TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480762
TI  - Transparency in Transit: User Power and Public Accountability
AB  - Many major U.S. transit systems now make it easy for passengers and the public at large to obtain real-time information about their operations. Previous research in other policy areas suggests that providing such information may improve transit systems' efficiency by helping travelers make more informed choices and by creating new and powerful pressures to improve systems' performance. This project will review the extent to which major U.S. transit agencies provide real-time data about transit performance, analyze how such information is being used by riders and other key constituencies, and assess whether and how such data has affected transit agency operations. The findings, which will be disseminated through a variety of channels, can help transit operators, users, regulators and advocates to better understand how such information strategies can create new performance incentives and, therefore, to make more informed decisions about whether and how to provide such information in the future. The project will be co-directed by Professor Archon Fung, whose research has focused on the effectiveness of information strategies to improve critical public services, and David Luberoff, whose research has focused on the governance and funding of transportation in the United States.
KW  - Accountability
KW  - Customer service
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Information technology
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Ridership
KW  - Transit operating agencies
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249835
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480761
TI  - Crisis Management in Transportation: Building Capacity Through Exercises
AB  - This project will examine the experience of transit and highway agencies in five major cities and metropolitan areas in using exercises and drills as a form of preparedness for severe emergencies. Major disasters occur in a given city or metropolitan area so infrequently that most senior agency managers never experience them, or they confront such events, at most, a few times in a professional lifetime. From a managerial viewpoint, this means that unlike most other professional skills, excellence in disaster management is typically not achieved through actual experience but rather through contingency planning, formal education and training, and, quite significantly, exercises and drills. In preparing for a major disaster, therefore, a given jurisdiction must depend heavily on exercises and drills as a principal means for (a) inculcating key disaster response skills in individuals, (b) developing organizational capabilities, (c) testing the system to see whether it works functionally and as an integrated whole, (d) practicing response to a range of scenarios that might be experienced in reality, and (e) preparing the public for its role in case of calamity. Through original, on-site interviews and other forms of data collection, this research will look carefully at how both transit and highway agencies are currently using these training methods to prepare their organizations and personnel for potential disaster situations and become more proficient in emergency response skills. It will also examine the degree to which transportation agencies have been able to use exercises and drills to become more integrated into a comprehensive emergency management system that reaches across agency, jurisdictional, and level-of-government boundaries. This study of how transportation systems prepare for disaster situations is well-aligned with the NEUTC's theme - strategic management of disruptive change in transportation systems, specifically the focus on disruptive environments - and with the research priorities of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Federal highway Administration (FHWA).
KW  - Crisis management
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Emergency communication systems
KW  - Emergency management
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249834
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480760
TI  - Caregiver Information Search Behavior for Alternative Transportation
AB  - Numerous factors contribute to cessation of driving ranging from a decline in cognitive capability to a decrease in overall physical health. When driving cessation occurs, responsibility often falls on adult child caregivers to extend the personal mobility of their parents deeper into old age. While not the end-all solution, alternative transportation can alleviate some of the pressure placed on family and friends in transporting the driving disadvantaged to essential destinations such as a grocery store or pharmacy, as well as 'nonessential' social destinations that have been shown to improve the mental health of the elderly. Today's caregiver has a greater toolset at their disposal than their predecessors in the search for information on alternative transportation. However, while information available on the internet can be rich, relevant and instructive, finding it is not as simple as googleing a few key words and declaring 'mission accomplished.' Additionally, factors such as the transportation environment and caregiver distance will affect the amount of information opportunity available to the caregiver. This project focuses on understanding the means through which different types of caregivers find information on alternative transportation, and aims to develop a cohesive framework that demonstrates the process a caregiver will undertake in obtaining information. Results will be condensed into several reports that alternative transportation information seekers and alternative transportation providers can use to improve the quality of life of the transportation disadvantaged. This project will draw on a range of established theory rooted in the fields of communication, transportation and human factors. Results will be publicly disseminated through journal submission and publishing of findings on the New England University Transportation Center website.
KW  - Aged
KW  - Alternatives analysis
KW  - Caregivers
KW  - Cognitive impairment
KW  - Driving cessation
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transportation disadvantaged persons
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249833
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480759
TI  - Planning for the Future: The Role of Mobility in Residential and Lifestyle Choices of Baby Boomers and Older Adults
AB  - This study explores the extent to which Baby Boomers and older adults take mobility and transportation issues into consideration as they make individual residential and lifestyle plans for their future older years. While transportation and urban planners may be aware of what has been called a gray tsunami, little attention has been paid to how individuals weigh mobility in their decisions about living, working and playing in their older years. Yet because mobility is so crucial for continued quality of life, it seems as if it should be a prime factor in decision making for one's older years - transportation should be central to questions about whether to age in place, part of a choice to relocate to another community, and a consideration in decisions about future work and medical issues. Yet while much is known about individual planning for financial matters in people's older years, less is known about residential choices and the role of transportation in affecting these. This project focuses on the extent to which mobility and transportation issues play into Baby Boomers' and older adults' decisions about future residence and lifestyle, and why such issues may be often overlooked rather than explicitly considered. Answering these questions will provide greater insight into the decisions that an aging population makes around future living. These results have the potential to suggest ways in which older adults might be encouraged to think about their future mobility needs in the process of making decisions, and to feed into broader work about decision making among older adults. They may also be useful for transportation and urban planners as they continue to plan for the changing demography of the population.
KW  - Aged
KW  - Baby boomer generation
KW  - Demographics
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Quality of life
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Residential location
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249832
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480758
TI  - Evaluation of a Natural Speech Based Informational Inquiry System as a Potential Means to Increase Transit Utilization
AB  - This project proposes to explore the potential of a user friendly, natural speech based information inquiry application as one means of increasing public transit utilization. It is suggested that a key challenge to expanding transit ridership is to encourage people who have not used a system to develop familiarity with it. One example is older adults who have lost the ability to use their car or who should reduce their dependence on it. Various factors contribute to the hesitancy of potential new users to try-out public transit options, including uncertainty about routes, schedules, and other basic utilization information. Individuals who are unfamiliar with routine maps and schedules often are unsure of how to begin making sense of these materials. Automated information systems provide one means of accessing such information in an anonymous and potentially non-threatening manner. In particular, the development of next generation natural speech based inquiry systems offer the attraction of obtaining information about the transit system through the familiar conversational method of asking questions. The proposed application could potentially be deployed in various forms (such as phone access, internet or kiosk). The initial phase of the project will focus on gathering strategic information from potential users on implementations they would be most likely to use and the types of information they perceive as being most useful in supporting and/or increasing their use of the transit system. Particular attention will be focused on how demographic factors such as age and gender, as well as technology experience, impact on preferences and likely willingness to consider using various implementations of such systems. The follow-on phases will involve actual development and evaluation of a demonstration application.
KW  - Information technology
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Speech recognition
KW  - Transit operating agencies
KW  - Virtual reality
KW  - Voice communication
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249831
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480757
TI  - Individual Differences in Peripheral Physiology and Implications for the Real-Time Assessment of Driver State
AB  - The workload associated with driving involves both the physical activities of the driving task as well as the cognitive thought processes necessary to manage the physical elements. Arguments can be made that drivers are more aware of the physical demands than of the cognitive ones. While this is an issue for all drivers, with advancing age, the ability to manage all aspects of workload declines and is of particular concern. Increasing amounts of information technology coupled with efforts for advanced vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications make active driver workload management an area of increasing importance. When assessing cognitive demands, studies often rely on self-report measures such as the NASA TLX to classify the difficulty of a task. While being useful research tools, self-report methods have limited applicability to real-time state detection. Both performance based and physiological measures provide relatively continuous, noninvasive methods of characterizing cognitive workload (Brookhuis &amp; De Waard, 2001). To develop a more comprehensive system of assessing driver workload, physiological measures have been proposed as a complementary measure to driving performance-based measures (Wu &amp; Liu, 2007). Theory suggests that physiological measures are likely to be more sensitive to the initial changes in workload than performance based measures (Brookhuis &amp; De Waard, 1993; Lenneman, Shelley, &amp; Backs, 2005; Wilson, 2002) and some data has been developed to support this position (Mehler, Reimer, Coughlin, &amp; Dusek, 2009). In this project, we intend to explore further the utility of using driving performance, visual attention and other physiological measures to discriminate subtle changes in driver cognitive workload. Further, we intend to examine how the demographic characteristics such as age and gender, along with individual variability, impact the sensitivity of physiologically based detection systems. This project will conclude with the development of initial detection algorithms for driver state based upon physiological and driving performance measures.
KW  - Cognition
KW  - Fatigue (Physiological condition)
KW  - Human factors engineering
KW  - Human factors in crashes
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Stress (Psychology)
KW  - Vehicle to infrastructure communications
KW  - Vehicle to vehicle communications
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249830
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480756
TI  - Transportation Strategy Development Under Economic Uncertainty
AB  - Long-lived assets such as transportation infrastructure rely on relatively stable, continuous, long-term revenue sources to fund their maintenance, operation, and expansion. However, as recent macroeconomic conditions have demonstrated, sudden disruptions to revenue sources can threaten the longer-term health of the system by delaying projects ranging from routine maintenance to capacity expansion - delays which often simultaneously inhibit broader economic growth. This project seeks to document historical and contemporary strategic preparations for and responses to financial disruptions by providers of transportation infrastructure and services. A series of case studies drawing on historical and contemporary organizational structures, policies, and strategy development processes will produce a range of alternative approaches for evaluation. These approaches will enable identification of best practices and inform the development of innovative approaches for responding to sudden economic disruptions and for developing long-term transportation strategies under economic uncertainty.
KW  - Economic development
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Transportation infrastructure
KW  - Uncertainty
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249829
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480755
TI  - Travel Behavior of the Aging Boomers (Phase IV)
AB  - What do we know about older adults' residential environment and travel behavior? For instance, how do the neighborhood characteristics and residential preference interact, influencing their travel behavior? By asking these questions, this study attempts to shed light on sustainable neighborhoods that support older adults' sustainable mobility and active aging. Having grown up in the age of the automobile and mass suburbanization, older adults in the United States today largely prefer suburbs and remain highly automobile-dependent. These lifestyle preferences introduce important multidisciplinary challenges related to healthy aging and sustainable mobility. While age-restricted active adult communities (ARAACs) have emerged as an increasingly prevalent residential choice for older adults, little research has focused on relevant behavioral activity of ARAAC residents. Since walking activity plays an important role in facilitating healthy aging, we will compare 1) ARAACs with other typical neighborhoods, and 2) urban with suburban neighborhoods, investigating the effects of neighborhood characteristics on older adults' travel behavior. We will employ a cross-sectional study design targeting residents age 55 and older in the Boston metropolitan area, utilizing a mail-back survey questionnaire to measure walking activities, basic demographics, and residential preferences.
KW  - 55 mph speed limit
KW  - Aged
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Automated gage restraint measurement
KW  - Baby boomer generation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Retirement
KW  - Sustainable development
KW  - Travel surveys
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249828
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480754
TI  - Assessing Methods of Enhancing Older Driver Performance
AB  - Older individuals represent the fastest growing portion of the population in the United States. This, coupled with the debilitating effects of the loss of independence, makes reduced driving or driving cessation due to aging a great concern for both these individuals as well as society as a whole. Thus, it is no surprise that as people age there is a growing fear of losing a driver's license. In fact, concern over loss of driving independence is ranked almost as important as concerns with decline in overall cognitive functioning. Much of the work done on mitigating problem drivers has focused on states' implementation of more frequent testing or older drivers' education and rehabilitation. These approaches, however, are neither sensitive to the gradual onset of cognitive deficits nor make marked improvements in older driver public safety or provide sizable increases in independence. However, with the recent advent and promotion of cognitive training programs, older individuals are tempted with the prospect of improving not just cognition or driving ability, but both. The current study intends to bridge two areas of research: psychological intervention in cognitive decline and transportation safety. While there has been some research on methods such as UFOV training, these efforts are far from comprehensive and do not consider established non-subjective measures of driving performance in situ. Existing research has shown that: 1) older individuals can improve their visual attention as measured by neuropsychological test measures; and 2) older drivers' cognitive deficits are a detriment to their ability to drive safely. Past research on the intervention side has been limited to measures of improvement that have limited ecological validity. The proposed research aims to assess the transfer effects of cognitive training aimed at improving visual attention to older drivers' visual attention allocation while driving an instrumented vehicle.
KW  - Aged
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Driver licensing
KW  - Driver licensing restrictions
KW  - Driving cessation
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Human factors engineering
KW  - Human factors in crashes
KW  - Research projects
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249827
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480753
TI  - The Influence of Real-time Rural Transit Tracking on Traveler Perception
AB  - Disruptive change in transportation systems emerges in myriad forms and contexts. Perhaps the most significant of these changes has been the rapid advancement of communication technologies and their ubiquity. Public transportation systems require accurate and reliable information as part of their day-to-day operations. Rail systems have been successful in integrating real-time information in their services, providing expected arrival times and service alerts to patrons waiting at the station. Bus systems have typically had less opportunity and success taking advantage of real-time traveler information technology. As public transportation information moves to the web and eventually to web-enabled smartphones, bus systems can begin to harness some of the benefits of the communications revolution to improve operations and the perception of service. The objectives of the proposed research are twofold: 1) Implement real-time bus tracking technology in a rural setting and 2) Test the impact of improved information on public perception of bus transit. Real-time bus tracking is gaining considerable momentum across the globe. There are over two dozen systems in place across the U.S. and many more coming on line in the near future. Real-time tracking certainly is a disruptive technology in transportation - the question is: does it actually improve travelers' perception of bus transit quality, thereby improving the likelihood of using the service?
KW  - Bus transit
KW  - Information technology
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Rural areas
KW  - Tracking systems
KW  - Traveler information and communication systems
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249826
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480752
TI  - Characterizing Traffic under Uncertain Disruptions: An Experimental Approach
AB  - The objective of the research is to study long-term traffic patterns under uncertain disruptions using data collected from human subjects who simultaneously make route choices in controlled PC-based laboratory experiments. Uncertain disruptions to a traffic system usually include incidents, bad weather and work zones which result in uncertain travel times. Meanwhile, real-time information is and will be available to travelers so they can adapt to actual traffic conditions and reduce the negative effects of uncertainties. In conventional traffic prediction models, these disruptions are excluded and travelers are assumed to face a deterministic network. However, as uncertain disruptions account for a significant portion of the total traffic delays on the road, it is imperative to incorporate them in a traffic prediction model. In a New England UTC Year 21 project, we developed an individual behavioral model of route choice in an uncertain network with real-time traveler information. This project builds on the behavioral model and considers the collective congestion effects of many individual drivers' route choices. Two central research questions are to be answered: 1) Is there a steady traffic pattern in terms of probability distributions of traffic variables under uncertain disruptions, with and without real-time traveler information? 2) Can we build a model to characterize traffic patterns under such situations? The research will contribute to the state of the art by providing laboratory evidence of the steady traffic patterns (or the lack thereof) under uncertain disruptions and by validating a novel traffic prediction model that considers both uncertain network travel times and travelers' route choices with real-time information.
KW  - Advanced traveler information systems
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic data
KW  - Travel patterns
KW  - Travel time
KW  - Traveler information and communication systems
KW  - Uncertainty
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249825
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480751
TI  - Stochastic Fundamental Diagram for Probabilistic Traffic Flow Modeling
AB  - Advanced traffic signal control systems, innovative traveler information systems, and other intelligent system applications are designed in part to address disruptive changes in our transportation system. Central to the successful deployment of such intelligent systems is the need to employ traffic flow principles and models that capture the random nature of traffic flow. Existing traffic flow models based on conventional fundamental diagrams are deterministic in nature, and thus are unable to account for the inherent random nature in traffic flow. To address this limitation, this research proposes to develop a new fundamental diagram which represents the probabilistic relationship between traffic speed and density as a stochastic process. Such a stochastic fundamental diagram not only explains the variation of speed choices among driver populations but it also has the potential to improve the traffic flow model's predictive power. This proposed research is designed to respond to the U.S. Department of Transportation's objectives concerning congestion mitigation and the New England University Transportation Center's theme to improve strategic management in response to disruptive changes in the transportation system. The products of this research will contribute a new way to think about and to understand the complex interrelationships among traffic flow characteristics and will provide a basis to advance traffic flow modeling to a new level.
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Stochastic processes
KW  - Traffic flow
KW  - Traffic models
KW  - Traffic signal control systems
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249824
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480750
TI  - Assessment of Older Driver Performance Under Low Level Alcohol Impairment
AB  - Alcohol related motor vehicle crashes are an important cause of injury and death in all age groups, and the elderly, typically defined as persons older than age 65, are the fastest growing segment of the driving population. A person's crash risk per mile increases beginning at age 55, and older drivers are more likely to be seriously injured than younger drivers in equivalent crashes. There is now little dispute that driving under the influence of alcohol is dangerous and there is a plethora of research reporting the behavior of drivers whilst intoxicated. Elderly individuals achieve a higher blood alcohol concentration (BAC) than younger people after consuming an equal amount of alcohol. Consequently, the elderly are at higher risk for intoxication and adverse effects. Faced with the aging of the nation's population and a redefinition of accessibility, mobility and safety, this project investigates the contribution that the operation of devices such as navigation systems, cell phones for phone and text messaging etc. have on the degradation of performance of older drivers operating vehicles while intoxicated well below legal limits, as evidenced by eye movements. Innovations in data acquisition, video processing and sensor capabilities have now made it possible to track intricate biological and dynamic phenomena with accuracy and precision that just a short time ago was at least several orders of magnitude less. The Eye Movement Tracking Laboratory at the University of Rhode Island has developed sensors and data collection methods that can be deployed for on road data collection from drivers operating own vehicles (i.e. vehicles owned by the drivers). This project uses the existing hardware and is developing new devices to collect biometric data from drivers. This data is being collected from drivers in the laboratory, in a simulator and on_road (closed) courses and will investigate the effect of low levels (.04% g/ml BAC, about half the legal limit) of alcohol consumption on older driver performance. In addition, the experiments will are designed to evaluate the effect of operating devices such as navigation equipment, cell phones etc, under these conditions of low inebriation.
KW  - Accident prone drivers
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Blood alcohol levels
KW  - Crash injuries
KW  - Crash risk forecasting
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Human factors in crashes
KW  - Research projects
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249823
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01446263
AU  - Min, Hokey
AU  - Bowling Green State University
AU  - Michigan Ohio University Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Evaluating the Service Quality of Paratransit Systems: An Exploratory Study of the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority
PY  - 2009/11//Final Report
SP  - 21p
AB  - Paratransit systems are created to improve mobility, employment opportunities, and access to community services for individuals who are mentally or physically disadvantaged. Though essential for the community, paratransit systems are more expensive to sustain than fixed-route based mass transit systems due to their customized, on-demand service requirements. Thus, it is common that many paratransit systems in the United States experience cost overruns. To cover these cost overruns for paratransit service providers, public transit authorities often subsidize the greater portions of paratransit services. In the era of budget shortfalls, public transit authorities are faced with the dilemma of controlling paratransit costs without deteriorating paratransit services. To better cope with the dilemma, this paper identifies a host of factors such as on-time door-to-door or curb-to-curb services, flexible pickup-/drop-off windows, handling of late-cancellations and no-shows, shared rides, short-notice services, peak-hour feeder services, and overnight service that influence the overall service quality of paratransit in the metropolitan Toledo area, using the survey questionnaire.
KW  - Cost control
KW  - Paratransit services
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Quality of service
KW  - Regional transportation
KW  - Toledo (Ohio)
KW  - Transit authorities
UR  - http://mioh-utc.udmercy.edu/research/ts-13/pdf/MIOH_UTC_TS13_2009_Final_Report_Improving_Paratransit_Services_etc.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1212709
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01226763
AU  - Tolliver, Denver
AU  - Benson, Doug
AU  - Dybing, Alan
AU  - Chen, George
AU  - Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute
AU  - Rahall Appalachian Transportation Institute
AU  - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Transportation Rate Analysis for the Columbia-Snake Waterway System
PY  - 2009/11//Final Report
SP  - v.p.
AB  - This study was conducted by North Dakota State University under contract with the Marshall University’s Rahall Transportation Institute for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The purpose of this study is to estimate the value of commodities that have volumes of five or more percent of each major commodity group for the Great Lakes, Mississippi‐Ohio, and Columbia‐Snake waterway systems. The intended use of the commodity value estimates is to project inventory costs associated with project performance related delays in delivering commodities to shippers. The project examined one previous commodity value study. Deep draft traffic entering the Mississippi was excluded.
KW  - Columbia-Snake River Waterway
KW  - Commodities
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Rates
KW  - Valuation
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/987557
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01226762
AU  - Bray, Larry G
AU  - University of Tennessee, Knoxville
AU  - Rahall Appalachian Transportation Institute
AU  - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Economic Evaluation of Commercially Navigable Ohio River Waterway System: Phase I and Phase II
PY  - 2009/11//Final Report
SP  - v.p.
AB  - This study was conducted by the University of Tennessee under contract with the Marshall University’s Rahall Transportation Institute for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The primary purpose of this study is to estimate the regional economic value attributable to commercial barge transportation on the Ohio River System (ORS) waterways. This work is in support of the Ohio River Mainstem System Study (ORMSS), whose purpose is the development of the best plan for maintaining a reliable navigation system on the main stem of the Ohio River.
KW  - Barge operations
KW  - Economic analysis
KW  - Ohio River
KW  - Ohio River Mainstem System Study
KW  - Regional analysis
UR  - http://www.njrati.org/wp-content/plugins/research_projects/reports/TRP%2009-08.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/987561
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01226761
AU  - Dybing, Alan
AU  - Benson, Doug
AU  - Tolliver, Denver
AU  - Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute
AU  - Rahall Appalachian Transportation Institute
AU  - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Commodity Valuation Analysis for the Great Lakes, Mississippi-Ohio and Columbia-Snake Waterway Systems
PY  - 2009/11//Final Report
SP  - v.p.
AB  - This study was conducted by North Dakota State University under contract with the Marshall University’s Rahall Transportation Institute for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The purpose of this study is to estimate the value of commodities that have volumes of five or more percent of each major commodity group for the Great Lakes, Mississippi-Ohio, and Columbia-Snake waterway systems. The intended use of the commodity value estimates is to project inventory costs associated with project performance related delays in delivering commodities to shippers. The project examined one previous commodity value study. Deep draft traffic entering the Mississippi was excluded. Estimating commodity values on three waterways systems is conducted to provide a basis for estimating inventory costs associated with project-performance related delays in delivering commodities to shippers.
KW  - Columbia-Snake River Waterway
KW  - Commodities
KW  - Great Lakes
KW  - Mississippi-Ohio Waterway System
KW  - Valuation
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/987553
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01159896
AU  - Rakha, Hesham
AU  - Krechmer, Daniel
AU  - Cordahi, Gustave
AU  - Zohdy, Ismail
AU  - Sadek, Shereef
AU  - Arafeh, Mazen
AU  - Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg
AU  - Cambridge Systematics, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Microscopic Analysis of Traffic Flow in Inclement Weather
PY  - 2009/11
SP  - 119p
AB  - Weather causes a variety of impacts on the transportation system. An Oak Ridge National Laboratory study estimated the delay experienced by American drivers due to snow, ice, and fog in 1999 at 46 million hours. While severe winter storms, hurricanes, or floodings can result in major stoppages or evacuations of transportation systems and cost millions of dollars, the day-to-day weather events such as rain, fog, snow, and freezing rain can have a serious impact on the mobility and safety of the transportation system users. Despite the documented impacts of adverse weather on transportation, the linkages between inclement weather conditions and traffic flow in existing analysis tools remain tenuous. This is primarily a result of limitations on the data used in research activities. The scope of this research included use of empirical data, where available, to estimate weather impacts on three categories of submodels related to driver behavior, longitudinal vehicle motion models (acceleration, deceleration and car-following models), lane-changing models and gap acceptance models. Empirical data were used to estimate impacts of adverse weather on longitudinal and gap acceptance models but no suitable datasets were identified for lane-changing models. Existing commercial microsimulation software packages were then reviewed to identify whether and how weather-related factors could be utilized in these models. The various submodels used in these packages to estimate longitudinal motion, lane-changing and gap acceptance models were evaluated. The research found that for the most part, weather-related factors could be incorporated into these models, although the techniques vary by package and by type of model. Additional empirical research is needed to provide confidence in weather-related adjustment factors, particularly as relates to ice and snow. This report concludes with some recommendations of future research related to weather and traffic flow. Additional work is proposed related to human factors and microscopic traffic modeling.
KW  - Human factors
KW  - Microscopic traffic flow
KW  - Microsimulation
KW  - Statistical analysis
KW  - Traffic models
KW  - Weather
KW  - Weather conditions
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/32000/32500/32539/index.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/32000/32500/32539/tfiw_final.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/920362
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01159892
AU  - Haas, R
AU  - Perry, E
AU  - Rephlo, J
AU  - Science Applications International Corporation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - A Case Study on Applying the Systems Engineering Approach:
Best Practices and Lessons Learned from the Chattanooga
SmartBus Project
PY  - 2009/11
SP  - 34p
AB  - This report presents the results of a review of the systems engineering processes used during the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority’s (CARTA) SmartBus Project. The Smartbus Project is a comprehensive transit ITS program for the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee involving deployment of a wide array of transit ITS technologies. This review was part of the national evaluation of the SmartBus Project, a project that is being implemented in part with fiscal year (FY03) ITS Integration Program earmark funding and is being evaluated by the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). This review highlights a number of features of CARTA’s approach to systems engineering that helped lead to the success of its ITS deployments. Some of these features were: (a) documenting their long-term vision for ITS, (b) avoiding the temptation to do too much too fast, (c) testing systems thoroughly before introducing them to operation, and (d) being willing to accept schedule delays when needed to help manage deployment risks. In the end, CARTA’s ITS program helped them evolve from an organization relying on manual processes and compartmentalized software systems to one with integrated applications and automated processes.
KW  - Bus transit
KW  - Chattanooga (Tennessee)
KW  - Data warehouses
KW  - Evaluation
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Systems engineering
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/32000/32600/32672/61027_se.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/32000/32600/32672/index.htm
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/920390
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01153224
AU  - Zhang, Lei
AU  - Xu, Wei
AU  - Li, Mingxin
AU  - University of Maryland, College Park
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Co-Evolution of Transportation and Land Use: Modeling Historical Dependencies in Land Use and Transportation Decision-Making
PY  - 2009/11//Final Report
SP  - 78p
AB  - The interaction between land use and transportation has long been the central issue in urban and regional planning. Models of such interactions provide vital information to support many public policy decisions, such as land supply, infrastructure provision, and growth management. Both the transportation and land use systems exhibit historical dependencies in policy decisions. For instance, the expansion of a roadway today will change travel demand patterns, and make certain other roads more or less likely to be expanded in the future. A specific land supply decision made at one point in time, by changing the relative attractiveness of other areas in the region, can have a profound impact on future land supply decisions. Today’s land use decisions clearly influence future transportation policies and vice versa. This project examines the land use-transportation interaction from an evolutionary perspective — once a certain set of goals are determined and pursued by politicians and planners, their land supply and transportation investment decisions are, to a large extent, driven by their previous decisions and supply-demand dynamics in the urban system. Built upon this recognition of historical dependency and a transportation network growth model previously developed by the P.I., a model of the co-evolution of land use and transportation is proposed in this project. Different from existing integrated land use and transportation models that assume exogenous network investment decisions, the co-evolution model considers both land use growth and transportation network growth as endogenous and market-driven. The central research question is how market and policies translate into transportation facilities and land use developments on the ground. The co-evolution model achieves an Urban Growth Equilibrium, which is a useful concept for planning and policy analysis. An agent-based simulation approach is employed to integrate an existing land use model and the transportation network growth model.
KW  - City planning
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Growth management
KW  - History
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Land use
KW  - Land use models
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Regional planning
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Transportation policy
KW  - Urban growth
UR  - http://www.otrec.us/project/68
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/914782
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01150726
AU  - Baker, Richard T
AU  - Goodin, Ginger
AU  - University Transportation Center for Mobility
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Mileage-Based User Fees - Defining a Path toward Implementation Phase 1: Defining a Research Strategy
PY  - 2009/11//Final Report
SP  - 25p
AB  - This report documents early activities of a two‐phase research effort composed of three interrelated components: 1) a technology assessment, 2) an institutional assessment, and 3) a one‐day implementation‐focused symposium. Each component builds from the mileage‐based user fee framework developed with funding in 2008 from the University Transportation Center for Mobility™ ("Feasibility of Mileage‐Based User Fees: Application in Rural/Small Urban Areas of Northeast Texas", TRIS Accession Number 01121765). The technology assessment evaluated mileage‐based user fee technology configurations currently in use internationally and under study domestically. The technology assessment established what technologies are available for a regional mileage‐based user fee system that would best meet the objectives outlined in the user fee framework developed in the previous phase of this research. As part of this effort researchers also assembled a technology assessment team comprised of various specialists in order to provide input on the technologies being discussed. The institutional assessment was conducted in conjunction with the technology assessment and involved the study of various user fee frameworks in place throughout the United States. This assessment aided in determining the most appropriate model to incorporate for a mileage‐based user fee system administered by the NET RMA pursuant to the objectives of the mileage‐based user fee framework. A one‐day symposium in April 2009, conducted in Phase 2 of the project, brought together domestic and international transportation specialists for the purpose of identifying a possible pathway toward full implementation of a mileage‐based user fee as a replacement for the fuel tax.
KW  - Fees
KW  - Financing
KW  - Implementation
KW  - Mileage-based user fees
KW  - Road pricing
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - User charges
KW  - Vehicle miles of travel
UR  - http://utcm.tamu.edu/publications/final_reports/Goodin_09-00-16.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/912710
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01150722
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - America’s Freight Transportation Gateways
PY  - 2009/11
SP  - 89p
AB  - America’s freight transportation gateways—seaports, airports, and land border crossings—are vital for U.S. economic growth and international competitiveness. They are the entry and exit points for merchandise trade between the United States and countries around the world. The gateways and the accompanying shipping, railroad, highway, and aviation systems link the U.S. population, economic sectors, and businesses to the global marketplace. Each year, U.S. businesses, farms, manufacturers, and households depend on these transportation facilities to move large quantities of goods. This report is an update of a report released in 2004 by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration. This current report is a data profi le of the nation’s leading international freight transportation gateways in 2008 and presents summary trend data from 1990. It is a collection of information that highlights the top 25 freight gateways, providing the most recent annual information on the movement of goods through these seaports, airports, and land border crossings.
KW  - Airports
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - International borders
KW  - Ports of entry
KW  - Seaports
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Transportation gateways
KW  - Trend (Statistics)
KW  - United States
UR  - http://thetbwg.org/downloads/AmericasGateways.pdf
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/americas_freight_transportation_gateways/2009/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/americas_freight_transportation_gateways/2009/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/913087
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01147310
AU  - Chen, Genda
AU  - Tang, Fujian
AU  - Zhou, Zhi
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
AU  - New York State Department of Transportation
TI  - Coaxial Cable Sensors and Sensing Instrument for Crack Detection in Bridge Structures – Phase I: Field Qualification/Validation Planning
PY  - 2009/11//Final Report
SP  - 46p
AB  - The objectives of this study are to pre-test analyze a decommissioned reinforced concrete (RC) bridge that is selected in consultation with the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), and design and plan the field tests of the bridge for the performance qualification and validation of distributed crack sensors and a fast Electrical Time Domain Reflectometry (ETDR) instrument to their full potential. The scope of work includes: (a) Selection of a decommissioned bridge, (b) Pre-test analysis of the selected bridge structure to evaluate its progressive damage and determine the locations for sensor deployment, (c) Design and planning of field tests of the selected bridge, (d) Field instrumentation with coaxial cable and fiber optical sensors for performance comparison, and (d) Summary of the findings of this study. Once fully validated and demonstrated in field conditions, distributed crack sensors and sensing instruments are expected to play a significant role in routine inspections and bridge ratings and in the rapid assessment of structural conditions for post-event evaluations and responses, improving the safety and security of transportation infrastructure at the height of a crisis. These roles are due primarily to their unique ability of permanently recording the widest crack a RC member experienced during a recent event. Such an attribute ensures the availability of damage data even if a fast ETDR system experiences malfunction during the event, greatly improving the reliability of bridge inspections.
KW  - Coaxial cables
KW  - Cracking
KW  - Field tests
KW  - Inspection
KW  - Reinforced concrete bridges
KW  - Reliability
KW  - Sensors
KW  - Structural analysis
KW  - Structural integrity
KW  - Time domain reflectometers
KW  - Validation
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/R230_CR.pdf
UR  - http://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/trans-r-and-d-repository/C-06-34_0.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/907163
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461848
TI  - Transportation Forecasting: Travel Demand and Project Costs
AB  - In a period of severely constrained resources, transportation policy-makers must be particularly careful to insure that plans for new or improved infrastructure are based on reliable forecasts of utilization and costs.  This research project has three phases: an analysis of the past performance of forecasts for surface transportation infrastructure in the United States, a consideration of the reasons for generally poor forecasting performance, and proposals for improving forecasting.  The first phase is complete, and the findings have been published.  The second phase is being completed as of November 2009.  The third phase is beginning.
KW  - Forecasting
KW  - Ground transportation
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Policy making
KW  - Project costs
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic forecasting
KW  - Travel demand
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230068
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461847
TI  - Prioritizing Highway Construction: Case Study in Virginia
AB  - This project proposes a methodology for prioritizing the addition of interstate highway lanes, using Virginia as a case study. The methodology uses shadow road user pricing, based on actual road user pricing elsewhere in the United States and adjusted for road segment length and average income in the surrounding region. A final report is available.
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Interstate highways
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Road construction
KW  - Road pricing
KW  - Traffic lanes
KW  - Virginia
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230067
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461846
TI  - Mega-Regions and Transportation
AB  - This project considers whether the concept of 'mega-region' - a large region encompassing several metropolitan areas - is useful in understanding travel patterns and, in particular, whether new multi-jurisdictional institutions might be desirable to address problems presented by such new travel patterns. Data collection and analysis is underway. Preliminary analysis of data indicates that, in general, travel patterns do not change dramatically as metropolitan areas agglomerate into 'mega-regions'.
KW  - City planning
KW  - Megacities
KW  - Megalopolis
KW  - Metropolitan areas
KW  - Multijurisdictional planning
KW  - Regional planning
KW  - Regional transportation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Travel patterns
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230066
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461845
TI  - Innovation in Government: Workforce Development
AB  - This project explores methods at the level of state departments of transportation for improving workforce recruitment, training and motivation. Phase 1 has been completed, and a report is available describing various methods already in use. Phase 2 is underway and is examining the workforce planning issues associated with downsizing and outsourcing.
KW  - Labor force
KW  - Motivation
KW  - Professional personnel
KW  - Recruiting
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Training
KW  - Transportation careers
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230065
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01149518
AU  - Bai, Qiang
AU  - Labi, Samuel
AU  - NEXTRANS
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Uncertainty-Based Tradeoff Analysis Methodology for Integrated Transportation Investment Decision-Making
PY  - 2009/10/28/Final Report
SP  - 92p
AB  - Transportation agencies strive to maintain their systems in good condition and also to provide acceptable levels of service to users. However, funding is often inadequate to meet the needs of system preservation and expansion, and thus performance- and budget-constrained optimization continues to be an issue. Adding complexity to this issue is the increasing visibility of different stakeholders who advocate for consideration of a multiplicity of diverse perspectives in the highway decision-making process. Thus agencies are grappling with the issue of how best to incorporate multiple performance objectives in their decision-making processes. Some of these objectives conflict with each other, and therefore a need arises for decisionmakers to find optimal solutions that examine the tradeoffs and provide a reasonable balance between the different objectives. Furthermore, there is the issue of uncertainty: outcomes of projects are never exactly what the decision-makers envisage; if such inevitable uncertainties are not duly accounted for, the final decision that may seem optimal may actually be associated with high risk. Finally, at most agencies, the management of highway assets is divided into several sub-areas such as pavements and safety assets. In this management structure, optimal management decisions are carried out separately for specific types of highway assets or management systems but do not always guarantee a global optimal strategy for all the management systems combined. Thus, a decision-making framework that integrates all asset types is needed to enhance decision-making and to ensure more efficient use of scarce funds. Clearly, a need exists for a multi-objective decision-making problem that integrates the various management systems, duly incorporates uncertainty, and helps decision-makers assess the tradeoffs between the performance measures. This study addresses that need. This report presents innovative techniques for carrying out multiple-criteria project selection and tradeoff analysis among the different management systems that comprise highway asset management. A key product of this study is the development of a novel project selection framework formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem.
KW  - Alternatives analysis
KW  - Asset management
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Investments
KW  - Multiple criteria decision making
KW  - Optimization
KW  - Project selection
UR  - http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/assets/pdfs/completedprojects/Final%20Report%20020.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/908633
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462193
TI  - Preserving and Protecting Freight Infrastructure and Routes
AB  - Freight transportation infrastructure and operations are threatened by a variety of factors and trends. Examples include gentrification along truck routes connecting to urban freight generating facilities such as manufacturing and distribution facilities and marine ports that create pressures to reduce or constrain freight activities; prohibitions placed on freight operations because of noise, visual pollution, and emissions impacts; and incompatible land development adjacent to century-old port and rail facilities. Local citizens often influence decisionmakers to adopt public plans, policies, and investments that force relocation or discontinuance of freight operations and facilities, both public and private. Without better planning, the projected growth in urban areas in the United States, combined with the corresponding increase in freight demand, will result in the continued threat to freight infrastructure from "higher value" land use. Once encroachment by incompatible development has occurred near freight facilities, mitigation is an expensive, lengthy, and often unsuccessful process. Similarly, freight "relocation" often negatively impacts freight transportation by increasing travel distances or adding complexity to freight interchanges, ultimately resulting in increased costs to business and consumers. A better approach is to plan for and identify potential areas of encroachment and conflict before they occur and provide governmental agencies and private stakeholders with the knowledge and tools to prevent incompatible development near critical freight infrastructure. And where freight and non-freight uses do coexist, adopt more effective strategies for mitigation, conflict mediation, and redevelopment approaches that integrate freight facility preservation into broader public planning efforts.  The objective of this research is to provide guidance to public and private stakeholders to develop, preserve, protect, and enhance freight transportation infrastructure and routes for all modes of transportation.
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Routes
KW  - State of the practice
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2667
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230414
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01149555
AU  - Savolainen, Peter T
AU  - Dey, Kakan Chandra
AU  - Ghosh, Indrajit
AU  - Karra, Teja L N
AU  - Lamb, Alexander
AU  - NEXTRANS
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Investigation of Emergency Vehicle Crashes in the State of Michigan
PY  - 2009/10/15/Final Report
SP  - 41p
AB  - Crashes involving emergency vehicles, including ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars, are a substantial problem nationwide. The national traffic fatality rates for emergency medical service personnel, police officers, and firefighters have been estimated to be 2.5 to 4.8 times the national average among all occupations. Emergency vehicle crashes have been shown to be particularly problematic in the State of Michigan, which is among four states that were previously shown to account for 37.5% of the country’s ambulance‐involved fatalities. Over the five‐year period from 2004 to 2008, a total of 12,966 emergency vehicles were involved in traffic crashes in the State of Michigan and, among these crash‐involved vehicles, approximately 28.6 percent were on an emergency run at the time the crash occurred. The objectives of this research were to identify critical factors associated with the occurrence of emergency vehicle crashes, to distinguish among the characteristics of crashes involving different types of emergency vehicles, and to determine those factors affecting the injury severity resulting from emergency vehicle crashes. Crashes occurring during emergency response were more likely to occur near intersections or driveways, under dark lighting conditions, and during the PM peak period and the most prevalent types of crashes were angle, head‐on, and sideswipe collisions. These emergency response crashes were also characterized by high risk driving behaviors, such as speeding, overtaking, passing, and non‐use of safety restraint devices. Injuries tended to be most severe at high speeds, when emergency or non‐emergency drivers exhibited high risk driving behaviors, when angle collisions occurred, and when crashes involved police cars. Crashes were least severe at locations with lower posted speed limits, under darkness, when male drivers were involved, and particularly when safety belts were utilized.
KW  - Ambulances
KW  - Crash characteristics
KW  - Crash investigation
KW  - Crash rates
KW  - Crash types
KW  - Emergency medical technicians
KW  - Emergency vehicles
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Fire vehicles
KW  - Firefighters
KW  - Injury severity
KW  - Michigan
KW  - Police
KW  - Police vehicles
KW  - Traffic crashes
UR  - http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/assets/pdfs/completedprojects/Final%20Report%20015.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/908636
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01149551
AU  - Mishalani, Rabi G
AU  - Goel, Prem
AU  - NEXTRANS
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Optimal Condition Sampling of Infrastructure Networks
PY  - 2009/10/15/Final Report
SP  - 25p
AB  - Transportation infrastructure systems consist of spatially extensive and long‐lived sets of interconnected facilities. Over the past two decades, several new non‐destructive inspection technologies have been developed and applied in collecting raw condition data and processing them to produce useful condition input to infrastructure inspection, maintenance, and rehabilitation (IM&R) decision‐making aimed at minimizing total expected life‐cycle cost. In response to the developments in inspection technologies, decision‐making methods evolved whereby the optimum combination of inspection decisions on the one hand and maintenance and rehabilitation decisions on the other are determined based on an economic evaluation that captures the long‐term costs and benefits. Recently, sample size has been included in IM&R decision‐making as a decision variable when considering a single facility. While, the question of dealing with a network of facilities in making maintenance and rehabilitation decisions has been addressed in the literature, this treatment does not consider condition sampling whereby each facility could require a different set of sample sizes over time. Doing so is valuable given the network nature of facilities that most infrastructure agencies are responsible for, the increasing number of inspection technology choices with possible varying degrees of accuracy and cost, and budget constraints agencies have to work within. During this reporting period (year 1 of a 2‐year project) a methodology was developed to address the extension of the single facility level problem to the network level whereby the uncertainty due to condition sampling is captured and its related decision variables included in the IM&R decision‐making process. More specifically, three activities were completed and a fourth was begun. The completed activities (1) outlined the issues that could be considered in addressing condition sampling at the networks level, (2) formulated the problem taking into account the issues deemed most critical above and devised a solution methodology, and (3) developed and wrote computer code to solve the formulation following the devised solution methodology above. The fourth activity consists of validating the code.
KW  - Condition surveys
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Economic analysis
KW  - Inspection
KW  - Maintenance
KW  - Networks
KW  - Optimization
UR  - http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/assets/pdfs/completedprojects/Final%20Report%20004.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/908657
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01149549
AU  - Benekohal, Rahim F
AU  - Avrenli, Kivanc
AU  - Ramezani, Hani
AU  - NEXTRANS
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Traffic Flow Characteristic and Capacity in Intelligent Work Zones
PY  - 2009/10/15/Final Report
SP  - 60p
AB  - Intelligent transportation system (ITS) technologies are utilized to manage traffic flow and safety in highway work zones. Traffic management plans for work zones require queuing analyses to determine the anticipated traffic backups, but the predictions are often inaccurate mainly because of lack of understanding of traffic flow characteristics in WZ. The current procedures for determining speed and capacity are inadequate and don’t consider the fundamental effects of ITS technologies in traffic flow and drivers behavior. This study will address of traffic flow characteristics in Intelligent WZ and will determine methods for computing work zone capacity. Accurate determination of work zone capacity is very important because it significantly affects the speed and user's cost computations. Various ITS applications are implemented in the US (such as speed photo enforcement (SPE), dynamic lane management, variable speed control, travel time information display, dynamic rerouting, etc), but a major study to determine how traffic flow characteristics are affected in these intelligent WZ has not been conducted. This study investigated the fundamental relationship among traffic flow variables in a WZ where ITS was implemented for mainly as a speed control measure. A theoretical relationship was developed using field data collected in work zones. In order to determine the operating capacity in the intelligent work zone where SPE was deployed, the fundamental speed‐flow curve for the intelligent work zone is established and compared with the speed‐flow curve for the same work zone when neither SPE nor another type of ITS was deployed as a speed control measure. The use of ITS in the work zone altered the relationship between space mean speed and traffic flow rate by lowering the speeds in the upper (uncongested) part of the speed‐flow curve. The use of SPE also brought about a slight reduction of around 100 pcphpl in the maximum per-lane capacity of the two‐lane‐open work zone compared to when no SPE is utilized. With the speed‐flow curve for the intelligent work zone established, one can use the operating speed as an input to accurately estimate the capacity of the intelligent work zone under the prevailing conditions.
KW  - Flow speed relationships
KW  - Highway capacity
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Speed control
KW  - Traffic flow
KW  - Work zone traffic control
KW  - Work zones
UR  - http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/assets/pdfs/completedprojects/Final%20Report%20009.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/908607
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01149535
AU  - McCord, Mark R
AU  - Mishalani, Rabi G
AU  - Goel, Prem
AU  - NEXTRANS
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Research and Education from a Smart Campus Transit Laboratory
PY  - 2009/10/15/Final Report
SP  - 64p
AB  - For approximately a decade, members of the project team monitored Ohio State University (OSU) campus buses serving four million passengers annually with a “homemade” GPS‐based automatic vehicle location (AVL), communications, and information system called BLIS (Bus Location and Information System). The team supplied regular, system‐wide performance reports to OSU’s Transportation and Parking (T&P) Campus Area Bus Service (CABS), responded to special requests from CABS (generally resulting from customer complaints about service), and conducted research studies that exploited the BLIS data archived. These research and outreach activities, along with the BLIS archived data, formed the first generation of the OSU Campus Transit Lab (CTL). Through a joint effort of T&P, the OSU College of Engineering, OSU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science, and Clever Devices, Inc., BLIS is being replaced with an advanced, commercial‐grade “Smart Bus” system. Clever Devices has equipped large public bus agencies with such systems, but this is the company’s first implementation for a campus bus service. This substantially upgraded asset and the partnerships surrounding it offer the opportunity to develop the CTL into a unique, valuable, and recognized living lab that can simultaneously support innovative public transportation research, education, and outreach. Obtaining this status will require sustained development that produces benefits to the multiple collaborating stakeholders along the way while keeping them aware of the long term potential. To assist in this sustained development, it is necessary to conduct a multi‐faceted effort that implements and manages the underlying physical and institutional infrastructure of the Smart Bus system while simultaneously producing research, educational, and outreach results that exploit Smart Bus data and the CTL.
KW  - Automatic vehicle location
KW  - Bus transit
KW  - Campus Transit Lab (Ohio State University)
KW  - Campus transportation
KW  - Development
KW  - Education
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research
KW  - Smart buses
UR  - http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/assets/pdfs/completedprojects/Final%20Report%20006.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/908605
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01149528
AU  - McCord, Mark R
AU  - Goel, Prem
AU  - NEXTRANS
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Estimating AADT from Combined Air Photos and Ground Based Data: System Design, Prototyping, and Testing
PY  - 2009/10/15/Final Report
SP  - 38p
AB  - Average annual daily traffic (AADT) is perhaps the most fundamental measure of traffic flow. The data used to produce AADT estimates are largely collected by in-highway traffic counters operated by traffic monitoring crews who must cover thousands of segments in their statewide systems on a continual basis. In addition to being costly, dangerous, and disruptive, the combination of limited resources and the large number of highway segments spread across the expansive geographic regions of the state requires that the state DOTs collect short-term sample volumes on a multi-year cycle. The authors have developed a method that combines the older, ground-based traffic data with traffic information contained in recent air photos in a statistically justified manner to produce more accurate estimates of AADT. To take advantage of this promising method in practice, it is necessary to develop an efficient way to use it on a widespread, repeated basis in an operational setting. The proposed work builds on previous efforts that led to conception, development, and preliminary testing of the estimation method. The authors designed the components of a software system that can be used to efficiently produce the improve AADT estimate, conducted empirical tests of the performance of the estimate, and worked toward gaining institutional acceptance for this novel estimation approach.
KW  - Aerial photography
KW  - Annual average daily traffic
KW  - Software
KW  - Traffic counts
KW  - Traffic data
KW  - Traffic estimation
KW  - Traffic flow
UR  - http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/assets/pdfs/completedprojects/Final%20Report%20002.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/908603
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01149527
AU  - Peeta, Srinivas
AU  - Hu, Shou-Ren
AU  - Chu, Chun-Hsiao
AU  - Liou, Han-Tsung
AU  - NEXTRANS
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Network Origin-Destination Demand Estimation using Limited Link Traffic Counts: Strategic Deployment of Vehicle Detectors through an Integrated Corridor Management Framework
PY  - 2009/10/15/Final Report
SP  - 60p
AB  - In typical road traffic corridors, freeway systems are generally well-equipped with traffic surveillance systems such as vehicle detector (VD) and/or closed circuit television (CCTV) systems in order to gather timely traffic information for traffic control and/or management purposes. However, other highway facilities in the corridor, especially arterials and surface streets in the vicinity of the freeway, mostly lack detector/sensor systems. Yet, most traffic management and control methods/frameworks in the literature assume the availability of time-dependent traffic measures (such as counts, flows, speeds, etc.) on all links of the corridor. Hence, there is a critical disconnect between the practical reality and methodological expectations in terms of detection capabilities. This research seeks to develop a mechanism to strategically deploy vehicle detectors to infer network origin-destination (O-D) demands using limited link traffic count data. It leads to the problem of the identification of “optimal” locations for installing detectors so that maximum system observability is achieved with a limited monetary budget. From an integration standpoint, it addresses the question of where to locate detectors on the non-freeway facilities so that, in conjunction with the installed detectors on freeways, the entire corridor can be managed effectively by obtaining the maximum possible accurate information on traffic conditions. The primary goal of the first stage of this project is to address the network sensor location problem (NSLP) directly so as to obtain the unobserved link flows given the minimum subset of observed link flows provided by passive counting sensors.
KW  - Highway corridors
KW  - Integrated corridor management
KW  - Location
KW  - Origin and destination
KW  - Sensors
KW  - Traffic counts
KW  - Travel demand
KW  - Vehicle detectors
UR  - http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/assets/pdfs/completedprojects/Final%20Report%20018.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/908679
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01149525
AU  - Tyner, Wallace
AU  - Rismiller, Craig
AU  - NEXTRANS
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Transportation Infrastructure Implications of Development of a Cellulose Ethanol Industry for Indiana
PY  - 2009/10/15/Final Report
SP  - 67p
AB  - The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act calls for the US to produce 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022 of which no more than 15 billion would come from corn and 1 billion of biodiesel. Thus, the legislation envisions moving from no cellulose ethanol production today to as much as 20 billion gallons by 2022. In this research project, the authors estimate the transport system impacts of different levels of cellulose production in Indiana. A scenario approach is used for the transport of cellulosic materials to central plants. Transporting cellulose materials to a central processing plant requires more bulk material than for a corn ethanol plant. The authors use an integer programming model to locate and size cellulosic plants in Indiana. This model optimizes plant location given the potential cellulosic production from corn stover and other cellulosic inputs in each part of the state. Cellulose supply curves are developed for each sub‐region in the state. The authors  introduce different scenarios of cellulose development to compare with the base case of no cellulosic ethanol production. The growth of the ethanol industry could be a major mechanism for rural economic development, especially in Region V. Cellulosic ethanol will provide the opportunity for farmers to sell agricultural waste such as corn stover, in addition to growing dedicated energy crops on less desirable land. The emergence of this cellulose‐based ethanol industry will create a number of new transportation needs in Region V, along with new business opportunities for transportation firms. The development of a commercial cellulosic biofuels industry in biomass rich states such as Indiana would likely cause substantial impacts on road infrastructure. The authors assume that 100 percent of the biomass needed for the future cellulosic plants will be sourced locally, thus requiring the use of semi trucks to transport the biomass from the fields to centralized cellulosic biofuel facilities. This research took a case study approach to estimating the infrastructure impacts of cellulosic biofuel production by projecting the impacts of three selected Indiana cellulosic facility sites. The study produced the following key results:  (1) Average loaded vehicle trip miles (VTM) are projected to be 201 to 683 percent higher per gallon of cellulosic biofuel capacity compared to the VTM per gallon of capacity for grain based ethanol. (2)  Average ton‐miles per gallon of capacity for cellulosic biofuel production is projected to be 98 to 432 percent higher compared to the average ton‐mile for grain based ethanol (3)  The average length of haul (LOH) required to source an adequate supply of biomass will increase as more plants are built in a given region. Thus, the first commercial plant built should have the smallest infrastructure impact.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Indiana
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Production
KW  - Service by length of haul
KW  - Ton miles
KW  - Trip length
UR  - http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/assets/pdfs/completedprojects/Final%20Report%20016.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/908655
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01149520
AU  - Al-Qadi, Imad L
AU  - Wang, Hao
AU  - NEXTRANS
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Pavement Damage Due to Different Tire and Loading Configurations on Secondary Roads
PY  - 2009/10/15/Final Report
SP  - 65p
AB  - Due to the large percentage of goods moved by commercial trucks and its ever-growing freight industry, the U.S. needs innovative technologies to improve the efficiency of trucking operations and ensure continuous growth of the economy. One example of such a technology is the introduction of wide-base single tires to replace conventional dual tire systems. After more than two decades of research powered mainly by the tire industry, a new generation of wide-base tire was recently introduced. Compared to the first generation of wide-base tires, these new tires offer safety and cost-savings characteristics. Despite the significant advancements achieved through previous research projects on the impact of wide-base tires on pavements, past investigations have not evaluated the damage wide-base tires cause to low-volume secondary roads. This pavement class is widely encountered in many trucking applications, although for short distances, but the impact of the new generation of wide-base tires on these pavement structures is unclear. In addition, the static uniform loading assumption used in conventional flexible pavement design methods is inconsistent with realistic tire loading conditions and may result in erroneous pavement response and damage predictions. To address these shortcomings, this research project uses a developed three-dimensional (3-D) finite element model to predict pavement responses to loading applied by various tire configurations on secondary road pavements. This model incorporates the measured 3-D tire-pavement contact stresses, hot-mix asphalt (HMA) linear viscoelasticity, continuous moving load, and utilizes implicit dynamic analysis. The impact of wide-base tires on secondary road pavement damage was analyzed using available damage models, and the results were compared to the damage from conventional dual-tire assemblies. Findings of the study suggest that due to the different contact stress distributions at tire-pavement interface, the impact of the new generation of wide-base tire (455/55R22.5) on secondary road pavements varies when compared to the impact of the conventional dual-tire assembly.
KW  - Pavement damage
KW  - Pavement distress
KW  - Pavement performance
KW  - Rolling contact
KW  - Secondary roads
KW  - Stresses
KW  - Tires
KW  - Traffic loads
KW  - Types of tires
UR  - http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/assets/pdfs/completedprojects/Final%20Report%20008.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/908606
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01149517
AU  - Martchouk, Maria
AU  - Mannering, Fred
AU  - NEXTRANS
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Analysis of Travel Time Reliability on Indiana Interstates
PY  - 2009/10/15/Final Report
SP  - 84p
AB  - Travel-time reliability is a key performance measure in any transportation system. It is a measure of quality of travel time experienced by transportation system users and reflects the efficiency of the transportation system to serve citizens, businesses and visitors. Travel-time reliability (the variability in travel times on the same route at the same time from one day to the next) is critical to travelers, shippers, receivers and carriers for trip decisions and on-time arrivals at destinations. Thus, understanding travel time reliability is important to travelers in order for them to plan their trips effectively as well as shippers for them to plan and select routes appropriately. The first objective of this study is to formulate a methodology to obtain travel time data using Bluetooth technology on a freeway segment and collect travel time data. Bluetooth technology enables to collect real travel time data with a high sampling rate of up to 10% of the traffic flow. It also eliminates that need to use complex and often inaccurate algorithms use to calculate travel time from point speed data. Another benefit of this technology is it’s the fact that it is relatively inexpensive to implement; every station where travel time is desirable needs to be equipped with a processing unit, power source and Bluetooth dongle. The second objective is to observe daily and inter-daily variations as well as those due to poor weather conditions and estimate econometric models to predict travel time and variability. Within the context of this study, travel times were collected for two sections of freeway that experience heavy congestion during the peak hours. These travel times were then used to estimate three econometric models that predict travel time as a function of traffic flow parameters including speed and volume. The first model, which is linear regression with lagged dependent variable terms, aims to predict individual travel times during all times of day. The second model, a survival model, seeks to evaluate the probability of the trip lasting any specified length of time. In addition, it can predict the probability of exiting the freeway segment given that the vehicle has been traversing the segment up to that time. The third model seeks to describe travel time and the variability of travel time using the seemingly unrelated regression equations.
KW  - Bluetooth technology
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Econometric models
KW  - Indiana
KW  - Interstate highways
KW  - Reliability (Statistics)
KW  - Travel time
UR  - http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/assets/pdfs/completedprojects/Final%20Report%20014.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/908656
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01149516
AU  - Tutumluer, Erol
AU  - Pekcan, Onur
AU  - Ghaboussi, Jamshid
AU  - NEXTRANS
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Nondestructive Pavement Evaluation Using Finite Element Analysis Based Soft Computing Models
PY  - 2009/10/15/Final Report
SP  - 93p
AB  - Evaluating structural condition of existing, in-service pavements constitutes annually a major part of the maintenance and rehabilitation activities undertaken by State Highway Agencies (SHAs). Accurate estimation of pavement geometry and layer material properties through the use of proper nondestructive testing and sensor technologies is very important for evaluating pavement’s structural condition, its remaining life for maintenance and rehabilitation purposes, and for properly incorporating life cycle cost considerations into an up to date, improved Pavement Management System. For this purpose, pavement deflection basins gathered from the nondestructive Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) test data are commonly used to evaluate pavement structural conditions. Development of an innovative methodology, called SOFTSYS, Soft Computing Based Pavement and Geomaterial System Analyzer, is proposed here as an original way of interpreting the results of FWD tests for full-depth and conventional flexible pavements with the purpose of determining pavement layer properties as well as the layer thicknesses from FWD data without the need for pavement coring. Since the layer thickness information plays a crucial role in FWD data back calculation and remaining pavement life estimation, the outstanding contribution of SOFTSYS will be in the reliable estimation of pavement layer thicknesses in addition to their stiffness properties. Using only FWD test results (i.e. deflections) as inputs, SOFTSYS will calculate all the necessary properties for pavement evaluation. This study focused first on the use of ANN pavement structural models developed with the results of the ILLI-PAVE finite element (FE) program to predict pavement deflections under FWD loading. Then an innovative soft computing application, referred to herein as SOFTSYS, was introduced for the hybrid use of Genetic Algorithms (GAs) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) to estimate pavement layer properties including the hot mix asphalt concrete (HMA) thickness from only the FWD test data collected on full-depth asphalt pavements built on both natural and lime modified subgrades. The performances of the developed surrogate ANN structural models (forward models) were well above satisfactory; i.e., these ANN models could be used in lieu of finite element analyses for the quick and accurate predictions of the surface deflections and the critical responses of all types of full-depth flexible pavements found/constructed in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
KW  - Deflection
KW  - Falling weight deflectometers
KW  - Finite element method
KW  - Genetic algorithms
KW  - Neural networks
KW  - Nondestructive tests
KW  - Pavement layers
KW  - Pavement maintenance
KW  - Pavement performance
KW  - Software
UR  - http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/assets/pdfs/completedprojects/Final%20Report%20010.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/908634
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01149515
AU  - Buttlar, William Glen
AU  - Paulino, Glaucio H
AU  - NEXTRANS
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Development of a Finite Element Based Thermal Cracking Performance Prediction Model
PY  - 2009/10/15/Final Report
SP  - 40p
AB  - Low-temperature cracking of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) pavements continues to be a leading cause of premature pavement deterioration in regions of cold climate and/or where significant thermal cycling occurs. Recent advances in fracture testing and modeling of HMA materials have greatly aided in the understanding of the key mechanisms behind this devastating pavement distress mode. While these advances have led to new insights into cracking mechanisms and design strategies, there remains the challenge of implementing these models into a standalone program which can be easily used by other researchers and practitioners. The proposed supplemental study extends the scope of the existing pooled fund study to more explicitly capture the interactions between vehicles and the infrastructure. Following the successful first phase of the National Pooled Fund Study on Low Temperature Cracking, a second phase will be initiated in mid-2007 and continue for two to three years. While the phase II study will provide additional funding for more field sections at the Minnesota Road Research (Mn/Road) facility and other locations in the US (selected participating states), there is a need for additional research which would facilitate the development of standalone, efficient code for thermal crack prediction. The main deliverable of this project is a user-friendly, computationally efficient program called Visual LTC, which can be used to analyze and to design against thermal cracking in asphalt pavements. This tool will greatly facilitate the design of economical pavement systems and the utilization of modern material formulations and construction techniques that are environmentally friendly and sustainable, such as the use of very high amounts of recycled materials and the use of low energy/low emission warm mix technologies. Planned work in the next phase of this study will lead to the integration of this software into a more holistic asset management analysis system. Given the nature of the proposed GUI and the nature of material database development and distribution/sharing, an object-oriented language was found to be necessary. Visual LTC is written in C# (pronounced “see-sharp”) under Microsoft’s .NET framework. Visual LTC uses an intuitive class structure to represent data (i.e. each pavement layer is a new instance of a class). Visual LTC has been demonstrated to work properly with existing thermal cracking software modules, i.e., those used in the Mechanistic Empirical Design Guide (MEPDG).
KW  - Finite element method
KW  - Hot mix asphalt
KW  - Low temperature
KW  - Pavement cracking
KW  - Pavement design
KW  - Pavement distress
KW  - Pavement performance
KW  - Software
UR  - http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/assets/pdfs/completedprojects/Final%20Report%20011.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/908635
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01149510
AU  - Li, Xiaopeng
AU  - Choi, Eunseok
AU  - Ouyang, Yanfeng
AU  - NEXTRANS
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Sensor Network Design for Multimodal Freight Transportation Systems
PY  - 2009/10/15/Final Report
SP  - 45p
AB  - The agricultural and manufacturing industries in the US Midwest region rely heavily on the efficiency of freight transportation systems. While the growth of freight movement far outpaces that of the transportation infrastructure, ensuring the efficiency and sustainability of the transportation networks becomes a major challenge. The prominent disbenefit of delay and unreliability highlights the need for an integrated, systems-level framework that incorporates cutting-edge information technologies and advanced multimodal network modeling techniques to monitor, manage and plan complex freight transportation systems. Recent developments in sensing and information technology hold the promise to allow efficient monitoring, assessment, and management of complex systems. This project investigated the effect of existing or off-the-shelf sensors on detecting traffic and infrastructure conditions for highway and rail modes. This research project developed an analytical framework to quantify the benefits and costs of deploying sensors for the major freight transportation modes. Specifically, this project developed a new sensor deployment problem in the context of traffic O-D flow surveillance using vehicle ID inspection technologies (e.g., RFID). In addition to traditional flow coverage benefits based on individual sensors, the authors investigated the path coverage benefits from synthesizing the multiple sensors in transportation networks. The authors  considered possible sensor disruptions that are very common for many sensor technologies, yet not well addressed until very recently.
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Information technology
KW  - Inspection
KW  - Management
KW  - Monitoring
KW  - Multimodal transportation
KW  - Sensors
UR  - http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/assets/pdfs/completedprojects/Final%20Report%20012.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/908659
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01149509
AU  - Peeta, Srinivas
AU  - Du, Lili
AU  - Kim, Yong Hoon
AU  - NEXTRANS
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - A Decision Support Tool for Vehicle Infrastructure Integration: Understanding Information Effects and Advancing Data Fusion Algorithms for Traffic Management Applications
PY  - 2009/10/15/Final Report
SP  - 63p
AB  - This research seeks to explore vehicle-to-vehicle information networks to understand the interplay between the information communicated and traffic conditions on the network. A longer-term goal is to develop a decision support tool for processing and storage of large amount of real-time (probe) data for advancing the state of the art in Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII). The fundamental concept in VII is that the (probe) vehicles serve as data collectors and anonymously transmit traffic information to transportation agencies to facilitate proactive strategies for traffic management and safety. The project develops new data fusion algorithms for travel time estimation and online stochastic routing which provides a clear representation of the benefit of information exchange between vehicles in VANETs. A Vehicular Ad Hoc Network (VANET) is composed of smart vehicles in which advanced wireless communication equipment are installed so that inter-vehicular communications are enabled. As a newly emerging paradigm of the Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS), the VANET has received significant interest recently. There are many challenging research topics in this promising area, which can be grouped into two major categories. The first category includes the issues regarding the performance of the communication networks; for example, the network connectivity, the communication capacity, the broadcasting protocol, and so on. The second category comprises issues about traffic networks such as traffic data or information fusion, and online routing. This study focuses on building the information fusion framework to predict the short-term link travel time distribution with the real-time travel-time information provided by a VANET.
