MTC

Midwest Transportation Center

MTC|People

Christopher Day

TITLE

Affiliate Researcher, CTRE

PHONE

515-294-2140

EMAIL

cmday@iastate.edu

ADDITIONAL ROLES

Assistant Professor, Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering

AFFILIATIONS

InTrans, CTRE, REACTOR

About Christopher

Dr. Day is an affiliate researcher with the Center for Transportation Research and Education. His research focuses research focuses on transportation operations, traffic control, and performance measures for highway transportation systems. The products of Dr. Day’s previous research on performance measures for traffic signal systems have seen widespread implementation in practice and were a past focus technology in the Federal Highway Administration’s Every Day Counts program and has been adopted by most traffic control equipment vendors in the US. Dr. Day’s current research explores advanced applications of enhanced data from connected vehicles and advanced sensors to traffic control and optimization, including use of vehicle trajectory data for performance measurement and real-time control.

 

Education


  • PhD, Civil Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
  • MS, Civil Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
  • MS, Physics, Ball State University, Muncie, IN
  • BS, Physics, Ball State University, Muncie, IN

Professional Experience


  • Assistant Professor, Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 2017–present
  • Senior Research Scientist, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 2010–2017

Selected Research


  • Data-Driven Identification of Candidates for Operational Improvement, Iowa DOT, 2019–2021
  • Evaluating the Performance of Right-Turn-on-Red Operation at Signalized Intersections, NCHRP 03-136 in partnership with raSmith and QualityCounts, LLC, 2019–2021
  • Identifying the Performance Potential for Intersection Control using Advanced Infrastructure Sensing. Department of Energy, 2019–2020
  • Evaluating ATSC Operations for Dodge Street Corridor, Nebraska DOT, 2019–2021
  • Portable Road User Safety Lighting for Work Zones, Smart Work Zone Deployment Initiative, 2019–2020
  • Objectives and Performance Based Management of Traffic Signal Operations, DTFH61-16-D-00063, Federal Highway Administration, in partnership with Leidos, Inc.
  • Automated Traffic Signal performance Measures Pilot Implementation, Iowa DOT, 2018–2020
  • In-Service Evaluation of Culvert Extensions, Iowa DOT, 2017–2019
  • In-Service Evaluation of Railroad Signal and Stop Arm Pole Protection, Iowa DOT, 2017–2019
  • Evaluation of Speed Limit Policy Impacts on Iowa Highways, Iowa DOT, 2017–2019

Selected Publications


  • Emtenan, A. M. T., and Day, C. M. 2021. Impact of Turning Lane Storage Length and Turning Proportions on Throughput at Oversaturated Signalized Intersections. Accepted for publication in the Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board.
  • Singleton, P. A., Taylor, M., Day, C. M., Poddar, S., Kothuri, S., and Sharma, A. 2021. Impact of COVID-19 on Traffic Signal Systems: A Survey of Agency Interventions and Observed Changes in Pedestrian Activity. Accepted for publication in the Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board.
  • Chawla, H., Megat-Johari, M. U., Savolainen, P. T., and Day, C. M. 2020. Evaluation of Strategies to Mitigate Culvert-Involved Crashes. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. DOI: 10.1177/0361198121992070.
  • Day, C. M., and Emtenan, A. M. T. 2019. Impact of phase sequence on cycle length resonance. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, Vol. 2673, No. 11, pp. 398–408.
  • Day, C. M., and Bullock, D. M. 2019. Optimization of traffic signal offsets with high-resolution event data. Journal of Transportation Engineering, Vol. 146.
  • Day, C. M., and Emtenan, A. M. T. 2019. Trajektorienbasierte Leistungskennzahlen für Anlagen mit gestörtem Verkehrsfluss. (“Trajectory-Based Performance Measures for Interrupted-Flow Facilities”). Straßenverkehrstechnik, Vol. 63, No. 8.
  • Remias, S. M., Day, C. M., Waddell, J., Kirsch, J., and Trepanier, T. 2018. Evaluating the performance of coordinated signal timing: a comparison of common data types with connected vehicle data. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, Vol. 2672, No. 18, pp. 128–142.
  • Day, C. M., Li, H., Richardson, L., Howard, J., Platte, T., and Bullock, D. M. 2017. Detector-free optimization of traffic signal offset with connected vehicle data. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2620, pp. 54–68.

Professional Affiliations


  • Transportation Research Board (TRB): Member and Research Coordinator, TRB Committee AHB25 – Traffic Signal Systems
  • American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
  • Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)
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