Transportation Commons^™

Engineering Standards In Highway Design Litigation, Michael Lewyn

Scholarly Works

Highway engineers sometimes believe that if they redesign streets to improve pedestrian safety (for example, by introducing traffic calming techniques) they might be successfully sued for negligent design by motorists. This chapter suggests that in such situations, governments are likely to be protected by discretionary function immunity. In addition, the chapter discusses a variety of technical issues.

Cascadia Connect: Car-Free Access To The Outdoors, Kara Boden, Brandon Crawford, Matt Gray, Tony Lamb, Maricelith Valencia, John Whitman

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

As outdoor recreation areas in Oregon become more popular, increased auto-related congestion results in strained resources, environmental degradation, and diminished visitors’ experiences. This project proposes policies, strategies, and a variety of approaches to help transportation agencies and land managers facilitate car-free access to outdoor recreation areas. The plan also proposes approaches to increase access to recreation areas for transit-dependent visitors and under-represented communities who face significant barriers to access today. The Background Report includes data; interview, survey and focus group themes; site visit findings; and personal travel anecdotes.

Smart Box : The Shipping Container Of The Future, Abud Jamal Said

Award-winning Essays

Prize-winning paper for the 2018 Bureau Internationale des Containers (BIC) essay contest.

"With the increase in global trade, container traffic has increased tremendously in the last two decades. Global container movement has surpassed the 700 million mark (UNCTAD, 2018). This signals a definite milestone for the industry, but it poses a significant threat in terms of commercial viability, safety and security of container related operations. The past year has seen an increase in container related incidents onboard container vessels, ranging from fire, collisions and stability issues. From the complexity that arises thereafter, it is therefore imperative to look at how …

A Boxful Of Rules : Which Rule Applies In Multimodal Transport?, Captain Vs Parani

Books

Have you wondered what happens when things go wrong during the transport, such as when a shipment of televisions is received in damaged condition, a container of cigarettes is stolen, or, an important shipment of prawns is received a week too late for the local market? Well, this is what this book is all about!

In the modern global economy, finished and semi-finished products are transported in large volumes across the globe. Things do go wrong during such transport; then what recourse does the cargo owner have? How much loss will be made good by the insurers and under which …

Feasibility Of Warehouse Drone Adoption And Implementation, Edward Companik, Michael J. Gravier, M Theodore Farris Ii

Journal of Transportation Management

While aerial delivery drones capture headlines, the pace of adoption of drones in warehouses has shown the greatest acceleration. Warehousing constitutes 30% of the cost of logistics in the US. The rise of ecommerce, greater customer service demands of retail stores, and a shortage of skilled labor have intensified competition for efficient warehouse operations. This takes place during an era of shortening technology life cycles. This paper integrates several theoretical perspectives on technology diffusion and adoption to propose a framework to inform supply chain decision-makers on when to invest in new robotics technology.

Nothing Good Happens After Dark: The Influence Of Temporal Factors On Motor Carrier Crash Severity, Misty Moody, S Scott Nadler, Doug Voss

Journal of Transportation Management

Motor carrier safety is a topic of great importance for both industry and makers of public policy. Regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), regularly publish data detailing the circumstances surrounding roadway accidents. FMCSA’s Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts (LTBCF) data demonstrate an increase in accidents during daylight hours and on weekdays. Roadway risks are ever-present but differ by time of day and day of the week. These differences may potentially engender crashes of different severities at different times. This study analyzes FMCSA LTBCF data to determine when crashes of different severities are more likely …

Safety Fitness Determinations: What Is Fmcsa Measuring?, Mark J. Andrews

Journal of Transportation Management

No abstract provided.

Assessing Corrosivity Of Galvanized Soil Reinforcements From Electrochemical Tests, Diana Alejandra Cabrera

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The accurate estimation of the service lives of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls requires a proper evaluation of the corrosion potential through electrochemical test methods. Robust field tests are required to assess the corrosivity of galvanized metal used in MSE walls. To simulate an environment similar to an MSE wall, cylindrical soil specimens about 12 in. (300 mm) in diameter and 10 in. (250 mm) in height were constructed. For every specimen, two instruments were used. The first instrument measured the polarization resistance corrosion tests carried out on galvanized strips and meshes, as well as epoxy-coated rebars. The second instrument …

A Sustainable Performance-Based Methodology To Address The Impact Of Climate Changes On The, Oscar Ortega

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This research focuses to address the effects of climate change on the transportation asset management. Climate change has resulted in increased storms, droughts, flooding, temperatures, and other climate to become more significantly frequent and powerful. As a result, climate change is now affecting the transportation assets around the world. This Thesis is divided into six components: the literature review, development of the framework, development of the methodology, case study, discussion, and conclusions. The literature review will show threats, risks, and performance measures to monitor the climate change impact on transportation infrastructure. The literature review includes transportation asset like bridges, roads, …

Assessment Of Climate Change Impact On Hydraulic Design Procedures Of Bridges, Anjuman Ara Akhter

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The significant change in climate is evident from the records of increased temperature, changed precipitation pattern, increased frequency of extreme weather events like storms, floods, and so forth. Like other infrastructure highway infrastructures also suffer the consequences of these climate change. Since the hydraulic design of these infrastructures is performed using historical climate data, the designs may not be able to provide services because designs are not considering climate change influence especially in terms of precipitation intensity. This study aims at identifying the most accurate source of climate database that predicts future climate change with less uncertainty and links them …

Optimization For The Allocation Of Funds For Pavement Maintenance In Pavement Management Systems, Armando Ramirez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Pavement maintenance and rehabilitation are critical and costly elements for highway agencies. A challenge for transportation agencies is to preserve roadways in an appropriate condition and extend the pavement service life while maintaining the safety and satisfaction of its users, and maximize the benefits obtained by the repair investments. Pavement maintenance programming is increasing in complexity due to limited resources and increments in traffic and population. Management decisions are usually based on personal judgment by pavement managers and sometimes those decisions are not even supported by previous experience. Research shows that optimization methods can produce significant benefits when transportation agencies …

Car-Less Cities, Maryam Moeinian

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The rapid growth of world population along with the sprawl growth of towns and suburbanization, has affected the human life and its surrounding nature dramatically. The fact is this level of growth is not sustainable with the current patterns of development. Most cities all around the world are designed in a way that encourages car dependency which is harming the environment and human health.

