Within the seminar series of ITU ITS Research Lab and ITS course in Fall 2019, Dr. Mehmet Yildirimoglu, a faculty member of the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Queensland, Australia gave an invited talk on 'Large-scale urban network modelling, estimation and control'. Dr. Yildirimoglu's talk covered the macroscopic fundamental diagram based large-scale modeling and perimeter control for network traffic flow.

Within the seminar series of ITU ITS Research Lab and ITS course in Fall 2019, Dr. Omer Verbas, a member of the Vehicle and Mobility Simulations Group at Argonne National Laboratory, US gave an invited talk on 'Modeling Future Mobility Impacts Using POLARIS Agent-based Transportation Simulator'. Dr. Verbas' talk covered the POLARIS simulation of large-scale transportation systems involving activity based demand and network supply models, and findings from a number of future scenarios run for vehicle sharing and automation cases.

The 22nd EURO Working Group on Transportation Meeting (EWGT2019) was held on 18-20 September 2019 in Barcelona, Spain at the UPC - Barcelona Tech. Within the program of the EWGT2019, our lab member Mehmet Ali Silgu has presented two papers. He presented the paper, titled "An Adaptive Signal Control Approach to Enhance Effective Green Times for Pedestrians: A Case Study", he co-authored, in which the performance of the adaptive SCOOT method for a complex intersection bounding a pedestrianized area is investigated over a case study. Mehmet Ali has presented another paper, tiled "Network-Wide Emission Effects of Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control with Signal Control at Intersections" that summarizes the findings from a study in which the effects of coopreatively controlled vehicles at networks with signalized intersections are analyzed.

Our lab members Selin Hulagu and Gulfem Atasayar attended the 5th IEEE International Forum on Research and Technologies for Society and Industry (RTSI2019) that is held on Sept. 09-12, 2019 in Florence, Italy. Within the program of the 'Smart Mobility, Logistics and Environment' Track, Selin and Gulfem presented the paper, titled "Green Routing Plan for University Shuttle Services Using Mixed Integer Linear Programming", they've co-authored, in which a mixed integer mathematical program is formulated to find an optimal routing plan for the shuttle fleet that serves to the students at the Ayazaga Campus of the Technical University of Istanbul (ITU), which has attained the overall rank 67 over 619 universities world-wide in the year 2018 at the UI GreenMetric Ranking.

The 6th International Conference on Models and Technologies for Intelligent Transportation Systems (MT-ITS2019) was held on 05-07 June, 2019 in Kraków, Poland. Our lab member Sercan Akti has presented the paper, titled "An Integrated Decision Making Framework For Vehicle Selection in Shuttle Services: Case of A University Campus", he co-authored, in which a multi-criteria decision making frame is employed to aid vehicle type selection to update a shuttle bus fleet making use of two specific methods. Sercan has presented another complementary paper, titled "A Multiple Objective Formulation of An Electric Vehicle Routing Problem For Shuttle Bus Fleet at A University Campus",  in which the type of the formulation and solution for a multi-objective mixed integer programme for the electric bus routing problem over the road network of ITU Ayazaga Campus is introduced.

This year, the theme for the SUMO User Conference was 'Simulating Connected Urban Mobility'. Our lab member Gorkem Akyol has presented the paper, titled "Pedestrian-Friendly Traffic Signal Control Using SUMO", he co-authored at the SUMO User Conference 2019 that is held on May 13-15, 2019 at DLR, Berlin-Adlershof, Germany. The paper presents the performance of adaptive signal controllers in pedestrian green time optimization using SUMO micro-simulator. Gorkem has presented another paper, titled "Emission Effects of Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control: A Simulation Case Using SUMO", in which findings from a simulation-based solution of traffic flow performance optimization considering explicitly the emissions exhausted are summarized and the effectiveness of the penetration rates of cooperatively controlled vehicles in mixed traffic is discussed.

Our lab members Selin Hulagu, Ismet Goksad Erdagi, and Gorkem Akyol attended with papers the 17th International Conference on Computer Aided Systems Theory (EUROCAST2019) that is held on Feb. 17-22, 2019 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. Scope of the papers covered the adaptive signal control and the environmental effects of road vehicle traffic. 

Our lab member Selin Hulagu has presented the paper, titled "A Mixed Integer Linear Programming Formulation for Green Vehicle Routing Problem: Case for Shuttle Services", she co-authored at the 17th International Conference on Computer Aided Systems Theory (EUROCAST2019) that is held on Feb. 17-22, 2019 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. The paper presents the formulation and solution for a multi-objective mixed integer programme for the light electric bus routing problem over the road network of ITU Ayazaga Campus considering the power consumption characteristics of light electric vehicles, charging costs, and environmental cost. Selin has presented another complementary paper, tiled "An Integrated Decision-Making Framework For Shuttle Bus Selection Using DEMATEL and MULTIMOORA Methods",  in which the type of the electric vehicle considered is determined using an analytical hierarchy process.

