Transportation Engineering Commons^™

Traffic Conflict Analysis Under Fog Conditions Using Computer Simulation, Binya Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The weather condition is a crucial influence factor on road safety issues. Fog is one of the most noticeable weather conditions, which has a significant impact on traffic safety. Such condition reduces the road's visibility and consequently can affect drivers' vision, perception, and judgments. The statistical data shows that many crashes are directly or indirectly caused by the low-visibility weather condition. Hence, it is necessary for road traffic engineers to study the relationship of road traffic accidents and their influence factors. Among these factors, the traffic volume and the speed limits in poor visibility areas are the primary reasons that …

Evaluating Travelers Experience With Highway Advisory Radio (Har) And Citizens Band Radio Advisory System (Cbras) On Florida's Turnpike Enterprise Toll Roadways And Florida Interstate Highways, Nabil Muhaisen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this thesis is to evaluate travelers' experience with Highway Advisory Radio (HAR) and Citizens' Band Radio Advisory System (CBRAS) technologies on both Florida Interstate Highway system (FIH) and the Florida Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) toll roads. To achieve this goal, two different survey tools were used. The first tool is a random digit dialing phone survey known as CATI (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing). The second tool is a field survey that intercepts travelers at the Florida Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) service plazas and the Florida Interstate Highway (FIH) rest areas. HAR and CBRAS are traditional components of the Advanced Traveler …

Cable-To-Post Attachments For A Non-Proprietary High-Tension Cable Barrier – Phase Ii, Scott K. Rosenbaugh, Robert W. Bielenberg, Brandt M. Humphrey, Ronald K. Faller, John D. Reid, Karla A. Lechtenberg

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

The research objectives reported herein were based on further development of cable-to-post attachment hardware for use in the non-proprietary high-tension cable barrier system. Specifically, this project aimed to develop and evaluate alternative attachment designs for the bolted, tabbed bracket and evaluate the use of a larger diameter, keeper rod for use in the top cable attachment.

From a group of over 25 alternative attachment concepts, two tabbed bracket designs were selected for evaluation through dynamic component testing: 1) the lateral shear plate attachment and 2) the drop-in shear plate attachment. The drop-in shear plate concept did not perform as intended, …

Dynamic Ventilation And Power Output Of Urban Bicyclists, Alexander Y. Bigazzi, Miguel A. Figliozzi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Bicyclist intake of air pollutants is linked to physical exertion levels, ventilation rates, and exposure concentrations. Whereas exposure concentrations have been widely studied in transportation environments, there is relatively scant research linking on-road ventilation with travel conditions and exertion levels. This paper investigates relationships among power output, heart rate, and ventilation rate for urban bicyclists. Heart rate and ventilation rate were measured on-road and combined with power output estimates from a bicycle power model. Dynamic ventilation rates increased by 0.4-0.8% per watt of power output, with a mean lag of 0.8 minutes. The use of physiology (ventilation) monitoring straps and …

Empirical Analysis Of Bus Bunching Characteristics Based On Bus Avl/Apc Data, Wei Feng, Miguel A. Figliozzi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Bus bunching takes place when headways between buses are irregular. Bus bunching is associated with longer waiting times for riders, overcrowding in some buses, and an overall decrease on the level of service and capacity. Understanding the temporal and spatial characteristics and the causes and effects of bus bunching incidents from archived bus data can greatly aid transit agencies to develop efficient mitigation strategies. This paper presents methods to identify and visualize specific time periods and segments where bus bunching incidents occur based on automatic vehicle location (AVL) and automatic passenger count (APC) data. The paper also proposes methods that …

Does The Bicycle Detector Symbol Change Cyclist Queuing Position At Signalized Intersections?, Stefan W. Bussey, Christopher M. Monsere, Peter Koonce

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Manual of Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) includes a bicycle detector pavement marking (Section 9C-05) and accompanying explanatory sign (R10-22) which may encourage cyclists to position themselves over detection at traffic signals. This paper presents the results of an observational and survey- based study evaluating the bicycle detector marking. Three minor actuated approaches at signalized intersections with significant bicycle volumes and without bicycle detector markings were selected for treatment. Three configurations were compared: 1) bicycle detector marking only 2) bicycle detector marking with the R10-22 explanatory sign, and 3) an alternative bicycle detector installed over a contrasting green rectangle. Analysis …

Creating A National Nonmotorized Traffic Count Archive: Process And Progress, Krista Nordback, Kristin A. Tufte, Morgan Harvey, Nathan Mcneil, Elizabeth Stolz, Jolene Liu

