Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

Headway Deviation Effects On Bus Passenger Loads: Analysis Of Tri-Met’S Archived Avl-Apc Data, James G. Strathman, Thomas J. Kimpel, Steve Callas

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

In this paper we empirically analyze the relationship between transit service headway deviations and passenger loads, using archived data from Tri-Met’s automatic vehicle location and automatic passenger counter systems. The analysis employs two-stage least squares estimation to account for the simultaneous relationship between headway deviations and loads. Controlling for the effects of passenger activity on delay, the results indicate that the observed incidence of excess passenger loads is systematically attributable to deviations from scheduled headways. In turn, analysis of the causes of headway deviations served to identify possible operations control actions that would improve service regularity and, consequently, reduce incidences …

Transportation Solutions: Collaborative Problem Solving For States And Communities, National Policy Consensus Center

National Policy Consensus Center Publications

In April 2003, the National Policy Consensus Center (NPCC) hosted a colloquium for people involved in transportation collaborations—federal and state agency representatives, consultants, dispute resolution professionals and representatives from professional associations and local planning organizations. The colloquium was co-sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration, the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the Florida, Oregon, and California Departments of Transportation.

This report summarizes lessons learned about transportation collaborations and offers recommendations for governors and state transportation officials on ways to enhance the use and effectiveness of collaborative problem solving around transportation …

A Method For Modeling Low-Probability, High- Consequence Risk Events: Vessel Traffic On The Lower Mississippi River, George Wooddell, Robert Gramling, Craig J. Forsyth

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "A variety of commodities, from chlorine to corn and petroleum to passengers, are transported on the lower Mississippi River regularly. Corn, wheat and coal are the most commonly carried commodities. From a human health and safety perspective, these are relatively benign products in that a vessel accident and spill of these are not directly hazardous to people, whatever other ecological disturbances may ensue. However, over eighty million tons of petroleum products are transported on the river annually. Over a million tons of liquid natural gas traverse the river through the center of New Orleans. Additionally, over 400,000 tons of …

Building And Maintaining A Statewide Transportation Framework, Kenneth Dueker, Paul Bender

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

Creating and maintaining up-to-date sharable Geographic Information SystemsTransportation (GIS-T) data is challenging. Many states are working on Transportation Framework efforts to build a complete, consistent, and current transportation data layer in conjunction with the NSDI and Geospatial One-Stop efforts. This paper summarizes an effort that systematically re-examined transportation data sharing issues as part of the development of a Transportation Framework for the State of Washington. Business needs were assessed in terms of spatial and temporal accuracy needs of stakeholders and users of a state-wide Transportation Framework. A conceptual model was developed for a Transportation Framework with emphasis on data flows …

Seat Belt Use Compliance In Kansas, Deogratias Eustace, Teresa M. C. Bartel

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Faculty Publications

Passenger vehicle occupant restraints are regarded as the easiest and the most effective way of reducing the number of highway fatalities. Strong vehicle occupant protection enforcement laws are regarded as the most effective way to increase seat belt use. The increase in restraint use in the United States and other countries has been largely attributed to mandatory seat belt use legislation. Many fatalities and injuries in motor vehicle crashes could be avoided if more passengers used their seat belts. Studies have shown that primary laws have been more effective in seat belt use compliance than secondary laws. Also, legislation has …

Support For Statistical Analysis Of The Configurable Port Simulation (Cports), Saurav Mazumdar

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The primary objective of this thesis is to provide support for statistical analysis of CPortS: a transportation logistics simulation, which models the movement of military traffic through seaports and the interaction of the traffic with port infrastructure. By any standards, CPortS is a very large, data intensive simulation. It provides capabilities for analyzing many important issues such as port clearance and throughput. CPortS was classically run in single run mode. Only a single replication of the simulation was performed and conclusions were drawn from the results obtained. Users and analysts of CPortS performed multiple runs only to see the effect …

Object-Oriented Architecture For Concurrent Processes In A Port Simulation, Reejo Mathew

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

An architectural model to represent the resources and infrastructure within a cargo terminal, as well as to support the concurrent but opposite flow of cargo within the terminal, is presented in this thesis. The model supports the configuration of an individual cargo terminal according to its characteristics, as well as the processing involved in the simultaneous flow of cargo in opposite directions through the terminal. This is useful in the analysis of the flow of military cargo and aids the decision-making process to increase the efficiency and throughput of any military operation. This model has been developed with the aim …

Short-Line Railroad Managers Discuss Class I Railroads, James C. Johnson, Diane J. Mcclure, Kenneth C. Schneider, Donald F. Wood

Journal of Transportation Management

Managers/owners of short-line railroads were queried about three issues: (1) How would you describe your company’s business relationship with the Class I railroad(s) with which you interchange traffic; (2) Do you believe that mergers between Class I railroads have been good or bad for short-line railroads; and (3) Besides merger activity, what do you believe will be the most important trend for Class I railroads in the next 10 years?