KW  - Advanced traveler information systems
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - Data fusion
KW  - Intelligent vehicles
KW  - Traffic data
KW  - Travel time
KW  - Vehicle infrastructure integration
KW  - Wireless communication systems
UR  - http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/assets/pdfs/completedprojects/Final%20Report%20013.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/908677
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01149506
AU  - Peeta, Srinivas
AU  - Hsu, Yu-Ting
AU  - NEXTRANS
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Integrating Supply and Demand Aspects of Transportation for Mass Evacuation under Disasters
PY  - 2009/10/15/Final Report
SP  - 50p
AB  - This study seeks to address real-time operational needs in the context of the evacuation response problem by providing a capability to dynamically route vehicles under evacuation, thereby being responsive to the actual conditions unfolding in real-time in the traffic network, both in terms of the evolving traffic patterns (demand-side) and the available road infrastructure in the aftermath of the disaster (supply-side). A key aspect in evacuation operations which is not well-understood is the interplay between route choice behavior and its effect on traffic and supply dynamics (i.e., composition of evacuation traffic, changes in roadway capacities, etc.). Evacuation traffic has historically been quantified with descriptive surveys characterizing the behavioral aspects from social or psychological contexts. Integration of these behavioral aspects into traffic and/or supply-side models has been limited. This study seeks to address such integration for generating realistic and effective evacuation strategies by focusing on developing behavioral models for no-notice mass evacuation. They include: (i) an evacuation participation decision model that determines whether an individual or a group of individuals would evacuate at the current time in a disaster context, and (ii) an evacuation route choice model that determines the routes taken by individuals or groups of individuals after they take a decision to evacuate.
KW  - Demand
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Disasters and emergency operations
KW  - Evacuation
KW  - Highway capacity
KW  - Highway traffic
KW  - Route choice
KW  - Supply
KW  - Travel behavior
UR  - http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/assets/pdfs/completedprojects/Final%20Report%20019.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/908681
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01149505
AU  - Coifman, Benjamin
AU  - NEXTRANS
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Length Based Vehicle Classification on Freeways from Single Loop Detectors
PY  - 2009/10/15/Final Report
SP  - 142p
AB  - Roadway usage, particularly by large vehicles, is one of the fundamental factors determining the lifespan of highway infrastructure, e.g., as evidenced by the federally mandated Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS). But the complexity of Weigh in Motion (WIM) and other classification stations makes them difficult and costly to maintain. Some of the classification stations employ axle counters, but the least expensive of these stations use dual loop detectors to measure vehicle length and classify vehicles based on this measurement. To date, collecting reliable length data from single loop detectors has been considered impossible due to the noisy speed estimates. Single loop detectors promise to be an inexpensive alternative to spread classification coverage to the existing count stations and existing traffic operations detector stations. By extending classification to the relatively high density of real time traffic monitoring stations in urban areas, the classification work could allow these urban traffic management systems to better monitor freight traffic within the metropolitan areas. The research seeks to develop a means to reliably classify vehicles using estimated vehicle length from single loop detectors. Single loop detectors are the most common vehicle detector, yet they are not used for vehicle classification due to the inherent noise in the individual vehicle length estimates. This work has developed a means to extract more reliable vehicle speed estimates from single loop detectors, and thus, vehicle length estimates as well. This new, reliable, single loop detector methodology for classifying vehicles based on estimated vehicle length is significant because it will provide a low cost means of collecting vehicle classification data by extending the capabilities of existing single loop detectors. There are thousands of single loop detectors on the freeways within the region served by NEXTRANS.
KW  - Freeways
KW  - Highway traffic
KW  - Length
KW  - Loop detectors
KW  - Traffic counts
KW  - Vehicle classification
KW  - Vehicles
UR  - http://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/nextrans/assets/pdfs/completedprojects/Final%20Report%20003.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/908598
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01449593
AU  - Lowe, Daniel
AU  - O’Brien, Robert
AU  - University of Nevada, Las Vegas
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Drag Reduction Proof of Principal Research
PY  - 2009/10/14/Final Report
SP  - 10p
AB  - This report describes the technical advancements made on the Drag Reduction Proof of Principal  project from April 1, 2009 through August 31, 2009. The dust suppression project discovered that the feasibility of drag reduction for large vehicles is feasible through extensive wind tunnel testing. Although the project was not able to test the full scale version on a trailer due to time and financial restraints, valuable data and insight was gained for future large scale testing. This project will utilize the knowledge gained from the dust suppression research and try to validate their findings on a full scale trailer. If time and money permits, flaps will be attached to the trailer to try to quantify the amount of fuel savings on a vehicle of that size.
KW  - Drag
KW  - Drag forces
KW  - Dust control
KW  - Testing
KW  - Tractor trailer combinations
KW  - Trucks
KW  - Wind tunnels
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/45000/45300/45304/DragReduction.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1215746
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01146797
AU  - Nandkeolyar, Udayan
AU  - University of Toledo
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - High-Speed Surface Transportation Corridor: A Conceptual Framework
PY  - 2009/10/08/Final Report
SP  - 38p
AB  - Efficient transportation is indispensable for economic growth and prosperity. In this study the author proposes the development of a high-speed surface corridor and compatible vehicles. He presents a conceptual framework for this corridor and vehicle. This proposed concept will improve the efficiency, flexibility, convenience, and environmental impact of transporting people and materials. His concept is to have trucks and cars travel through these corridors at speeds of over 250 mph without discontinuity. These vehicles will have the ability to use existing roads as well as the proposed corridor. He will explore the application of current and emerging technologies for developing such high-speed surface corridors to link major destinations such as Los Angeles and Chicago.
KW  - Automobile travel
KW  - High speed ground transportation
KW  - Highway corridors
KW  - Highway design
KW  - Highway planning
KW  - Travel time
KW  - Trucking
UR  - http://www.utoledo.edu/research/ututc/docs/UTUTC-SC-7_Final_Report.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/906627
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572212
TI  - Assessing the Bioenergy Production Capability of Native Grasses using Wet Chemical Techniques and Thermochemical Conversion Approaches
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Bioenergy
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Energy conversion
KW  - Grasses
KW  - Performance
KW  - Production
KW  - Thermochemical conversion
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363830
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01468285
TI  - Telephone Survey to Determine Travel Behavior of Residents of Transit Oriented Development in the Inland Empire
AB  - As articulated in Rick Willson's proposal (Phase 1 of the project), policy makers are seeking to coordinate land use and transportation planning to support environmental goals. This is required in the Sustainable Communities Strategy plans mandated by SB 375, and many other regional and local planning efforts. Part of that coordination involves clustering development near transit services (transit-oriented development). This effort requires high quality, local information about the travel behavior of those who live in transit-oriented development (TOD).  In order to gather this information, telephone surveys will be conducted with four target populations. A survey of the first target population (200 residents living within ½ mile of commuter rail stations) will be undertaken as part of Phase 1 of this project. This second phase of the study addresses the three other target populations: 200 residents living within ½ mile of high frequency bus stops, 200 residents living farther than ½ mile but within a 5 mile radius of commuter rail stations, and 200 residents living farther than ½ mile but within a 5 mile radius of high frequency bus stops. Data derived from the survey will be used to understand how travel behavior and auto ownership vary with transit proximity and to understand the factors that affect those relationships. The results will be useful for modelers and policy makers in the Inland Empire and across the state.
KW  - Cluster analysis
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Inland Empire (California)
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroad commuter service
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Sustainable development
KW  - Transit oriented development
KW  - Travel behavior
KW  - Travel surveys
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1236522
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01467994
TI  - Evaluation of Detour System for I-15 Freeway North Reconstruction Design Build Project
AB  - The main goal of this project is to create strategies for traffic control and management of urban construction. The primary research objectives are to analyze data collected by FAST for the various detour strategies, compare simulation results with actual data, and develop guidelines for future major urban freeway detours. These guidelines are critical because over the next decade several major freeway reconstruction projects are planned in Nevada. This research will prepare working papers for each task for review by a research panel. The Panel will consist of personnel from FAST and affected Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) Divisions that will meet quarterly or as needed. The finalized working papers will constitute chapters in the final report.
KW  - Detours
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Freeways
KW  - Highway traffic control
KW  - Nevada
KW  - Nevada Department of Transportation
KW  - Road construction
KW  - Traffic control
UR  - https://sites.google.com/site/i15northproject/home
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1236230
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461820
TI  - GIS Tools for Strategic SB 375 Planning and Program Participation
AB  - This proposal is for a program of decision support protocol development and related geographic information system (GIS) computer applications development for strategic compliance with the new transportation and land use planning mandates of California SB 375. SB 375 is a statute designed to help slow global warming (and incidentally to reduce air pollution and urban sprawl) by promoting comprehensive urban development approaches that are expected to reduce passenger miles driven. This mandate, which affects local agencies and metropolitan (regional) planning organizations (MPOs), requires far more integration of land use planning with transportation planning, and far more geospatial analysis than was previously necessary. The protocol and tools developed under terms of this proposed grant would have stand-alone value as innovative planning tools and methodologies, and their use could and should be promoted to advantage through ordinary dissemination means. But they are ideally envisioned as the central innovation in a larger package of SB375-related education, outreach and technical assistance services to local and regional agencies. Such a package would require additional funding as well as program efforts beyond the scope of this twelve month proposal.  The project will benefit significantly from the GIS and regional research capabilities resident at Cal Poly Pomona. In particular, deliverables will include two products that capitalize on these opportunities. The first is a symposium session and/or possible cosponsored event on GIS tools for SB375 compliance, sponsored by the Center for the Study of the Inland Empire and targeted to the region's planning professionals and policy makers. The second is a featured content channel on the Regional Research Portal, a web-based geospatial metadata portal currently under construction at the Cal Poly Pomona Center for GIS Research. Accordingly, an important secondary goal of the project is to build lasting links between transportation and planning agencies and professionals in the region and the University's GIS faculty, staff and resources.
KW  - California
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Laws
KW  - Metropolitan planning organizations
KW  - Planning and design
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Sustainable development
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230040
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461819
TI  - Smart Dial-a-Ride for Demand-Responsive Transit Operations: Research and Development of a Prototype Dispatch Assistance Tool
AB  - This project proposes to investigate and develop the conceptual basis for an efficient system to aid Dial-a-Ride operations in several areas including: (a) taking ride reservations, (b) assigning rides to vehicles, (c) optimizing vehicle routing, and (d) automatically generating reports which characterize system operation and ridership.
KW  - Demand responsive transportation
KW  - Dispatching
KW  - Paratransit services
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Ridership
KW  - Route guidance
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230039
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461818
TI  - Smart Dial-a-Ride for Demand-Responsive Transit: Operations Analysis and Development of a Concept for Improvements
AB  - This project proposes to investigate, analyze and develop the conceptual basis for an efficient system to aid Dial-a-Ride operations in several areas including: (a) taking ride reservations, (b) assigning rides to vehicles, (c) optimizing vehicle routing, and (d) automatically generating reports which characterize system operation and ridership.
KW  - Demand responsive transportation
KW  - Paratransit services
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Ridership
KW  - Route guidance
KW  - Transit operating agencies
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230038
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461817
TI  - HOV/HOT Lane Proposal
AB  - In June, SANBAG and IAR met to discuss the various research needs of the agency. One of the major transportation issues involves converting existing HOV lanes on the 210, I-10 and I-15 freeways into HOT lanes, which will allow solo commuters to pay a toll to use these lanes. But before SANBAG makes a final decision, it was agreed that a telephone survey of residents should be undertaken in an effort to determine the public's interest in and willingness to support this conversion of HOV lanes into HOT lanes.   These telephone surveys will be conducted with residents of San Bernardino Valley and Victor Valley who use the three freeway corridors. A total of 500 respondents will be surveyed, yielding results with a 95% level of confidence and an accuracy of +/- 4.4%.  The questionnaire will be constructed in close consultation with SANBAG Officials and the surveys will be conducted in both English and Spanish. Data from this survey will provide important information by which SANBAG could market such a conversion to the general public.
KW  - Commuters
KW  - High occupancy toll lanes
KW  - High occupancy vehicle lanes
KW  - Research projects
KW  - San Bernardino (California)
KW  - Toll roads
KW  - Travel surveys
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230037
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461816
TI  - Travel Behavior of Residents of Transit-Oriented Development in the Inland Empire
AB  - This project describes how environmental goals are required in the Sustainable Communities Strategy plans mandated by SB 375, and many other regional and local planning efforts. Part of that coordination involves clustering development near transit services (transit-oriented development). This effort requires high quality, local information about the travel behavior of those who live in transit-oriented development (TOD). The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) and Cal Poly Pomona (CPP) scholars are working on modeling tools to better understand and predict these effects, but information is lacking about the travel behavior of those living in TODs. This proposal follows two previous California studies of the travel behavior of those who live in transit-oriented development (TOD). There are two new foci represented in this proposal - studying bus and commuter rail TOD, and studying the Inland Empire. The project involves a survey of the residents who live in multi-family residential buildings within 1/2 mile of high capacity bus and commuter rail lines. The results will be used to understand how travel behavior and auto ownership vary with transit proximity and to understand the factors that affect those relationships. The results will be useful for modelers and policy makers in the Inland Empire and across the state.
KW  - Cluster analysis
KW  - Inland Empire (California)
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Sustainable development
KW  - Transit oriented development
KW  - Travel behavior
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230036
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461784
TI  - Feasibility of Linear Synchronous Motor Truck Lanes to Reduce Pollution and Congestion on Inland Empire Freeways
AB  - The recent interest in "clean" movement of containers along Southern California freeways has prompted the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and the California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) to develop requirements for zero-emission container transport. This proposal (1) describes a realistic approach to reduction of goods movement pollution--the LSM/HA propulsion system, (2) proposes a detailed study of both the implementation and operational plans for such a system, and (3) provides a preliminary estimate of the pollution reduction capability of such a system.
KW  - Air pollution
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Truck lanes
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230004
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461783
TI  - Transportation and Logistics Technology Integration
AB  - The objective of this project is to develop 'mulit-mode' course materials and technology as a common thread for the transportation and logistics curriculum. Students and instructors will be provided with learning materials and demonstrations that can be used online or in-class.
KW  - Education and training
KW  - Logistics
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Technology assessment
KW  - Transportation
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230003
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461781
TI  - Telephone Survey to Determine Travel Behavior of Residents of Transit-Oriented Development in the  Inland Empire
AB  - As articulated in Rick Willson's proposal (Phase 1 of the project), policy makers are seeking to coordinate land use and transportation planning to support environmental goals. This is required in the Sustainable Communities Strategy plans mandated by SB 375, and many other regional and local planning efforts. Part of that coordination involves clustering development near transit services (transit-oriented development). This effort requires high quality, local information about the travel behavior of those who live in transit-oriented development (TOD). In order to gather this information, telephone surveys will be conducted with four target populations. A survey of the first target population (200 residents living within ½ mile of commuter rail stations) will be undertaken as part of Phase 1 of this project. This second phase of the study addresses the three other target populations: 200 residents living within ½ mile of high frequency bus stops, 200 residents living farther than ½ mile but within a 5 mile radius of commuter rail stations, and 200 residents living farther than ½ mile but within a 5 mile radius of high frequency bus stops. Data derived from the survey will be used to understand how travel behavior and auto ownership vary with transit proximity and to understand the factors that affect those relationships. The results will be useful for modelers and policy makers in the Inland Empire and across the state.
KW  - Inland Empire (California)
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Rail transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Sustainable development
KW  - Transit oriented development
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Travel behavior
KW  - Travel surveys
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230001
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461779
TI  - Transportation Impact and Mitigation Case Study: The Sam and Alfreda Maloof Story
AB  - The Maloof project is part of an interdisciplinary research project to develop and implement a program that will incorporate transportation, land-use, air quality, and energy management within the inland empire region. The larger program is titled Regional Intersection of Transportation/Land-Use/Air Quality/Energy and will involve the cooperation of UCI Department of Planning, Policy &amp; Design (UCI-PPD), CSUSB Lenard Center for Transportation Research and the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) as well as other experts in the field. The Maloof project is a case study that is designed to research the process by which different agencies can more effectively mitigate the impact of transportation construction projects. The objective is to produce a report that will present recommendations for greater interagency cooperation through the environmental impact and mitigation portion of transportation projects. The entire project will cover the scope of the entire academic year and will culminate in a report, a conference paper, a possible magazine article in Preservation magazine, and a public event at the Maloof foundation and a chapter in a book in a policy oriented anthology. The goal is to document the process via the Maloof case study by which different agencies such as: Caltrans, San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG), State Historical Preservation Offices (SHPO) and the National Trust for Historic Preservation in cooperation with private individuals can effectively work together to achieve the preservation of historical and cultural resources in the most efficient and mutually satisfactory way possible. Methods for research will include attaining and reading government archival documents from Caltrans, researching internal memos, minutes from meetings, and related documents from SANBAG, researching case law history regarding preservation and landscape preservation, reviewing academic literature on preservation, and extensive interviews with the people involved in the Maloof case.
KW  - Air quality
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Policy making
KW  - Research projects
KW  - San Bernardino Associated Governments
KW  - Southern California
KW  - Traffic mitigation
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229999
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461690
TI  - Assessing the Bioenergy Production Capability of Native Grasses Using Wet Chemical Techniques and Bench-Scale Biochemical and Thermo Chemical Conversion Approaches
AB  - The goal of this proposed research is to investigate the influence of biomass composition on the quality of bio-oil produced by a thermochemical method called fast pyrolysis. Native grass cultivars from established stands will undergo pyrolysis using an analytical pyroprobe in tandem with a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer. Mass spectra from the pyrolyzed grasses are to be compared with wet-chemical characterization to relate pyrolysis gas composition to grass composition. Grass varieties that result in desirable gas compositions upon pyrolysis will be selected for scale-up to a screw conveyor reactor at Michigan State University and a process model will be formulated to simulate the reactor's performance. The specific objectives of the proposed research are to: (1) characterize the chemical composition of native grass varieties using wetchemical techniques, including: fiber, protein and ash analysis (2) characterize the chemical composition of the pyrolysis gas generated by fast pyrolysis using a pyroprobe interfaced with a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometerconstruct a process model by performing mass and energy balances on a screw-conveyor reactor that is used to convert selected grass varieties into bio-oil Our research involves the thermochemical conversion of biomass to liquid fuels. The liquid product of biomass pyrolysis, bio-oil, is an intermediate that could support both transportation and stationary energy supply chains. Traditional methods of analysis are being compared to pyrolysis to determine what inherent traits of plant biomass result in bio-oil with desired qualities. This strategy can be used to select amongst biomass varieties for improved yields and qualities of bio-oil, and ultimately, liquid fuel. Scale-up of selected grass varieties in a screw-conveyor reactor will determine the robustness of this analytical technique for predicting bio-oil qualities. Mass and energy balance data will be collected at this scale to formulate a process model that describes the conversion of plant biomass into the products of pyrolysis.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Chemical composition
KW  - Energy conversion
KW  - Grasses
KW  - Pyrolysis
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Thermochemistry
KW  - Wet chemistry
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229910
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01472533
AU  - Boeker, Eric R
AU  - Fleming, Gregg G
AU  - Rapoza, Amanda S
AU  - Barberio, Gina
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Handbook for Railroad Noise Measurement and Analysis
PY  - 2009/10//9/2001-10/2009
SP  - 277p
AB  - This handbook is an update, restructuring and expansion of the 1982 document “Handbook for the Measurement, Analysis, and Abatement of Railroad Noise” originally developed by Wyle Laboratories. The handbook is intended as guidance for those conducting sound level measurements for railroad regulatory compliance under 40CFR Part 201 and 49CFR Parts 210, 222, 227, 228, and 229.  Specifically, it addresses 1) noise generated by locomotives and rail-cars during line haul operations, 2) noise generated by yard operations from stationary locomotives, locomotive switching, car-coupling impacts, retarders, and load cell test stands, 3) locomotive horn sound levels, 4) noise levels inside locomotive cabs,  5) noise levels inside employee sleeping quarters, and 6) train employee occupational noise exposure.  It contains a history of these regulations, a general procedure for conducting a noise measurement or noise exposure monitoring program and regulation-specific measurement and data analysis procedures and guidance for each type of compliance, including planning recommendations and measurement equipment.  It also contains example forms and log sheets to help facilitate the documentation of each measurement. These general procedures can be  easily adapted to effectively measure most types of railroad-generated noise.
KW  - Cabs (Vehicle compartments)
KW  - Horns
KW  - Line haul
KW  - Locomotive operations
KW  - Locomotives
KW  - Measurement
KW  - Monitoring
KW  - Noise
KW  - Occupational safety
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Regulations
KW  - Sleeping cars
KW  - Sound level
KW  - Yard operations
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/46000/46400/46475/DOT-VNTSC-FRA-10-01.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1239155
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01456859
AU  - Johnson, Ron
AU  - Marsik, Tom
AU  - Cahill, Cathy
AU  - Lee, Ming
AU  - Alaska University Transportation Center
AU  - University of Alaska, Fairbanks
AU  - State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
AU  - Fairbanks North Star Borough
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Development of Ambient PM 2.5 Management Strategies
PY  - 2009/10//Final Report
SP  - 78p
AB  - Using analyzed and modeled field data on air quality and meteorology, researchers identified major contributors of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Fairbanks. This project was an effort to help the city meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency air quality standards, which require reduced levels of PM2.5, a pollutant. Findings showed that during December and January, traffic is a significant contributor to PM2.5 at the bus barn on Peger Road, and motor vehicles are responsible for about 30% of PM2.5 downtown. Data on soot (black carbon) indicated that wood smoke is a significant contributor to PM2.5 during the heating season. A chemical mass balance model revealed that road dust, biomass burning (wood smoke), and motor vehicles are significant contributors to PM2.5 at the bus barn. With respect to Transportation System Management (TSM) Strategies, working at home has the biggest potential to improve ambient air quality, but even if 5% of commuters worked from home, the PM2.5 downtown would be reduced by only about 0.4%. The research team concluded that Fairbanks will have to adopt major changes in its TSM strategies to effect significant reductions in downtown PM2.5 levels.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Environmental policy
KW  - Fairbanks (Alaska)
KW  - Particulates
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Transportation system management
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/46000/46400/46496/107004_FinalRept_Developmt_Ambient_PM25-ineautc1124.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1224020
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01367497
AU  - Hiller, William
AU  - Luck, Kevin
AU  - PACE Suburban Bus
AU  - Booz Allen Hamilton
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Transit Operations Decision Support System (TODSS) Core Requirements Evaluation And Update Recommendations
PY  - 2009/10
SP  - 88p
AB  - Transit Operations Decision Support Systems (TODSS) are systems designed to support dispatchers and others in real-time operations management in response to incidents, special events, and other changing conditions in order to improve operating speeds, reduce passenger wait times, and restore service when disruptions occur. In 2003, as part of a joint Federal Transit Administration and Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office effort, the transit industry developed core functional requirements for service disruption identification and provision of restoration options for TODSS. In 2006, Pace Suburban Bus was selected to lead a demonstration project to develop and evaluate a prototype TODSS and to validate the TODSS core functional requirements. This report documents the evaluation of the TODSS demonstration project with respect to the core requirements and impacts of TODSS, and includes recommended changes and lessons learned for the transit industry to better understand the TODSS core requirements for future implementations.
KW  - Automatic vehicle location
KW  - Bus transit operations
KW  - Computer aided dispatch (CAD)
KW  - Demonstration projects
KW  - Real time control
KW  - Service disruption
KW  - Transit Operations Decision Support Systems
UR  - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/Technical_Memorandum_TODSS_Core_Requirements_Evaluation_and_Update_Recommendations_Final_Report_v4_%28final%29_%28508%29.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1135981
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01353057
AU  - Mertz, Dennis
AU  - Hayes, Matthew
AU  - Delaware Center for Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Assessing the Vulnerability of Delaware’s Coastal Bridges to Hurricane Forces
PY  - 2009/10//Final Report
SP  - 80p
AB  - There exists a need for new guidelines to address the threat of hurricane forces to coastal bridges. Researchers at the University of Florida, Ocean Engineering Associates, Inc., Modjeski and Masters, Inc., Moffatt & Nichol, and the Federal Highway Administration have developed a three-level assessment to determine the vulnerability of coastal bridges to hurricane forces. The original research was performed in the State of Florida and is being tested in the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts. The purpose of this study is to analyze a sample of Delaware’s coastal bridges to determine the applicability of the specifications to the Middle Atlantic coast and to determine any risk to Delaware’s bridge inventory. Feedback will also be provided to the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) on the specifications and the safety of their bridges. Three bridges in Delaware were chosen to analyze using the specifications. They are the Indian River Inlet Bridge (Bridge 3-156), the Fenwick Island Bridge (Bridge 3-437), and the Old Mill Bridge (Bridge 3-460). They were chosen because of their proximity to the coast, low elevations, and criticality in evacuation or rescue operations during a hurricane. The results for the study were that the 100-year wave crest elevation, in addition to the design storm water elevation, was not high enough to impact any of the three bridge superstructures. In each case, the minimum 1 ft of required clearance was maintained. The risk to Delaware’s coastal bridge inventory from hurricane forces is very low and it was determined that the specifications used are acceptably applicable to Delaware. Additionally, the recommendations to DelDOT are to become familiar with the specifications to use for future bridge design and to also become familiar with recovery techniques if a disaster does occur to a coastal bridge.
KW  - Bridge design
KW  - Coasts
KW  - Delaware
KW  - Design storm
KW  - Highway bridges
KW  - Hurricanes
KW  - Risk assessment
KW  - Specifications
KW  - Wave height
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/Mertz_Hayes_FinalReport.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/42000/42100/42141/Mertz_Hayes_FinalReport.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1117579
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01349477
AU  - Comer, Jonathan C
AU  - Graham, Amy K
AU  - Brown, Stacey R
AU  - Oklahoma State University, Stillwater
AU  - Oklahoma Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Oklahoma’s Transportation Infrastructure: Inventory and Impacts
PY  - 2009/10//Final Report
SP  - 72p
AB  - This project comprehensively analyzed Oklahoma’s transportation infrastructure and its impact on the state’s economy via network analysis techniques that are widely used in and outside geography. The focus was on the context, connectivity, and condition of the state’s transportation system. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) both organized and stored a large transportation infrastructure database and served as an analytical platform. This project assessed comparable data (e.g. road and rail networks, highway and bridge conditions) for Oklahoma and its neighbors to determine the state’s comparative transportation advantages and disadvantages, permitting a detailed analysis of the state’s regional transportation competitiveness. Deliverables included: (1) a comprehensive transportation inventory for Oklahoma and three of its neighbors, (2) a GIS database with the states' highway and other appropriate networks, linked with socioeconomic and business data to permit further research by other interested parties, (3) a statistical analysis measuring the impacts of transportation in the four states, and (4) a comprehensive report summarizing the data and methods used, the analyses of the context, connectivity, and condition of the states' transportation networks, and the overall results from the project. Deliverables 1 and 2 are accessible online through a project web page at http://www2.geog.okstate.edu/oklahomatransportationinventory/ while this report comprises deliverables 3 and 4.
KW  - Economic impacts
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Inventory
KW  - Network analysis (Planning)
KW  - Oklahoma
KW  - Transportation infrastructure
UR  - http://www.oktc.org/otc/files/finalReports/OTCREOS7.1-09-F.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1107885
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01333263
AU  - daSilva, Marco P
AU  - Ayres, Greg
AU  - Najm, Wassim G
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
TI  - Crash Problem Definition and Safety Benefits Methodology for Stability Control for Single-Unit Medium and Heavy Trucks and Large-Platform Buses
PY  - 2009/10
SP  - 69p
AB  - This report presents the findings of a comprehensive engineering analysis of electronic stability control (ESC) and roll stability control (RSC) systems for single-unit medium and heavy trucks and large-platform buses. This report details the applicable crash population of these two vehicle types based on GES data and outlines a methodology to calculate safety benefits from the use of these systems. Based on 2000-2004 GES data, an average of 147,000 single-unit medium and heavy trucks are involved in police-reported crashes per year. This study estimated that ESC and RSC systems could have helped about 1.5 percent of those vehicles that are involved in crashes, which amounts to about 2,200 single-unit medium and heavy trucks per year. Based on 1996-2007 GES data, an average of 106,000 large-platform buses are involved in police-reported crashes per year. This study estimated that ESC and RSC systems could have helped about 1 percent of those vehicles that are involved in crashes, which amounts to about 1,000 large-platform buses per year. Although this report presents a methodology to estimate potential safety benefits from the use of ESC and RSC systems on these types of vehicles, no safety benefit estimates were calculated at this time since no ESC or RSC system effectiveness data exists for their use on single-unit trucks or buses.
KW  - Buses
KW  - Crash avoidance research
KW  - Crash rates
KW  - Electronic stability control
KW  - Heavy duty trucks
KW  - Rollover crashes
KW  - Single unit trucks
KW  - Traffic crashes
KW  - Vehicle safety
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35200/35274/DOT_HS_811099.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1097229
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01328494
AU  - Vanderbilt University
AU  - University of Memphis
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Critical Issues Impacting the Freight Transportation Industry in the Southeast Region
PY  - 2009/10
SP  - 13p
AB  - The Center for Intermodal Freight Transportation Studies (CIFTS) is operated by the University of Memphis in partnership with Vanderbilt University. CIFT’s mission is to address critical issues affecting the planning, design and operation of the nation’s freight transportation system, with an emphasis on intermodal activities that have special significance for the City of Memphis, the State of Tennessee, the lower Mississippi Delta region, and the national and international corridors that cross and intersect in the southeastern U.S. Given our nation’s dependence on the freight transportation industry for product delivery and the significance of the industry’s role in economic development, it is important to consider what is required to ensure that the freight transportation system will be able to maintain an acceptable level of performance. To address this concern, CIFTS undertook a study to identify critical safety, security and efficiency issues affecting truck, rail, marine, air and pipeline operations, and their corresponding intermodal connectivity. Information gathered from a variety of sources, including government publications, trade journals, newspaper articles and web sites, was subsequently synthesized into an assessment of existing and forthcoming challenges. The results of this study are reported herein. Safety challenges were identified on the basis of impacts to human health and the environment. Security considerations focused on events that could cause a disruption or compromise of information, people, goods or infrastructure. Efficiency concerns were identified on the basis of the industry’s ability to meet customer demand with available supply in a timely, reliable and economic manner.
KW  - Economic efficiency
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Performance
KW  - Security
KW  - Southeastern United States
KW  - Transportation safety
UR  - http://www.vanderbilt.edu/vector/research/StrategicFreightScan-Final.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1089518
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01321155
AU  - Bien-Aime, Patrick
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Research and Special Programs Administration
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - North Carolina Sealed Corridor Phase I, II, and III Assessment
PY  - 2009/10//Final Report
SP  - 61p
AB  - The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) tasked the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center to document the further success of the North Carolina Department of Transportation  (DOT) Sealed Corridor project through Phases I, II, and III. The Sealed Corridor is the section of the designated Southeast High Speed Rail (SEHSR) Corridor that runs through North Carolina. The Sealed Corridor program aims at improving or consolidating every highway-rail grade crossing, both public and private, along the Charlotte to Raleigh rail route in North Carolina. The research on the Sealed Corridor assessed the progress made at the 189 crossings that have been treated with improved warning devices or closed between Charlotte and Raleigh, from March 1995 through September 2004. Two approaches were used to describe benefits in terms of lives saved: a fatal crash analysis to derive lives saved, and prediction of lives saved based on the reduction of risk at the treated crossings. Both methods estimated that more than 19 lives have been saved as a result of the 189 improvements implemented through December 2004. Analysis also shows that the resulting reduction in accidents, due to the crossing improvements, is sustainable through 2010, when anticipated exposure and train speeds along the corridor will be increased.
KW  - Grade crossing protection systems
KW  - North Carolina
KW  - Railroad grade crossings
KW  - Railroad safety
KW  - Railroad traffic
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Warning devices
UR  - http://www.bytrain.org/safety/sealed/PDF/sc_asessment_oct09.pdf
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/300
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/50000/50500/50573/sc_asessment_oct09.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1075476
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01226760
AU  - Kruse, Jim
AU  - Protopapas, Annie
AU  - Olson, Les
AU  - Texas Transportation Institute
AU  - Rahall Appalachian Transportation Institute
AU  - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Transportation Rate Analysis Gulf Intracoastal Waterway - West
PY  - 2009/10//Final Report
SP  - v.p.
AB  - This study was conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute under contract with the Marshall University’s Rahall Transportation Institute for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The objective of this research is to facilitate the calculations of the National Economic Development benefits attributable to navigation via the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway-West which stretches from Brownsville, TX to New Orleans, LA. Toward this objective, the study provides a full range of transportation rates and supplemental costs for a sampling of 40 movements contained in the 2006 Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center’s commodity movements which, in total or in part, were routed on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway-West.
KW  - Commodities
KW  - Costs
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Gulf Intracoastal Waterway - West
KW  - Rates
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/987566
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01165351
AU  - Edwards, Geoff
AU  - University of Delaware, Newark
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Delaware’s Transportation Agenda in the Northeast Corridor
PY  - 2009/10
SP  - 23p
AB  - The fractionated governance structure of the entire Northeast Corridor (Warren 2009) is also evidenced within the Baltimore-to-Philadelphia portion, which contains the entire extent of Delaware’s claim to the corridor. Though comprising only a small segment of the overall corridor and a miniscule portion of Delaware’s total transportation infrastructure, this 25-mile stretch is fundamental to the state’s relations with transportation and economic networks at several scales, from regional to global. This report employs recent literature and stakeholder input to provide future researchers with an appreciation for the major issues that will hinder or enable Delaware’s regional, national, and international transportation relationships over the next five to ten years. Nearly all of these issues affect corridor cohesion; they all center on some aspect of building bridges, filling gaps, and forging alliances (quite often in the literal sense of these terms). While each of the transportation stakeholders along the corridor support the clearance of major impediments to corridor movement, funding, and governance, they often hold widely diverging positions as to how this should be performed. Relying heavily on stakeholder interviews and recent literature, the following report presents summaries of many of the major transportation issues that define Delaware’s position within the Northeast Corridor.
KW  - Cooperation
KW  - Delaware
KW  - Northeast Corridor
KW  - Strategic alliances
KW  - Transportation modes
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/odonnell_08.html
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/33000/33400/33444/DelawareNECagenda.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/925023
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01164853
AU  - Weissman, Sarah
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - New Jersey Crash Record Geocoding
PY  - 2009/10//Final Report
SP  - 12p
AB  - The New Jersey Crash Record Geocoding Initiative was designed as a provisional measure to address missing crash locations.  The purpose of the initiative was twofold.  Primarily, students worked to locate crashes that had no location information after enforcement or review of the New Jersey Department of Transportation.  Locating these crashes increased the number of crash locations, thereby improving all analyses.  As a result, data-driven decision making stemming from location information was also enhanced.  Additionally, database improvements were suggested for implementation.  Both efforts improved data accuracy and completeness.
KW  - Crash locations
KW  - Crash records
KW  - Data accuracy
KW  - Databases
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Improvements
KW  - Missing data
KW  - New Jersey
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/925818
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01158851
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Rail Passenger Selective Screening Summit
PY  - 2009/10
SP  - 92p
AB  - The Rail Passenger Selective Screening Summit, co-sponsored by Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) and the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), was held in Chicago on June 18, 2009, during APTA’s annual Rail Conference. Moderated by Brian Michael Jenkins, director of the MTI's National Transportation Security Center of Excellence, it featured speaker from transit and planning agencies, Amtrak, and the Transportation Security Administration. Topics of discussion included an overview of security best practices, selective screening techniques, security staff training, legal issues, funding challenges and establishing agency policy and procedures. This publication is an edited transcript of the summit.
KW  - Amtrak
KW  - Best practices
KW  - Passenger screening
KW  - Passenger security
KW  - Rail transit
KW  - Railroad commuter service
KW  - Security
KW  - Training
UR  - http://www.transweb.sjsu.edu/MTIportal/research/publications/documents/Rail%20Transit%20Security%20%285.20.2010%20with%20Covers%29.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/918703
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01155103
AU  - Hellman, Adrian D
AU  - Ngamdung, Tashi
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Illinois High-Speed Rail Four-Quadrant Gate Reliability Assessment
PY  - 2009/10//Final Report
SP  - 45p
AB  - The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) tasked the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) to conduct a reliability analysis of the four-quadrant gate/vehicle detection equipment installed on the future high-speed rail (HSR) corridor between Chicago and St Louis. A total of 69 highway-rail grade crossings on a 121-mile (195 km) segment of the 280-mile corridor were equipped with four-quadrant gates and inductive loop vehicle detection technology. This segment, between Mazonia and Springfield Illinois, will eventually carry passenger trains at speeds up to 110 mph (177 km/h) at many of the highway-rail grade crossings. The analysis was based on maintenance records obtained from the Union Pacific Railroad, the owner and operator of the highway-rail grade crossings. The results were used to assess the impact of the equipment reliability on the proposed HSR timetable. The Volpe Center study showed that the total average delay to the five scheduled daily high-speed passenger round-trips was an estimated 38.5 minutes, or approximately 4 minutes per train. Overall, extensive analysis of the trouble ticket data showed that the four-quadrant gate and vehicle detection equipment had a minimal direct impact on the frequency and duration of grade crossing malfunctions.
KW  - Countermeasures
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Four quadrant gates
KW  - High speed rail
KW  - Loop detectors
KW  - Railroad grade crossings
KW  - Railroad safety
KW  - Reliability
KW  - Vehicle detectors
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35000/35020/DOT-VNTSC-FRA-09-07.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/915758
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01155077
AU  - Jeong, D Y
AU  - Tang, Y H
AU  - Yu, Hai
AU  - Lyons, M L
AU  - Gordon, J E
AU  - Orringer, O
AU  - Perlman, A B
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Engineering Studies on Structural Integrity of Railroad Tank Cars Under Accident Loading Conditions
PY  - 2009/10//Final Report
SP  - 103p
AB  - This report describes research conducted to support the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) in addressing safety recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) regarding a train derailment that occurred near Minot, North Dakota on January 18, 2002. Engineering studies entailing analysis and testing are described, which include (1) analysis of derailment dynamics based on lumped-parameter models, (2) analysis of the structural behavior of tank car components (such as the head and shell) based on finite element modeling, (3) tank car steels characterization based on laboratory testing of samples obtained from tank cars. Specific details of the research are described. Conclusions based on the research findings to date are outlined. The research began to provide FRA with technical support in responding to recommendations made by the NTSB following the Board’s investigation of the Minot accident. Research results are now being applied to support: (1) rulemaking proposed by FRA and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to ensure the safe transport of hazardous materials by tank cars and (2) an industry research-and-development effort, called the Next Generation Rail Tank Car Project that was formed to develop and implement new improved designs for tank cars carrying hazardous materials.
KW  - Derailments
KW  - Finite element method
KW  - Hazardous materials
KW  - Impact loads
KW  - Railroad safety
KW  - Structural integrity
KW  - Tank cars
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/299
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35200/35277/DOT-FRA-ORD-09-18.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/915756
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01154216
AU  - Carlson, David
AU  - Edmiston, Sharon Chan
AU  - Zlotoff, Alisa
AU  - Miller, Alexandra
AU  - Filosa, Gina
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
TI  - State Transportation Liaison Funded Positions Study
PY  - 2009/10
SP  - 83p
AB  - The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), which was signed into law in August 2005, contained several provisions focused on streamlining the environmental review process. One of these provisions, Section 6002, allowed for State Department of Transportation (State DOT) funding of staff, at both Federal and State resource agencies, who are dedicated to working on State DOT projects on environmental streamlining and related planning activities. This report assesses trends in the use of these “funded positions” and provides recommendations to State DOTs and resource agencies to support more effective uses of funded positions. The report is based on a study conducted by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Project Development and Environmental Review with assistance from the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center). The study consisted of two parts: (1) a literature review to assess the state of the knowledge about State DOT-funded positions and agreements, and (2) a series of interviews with participants in funded positions programs, including program managers at State DOTs and Federal and State resource agencies and individuals in those positions.
KW  - Environmental impact analysis
KW  - Environmental streamlining
KW  - Interviewing
KW  - Literature reviews
KW  - Personnel
KW  - Resource agencies
KW  - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
KW  - State departments of transportation
UR  - http://environment.fhwa.dot.gov/strmlng/fundedPositionsReport/report.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34700/34778/October_2009_StateTranspLiaisonFPStudy.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/915832
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01153460
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
TI  - Environmental Mitigation in Transportation Planning: Case Studies in Meeting SAFETEA-LU Section 6001 Requirements
PY  - 2009/10//Final Report
SP  - 69p
AB  - The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) included provisions intended to enhance consideration of environmental issues and impacts within the transportation planning process. The purpose of this case study report is to examine the ways in which metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) have responded to SAFETEA-LU new environmental and consultation requirements in transportation planning. By presenting key success factors and lessons learned, common challenges and gaps, and other observations, this report is expected to assist transportation officials across the nation in improving their transportation planning processes and outcomes.
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Environmental mitigation
KW  - Metropolitan planning organizations
KW  - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
KW  - State departments of transportation
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://www.environment.fhwa.dot.gov/integ/pubcase_6001.asp
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/914893
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01153170
AU  - Chen, Genda
AU  - Yan, Dongming
AU  - Wang, Zuocai
AU  - McConnell, Seth Justin
AU  - Rogers, David
AU  - Karim, Kazi R
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Structural Assessment of Highway "N" Power Substation under Earthquake Loads
PY  - 2009/10//Final Report
SP  - 58p
AB  - In this study, the Highway N Substation was analyzed with a finite element model (FEM) for its vulnerability. The ‘rigid’ bus and electric switch components were characterized with full scale shake table tests. Each component of the substation was carefully modeled with due considerations of mass density, stiffness and geometries. Based on the FEM, modal analysis was conducted to identify the natural frequencies of the structure along with their corresponding mass participation factors. In response spectrum and time history analyses, the dynamic responses of main components, such as ‘rigid’ buses and switches, were evaluated. The magnitude and location of the maximum moments were identified. The shake table tests on three Turner Electric’s TMX switches indicated that the first three natural frequencies of the switches are approximately 7.41 Hz, 15.2 Hz and 22.9 Hz, respectively. They are significantly higher than their corresponding frequencies of the entire substation system. The tested switches consistently fractured at the base of their metal shaft, a critical component of the switch open-and-close mechanism, due to stress concentration and local manufacture defect.
KW  - Earthquake resistant design
KW  - Electric substations
KW  - Finite element method
KW  - Fracture mechanics
KW  - Risk assessment
KW  - Shaking table tests
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/R213_and_R228_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/914752
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01152837
AU  - Yan, Dongming
AU  - Li, Jianbo
AU  - Wu, Chengling
AU  - Chen, Genda
AU  - Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Strengthening of Rural Bridges Using Rapid-Installation FRP Technology: Route 63 Bridge No. H356, Phelps County
PY  - 2009/10//Final Report
SP  - 36p
AB  - This report presents the use of externally bonded fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) laminates for the flexural strengthening of a concrete bridge. The bridge selected for this project is a two-span simply supported reinforced concrete slab with no transverse steel reinforcement located in Phelps County, MO. The original construction combined with the presence of very rigid parapets  caused the formation of a 1-inch wide longitudinal crack, which resulted in the slab to behave as two separate elements. The structural behavior was verified using a finite element model (FEM) of the bridge. The bridge analysis was performed for maximum loads determined in accordance with AASHTO 4th edition. The strengthening scheme was designed in compliance with the ACI 440.2R-08 design guide for externally bonded FRP materials, to avoid further cracking and such that the transverse flexural capacity be higher than the cracking moment. The FRP strengthening technique was rapidly implemented. After the strengthening, a load test was performed to validate the bridge model and evaluate the structural behavior according to the AASHTO specifications. The bridge deck was retrofitted after the longitudinal crack was injected with epoxy to allow continuity in the cross section.
KW  - Carbon fibers
KW  - Fiber reinforced plastics
KW  - Load tests
KW  - Reinforced concrete bridges
KW  - Rural areas
KW  - Strengthening (Maintenance)
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/R135_RollaBridge_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/914314
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01147374
AU  - Loukaitou-Sideris, Anastasia
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - How to Ease Women’s Fear of Transportation Environments: Case Studies and Best Practices
PY  - 2009/10
SP  - 82p
AB  - The relationship between women’s fear and the built environment has been the subject of research with clear findings that women feel unsafe in many public spaces. These often include transportation environments. Desolate bus stops and train cars, dimly lit park-and-ride lots and parking structures, but also overcrowded transit vehicles represent stressful settings for many women, who often feel compelled to change their transportation modes and travel patterns in order to avoid them. Past research has shown that transit passengers’ fears and concerns about safety influence their travel decisions. But while the relationship between women’s fear of crime and public space has been the focus of considerable research, transit environments have received less attention. This study seeks to address this gap by, 1) identifying the perspectives and needs of women regarding safety from crime in transit environments through a comprehensive literature review and in depth interviews with representatives of 16 national women’s interest groups; 2) assessing if these needs are met by transit agencies, through a survey of 131 U.S transit operators; and 3) discussing model programs and best practices from the U.S. and overseas that address women’s concerns about safe travel. We found that women transit passengers have some distinct travel needs, but these needs are not well addressed in the U.S., where only a handful of transit operators have specific programs in place targeting the safety needs of women riders. In contrast, some other countries have adopted specific measures and policies in response to women’s transit safety needs. We also found a mismatch between the expressed needs of women passengers and the types and locations of common safety/security strategies adopted by transit agencies. Based on feedback from our interviews and case studies we offer a series of policy recommendations.
KW  - Attitudes
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Fear
KW  - Females
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Safety
KW  - Safety factors
KW  - Transit operating agencies
UR  - http://transweb.sjsu.edu/mtiportal/research/publications/documents/Sideris.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/905602
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01144495
AU  - Gu, Yu
AU  - West Virginia University, Morgantown
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - West Virginia Department of Highways
TI  - Evaluation of Remote Sensing Aerial Systems in Existing Transportation Practices
PY  - 2009/10//Final Report
SP  - 41p
AB  - The application of small Remotely-Controlled (R/C) aircraft for aerial photography presents many unique advantages over manned aircraft due to their lower acquisition cost, lower maintenance issue, and superior flexibility.  The extraction of reliable information from these images could benefit DOT engineers in a variety of research topics including, but not limited to, work zone management, traffic congestion, safety, and environmental.  During this effort, one of the West Virginia University R/C aircraft, named 'Foamy', has been instrumented for a proof-of-concept demonstration of aerial data acquisition.  Specifically, the aircraft has been outfitted with a GPS receiver, a flight data recorder, a downlink telemetry hardware, a digital still camera, and a shutter-triggering device.  During the flight a ground pilot uses one of the R/C channels to remotely trigger the camera.  Several hundred high-resolution geo-tagged aerial photographs were collected during 10 flight experiments at two different flight fields.  A Matlab based geo-reference was developed for measuring distances from an aerial image and estimating the geo-location of each ground asset of interest.  A comprehensive study of potential Sources of Errors (SOE) has also been performed with the goal of identifying and addressing various factors that might affect the position estimation accuracy.  The result of the SOE study concludes that a significant amount of position estimation error was introduced by either mismatching of different measurements or by the quality of the measurements themselves.  The first issue is partially addressed through the design of a customized Time-Synchronization Board (TSB) based on a MOD 5213 embedded microprocessor.  The TSB actively controls the timing of the image acquisition process, ensuring an accurate matching of the GPS measurement and the image acquisition time.  The second issue is solved through the development of a novel GPS/INS (Inertial Navigation System) based on a 9-state Extended Kalman Filter.  The developed sensor fusion algorithm provides a good estimation of aircraft attitude angle without the need for using expensive sensors.  Through the help of INS integration, it also provides a very smooth position estimation that eliminates large jumps typically seen in the raw GPS measurements.
KW  - Aerial photography
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Drone aircraft
KW  - Geolocation
KW  - Global Positioning System
KW  - Inertial navigation systems
KW  - Remote control
UR  - http://www.mautc.psu.edu/docs/WVU-2008-01.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/904915
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01144164
AU  - Geiselbrecht, Tina Collier
AU  - Baker, Richard Tremain
AU  - University Transportation Center for Mobility
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - A Guide to Transportation Funding Options: Phase 2
PY  - 2009/10//Final Report
SP  - 16p
AB  - This project is a continuation of a project that provided a one-stop shop website, A Guide to Transportation Funding Options (http://utcm.tamu.edu/tfo), detailing transportation funding options and their applicability in an easy-to-use format. The first phase of this project compiled information on transportation funding options for highway funding. This subsequent phase provided similar information for other modes of transportation including transit, rail, aviation, and ports and waterways. The information is presented in a format that is user friendly and easily accessible via the Internet for anyone interested in project financing methods.
KW  - Aviation
KW  - Financing
KW  - Guides to information
KW  - Internet
KW  - Ports
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Waterways
KW  - Websites (Information retrieval)
UR  - http://utcm.tamu.edu/publications/final_reports/Geiselbrecht_09-09-06.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/904479
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01144163
AU  - Bomberg, Matthew
AU  - Baker, Richard Tremain
AU  - Goodin, Ginger D
AU  - University Transportation Center for Mobility
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Mileage‐Based User Fees – A Path toward Implementation: Phase 2: An Assessment of Technology Issues
PY  - 2009/10//Final Report
SP  - 44p
AB  - This report reviews technology options for a mileage-based user fee system in the state of Texas. The report was compiled based on input from a diverse range of sources, including a literature review of existing mileage-based user fee technical write-ups, discussion of an internal technology assessment team at the Texas Transportation Institute, interviews with individuals representing key technology stakeholders, and findings from the first annual symposium on mileage-based user fees. The main focus of this report is to assess the range of possible mileage-based user fee system architectures. These architectures are considered at the logical level (i.e., the flow and transformation of information from raw data describing roadway use to an end bill) with the goal of demonstrating how the process flow of each architecture affects its ability to meet key policy objectives. The report also explores issues related to payment, enforcement, the deployment of on-board units in vehicles, and the potential for technology enabling a mileage-based user fee to be a platform for other value-added services. Finally, the report concludes by identifying key policy questions for Texas that must be addressed before pilot programs can be developed.
KW  - In-vehicle technology
KW  - Law enforcement
KW  - Mileage-based user fees
KW  - On board equipment
KW  - Payment
KW  - Policy
KW  - System architecture
KW  - Technology assessment
KW  - Texas
KW  - User charges
KW  - Value added services
UR  - http://utcm.tamu.edu/publications/final_reports/Goodin_tech_09-39-07.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/904472
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01143661
AU  - Monsere, Christopher M
AU  - Diercksen, Lisa
AU  - Dixon, Karen K
AU  - Liebler, Michael
AU  - Portland State University
AU  - Oregon State University, Corvallis
AU  - Oregon Department of Transportation
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Safety Investment Program (SIP) Policies for Oregon
PY  - 2009/10//Final Report
SP  - 180p
AB  - The Safety Investment Program (SIP) was originally called the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program - Safety Investment Program (STIP-SIP). The concept of the program was first discussed in October 1997 and the program was adopted by the Oregon Transportation Commission in August 1998. The concept for the program grew out of a cost-effective approach to pavement preservation projects that set out to maximize the impact of money spent on highway safety, based on crash reduction factors. Safety projects were to be selected based on high crash locations as identified by the Safety Priority Index System (SPIS) and SIP Category ratings of five-mile sections. This research evaluated the SIP Policy from the perspective of: 1) an overall program for safety improvement projects, 2) a guiding policy when safety improvements are planned as part of other project work, and 3) a component integrated with the highway design procedures for resurfacing, restoration, or rehabilitation (3R) projects. The research included two levels of evaluation; the first evaluation was done as part of the systematic evaluation, while the second was a project-level evaluation. The systematic evaluation revealed that, in general, projects where safety funds were used resulted in a net decrease in total crashes as well as severe and fatal crashes; however, these benefits were not realized for all locations or all work types. The detailed review of the 24 mixed safety-preservation projects highlighted some of the challenges of successfully implementing the SIP Policy. It was clear that the SIP Policy has not been applied consistently to mixed projects. In particular, the variety of design and, to a lesser extent, the funding eligibility scores, highlight the variety of policy interpretations. The project-level evaluation concluded that the most important project element to improve safety performance was the specific identification of a safety problem. Recommendations were made on improved documentation procedures at the project level as well as strategies to improve overall policy compliance.
KW  - Compliance
KW  - Crash reduction factors
KW  - High risk locations
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Oregon
KW  - Policy
KW  - Safety management
KW  - Safety programs
UR  - http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TP_RES/ResearchReports/SIP_Evaluation_FR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/903569
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01349494
AU  - Hatami, Kianoosh
AU  - Miller, Gerald A
AU  - Garcia, Lina M
AU  - University of Oklahoma, Norman
AU  - Oklahoma Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Use of MSE Technology to Stabilize Highway Embankments and Slopes in Oklahoma
PY  - 2009/09/30/Final Report
SP  - 62p
AB  - Departments of transportation across the U.S., including ODOT, are invariably faced with a persistent problem of landslides and slope failures along highways. Repairs and maintenance work associated with these failures cost these agencies millions of dollars annually. An ideal solution for the construction or repair of slopes and embankments is to use large quantities of coarse-grained, free-draining soils to stabilize these structures. However, such soils are not readily available in Oklahoma and many other parts of the U.S. Consequently, the production and transportation costs for these materials can be prohibitive amounting to millions of dollars annually. A possible solution to this problem would be to use locally available soils that are of marginal quality (e.g. soils with more than 15% fines content) but are significantly less expensive. However, the pullout capacity of reinforcement in reinforced soil slopes constructed with marginal soils can decrease as a result of increase in the soil moisture content. The loss of matric suction and excess pore water pressure as a result of compaction or prolonged precipitation during construction or service life of the structure can jeopardize the stability of structure or lead to excessive deformation. Current design guidelines for reinforced soil slopes in North America do not account for the reduction in the interface strength due to increased moisture content. This study is aimed at developing a moisture reduction factor (MRF) to account for the influence of moisture content on the soil-geosynthetic reinforcement interface strength in reinforced soil structures constructed with marginal soils. In this one-year study, MRF values were determined for an Oklahoma marginal soil and a woven geotextile reinforcement material through large-scale and small-scale pullout tests. The tests were carried out at three different moisture content values: optimum moisture content (OMC), OMC+2% and OMC-2%. It was found that the strength of soil-geotextile reinforcement interface constructed at OMC-2% could decrease by as much as 20%-40% when the soil moisture content is increased to OMC+2%. The outcome of this long-term study will assist ODOT and other departments of transportation in the U.S. to include the influence of soil moisture content in their stability analysis and design of reinforced soil structures to repair, stabilize and reconstruct slopes composed of marginal soils along the transportation corridors in the U.S.
KW  - Drained soil
KW  - Embankments
KW  - Geosynthetics
KW  - Geotextiles
KW  - Interfaces
KW  - Mechanically stabilized earth
KW  - Oklahoma
KW  - Pullout tests
KW  - Slope stability
KW  - Slopes
KW  - Soil reinforcement
KW  - Soil suction
KW  - Soil water
UR  - http://www.oktc.org/otc/files/finalReports/OTCREOS7.1-19-F.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1107988
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01346514
AU  - Veneziano, David
AU  - Galarus, Douglas
AU  - Koon, Leann
AU  - Western Transportation Institute
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Oregon Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - California and Oregon Advanced Transportation Systems Phase 3: Final Report
PY  - 2009/09/30/Final Report
SP  - 20p
AB  - The purpose of this document is to summarize the work completed for continued Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) demonstration, evaluation and technology transfer in rural northern California and southern Oregon. This work was completed under the third phase (Phase 3) of the California and Oregon Advanced Transportation Systems (COATS) project. The purpose of the overall COATS effort has been and continues to be encouraging regional, public and private sector cooperation between California and Oregon organizations to better facilitate the planning and implementation of ITS in a rural bi-state area extending between Eugene, Oregon and Redding, California. Following an introductory chapter, the remaining chapters of this report discuss technology transfer, national partnerships and leveraging (focused on the development of Integrated Corridor Management for rural areas), planning and architecture support, evaluation support, and deployment assistance support.
KW  - California
KW  - California/Oregon Advanced Transportation Systems (COATS)
KW  - Cooperation
KW  - Deployment
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Integrated corridor management
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Oregon
KW  - Partnerships
KW  - Planning
KW  - Rural areas
KW  - System architecture
KW  - Technology transfer
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/documents/reports/4W1684_Final_Report.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1108729
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01146760
AU  - Alam, Bhuiyan M
AU  - University of Toledo
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Travel Behavior of U.S. Domestic Airline Passengers and Its Impacts on Infrastructure Utilization
PY  - 2009/09/30/Final Report
SP  - 47p
AB  - Unexpected and unannounced delays and cancellations of flights have emerged as a quasinormal phenomenon in recent months and years. The airline unreliability has become unbearable day by day. The volume of airline passengers on domestic routes in the United States has risen despite the devastating terrorist acts of September 11, 2001 while the level of service has gone down in recent years. Some speculate that this increased ridership has caused extra pressure on available infrastructure such as airports. This study investigates the nature of domestic air passenger travel demand at the airports. It also investigates the level of service provided at the airports that are explained by different measuring units. The study includes five regional airports: Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County International Airport (DTW), Cincinnati-Covington International Airport (CVG), Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE), and Toledo Express Airport (TOL). It finds that ORD, as it stands for the last decade, has been consistently providing unsatisfactory services to the passengers in terms of flight delays (both departure and arrival), luggage handling, passenger complaints, involuntary denial of boarding, etc. However, four other regional airports are doing better than ORD in providing services to the passengers. The report recommends that ORD expand its infrastructure including adding runways, increasing gates, and increasing number of seats for passengers waiting for flights.
KW  - Air travel
KW  - Airlines
KW  - Airport capacity
KW  - Chicago O'Hare International Airport
KW  - Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
KW  - Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
KW  - Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
KW  - Level of service
KW  - Passenger volume
KW  - Toledo Express Airport
KW  - Travel behavior
KW  - Travel demand
UR  - http://www.utoledo.edu/research/ututc/docs/Final_Report_-_Travel_Behavior.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/906625
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01488615
TI  - Evaluation of RIAS on Target Population
AB  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center will evaluate the Remote Infrared Audible Signage (RIAS) Model Accessibility Project (MAP). The Volpe National Transportation Systems Center will also submit two reports - a final evaluation report and a report to Congress (approximately 5-10 pages). The report to Congress will include highlights on: (1) the effect of the pilot program on multimodal accessibility in public transportation; (2) the effect of the program on operators of public transportation and their passengers; (3) the effect of making public transportation accessible to people with visual, cognitive, and learning disabilities on ridership of public transportation and use of paratransit; and (4) the effect of the program on the education, community integration, work life and general quality of life of the targeted populations
KW  - Accessibility
KW  - Cognition
KW  - Multimodal transportation
KW  - Paratransit services
KW  - Quality of life
KW  - Remote Infrared Audible Signage Pilot Program
KW  - Traffic signs
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257592
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461761
TI  - Highway Traffic Noise Prediction and Analysis FY09 - FY14 Federal Aid to Highway Tasks
AB  - The Volpe Center will provide continuing support to the Travel Noise Model (TNM) by: (1) Designing and developing current and future versions of the TNM. (2) Providing quality assurance validation and testing of the developed software. (3)Providing user support and maintenance of the software. (3) Reviewing requests for state-specific database use in the TNM. (4) Providing support for the development and review of state-specific programs to introduce quiet pavement  as a noise suppression tool. (5) Evaluating and documenting highway noise abatement technologies. (6) Supporting special project analyses. (7) Project management. The following tasks will be performed by the Volpe Center: (A) Software Development. (B) Quality Assurance (QA) Tests. (C)User Support and Software Maintenance. (D) Review State-Specific Database Use in the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) TNM and Requests for Demonstrating Other-Model Consistency with the FHWA/TNM. (E) Review and Develop Quiet Pavement Pilot Program/Quiet Pavement and Tire/Pavement Noise Research. (F) Highway Noise Abatement Technology Evaluation and Documentation. (G)Special Project Analyses. (H) Project Management 	 	Future versions of the software will involve further bug fixes and enhancements to the user interface; further  	improvement to the noise computational algorithms; implementation of pavement effects and implementation of a  	meteorological effects module.
KW  - Project management
KW  - Quality assurance
KW  - Quiet pavements
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Software packages
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Traffic noise
KW  - Traffic Noise Model
KW  - Validation
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229981
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01486013
TI  - Assessment of Energy Storage
AB  - The purpose of this Statement of Work (SOW) is to assist the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Office of Mobility Innovation in assessing current and projected electric drive bus energy storage technology needs, and developing a Research and Development (R&amp;D) Roadmap to address technology gaps. To this end, the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center shall review the technical literature and survey the leading transit agencies.
KW  - Electric buses
KW  - Energy storage systems
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Transit operating agencies
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1255634
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01541411
AU  - Bacher-Gresock, Bethaney
AU  - Schwarzer, Julianne Siegel
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Eco-Logical: An Ecosystem Approach to Developing Transportation Infrastructure Projects in a Changing Environment
PY  - 2009/09/13
SP  - 18p
AB  - The development of infrastructure facilities can negatively impact critical habitat and essential ecosystems. Concern for ecosystem protection, along with legislation and policy initiatives aimed at fostering an ecosystem-based approach, led an Interagency Steering Team to collaborate over a three-year period to write Eco-Logical: An Ecosystem Approach to Developing Infrastructure Projects. The Steering Team shared a vision of an enhanced and sustainable natural environment combined with the view that necessary infrastructure can be developed in ways that are more sensitive to terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Eco-Logical encourages all partners involved in infrastructure planning, design, review, and construction to use existing flexibility in regulatory processes. The Eco-Logical publication puts forth a conceptual framework for integrating plans across agency boundaries and endorses ecosystem-based mitigation – an innovative method of mitigating infrastructure impacts in today’s changing environment. To test the concepts presented in Eco-Logical, the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Office of Planning, Environment, and Realty initiated a grant program in 2007. Of the 40 applications from across the country, FHWA funded 14 cooperative agreements and 1 interagency agreement, totaling approximately $1.4 million. The purpose of this study is to describe the origins of FHWA‟s Eco-Logical program and explain the progress and lessons learned so far from the FHWA Eco-Logical grant program. The reader will learn about the following subjects: (1) The challenges to providing needed infrastructure in an environmentally sensitive manner and how the Eco-Logical publication offers solutions to these challenges. (2) The ideological and legal precedent for Eco-Logical. Case studies illustrate how the Eco-Logical process can be used by different types of agencies. (3) The impact of the Eco-Logical grant program on both the grant recipients and the agencies that signed Eco-Logical.
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Ecosystems
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Grant aid
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Policy, legislation and regulation
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/48000/48300/48340/Eco-logical_paper.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1324992
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461762
TI  - Interstate and Border Planning Strategic Outreach Activities
AB  - This Interagency Agreement (IAA) covers technical assistance and strategic communications needed to help advance transportation planning.
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Geospatial technology
KW  - International borders
KW  - Interstate highways
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - United States-Canada Border
KW  - United States-Mexico Border
KW  - Websites (Information retrieval)
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229982
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569185
TI  - Developing a New Theoretical and Analytic Framework to Simulate the Transportation and Land Use Systems of Rural and Small Urban Areas
AB  - The objective of TRC Signature Project 1i is to advance transportationand land use analysis and modeling techniques for rural and small urban areas. The goals are to adapt existing behavioral theories and statistical methods, much of which have been created for large urban regions, as well as develop new ones to examine travel-related behaviors, evaluate transportation and land use policies, and facilitate long-term planning. To help achieve these goals, Project 1i includes research activities on several fronts. The subject of residential location choice modeling is where most of the effort is being made. Research in this area includes extending existing location choice, residential mobility and accessibility work in the Puget Sound Region and developing new models in Vermont and Northern New England. Project 1i also has a focus on non-motorized transport modes and their roles in rural built environments. The intersection of physical activities, public health, and land use and transportation systems is being explored in the rural context. Lastly, in the area of integrated transportation and land use modeling, the PI serves in an advisory role to Signature Project 1b and seeks out collaborative opportunities with those involved in this research.
