Transportation Engineering Commons^™

Analyzing Vulnerabilities In The Northwest Arkansas Highway Network Using Mathematical Optimization, Brandon Jerome

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The highway and bridge network is a critical infrastructure that allows for the free transportation of citizens and enables truck-borne freight transportation. Disruption of this system could be caused by a terrorist attack, natural disaster, growth of population, required repairs and upgrades, or collapse caused by old age or malfunction. In the event of a disruption cities and regions can experience increased traffic and supply chain shortages, thus causing cascading effects throughout surrounding areas. With this motivation, we develop a network interdiction optimization model to identify a limited subset of roads that, if disrupted, causes the greatest increase in the …

Design And Analysis Of Efficient Freight Transportation Networks In A Collaborative Logistics Environment, Vishal Badyal

All Dissertations

The increase in total freight volumes, reducing volume per freight unit, and delivery deadlines have increased the burden on freight transportation systems of today. With the evolution of freight demand trends, there also needs to be an evolution in the freight distribution processes. Today's freight transportation processes have a lot of inefficiencies that could be streamlined, thus preventing concerns like increased operational costs, road congestion, and environmental degradation. Collaborative logistics is one of the approaches where supply chain partners collaborate horizontally or/and vertically to create a centralized network that is more efficient and serves towards a common goal or objective. …

Adapting The Human Factors Analysis And Classification System For Commercial Fishing Vessel Accidents, Peter Zohorsky, Holly Handley, Ronald Boring (Ed.)

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The commercial fishing industry is frequently described as one of the most hazardous occupations in the United States. The objective, to maximize the catch, is routinely challenged by a variety of elements due to the environment, the vessel, the crew, and how they interact with each other. This study developed and evaluated a version of Wiegmann and Shappell’s (2003) Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS), specifically for commercial fishing industry vessels (HFACS-FV), using data from ten years of fatal fishing vessel accidents. For this study, the accident investigation information was converted into the HFACS-FV format by independent raters and …

A Primer On The Human Readiness Level Scale (Ansi/Hfes 400-2021), Kelly Steelman, Holly Handley, Katie Plant (Ed.), Gesa Praetorius (Ed.)

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

"The Human Readiness Level (HRL) Scale is a simple 9-level scale for evaluating, tracking, and communicating the readiness of a technology for safe and effective human use. It is modeled after the well-established Technology Readiness Level (TRL) framework that is used throughout the government and industry to communicate the maturity of a technology and to support decision making about technology acquisition. Here we (1) introduce the ANSI/HFES 400-2021 Standard that defines the HRL scale and (2) provide concrete examples of evaluation activities to support the application of HRLs in the development of automated driving systems."

Exact Algorithms For Practical Instances Of The Railcar Loading Problem At Marine Container Terminals, Manwo Ng, Dung-Ying Lin

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

With the growth in global trade and its environmental footprint, sustainable modes of freight movement are increasingly important in today’s globalized world. This study focuses on on-dock rail, where the rail terminal is located within the marine container terminal. On-dock rail has in recent years become an essential mode of transportation to move containers out of congested marine container terminals. This study contributes to the literature by presenting tailored exact solution algorithms for a recently proposed optimization model to optimize the loading of double-stack trains. In particular, a 3-stage solution framework is presented for the case when rail cars have …

High-Density Parking For Autonomous Vehicles., Parag J. Siddique

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In a common parking lot, much of the space is devoted to lanes. Lanes must not be blocked for one simple reason: a blocked car might need to leave before the car that blocks it. However, the advent of autonomous vehicles gives us an opportunity to overcome this constraint, and to achieve a higher storage capacity of cars. Taking advantage of self-parking and intelligent communication systems of autonomous vehicles, we propose puzzle-based parking, a high-density design for a parking lot. We introduce a novel method of vehicle parking, which leads to maximum parking density. We then propose a heuristic method …

