Category Archives: News

ISTRC 2026 WEBINAR SERIES – Webinar No. 2: Optimizing Investments in Transportation and Other Critical Infrastructure Systems Protection – REGISTER

ISTRC 2026 WEBINAR SERIES - Smart Transportation in Transition

Smart Transportation in Transition is a webinar series by the Israel Smart Transportation Research Center (ISTRC) that presents emerging research, methods, and applications in smart mobility. The webinar series aims to create a forum for discussing how transportation systems are changing in response to emerging technologies, behavioral shifts, sustainability goals, policy needs, and evolving mobility patterns. The series seeks to connect academic research with real-world transportation challenges and to encourage dialogue across disciplines and sectors.

WEBINAR NO. 2:
Optimizing Investments in Transportation and Other Critical Infrastructure Systems Protection

DATE & TIME
Oct 19, 2026 | 15:30

TARGET AUDIENCE
Smart Transportation Researchers and Practitioners

SPEAKER
Dr. Elise Miller-Hooks
Professor and Chair, Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering
Bill and Eleanor Hazel Endowed Chair in Infrastructure Engineering
George Mason University

FACILITATOR
Dr. Rui Yao
Tenure-track Assistant Professor
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

DESCRIPTION
Secure and functioning transportation and other critical civil infrastructure systems are of paramount importance to society. To ensure that effective services can be provided under changing, disrupted or extreme conditions, agencies charged with managing and operating these systems must invest in measures that safeguard their performance. Decisions to invest needed capital and accept the opportunity costs of directing funds to protection in place of other community needs involve tradeoffs in effective use of limited resources and risk levels. This lecture will describe developed optimization, real options and machine learning approaches designed for supporting such protective investment decisions. These techniques address inherent uncertainties in future conditions arising from one-time to episodic events, the role of humans in infrastructure service capacity, operational conditions of extreme environments, and the effects of dependencies and interdependencies across multiple, interacting civil infrastructure lifeline systems.

ISTRC Call for Policy White Papers 2025-26 – WINNERS

This year, ISTRC launched its new Call for Policy White Papers, aimed at supporting policy papers based on academic research that inform transportation policy and strategic decision-making in Israel.

Through this initiative, ISTRC seeks to bridge the gap between research and policymaking by promoting evidence-based, actionable, and interdisciplinary insights.

We warmly congratulate the winners of the Call!

MORE INFO

15/10/2026: ISTRC Call for Conference Grants – Summer 2026 – OPEN

The purpose of this call is to support students and early-career researchers in presenting their work at international conferences, thereby promoting cutting-edge knowledge, strengthening professional development, and advancing ISTRC’s mission in the field of smart transportation.
Eligible candidates are encouraged to apply and take advantage of this opportunity to showcase their research internationally.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: October 15, 2026

READ SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

The 6th Israeli Smart Transportation Research Center (ISTRC) Annual & Students Conference 2026 – RECORDINGS

The 6th Israeli Smart Transportation Research Center (ISTRC) Annual & Students Conference was hosted by the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology on January 28, 2026.
The annual ISTRC conference is an interdisciplinary research event covering all areas of transportation research.
This year, the Annual Conference and the Students’ Conference were merged into a unified event.
The conference program featured a keynote lecture, 22 research presentations across parallel sessions, a student poster exhibition showcasing more than 40 posters and two student awards, and extensive networking opportunities for researchers and students.

Visit the link below to view session recordings, photos, and the detailed program.

