Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Transportation Needs Of Older Adults In Suburban And Rural Areas, Dahai Han

Theses and Dissertations

The fact that the average age of the world's population is increasing, which is more pronounced in developed countries, necessitates the understanding of the challenges faced by older adults in accessing transportation services. With advancing age, individuals may experience age-related changes that can notably affect their driving capabilities, emphasizing the importance of alternative transportation alternatives. This challenge is more evident in suburban and rural settings, where transportation choices are limited, and older adults often find themselves without access to suitable transportation alternatives. Given that mobility plays an essential role in maintaining social connections, accessing healthcare services, and fulfilling daily needs, …

Reaching Non-Work Destinations: Accessibility And Its Impacts On Travel Behavior, Sai Sun

Theses and Dissertations

As people’s daily activities are diverse, having access to various opportunities is important. However, the existing body of accessibility literature places great emphasis on job accessibility; research on non-work accessibility is limited. To fill the gap, this dissertation examines accessibility to four types of non-work opportunities (healthcare, retail, recreation, and food services) by three transportation modes (automobile, transit, and walking) as well as their impacts on travel in the Milwaukee region. This dissertation examines accessibility disparities across different racial/ethnic groups and income groups in Milwaukee County by comparing weighted average accessibility and overlaying spatial distribution of accessibility with population distributions. …

Air Cargo: Carriers, Cost, And Competition, Zoe Laulederkind

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the cost structure of U.S. air carriers participating in the freight transport sector. From 1991 to 2021, events such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the global financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic have coincided with various events directly impacting the air freight transport industry. During this 30-year period, air transport has developed and implemented global tracking systems, engaged in labor negotiations, and weathered supply-chain shocks all of which warrant comprehensive evaluation of the U.S. air freight transport industry from the cost perspective. Chapter 1 of this thesis explores existence of natural monopoly and economies of scope among …

Exploration Of Older Adults’ Travel Behavior And Their Transportation Barriers, Hamideh Moayyed

Theses and Dissertations

Both the number of older adults and their proportion of the population are increasing rapidly in the United States. By 2040, about 20.7% of the U.S. population will be 65 and older (Harrison & Ragland, 2003a). These dramatic changes in the composition of the population will bring new challenges to the provision of transportation services. This is because the travel patterns and needs of older adults are likely to become more complicated. A growing number of people will find it increasingly difficult to meet their transportation needs. As the life expectancy of older adults is likely to continue to increase, …

Development Of A Cloud-Based Traffic Diagnosis And Management Laboratory Based On High-Coverage Alpr, Weijie Tan

Theses and Dissertations

As the traffic volume in urban areas continues to increase, traffic congestion results in longer travel time, lower reliability, and larger energy consumption. Traffic diagnosis and management strategies are generally considered the most cost-efficient approaches to reduce traffic congestion. Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) is one of the most valuable data sources for traffic diagnosis and management. It outperforms many traditional methods of traffic data collection in terms of cost and accuracy. Many cities have deployed their ALRP systems in the past two decades. In those cities, traffic networks are highly covered by ALPRs. ALPRs produce a tremendous amount of …

Comprehensive Safety Analysis Of Vulnerable Road User Involved Motor Vehicle Crashes, Farah Jazi Al-Mahameed

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores, identifies, and evaluates a multitude of factors significantly affecting motor vehicle crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists, commonly defined as vulnerable road users (VRUs). The methodologies are guided by the concept of safe behavior of different parties that are primary responsible for a crash, either a pedestrian, a bicyclist or a driver, pertaining to roadway design, traffic conditions, land use and built environment variables; and the findings are beneficial for recommending targeted and effective safety interventions.

