Transportation Commons^™

Carnage Interrupted: An Analysis Of Fifteen Terrorist Plots Against Public Surface Transportation, Research Report 11-20, Brian M. Jenkins, Joseph Trella

Mineta Transportation Institute

This report examines 13 terrorist plots against public surface transportation that were uncovered and foiled by authorities between 1997 and 2010 and two failed attempts to carry out attacks. Certainly, this is not the total universe of foiled or failed terrorist plots in these years, but they were selected on the basis of what is known about them and the accessibility of information. The report focuses on terrorist plots in the West. Seven of the 15 plots took place in the United States, and four occurred in the United Kingdom. These two countries figure prominently as targets of terrorism, and …

Ecodriving And Carbon Footprinting: Understanding How Public Education Can Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions And Fuel Use, Susan Shaheen, Elliot W. Martin, Rachel S. Finson

Mineta Transportation Institute

Ecodriving is a collection of changes to driving behavior and vehicle maintenance designed to impact fuel consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in existing vehicles. Because of its promise to improve fuel economy within the existing fleet, ecodriving has gained increased attention in North America. One strategy to improve ecodriving is through public education with information on how to ecodrive. This report provides a review and study of ecodriving from several angles. The report offers a literature review of previous work and programs in ecodriving across the world. In addition, researchers completed interviews with experts in the field of public …

Model-Based Transportation Performance: A Comparative Framework And Literature Synthesis, Research Report 11-09, Caroline Rodier, Margot Spiller

Mineta Transportation Institute

In an era of limited resources and a proliferation of data, there is increasing pressure to conduct careful evaluations of the economic, environmental, and equity effects of investments and policies that influence transportation and land-use systems. This report compares performance measures recommended to achieve desired goals and reviews the literature to determine the degree to which these measures have been implemented and what they indicate about the relative effectiveness of land-use, transit, and automobile pricing policies. Despite the variation in methods and performance measures implemented in the studies reviewed for this report, the synthesis of study results suggests the direction …

An Examination Of Women's Representation And Participation In Bicycle Advisory Committees In California, Research Report Wp 11-03, Hilary Nixon, Cathy Deluca

Mineta Transportation Institute

In the United States, women bicycle at significantly lower rates than men. One method of remedying this disparity is to ensure that women are engaged in bicycle planning and policy making through, for example, participation in bicycle advisory committees (BACs). No research has been conducted on women’s representation and participation in these committees. This study attempts to fill that gap by examining women’s membership levels in and experiences serving on California bicycle advisory committees and bicycle/pedestrian advisory committees. In addition, we explore some of the barriers to participation faced by female cyclists. A survey of 42 committees revealed that women …

Spatial Analysis Of Travel Behavior And Response To Traveler Information, Xin Wang

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Transportation planners have long recognized that it is urgent to integrate emerging spatial analysis with travel behavior studies. A clearer understanding of the spatial interactions among travelers and the complex environment they face has the potential to reap benefits of the ongoing technologies of travel behavior, spatial analysis and Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS).

Considering that spatial patterns have been overlooked in the literature of travel behavior and ATIS, the main objective of this research is to use robust methods of spatial analysis to enhance the understanding of how the associations between traveler decisions, built environment and socio-demographic characteristics are …

Analysis Of Primary-Secondary Incident Events On Urban Freeways, Hongbing Zhang

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this study is to understand the nature of primary and secondary traffic incidents, assess their impacts and explore the implications in traffic operations, safety, and planning. To achieve the objective, a queue-based secondary incident identification method was developed and applied based on detailed incident, traffic and geometric data sets from Hampton Roads, Virginia. This identification method can overcome the limitations in earlier studies and identify secondary incidents in both road directions. An innovative event categorization defines the term "primary-secondary incident event", as one characterized by a primary incident and one or more associated secondary incidents in both …

Integrating Probe Vehicles And Stationary Detector Data To Construct Accurate Cumulative Curves To Study Bottlenecks, Khairul Azfi Anuar

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Advancements in sensors technologies have given researchers and practitioners access to an immense amount of traffic data from multiple types of sensors. However, because of the diversity of the data types, developing a relationship between the different data sources can be challenging. To further complicate the issue, the presence of error or noise makes it difficult to infer any reliable conclusions from the data. To develop a relationship between different data sources, a new methodology is proposed in this thesis for fusing stationary detector data and probe vehicle data to construct an accurate cumulative curve. To remove or to reduce …

