Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Spatial And Temporal Analysis Of Location And Usage Of Public Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure In The United States, Levente Juhasz, Hartwig H. Hochmair

GIS Center

Switching to electric vehicles (EVs) has increased rapidly over recent years. This paradigm change provides an important pillar in the United States transport sector to reach sustainability goals. EVs rely on a network of charging locations to operate. This study analyses the spatial distribution, accessibility and usage patterns of the public EV infrastructure in the US. First, using a negative binomial regression model, the influence of socio-economic and other factors on the abundance of EV charging locations in a state is investigated. Second, analysis of the network’s use and of service areas generated around charging locations provides insight into the …

Enhanced Methods For Utilization Of Data To Support Multi-Scenario Analysis And Multi-Resolution Modeling, Syed Ahnaf Morshed

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The success of analysis and simulation in transportation systems depends on the availability, quality, reliability, and consistency of real-world data and the methods for utilizing the data. Additional data and data requirements are needed to support advanced analysis and simulation strategies such as multi-resolution modeling (MRM) and multi-scenario analysis. This study has developed, demonstrated, and assessed a systematic approach for the use of data to support MRM and multi-scenario analysis. First, the study developed and examined approaches for selecting one or more representative days for the analysis, considering the variability in travel conditions throughout the year based on cluster analysis. …

Evaluating Fatigue Resistance Of The Fiber-Reinforced 100% Rap Content Asphalt Mixture Rejuvenated With Waste Vegetable Oil, Farshad Haddadi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) in the pavement industry continues to grow as it is an economically and environmentally beneficial proposition. However, a survey conducted by the Federal Highway Administration shows that the average RAP content in the hot mix used in the United States is only 10–20%, even though specifications allow up to 30%. The primary performance drawback of using a high percentage RAP is cracking distresses. This research is an effort to investigate whether basalt fiber and waste vegetable oil (WO) can improve the low and intermediate temperature cracking behavior of a 100% RAP mixture. Bending …

Hardware-In-The-Loop Simulation To Evaluate The Performance And Constraints Of The Red-Light Violation Warning Application On Arterial Roads, Mahmoud Arafat

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the safety and mobility impacts of Connected Vehicle (CV) applications is critical for ensuring effective implementations of these applications. This dissertation provides an assessment of the safety and mobility impacts of the Red-Light Violation Warning (RLVW), a CV-based application at signalized intersections, under pre-timed signal control and semi-actuated signal control utilizing Emulator-in-the-loop (EILS), Software-in-the-loop (SILS), and Hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HILS) environments. Modern actuated traffic signal controllers contain several features with which controllers can provide varying green intervals for actuated phases, skip phases, and terminate phases depending on the traffic demand fluctuation from cycle to cycle. With actuated traffic signal operations, …

Investigating Mode Choice Of Ridesourcing Services: Accounting For Attitudes And Market Segmentation, Ghazaleh Azimi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The phenomenal development of ridesourcing is possibly one of the greatest revolutions that have happened to transportation networks. Ridesourcing improves mobility and mitigates traffic congestion by reducing vehicle ownership and serving as a first/last-mile feeder to public transportation. This tremendous growth created a burgeoning literature exploring ridesourcing users' characteristics, yet there is no clear picture of its market. In the absence of sufficient information, policymakers face a major challenge in planning equitable and accessible transportation systems. This dissertation presents a detailed analysis of individuals’ decisions to adopt ridesourcing, focusing on three main objectives that have not been addressed previously. First, …

Investigating The Impacts Of Sea Level Rise-Induced High Groundwater Table On Florida Flexible Pavement Structural Performance, Mehmet Goksel Gocmez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis evaluates the impacts of sea-level rise-induced high groundwater table on the structural performance of typical Florida interstate, arterial, and local flexible pavements. Pavement longevity was determined under rising groundwater table level conditions using two analytical methods; the mechanistic-empirical (ME) analysis software and the current Florida empirical analysis practice. Moreover, ABAQUS and KENLAYER software were utilized to analyze the impacts of stress-dependent material nonlinearity on pavement structural performance.

Analysis results estimated that the pavement service life in Florida was reduced by as much as 77 percent with the effects of rising groundwater levels. The empirical method predicted higher rates …

Enhancing Serviceability And Resiliency Of Transportation Networks Based On Topological Credentials And Systematic Design Interventions, Md Ashraf Ahmed

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent advancements in network science showed that the topological credentials (i.e., rank of relative importance) of network components (such as nodes and links), carry significant implications as it is critical to know which components contribute the most to the overall network performance. For transportation networks, critical components (roads, bridges) may become inaccessible for adjacent traffic due to day-to-day congestion or external disruptions (i.e., man-made or natural hazards) that significantly reduce the level of service. Hence, topological credentials of critical network components based on their connectivity need to be assessed to enhance the serviceability, i.e., improved travel time experience as well …

Development Of An Ultra-High Performance Concrete Joint Detail For Short-Span Bridges, Francisco De Jesus Chitty Gozalo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Slab beam superstructures have been used for short-span bridges since prestressed concrete began to be used in the US. Poor joint performance of these superstructures led to recent revisions to design standards; one example being the Florida Slab Beam (FSB). The FSB and other similar slab beam systems include a composite cast-in-place (CIP) reinforced concrete deck and joint between adjacent beams. An optimized joint design has been developed to accelerate the construction times and eliminate the need for a CIP deck by using ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) in the longitudinal closure pour to connect the precast members.

The optimized joint …

The Adoption Of Automated Vehicles: Accounting For Attitudes And Heterogeneity, Alireza Rahimi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The interest in Automated Vehicles (AVs) among transportation researchers stems from the potential benefits in improving traffic congestion, reducing roadway accidents, and providing a viable mobility option that lessens transportation barriers. While AVs are anticipated to provide substantial benefits to society and travelers, the actual impacts need to be estimated before the emergence of this technology so policymakers can better plan the transportation system. A major challenge in measuring this impact originates from the lack of a clear understanding about people’s inclination to adopt this mobility option and their perception of this technology.

This dissertation presented a comprehensive analysis of …

Quantifying The Mobility And Safety Benefits Of Transit Signal Priority, Md Sultan Ali

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The continuous growth of automobile traffic on urban and suburban arterials in recent years has created a substantial problem for transit, especially when it operates in mixed traffic conditions. As a result, there has been a growing interest in deploying Transit Signal Priority (TSP) to improve the operational performance of arterial corridors. TSP is an operational strategy that facilitates the movement of transit vehicles (e.g., buses) through signalized intersections that helps transit service be more reliable, faster, and more cost-effective. The goal of this research was to quantify the mobility and safety benefits of TSP. A microscopic simulation approach was …

Estimation Of The Mobility Benefits Of Ramp Metering, Henrick Joseph Haule

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Transportation agencies are implementing traffic management strategies to improve mobility and safety on freeways. Ramp metering is a traffic management strategy deployed to mitigate congestion on freeways using traffic signals installed at entrance ramps to control and regulate vehicle entry onto the freeway mainline. Estimating the mobility benefits of ramp metering is critical to determine the strategy's effectiveness and inform the decision-making process regarding its deployment.

However, the extent of the impact of ramp metering on recurrent congestion varies across studies. Among the reasons for the inconsistencies are the limitations of conventional methods for evaluating benefits, including the before-and-after approach, …

Integrated Approach For Diversion Route Performance Management During Incidents, Rajib Chandra Saha

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Non-recurrent congestion is one of the critical sources of congestion on the highway. In particular, traffic incidents create congestion in unexpected times and places that travelers do not prepare for. During incidents on freeways, route diversion has been proven to be a useful tactic to mitigate non-recurrent congestion. However, the capacity constraints created by the signals on the alternative routes put limits on the diversion process since the typical time-of-day signal control cannot handle the sudden increase in the traffic on the arterials due to diversion. Thus, there is a need for proactive strategies for the management of the diversion …

Evaluation Of Parametric And Nonparametric Statistical Models In Wrong-Way Driving Crash Severity Prediction, Sajidur Rahman Nafis

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wrong-way driving (WWD) crashes result in more fatalities per crash, involve more vehicles, and cause extended road closures compared to other types of crashes. Although crashes involving wrong-way drivers are relatively few, they often lead to fatalities and serious injuries. Researchers have been using parametric statistical models to identify factors that affect WWD crash severity. However, these parametric models are generally based on several assumptions, and the results could generate numerous errors and become questionable when these assumptions are violated. On the other hand, nonparametric methods such as data mining or machine learning techniques do not use a predetermined functional …

Strategies To Identify And Mitigate Secondary Crashes In Real-Time, Angela Kitali

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traffic incidents are the primary source of non-recurring congestion. In addition to affecting roadway operations, traffic congestion resulting from an incident exposes other vehicles to the risk of being involved in additional incidents, typically referred to as secondary crashes. Secondary crashes adversely affect traffic operations and impose risk on the safety of both road users and incident responders. Transportation agencies have been looking for ways to mitigate secondary crashes. However, secondary crash mitigation has several challenges. The length of the queue caused by an initial incident and the amount of time this queue lasts on the road varies, depending on …

Data Analytic Approach To Support The Activation Of Special Signal Timing Plans In Response To Congestion, Mosammat Tahnin Tariq

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Improving arterial network performance has become a major challenge that is significantly influenced by signal timing control. In recent years, transportation agencies have begun focusing on Active Arterial Management Program (AAM) strategies to manage the performance of arterial streets under the flagship of Transportation Systems Management & Operations (TSM&O) initiatives. The activation of special traffic signal plans during non-recurrent events is an essential component of AAM and can provide significant benefits in managing congestion.

Events such as surges in demands or lane blockages can create queue spillbacks, even during off-peak periods resulting in delays and spillbacks to upstream intersections. To …

Work Zone Safety Analysis, Investigating Benefits From Accelerated Bridge Construction (Abc) On Roadway Safety, Seyedmirsajad Mokhtarimousavi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The attributes of work zones have significant impacts on the risk of crash occurrence. Therefore, identifying the factors associated with crash severity and frequency in work zone locations is of important value to roadway safety. In addition, the significant loss of workers’ lives and injuries resulting from work zone crashes indicates the emergent need for a comprehensive and in-depth investigation of work zone crash mechanisms.

The cost of work zone crashes is another issue that should be taken into account as work zone crashes impose millions of dollars on society each year. Applying innovative construction methods like Accelerated Bridge Construction …

Identification Of Secondary Traffic Crashes And Recommended Countermeasures, Armana Sabiha Huq

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Secondary crashes (SCs) usually occur due to congestion or other prior incidents. SCs are increasingly spotted as a significant issue in traffic operations, leading to reduced capacity, extra traffic delays, increased fuel consumption, and additional emissions. SCs have substantial impacts on traffic management resource allocation. One of the challenges in the traffic safety area of the transportation industry is to determine an adequate method for identifying SCs. The specific objectives of this study are: identification of SCs using spatiotemporal criteria and exploring the contributing risk factors to the identified SCs.

Two different approaches were explored to identify SCs. The first …

Freeway Performance Measurement In A Connected Vehicle Environment Utilizing Traffic Disturbance Metrics, Leila Azizi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The introduction of connected vehicles, connected and automated vehicles, and advanced infrastructure sensors will allow the collection of microscopic measures that can be used in combination with macroscopic measures for better estimation of traffic safety and mobility. This dissertation examines the use of microscopic measures in combination with the usually used macroscopic measures for traffic congestion evaluation, traffic state categorization, traffic flow breakdown prediction, and estimation of traffic safety. The considered macroscopic measures are the mean speed, traffic flow rate, and occupancy. The investigated microscopic measures for the stated purpose are: standard deviations of individual vehicle’s speeds, standard deviation of …

Estimation And Prediction Of Mobility And Reliability Measures Using Different Modeling Techniques, Fatema Hoque Farzana

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to investigate the predictive ability of less data intensive but widely accepted methods to estimate mobility and reliability measures. Mobility is a relatively mature concept in the traffic engineering field. Therefore, many mobility measure estimation methods are already available and widely accepted among practitioners and researchers. However, each method has their inherent weakness, particularly when they are applied and compared with real-world data. For instances, Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) Curves are very popular in static route choice assignment, as part of demand forecasting models, but it is often criticized for underperforming in congested …

Improved Methods For Network Screening And Countermeasure Selection For Highway Improvements, Md Asif Raihan

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Network screening and countermeasure selection are two crucial steps in the highway improvement process. In network screening, potential improvement locations are ranked and prioritized based on a specific method with a set of criteria. The most common practice by transportation agencies has been to use a simple scoring method, which, in general, weighs and scores each criterion and then ranks the locations based on their relative overall scoring. The method does not deal well with criteria that are qualitative in nature, nor does it account for the impacts of correlation among the criteria. The introduction of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) …

Development Of System-Based Methodology To Support Ramp Metering Deployment Decisions, Homa Fartash

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ramp metering is an effective management strategy, which helps to keep traffic density below the critical value, preventing breakdowns and thus maintaining the full capacity of the freeway. Warrants for ramp metering installation have been developed by a number of states around the nation. These warrants are generally simple and are based on the traffic, geometry, and safety conditions in the immediate vicinity of each ramp (local conditions). However, advanced applications of ramp metering utilize system-based metering algorithms that involve metering a number of on-ramps to address system bottleneck locations. These algorithms have been proven to perform better compared to …

Methods For Utilizing Connected Vehicle Data In Support Of Traffic Bottleneck Management, Samaneh Khazraeian

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The decision to select the best Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technologies from available options has always been a challenging task. The availability of connected vehicle/automated vehicle (CV/AV) technologies in the near future is expected to add to the complexity of the ITS investment decision-making process. The goal of this research is to develop a multi-criteria decision-making analysis (MCDA) framework to support traffic agencies’ decision-making process with consideration of CV/AV technologies. The decision to select between technology alternatives is based on identified performance measures and criteria, and constraints associated with each technology.