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Robust bicycle and pedestrian data on a national scale would help promote effective planning and engineering of walking and bicycling facilities, build the evidence-based case for funding such projects, and dispel notions that walking and cycling are not occurring. To organize and promote the collection of nonmotorized traffic data, a team of transportation professionals and computer scientists is creating a national bicycle and pedestrian count archive. This archive will enable data sharing by centralizing continuous and short-duration traffic counts in a publicly available online archive. Although other archives exist, this will be the first archive that will be national in …

Evolution And Usage Of The Portal Data Archive: 10-Year Retrospective, Kristin A. Tufte, Robert Bertini, Morgan Harvey

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Portal transportation data archive (http://portal.its.pdx.edu/) was begun in June 2004 in collaboration with the Oregon Department of Transportation, with a single data source: freeway loop detector data. In 10 years, Portal has grown to contain approximately 3 TB of transportation-related data from a wide variety of systems and sources, including freeway data, arterial signal data, travel times from Bluetooth detection systems, transit data, and bicycle count data. Over its 10-year existence, Portal has expanded both in the type of data that it receives and in the geographic regions from which it gets data. This paper discusses the …

Counting And Classification Of Highway Vehicles By Regression Analysis, Mingpei Liang, Xinyu Huang, Chung-Hao Chen, Alade Tokuta

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

In this paper, we describe a novel algorithm that counts and classifies highway vehicles based on regression analysis. This algorithm requires no explicit segmentation or tracking of individual vehicles, which is usually an important part of many existing algorithms. Therefore, this algorithm is particularly useful when there are severe occlusions or vehicle resolution is low, in which extracted features are highly unreliable. There are mainly two contributions in our proposed algorithm. First, a warping method is developed to detect the foreground segments that contain unclassified vehicles. The common used modeling and tracking (e.g., Kalman filtering) of individual vehicles are not …

A Microsimulation Of Novel Intersection Designs, Aman Kinfemichael Woldetinsae

Civil and Environmental Engineering Master's Project Reports

The focus of this project is to see how a turbo roundabout and a protected intersection designs behave when they are applied on two study sites in Portland, OR. PTV VISSM is used to model, analyze and compare the performances of these designs with the existing intersection. In addition, the best features of the protected intersection and the turbo roundabout were combined to create a new intersection design that is safer for the bicyclists and also performs better than the existing intersection.

The analysis is conducted for five different volume scenarios for both the study sites. The results of the …

Exploring Thresholds For Timing Strategies On A Pedestrian Active Corridor, Sirisha Murthy Kothuri, Peter Koonce, Christopher M. Monsere, Titus Reynolds

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Traditional signal timing policies have typically prioritized vehicles over pedestrians at intersections, leading to undesirable consequences such as large delays and risky crossing behaviors. The objective of this paper is to explore signal timing control strategies to reduce pedestrian delay at signalized intersections. The impacts of change in signal controller mode of operation (coordinated vs. free) at intersections were studied using the micro-simulation software VISSIM. A base model was developed and calibrated for an existing pedestrian active corridor. A hypothetical network of three intersections was used to explore the effects of mode of operation and measures of delay for pedestrians …

Timetable Management Technique In Railway Capacity Analysis: Development Of The Hybrid Optimization Of Train Schedules (Hots) Model, Hamed Pouryousef

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

There are two general approaches to improve the capacity in a rail corridor, either by applying new capital infrastructure investment or by improving the operation of the rail services. Techniques to evaluate the railway operation include modeling and optimization through the use of commercial timetable management and rail simulation tools. However, only a few of the existing tools include complete features of timetable management techniques (e.g. timetable compression) are equipped with an optimization model for rescheduling and timetable improvement and this is especially true when it comes to the U.S. rail environment that prevalently uses unstructured operation practices.

This dissertation …

Effect Of Lateral Stiffness On Bridge Deck Performance, Andrea Del Pilar Toro

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The use of the empirical deck design method has increased its acceptance due to the economic advantages that it presents when compared to its counterpart, the traditional method. This can be attributed to the fact that the empirical method provides an appropriate design where the deck withstands stress not only due to the steel reinforcement but to an implicit arching membrane stress set-up as an effect of the lateral restraint surrounding the deck slab known as Compressive Membrane Action (CMA).

It has been proved through research that most design codes underestimate the strength of laterally restrained slabs. However, there is …

Color Removal From Pulp Mill Effluent Using Coal Ash Produced From Georgia Power Coal Combustion Plants, Christopher B. Willett

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Two environmental concerns currently face Georgia: coal fly ash (CFA) waste from coal power plants, and the effluent generated by pulp mills. Pulp mill effluent discolors surface waters into which it is discharged, and has been proven to negatively impact the dissolved oxygen and carbon necessary for aquatic life. The proposed solution is a cost-effective adsorption treatment using an inexpensive but abundantly available waste material: CFA. CFA possesses beneficial properties that allow it to effectively remove contaminants, and is available at significantly reduced cost. The primary research objective was to define treatment parameters that would result in the maximum removal …