MORE INFO

ISTRC 2026 WEBINAR SERIES – Webinar No. 1: Behavioral, Structural and Policy Opportunities and Challenges in Getting Long-Distance Passenger Travel On-Track – RECORDING

ISTRC 2026 WEBINAR SERIES - Smart Transportation in Transition

WEBINAR NO. 1: Behavioral, Structural and Policy Opportunities and Challenges in Getting Long-Distance Passenger Travel On-Track

DATE
July 14, 2026

TARGET AUDIENCE
Smart Transportation Researchers and Practitioners

SPEAKER
Prof. Oded Cats - Head of the Department of Transport and Planning, Co-leader of the Smart Public Transport Lab - Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)

FACILITATOR
Dr. Rui Yao - Tenure-track Assistant Professor - Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

DESCRIPTION
Long-distance travel (>100km) in the European context accounts for about 2.5% of the trips but amounts to 55% of all travelled kilometers. Even though rail is considered to be a significant alternative to car and air in this travel category, its market share ranges between 6 and 12% for domestic and cross-border travel, respectively. In this talk we will discuss several related developments in relation to travel behavior, network and service design, and policy interventions - ranging from mobility credits to flight bans. Spoiler alert: we will see that current behavioral trends, network investments and policy measures fall short of achieving the intended goals.

RECORDING

Academic Book in Memory of Professor Yuval Hadas ז”ל

Professor Yuval Hadas ז”ל of the Department of Management at Bar-Ilan University was a member of the core team that conceived and established ISTRC. Yuval passed away, far too soon, in 2024.

His colleagues, Dr. Oren Nahum of Ashkelon Academic College and Professor Jacek Zak of Poznań University of Technology, are leading an initiative to edit an academic book in his memory.

Scholars who worked with Professor Hadas, were his professional colleagues, or conduct research in related fields are warmly invited to consider contributing to this commemorative publication.

Please kindly read Dr. Nahum's letter at the link below.

ISTRC Call for Scholarships 2025-26 – WINNERS

We are pleased to announce the recipients of the ISTRC Call for Scholarships 2025-26!

This year, 30 exceptional students - 18 PhD and 12 Master students - from nine academic institutions across Israel conducting research in Smart Transportation have been awarded ISTRC scholarships.

MORE INFO

WEBINAR – Gustave Eiffel University (UGE) Research Initiatives and Actions about Cooperative and Connected Automated Mobility (CCAM) – RECORDING

DATE
July 16, 2025

TARGET AUDIENCE
Smart Transportation Researchers

WEBINAR GOAL
To get familiar with Gustav Eiffel University's (UGE) research initiatives and actions in the Smart Transportation domain and to explore potential areas for collaboration.

SPEAKERS
Dr. Dominique Gruyer - Research Director in PICS-L, Deputy Director of COSYS for CAV Researches, Head of International Associated Lab ICCAM - Gustav Eiffel University (UGE)
Dr. Sio-Song Ieng - Senior researcher in PICS-L - Gustav Eiffel University (UGE)

FACILITATOR
Tchiya Allon - General Manager - ISTRC

DESCRIPTION

Brief presentation of Gustav Eiffel University (UGE)
Overview of UGE’s research initiatives and actions about CCAM (Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility)
Potential areas for collaboration

RECORDING

לכו על זה! מחקר של אוניברסיטת בר-אילן על שילוב יותר הליכה ותחבורה ציבורית

מזמינים אותכם להצטרף למחקר של אוניברסיטת בר-אילן שיקדם את בריאותכם.

אוניברסיטת בר-אילן חוקרת את ההשפעה של שילוב הליכה תוך כדי שימוש בתחבורה ציבורית.

לפרטים נוספים לחצו על התמונה למטה.

ISTRC Researchers Database Questionnaire

We invite researchers from all academic institutions in Israel who would like to collaborate in Smart Transportation research and beyond, to fill out the following questionnaire in order to be included in the Researchers database on our website.

The database is open to all and is used by thousands of users from all over the world providing an opportunity for collaboration in the Smart Transportation domain.

As Smart Transportation is an interdisciplinary field, it is important for us to reach out to researchers from a wide range of faculties, such as Computer Science, Behavioral Sciences, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Mathematics, Materials Engineering, Architecture and Urban Planning, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Aeronautics and Space Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Science and Technology Education, Economics and Business Administration, Law, Geography, Public Policy, Industrial Design and more.

TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE