Transportation Engineering Commons^™

Development Of Guideline For The Use Of Geosynthetics In Different Roadway Layered System In Nebraska, Jongwan Eun, Seunghee Kim, Daniel Robertson, Yusuf Alhowaidi, Hung Van, Laith Ibdah

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

This study evaluated the design properties of the geosynthetic reinforced soils for the roadway pavement and compared the reinforcing performance depending on different geosynthetics and soil types, particularly for a subgrade layer in Nebraska. The results obtained from a large direct shear test, pullout test, and soil chamber test with a dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP) showed that geosynthetic improves soil properties associated with the pullout and interface shear resistance, strength related parameters. The Large Scale Tracking Wheel Test also showed how the performance of biaxial geogrid reinforced pavement improved the strength/stiffness and reduced the total permanent deformation and pressure acting …

Policy Brief: Evaluation Of The Safety Of Pedestrian Crossing Treatments In Small And Rural Communities, Parsa Pezeshknejad, Dana Rowangould, James Sullivan

University of Vermont Transportation Research Center

TRC Policy Brief: Rural areas often lack adequate pedestrian infrastructure, resulting in elevated safety risks for pedestrians. The combination of higher speed limits and reduced driver awareness amplifies the potential for pedestrian collisions when crossing the roadway.

This study addresses uncertainty about the effectiveness of rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFBs) and LED-embedded signs (LESs) as potential safety interventions. RRFBs and LESs are both pedestrian crossing treatments that allow pedestrians to activate lights to alert drivers of their intent to cross. RRFBs include horizontal LED lights mounted to the sign pole, while LESs include LEDs embedded in the edge of the …

Safety Evaluation Of 2+1 Roadway Design, Kenneth R. Agent, Jeff Jasper

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

An assessment and analysis of the safety of 2+1 roads introduced in 2013 and later.

A Study On The Preferred Teleworking Policy By The Private Sector And Its Implication To The Demand On Transport Infrastructure (Case Study: Greater Jakarta Area), Alvinsyah Alvinsyah, Edy Hadian, Wahyu Aji Syahputra

CSID Journal of Infrastructure Development

This study examines the implementation of a teleworking policy with a work-from-home (WFH) scheme from a private company perspective and its implications on the Greater Jakarta’s proposed urban rail network’s carrying capacity. Using descriptive and inferential statistical analyses, a representative percentage of employees capable of working from home was determined. This figure, found to be sixty percent, was then employed in a macro transport model simulation to assess its impact on urban rail network demand. The results of the statistical analysis indicate that sixty percent of the company's workforce can still permitted to work remotely. The model simulation conducted indicates …

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Examining The Impact Of Centerline Rumble-Strip Installation In Prevention Of Head-On And Opposite Sideswipe Collisions In Maine, Jhan Kevin Gil Marin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Among all traffic collisions, lane departure crashes are the leading type of serious traffic crashes in Maine, comprising 72% of state-wide traffic fatalities. To reduce these crashes, Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) installed shoulder and centerline rumble strips on roadways to prevent lane departure crashes in Maine. With a total installed length of 1503 miles of rumble strips, specifically 511 miles of centerline rumble strips in bidirectional and undivided rural two-lane roadways, there is a need to understand the impact of rumble strips in reducing lane departure crashes. In this thesis, observational before-after studies with two methods: comparison group, and …

Using Probe Data To Understand The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Roadway Safety, Ennis W. Marshall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic there was an observed decrease in traffic safety in the United Sates. New England was no exception to this, with traffic fatality rates increasing in Maine and Connecticut. This increase was attributed to the possibility that drivers had more opportunities to speed following the implementation of COVID-19 stay-at-home orders on roads with drastically reduced volume and decreased speed enforcement. To determine the state of research into the pandemic's effect on traffic safety around the world, an extensive critical review was conducted. The reviewed studies showed that roadways did indeed become less safe with …

Low-Cement Concrete Mixture For Bridge Decks And Rails, Soumitra Das, George Morcous Ph.D., Jiong Hu

