Transportation Commons^™

Selection Of Source And Use Of Traffic Information In Emergency Situations, R. Michael Robinson, Asad Khattak

VMASC Publications

The access and the use of advanced traveler information systems (ATISs) by drivers during normal commuting have been extensively assessed and analyzed. Emergency managers and transportation officials have extended the results of studies of ATIS use under routine conditions to emergency scenarios under the assumption that drivers' responses to information under emergency conditions mimic those seen under normal driving conditions. A recent survey of potential hurricane evacuees suggests the need to revisit this assumption. Results indicate that although commercial radio reports and variable message signs continue to be the sources of traffic information cited the most frequently, other information sources …

Grocery Shopping: How Individuals And Built Environments Influence Choice Of Travel Mode, Junfeng Jiao, Anne Vernez Moudon, Adam Drewnowski

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This research investigated the influences of socioeconomic characteristics of individual travelers and of the environments where the travelers live and shop on choice of travel mode for grocery shopping. The data on travel for grocery shopping came from 2,001 respondents to the 2009 Seattle Obesity Study survey in King County, Washington. Eighty-eight percent of the respondents drove to their grocery stores, whereas 12% used transit or taxis, walked, biked, or carpooled. The addresses of 1,994 homes and 1,901 primary grocery stores used by respondents were geographically coded. The characteristics of built environments in the neighborhoods around homes and grocery stores …

Real-Time Traffic Estimation Using Data Expansion, Roger Lederman, Laura Wynter

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper presents a method for estimating missing real-time traffic volumes on a road network using both historical and real-time traffic data. The method was developed to address urban transportation networks where a non-negligible subset of the network links do not have real-time link volumes, and where that data is needed to populate other real-time traffic analytics. Computation is split between an offline calibration and a real-time estimation phase. The offline phase determines link-to-link splitting probabilities for traffic flow propagation that are subsequently used in real-time estimation. The real-time procedure uses current traffic data and is efficient enough to scale …

Real-Time Road Traffic Prediction With Spatio-Temporal Correlations, Wanli Min, Laura Wynter

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Real-time road traffic prediction is a fundamental capability needed to make use of advanced, smart transportation technologies. Both from the point of view of network operators as well as from the point of view of travelers wishing real-time route guidance, accurate short-term traffic prediction is a necessary first step. While techniques for short-term traffic prediction have existed for some time, emerging smart transportation technologies require the traffic prediction capability to be both fast and scalable to full urban networks. We present a method that has proven to be able to meet this challenge. The method presented provides predictions of speed …

Strategies To Improve And Preserve Flexible Pavements At Intersections, Imad N. Abdallah

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Many rural intersections originally constructed with thin untreated flexible base and hot mix or a two-course surface treatment experience severe pushing, shoving and rutting. These failures cause an extremely rough surface that can cause damage to small vehicles and potentially cause motorists to lose control of their vehicle. These distresses almost always result in complete failure of the existing pavement that must be repaired several times during the life of the roadway by maintenance forces. Pavement sections constructed with the same materials adjacent to the intersection perform adequately until the approach (approximately 150 ft in advance) of the intersection and …

Spatial Analysis Of Motor Vehicle Accidents In Johnson City, Tennessee, As Reported To Washington County Emergency Communications District (911)., Katharine D. Bennett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study spatially analyzes emergency 911 call-for-service records from January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2009 for motor vehicle accidents inside the corporate limits of Johnson City, Tennessee. Records were compared according to the land use classification for adjacent properties, roadway type, and traffic signal proximity. Data were evaluated through ArcGIS software using proximity analysis, point pattern analysis, and hotspot analysis.

Motor vehicle accidents evaluated during this study consist of accident locations reported to the Washington County Emergency Communications District concerning property damage, personal injury, and fatalities. Results indicate localized areas with the highest number of traffic accidents contain the …

Interview With Dan Mcfarling, Aorta, 2010 (Audio), Dan Mcfarling

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Dan McFarling by Andrew Scanlan at Union Station, Portland, Oregon on December 1st, 2010.

The interview index is available for download.

