Impactful Research Award

The 2026 Impactful Research Award was presented on January 13, 2026

Award Description

The Impactful Research Award shall be given in recognition of a project that has a proven positive impact on the transportation and/or land use decision-making field that meets the majority of the following criteria.

  • Has been broadly adopted or implemented in practice
  • Improved the approach, skills, capability of transportation and land use decision-making process;
  • Whose methodology, formula, design, etc. are freely accessible to the public;
  • Promotes multilateral collaboration; and
  • Advances the travel analysis field for the public good.

Nominees are considered by a three-person award committee and forwarded to the Zephyr Board for approval. Awards are made at the TRB Annual Meeting.

2026 Awardee

Congratulations to the winner of the 2026 Impactful Research Award: ActivitySim

The ActivitySim project brought together public agencies and several leading consulting firms to collaborate on the development of a single common platform for activity based modeling. Although it may not incorporate all the most technologically advanced ABM features, the open and shared nature of the project opens avenues for rapid and broad dissemination of enhancements. 14 agencies and 4 consultancies are currently participating in the ActivitySim project, and 2025 marked the first year that ActivitySim was used to formally support adoption of a regional transportation plan. The ActivitySim project has not only built software, but has also built community.

The 2026 Impactful Research Award Committee was:

  • Matthew Bhagat-Conway
  • Sarah Sun
  • Rachel Copperman
  • Suzanne Childress
  • Ali Shamshiripour

Board Facilitator: Jason Hawkins

Presenter at the 2026 TRB Annual Meeting Reception: Bill Hereth

Received the award on the behalf of the project team:

  • Jonathan Ehrlich, MetCouncil
  • Joel Freedman, RSG

Award Recipients