), since January 2016
  • Research Associate, Mineta Transportation Institute, San Jose State University, CA, since May 2018
  • President, Institute of Transportation Engineers, USF Student Chapter, April 2015 – April 2016
  • Volunteer, AIRDEV Conference 2012, Lisbon (Portugal), April 2012
  • Team Leader, Project PRISM – A Govt. of Kerala (India) Educational Initiative, May 2009 – May 2011

 TECHNICAL SKILLS

[* – basic; ^ – intermediate; $ – expert]

  • Programming: R*
  • Modeling: VISUM^, TransCAD^
  • Data Analysis: SPSS$, Stata$, Biogeme$, NLOGIT$, WEKA$, Tableau^
  • Optimization: FICO-XPRESS*, GAMS^
  • Mapping: GeoMedia^, ArcGIS^ and QGIS*
  • Design: AutoCAD^
  • Decision-Making: Expert Choice$, MACBETH^