2012 Census Of California Water Transit Services ,Mti Report 12-02, Richard M. Kos, Maria Louise Javier, Brent Carvalho, Asha W. Agrawal

Mineta Transportation Institute

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics conducts a nationwide census of ferry boat operators for the U.S. Department of Transportation and the collected information is used for statistical purposes. The Caltrans Division of Local Assistance has been asked by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to gather data regarding ferry operations under MAP-21, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act. MAP-21 includes a new formula program for ferry boats and ferry terminal facilities eligible under 23 USC 129(c) which authorizes federal participation in toll roads, bridges, tunnels, and ferries. FHWA has asked that Caltrans assure the ferry boat …

Measuring Walking And Cycling Using The Pabs (Pedestrian And Bicycling Survey) Approach: A Low-Cost Survey Method For Local Communities, Ann Forsyth

Mineta Transportation Institute

To tackle the problems of greenhouse gas emissions, traffic congestion, resident quality of life, and public health concerns, communities are using initiatives to spur more walking and cycling. As local governments face hard choices about which programs to fund, decision makers, planners, and residents seek to understand if proposed policies to increase bicycling and walking—modes referred to as “active travel”— actually work. However, most communities have unreliable means to know how many active travel trips occur in their jurisdictions, let alone how the numbers may change over time. This project developed a low-budget survey method and related sampling strategy for …

Model-Based Analysis Of Electric Drive Options For Medium-Duty Parcel Delivery Vehicles, Robb A. Barnitt, Aaron D. Brooker, Laurie Ramroth

Publications (T)

Medium-duty vehicles are used in a broad array of fleet applications, including parcel delivery. These vehicles are excellent candidates for electric drive applications due to their transient-intensive duty cycles, operation in densely populated areas, and relatively high fuel consumption and emissions. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) conducted a robust assessment of parcel delivery routes and completed a model-based techno-economic analysis of hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) configurations. First, NREL characterized parcel delivery vehicle usage patterns, most notably daily distance driven and drive-cycle intensity. Second, drive-cycle analysis results framed the selection of drive cycles used …

Analysis And Evaluation Of Safety Impacts Of Median Types And Midblock Left Turn Treatments For Urban Arterials, Timur Mauga

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Urban growth leads to new land-uses abutting arterials requiring driveways for their accessibility. Uncontrolled number and locations of such access points causes safety, mobility and accessibility problems. The solution to these problems is access management (AM) which controls the number and location of the access points. AM techniques are normally documented in the form of guidelines for engineers and planners to follow when implementing the techniques. However, AM guidelines may not cover every technique due to the fact that AM is still growing. For example, the current AM guideline prepared by The Nevada Department of Transportation addresses many AM techniques. …

Impacts Of Low-Speed Vehicles On Transportation Infrastructure And Safety, Katharine M. Hunter-Zaworski, Linda Cornell

TREC Final Reports

There are increasing numbers of low-speed electric vehicles (LSVs) on public roadways. These vehicles are designed to be used within protected environments and on roadways with a maximum posted speed of 25 mph. Currently these vehicles are not subject to the same federal requirements for occupant protection as passenger cars. This research project investigated safety standards, operating regulations, and LSV manufacturer materials from sources around the world. The purpose of the research was to determine positive and negative impacts that LSVs, including Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) and Medium Speed Electric Vehicles (MSEVs), are likely to have for the Oregon Department …

Performance Enhancement Of Bridge Bracing Under Service And Extreme Loads, Peter Dusicka, Max Taylor Stephens, Kate Fox-Lent

TREC Final Reports

As truck loads continue to get bigger, the demand on many aging bridges increases. Slender steel structural elements widely used in bridge superstructures and braced substructures to resist these loads are built primarily for tension, however, and can buckle under compressive loads. Portland State University associate professor Peter Dusicka set out to develop and demonstrate the concept of retrofitting bridge brace elements with fiber reinforced composites in order to provide restraint against buckling. The advanced materials consisted of a combination of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite pultruded sections and wet lay-up wraps intended to be applied in the field. This …