The topic is motivated by the fact that human factors contribute to over ninety percent of the crashes, especially the ones involving …

Transportation Network Company (Tnc) Ridehailing Travel Patterns In Chicago’S Economically Disconnected Areas, Kelly Marie O'Brien

Theses and Dissertations

Transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft position themselves as a complement—rather than a detriment—to existing public transportation. Since the launch of TNCs, however, public transit ridership in major cities has steadily declined. This severely impacts economically disconnected residents, who often do not own automobiles and therefore rely on public transportation. The decline of public transit, coupled with the growth of TNCs, thus begs the question: Do TNC services complement or substitute public transportation in serving economically disconnected urban residents? Using data from the American Community Survey and new TNC data from the City of Chicago, this paper maps …

Public Transit And Micro-Mobility: Identifying The Impacts Of Bikeshare On Public Transit Ridership In The City Of Chicago, Shamsi Mosharraf Trisha

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

PUBLIC TRANSIT AND MICRO-MOBILITY: IDENTIFYING THE IMPACTS OF BIKESHARE ON PUBLIC TRANSIT RIDERSHIP IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO

The variation of transit and bike share access amongst the communities in Chicago, in terms of their social, ethnic and economic segregation was investigated. The findings identify the area suitable for implementation of micro mobility as a first and last mile option. Based on transit connectivity and population mix, the communities are ranked into five groups: 1) Central: excellent transit and bike share access serving the micro mobility purpose; 2) North Side : good transit access which can be improved further …

Identifying And Incorporating Driver Behavior Variables Into Crash Prediction Models, Mohammad Razaur Rahman Shaon

Theses and Dissertations

All travelers are exposed to the risk for crashes on the road, as none of the roadways are entirely safe. Under Vision Zero, improving traffic safety on our nation’s highways is and will continue to be one of the most pivotal tasks on the national transportation agenda. For decades, researchers and transportation professionals have strived to identify causal relationships between crash occurrence and roadway geometry, and traffic-related variables on the mission of creating a safe environment for the traveling public. Although great achievements have been witnessed such as the publication of the Highway Safety Manual (HSM), research is rather limited …

Transit-Oriented Development And The Implications For Equitable Development: A Case Study Of The Milwaukee Streetcar, Joshua Diciaula

Theses and Dissertations

Many cities across the US have reintroduced the streetcar as an economic development tool, or as an image-branding and tourism-promoting amenity, while public transportation benefits are largely afterthoughts. The purpose of this research is to investigate the Milwaukee Streetcar as a transit-oriented development strategy, the distribution of benefits and burdens, and its implications for equitable development. Guided by semi-structured interviews and content/discourse analysis of planning/policy documents through an equity lens, this study analyzed Milwaukee’s initial downtown streetcar routes against the potential extension lines into the more transit-dependent communities of Bronzeville and Walker’s Point. The findings suggest that the initial routes …

Advanced Quantitative Methods For Imminent Detection Of Crash Prone Conditions And Safety Evaluation, Zhi Chen

Theses and Dissertations

Crashes can be accurately predicted through reliable data sources and rigorous statistical models; and prevented through data-driven, evidence-based traffic control strategies. Both predictive analysis and analysis to estimate the causal effect of traffic variables of real-time crashes are instrumental to crash prediction and a better understanding of the mechanism of crash occurrence. However, the research on the second analysis type is very limited for real-time crash prediction; and the conventional predictive analysis using inductive loop detector data has accuracy issues related to inconsistently and distantly spaced loop detectors. The effectiveness of traffic control strategies for improving safety performance cannot be …

Data-Driven Optimization Models For Feeder Bus Network Design, Yaojun Wang

Theses and Dissertations

Urbanization is not a modern phenomenon. However, it is worthwhile to note that the world urban population growth curve has up till recently followed a quadratic-hyperbolic pattern (Korotayey and Khaltourina, 2006). As cities become larger and their population expand, large and growing metropolises have to face the enormous traffic demand. To alleviate the increasing traffic congestion, public transit has been considered as the ideal solution to such troubles and problems restricting urban development. The metro is a type of efficient, dependable and high-capacity public transport adapted in metropolises worldwide. At the same time, the residents from crowded cities migrated to …

Contributing Factors On Drivers Yielding Behaviors At Uncontrolled Intersections, Aida Sanatizadeh

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The present study aims at analyzing drivers yielding behaviors to pedestrians’ right of way, who are attempting to cross at uncontrolled crosswalks. Three types of variables were identified to be collected for this research including characteristics of the locations as well as demographic, and behavioral characteristics of pedestrians and drivers. The behavioral characteristics of drivers and pedestrians is recorded only when a pedestrian arrives at the crosswalks trying to cross and a vehicle is approaching the intersection; so, the driver makes a decision whether or not yield to the pedestrian waiting to cross. Some behavioral characteristics of pedestrians include …