Prediction Of Four-Days Soaked California Bearing Ratio (Cbr) Values From Soil Index Properties, Pascal Ambrose, Siya P. Rimoy Dr

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

California Bearing Ratio (CBR) laboratory testing is the conventional method for determining soaked strengths of pavement subgrades. The test requires careful preparation of soil samples followed by four days of water soaking before penetrating the samples using a standard plunger at prescribed rates to set depths. When the number of samples becomes large the determination of soaked CBR values becomes cumbersome as the test is laborious and time consuming. This study aimed at establishing an alternative way of determining soaked CBR by developing a model that would be used for estimating soaked CBR of fine- and coarse- grained soils without …

A Machine Learning Approach To Understanding Emerging Markets, Namita Balani

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Logistic providers have learned to efficiently serve their existing customer bases with optimized routes and transportation resource allocation. The problem arises when there is potential for logistics growth in an emerging market with no previous data. The purpose of this work is to use industry data for previously known and well-documented markets to apply data analytic techniques such as machine learning to investigate the uncertainty in a new market. The thesis looks into machine learning techniques to predict miles per stop given historical data. It mainly focuses on Random Forest Regression Analysis, but concludes that additional techniques, such as Polynomial …

Improving Logistics Efficiency Through Collaborative Truck Routing, Patrick Dougherty

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The logistics industry is among the world’s largest and most essential. Specifically, trucking is a massive component of the modern logistics system. In 2012, truck transportation carried 68% of all freight tonnage in the U.S. However, trucking currently faces significant problems with efficiency and sustainability. Of all miles driven by trucks yearly in the U.S., 25% are driven with empty loads and 36% are driven with underutilized loads. In addition to this economic inefficiency, the industry faces social and environmental challenges. Driver turnover rates are near 100%, and trucking accounts for a significant level of greenhouse gas emissions. One potential …

Structural Identification And Damage Detection In Bridges Using Wave Method And Uniform Shear Beam Models: A Feasibility Study, Mehran Rahmani, Manan Naik

Mineta Transportation Institute

This report presents a wave method to be used for the structural identification and damage detection of structural components in bridges, e.g., bridge piers. This method has proven to be promising when applied to real structures and large amplitude responses in buildings (e.g., mid-rise and high-rise buildings). This study is the first application of the method to damaged bridge structures. The bridge identification was performed using wave propagation in a simple uniform shear beam model. The method identifies a wave velocity for the structure by fitting an equivalent uniform shear beam model to the impulse response functions of the recorded …

Infrastructure Systems Modeling Using Data Visualization And Trend Extraction, Jacob Marshal Hale

Doctoral Dissertations

“Current infrastructure systems modeling literature lacks frameworks that integrate data visualization and trend extraction needed for complex systems decision making and planning. Critical infrastructures such as transportation and energy systems contain interdependencies that cannot be properly characterized without considering data visualization and trend extraction.

This dissertation presents two case analyses to showcase the effectiveness and improvements that can be made using these techniques. Case one examines flood management and mitigation of disruption impacts using geospatial characteristics as part of data visualization. Case two incorporates trend analysis and sustainability assessment into energy portfolio transitions.

Four distinct contributions are made in this …

Hybrid Vehicle-Drone Routing Problem For Pick-Up And Delivery Services Mathematical Formulation And Solution Methodology, Aline Karak

Civil and Environmental Engineering Theses and Dissertations

The fast growth of online retail and associated increasing demand for same-day delivery have pushed online retail and delivery companies to develop new paradigms to provide faster, cheaper, and greener delivery services. Considering drones’ recent technological advancements over the past decade, they are increasingly ready to replace conventional truck-based delivery services, especially for the last mile of the trip. Drones have significantly improved in terms of their travel ranges, load-carrying capacity, positioning accuracy, durability, and battery charging rates. Substituting delivery vehicles with drones could result in $50M of annual cost savings for major U.S. service providers.