KW  - Analytical framework
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Rural areas
KW  - Simulation
KW  - Urban areas
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/developing-a-new-theoretical-and-analytic-framework-to-simulate-the-transportation-and-land-use-systems-of-rural-and-small-urban-areas/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359740
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01486717
TI  - Transportation Ed Pilot Program; Development, Deployment & Assessment of a New Paradigm for Transportation Professionals and University Students: A collaboration of the Region X Transportation Consortium.
AB  - Alaska University Transportation Center (AUTC) will develop remote-based training modules for transportation professionals. The proposed curricula is problem-based focused on providing tools for the professional such as traffic simulation, structural analysis or planning modules. Learning in this new environment will build team building and communication skills. This is a new approach which encourages developing both technical and collaboration skills. AUTC will work with the Region X Transportation Consortium comprised of four university transportation centers from Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Idaho. Each center will develop and deliver training modules to the State departments of transportation (DOTs) and their partners. We are replicating the work environment of the 21st Century.
KW  - Alaska
KW  - Education and training
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Information technology
KW  - Pilot studies
KW  - Planning
KW  - Structural analysis
KW  - Traffic simulation
KW  - Transportation professionals
UR  - http://ine.uaf.edu/autc/files/2013/07/Idaho.TransportationEdDev.12.2012.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256443
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01467318
TI  - Capturing Wellbeing in Activity Pattern Models Within Activity-Based Travel Demand Models
AB  - Understanding activity patterns and the causes of well-being, offers the ability to model the responses to changes in policy, and subsequently predict disruptive changes in urban systems. People aim to enhance their well-being. Human activity is driven by needs that can be satisfied with subsequent activities. Once the needs are satisfied, the result is well-being. It has long been recognized that travel demand is derived from the demand for activities such as work, leisure and shopping. However, existing models of the demand for those activities have poor explanatory power and lack in behavioral realism. This research proposes to model the demand for activity patterns using a well-being maximization approach. The resulting innovative activity pattern models will contribute to the strategic management of disruptive changes in transportation systems, particularly in the area of disruptive environments such as traffic congestion. The research will draw upon methodologies from various scientific and applied disciplines, including transportation, psychology, economics, and behavioral economics. A web-based activity diary survey will be conducted to collect self-reported indicators of well-being. Discrete choice and structural equations with latent variables modeling techniques will be used to identify the interrelationships between well-being, its causes, indicators, and activities.
KW  - Activity choices
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Public health
KW  - Travel behavior
KW  - Travel demand
KW  - Travel patterns
KW  - Well-being
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1235554
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01467317
TI  - Linking Mileage to Auto Accident Risk and Urban Form
AB  - The proposed research combines spatially detailed information about vehicle miles traveled (VMT), urban form, and automobile accidents in the most extensive analysis yet undertaken of mileage based risk and the influence of urban form.  Pricing auto insurance on a per-mile basis could provide a beneficial, cost-based incentive to reduce vehicle miles traveled compared with traditional rating plans that charge annual premiums with little or no consideration of miles driven.  However, interaction effects complicate attempts to demonstrate the potential benefit of mileage-based pricing.  For example, geography and urban form can mask some of the mileage effect since urban motorists tend to drive fewer miles, but in riskier places.  Multivariate analysis and large sample sizes are necessary to address the complexity of driver/place combinations and the infrequency of auto accidents.  We combine spatially detailed GIS data layers for housing, infrastructure, and demographic factors with two unique Massachusetts State datasets for millions of vehicles in order to associate accident experience both with actual miles driven (for private passenger vehicles) and with driver and place-of-garaging characteristics.  The work involves close collaboration with MassGIS (the State's GIS Office) and with the Boston Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), two key state and regional planning agencies involved in the policy analysis and modeling of land use, growth management, and transportation strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  We estimate VMT for vehicles garaged in similar types of places (based on population and road density, proximity to highway/transit, and the like) and estimate the per-mile-driven claims costs both for traditional categories of drivers, rating territories and vehicle types, and for places with similar urban form.  These per-mile estimates are then combined with price elasticity of demand for gasoline and with MAPC projections of regional growth in order to estimate the VMT savings from mileage-based insurance pricing and from alternative metropolitan growth scenarios.
KW  - Boston (Massachusetts)
KW  - Crash risk forecasting
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Insurance rates
KW  - Mileage-based user fees
KW  - Urban form
KW  - Vehicle miles of travel
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1235553
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01518744
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
AU  - Department of the Interior
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
TI  - Alternative Transportation in Parks and Public Lands (ATPPL) Program: Review: Summary and Results of Transportation Assistance Group (TAG) Activities Conducted to Date
PY  - 2009/09
SP  - 21p
AB  - Beginning in late 2006, the Alternative Transportation in Parks and Public Lands (ATPPL) Program — jointly administered by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Department of the Interior (DOI) — conducted a number of site-specific Transportation Assistance Group (TAG) activities, aimed at providing recommendations to federal land management agency (FLMA) staff on addressing transportation needs. These TAGs, coordinated by the U.S. Department of Transportation John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, were based on a similar series of successful activities, also known as TAGs, begun several years ago by the National Park Service (NPS) as part of its Alternative  Transportation Program. Land units operated by NPS, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) are eligible to submit project proposals for ATPPL funding. In some cases, potential applicants need assistance in scoping projects or in identifying their transportation problems and needs: few land units have transportation experts on staff, and ATPPL, as a new program, is not yet well understood. In other cases, land units may have transportation issues that could be effectively addressed by an effort much smaller than a months-long planning study. TAGs — usually a 2-3 day site visit by an interagency team of transportation professionals — are intended to  respond to all of these cases: delivering technical assistance, strengthening project applications, raising awareness of the ATPPL program, and saving FTA, DOI, and the FLMAs a great deal of time, money, and effort. To date, 11 TAGs have been conducted under the ATPPL program, as summarized in this document.
KW  - Alternatives analysis
KW  - Federal Land Management Agencies
KW  - Financing
KW  - National parks
KW  - Public land
KW  - Recommendations
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/48000/48500/48579/UPDATEDtagsummary2009.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290270
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01454159
AU  - Zhang, Jing
AU  - Golub, Michael
AU  - Alaska University Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Feasibility Study of Electric Cars in the Cold Regions
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 6p
AB  - Electric vehicles, cars that run on electricity stored in batteries, have drawn increasing interest from federal agencies, the auto industry, and academia as a promising path to reduced reliance on fossil fuels and elimination of pollutants. This project studied the feasibility of using electric vehicles as reliable transportation in cold regions. Researchers evaluated conditions in which the electric car is appropriate, and they addressed the use of electric cars as a mode of transportation, the optimal distance between origin and destination, and potential environmental impacts on transportation operations. Data was collected in several Alaska urban areas, including Fairbanks and Barrow, as a case study. Project results include data and analysis of electric car performance for urbanized areas in cold regions. Results suggested that electric vehicles can be a viable option for certain users in subarctic and arctic communities. For example, researchers learned of a 1986 Chevy Sprint converted in Barrow, Alaska. The car is driven daily for three miles, from one heated garage to another. Electric cars are infamous for not going too far or too fast. Student researchers compiled energy usage on nine test vehicles during driving and while charging. Initial results showed that one test car, a Chevy Metro, used a trim 250 watt hours per mile. The study found that many variables affect electric car efficiency. As one example, in colder areas such as Alaska and Canada, some infrastructure for public heater block outlets already exists, in parking garages and at parking meters, provided primarily for engine pre-heating. When an electric car uses these outlets, its efficiency doubles. The knowledge gained through this study will assist departments of transportation in cold regions when considering adopting electric cars as an alternative transportation method.
KW  - Alaska
KW  - Block heaters
KW  - Electric automobiles
KW  - Energy consumption
KW  - Feasibility analysis
KW  - Frigid regions
UR  - http://ine.uaf.edu/autc/files/2011/02/Feasibility-Study-of-Electric-Cars_Final-Report.093009pdf-ineautc1115.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/46000/46200/46234/Feasibility_Study_of_Electric_Cars_Final_Report.093009pdf-ineautc1115.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1218639
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01446518
AU  - Kumar, Ashok
AU  - Shandilya, Kaushik K
AU  - University of Toledo
AU  - Michigan Ohio University Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Characterization and Speciation of Fine Particulate Matter inside the Public Transport Buses Running on Bio-Diesel
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 35p
AB  - Air pollution with respect to particulate matter was investigated in Toledo, Ohio, USA, a city of approximately 300,000, in 2009. Two study buses were selected to reflect typical exposure conditions of passengers while traveling in the bus. Monitoring inside the bus was done in the spring and summer seasons. Particulate matter levels found inside the bus were well below the USEPA standards. Scanning electron microscope analysis was used to identify the possible sources. Particle shape and size distribution analysis was conducted and aspect ratios were determined; the results will be used to find out the potential particle dynamics inside the bus. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were analyzed to determine potential carcinogenic matter exposure to passengers. The absence of carcinogens in all the samples suggests healthful air quality levels inside the bus. SEM methodology is a valuable tool for studying the distribution of particulate pollutants. These patterns represented the morphological characteristics of single inhalable particles in the air inside the bus in Toledo. The size distribution was generally multi-modal for the ULSD but uni-modal for the B20-fueled bus. The aspect ratio found for different filters collected inside the bus fueled by both the B20 blend and ULSD ranged 2.4-3.6 and 2.3- 2.9 in average value with standard deviation range 0.9-7.4 and 1-7.3 respectively. The square and oblong particles represented the single inhalable particles’ morphology characteristics in the air of a Toledo transit bus.
KW  - Air quality
KW  - Biodiesel fuels
KW  - Electron microscopes
KW  - Hydrocarbons
KW  - Particulates
KW  - Toledo (Ohio)
KW  - Transit buses
UR  - http://mioh-utc.udmercy.edu/research/af-21/pdf/MIOH_UTC_AF21p1_2009_Final_Report_Characterization_and_Speciation_of_Fine_Particulate_Matter_etc.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1213751
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01349468
AU  - Mabirizi, Daniel
AU  - Bulut, Rifat
AU  - Oklahoma State University, Stillwater
AU  - Oklahoma Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Unsaturated Soil Moisture Drying and Wetting Diffusion Coefficient Measurements in the Laboratory
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 90p
AB  - Transient moisture flow in an unsaturated soil in response to suction changes is controlled by the unsaturated moisture diffusion coefficient. The moisture diffusion coefficient can be determined by measuring suction profiles over time. The laboratory testing approach involves measurement of the total suction changes with time using thermocouple psychrometers in cylindrical soil specimens with predetermined boundary conditions. The determination of the diffusion coefficient by this method is simple and relatively rapid and can be carried out on a routine basis in a geotechnical engineering laboratory. It is well-known that soils exhibit hysteresis with drying and wetting cycles. A similar hysteresis has been observed between the drying and wetting diffusion parameters for a number of undisturbed soil samples obtained from field borings across Oklahoma. The wetting diffusion coefficients are generally greater than the drying diffusion coefficients by a factor of up to 2.
KW  - Diffusion coefficients
KW  - Drying
KW  - Hysteresis
KW  - Oklahoma
KW  - Soil suction
KW  - Soil water
KW  - Unsaturated soils
KW  - Wetting
UR  - http://www.oktc.org/otc/files/finalReports/OTCREOS7.1-11-F.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1107975
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01343654
AU  - Parker, Robert
AU  - Johnson, Bethany
AU  - University of Oregon, Eugene
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Expanding Service Learning Models in Transportation
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 24p
AB  - This Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC) education project links experiential education with local transportation planning through a collaborative partnership between the University of Oregon, the Lane Transit District, and the cities of Eugene and Springfield. The Community Planning Workshop (CPW) is an experiential/service learning program affiliated with the Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management at the University of Oregon. Through this service learning program, graduate students learn professional planning skills while assisting communities in actual planning and policy projects.The project results include: (1) the completion of the following six deliverables: EmX Evaluation Framework Document, EmX Stakeholder Perceptions Document, Bus Rapid Transit Case Studies Document, Business Survey Report, Fairmount Neighborhood Survey Report, EmX Website Evaluation; and (2) the development of a rich, cross-disciplinary, experiential learning opportunity that could be replicated in other universities. Recognizing the need to create a vehicle to share the results of this project, CPW created a website targeted to communities and universities. Community members, city staff, and/or university faculty can go to this site and download the documents to use as an example for their own community, or download CPW’s service learning curriculum. This website will host all deliverables from University of Oregon OTREC projects related to service learning.
KW  - Bus rapid transit
KW  - City planning
KW  - Education
KW  - Eugene (Oregon)
KW  - Lane Transit District
KW  - Partnerships
KW  - Springfield (Oregon)
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - University of Oregon
UR  - http://otrec.us/project/264
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1106024
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01206853
AU  - Anderson, Edwin
AU  - Cyr, Jason
AU  - Cordon, Daniel
AU  - Steciak, Judi
AU  - Beyerlein, Steve
AU  - Budwig, Ralph
AU  - National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Compression Ratio and Catalyst Aging Effects on Aqueous Ethanol Ignition (Year 2): Part 1. Compression Ratio Effects on Aqueous Ethanol Ignition
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 19p
AB  - The lean burning of water ethanol blends has the potential to reduce NOx, CO, and HC emissions while reducing the ethanol fermentation production cost of distillation and dehydration. The torch style ignition produced by the catalytic igniter allows for the operation and cold start of a typical SI engine on ethanol/water fuels up to a 50/50 blend. This work reported here targets multiple operating conditions of a Cooperative Fuels Research (CFR) engine and monitors in-cylinder pressure and emission characteristics. Premixing ethanol/water blends showed a reduction in NOx over separately injecting water and ethanol for blends up to 70/30 ethanol/water. Altering catalytic igniter voltage showed no control over CA50. This investigation will help researchers better understand the performance and emission characteristics of timing control in addition to different injection techniques for ethanol/water blends for catalytic ignition implementations focused on improving thermal efficiency and emission reduction.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Carbon monoxide
KW  - Cold starts (Driving)
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Exhaust gases
KW  - Fuel injection
KW  - Hydrocarbons
KW  - Ignition systems
KW  - Ignition timing
KW  - Nitrogen oxides
KW  - Spark ignition engines
UR  - http://www.webs1.uidaho.edu/niatt/research/Final_Reports/KLK756A_N09_11.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/967869
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01206851
AU  - Leichliter, Katrina
AU  - Steciak, Judi
AU  - Beyerlein, Steve
AU  - Budwig, Ralph
AU  - National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Compression Ratio and Catalyst Aging Effects on Aqueous Ethanol Ignition (Year 2): Part 2. Catalyst Aging and Effects of Water on Ignition
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 69p
AB  - A tubular plug-flow reactor under low Reynolds Numbers Re flow regimes, along with a 127 μm diameter coiled platinum (Pt) wire, were used to study catalytic surface reactions of nonflammable, fuel-lean mixtures of propane, oxygen, and water vapor diluted with nitrogen. The average wire temperature at ignition, the power required to initiate surface reactions, and the power generated from surface reactions were calculated from experimental data. Ignition temperatures varied from 450 to 540 K +/- 1 K and heat generation flux varied from 6 to 11.2 W/cm² depending on the fuel, oxygen and water content. Less than 6 W/cm² electrical flux to the wire was required to initiate surface reactions. Aging effects were observed. Unseasoned wires had to be heated to a higher temperature before surface reactions occurred. Grain growth was observed in seasoned wires. Eventually, catalyst performance suffered and deposits were seen at grain edges. Water vapor affected the combustion process, but not as much as was expected at the fuel:water ratio used (maximum 70:30 propane:water molar ratio). The ignition temperatures of wet experiments increased by no more than 10 K. Water had little effect on the heat generated due to surface reactions with at most ~3% difference between dry and wet experiments. The finite volume modeling program Fluent® was used to predict the average wire temperature as a function of power input to the wire in air cross-flow. These results were within ~25 K of the values calculated from experimental data.
KW  - Aging (Materials)
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Catalysts
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Fuel systems
KW  - Ignition
KW  - Lean fuel mixtures
KW  - Nitrogen
KW  - Oxygen
KW  - Propane
KW  - Temperature
KW  - Water vapor
UR  - http://www.webs1.uidaho.edu/niatt/research/Final_Reports/KLK756_N09-12.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/967870
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01173730
AU  - Greene, Jessica
AU  - Daniel, Debbie
AU  - University of Oregon, Eugene
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - The Built Environment, Neighborhood Safety, and Physical Activity Among Low Income Children
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 37p
AB  - There is a growing body of evidence that environmental factors are related to physical activity and active modes of transportation. There is a separate body of research that links neighborhood safety to physical activity. This study used a cross sectional telephone survey of 801 parents/guardians of low income children in Florida to bridge these literatures and examine the independent relationship of the built environment and neighborhood safety on childrens’ physical activity. In multivariate regression models the authors found that neighborhood safety is a more consistent predictor of low income children’s physical activity. In neighborhoods where parents reported that there was a safe outdoor place for children to play, children more frequently engaged in vigorous exercise. Children in these neighborhoods were also more likely to participate in sports teams and classes. Measures of the built environment, in contrast, were not related to physical activity. In sum, these findings point to the potential role of public safety in influencing physical activity. Efforts to improve neighborhood safety may have the added benefit of increasing children’s physical activity levels in low income areas.
KW  - Bicycling
KW  - Built environment
KW  - Children
KW  - Florida
KW  - Low income groups
KW  - Multivariate analysis
KW  - Neighborhoods
KW  - Physical activity
KW  - Regression analysis
KW  - Safety
KW  - Surveys
KW  - Walking
UR  - http://www.otrec.us/project/20
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/934606
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01150730
AU  - Tsiatas, George
AU  - Lee, K Wayne
AU  - Kasten, Albrecht
AU  - Venkata, Hari Priya Pemmaraju
AU  - Sherrod, James
AU  - University of Rhode Island, Kingston
AU  - Rhode Island Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Design of Existing Simple Span Bridges Made Continuous
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 174p
AB  - Eliminating expansion joints from existing simple span bridges is recommended to reduce maintenance costs or enhance bridge performance.  Different simple span connection techniques as well as abutment joint elimination are investigated.  Data from three typical Rhode Island bridges are used for the study.  For shorter spans a continuous deck and a steel plate connecting the top flanges of the adjacent girders works well.  In the case of a bridge with 75 ft long adjacent spans, the webs had to also be connected.  Asphaltic plugs were also studied using a series of finite element analyses and limited laboratory tests for rutting susceptibility of the APJ.  The most significant distresses of asphaltic plugs under warm temperatures is rutting and under cold temperatures cracking, debonding, and disintegration.
KW  - Bridges
KW  - Expansion joints
KW  - Jointless bridges
KW  - Simple spans
KW  - Structural connection
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/913088
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01149552
AU  - Pape, Doug
AU  - Arant, Michael
AU  - Nelson, Susan
AU  - Franzese, Oscar
AU  - Knee, Helmut
AU  - LaClair, Tim
AU  - Attanayake, Upul
AU  - Hathaway, Richard
AU  - Keil, Mitch
AU  - Ro, Kapseong
AU  - National Transportation Research Center, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - U19: Heavy Truck Rollover Characterization (Phase-B) Final Report
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 416p
AB  - The Heavy Truck Rollover Characterization Study - Phase-B builds on the results of prior phases of research.  Phases 1 and 2 (funded by the Federal Highway Administration) involved heavy truck rollover characterization for a tractor and box-trailer; and Phase-A involved the characterization of a tractor and flatbed-trailer. Phase-B of the Heavy Truck Rollover Characterization Study included on-track testing utilizing New Generation Single Wide-Based Tires (NGSWBTs) and standard dual tires; the use of a Volvo VT830 class-8 tractor (the same tractor that was used in Phase-A); the use of three LBT tranker-trailers (two for characterization and one for test-track testing); and a Bendix Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system on the tractor and tanker-trailer.  Characterization was conducted by both Michelin and WMU.  The standardized torsional stiffness testing developed by Michelin in Phase-A and the procedure developed by WMU were utilized for characterization of the respective tanker-trailers at Michelin and WMA.  The tanker-trailer at Michelin was also characterized on Michelin's Kinematics and Compliance (K&C) test rig.  The purpose of the characterization efforts was to generate detailed K&C data about the tanker-trailer that could be utilized in selected vehicle dynamics models.  Phase-B also involved the development of a vehicle dynamics model of the tractor and tanker-trailer in TruckSim(R) or an equivalent vehicle dynamics model.  WMU also continued with the development of their solid, finite element, and kinematic models, and will apply them to make initial design recommendations to be considered in Phase-C of this research.
KW  - Heavy duty trucks
KW  - Motor vehicle dynamics
KW  - Rollover crashes
KW  - Tank trucks
KW  - Testing
KW  - Tires
KW  - Tractor trailer combinations
KW  - Trucking safety
UR  - http://www.ntrci.org/ntrci-50-2009-015
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/908531
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01147416
AU  - Kostyniuk, Lidia P
AU  - Connell, Cathleen M
AU  - Robling, Danielle K
AU  - University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
AU  - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Driving Reduction and Cessation: Transitioning to Not Driving
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 22p
AB  - This project examined the process of driving reduction and cessation from the perspective of older adults (current and former drivers) and adult children. The objectives were to identify common markers of the process of driving cessation and to gain an understanding of the complex and interrelated family dynamics that influence the process. Audio recordings of a series of structured and focus group interviews with older drivers, former drivers, and children of older drivers from an earlier study funded by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute were transcribed and analyzed using qualitative methods. Analyses revealed several themes across current and former drivers including reluctance to stop driving, avoidance of particular traffic and weather conditions, perceived importance of driving for independence and convenience, unwillingness to acknowledge declining driving capability, lack of perceived risk to other motorists, and lack of planning for cessation. Barriers to driving cessation included reluctance by older adults to increase the burden on their children and reluctance by children to initiate the role of caregiver by assuming responsibility for transportation. Results highlighted the complexity of family dynamics that shape decision making about when older adults should limit or stop driving and how much and what type of support adult children can provide during this transition.
KW  - Aged
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Driving cessation
KW  - Families
KW  - Family responsibilities
KW  - Focus groups
UR  - http://m-castl.org/files/2009-02KostyniukReport.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/907683
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01146794
AU  - Haghani, Ali
AU  - Afshar, Abbas
AU  - University of Maryland, College Park
AU  - Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center
AU  - Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Supply Chain Management in Disaster Response
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 89p
AB  - In today's society disasters seem to be striking all corners of the United States and the globe, and the importance of emergency management is undeniable.  Much human loss and unnecessary destruction of infrastructure can be avoided with more foresight and specific planning.  During emergencies various aid organizations often face significant problems of transporting large amounts of many different commodities including food, clothing, medicine, medical supplies, machines, and personnel from different points of origin to different destinations in the disaster areas.  The transportation of supplies and relief personnel must be done quickly and efficiently to maximize the survival rate of the affected population and minimize the cost of such operations.  The goal of this research is to develop a comprehensive model that describes the integrated supply chain operations in response to natural disasters.  The research will offer a model that not only considers details such as vehicle routing and pick up or delivery schedules; but also considers finding the optimal location for temporary facilities as well as considering the capacity constraints for each facility and the transportation system.  Such a model provides the opportunity for a centralized operation plan that can eliminate delays and assign the limited resources in a way that is optimal for the entire system.  A mathematical model at the operational level is needed that can be used in the critical hours and days immediately after disaster strikes.  This research also aims at developing optimization algorithms and heuristics to solve the proposed model and find applicable solutions to decrease human suffering in the most economically sensible way.  Finally, a comprehensive series of numerical analysis is performed to evaluate the proposed model and solution algorithms.  The numerical analysis shows the required details for model implementation.  Conclusions and directions for further research are also discussed.
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Disaster relief
KW  - Disasters and emergency operations
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - Numerical analysis
KW  - Optimization
KW  - Supply chain management
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/906596
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01146768
AU  - Wittwer, Ernie
AU  - Adams, Teresa
AU  - Toledo-Duran, Edwin
AU  - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - 21st Century Workforce Development Summit
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 59p
AB  - The transportation workforce will be facing severe strains over the next decade as the baby boom generation begins to retire. These strains will be made worse by the relatively small numbers of workers entering the transportation workforce and the small number entering the technical fields that are the source of the workforce. At the same time the nature of the transportation industry is changing producing the need for new and broader skill sets. These issues were explored in a workshop. It was concluded that new skills will be required. To produce those skills and the number of workers required, new partnerships will also be needed. Agencies, private sector firms and educators will have to combine forces to make the training and development processes as effective as possible and to attract students to the sciences and to transportation in particular.
KW  - Labor force
KW  - Personnel development
KW  - Training
KW  - Transportation careers
UR  - http://minds.wisconsin.edu/bitstream/handle/1793/55636/01-10_CFIRE_FR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/906606
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01146336
AU  - Pincheira, Jose A
AU  - Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Development and Layout of a Protocol for the Field Performance of Concrete Deck and Crack Sealers
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 54p
AB  - The main objective of this project was to develop and layout a protocol for the long-term monitoring and assessment of the performance of concrete deck and crack sealants in the field. To accomplish this goal, a total of six bridge decks were chosen for study. The decks have ages that vary from 4 to 30 years old, are all in good condition, though some presented a variety of longitudinal, transverse and diagonal cracking. In each deck, test segments were laid out along one lane in four of the six bridges. Drill powder samples were extracted in each segment in order to determine the in-situ, near-surface chloride ion content of the deck. Laboratory analyses of the samples showed that the chloride ion content varied between 3.2 lb/cy for the younger decks (3 years old) and 20.8 lb/cy for the older decks (28 years old). Based on the recommendations of a previous laboratory investigation, a pool of the best performing deck and crack sealants were selected to be applied in the decks. In two bridges, deck segments were sealed with four deck sealants while one segment was left unsealed to be used as a control segment. Additionally, the cracks in each of these segments were sealed with five crack sealants. While two other decks were also scheduled for sealing as part of this phase of the project, they were not done because the required curing time for some of the products was longer than deemed acceptable by DOT crews for these high traffic bridges. It is recommended, however, that every effort be made to have these decks be sealed in the near future. The remaining two bridges had been sealed at the time of construction. While no specific information could be secured about the product used in these decks, the low chloride ion content in these decks suggested that the applied product has helped reduce the ingress of chloride ions. Therefore, it is recommended that these decks continue to be monitored over time. Based on the inspections and the data collected in the field, a protocol and schedule for the continuing monitoring of sealant performance is presented.
KW  - Bridge decks
KW  - Concrete bridges
KW  - Cracking
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Maintenance
KW  - Monitoring
KW  - Performance
KW  - Sealing compounds
UR  - http://www.tsp2.org/files_tsp2/resource/MRUTC_07-13_FR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/905628
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01146325
AU  - Tabatabai, Habib
AU  - Zhao, Jian
AU  - Lee, Chin-Wei
AU  - University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Statistical Analysis of Heavy Truck Loads Using Wisconsin Weigh-In-Motion Data
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 197p
AB  - This study involved statistical evaluation of heavy truck loads that were recorded in 2007 using Weigh-In-Motion stations located throughout the State of Wisconsin.  The heaviest 5% of all trucks in each class and axle groupings were selected for further analyses.  Best fit unimodal and multimodal distributions for all axle loads and spacings in each truck class were determined.  Multivariate Monte Carlo simulations using the marginal distributions and empirical copulas were performed to assess maximum moments and shears in simply supported bridges.  Moments and shears due to the 250-kip Wisconsin Permit Vehicle were compared with simulation results.  The multivariate Monte Carlo simulations of truck loadings can be used to assess the reliability of bridges and pavements as well as detailed fatigue analyses.
KW  - Axle loads
KW  - Bridges
KW  - Heavy duty trucks
KW  - Monte Carlo method
KW  - Statistical analysis
KW  - Weigh in motion
KW  - Wisconsin
UR  - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/01-02_FR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/905636
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01145050
AU  - Joshi, Ajay J
AU  - Papanikolopoulos, Nikolaos P
AU  - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Data Mining of Traffic Video Sequences
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 29p
AB  - Automatically analyzing video data is extremely important for applications such as monitoring and data collection in transportation scenarios. Machine learning techniques are often employed in order to achieve these goals of mining traffic video to find interesting events. Typically, learning-based methods require significant amount of training data provided via human annotation. For instance, in order to provide training, a user can give the system images of a certain vehicle along with its respective annotation. The system then learns how to identify vehicles in the future - however, such systems usually need large amounts of training data and thereby cumbersome human effort. In this research, the authors propose a method for active learning in which the system interactively queries the human for annotation on the most informative instances. In this way, learning can be accomplished with lesser user effort without compromising performance. Their system is also efficient computationally, thus being feasible in real data mining tasks for traffic video sequences.
KW  - Artificial intelligence
KW  - Data mining
KW  - Highway traffic control
KW  - Learning (Artificial intelligence)
KW  - Traffic data
KW  - Traffic surveillance
KW  - Vehicle classification
KW  - Video imaging detectors
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1240
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/905227
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01143772
AU  - Petrella, Margaret
AU  - Rainville, Lydia
AU  - Spiller, David J
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
TI  - Remote Infrared Audible Signage Pilot Program Evaluation Report
PY  - 2009/09//Final Evaluation Report
SP  - 73p
AB  - This report presents evaluation findings on the Remote Infrared Audible Signage (RIAS) Pilot Program in the Puget Sound Region of Washington. The installation, demonstration and evaluation of RIAS were required by a provision in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users. RIAS is an orientation and mobility technology designed to eliminate barriers to accessibility for people who are visually impaired or are cognitively or developmentally disabled. The evaluation was designed specifically to better understand the impacts of RIAS on multimodal accessibility, on transit ridership, on transit operators, and on quality of life issues. This report outlines the evaluation methodology and presents focus group and survey findings, lessons learned, conclusions, and recommendations.
KW  - Accessibility
KW  - Cognitive impairment
KW  - Focus groups
KW  - Lessons learned
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Puget Sound Region
KW  - Quality of life
KW  - Recommendations
KW  - Remote Infrared Audible Signage Pilot Program
KW  - Remote infrared signage
KW  - Ridership
KW  - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
KW  - Surveys
KW  - Talking signs
KW  - Transit operators
KW  - Visually impaired persons
UR  - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/RIAS_EvaluationReport.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34700/34777/FTA-MA-26-7117-2009.01.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/904276
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01143736
AU  - Rainville, Lydia
AU  - Hau, Victoria
AU  - Peirce, Sean
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
TI  - Electronic Fare Collection Options for Commuter Railroads
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 47p
AB  - This research is designed to support the Federal Transit Administration in its efforts to disseminate knowledge of new technologies within the transit community, in this case focusing on issues associated with automated fare collection (AFC) for commuter rail. By identifying “lessons learned” with AFC deployments, the report is also intended as a resource for commuter railroads considering adoption of AFC and/or joining multi-modal electronic payment systems. The findings may be of particular use for commuter rail systems that are still in the planning stages and have the opportunity to leapfrog older technologies. Six case studies are presented that provide some insight into commuter railroads’ experiences in adoption of AFC.
KW  - Automatic fare collection
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Electronic payment
KW  - Lessons learned
KW  - Railroad commuter service
KW  - Technological innovations
UR  - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/ElectronicFareCollectionOptionsforCommuterRailroads.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/903997
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142925
AU  - Margreta, Michael
AU  - Ford, Chester
AU  - Dipo, M Adhi
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - U.S. Freight on the Move: Highlights from the 2007 Commodity
Flow Survey Preliminary Data
PY  - 2009/09//Special Report
SP  - 6p
AB  - More than 13 billion tons of freight, valued at $11.8 trillion, were transported nearly 3.5 trillion ton-miles1 in the United States during 2007, according to preliminary estimates from the 2007 Commodity Flow Survey (CFS).2 The tonnage, value, and ton-miles of 2007 freight shipments all increased over 2002 totals. Tonnage was up 12 percent, infl ation-adjusted value up 13 percent, and tonmiles up 11 percent (see box A). On a typical day in 2007, over 35.7 million tons of goods, valued at $32.4 billion, moved nearly 9.6 billion ton-miles on the nation’s transportation network. Nearly 93 percent of the total tonnage and 81 percent of the total value of freight were shipped by means of a single transportation mode, while the remainder was shipped using two or more modes. The CFS, a survey of shippers sponsored by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) in partnership with the Census Bureau, provides a detailed, multimodal picture of national freight fl ows. The survey is the only publicly available source of national commodity fl ow data for the highway mode. CFS data are collected every 5 years as a component of the national Economic Census and provide a benchmark on the value, tonnage, ton-miles, distance shipped, and mode used to transport commodities. Analysis and research utilizing CFS data are used to make decisions in the public and private sectors involving policy, infrastructure, and the economy. The 2007 CFS data and results presented in this report are preliminary. Final CFS data are scheduled for release in December 2009.  Transportation modes used to move freight included trucking, air transportation, railroads, pipelines, and water transportation.
KW  - Air cargo
KW  - Commodity flow
KW  - Commodity Flow Survey
KW  - Distance
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Pipelines
KW  - Present value
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Ton miles
KW  - Tonnage
KW  - Trucking
KW  - United States
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2009_09_30/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35300/35392/U.S._freight.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/903026
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142765
AU  - Shaffer, S J
AU  - Southeastern Transportation Center
AU  - National Transportation Research Center, Incorporated
AU  - Battelle Memorial Institute
AU  - Virginia Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - U14: Field Testing and Analysis of Braking Performance of In-Service Trucks
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 42p
AB  - The purpose of this project was to collect a high quality data set to provide a snapshot of the braking capability of a representative sampling of in-service commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) on the road today. This data collection effort is important to safety in that no actual stopping performance data has been collected from in-service vehicles since the implementation of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) visual inspection in the early 1980's. This assessment utilized improved technology, such as GPS systems and a Performance Based Brake Tester (PBBT), to collect data on CMV braking performance. The data collected in this effort is intended for use in evaluating how current in-service vehicles perform, and how the Level I visual inspection corresponds to braking performance. Since there is no regulation of after-market components, including replacement brake pads, visual inspection may not fully assess the ability of a vehicle to stop safely. Industry and regulators alike could use current vehicle performance data in safety applications as they review present design and maintenance practices and regulations.
KW  - Braking performance
KW  - Commercial vehicle operations
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Field tests
KW  - Global Positioning System
KW  - Truck crashes
KW  - Trucking
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902897
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142062
AU  - Young, Peg
AU  - Notis, Ken
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - The Freight Transportation Services Index as a Leading Economic Indicator
PY  - 2009/09
SP  - 2p
AB  - The Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS) freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) showed a decline a full year and a half prior to the start of the current recession. This downturn suggests the TSI may prove particularly useful as an indicator of economic downturns. Leading economic indicators identify and anticipate emerging turns in the current business cycle by historically turning downward before a recession or a slowdown in the economy and upward before an expansion or acceleration. According to BTS research1, over the past three decades the freight TSI led slowdowns in the economy by an average of 4–5 months.
KW  - Business cycles
KW  - Economic indicators
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Transportation services index
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_transportation_trends_in_focus/2009_09_01/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35400/35449/Freight_transportation.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902097
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01141697
AU  - Burris, Mark W
AU  - Patil, Sunil
AU  - University Transportation Center for Mobility
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Estimating the Benefits of Managed Lanes
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 83p
AB  - Stated preference (SP) studies developed to estimate travelers’ value of travel time savings (VTTS) on managed lanes (ML) may underestimate the VTTS. This study investigates survey design strategies and differentiating the VTTS for ordinary and six common urgent situations faced by the travelers in an attempt to improve on VTTS estimation. An internet based survey for Katy Freeway travelers was used to collect data for this study. The authors used three different survey design strategies to produce surveys. They found that a random attribute level generation strategy, where the VTTS presented in the alternative was adjusted based on the answer to a previous SP question, performs better than other designs with respect to analysis of choice behavior and estimation of VTTS. The authors analyzed SP choices for travelers facing ordinary and six common urgent travel situations. They found that travelers value their travel time savings much more when facing most of the urgent situations. Due to this significant increase in the VTTS for travelers on urgent trips it is possible that the majority of ML travelers are on urgent trips. This includes travelers from all income levels, as even low income travelers on urgent trips value their time more than many high income travelers on regular trips. Therefore, using average VTTS will greatly underestimate the value of these MLs to travelers. This has significant policy implications since the benefits of MLs (and of most transportation investments) are primarily derived from travel time savings. Underestimating the value of ML travel time savings underestimates the benefits of MLs, reducing the likelihood of funding such facilities. Thus an important travel alternative would not be constructed. This study provides an important first step in proper estimation of these benefits using revised SP survey designs.
KW  - Benefits
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Estimating
KW  - Katy Freeway (Houston, Texas)
KW  - Managed lanes
KW  - Perceived urgency
KW  - Stated preferences
KW  - Surveys
KW  - Time savings
KW  - Travel behavior
KW  - Travel time
UR  - http://utcm.tamu.edu/publications/final_reports/Burris_08-05-04.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902316
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01140747
AU  - Strathman, James G
AU  - Broach, Joseph
AU  - Callas, Steve
AU  - Portland State University
AU  - Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Evaluation of Short Duration Unscheduled Absences Among Transit Operators: TriMet Case Study
PY  - 2009/09//Final Report
SP  - 57p
AB  - This report analyzes factors contributing to short duration (one to three days) unscheduled absences among operators at TriMet, the transit provider for the Portland, Oregon metropolitan region. The analysis draws on a wide array of operator-specific information recovered by transit ITS technologies in combination with information from the agency’s human resources, scheduling, incident, and customer relations databases. The likelihood of an absence is estimated in relation to personal characteristics, employment status, aspects of assigned work, service delivery and performance indicators, temporal factors, and customer feedback. The findings can be used directly to support extraboard planning practices. More generally, the findings point to changes in policies and practices that would potentially reduce the incidence of short duration absences.
KW  - Absenteeism
KW  - Extraboards
KW  - Personnel management
KW  - Policy
KW  - Transit operators
KW  - Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon
UR  - http://otrec.us/main/document.php?doc_id=1180
UR  - http://otrec.us/project/93
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31100/31168/OTREC-RR-09-11.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/901156
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01153462
AU  - Burt, Matt
AU  - Gopalakrishna, Deepak
AU  - Cluett, Chris
AU  - Battelle
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
TI  - Phase III (Final) Evaluation Report: National Evaluation of FY01 Earmark: Area Transportation Authority of North Central Pennsylvania – Regional GIS/ITS Initiative
PY  - 2009/08/31
SP  - 89p
AB  - This report presents the results of the United States Department of Transportation evaluation of a federally funded earmark project implemented by the Area Transportation Authority of North Central Pennsylvania (ATA). The project implemented a suite of technologies including computer-assisted scheduling and dispatch (including automatic vehicle location and mobile data computers), maintenance management and invoicing systems. Intended benefits of the project consisted of enhanced productivity, safety, and customer satisfaction. The evaluation examined impacts in each of these areas as well as ATA staff perspectives on benefits, challenges and lessons learned. Overall, the deployment has been successful. Of the 19 specific hypothesized benefits that were tested through the evaluation, 10 of them were fully supported, six were partially supported, and three were not supported. Benefit highlights include a 28 percent reduction in dispatchers’ time on the radio with drivers; reduction of the lag time for identifying vehicle preventative maintenance from two weeks to less than one day; a 43 percent reduction in the time required to prepare monthly invoices; and a 68 percent reduction in the number of in-service vehicle breakdowns. The evaluation results confirm the value of these sorts of advanced technologies for transit systems, especially rural operators providing demand response service. The results also corroborate similar studies showing that successful technology deployments can take many years to complete and demand a high degree of competency, preparation, and follow-through on the part of the deploying agency.
KW  - Automatic vehicle location
KW  - Demand responsive transportation
KW  - Dispatching
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Pennsylvania
KW  - Rural transit
KW  - Scheduling
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31500/31593/14493.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31500/31593/14493_files/14493.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/914942
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01152806
AU  - Cluett, Chris
AU  - Gopalakrishna, Deepak
AU  - Osborne, Leon
AU  - Battelle Seattle Research Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Road Weather Management Program Performance Metrics: Implementation and Assessment
PY  - 2009/08/31/Final Report
SP  - 82p
AB  - Since the late 1990’s, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has managed a program dedicated to improving the safety, mobility and productivity of the nation’s surface transportation modes by integrating meteorology into transportation operations and maintenance. Guided by goals in national legislation, FHWA’s Road Weather Management Program (RWMP) seeks to improve the level of service on roads and reduce vehicle crashes through a combination of road weather research, scientific innovations to invigorate the private sector weather enterprise, and multifaceted education and outreach programs to engage public transportation agencies. The RWMP conducted a study with stakeholders from the transportation and meteorological communities to define eleven performance measures that will enable the USDOT to determine the extent to which these goals are being met. This report discusses these performance measures and presents results that illustrate the social, scientific and organizational benefits that can be attributed to the RWMP.
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Implementation
KW  - Meteorology
KW  - Performance measurement
KW  - Road Weather Management Program
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31600/31611/14492.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31600/31611/14492_files/14492.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/914242
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01143756
AU  - Wang, Feng
AU  - Li, Chao
AU  - Zhou, Xuesong
AU  - Chen, Xiaoming
AU  - Stokes, Charles E
AU  - Li, Andrew
AU  - Bulti, Samson
AU  - Jackson State University
AU  - Jackson State University
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Simulation Study of Impacts of Evacuating Traffic on En-route Metropolitan Highway Network
PY  - 2009/08/31/Final Report
SP  - 54p
AB  - In response to both natural and man-made disasters, more and more emergency evacuation plans have been put forward and consistently aim to move a large disaster affected population through a multimodal transportation network towards safer areas as quickly and efficiently as possible. The objectives of this paper are 1) to verify the feasibility of applying the DYNASMART-P model to simulation of traffic characteristics in both normal and emergency conditions for the urban transportation system in the Greater Jackson metropolitan area in Mississippi and 2) to develop and evaluate emergency evacuation strategies for a large scale evacuation of people under emergency conditions in the Greater Jackson area. In this paper, the traffic network including the counties of Hinds, Madison and Rankin was built through the mesoscopic traffic-network planning and simulation model DYNASMART-P based on the dynamic traffic assignment methodology. The model was applied to a highway network on the route of the evacuation. The background origin-destination (OD) demand as input for the simulation program was calibrated using observed traffic volume data collected in several critical routes of evacuation. An evacuation scenario was designed to study the impacts of the evacuating traffic from southeastern Louisiana to the Greater Jackson Metropolitan Area of Mississippi due to an assumed approaching hurricane disaster. Critically congested freeway segments under two evacuation intensity levels were identified based on the criterion of the average queue length percentage and level of service. The causes for the congestion of roads were analyzed and explained.
KW  - Disasters and emergency operations
KW  - Dynamic traffic assignment
KW  - DYNASMART-P (Computer program)
KW  - Evacuation
KW  - Jackson (Mississippi)
KW  - Level of service
KW  - Mesoscopic traffic flow
KW  - Metropolitan areas
KW  - Origin and destination
KW  - Simulation
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic queuing
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31300/31331/Simulation_Study_of_Impact_of_Evacuating_Traffic_Final_Report.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/904159
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01143753
AU  - Skelton, Gordon W
AU  - Meghanathan, Natarajan
AU  - Jackson State University
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Risk Assessment, Identification, and Notification (RAIN) System: A Novel Approach for Traffic Management
PY  - 2009/08/31/Final Report
SP  - 21p
AB  - Primary research focused on the design and development of an energy-efficient Risk Notification Message Dissemination Protocol (RNMDP) for vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). RNMDP propagates Risk Notification Messages (RNMs) from a location of origin to vehicles approaching a Risk Zone. The performance of RNMDP was compared with that of the commonly used flooding strategy through extensive simulations conducted for highway networks with different numbers of lanes and lane density. Simulation results indicate that with a slightly larger delay, RNMDP can achieve the same message delivery ratio attained by flooding, but at a relatively much lower energy loss compared to flooding. RNMDP has been designed to minimize the energy lost in the propagation of the RNMs, but at the same time incur the least possible delay in delivering the messages.
KW  - Disasters and emergency operations
KW  - Energy efficiency
KW  - Highway traffic control
KW  - Message delivery
KW  - Risk assessment
KW  - Risk Notification Message Dissemination Protocol
KW  - Simulation
KW  - Vehicular ad hoc networks (Computer networks)
UR  - http://www.jsums.edu/imtrans/research/risk-assessment-identification-and-notification-rain-system-a-gis-based-tool-for-construction-maintenance-condition-assessment-pavement-management-and-transportation-safety/
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31300/31332/Risk_Assessment_Identification_and_Notification_System_Final_Report.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/904151
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01141658
AU  - Balke, Kevin N
AU  - Brydia, Robert E
AU  - University Transportation Center for Mobility
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Development of a Special Topics Course on Intelligent Transportation Systems for the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering of Texas A&M University
PY  - 2009/08/31/Final Report
SP  - 189p
AB  - With Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), engineers and system integrators blend emerging detection/surveillance, communications, and computer technologies with transportation management and control concepts to improve the safety and mobility of the surface transportation system. Individuals responsible for developing, deploying, and managing ITS projects need a solid foundation not only in transportation engineering concepts and principles but also systems engineering, communications, and technology. This project developed a special topics course on the planning, design, and implementation of ITS projects for transportation management. This course is a graduate-level survey course in which students are provided with the basic knowledge and concepts needed to plan, design, and implement an ITS project that can be deployed in the field.  Course topics include: an overview of ITS technologies and applications for advanced transportation management; the application of system engineering concepts in the planning and design of advanced ITS projects; techniques and strategies for managing and deploying ITS projects; design and application of advanced telecommunication techniques for ITS deployments; and techniques and tools for evaluating ITS projects and technologies.
KW  - Communications
KW  - Curricula
KW  - Education
KW  - Graduate study
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Systems engineering
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Technology
KW  - Telecommunications
KW  - Transportation engineering
UR  - http://utcm.tamu.edu/publications/final_reports/Balke_08-27-02.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902095
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01324972
AU  - Sisiopiku, Virginia P
AU  - Sullivan, Andrew
AU  - Cavusoglu, Ozge
AU  - Sikder, Saiyid
AU  - Mouskos, Kyriacos
AU  - Barrett, Curtis
AU  - University of Alabama, Birmingham
AU  - University Transportation Center for Alabama
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Managed Lanes: Current Status and Future Opportunities
PY  - 2009/08/27/Final Report
SP  - 155p
AB  - The continuous increase in automobile use is directly related to the increase in congestion and decline in air quality in urban settings.  In response to this reality, transportation agencies across the nation employ a number of strategies to reduce traffic demand or spread it over time and space.  This can be done by using lane management strategies that regulate demand, separate traffic streams to reduce turbulence, and utilize available and unused capacity.  In recent years, application of such operational policies has evolved into the notion of "managed lanes."  This study examined the potential role of managed lane strategies in addressing traffic congestion issues in the Birmingham, Alabama metropolitan area.  More specifically, the study first reviewed the state-of-practice on managed lanes and summarized best practices and lessons learned from earlier deployment efforts.  Then an assessment of potential operational impact from implementation of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) and designated truck lanes along I-65 in Birmingham was performed.  This was accomplished through detailed traffic simulation modeling using the VISTA mesoscopic tool.  Alternatives considered included (a) the conversion of an existing lane into an HOV or truck designated lane and (b) the addition of a new HOV lane along the study corridor.  A detailed sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the impact of various percentages of HOV and truck use on traffic operations.  A comprehensive cost-benefit analysis was also performed to determine the most economically efficient alternative among all HOV options considered.  The research findings from this study are expected to benefit both the scientific community and those agencies and authorities responsible for planning, designing, implementing, managing, and operating transportation facilities.
KW  - Birmingham (Alabama)
KW  - High occupancy vehicle lanes
KW  - Managed lanes
KW  - Mesoscopic traffic flow
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic mitigation
KW  - Traffic simulation
KW  - Truck lanes
UR  - http://utca.eng.ua.edu/research/projects/?id=07204
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1086124
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01329757
AU  - Min, Hokey
AU  - Bowling Green State University
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Combined Truck Routing and Driver Scheduling Problems under Hours of Service Regulations
PY  - 2009/08/20/Final Report
SP  - 47p
AB  - Regardless of changing variants, hours-of-service (HOS) regulations are intended to help truck drivers ensure that they get adequate rest and perform safe operations.  The new HOS regulations, however, may lead to substantial cost increases for regional common carriers which have already been hit hard by rising fuel prices and declining shipping demands.  In addition, the new HOS regulations complicate driver schedules by not only restricting the driver's consecutive driving hours, but also expanding off-duty hours.  To deal with this complex challenge, the author develops a mixed integer programming model and a simulated annealing (SA) meta-heuristic for solving that model.  To validate the practicality and efficiency of the proposed model and heuristic solution procedure, they were applied to actual truck routing and driver scheduling problems encountering a regional common carrier.  A series of computational experiments and sensitivity analysis with actual truck routing and driver scheduling problems verified the solution accuracy and computational efficiency of the SA meta-heuristic.
KW  - Hours of labor
KW  - Regulations
KW  - Routes and routing
KW  - Schedules and scheduling
KW  - Truck drivers
KW  - Truck traffic
KW  - Trucking safety
UR  - http://www.utoledo.edu/research/ututc/docs/UTUTC%20HOS_II_Final.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1090843
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01467995
TI  - Analysis, Modeling and Design for Traffic Incident Management Systems
AB  - The aim of incident management system is to minimize the total delay experienced by travelers and also to keep the whole operation safe. In order to achieve these two goals, the system should make optimal choices and use optimal designs. For the design of optimal solutions, appropriate mathematical models are needed for various tasks, and then mathematical techniques need to be developed. The mathematical models, their analysis and then optimal solutions can help in a decision support system framework for the overall incident management. Incidents result in reduction in the operational efficiency of the transportation network which lead to costly delays for the travelers, increased risk of secondary incidents, and also safety risks to the incident responders. Designing an effective incident management system requires the study of static (including geometric) and dynamic local characteristics of traffic, freeway and arterial traffic control architecture, and the structure of various organizations involved. Regional incident management requires the coordination of many agencies and technologies.
KW  - Arterial highways
KW  - Coordination
KW  - Decision support systems
KW  - Highway operations
KW  - Highway traffic control
KW  - Incident management
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - Regional planning
KW  - Traffic delays
KW  - Traffic incidents
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1236231
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572260
TI  - Advanced Biofuels Using Ozone Mediated Technology
AB  - The presence of double bonds (unsaturation) in fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) of vegetable oils like soybean and the relatively high average molecular weights (MW) affect the thermo-oxidative stability, flow and compatibility of biodiesel compared with a petroleum-based diesel. This project targets the production of new, advanced biofuels with enhanced thermal and oxidative stability, improved low temperature properties, low viscosity, and high volatility. This is achieved by reacting the double bonds in the fatty acid esters with ozone, followed by an in situ base catalyzed transformation of the intermediate ozonide to form esters by reaction with an alcohol. Preliminary data indicate that the oxidative stability of the new esters and di-esters product mixture is drastically improved once the double bonds are eliminated. As a result the thermal stability in air and, even more so at elevated temperatures, is greatly improved. Furthermore, the lower molecular weight mixture has similar viscosity and volatility to peteroleum Diesel #2 fuel. It is further expected that the low MW fragments will act to lower the cloud point and pour point. Hence, it is anticipated that our biofuel will resolve issues related to filter plugging, injector failure and overall problems with fuel economy, emission and power loss. Furthermore, the ozonation process enriches the oxygen content making the product suitable as fuel oxygenates which should improve fuel economy and reduced harmful air emission. These new biofuels are expected to be non-toxic and readily biodegrade in the environment. The use of higher molecular weight alcohols in our catalytic ozonation process will produce a higher viscosity mixture of esters and di-esters, which are potentially useful as lubricants. Successful completion of the project will result in the design and engineering of a new, one step, and continuous ozone mediated process technology to transform fatty acid methyl esters of vegetable oils to biofuel compositions with enhanced thermal and oxidative stability, improved low temperature properties, low viscosity, and high volatility. These new biofuels would overcome the limitations of current biofuels such as filter plugging, injector failure and overall problems of fuel economy, emission and power loss. The planned process technology should further yield oxygen enriched value-added products suitable as fuel oxygenators and bio-based lubricants.
KW  - Alcohol fuels
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biodegradability
KW  - Biodiesel fuels
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Fatty acid methyl esters
KW  - Molecular weight
KW  - Ozone
KW  - Soybeans
KW  - Thermal oxidation
KW  - Vegetable oils
KW  - Viscosity
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363878
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575537
TI  - New Biocatalysts to Hydrolyze Lignocellulosic Biomass in Ionic Liquids
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Catalysts
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Hydrolysis
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1367954
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01328159
AU  - Eksioglu, Sandra D
AU  - Petrolia, Daniel
AU  - Mississippi State University, Mississippi State
AU  - National Center for Intermodal Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Impact of Intermodal Facilities to the Design of Supply Chains for Biorefineries
PY  - 2009/08/15
SP  - 16p
AB  - This paper analyzes the impact that an intermodal facility has on location and transportation decisions for biofuel production plants. Location decisions impact the management of the inbound and out-bound logistics of a plant. The authors model this supply chain design and management problem as a mixed integer program. Input data for this model are location of intermodal facilities and available transportation modes; cost and cargo capacity for each transportation mode; geographical distribution of biomass feedstock, and production yields; and biomass processing, and inventory costs. Outputs from this model are the number, location and capacity of biofuel production plants. For each plant, the transportation mode used, timing of shipments, shipments size, inventory size, and production schedule that minimize the delivery cost of biofuel are determined. The state of Mississippi is considered as the testing grounds for the authors'  model. Experimental results indicate that the best location for a (corn-to-ethanol) biorefinery in Mississippi is Warren County, where an in-land port is located. Results indicate that, even when the biomass available in Mississippi is enough to operate this facility, it is economical to ship corn from the Midwest using barge.
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Design
KW  - Intermodal facilities
KW  - Location
KW  - Logistics
KW  - Mississippi
KW  - Production plants
KW  - Supply chain management
UR  - http://ncit.msstate.edu/publications/publications_01.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1089299
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01328126
AU  - Jin, Mingzhou
AU  - Zhang, Li
AU  - Mississippi State University, Mississippi State
AU  - National Center for Intermodal Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Demonstration of Global Supply Chains with Intermodal Transportation and
Decision Support for Small and Medium Business
PY  - 2009/08/14/Final Report
SP  - 25p
AB  - Globalization has exposed all companies, large or small, to global competition and cooperation. The US furniture industry is not an exception in this process. In the US, upholstered furniture imported from China has grown annually rate  over the last decade. Before 2005, more than 80% of imported upholstery was leather. In 2006, only just over 60% of upholstery imports from China were leather. Fabric upholstery imports nearly tripled from 2005 to about $625 million. Fully assembled upholstered furniture from China grew 37.9% in 2006 (Epperson 2007). It is expected that the growth of upholstery imports from China will continue, especially for fabric upholstered furniture. Imports have a large share in the furniture market in the US and this share is growing. An efficient supply chain is the key for furniture companies to survive and prosper in the global competition faced by the furniture industry (Bryson et al. 2003). However, the global supply chain process is so complicated and involves multiple logistics/transportation companies, different insurance companies, various policies and laws over countries, and typical complex information systems. The authors' survey on Mississippi furniture companies, including Airline Manufacturing, Lane Furniture, Flexsteel, Tupelo Manufacturing, and United Furniture Industries, shows that most of them do not understand and do not know how to operate their supply chain. They usually order the materials from a third logistic party and focus the negotiation on prices. The finding is different from big companies such as Ashley, which is operating a very efficient global supply chain (Gilmore, 2006). In this research, the authors can demonstrate that better management of their own supply chain will enhance their competitiveness by better controlling their inventory, reducing the intermodal transportation via working together with a third-party logistics company, and minimizing lead time and avoiding risk by tracing the log of orders. All those benefits require a close relationship and alliance with partners along the industry value chain, from upstream suppliers to freight carriers to retailers (Holweg and Bicheno, 2002). Small business owners can also adjust their market strategies based on their supply chain operations. To survive and grow in this dynamic environment, all players in the industry need to understand, define, develop, and maintain their competitiveness via tuning their supply chains. The authors believe that a better understanding of their supply chains will help Mississippi furniture companies work together with logistics companies to improve the efficiency, specifically the cost and lead time of their products.
KW  - Businesses
KW  - China
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - International
KW  - Logistics
KW  - Medium
KW  - Mississippi
KW  - Small business
KW  - Supply chain management
KW  - United States
UR  - http://ncit.msstate.edu/publications/publications_01.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1089302
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01328120
AU  - Zhang, Li
AU  - Wen, Yi
AU  - Jin, Minzhou
AU  - Mississippi State University, Mississippi State
AU  - National Center for Intermodal Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - The Framework for Calculating the Measure of Resilience for Intermodal Transportation Systems
PY  - 2009/08/14/Final Report
SP  - 24p
AB  - A literature review indicates no conforming approval on the measure of resilience (MOR) for intermodal transportation systems (1, 2, 3). The objective of this report is to develop a framework for calculating the measure of resilience (MOR) to disaster for intermodal transportation systems. TransCAD was used to model the intermodal network and generate transportation data for the MORs calculation procedure. Intermodal Origin-Destination (OD) traffic before and after disaster struck was estimated based on the study area’s population and employment data. The pre-disaster and post-disaster population and employment data will be collected at county level and disaggregated to each Traffic Analysis Zone (TAZ) by using linear equations. A series of indicators in terms of mobility, accessibility, and reliability were selected to evaluate the intermodal system performance based on the TransCAD outputs. The report further introduced a Performance Index (PI) combining some indicators to measure the system performance regarding mobility. The Level of Service (LOS) of highway network and intermodal terminals before and after disaster was also determined according to the LOS standards. This report defined MORs as the percentage of system performance degradation due to a disaster. A formula was developed to give the intermodal system MOR a quantitative value with respect to mobility, accessibility, and reliability. The above process was reviewed in a case study along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Results demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed MOR calculation procedure.
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Performance measurement
KW  - Resilience (Adaptability)
UR  - http://ncit.msstate.edu/NCIT%20Reports/2009_28_Zhang%20and%20Jin%20Framework%20for%20Analyzing%20Resistance_reports_59.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1089300
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461308
TI  - Identification of Emerging Practices and Issues for Alternative Fuel Technologies and Energy Facilities in the Right-of-Way
AB  - The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Real Estate Services (HEPR) and its stakeholders seek to develop and provide information that presents material on the state of the practice and suggested lessons learned when considering the implications of accommodating alternative energy technologies and alternative fuel facilities in the right-of-way. A goal of this research will be to provide state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) with information that will enable them to assess asset management processes and the ways in which asset management decision making and programs can support accommodating alternative energy technologies and alternative fuel facilities in the right-of-way.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Asset management
KW  - Energy consumption
KW  - Right of way (Land)
KW  - State departments of transportation
KW  - State of the practice
KW  - Technical assistance
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Websites (Information retrieval)
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229527
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01505719
AU  - McNeil, Sue
AU  - Davidson, Rachel
AU  - Lee, Earl
AU  - Trainor, Joseph
AU  - Wachtendorf, Tricia
AU  - Black, Laura
AU  - Dalton, Sarah
AU  - Mitchell, Charles
AU  - Wasileski, Gabriela
AU  - Delaware Center for Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - UTC/DelDOT Infrastructure Security and Emergency Preparedness
PY  - 2009/08/07/Final Report
SP  - 52p
AB  - Transportation infrastructure security and emergency preparedness presents an enormous challenge for both the State of Delaware and the major transportation corridors that run through the state. Delaware Department of Transportation and its extensive network of partner organizations have a strong coalition in place to plan, train, and run exercises related to regional evacuation issues. Given the complexity of this task and the many intersecting areas of interest, it is vital that relevant engineering and social sciences be brought to bear on planning processes. The objective of this project is to review the current state of practice for Delaware and the BOSFOLK corridor, review external research and apply insights from state-of-the-art social science and engineering, and develop a plan for integrating research insights into practice. We will formulate a “Workplan for Improving Infrastructure Security and Emergency Preparedness.”
KW  - Delaware
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Emergency management
KW  - Evacuation
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Security
KW  - Social sciences
KW  - State of the practice
KW  - Transportation corridors
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/downloads2013/McNeil_etal_Security_UTCFinal%20Report.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1285222
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01138547
AU  - Selvam, R Panneer
AU  - Subramani, Vikramraja J
AU  - Murray, Shanique
AU  - Hall, Kevin D
AU  - Mack-Blackwell Transportation Center
AU  - Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department
AU  - National Science Foundation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Potential Application of Nanotechnology on Cement Based Materials
PY  - 2009/08/06/Final Report
SP  - 158p
AB  - The tensile strength of cement paste is one of the most important of the mechanical properties that influence shrinkage cracks in cementious materials. Cement pastes which exhibit low tensile strength, tend to exhibit greater shrinkage crack potential and reduced durability. If the tensile strength in cement paste can be increased, then the shrinkage cracking potential can be minimized. It is believed that the strength and cohesion of cement paste is controlled by the formation of Calcium Silicate Hydrate (C-S-H) gel. In order to be able to enhance macroscopic mechanical properties (tensile strength) it is necessary to understand the structure and behavior of C-S-H gel at the atomic level. Molecular statics was used to determine minimal potential energy and the mechanical properties of crystalline C-S-H structures. It was found that when bonds in the silicate chains of crystalline C-S-H structures were broken at certain places, the computed elastic modulus was comparable with macro level experimental values. From this study a plausible atomic structure of C-S-H gel is proposed. Further research effort builds upon the previous work by using molecular dynamics to derive tensile and compressive strength of C-S-H structures from uniaxial stress-strain data. The results from the molecular dynamics simulations showed that the maximum strength (i.e., compressive and tensile) for the proposed C-S-H gel is magnitudes higher than the strength at the macro level. However, the tensile strength of the proposed C-S-H gel is 23% of the compressive strength. This research also concludes that electrostatic forces and bond forces in the silicate chains are the main contributors to cement strength at the atomic level and that breakage in the silicate chains leads to low tensile strength in C-S-H gel.
KW  - Calcium silicate
KW  - Calcium silicate hydrate
KW  - Cement paste
KW  - Compressive strength
KW  - Cracking
KW  - Durability
KW  - Molecular structure
KW  - Nanotechnology
KW  - Shrinkage
KW  - Simulation
KW  - Tensile strength
UR  - http://arkansastrc.com/MBTC%20REPORTS/MBTC%202095.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/898967
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572261
TI  - Development of Square Bale Handling Systems
AB  - Bulk densification of a biomass feedstock at a satellite storage location adds great value, if done in a cost effective way. Studying mechanical and operational performance of existing bale compression machines will discover all factors that affect the entire supply system. Moreover, possible means of modifying the existing machine for the purpose of biomass densification will be addressed with the goal of reducing the machine cost. This study will solve these problems and propose an efficient way to handle and transport square bales. Among existing harvesting machine systems, baler-based and forage harvester based machine systems are most popular. The baler-based system is primarily used for harvesting dry materials such as crop residues and energy crops. This harvesting system produces bales. The forage harvester system is used for harvesting wet crops, producing truckloads of chopped loose materials. The bales will be collected from fields and then transported to a satellite storage location (SSL) preferably nearby an established roadway. A SSL is a connecting point between farm gate and the transportation network. Loading bales efficiently and safely onto a truck will greatly impact the entire supply system. The investigator has attended several meetings with landowners who may operate SSL facilities and managers of a bioenergy plant; efficient operations and induced costs at SSL are the main concern. Inefficiencies of these systems will limit the material flow from SSL to bioenergy plant. Therefore, development of efficient loading and unloading techniques and required mechanical devices are definitely needed. To address these problems for biomass feedstock logistics, the proposed study will focus on square bale handling technologies and costs of bale densification. Long-term goals are to develop efficient logistics systems and required mechanical devices for handling biomass feedstocks in a safe, low cost and efficient manner. Specific objectives of this study are as follows: (1) Study existing bale compressing equipment using hay and switchgrass to collect data including mechanical performance, investment and operating costs, storage requirements, and to gain potential means of machine modifications to reduce the cost of machine fabrication; (2) Develop a loading and unloading technology and required devices to reduce operating costs and utilize the full capacity of a flatbed truck; (3) Establish a model for square bale handling systems, which can predict various costs including, collecting square bales from fields, loading bales onto a truck at SSL, and bale recompression.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Bales
KW  - Bioenergy
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Crops
KW  - Energy storage systems
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Loading and unloading
KW  - Logistics
KW  - Technological innovations
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363879
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572215
TI  - Economic Costs and Environmental Consequences of Biofuels Policies
AB  - The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 sets a renewable fuel standard (RFS) that requires the use of 9 billion gallons of renewable liquid fuels in 2008 and rises to 36 billion by 2022. Of this, 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol is required by 2015 (remaining at this level thereafter) and the additional 21 billion gallons is mandated to be obtained from cellulosic ethanol and other advanced biofuels by 2022. The purpose of the proposed project is to examine the effects of the RFS, employing a simulation model to evaluate the policy's efficiency and distributional implications. The project investigates the impacts of increased U.S. biofuels mandates for corn-based and cellulosic ethanol on blended fuel consumption, relating these impacts to changes in fuel mix (regular gasoline and ethanol), changes in fleet composition (e.g. shifts to higher mileage automobiles) and vehicle miles traveled (VMT). The project also examine the impacts of increased U.S. biofuels mandates on agricultural production, relating these effects to changes in the acreage of major crops, rotation practices, tillage systems, land allocated to the conservation reserve program (CRP), and volume of crop exports. The project also explore how the costs are distributed across different agents in the economy and regions of the country, thus providing useful estimates to the northeast region as well as other Sun Grant regions. Finally, the project measures the effects of increased U.S. biofuels mandates on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, relating our estimates to those of standard lifecycle analysis (LCA) and to recent studies that account for unintended land use effects. A central theme of the proposed work is that LCA alone can generate very misleading conclusions related to the GHG emissions effects of biofuels policies.