Automobile Exhaust Gas Detection Based On Fuzzy Temperature Compensation System, Zhiyong Wang, Hao Ding, Fufei Hao, Zhaoxia Wang, Zhen Sun, Shujin Li

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

A temperature compensation scheme of detecting automobile exhaust gas based on fuzzy logic inference is presented in this paper. The principles of the infrared automobile exhaust gas analyzer and the influence of the environmental temperature on analyzer are discussed. A fuzzy inference system is designed to improve the measurement accuracy of the measurement equipment by reducing the measurement errors caused by environmental temperature. The case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The fuzzy compensation scheme is promising as demonstrated by the simulation results in this paper.

Ensemble-Based Method For Task 2: Predicting Traffic Jam, Jingrui He, Qing He, Grzegorz Swirszcz, Yiannis Kamarianakis, Rick Lawrence, Wei Shen, Laura Wynter

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we describe our solution for ICDM 2010 Contest Task 2 (Jams), where the task is to predict future where the next traffic jams will occur in morning rush hour, given data gathered during the initial phase of this peak period. Our solution, which is based on an ensemble approach, finished Second in the final evaluation.

Trail Planning & Community Service Curriculum, Lynn Weigand

TREC Final Reports

The objective of this project was to develop a new trail planning curriculum and conduct a regional trail research project in the Portland metropolitan area. The curriculum was created for a community service-based, University Capstone course at Portland State University (PSU), with Metro (regional government) as the community course partner. Project goals included: Expanding opportunities for undergraduate students to study trail design and planning for transportation and recreational walking and bicycling; Providing practical application of knowledge to a trail planning project through research and data collection on trail use; Raising awareness of bicycle and pedestrian travel among students in disciplines …

Evaluation Of Video Based Pedestrian And Vehicle Detection Algorithms, Varun Bandarupalli

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Video based detection systems rely on the ability to detect moving objects in video streams. Video based detection systems have applications in many fields like, intelligent transportation, automated surveillance etc. There are many approaches adopted for video based detection. Evaluation and selecting a suitable approach for pedestrian and vehicle detection is a challenging task. While evaluating the object detection algorithms, many factors should be considered in order to cope with unconstrained environments, non stationary background, different object motion patterns and the variation in types of object being detected.

In this thesis, we implement and evaluate different video based detection algorithms …

Development Of Guidance For States Transitioning To New Safety Analysis Tools, Priyanka Alluri

All Dissertations

With about 125 people dying on US roads each day, the US Department of Transportation heightened the awareness of critical safety issues with the passage of SAFETEA - LU (Safe Accountable Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act - a Legacy for Users) legislation in 2005. The legislation required each of the states to develop a Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) and incorporate data-driven approaches to prioritize and evaluate program outcomes: Failure to do so resulted in funding sanctioning. In conjunction with the legislation, research efforts have also been progressing toward the development of new safety analysis tools such as IHSDM (Interactive …

Tls Newsletter Volume 4, Edition 3. November, 2010, Unf Transportation And Logistics Society

Transportation & Logistics Society Newsletter

Inside the Newsletter: In the Know--A Look Inside Jaxport. General Meeting and Professionals In Logistics Panel 11/3/2010. Life after Graduation with Rachel Cecil. Important Upcoming Dates. Get to Know TLS Secretary & Newsletter Editor Matthew Bullard.

Analysis Of Bus Collision Incidents Using Transit Its And Other Archived Operations Data, James G. Strathman, Paul Herman Wachana, Steve Callas

TREC Final Reports

This report analyzes factors contributing to bus operations safety incidents at TriMet, the transit provider for the Portland Oregon metropolitan region. The analysis focuses on 4,631 collision and non-collision incidents that occurred between 2006 and 2009. Empirical analysis of these incidents draws on a wide array of operator-level data recovered by transit ITS technologies in combination with information from TriMet’s human resources, scheduling, and customer relations databases. Incident frequencies are estimated in relation to operators’ demographic characteristics, employment status, assigned work characteristics, service delivery and performance indicators, temporal factors, and customer information. Apart from identifying factors that are empirically related …