The first objective of …

Degrader Analysis For Diagnostic And Predictive Capabilities: A Demonstration Of Progress In Dod Cbm+ Initiatives, William Baker, Steven Nixon, Jeffrey Banks, Karl Reichard, Kaitlynn Castelle

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents a modified reliability centered maintenance (RCM) methodology developed by The Applied Research Laboratory at The Pennsylvania State University (ARL Penn State) to meet challenges in decreasing life cycle sustainment costs for critical Naval assets. The focus of this paper is on the requirements for the development of the on-board Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) system with a discussion on the implementation progress for two systems: the high pressure air compressor (HPAC), and the advanced carbon dioxide removal unit (ACRU). Recent Department of Defense (DoD) guidance calls for implementing Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) as an alternative to traditional …

Transit Agencies Performance Assessment And Implications, Parisa Hajibabaee

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Although most transit systems operate in small urban and rural areas in the United States, these systems have rarely received the same attention as their urban counterparts, both in terms of ensuring the efficiency and effectiveness of their operations and understanding the factors that affect their performance. This thesis's main goals are to assess the performance of rural and small urban public transit agencies and help them evaluate adopting a ridehailing program, thereby improving their performance. We applied operations research and decision-making tools to two public transit projects in small urban and rural areas. The first project focuses on three …

The Potentials Of Faecal Sludge Treatment Using Local Conditioners In Tanzania: A Review, Doglas Benjamin1

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Worldwide, every day human beings generate millions of tons of Faecal Sludge (FS), which is rich in water, nutrients, energy, and organic compounds. Yet FS is not being managed in a way that permits us to derive value from its reuse, while at the same time, millions of farmers struggle with depleted soils and lack of water. In most of the developing countries, energy for cooking is mainly derived from cutting of trees, either as wood or charcoal. Resource recovery and reuse from FS can create livelihoods, enhance food security, support green economies, reduce waste and contribute to cost recovery …

Generalized Relay Network Design And Collaborative Dispatching In Truckload Transportation, Amin Ziaeifar

Operations Research and Engineering Management Theses and Dissertations

The truckload industry faces a serious problem of high driver shortage and turnover rate which is typically around 100\%. Among the major causes of this problem are extended on-the-road times where drivers handle several truckload pickup and deliveries successively; non-regular schedules and get-home rates; and low utilization of drivers dedicated time. These are by-and-large consequences of the driver-to-load dispatching method, which is based on point-to-point dispatching or direct shipment from origin-to-destination, commonly employed in the industry. In this dissertation, we consider an alternative dispatching method that necessitates careful design of an underlying network. In this scheme, a truckload on its …

Minimodal: Dimensional Domain Of Miniature Shipping Containers For Intermodal Freight Transportation, Lee Stapley

Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado

This study explores the feasibility of miniature shipping container usage within existing intermodal transportation (IT) supply chains. Smaller intermodal container shipments may help realign freight shipments with the most efficient transportation mode, rail. These containers embolden the dimensional domain (DD) of shipping. The shipping container dimensional domain (container size variation and modal fluidity) is widespread and results in shipments that are often larger or more infrequent than needed. The DD impacts transport mode, shipping frequency, shipment velocity, intermodal supply chain accessibility, and regional shipping networks. This study suggests that container size impacts the DD and, therefore, mode choice. As miniature …

Characterizing Truck Parking Shortages In Arkansas: A Data Analytical Approach, Morgan Hartsell

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Truck Parking Problem occurs when drivers have met the daily driving limit and encounter a decision between driving over time or parking in unauthorized locations. This research applies data analytics to gain further knowledge to characterize the truck parking shortage in Arkansas. Truck parking shortages are a serious problem that truck drivers face daily and is complex due to Hours of Service (HOS) regulations restrictions on legal parking areas and design. Existing research includes a one-day annual survey which compiles where public rest stops, businesses, and private rest stops are utilized by truck drivers. This research expands on the …

