Research and Publications

IMR’s research examines and analyzes current transportation and land use options available to consumers and new transportation concepts and technologies that are emerging.  Understanding how people will respond to these issues is critical to informing transportation decision makers and bringing new ideas to the marketplace. Transportation-related energy and environmental issues are IMR’s newest areas of research.  IMR is investigating mechanisms that will encourage transit use and cut back on single occupancy vehicle driving, thereby enabling us to reduce our oil consumption, improve our air quality, and move us closer toward energy independence. IMR deploys a range of evaluation tools to gather information from project participants about transit and mobility issues.  Evaluation tools include customized questionnaires, one-on-one interviews, focus groups, automated data collected via electronic and wireless technologies, and simulation models of land use and transportation systems.  Using these tools, researchers collect information such as people’s likes and dislikes of service, effectiveness of market techniques, behavioral changes, willingness to pay, long-term sustainability, and feedback about technology or application improvements. IMR analyzes the data it compiles and offers impartial information on these issues to transportation policymakers, innovators, and entrepreneurs to guide them in their decision-making processes.