Liberalization Of International Air Transportation Markets: The Effect Of Terrorism On Market Trends, Dawna L. Rhoades

Journal of Transportation Management

Since the United States deregulated its airline industry with the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, the international air transport industry has been on a path toward market liberalization. Market changes have included entry, capacity, and pricing freedom as well as increased levels of foreign ownership. The recent terrorist acts of September 11, 2001 have the potential to alter, if not reverse this course. This paper examines the forces fueling the trend toward liberalization and analyzes the impact of recent events on the future prospects of open aviation markets.

Examining Sources Of Driver Turnover From A Managerial Perspective, Hokey Min

Journal of Transportation Management

There is growing concern about the declining profitability of the U. S. trucking industry. Such concerns often stem from the increased difficulty of recruiting and retaining qualified drivers. In fact, the trucking industry has been hit hard by shortages of qualified truck drivers over the last two decades. To cope with this chronic problem, trucking firms have attempted to formulate various driver recruitment and retention strategies that include pay raises, bonuses, equipment improvement, and adjustments in working hours. This article provides trucking firms with the means to implement a more effective driver recruitment and retention strategy by examining sources of …

Trends In The Transportation Of Goods In The U.S., James S. Keebler

Journal of Transportation Management

This article describes the development and growth of various modes of transportation in the United States and recent trends in the length, size and value of domestic shipments. Changes in the transportation of goods in the United States are being driven largely by four factors—the shift toward a digital economy, the growth of third-party logistics providers, globalism, and the application of new technologies. Finally, this paper looks at emerging forms of supply chain integration and operation.

Developing The Buyer-Friendly Transportation Salesperson: An Empirical Analysis Of The Most Important Seller Traits And Behaviors From The Transportation Buyer’S Perspective, Charles E. Pettijohn, R Stephen Parker, John L. Kent

Journal of Transportation Management

The research reported in this manuscript provides several insights regarding the specific behaviors and traits of transportation salespersons as sought by a sample of shippers. Shippers in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries were asked to evaluate the importance of 30 potential salesperson characteristics. Overall, dependability, ethical conduct, honesty, provision of regular service, and solution selling were ranked as the most important (“must have”) characteristics. In addition to the overall rankings, t-tests were used to compare the manufacturing and non-manufacturing groups and ANOVA tests were used to compare the responses of shippers which were grouped by number of contacts from salespersons.

Tri-Met's Experience With Automatic Passenger Counter And Automatic Vehicle Location Systems, James G. Strathman

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (Tri-Met) is one of about 30 metropolitan transit agencies that have deployed both automatic vehicle location (AVL) and automatic passenger counter (APC) systems (Casey, 1999). These technologies are important components of the agency’s new automated bus dispatching system (BDS). The AVL and APC systems at Tri-Met recover comprehensive operations and passenger activity data at the bus stop level that is archived for later analysis. The agency has gained a reputation as an industry leader in the areas of data archiving and the application of archived data to performance monitoring and analysis.

Prior to …

Impact Of Public Transit Investment On Travel Pattern And Land Use, Jaturapat Bhiromkaew

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

Transportation and land use are believed to be highly correlated and therefore indivisible from each other. Transportation improvement shapes pattern of land use. In tum, land use pattern causes changes in ways of how people travel. Because of relative lower transportation cost with easy access to automobiles, many firms and households have relocated in low-density areas. The number of automobile and the demand to travel have also increasingly dominated transportation system. This fact results in traffic congestion and environmental concerns. Due to the increasing congestion level and environmental concerns, many public transportation agencies have paid a considerable attention on the …

Transportation: A Crucial Issue For Adult Day Care In Vermont, Francis G. Caro, Regula H. Robnett, Jennifer Higgins

Gerontology Institute Publications

Transportation arrangements are an integral but fragile element in the effectiveness of adult day care services in Vermont and nationwide. Almost by definition, adult day center participants generally cannot drive due to cognitive and/or physical limitations. Since adult day care services are congregate in nature and serve community-residing elders, this long-term care option is feasible only when there are arrangements to transport elders to and from service centers. Transportation is therefore a major issue for adult day care services.