Equilibrium-Based Workload Balancing For Robust Emergency Response Operations In Metropolitan Areas, Parya Roustaee

Civil and Environmental Engineering Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents an equilibrium-based modeling framework for emergency response (ER) workload balancing to achieve robust operation in large-scale metropolitan areas. The problem is formulated as a non-linear mathematical program (NLP), which determines the optimal workload cutoff for each ER station such that the weighted sum of the area-wide expected response time and its variation are minimized. The concept of Marginal Cost of Uncertainty (MCU) is introduced to measure the impact of a station’s workload increase on the area-wide service performance. The solution of the NLP is proved to be equivalent to a state of equilibrium in which all stations …

Impacts Of Freight Consolidation And Truck Sharing On Freight Mobility, Tieming Liu, Chaoyue Zhao

Data

Corresponding data set for Tran-SET Project No. 17ITSOKS02. Abstract of the final report is stated below for reference:

"The trucking industry is an important sector of the U.S. economy. However, it is quite fragmented, hindering the efficiency of cargo transportation and the ability for small carriers to identify demands to fill full truck loads. The focus of this research is to study models and algorithms in order to aid online freight marketplaces to identify efficient consolidation strategies. To accomplish this aim, a new mixed integer programming model for the pickup and delivery problem has been developed. The model is geared …

Impacts Of Freight Consolidation And Truck Sharing On Freight Mobility, Tieming Liu, Chaoyue Zhao

Publications

The trucking industry is an important sector of the U.S. economy. However, it is quite fragmented, hindering the efficiency of cargo transportation and the ability for small carriers to identify demands to fill full truck loads. The focus of this research is to study models and algorithms in order to aid online freight marketplaces to identify efficient consolidation strategies. To accomplish this aim, a new mixed integer programming model for the pickup and delivery problem has been developed. The model is geared towards identifying effective freight consolidation opportunities. A branch-and-cut algorithm to solve the model was also developed. The model …

Barge Prioritization, Assignment, And Scheduling During Inland Waterway Disruption Responses, Liliana Delgado-Hidalgo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Inland waterways face natural and man-made disruptions that may affect navigation and infrastructure operations leading to barge traffic disruptions and economic losses. This dissertation investigates inland waterway disruption responses to intelligently redirect disrupted barges to inland terminals and prioritize offloading while minimizing total cargo value loss. This problem is known in the literature as the cargo prioritization and terminal allocation problem (CPTAP). A previous study formulated the CPTAP as a non-linear integer programming (NLIP) model solved with a genetic algorithm (GA) approach. This dissertation contributes three new and improved approaches to solve the CPTAP.

The first approach is a decomposition …

Understanding Transit System Performance Using Avl-Apc Data: An Analytics Platform With Case Studies For The Pittsburgh Region, Xidong Pi, Mark Egge, Jackson Whitmore, Amy Silbermann, Zhen Sean Qian

Journal of Public Transportation

This paper introduces a novel transit data analytics platform for public transit planning, assessing service quality and revealing service problems in high spatiotemporal resolution for public transit systems based on Automatic Passenger Counting (APC) and Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) technologies. The platform offers a systematic way for users and decision makers to understand system performance from many aspects of service quality, including passenger waiting time, stop-skipping frequency, bus bunching level, bus travel time, on-time performance, and bus fullness. The AVL-APC data from September 2012 to March 2016 were archived in a database to support the development of a user-friendly web …

Essays On Applications Of Transportation Network Design And Optimization, Amirali Ghaharikermani

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we address different transportation problems. The three main outcomes are: designing a battery swap station network, studying gaps in Empty Container Management literature, designing a model with similar characteristics to the vehicle routing problem as well as implementation scenario for it to be applied for a real-world case.

