Tuesday, April 21, 2026
noon–1:30 p.m. CDT, Virtual
Understanding how infrastructure materials perform over time is critical to making informed design, construction, and maintenance decisions. This webinar will feature two recent University of Minnesota research efforts that examined the real-world performance of commonly used transportation infrastructure materials.
Continue reading CTS Webinar: Infrastructure Materials and PerformanceThursday, April 23, 2026, 2:00–3:30 pm, Virtual
Transportation policy and energy markets are evolving rapidly as states explore strategies to reduce emissions and support new fuel technologies. This webinar will examine two current policy areas shaping transportation systems: electric vehicle infrastructure development and low-carbon fuel standards.
Beth Kallestad from MnDOT’s Office of Sustainability and Public Health will provide an overview of Minnesota’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program. Her presentation will discuss how the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and NEVI funding have shaped the development of EV infrastructure in Minnesota, the program’s current status, and what to expect in the next phase of implementation.
Monica Haynes and Neil Wilmot from the University of Minnesota Duluth will highlight a 2025 study that examined the relationship between low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) programs and gasoline prices. They will explore how LCFS programs in other states have affected retail fuel costs and discuss the challenges of predicting the economic impacts of a potential LCFS program in Minnesota.
Through these presentations, webinar attendees will gain insights into how emerging transportation energy policies influence infrastructure planning and economic outcomes.
Beth Kallestad is the sustainable transportation planning director with MnDOT’s Office of Sustainability and Public Health. She has a wide range of experience in the environmental field, including in the private, government, academic, and nonprofit sectors. This experience has given her a strong background in the management and implementation of a variety of sustainability planning efforts, public and stakeholder engagement, effective communications, trust building, and collaboration. Beth joined MnDOT in June 2022 and has focused her work on the development and implementation of the EV infrastructure program with federal NEVI funding and supporting MnDOT’s internal fleet transition.
Monica Haynes has served as the director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Minnesota Duluth since 2014, supervising a small team of student researchers and a writer/editor. During her time in this role, the department has completed more than 90 funded research projects on a wide range of topics related to current events, proposed development opportunities, and economic trends. She also serves as adjunct faculty in the Labovitz School of Business and Economics (LSBE), as chair of LSBE’s outreach committee, and on the Duluth Workforce Development Board.
Neil A. Wilmot is an associate professor and head of the Department of Economics and Health Care Management, Labovitz School of Business and Economics, at the University of Minnesota Duluth. He is also an associate of the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota. Wilmot’s research interests include energy economics and energy commodities, encompassing a wide range of topics including oil and gas markets, renewable energy integration, and energy pricing mechanisms. He has published numerous articles in leading energy economics journals, including Energy Economics, Resource and Energy Economics, and The Energy Journal.
This webinar is free, but registration is required. Once you have registered, you will receive an email confirmation with a Zoom link. The link should not be shared with others; it is unique to you.
Transitioning to EV Fleets: Best Practices and a Decision Tool | MnDOT Digital Library
Wednesday, April 22, 2026, 12:00–1:30 pm, Virtual
Bats frequently use bridges and culverts as roosting habitat, creating challenges for transportation agencies working to balance infrastructure needs with environmental compliance. Traditional visual surveys can be limited, especially when bats are hidden within structures or present only intermittently.
This webinar will highlight ongoing research exploring the use of DNA analysis from bat feces (guano) as a noninvasive method to identify bat species occupying culverts and bridges. Speaker Ron Moen will discuss how this approach works, share early findings from field applications, and explore how the results could support more efficient environmental review, project planning, and species protection efforts for transportation agencies.
It is being held in conjunction with a CTS Environment and Energy in Transportation Council meeting.
Ron Moen is an associate professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Minnesota Duluth and a senior research associate with the Natural Resources Research Institute’s Center for Water and the Environment. His research focuses on mammalian ecology, including habitat use, movement patterns, and predator–prey interactions, often using GPS radiotelemetry. His current work includes studies on moose, Canada lynx, American marten, wood turtles, bats, and other wildlife, as well as projects related to climate change impacts and carnivore monitoring in the Upper Midwest.
This webinar is free, but registration is required. Once you have registered, you will receive an email confirmation with a Zoom link. The link should not be shared with others; it is unique to you.
Species From Feces: A New Tool to Identify Bats in Culverts and on Bridges
February 25, 2025, 10-11 AM CST
TRB is offering a free webinar tomorrow on rural mobility, which has been a focus of a number of MnDOT studies in the last few years. For a review of research on rural mobility in Minnesota, see the following lists of completed and active projects. To register for the webinar, follow the link above.
Continue reading TRB Webinar: Improving Mobility in Rural and Tribal CommunitiesPost-construction soils can produce much higher stormwater runoff rates than pre-construction or typical vegetated soils. Poor soil conditions can hinder the establishment of vegetation and carry large volumes of runoff, sediment, and nutrient loads to local waters. Organic soil amendments (composts) may support post-construction vegetative growth by boosting soil structure, nutrient availability, and water holding capacity.
This research aims to define targeted pre-construction soil health baselines, determine optimized design and field implementation inputs that return soils to baseline health indices using organic amendments, and identify how these inputs can benefit transportation requirements and resilient stormwater treatment.
The results may facilitate the quantification of benefits provided through soil health restoration and the development of implementable guidance for roadside soil health restoration techniques.