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Right after construction, drying shrinkage of restrained concrete bridge decks and rails causes early-age cracking, insertion of water and chemicals, and corrosion of reinforcing steel that eventually leads to delamination and spalling of concrete. The main objective of this research is to control early-age shrinkage cracking by reducing cementitious material content in bridge deck and rail concrete mixtures. Several reduced cementitious materials concrete (RCMC) mixtures were developed by optimizing aggregate particle packing and conducting overall performance evaluation. This evaluation was carried out in three phases. The first phase investigated the feasibility of new RCMC mixtures by testing workability, compressive strength, …

Transportation System Performance And Traveler Behavior In The Context Of A Systemwide Shock: Applications Of Data Science Toward A Sustainable Future, A. Latif Patwary

Doctoral Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic, a systemwide shock, has left a long-lasting and significant impact on transportation systems. It has contributed to a shift in travel behavior, with many people turning to work from home (WFH) and online shopping. This shift has led to a reduction in vehicular travel. However, the pandemic witnessed increased crash fatalities despite a reduction in overall crashes, disproportionately affecting disadvantaged communities (DACs). The main question arising from these pandemic-related issues is what we can learn to improve transportation systems and shape future travel behavior. Therefore, this dissertation aims to investigate how the transportation system changed during COVID-19 …

Decoding Usage And Adoption Behavior Of The Low-Carbon Transportation Market: An Ai-Driven Exploration, Vuban Chowdhury

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The transportation sector stands as a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, with its environmental impact steadily escalating over the past few decades. This has prompted government agencies to facilitate the adoption and usage of low-carbon transportation (LCT) options as alternatives to fossil-fuel-powered transportation. LCTs include modes of transportation that minimize the overall carbon footprint of the transportation sector by relying on energy sources that are environmentally sustainable. These sustainable transportation options have also garnered significant interest in the transportation research community. For government agencies and researchers alike, a comprehensive understanding of the adoption and usage …

Determining The Effect Of The Presence Of Food Deserts On The Number Of Crashes In Census Tracts In Arkansas, Lizbeth Juarez-Bartolo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food deserts, areas with limited access to grocery stores which sell fresh produce, dairy, and meats, are a growing concern in many communities. The presence of a food desert is known to cause great impacts on the physical health of the people residing within them, but there is little to no research on a food desert’s influence on the traffic safety of the location in which it encompasses. Based on previous studies into food deserts, studies suggest that food inaccessibility is mostly felt by rural residents. Since rural residents must travel farther distances on more hazardous rural roadways to access …

Development Of Scope Of Services For Procurement Of Professional Consultant Services On Transportation Projects – A Study Of South Carolina Department Of Transportation, Ajay Jadhav

All Dissertations

Project Scoping Process (PSP) is one of the significant steps that starts at the very beginning of the project life cycle. During project initiation phase, project scoping is kicked off which includes documenting a list of project-specific goals, deliverables, tasks, costs, and deadlines. The scoping phase duration depends on the project complexity and involves various stakeholders, establishing team, confirming the project purpose and need, initiating the environmental revie process, determining the level of environmental documentation and permit requirements, conducting survey, identifying project risks and tools to mitigate them, and evaluating public involvement strategies. A well-defined PSP is therefore essential for …

Performing Motorized-To-Non-Motorized Crash Analysis Using Multi-Model Lbs Traffic Data Calibrated Through Random Forest Models, Nicholas Aldridge

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Traditionally, traffic prediction has been an engineering challenge due to insufficient quantities of data. In this thesis, the use of a new type of data called location-based service (LBS) data from StreetLight (StL) and a large database of multi-modal traffic counts are used to infer vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle volumes on all road segments in Lincoln, Nebraska. Additional land use features are incorporated into the model from the EPA Smart Location Database (EPA-SLD). The use of random forest models provides strong measures of fit for all modes, with R² scores of 0.98 for both the bicycle and pedestrian modes …

Analyzing Major Elements Of Crash Injury Severity Involving Priority-I Detriments Of Vision-Zero Plan, Muhammad Umer Farooq, Cole Madson, Aemal Khattak

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Road traffic crashes result in significant economic losses for individuals, their families, and entire nations. These losses stem from the expenses associated with injury treatment, as well as the productivity lost due to fatalities or disabilities caused by these injuries. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development set an ambitious target of halving the global number of fatalities and injuries from road traffic crashes by 2020 and achieving zero deaths by 2030, commonly referred to as the 'Target Zero Plan.' The Target Zero Plan prioritizes traffic safety issues into three distinct levels. The three priority levels are determined based on the …