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Energy conservation
KW  - Fuel consumption
KW  - Greenhouse gases
KW  - Life cycle analysis
KW  - Renewable fuel standard
KW  - Vehicle miles of travel
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363833
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569186
TI  - Emissions and Performance of Alternative Vehicles in Northern Climates
AB  - The focus of this project is to quantify "real-world" emissions from hybrid versus non-hybrid vehicles. State-of-the-art micro-simulation models can replicate vehicle activity, fuel economy and emissions. Unfortunately, the factors used by such models are often based on data from laboratory tests conducted under ideal conditions. Transportation planning models are the basis for decision-making related to new infrastructure, congestion mitigation and safety. These models are also used to evaluate the air quality impacts of transportation projects under Federal "Conformity" legislation requirements (CFR, 2006; FHWA, 2006). State-of-the-art micro simulation models, such as TRANSIMS, model second-by-second vehicle activity (speed and acceleration rate), fuel economy, and emissions (LANL, 2005). Unfortunately, the emissions algorithms used by such models are often based on look-up tables of data from laboratory dynamometer tests conducted under ideal conditions (i.e. new vehicles, 70 degrees F) that do not capture actual "real-world", on-road emissions accurately and do not account for real-world factors such as road grade, temperature or other non-ideal factors. Furthermore, due to their recent introduction, the emissions benefits of alternative technologies like hybrid-electric vehicles and alternative fuels (biofuels) are not incorporated due to a lack of emissions and performance data.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Exhaust gases
KW  - Hybrid vehicles
KW  - Microsimulation
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - State of the art
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/emissions-performance-of-alternative-vehicles-in-northern-climates/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359741
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461692
TI  - Economic Costs and Environmental Consequences of U.S. Biofuels Policies
AB  - The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 sets a renewable fuel standard (RFS) that requires the use of 9 billion gallons of renewable liquid fuels in 2008 and rises to 36 billion by 2022. Of this, 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol is required by 2015 (remaining at this level thereafter) and the additional 21 billion gallons is mandated to be obtained from cellulosic ethanol and other advanced biofuels by 2022. The purpose of the proposed project is to examine the effects of the RFS, employing a simulation model to evaluate the policy's efficiency and distributional implications. The project investigates the impacts of increased U.S. biofuels mandates for cornbased and cellulosic ethanol on blended fuel consumption, relating these impacts to changes in fuel mix (regular gasoline and ethanol), changes in fleet composition (e.g. shifts to higher mileage automobiles) and vehicle miles traveled (VMT). We also examine the impacts of increased U.S. biofuels mandates on agricultural production, relating these effects to changes in the acreage of major crops, rotation practices, tillage systems, land allocated to the conservation reserve program (CRP), and volume of crop exports. We also explore how the costs are distributed across different agents in the economy and regions of the country, thus providing useful estimates to the northeast region as well as other Sun Grant regions. Finally, the project measures the effects of increased U.S. biofuels mandates on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, relating our estimates to those of standard lifecycle analysis (LCA) and to recent studies that account for unintended land use effects. A central theme of the proposed work is that LCA alone can generate very misleading conclusions related to the GHG emissions effects of biofuels policies.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Economic factors
KW  - Energy consumption
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Greenhouse gases
KW  - Life cycle costing
KW  - Policy making
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Renewable energy sources
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Vehicle miles of travel
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229912
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01544619
AU  - Oliva, Michael G
AU  - Banister, Michelle Ann
AU  - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Impact of Bridge Ratings on the Timber Transportation Industry
PY  - 2009/08//Final Report
SP  - 232p
AB  - The logging industry plays an important role in the State of Wisconsin’s economy. Additionally, the condition of some of Wisconsin’s bridges, as well as the state of our nation’s bridges, is deteriorated due to lack of funding for replacement. As a result of this, bridges are being load posted which prohibits travel over them by many commercial vehicles. One industry in particular that is of interest to this project is the forest products/timber industry, but Wisconsin’s dairy industry is also extensively affected. As a result of the load posting, hauling routes are longer due to detours and it is costing the timber industry more money to haul raw timber. The purpose of this project was to investigate the current load ratings of bridges and look at the effects that logging vehicles have on single span bridges. Following these analyses, solutions to help alleviate some of the challenges the timber industry is experiencing due to load posted bridges were examined. Currently, bridges in Wisconsin are load rated based on specified unique design vehicles such has the HS20. This project looked into how the moment and shear effects of logging trucks compared to the effects of common design and State vehicles. Thirty-one logging vehicles with varying configurations and gross weights were measured and used in this comparison analysis. In addition to the logging truck analysis and comparison, several bridges that are of major concern to a prominent timber association in Wisconsin, the Great Lake Timber Professionals Association, were investigated and load rated using the two currently available methods, the Load Factor Rating method and the Load and Resistance Factor Rating method. This was done to better understand the methods used for load rating and to compare the load ratings from this project with current load postings. Lastly, possible solutions to the current issues the Great Lake’s Timber Professionals Association and the timber industry are experiencing were investigated. The first solution was looking at optimization of the current logging vehicles including optimizing the distribution of weight on the axles as well as optimizing the axle configuration on the truck to decrease the effects of the trucks on bridges. Additionally, the amount of gross weight reduction for timber trucks that would be necessary to reduce effects to a level equivalent to the design vehicles was calculated. The final solution that was investigated was looking into potential economical bridge strengthening options. The main option that was considered was the use of Mechanically Fastened Fiber Reinforced Polymer Strips as a strengthening option for reinforced concrete bridges. This strengthening technique has been previously utilized successfully in Missouri. Wisconsin bridge B380513, which is load posted and a large concern to the logging industry has been chosen and examined as a candidate for strengthening using this technique.
KW  - Bridges
KW  - Economic impacts
KW  - Load and resistance factor design
KW  - Load factor
KW  - Logging trucks
KW  - Optimization
KW  - Oversize loads
KW  - Overweight loads
KW  - Routes
KW  - Strengthening (Maintenance)
KW  - Wisconsin
UR  - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/FR_0305.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1330896
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01518957
AU  - Church, Robert F
AU  - Hyde, David J
AU  - Mauri, Ronald A
AU  - Mergel, Joseph J
AU  - Pace, David
AU  - Pickrell, Don H
AU  - Shaulov, Mark
AU  - Templeton, Joshua
AU  - Wetula, Leopold E
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Methodology for Determining the Avoidable and Fully Allocated Costs of Amtrak Routes Volumes I, II, and III
PY  - 2009/08
SP  - 221p
AB  - The Federal Railroad Administration tasked the Volpe Center with developing a methodology for determining the avoidable and fully allocated costs of Amtrak routes. Avoidable costs are costs that would not be incurred if an Amtrak route were discontinued. Fully allocated costs are the total costs of operating a route, including operating, marketing, general and administrative, and capital costs. The methodology was developed in cooperation with Amtrak staff and is being implemented within Amtrak’s new Amtrak Performance Tracking (APT) system. This report describes the methodology for determining Amtrak’s avoidable and fully allocated costs. Challenges faced in developing the methodology included how to allocate shared costs that cannot be directly linked to single trains, how to spread high-level costs, such as general and administrative costs, how to distribute costs to Amtrak’s ancillary businesses, how to estimate and allocate capital costs given Amtrak’s history and structure, and how to estimate avoidable costs given record keeping limitations and the fact that many Amtrak costs are shared. The methodology will provide improved estimates of avoidable and fully allocated costs as compared to Amtrak’s current cost allocation  system. It simplifies the cost allocation rules, incorporates Amtrak’s ancillary businesses in the allocation process, and increases transparency.
KW  - Amtrak
KW  - Cost accounting
KW  - Cost allocation
KW  - Cost estimating
KW  - Costs
KW  - Methodology
KW  - Passenger trains
KW  - Routes
KW  - U.S. Federal Railroad Administration
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/15771
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/15780
UR  - https://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/16962
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/49000/49200/49201/DOT-VNTSC-FRA-09-05_Appendices_B-H.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290293
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01469912
AU  - Huang, Scott L
AU  - Darrow, Margaret M
AU  - Calvin, Peter
AU  - Alaska University Transportation Center
AU  - Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Unstable Slope Management Program
PY  - 2009/08//Final Report
SP  - 93p
AB  - This Rapid Response Project gathered information on existing unstable slope management programs, with a focus on asset management practices in the United States and overseas. On the basis of this study, the research team summarized and recommended guidelines to develop an Unstable Slope Management Program for the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (AKDOT&PF).
KW  - Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
KW  - Asset management
KW  - Dislocation (Geology)
KW  - Risk management
KW  - Rock slopes
KW  - Slope failure
KW  - Slope stability
KW  - State departments of transportation
KW  - State of the practice
UR  - http://ine.uaf.edu/autc/files/2013/01/RR08.10part2.FinalReport082109-ineautc1118.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/46000/46700/46747/RR08.10part2.FinalReport082109-ineautc1118.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1237191
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01344712
AU  - Schlossberg, Marc
AU  - Larco, Nico
AU  - University of Oregon, Eugene
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Transferring Community-Based, Active Transportation GIS Assessment Tools Nationwide
PY  - 2009/08//Final Report
SP  - 44p
AB  - “Livability” has recently been declared one of four top priorities by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), and the USDOT, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have entered into an historic partnership to address the issue. Ultimately, this term refers to the quality of life within one’s community and the ease, comfort, and joy with which one can access places he or she wants to go. For most Americans, their neighborhoods have been designed to predominantly accommodate the automobile, and more active forms of transportation such as walking and biking have been neglected. Previous and current Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC) work has developed a suite of geographic informaiton system (GIS) tools focused on assessing these environments in a fine-scaled, field-based, geo-referenced format so that local communities can better identify gaps in their networks and work to make appropriate improvements. This work explicitly focuses on the role and capacity of a general citizenry to conduct built environment active transportation audits and engage in facilitated discussions about the data and maps resulting from their community data collection.
KW  - Bicycling
KW  - Built environment
KW  - Communities
KW  - Community livability
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Georeferencing
KW  - Neighborhoods
KW  - Quality of life
KW  - Transportation audits
KW  - Walking
UR  - http://otrec.us/project/214
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1106556
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01333189
AU  - Pollard, John K
AU  - Markos, Stephanie H
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
TI  - Human Factors Issues in Motorcoach Emergency Egress
PY  - 2009/08//Interim Report
SP  - 201p
AB  - FMVSS 217, Bus Emergency Exits and Window Retention and Release specifies a series of dimensional and physical requirements for emergency exits. The intent of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is “to minimize the likelihood of occupants being ejected from the bus and to provide a means of readily accessible emergency egress” for those occupants under crash and other emergency scenarios. These scenarios can include catastrophic bus accident situations, such as a vehicle fire, rollover, or water immersion where immediate emergency evacuation is necessary under life-threatening and difficult conditions. In 2007, NHTSA issued a research plan to address priority actions specifically related to motorcoach emergency egress. This interim report describes the preliminary findings of the first year of a two-year NHTSA-funded study which focused on three topics: 1) emergency exits, 2) interior and exterior emergency exit marking, and 3) emergency exit lighting. A literature search was completed; several field visits were conducted, which included emergency window and roof exit hatch operation; and two sets of motorcoach egress experiments were conducted. Potential motorcoach design changes identified and discussed in this interim report include: redesign of the wheelchair access door and / or installation of another side door for use as an emergency exit; redesign of emergency window exit opening and release systems; additional and larger emergency roof exit hatches; and increased conspicuity of emergency exits, either by use of high performance photoluminescent marking material or crashworthy emergency exit lighting, or dual-mode systems, which combine both technologies.
KW  - Bus crashes
KW  - Bus transportation
KW  - Buses
KW  - Egress
KW  - Emergency exits
KW  - Emergency lighting
KW  - Evacuation
KW  - Human factors in crashes
KW  - Vehicle design
KW  - Vehicle safety
KW  - Windows (Vehicles)
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35400/35489/MotorcoachEgressYr1.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1097259
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01328118
AU  - Eksioglu, Burak
AU  - Eksioglu, Sandra D
AU  - Allen, Albert
AU  - Myles, Al
AU  - Mississippi State University, Mississippi State
AU  - National Center for Intermodal Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - A Simulation Model to Analyze the Impact of Crisis Conditions on the Performance of
Port Operations
PY  - 2009/08//Final Report
SP  - 18p
AB  - The authors consider the supply chain for containerized items that arrive at a port in the U.S. whose final destination is also in the U.S. Ports are important entities in global supply chains. As such, when a port cannot operate because of a crisis, such as a natural or man-made disaster, it is critical that freight flow is not disrupted. The authors develop a simulation model that can be used to make effective re-routing decisions so that the time for freight to reach its final destination is not significantly increased in a crisis. The simulation model will evaluate and report the performance of the supply chain under different re-routing strategies. The output can be analyzed to find the best rerouting strategy that minimizes congestion and delays during crisis conditions. The model can also be used by various decision makers such as port managers, ocean carriers, or transportation companies for strategic decision making.
KW  - Crisis management
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Port operations
KW  - Port traffic
KW  - Routing
KW  - Simulation
KW  - Supply chain management
UR  - http://ncit.msstate.edu/publications/publications_01.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1089311
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01325029
AU  - Damnjanovic, Ivan
AU  - Waller, S Travis
AU  - Vajdic, Nevena
AU  - Suescun, David R
AU  - Texas Transportation Institute
AU  - University of Texas, Austin
AU  - Southwest Region University Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Network-based Decision Support Tool for Toll Roads
PY  - 2009/08//Technical Report
SP  - 109p
AB  - Development, delivery, and operation of public infrastructure are becoming increasingly dependent on participation of the private sector. While revenue generating projects, such as toll roads, were traditionally developed and funded from the public sources, in recent years, as the public demand for new projects have exceeded the ability of the public sector to deliver them, the private investors have started to fulfill the gap between the needed and the available infrastructure. The objective of this research was to develop a network-based method that allows an assessment of the effect of the public sector’s decisions regarding network improvements on the financial value of toll road projects.
KW  - Decision support systems
KW  - Feasibility analysis
KW  - Financing
KW  - Networks
KW  - Toll roads
UR  - http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/0-5881-1.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1086146
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01165315
AU  - Beauchamp, David
AU  - Warren, Robert
AU  - Edwards, Geoff
AU  - Jiang, Olivia
AU  - University of Delaware, Newark
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Transportation Policy and Governance in the Northeast Corridor: An Overview of Major Public Agencies
PY  - 2009/08
SP  - 86p
AB  - The lack of systematic planning and policy-making to optimize the Northeast Corridor's (NEC’s) overall transportation infrastructure is obviously not due to an absence of agencies and organizations that focus on the Corridor and its subareas. The opposite is true. A mosaic exists, and the intent of this report is to provide an overview of the array of public entities that, in addition to those of the national government and state departments of transportation, have formal responsibility for planning and policy-making for some portion of the NEC’s primary transportation infrastructure and service operations.
KW  - Governance
KW  - Government agencies
KW  - Metropolitan planning organizations
KW  - Northeast Corridor
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Transportation policy
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/Warren_2009.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/33000/33400/33443/NECagencies_report.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/925024
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01164230
AU  - Liu, Sirui
AU  - Murray-Tuite, Pamela
AU  - Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg
AU  - Virginia Transportation Research Council
AU  - Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Facilitating No-Notice Evacuation through Optimal Pick-up Location Selection
PY  - 2009/08//Final Report
SP  - 42p
AB  - Under no-notice disasters, dependents in facilities such as schools and daycare centers usually wait for their families to pick them up. This family pickup behavior could increase individual evacuation time and cause extra delay to other vehicles in the network. Relocating the dependents to other pickup sites may facilitate no-notice evacuation. This study developed an optimization model to determine optimal pickup locations, assuming that all evacuating families have personal vehicles; the objective is to maximize the number of evacuees who can successfully pick up dependents and then escape from the dangerous zones within a safe evacuation time threshold. The optimization model was based on anticipated travel time output from the simulation model (VISSIM in this study); iteration between the two models was performed. The methodology was applied to a case study based on a simplified version of Chicago Heights, Illinois. The case study involved three facilities with 492 dependents and three safe time thresholds (i.e., 30, 45 and 60 minutes). Improvements in total travel time, average speed, total delay time and average delay time per vehicle and increases in the number of successful evacuations of dependents were used to evaluate the performance of the relocation strategy. This study also examined the sensitivity of the strategy to parents’ arrival time, number of dependents, and safe time. Finally, relocation sites were recommended based on the results of all scenarios. The results found that the relocation strategy was sensitive to safe evacuation time and number of pickup evacuees (pickup evacuees refer to those persons with a need to pick up their dependents inside the dangerous zones). The relocation strategy was prominently effective when safe evacuation time fell into a moderate range or the number of pickup evacuees was fairly high. Application of the proposed methodology to a certain area can assist local decision-makers to take effective measures during no-notice evacuation and the relocation sites could be part of local evacuation management plans.
KW  - Disasters and emergency operations
KW  - Evacuation
KW  - Location
KW  - Optimization
KW  - Passenger pickup
KW  - Traffic simulation
KW  - Travel time
UR  - http://www.mautc.psu.edu/docs/VT-2007-01.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/921357
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01164203
AU  - Britanyak, Peter
AU  - Dixon, Dylan
AU  - Fuhrman, Alex
AU  - Harker, Nicholas
AU  - Braven, Karen Den
AU  - National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Flex-Fuel Two-Stroke Snowmobile
PY  - 2009/08//Final Report
SP  - 33p
AB  - The University of Idaho’s entry into the 2009 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge (CSC) was a semi-direct-injection (SDI) two-stroke powered REV-XP snowmobile modified to use flex fuel. The flex fuel engine produces stock engine power on any blend of ethanol and gasoline from E10 to E85. The emissions output was reduced using an oxidation catalyst located after the exhaust silencer. Noise from the engine compartment was reduced by custom-carbon fiber hood and side panels, which allowed placement of extra sound absorbing materials. The UI snowmobile achieved Third Place in the competition, while producing the best fuel economy and winning several other awards.
KW  - Competition
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Exhaust gases
KW  - Fuel consumption
KW  - Noise control
KW  - Recreational vehicles
KW  - Snowmobiles
UR  - http://www.webs1.uidaho.edu/niatt/research/Final_Reports/KLK753_N09-07.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/921394
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01146329
AU  - Arel, Itamar
AU  - Urbanik, Thomas
AU  - National Transportation Research Center, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - U18: Traffic Signal Safety (Phase B)
PY  - 2009/08//Final Report
SP  - 45p
AB  - Efficiently scheduling traffic, particularly heavy vehicles, remains a key challenge in transportation engineering. This project has focused on the development of a novel traffic–signal-control methodology to improve the safety of heavy vehicles on high-speed approaches to signalized intersections. The approach makes use of wireless communications between the heavy vehicle and the traffic-signal controller. The project builds upon the Trusted Truck® infrastructure in order to have a more cost-effective deployment. The project also considered existing intelligent transportation system standards (e.g. National Transportation Communications for ITS Protocol [NTCIP]) as a means of establishing a practical implementation path.
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - Heavy vehicles
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Traffic signal control systems
KW  - Traffic signal controllers
KW  - Trucking safety
KW  - Wireless communication systems
UR  - http://www.ntrci.org/library/U18-Traffic_Signal_Safety_Phase_B_1258463973.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/905592
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142084
AU  - Pape, Douglas B
AU  - Holdridge, Jason T
AU  - Chitwood, J Caleb
AU  - Stilwell, Alex W
AU  - National Transportation Research Center, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - U15: Tripped Rollover (Phase A)
PY  - 2009/08//Final Report
SP  - 71p
AB  - The Federal Highway Administration has expressed interest in learning more about pavement drop-offs at the edge of roadways and their relationship with the roll stability of heavy vehicles.  Statistics kept by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and other entities have shown that more than half of all heavy vehicle rollovers are associated with a run-off-road crash.  Furthermore, the majority are "tripped;" that is, the truck rolled over because it ran over a drop-off or encountered a curb or other obstacle.  Previous rollover research by the Heavy Truck Rollover Consortium, like nearly all previous full-scale rollover experiments, has focused on the "untripped" rollover; i.e., those in which the truck executes a maneuver (such as rounding a corner too quickly) and rolls on essentially level pavement. This report is the first publication to describe quantitative experiments in heavy vehicle behavior in roadway departure recoveries.  The long-term objectives of the recommended "tripped" rollover research are to: (1) Develop and validate a model that explains how and when tripped rollovers occur and the influence of key components; (2) Develop recommendations and guidelines for reducing the likelihood of tripped rollovers, including recommendations for: a. Highway and pavement design, b. Vehicle suspension and dynamics design, c. Stability control algorithms, and d. Driver recovery procedures.  The objective for the experiments described in this report was to: 1) Provide typical results from which further experiments can be designed, 2) Establish a dynamic vehicle model that can be enhanced in future years, and 3) Attract funding and participation from additional interested parties.
KW  - Dropoffs (Pavements)
KW  - Heavy duty vehicles
KW  - Ran off road crashes
KW  - Roll stability
KW  - Rollover crashes
KW  - Truck crashes
KW  - Trucking safety
UR  - http://www.ntrci.org/ntrci-50-2009-013
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902295
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142052
AU  - Plaxico, Chuck
AU  - Miele, Chuck
AU  - Kennedy, James
AU  - Simunovic, Srdjan
AU  - Zisi, Nikola
AU  - National Transportation Research Center, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - U08: Enhanced Finite Element Analysis Crash Model of Tractor-Trailers (Phase B)
PY  - 2009/08//Final Report
SP  - 210p
AB  - Improved understanding of truck-infrastructure crashes will enable the highway community to improve barrier design, to further reduce the likelihood of vehicle-infrastructure fatalities and injuries, and to reduce highway congestion resulting from severe accidents.  In collaboration with the TFHRC, the National Transportation Research Center, Inc., University Transportation Center (NTRCI) has taken an active role in enhancing industry understanding of truck-infrastructure crash behavior through funding the development and enhancement of advanced finite element (FE) computer simulation models of truck-infrastructure crashes.  NTRCI is helping provide highway engineers with data to make better, more well-informed roadside infrastructure decisions that enhance the safety of the traveling public.  The objective of this current investigation is to validate and enhance computer models of a tractor-semitrailer combination that will be used in analysis, design, and evaluation of roadside safety hardware.  The research team is enhancing the overall fidelity of the tractor-semitrailer FE model by verifying vehicle failure modes from simulation against those from actual crash tests.  This effort will enable the tractor-semitrailer FE model to provide more realistic predictions of crash performance and significantly reduce the need for costly full-scale truck testing.  This report summarizes the results of the second phase (Phase B) of a three-phase program.  In general terms, the plan for conducting this effort over three phases is as follows: 1. Phase A - Conduct an in-depth evaluation of the NCAC tractor only FE model, implement selected modifications, and develop a new trailer model.  Phase B - Complete preliminary modification of combined tractor-semitrailer FE models, provide them to the FHWA Center of Excellence (COE) community for beta testing, and validate them against suitable full-scale crash tests.  3. Phase C - Refine the combined tractor-semitrailer FE models and develop an interactive, online FE model user's website and a User's Manual document to facilitate the use of the model.
KW  - Crash analysis
KW  - Crash models
KW  - Finite element method
KW  - Impact tests
KW  - Tractor trailer combinations
KW  - Truck crashes
KW  - Trucking safety
UR  - http://www.ntrci.org/ntrci-50-2009-012
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902288
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01141665
AU  - ElGawady, Mohamed A
AU  - Washington State University, Pullman
AU  - TransNow, Transportation Northwest
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Detection of Delaminations of FRP Retrofitted Reinforced Concrete Columns
PY  - 2009/08//Final Research Report
SP  - 56p
AB  - In the last few decades, an extensive research has been carried out to develop strengthening techniques for reinforced concrete (RC) infrastructures using fiber reinforced polymer (FRP).  When a RC structure is strengthened using FRP sheets, the bond between FRP and concrete plays a crucial role in the performance of the strengthened structure.  The failure process of RC columns strengthened using FRP starts from debonding of the most highly stressed FRP strip.  Debond of FRP reduces the strength and stiffness of the strengthened member and leads to a brittle failure.  Early detection of debond using structural health monitoring (SHM) of the strengthened member is the key to avoid such brittle failure.  SHM will provide information concerning the development of debond, which can be used to implement timely action for maintenance/repair to ensure the safety of structures.  This research aimed to perform SHM of RC structures strengthened with FRP using Lamb waves.  Piezoelectric wafers active sensors (PWAS) was used for both wave transmitters and receivers.  A series of damage configurations including different debond sizes, different types of defects, i.e., debond and delamination, the distance between the PWAS and the debonded section, and the thickness of FRP layer were investigated through an experimental work on small-scale specimens representing RC columns strengthened using FRP sheets.
KW  - Bond strength (Materials)
KW  - Bridge members
KW  - Debonding
KW  - Delamination
KW  - Failure
KW  - Fiber reinforced plastics
KW  - Laboratory tests
KW  - Lamb waves
KW  - Reinforced concrete bridges
KW  - Retrofitting
KW  - Scale models
KW  - Structural health monitoring
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902067
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01141333
AU  - Tilahun, Nebiyou Y
AU  - Levinson, David M
AU  - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Social Networks and ICT in Location Choice
PY  - 2009/08//Final Report
SP  - 92p
AB  - Humans are social animals. We routinely interact with others learning about one another, about places, where to go and what places to avoid. Our activities are coordinated with others; sometimes because we explicitly seek to physically meet with those we know personally, other times the coordination is systemic because of norms and requirements of when those activities can take place (e.g. shopping when the shops are open etc.). With those personally known, interactions serve to exchange information, form social bonds and to create social support systems. Within the transportation realm, the social dimension comes into play in different ways. Two or more people who want to meet face to face have to select a meeting location and travel to that destination. People can also learn about short-term activity locations, or about residences and workplaces through others and make location decisions based upon them. These two areas of social contacts' influence in the location choice is the topic of this report. The report looks into how job search methods can impact home and work location patterns at the aggregate level. It also investigates the role job search methods and their outcomes play in subsequent relocation and residential location decisions at the individual level. A third element that will be considered is the relationship between home, work and activity locations for social meetings. The roles of social networks are explored in work finding, residential location choice, and choices of meeting locations.
KW  - Activity choices
KW  - Employment
KW  - Information and communication technologies
KW  - Jobs
KW  - Location
KW  - Location choice
KW  - Residential location
KW  - Social activity
KW  - Social media
KW  - Travel behavior
KW  - Workplaces
UR  - http://www.its.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1190
UR  - http://www.its.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/reportdetail.html?id=1812
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/901458
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01140460
AU  - Washer, Glenn A
AU  - Fenwick, Richard
AU  - Bolleni, Naveen
AU  - University of Missouri, Columbia
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Missouri Department of Transportation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Development of Hand-Held Thermographic Inspection Technologies
PY  - 2009/08//Final Report
SP  - 119p
AB  - Subsurface deterioration in concrete structures presents a significant challenge for inspection and maintenance engineers. Cracking, delaminations and spalling that can occur as a result of corrosion of embedded reinforcing steel can lead to potholes and even punch-through in concrete decks. For overpass bridges, concrete can separate from the structure and fall into traffic below the bridge, and there have been numerous deadly accidents as a result. Although this deterioration can frequently be detected using hammer sounding and/or chain dragging, these inspection techniques require hands-on access to the surface of the concrete. For both overpass bridges and decks, lane closures are required to gain access to the structure, and the resulting traffic disruptions make inspections expensive and logistically difficult. The proposed research would explore the use of hand-held infrared cameras for the remote detection of deterioration in concrete. This technology could reduce the need for lane closures and improve the ability of inspection and maintenance personnel to detect and monitor deterioration in its embryonic stages, such that maintenance procedures can be employed before deterioration becomes critical. The technology can also be used to monitor and improve concrete repairs by rapidly identifying the extent of deterioration and locating its boundaries.
KW  - Bridge decks
KW  - Cracking
KW  - Delamination
KW  - Deterioration
KW  - Handheld devices
KW  - Infrared cameras
KW  - Inspection
KW  - Reinforced concrete bridges
KW  - Remote sensing
KW  - Spalling
KW  - Subsurface deterioration
KW  - Thermographs
UR  - http://library.modot.mo.gov/RDT/reports/Ri06038/or10007.pdf
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/R198_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/900840
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01140456
AU  - Richardson, David N
AU  - Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Missouri Department of Transportation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Quick Test for Percent of Deleterious Material
PY  - 2009/08//Final Report
SP  - 169p
AB  - The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is considering the replacement of its deleterious materials test method (TM-71) with test methods that are more objective. MoDOT contracted with the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) to develop a method of approximation of various deleterious materials contents based primarily on systems of standard tests which would augment or replace the deleterious test method TM-71. The system would be comprised of one or more objective tests, depending on the outcome of the research project. Nine different quarry/ledge production materials representing seven geologic formations (four limestones and three dolomites) were sampled by MoDOT and delivered to Missouri S&T. The samples represented three aggregates each for use in concrete, asphalt, and granular base. Samples of controlled contamination were also tested, bringing the total to 18. The aggregates were subjected to fifteen different test methods/method modifications. The test results, coupled with MoDOT historical specific gravity, absorption, and deleterious materials data, formed the basis of the study dataset. Multiple linear regression was used to produce 15 models of varying accuracy and complexity for TM-71 predictions. Deleterious data for the same aggregate materials (samples) were used as the response (dependent) variable. The best models entailed test methods not normally performed by MoDOT. As an alternate to the regression models, a threshold-limits method was presented. The models themselves were not exact enough to predict the various deleterious contents with the level of accuracy required for routine decisions concerning aggregate product acceptance or rejection. As a result, a method of baseline ledge-specific initial calibration of the models was developed to enable MoDOT inspectors to make acceptability decisions on a routine basis without the necessity of performing TM-71. Unfortunately, MoDOT had no historical data with which to verify the models. This is a vital step and must be done in the future before any of the models are implemented.
KW  - Aggregate tests
KW  - Dolomite
KW  - Limestone aggregates
KW  - Materials tests
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - Missouri Department of Transportation
KW  - Multiple regression analysis
KW  - Test procedures
UR  - http://library.modot.mo.gov/RDT/reports/Ri07052/or10005.pdf
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/R218_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/900849
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01139447
AU  - Monsere, Christopher M
AU  - Wolfe, Michael
AU  - Alawakiel, Heba
AU  - Stephens, Max
AU  - Portland State University
AU  - Oregon Department of Transportation
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Developing Corridor-Level Truck Travel Time Estimates and Other Freight Performance Measures from Archived ITS Data
PY  - 2009/08//Final Report
SP  - 118p
AB  - The objectives of this research were to retrospectively study the feasibility for using truck transponder data to produce freight corridor performance measures (travel times) and real-time traveler information. To support this analysis, weigh-in-motion (WIM) data from each of the 22 stations in Oregon were assembled, processed, and uploaded in the WIM data archive which is housed under the Portland Transportation Archive Listing (PORTAL) umbrella at Portland State University’s Intelligent Transportation Systems Lab. Nearly 42,000,000 truck records were successfully uploaded to the archive dating back to July 2005. Two separate algorithms necessary for this research were scripted, tested, and validated. The closest stations are 38.3 miles apart; the most separated are 258 miles apart. The first algorithm matched transponders of all vehicles in a time window between the upstream and downstream stations. The second algorithm filtered these matches for through trucks. The filter was validated by comparing estimated travel times during a winter weather-induced delay. The analysis showed that corridor-level travel times for trucks for 2007 and 2008 could be generated from the archived data. To explore the feasibility of using these same data for real-time traveler information, ground truth probe vehicle data were collected. Travel time estimates from the WIM data and the probes were used to establish a simple linear relationship between passenger car and truck performance. It was concluded that the long distances between stations was a primary challenge to directly adapting the WIM data to real-time use. Recommendations were given on increased sensor spacing and filter improvement. Finally, potential performance metrics for station level, matched trucks, and filtered matched truck data were shown.
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - Data banks
KW  - Data filtering
KW  - Estimating
KW  - Feasibility analysis
KW  - Highway corridors
KW  - Metrics (Quantitative assessment)
KW  - Performance measurement
KW  - Probe vehicles
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Sensors
KW  - Spacing
KW  - Travel time
KW  - Traveler information and communication systems
KW  - Truck data
KW  - Weigh in motion
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31100/31157/OTREC-RR-09-10__2_.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/899633
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01139417
AU  - Creaser, Janet I
AU  - Hoglund, Richard
AU  - Manser, Michael P
AU  - Donath, Max
AU  - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Development and Evaluation of a Cellular Phone Based Teen Driver Support System
PY  - 2009/08//Final Report
SP  - 101p
AB  - Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers with speeding, seat belt non-compliance, alcohol involvement, and distractions serving as the primary contributors to this unacceptably high crash rate. In an effort to mitigate this situation, a prototype teen driver support system (TDSS) has been designed and developed. This computer-based system provides real-time feedback to teens regarding speed limit violations and warns of upcoming speed zone changes. A unique feature of this system is that speed limit feedback is relative to the speed limit posted on the roadway on which the teen is driving. By informing teens of speeding behavior, it is hoped that this system will reduce teen crash rates. This project includes a description of the TDSS features and specifications for how the TDSS operates using the Smart Phone technology. A small usability study was completed as part of the project where teen drivers (aged 18-19) drove with and without the system. Overall, the pilot study demonstrated that the TDSS could operate effectively within a vehicle driven by a teen driver. Warnings and messages were presented to the drivers and corresponding text messages were sent when drivers failed to alter their behavior in relation to a warning. The performance data trended in the direction expected, with the TDSS encouraging lower speeds and less speeding overall. The teen participants reported that very little mental effort was required to interact with the TDSS while driving, but they also reported the system increased their perceptions of stress while driving. The second phase of the study proposed the information that should be presented in the real-time text messages and to parents in a weekly report. A potential weekly report format is described. Finally, the project identified the issues associated with using the TDSS as an additional tool to support graduated driver licensing (GDL) programs.
KW  - Cellular telephones
KW  - Driver support systems
KW  - Pilot studies
KW  - Prototypes
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Smartphones
KW  - Speeding
KW  - Stress (Psychology)
KW  - Teenage drivers
KW  - Text messaging
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1194
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/899555
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01139411
AU  - Washer, Glenn A
AU  - Blum, Frank D
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Developing Raman Spectroscopy for the Nondestructive Testing of Composite Materials
PY  - 2009/08//Final Report
SP  - 78p
AB  - The proposed research will develop the application of Raman spectroscopy as a nondestructive evaluation (NDE) tool for the condition assessment of carbon fiber composites. Composite materials are increasingly being used in engineered structures and components, ranging from highway bridges to airframes and pressure vessels. These materials have a high strength to mass ratio, making them ideal materials for inclusion in space vehicles, hydrogen cars and aircraft. There exists a critical need to develop nondestructive evaluation technologies that can be used to assess the condition of these materials in situ, such that components and systems can be managed and repaired during their service lives. To date, NDE technologies developed for the inspection of composite materials have focused on mechanical damage scenarios, such as impact and fatigue. There is growing concern that environmental degradation of these materials leads to reduced strength during their service lives, and presently there are no NDE technologies capable of characterizing the degradation of composite materials in situ. The proposed research will investigate if Raman spectroscopy can be used for the condition assessment of composite materials during their service lives. Raman spectroscopy is a laser technique that is sensitive to molecular interactions in ordered materials such as graphite and carbon fibers. For carbon materials, the technique has been shown to be sensitive to applied elastic stresses and structural order on a molecular level. Traditionally a laboratory technique, new instrumentation implementing fiber-optic probes has extended the potential for this technology beyond the laboratory. The potential exists for implementation as a hand-held device for the inspection of engineering components and structures, including bridges and hydrogen vehicles.
KW  - Bridges
KW  - Carbon fibers
KW  - Composite materials
KW  - Degradation (Materials)
KW  - Fiber composites
KW  - Fiber optics
KW  - Field tests
KW  - Hydrogen fueled vehicles
KW  - Inspection
KW  - Nondestructive tests
KW  - Raman spectroscopy
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/R232_CR.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31100/31197/R232_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/899544
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01139403
AU  - Myers, John J
AU  - Brewe, Jared E
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - High-Strength Self-Consolidating Concrete Girders Subjected To Elevated Compressive Fiber Stresses
PY  - 2009/08//Final Report
SP  - 70p
AB  - There are limited measurements documented in the literature related to long-term prestress losses in self consolidated concrete (SCC) members. Recorded test data have shown variations in mechanical property behavior of SCC compared to conventional high strength concrete (HSC) mixtures in the 8-12 ksi range. Over the past year, precast manufacturers such as Coreslab Structures, Inc., in Marshall, MO have experienced inconsistencies in camber behavior with SCC which may be attributed to mechanical property variations, but variation in stress may also be a contributing factor. Additionally, increasing the allowable fiber stress limit is desired for full utilization of materials and members, as long as structural performance is maintained. Furthermore, accurate prediction of time-dependant prestress losses is essential for determination of the effective prestress force, which affects serviceability prediction and structural performance.  Further investigation is required.
KW  - Compressive stresses
KW  - Girders
KW  - High strength concrete
KW  - Mechanical properties
KW  - Prestress losses
KW  - Self compacting concrete
KW  - Stresses
KW  - Structural performance
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/R209_CR.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31100/31198/R209_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/899510
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01138109
AU  - Olsen, Karl
AU  - Pollock, David G
AU  - Washington State University, Pullman
AU  - TransNow, Transportation Northwest
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Ultrasonic Detection of Simulated Corrosoin in 1 Inch Diameter Steel Tieback Rods
PY  - 2009/08//Final Research Report
SP  - 94p
AB  - Corrosion of tieback rods in sheet piling systems can compromise the reliability of associated transportation structures due to loss of cross‐section and reduced strength of the tieback rods. Common inspection techniques currently involve excavating to the location of a few tieback rods for visual appraisal. This process is typically expensive and labor‐intensive. Furthermore, the actual condition of the vast majority of tieback rods in a sheet piling system remains unknown, since only a few tieback rods are typically inspected. Ultrasonic inspection of tieback rods will provide a more comprehensive technique for detecting loss of cross‐section associated with corrosion. Ultrasonic inspection is already used to successfully detect fracture of anchor bolts in transportation sign structures by coupling ultrasonic transducers to one end of an anchor bolt and propagating a bulk wave along the bolt length. The proposed research regarding tieback rods will involve similar propagation of bulk ultrasonic waves at the exposed end of a tieback rod. However, instead of looking for “early echoes” in the signal associated with cracks or fracture, the portion of the ultrasonic signal following the back wall echo will be investigated for evidence of loss of cross‐section due to corrosion. These signal indicators will be correlated to actual variations in cross‐section dimensions, in order to estimate the residual capacity of corroded tieback rods. The development of an effective ultrasonic technique for inspecting tieback rods in sheet piling systems has the potential to save money by avoiding the costs of periodic excavation. Furthermore, an efficient ultrasonic inspection technique will improve safety and structural reliability by facilitating condition assessment of every tieback rod in a sheet piling system.
KW  - Corrosion
KW  - Cost effectiveness
KW  - Inspection
KW  - Retaining walls
KW  - Sheet piling
KW  - Structural reliability analysis
KW  - Tie rods
KW  - Ultrasonic waves
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31700/31736/Ultrasonic_Detection_of_Simulated.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/898455
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575548
TI  - Identification and Characterization of Insect Cellulolytic Systems for Plant Biomass Degradation
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Degradation (Thermodynamics)
KW  - Insects
KW  - Plants
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1368086
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01349523
AU  - Chapman, Michael
AU  - Drobot, Sheldon
AU  - Jensen, Tara
AU  - Wiener, Gerry
AU  - Schuler, Elena
AU  - Johansen, Christian
AU  - University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - An Analysis of Temperature and Pressure Data from Connected Vehicles in the Developmental Testbed Environment
PY  - 2009/07/09/Final Report
SP  - 77p
AB  - The use of vehicle sensor data to improve weather and road condition products, as envisioned as part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), could revolutionize the provision of road weather information to transportation system decision-makers, including travelers. For example, vehicle-based probe data will significantly increase the density of weather observations near the surface and also provide unique datasets for deriving and inferring road-condition information. However, the amount of data flowing through a fully functional connected vehicle network could be immense, and many prospective users likely will not be capable of handling this vast quantity of data in its native form.With funding and support from the United States Department of Transportation Research and Innovative Technology Administration (USDOT RITA) and direction from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Road Weather Management Program, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is developing a Vehicle Data Translator (VDT) that incorporates vehicle-based measurements of the road and surrounding atmosphere with other weather data sources and creates road and atmospheric hazard products. In support of VDT development, this report (1) analyzed archived probe message data from the Proof-of-Concept (PoC), Data Use Analysis and Processing (DUAP), and Development Testbed Environment 2009 (DTE09) experiments, and (2) provided hardware recommendations for processing data. Major conclusions include: (a) The Sensor Range Test (SRT), Climatological Range Test (CRT), Neighboring Surface Station Test (NST), and Combined Algorithm Test (CAT) provide a robust Quality Checking (QCh) set; (b) For DTE09, the Jeep Cherokees proved superior to the Ford Edges and Nissan Altima; (c) For all three data sets, temperature measurements are superior to pressure measurements; (d) Environmental conditions (precipitation, temperature) might affect the QCh pass rates, but vehicle characteristics (speed) and time of day do not. The effects of environmental conditions on these datasets were not statistically significant for the most part, and physically the differences were small; (e) For the temperature observations that passed QCh in DTE09, the resulting statistics indicate that the vehicle data is very similar to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (KDTW); and (f) Storage of vehicle and ancillary data will require considerable disk space.
KW  - Atmosphere
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Environment
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Periods of the day
KW  - Probe vehicles
KW  - Road weather information systems
KW  - Test beds
KW  - Vehicle Data Translator
KW  - Weather conditions
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38500/38551/TOPR1_508_FINAL_10_062.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1107895
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142057
AU  - Zimmerman, Carol A
AU  - Burt, Matt
AU  - Gopalakrishna, Deepak
AU  - Raman, Mala
AU  - Lepofsky, Mark
AU  - Jehanian, Karen
AU  - Johns, Robert
AU  - Tarnoff, Phil
AU  - Turnbull, Katie
AU  - Battelle
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - U.S. DOT ITS Strategic Planning Workshop June 4, 2009 Synthesis Report of Findings
PY  - 2009/07/06
SP  - 71p
AB  - The United States Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) conducted a day-long workshop on June 4, 2009 in National Harbor, Maryland to solicit stakeholder input on the strategic direction of the Federal Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) research program. The workshop was one of several mechanisms to solicit input from external stakeholders and followed a Request for Information (RFI) issued by U.S. DOT on April 20, 2009. Total workshop attendance was 180, demonstrating strong stakeholder interest. The diverse representation included the private sector, state and local agencies, academia, industry associations, and U.S. DOT personnel As background for the stakeholder discussions that followed, ITS JPO Director Shelley Row presented information about the DOT’s strategic planning process for ITS and the development of five goal area initiatives: Safety, Mobility (Data), Mobility (Applications), Mobility (Payment), and Environment. The Multimodal Team Leaders for each goal area then presented preliminary versions of proposed programs. These program proposals, eleven in all, were the focus of two rounds (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) of 90-minute facilitated breakout sessions organized by goal area. In each breakout session stakeholders were asked to react to the overall theme of the proposed program and to identify roles and engagement mechanisms for stakeholders, key technologies, and measures of research program success. All breakout sessions were well attended and stakeholders provided many useful comments. Workshop results include the major themes of stakeholders’ comments as well as key comments related to goal area initiatives and specific programs. Eight overarching themes emerged from multiple breakout sessions. They range from continuing stakeholder involvement to Federal role to ways to catalyze the market.
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Research
KW  - Stakeholders
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Technology
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31000/31066/14487.htm
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902329
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572262
TI  - Fractionation of Alkaline Pulping Liquors for Fuel and Chemical Production
AB  - Currently, North American pulp mills are in a period of decreased profitability and consolidation due to a number of economic factors and the development of processes and technologies for new value added products from existing process streams should be an important focus for this industry to remain competitive. In existing kraft chemical pulp mill designs, solubilized lignin and hemicellulose are typically concentrated and combusted to produce steam and electricity and to recover the pulping chemicals. There still exists a very large potential for other more profitable applications of the hemicellulose and lignin fractions of the biomass which can provide the mill with a more diverse product portfolio. Based on the new chemical properties of these hemicelluloses and lignins, there are important implications for process separations based on solubility for example in different solvents and at different pH values. To understand these separations, it is important to understand the physical properties of these biopolymers in solution and equilibrium behavior and crystallization dynamics including interactions between phases. The purpose of this work is to investigate the potential of technologies that integrate alkaline chemical pulping with hemicellulose and lignin extraction, recovery, and utilization as feedstocks for higher value products such as solid fuels and polymer building blocks. The potential applications that are to be addressed and developed in this work have a strong industrial relevance.
KW  - Alkali
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Chemical properties
KW  - Economic factors
KW  - Lignin
KW  - Pulp residues
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Value added
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363880
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572259
TI  - Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Electricity, and Heat From Landfill Gas: Integration of Emerging Technologies for a Quad-Generation Demonstration Project
AB  - Utilizing landfill gas (LFG) for bioenergy production is difficult. Not only is the gas saturated with water and high in hydrogen sulfide, it also contains contaminants from a list of over 300 troublesome chemicals, including siloxanes, which can impair or disable equipment operation. Despite these challenges, a robust LFG cleanup system, invented and developed by Acrion Technologies, Inc. (Acrion), has been demonstrated at the Rutgers EcoComplex to clean LFG to acceptable levels for the FuelCell Energy, Inc. (FCE) molten carbonate "Direct Fuel Cell". Acrion's smallest commercial scale LFG cleanup system treats 300 standard cubic feet per minute (scfm) of raw LFG at 50% methane content to produce 150 scfm of clean methane - enough methane to power the fuel cell (approximately 50 scfm) and produce compressed natural gas (CNG) for transportation fuel (approximately 100 scfm or about 1150 gasoline gallons equivalent per day). Acrion's LFG cleanup process can also recover food-grade liquid CO&amp;#8322; as a coproduct. FCE's 300 kW fuel cell can also produce up to 150 kg per day of excess hydrogen gas that, at an experimental level, has been cleaned to pure hydrogen. Using proven Linde, Incorporated technology, the cleaned methane and hydrogen can then be compressed and dispensed as transportation fuel. Electricity and heat from the fuel cell will be used by the equipment and the EcoComplex building. Excess electricity will be exported to the local power grid. The overall goal of this project is to perform an Engineering, Environmental, and Economic Analysis of an integrated system of these emerging technologies that will utilize landfill gas to produce hydrogen, compressed natural gas, electricity, heat and possibly liquid carbon dioxide. The final product will be a report that can be used by project developers for financing and building a demonstration system at the Rutgers EcoComplex and for commercializing the integrated system at landfills and anaerobic digesters throughout the US. The EcoComplex's close proximity to Interstates 95 and 295 makes it an ideal location to dispense fuel for the proposed "Route 95 Hydrogen Highway". LFG and anaerobic digester gas are an abundant, renewable fuel resources in the Northeastern USA. Transportation fuels produced by this system will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through cleaner burning engine technology, as compared with gasoline and diesel engines.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Bioenergy
KW  - Clean fuels
KW  - Compressed natural gas
KW  - Electricity
KW  - Energy conservation
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Fuel cells
KW  - Hydrogen
KW  - Landfills
KW  - Natural gas
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Technological innovations
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363877
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572257
TI  - FUELSMART II: A Biofuel Education Outreach Tool
AB  - The project is designed to (1) prepare Extension educators with a research-based critically-reviewed package of information that is ready for electronic presentation and distribution to meet the growing need for sustainable biofuels knowledge in their communities and to (2) provide a new cellulosic ethanol biofuels electronic knowledge base package targeting grades 7-12 that, is aligned with state learning standards, is easily updated and expanded, and is delivered using interactive whiteboard (IWB) technology. IWB is a highly engaging and interactive computerized version of the "chalkboard" entering United States, European and Mexican K-12 classrooms at a rapid pace. Extension educators and school teachers urgently need information about sustainability and biofuels. The project's approach is to develop a general-public electronic biofuels knowledge base package, aligned with state learning standards for grades 7-12, and in a format that is immediately useable by teachers and Extension educators. The six cellulosic ethanol module topics are: 1) The Importance of Sustainability; 2) Feedstock development of the Cellulosic Ethanol pathways; 3) Transport, storage and pretreatment challenges; 4) Chemical and biological conversion; 5) Distribution to markets; and 6) Challenges in Science and Engineering - Career Opportunities. The modules will be presented and tested with partner schools and with selected field crop producers in Oneida County, New York to obtain feedback for improvement prior to release.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Education and training
KW  - Energy conversion
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Oneida County (New York)
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Sustainable transportation
KW  - Technological innovations
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363875
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572214
TI  - Online Demonstration and Measurement of Renewable Energy Technologies
AB  - This project will create a real-time energy monitoring tool to measure and report the impacts of renewable energy projects throughout Pennsylvania. Monitoring equipment will be installed at selected sites, resulting in measurements of petroleum savings, energy use, cost savings, and CO&amp;#8322; emissions avoided. This information will be provided to the public on an intuitive and informational web site that is designed to grow over time to include information from a large number of projects in the region. The system will be a valuable teaching tool for extension educators, providing a platform for renewable energy education to farmers, institutional managers, homeowners, and K-12 students, among others. Educational program material will be developed to utilize this resource and maximize its usefulness. It will also serve to showcase the region's efforts towards improving the energy sustainability of the northeast. The measured data will also be stored and made available for investigations into the implementation-scale performance of renewable energy systems. Alternative and renewable energy has become an area of great interest and importance in the northeast, largely as a result of increasing energy prices and concerns for the energy security of the nation. Many new and established renewable energy technologies have the potential to play an important part in the state's energy economy. However, there is a general lack of knowledge about actual performance of such systems, and people are naturally cautious about committing to new technologies that are unproven or unconventional. A great need exists to provide clear, unbiased, real-world measurements of renewable energy systems in such a way that allows people to understand the actual benefits and drawbacks of these systems.
KW  - Cost savings
KW  - Education
KW  - Energy consumption
KW  - Pennsylvania
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Renewable energy sources
KW  - Sustainable development
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363832
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572213
TI  - High-throughput Engineering of Cellulase Consortia Using a Gel that Can Produce Proteins without Any Living Cells
AB  - With the advent of directed molecular evolution techniques, a whole new potential for enzyme engineering (instead of microbial engineering) and improvement has opened. The greatest advantage of directed evolution is that it is independent of knowledge of enzyme structure and of the interactions between enzyme and substrate. Recently, the project has developed a novel hydrogel (termed P-gel) which can efficiently produce proteins without any living cells. The unique advantage of the P-gel system is that it is totally cell-free, thus it is ideally suited to express a consortium of proteins without worrying about the toxic effect to or low-yield problems in living cells. Enzymatic conversion of natural cellulose, in particular, non-food cellulose, to bioethanol will have great impact on alternative and renewable energy development, local economy, and environment protection. However, economical production of bioethanol from cellulosic biomass is currently impeded by the high cost and low efficiency of cellulase complexes. Three goals for this project: 1) Using P-gel to establish cellulase mutant selection methods based on insoluble substrates; 2) Using microfluidics to generate P-gel microdroplets in order to establish a high-throughput method for screening the high activity cellulase mutants; and 3) Highthroughput molecular engineering of cellulase consortia. The project will combine the molecular evolution approach with our cell-free P-gel and engineer cellulase consortia in a high-throughput fashion via the microfluidic format. The project expects that it will establish a robust, P-gelbased, high-throughput protein engineering platform that is able to molecularly evolve not just single proteins, but also protein consortia. The project also expects to achieve a five- to ten-fold reduction in the cost of cellulase enzymes by dramatically improving the efficiency of these enzymes.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biodeterioration
KW  - Bioethanol
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Environmental protection
KW  - Enzymes
KW  - Renewable energy sources
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363831
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572211
TI  - Cofiring Cattle Biomass (CB) and Agricultural Biomass (AB) Fuels in Low Nox Burners
AB  - Expected Outcomes of this project are as follows: (1) There are no previous studies on co-firing cattle biomass (CB) and coal in low NOx burners (LNBs) and the subsequent effect it will have on NOx and Hg emissions. It is hypothesized that co-firing cattle biomass along with primary controls can provide more reductions on NOx and Hg than simply firing coal alone in a LNB. Moreover, adding co-firing to a LNB may provide NOx reductions comparable to selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems, but with the added benefits of Hg and non-renewable CO&amp;#8322;  reductions. (2) LNBs do not have market vulnerability, as they are interchangeable with existing conventional burners, and are rugged and durable with less maintenance cost. (3) Once the proposed technology has been demonstrated, there is the possibility of emission reductions from stored CB and the generation of additional revenue to both farmers and power companies. (4) Moreover, there is the prospect of improving the environment in terms of improved air quality and the sustainability of clean streams and watersheds in rural America. Manure-based biomass can add a significant portion to the list of new, renewable fuels available to the country's power production facilities from a growing, industrialized agricultural sector. (5) If the genetically engineered forage sorghum reduces NOx when cofired with coal, then it alleviates the problem of limited supply of CB for reduction of NOx and leads to a continuous supply of renewable biomass fuels for emission reduction.
KW  - Agricultural wastes
KW  - Air quality
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Burners
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Nitrogen dioxide
KW  - Renewable energy sources
KW  - Rural areas
KW  - Sustainable development
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363829
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572209
TI  - Development of Winter Safflower as a New Biomass Energy Crop for the Lower Great Plains of North America
AB  - As currently structured this program will develop information and new products in the three areas of research: Genetic Enhancement: The crosses and subsequent screening of the segregating generations derived from these crosses at locations across this region will generate germplasm populations and potential experimental cultivars. These lines and populations will combine good winter survival with high oil content and high oleic acid content. Agronomic Evaluation: The proposed studies combined with historical data will provide a nearly comprehensive agronomic production guideline for producing winter safflower across the Southern Great Plains. By conducting cooperative trials with other researchers across the region this project should also provide adaptation trial data in the northern reaches of this production region. Economic &amp; Life Cycle Analysis: This series of studies will be based extensively on current data and data generated during the research phase of this project which will provide a measure of production inputs, yields per unit of water, and the potential impact of this new cropping system on the global environment and agricultural economy of the region. It is hoped this investment from the Sun Grant program will generate additional research and extension support as well as high quality refereed and grower publications. However the ultimate success of this project will be the eventual development of a new, high value enterprise for the successful production of renewable biodiesel.
KW  - Agricultural economics
KW  - Biodiesel fuels
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Crops
KW  - Energy
KW  - Great Plains
KW  - North America
KW  - Production
KW  - Sun Grant Initiative
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363827
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572208
TI  - Farmers' Willingness to Produce Cellulosic Biofuel Feedstocks Under Alternative Contractual, Pricing and Harvesting Arrangements
AB  - A Stated Choice Approach Agriculture's role as a source of feedstocks in a potential lignocellulosic-based biofuel industry is a critical economic issue. Several studies have assessed the technical feasibility of producing bioenergy crops on agricultural lands. However, few of these studies have assessed farmers' willingness to produce or supply bioenergy crops or crop residues. Biomass markets for bioenergy crops do not exist, and developing these markets may take several years. Therefore, an important, yet unaddressed question is under what contractual or pricing arrangements farmers will grow biomass for bioenergy in these nascent markets. The purpose of this paper is to examine farmers' willingness to produce switchgrass under alternative contractual, pricing, and harvesting arrangements. Contracts are likely to be the preferred method to bring together producers and processors of biomass for bioenergy. Contract design may vary across farmers and crop type, and may include attributes specific to annual crops, contract length, quantity or acreage requirements, quality specifications, payment dates, and other important features. A stated choice survey was administered in three, six-county areas of Kansas by Kansas State University and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Agricultural Statistics Service from November 2010 to January 2011 to assess farmers' willingness to produce cellulosic biomass under different contractual arrangements. This paper focuses on the switchgrass stated choice experiment from the survey. The stated choice experiment asked farmers to rank their preferred contractual arrangement from two contract options and one "do not adopt" option. Contractual attributes included percentage net returns above the next best alternative (e.g. conservation reserve program (CRP) or hay production), contract length, a custom harvest option, insurance availability, and a seed-cost share option. Respondents then ranked their preferred contract option. The survey also collected data on farm characteristics, bioenergy crop preferences, socio-economic demographics, risk preferences, and marketing behavior. The survey used a stratified sample of farmers who farm more than 260 acres and grow corn. A total of 460 surveys were administered with a 65 percent completion rate. The underlying theoretical model uses the random utility model (RUM) approach to assess farmers' willingness to grow switchgrass for bioenergy and determine the contractual attributes most likely to increase the likelihood of adoption. This framework allows us to define the "price," or farmers' mean willingness to accept, for harvested biomass sold to an intermediate processor. The estimated choice models follow the approach of Boxall and Adamowicz (2002) to capture heterogeneity across farmers and geographic regions due to management differences, conservation practices, and risk preferences. Using the percentage net return above CRP or hay production allows prices to float to levels that will entice farmers to adopt switchgrass. This will help determine a market price for bioenergy crops based on current market and production conditions without specifying an exact monetary value for the biomass. In addition, the survey results will facilitate contract designs between biorefineries and farmers while informing policymakers and the biofuel industry about farmers' willingness to supply biomass for bioenergy production. Reference: Boxall, P.C. and W.L. Adamowicz, "Understanding Heterogeneous Preferences in Random Utility Models: A Latent Class Approach," Environmental and Resource Economics 23(2002): 421 - 446
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Crops
KW  - Economic factors
KW  - Feedstock
KW  - Kansas
KW  - Power harvesters
KW  - Pricing
KW  - Stated preferences
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/54000/54400/54404/Farmers__Willingness_to_grow_switchgrass.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363826
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572206
TI  - Structure Dynamics-Guided Biocatalyst Improvement
AB  - The success in the proposed research will open a new chapter in biocatalyst improvement and greatly benefit the biorefinery industry with three folds. First, the project team will deliver a novel platform using Hydrogen Deuterium Exchange (HDX) mass spectrometry for biocatalyst improvement, and the platform can be used for enzyme improvement of various purposes. Second, the team will be able to deliver some biocatalysts with higher efficiency and better inhibitor resistance. These biocatalysts will help to improve the biorefinery procedure and biomass conversion efficiency tremendously. Third, the proposed research will help to elucidate the molecular mechanisms for the cellulase enzyme catalysis and inhibition from the dynamic perspectives, which will guide the future enzyme improvement.
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Biorefineries
KW  - Catalysts
KW  - Dynamic structural analysis
KW  - Process improvement
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363824
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572204
TI  - Expanding Production Area and Alternative Energy Crop Market of Proso Millet for Water Deficient Lands
AB  - Expected project outcomes are as follows: (1) Increased production of low water use proso millet as a bioenergy grain crop in non-traditional production areas. With its low water use requirements, proso millet could become the preferred grain crop in limited moisture areas, such as water depleted conservation reserve program (CRP) lands, without disrupting the feed grain markets. (2) Ethanol plants utilizing proso millet as a feedstock will expand the market for proso millet without consumer concern about rising food cost associated with ethanol production from corn.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Crops
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Feed grain
KW  - Market share
KW  - Production
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363822
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572199
TI  - Cellulosic Feedstock Production and Environmental Benefits from Agroforest Systems Established on Marginal Lands
AB  - The expected outcomes from this project include having reliable biomass productivity estimates from agroforest systems on marginal soils in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (LMAV). Along with biomass production, the project team expects to understand the costs per ton of production and the energy balance of agroforest systems using cottonwood and switchgrass in combination. The project team will be able to compare financial returns and energy balances, and shifting of production inputs from agronomic production on low quality sites to biomass production. The results will be applicable to the LMAV and allow us to determine the potential shifts in the region's production from crops to biomass using agroforests on marginal lands. Because both switchgrass and trees have increasing production in the first years of development, the major project outcomes will not be realized until the third year. The project team expects to produce a variety of outputs, refereed journal articles, presentations at professional meetings, and through the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grant, significant extension products, including landowner workshops, fact sheets, and a project website. The major pitfall for this project is that long-term biomass production estimates from agroforest systems, will, rely on growth projections of the trees, and assume that year 3 switchgrass production figures are sustainable. Validation and adjustment of these estimates will come from continued monitoring and data collection of the agroforest sites beyond this project's requested funding period.
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Feedstock
KW  - Production
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363817
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572183
TI  - Improving Biofuel Conversion from Animal Waste
AB  - The project outcome includes laboratory-validated procedures for rapid and efficient methane production from animal waste, and technical reports related to the new generation of animal waste management systems for the scientific community and the public. The results of this project will help to build a pilot facility for technology validation before it is commercialized for large-scale applications. The conversion of large volume of high strength animal waste into value added biogas and other useful byproducts (e.g., Class A biosolids) with accompanied pollutant and odor removal will enhance economic opportunities for farmers and local community to "create new solutions for America's energy needs and to revitalize rural communities," to achieve the goals of the Sun Grant Initiative.
KW  - Agricultural wastes
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Economic benefits
KW  - Methane
KW  - Production
KW  - Salvage
KW  - Sun Grant Initiative
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363801
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569212
TI  - Mobility and Livability: Seasonal and Built Environmental Impacts
AB  - Transportation and obesity are two of this decade's largest public policy challenges, with non-motorized commuting at the nexus of the two issues. Economists and transportation planners have long been studying mode choice and predicting demand for motorized alternatives. This research represents a preliminary investigation into demand for non-motorized commute modes and the role policy may play in promoting these modes.    First, in partnership with the New England Transportation Institute (NETI), using new survey data and existing Center for Rural Studies (CRS) built environment data; team members are measuring and describing the effects of weather on both revealed and un-served travel demand in rural northern communities. Focus groups and surveys are measuring the seasonal variation in bicycle travel demand as well as the associated causes of this variation in order to recommend policies and programs that might promote year-round use. A continuing analysis of pedestrian volume data has already indicated that weather can account for 30% of volume variation.
KW  - Accessibility
KW  - City planning
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Quality of life
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Seasonal factors
KW  - Sustainable development
KW  - Transit operating agencies
KW  - Travel demand
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/seasonal-and-built-environment-impacts-of-mobility/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359767
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569188
TI  - Quantifying Vermont Transportation Safety Factors
AB  - Researchers at the Transportation Research Center (TRC) are teaming up with state officials to address key issues in the Agency of Transportation's "Strategic Highway Safety Plan." This project focuses on the following emphasis areas: 1)  keeping vehicles from running off the roadway; 2)  safety of young drivers (under age 21); and 3)  lack of alertness due to fatigue, in-vehicle distractions and other driver errors. The TRC will take the lead in utilizing the Vermont crash database to provide in-depth analysis for policy-makers attempting cost-effective solutions for reducing crashes in the state.