Our lab member Ismet Goksad Erdagi has presented the paper, titled "Analyzing Network-Wide Effects of Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control without Intersection Control", he co-authored at the 17th International Conference on Computer Aided Systems Theory (EUROCAST2019) that is held on Feb. 17-22, 2019 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. The paper presents a simulation-based solution for a problem to jointly optimize the throughput and emission performances of vehicular traffic flow considering the effects of the penetration rates of cooperatively controlled vehicles in mixed traffic using the SUMO micro-simulation environment.

Our lab member Gorkem Akyol has presented the paper, titled "Using Adaptive Signal Controllers for Pedestrian Green Time", he co-authored at the 17th International Conference on Computer Aided Systems Theory (EUROCAST2019) that is held on Feb. 17-22, 2019 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. The paper presents an adaptive signal control approach for traffic signal optimization considering explicitly the pedestrian flow dynamics through a case study.

System Dynamics Society Special Interest Group in Transportation guest edits a Special Issue on Simulation in Transportation at the Journal of Simulation.

Within the schedule of the ITS course in Fall 2018, a technical visit to the Seyrantepe Campus of Metro Istanbul Inc. took place. Following a brief given by the Engineering Services Manager in charge, the control & operation center of the M2 Yenikapi-Haciosman Metro Line and the studios & garages of the periodical and overhauling maintenance services for the rolling stock fleet have been introduced to the course registrants together with our lab members. Vehicle maintenance with specific focus on axles at gear studios has been demonstrated, following an overview to the software and hardware used for rail traffic control & management instructed by the staff in charge.

Within the seminar series at ITS course in Fall 2018, Ibrahim Ethem Demirci, the Engineering Services Manager at Metro Istanbul Inc., gave an invited talk on the recently finalized and ongoing projects conducted by the Metro Istanbul Inc., as well as the design and consultancy services, including system and structural design, electro-mechanical systems and rolling stock supplies, traffic operations facilities, and etc., provided.

Our lab member Selin Hülagü has given a talk on the use of and the possible extensions for the deployment of hybrid and battery electric vehicles in Turkey, at the 4th National Congress on Highways hosted by the Turkish State Highways Administration.

Within the seminar series at ITS course in Fall 2018, Mehmet Ali Silgu, a Ph.D. candidate member of our lab, gave a talk on the effects of cooperative vehicle dynamics on traffic flow. Mehmet Ali Silgu's ongoing dissertation concentrates on explicitly analyzing the effects of cooperatively controllable vehicle dynamics in traffic flow in the purpose of proposing an overall frame for modeling, simulation and management of mixed traffic that is set with the integration of traffic flow models and control approaches.

The Special Issue on 'Advances in Modeling, Simulation and Optimization of Dynamic Network Traffic' that has been originated within the activities of the 19th EURO Working Group on Transportation - EWGT2016 Meeting held at the Technical University of Istanbul has been published at the Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologiesjournal. The Special Issue provides a synthesis of high-quality papers with novel contributions and breaking results on theoretical and applied studies in network traffic simulation and optimization given the needs for the need for the efficient modeling, simulation and optimization of dynamic network traffic with reasonable computation load in today’s context.

Within the seminar series at ITS course in Fall 2018, Çağrı Yüzbaşıoğlu, the director of ISSD electronics, gave an invited talk on the recent advances in the production and design activities at ITS market. Mr. Yüzbaşıoğlu's talk covered as well the common ITS equipment and the process of ITS application, data collection, capacity analysis, simulation, equipment selection, and installation, with specific references to the examples of ITS in Turkey.

The IEEE ITS Magazine has published at Fall 2017 Issue an article on the finalized research activities at ITU ITS Lab.

Our lab member Mehmet Ali Silgu has presented the paper, titled "Approximation Of Emission For Heavy Duty Trucks In City Traffic", he co-authored at the 2018 IEEE International Conference on Vehicular Electronics and Safety (ICVES2018) that is held on Sept. 12-14, 2018 in Madrid, Spain. The paper concantrates on the analysis of the hazardous emission effects of vehicular traffic created in the city centers due to heavy duty truck operations.

Our lab member Selin Hülagü has presented the paper, titled "An Integer Linear Programming Formulation for Routing Problem of University Bus Service", she co-authored at the International Conference on Optimization and Decision Science (ODS2018), XLVII Annual Meeting of AIRO - Italian Operations Research Society. The paper concentrates on the formulation and the solution of a school bus routing problem to improve the overall cost efficiency of the existing staff service bus operation system of a university in a multi-centric metropolitan city.