For the designed battery swap station, a model is developed for customer demand satisfaction that permits construction of different types of BSS in the planning network. Our solution methodology is a Tabu Search algorithm combined with a dynamic programming initialization. Numerous tests showed that the proposed TS approach provides …

Application Of Real Field Connected Vehicle Data For Aggressive Driving Identification On Horizontal Curves, Arash Jahangiri, Vincent Berardi, Sahar Ghanipoor Machiani

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The emerging technology of connected vehicles generates a vast amount of data that could be used to enhance roadway safety. In this paper, we focused on safety applications of a real field connected vehicle data on a horizontal curve. The database contains connected vehicle data that were collected on public roads in Ann Arbor, Michigan with instrumented vehicles. Horizontal curve negotiations are associated with a great number of accidents, which are mainly attributed to driving errors. Aggressive/risky driving is a contributing factor to the high rate of crashes on horizontal curves. Using basic safety message data in connected vehicle data …

Methodologies For Solving Integrated Transportation And Scheduling Problems, Fereydoun Adbesh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research proposes novel solution techniques to optimize two real-world problems in the area of scheduling and transportation. We first consider a model for optimizing the operations of dredges. In this problem, scheduling and assignment decisions are integrated across a finite planning horizon. Additional constraints and problem elements explicitly considered include, but are not limited, to environmental work window restrictions, budget limitations, dredge operation rates and schedule-dependent dredge availability. Our approach makes use of Constraint Programming (CP) to obtain quality and robust solutions within an amount of time small enough to be useful to practitioners. The expanded feature set of …

Essays In Measuring, Controlling, And Coordinating Supply Chain Inventory And Transportation Operations, Payam Parsa

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Supply chain collaboration programs, such as continuous replenishment program (CRP), is among the most popular supply chain management practices. CRP is an arrangement between two partners in a supply chain to share information on a regular basis for lowering logistics costs while maintaining or increasing service levels. CRP shifts the replenishment responsibility to the upstream partner to avoid the bullwhip effect across the supply chain. This dissertation aims to quantify, measure, and expand the benefits of CRP for the purpose of reducing logistics cost and improving customer service. The developed models in this dissertation are all applied in different case …

Decision Support System For Container Port Selection Using Multiple-Objective Decision Analysis, Rivelino De Icaza

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ports are essential for maritime transportation and global supply chains since they are nodes that connect the sea- and land-based modes of transportation. With containerization and supply chains stimulating global trade, ports are challenged to adjust to changes in the market to create value to their customers. Therefore, this dissertation research focuses on the container port selection decision analysis to provide information to help shipping lines select the best port for their shipping networks. Since the problem is complex, dynamic, and involves multiple and conflicting criteria, the research proposes to use the multi-objective decision analysis with Value-Focused Thinking approach. The …

A Quantitative Model For Truck Parking Utilization With Hours Of Service Regulations, Alexis Christine Gaddy

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Continual growth in traffic volume on U.S. Highways and insufficient parking for commercial trucking vehicles has led to significant safety concerns for truck drivers. Hours of Service (HOS) regulations dictate driving and rest periods of truck drivers. When a truck driver must stop as designated by the HOS regulations and the nearest parking location is at capacity, the trucker must either continue driving past the HOS limit or park in an undesignated and possibly illegal or unsafe spot such as an off-ramp. The combination of these two variables play an important role in the safety of truck drivers on a …

Identifying Key Factors Of Rail Transit Service Quality: An Empirical Analysis For Istanbul, Erkan Isikli, Nezir Aydin, Erkan Celik, Alev Taskin Gumus

Journal of Public Transportation

Providing a high quality of service in public transportation is essential to reduce dissatisfactions stemming from traffic congestion and noise. Public transport providers need to find ways to dilute the effects of immoderate use of private cars in big cities while maintaining a sufficient level of customer satisfaction. This study aimed to identify the key service quality (SQ) factors that drive passenger satisfaction in Istanbul’s rail transit (RT) system using data obtained from an extensive survey conducted by the Istanbul Public Transportation Co. A total of 11,116 passengers who used rail transport from May 15–June 3, 2012, and June 17–July …