KW  - Alertness
KW  - Crash data
KW  - Driver errors
KW  - Fatigue (Physiological condition)
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Human factors in crashes
KW  - Policy making
KW  - Ran off road crashes
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Teenage drivers
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/quantifying-vermont-transportation-safety-factors-2/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359743
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569184
TI  - Mobility and Livability: Season and Built Environmental Impacts: Bicycle Travel - Part 2
AB  - Recognition of disadvantages of automobile-focused transportation systems, such environmental and public health impacts, has motivated a focus on options. Non-motorized transport modes such as bicycling have multiple advantages in these respects, but barriers to expanded use of these options need to be better understood. This study will document factors influencing choice of bicycling as a transportation mode for commuting to work in a northern climate. Results will contribute to methods for estimating demand for these services.
KW  - Bicycle travel
KW  - Built environment
KW  - Driving
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Nonmotorized transportation
KW  - Public health
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/seasonal-impacts-on-bicycle-transport/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359739
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01566208
TI  - Navigating Trade-Offs in Complex Systems
AB  - Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are required by Federal law to develop a long-range Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) at least every five years. This research focuses on assessing the trade-offs between business-as-usual MTP scenario of gasoline driven transportation infrastructure and suburban growth with two alternate sustainable community design scenarios in Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Area (CCMPO). The CCMPO adopted its last long-range transportation plan in 2005 for a temporal horizon of 2005 to 2025 and is currently updating 2025 MTP to 2035 MTP. The researchers implemented two focus groups with multiple stakeholder representatives of the regional transportation planning network and conducted numerous interviews to implement a participatory multi-criteria evaluation of 2035 MTP scenarios. Three MTP scenarios are evaluated on twelve decision criteria: operational performance, sustainable land-use, safety and accessibility, minimize time and total costs, protect built and natural environs, community development, access and mobility, transportation system efficiency, energy efficiency and conservation, improve alternate travel modes, public education and cost effective and inclusive. Research analysis reveals that the underlying expected value functions of all stakeholder representatives in the regional transportation planning network overwhelmingly reject the business-as-usual MTP scenario. Instead, a more sustainable, growth contained community design scenario emerges with the highest expected value for all stakeholder groups. Formal implementation of sustainable community design scenario would, however, require CCMPO and regional transportation planning network actors to overcome a series of legal, political and economic challenges. The researchers discuss the implications of these trade-offs, challenges and opportunities on the development and implementation of sustainable community designs.
KW  - Alternatives analysis
KW  - Chittenden County (Vermont)
KW  - Communities
KW  - Design
KW  - Forecasting
KW  - Metropolitan planning organizations
KW  - Regional transportation
KW  - Sustainable development
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/navigating-trade-offs-in-complex-systems/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1357379
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01467538
TI  - Optimal Harvest Time of Switchgrass: Yield, Nutrient Cycling, Air Emissions
AB  - The goal of this project is to determine how time of harvest affects the plants ability to survive winter and re-grow the next season by examining the effect time of harvest on total non-structural carbohydrates (TNC) and other macronutrients that get stored in the root system. Determining when the maximum amount of nutrients (N, K, Cl) have left the stalk and moved back into the root system will help maximize the efficiency nutrient cycling and demonstrate differences in slag formation when switchgrass biomass from different harvest dates is burned. Since switchgrass is being grown as a biofuel for heating as well as cellulosic ethanol, it is important to evaluate silicon and alkali metal contents in the harvested crop, as these could contribute to air pollution. The project will document the extent that mineral content in the biomass is a function of the soil type and the timing of harvest. Two particular nutrients of interest are nitrogen and sulfur because during combustion these are likely to produce the primary air pollutants nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2). These air pollutants are highly regulated by the Clean Air Act and taken into consideration when developing switchgrass as a biofuel. Marginal land may contain contaminates and it is therefore important to evaluate how time of harvest will impact the overall quality of the fuel product from marginal soils. The goal of the applied research in this project are to provide much requested information for growing biofuel crops particularly on underutilized or marginal land so as not to compete with land currently producing food crops.
KW  - Air pollution
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Clean Air Act
KW  - Combustion
KW  - Nitrogen
KW  - Soil nutrients
KW  - Sulfur
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1235774
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462718
TI  - Understanding Urban Goods Movements
AB  - The efficient flow of goods is essential for the economic well-being of the vast majority of Americans who live in urbanized areas. The performance of the freight flow system also has direct implications for the productivity of the nation, the costs of goods and services, and the global competiveness of industries. Demand for freight transportation has been rising steadily and shows no sign of abating for the foreseeable future. At the same time, freight system capacity has increased only modestly. Land use and zoning decisions at the local level, by determining the location of the origin or destination of goods, as well as restrictions on time and routes followed, often occur without a full understanding or consideration of urban goods movement. As a consequence, logistical needs of businesses and consumers may go unmet, opportunities for economic development may be missed and freight movements may unnecessarily detract from the quality of life. A common example is the failure to consider truck parking, particularly for package carriers, in the central business district during the day.</font></div> <div><font size="3"> </font></div> <div><font size="3">The objectives of this research are (a) to identify both positive and negative impacts of land use and zoning decisions on commodity flows and costs and (b) to identify the most efficient arrangements of land uses for the movement of commodities within an urban area. The research will develop a guidebook on urban goods movement for use by local transportation, economic development, and land use planning officials when dealing with urban congestion, land use, and development issues. The guidebook will provide the public with specific goods movement fundamentals, issues and challenges that should be considered when working on land use and transportation planning in an urban area, and creative solutions (e.g., business relocation, modal relocation, introduction of new freight transportation modes) to the balance between local logistical needs and environmental concerns.</font></div>
KW  - City planning
KW  - Economic development
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Quality of life
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Truck tractors
KW  - Trucking
KW  - Urban areas
KW  - Urban goods movement
KW  - Urban transportation
KW  - Zoning
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2411
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230940
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461990
TI  - Experimental Assessment of Swimming Capabilities of Selected Trout Species for Barrier Assessment
AB  - The primary objective of this research is to determine scientifically valid, volitional swimming abilities of westslope cutthroat trout and rainbow trout that reside in the Northern Rockies Ecosystem. This research will aid fish passage practitioners with better assessments, designs, retrofits and construction of hydraulic structures, including bridges and culverts, within our streams and rivers.
KW  - Bridges
KW  - Culverts
KW  - Ecosystems
KW  - Environment
KW  - Fish passage
KW  - Fishes
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Trout
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/research/4w2640.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230210
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461821
TI  - Operation, Safety, Environmental, and Financial Feasibility Analysis of Integrating Exclusive Truck Roads into SR60 Freight Corridor
AB  - Many jurisdictions are concerned with congested truck traffic and its effects on operations, safety, and the environment. A variety of strategies for truck lane/roads have been implemented in some 20 states to mitigate the effects of increasing truck traffic. The more aggressive of these strategies are: (i) restricted truck lanes where trucks are restricted to and/or from specified lanes,(ii) dedicated truck lanes where specified lanes that are dedicated only to trucks, and (iii) exclusive truck roads (ETR) where trucks use a road usually separated by barriers or median.  In recent years a number of studies have examined the establishment of freight corridors, including the possibility of implementing truck lane/road strategies in Southern California. The current SCAG's RTP identifies truck lane/road strategies as a means to provide (i) efficient and smooth flow of containers, (ii) overall mobility along the corridor, and (iii) safety and sustainability improvement. RTP has proposed the construction of a network of ETRs for effective and sustainable flows of containers to and from San Pedro Bay ports. According to Leachman (2005), without congestion relief, even a small container fee would drive trade away from these ports. Failure to invest in goods movement infrastructure in an efficient and socially responsible manner could mean significant economic and environmental losses.  We will develop a conceptual point of reference to integrate the ETR strategy into Southern California's SR60 transportation corridor. Next, we will establish a system and its set of criteria for vulnerability of the corridor segments to ETR. The criteria for the implementation of ETR forms a seven dimensional space: (i) operational effectiveness measured by the level of service, (ii) safety improvement measured by the number and severity of crashes, (iii) environmental sustainability, (iv) design concerns such as trade-off analysis between number of access points and usage, (v) public perception, (vi) legislative and administrative concerns, and (vii) financial/economics feasibility measured in terms of direct and indirect initial investment and yearly operational costs and benefits. Our final analysis will integrate these dimensions into a single measure of effectiveness of NPV or in its relative form as benefit/cost (B/C).  The theoretical basis or context for this study can be summarized as: (i) system analysis and design, (ii) process flow analysis with the objective of creating effective, efficient, safe, and sustainable flow, and (iii) optimization and simulation techniques. The studies that suggest these bases as the next logical step are two projects sponsored by TxDOT and conducted by Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), two projects sponsored by SCAG on SR60 and I710, and a recent study sponsored by DOT on the economic feasibility of exclusive truck lanes. Our main sources of data are the SCAG heavy duty truck model, CalTrans truck counts, and MTA comprehensive truck/freight modeling efforts.  The project will be centered at CSUN with significant contributions from CSUN student research assistants. In addition, the project will benefit from the participation of a nationally recognized USC professor in transportation safety and environmental studies, as well as from a program manager at TTI who is perhaps the most nationally renowned expert in truck lane strategies. Funding this proposal will break new ground by enabling high quality transportation research to be conducted at one of CSU's non-polytechnic campuses. More importantly, it encourages a fresh perspective as the research will be conducted in a college of business rather than a college of engineering. Consequently, CSU will provide a more well-rounded set of graduates for the transportation industry in Southern California.
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight trains
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Southern California
KW  - Traffic safety
KW  - Truck lanes
KW  - Truck loading facilities
KW  - Truck traffic
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230041
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461691
TI  - Online Demonstration and Measurement of Renewable Energy
AB  - This project will create a real-time energy monitoring tool to measure and report the impacts of renewable energy projects throughout Pennsylvania. Monitoring equipment will be installed at selected sites, resulting in measurements of petroleum savings, energy use, cost savings, and CO2 emissions avoided. This information will be provided to the public on an intuitive and informational web site that is designed to grow over time to include information from a large number of projects in the region. The system will be a valuable teaching tool for extension educators, providing a platform for renewable energy education to farmers, institutional managers, homeowners, and K-12 students, among others. Educational program material will be developed to utilize this resource and maximize its usefulness. It will also serve to showcase the region's efforts towards improving the energy sustainability of the northeast. The measured data will also be stored and made available for investigations into the implementation-scale performance of renewable energy systems. Alternative and renewable energy has become an area of great interest and importance in the northeast, largely as a result of increasing energy prices and concerns for the energy security of the nation. Many new and established renewable energy technologies have the potential to play an important part in the state's energy economy. However, there is a general lack of knowledge about actual performance of such systems, and people are naturally cautious about committing to new technologies that are unproven or unconventional. A great need exists to provide clear, unbiased, real-world measurements of renewable energy systems in such a way that allows people to understand the actual benefits and drawbacks of these systems.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Carbon dioxide
KW  - Computer online services
KW  - Energy conservation
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Monitoring
KW  - Pennsylvania
KW  - Policy making
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Renewable energy sources
KW  - Research projects
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229911
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461687
TI  - High-Throughput Engineering of Cellulase Consortia Using a Gel that Can Produce Proteins
AB  - With the advent of directed molecular evolution techniques, a whole new potential for enzyme engineering (instead of microbial engineering) and improvement has opened. The greatest advantage of directed evolution is that it is independent of knowledge of enzyme structure and of the interactions between enzyme and substrate. Recently, we have developed a novel hydrogel (termed P-gel) which can efficiently produce proteins without any living cells. The unique advantage of the P-gel system is that it is totally cell-free, thus it is ideally suited to express a consortium of proteins without worrying about the toxic effect to or low-yield problems in living cells. Enzymatic conversion of natural cellulose, in particular, non-food cellulose, to bioethanol will have great impact on alternative and renewable energy development, local economy, and environment protection. However, economical production of bioethanol from cellulosic biomass is currently impeded by the high cost and low efficiency of cellulase complexes. Three goals for this project: 1) Using P-gel to establish cellulase mutant selection methods based on insoluble substrates; 2) Using microfluidics to generate P-gel microdroplets in order to establish a high-throughput method for screening the high activity cellulase mutants; and 3) Highthroughput molecular engineering of cellulase consortia. The project will combine the molecular evolution approach with our cell-free P-gel and engineer cellulase consortia in a high-throughput fashion via the microfluidic format. The project expects that it will establish a robust, P-gelbased, high-throughput protein engineering platform that is able to molecularly evolve not just single proteins, but also protein consortia. The project also expects to achieve a five- to ten-fold reduction in the cost of cellulase enzymes by dramatically improving the efficiency of these enzymes.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Bioethanol
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Energy conservation
KW  - Energy efficiency
KW  - Enzymes
KW  - Gels
KW  - Renewable energy sources
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Throughput (Traffic)
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229907
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461686
TI  - Optimal Harvest Time of Switchgrass
AB  - The goal of this project is to determine how time of harvest affects the plants ability to survive winter and re-grow the next season by examining the effect time of harvest on total non-structural carbohydrates (TNC) and other macronutrients that get stored in the root system. Determining when the maximum amount of nutrients (N, K, Cl) have left the stalk and moved back into the root system will help maximize the efficiency nutrient cycling and demonstrate differences in slag formation when switchgrass biomass from different harvest dates is burned. Since switchgrass is being grown as a biofuel for heating as well as cellulosic ethanol, it is important to evaluate silicon and alkali metal contents in the harvested crop, as these could contribute to air pollution. The project will document the extent that mineral content in the biomass is a function of the soil type and the timing of harvest. Two particular nutrients of interest are nitrogen and sulfur because during combustion these are likely to produce the primary air pollutants NO2 and SO2. These air pollutants are highly regulated by the Clean Air Act and taken into consideration when developing switchgrass as a biofuel. Marginal land may contain contaminates and it is therefore important to evaluate how time of harvest will impact the overall quality of the fuel product from marginal soils. The goal of the applied research in this project are to provide much requested information for growing biofuel crops particularly on underutilized or marginal land so as not to compete with land currently producing food crops.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Carbohydrates
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Grasses
KW  - Nitrogen
KW  - Plants
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Sulfur
KW  - Switch grass
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229906
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461336
TI  - Improving Goods Movement in a Metropolitan Area Adjacent to a Port
AB  - Southern California and specially Los Angeles faces enormous congestion associated with increase in cargo movement from/to the regional Ports. The region has started to drown in a sea of trucks and trains. This growing congestion has elevated the costs of freight transport. Also, it resulted in greater concerns regarding environmental impacts on local communities. Considering the predicted tripling of cargo movement through the ports in the next two decades, it is crucial to develop immediate alternative arrangements for freight management. More efficient operational management of intermodal transport provides effective cargo movement and maintains environmental justice. In this study, analytical tools, such as mathematical programming, are employed to develop a new strategy for cargo movement in order to lesser congestion and environmental impact.
KW  - Cargo handling
KW  - Cargo ships
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight traffic measurement
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Intermodal terminals
KW  - Los Angeles (California)
KW  - Port congestion
KW  - Port operations
KW  - Traffic congestion
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229555
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461334
TI  - Building Hydrogen Economy One Block at the Time
AB  - The Governor's S-7-04 executive order states "BE IT FURTHER ORDERED that California's 21 interstate freeways shall be designated as the California Hydrogen Highway Network and . . . shall work with . . . local and regional government organizations, educators, energy providers, automakers, fuel cell products suppliers. . . " Governor Schwarzenegger's order has foreseen the United States struggling with the socio-economic aftershocks of the dependence on foreign oil. Hydrogen economy is a likely long-term solution to the dependence on oil, global warming, and clean air concerns associated with the transportation sector. Production of hydrogen from domestic fossil resources, while a short-term alternative, is inferior to electrolysis utilizing renewable energy as a comprehensive solution to clean transportation.
KW  - California
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Fossil fuels
KW  - Global warming
KW  - Hydrogen fuels
KW  - Interstate highways
KW  - Renewable energy sources
KW  - Socioeconomic factors
KW  - Transportation
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229553
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461333
TI  - Effective Decision Making Starts with a Effective Circulum
AB  - Effective Decision Making and Management of Transportation Systems is based on well prepared decision makers and managers, who should possess knowledge and experiences related to the technologies that are the subject of their decision making. Greater Los Angeles and the surrounding areas are amongst the most congested and polluted in the country. Fortunately, newer less polluting technologies are being developed and implemented. Among them are hybrid and fuel cell vehicles meeting SULEV and zero emission standards. These technologies exist in a multitude of choices and possibilities which require high level of technical expertise in making effective transportation management decisions. For example, LA Metro has recently acquired six hybrid buses for fleet testing. The agency also hired an engineer with appropriate experience in heavy-duty hybrid systems to aid in the service and evaluation process. A decision will be made upon completing the test period whether to extend the hybrid bus program in Los Angeles. With the advent of new electric, hybrid and fuel cell vehicles, the growing need for engineers and technology managers with related knowledge is anticipated.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Environmental policy
KW  - Exhaust gases
KW  - Fuel cell vehicles
KW  - Hybrid vehicles
KW  - Los Angeles (California)
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Traffic congestion
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229552
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461332
TI  - Evaluation of Waste Recycled Materials Applicaiton in Highway Pavement in California: An Overview of Research
AB  - The generation, handling, and safe disposal of solid wastes have become a major concern in the United States. Many disposal facilities are approaching capacity and environmental regulations have become increasingly wide-spread and restrictive. Also, there is a growing public awareness of the importance of conserving and preserving our valuable natural resources. This expanding awareness has given rise to a definite trend towards recycling or use of a wide variety of solid waste materials. The construction of pavements requires large volumes of expensive materials. As the volume of waste and by-product materials generated and the cost of disposal continue to increase, there is an increasing need to recover and recycle these materials for use in both primary and secondary applications of highway projects. Waste and by-product materials, differ vastly in their types and properties. This will be reflected in the pavement applications for which they may be suited. Also, experience and knowledge regarding the use of these materials vary. The objective of this research is to review the applications of different waste and by-product materials in the construction and rehabilitation of the asphalt pavements in California.
KW  - Asphalt pavements
KW  - California
KW  - Pavement design
KW  - Pavement performance
KW  - Recycled materials
KW  - Research
KW  - Solid wastes
KW  - Waste products
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229551
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461331
TI  - Education Aids for Analyzing Supply Chain Energy Usage and Emissions
AB  - Energy usage by the US transportation sector is substantial, and the resultant greenhouse gas emissions have become a topical concern. Knowing that we as a society need to reduce our "Carbon footprint" is not sufficient, as we need to know how to do this in a way that still supports growth and economic prosperity. At present there is little evidence that universities are currently training students to recognize and evaluate emissions reductions opportunities and to make sound decisions that will lead to sustainable improvement. While such training would be appropriate to include within the standard operations management class, enthusiastic professors are faced with a dearth of existing course material. The project we propose would be to develop and disseminate a tutorial and supplemental material around an existing web-based energy and emissions calculator, CargoScope. This tool has been successfully used by students and researchers, but current documentation is geared towards specialists. With the help of interactive, easier-to-understand online tutorial students would be able to use this tool a typical operations management class, allowing them to engage in hands-on exercises to build a supply chain and measure the energy and carbon intensity of each stage. The additional modules would expose students to problems of varying complexity from different industries. Students will learn that supply chain design has a significant impact on a firm's energy usage and associated emissions and will be better positioned to make sound, informed decisions that meet both business and environmental needs.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Economic growth
KW  - Education and training methods
KW  - Energy consumption
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Exhaust gases
KW  - Greenhouse gases
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Supply chain management
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229550
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01560231
AU  - Lyons, William M
AU  - Rasmussen, Ben
AU  - Rainville, Lydia
AU  - Turchetta, Diane
AU  - Gaber, Mark
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Department of Transportation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Integration of Climate Change Considerations in Statewide and Regional Transportation Planning Processes
PY  - 2009/07//Final Report
SP  - 127p
AB  - This report is part on on-going work for the US Department of Transportation’s Center for Climate Change and Environmental Forecasting and the Federal Highway Administration to highlight innovative actions and initiatives undertaken by states and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to incorporate climate change considerations as part of the transportation planning process. The report provides case studies and proceedings from two panels of state and regional experts. Although the report considers both reduction of greenhouse house gas emissions and adaptation of transportation facilities to climate change, it focuses on reductions to reflect the priority of the organizations’ studied. Climate change considerations can shape the selection of investments and strategies within state and metropolitan area transportation planning processes. The case studies and panel summaries focus on how participating states and MPOs are considering climate change in the following aspects of transportation planning: vision and long range planning; forecasts, data and performance measures; public involvement; collaboration with partners; and project selection. The report provides analysis, observations, and lessons learned from the case studies and panels to assist peer states, regions and local areas interested in expanding how they incorporate climate change into transportation planning processes.
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Climate change
KW  - Environmental policy
KW  - Greenhouse gases
KW  - Metropolitan planning organizations
KW  - Policy making
KW  - Regional planning
KW  - State departments of transportation
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Transportation policy
UR  - http://www.climate.dot.gov/state-local/integration/pdf/transportation_planning.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/54000/54600/54660/transportation_planning.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1348691
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01543893
AU  - Strawderman, Lesley
AU  - Eksioglu, Burak
AU  - National Center for Intermodal Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - The Role of Intermodal Transportation in Humanitarian Supply Chains
PY  - 2009/07//Final Report
SP  - 25p
AB  - After a nature or human‐made disaster, effective and efficient disaster relief support is needed. People affected by disasters should be moved away from affected areas and staff and disaster relief supplies need to be moved to destinations in time. The movement of personnel and supplies is completed by disaster relief supply chains, which directly affect the performance of humanitarian aid. Utilizing appropriate transportation modes in the relief chain is critical to effective relief operations. The main objective of this study is to identify the role and impact of intermodal transportation on the performance of response and recovery operations following a disaster. This objective will be achieved by pursuing two specific aims: 1. Identify and assess the current response operations. Determine how (if at all) and why humanitarian organizations utilize different modes of transportation to move the goods and personnel effectively and efficiently in responding to and recovering from a disaster. 2. Identify factors that will potentially improve the attractiveness of using intermodal transportation. To achieve the aims two rounds of interview were firstly conducted, and then a large scale online survey was designed and distributed. The data were analyzed to draw conclusions that can fulfill the aims.  It was found that intermodal transportation is not frequently used in disaster relief. Decision makers in disaster relief agencies consider multiple factors when choosing transportation modes. Among the factors, travel distance is mostly considered regardless of whether supplies or people are being transported.  Finally, the organizations that cover larger areas and preposition supplies in their relief operations tend to use intermodal transportation more frequently.
KW  - Disaster relief
KW  - Disasters and emergency operations
KW  - Humanitarian logistics
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Supply chain management
KW  - Trip length
UR  - http://ncit.msstate.edu/publications/reports/reports_58.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1332058
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01543591
AU  - Biernbaum, Lee
AU  - Caputo, Mario
AU  - Gentile, Mark
AU  - Hyde, David
AU  - Lawson, Gustaf
AU  - Lee, Douglass B
AU  - Mergel, Joseph
AU  - Pace, David
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
TI  - Calculation of Bunker Fuel, Currency, and Inland Freight Fuel Price Adjustment Factors for USTRANSCOM Commercial Shipping Contracts
PY  - 2009/07//Final Report
SP  - 216p
AB  - Military units that move equipment and supplies to and from points around the globe rely on USTRANSCOM to provide sea, land, and air shipping services when needed. USTRANSCOM, for 95% of all tonnage moved, contracts for intermodal shipping services from regularly scheduled commercial carriers. The offered rates—per measurement ton or per Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU)—apply to a given origin-destination pair for as much as 17 months from the time the offers are made. During that interval, prices of fuel and foreign currencies may fluctuate. In order to shift some of this volatility risk to shippers, carriers apply price adjustment factors to their published ocean and inland rates to compensate the carriers (or the shipper) for price changes. The specific adjustments apply to bunker and diesel fuel for ships, selected foreign currencies, and surface transportation fuel. This study describes the theoretical and practical considerations in designing these three types of price adjustment factors, and proposes methods for calculating the technical factors and their components.
KW  - Adjustment factors
KW  - Bunker adjustment factor (Shipping)
KW  - Commercial transportation
KW  - Contracts
KW  - Currency adjustment factor
KW  - Diesel fuels
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Fuel prices
KW  - Fuels
KW  - Intermodal services
KW  - Prices
KW  - Shipping
KW  - United States Transportation Command
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/52000/52800/52856/ShippingCostAdjust072309.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1330871
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01359715
AU  - Meltzer, Neil
AU  - Ayres, Greg
AU  - Truong, Minh
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
TI  - Motorcoach Fire Safety Analysis
PY  - 2009/07//Final Report
SP  - 95p
AB  - The purpose of this study was to collect and analyze information from Government, industry, and media sources on the causes, frequency, and severity of motorcoach fires in the U.S., and to identify potential risk reduction measures. The Volpe Center created a database on reported motorcoach fire incidents between 1995 and 2008. Independent reference sources were used to verify that incidents were applicable, to address missing or unknown field values, and to derive non-reported elements. Preliminary analysis of the data suggests that: (a) approximately 160 motorcoach fires are reported annually, with average damages of $65,000; (b) with the exception of a single catastrophic fire, which resulted in 23 fatalities and 15 injuries, approximately 95 percent of the reported fires resulted in no direct injuries or fatalities; (c) about 70 percent of fires originate in the engine compartment and wheel wells; (d) frequency of motorcoach fires for model years 1998–2002 compared to older models was disproportionately greater than their relative populations; (e) vehicle out-of-service (OOS) rates for fire-involved motorcoaches have exceeded rates for all buses, and the gap has widened in recent years; and (f) North American Standard (NAS) Motor Carrier Inspection and OOS criteria may not sufficiently identify all precursors of motorcoach fires.
KW  - Fire detection systems
KW  - Fire safety
KW  - Fire suppression systems
KW  - Motor vehicle inspection
KW  - Motorcoaches
KW  - Passenger vehicles
KW  - Risk analysis
KW  - Vehicle maintenance
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/42000/42700/42778/Motorcoach-Fire-Study.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1125692
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01349492
AU  - Tyagi, Avdhesh
AU  - Brown, James
AU  - Al-Madhhachi, Abdul-Sahib
AU  - Large, Joe
AU  - Ali, Abdelfatah
AU  - Patil, Sonal
AU  - Oklahoma State University, Stillwater
AU  - Oklahoma Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Laboratory Modeling of Energy Dissipation in Broken-back Culverts
PY  - 2009/07//Final Report
SP  - 90p
AB  - This research investigates the reduction in scour downstream of a broken-back culvert by forming a hydraulic jump inside the culvert. A broken-back culvert is used in areas of high relief and steep topography as it has one or more breaks in profile slope. A broken-back culvert in the laboratory represents a 1 (vertical) to 2 (horizontal) slope after the upstream inlet and then continuing 100 feet at a 1 percent slope in the flat part of the culvert to the downstream outlet. The pro-type for these experiments were either a two barrel 10-foot by 10-foot, or a two barrel 10-foot by 20-foot reinforced concrete. The drop between inlet and outlet is selected as 24 feet. Three flow conditions were simulated, consisting of 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2 times the culvert depth. The Froude number of the hydraulic jump created in the flat part of the culvert ranges between 2.7 and 3.6. This Fr classifies the jump as an “oscillating jump”. Such a jump moves up and down in the barrel, its location changing over time. The jump in experiments began nearly at the toe by placing sills in the flat part. The optimal location was determined at a distance of 45 and 25 feet from the outlet face of the culvert in pressure flow conditions. The sills contain two small orifices at the bottom to allow the culvert to completely drain. The impact of friction blocks was found to be minimal. No friction blocks were used to further dissipate. The length of the culvert cannot be reduced as the pressure flow fills up the culvert barrels nearly completely. For new culvert construction, the best option to maximize energy dissipation under open channel flow condition is to use one sill located 40 feet from the outlet. Again, frictional blocks were not effective in further reduction of energy. The maximum length of the culvert can be reduced by 15 feet to 44 feet. Such a scenario is important where right-of-way problems exist for culvert construction.
KW  - Broken-back culverts
KW  - Culverts
KW  - Dissipation
KW  - Flow
KW  - Hydraulic jump
KW  - Open channels
KW  - Scour
UR  - http://www.oktc.org/otc/files/finalReports/OTCREOS7.1-48-F.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1108029
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01143750
AU  - Regan, Terrance
AU  - Murphy, Elizabeth
AU  - Hines, Mary E
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - SAFETEA-LU 1808: Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program Evaluation and Assessment: Phase II Final Report
PY  - 2009/07//Phase II Final Report
SP  - 76p
AB  - In the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act – A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) Section 1808, Congress required the U.S. Department of Transportation, in consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to evaluate and assess the direct and indirect impacts of Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ)-funded projects on air quality and congestion levels to ensure the program’s effective implementation. Phase II of the CMAQ Evaluation and Assessment responds to that request by exploring different practices and approaches that select agencies Nationwide use in CMAQ project selection and implementation. The study team conducted 1-day site interviews with Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) at seven locations around the country. The Phase II Report highlights effective CMAQ implementation practices and identifies benefits, challenges, and opportunities encountered by the agencies interviewed as they program CMAQ funds from the information collected and analyzed during the site visit interviews.
KW  - Air quality
KW  - Benefits
KW  - Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Implementation
KW  - Interviewing
KW  - Metropolitan planning organizations
KW  - Project selection
KW  - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
KW  - State departments of transportation
KW  - State of the practice
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic mitigation
UR  - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/air_quality/cmaq/research/safetea-lu_phase_2/index.cfm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31500/31592/fhwahep09026.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/904106
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142072
AU  - Limroth, John
AU  - Kurfess, Thomas
AU  - Law, E Harry
AU  - National Transportation Research Center, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - U13: Co-Simulation of Heavy Truck Tire Dynamics and Electronic Stability Control Systems (Phase A)
PY  - 2009/07//Final Report
SP  - 69p
AB  - Electronic stability control (ESC) systems have been proven to be an effective means of preventing instability and loss of control on both passenger vehicles and heavy trucks. In addition, roll stability algorithms are an effective means of reducing the risk of rollover on heavy trucks with their relatively high centers of gravity. Stability control systems are so effective that the U.S. government has mandated their inclusion on all new passenger vehicles by September 2011, and similar legislation is anticipated soon for heavy trucks. The goal of this research project is to produce a software co-simulation of an articulated tractor-trailer model together with an ESC algorithm. Such a simulation platform will enable the investigation of truck performance both with and without stability control and the sensitivity of vehicle performance to changes in vehicle parameters. The simulations will be used to conduct experiments to determine particular vehicle configurations and parameters that result in improved vehicle stability and dynamic performance. In addition the simulation platform will provide a means to investigate advanced stability control algorithms, such as algorithms that automatically adapt to changes in vehicle parameters such as trailer load configurations. The co-simulation may be a Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) simulation system utilizing a commercial ESC Electronic Control Unit (ECU) or pure software co-simulation with an algorithm representative of a commercial ESC system.
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - Electronic stability control
KW  - Hardware in the loop simulation
KW  - Heavy duty trucks
KW  - Motor vehicle dynamics
KW  - Stability (Mechanics)
KW  - Tire mechanics
KW  - Tires
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31100/31156/U13-_Co-Simulation_of_Heavy_Truck_Tire_Dynamcis__ESC__Phase_A_.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902282
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01141646
AU  - Cuelho, Eli
AU  - Perkins, Steve
AU  - Western Transportation Institute
AU  - Montana Department of Transportation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - NAUE GmbH &  Co KG
TI  - Field Investigation of Geosynthetics Used for Subgrade Stabilization
PY  - 2009/07//Final Report
SP  - 143p
AB  - The use of reinforcement geosynthetics in unsurfaced roads built upon a soft subgrade is known to provide benefit through better distribution of applied loads and increased bearing capacity.  This report describes a research project where field test sections were constructed to evaluate the performance of several geosynthetics commonly used for subgrade stabilization.  A sandy clay soil was prepared as a weak roadbed material to a CBR strength of approximately 1.8 and a 20 cm thick aggregate layer was compacted over the geosynthetics.  Trafficking was provided by a fully-loaded tandem axle dump truck.  Longitudinal rut depth, along with discrete measurements of displacement and pore pressure were monitored throughout the trafficking period.  Post-trafficking excavations were conducted to evaluate damage to the geosynthetic, base contamination and deformation of the layers.  The construction and monitoring techniques employed during the course of this project helped establish a test bed of relatively similar conditions to facilitate more direct comparison of individual test sections to one another.  An empirical analysis was used to normalize small differences between the subgrade strength after trafficking and base course thickness between test sections to facilitate a more direct comparison performance.  The results showed that the welded geogrids, woven geogrids and the stronger integrally-formed geogrid product seemed to provide the best overall performance, while the two geotextile products and the weaker integrally-formed geogrid provided significantly less stabilization benefit based on the normalized rutting performance at 50, 75 and 100 mm of longitudinal rut data, and this performance is likely directly related to the tensile strength of the materials in the cross-machine direction.  Overall, this research provides additional and much needed insight regarding which properties have a significant role on performance, as well as an assessment of two design methodologies' ability to predict rutting performance using the test section parameters as design inputs.  Additional work is needed to more fully understand which geosynthetic material parameters are most relevant in these situations.
KW  - California bearing ratio
KW  - Field tests
KW  - Geogrids
KW  - Geosynthetics
KW  - Geotextiles
KW  - Gravel roads
KW  - Pore pressure
KW  - Rutting
KW  - Sandy clays
KW  - Soil stabilization
KW  - Subgrade (Pavements)
KW  - Tensile strength
KW  - Test sections
KW  - Traffic loads
KW  - Unpaved roads
UR  - http://www.mdt.mt.gov/other/research/external/docs/research_proj/subgrade/final_report.pdf
UR  - http://www.mdt.mt.gov/research/projects/geotech/subgrade.shtml
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/documents/reports/4W2012_Final_Report.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/45000/45800/45821/final_report42.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902002
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01141330
AU  - Saka, Anthony A
AU  - Morgan State University
AU  - National Transportation Center
AU  - Maryland State Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Statewide GIS Mapping of Recurring Congestion Corridors
PY  - 2009/07//Final Report
SP  - 51p
AB  - Recurring congestion occurs when travel demand reaches or exceeds the available roadway capacity.  This project developed an interactive geographic information system (GIS) map of the recurring congestion corridors (labeled herein as hotspots) in the state of Maryland.  The map allows users to obtain images, turning-movement counts, travel times, and roadway schematics for individual hotspots.  The GIS map was also converted to a keyhole mark-up list (KML) file so that it can be used in Google Earth's 3-D environment.  It is hoped that this study will lead to a statewide mapping of hotspots and help the Maryland State Highway Administration to allocate the resources necessary for the mitigation and management of recurring congestion.
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Google Earth
KW  - Highway traffic control
KW  - Interactive maps
KW  - Mapping
KW  - Maryland
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic mitigation
UR  - http://www.morgan.edu//Documents/ACADEMICS/CENTERS/NTC/Statewide_Saka_0809.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/901472
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01139918
AU  - Ragula, Michael
AU  - Bitar, George
AU  - Urbanik, Tom
AU  - National Transportation Research Center, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - U17: Trusted Truck® II (Phase C)
PY  - 2009/07//Final Report
SP  - 50p
AB  - The states conduct close to 750,000 roadside inspections of commercial vehicles per year. Even with this seemingly large number of inspections, the states are still being overwhelmed with the burden of performing inspections in a fashion that ensures the carriers are complying with safety regulations without impacting the profitability of the carriers. In the first Trusted Truck® project Volvo helped demonstrate the ability to perform brake inspections wirelessly between the vehicle and the state’s roadside infrastructure. The first two phases of the Trusted Truck® II project built off of that initial project to further explore the concept of building a relationship of trust with commercial vehicles and motor carriers through wireless roadside inspections and compliance along with ways that would help enhance the efficiencies of the carriers. The goal will be to move closer to defining a mechanism for performing wireless roadside inspections (WRI). This third phase focused mainly on preparation work for the final Phase D. Phase C of the Trusted Truck® project was a preparatory step that delivered the system architecture specification, a demonstration of the system prototype during a bypass operation, and a plan to introduce the Trusted Truck® Management Center to industry and government.
KW  - Automated inspection
KW  - Commercial vehicles
KW  - Inspection
KW  - Motor carriers
KW  - System architecture
KW  - Trucking safety
UR  - http://www.ntrci.org/ntrci-50-2009-011
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31100/31154/U17-_Trusted_Truck_r__II__Phase_C___2_.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/899334
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01137210
AU  - Crone, John V
AU  - Mack-Blackwell Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - A Cost-Driven Policy Approach for Development of On-Street and Off-Street Bicycle, Multi-Use and Single-Use Paths and Related Facilities
PY  - 2009/07
SP  - 132p
AB  - This study examines policy/cost issues related to bicycle lanes, multi-purpose paths, and single use-paths based on an explicit process from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and empirical analysis of several case studies. Research continues to identify criteria for the planning and design of appropriate bicycle facilities and pedestrian systems, but the selection and costs of these modes of transportation depend on many factors including planning organization, public support, funding, traffic type and characteristics, adjacent land use, expected growth patterns, terrain, path size and materials, and even the potential economic impact on and physical health measures of a community. Research on application of the three phase AASHTO process (planning, design/build, and maintenance) in cities and towns across the nation can yield cost-saving strategies based on experience and be made available to policy makers for increased productivity.
KW  - Bicycle facilities
KW  - Bicycle lanes
KW  - Bikeways
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Costs
KW  - Multi-use paths
KW  - Pedestrian areas
KW  - Planning and design
KW  - Policy
KW  - Walkways
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/897494
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01135877
AU  - Nachtmann, Heather
AU  - Pohl, Edward A
AU  - Mack-Blackwell Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Rural Transportation Emergency Preparedness Plans
PY  - 2009/07
SP  - 45p
AB  - Improving the emergency preparedness of rural transportation systems is the overall goal of this research. Unique characteristics exist in rural transportation systems including widely dispersed and diverse populations and geographic areas. Exploring rural transportation emergency preparedness is important because these networks are essential for transporting freight and linking rural residents with distant services. This research investigates the disaster relief and recovery needs of rural communities and provides an assessment tool for evaluating transportation‐related emergency preparedness for these communities. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s "Guide for All Hazard Emergency Operation Planning" is a vital source used by state and local officials to develop emergency operations plans. This guide is used as the basis for developing the Transportation Readiness Assessment and Valuation for Emergency Logistics (TRAVEL) tool. TRAVEL is a value‐based assessment tool for evaluating transportation readiness in emergency operations planning. A demonstration of TRAVEL based on three rural county‐level emergency operations plans is provided to demonstrate the use of TRAVEL in a real world scenario.
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Disasters and emergency operations
KW  - Emergency planning
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Rural areas
KW  - Transportation Readiness Assessment and Valuation for Emergency Logistics tool
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/896200
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01135598
AU  - Schrank, David
AU  - Lomax, Tim
AU  - Texas Transportation Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - 2009 Urban Mobility Report
PY  - 2009/07
SP  - 41p
AB  - Congestion is a problem in America’s 439 urban areas, and it has gotten worse in regions of all sizes. In 2007, congestion caused urban Americans to travel 4.2 billion hours more and to purchase an extra 2.8 billion gallons of fuel for a congestion cost of $87.2 billion – an increase of more than 50% over the previous decade. This was a decrease of 40 million hours and a decrease of 40 million gallons, but an increase of over $100 million from 2006 due to an increase in the cost of fuel and truck delay. Small traffic volume declines brought on by increases in fuel prices over the last half of 2007 caused a small reduction in congestion from 2006 to 2007. There are many congestion problems but there are also many solutions. The most effective strategy is one where agency actions are complemented by efforts of businesses, manufacturers, commuters and travelers. The best approach to selecting strategies is to identify projects, programs and policies that solve problems or capitalize on opportunities. The strategies must address the issue that the problems are not the same in every region or on every day – the variation in travel time is often as frustrating and costly as the regular “daily slog” through traffic jams. This report clearly demonstrates that all the solutions are not being implemented fast enough.
KW  - Fuel consumption
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic delays
KW  - Urban areas
UR  - http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/
UR  - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/mobility_report_2009_wappx.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/892857
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01132442
AU  - Goodchild, Anne V
AU  - Andrioli, Derek
AU  - TransNow, Transportation Northwest
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Structural and Geographic Shifts in the Washington Warehousing Industry: Transportation Impacts for the Green River Valley
PY  - 2009/07//Final Research Report
SP  - 30p
AB  - Establishment level employment data indicate that the warehousing industry has experienced rapid growth and restructuring since 1998.  This restructuring has resulted in geographic shifts at the national, regional, and local scales.  Uneven growth in warehousing establishments across the Pacific Northwest has likely exerted a significant impact on the regional transportation system, but the extent of these transportation impacts remains unknown.  Identifying these impacts is the goal of the proposed study.  Recent and ongoing research indicates that growth in the warehousing industry is profound.  County Business Patterns data published by the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that at the national level, the number of warehousing establishments grew by just over 100% from 1998 to 2005.  In 1998 there were 6,712 warehousing establishments in the U.S.  By 2005, that number had increased to 13,483.  Although a wide range exists within the warehousing industry, interview data collected by the authors of this proposal indicate that each warehouse handles between 25 and 100 trucks, or 50 and 200 trips, hence the location of warehousing establishments has a significant impact on transportation systems.  At the county level in Washington, King County experienced the strongest absolute growth, adding 59 establishments to the 61 reported in 1998.  In relative terms, however, Pierce County added warehousing establishments at a faster rate (159%) than any other county.  The preliminary data produced in this report clearly indicate that there has been strong growth in warehousing establishments at the national and state levels, but that the growth has not been even across states and counties.  From a transportation perspective, these findings suggest that future research needs to focus on how these structural and geographic shifts impact regional and local transportation systems.
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Impact studies
KW  - King County (Washington)
KW  - Local transportation
KW  - Pierce County (Washington)
KW  - Regional transportation
KW  - Supply chain management
KW  - Warehousing and storage businesses
KW  - Washington (State)
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31700/31729/Structural_and_Geographic_Shifts_in_the_Washington.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/892784
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01132423
AU  - Moudon, Anne Vernez
AU  - Rutherford, Scott
AU  - Saelens, Brian
AU  - Hallenbeck, Mark E
AU  - Turkiyyah, George
AU  - TransNow, Transportation Northwest
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - A Report on Participant Sampling and Recruitment for Travel and Physical Activity Data Collection
PY  - 2009/07//Final Research Report
SP  - 93p
AB  - The substantial investments now being made in transit yield benefits that go beyond managing traffic congestion relief, and include improved environmental quality and potential gains in human health due to increased physical activity. Past research on the effects of such infrastructure investments on mode choice and physical activity has been hampered by cross-sectional designs that limit the ability to draw causal inference. A 5-year $3.3 million study was submitted to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The study takes advantage of the introduction of light rail transit (LRT) in Seattle. Using a case-control longitudinal panel design, 1000 adults living either close to (within 1 mile; case) or far from (control) an LRT station will be assessed prior to (baseline), soon after (post 1), and more than 2 years after (post 2) the introduction of LRT service. It is hypothesized that residents living close to LRT will have an increase in transportation-related walking and total physical activity relative to residents living farther away. Individuals’ walking will be assessed via integrated information from portable GPS and a 7-day travel diary, and physical activity assessed via accelerometry. Neighborhood built environment will be assessed via parcel-level land use evaluation. Changes in non-LRT infrastructure and availability (e.g., bus routes) will also be considered. The proposal has been favorably reviewed once by NIH. The resubmission deadline is in early March. The December 2008 project start date does not give the research team the time needed to set up the protocol and collect the baseline data before Light Rail opens in July 2009. As a result, the research team has sought bridge funding for a May 2008 project start. TransNow support will contribute to this bridge funding and insure that baseline data can be collected on 1000 subjects for 7-day travel patterns. The study natural experiment design has strong potential to make a significant contribution to scientific knowledge and to transportation policy. The prospective evaluation of changes in the same individuals’ transport modes and physical activity over a period of marked change in transportation and built environment is a rare, but potent test of the impact transportation investments on behavior.
KW  - Baseline data
KW  - Before and after studies
KW  - Behavior
KW  - Benefits
KW  - Built environment
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Land use
KW  - Light rail transit
KW  - Mode choice
KW  - Physical activity
KW  - Seattle (Washington)
KW  - Transportation policy
KW  - Walking
KW  - Walking distance
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31700/31738/VernezMoudon_EffectofLight_Rail.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/892788
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142059
AU  - Hart, Robert
AU  - Osborne, Leon
AU  - Conger, Steven M
AU  - Wiegmann, John
AU  - Booz Allen Hamilton
AU  - Meridian Environmental Technology, Incorporated
AU  - Iteris, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Baselining Current Road Weather Information: Summary Report
PY  - 2009/06/30/Summary Report
SP  - 21p
AB  - This report summarizes the findings derived from research on establishing metrics to measure and track the quality and value of road weather information resources as assessed by members of the surface transportation community who use this information routinely in their decision-making process. The objectives were the establishment of a baseline measure of current road weather information, the development of strategies for an ongoing monitoring program, and the exposition of anticipated outcomes derived from a well-defined method for tracking and comparing the character of road weather information resources. The research evaluated the existing sources of road weather information and the methods used by departments of transportation (DOT) to disseminate this information for both internal and external consumption. DOTs acquire road weather information for multiple decision-making or subsequent decision-supporting purposes, and thereby develop a keen sense of the level to which the road weather resource information meets their needs. A set of six attributes was developed to measure the quality and value of road weather. The road weather information resources were separated into product types and basic weather elements representing the discrete packages weather service providers disseminate to the DOTs. The baseline assessment of quality was accomplished through an online survey executed by surface transportation personnel who routinely use road weather information as part of their daily operations. The report details the organization of the data into a quality attribute matrix and discusses the results from the survey. User responses within quality attribute classes illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of specific products and weather elements both by attribute and in comparison to other products and elements. The research team evaluated the results, their implication regarding specific resources, and the user feedback regarding the survey. All of these results were evaluated as a basis for an ongoing quality characterization monitoring program. The research team then evaluated appropriate time intervals for ongoing testing and potential impacts on the monitoring process and proposed a strategy for implementing a regular quality assessment monitoring process. What was learned from the baseline survey project also served as the basis for a projection of anticipated outcomes from an ongoing road weather quality monitoring program.
KW  - Baseline data
KW  - Information dissemination
KW  - Information sources
KW  - Measurement
KW  - Monitoring
KW  - Quality assurance
KW  - Road weather information systems
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31000/31064/14485.htm
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902318
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142086
AU  - Hart, Robert
AU  - Osborne, Leon
AU  - Conger, Steven M
AU  - Booz Allen Hamilton
AU  - Meridian Environmental Technology, Incorporated
AU  - Iteris, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Baselining Current Road Weather Information: Final Report
PY  - 2009/06/10/Final Report
SP  - 93p
AB  - This final report contains research findings on the characterization of the quality and value of road weather information resources used by members of the surface transportation community in their decision-making process. The objectives of the project were to identify current road weather information resources, develop a process to measure the quality of road weather information, and establish a baseline metric of the existing resources, and the recommendation of a strategy for an ongoing monitoring program. The project evaluated the existing sources of road weather information and the methods used by departments of transportation (DOT) to use this information for both internal and external applications. The analysis of weather service provider sources, road weather products, and DOT uses of the data permitted the research team to define six quality attributes that could be used to measure DOT users’ perception of road weather data quality and value. The road weather information that DOTs receive/use were separated into product type packages and the basic weather elements within the resource deliverables. The baseline assessment of quality was accomplished through an online survey. DOT personnel who use road weather information routinely as part of their daily operations participated in the survey. The report details the organization of the survey responses into a quality attribute matrix and then analyzes the results of the survey. The report addresses variable user responses within and amongst quality attribute classes that illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of specific products and weather elements. The resulting measures from the survey serve to establish quality markers and point out road weather products or elements that could benefit from improvement. The technique chosen to characterize the quality of existing road weather information for this study was evaluated as the project evolved to assess its viability for an ongoing quality characterization monitoring program. The team also looked at appropriate time intervals for regular quality assessment, and evaluated the potential impacts of issues that occurred during the quality characterization process. The report evaluates these factors and proposes a strategy for implementing a regular quality assessment monitoring program. Finally, the research report projects the team’s anticipated outcomes from an ongoing road weather quality monitoring program.
KW  - Baseline data
KW  - Measurement
KW  - Monitoring
KW  - Quality assurance
KW  - Road weather information systems
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31000/31065/14486.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/37000/37800/37840/2010_BaselineSurvey_FinalReport-508.doc
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902319
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01343592
AU  - Holmen, Britt A
AU  - Robinson, Mitchell
AU  - Sentoff, Karen
AU  - Montane, Paul
AU  - Hathaway, Kevin
AU  - University of Vermont, Burlington
AU  - Resource Systems Group, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - The On‐Board Tailpipe Emissions Measurement System (TOTEMS): Proof‐of‐Concept
PY  - 2009/06/03
SP  - 61p
AB  - An on-board tailpipe emissions instrumentation system was designed, assembled and tested as proof-of-concept for the University of Vermont’s Transportation Research Center (TRC) Signature Project #2 “real-world” vehicle emissions data collection effort. This report summarizes the measurement system’s status as of June 2009 and demonstrates that the study team can reliably collect on-board emissions/vehicle performance data. The purpose of the new instrumentation package is to collect real-world exhaust emissions for regulated (CO, HC, NOx) and unregulated (CO2, air toxics, particle number) pollutant species as well as vehicle operating parameters, all at 1Hz temporal resolution, while a test vehicle is driven on the road network in Chittenden County, Vermont. Future data collected using the on-board system will be used to model the modal emissions of alternative vehicles. This report documents (i) the instrumentation system’s components and the research team’s proposed data collection methodology; and (ii) presents initial data sets collected by quantifying real-world emissions from a 1999 Toyota Sienna minivan that was used in previous studies. Unlike previous studies, however, the new instrumentation package collects: (i) the full number distributions of particle emissions using a particle spectrometer instrument that was not available previously; and (ii) quantifies mobile source air toxic (MSAT) gaseous emissions in addition to criteria pollutant (CO, NOx, HC) and greenhouse gas (CO2, N2O, CH4) using a high-speed Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) instrument specifically designed for on-board vehicle exhaust testing.
KW  - Chittenden County (Vermont)
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Data files
KW  - Exhaust gases
KW  - Greenhouse gases
KW  - Instrumentation
KW  - Measuring instruments
KW  - Mobile Source Air Toxics
KW  - On board equipment
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Proof of concept
KW  - Toyota Sienna
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/~transctr/trc_reports/UVM-TRC-10-015.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1105597
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569181
TI  - Vermont Transportation Systems Efficiency (Phase 2)
AB  - Vermont faces significant obstacles to improving transportation system efficiency. The literature on rural transportation efficiency, combined with Vermonters current travel behavior and rural land settlement patterns suggest that State initiatives to increase overall transportation system efficiency will require bold and innovative steps. Changing land use settlement patterns will have the single largest long-term impact on improving the efficiency of the overall transportation system. As mentioned in the introduction, if access is the goal, not mobility or miles of travel, then the most efficient system will have people living closer to the services and destinations they wish to access -- therefore meeting their needs with fewer (or shorter) trips.
KW  - Land settlement patterns
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Rural areas
KW  - Rural transportation
KW  - System efficiency
KW  - Transportation system management
KW  - Travel behavior
KW  - Vermont
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359736
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01486768
TI  - Alaska Rural Airport Inspection Program
AB  - Airport infrastructure in rural Alaska experiences unique problems and requires high level maintenance by virtue of cold climate. Freezing temperatures and weathering variably affects airport runway condition and equipment across the state. To compound this issue, many runways in rural Alaska are unpaved lending the runway to erosion. We noted the problem with erosion during work being conducted on several rural runways under a different project during summer 2008. Several runways seemed to be undermined by erosion, which could eventually result in a possible failure of the runway surface. As in any unpaved surface, routine inspection &amp; maintenance is required on these runways, however the remoteness of many Alaskan villages results in infrequent thorough inspections. Consistent with AUTC's 2008 Roadmap theme of maintaining transportation systems, a comprehensive airport inspection program is needed to improve transportation safety and reduce maintenance costs for Alaska's transportation infrastructure. We propose to develop and implement an inspection program of rural airports for the Alaska Department of Transportation &amp; Public Facilities (AKDOT&amp;PF). The scope of the proposed inspection program was developed with input from AKDOT&amp;PF. Maintaining a workforce in the AKDOT&amp;PF has also become an issue over the last several years. Retirements and turnover has left the Department with a reduced staff. The inspection program described in this proposal provides an excellent opportunity for the University of Alaska Fairbanks Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering to work with the AKDOT&amp;PF to provide sophomore or junior year civil engineering students' hands-on experience in transportation engineering. Thus, transportation engineering workforce development is an associated objective of this proposed project. We will train interested civil engineering students on how to take the proper field measurements and samples and document the condition of the rural airports to be inspected. Under our guidance, the students will analyze the field measurements and conduct the necessary tests in our laboratories on samples gathered in the field. The students will also write the reports documenting the condition of the airports. Through this experience the students will be introduced to the challenges of transportation engineering in Alaska and the possibilities of working in this field.
KW  - Airport operations
KW  - Airport runways
KW  - Airport terminals
KW  - Alaska
KW  - Erosion
KW  - Frigid regions
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Rural areas
KW  - Unpaved roads
UR  - http://www.alaska.edu/uaf/cem/ine/autc/projects.xml
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256519
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01226609
AU  - Ramasubramanian, Laxmi
AU  - Milczarski, William
AU  - Albrecht, Jochen
AU  - Boile, Maria
AU  - Rutgers University, Piscataway
AU  - Hunter College of the City University of New York
AU  - New York Metropolitan Transportation Council
AU  - University Transportation Research Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Ferry Parking and Landside Access Study
PY  - 2009/06/01/Final Report
SP  - 283p
AB  - The goal of the Ferry Parking and Landside Access Study (FPLAS) was to assist the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) in the assessment and evaluation of both current and future potential sites suitable for the development of facilities to support waterborne transportation. Specifically, the study focused on the development of assessment criteria to optimize underutilized waterborne transportation resources and services through the following four tasks. Task 1 – Literature Review:  The first task consisted of a comprehensive review of literature about the subject area, focusing on studies and reports conducted in the region. The review provided a first look at the factors (criteria) that were likely to be used in the evaluation of individual landing sites. The authors' findings are discussed extensively in the Task 1 report. Task 2 and Task 2- B – Expert Interviews, GIS Repository and Long List of Ferry Sites:  First, the consultant team conducted 24 expert interviews with a wide range of stakeholders including a private ferry operator, representatives from the PANYNJ, the departments of transportation from New York City, Westchester, Rockland, Nassau and Suffolk counties, NYSDOT, MTA, the Regional Plan Association, and the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance. The interviews were used to identify existing and potential sites as well as additional criteria for site evaluation. In Task 2, the consultant team compiled a “long list” of 85 sites that included 25 existing sites and 60 potential sites. The list was created using field observations and information gathered from the literature review and the expert interviews. Task 3- Site Detailed Description and Assessment:  In Task 3, the consultant team created detailed and exhaustive site evaluations for the twelve sites other than Freeport, Nassau County, which was not analyzed in this study because the city declined to be involved at this time. Each site was first researched focusing on available data about the adjacent major attractions, accessibility of the sites, available transit, traffic conditions within the proximity of the site, demographics and future development. In Task 2B, the consultant team developed an interactive GIS based site-comparison tool and data repository to evaluate the 85 sites using readily available population, land use, and transportation data. Task 4-Site Assessment and Prioritization:  The objective of this task was to produce a ranking and comparison of the sites. For this purpose, the consultant team assigned numerical values to the individual site assessments that were included at the end of each site evaluation in Task 3 Report. The criteria used in these assessments included the following: Vehicular Accessibility, Transit/Intermodal Connectivity, Pedestrian and Bicycle Access, Parking, Land Use, and Demographics and Commute Patterns.
KW  - Accessibility
KW  - Boat landing
KW  - Ferry service
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Land use
KW  - Landside access
KW  - New York Metropolitan Area
KW  - Parking
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.utrc2.org/research/assets/120/Ferry_Parking-Landside_Access1.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/982047
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01516413
AU  - Perkins, Robert A
AU  - Alaska University Transportation Center
AU  - Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Evaluation of Risk in Change Orders Report for AKDOT Construction Staff
PY  - 2009/06//Final Report
SP  - 94p
AB  - Work changes are common in construction contracts, especially for large projects. When contract changes must be made, how the owner (the organization paying for the work) and the contractor (the firm performing the work) agree on a fair and reasonable cost can be as complex as a good poker game. It is usually in the owner’s best interest to negotiate a lump sum price for changes before the new work starts (forward-pricing). Forward-pricing passes considerable risk (such as work delays, changing weather, getting new materials to remote sites, and re-scheduling other projects) to the contractor, who deserves some compensation for assuming it. The owner wants the best deal possible, and the contractor is the best judge of his (or her) own costs. The stakes can be higher in Alaska, where a short building season and remote locations can push a project into an additional year, with extra staging costs, staffing, and scheduling  nightmares. This project, led by University of Alaska, Fairbanks engineering science management specialist Robert Perkins will produce a guide for Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (AKDOT&PF) managers and engineers that will better prepare them for judging project risk and estimating costs.
KW  - Alaska
KW  - Change orders
KW  - Construction projects
KW  - Contractors
KW  - Contracts
KW  - Cost estimating
KW  - Risk management
UR  - http://ine.uaf.edu/autc/files/2014/01/107059.Appendix-D-with-attachments.pdf
UR  - http://ine.uaf.edu/autc/files/2014/01/107059.Perkins.-Final.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290652
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01505735
AU  - Ames, David
AU  - McNeil, Sue
AU  - Oswald, Michelle
AU  - Gayley, Rebekah
AU  - Delaware Center for Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Evaluating the Current State of BOSFOLK Transportation Corridor and Indicators of Resiliency
PY  - 2009/06//Final Report
SP  - 54p
AB  - The Northeast corridor is a multimodal and multi-generational network connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Washington D.C. The corridor is also referred to as the BOSWASH corridor and more recently the BOSFOLK corridor, recognizing the extension of the corridor to Norfolk, Virginia. The objective of this research is to evaluate the resiliency of the BOSFOLK corridor. Investigating the evolution and development of the corridor provides insight into future growth and land use impacts in order to address challenges and improve management practices throughout the corridor.
KW  - Evaluation
KW  - Highway corridors
KW  - History
KW  - Land use
KW  - Multimodal transportation
KW  - Northeast Corridor
KW  - Transportation corridors
KW  - United States
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/downloads2013/Ames_McNeil_finalReport.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1285221
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01173887
AU  - Schilling, Martin
AU  - Bittner, Jason
AU  - Adams, Teresa
AU  - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Containerization Policy: Considering Increased Load Weight for Certain Circumstances of Freight in Wisconsin
PY  - 2009/06
SP  - 68p
AB  - Many businesses in Wisconsin export their goods throughout the world. An efficient way of doing business internationally is through containerized shipments. This research discovered that Wisconsin’s weight laws for transporting international containers (ICs) are stricter than in several bordering states. Through interviews with major shippers and stakeholders, and analysis of rail related waybill information, this report details some of the economic impacts of stricter weight limits for international container traffic in Wisconsin. After conducting research on current trends in international container shipping, this report analyzed container weight regulations in several states throughout the US, including Minnesota and Illinois. Through interviews with impacted businesses and stakeholders, the research team learned that transportation costs increase significantly for Wisconsin businesses as a result of the state’s existing weight laws.
KW  - Containers
KW  - Economic impacts
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - International trade
KW  - Policy
KW  - Size and weight regulations
KW  - State laws
KW  - Weight
KW  - Wisconsin
UR  - http://minds.wisconsin.edu/bitstream/handle/1793/55593/01-05_FR.pdf
UR  - http://wisdotresearch.wi.gov/wp-content/uploads/08-26increaseloadsize-f.pdf
UR  - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/01-05_FR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/927751
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01164852
AU  - Adrignolo, Anthony
AU  - Sankar, Sai
AU  - Szary, Patrick
AU  - Fairleigh Dickinson University
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - New Jersey Department of Transportation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Dual-Drive Production Prototype Project
PY  - 2009/06//Final Report
SP  - 15p
AB  - This project was an initiative to engineer, develop and build a plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle using the Dual-Drive system. The project aimed to build a plug-in hybrid utilitarian vehicle on a light commercial vehicle platform. The hybrid vehicle will have a range of 35-40 miles and will have the ability to switch between pure electric drive and pure gasoline drive. The vehicle’s electric drivetrain will enable the vehicle to run efficiently at very low speed conditions and will also give the user the flexibility to switch to pure gasoline driving and thus drive at highway speeds.
KW  - Electric drives
KW  - Fuel consumption
KW  - Fuel efficiency
KW  - Gasoline engines
KW  - Plug-in hybrid vehicles
KW  - Prototypes
KW  - Vehicle drive systems
UR  - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/FDU-RU4474_0.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/925753
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01150505
AU  - Agrawal, Asha Weinstein
AU  - Dill, J
AU  - Nixon, Hilary
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - 'Green' Transportation of Taxes and Fees: A Survey of Californians
PY  - 2009/06
SP  - 142p
AB  - This report explores public opinion on a new and promising concept--green transportation taxes and fees. These are taxes and fees set at variable rates, with higher rates for more polluting vehicles and lower rates for those that pollute less. This approach to transportation taxes and fees adapts the traditional transportation finance system, permitting it to achieve two critical public benefits simultaneously: encouraging drivers to choose more environmentally-friendly transportation options, and raising revenue for needed transportation programs. Growing concern with global warming, air pollution, and energy security, combined with California's concern over shrinking transportation revenues, make this type of transportation finance system a particularly exciting finance approach to evaluate at present.
KW  - Air pollution
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Environmental policy
KW  - Greenhouse effect
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Surveys
KW  - Taxes
UR  - http://transweb.sjsu.edu/MTIportal/research/publications/documents/GreenTaxes%20(Final%20with%20Cover).pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/912589
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01147397
AU  - Mathur, Shishir
AU  - Ferrell, Christopher
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Effect of Suburban Transit Oriented Developments on Residential Property Values
PY  - 2009/06
SP  - 86p
AB  - The development of successful TODs often encounters several barriers. These barriers include: a lack of inter-jurisdictional cooperation, auto-oriented design that favors park and ride lot over ridership generating uses, and community opposition. The community opposition may be more vocal in suburban areas where residents of predominately single-family neighborhoods may feel that the proposed high-density, mixed-use TOD will bring noise, air pollution, increased congestion and crime into their area. Community opposition has been instrumental in stopping many TOD projects in the San Francisco Bay Area. While community opposition to TODs has been pronounced, very little empirical research exists that indicates whether this opposition is well-founded. Economic theory suggests that if a TOD has a negative effect on the surrounding residential neighborhoods, then that effect should lower land prices and in turn, the housing prices in these neighborhoods. Similarly, an increase in the housing prices would mean a positive effect of TODs on the surrounding neighborhoods. This study empirically estimates the impact of four San Francisco Bay Area sub-urban TODs on single-family home sale prices. The study finds that the case study suburban TODs either had no impact or had a positive impact on the surrounding single-family home sale prices.
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Multiple regression analysis
KW  - Prices
KW  - Property values
KW  - Public opinion
KW  - Public transit
KW  - San Francisco Bay Area
KW  - Suburbs
KW  - Transit oriented development
UR  - http://transweb.sjsu.edu/mtiportal/research/publications/documents/Effects%20of%20Sub-Urban%20Transit%20(with%20Cover).pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/905601
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142740
AU  - Agrawal, Asha Weinstein
AU  - Dill, Jennifer
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - University Transportation Centers Program
TI  - Paving The Way: Recruiting Students into the Transportation Professions
PY  - 2009/06
SP  - 184p
AB  - The transportation industry faces a growing shortage of professional engineers and planners. One key strategy in solving this problem will be to encourage more civil engineering and urban planning students to specialize in transportation while completing their degrees, so that employers have a larger pool of likely recruits.  However, very little is known about how these students choose a specialization. To help fill that gap, this report examines the factors that lead civil engineering undergraduates and urban planning masters students to specialize in transportation, as opposed to other sub-disciplines within the two fields. The primary data collection methods were web-based surveys of 1,852 civil engineering undergraduates and 869 planning masters students. The study results suggest steps the transportation community can take to increase the number of civil engineering and planning students who choose to specialize in transportation.