Roadway Determinants Of Bicyclist Multi-Pollutant Exposure Concentrations, Alexander Y. Bigazzi, Miguel A. Figliozzi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Due to poorly quantified traffic-exposure relationships, transportation professionals are unable to easily estimate exposure differences among bicycle routes for network planning, design, and analysis. This paper estimates the effects of roadway characteristics on bicyclist multi-pollutant exposure concentrations, controlling for meteorology and background conditions. Concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOC), carbon monoxide (CO), and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are modeled using high-resolution on-road data. This paper also compares exposure differences on immediately parallel high-traffic/low-traffic facilities and is the first study to quantify VOC exposure differences by facility. Results indicate that average daily traffic (ADT) provides a parsimonious way to characterize the …

Numerical Study Of Structural Responses Of Rigid And Flexible Pavements Under Heavy Vehicles’ Loading, Rezwana Kabir

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The highway system serves as the most critical transportation link in the economic development of a nation. In Michigan, about 74% of all the commodities delivered annually are transported by heavy trucks. The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) permits multi-axle (11 axles) heavy truck with gross vehicle weight (GVW) limit of 164,000 lb., unlike many states having GVW limit of 80,000 lb. The effect of these heavy truck loadings on pavements might accelerate the rate of deterioration for flexible and rigid pavement structures. More detailed knowledge of the interaction of trucks with the pavement structure is essential for better management …

Performance Characteristics Of Polyethylene Terephthalate (Pet) Modified Asphalt, Matthew D. Earnest

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic is utilized primarily in food and beverage packaging. Although a portion of waste PET is recycled, the majority of the waste is buried in landfills. Therefore, the use of ground PET particles in asphalt may provide an environmentally friendly solution for the disposal of large quantities of PET waste. This study evaluated the performance of PET as an asphalt modifier with both asphalt binder and asphalt mixture testing. The binder testing was conducted on wet process blends produced with a high shear mixer at PET contents of 5, 10, and 15 percent by weight of the …

Exact Controllability Of The Lazer-Mckenna Suspension Bridge Equation, Lanxuan Yu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

It is well known that suspension bridges may display certain oscillations under external aerodynamic forces. Since the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows suspension bridge in 1940, suspension bridge models have been studied by many researchers. Based upon the fundamental nonlinearity in suspension bridges that the stays connecting the supporting cables and the roadbed resist expansion, but do not resist compression, new models describing oscillations in suspension bridges have been developed by Lazer and McKenna [Lazer and McKenna (1990)]. Except for a paper by Leiva [Leiva (2005)], there have been very few work on controls of the Lazer-McKenna suspension bridge models …

Integrating Pro-Environmental Behavior With Transportation Network Modeling: User And System Level Strategies, Implementation, And Evaluation, Husain M. Abdul Aziz

Open Access Dissertations

Personal transport is a leading contributor to fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse (GHG) emissions in the U.S. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that light-duty vehicles (LDV) are responsible for 61\% of all transportation related energy consumption in 2012, which is equivalent to 8.4 million barrels of oil (fossil fuel) per day. The carbon content in fossil fuels is the primary source of GHG emissions that links to the challenge associated with climate change. Evidently, it is high time to develop actionable and innovative strategies to reduce fuel consumption and GHG emissions from the road transportation networks. This dissertation …

Multiple Reference Impact Testing Of Bridges Using A Network Of Low-Cost Dynamic Exciters, James David Lindsey

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Multiple Reference Impact Testing (MRIT) is a form of Experimental Modal Analysis (EMA) that can be used to identify the dynamic properties of full-scale bridges. These dynamic properties include natural frequencies, mode shapes, damping ratios, modal scaling and modal flexibility. Since these system properties that are directly related to the mass and stiffness characteristics of a structure, impact test measurements can be used to quantitatively characterize condition of a structure. Over time, changes in the properties can be monitored and evaluated as indicators of damage or deterioration. Instrumented hammers and drop masses are typically used to perform MRIT by providing …

The Investigation Of Cold-Mix Asphalt Creep Stiffness Testing Using Multiple Test Apparatuses And Gradations, Alexander Jackson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many current methods of designing and testing Cold In-Place Recycled (CIR) asphalt are undesirable because they require large amounts of material and significant preparation. In an effort to lessen the cost and time of materials testing, this research utilizes several different methods of small scale testing of creep stiffness. These methods include using a Discovery Hybrid Rheometer (DHR) and a three point bending test to find the creep stiffness of emulsion based CIR. The new testing methods utilized samples on the scale of up to a hundredth the size of what the traditional methods of testing require. The two smaller …

Phase I Assessment Of Guardrail Length-Of-Need, Francisco Daniel B. Albuquerque, Cody S. Stolle, Dean L. Sicking, Ronald K. Faller, Karla A. Lechtenberg

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Report No. TRP-03-284-14

Roadside Grading Guidance - Phase Ii, Kevin D. Schrum, Francisco D. B. Albuquerque, Dean L. Sicking, Ronald K. Faller, John D. Reid

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

Phase I of this project relied on assumptions surrounding crash data from the state of Ohio in 2000. The number of fatal and severe crashes in that year was significantly lower than average. As a result, the conclusions were indefinite. Phase II was carried out using crash data from the state of Ohio over seven years. The increased pool of data removed the need for many of the underlying assumptions used in Phase I and provided a solid foundation of conclusions and recommendations.

