Transportation Commons^™

A Comparative Study On Using Meta-Heuristic Algorithms For Road Maintenance Planning: Insights From Field Study In A Developing Country, Ali Gerami Matin, Reza Vatani Nezafat, Amir Golroo

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Optimized road maintenance planning seeks for solutions that can minimize the life-cycle cost of a road network and concurrently maximize pavement condition. Aiming at proposing an optimal set of road maintenance solutions, robust meta-heuristic algorithms are used in research. Two main optimization techniques are applied including single-objective and multi-objective optimization. Genetic algorithms (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and combination of genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimization (GAPSO) as single-objective techniques are used, while the non-domination sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGAII) and multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) which are sufficient for solving computationally complex large-size optimization problems as multi-objective techniques are …

The Effect Of 'Drowsy Shelters' In Preventing Traffic Accidents In South Korea, Hye Jin Chun

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The Korean government has paid attention to drowsy driving, because drowsy driving accounts for a high percentage of traffic accidents, and the government thought that it could address this problem with facility improvements. The Korean Government beg an installing simple rest spots, called ‘Drowsy Shelters’, on the highway for drivers who feel tired, in 2011. In this study, I figured out that the distance between rest areas is related to the number of drowsy diving accidents. When the distance between rest areas increases by 1 km, drowsy diving accidents increase. Therefore, this policy seems to be effective in terms of …

Effective Traffic Noise Policy Of Urban Development Projects In South Korea, Jaechang Jo

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

In 1980, South Korean government built a large scale apartment complex in the Seoul metropolitan area because of consecutive urbanization and rapid industrialization. However, in late 1980, as the housing market surged rapidly, the government constructed several huge new towns. These new towns and urban development projects contributed to stabilizing the housing market, but residents in new towns began to suffer from traffic noise and this became social problems.

Traffic noise is caused by tire friction and also influenced by various factors such as vehicle volume and traffic speed. There are two primary measures to mitigate the traffic noise; reducing …

All Roads Lead To The Fair: How A 2022 Los Angeles World's Fair Would Accelerate The Implementation Of Sustainable And Innovative Forms Of Transportation, Isabella Levin

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis explores the potential impact of a World’s Fair on urban mobility in Los Angeles County by 2022. A brief historical account of World’s Fairs, and their impact on technological innovations in transportation will be given in conjunction with the development of transportation in Los Angeles. These accounts will help to contextualize an analysis of current plans to provide Los Angeles with transportation solutions, in light of the oversaturated automobile landscape in place today. Specifically, my research has revealed that the further development of light-speed rail systems paired alongside a mass adoption of autonomous vehicles would both alleviate contemporary …

Crash Rate As A Function Of Access Point Density And Traffic Flow, George Pinal

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

High crash rates on U.S. highways results in a considerable loss of human and economic resources. It is estimated that the U.S. loses about $10 billion every year in motor vehicle crashes in terms of fatalities, injuries, and property damage. Demand for access points from highways to properties has steadily increased due to rapid growth in local economies creating thereby compromises between accessibility and mobility or capacity and safety. On the other hand, the availability of access is essential to residential and commercial developments and often occurs at the cost of safety and traffic operations. This often directs the need …

Evaluation Of Mechanical Parameters Of Contaminated Road Base And Railway Ballast, Prajwol Tamrakar

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation comprises two topics in the area of transportation geotechnics that focus on the evaluation of stiffness parameters of contaminated road base and railway ballast. The abstracts of these two studies are provided in the following two paragraphs.

The performance of a flexible pavement depends on the mechanical characteristics of its unbound granular base layer. The mechanical characteristics such as stiffness and deformation resistance depend on many factors such as the material gradation, fines content, moisture content, physical properties of coarse aggregate and more. The base materials are often contaminated by the excessive fines that is caused by improper …

Development Of An Alternative Laboratory Testing Procedure For Tensile Characterization Of Cement Stabilized Base Layers, Jose Antonio Tarin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Proper characterization of the fatigue performance of stabilized materials in the laboratory is an integral component of the structural design of stabilized layers in multi-layer pavements. The new mechanistic pavement design protocols require modulus of rupture of the stabilized base layers as an input to the fatigue performance models. This study discusses the practical and theoretical discrepancies associated with the traditional tensile strength tests, and provides an alternative testing procedure for the determination of the tensile strength of the stabilized materials in the laboratory. To achieve this objective, a full factorial laboratory experiment design consisted of four aggregate sources with …