KW  - City planning
KW  - Civil engineering
KW  - Education
KW  - Job opportunities
KW  - Transportation careers
KW  - Transportation engineering
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Universities and colleges
UR  - http://www.transweb.sjsu.edu/MTIportal/research/publications/documents/Paving%20the%20Way%20(Complete%20with%20covers).pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31100/31194/Paving_the_Way__Complete_with_covers_.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902268
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142724
AU  - Brown, Jeffrey
AU  - Thompson, Gregory L
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - University Transportation Centers Program
TI  - The Influence of Service Planning Decisions on Rail Transit Success or Failure
PY  - 2009/06
SP  - 508p
AB  - Some United States metropolitan areas with rail transit systems enjoy ridership and productivity success while others do not. This study examines the experiences of 11 U.S. metropolitan areas with between one million and five million persons to better understand why some areas are successful and others are not. A particular focus is the role of service planning decisions in facilitating transit success. We find that successful transit systems are those that: 1) articulate a clear, multidestination vision for regional transit; 2) rely on rail transit as the system’s backbone; 3) recognize the importance of the non-CBD travel market; 4) encourage the use of transfers to reach a wider array of destinations; 5) recognize that rail transit alone is not enough to guarantee success; and 6) recognize the importance of serving regional destinations.
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Commuting
KW  - Dual mode transportation systems
KW  - Passenger service
KW  - Rail transit
KW  - Ridership
KW  - Systems analysis
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Urban transit
UR  - http://www.transweb.sjsu.edu/MTIportal/research/publications/documents/ServicePlanningDecisions%20(with%20covers).pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31100/31195/ServicePlanningDecisions__with_covers_.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902272
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142688
AU  - Agrawal, Asha Weinstein
AU  - Dill, Jennifer
AU  - Nixon, Hilary
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - University Transportation Centers Program
TI  - “Green” Transportation Taxes and Fees: A Survey Of Californians
PY  - 2009/06
SP  - 128p
AB  - This report explores public opinion on a new and promising concept―green transportation taxes and fees. These are taxes and fees set at variable rates, with higher rates for more polluting vehicles and lower rates for those that pollute less. This approach to transportation taxes and fees adapts the traditional transportation finance system to achieve two critical public benefits at once: encouraging drivers to choose more environmentally-friendly transportation options and raising revenue for needed transportation programs. To test public support for green transportation taxes and fees, the authors conducted a random telephone survey of 1,500 Californians that asked respondents their views on five hypothetical tax and fee options: a flat-rate and a green vehicle registration fee, a flat-rate and a green mileage fee, and a “feebate” program for new vehicle purchases under which more-polluting vehicles would be charged a tax and less-polluting vehicles would receive a rebate. The survey results show that the concept of green transportation taxes and fees strongly appeals to Californians. The survey tested this in two ways: by testing support for the three hypothetical green transportation tax and fee policies, and also by comparing support levels for flat-rate versus green versions of two taxes. Majorities of the respondents supported all three green taxes and fees tested. Another striking finding from the survey is that support for the green taxes and fees did not vary greatly by population subgroups; a diverse range of Californians supported the green taxes and fees. An analysis comparing support for the green and flat-rate vehicle registration fee and feebate proposals confirmed that in every subgroup, more people within that subgroup supported the green than the flat version of the two taxes tested.
KW  - California
KW  - Environmental policy
KW  - Fees
KW  - Fuel taxes
KW  - Public opinion
KW  - Public policy
KW  - Registration fees
KW  - Sales tax
KW  - Taxation
UR  - http://www.transweb.sjsu.edu/MTIportal/research/publications/documents/GreenTaxes%20%28Final%20with%20Cover%29.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31100/31196/GreenTaxes__Final_with_Cover_.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/901476
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01140745
AU  - Goldgof, Dmitry B
AU  - Sapper, Deborah
AU  - Candamo, Joshua
AU  - Shreve, Matthew
AU  - National Center for Transit Research
AU  - Florida Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Evaluation of Smart Video for Transit Event Detection
PY  - 2009/06//Final Report
SP  - 85p
AB  - Transit agencies are increasingly using video cameras to fight crime and terrorism. As the volume of video data increases, the existing digital video surveillance systems provide the infrastructure only to capture, store and distribute video, while leaving the task of threat detection exclusively to human operators. The objective of this research project was to study and develop an evaluation framework for commercial video analytics systems. A state-of-the-art research literature survey was conducted. Identified strengths, weaknesses, future directions of research and state-of-the-art commercial video analytics products were surveyed. Product capabilities were identified by working together with vendors and analyzing the available literature offered by the providers. Use of analytic technology in transit agencies in Florida was analyzed. A technology survey among the largest agencies in the state indicates very low use of video analytics, significant skepticism, and poor general knowledge of the technology and its capabilities. Based on existing general evaluation frameworks, an evaluation framework for video analytics technology was developed, including annotation guidelines, scoring metrics, and implementation of the scoring metrics in the scoring software.
KW  - Anomaly detection
KW  - Crimes
KW  - Digital video
KW  - Florida
KW  - Literature reviews
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Security
KW  - State of the art
KW  - Surveillance
KW  - Terrorism
KW  - Video analytics
KW  - Video cameras
UR  - http://www.fdot.gov/research/Completed_Proj/Summary_PTO/FDOT_BD549-49_rpt.pdf
UR  - http://www.nctr.usf.edu/pdf/77807.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31100/31167/77807.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/901150
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01139246
AU  - Shaffer, Steven J
AU  - Long, Amy M
AU  - National Transportation Research Center, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - U14: Field Testing & Analysis of Braking Performance of In-Service Trucks
PY  - 2009/06//Final Report
SP  - 40p
AB  - The purpose of this project was to collect a high quality data set to provide a snapshot of the braking capability of a representative sampling of in-service commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) on the road today. This data collection effort is important to safety in that no actual stopping performance data has been collected from in-service vehicles since the implementation of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) visual inspection in the early 1980’s. This assessment utilized improved technology, such as GPS systems and a Performance Based Brake Tester (PBBT), to collect data on CMV braking performance. The data collected in this effort is intended for use in evaluating how current in-service vehicles perform, and how the Level I visual inspection corresponds to actual braking performance. Since there is no regulation of after-market components, including replacement brake pads, visual inspections may not fully assess the ability of a vehicle to stop safely. Industry and regulators alike could use current vehicle performance data in safety applications as they review present design and maintenance practices and regulations. Industry and government partnered to support this project through direct financial and in-kind contributions. Primary contributors to the project include the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), Heavy-Duty Brake Manufacturer's Council (HDBMC) and the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
KW  - Braking performance
KW  - Commercial vehicles
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Field tests
KW  - Heavy vehicles
KW  - Stopping
KW  - Trucks
KW  - Vehicle safety
UR  - http://www.ntrci.org/ntrci-50-2009-009
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/899179
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01139123
AU  - Edwards, Frances L
AU  - Goodrich, Daniel C
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - University Transportation Centers Program
TI  - The Role of Transportation in Campus Emergency Planning
PY  - 2009/06
SP  - 183p
AB  - This report describes the value of integrating transportation infrastructure into the campus emergency plan, including planning for helicopter operations. It offers a list of materials that can be used to educate and inform campus leadership on campus emergency impacts, including books about the Katrina response by Louisiana State University and Tulane Hospital, contained in the report’s bibliography. It provides a complete set of Emergency Operations Plan checklists and organization charts updated to acknowledge lessons learned from Katrina, September 11 and other wide-scale emergencies. Campus emergency planners can quickly update their existing emergency management documents by integrating selected annexes and elements, or create new National Incident Management System (NIMS)-compliant plans by adapting the complete set of annexes to their university's structures.
KW  - Campus transportation
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Disasters and emergency operations
KW  - Emergency management
KW  - Emergency medical services
KW  - Emergency transportation
KW  - Hazards and emergency operations
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Universities and colleges
UR  - http://transweb.sjsu.edu/mtiportal/research/publications/documents/Role%20of%20Transportation%20(Complete%20with%20Cover).pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/898962
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01139087
AU  - Johnston, Robert A
AU  - Gao, Shengyi
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - University Transportation Centers Program
TI  - Public Versus Private Mobility for the Poor: Transit Improvements Versus Increased Car Ownership in the Sacramento Region
PY  - 2009/06
SP  - 32p
AB  - In this study, the authors examined the impacts of car ownership promotion versus transit improvements on job accessibility, work trips, and traveler’s economic welfare by running a travel demand model adopted by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG). In the car scenario, the zero-car households who were assigned a car had higher job accessibility and larger traveler benefits than in the  Base Case scenario. The other households had lower traveler benefits, compared to the Base Case, due to slight increases in congestion. In the transit scenario, all households had gains in traveler benefits and the households without a car gained more than those with a car. The households without a car gained more in traveler benefits in the transit scenario than in the car scenario. The total gain in traveler benefits was higher in the transit scenario. In both scenarios, the changes in total travel time, congestion, and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) were small, but mode shares changed substantially.
KW  - Automobile ownership
KW  - Low income groups
KW  - Mode choice
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Sacramento Metropolitan Area
KW  - Transportation policy
KW  - Travel behavior
KW  - Travel demand
KW  - Work trips
UR  - http://transweb.sjsu.edu/mtiportal/research/publications/documents/Johnston&Gao%20(Complete%20with%20cover).pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/898957
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01138398
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - America’s Container Ports: Freight Hubs That Connect Our Nation to Global Markets
PY  - 2009/06
SP  - 44p
AB  - The U.S. marine transportation system continues to handle large volumes of domestic and international freight in support of the nation’s economic activities. The demand for freight transportation responds to trends in global economic activity and merchandise trade. When U.S. businesses produce more goods, the demand for freight transportation services to move raw materials and finished products to markets and customers around the country and world will increase. When economic conditions result in less production, the demand for transportation services will decrease. This report provides an overview of the movement of maritime freight handled by the nation’s container seaports in 2008 and summarizes trends in maritime freight movement since 1995. It covers the impact of the recent U.S. and global economic downturn on U.S. port container traffic, trends in container throughput, concentration of containerized cargo at the top U.S. ports, regional shifts in cargo handled, vessel calls and capacity in ports, the rankings of U.S. ports among the world’s top ports, and the number of maritime container entries into the United States relative to truck and rail containers. The report also presents snapshots of landside access to container ports, port security initiatives, and ongoing maritime environmental issues.
KW  - Container handling
KW  - Container terminals
KW  - Container traffic
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Seaports
KW  - Trend (Statistics)
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/americas_container_ports/2009/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894604
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01135601
AU  - Barr, Lawrence
AU  - Popkin, Stephen
AU  - Howarth, Heidi
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
TI  - An Evaluation of Emerging Driver Fatigue Detection Measures and Technologies
PY  - 2009/06//Final Report
SP  - 55p
AB  - Operator fatigue and sleep deprivation have been widely recognized as critical safety issues that cut across all modes in the transportation industry. FMCSA, the trucking industry, highway safety advocates, and transportation researchers have all identified driver fatigue as a high priority commercial vehicle safety issue. Fatigue affects mental alertness, decreasing an individual’s ability to operate a vehicle safely and increasing the risk of human error that could lead to fatalities and injuries. Sleepiness slows reaction time, decreases awareness, and impairs judgment. Fatigue and sleep deprivation impact all transportation operators (airline pilots, truck drivers, and railroad engineers, for example). Adding to the difficulty of understanding the fatigue problem and developing effective countermeasures to address operator fatigue is the fact that the incidence of fatigue is underestimated because it is so hard to quantify and measure. Obtaining reliable data on fatigue-related crashes is challenging because it is difficult to determine the degree to which fatigue plays a role in crashes. Fatigue, however, can be managed, and effectively managing fatigue will result in a significant reduction in related risk and improved safety. This study focuses on recent developments in mathematical models and vehicle-based operator alertness monitoring technologies. The major objective of this paper is to review and discuss many of the activities currently underway to develop unobtrusive, in-vehicle, real-time drowsy driver detection and fatigue-monitoring/alerting systems.
KW  - Alertness
KW  - Drowsiness
KW  - Fatigue (Physiological condition)
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - Sleep deprivation
KW  - Truck drivers
KW  - Trucking safety
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34700/34775/FMCSA-RRR-09-005.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/892800
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01135592
AU  - Young, Peg
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - A Time Series Analysis of Transportation Energy Use Per Dollar of Gross Domestic Product
PY  - 2009/06
SP  - 2p
AB  - Transportation energy use relative to gross domestic product (GDP) has been declining within the past decade. However, the total transportation energy consumed shows only a more recent decline. To see clearly the long-term decline, the seasonal component fi rst must be separated from the underlying trendline to observe the long-term trend of that energy consumption. Then the ratio of the deseasonalized data and GDP can be taken. This short paper presents graphs and analyses that focus on recent trends from January 2000 to the present (October 2008).
KW  - Energy consumption
KW  - Gross domestic product
KW  - Time series analysis
KW  - Trend (Statistics)
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_transportation_trends_in_focus/2009_06_01/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/892802
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01132444
AU  - Donath, Max
AU  - Gorjestani, Alec
AU  - Shankwitz, Craig
AU  - Hoglund, Richard
AU  - Arpin, Eddie
AU  - Cheng, Pi-Ming
AU  - Menon, Arvind
AU  - Newstrom, Bryan
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Technology Enabling Near-Term Nationwide Implementation of Distance Based Road User Fees
PY  - 2009/06//Final Report
SP  - 76p
AB  - This report describes a system meant for near-term deployment that directly determines the distance traveled by a vehicle and uses this as a basis for charging a fee that reflects road use. An in-vehicle device with access to the vehicle data bus and power through a single standard connector available on all passenger vehicles since 1996, electronically calculates the distance and then securely communicates relevant information to a “back office” for processing and transferring accumulated fees from the user to the appropriate government jurisdiction. Also described are means for providing payment (and receiving credit for motor fuel use taxes paid at the pump) while also ensuring compliance, enforcement, transparency and privacy. Communication is via text messaging, available wherever cellular service is accessible. No new wireless infrastructure is needed. The in-vehicle device distinguishes distance traveled by state or by other regions of interest, e.g., rural vs. urban areas, using the same cellular technology that is used for communications. Aggregating distance based on rural vs. urban travel can facilitate different pricing policies for these different road users. Neither a GPS receiver nor longitude/latitude position data is necessary. However, higher resolution position sensing can be added to the core platform as needed based on policy objectives, e.g., to consider alternate pricing for specific road facilities.
KW  - Cellular telephones
KW  - Distance based fees
KW  - In vehicle devices
KW  - In vehicle sensors
KW  - Road pricing
KW  - Text messaging
KW  - Vehicle miles of travel
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/reportdetail.html?id=1790
UR  - http://www.its.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1166
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/892812
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01129971
AU  - Myers, John J
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - American Concrete Institute 2008 Fall Conference: Sponsorship and Student Training
PY  - 2009/06//Final Report
SP  - 29p
AB  - The national American Concrete Institute Fall Conference was held in St. Louis, Missouri on November 2-6, 2008. This educational and outreach activity provided sponsorship to the conference and provided an opportunity for Missouri University of Science and Technology graduate students to attend the national ACI conference. The ACI convention provided the graduate students the opportunity to learn and give input on concrete industry codes, specifications, and guides undertaken in some of the 300+ committee meetings. It provided a forum for networking, learning the latest in concrete technology and practices. Additionally, there were over 35 technical and educational sessions open for the students to attend and gain valuable technical and educational information. The past conference of this series attracted over 1200 participants. This conference was also a viable venue to continue exposing the National University Transportation Center (NUTC) at Missouri University of Science and Technology to the nation in the area of structural concrete and concrete materials.
KW  - American Concrete Institute
KW  - Concrete
KW  - Conferences
KW  - Education
KW  - Graduate students
KW  - State of the practice
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/ETT226_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/890486
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01322470
AU  - Paaswell, Robert E
AU  - Chen, Cynthia
AU  - University Transportation Research Center
AU  - New York Metropolitan Transportation Council
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Evaluation and Testing of Regional Models: Sensitivity Analyses of the Best Practice Model (BPM) in the New York Metropolitan Region (Part I)
PY  - 2009/05/20/Final Report
SP  - 199p
AB  - Activity-based microsimulation models are gaining increasing attention from MPOs around the country.  These models earn their reputation by having shown their theoretical superiority over the traditional four-step models.  The New York Best Practice Model (NYBPM) is one of a relatively few operating activity-based microsimulation models in the country and thus provide us a working platform to test their practical advantages over the traditional four-step models.  The authors accomplish this goal by examining the sensitivity of the model in response to changes in the input.  More specifically, they conduct a series of sensitivity analysis to the NYBPM by modifying the inputs relating to changes in policy, socioeconomic characteristics, and population and employment levels and comparing the results to those in the 2002 base scenario.  The results suggest that the model results are mostly consistent with the authors' expectations, except the total journey productions when they change the population and employment levels in selected locations.  While the results provide empirical support to the model and validate its wide applications in the region, they call for further investigation in the journey production aspect.
KW  - Activity based modeling
KW  - Best practices
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Microsimulation
KW  - New York Metropolitan Area
KW  - Regional transportation
KW  - Sensitivity analysis
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1082902
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01145310
AU  - Andrews, Scott
AU  - Cops, Michael
AU  - Vehicle Infrastructure Integration Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Vehicle Infrastructure Integration Proof of Concept Technical Description - Vehicle
PY  - 2009/05/19/Final Report
SP  - 106p
AB  - This report provides the technical description of the VII system developed for the Cooperative Agreement VII Program between the USDOT and the VII Consortium. The basic architectural elements are summarized and detailed descriptions of the hardware and software systems are provided along with the descriptions of the applications used to assess the system performance and operation.
KW  - Computers
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Software
KW  - System architecture
KW  - Vehicle infrastructure integration
KW  - Vehicles
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31100/31136/14458_files/14458.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/905429
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142073
AU  - Andrews, Scott
AU  - Cops, Michael
AU  - Vehicle Infrastructure Integration Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Vehicle Infrastructure Integration Proof of Concept Executive Summary - Vehicle
PY  - 2009/05/19/Final Report
SP  - 36p
AB  - This report summarizes a program of work resulting from a Cooperative Agreement between USDOT and the VII Consortium to develop and test a Proof of Concept VII system based on DSRC wireless communication between an infrastructure and mobile terminals. It supports applications for improvement in safety, mobility and enables other commercial applications. Key findings and recommendations for further work are presented.
KW  - Dedicated short range communications
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Proof of concept
KW  - System architecture
KW  - Vehicles
KW  - Wireless communication systems
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31000/31079/14443.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902414
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01325020
AU  - Shi, Xianming
AU  - Western Transportation Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Investigating Innovative Research Opportunities Related to the Application of Electrochemistry - UTC
PY  - 2009/05/14
SP  - v.p.
AB  - This publication contains 3 articles on research innovations in electrochemical applications.  They are as follows: Effect of Styrene-Butadiene Rubber Latex on the Chloride Permeability and Microstructure of Portland Cement Mortars, by Zhengxian Yang, Xianming Shi, Andrew T. Creighton, and Marijean M. Peterson; Chloride Permeability and Microstructure of Portland Cement Mortars Incorporating Nanomaterials, by Xiadong He and Xianming Shi; and Carbon and Steel Surfaces Modified by Leptothrix discophora SP-6: Characterization and Implications, by Tuan Anh Nguyen, Yuzhuo Lu, Xinghong Yang, and Xianming Shi.
KW  - Carbon
KW  - Cement mortars
KW  - Chlorides
KW  - Innovation
KW  - Latex
KW  - Permeability
KW  - Portland cement
KW  - Research
KW  - Steel
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/documents/reports/4W0850_Final_Report.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1086130
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462720
TI  - Identification and Evaluation of Freight Demand Factors
AB  - From initial planning of the Interstate Highway System in the 1930s and 1940s through the national policy studies of the 1970s, forecasts of future demand for freight transportation substantially underestimated the subsequent growth in freight volumes and average lengths of haul. Among the consequences today are highways that are overwhelmed with trucks, the lack of rail capacity because of past abandonments, and a planning dilemma for sizing and pricing transportation infrastructure. More recent national freight forecasts predict enormous increases in the demand for freight transportation over the next two decades. These substantially higher forecasts reflect recent trends, most notably the explosive growth in international trade. But, given the underestimation of freight demand by forecasters in the past, are the dire predictions of huge freight growth in the future any more likely to occur? There is a need to consider the contributions of such factors as demographics, economics, environment, technology, and public policy decisions to freight demand. A better understanding of the contributions of such factors, as well as their trends and interrelationships, will greatly improve the accuracy of future freight demand models; may provide better estimates of how likely future freight demand will deviate from the forecasts; and may help identify leading indicators that should be tracked to anticipate freight demand shifts. The objective of this research is to develop a report that describes and analyzes such factors as demographics, economics, environment, technology, and public policy that contribute importantly to the future demand for freight (as measured, for example, by tons, ton miles, vehicle miles or train miles, and value of freight). The research will: (1) identify the factors and estimate the direction and relative magnitude of the influence of each factor on freight demand; (2) identify whether the effects are international, national, regional, or local; (3) assess factor reliability at predicting demand including the likelihood that the factor and its effects will continue in the near and long term; and (4) identify factors that should be monitored to detect major changes in trends in the demand for freight transportation, including supply interactions.
KW  - Carriers
KW  - Demand
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight trains
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Highways
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - North America
KW  - Ports
KW  - Research projects
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2407
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230942
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01578138
TI  - A Life Cycle Inventory for Switchgrass Fuel Pellets
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Grasses
KW  - Life cycle analysis
KW  - Pellets
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1371712
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01577865
TI  - Developing Herbicide-Resistant Switchgrass for Improvement of Weed Control and Stand Establishment
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Grasses
KW  - Herbicides
KW  - Weed control
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1371107
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01577725
TI  - Estimating the Effects of Climate Change Legislation on Biomass Supply Using a High Resolution Integrated Socioeconomic-Biogeophysical Model
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Biophysics
KW  - Climate change
KW  - Economic models
KW  - Geophysics
KW  - Legislation
KW  - Socioeconomic factors
KW  - Supply
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370770
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01577135
TI  - Feature Extraction Models for Identifying Optimum Biorefinery Sites in the Southeastern US with Sustainability and Policy Impact Modules
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Image processing
KW  - Optimization
KW  - Plant location
KW  - Refining
KW  - Southeastern United States
KW  - Sustainable development
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370382
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575507
TI  - Plant Pathogen Enzymes for Biomass Treatment and Biofuel Production
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Plants
KW  - Production methods
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1367890
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01486831
TI  - Life Cycle Cost Analysis for Alaska Bridge Commission
AB  - enable the Alaska Department of Transportation (AKDOT) to perform bridge life-cycle cost analysis, per NCHRP Report 483, for the older steel bridges in the Alaska bridge inventory. This objective directly correlates with the draft copy of the AKDOT 2030 plan (http://dot.alaska.gov/stwdplng/areaplans/lrtpp/SWLRTPHome.shtml). However, much of the cost data should also be applicable to bridges of other types (other than 'older steel'). The intent is to study bridges with a substantial history so as to draw 'life-cycle' conclusions.
KW  - Alaska
KW  - Bridge inventory data
KW  - Highway bridges
KW  - Inventory
KW  - Life cycle analysis
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Service life
KW  - Steel bridges
UR  - http://www.alaska.edu/uaf/cem/ine/autc/projects.xml
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256617
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01486764
TI  - Attenuation of Herbicides in Sub-Arctic Enviroments: Continental Climate Study
AB  - The purpose of this project is to investigate the environmental fate and attenuation of three herbicides currently being evaluated for use along Alaska's transportation corridors. Building upon results obtained in previous studies, this work seeks to contribute to the knowledge base necessary to minimize environmental risks associated with herbicide application in Alaska's sensitive, cold region ecosystems. As transportation-related entities such as the Alaska Department of Transportation &amp; Public Facilities (ADOT&amp;PF) and the Alaska Railroad Corporation (AKRR) require strict vegetation management practices in order to safely conduct operations, these entities have an interest in evaluating herbicides as a potential management tool. As a consequence, the AKRR (current study and previous study) and the ADOT (previous studies) are collaborating with the Alaska University Transportation Research Center (AUTC) to fund research efforts pursuant to herbicide application. In a current project joint funded by the AKRR and AUTC Razor® Pro and Oust® Extra were applied on two study plots near the southern section of AKRR rail line near Seward, Alaska. Soil and groundwater samples from each of these study plots are being analyzed for each herbicide over time. In the proposed study, Razor® Pro and Oust® Extra will be applied on the northern section of AKRR rail line near Fairbanks, Alaska. As in the ongoing study, researchers from the UAF Water &amp; Environmental Research Center (WERC) will evaluate the fate of these herbicides over a two-year time period through a series of soil and groundwater samples in order to obtain site-specific attenuation data. As part of the current, lysimeters were installed at the UAF Fairbanks Experiment Farm to better quantify the attenuation of different herbicides that may possibly be used on Alaskan right-of-ways. These lysimeter studies will continue as part of this proposed project.
KW  - Alaska
KW  - Arctic Regions
KW  - Attenuation (Engineering)
KW  - Ecosystems
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Frigid regions
KW  - Herbicides
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Vegetation
UR  - http://ine.uaf.edu/autc/projects/attenuation-of-herbicides-in-subarctic-environments-phase-2/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256515
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461838
TI  - Animal Detection System Project
AB  - The objective of this project is to investigate the reliability of a microwave radio signal break-the-beam animal detection system at the TRANSCEND facility in Lewistown, Montana.
KW  - Animal detection systems
KW  - Animals
KW  - Incident detection
KW  - Microwave communication systems
KW  - Montana
KW  - Radio signals
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Research projects
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/research/4w2636.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230058
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01160575
AU  - Kenyan, Jennifer
AU  - Glitman, Karen
AU  - McRae, Glenn
AU  - University of Vermont, Burlington
AU  - Snelling Center for Government
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Future Surface Transportation Financing Options: Challenges and Opportunities for Rural States
PY  - 2009/05/01
SP  - 49p
AB  - Much of the current literature on transportation funding warns that failure to fund transportation infrastructure can lead to major consequences, as transportation plays a significant role in the national, state, and local economies for access to jobs, recreation, education, health care, and the shipment of goods. This situation is also true in Vermont where the challenges of small population, small tax base, rural setting and aging infrastructure have exacerbated the problem. A national and international review of current and proposed funding practices was conducted through literature review, web data collection, attendance at conferences and phone interviews. The results of that review are synthesized in this report.
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Financing
KW  - Ground transportation
KW  - Interviewing
KW  - Literature reviews
KW  - Rural areas
KW  - State of the practice
KW  - Transportation infrastructure
KW  - Vermont
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/~transctr/trc_reports/UVM-TRC-09-003.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55200/55279/UVM-TRC-09-003.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/921453
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01594240
AU  - Vonderohe, Alan P
AU  - Hanna, Awad
AU  - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Status and Plans for Implementing 3D for Design and Construction in the Wisconsin Department of Transportation
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 129p
AB  - Use of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to guide and control earth moving equipment such as dozers, motor graders, and excavators is quickly becoming common place in highway construction because it speeds project delivery and cuts costs. It has been estimated that productivity of this type equipment is double that of conventional equipment. A requirement for use of GPS technology in machine guidance is a 3D terrain model known as a digital terrain model (DTM). Current design practice is to design highways and other infrastructure facilities in two-dimensions using traditional computerized design programs. GPS machine guidance technology requires that these designs then be converted to three-dimensional (3D) representations before they can be used. This conversion is currently being done by the construction contractor which adds time, cost, and introduces a source of error into the system. To leverage the advantages of the technology throughout project delivery, the design phase must produce the DTM. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is in the process of implementing new 3D design software which will accomplish this task. However, there are numerous cultural, legal, and work process questions which must be answered before WisDOT begins to distribute DTMs as contractual documents, eliminates traditional cross sections, uses them as a basis for determining final quantities, and allows contractors to construct directly from them. These are not trivial issues. For example, only one State highway agency currently claims to be using agency produced DTMs for these purposes. The issues and agency/industry ramifications must be carefully identified and studied before making the policy changes needed for implementation of DTMs in this capacity.
KW  - Construction equipment
KW  - Design
KW  - Digital mapping
KW  - Digital terrain modeling
KW  - Global Positioning System
KW  - Implementation
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - Wisconsin
UR  - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/FR_CFIRE0211.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1398460
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01483679
AU  - Connelly, John P
AU  - Hoel, Lester A
AU  - University of Virginia, Charlottesville
AU  - Virginia Center for Transportation Innovation and Research
AU  - Virginia Department of Transportation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Development of Access Management Performance Measures
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 96p
AB  - n 2007, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation calling for Access Management, the  regulation of entrances and intersections along highway corridors in Virginia. Some property owners may oppose  access management. Therefore, performance measures are needed to assess whether the access management  program is achieving its intended results. An important step of developing performance measures is to reach out to  stakeholders. This can be both time consuming and expensive. This study (1) shows the effect of stakeholder  involvement on the development of performance measures, (2) evaluates the challenges associated with involving  stakeholders, and (3) makes recommendations for stakeholder involvement in the future. Two groups of stakeholders were involved: (1) the people who will be using the measures and (2) the people who will  be implementing the measures. A survey was conducted of transportation professionals in Virginia to represent  people who will be using the measures. A steering committee of Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) officials was appointed to represent people who will be implementing the measures. Involving these stakeholders affected the recommended performance measures in the following ways: (1) Measures  must be easy to apply. (2) The final forms of the measures were tailored to VDOT. (3) Multiple measures were used  rather than a single aggregate measure. (4) A target of improvement over time was set for all measures. (5) Safety  was found to be important to measure. (6) Measures should involve a tangible result. (7) The uniform application of  access management standards is important to measure. There are numerous challenges associated with involving stakeholders. If not properly handled, this task can become  very time consuming. Some challenges are: (1) Thorough work must be conducted before, during, and after  conducting a survey. (2) Selection of criteria to evaluate performance measures requires input from stakeholders. (3) Interaction with stakeholders requires preparation and follow-up. (4) When tailoring measures to a specific user,  ability to compare to national standards should be retained. The following recommendations are made: (1) When performance measures are developed, involve the people who  will be using and implementing them. (2) Adequately prepare for all interaction with stakeholders.
KW  - Access control (Transportation)
KW  - Performance measurement
KW  - Recommendations
KW  - Stakeholders
KW  - Virginia
UR  - http://www.mautc.psu.edu/docs/UVA-2007-02.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1252433
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01473634
AU  - Vonderohe, Alan P
AU  - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)
AU  - University of Wisconsin, Madison
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Training on Automated Machine Guidance
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 99p
AB  - Beginning in 2006, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) and the Construction Materials Support Center at University of Wisconsin-Madison worked together to develop the specifications and the quality assurance/quality control procedures for global positioning system (GPS) machine guidance on highway grading projects. These specifications and procedures are being finalized for inclusion in WisDOT 2009 construction projects.  With adoption of these new specifications and procedures into contracts there is a need to provide field staff with necessary knowledge and skills to administer the contracts involving GPS machine guidance.
KW  - Automation
KW  - Global Positioning System
KW  - Grading (Earthwork)
KW  - Machine guidance system
KW  - Quality assurance
KW  - Quality control
KW  - Specifications
KW  - Training programs
UR  - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/03-21_CFIRE_FR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1224933
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01328165
AU  - Sherry, Patrick
AU  - University of Denver
AU  - National Center for Intermodal Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - The Health and Safety Effects of Accidents on Intermodal Transportation Workers: A Study of Psychological Health Concerns and Depression of Operating Employees Involved in Critical Incidents
PY  - 2009/05
SP  - 42p
AB  - Surveys of 1420 intermodal transportation workers operating railroad equipment including mechanical and train yard and engine crafts from seven different locations throughout the western and eastern United States with various measures designed to assess their attitudes towards work and their general psychological mood were conducted over a three year period. An average response rate of 81.3% was obtained from the surveys. For persons who were asked if they had been involved in a “traumatic event at work” or “near miss” or if there was “another person inured as a result of a work related incident” then a significant correlation was obtained (r =. 204, p <.002, N=238), (r = .205, p < .001, N=275) and (r = .159 , p <.009, N=271) respectively. Number of fatalities, proximity of persons killed, or working as a train operator were also significant. Results indicate that railroad workers in general reported levels of depression higher than would be expected in the general population. In the present study 11.9% of respondents reported moderate or greater levels of depression as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory which is larger than the 7.06% 12-month prevalence rate reported by Compton (2006) and 6.7% rate reported for the prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) obtained by Kessler et. al. (2005) in the NCS Replication study of depression in the general population. Point prevalence, or current prevalence, has been estimated to be 5% to 9% for women and 2% to 3% for men. Using the BDI cutoff score of (18) recommended by Steer Brown, Beck and Sanderson (2001) as a conservative indicator, the present sample was found to have 16.7% of respondents meeting the criteria suggestive of major depressive episode. Thus, this rate is 2.49 times higher than what was found by Kessler in the NCS-R. A very small percentage of respondents (less than 1%) reported self-injurious thoughts. The predominantly male sample (97.3%) as a whole had an average age of 43.5 and a mode of 52. However, depression was significantly correlated with younger ages. Depression was also associated with involvement in critical incidents at work and being injured or observing others being injured at work. In addition, significant correlations between depression and decreased concentration, tiredness, sleepiness and lower perceived levels of working safely were also obtained. Limitations of the study include use of self-report measures with an occupationally functioning sample, small sample size, and lack of structured interview corroboration of presence of depressive symptomology. Implications of the results are the possibility that depression may be under diagnosed in male populations and may also have a negative impact on safety and work performance. Recommendations discussed include the need for the development of better screening procedures, increased employee and organizational awareness of signs, need for the development of training programs for supervisory personnel for the identification of signs, symptoms and risks associated with depression in the workplace.
KW  - Attention
KW  - Concentration
KW  - Critical incidents
KW  - Depression (Mental condition)
KW  - Fatigue (Physiological condition)
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Operators (Persons)
KW  - Personnel
KW  - Safety
KW  - Transportation accidents
UR  - http://ncit.msstate.edu/publications/publications_01.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1089314
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01325167
AU  - Redington, Mike
AU  - Rutyna, Eve
AU  - Grace, Nathan
AU  - Shanahan, Felicity
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Drug and Alcohol Testing Results 2007 Annual Report
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 96p
AB  - This is the 13th annual report of the results of the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Drug and Alcohol Testing Program. This report summarizes the reporting requirements for calendar year 2007, the requirements of the overall drug and alcohol testing program (49 CFR Part 40 and 49 CFR Part 655), the results from the data reported for 2007, and the random drug and alcohol violation rates (the percentage of persons selected for a random test who produced a positive specimen or refused to take the test) for calendar years 1995 through 2007. This report provides a brief overview of the drug and alcohol testing requirements for both safety-sensitive employers and employees. The official random rates for 2007 are provided, as well as the official random rate trends over the last 13 years. The results of alcohol and drug tests are provided by test type, employee category, and region. The positive testing rates for drugs and alcohol are also provided for each test type, employee category, and region.
KW  - Alcohol tests
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Drug tests
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Moving violations
KW  - Random testing
KW  - Traffic safety
KW  - Traffic violations
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35000/35040/DOT-VNTSC-FTA-09-01.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1086077
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01207452
AU  - Maher, Ali
AU  - Stein, Boris
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - Twining Laboratories
AU  - New Jersey Department of Transportation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Developing Work for NJDOT in the Area of Concrete Pavements and Transportation Structures
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 8p
AB  - The objectives of this report are: analyze scope of work currently performed by the Bureau of Materials, and understand , based on facts available, current mission of the Bureau of Materials; to understand past and current tasks performed by the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT )for the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and to establish future needs in the area of rigid pavements and structural concrete; to develop in collaboration with CAIT a vision proposal for future work with NJDOT, encompassing experience of both organizations, CAIT and Twining Laboratories, in: concrete and concrete materials testing and evaluation for quality control and quality assurance purposes, methods and equipment for non-destructive testing and monitoring pavements and structures, developing and implementing innovative concrete mixtures for building transportation infrastructure, and developing and implementing accelerated construction methods and to develop in collaboration with CAIT a work plan for integrating into various technical activities of NJDOT in the area of rigid pavements and structural concrete.
KW  - Admixtures
KW  - Concrete pavements
KW  - Materials tests
KW  - New Jersey
KW  - Nondestructive tests
KW  - Quality control
KW  - Rigid pavements
KW  - Structural concrete
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/33000/33500/33578/TWIN-RU4474_0.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/968425
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01164848
AU  - Maher, Ali
AU  - Stein, Boris
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - Twining Laboratories
AU  - New Jersey Department of Transportation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Developing Area of Concrete Pavements and Transportation Structures
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 8p
AB  - The objectives are: 1) to analyze the scope of work currently performed by the Bureau of Materials, New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT); 2) to understand, based on facts available, current mission of the Bureau of Materials; 3) to understand past and current tasks performed by the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT), Rutgers University for NJDOT and to establish future needs in the area of rigid pavements and structural concrete; 4) to develop in collaboration with CAIT a vision proposal for future work with NJDOT, encompassing experience of both organizations, CAIT and Twining Laboratories, in: concrete and concrete materials testing and evaluation for quality control and quality assurance purposes, methods and equipment for non-destructive testing and monitoring of pavements and structures, developing and implementing innovative concrete mixtures for building transportation infrastructure, and developing and implementing accelerated construction methods; and 5) to develop in collaboration with CAIT a work plan for integrating into various technical activities of NJDOT in the area of rigid pavements and structural concrete.
KW  - Accelerated construction
KW  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation, Rutgers University
KW  - Concrete
KW  - Concrete bridges
KW  - Concrete pavements
KW  - Concrete tests
KW  - Mix design
KW  - New Jersey Department of Transportation
KW  - Nondestructive tests
KW  - Quality assurance
KW  - Quality control
KW  - Rigid pavements
UR  - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/TWIN-RU4474_0.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/925807
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01164276
AU  - He, Brian
AU  - National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Thermal Processing of Low-Grade Glycerol to Alcohols for Biodiesel Production
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 20p
AB  - Crude glycerol is proposed to be converted thermochemically to methanol, ethanol and/or propanols. Such alcohols, or mix of these alcohols, can be re-used in the production of biodiesel to enhance its value. Among the thermochemical conversion processes, liquefaction is preferred since it favors converting organic compounds to liquid products, thus employed in this project. The activities planned for Year 1 were successfully conducted as scheduled, and the initial findings showed promising results. A high temperature, high pressure reactor system (consisting of a 300-mL bench-top reactor) was designed and developed. An enclosed chamber with ventilation and CO alarms was constructed to host the reactor system. Preliminary testing was conducted that helped refine the procedures and control mechanism. Analytical methods for measuring the feedstock and product mixtures were established using GC and HPLC. Based on literature research and analysis to the system, the major process parameters, (i.e. reaction temperature, type and initial pressure of the reducing agents, and time of reaction) were identified and evaluated preliminarily through experiments of batch and fed-batch. Preliminary results showed that temperature and time of reaction significantly affect the conversion of glycerol. The results provided insights on how to continue in Year 2. Further studies will focus on collecting data and evaluating the effects of all process parameters thoroughly. Analytically, further research is still needed to find an alternative solvent for effectively measuring mixtures of methanol, ethanol, propanol and glycerol.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biodiesel fuels
KW  - Fuel processing
KW  - Production methods
KW  - Thermochemistry
UR  - http://www.webs1.uidaho.edu/niatt/research/Final_Reports/KLK750_N09-06.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/921436
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01162603
AU  - Andrews, S
AU  - Cops, M
AU  - VII Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Vehicle Infrastructure Integration Proof of Concept Results and Findings Summary - Vehicle
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 91p
AB  - This document describes the objectives and the approach to the testing of the vehicle infrastructure integration (VII) Proof of Concept system. A summary of the test results and findings for both the major system functions and the applications designed for the system, are presented along with recommendations for system improvements.
KW  - Dedicated short range communications
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - IntelliDrive (Program)
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Transportation systems
KW  - Vehicle infrastructure integration
KW  - Wireless communication systems
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31100/31135/14477.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31100/31135/14477_files/14477.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/920657
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01160577
AU  - Glitman, Karen
AU  - Aultman-Hall, Lisa
AU  - University of Vermont, Burlington
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Results of the Vermont Rural Transportation Funding Summit
PY  - 2009/05
SP  - 30p
AB  - On December 8, 2008, the University of Vermont Transportation Research Center (UVM TRC) convened an invitation-only Transportation Reauthorization Summit at the Davis Center in Burlington, Vermont. State public agency leaders and elected officials involved in managing transportation systems in rural states were invited to engage in this Summit. Attendees were presented with panel discussions, presentations, and interactive electronic polling throughout the day. This report contains a summary of the salient points made during the day and the outline of an Action Plan for Vermont and rural states as they research and design the future transportation system.
KW  - Action plans
KW  - Conferences
KW  - Rural areas
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Transportation reauthorization legislation
KW  - Vermont
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/~transctr/trc_reports/UVM-TRC-09-002.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/921445
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01148567
AU  - Kandarpa, Ram
AU  - Chenzaie, Mujib
AU  - Anderson, Justin
AU  - Marousek, Jim
AU  - Weil, Tim
AU  - Perry, Frank
AU  - Schworer, Ian
AU  - Beal, Joe
AU  - Anderson, Chris
AU  - Booz Allen Hamilton
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Vehicle Infrastructure Integration Proof‐of‐Concept Results and Findings – Infrastructure
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 207p
AB  - In 2005, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) initiated a program to develop and test a 5.9GHz‐based Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) proof of concept (POC). The POC was implemented in the northwest suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. This report outlines the purpose and procedures for various tests, identifies the test articles, and documents the results of that testing. It also discusses the implications of those test results relative to the overall viability of the VII concept and identifies recommendations for future work, including whether and how designs and standards need modification. This volume is intended for engineering managers and practicing engineers interested in the design and development of VII systems and applications
KW  - Dedicated short range communications
KW  - Detroit (Michigan)
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Proof of concept
KW  - Test procedures
KW  - Testing
KW  - Vehicle infrastructure integration
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31300/31334/14488.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31300/31334/14488.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/908233
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01146763
AU  - Adams, Teresa
AU  - Bittner, Jason
AU  - Cook, Stacy M
AU  - Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Develop an Asset Management Tool for Collecting and Tracking Commitments on Selected Environmental Mitigation Features
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 107p
AB  - Wisconsin has constructed many environmental mitigation projects in conjunction with transportation projects that have been implemented according to the National Environmental Policy Act. Other mitigation projects have been constructed pursuant to discussions and negotiations with Wisconsin DNR. These projects offset or replace a certain environmental function(s) lost as a result of construction of the transportation project. Examples include storm water management facilities, wetland replacement projects, stream restoration projects, reforestation projects, construction of sound walls, replacement of parklands and wildlife crossing structures. In order for the environmental mitigation projects to continue to provide long term functionality intended when they were first constructed, they must be properly maintained, and when necessary, rehabilitated or reconstructed. These environmental mitigation projects may be considered as assets similar to other transportation features. Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) has identified the need for better understanding the costs of selected features in the overall scheme of project development and ongoing maintenance.
KW  - Asset management
KW  - Compensatory wetland mitigation
KW  - Environmental mitigation
KW  - Environmental protection
KW  - Inventory control
KW  - Mitigation (Storm water)
KW  - Mitigation measures (Ecology)
UR  - http://minds.wisconsin.edu/bitstream/handle/1793/55632/01-07_FR.pdf
UR  - http://wisdotresearch.wi.gov/wp-content/uploads/08-25assetmgmtenvmitigation-f.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/906615
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01143765
AU  - Adams, Teresa M
AU  - Srivastava, Praveen
AU  - Wang, Bruce (Xiubin)
AU  - Ogard, Libby
AU  - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Low Cost Strategies to Increase Truck Parking in Wisconsin
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 65p
AB  - This report documents a study of truck parking issues along the major state highways in Wisconsin.  The effort builds upon another project at the National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) funded by the Mississippi Valley Freight Coalition to study the truck parking issues on Interstate highways in the ten-state AASHTO Mississippi Valley Region.  This study also inventories both public and private parking facilities along a select number of state highways.  A web geographic information system (GIS) tool was developed for continuous survey and public participation.  The study surveyed highway patrol officers, public freight planners, and truckers to identify parking facilities incommensurate with truck parking needs.  It proposes a method for ranking parking facilities identified as having the most need of additional truck parking capacity.  Building on a review of previous studies and face-to-face interviews with carriers, the report contains a discussion of why existing parking facilities do not meet needs and describes a set of low cost strategies for addressing truckers' parking needs.
KW  - Commercial truck parking
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Motor carriers
KW  - Needs assessment
KW  - Parking
KW  - Parking demand
KW  - Parking facilities
KW  - State highways
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Surveys
KW  - Wisconsin
UR  - http://minds.wisconsin.edu/bitstream/handle/1793/55591/01-04_CFIRE_Final.pdf
UR  - http://wisdotresearch.wi.gov/wp-content/uploads/08-28increasetruckparking-f.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/904197
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01138549
AU  - Adams, Teresa M
AU  - Wang, Bruce (Xiubin)
AU  - Srivastava, Praveen
AU  - Ogard, Libby
AU  - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Low-Cost Strategies for Short Term Parking on Interstate Highways of the MVFC
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 87p
AB  - This report documents a study of truck parking issues along the major freight corridors in the 10-state Mississippi Valley Freight Coalition (MVFC) region. An online geographic information system (GIS) instrument was developed to administer surveys and allow for continuous public participation. The study surveyed highway patrol officers, public freight planners and truckers to identify parking facilities incommensurate with truck parking needs. It proposes a method to cluster marked spots for identifying areas with the most need for additional truck parking capacity. In-person carrier interviews were also conducted to further clarify truck parking problem causes and solutions. A set of low cost strategies are finally proposed to policy makers. This study also inventories both public and private parking facilities along the region’s freight corridors and provides a review of previous studies.
KW  - Interstate highways
KW  - Mississippi Valley Freight Coalition
KW  - Motor carriers
KW  - Parking
KW  - Parking facilities
KW  - Short term parking
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Surveys
KW  - Trucking
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31100/31163/FR_MVFC04.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/898953
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01138545
AU  - Bosscher, Peter J
AU  - Edil, Tuncer B
AU  - University of Wisconsin, Madison
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
TI  - Frozen Road Operation Improvements
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 115p
AB  - A research study in 1996-1997, sponsored by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), was undertaken to develop a computer model to correlate climate and pavement data for the year in progress in order to project when to impose and lift weight restrictions. The research team collected field data relating to weather and road stiffness over two winter-spring periods, which enabled the development of a six-phase computer model integrating weather conditions, heat transfer, roadway stiffness, stress-strain effects, and estimates of pavement damage load (EDL) for a given road 30, 60, 90, or 120 days into the future based on user-supplied average daily temperatures experienced in the year to date. WisDOT’s Bureau of Highway Operations (BOH) used this software, known as UWFROST, during the 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 winter seasons and found the software’s fall freezing and spring thawing projections to be quite accurate for normal winters. Since this study was conducted, additional data have been collected using frost tubes to declare the roads frozen and then unfrozen. Changes in Wisconsin climate have also been noted which will affect the model. More data have been collected at the national level, which relates pavement material moduli to temperature. All of the data needs to be integrated into an updated version of the model. However, the project investigator, Peter J. Bosscher, passed away unexpectedly and a search through his records indicated that he was the only one who could make changes to UWFROST since he created it alone.  Certain materials related to the project have been extracted from his files and are presented in this report as Appendix A - frozen road declaration history and Appendix B - ground truth information (frost tube data).
KW  - Computer models
KW  - Field data
KW  - Load limits
KW  - Pavements
KW  - Seasonally frozen ground
KW  - Stiffness
KW  - Thaw
KW  - Weather conditions
KW  - Wisconsin
UR  - http://minds.wisconsin.edu/bitstream/handle/1793/54007/07-04_FR.pdf
UR  - http://wisdotresearch.wi.gov/wp-content/uploads/06-11frozenroadops-f.pdf
UR  - http://www.mrutc.org/research/0704/07-04_MRUTC_FR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/898959
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01138397
AU  - Morris, C Craig
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Motorcycle Trends in the United States
PY  - 2009/05//Special Report
SP  - 6p
AB  - During the last decade there has been a significant increase in the number of motorcycle sales and registrations in the United States. At the same time there has been a shift in the demographics of motorcycle users and increased focus on motorcycle safety issues. This report focuses on the current and emerging trends involving street-legal (on-road and dual-purpose) motorcycles
KW  - Demographics
KW  - Motorcycle safety
KW  - Motorcycles
KW  - Motorcyclists
KW  - Registrations
KW  - Sales
KW  - Trend (Statistics)
KW  - United States
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2009_05_14/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35300/35393/Motorcycle.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894607
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01137607
AU  - Sapper, Deborah
AU  - Goodwill, Jay A
AU  - Carapella, Holly
AU  - National Center for Transit Research
AU  - Florida Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Impacts of More Rigorous ADA Paratransit Eligibility Assessments on Riders with Disabilities
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 91p
AB  - Due to the ever-increasing demand for complementary Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) paratransit trips, transit agencies have instituted a number of actions related to reducing the costs of this type of service, including steps to limit the demand through stricter and more complex ADA paratransit eligibility processes. The objective of this research was to document the changes the transit systems made to their ADA paratransit eligibility procedures and to determine the impacts these changes have had on riders with disabilities. The research report provides a brief history and overview of the ADA complementary paratransit regulations and services; summarizes increased demand and related agency ADA paratransit expenditures; documents recent trends and changes in the ADA complementary paratransit eligibility processes; and provides a summary of the best practices related to ADA paratransit eligibility procedures.
KW  - Americans with Disabilities Act
KW  - Best practices
KW  - Demand
KW  - Eligibility determination
KW  - Expenditures
KW  - Impact studies
KW  - Paratransit services
KW  - Persons with disabilities
KW  - Transit operating agencies
UR  - http://www.nctr.usf.edu/pdf/77721.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/897728
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01132429
AU  - Betak, John F
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Short Line Rail: Its Role in Intermodalism and Distribution
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 194p
AB  - The purpose of this project is to investigate the potential role of short line railroads in the U.S. to perform intermodal terminal operations and distribute/pick-up containers/trailers in metropolitan areas.  Included in this project is an investigation of the potential for short line railroads to serve industrial parks and/or freight villages.  This research report reviews the literature on short line operations in the U.S., their current role in originating and distributing rail freight traffic and their capacity to take on intermodal terminal operations and functions.  Further, it examines transload/transflow operations vis-a-vis short line railroads, as well as the viability of industrial park/freight villages as short line served entities.  The research included discussions with knowledgeable officials at the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, the Federal Highway Administration and existing short line operators regarding their current situation, plans and constraints.  In addition, discussions were held with senior officials in Class I railroads, senior members of industrial real estate organizations, academics and senior consultants in the transportation industry.  These comments, suggestions and recommendations have been incorporated in this report, as noted in the body of the report and citations.  In addition, the report frames some options available to enhance these types of operations on short line railroads.  It identifies potential candidate short line railroads for pilot projects to test these options.  Finally, beyond this report, the research culminates in proposals for funding the pilot projects by external agencies.
KW  - Freight service
KW  - Freight villages
KW  - Industrial parks
KW  - Intermodal services
KW  - Literature reviews
KW  - Metropolitan areas
KW  - Short line railroads
KW  - United States
UR  - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/RAIL-RU4474-V2Combo_120409.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/892770
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01129957
AU  - Higgins, Christopher
AU  - Dawson, Matthew R
AU  - Mitchell, Mikal M
AU  - Sopal, Gautam
AU  - Senturk, Ahmet Ekin
AU  - Oregon State University, Corvallis
AU  - Oregon Department of Transportation
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Environmental Durability of Reinforced Concrete Deck Girders Strengthened for Shear with Surface Bonded Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 208p
AB  - This research investigated the durability of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites (CFRP) used for shear strengthening reinforced concrete deck girders. Large beams were used to avoid accounting for size effects in the data analysis. The effort included determining the role of freeze-thaw, moisture, and fatigue on structural performance and developing analytical design procedures that account for durability. The results showed that moisture infiltration behind the CFRP, combined with freeze-thaw, was critical in reducing shear panel stiffness and shear capacity. Long-term moisture exposure alone produced only a minor decrease in shear capacity. Freeze-thaw, combined with fatigue, had little effect on shear capacity if water infiltration was minimized. Fatigue caused some debonding, but the debonding was not significant enough to affect capacity. Use of ACI-318 with ACI-440 provided conservative predicted shear strengths after environmental exposure. However, the ACI approach did not provide uniform levels of safety because the observed conservatism was built into the prediction for the unstrengthened base specimens but not for the CFRP contribution. Consequently, a recommendation of the research is to apply the environmental exposure factor at the final design step to limit the effective CFRP stress/strain. For locations with very large numbers of wet freeze-thaw cycles and extended exposure to continuous moisture, the environmental reduction factors should be reduced even further. To better predict the CFRP bond strength demands that can occur due to shear-moment interaction, a further check of the design should be made beyond those required by ACI-440.
KW  - Bond strength (Materials)
KW  - Carbon fibers
KW  - Debonding
KW  - Durability
KW  - Fatigue (Mechanics)
KW  - Fiber reinforced plastics
KW  - Freeze thaw durability
KW  - Girders
KW  - Reinforced concrete
KW  - Shear capacity
KW  - Shear strength
KW  - Strengthening (Maintenance)
UR  - http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TP_RES/ResearchReports/FRP_Durability.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/890439
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01129891
AU  - Elmore, Cecilia
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Women in Science & Engineering and Minority Engineering Scholarships: Year 3: Report for 2008-2009 Activities
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 5p
AB  - Support made scholarships available to minority and women students interested in engineering and science and significantly increased the number of minority and female students that the Missouri University of Science and Technology can recruit to its science and engineering programs.  Recipients of scholarships were also to be exposed to career opportunities in transportation.
KW  - Engineering
KW  - Females
KW  - Minorities
KW  - Missouri University of Science and Technology
KW  - Scholarships
KW  - Science
KW  - Transportation careers
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/ETT216_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/890109
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01129876
AU  - Feyen, Robert G
AU  - Eseonu, Chinweike I
AU  - University of Minnesota, Duluth
AU  - University of Minnesota, Duluth
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Identifying Methods and Metrics for Evaluating Interagency Coordination in Traffic Incident Management
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 96
AB  - One role of state-level Departments of Transportation (DOT) is traffic incident management (TIM): managing incidents that impact traffic flow on interstate highways and involving multiple agencies (e.g., police, fire). This study found DOTs collect basic TIM performance measures (e.g., lane clearance times), but many do not record additional measures, consistently review the collected data or analyze it unless needed to answer specific questions. Since performance evaluation of interagency coordination is one area of TIM in which little success has been attained (FHWA, 2003), process improvement methods from operations management may prove useful. To illustrate, interagency incident response for a disabled vehicle (no injuries or property damage) is modeled as a process in which appropriate resources (e.g., state police, tow) must coordinate to safely remove the vehicle and restore normal traffic flow. Completing these events requires the resources to perform specific functions, each taking more or less time depending on various factors (e.g., weather, time of day). Response time data can highlight geographic areas or process segments with highly variable event times, leading to investigation and recommendations to reduce variability and, ultimately, traffic delays. Based on this approach, recommendations are made for data collection and analysis of appropriate TIM performance measures.
KW  - Coordination
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Incident management
KW  - Interagency relations
KW  - Interstate highways
KW  - Metrics (Quantitative assessment)
KW  - Performance measurement
KW  - Recommendations
KW  - State departments of transportation
KW  - Traffic incidents
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1118
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/889976
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01129530
AU  - Yu, Xun
AU  - University of Minnesota, Duluth
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Real-time Nonintrusive Detection of Driver Drowsiness
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 27p
AB  - Driver drowsiness is one of the major causes of serious traffic accidents, which makes this an area of great socioeconomic concern. Continuous monitoring of driver drowsiness thus is of great importance to reduce drowsiness-caused accidents. This proposed research developed a real-time, nonintrusive driver drowsiness detection system by building biosensors on the automobile steering wheel and driver’s seat to measure driver’s heart beat signals. Heart rate variability (HRV), a physiological signal that has established links to waking/sleepiness stages, is analyzed from the heart beat pulse signals for the detection of driver drowsiness. The novel design of measuring heart beat signal from biosensors on the steering wheel means this drowsiness detection system has almost no annoyance to the drivers, and the use of a physiological signal can ensure the drowsiness detection accuracy.
KW  - Biosensors
KW  - Drowsiness
KW  - Fatigue (Physiological condition)
KW  - Heart rate
KW  - Monitoring
KW  - Sensors
KW  - Traffic crashes
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1126
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/889927
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01129047
AU  - Karim, Kazi Rezaul
AU  - Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - An Integrated Damping and Strengthening Strategy for Performance-Based Seismic Design and Retrofit for Highway Bridges
PY  - 2009/05//Final Report
SP  - 187p
AB  - In this study, a damping-enhanced strengthening (DES) strategy was introduced to retrofit bridge structures for multiple performance objectives. The main objectives of this study are (1) to numerically demonstrate the effectiveness of the anchoring mechanism of a constrained damping layer in the proposed DES system, and (2) to evaluate the performances of a highway bridge retrofitted with a DES retrofit technique of viscoelastic (VE) damping and carbon-fiber-reinforced-polymer (CFRP) strengthening components that are nearly independent under weak earthquakes but strongly coupled under strong earthquakes. The effects of various constrained surface damping layers on the responses of simply-supported beams and cantilevered columns were first investigated analytically. An emphasis was then placed on the development of a finite element modeling technique to simulate the effect of a distributed VE damping layer on the responses of columns. Finally, the DES strategy was applied to retrofit the Old St. Francis River Bridge columns. Both operational and safety performance objectives of the bridge were evaluated with pushover analyses under earthquakes of various magnitudes. An anchored constrained damping layer was found several times more effective than a conventional constrained layer, particularly when covering 20-80% of the column height. To meet the two performance objectives, the Old St. Francis River Bridge columns must be wrapped with three plies of CFRP sheets and one VE layer. The new retrofit strategy is well suited in the context of next-generation performance-based seismic design and retrofit of highway bridges and other structures.
KW  - Carbon fibers
KW  - Damping (Physics)
KW  - Earthquake resistant design
KW  - Fiber reinforced plastics
KW  - Finite element method
KW  - Highway bridges
KW  - Jacketing (Strengthening)
KW  - Pushover analysis
KW  - Retrofitting
KW  - Simulation
KW  - Viscoelastic materials
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/R165_Karim_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/889360
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01467990
TI  - Drag Reduction Proof of Principal Research
AB  - The dust suppression project that was funded last year through the University Transportation Centers (UTC) discovered that the feasibility of drag reduction for large vehicles is feasible through extensive wind tunnel testing. Although the project was not able to test the full scale version on a trailer due to time and financial restraints, valuable data and insight was gained for future large scale testing. This project will utilize the knowledge gained from the dust suppression research and try to validate their findings on a full scale trailer. If time and money permits, flaps will be attached to the trailer to try to quantify the amount of fuel savings on a vehicle of that size.
KW  - Drag
KW  - Drag forces
KW  - Dust control
KW  - Fuel conservation
KW  - Fuel savings
KW  - Testing
KW  - Tractor trailer combinations
KW  - Trucks
KW  - Wind tunnels
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1236226
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575659
TI  - A Forest Residue-Based Pyrolysis Biorefinery
AB  - Within the scope of the proposed project the deliverable results will include a feasibility analysis of a model pyrolysis biorefinery that incorporates woody biomass as a feedstock and provides both a transportation bio-fuel along with a unique polymer system.  The results will help fill some of the current energy needs and provide a resin with multiple processing attributes.  The novel resin can potential replace many of the formaldehyde-based thermoset resins in the wood composite industry and also create a bio-based polymer system which imparts thermoplastic properties.  By using the woody biomass residuals from logging operations as the biorefinery feedstock, value can be added to the biomass and potentially offset the costs of removal required for forest fire prevention.  Not only will jobs be created for the biorefinery, more rural-based jobs will be saved or increased to remove the logging residues.
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Feasibility analysis
KW  - Logging
KW  - Polymers
KW  - Pyrolysis
KW  - Refining
KW  - Resins
KW  - Rural areas
KW  - Thermoplastic materials
KW  - Wood
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1368342
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575658
TI  - Arid Land Development of Sweet Sorghum as a Renewable Feedstock
AB  - The desired short term benchmarks/outcomes of this project are to: (1) Demonstrate the feasibility of using tertiary-treated sewage effluent for irrigation; (2) Determine which sorghum line should be utilized in arid Southwest; (3) Improve stabilization of sweet sorghum juice as a feedstock for ethanol production;  (4) Complete mass (water and nutrients), and energy balances for growth and production of sweet sorghum in arid climates; (5) Derive preliminary estimates of costs and returns of using sweet sorghum to produce ethanol; (6) Improve the efficiency of juice fermentation; and (7) Transfer technology to Pinal Energy 
The long term outcomes are to: (1) Work with advisory board to prioritize feedstocks for arid Southwestern US; (2) Evaluate scale up to full production size at a commercial ethanol plant;  (3) Identify which phases of the production process have the greatest scope for cost reductions; and (4) Determine economic feasibility of additional production facilities in the Southwestern United States (SW). 
KW  - Arid land
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Costs
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Feasibility analysis
KW  - Fermentation
KW  - Grasses
KW  - Irrigation
KW  - Production
KW  - Southwestern States
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1368341
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575590
TI  - Camelina Improvement for Insensitivity to Residual Herbicide Activity
AB  - The project team expects to release a bulk population of Camelina that is resistant to three commonly used Group 2 herbicides.  This population will be used by breeders and seed distributors to provide growers with seed for Camelina production with much less risk of herbicide injury.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Herbicides
KW  - Plants
KW  - Production
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1368244
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575552
TI  - Exploring Field Crop Biomass Sources for Use in Pacific Ethanol's Boardman Oregon Cellulosic Ethanol Plant
AB  - Short term outcomes will include the following: (1) assessment of the economic viability of delivering existing feed stocks from irrigated acreages to the facility in Boardman; (2) an assessment of the possibility for relay crop production to provide additional biomass from existing irrigated acreage; (3) an assessment of production efficiencies in relation to water and fertilizer use; and (4) an assessment of the potential for dryland acreage and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage to be a biomass source.
If successful, the project will result in these longer-term outcomes: (1) identification of best choices for biomass crops in irrigated regions across the west that have environmental conditions similar to those in the mid-Columbia; (2) identification of general geographic information system (GIS) procedures that can be used to assess the economic viability of moving biomass material to a specific location given existing roads, fuel costs to gather and move materials, and stated feedstock values; and (3) increased acreages of feedstocks.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Costs
KW  - Crops
KW  - Economic factors
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Oregon
KW  - Plants
KW  - Production
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1368105
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575550
TI  - Feasibility of Biopolymer Production in Poplar
AB  - The two major outcomes of this project will be two-fold: First, the research team expects to provide detailed assessment of the biological feasibility of producing Poly-ß-Hydroxybutyrate (PHB) in poplar, after assessment of three distinct genetic alternatives and several extraction procedures. Second, the team expects to provide a detailed assessment of system feasibility, including economics, environmental indicators such as net greenhouse gas impacts, and regulatory pathways. The biological studies will help to calibrate the system assessments with realistic estimates of biological production and extraction costs. Depending on the outcome of this work, industries will be in a position to evaluate whether continued development in this area, such as through field trials of production levels, is worthwhile. The research team will work closely with GreenWood Resources, the major poplar grower in Oregon and the pacific northwest, to try and make their economic assessments directly relevant to their company interests (letter of collaboration attached).
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Feasibility analysis
KW  - Greenhouse gases
KW  - Oregon
KW  - Pacific Northwest
KW  - Polymers
KW  - Production
KW  - Trees
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1368089
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575542
TI  - Life Cycle, Sustainability, and Economic Analysis of Cellulosic Ethanol from Grass Straw in Pacific Northwest US
AB  - The deliverables from the project will be: (1) An engineering process and economic model for ethanol from grass straw that includes the effect of process scale up on natural resource consumption. (2) Life cycle assessment (LCA) and exergy analysis for the grass straw production in Pacific Northwest, specifically Willamette Valley. (3) Effect of endophytes in grass straw on ethanol yields from (4) Four peer reviewed publications (Process modeling, LCA, Exergy analysis and effect of endophyte on ethanol yields) are expected from this research. 