The number of fatal and severe crashes that occurred on each slope and height for each functional …

Equity And Fairness In Transport Planning: The State Of Play, Sarah Rock, Aoife Ahern Prof., Brian Caulfield Dr.

Conference Papers

This paper explores the concept of equity, or fairness, in transport. As a pillar of sustainable development, social equity is an important objective of transport planning. The provision of transport infrastructure can have significant equity impacts on society through the distribution of costs and benefits. In recent years, there has been an increase in research interest in transportation related equity issues. The paper outlines the primary theoretical traditions that relate to equity and transport equity, and how equity concerns are currently addressed and evaluated in academia and in practice. Recent research has attempted to establish stronger principles from which to …

Concession Analysis For Highway Infrastructure Projects Financed As Public-Private Partnerships, Tanaphat Jeerangsuwan

Open Access Dissertations

Public funds allocated to the improvement and maintenance of highway infrastructure have reached the limits due to a rapid rate of socioeconomic growth and deterioration in infrastructure system performance. A public-private partnership (PPP) concessions a contractual and project financing mechanism that helps public authorities lessen the impact of their limited financial resources. In this project financing scheme, a public authority enters into a partnership with a private concessionaire for the purpose of developing a specific infrastructure facility. In return, the concessionaire receives the right to operate for a specified period of time. This creates strong potential for the delivery of …

Applications Of Transit Signal Priority Technology For Transit Service, Frank Anthony Consoli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research demonstrated the effectiveness of Transit Signal Priority (TSP) in improving bus corridor travel time in a simulated environment using real world data. TSP is a technology that provides preferential treatment to buses at signalized intersections. By considering different scenarios of activating bus signal priority when a bus is 3 or 5 minutes behind schedule, it was demonstrated that bus travel times improved significantly while there is little effect on delays for crossing street traffic. The case of providing signal priority for buses unconditionally resulted in significant crossing street delays for some signalized intersections with only minor improvement to …

Urban Expressway Safety And Efficiency Evaluation And Improvement Using Big Data, Qi Shi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In an age of data explosion, almost every aspect of social activities is impacted by the abundance of information. The information, characterized by alarming volume, velocity and variety, is often referred to as "Big Data". As one fundamental elements of human life, transportation also confronts the promises and challenges brought about by the Big Data era. Big Data in the transportation arena, enabled by the rapid popularization of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) in the past few decades, are often collected continuously from different sources over vast geographical scale. Huge in size and rich in information, the seemingly disorganized data could …

Evaluation Of Truck Signal Priority At N Columbia Blvd And Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd Intersection: Vissim Micro Simulation Analysis Of Truck Signal Priority, Maisha Mahmud

Civil and Environmental Engineering Master's Project Reports

Given the importance of over growing freight transportation system worldwide, engineers and planners are faced with the challenge of improving freight service in urban area using low cost measure. Truck Signal Priority is one of the strategy that can be used to improve operational efficiency with enhance safety benefits (red light running) of freight service, without major capital investment. In light to this interest this study focus on evaluating the impacts of freight signal priority on a high truck density intersection like N Columbia Blvd and NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Using a simulation tool, VISSIM, these impacts were …

Testing And Strengthening Bridge Connections, Christopher Higgins, Peter Dusicka, Michael Scott

TREC Project Briefs

Researchers evaluate and improve the strength of gusset plate connections, essential pieces in bridge design that can fail due to buckling.

A Comparative Assessment Of Crowded Source Travel Time Estimates: A Case Study Of Bluetooth Vs Inrix On A Suburban Arterial, Fahad Fasha Alhajri

Civil and Environmental Engineering Master's Project Reports

Travel time is one of the most widely used measures of traffic performance monitoring for the transportation systems. It is a simple concept that refers to the time required to traverse between two points of interest. Travel time is communicated and used by a wide variety of audience such as commuters, media reporters, and transportation engineers and planners. Recent developments within the wireless communication area made it possible to collect travel time data at a relatively low cost. These emerging technologies include mobile phone based technologies, in-vehicle navigation technologies and automatic vehicle identification technologies. Although these technologies offer a great …