Planning For Complementarity: An Examination Of The Roll And Opportunities Of First-Tier And Second-Tier Cities Along The High-Speed Rail Network In California, Research Report 11-17, Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, Dana Cuff, Harrison Higgins

Mineta Transportation Institute

The coming of California High-Speed Rail (HSR) offers opportunities for positive urban transformations in both first-tier and second-tier cities. The research in this report explores the different but complementary roles that first-tier and second-tier cities along the HSR network can play in making California more sustainable and less dependent on fossil fuels while reducing mobile sources of greenhouse gas emissions and congestion at airports and on the state’s roadways. Drawing from case studies of cities in Northern and Southern California, the study develops recommendations for the planning, design, and programming of areas around California stations for the formation of transit-supportive …

Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Community Needs Assessment, Robert Parker, Juli Brode, John Rowell

TREC Final Reports

Dependence on fossil fuels, climate change, and degraded air quality are forcing the auto industry and consumers to seek alternative solutions to the current transportation system. Significant technical breakthroughs are allowing automakers to develop electric vehicles (EVs) that transcend some of the key barriers that limited them historically. Plug in electric vehicles entered the Oregon marketplace in early 2011. A range of reports suggest the demand for EVs will grow rapidly once affordable highway speed vehicles become available. ODOT identified the lack of a reliable network of electric vehicle service equipment (e.g., charging stations) that increases the range of these …

Development And Sensitivity Testing Of Alternative Mobility Metrics, John Gliebe, James G. Strathman

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Oregon Highway Plan’s (OHP) mobility policies guide various planning and programming activities of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). Among these activities are ODOT’s land use change review responsibilities under the Transportation Planning Rule, as adopted by the state’s Land Conservation and Development Commission. This report examines supplemental transportation performance metrics beyond the volume-to-capacity metric that currently supports OHP mobility policies. Selected supplemental metrics are empirically analyzed using a travel demand model calibrated for a Medford, Oregon study area.

Tls Newsletter Volume 6, Edition 6. March 2012, Unf Transportation And Logistics Society

Transportation & Logistics Society Newsletter

Inside the Newsletter: TLS General Meeting Wednesday April 11. Cold Chain Logistics Executive Spotlight. Upcoming Events for March and April. T LS President's Corner. In the Know: Joining a Professional Organization. Get to Know Taylor Barry, Marketing Director. Life after Graduation with Joseph Finnigan.

Development Of The Oregon Traffic Safety Data Archive: Phases 1 And 2, Christopher M. Monsere, Myenwoo Lim, Chengxin Dai, Xiaowei Wu

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report describes the preliminary work to develop the Oregon Traffic Safety Data Archive (OrTSDA). The mission of OrTSDA is to "build the knowledge base of traffic safety data in Oregon". The archive hopes to become a valuable traffic safety data resource with researchers, practitioners, and community supporters. As envisioned, the archive will provide current and historical versions of related data, encompass complete documentation, and contain an online interface to the variety of traffic safety related data. Working with partner state agencies, the archive contains reported motor vehicle crashes statewide, population data, estimates of vehicle miles traveled, traffic crime, and …

Twelfth Annual Garrett Morgan Sustainable Transportation Symposium, Mti Report S-12-02, Mineta Transportation Institute

Mineta Transportation Institute

On March 27, 2012, the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) continued its support of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Garrett A. Morgan Technology and Transportation Futures Program by conducting the Twelfth National Garrett Morgan Symposium and Videoconference on Sustainable Transportation. The ongoing mission of this national videoconference is to stimulate the minds of young people, and to encourage them to pursue challenging academic programs, including mathematics and science—an education pathway that will prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s challenging transportation careers. Participating schools were: Edna Brewer Middle School, Oakland, CA; Monument Middle School, Rio Dell, CA; Morada Middle School, Stockton, CA; Redland …

Estimating Workforce Development Needs For High-Speed Rail In California, Research Report 11-16, Peter J. Haas, Paul Hernandez, Katherine Estrada