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Economic analysis
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Grasses
KW  - Life cycle analysis
KW  - Pacific Northwest
KW  - Straw
KW  - Sustainable development
KW  - Willamette Valley (Oregon)
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1368005
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575536
TI  - New Concept to Obtain Higher Yields of Pyrolytic Sugars for Ethanol Production
AB  - The objectives of this research project are as follows: (1) Identification of the best pretreatment and pyrolysis conditions to maximize the yield of anhydro-sugars; (2) A mathematical model that will be helpful in the design and scale up of more selective mobile pyrolysis units to produce bio-oils enriched in anhydro-sugars; (3) Identification of the best conditions to separate, hydrolyze, detoxify and ferment the pyrolytic sugars to produce ethanol; and (4) Economic analysis of the proposed concept.
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Economic analysis
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Fermentation
KW  - Hydrolysis
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - Production methods
KW  - Pyrolysis
KW  - Sugar
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1367953
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575503
TI  - Sustainable Technology Laboratory
AB  - Sustainable Technologies Laboratory in BEE Department was started by the research team leader with a vision to develop environmentally benign and sustainable bioprocess technologies for processing renewable bioresources.  Utilizing a combination of startup funds and grants, the laboratory was equipped with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen (CHN) Elemental analyzer, water baths, fermenters, photobioreactors, 1200 L algae pond and other miscellaneous equipment.
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Laboratories
KW  - Renewable energy sources
KW  - Sustainable development
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1367875
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480776
TI  - Teaching Case Studies on Earthquake Preparedness Efforts in the Transportation Sector, Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
AB  - This project will develop a case study series to focus students at the graduate level and in-service professionals on issues of emergency planning for earthquakes affecting the transportation sector. Empirically, the series will focus on California, which has organized a year-long awareness campaign built around the "ShakeOut" scenario -in which a catastrophic earthquake emanating from the southern San Andreas Fault affects the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The cases will examine related planning efforts, with attention to three key elements of emergency preparedness: (1) Mitigation (i.e., what is being done in advance to secure transportation structures); (2) Response (i.e., how transportation and emergency management agencies are planning to respond to the consequences of a major earthquake and how different modes of transportation will be utilized in response efforts); and (3) Recovery (i.e., what plans are in place for rebuilding the transportation infrastructure post-event).
KW  - Awareness
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Earthquake resistant design
KW  - Emergency management
KW  - Los Angeles (California)
KW  - Research projects
KW  - San Andreas Fault
KW  - Transportation infrastructure
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249849
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480775
TI  - Measuring and Modeling Travel Well-Being in a Dynamic Context
AB  - Understanding travel well-being is important both for a better representation of travel behavior models and for the design and evaluation of policies. The project conducted a cross-sectional travel and activity well-being survey and found evidence for relationships among travel well-being and behavior, travel attributes, and individual characteristics. Despite the insights gained from the cross-sectional survey, travel behavior is mostly habitual. Once a choice has been determined, people tend to repeat their choice and do not fully consider their well-being unless they need to update their travel decision. We propose to develop and test a new method to measure travel well-being at the moment when people are forced to re-evaluate their travel situations. The idea consists of conducting a behavioral modification experiment requiring commuters with strong car habits to temporarily switch to public transportation and measuring their choices, well-being, attitudes and perceptions before and after the intervention. We are currently testing this idea on a small scale, and we propose to conduct a large scale implementation after we analyze the data. This research contributes both methodologically to the measurement of travel well-being, and practically to test new ways of congestion management through behavioral modification. As such, it contributes to the UTC theme: the strategic management of disruptive change in transportation systems, particularly in the area of disruptive environments.
KW  - Cross sectional studies
KW  - Mode choice
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic models
KW  - Transit operating agencies
KW  - Travel behavior
KW  - Travel surveys
KW  - Well-being
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249848
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480774
TI  - The Role of Driver Rehabilitation in Extending the Driving Lifetimes and Enhancing the Mobility of Older Adults
AB  - This study explores the role and impact of driver rehabilitation for older adults on extending driving lifetimes and enhancing mobility.  Specifically, the focus is on the effects of successful driver rehabilitation on older adults' abilities to continue driving safely, their attitudes toward driving, and their overall satisfaction with their mobility.  Thanks to improvements in public health, medicine, education and technology, people are living, and driving, longer than ever before.  Not only are the projected numbers of older drivers on the rise, so too are the numbers of miles driven by older drivers in an average year (Foley et al. 2002; Yang and Jargowsky 2006).  While education efforts promote efforts to keep older adults driving safely, they do not provide remedy for individual physical or medical issues that may present challenges for safe continued driving.  Yet some of these same conditions with rehabilitation therapies or adaptive equipment may enable older adults to continue to drive longer, extending their driving lifetimes and enhancing their overall mobility.  This project will focus on older drivers' experiences with driving rehabilitation - what they thought it would be, what it was, how it affected their driving skills and habits, and whether they feel it enhanced their mobility.  Answering these questions will provide greater insight into the potential value of driver rehabilitation.  By focusing as well on occupational therapists who provide driver rehabilitation services, the study will lay the groundwork for identifying some of the factors that underlie successful older driver rehabilitation.  These results will serve both as an entry into the topic of driver rehabilitation and as a qualitative foundation for future empirical research on the effects of driver rehabilitation on the attitudes and driving behaviors of older adults.  The results of this research will provide an empirical if not representative picture of the effects of the intervention of driver rehabilitation on extending and enhancing older adults' driving time and mobility.
KW  - Aged
KW  - Driver rehabilitation
KW  - Driving cessation
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Motor skills
KW  - Rehabilitation (Human beings)
KW  - Research projects
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249847
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480772
TI  - Assessing the Impact of Age on Cognitively Induced Visual Tunneling
AB  - Driver distraction has long been considered an area of great concern. The introduction of radio to vehicles in the 1920's resulted in large public debate that included claims that it would increase fatigue. Interestingly, since that time the radio itself is sometimes adopted as a form of fatigue management. In modern times accidents due to devices such as navigation systems and cellular telephones are more likely to make headlines. For the purpose of our research two broad classifications of distractions can be considered. Those that result in some eye movement away from the roadway and those that do not. Some distracting activities result in combinations of both. A driver is far more aware of distractions that involve gaze being directed away from the roadway. Research has show that drivers rarely move their eyes off the roadway for more than 1.6 seconds. This natural safely system results in "data chunking". This behavior limits the complexity of tasks that can be completed while underway. Far less is understood about distractions that do not result in eye glances away from the road. These distractions are most often observed during cellular phone conversations, deep thought and other similar cognitive distractions. Given that visual attention remains fixed on the road, drivers feel as though they are less impacted by cognitive distractions and may be more likely to engage in these behaviors while underway. However, data suggests that cognitive distractions maybe far more likely to result in accidents and near crashes. This may have some relationship to the fact that cognitive thought results in visual tunneling. Little is known however, the extent to which age, experience, task difficulty, etc. impact the phenomena. As the use of cellular phones and other disruptive technologies among older adults continues to increase the degree to which older operators with reduced cognitive capacity may be inclined to engage in cognitive distraction will increase. This research aims to develop a further understanding of how visual tunneling is impacted by cognitive distractions across the lifespan.
KW  - Accident prone drivers
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Cellular telephones
KW  - Cognition
KW  - Distraction
KW  - Fatigue (Physiological condition)
KW  - Human factors in crashes
KW  - Research projects
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249845
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480771
TI  - Data Use and Organizational Innovations in Transportation Planning
AB  - This project will bridge gaps between existing and future transportation planning processes by considering new and emerging sources and uses of data made available through advanced technologies. Although there have been many efforts to develop real-time, operational applications for data generated by new technologies (e.g., dynamic route guidance), relatively few have studied the implications of new data for strategic planning applications. We propose to examine existing methods of capturing and using data generated by advanced technologies among transportation agencies. Moreover, we will construct and evaluate innovative mechanisms for integrating potential new sources of data with the transportation planning process. Finally, we will identify organizational and process design features that limit the integration of data with planning processes. These limits on data usage will suggest areas for improving organizational and process designs, for the ultimate benefit of surface transportation system performance.
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Management and organization
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Route guidance
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Transportation departments
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249844
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480770
TI  - Travel Behavior of the Aging Boomers: Evidence from Age-Restricted Communities (Phase III)
AB  - The first phase of this project established the foundation for better understanding older adults' locational characteristics in the Boston Metro Area and allowed us to gain preliminary insights into the relationship between the built environment and the travel behavior of older adults through the use of focus groups in four different urban edge communities. The second phase of this project built from the first, via the development and implementation - in Spring 2008 - of a mail-back residential preferences survey, an attitudinal travel survey, and a one-day travel diary disseminated to 7,000 "leading edge" boomers' households in suburban Boston, aiming to match residents from age-restricted, active adult communities (ARAAC) with those in "traditional" suburban counterpart communities. This proposed third phase of the research builds logically from the second, with two main objectives. First, we will continue analysis of the survey results, with a particular focus on the implications for policy, urban design and transportation systems. Second, we will begin to compare data previously obtained on leading edge baby boomers (55-65 year olds) from suburban age-restricted communities to their counterparts in denser urban areas, particularly naturally occurring retirement communities (NORCs).
KW  - Aged
KW  - Baby boomer generation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Residential location
KW  - Travel behavior
KW  - Travel patterns
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249843
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480769
TI  - Case Study of the Access and Mobility Impact of Freeway Removal
AB  - In cities across the United States and abroad there is a growing movement to remove selected sections of freeways. Freeway removal is seen largely as a strategy to restore vitality to central cities. Advocates argue that freeway removal brings numerous benefits including i) removing a physical and psychological barrier that separates urban neighborhoods, ii) opening up land for reclamation, iii) removing a source of blight, iv) improving circulation patterns for travel by restoring street networks and providing direct access to surrounding businesses. Although such changes are compelling in and of themselves, freeway removal has lately taken on even greater significance as issues surrounding energy security and global warming rise to the forefront of public discourse. Largely for the reasons listed in the last paragraph, freeway removal is also seen as a way to reduce vehicle miles traveled, by facilitating walking, biking and transit use. Therefore, there is good reason to view freeway removal as one more tool for combating energy dependence and reducing carbon emissions. We feel that the handful of freeway teardown projects that have been completed in the United States and abroad represents a unique opportunity to study how such a major intervention affects both access and mobility of all potential users of the transportation system. Planners in a long list of cities that are at various stages of studying freeway teardown have very little concrete information to guide their decisions - especially with regard to the transportation impact. An emerging view is that freeway teardown or reconfiguration does not appear to have resulted in the disruption that conventional wisdom might predict. There is much speculation about why this is the case, but little understanding of the underlying mechanisms that affect the observed outcomes. A detailed study of the changes in access and mobility before and after freeway teardown in a number of specific cities will allow us to develop a more complete picture of the overall effect on the transportation system.
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Freeway operations
KW  - Global warming
KW  - Highway realignment
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Road removal
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249842
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480768
TI  - Integrated Transportation Payment Systems: Principals, Concepts, and Applications
AB  - Transportation agencies across the country are now more than ever trying to think of ways to reduce operating costs and increase revenues while at the same time improve customer convenience and quality of service. Integrated transportation payment systems (ITPS) have the potential of doing all of the above provided the general public and elected officials perceive that these payment systems are secure, preserve privacy and do not lead to fraud. The product of this education project will be a graduate level internet based course on the subject of transportation payment systems. The emphasis on the course will be on integrated transportation payment systems which by definition serve all modes of surface transportation and involve public agencies from all levels of government and political jurisdictions and in some cases in a multi-state region. In addition, an integrated system balances interests in increasing efficiency, mobility and customer convenience with concerns for security and privacy. The course will involve five faculty from three New England UTC campuses and include twelve, 2 ½ hour modules, three quizzes, and two, 2 hour examinations. This course will be offered to students enrolled in the U.S. DOT Transportation Leadership Graduate Certificate Program and other distance based transportation certificate and graduate degree programs.
KW  - Automatic fare collection
KW  - Leadership
KW  - Operating costs
KW  - Privacy
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transit operating agencies
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249841
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480767
TI  - Adaptive Route Choice Modeling in Uncertain Traffic Networks with Real-Time Information
AB  - The objective of the research is to study travelers' route choice behavior in uncertain traffic networks with real-time information. The research is motivated by two observations of the traffic system: 1) the system is inherently uncertain with random disturbances such as incidents, bad weather, and work zones, and therefore travel times are at most known with uncertainty; 2) traveler information is or will be available so that travelers could make travel decisions adaptive to the random disturbances to reduce negative effects of uncertainty. Two central research questions to be answered are: 1) Can we build and estimate an econometric model for travelers' en route updating of route choices? 2) Can such a model provide more realistic prediction of travelers' route choices than existing ones? The research will contribute to the state of the art by validating a novel adaptive route choice model on experimental data and providing understanding of route choice behavior in uncertain situations. The model is an integral component in evaluating the effectiveness of advanced traveler information systems (ATIS).
KW  - Advanced traveler information systems
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Route choice
KW  - State of the art
KW  - Traveler information and communication systems
KW  - Uncertainty
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249840
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480766
TI  - Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII): Exploring the Application of Disruptive Technology to Assist Older Drivers
AB  - Older drivers are quickly becoming a significant fraction of the driving public. These drivers are challenged by changes in their visual acuity and a reduction in their ability to respond quickly to changes in road conditions. Although several previous efforts, including improved engineering design, safety technology and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), have assisted older drivers, additional, focused in-vehicle technology is needed. This proposed research explores the feasibility of introducing emerging Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII)-enabled technologies into a prototype in-vehicle driving assistance system which is specially tailored for older drivers. To accomplish the objective, our proposed research includes the development of efficient coding algorithms for DSRC communication, traffic modeling for hazard prediction, the development of an on-board computing system, and system integration and prototype development.
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Dedicated short range communications
KW  - Driver information systems
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Traffic models
KW  - Vehicle infrastructure integration
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249839
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480765
TI  - Institutional Memories of Road Design
AB  - Most of the engineers who were part of the design teams planning, designing and building the highways in Maine from the 1950s through the 1970s have retired. John Dority, who is the current Chief Engineer with Maine Department of Transportation (Maine DOT), started working there 52 years ago and is the embodiment of its institutional memory. But soon, John Dority will follow in the footsteps of other engineers, such as John E. Hodgkins, who retired after 41 years with Maine DOT as their Chief Construction Engineer. Many of these engineers are still alive and active. So much of the institutional knowledge is still not lost. And some of that knowledge could be transmitted to our undergraduate students. This education project aims at contacting the most influential engineers from the 'golden years' of road construction, and have them participate in evening sessions with students during the Spring of 2009. The project will be organized by professors Thomas C. Sandford and Per Gårder. The sessions will be videotaped, summarized and analyzed for use in future years. The significant commentary of these institutional memories will be documented and presented in a report.
KW  - Highway design
KW  - Highway engineering
KW  - Institutional memory
KW  - Maine
KW  - Memory
KW  - Planning and design
KW  - Research projects
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249838
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480764
TI  - Roundabout Design and Elderly Drivers
AB  - Research on modern roundabouts has been conducted by the Principal Investigator (PI) since the mid 1970s. That is when the first "smaller circular intersections" started to be designed in Sweden. This research has continued at the University of Maine (UMaine) where the PI was one of the principal investigators in an often-referenced safety study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Other studies at UMaine have looked at safety, capacity and delay as well as attitudes towards roundabouts among drivers and residents living nearby. There is an indication that elderly drivers are less 'happy' with roundabouts than other age groups even though the elderly potentially have the most to gain--if the design is appropriate for their needs. However, elderly drivers' attitudes and behaviors have not been studied in detail so there is little knowledge of what an appropriate design should look like. However, with changes in demography, it is obvious that we need to be more sensitive to the needs of elderly drivers. Also, the influence of roundabout design on energy consumption and environmental effects, such as CO2-emis¬sions--some¬thing that is becoming more and more important in choice of design--have not been studied extensively. The purpose of this research project is therefore to evaluate how elderly drivers (compared to drivers of other age groups) adapt to driving through different styles of modern roundabouts--with respect to safety, capacity, fuel consumption, noise and acceptance. Safety will be studied through analysis of crash data as well as indirectly in several ways: through gap-acceptance studies, traffic-conflict studies, and interviews with drivers about critical events. Acceptance of roundabouts will simultaneously be studied through surveys. Delay will be studied through field observations of travel times and capacity will be estimated through studies of gap acceptance where driver age is assessed in the field. Fuel consumption will be measured by having drivers drive fuel-gauge-equipped vehicles multiple times along loops through different types of intersections, including roundabouts with different designs. The end result will be recommended design characteristics of modern roundabouts to accommodate elderly drivers.
KW  - Aged
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Fuel conservation
KW  - Gap acceptance
KW  - Highway design
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Roundabouts
KW  - Traffic safety
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249837
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01563671
AU  - Eigen, Ana Maria
AU  - Najm, Wassim G
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
TI  - Problem Definition for Pre-Crash Sensing Advanced Restraints
PY  - 2009/04
SP  - 86p
AB  - This report presents the results of crash analyses that defined and prioritized target crashes for advanced restraint systems based on pre-crash sensors. These analyses targeted the driver and front-seat passenger 13 or older, traveling in light vehicles of model year 1998 or newer that sustained frontal damage. The focus was on occupants who suffered an injury level 3 or higher on the Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale. Crash analyses included data queries of national crash databases from the 1997-2006 Crashworthiness Data System (CDS), 2006 General Estimates System, and 2002-2006 Fatality Analysis Reporting System. Data queries were part of the top-down analysis that identified key crash scenarios and concomitant injuries. Crash scenarios incorporated pre-crash scenarios, impact modes, and occupant restraint use. Severity of priority crash scenarios was quantified in terms of the number of fatalities and functional years lost. Moreover, injured body regions and related injury levels were expressed for each crash scenario. Based on results of top-down analysis, cases were selected from the CDS for further examination to identify the injury sources and their link to crash scenarios and severities. Only belted occupants were considered. The steering wheel had the highest contribution rate to injury in chest, head, and upper extremity body regions. Injury to the abdomen was caused predominantly by the seat belt. The instrument panel caused the highest rate of injury to the lower extremity.
KW  - Advanced restraint systems
KW  - Crash analysis
KW  - Crashworthiness Data System
KW  - Drivers
KW  - Fatality Analysis Reporting System
KW  - Front seat occupants
KW  - General Estimates System
KW  - Injury severity
KW  - Precrash phase
KW  - Sensors
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/54000/54700/54796/DOT-HS_811114.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1352968
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01516515
AU  - Van Schalkwyk, John
AU  - Gazda, Walter
AU  - Green, Kevin
AU  - Pickrell, Don
AU  - Shaulov, Mark
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
TI  - Corporate Average Fuel Economy Compliance and Effects Modeling System Documentation
PY  - 2009/04
SP  - 123p
AB  - The Volpe National Transportation Systems Center of the United States Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration has developed a modeling system to assist the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the evaluation of potential new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Based on externally-developed inputs, the modeling system  estimates how manufacturers could apply additional fuel-saving technologies in response to new CAFE standards, and estimates how doing so would increase vehicle costs, reduce national fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, and result in other effects and benefits to society. The modeling system can also be used to estimate the stringency at which an attribute-based CAFE standard satisfies various criteria. For example, the system can estimate the stringency that produces a specified average required fuel economy level, or that maximizes net benefits to society
KW  - Computer program documentation
KW  - Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)
KW  - Costs
KW  - Fuel conservation
KW  - Fuel consumption
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Standards
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - United States
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/49000/49100/49160/811112.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290272
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01206852
AU  - Cordon, Dan
AU  - Beyerlein, Steven
AU  - National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Compression Ratio and Catalyst Aging Effects on Aqueous Ethanol: Homogeneous Charge Catalytic Ignition of Ethanol-Water/Air Mixtures in a Reciprocating Engine
PY  - 2009/04//Final Report
SP  - 24p
AB  - Lean ethanol-water/air mixtures have potential for reducing NOx and CO emissions in internal combustion engines, with little well-to-wheels CO2 emissions. Conventional ignition systems have been unsuccessful at igniting such mixtures. An alternative catalytic ignition source is being developed to aid in the combustion of aqueous ethanol. The operating principle is homogeneous charge compression ignition inside a catalytic pre-chamber, which causes torch ignition and flame propagation in the combustion chamber. Ignition timing can be adjusted by changing the length of the catalytic core element, the length of the pre-chamber, the diameter of the pre-chamber, and the electrical power supplied to the catalytic core element. To study engine operation, a 1.0L 3-cylinder Yanmar diesel engine was converted for ethanol-water use, and compared with an unmodified engine. Comparing the converted Yanmar to the stock engine shows an increase in torque and power, with improvements in CO and NOx emissions. Hydrocarbon emissions from the converted engine increased significantly, but are largely due to piston geometry not well suited for homogeneous charge combustion. No exhaust after treatment was performed on either engine configuration. Applying this technology in an engine with a combustion chamber and piston design suited for homogeneous mixtures has the potential to lower emissions to current standards, with a simple reduction catalytic converter.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Carbon monoxide
KW  - Catalytic converters
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Exhaust gases
KW  - Hydrocarbons
KW  - Ignition systems
KW  - Internal combustion engines
KW  - Nitrogen oxides
KW  - Piston engines
UR  - http://www.webs1.uidaho.edu/niatt/research/Final_Reports/KLK752A_N09-04.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/967867
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01173726
AU  - Figliozzi, Miguel
AU  - Portland State University
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Practical Approximations to Quantify the Impact of Time Windows and Delivery Sizes on VMT
Multi-stop Tours
PY  - 2009/04//Final Report
SP  - 53p
AB  - This paper studies approximations to the average length of Vehicle Routing Problems (VRPs). The approximations are valuable for strategic and planning analysis of transportation and logistics problems. The research focus is on VRPs with varying number of customers, demands, and locations. This modeling environment can be used in transport and logistics models that deal with a distribution center serving an area with daily variations in the demand. The routes are calculated daily based on what freight is available. New approximations and experimental settings are introduced. Average distance travelled is estimated as a function of the number of customers served and the number of routes needed. Approximations are tested in instances with different customer spatial distributions, demand levels, number of customers, and time windows, Regression results indicate that the proposed approximations can reasonably predict the average length of VRPs in randomly generated problems and real urban networks.
KW  - Approximation (Mathematics)
KW  - Delivery service
KW  - Distribution centers
KW  - Freight service
KW  - Logistics
KW  - Routing
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Trip length
KW  - Variable demand
UR  - http://www.otrec.us/project/134
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/934607
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01165371
AU  - Leichliter, Katrina
AU  - Steciak, Judi
AU  - Beyerlein, Steve
AU  - Budwig, Ralph
AU  - National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Finite Element Model of a Heated Wire Catalyst in Cross Flow: Compression Ratio and Catalyst Aging Effects on Aqueous Ethanol
PY  - 2009/04//Final Report
SP  - 25p
AB  - This project seeks to advance catalytic plasma torch (CPT) technology through reactor studies, engine design, modeling, and engine testing activities. This report discusses the authors' efforts to ignite lean homogeneous air-fuel mixtures in engines under conditions approaching Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI). An evaporator for low-density liquids including ethanol and water was developed, tested, and installed. Their initial experiments were conducted to measure the temperature of a heated platinum wire exposed to propane, oxygen, and water vapor for development of a one-step model of catalytic ignition of propane and oxygen on platinum. In the future, they intend to enclose the reactor to measure the conversion efficiency of fuel to combustion products. These experiments will require a water cooled nitrogen quenching probe, which was designed and built. Experimentally obtained temperatures of a heated coiled platinum wire in low Reynolds Number cross-flow were compared with a three-dimensional finite volume model. The calculated average wire temperature was in good agreement with experimentally obtained values with deviations close to experimental uncertainty bounds at temperatures between 530K and 815K. The rate of heat generated at the wire surface from catalytic reactions was found for the ignition of lean propane/oxygen/nitrogen mixtures.
KW  - Aging (Materials)
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Catalytic ignitions
KW  - Compression ignition engines
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Finite element method
KW  - Pollution control
UR  - http://www.webs1.uidaho.edu/niatt/research/Final_Reports/KLK752_N09-03.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/925098
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01165264
AU  - Chi, Junwook
AU  - Rahall Appalachian Transportation Institute
AU  - West Virginia Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Creation of West Virginia Parkways Authority by the WVDOT: 2009 Traffic and Toll Revenue Forecasts
PY  - 2009/04//Final Report
SP  - 69p
AB  - This project conducts updated traffic and revenue analyses to provide comprehensive information for creating the West Virginia Parkways Authority, formerly the West Virginia Parkways, Economic Development and Tourism Authority, as a Division within the West Virginia Department of Transportation.  The West Virginia Parkways Authority will manage the designated parkways and collect user fees to be deposited into a fund to expand and maintain the West Virginia roads and bridges.  This project will identify alternative toll rate plans and estimate the amount of toll revenues each road or bridge generates.  The estimated future revenues will be used to fund the construction and maintenance of the proposed West Virginia roads and bridges.  Any excess revenue will be used to fund other highway construction.  Specific objectives will include to: 1) present a project overview of the West Virginia Parkways Authority and the scope of the study; 2) discuss the benefits of successful turnpike system and demonstrate their economic impacts; 3) describe the proposed toll roads and bridges; 4) provide a summary of current toll rates, traffic, and revenues in West Virginia; 5) identify alternative toll rate plans based on the factors determining toll rate increases; 6) develop a traffic analysis to predict traffic volume of passenger cars and commercial trucks over the 20-30 years; 7) forecast toll revenues for the same period; and 8) highlight the results of predicted toll revenues for the alternative toll rate plans.
KW  - Financing
KW  - Highway departments
KW  - Parkways
KW  - Revenues
KW  - Tolls
KW  - Traffic forecasting
KW  - Traffic volume
KW  - West Virginia
UR  - http://www.njrati.org/wp-content/plugins/research_projects/reports/TRP%2009-02.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/925235
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01164233
AU  - Dixon, Dylan
AU  - Hanks, Benjamin
AU  - Harker, Nicholas
AU  - Stock, Charles
AU  - Braven, Karen Den
AU  - National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Development of a Direct-Injected Two Stroke Snowmobile Using E85 Fuel
PY  - 2009/04//Final Report
SP  - 43p
AB  - The University of Idaho’s entry into the 2008 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge (CSC) was a direct-injection (DI) twostroke powered snowmobile modified to use blended ethanol fuel. The modulated and battery-less direct-injection system used to decrease exhaust emissions and improve fuel economy maintained near stock power output of the engine. The emissions output was further reduced using an oxidation catalyst located after the exhaust silencer. Noise from the engine compartment was reduced by custom-carbon fiber hood and side panels, which allowed placement of extra sound absorbing materials. Pre-competition testing had the snowmobile entering the 2008 SAE CSC competition weighing 580 lbs (263 kg) wet, achieving 13.25 mpg (5.63 km/L) running on blended ethanol fuel, and a J-192 sound magnitude score of 80 dBA.
KW  - Competition
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Exhaust gases
KW  - Fuel consumption
KW  - Noise control
KW  - Recreational vehicles
KW  - Snowmobiles
UR  - http://www.webs1.uidaho.edu/niatt/research/Final_Reports/KLK751_N09-02.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/921398
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01164222
AU  - Wall, Richard
AU  - Frenzel, James
AU  - National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Street Deployment of Pedestrian Control Smart Traffic Signals
PY  - 2009/04//Final Report
SP  - 18p
AB  - Smart Signals is a term used to describe the application of network based distributed control technology to the control of traffic signals at signalized intersections. Presently, signalized intersections use a centralized control approach where all of the controls are initiated by a single controller located in a traffic controller cabinet. Dedicated wires are used to turn signal lights on and off. The Smart Signals paradigm uses microprocessors located in the signals to distribute the control intelligence. The advantages of this approach extends the fault coverage, has the potential to reduce the physical size and cost of the traffic controller cabinet, allow for more precise control of intersection movements, and allow the inclusion of future innovations in sensors to traffic control. Our research has explored ways of integrating the new methodologies with existing practices for a more cost effective way of updating intersection traffic controls. We have demonstrated that Smart Signals and conventional traffic signals devices can effectively and reliably simultaneously operate using a single NEMA TS2 traffic controller. For street deployment, the Smart Signals devices must operate with the same degree of reliability as conventional traffic signals do today. Conventional traffic control systems use a malfunction management unit to monitor correctness of traffic controller outputs. However, a new approach to monitoring is required for the distributed control approach used by Smart Signals. We applied Ethernet safety critical control practices to Smart Signals resulting in synchronized time division multiplexing communications to ensure network devices are generating correct outputs.
KW  - Highway traffic control
KW  - Highway traffic control systems
KW  - Installation
KW  - Pedestrian actuated controllers
KW  - Smart traffic signals
KW  - Traffic signals
UR  - http://www.webs1.uidaho.edu/niatt/research/Final_Reports/KLK710_N09-05.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/921399
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142759
AU  - Lee, Harvey Shui-Hong
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - The Aerodynamic Effects of Passing Trains to Surrounding Objects and People
PY  - 2009/04//Final Report
SP  - 287p
AB  - Two safety issues are raised on the aerodynamic effects of a passing train on its surroundings. First, a high-speed train passing other trains on an adjacent track exerts aerodynamic pressure that can affect the structural integrity of window mount and glazing, and the stability of the railroad car being passed. Second, as a high-speed train passes train stations immediately adjacent to the platform without stopping, people and objects on these station platforms are exposed to strong airflow causing debris and objects to be blown about and people to potentially lose their balance. This safety issue also extends to railroad workers on trackside as a high-speed train passes. The objective of the research was to obtain aerodynamic data on passing trains, and to assess its effects on other trains being passed, as well as on people in proximity to the passing trains. The study entailed both numerical simulation and experimentation. Numerical simulation included both simple single degree-of-freedom dynamics models, and more complex computational fluid dynamics and multi-body simulation models. Experimentation involved full-scale testing of a rail car passed by a high-speed train on an adjacent track, and measurement of train-induced airflow and forces on cylindrical dummies from a passing train.
KW  - Aerodynamic force
KW  - Double stack container cars
KW  - Drag
KW  - Fluid dynamics
KW  - High speed ground transportation
KW  - High speed rail
KW  - Passing
KW  - Railroad platforms
KW  - Transient loads
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/1422
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34400/34411/DOT-VNTSC-FRA-04-05.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/903031
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142755
AU  - Horton, Suzanne
AU  - Carroll, Anya
AU  - Chaudhary, Mina
AU  - Ngamdung, Tashi
AU  - Mozenter, Jonathan
AU  - Skinner, David
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Success Factors in the Reduction of Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Incidents from 1994 to 2003
PY  - 2009/04//Final Report
SP  - 127p
AB  - Between the years 1994 and 2003, incidents at highway-rail grade crossings declined by 41.2 percent. The reasons for this decline were unknown. The John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center was tasked by the Federal Railroad Administration to identify the salient success factors in highway-rail grade crossing incident reduction. The success factors were analyzed and investigated using various qualitative and quantitative methods. Ten factors were identified as the most influential safety factors. The ten factors are: Commercial Driver Safety, Locomotive Conspicuity, More Reliable Motor Vehicles, Crossing Closure and Grade Separation, Sight Lines Clearance, Warning Device Upgrades, the Grade Crossing Maintenance Rule, the Section 130 Program, Operation Lifesaver, and Railroad Mergers. Commercial Driver Safety, Locomotive Conspicuity, More Reliable Motor Vehicles, Sight Lines Clearance, and the Grade Crossing Maintenance Rule were quantitatively analyzed with data from the Railroad Accident Incident Reporting System; they impacted 54 percent of the incidents and accounted for 79 percent of the reduction in incidents.
KW  - Commercial vehicles
KW  - Crash reduction factors
KW  - Grade crossing protection systems
KW  - Railroad grade crossings
KW  - Traffic control devices
KW  - Traffic safety
KW  - Visibility distance
KW  - Warning signals
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/379
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34500/34533/DOT-VNTSC-FRA-09-01.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/903029
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142473
AU  - Carroll, A A
AU  - Haines, M J
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - 2003 Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety Research Needs Workshop. Volume 1: Summary of Results
PY  - 2009/04//Final Report
SP  - 109p
AB  - The purposes of the workshop were to provide up-to-date information and research reports from selected organizations, analyze a number of safety research topics by a selected group of delegates from all areas of technology and government organizations associated with the rail industry, and define a new practical list of research needs for the Highway-Rail at Grade Crossing Safety Program of the Federal Railroad Administrations Office of Research and Development and Office of Safety in coordination with other organizations having similar needs.
KW  - Countermeasures
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Railroad grade crossings
KW  - Railroad safety
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Research
KW  - Results
KW  - Workshops
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/375
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902706
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01138245
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Summary 2008 Traffic Data for U.S. and Foreign Airlines: Total Passengers Down 3.5 Percent from 2007
PY  - 2009/04
SP  - 9p
AB  - The number of scheduled domestic and international passengers on U.S. airlines and on flights to and from the United States on foreign airlines declined in 2008 by 3.5 percent from 2007, dropping to 809 million, the Department of Transportations Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today reported (Table 1). BTS, a part of Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, in a release of preliminary data, reported that U.S. airlines carried 3.7 percent fewer total system passengers in 2008 than in 2007. U.S. airlines carried 4.3 percent fewer domestic passengers in 2008 and 1.2 percent more international passengers than in 2007. Passengers to and from the United States on foreign carriers decreased 1.5 percent from 2007 (Table 1A). This release includes data on U.S. carrier scheduled domestic and international service and foreign carrier scheduled international service to and from the United States. BTS regular monthly air traffic releases include data on U.S. carrier scheduled service only.
KW  - Air traffic control
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Airlines
KW  - Civil aviation
KW  - Domestic transportation
KW  - International transportation
KW  - Statistical analysis
KW  - Traffic data
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/press_releases/2009/bts019_09/html/bts019_09.html
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/press_releases/2009/bts019_09/pdf/bts019_09.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/898618
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01131257
AU  - Goldberg, Bruce
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - The Background, Criteria, and Usage of the Intermodal Passenger Connectivity Database
PY  - 2009/04
SP  - 10p
AB  - Intermodal connections, the links that allow passengers to switch from one mode to another to complete a trip, have been an important element of federal transportation policy since passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Effi ciency Act of 1991 (ISTEA). Since then, the U.S. Department of Transportation has encouraged the development of intermodal connectivity. There is a general consensus that the U.S. passenger transportation system has become more intermodally linked since the passage of ISTEA, but the degree of that connectivity has never been measured. To provide a baseline connectivity measurement against which to measure future progress, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a component of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), is developing the Intermodal Passenger Connectivity Database (IPCD). This report describes in detail the background for the project, the considerations that were taken into account in the development of the project, the criteria used to determine where connectivity exists, and information to help users of the IPCD understand its contents.
KW  - Connectivity
KW  - Intermodal Passenger Connectivity Database
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Passenger transportation
KW  - Ridership
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_technical_report/2009_007/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35400/35438/Background.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/891053
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01129969
AU  - Adams, Teresa M
AU  - Janowiak, Scott
AU  - Sierzchula, William
AU  - Bittner, Jason
AU  - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Maintenance Quality Assurance Peer Exchange 2
PY  - 2009/04//Final Report
SP  - 71p
AB  - This report documents a comprehensive study of twenty-three maintenance quality assurance (MQA) programs throughout the United States and Canada. The policies and standards of each program were synthesized to create a general assessment on the condition of MQA programs in 2008. These data were then compared to similar data compiled in 2005. The resulting study is a comparison between MQA programs in 2004 and 2008. The data can be used to aid in the process of modifying the policies of current MQA programs to improve existing measures or create new ones. Further discussion of MQA policies and implementation should be continued to align with the constantly developing needs of roadways across the nation.
KW  - Asset management
KW  - Canada
KW  - Highway maintenance
KW  - Maintenance management
KW  - Peer exchange
KW  - Policy
KW  - Quality assurance
KW  - United States
UR  - http://www.mrutc.org/research/0815/08-15_FR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/890494
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01129538
AU  - Evans, John F
AU  - University of Minnesota, Duluth
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Detection of Water and Ice on Bridge Structures by AC Impedance and Dielectric Relaxation Spectroscopy Phase I
PY  - 2009/04//Final Report
SP  - 25p
AB  - A preliminary evaluation of two approaches to low-cost sensing systems for monitoring ice and water on bridge deck surfaces has been carried out. These sensing systems are based on the measurement of impedance of the sensor in contact with or close proximity to ice, water or aqueous solutions of deicing chemicals. Impedance analysis at lower frequencies allows for the determination of the presence of solutions of deicing electrolyte (a sort of “conductivity measurement"), while high frequency dielectric relaxation using time domain reflectometry (TDR) probes the physical state of precipitation and deicing chemicals on the deck or road surface (via dielectric relaxation). While it was originally expected that both measurements would be required to reliably determine the condition of a bridge deck surface with regard to the presence of frozen water or deicing solutions, it was found that the TDR approach is adequate for this task. This suggests that a significant reduction in the cost of development of practicable sensors and supporting software/electronics, as well as in the ultimate cost of deploying a system based on TDR alone, can be realized. As such, TDR becomes the focus for the next phase of development of these sensors.
KW  - Bridges
KW  - Deicing chemicals
KW  - Electrical impedance
KW  - Icing
KW  - Monitoring
KW  - Sensors
KW  - Snow
KW  - Time domain reflectometers
UR  - http://www.its.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1116
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/889921
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01126554
AU  - Vudumu, Shravan K
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Safety Risks of Hydrogen Fuel for Applications in Transportation Vehicles
PY  - 2009/04//Final Report
SP  - 9p
AB  - Combustion of hydrocarbon fuels in many practical applications produces pollutants that are harmful to human health and environment. Hydrogen fuel is considered to be a potential answer to the clean energy demands, especially with the advances in fuel cells and hydrogen powered internal combustion engines. The transition from fossil to hydrogen fuel involves many challenges that must be overcome for a widespread hydrogen economy. Safety is a critical issue during the design and operation of vehicles and storage tanks involving hydrogen, whose properties are drastically different compared to the traditional fuels such as gasoline. Experimental study and theoretical analysis were performed to investigate the flammability of hydrogen-air mixtures and its dependence on various parameters. To understand the transient behavior of hydrogen mixing and associated flammability limits in air during an accidental release, computational tools were used. The numerical simulations display the spatial and temporal distributions of hydrogen and the complex flow patterns demonstrate the fast formation of flammable zones with implications in the safe and efficient use of hydrogen in various applications. This study is essential to support the fire safety and prevention guidelines. Results obtained in this work are expected to be utilized for developing the necessary fire safety codes and standards for hydrogen-powered transportation vehicles and for the prevention and safe handling of hydrogen fires and detonations.
KW  - Design standards
KW  - Fire prevention
KW  - Flammability
KW  - Guidelines
KW  - Hydrogen codes and standards
KW  - Hydrogen fueled vehicles
KW  - Hydrogen fuels
KW  - Hydrogen safety
KW  - Safety
KW  - Simulation
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/R203_Vudumu_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/887671
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01551249
AU  - Nicholas, Bradley
AU  - Khera, Diana
AU  - Harris Miller Miller and Hanson, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Aviation Administration
TI  - Noise and Scope Study for Launch Vehicles
PY  - 2009/03/30/Final Report
SP  - 65p
AB  - In support of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of the Associate Administrator Commercial Space Transportation, the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center has retained the services of Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Inc. and the Aerospace Corporation to conduct a study of noise and sonic boom models which may be applicable to the computation of environmental impacts for the commercial space industry.  This Final Report catalogs existing noise and sonic boom models from recent government and commercial launch environmental documents and a search of relevant literature. The models are evaluated against calculation methods presented in recent literature and the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act as provided in FAA Order 1050.1E, FAA Order 5050.4B, and the Environmental Desk Reference for Airport Actions to determine the necessity of a new model. The process of developing a model is described though a summary of the recent draft Environmental Protection Agency document, Draft Guidance on the Development, Evaluation and Application of Environmental Models, and the direct experience of persons who have worked on past model development efforts for FAA's Integrated Noise Model (INM) and the Federal Highway Administration's Traffic Noise Model. The feasibility of integrating a new model into the INM is examined by comparing the input, computation methods, and output for the INM and launch noise and sonic boom models.
KW  - Commercial space transportation
KW  - INM (Integrated Noise Model)
KW  - Launch vehicles
KW  - Launching
KW  - Literature reviews
KW  - Methodology
KW  - Noise
KW  - Sonic boom
KW  - Traffic Noise Model
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/54000/54100/54125/Noise__Scope_Study_for_Launch_Vehicles_Final_Report_March_2009.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1340036
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01494908
TI  - Comparative Emissions Database
AB  - The Comparative Emissions DataBase (CEDB) web interface was created by Aerodyne Research, Inc. (ARI) under the direction and funding of the US Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration. The objective of this web tool is to facilitate application of the extensive data available in the CEDB, for comparing the potential environmental impact (especially for climate change) of moving passengers and freight via various transportation modes. The CEDB incorporates data from various sources - including measurements by ARI using novel high resolution instruments invented at ARI, as well as other research data available in the scientific literature - and covers air, road, rail and marine transportation modes. Other data sources include certification sources (e.g. EPA certification data).
KW  - Alternatives analysis
KW  - Climate change
KW  - Databases
KW  - Environmental impact analysis
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Transportation modes
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264142
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01154150
AU  - Rajbhandari, Rajat
AU  - Villa, Juan Carlos
AU  - Aldrete-Sanchez, Rafael
AU  - University Transportation Center for Mobility
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Expansion of the Border Crossing Information System
PY  - 2009/03/15/Final Report
SP  - 112p
AB  - There is no reliable system in place to measure and report border crossing times to either commercial trade or travelers planning to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. This research project, in combination with three other already funded and ongoing projects, provides a prototype of such a system. The result is a real-time international border crossing travel time information system prototype. In addition to real-time information, the project serves as a valuable data source for three other important activities: a) estimating the economic impact of border crossing delay and potential improvements, b) validating dynamic cross-border traffic assignment models, and c) long range transportation planning. This project designed the mechanisms to automatically capture border crossing times for commercial vehicles and convert those results to user-friendly formats that can be shared with stakeholders involved in the U.S.-Mexico international border crossing process for operations, planning and research purposes. In order to maximize the effective use of the information, the project began with a comprehensive survey of stakeholder information needs, focused primarily on commercial crossing users. Texas Transportation Institute researchers defined the methodology to capture the information for commercial-vehicle crossing time. The best way to present the information to potential users was identified and the systems required to share the information with key stakeholders were developed and tested during this project.
KW  - Commercial vehicles
KW  - Crossing times
KW  - International borders
KW  - Long range planning
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Stakeholders
KW  - Traffic assignment
KW  - Traffic delays
KW  - Travel time
KW  - United States-Mexico Border
UR  - http://utcm.tamu.edu/publications/final_reports/Villa_08-30-15.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/915557
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01139971
AU  - Brown, V J
AU  - Anderson, M S
AU  - Balducci, P J
AU  - Orban, J E
AU  - Kiefer, M A
AU  - Desautels, A
AU  - Battelle
AU  - CRA International, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
AU  - Department of Transportation
TI  - Evaluation of the National CVISN Deployment Program: Volume 1 Final Report
PY  - 2009/03/02/Final Report
SP  - 196p
AB  - Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks (CVISN) is a collection of information systems, communications networks, and Intelligent Transportation Systems that support commercial vehicle (large truck) operations. The three main functions of CVISN are electronic credentials administration, safety information exchange, and electronic screening or transponder-based preclearance/bypass programs for roadside weigh/inspection stations. This report presents the results of an independent evaluation of the deployment and operation of CVISN technologies across the U.S. With the main goal of measuring the effects of CVISN on the safety, efficiency, and economics of commercial vehicle operations, four main analyses were performed: motor carrier survey, cost analysis, safety analysis, and benefit-cost analysis. In addition, the current status of CVISN deployment was assessed, and qualitative benefits as reported by transportation and law enforcement officials in states deploying CVISN technologies were summarized. A total of 848 commercial motor carrier companies participated in a national survey. It was found that carriers are generally aware of CVISN technologies, but that, in terms of power units represented in the survey, a much larger proportion take part in electronic credentialing than in electronic screening. Average per-state costs to deploy CVISN for e-credentialing were about $1.35 million; for safety information exchange about $680,000, and for e-screening about $1 million to $2.8 million. If CVISN safety and screening technologies were to be deployed and operated at all weigh stations nationwide, depending on the deployment scenario, approximately 4,000 to 17,000 additional commercial vehicle-involved crashes could be avoided per year, compared to those avoided through current inspection selection practices. This equates to the saving of between 56 and 215 additional lives that otherwise would have been lost in those crashes per year. Economically, a series of nationwide roadside enforcement scenarios provided positive societal benefit-cost ratios ranging from 1.9 to 7.5, and electronic credentialing showed a life-cycle benefit-cost ratio of 2.6. All scenarios were modeled over a 25-year life cycle. Taken together, these results indicate that all aspects of the National CVISN Deployment Program examined in this BCA, when they are deployed, are expected to produce significant net benefits to society and are economically justified.
KW  - Automated clearance
KW  - Benefit cost analysis
KW  - Commercial vehicle operations
KW  - CVISN (Program)
KW  - Deployment
KW  - Economic factors
KW  - Electronic screening
KW  - Inspection
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Trucking safety
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31000/31010/14459.htm
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/899365
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462195
TI  - Economic and Transportation Factors for Locating Freight Intermodal and Warehouse Distribution Facilities
AB  - <div><font size="3">Public officials at the state and local level are frequently called on to consider the siting of inland ports, freight intermodal terminals, and warehouse distribution centers.<span>   Deciding to pursue these facilities as economic development generators, as a supporting function for current businesses, or in response to outside proposals without fully understanding the transportation, community and economic consequences</span>--both positive and negative--is not an uncommon issue. This has led to public officials expending time and resources on flawed strategies to attract facilities and incorrectly reacting to facility proposals. This can ultimately lead to inefficient transportation systems, negative community perceptions, and failed economic development strategies.<span>   In order for these facilities to be considered viable and positive community assets, public sector decision makers require an understanding of many factors to make sound decisions on whether to purse such facilities, or if they are approached about such facilities, what they need to consider when analyzing their possible locations. </span></font><font size="3">The objective of this research is to provide public sector practitioners in both the transportation and economic development fields with an understanding of key transportation and economic-related factors and strategies that must be considered when building intermodal terminals and warehouse distribution facilities.</font></div>
KW  - Economic development
KW  - Economic impacts
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Physical distribution
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Warehouses
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2665
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230416
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462194
TI  - Applying Benefit-Cost Analysis to Freight Project Selection: Lessons from the Corps of Engineers
AB  - State and local transportation agencies are encouraged to use benefit-cost analysis for project selection, and proposals are occasionally made to require benefit-cost analysis as part of the planning and project development processes for all publicly funded freight projects. Such a requirement already exists for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which must conduct benefit-cost analysis for its civilian navigation and flood control projects. The experience is mixed, with some arguing that benefit-cost analysis has saved the nation from wasteful projects while others argue that benefit-cost analysis has paralyzed decision making, encouraged underinvestment, or put environmental restoration efforts at an inappropriate disadvantage. Congress has recently required that the Corps convene expertise from the National Academies to review its benefit-cost analysis methods. If state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations are to be required or strongly encouraged to apply benefit-cost methods to all freight investments, then the experience of the Corps should be carefully considered so that mistakes are not repeated and successes are built upon. The objective of this research is to summarize past studies and testimonies on the effectiveness of benefit-cost analysis at the Corps of Engineers, supplemented by interviews with past and present Corps officials and stakeholders.</font></div>
KW  - Benefit cost analysis
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Project management
KW  - Research projects
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2666
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230415
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462192
TI  - Generation and Attraction of Freight by Land Use Characteristics
AB  - Trip generation and attraction rates by type of land use are a key element of local transportation and land use planning. Most estimates are based on personal travel rather than freight movement, and the freight estimates that are used are typically limited to the number of trucks. The objective of this research is to estimate the amount of freight activity generated or attracted by different types of land use for state and local planning studies. The research would extend truck trip generation estimates and guidebooks developed by the Institute of Transportation Engineers and the Truck Trip Generation Guide in NCHRP Synthesis 20-05/Topic 31-09. NCFRP funding for this project is contingent on the allocation of an equal amount by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. Total project funding will be $250,000.</font></div>
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight traffic measurement
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Guidelines
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Trip purpose
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2668
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230413
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462191
TI  - Strategies for Measuring the Costs of Freight Transportation
AB  - Data on the cost of transportation are central to understanding the economic importance of freight system performance, for evaluating the effectiveness of public policies to divert truck traffic to other modes, for understanding the implications of vehicle size and weight limits, for forecasting future freight demand and revenue generation for states and facility operators, and for monitoring the performance of transportation investments, regulations, and policies. Traditional sources of cost data disappeared with deregulation, or have become invalid by post- deregulation pricing practices that are no longer reflected in reporting systems to public agencies. While the Commodity Flow Survey measures the value of commodities being shipped, it cannot measure the cost of moving those commodities. The only public data on freight costs are survey-based national price indices by industry from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. <em>Transportation Statistics beyond ISTEA</em>, a publication by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, is among the publications that recognize the importance of this data gap and the profound difficulties in filling the gap. The objective of this research is to identify specific types of transportation cost data required by national, state, and local transportation and economic development agencies, assess different strategies for collecting those types of cost data, and propose a strategy for obtaining the needed data.</font></div>
KW  - Benefit cost analysis
KW  - Commodity flow
KW  - Deregulation
KW  - Economic development
KW  - Freight traffic measurement
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Research projects
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2669
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230412
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461978
TI  - Using Naturalistic Data to Evaluate Safety and Operational Characteristcs of Highways - UTC
AB  - The purpose of this project is to perform a preliminary investigation of the use of naturalistic data in traffic flow and safety modelling/simulation.
KW  - Naturalistic studies
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic data
KW  - Traffic flow
KW  - Traffic models
KW  - Traffic safety
KW  - Traffic simulation
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/research/4w2579.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230198
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461977
TI  - Using Naturalistic Data to Evaluate Safety and Operational Characteristcs of Highways
AB  - The purpose of this project is to perform a preliminary investigation of the use of naturalistic data in traffic flow and safety modelling/simulation.
KW  - Naturalistic studies
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic data
KW  - Traffic flow
KW  - Traffic models
KW  - Traffic safety
KW  - Traffic simulation
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/research/4W2579.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230197
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01173824
AU  - Harrison, Haskel D
AU  - Pierce, Julianne
AU  - University of Memphis
AU  - Vanderbilt University
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Examining Driver Turnover and Retention in the Trucking Industry
PY  - 2009/03
SP  - 88p
AB  - For at least the past three decades, turnover among truck drivers and the problems associated with low truck driver retention rates have been studied continuously (FMCSA, 2003). The purpose of the current research project was to: (1) review carrier turnover and retention and report the origins and evolution of driver turnover and retention research; (2) evaluate the nature of turnover and retention and define the problem by critically examining published results from evaluations and analyses of the trucking industry and other high turnover industries. Specifically, results were to include those found in academic investigations and policy studies, in publicly available proprietary reports, trade publications and government documents, and in U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Labor, and U.S. Census Bureau databases; (3) present alternative strategies that promote truck driver retention in areas identified by the trucking industry and in other high turnover industries; (4) survey trucking industry representatives to explore the nature of and the magnitude of the situation and present how the industry has responded; (5) interpret and organize survey response data to identify current turnover and retention problems, concerns, and solution strategies;   (6) examine turnover and retention strategies from other industries and to examine comparable organizational approaches that address common retention issues that may have applications in the motor carrier industry.
KW  - Motor carriers
KW  - Personnel retention
KW  - Truck drivers
KW  - Trucking
KW  - Turnover
UR  - http://www.memphis.edu/ifti/pdfs/cifts_examining_driver_turnover.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/934340
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01159413
AU  - Eby, David W
AU  - Molnar, Lisa J
AU  - Vivoda, Jonathon M
AU  - University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
AU  - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - M-CASTL 2009 Synthesis Report: Older Adult Safety and Mobility
PY  - 2009/03
SP  - 49p
AB  - The purpose of the annual Michigan Center for Advancing Safe Transportation throughout the Lifespan (M-CASTL) synthesis report is to identify short and long-term research needs that support M-CASTL’s theme and reflect the U.S. Department of Transportation’s and other national organizations' transportation research agendas. The intent of the report is to provide a synthesized background to help focus the Center’s research program and to maintain continuity over each year of the grant. The synthesis report also serves as the background for the annual M-CASTL Transportation Research and Education conference. The report reviews the facts that older adults are at higher risk of a fatal crash and tend to suffer many negative consequences when driving privileges are taken away. This report conceptualizes the issues of aging and mobility as having three complementary and interdependent goals: (1) to understand and better manage the effects of medical conditions and medications on skills needed for safe driving; (2) to help those who are able to drive safely continue to do so; and (3) to identify and provide community mobility support to those who are no longer able to drive. This report further reviews background and recent research in several areas related to the three goals: medical conditions; medication; extending safe driving; driver licensing issues; transitioning to non-driving; and alternative transportation options. The research reviewed in this report was gathered from a search of articles published in late 2007 through February, 2009 in several peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. This report builds upon two recent reviews of the aging and mobility literature (Eby, Molnar, & St. Louis, 2008; Eby, Molnar, & Kartje, 2009) and serves as a companion to those reports.
KW  - Aged
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Aging (Biology)
KW  - Diseases and medical conditions
KW  - Driver licensing
KW  - Driving
KW  - Driving cessation
KW  - High risk drivers
KW  - Medication
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Research
KW  - Research needs
KW  - Syntheses
UR  - http://m-castl.org/files/M-CASTL-2009SynthesisReport.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/919948
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01150755
AU  - Edrington, Suzie
AU  - Arndt, Jeffrey C
AU  - University Transportation Center for Mobility
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Dispatching Demand Response Transit Service: Maximizing Productivity and Service Quality Guidebook
PY  - 2009/03//Final Report
SP  - 70p
AB  - The ability of transit agencies to staff dispatch effectively and use technology to its full advantage is critical in responding proactively as service changes occur and in making sound routing decisions. Sound routing decisions result in improved productivity and cost-effective service delivery. A modest 3% improvement in service productivity would save the average rural demand response transit agency approximately $65,000 annually. This project focused on improving productivity while maintaining service quality. Researchers collected data from 42 demand response rural and small urban transit agencies regarding operations and use of technology. A database of results identified five transit providers that represented a cross-section of agencies and could be used for case studies of dispatch operation. Case studies focused on: 1) dispatcher goals and objectives, 2) dispatch-driver policies and procedures, 3) team responsibilities and expectations, and 4) reports and material collection. This resulting draft guidebook describes the impact of maximizing productivity, development of policies and procedures that affect productivity, service delivery strategies that impact productivity, dispatch performance measurement, an assessment tool for productivity elements of dispatch, and steps to implement a productive dispatch operation. The final guidebook, when available, will be placed on the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) web site. Staff will request approval to post it on the Texas Department of Transportation’s Regional Service Planning web site as well. Notification of the report will be made through e-mail to the U.S. Department of Transportation public transportation coordinators.
KW  - Demand responsive transportation
KW  - Dispatching
KW  - Productivity
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Quality of service
KW  - Transit operating agencies
UR  - http://utcm.tamu.edu/publications/final_reports/Edrington_08-24-05.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/912593
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142090
AU  - Troup, K
AU  - Newton, D
AU  - Wolfe, M
AU  - Schaefer, R
AU  - Science Applications International Corporation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Columbus Electronic Freight Management Evaluation: Achieving Business Benefits with EFM Technologies
PY  - 2009/03//Evaluation Report
SP  - 37p
AB  - Effective innovation in information technology (IT) may be the most important tool for the private and public sectors to respond to international supply chain capacity constraints and congestion. Electronic Freight Management (EFM) technologies are modern tools that, when well‐implemented, offer dramatic improvements in the mix of one‐to‐one, one‐to‐many and many‐to‐many data transfer needs of complex supply chains. They enhance the speed, reliability and accessibility of data transfers and translations. The technologies include one‐time data entry; architectures and tools enabling near‐real‐time dissemination and exchange of data; varying degrees of integration with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and legacy systems; and web‐based services for near‐real‐time access to actionable information. In 2007, as part of its Electronic Freight Management (EFM) program initiative, USDOT conducted an EFM deployment test in Columbus, OH with partners from a Limited Brands air cargo supply chain originating in China; an evaluation was completed and documented. Successful supply chain deployments of EFM technologies are delivering benefits along with more efficiency and better customer service. EFM and related visibility technologies provide lasting benefits. Major users of these technologies report better integration with their partners and greater supply chain visibility. This report presents results from many industry surveys and case studies as documented in the literature. With those as a backdrop, this report summarizes the quantitative and qualitative benefits found during the Columbus EFM (CEFM) test.
KW  - Electronic freight management
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Information dissemination
KW  - Information technology
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Logistics
KW  - Supply chain management
UR  - http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop09053/fhwahop09053.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31000/31077/14495.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31000/31077/14495.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902411
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01135318
AU  - Beningo, S
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Maritime Vessels Carry More than Half of Growing U.S.-East Africa Trade. Bureau of Transportian Statistics Special Report
PY  - 2009/03
SP  - 5p
AB  - Trade between the United States and East African countries (defined in this special report as Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda) has grown substantially in recent years, reaching $1.3 billion in value in 2007. Between 1997 and 2007, U.S. exports to East Africa increased at an average annual rate of 9.1 percent per year, while imports grew by 7.7 percent. In 2007, 57 percent of U.S. trade with East Africa took place via seagoing vessel, and 22 percent by air. Trade by air has increased slightly faster than vessel trade, at average annual rates of 9.3 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively. The remaining 21 percent of U.S. trade with East Africa was classified by the U.S. Census Bureau as being transported via other modes. The exports in the other category consisted mostly of U.S. shipments of airplanes to Kenya. These shipments cannot be classified as trade by air because the aircraft itself was the commodity being shipped, as opposed to being the vehicle that transports commodities.
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Commodities
KW  - Economic development
KW  - Exports
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Imports
KW  - International trade
KW  - Merchant vessels
KW  - Mode choice
KW  - Shipping
KW  - Transportation
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2009_02_13/html/entire.html
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2009_02_13/index.html
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2009_02_13/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35300/35394/Maritime.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894271
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01127121
AU  - Richardson, David N
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Quick Test for Concrete Durability Factor Estimation
PY  - 2009/03//Final Report
SP  - 127p
AB  - The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is considering the use of the AASHTO T 161 Durability Factor (DF) as an end-result performance specification criterion for evaluation of paving concrete. However, the test method duration can exceed 75 days before results are known. MoDOT contracted with the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) to develop a method of approximation of DF based primarily on aggregate testing that would be of a shorter duration. Nineteen different ledge samples representing 18 ledges, 10 geologic formations (nine limestone and one dolomite) were sampled by MoDOT and delivered to Missouri S&T. The ledge samples represented DFs of 28 to 95 and nominal maximum aggregate sizes of ⅜ to 1 in. The aggregates were subjected to twelve different test methods. This information, coupled with MoDOT historical gradation, specific gravity, absorption, and deleterious materials data, formed the basis of the test study dataset. Multiple linear regression was used to produce seven models of varying accuracy and complexity for DF prediction. Historical T 161 DF data for the same aggregate materials (different samples) was used as the dependent variable. Model R2 values ranged from 0.804 to 0.974. Thus, seven options were open to MoDOT for consideration. As an alternate to the regression models, a threshold-limits method was presented.
KW  - Aggregate tests
KW  - Concrete
KW  - Concrete tests
KW  - Dolomite
KW  - Durability
KW  - Durability tests
KW  - Limestone aggregates
KW  - Mathematical prediction
KW  - Multiple regression analysis
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/R219_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/887771
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01127017
AU  - Crouch, Carolyn
AU  - Crouch, Donald
AU  - Maclin, Richard
AU  - Polumetla, Aditya
AU  - University of Minnesota, Duluth
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Automatic Detection of RWIS Sensor Malfunctions (Phase II)
PY  - 2009/03//Final Report
SP  - 43p
AB  - The overall goal of this project (Phases I & II) was to develop computerized procedures that detect Road Weather Information System (RWIS) sensor malfunctions. In the first phase of the research the authors applied three classification algorithms and six regression algorithms to data generated by RWIS sensors in order to predict malfunctions. In this phase they investigated the use of Hidden Markov models as predictors of sensor values. The Hidden Markov model (HMM) is a technique used to model a sequence of temporal events. For example, suppose you have the sequence of values produced by a given sensor over a fixed time period. An HMM can be used to produce this sequence and then to determine the probability of occurrence of another sequence of values, such as that produced by the given sensor for a subsequent time period. If the actual values produced by the sensor deviate from the predicted sequence then a malfunction may have occurred. This report provides an overview of the Hidden Markov model and three algorithms, namely, the Forward-Backward algorithms, the Baum-Welch algorithm, and the Viterbi algorithm, that were used in the development of Hidden Markov models to predict sensor values. The authors performed a series of experiments to evaluate the use of HMMs as predictors of temperature and precipitation sensor values.
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - Computer models
KW  - Hidden Markov models
KW  - Mechanical failure
KW  - Road weather information systems
KW  - Sensors
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1106
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/887728
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01127009
AU  - Crouch, Carolyn
AU  - Crouch, Donald
AU  - Maclin, Richard
AU  - Polumetla, Aditya
AU  - University of Minnesota, Duluth
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Automatic Detection of RWIS Sensor Malfunctions (Phase I)
PY  - 2009/03//Final Report
SP  - 53p
AB  - The overall goal of this project was to develop computerized procedures that detect Road Weather Information System (RWIS) sensor malfunctions. In this phase of the research the authors applied two classes of machine learning techniques to data generated by RWIS sensors in order to predict sensor malfunctions and thereby improve accuracy in forecasting temperature, precipitation, and other weather-related data. They built models using machine learning methods that employ data from nearby sensors in order to predict likely values of those sensors that are being monitored. A sensor that deviates noticeably from values inferred from nearby sensors indicates that the sensor has begun to fail. They used both classification and regression algorithms in Phase I. In particular, they used three classification algorithms (namely, J48 decision trees, naïve Bayes, and Bayesian networks) and six regression algorithms (that is, linear regression, least median squares, M5P, multilayer perceptron, radial basis function network, and the conjunctive rule algorithm). They performed a series of experiments to determine which of these models can be used to detect malfunctions in RWIS sensors. They compared the values predicted by the various machine learning methods to the actual values observed at an RWIS sensor to detect sensor malfunctions. This report provides an overview of the nine models used and a classification of the applicability of each model to the detection of RWIS sensor malfunctions.
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - Computer models
KW  - Machine learning
KW  - Mechanical failure
KW  - Road weather information systems
KW  - Sensors
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1104
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/887725
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01126906
AU  - Menta, V K
AU  - Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Development and Characterization of Multifunctional Composites
PY  - 2009/03//Final Report
SP  - 6p
AB  - This project is aimed at graduate research training of students interested in pursuing careers in transportation areas. Financial support will be provided to recruit eight new graduate students interested in pursuing their doctoral degrees in transportation research a year. These students can pursue their doctoral studies in any department at Missouri S&T. In departments where a master's degree is the highest degree awarded, students pursuing their master's degree with thesis option will be considered. Areas as in the goals, interests and objectives of State Departments of Transportation and Missouri Department of Transportation in particular will be considered for support in this project.
KW  - Composite materials
KW  - Development
KW  - Graduate students
KW  - Missouri
KW  - Recruiting
KW  - State departments of transportation
KW  - Transportation
KW  - Transportation careers
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/887684
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01126518
AU  - Dailey, Daniel J
AU  - University of Washington, Seattle
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Simulation and Experimental Study of 802.11 based Networking for Vehicular Management and Safety
PY  - 2009/03//Final Research Report
SP  - 36p
AB  - This work focuses on the use of wireless networking techniques for their potential impact in providing information for traffic management, control and public safety goals. The premise of this work is based on the reasonable expectation that vehicles in the near future will be equipped with integrated wireless communication and positioning capabilities, enabling vehicle-to-vehicle (v2v) and vehicle-to-roadside (v2r) communications based on the emerging IEEE 802.11a/RA standard. This project focused on the experimental aspect of short range communication between a moving vehicle and a stationary receiver. The accumulated measurements of signal to noise ratio fit a single line of site model rather well with the implication that the communications channel will function best as the distance between the radios is reduced. However, measurements of both bandwidth and packet loss suggest that when the vehicle passes nearby the stationary receiver at approximately the planned speeds (10 or 20 MPH) that the communication channel throughput is reduced. The present hypothesis for the cause is that the Doppler effect reduces the channel throughput. It is recommended that a representation of the vector velocity as a function of time be compared to the throughput measurements to confirm this hypothesis. Further, this observation of a deviation from a distance based channel model is important in future modeling for inter-vehicle communication as most present models used to combine traffic motion and network throughput do not account for this dominant effect.