Analyzing Transportation Services For Older Adults In Southeastern Wisconsin, Elizabeth Jean Saunderson

Theses and Dissertations

Older adults are important users to consider in the evaluation of transportation services. Many older non-drivers take fewer trips than their driving peers. It is important that transportation services meet the needs of older adults to provide greater access to this subset of the population. This thesis applies the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluate the thirty-one non-private transportation services that exist in southeastern Wisconsin. The AHP structure uses multiple criteria to evaluate and rank several alternatives based on a stated goal. An optimization model using the LINGO solver introduces a fuzzy scale level to the AHP and assigns weights …

Developing Sampling Strategies And Predicting Freeway Travel Time Using Bluetooth Data, Hasan Md Moonam

Theses and Dissertations

Accurate, reliable, and timely travel time is critical to monitor transportation system performance and assist motorists with trip-making decisions. Travel time is estimated using the data from various sources like cellular technology, automatic vehicle identification (AVI) systems. Irrespective of sources, data have characteristics in terms of accuracy and reliability shaped by the sampling rate along with other factors. As a probe based AVI technology, Bluetooth data is not immune to the sampling issue that directly affects the accuracy and reliability of the information it provides. The sampling rate can be affected by the stochastic nature of traffic state varying by …

Integrated Special Event Traffic Management Strategies In Urban Transportation Network, Peng Li

Theses and Dissertations

How to effectively optimize and control spreading traffic in urban network during the special event has emerged as one of the critical issues faced by many transportation professionals in the past several decades due to the surging demand and the often limited network capacity. The contribution of this dissertation is to develop a set of integrated mathematical programming models for unconventional traffic management of special events in urban transportation network. Traffic management strategies such as lane reorganization and reversal, turning restriction, lane-based signal timing, ramp closure, and uninterrupted flow intersection will be coordinated and concurrently optimized for best overall system …

Freeway Removal In Milwaukee: Three Case Studies, Alex Snyder

Theses and Dissertations

A growing number of cities are choosing to remove parts of their urban freeway network to make room for alternative land uses. This study examines the history of two freeway spurs in Milwaukee—the Park East Freeway and Interstate 794—which were both targeted for demolition. Park East was demolished in 2002, but Interstate 794, which was considered for partial demolition on two separate occasions, was eventually rebuilt. This study asks what the cases of Park East and I-794 can tell us about the attributes of a successful freeway teardown project. This study traces the history of both freeways from the 1950s …

Multi-Dimensional Assessment Of Transit System Efficiency And Incentive-Based Subsidy Allocation, Xin Li

Theses and Dissertations

Over the past several decades, contending with traffic congestion and air pollution has emerged as one of the imperative issues across the world. Development of a transit-oriented urban transport system has been realized by an increasing number of countries and administrations as one of the most effective strategies for mitigating congestion and pollution problems. Despite the rapid development of public transportation system, doubts regarding the efficiency of the system and financing sustainability have arisen. Significant amount of public resources have been invested into public transport; however complaints about low service quality and unreliable transit system performance have increasingly arisen from …

Bus Route Operational Efficiency Evaluation In Milwaukee County, Ebtesam Hazbavi

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

BUS ROUTE OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY EVALUATION IN MILWAUKEE COUNTY

by

Ebtesam Hazbavi

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2015

Under the Supervision of Professor Yue Liu

Public transit systems are expanding in the majority of cities in the United States due to the increasing numbers of people who use public transportation as their main commute facility. Evaluating the efficiency of public transit systems results in providing better services for the residents on one hand and reduces the unnecessary costs on the other hand.

In this research, the efficiencies of bus routes options in County are evaluated. After reviewing different literature, Fuzzy AHP …

Work Zone Illumination Design: Guidance Stratgies To Specify Appropriatework Zone Lighting Plan, Sherine Anani

Theses and Dissertations

Night construction is frequently used because it can better satisfy the primary traffic control objectives than daytime work. If night construction is used, the design of illumination plans should be analyzed and developed as part of the project development process.

