Energy Savings & Safety Concerns: The Evolution of Right Turn on Red Policies

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Thursday, May 8, 2025
Online

12:00-12:30p.m. (PT) | Link to register.

This MTI Research Snaps webinar is co-sponsored by ITS California.

Right turn on red (RTOR) has been employed as an energy-saving measure around the country since the 1970s, but recent research puts the practice into question. Join MTI Research Associates Dr. Bruce Appleyard and Dr. Anurag Pande as they dig into the data and demonstrate why RTOR movements are actually unsafe—for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers—while only marginally useful in lowering emissions. Be a part of the conversation on informed decisions about RTOR policies and taking action to improve road safety for everyone!

Presenters: 

  • Bruce Appleyard, PhD, MTI Research Associate; Professor, San Diego State University
  • Anurag Pande, PhD, MTI Research Associate; Professor, Cal Poly

Moderator: Hilary Nixon, PhD, Deputy Executive Director, Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI)

*0.5 PDH credit available

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About the Presenters

Dr. Appleyard is a Professor in City & Regional Planning and Public Administration at San Diego State University (SDSU), with expertise in designing and creating livable streets and facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists, geo-spatial analysis, econometrics, and applied transportation and land use policy analysis. Dr. Appleyard is SDSU's Director of the Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety and the Active Transportation Research Center. Dr. Appleyard recently authored Livable Streets 2.0 about the conflict, power, and promise of our streets, how to identify problems along streets and at intersections, and how to fix them efficiently and effectively. He has also led several research efforts examining the relationship between the built environment, transportation, land use and safety, and a variety of outcomes related to public health, safety, sustainability, economic vitality, livability, and social behaviors.
 

Dr. Pande is a Professor of Civil Engineering at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly). His research interests include traffic simulation, data mining applications, and observational data analysis, including in the areas of traffic safety and crashes, driver behavior, transportation resilience, and emergency evacuation. As the faculty liaison for community-based learning at Cal Poly, he has worked with Cal Poly faculty and local agencies to support projects of mutual benefits. He serves on two Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committees as a member: Safety Data, Analysis, and Evaluation (ANB 20) and Emergency Evacuation (ABR 30). He was recognized with the “Young Researcher Award” by the Safety Data, Analysis, and Evaluation committee in 2007. Dr. Pande has co-authored more than 30 manuscripts that have been either published or are forthcoming in peer-reviewed journals. He has worked on several sponsored projects, including a study on driver behavior funded by the National Science Foundation. He was also one of the invited speakers on “Changes in Traffic Safety Policies and Regulations in 7 Countries (1950– 2010)” at the 2012 International Workshop organized by IATSS (International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences) at the United Nations University in Tokyo. He is the editor of the recently released 7th edition of Traffic Engineering Handbook (TEH), published by ITE (Institute of Transportation Engineers). The TEH has been a widely recognized reference among traffic engineering practitioners since 1941, when the 1st edition of the Handbook was released. Dr. Pande received his B.Tech. in Civil Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in Mumbai (India); and M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from University of Central Florida (UCF). 

Presenters: 
Bruce Appleyard, PhD and Anurag Pande, PhD
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