“This research project will help us understand how implementing soil health practices can improve the performance of roadside vegetation establishment resulting in MnDOT being able to close out construction contracts and stormwater permits sooner,” said Warren Tuel, Natural Resources Program Coordinator with MnDOT’s Office of Environmental Stewardship. “There are also significant potential stormwater benefits of soil health practices including increased infiltration, improved treatment of pollutants present in highway stormwater runoff. The improved management of stormwater will result in improved water quality of runoff from MnDOT highway systems resulting in greater protection of the many water resources here in Minnesota.”
The objectives are:
Project Details
Details of the research study work plan and timeline are subject to change.
To receive email updates about this project, visit MnDOT’s Office of Research & Innovation to subscribe.
While studies have shown that salt brine can be less expensive and better for the environment than granular salt, public perception maintains that salt brine is less efficient and less safe for travelers.
In this Clear Roads project, researchers developed metrics for comparing the two different forms of salt and conducted a variety of tests to measure their performance in the field.
Now, agencies have data and infographics they can use to support their decision to use salt brine in place of granular salt.
Download the final report and two-page brief: CR 22-04 – Evaluation of Direct Liquid Application of Salt Brine vs Granular Salt as Measured through Various Performance and Safety Metrics, December 2025.
Reprinted from Clear Roads news, January 21, 2026.
While research has found that right-turn-only, or dedicated right-turn lanes, at intersections reduce traffic delays and vehicle crashes, their impact on pedestrian safety has been unclear. To better understand these impacts for future intersection design and countermeasure considerations, this project investigated driver response to pedestrians in or near crosswalks at dedicated right-turn lanes.
Continue reading Pedestrian Safety Impacts of Dedicated Right-Turn LanesReprinted from CTS News, November 24, 2025
Even for cities, counties, and organizations with zero-carbon emissions goals, most fleet managers are skeptical about going fully electric. Calculating the return on investment for a single vehicle is straightforward—but for a fleet, it’s complex.
Continue reading The winding road to an electric fleetMonday, December 15, 2025, 12:00–1:30 pm (Virtual)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping how we design, plan, and manage infrastructure systems. In this webinar, CTS scholars Qizhi He and Seongjin Choi from the University of Minnesota’s Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering will discuss how AI tools are beginning to influence teaching, research, and professional practice in civil engineering. Their conversation will consider how the field can adapt curriculum and training to prepare future engineers for an AI-integrated profession. They will also explore questions around quality management, professional ethics, and community-centered design in an AI-driven context.
Offering a practitioner’s perspective, Melissa Barnes will share insights from MnDOT’s ongoing AI pilot identification project. She will discuss how state agencies are evaluating opportunities and risks associated with AI implementation—and engaging and educating their staff about AI.
This webinar will highlight opportunities for collaboration between academia and practice as the transportation industry navigates the evolving impacts of AI on engineering education, quality assurance, and workforce development.
Qizhi He is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering at the University of Minnesota (UMN) and a CTS scholar. Before joining the UMN, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Scientific Machine Learning Group at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. His research focuses on developing hybrid physics–AI/ML computational methods for predictive modeling and the simulation of complex mechanical behavior in civil and geomaterials under extreme and multiphysics conditions. His work aims to advance next-generation, high-performance computing and digital-twin technologies that enhance infrastructure resilience and support natural hazard mitigation.
Seongjin Choi is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering at the University of Minnesota and a CTS scholar. Choi was previously a postdoctoral researcher at McGill University in Canada and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea. His research focuses on developing machine learning and (generative) artificial intelligence models for transportation and mobility data, with the goal of enhancing both individual-level travel experiences and system-level performance.
Melissa Barnes is the Operations Division artificial intelligence program manager (mobility) at MnDOT and a licensed civil engineer with more than 21 years of experience in transportation. She has worked at MnDOT for more than 12 years, including positions in Central Office and the Metro District. Her expertise spans program delivery, traffic engineering, planning, safety, operations, project management, policy, and cross-functional leadership, and she is known for her commitment to equity and collaboration.
This webinar is free, but registration is required. Once you have registered, you will receive an email confirmation with a Zoom link. The link should not be shared with others; it is unique to you.
Visit the CTS website or contact Samantha Hahn-Douville at snhahn@umn.edu.
If you’re unable to join us for the live broadcast, a recording will be available here after the event.
Dec 16, 2025, 12 PM – 1:30 PM CST (1:00PM – 2:30PM ET)
Pre-registration is required.
Public transit agencies are reimagining mobility through innovation, integration, and technology to create seamless travel experiences and improve access for all users. TRB will host a webinar on Tuesday, December 16, 2025 from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM Eastern that will highlight strategies and technologies transforming the future of connected mobility. This session will explore how public agencies and technology partners are addressing fragmented systems through open platforms, integrated trip planning, and seamless fare payment, drawing on lessons from the Federal Transit Administration’s Integrated Mobility Innovation (IMI) and Accelerating Innovative Mobility (AIM) programs. Attendees will also gain insights into how Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) and Autonomous Mobility-on-Demand (AMoD) can expand access, improve service efficiency, and rebuild ridership. Presenters will share real-world examples, research, and lessons learned to help agencies advance scalable, user-centered transportation systems.
Continue reading TRB Webinar: Connected Mobility Futures—Integrating Transit and Technology
Crossroads 