Methods inspired by the literature were developed for incident/bottleneck …

Data Support Of Advanced Traveler Information System Considering Connected Vehicle Technology, Md Shahadat Iqbal

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traveler information systems play a significant role in most travelers’ daily trips. These systems assist travelers in choosing the best routes to reach their destinations and possibly select suitable departure times and modes for their trips. Connected Vehicle (CV) technologies are now in the pilot program stage. Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communications will be an important source of data for traffic agencies. If this data is processed properly, then agencies will be able to better determine traffic conditions, allowing them to take proper countermeasures to remedy transportation system problems under different conditions.

This research focuses on developing methods to assess the potential …

Multi-Resolution Modeling Of Dynamic Signal Control On Urban Streets, Aidin Massahi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dynamic signal control provides significant benefits in terms of travel time, travel time reliability, and other performance measures of transportation systems. The goal of this research is to develop and evaluate a methodology to support the planning for operations of dynamic signal control utilizing a multi-resolution analysis approach. The multi-resolution analysis modeling combines analysis, modeling, and simulation (AMS) tools to support the assessment of the impacts of dynamic traffic signal control.

Dynamic signal control strategies are effective in relieving congestions during non-typical days, such as those with high demands, incidents with different attributes, and adverse weather conditions. This research recognizes …

Exploring Potentials In Mobile Phone Gps Data Collection And Analysis, Eazaz Sadeghvaziri

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In order to support efficient transportation planning decisions, household travel survey data with high levels of accuracy are essential. Due to a number of issues associated with conventional household travel surveys, including high cost, low response rate, trip misreporting, and respondents’ self-reporting bias, government and private agencies are desperately searching for alternative data collection methods. Recent advancements in smart phones and Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies present new opportunities to track travelers’ trips. Considering the high penetration rate of smartphones, it seems reasonable to use smartphone data as a reliable source of individual travel diary. Many studies have applied GPS-Based …

Multi-Criteria Evaluation In Support Of The Decision-Making Process In Highway Construction Projects, Jianmin Jia

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The decision-making process in highway construction projects identifies and selects the optimal alternative based on the user requirements and evaluation criteria. The current practice of the decision-making process does not consider all construction impacts in an integrated decision-making process. This dissertation developed a multi-criteria evaluation framework to support the decision-making process in highway construction projects. In addition to the construction cost and mobility impacts, reliability, safety, and emission impacts are assessed at different evaluation levels and used as inputs to the decision-making process.

Two levels of analysis, referred to as the planning level and operation level, are proposed in this …

Understanding The Value Of Travel Time Reliability For Freight Transportation To Support Freight Planning, Kollol Shams 3085942

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Today’s logistics practices are moving from inventory-based push supply chains to replenishment-based pull supply chains, leading to a lower and less centralized inventory, smaller shipment sizes, and more just-in-time deliveries. As a result, industries are now demanding greater reliability in freight transportation. Delays and uncertainty in freight transportation translate directly into additional inventory, higher manufacturing costs, less economic competitiveness for businesses, and higher costs of goods that are being passed on to the consumers. Given the growing demand in freight transportation, the emerging needs to better understand freight behavior for better policy and investment decisions, and the increasing role of …

The Impacts Of Telecommuting On The Time-Space Distribution Of Daily Activities, Mario Benito Rojas Iv

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As major cities have aged, they have also met or exceeded their transportation infrastructure’s capacity. This has led to many negative impacts such as increased greenhouse gas emissions, delay, travel time, congestion, as well as decreased energy independence, standard of living for the cities’ inhabitants and the world as a whole. As a result, these cities will undoubtedly suffer and will struggle to meet the needs of their citizens. It is becoming more evident, and relevant, that the solution to today’s and tomorrow’s transportation problems will be overcome through the use of policy as well as innovative strategies, one of …

A Framework For Recommending Signal Timing Improvements Based On Automatic Vehicle Matching Technologies, Xuanwu Chen

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Continuously monitoring and automatically identifying existing problems in traffic signal operation is a challenging and time-consuming task. Although data are becoming available due to the adoption of emerging detection technologies, efforts on utilizing the data to diagnose signal control are limited. The current practices of retiming signals are still periodic and based on several days of aggregated turning movement counts. This dissertation developed a framework of automatic signal operation diagnosis with the aim to support decision-making processes by assessing the signal control and identifying the signal retiming needs. The developed framework used a combination of relatively low-cost data from Wi-Fi …

Potential Implication Of Automated Vehicle Technologies On Travel Behavior And System Modeling, Seyed Mohammad Ali Sadat Lavasani Bozorg

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) are computer equipped vehicles that can operate without human driver’s active control using information provided by their sensors about the surrounding environment. Self-driving vehicles may have seemed to be a distant dream several years ago, but manufactures’ prototypes showed that AVs are becoming real now. Several car manufactures (i.e. Benz, Audi, etc.) and information technology firms (i.e. Google) have either showcased their fully AVs or announced their robot cars to be released in a few years. AVs hold the promise to transform the ways we live and travel. Although several studies have been conducted on the impacts …