Road Work Zone Safety: Investigating Injury Severity In Motor Vehicle Crashes Using Random Effects Multinomial Logit Model, Aemal Khattak, Muhammad Umer Farooq

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Work zones serve the purpose of facilitating maintenance and rehabilitation activities on roadways. However, these areas can also present unforeseen conditions to drivers, including narrowed right-of-way, lane shifts, and traffic disruptions. These conditions frequently contribute to vehicular crashes within work zones, resulting in property damage, injuries, and even loss of life. This paper aims to highlight work zone related crash data insights and presents statistical estimates of significant determinants of injury severity by analyzing ten-year crash data (2008-2018) from Nebraska, USA. The examination of crash data helped in highlighting work zone attributes that are empirically associated with serious injury crashes …

Exploring Statistical And Machine Learning-Based Missing Data Imputation Methods To Improve Crash Frequency Prediction Models For Highway-Rail Grade Crossings, Muhammad Umer Farooq, Aemal Khattak

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Highway-rail grade crossings (HRGCs) are critical spatial locations of transportation safety because crashes at HRGCs are often catastrophic, potentially causing several injuries and fatalities. Every year in the United States, a significant number of crashes occur at these crossings, prompting local and state organizations to engage in safety analysis and estimate crash frequency prediction models for resource allocation. These models provide valuable insights into safety and risk mitigation strategies for HRGCs. Furthermore, the estimation of these models is based on inventory details of HRGCs, and their quality is crucial for reliable crash predictions. However, many of these models exclude crossings …

Understanding And Modeling Drivers’ En-Route Diversion Behavior During Congestion, Mohammad Shapouri

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the field of transportation, traffic assignment models primarily have been used to forecast driver route preferences, translating their choices into traffic flow patterns across networks. These models are grounded in distinct behavioral theories and strive to explain how drivers navigate routes based on network features and personal tendencies. Using an aggregation approach, conventional traffic assignment models distribute demand among paths, considering utility and attractiveness. Despite their prevalent use in transportation planning and operations, the fundamental behavioral assumptions of these models have rarely been thoroughly explored. This gap is further compounded by their limited consideration of real-time adjustments and choices …

Understanding And Modeling Drivers’ En-Route Diversion Behavior During Congestion, Mohammad Shapouri

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the field of transportation, traffic assignment models primarily have been used to forecast driver route preferences, translating their choices into traffic flow patterns across networks. These models are grounded in distinct behavioral theories and strive to explain how drivers navigate routes based on network features and personal tendencies. Using an aggregation approach, conventional traffic assignment models distribute demand among paths, considering utility and attractiveness. Despite their prevalent use in transportation planning and operations, the fundamental behavioral assumptions of these models have rarely been thoroughly explored. This gap is further compounded by their limited consideration of real-time adjustments and choices …

Integrating The Concept Of Complete Streets Into Pavement Preservation, Sirisha Gangireddy

LSU Master's Theses

This study is motivated by the evident gap in integrating Complete Streets principles into pavement preservation. Complete Streets opportunities, which aim to accommodate all road users, are typically encouraged in all kinds of projects including new construction, reconstruction, preservation, and rehabilitation. While the concept of Complete Streets is understood in terms of new construction (e.g., building sidewalks), its application through pavement preservation programs is not well-developed. To bridge the gap between the Complete Streets and pavement preservation, this study conducted a comprehensive review on how state Department of Transportation (DOTs) are currently incorporating Complete Streets into pavement preservation and identified …

A Guide To Navigating Existing And Emerging Sources Of Local Vmt And Travel Data, So-Ra Baek, Dohyung Kim

Mineta Transportation Institute Publications

As the crisis of climate change looms, transportation policy in California continues to emphasize sustainability in land-use and transportation decisions. This report evaluates the implementation of two sustainability-focused policies (Senate Bill 375 and 743) by local governments and the current-state-of-the-practices by metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) in assisting them in California. The research focuses on local governments’ access and use of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and transportation data for achieving VMT and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction by land-use planning. The research also examines the role of MPOs in providing needed transportation data, training, and technical support to its local members to …