Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Latent Choice Models To Account For Misclassification Errors In Discrete Transportation Data, Lacramioara Elena Balan

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

One of the most fundamental tasks when it comes to analyzing data using statistical methods is to understand the relationship between the explanatory variables and the outcome. Misclassification of explanatory variables is a common risk when using statistical modeling techniques. In this dissertation, we define ‘misclassification,’ as a response that is reported or recorded in the wrong category; for example, a variable is registered as a one when it should have the value zero. Misclassification can easily happen in any data; for example, in an interview setting where the respondent misunderstands the question or the interviewer checks the wrong box. …

Dispersion Or Re-Segregation: A Spatial And Temporal Analysis Of Public Policies And Their Impact On Urban African American Mobility, Brandi Lynette Blessett

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Studies

This study seeks to test Hirsch's second ghetto thesis in the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Hirsch suggested that the role of government, public policies, and administrative discretion were responsible for the re-segregation of African Americans into second ghetto communities in Chicago. Many scholars have used Hirsch's framework to explain ghetto formation. This investigation seeks to extend the literature in several ways. First, several national policies were investigated to determine their impact on African American mobility in Baltimore: the Housing Act of 1937 (public housing), the Housing Act of 1949 (urban renewal), and the Interstate Highway Act of 1956 (transportation). Second, …

Modeling Decision Making Related To Incident Delays During Hurricane Evacuations, Robert Michael Robinson

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Successful evacuations from metropolitan areas require optimizing the transportation network, monitoring conditions, and adapting to changes. Evacuation plans seek to maximize the city's ability to evacuate traffic to flee the endangered region, but once an evacuation begins, real time events degrade even the best plans.

To better understand behavioral responses made during a hurricane evacuation, a survey of potential evacuees obtained data on demographics, driving characteristics, and the traffic information considered prior to and during an evacuation. Analysis showed significant levels of correlation between demographic factors (e.g., gender, age, social class, etc.) and self-assessed driver characteristics, but limited correlation with …

Robustness And Control Of A Magnetically Levitated Transportation System, Grzegorz Oleszczuk

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Electromagnetic suspension of Magnetic Levitation Vehicles (Maglev) has been studied for many years as an alternative to wheel-on rail transportation systems. In this work, design and implementation of control systems for a Maglev laboratory experiment and a Maglev vehicle under development at Old Dominion University are described. Both plants are modeled and simulated with consideration of issues associated with system non-linearity, structural flexibility and electromagnetic force modeling. Discussion concerning different control strategies, namely centralized and decentralized approaches are compared and contrasted in this work. Different types of electromagnetic non-linearities are considered and described to establish a convenient method for modeling …