The aim of this report is to call attention to transportation issues in adult day care services in Vermont. The report …

Developer-Planner Interaction In Transportation And Land Use Sustainability, Mti Report 01-21, Aseem Inam

Mineta Transportation Institute

This study argues that significant unmet demand exists for alternatives to conventional auto-oriented development; and further that planning interventions that restrict densities and land use mixing in developed areas are a major reason that this demand remains unmet. In order to explore these hypotheses, this study carried out two principal investigations. The first is a national survey of developers, randomly selected from the database of the Urban Land Institute in Washington, DC, the premiere national organization of land developers. Overall, the survey reveals considerable interest on the part of the private development community in developing in a fashion that is …

Strategic Development Of Airport And Rail Infrastructure: The Case Of Singapore, Sock-Yong Phang

Research Collection School Of Economics

This article recounts how a number of strategic infrastructure investment decisions in airport and rail development taken by the Singapore government were at variance with recommendations emerging from Cost-Benefit Analysis, but were considered necessary to support external competitiveness. This link between infrastructure provision and economic development may require decision makers to assess the trade-off between prudent macro-economic planning and efficient micro-economic management for major projects. In the case of airport hubs, the most difficult assessment might be the game consideration of how much, and how far ahead, excess capacity is needed to ensure the dominance of the hub.

The California General Plan Process And Sustainable Transportation Planning, Mti Report 01-18, Richard W. Lee

Mineta Transportation Institute

This study reviewed the current and potential utility of California’s General Plan process as a tool for promoting more sustainable local transportation systems The study used multiple methods to investigate this issue, including: An extensive literature review on California’s General Plan process, the nature of sustainability and sustainable transportation, and criteria and evaluation methods for plans. Detailed analysis and scoring of policies from 26 exemplary General Plans against criteria designed to measure both transport sustainability and plan quality. In-depth case studies of the General Plan process in seven diverse California communities. Key informant interviews. The results of these several lines …

Land Use And Transportation Alternatives: Constraint Or Expansion Of Household Choice, Mti Report 01-19, Jonathan Levine

Mineta Transportation Institute

Transportation and land use research that considers such alternatives as New Urbanist development, jobs-housing balance, transit villages, or “smart growth” most typically tests the capacity of such physical forms to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) or bring about other desired outcomes in the modification of travel behavior. Establishing such causality is broadly seen as a precondition for the urban planning interventions that are presumed to be necessary to bring these forms about. But such a view neglects the extent to which current interventions—notably zoning and transportation regulations—tend to preclude the development of such innovations in areas of high accessibility where …

Using The Internet To Envision Neighborhoods With Transit Oriented Development Potential, Mti Report 01-24, Earl G. Bossard

Mineta Transportation Institute

The Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) at San José State University conducted this study to review the issues and implications involved in Using the Internet to Envision Neighborhoods with Transit-Oriented Development Potential. SUMMARY OF PROBLEM: The Using the Internet to Envision Neighborhoods with Transit-Oriented Development Potential project seeks to provide guidelines and examples to facilitate use of the Internet to envision places with TOD potential, building on the envisioning techniques developed and presented in MTI Report 01-15, Envisioning Neighborhoods with Transit-Oriented Development Potential. RECOMMENDATIONS: These recommendations are made in terms of general style and approach, because the Internet is evolving so …

Increasing Transit Ridership: Lessons From The Most Successful Transit Systems In The 1990s, Mti Report-01-22, Brian D. Taylor, Peter J. Haas, Brent Boyd, Daniel Baldwin Hess, Hiroyuki Iseki, Allison Yoh

Mineta Transportation Institute

This study systematically examines recent trends in public transit ridership in the U.S. during the 1990s. Specifically, this analysis focuses on agencies that increased ridership during the latter half of the decade. While transit ridership increased steadily by 13 percent nationwide between 1995 and 1999, not all systems experienced ridership growth equally. While some agencies increased ridership dramatically, some did so only minimally, and still others lost riders. What sets these agencies apart from each other? What explains the uneven growth in ridership?

Multiple Convergence: Induced Travel Analysis In Metropolitan Areas, Jihong Zhang

Dissertations and Theses

The triple convergence principle, proposed by Anthony Downs, states that subsequent to increases in roadway supply, travelers change their travel route, time, and mode to mitigate the effect of lowering congestion levels. More recently, studies indicate that building roadways also induces people to drive more, a phenomenon called induced travel.