There are fewer crews out working on the road in the winter, partly because of the conditions but also because the days are shorter and there’s not a lot of light by which to work.

In fact, the days can get short enough, especially as you go farther north, that even a normal day involves some “night work.” Construction work …

Perceptions Of Bike Sharing In Underserved Communities Within Milwaukee And The Twin Cities, James Hannig

Theses and Dissertations

Despite becoming increasingly more popular in cities across North America, many bikeshare systems have received criticism for not reaching minority and low-income populations. Several bikeshare operators have implemented measures to reach these populations including removing financial barriers, placing stations in underserved neighborhoods, and partnering with various community organizations. However, until recently, few have explored how people in these underserved areas perceive bike sharing.

Feedback was solicited from key community partners in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota to better understand how bike sharing is perceived in underserved communities and to determine whether other models could better address the transportation needs …

Economic Observations Using Origin And Destination Estimation Through Observed Traffic Counts, Joshua William Depies

Theses and Dissertations

A relationship exists between the economy and the amount of traffic that is observed on

the nation’s roadways. Traffic patterns generally peak during times of economic

prosperity when people are spending more money and new homes and businesses are

being built. On the other hand, as the economy starts becoming more stagnant, people

travel less while home sales decrease and businesses close as fewer patrons shop.

What this thesis attempts to accomplish is to see if an Origin and Destination Estimation

technique is sensitive enough to pick up these economic trends of a region by using

traffic counts.

Two sets …

Operations Research Modeling Of Cyclic Train Timetabling, Cyclic Train Platforming, And Bus Routing Problems, Mojtaba Heydar

Theses and Dissertations

Public transportation or mass transit involves the movement of large numbers of people between a given numbers of locations. The services provided by this system can be classified into three groups: (i) short haul: a low-speed service within small areas with high population; (ii) city transit: transporting people within a city; and (iii) long haul: a service with long trips, few stops, and high speed (Khisty and Lall, 2003). It can be also classified based on local and express services. The public transportation planning includes five consecutive steps: (i) the network design and route design; (ii) the setting frequencies or …

The (Rail)Road Not Traveled: The Failure Of The Krm Commuter Rail Proposal In Greater Milwaukee, Wi, Neal A. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail (KRM) proposal was one of many passenger rail proposals studied for the greater Milwaukee area over the past few decades. The proposed line would have connected the cities of Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee, as well as communities in northern Illinois, along already existing rail lines. An analysis of archival information, newspaper coverage, and interviews with key stakeholders were conducted to explore the influence of an auto-dominated culture, the role of politics, local and regional expectations, funding issues, and the legacy of earlier local debates to determine why the KRM commuter rail proposal failed. In the beginning, …

Travel Time In Macroscopic Traffic Models For Origin-Destination Estimation, Eric Youngblom

Theses and Dissertations

Transportation macroscopic modeling is a tool for analyzing and prioritizing future transportation improvements. Transportation modeling techniques continue to evolve with improvements to computer processing speeds and traffic data collection. These improvements allow transportation models to be calibrated to real life traffic conditions. The transportation models rely on an origin-destination (OD) matrix, which describes the quantity and distribution of trips in a transportation network. The trips defined by the OD matrix are assigned to the network through the process of traffic assignment. Traffic assignment relies on the travel time (cost) of roadways to replicate route choice of trips between OD trip …

New Framework And Decision Support Tool To Warrant Detour Operations During Freeway Corridor Incident Management, Jing Mao

Theses and Dissertations

As reported in the literature, the mobility and reliability of the highway systems in the United States have been significantly undermined by traffic delays on freeway corridors due to non-recurrent traffic congestion. Many of those delays are caused by the reduced capacity and overwhelming demand on critical metropolitan corridors coupled with long incident durations. In most scenarios, if proper detour strategies could be implemented in time, motorists could circumvent the congested segments by detouring through parallel arterials, which will significantly improve the mobility of all vehicles in the corridor system. Nevertheless, prior to implementation of any detour strategy, traffic managers …