Trade Cluster Impacts On Southern Border Transportation Costs, Ernesto Duarte Ronquillo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Thesis develops a fixed effect model to analyze the impact of trade clusters on transportation costs. CIF/FOB ratios are utilized as the measures for transportation costs. Grubel-Lloyd and Herfindahl-Hirschman indexes are utilized as variables that identify trade clusters. The focus of this study encompasses four custom districts (El Paso, Laredo, Nogales, and San Diego) located on the southern border of the United-States over the period of 1995-2015. Driscoll-Kraay robust standard errors are calculated for each estimated model. The 9/11 terrorist attack effects are taken into account in the fixed effect model. Empirical results suggest that trade clusters have a …

Contributing Factors Of Obesity Among Over-The-Road Truckers, Shari Weiss

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Obesity among over-the-road truckers (OTRs) is an epidemic creating significant public health issues among this population. The consequences of obesity (hypertension, diabetes, heart disease) put both truckers' health and their medical clearance at significant risk. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of gender, physical activity, diet, and sleep on obesity among OTRs. Through a socioecological lens, this study examined whether obesity is significantly impacted by gender, physical activity, nutrition, and sleep. This study also examined the impact of the trucking environment on obesity. The study used a quantitative research design and data were collected through a …

Issues In Trip Generation Methods For Transportation Impact Estimation Of Land Use Development: A Review And Discussion Of The State-Of-The-Art Approaches, Kristina Marie Currans

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

As agencies develop more robust planning objectives for creating sustainable and livable communities, the research community has continued developing supportive tools and methods to provide more accurate and robust means for estimating transportation impacts for site-level development review. This paper is a review of the state-of-the-art trip generation methods for land use transportation impact estimation. First, it provides an overview of the more recent available and peer-reviewed estimation methods. Second, the authors offer a discussion of the successes of state-of-the-art approaches using common themes of research to identify corresponding consistency with theories of travel behavior and urban economics. These themes …

Accessibility, Income, And Person Trip Generation: Multilevel Model Of Activity At Food Retail Establishments In Portland, Oregon, Kristina Marie Currans, Kelly Clifton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the past decade, the methods for estimating multimodal transportation impacts of urban land use development have improved substantially. One assumption commonly made in these new methods is that overall person-trip rates at similarly-sized establishments of the same land use do not vary across a region. This is an assumption of convenience to permit the adjustment of ITE Trip Generation vehicle trip rates for use in different urban environments. However, this assumption is inconsistent with theories of urban economics, which recognize that businesses pay a premium to locate in areas with high levels of accessibility to attract more customers. In …

Rail Rebound: The Impact Of Freight Rails On Regional Development In The United States, 1970-2010, Bishal Bhakta Kasu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Railroads have played a critical role in economic growth and development, and they exert a tremendous impact on the distribution and redistribution of the population. However, the impacts of railroads, especially freight rails, on population change and socioeconomic development are not well understood. This study fills the gap in the literature by examining the demographic and socioeconomic impacts of freight rails using county-level data in the continental United States from 1970 to 2010. The demographic and socioeconomic changes are measured by eleven dependent variables. Of those eleven, six are demographic (population, young, old, White, Black, Hispanic) and five are socioeconomic …

Development Of The Framework For A Lean, Energy Efficient, And Environmentally Friendly Port: Umm Qasr Port As A Case Study, Safaa A.J. Alfayyadh

World Maritime University Ph.D. Dissertations

The research focus is to examine rigorously how the implementation of Lean within the Umm Qasr Port improves the operation processes and to explore the Lean impact on environment improvement and energy efficiency management. In this research, the ROPMEE model has been developed by the researcher to evaluate the service quality in the cargo delivery process in the Port of Umm Qasr as it covers all the functional and non-functional areas in the cargo delivery process compared to other quality dimensions. The findings confirm that the process quality dimension is the most influential factor in service quality in the Port …

Virtual Aids To Navigation, R. Glenn Wright

World Maritime University Ph.D. Dissertations

There are many examples of master, bridge crew and pilot errors in navigation causing grounding under adverse circumstances that were known and published in official notices and records. Also dangerous are hazards to navigation resulting from dynamic changes within the marine environment, inadequate surveys and charts. This research attempts to reduce grounding and allision incidents and increase safety of navigation by expanding mariner situational awareness at and below the waterline using new technology and developing methods for the creation, implementation and display of Virtual Aids to Navigation (AtoN) and related navigation information. This approach has widespread significance beyond commonly encountered …