Mineta Transportation Institute

This study provides an assessment of the job creation and attendant education and training needs associated with the creation of the California High-Speed Rail (CHSR) network, scheduled to begin construction in September 2012. Given the high profile of national and state commitment to the project, a comprehensive analysis that discusses the education, training, and related needs created during the build out of the CHSR network is necessary. This needs assessment is achieved by means of: 1) analyzing current high-speed rail specific challenges pertaining to 220mph trains; 2) using a more accurate and robust “bottom-up” approach to estimate the labor, education, …

The Impact Of Center City Economic And Cultural Vibrancy On Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Transportation, Research Report 11-13, Matthew J. Holian, Matthew E. Kahn

Mineta Transportation Institute

Urban planners and scholars have focused a great deal of attention on understanding the relationship between the built environment and transportation behavior. However, other aspects of the urban environment – including the vibrancy and quality of life in urban areas – have received little attention. This report seeks to close this gap by analyzing the effects of both land-use and urban vibrancy on transportation patterns. Analysis of data from a variety of sources suggests that in addition to the built-environment, the vibrancy of the urban environment also affects transportation behavior. Moreover, vibrancy affects land-use patterns. By integrating objective measures of …

Security Awareness For Public Bus Transportation: Case Studies Of Attacks Against The Israeli Public Bus System, Research Report 11-07, Bruce R. Butterworth, Shalom Dolev, Brian Michael Jenkins

Mineta Transportation Institute

This report presents 16 case studies of attacks planned or carried out against Israeli bus targets, along with statistical data on the number, frequency, and lethality of attacks against bus targets that have taken place in Israel since 1970 and during the Second Intifada, which occurred between September 2000 and the end of 2006. The statistical data come from MTI’s Database on Terrorist and Serious Criminal Attacks Against Public Surface Transportation. The report also includes an analysis of the effectiveness of different improvised explosive devices and methods of delivering them and raises questions for future discussion. The case studies of …

Bicycle And Pedestrian Engineering Design Curriculum Expansion, Ashley Haire

TREC Final Reports

This project summary report describes the execution of OTREC Project #298 (Development, Deployment and Assessment of a New Educational Paradigm for Transportation Professionals and University Students). The project is one facet of a multiyear collaboration of the Region X Transportation Consortium that was sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The regional collaboration aims to shift the traditional paradigm of engineering course delivery to foster a more hands-on approach. The University of Idaho, for example, has created activity-based modules for a traffic signals course, while the University of Washington developed similar modules for a freight systems course. The focus of …

Regional Transportation And Land Use Decision Making In Metropolitan Regions: Findings From Four Case Studies, Richard D. Margerum, Susan Brody, Robert Parker, Gail Mcewen, Terry Moore

TREC Final Reports

Throughout the United States, metropolitan regions face increasingly complex issues related to transportation and land use. The diffuse nature of decision making creates a need to better coordinate land use and transportation to address issues such as: congestion, infrastructure costs, and greenhouse gas emissions. Key players in this decision making are regional metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) with transportation planning authority, regional planning responsibilities, and in some cases regional land use planning authority. The goal of this study was to describe and assess efforts by regional agencies to coordinate land use and transportation. Policies and processes in four key topic areas …

Extraboard Management: Trimet Case Study, James G. Strathman, Sung Moon Kwon, Steve Callas

TREC Final Reports

This paper examines extraboard operations and management at TriMet, the transit provider for the Portland Oregon metropolitan area. The extraboard consists of a pool of operators who fill open work resulting from absences and other causes. The paper first examines the general performance of the extraboard in filling open work, drawing on seven years of daily operations data from three bus garages. It then presents statistical analyses focusing on open work patterns and the effects of selected work rules on operator utilization and service delivery. Lastly, suggestions are made for improving the efficiency of extraboard operations.

Calibrating The Hsm Predictive Methods For Oregon Highways, Karen Dixon, Christopher M. Monsere, Fei Xie, Kristie Gladhill

TREC Final Reports

The Highway Safety Manual (HSM) was published by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in the spring of 2010. Volume 2 (Part C) of the HSM includes safety predictive methods which can be used to quantitatively estimate the safety of a transportation facility. The resulting information can then be used to provide guidelines to identify opportunities to improve transportation safety. The safety performance functions (SPFs) included with this content, however, were developed for several states other than Oregon. Because there are differences in crash reporting procedures, driver population, animal populations, and weather conditions (to name a …