Using personal data from the 1995 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS) enriched with roadway supply data from the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), this dissertation studies travel behavioral responses of urban workers to roadway supply improvements. These responses include the possible additional travel amount as well as the spatial, temporal and …

The Travel Behavior And Needs Of The Poor: A Study Of Welfare Recipients In Fresno County, California, Mti Report 01-23, Evelyn Blumenberg, Peter J. Haas

Mineta Transportation Institute

The passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 fundamentally transformed the provision of social assistance in the United States. Gone is Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), a program that entitled needy families with children to an array of benefits and public services. In its place is Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), a program that abolishes federal entitlements, provides flexible block grants to the states, mandates tough new work requirements, and imposes a five-year lifetime limit on the receipt of public assistance. Current welfare programs mandate employment for most recipients and offer temporary …

Addressing Helicopter Noise Impacts In Las Vegas, Nevada Within The Confines Of The Airport Noise And Capacity Act, Jeffrey M. Jacquart

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This professional paper will evaluate the impact of the Airport Noise and Capacity Act on Clark County's ability to reduce aircraft noise associated to helicopter sightseeing tours originating from McCarran International Airport. The paper will first provide the reader a brief introduction to aircraft operations in Las Vegas, and summarize local helicopter 1 noise activities. The paper will then present the legislative requirements and history concerning the curtailment of aircraft operations. The paper will also examine court cases addressing curtailment of aircraft operations at public-use airports. Next, a review of how other federally funded airports have sought solutions to resolve …

Envisioning Neighborhoods With Tod Potential (Includes Demonstration Cd), Mti Report 01-15, Earl G. Bossard

Mineta Transportation Institute

The Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) at San José State University conducted this study to review the issues and implications involved when seeking to Envision Neighborhoods with Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Potential. The Envisioning Neighborhoods with Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Potential project seeks to introduce planners, developers, and urban analysts to information design techniques and digital computer tools that can be used to undertake and study TOD. A basic premise is that effective TOD requires thoughtful planning to be successfully integrated into the metropolitan fabric. The primary focus of this project is intra-regional comparisons, focusing on information pertaining to the relative …

Where Have All The On-Line Grocers Gone? Lessons Learned From The Demise Of On-Line Grocers, M Theodore Farris Ii, Phil Wilson

Journal of Transportation Management

The grocery concept has evolved over many years to drive cost out of the process. Grocery margins are very thin, typically ranging from 1% to 1 1/2 % such that the grocery business continues to look for innovative ways to take cost out of the process. Ordering groceries on the Internet was initially thought to be a very promising new opportunity. So what happened to on-line grocers? This paper considers what went right and what went wrong for the on-line grocers and uncovers a few logistics lessons along the way.

The Airline Quality Rating 2002, Brent D. Bowen, Dean Headley, Uno Aviation Institute

Faculty Books and Monographs

UNOAI Report 02-2

The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) was developed and first announced in early 1991 as an objective method of comparing airline quality on combined multiple performance criteria. This current report, Airline Quality Rating 2002, reflects monthly Airline Quality Rating scores for 2001. AQR scores for the calendar year 2001 are based on 15 elements that focus on airline performance areas important to air travel consumers.

The Airline Quality Rating 2002 is a summary of month-by-month quality ratings for the 11 largest U.S. airlines operating during 2001. Using the Airline Quality Rating system of weighted averages and monthly performance …

White Paper On Issues And Strategies For Building A State Transportation Framework, Kenneth Dueker, Paul Bender

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

The purpose of this white paper is to systematically re-examine transportation data sharing issues that have been discussed at length, but in a manner to foster final decisions and closure. In some cases, choices among alternatives may require more detailed analysis or pilot studies. The development of this document has benefited from discussion at the Interorganizational Resource Information Coordinating Council (IRICC) Roads Committee, which has led to this consensus document. This sixth and final version serves to draw the process to a close and recommends a twofold approach to the development of a Transportation Framework. It also recommends six pilot …

Traffic Simulation Using Arena, Shanti Yelamanchi

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Many traffic simulation tools exist for developing traffic simulations; these tools can be divided broadly into two categories — macro simulation tools and micro simulation tools. These two categories of simulation tools are directed at modeling the extremes of traffic systems: very large systems and very small systems. There is a class of intermediate-sized transportation networks for which neither category of simulation tools might perform adequately. Additionally these specialized traffic simulation tools have a high learning curve. For developing medium sized traffic simulations in a short period of time, one might choose to use a familiar general-purpose discrete event simulation …

The Impact Of Lumper Costs, Empty Miles, And Shipment Size On The Profitability Of Motor Carriers: A Case Study, Hokey Min

Journal of Transportation Management

The passage of landmark deregulatory reforms in the Motor Carrier of Act of 1980 has constantly pressured the U.S. trucking industry to reduce transportation costs. Thanks to such pressure, total logistics costs have declined from 16.5% in 1980 to 10.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2000. In particular, transportation costs have fallen from 7.6% to 5.9% of GDP in 2000. Transportation cost savings definitely benefit shippers, while jeopardizing the viability of carriers. To help transportation carriers cope with enormous cost pressure, this paper examines the impact that “lumper” costs, empty miles, and shipment size have on the very competitive …