Evaluation Of Red Rrfb Implementation At Freeway Off-Ramps And Its Effectiveness On Alleviating Wrong-Way Driving, Seckin Ozkul, Pei-Sung Lin

CUTR Faculty Journal Publications

Wrong-way crashes are a major cause for safety concern along freeways and limited access facilities. This study investigated three different aspects of the use of Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs): 1) different settings of red RRFBs and their perceived effectiveness on reducing wrong-way driving based on a public opinion survey, 2) the effect of active red RRFBs on the behavior of drivers traveling on adjacent roadways via a before-and-after study, and 3) the effectiveness of red RRFBs on alleviating wrong-way driving on freeway off-ramps by analyzing the percentage of vehicles turning back after observing the red RRFB activation. Based on …

Exploring Factors Contributing To Lane Changes During Left Turns On Quadruple Left-Turn Lanes At Signalized Intersections, Fulu Wei, Zhenyu Wang, Jian Lu

CUTR Faculty Journal Publications

Quadruple left-turn lanes are employed gradually at some major intersections in Jilin, China. At these intersections, frequent lane changes during left turns of vehicles can lead to vastly disordered traffic operations. In this study, the factors contributing to lane changes during left turn behaviors at quadruple left-turn lane intersections were interpreted based on a field survey. In total, data on 192 green intervals and 550 individual lane-change behaviors were collected in Changchun, Jilin Province. A lane-changing rate model was established to predict the rate of lane changes during left turns. In addition, an interval selection model was built to estimate …

How Bicycling Sharing System Usage Is Affected By Land Use And Urban Form: Analysis From System And User Perspectives, Ahmadreza Faghih-Imani, Naveen Eluru, Rajesh Paleti

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

There is a rapid growth of bicycle-sharing systems (BSS) around the world. Cities are supporting these systems as a more sustainable transport mode for short trips. Given the relatively recent adoption of BSS, there is substantial interest in understanding how these systems impact urban transportation. In this paper, we examine the functioning of the hugely successful New York City CitiBike system. We focus on the interaction of BSS with land-use and built environment attributes and the influence of weather condition and temporal characteristics on BSS usage. Towards this end, CitiBike system is analyzed along two dimensions: (1) at the system …

Impact Of Trucking Network Flow On Preferred Biorefinery Locations In The Southern United States, Timothy M. Young, Lee D. Han, James H. Perdue, Stephanie R. Hargrove, Frank M. Guess, Xia Huang, Chung-Hao Chen

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The impact of the trucking transportation network flow was modeled for the southern United States. The study addresses a gap in existing research by applying a Bayesian logistic regression and Geographic Information System (GIS) geospatial analysis to predict biorefinery site locations. A one-way trucking cost assuming a 128.8 km (80-mile) haul distance was estimated by the Biomass Site Assessment model. The "median family income," "timberland annual growth-to-removal ratio," and "transportation delays" were significant in determining mill location. Transportation delays that directly impacted the costs of trucking are presented. A logistic model with Bayesian inference was used to identify preferred site …

A Practitioner's Guide To Urban Trip Generation, Kristina Marie Currans

TREC Project Briefs

In 1976, the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) compiled their first Handbook of guidelines for evaluating development-level transportation impacts. Decades later, these methods are still ubiquitously used across the US and Canada. Only recently, with the third edition of the ITE Trip Generation Handbook, have new data and approaches been adopted. In this study NITC researcher Kristina Currans takes aim at understanding issues inherent in the collection and application of ITE’s data and methods in various urban contexts. This technology transfer guide touches on the main findings from this work.

Assessing State Efforts To Integrate Transportation, Land Use And Climate, Rebecca Lewis, Robert Zako

TREC Final Reports

Climate change is increasingly recognized as a threat to life on earth. “Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems. Limiting climate change would require substantial and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions” (International Panel on Climate Change, 2014, 8).

The transportation sector accounts for almost one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the United States. Reducing GHG from transportation rests on the “three-legged stool” of improving vehicle efficiency, reducing the carbon content of fuels …