During the past decade, urban planners formulate new principles of land use development to preserve the environment and protect public health, safety and general welfare of the citizens. These concepts are characterized by some movements such …

Practical Models For Interpreting Traffic Speed Deflectometer Data, Setare Ghahri Saremi

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

For more than 30 years, FWDs have been the most viable device for structural pavement evaluation. During the last decade, several moving deflectometers have been introduced, among those, traffic speed deflectometer has been proven as the most utilized device. Since TSD can measure the deflection parameters of pavement at traffic speeds up to 50-60 mph (80-95 kph), it overcomes FWD shortcomings. However, the analysis of the data collected with TSD is in its infancy.

Since TSD measures the vertical component of pavement velocity (a.k.a. deflection velocity), relationships to convert deflection velocities to deflections for further analyses are needed. Computer software …

Comparisons Of Accessibility To Public Transit Stations By Ridesourcing And Its Competitors, David Hoblí­K

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Thesis assesses the role of ridesourcing as a mode of first and last mile transport. Review of ridesourcing and taxi business models has been provided as well as a comparative review of laws and regulations regarding ridesourcing and taxi. A potential accessibility gravity based model and logit mode choice model have been applied to compare ridesourcing with other possible modes for first and last mile transport that serve a transit station in Prague, Czech Republic and a transit station in El Paso, Texas. Based on the results, recommendations for ridesourcing companies and local authorities and transportation systems managers are …

A Quality Control Performance-Based Methodology For Pavement Management Systems, Edgar Daniel Rodriguez Velasquez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Transportation Asset Management is a decision-making process, which allocates available resources for operating, maintaining, enhancing, and expanding transportation infrastructure while considering its entire life cycle. Transportation infrastructure includes different types of assets and pavements are one of the main assets due to its social, economic, and environmental impacts to society. Transportation agencies implement Pavement Management Systems to support the pavement management process. While implementing and operating a Pavement Management System, one of the costliest procedures is collecting pavement condition data from the field. Good quality for pavement condition data is required to select the right preservation treatments, estimate the associated …

Utilization Of Digital Image Correlation Technique In Asphalt Testing, Alejandra Escajeda

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Over 90% of the roads in the United States are paved with hot mix asphalt (HMA). These asphalt pavements include many mix types, such as permeable friction course (PFC), stone mastic asphalt (SMA) and conventional dense graded mixes. The performance of the HMA is an important factor in pavement design programs used by many departments of transportation. The type of HMA selected not only influences the performance of the pavement structure, but also the pavement's life cycle cost. The performance life of an HMA mix is to be studied further with experimental data in order to contribute and expand on …

Geospatial Relationship Of Intelligent Compaction Measurement Values With In-Situ Testing For Quality Assessment Of Geomaterials, Luis Alberto Lemus

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The implementation of Intelligent Compaction (IC) in the construction of transportation infrastructure as a tool for quality control of compacted geomaterials has attracted the attention of a number of highway agencies. Compaction quality has been conventionally assessed using density, and to a less extent, modulus-based spot measurements at selected locations along the roadway section. While spot measurements do not provide a thorough rendition of the level of compaction of the roadway, IC technology is effective in meeting full coverage requirements. IC roller measurements are accelerometer-based measurements recording machine-ground interaction assumed to be indicative of the stiffness of the compacted geomaterial. …

Impact Of Highway Work Zones On Traffic Crashes: A Case Study In Michigan, Qadri Hafez Shaheen

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Infrastructure in the US is severely aged and outdated. This presents a seemingly paradoxical problem in the field of construction management: In order to fix and make roads and highways more safe, construction zones must become inherently less safe in the process. There is a high cost to taxpayers and drivers, as work zones experience a significant amount of crashes and fatalities each year. To mitigate some of the factors that contribute to these crashes, this paper attempts to deliver guidelines on how to update relevant crash data, identify relevant factors, and create recommendations accordingly. The research focused particularly on …

The Adoption And Diffusion Of The Air Taxi/Air Charter Travel Innovation, Joseph Paul Leader

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The inefficient use and knowledge of direct, on-demand air taxi/air charter flights in the United States was the topic of this dissertation. The general problem studied was the inefficient use of air transportation options by business travelers in the United States. The specific problem was how business travelers in the United States learn of and thereby elect to embrace a newer air travel option. Using Rogers's diffusion of innovations theory as the framework, the dissemination of air travel choices made by business travelers using ImagineAir air taxi service in the United States was explored via a qualitative case study research …

Airships In U.N. Humanitarian And Peace Operations: Ready For Service?, Walter Dorn, Nic Baird, Robert Owen

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

This study examines whether the United Nations should take steps in the near future to exploit the operational characteristics of lighter-than-air (LTA) and hybrid aircraft in support of its peace and humanitarian operations. Continued progress in the development of LTA transport system makes this a timely issue. At the same time, this progress highlights persistent challenges to the conduct of reliable and safe LTA operations, particularly in the face of bad weather and threats from groups hostile to the UN mission. The report examines this issue in four sections: (1) the potential advantages of LTA operations; (2) their disadvantages; (3) …