KW  - Dedicated short range communications
KW  - Doppler effect
KW  - Highway traffic control
KW  - Signal to noise ratio
KW  - Vehicle to infrastructure communications
KW  - Vehicle to vehicle communications
KW  - Wireless communication systems
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31700/31735/TNW2009-03_Dailey_Networking_61-5921.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/887616
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01126515
AU  - Saka, Anthony A
AU  - Chowdhury, Mashrur A
AU  - Jeihani, Mansoureh
AU  - Wang, Kuang-Ching
AU  - Morgan State University
AU  - National Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Development of a Prototype Vehicle-Infrastructure Integration System for Real-Time Traffic Management and Control
PY  - 2009/03//Final Report
SP  - 52p
AB  - While the vehicle-infrastructure integration (VII) concept has been in existence for a decade, its operational model and implementation strategy remain unclear. What is clear is that the VII if designed to meet its full expectations, must be able to support such applications as incident management, congestion mitigation, air pollution management, driving assistance, and disaster evacuation. However, fully realizing this vision involves meeting challenges beyond just establishing communication links among VII components. New operational algorithms and higher-layer network protocols must be developed in view of the heterogeneous devices, contexts, and wireless technologies that are involved, and the specific missions that must be achieved. Given the expected large scale of the VII system and ever increasing metropolitan areas, the traditional centralized operational concepts have become too costly to implement, maintain, and protect from threats. This research will develop a prototype hierarchical VII system with distributed decision making and reliable distributed networking that adequately accommodates future sophisticated VII applications.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Distributed control
KW  - Driver support systems
KW  - Evacuation
KW  - Highway traffic control
KW  - Incident management
KW  - Prototypes
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Traffic mitigation
KW  - Vehicle infrastructure integration
KW  - Wireless communication systems
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31600/31639/FINAL_VII_Report-3-09_H.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/887634
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01124203
AU  - Maier, David
AU  - Tufte, Kristin A
AU  - Fernandez-Moctezuma, Rafael J
AU  - Portland State University
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Improving Travel Information Products via Robust Estimation Techniques
PY  - 2009/03//Final Report
SP  - 50p
AB  - Traffic-monitoring systems, such as those using loop detectors, are prone to coverage gaps, arising from sensor noise, processing errors and transmission problems. Such gaps adversely affect the accuracy of Advanced Traveler Information Systems. This project explores models based on historical data that can provide estimates to fill such gaps. The authors build on an initial study by Mr. Rafael J. Fernandez-Moctezuma, using both a linear model and an artificial neural network (ANN) trained on historical data to estimate values for reporting gaps. These initial models were 80% and 89% accurate, respectively, in estimating the correct speed range, and misclassifications were always between adjacent speed ranges (in particular, the free-flow range and congested range were never confused). Going forward, the authors investigate other non-linear models, such as Gaussian Mixtures, that provide further statistical metrics, in contrast to the uninterpreted weights of ANNs. This work exploits the Portland Transportation Archive Listing (PORTAL) at the Intelligent Transportation Systems Laboratory at Portland State University (PSU). Dr. Tufte helps supervise development of PORTAL, and Mr. Fernandez used PORTAL data in his study. PORTAL holds more than two years of Portland-area freeway-loop-detector data at both detailed and aggregated levels, and is an ideal resource for the proposed work. Initially the authors will be building and testing estimators in off-line mode. They will select a highway segment (comprising multiple detector stations) that is representative in terms of pattern of outages. They will build models for this segment, then examine their performance on estimates for synthetic gaps (so they can compare estimates to reported values). Later, using live loop-detector data (which PORTAL supports), they will work towards on-line estimation over the local freeway network, which requires computing estimates in a timely manner. Their end target is improvements in end-user travel information products, such as the Portland-Metro Speed Map on the Oregon Department of Transportation's (ODOT's) Trip Check. The authors' main evaluation metric will be the trade-off curve between accuracy of prediction and percentage of gaps that can be filled.
KW  - Advanced traveler information systems
KW  - Data gaps
KW  - Data management
KW  - Estimating
KW  - Loop detectors
KW  - Metrics (Quantitative assessment)
KW  - Missing data
KW  - Neural networks
KW  - Portland (Oregon)
KW  - Portland Oregon Regional Transportation Archive Listings (PORTAL)
KW  - Traffic data
KW  - Travel data
UR  - http://otrec.us/main/document.php?doc_id=979
UR  - http://otrec.us/project/64
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/885576
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462117
TI  - Channelized Right-Turn Lanes at Signalized Intersections: Traffic Control Empirical Investigation - UTC
AB  - The ultimate objective of this research is to have a better understanding of the effectiveness of various traffic control devices that are used to regulate access at channelized right turn lanes. Towards this end, this research aims at screening the state of the art and the current practice regarding any guidance on the use of channelized lanes for right turns and the selection of appropriate traffic control for access regulation.
KW  - Best practices
KW  - Channelized intersections
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Right turn lanes
KW  - Signalized intersections
KW  - State of the art
KW  - Traffic control devices
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/research/4w2500.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230338
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462203
TI  - Resources and Procedures for Developing Local and Specific Freight Corridors Commodity Flow Databases
AB  - Commodity flow data are used to understand which industries in a state or region generate the most demand on the system; they provide a key link between economic trade relationships in a state or region and freight demand; they are also used in modal diversion studies; and are a key input to multimodal trade corridor studies and air quality assessments. State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) need a variety of tools, but a number of useful commodity flow databases at the national level are of limited use at the state or regional level because they lack the appropriate level of geographical detail for flow origins and destinations. The objective of this research is to provide state DOTs and MPOs with guidance for compiling commodity flow data sets appropriate for sub-national analysis. This will include techniques for disaggregating national data sets; procedures and methodologies for conducting local commodity flow surveys; a compendium of commonly available public and private data sources for use in constructing sub-national commodity flow data sets; and procedures for compiling local, state, or regional commodity flow databases from these various resources.</font></div>
KW  - Commodity flow
KW  - Databases
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Metropolitan planning organizations
KW  - Multimodal transportation
KW  - Origin and destination
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transportation corridors
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2663
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230424
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462202
TI  - Legal Considerations for Accessing Private Freight Data for Transportation Planning
AB  - Most data on freight transportation originates with private companies. Many factors are operating to increase the priority on planning and public investment for freight transportation: globalization of the economy; congestion at border crossings, terminals, and line haul links; health effects of emissions from diesel vehicles; and concerns about global warming and energy resources. Private data sources can be important resources for transportation planning and policy making, but the challenge is to find ways to make selected private data available to meet the specific needs of planners. While some agencies have had important successes securing and using private transportation data, the barriers remain significant, and the structures of data sharing agreements are not widely known. The objective of this research is to study the legal issues and establish general approaches and protocols for agreements between private entities and public agencies to enable access to essential private data for appropriate public transportation planning purposes.</font></div>
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Data sharing
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Global warming
KW  - Globalization
KW  - Legal factors
KW  - Policy making
KW  - Private transportation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2664
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230423
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461764
TI  - Best Practices in Transportation Planning
AB  - The purpose of this project is to examine the way in which states and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) have responded to SAFETEA-LU requirements and to identify best practices in transportation planning, specifically in the areas of performance measures, environmental mitigation, long range transportation planning and fiscal  constraint in long range transportation planning. This information can be used to assist transportation officials across the nation in improving their transportation planning processes and outcomes. The performance measures task can  also help the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to propose new approaches to planning requirements to be included in the new transportation authorization legislation and to improve ongoing oversight and technical assistance processes. his work builds on previous work the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) has been conducting for FHWA under the Transportation Planning Capacity Building (TPCB) Program. One of the key objectives of TPCB are to gather and disseminate examples of effective transportation planning practices. The work also builds on support the Volpe Center has been providing to FHWA and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) on oversight and certification and on the experience and expertise of the Volpe Center staff in the areas of environmental streamlining, stewardship and performance measurement.
KW  - Best practices
KW  - Environmental mitigation
KW  - Fiscal policy
KW  - Long range planning
KW  - Metropolitan planning organizations
KW  - Performance measurement
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229984
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01594315
AU  - Horowitz, Alan J
AU  - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Origin-Destination Disaggregation Using Fratar Biproportional Least Squares Estimation for Truck Forecasting
PY  - 2009/02/13
SP  - 22p
AB  - This working paper describes a group of techniques for disaggregating origin-destination tables for truck forecasting that makes explicit use of observed traffic on a network. Six models within the group are presented, each of which uses nonlinear least-squares estimation to obtain row and column factors for splitting trip totals from and to larger geographical areas into smaller ones. The techniques are philosophically similar to Fratar factoring, although the solution method is quite different. The techniques are tested on a full-sized network for Northfield, MN and are found to found to work effectively.
KW  - Least squares method
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - Network analysis (Planning)
KW  - Optimization
KW  - Origin and destination
KW  - Traffic estimation
KW  - Traffic forecasting
KW  - Truck traffic
UR  - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/ODTableDisaggregationProblem.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1398468
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01457038
AU  - Horowitz, Alan J
AU  - University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
AU  - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Origin Destination Disaggregation Using Fratar Biproportional Least Squares Estimation for Truck Forecasting
PY  - 2009/02/13
SP  - 22p
AB  - This working paper describes a group of techniques for disaggregating origin-destination tables for truck forecasting that makes explicit use of observed traffic on a network. Six models within the group are presented, each of which uses nonlinear least-squares estimation to obtain row and column factors for splitting trip totals from and to larger geographical areas into smaller ones. The techniques are philosophically similar to Fratar factoring, although the solution method is quite different. The techniques are tested on a full-sized network for Northfield, MN and are found to work effectively.
KW  - Estimating
KW  - Forecasting
KW  - Fratar method
KW  - Least squares method
KW  - Northfield (Minnesota)
KW  - Origin and destination
KW  - Trucks
UR  - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/ODTableDisaggregationProblem.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1224416
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01159891
AU  - Mortensen, Steve
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - USDOT Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) Initiative Transit Data Gap Action Plan Workshop Notes
PY  - 2009/02/10
SP  - 11p
AB  - This document contains the notes from a workshop that gathered feedback about the Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) transit data gap action plan. This document also describes different methods for counting passengers that the participants in the workshop thought would be feasible. In addition to feasibility, potential manufacturers, and barriers to real-time data collection of passenger numbers were also discussed. The need for a dedicated communications infrastructure for transit communications was also posited by the attendees at the workshop.
KW  - Bus transit
KW  - Integrated corridor management
KW  - Passenger counting
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/32000/32200/32293/14490.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/32000/32200/32293/14490_files/14490.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/920312
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01128368
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Evaluation of the Focused Approach to Pedestrian Safety Program
PY  - 2009/02/02
SP  - 51p
AB  - This report summarizes the results of an evaluation of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Focused Approach to Pedestrian Safety Program. The study was done by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center at the request of the FHWA Office of Safety (HSA). Five of the 19 “focus” locations were chosen for this evaluation based on geographic diversity, number and types of Program activities, and the availability of data about Program implementation. The study consisted of semistructured telephone interviews with 29 pedestrian safety stakeholders (mostly from government agencies) across the five locations.
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Focused Approach to Pedestrian Safety Program (Federal Highway Administration)
KW  - Interviewing
KW  - Pedestrian safety
KW  - Safety programs
KW  - Stakeholders
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35300/35359/efapsp020509.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/888838
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01537420
AU  - Pickerill, Heath
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety/NUTC program
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Missouri Local Technical Assistance Program at Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly University of Missouri – Rolla): Annual Progress Report, January – December 2007
PY  - 2009/02//Final Report
SP  - 15p
AB  - This annual report is a summary of the activities during 2007 for the Missouri Local Technical Assistance Program (Missouri LTAP), which is located at Missouri University of Science and Technology. The report highlights Missouri LTAP’s performance and activities over the past year.
KW  - Annual reports
KW  - Highway departments
KW  - Local Technical Assistance Program
KW  - Missouri
KW  - Technical assistance
KW  - Training
UR  - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/ETT199_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1322367
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01537419
AU  - Pickerill, Heath
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety/NUTC program
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Missouri Local Technical Assistance Program at Missouri University of Science and Technology: Annual Progress Report, January – December 2008
PY  - 2009/02//Final Report
SP  - 25p
AB  - This annual report is a summary of the activities during 2008 for the Missouri Local Technical Assistance Program (Missouri LTAP), which is located at Missouri University of Science and Technology. The report highlights Missouri LTAP’s performance and activities over the past year.
KW  - Annual reports
KW  - Highway departments
KW  - Local Technical Assistance Program
KW  - Missouri
KW  - Technical assistance
KW  - Training
UR  - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/ETT220_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1322359
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01473282
AU  - Hashemi, Hossein
AU  - METRANS Transportation Center
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Low-Cost Object Detection RF CMOS Sensor Development for Active Safety Systems
PY  - 2009/02
SP  - 38p
AB  - A CMOS radar chip is designed with a newly proposed multi-beam spatio-temporal RAKE transceiver architecture that attempts to harness multi-path reflections to gather more information about the environment around the vehicle. The principle of operation and simulated and measured results from a 4-channel 24-26GHz 90nm CMOS prototype are presented. Correlated signals are converted to digital data streams using off-chip analog-to-digital converters for further processing (object recognition, scene reconstruction, etc.) in a digital signal processor that also is responsible for code generation and timing circuitry. This CMOS radar chip can be integrated in a low-cost vehicular sensor for applications including short-range object detection for blind-spot detection, side and rear impact sensing, parking assistance and pedestrian detection.
KW  - CMOS devices
KW  - Computer architecture
KW  - Cost effectiveness
KW  - Design
KW  - Imaging systems
KW  - Radar vehicle detectors
KW  - Transceivers
UR  - http://www.metrans.org/research/08-02-low-cost-object-detection-rf-cmos-sensor-development-active-safety
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1218683
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01472468
AU  - Garvey, Philip
AU  - Pietrucha, Martin T
AU  - Damin, Steve
AU  - Deptuch, Damian
AU  - Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center
AU  - United States Sign Council
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Internal vs. External On-Premise Sign Lighting: Visibility and Safety in the Real World
PY  - 2009/02//Final Report
SP  - 19p
AB  - Poorly visible on-premise commercial signs have been associated with reduced safety, as drivers trying to locate and make sense of these signs may drive slower than the rest of traffic and perform erratic, last-second maneuvers. One of the main reasons for reduced sign visibility is poor sign lighting.  In addressing this issue, past research sponsored by the United States Sign Council Foundation demonstrated that internally illuminated on-premise signs have 40 to 60 percent greater visibility than externally illuminated signs in a controlled test track environment.  Even so, an ever-increasing number of jurisdictions are implementing sign ordinances that prohibit the use of internally illuminated on-premise signs, mainly for aesthetic reasons.  The objective of this research was to expand on the earlier test track research by evaluating the relative visibility of internally and  externally illuminated signs on open roads in the real world. The results of this research clearly demonstrate the superiority of internally illuminated signs across a wide variety of driving conditions, sign offsets, sign sizes, shapes, colors, external lighting designs and quality levels.
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Illuminated commercial signs
KW  - Lighting
KW  - Signs
KW  - Visibility
UR  - http://www.mautc.psu.edu/docs/PSU-2008-02.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1243638
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01470882
AU  - Adduci, Bob
AU  - Mottley, Frederick
AU  - Haines, Marsha
AU  - Research and Special Programs Administration
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - ROW Fatality and Trespass Reduction Workshop 2008 – Summary of Results
PY  - 2009/02//Final Report
SP  - 138p
AB  - This report documents the activities and results of the first Right-of-Way (ROW) Fatality and Trespass Prevention Workshop which was held April 1 & 2, 2008 at the Caltrain headquarters in San Carlos, California. The workshop was sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Office of Safety and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA); hosted by Caltrain; and organized by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)’s Volpe National Transportation Systems Center. This event took an in-depth look at the issues surrounding one of the biggest risk areas facing the rail community - trespassing and fatalities on the right-of-way. This workshop was the first to bring together multiple rail constituents including transit, freight and commuter rail to focus on common problems and solutions surrounding ROW fatality and trespass prevention. The goal of the workshop was to identify and share existing industry leading practices and explore new strategies that the rail industry could pursue to reduce the number of right-ofway and trespasser incidents and fatalities. The two day workshop included 23 presentations from multiple organizations on ROW Fatality/Trespass issues covering the following six topic areas: Community Outreach; Police/Enforcement; Hazard Management; Technology; Infrastructure I; and Infrastructure II - Engineering.
KW  - Engineering
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Hazard mitigation
KW  - Law enforcement
KW  - Outreach
KW  - Railroad safety
KW  - Right of way (Land)
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Trespassers
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/2806
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1238923
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01457030
AU  - Vonderohe, Alan P
AU  - University of Wisconsin, Madison
AU  - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Implementation of GPS Controlled Highway Construction Equipment- Phase III
PY  - 2009/02//Final Report
SP  - 124p
AB  - Beginning in 2006, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) and the Construction Material and Support Center (CMSC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) worked together to develop the specifications and the quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) procedures for global positioning system (GPS) machine guidance on highway grading projects. These specifications and procedures were the basis for the 2007 Pilot Program using GPS machine control grading on two projects. A phase II contract with CMSC was developed to monitor and analyze the 2007 pilot projects. The end result of this contract was the refinement of the specifications and procedures to be used in the 2008 pilot program. Currently there are five (5) grading contracts that were selected by the regions as good candidates for GPS machine guidance and will be let with specifications that will permit the use of GPS machine guidance in lieu of setting blue tops. In addition, there is one (1) more project that is in the process of doing a no cost contract change order to use GPS machine guidance and will be part of the 2008 pilot program. Because five (5) of these projects will permit and not require the use of GPS machine guidance, we are uncertain at this time of the exact number for our 2008 pilot program. Two to four projects are anticipated in the 2008 pilot program.
KW  - Construction equipment
KW  - Global Positioning System
KW  - Grading (Earthwork)
KW  - Implementation
KW  - Paving
KW  - Quality assurance
KW  - Quality control
KW  - Specifications
UR  - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/02-13_CFIRE_FR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1224412
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01456909
AU  - Tadros, Maher K
AU  - Morcous, George
AU  - University of Nebraska, Lincoln
AU  - Nebraska Department of Roads
AU  - Mid-America Transportation Center
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Application of Ultra-High Performance Concrete to Bridge Girders
PY  - 2009/02//Final Report
SP  - 86p
AB  - Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) is a new class of concrete that has superior performance characteristics compared to conventional concrete. The enhanced strength and durability properties of UHPC are mainly due to optimized particle gradation that produces a very tightly packed mix, extremely low water to powder ratio, and use of steel fibers. The unique strength and durability properties of UHPC make it an attractive material for precast prestressed bridge girder construction. However, commercial UHPC mixes currently available in the U.S. market cost about 10 times the cost of conventional concrete mixes, in addition to the need for special mixing and curing procedures that are not convenient to most precasters. The general objective of this project is to promote the use of UHPC in bridge construction. The specific objectives include: 1) review the various UHPC mixes developed in North America, Europe, and Japan and compare them in terms of economics and performance characteristics; 2) develop non-proprietary UHPC mix that are optimized in terms of the total cost of production while providing a final compressive strength of at least 18 ksi; 3) evaluate the mechanical properties of the developed mixes; and 4) investigate the application of the developed mixes to standard precast prestressed concrete bridge I-girders. The developed mixes consist of type III cement, fine sand, class C fly ash, silica fume, high range water reducer, and water. Steel fibers are eliminated due to their high cost and Grade 80 ksi welded wire reinforcement (WWR) is used instead to substitute for the loss in the tensile/shear capacity. The results of the laboratory tests and the full-scale girder tests indicated that the developed mixes are attainable using practical and affordable mixing and curing procedures and their mechanical properties are superior to those of the mixes currently used in Nebraska.
KW  - Bridge construction
KW  - Concrete bridges
KW  - Costs
KW  - Girders
KW  - Laboratory tests
KW  - Mechanical loads
KW  - Nebraska
KW  - Precast concrete
KW  - Prefabricated bridges
KW  - Ultra high performance concrete
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1224014
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01158862
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - A Town Hall Meeting on Our Bicycle Safety Crisis
PY  - 2009/02
SP  - 70p
AB  - “A Town Hall Meeting on Our Bicycle Safety Crisis,” sponsored by the Mineta Transportation Institute and other organizations, was held on June 28, 2008, in San José, California. Speakers from the California Department of Transportation, transportation and planning authorities, bicycle advocacy groups and other interest groups addressed the dangers and special considerations involved in cycling through urban traffic. Cycling injuries and fatalities have been increasing in California and throughout the United States. Speakers shared information about proposals for regional and statewide bicycle improvements and policy changes that would favor and encourage bicycling as an alternative to automobiles. Questions from the audience allowed policymakers to better understand what the biking public desires for increasing safety and usability between transportation modes. Part of the meeting was broadcast as part of the Commonwealth Club of California's regular series.
KW  - Bicycle crashes
KW  - Bicycle facilities
KW  - Bicycle travel
KW  - Cyclists
KW  - Policy
KW  - Public participation
KW  - Safety
UR  - http://www.transweb.sjsu.edu/MTIportal/research/publications/documents/BikeSafetyForum.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/918706
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142070
AU  - Kandarpa, Ram
AU  - Chenzaie, Mujib
AU  - Dorfman, Matthew
AU  - Anderson, Justin
AU  - Marousek, Jim
AU  - Schworer, Ian
AU  - Beal, Joe
AU  - Anderson, Chris
AU  - Weil, Tim
AU  - Perry, Frank
AU  - Booz Allen Hamilton
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Vehicle Infrastructure Integration Proof-of-Concept Executive Summary — Infrastructure
PY  - 2009/02//Final Report
SP  - 24p
AB  - In 2005, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) initiated a program to develop and test a 5.9GHz‐based Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) proof of concept (POC). The POC was implemented in the northwest suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. This report describes the overall approach undertaken to prove the VII concept through a structured testing program and describes the overall experimental design utilized in proving the VII concept, by providing an overview of the system architecture and the design of systems, subsystems, and components, as well as the public sector applications developed to prove some of the system concepts. It outlines the purpose and procedures for various tests, identifies the test articles, and documents the results of that testing. It also discusses the implications of those test results relative to the overall viability of the VII concept and identifies recommendations for future work, including if and how designs and standards may need to be modified.
KW  - Dedicated short range communications
KW  - Detroit (Michigan)
KW  - Experimental design
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Proof of concept
KW  - System architecture
KW  - System design
KW  - Testing
KW  - Vehicle infrastructure integration
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31000/31078/14481.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902408
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01140444
AU  - Kandarpa, Ram
AU  - Chenzaie, Mujib
AU  - Anderson, Justin
AU  - Marousek, Jim
AU  - Weil, Tim
AU  - Perry, Frank
AU  - Schworer, Ian
AU  - Beal, Joe
AU  - Anderson, Chris
AU  - Booz Allen Hamilton, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Vehicle Infrastructure Integration Proof‐of‐Concept Technical Description – Infrastructure
PY  - 2009/02//Final Report
SP  - 91p
AB  - In 2005, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) initiated a program to develop and test a 5.9GHz‐based Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) proof of concept (POC). The POC was implemented in the northwest suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. This report describes the overall approach undertaken to prove the VII concept through a structured testing program and describes the overall experimental design utilized in proving the VII concept, by providing an overview of the system architecture and the design of systems, subsystems, and components, as well as the public sector applications developed to prove some of the system concepts. It outlines the purpose and procedures for various tests, identifies the test articles, and documents the results of that testing. It also discusses the implications of those test results relative to the overall viability of the VII concept and identifies recommendations for future work, including if and how designs and standards may need to be modified.
KW  - Dedicated short range communications
KW  - Detroit (Michigan)
KW  - Experimental design
KW  - On board equipment
KW  - Proof of concept
KW  - System architecture
KW  - System design
KW  - Testing
KW  - Vehicle infrastructure integration
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30900/30967/VII_POC_Technical_Description___Infrastructure_-_ITS_Report.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/900773
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01135295
AU  - Scovel, Calvin L
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Key Issues for Reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration
PY  - 2009/02
SP  - 39p
AB  - As with most major industries, U.S. civil aviation is facing uncertainty amidst the current economic crisis. The National Airspace System is an integral part of the Nation's economy and handles almost 50,000 flights per day and more than 700 million passengers annually. Aviation contributed over $1.2 trillion to the Nation's economy in 2006. As the Subcommittee is aware, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) does not have a long-term authorization or funding mechanism in place and has been operating on a short-term extension since September. The current extension expires in March 2009. However, the aviation environment has changed significantly since Congress last debated proposals for reauthorizing and financing FAA.
KW  - Civil aviation
KW  - Crisis management
KW  - Economic analysis
KW  - Economic forecasting
KW  - Economic policy
KW  - Financial analysis
KW  - Reauthorization
KW  - U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
UR  - http://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/dot/files/pdfdocs/WEB_FILE_OIG_Statement_on_FAA_Reauthorization_for_2-11-09.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/892808
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01129958
AU  - Guo, Jessica Y
AU  - Wittwer, Ernie
AU  - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Best Practices in Freight Planning
PY  - 2009/02//Final Report
SP  - 46p
AB  - Freight planning is now a required part of transportation planning. State departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) are all struggling with how to include meaningful freight information in their transportation plans. In many cases, their efforts are frustrated by the lack of critical information on freight movements, the lack of control over major freight modes, or the lack of a model for how good freight planning should be done. This effort, which was sponsored by the Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) and the Mississippi Valley Freight Coalition (MVFC), is an attempt to provide some framework and ideas on how to begin freight planning. This guide was prepared after reviewing many state and MPO plans and after talking with many people who were involved in those plans. The ideas contained within are largely those of planners who have had some success in doing freight work. In some cases they draw on other research efforts. In still others, they are the product of the researchersʼ efforts to synthesize from a range of experiences.
KW  - Best practices
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Metropolitan planning organizations
KW  - State departments of transportation
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/MVFC03_FR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/890427
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01127424
AU  - Kwon, Taek Mu
AU  - University of Minnesota, Duluth
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Transportation Data Research Laboratory: Data Acquisition and Archiving of Large Scaled Transportation Data, Analysis Tool Developments, and On-Line Data Support
PY  - 2009/02//Final Report
SP  - 96p
AB  - This report contains a collection of reports for projects completed in FY 2004 and 2005 at the Transportation Data Research Laboratory (TDRL).  First, an archiving technique referred to as the Unified Transportation Sensor Data Format (UTSDF), which allows simple management of large scaled Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) sensor generated data, is described.  UTSDF was used for the development of a Data Center (DC) at TDRL.  Next, data imputation algorithms to estimate missing data are presented.  These algorithms were developed during the process of developing an automated on-line Automatic Traffic Recorder (ATR) and short count data system for the Office of Traffic Data & Analysis (TDA) at the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT).  Utilizing the archived loop data, TDRL also developed a detector fault identification algorithm and software.  This algorithm and test results are reported.  Another project report involves cross-utilization of Road Weather Information System (RWIS) and traffic data.  Several analysis approaches were developed to analyze the actual data.  The analysis approaches used and findings are reported.  Another project report involves development of a Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) Probe.  This tool was developed as a diagnostic tool for the Mn/DOT's current WIM systems, and is based on a Mn/DOT problem statement.  It is used for identification of signal anomalies and data verification.  The details of this project are reported.
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - Automatic traffic recorders
KW  - Data analysis
KW  - Data banks
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Data format
KW  - Data imputation
KW  - Data management
KW  - Data verification
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Loop detectors
KW  - Missing data
KW  - Road weather information systems
KW  - Sensors
KW  - Traffic data
KW  - Transportation data
KW  - Weigh in motion
UR  - http://www.d.umn.edu/natsrl/documents/kwonTDRL.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/887926
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01127415
AU  - Lindeke, Richard R
AU  - Katmale, Hilal
AU  - Verma, Ravi
AU  - University of Minnesota, Duluth
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Impending Box Impact Warning System for Prevention of Snowplow-Bridge Impacts: A Final Report of Investigations
PY  - 2009/02//Final Report
SP  - 121p
AB  - Each year, three or four Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) snowplows suffer bridge/box collisions while plowing.  These collisions can shear off the box and cause frame damage to the truck.  The box then falls onto the road surface where it becomes an immediate life-threatening hazard to traffic.  In some cases, the integrity of the bridge may also be compromised.  A typical collision of this type requires expenditures of $30,000 to $40,000 and results in potentially dangerous delays in achieving clean pavement status along the affected snowplowing route.  The feasibility of linking on-board Global Positioning System (GPS) technology for Automatic Vehicle Location with the current bridge information database at Mn/DOT, "BrInfo," was investigated, on a plow-route by route basis, to create collision maps.  Collision avoidance then used some primitive form of map matching.  In addition, a prototype warning system that serves as a bridge proximity sensor was developed to alert the snowplow driver that he/she is approaching a bridge with the box at a dangerous height.  This warning system was integrated in an on-board box position sensor so that the driver could be alerted that the box must immediately be lowered.  While realizing that additional means for box height control may complicate snowplow maintenance, any system that relieves the driver of cognitive overload, to reduce driver stress and fatigue during snowplow operation, when running extended rural plow routes, needs to be implemented.
KW  - Automatic vehicle location
KW  - Bridges
KW  - Crash avoidance systems
KW  - Crashes
KW  - Global Positioning System
KW  - Minnesota
KW  - Onboard warning systems
KW  - Snowplows
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55700/55751/CTS09-08.PDF
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/887938
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01127314
AU  - Apostolides, Anthony D
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Estimation and Analysis of Multifactor Productivity in Truck
Transportation: 1987-2003
PY  - 2009/02
SP  - 48p
AB  - In this study, there is an estimation of multifactor productivity and an assessment of changes in multifactor productivity (MFP) in the U.S. truck transportation sub-sector during the 1987-2003 period. The analysis is composed of four sections besides the Introduction (Section I). Section II contains a description of the structure and evolution of the trucking industry, in the U.S., over the period of analysis. In Section III, there is estimation of multifactor productivity in truck transportation during 1987-2003. This estimation is carried out by two approaches: the basic growth-accounting method and the Tornqvist index. In Section IV, there is a comparison of MFP in trucking with MFP in other transportation subsectors and the U.S. business sector. Section V presents an analysis of the factors that affected changes of MFP in truck transportation over the period of analysis. Finally, the Conclusions (Section VI) present the salient points of the estimation and analysis of MFP in truck transportation.
KW  - Economic analysis
KW  - Multifactor productivity
KW  - Productivity
KW  - Trucking
KW  - United States
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/programs/bts_working_papers/2009/paper_01/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/887842
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01127005
AU  - Quadrifoglio, Luca
AU  - Chandra, Shailesh
AU  - Shen, Chung-Wei
AU  - Texas Transportation Institute
AU  - Southwest Region University Transportation Center
AU  - University Transportation Center for Mobility
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Transit Services for Sprawling Areas with Relatively Low Demand Density: A Pilot Study in the Texas Border’s Colonias
PY  - 2009/02//Research Report; Final Report
SP  - 86p
AB  - The colonias along the Texas-Mexico border are one of the most rapidly growing areas in Texas. Because of the relatively low-income of the residents and an inadequate availability of transportation services, the need for basic social activities for the colonias cannot be properly met. The objectives of this study are to have a better comprehension of the status quo of these communities, to examine the potential demand for an improved transportation service, and to evaluate the capacity and optimum service time interval of a new demand responsive transit “feeder” service within one representative colonia, El Cenizo. The authors present a comprehensive analysis of the results of a survey conducted through a questionnaire to evaluate the existing travel patterns and the potential demand for a feeder service. The results from the subsequent simulation analysis showed that a single shuttle would be able to comfortably serve 150 passengers/day and that the optimal headway between consecutive departures from the terminal should be between 11-13 minutes for best service quality. This exploratory study should serve as a first step towards improving transportation services within these growing underprivileged communities, especially for those with demographics and geometry similar to the target area of El Cenizo.
KW  - Colonias
KW  - Demand responsive transportation
KW  - El Cenizo (Texas)
KW  - Feeder services
KW  - Low income groups
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Quality of service
KW  - Questionnaires
KW  - Shuttle service
KW  - Simulation
KW  - Small towns
KW  - Social impacts
KW  - Surveys
KW  - Texas-Mexico Border region
KW  - Travel demand
KW  - Travel patterns
UR  - http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/167177-1.pdf
UR  - http://utcm.tamu.edu/publications/final_reports/Quadrifoglio_07-02.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/887748
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01124564
AU  - Burns, Stanley G
AU  - University of Minnesota, Duluth
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - In-Situ Vehicle Classification Using an ILD and a Magnetoresistive Sensor Array
PY  - 2009/02//Final Report
SP  - 82p
AB  - In-situ vehicle occupancy, vehicle type classification, and speed are important measurements needed in traffic management. This report provides a summary of results from a multi-year study that includes both the use of inductive loop detectors (ILDs) and magnetoresistive sensors for in-situ vehicle classification. There were strengths and weaknesses noted in both type of sensor systems. Although the magnetoresistive array provides the best vehicle profile resolution, the standard inductive loop detector provides a significant cost, hardware and software complexity, and reliability advantage. The ILD installed base far exceeds the number of magnetoresistive sensors. Several electrical and computer engineering students participated in the study and their contributions are included in the individual chapter headings. Under the author's direction, these students also presented project work and Research Day conferences at Minnesota Department of Transportation District 1 Headquarters.
KW  - Automatic vehicle classification
KW  - Highway traffic control
KW  - Loop detectors
KW  - Magnetoresistance
KW  - Speed
KW  - Vehicle occupancy
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1090
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/885826
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01124561
AU  - Earsom, Stephen
AU  - Poe, Carson D
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
TI  - Carbon Sequestration Pilot Program: Implementation and Next Steps
PY  - 2009/02//Progress Report
SP  - 21p
AB  - This report documents the elements likely required to implement a carbon sequestration process tailored to state Departments of Transportation (DOTs). Findings are based on the challenges, key lessons, and preliminary results from New Mexico DOT’s initial five months of implementing the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA's) Carbon Sequestration Pilot Program (CSPP). Although communication of the progress and outcomes should continue through the life-cycle of the pilot program, it is expected that the body of knowledge formed from NMDOT’s early experience can help other state DOTs evaluate the viability of carbon sequestration practices in lands they control. The CSPP is also considered a demonstration project. As such, this report offers preliminary recommendations and considerations that can assist FHWA and other federal agencies in making well-informed decisions related to carbon sequestration in the highway right of way during discussions surrounding the reauthorization of the nation’s next transportation bill. Since the NMDOT effort is ground-breaking nationally, and perhaps globally, it is expected that NMDOT’s experience can provide insights useful in determining whether efforts to accomplish a similar program at a broader scale are practical.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Biological control
KW  - Carbon dioxide
KW  - Carbon sequestration
KW  - Carbon Sequestration Pilot Program
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Demonstration projects
KW  - Exhaust gases
KW  - Implementation
KW  - New Mexico Department of Transportation
KW  - Right of way (Land)
UR  - http://climate.dot.gov/documents/FINAL_C-Seq_Report_021109.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/33000/33500/33592/FINAL_C-Seq_Report_021109.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/885823
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01124559
AU  - Tang, Hua
AU  - University of Minnesota, Duluth
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Development of a New Tracking System Based on CMOS Vision Processor Hardware: Phase I
PY  - 2009/02//Final Report
SP  - 59p
AB  - It is well known that vehicle tracking processes are very computationally intensive. Traditionally, vehicle tracking algorithms have been implemented using software approaches. The software approaches have a large computational delay, which causes low frame rate vehicle tracking. However, real-time vehicle tracking is highly desirable to improve not only tracking accuracy but also response time, in some ITS (Intelligent Transportation System) applications such as security monitoring and hazard warning. For this purpose, this project proposes a hardware based vehicle tracking system for real-time high frame rate tracking. The proposed tracking algorithm is based on motion estimation by full-search block matching algorithm. Motion estimation is implemented in a hardware processor, which could significantly reduce the computational delay compared to traditional software approaches. In this project, the hardware processor is first designed and verified using Cadence software in CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) IBM 0.13μm technology, and then mapped to the Xilinx Spartan-3A DSP Development Board for quick implementation. Test results have shown the hardware processor functions correctly with sequences of traffic images. Also, the algorithms are designed to post-process the motion vectors output from the hardware processor to complete the overall vehicle tracking process.
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - CMOS devices
KW  - Data processing equipment
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Real time data processing
KW  - Vehicle tracking
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1088
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/885825
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01124210
AU  - Rufolo, Anthony M
AU  - Portland State University
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Factors Affecting Behavioral Changes in Response to Road Fees: Some Analyses of the Effect of Transit Access and Fuel Efficiency on Changes in Miles Driven
PY  - 2009/02//Final Report
SP  - 49p
AB  - The Oregon Department of Transportation tested a system to collect a vehicle-based mileage fee as a replacement for the Oregon gas tax. This project reports on additional analysis of the data from that experiment. Subjects include analysis of the consistency of attitudes as expressed in participant surveys at the beginning, midpoint, and end of the experiment; differences in changes in rush hour mileage by day and by a.m. versus p.m. rush hours; analysis of whether the shift from a fuel tax to a mileage charge caused notable differences in response based on the fuel efficiency of the vehicle; analysis of the effect of level of transit service and distance to transit access on the responses to mileage pricing; and more refined analysis of the effect of household income on the response to pricing.
KW  - Attitudes
KW  - Congestion pricing
KW  - Fuel consumption
KW  - Fuel taxes
KW  - Income
KW  - Mileage-based user fees
KW  - Oregon
KW  - Surveys
KW  - Transit access
KW  - Travel behavior
KW  - Vehicle miles of travel
UR  - http://otrec.us/main/document.php?doc_id=977
UR  - http://otrec.us/project/116
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/885575
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01124208
AU  - Koylu, Umit O
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Development of Teaching Material to Integrate GT-POWER into Combustion Courses for IC Engine Simulations
PY  - 2009/02//Final Report
SP  - 8p
AB  - The main objective of this project was to develop instructional engineering projects that utilize the newly-offered PACE software GT-POWER for engine simulations in combustion-related courses at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Students teamed up to perform modeling of engine performance and emission characteristics so that they could learn state-of-the-art engine technology and explore innovative design procedures routinely employed by the leading automotive companies. This helped to bridge the gap between the theoretical and simple concepts learned by students in the classroom and the practical and advanced skills desired by industry.  The project allowed various tools for studying engine combustion fueled by alternative fuels such as hydrogen.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Automotive engineering
KW  - Combustion
KW  - Design
KW  - Education and training
KW  - Engine performance
KW  - Exhaust gases
KW  - Hydrogen fuels
KW  - Instructional materials
KW  - Internal combustion engines
KW  - Simulation
KW  - Software
KW  - State of the art
KW  - Technological innovations
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/R200_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/885565
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01124206
AU  - Anderson, Neil L
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Preparing for a Significant Central U.S. Earthquake: Science Needs of the Emergency Response Community
PY  - 2009/02//Final Report
SP  - 9p
AB  - The New Madrid and Wabash Valley seismic zones are capable of producing large magnitude earthquakes that could cause significant damage and interrupt the east to west flow of transportation, communication, electricity, natural gas and oil across the central United States. A large magnitude quake also could disrupt the movement of coal, fertilizer, or agricultural products to and from ports along the middle Mississippi and lower Ohio Rivers as well as disrupt the lives of countless residents of the Central U.S. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Center for Earthquake Research and Information of the University of Memphis estimate that for a 50-year period, the probability of a repeat of the 1811-1812 earthquake (magnitude 7.5-8.0) is 7-10 percent, and the probability of a magnitude 6.0 or larger is 25-40 percent. Unlike earthquakes that occur in southern California, the causes and effects of earthquakes in the central and eastern United States are just beginning to be understood. In addition, earthquakes in the central and eastern United States tend to affect a much larger area. Consequently, regional collaborations between Federal, State, local and academic partners is essential to coordinate planning and responses. To facilitate relevant science in preparation for a significant Central U.S. earthquake similar to the events of 1811-12, the USGS, Mid-Continent Geographic Science Center, the Missouri University of Science and Technology, and the Geology and Land Survey Division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources hosted a three-day conference to bring together academia, government, non-government agencies and the private sectors to address the current and forecasted needs of the response and recovery community.  This report contains links to the powerpoint presentations that were given at the New Madrid Seismic Zone Conference, August 12-14, Rolla, Missouri.
KW  - Central United States
KW  - Conferences
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Disruptions
KW  - Earthquakes
KW  - Emergency management
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - New Madrid Seismic Zone
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Transportation infrastructure
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/ETT205_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/885563
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01124205
AU  - Belarbi, Abdeldjelil
AU  - Bae, Sang-Wook
AU  - You, Younmin
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - A Laboratory Investigation on Three-Sided Structures
PY  - 2009/02//Final Report
SP  - 67p
AB  - The Egyptian Concrete Company has recently developed a three-sided structure that adopts the advantages of both flat-top and arch-top three-sided culverts.  These advantages are (1) more convenient and lower cost of manufacturing flat-top culverts and (2) capability of the relatively long spans of arch-top culverts. The legs and top slab of the three-sided structures have been designed to resist the bending moments and shear forces developed by the following loads: (1) dead load of soil top cover, (2) self-weight, (3) lateral earth pressures and (4) traffic live loads. However, the structural performance of the three-sided structures developed by the Egyptian Concrete Company needs to be evaluated through experimental and analytical investigations before they will be placed into service. Thus, a full-scale three-sided structure was constructed and tested to failure in the High-Bay Structural Laboratory at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Finite element model (FEM) analysis using a commercial non-linear finite element program was also conducted to supplement the experimental work. The results are presented in this report, which includes cracking patterns, deflections, cracking load, ultimate load and reaction forces.
KW  - Bending moments
KW  - Breaking loads
KW  - Cracking
KW  - Culverts
KW  - Deflection
KW  - Design
KW  - Finite element method
KW  - Laboratory tests
KW  - Lateral earth pressures
KW  - Live loads
KW  - Prototype tests
KW  - Shear strength
KW  - Static loads
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/R227_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/885564
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01123426
AU  - Newstrom, Bryan
AU  - Olson, Curtis
AU  - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Multiuse, High Accuracy, High Density Geospatial Database
PY  - 2009/02//Final Report
SP  - 34p
AB  - High accuracy (2-8 cm) DGPS and high accuracy (5-20 cm) geospatial databases (or to use the term loosely, “enhanced digital maps”) are the primary components of the IV Lab driver assistive systems. In addition to vehicle-based systems, the IV Lab geospatial database has found utility in other applications. For instance, the database has recently been used for a new Intersection Decision Support (IDS) project, where radar sensors are used to determine the state of an intersection as a first step in warning drivers when it is unsafe to enter an   intersection. The geospatial database is used in this application to improve the ability of the radar system to determine whether a target represents a legitimate threat at the intersection. The IV Lab geospatial database was designed and optimized for vehicle applications, and provides real time access to extremely accurate, dense geospatial data. Because of this optimization, its functionality in other applications is somewhat limited. As new applications arise (i.e., the need to integrate high accuracy geospatial data into a driving simulator, the desire by DOTs to more accurately represent roads, rights of way, etc.), a more “global” approach to the design of the existing geospatial database is required. Described herein is a redesign of the geospatial database and database manager and the development of a new “front end” to serve a wide application base.
KW  - Databases
KW  - Decision support systems
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Intersections
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1082
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/884398
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01122587
AU  - Goldberg, Bruce
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Making Connections: Intermodal Links Between Scheduled Passenger Ferries and Other Public Transportation Modes
PY  - 2009/02//Special Report
SP  - 6p
AB  - Just over 40 percent of U.S. passenger ferry terminals offer connections to other scheduled public transportation modes. That makes ferries less connected than intercity rail, where 53 percent of stations have links with other modes, but more connected than airports where only 24 percent are served by another mode. Scheduled passenger ferry terminal data are the most recent to be added to the Intermodal Passenger Connectivity Database (IPCD) being developed by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). The database now includes connection information for 1,494 intercity rail stations, airports, and ferry terminals. The ferry terminal inventory added to the IPCD is derived from data collected as part of the National Census of Ferry Operators, conducted by BTS in 2006.
KW  - Connectivity
KW  - Ferry service
KW  - Intermodal Passenger Connectivity Database
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Links (Networks)
KW  - Passenger transportation
KW  - Public transit
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2009_02_12/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35300/35395/Connections.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/884152
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01122581
AU  - Beningo, Steven
AU  - Mohamed, Fahim
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - North American Trade Growth Continued in 2007
PY  - 2009/02//Special Report
SP  - 11p
AB  - Trade between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners—Canada and Mexico—has more than doubled in dollar value since the inception of NAFTA in 1994. In 2007, U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico reached $909 billion—a 5 percent increase over the prior year’s total trade value. Since 2001, U.S.-NAFTA trade has grown by an average annual rate of 7 percent. This report examines the rapid growth rates, modal distribution, top gateways, and major commodities of U.S.-NAFTA trade and looks at U.S.-NAFTA trade volume by state.
KW  - Canada
KW  - Commodities
KW  - Gateways
KW  - International trade
KW  - Mexico
KW  - North American Free Trade Agreement
KW  - Transportation modes
KW  - United States
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2009_02_11/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35300/35396/North_American.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/884150
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461763
TI  - Support to the Nonmotorized Pilot Program
AB  - This Interagency Agreement (IAA) allows the Volpe Center to continue related support begun under Project Plan Agreement HW3C last amended on July 27, 2007. HW3C initiated Volpe support to the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP), including for program management and technical support to FHWA, funded directly by FHWA and for support to the pilot communities for project level evaluation. There are four communities (Columbia, Missouri; Sheboygan County, Wisconsin; Marin County, California and Minneapolis, Minnesota) that are authorized $100 million by the NTPP to construct transportation infrastructure facilities, including sidewalks, bicycle lanes and trails that connect to transit stations, schools, residences, businesses, recreation areas and other activity centers. Under this IAA, the Volpe Center will continue working with the FHWA and the pilot communities to develop and implement a comprehensive technical approach to evaluate the results of investments made in the pilot communities and the overall results of the program as required to meet the Congressional reporting requirements. Although the Volpe Center will be responsible for specific technical tasks and deliverables, it will also provide flexible support to assist the FHWA in administering the program and to work collaboratively with the communities to develop and implement an evaluation process for this new and high profile national program. The Volpe Center will serve as a   technical advisor to and member of the working group composed of staff leads from the four communities, the FHWA, the Rails to Trails Conservancy, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and other organizations involved with the program.
KW  - Bicycle lanes
KW  - Bicycling
KW  - Bikeways
KW  - Nonmotorized transportation
KW  - Pedestrian areas
KW  - Pedestrians
KW  - Pilot programs
KW  - Project management
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Technical assistance
KW  - Walkways
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229983
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569190
TI  - Integrated Land-Use, Transportation and Environmental Modeling: Stormwater
AB  - This project is investigating how various road types (highway, suburban paved, and rural unpaved) and road density (low versus high) affects water quality, stream integrity, and pollutant load. The research team has instrumented six small watersheds in Chittenden County ranging from a highly urban watershed with a high density of paved roads to a relatively undeveloped watershed with rural unpaved roads to continuously measure water flow, temperature, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen concentrations. The team is also collecting flow-proportional water samples to examine water quality changes in storm events, focusing on suspended sediment, chloride (road salt), total phosphorus, and total nitrogen concentrations. The project team will also characterize stream geomorphic and habitat conditions, and gather detailed land use, soils, and other information about the watersheds draining to each site. The results from this research will then be used to develop models that can be used to predict how differences in road types, road densities, soils, and land use affect water quality, stream integrity, and pollutant load. These analyses are relevant to the integrated model because land use and land cover are standard outputs of UrbanSim. Once these relationships are established, they can be used to link standard model outputs (e.g. land use change, road type and density) under varying development scenarios to predicted water quality characteristics.
KW  - Land use
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Runoff
KW  - Sediments
KW  - Traffic density
KW  - Types of roads
KW  - Water quality
KW  - Water quality management
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/integrated-land-use-transportation-and-environmental-modeling-stormwater/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359745
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569174
TI  - Vermont Transportation and Land-Use Carbon Calculator
AB  - The objective project is to develop the "Vermont Integrated Land Use and Transportation Carbon Estimator". The estimator will be used by regional transportation planners and will advance the current state of the practice by considering directly the greenhouse gas (GHG) implications of alternative land use strategies. Currently, only GHGs from tailpipe emissions are estimated using existing transportation demand forecasting models. While land use arrangement indirectly affects the amount of travel and thus GHG emissions, land use also has a direct impact as well (forest versus parking lot for example). For input, the team will be guided by the typical and readily available datasets used by regional planners. The calculator or estimator will be deployed on the web with expert guidance from RSG Inc.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Carbon
KW  - Greenhouse gases
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Travel demand
KW  - Vermont
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/vermont-transportation-and-land-use-carbon-calculator-formerly-modleing-transportation-alternatives/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359729
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01488564
AU  - Moses, Thomas L
AU  - Hulsey, J L
AU  - Connor, Billy
AU  - University of Alaska Fairbanks
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Airport Managers’ Guide for the Maintenance of Asphalt Pavements of General Aviation Airports
PY  - 2009/01//Final Report
SP  - 78p
AB  - Hot asphalt pavement (HAP) is used as a surface material on many General Aviation(GA) airports in California. This guide, written for GA managers with limited experience with asphalt pavements, provides the basics of pavement design, construction and maintenance. Key topics include pavement distress; maintenance strategies; asphalt pavement construction; pavement design; and asphalt mix design. It provides references to other sources for in-depth treatment of topics.
KW  - Airport runways
KW  - Asphalt pavements
KW  - General aviation airports
KW  - Hot mix asphalt
KW  - Pavement design
KW  - Pavement distress
KW  - Pavement maintenance
UR  - http://www.dot.ca.gov/newtech/researchreports/reports/2009/ca08-0564.pdf
UR  - https://merritt.cdlib.org/d/ark:%252f13030%252fm5dr308d/1/CA08-0564.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256488
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01344713
AU  - Smith, Trevor D
AU  - Dusicka, Peter
AU  - Portland State University
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Application of LRFD Geotechnical Principles for Pile Supported Bridges in Oregon: Phase 1
PY  - 2009/01//Final Report
SP  - 67p
AB  - Bridge foundations must be designed based on acceptable risks of failure. To secure rapid implementation of Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) principles for foundation design, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) are requiring their use through AASHTO code. The Bridge Section of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has responsibility for satisfactory design of all the bridge structures across the state’s highway system. The widespread geotechnical adoption of the LRFD code throughout state DOTs has been difficult in the case of deep foundations due to regional differences and in some cases a lack of any close match to DOT foundation practices. This lack of matching stems from the source research conducted on which the code is based, documented as NCHRP 507. For ODOT, the evaluation of nominal axial static capacity for each driven pile in the field is conducted by dynamic methods and AASHTO offers resistance factors for these techniques. ODOT typically uses the wave equation software (WEAP) applied at the end of initial driving (EOID) and occasionally at the beginning of pile restrike (BOR) to capture increases in capacity from set-up. This study reports that, based on past and new surveys, ODOT practice is reasonably typical for DOT practice in sands, silts, and clays. The AASHTO resistance factor, φ, for WEAP is at EOID and is too low for the efficient design of piles to match the likely probabilities of pile failure. The survey of Northwest state DOTs revealed that 80% of the DOTs believe that a φ of 0.4 is conservative and 37.5% do not use the AASHTO-sanctioned φ of 0.4. Matching LRFD to allowable stress design (ASD) by direct calibration for a single pile, without any reported capacity bias, sets φ as 0.55 to match the ASD factor of safety of 2.5. An ODOT case history of a recently completed pile-supported bridge designed and constructed to FHWA and AASHTO ASD standards in use at that time, shows the number of piles at the bent studied would be doubled under new AASHTO requirements. This suggests the standard will add considerable pile foundation costs to all new bridges. This cost increase is a strong incentive to complete statistical recalibration of GRLWEAP dynamic capacity resistance value in a Phase 2 of this study.
KW  - Allowable stress design
KW  - Bridge foundations
KW  - Clay
KW  - Costs
KW  - Deep foundations
KW  - Geotechnical engineering
KW  - GRLWEAP (Computer program)
KW  - Load and resistance factor design
KW  - Oregon
KW  - Piles (Supports)
KW  - Sand
KW  - Silts
KW  - Wave equations
UR  - http://otrec.us/project/41
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1106554
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01328138
AU  - Wilson, Elizabeth J
AU  - Marshall, Julian
AU  - Krizek, Kevin
AU  - Wilson, Ryan
AU  - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
AU  - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - School Choice and Children's School Commuting
PY  - 2009/01//Final Report
SP  - 29p
AB  - Some school districts allow parents to choose which school their child attends, a policy known as school choice. The authors study the impact of school choice on school transportation behavior. To do this, they examine the extent to which children’s commute mode and parental attitudes toward school selection and school travel differ by magnet versus neighborhood schools and by race. The authors conducted a survey of elementary-school parents to assess how children travel to school and identify underlying parental attitudes. Compared to national data, their sample of K-6 students had fewer children walking and traveling by personal vehicle, and more riding the school bus. Magnet (i.e. school choice) schools, which draw from broader geographic regions than neighborhood schools, have fewer students walking or biking to school and more students riding the bus rather than using a private automobile. Transportation attitudes and actions differ by school type and race. For example, compared to white parents, nonwhite parents are more concerned about availability and safety of school buses, and also are more likely to use school buses. This paper highlights the importance of school district policy on school transportation, mode choice, and the ability of students to walk or bike to school.
KW  - Attitudes
KW  - Children
KW  - Elementary school students
KW  - Mode choice
KW  - Parents
KW  - Race
KW  - School choice
KW  - School trips
KW  - Travel behavior
KW  - Travel surveys
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1454
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1086571
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01155045
AU  - Larco, Nico
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Overlooked Density: Re-Thinking Transportation Options in Suburbia
PY  - 2009/01//Final Report
SP  - 36p
AB  - Suburban multifamily housing is ubiquitous throughout this country and currently comprises nearly one in four units of suburban housing. Although typically located near commercial development, it is often developed without connections to its surrounding and hence fails to reach its potential for promoting active travel and supporting smart growth goals. Through interviews with architects, planners, developers, and property managers of case study multifamily developments from Oregon, Arizona, Florida, and Massachusetts, this report focuses on the ways regulation, typical development practice, and design culture have propagated the typical disconnected and enclaved forms of suburban multifamily development. The report then proposes ways in which current planning, development, and design practices might shift in order to take advantage of this growing housing trend and create more livable, less congested, and multi-modal suburban communities.
KW  - Arizona
KW  - Development density
KW  - Dwellings
KW  - Florida
KW  - High density development
KW  - Housing
KW  - Housing density
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Livable communities
KW  - Massachusetts
KW  - Multimodal transportation
KW  - Oregon
KW  - Real estate development
KW  - Smart growth
KW  - Suburbs
KW  - Sustainable development
KW  - Urban design
KW  - Walkability
UR  - http://www.otrec.us/project/152
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/916069
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142758
AU  - Chandra, Divya C
AU  - Federal Aviation Administration
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
TI  - Utility and Recognition of Lines and Linear Patterns on Electronic Displays Depicting Aeronautical Charting Information
PY  - 2009/01
SP  - 81p
AB  - This report describes a study conducted to explore the utility and recognition of lines and linear patterns on electronic displays depicting aeronautical charting information. The study gathered data from a large number of pilots who conduct all types of flight operations. Lines and linear patterns that were useful to different pilot groups were identified based on pilot qualifications, types of flight operations, and typical flight length. Pilots were also asked to identify nine test linear patterns in isolation. This task was difficult, but some linear patterns were more recognizable than others. The tested lines and linear patterns will be considered in the development of an updated the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International Aerospace Recommended Practices (ARP) document on Electronic Aeronautical Symbols (ARP 5289A). The Federal Aviation Administration or the International Civil Aviation Organization may choose to adopt this industry document by reference at a later date. Note that this research applies to any electronic display that shows the lines and linear patterns tested in this study, regardless of the intended function of the display.
KW  - Aeronautical charts
KW  - Civil aviation
KW  - Electronics
KW  - Information technology
KW  - Instrument displays
KW  - Navigation charts
KW  - Overhead utility lines
KW  - Symbols
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34900/34924/DOT-VNTSC-FAA-09-03.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/903013
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142756
AU  - Roth, Emilie
AU  - Multer, Jordan
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Technology Implications of a Cognitive Task Analysis for Locomotive Engineers
PY  - 2009/01//Final Report
SP  - 60p
AB  - This report documents the results of a cognitive task analysis (CTA) that examined the cognitive demands and activities of locomotive engineers in today’s environment and the changes in cognitive demands and activities that are likely to arise with the introduction of new train control technologies. The CTA combined structured interviews with experienced locomotive engineers, conductors, and trainers and direct observations made during head-end rides. Data were collected at seven sites, that included both passenger and freight railroads, including five locations where railroads were field testing advanced train control technologies. The results pointed to major cognitive challenges involved in operating a train, including the need for sustained monitoring and attention; maintaining an accurate situation model of the immediate environment (including the location, activities and intentions of other agents in the vicinity such as other trains and roadway workers); anticipating and taking action in preparation for upcoming situations; and planning and decision making, particularly in response to unanticipated conditions (e.g., person or object obstructing the track). Introduction of new train control technology reduces some cognitive demands while creating new ones. The report discusses implication of the results for design of in-cab displays and development of training, particularly for positive train control systems.
KW  - Automatic train control
KW  - Automatic train location
KW  - Cognition
KW  - Conductors (Trains)
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Human factors engineering
KW  - Locomotive engineers
KW  - Positive train control
KW  - Railroad safety
KW  - Train operation
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/381
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34500/34532/DOT-VNTSC-FRA-08-06.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/903037
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142753
AU  - Doran, Neslihan
AU  - Multer, Jordan
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Field Evaluation of a Wireless Handheld Computer for Railroad Roadway Workers
PY  - 2009/01//Final Report
SP  - 58p
AB  - This report is the third in a series describing the development and evaluation of a software application to facilitate communications for railroad roadway workers using a wireless handheld computer. The current prototype operated on a cell phone integrated with a personal digital assistant (PDA). The roadway worker can perform two types of communication related tasks with the application: request information about train status and territory without assistance from the dispatcher and request track authority. This study documents a field evaluation of the application to identify the safety implications of digital wireless communications on roadway worker safety and performance. It compares performance using traditional voice radio and telephone communications to the use of an application that can display this information in a visual form. The software application was faster and more effective than the voice radio communication when used to convey long messages such as filling out Form Ds. Radio communication was faster than the visually based software application for simple communications that did not tax the operator’s memory.
KW  - Digital communication systems
KW  - Dispatchers
KW  - Intelligent railroad systems
KW  - Maintenance personnel
KW  - Personal digital assistants
KW  - Railroad tracks
KW  - Remote sensing
KW  - Train routing
KW  - Wireless communication systems
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/382
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/33000/33700/33707/33707.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/903016
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01131239
AU  - Selley, Sandra
AU  - Urbanik, Tom
AU  - National Transportation Research Center, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - U10: Trusted Truck® II (Phase B)
PY  - 2009/01
SP  - 69p
AB  - Phase B of the Trusted Truck® II project built on the system developed in Phase A (or Year 1). For the implementation portion of the project, systems were added to the trailer to provide additional diagnostic trailer data that can be sent to the Trusted Truck® Management Center (TTMC). Tractor and trailer weight, trailer tire pressure and temperature, trailer ID, and shipment data were successfully added to the data set sent to the TTMC. Phase B also included implementation of driver logon authentication through the TTMC. A System Architecture document was written to provide a comprehensive architectural overview of the non-Volvo proprietary elements of the Trusted Truck ® II project. For the investigation portion of the project, Volvo researched alternative technologies and hardware to enable wireless communication between the trailer and tractor, to obtain diagnostic data from the trailer lights, and to ensure cargo security. The team was able to proceed with implementation of the recommended solutions, resulting in wireless communication of trailer light and cargo door status from the trailer to the tractor. Additionally, Volvo supported the Traffic Signal Priority investigation led by the University of Tennessee through a study of message latency data sent to and from a simulated roadside traffic signal server. All implementation was successfully bench tested outside the test truck environment.
KW  - Automated clearance
KW  - Demonstration projects
KW  - Inspection
KW  - Traffic signal preemption
KW  - Trucking safety
KW  - Wireless communication systems
UR  - http://www.ntrci.org/library/U10-Trusted_Truck_II_Phase_B_1239204294.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/890999
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01124481
AU  - Schooley, Benjamin
AU  - Horan, Thomas A
AU  - Botts, Nathan
AU  - Noamani, Aisha
AU  - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
AU  - Claremont Graduate University
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - ITS and Transportation Safety: EMS System Data Integration to Improve Traffic Crash Emergency Response and Treatment
PY  - 2009/01//Final Report
SP  - 45p
AB  - This investigation is in response to the requirement for Strategic Highway Safety Plans (SHSPs), legislated by SAFETEA-LU, to address the need for data systems to allow for evidence-based safety planning. This study evaluates the use of information systems and intelligent transportation systems across the emergency response continuum of care to vehicle crash emergencies. Organizations that participate in the emergency response process often have siloed IT systems and are not able to share data with other agencies and organizations. An integrated system to produce data for real-time decision making and holistic performance and clinical analysis currently does not exist, but has the potential to improve emergency response and patient care. Proposed in this study is an Integrated Crash Trauma Information Network (ICTN) to allow for integrated information exchange. This study uses data collected from prior studies conducted in Minnesota, a literature review, case studies in Minnesota, and an in-depth analysis of the benefits of linking IT systems, the SHSP, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), 911, Trauma systems, and health information systems. A case study analysis was conducted across three overlapping dimensions to assess current challenges and potential benefits to integrated information sharing: operational, organizational, and governance. The study found potential health provision and data analysis benefits to integrated information sharing and posited a normative architecture to guide the design of systems to better use and analyze crash data. The design and development of a "proof of concept" system is recommended for the next phase of research.
KW  - Data sharing
KW  - Emergency medical services
KW  - Emergency response time
KW  - Information systems
KW  - Integrated information networks
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
KW  - Strategic Highway Safety Plan
KW  - Traffic crashes
KW  - Traffic safety
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1086
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/885610
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01124302
AU  - Hallmark, Shauna L
AU  - Hsu, Yu-Yi
AU  - Maze, Thomas H
AU  - McDonald, Thomas J
AU  - Fitzsimmons, Eric J
AU  - Iowa State University, Ames
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
TI  - Investigating Factors Contributing to Large truck Lane Departure Crashes Using the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS) Database
PY  - 2009/01//Final Report
SP  - 66p
AB  - Lane departure crashes account for a significant number of motor vehicle crashes and fatalities. However, information specific to large truck lane departures is not well documented. This project evaluated lane departure crashes and the related independent variables and attempted to derive causal relationships that can be used to identify preventative measures for reducing large truck lane departure crashes. Data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association’s Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS) Database were evaluated to determine both the common causes and the circumstances leading to lane departure crashes. Causes and circumstances may include driver, vehicle, roadway, and environmental factors. Simple statistics, a simple odds ratio, and logistic regression were used to evaluate the crashes, and driver, vehicle, environmental, and roadway factors contributing to large truck lane departure crashes were identified.
KW  - Commercial vehicles
KW  - Crash causes
KW  - Crash data
KW  - Crash prevention
KW  - Lane departures
KW  - Large Truck Crash Causation Study
KW  - Logistic regression analysis
KW  - Odds ratio
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Trucks
UR  - http://www.ctre.iastate.edu/reports/lg_truck_lane_departure.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/885603
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01124297
AU  - Bloomfield, John R
AU  - Harder, Kathleen A
AU  - Chihak, Benjamin J
AU  - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - The Effect of Sleep Deprivation on Driving Performance
PY  - 2009/01//Final Report
SP  - 50p
AB  - Each of twenty commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers participated in a single twenty-hour experimental session, during which they were continuously kept awake, but were allowed to ingest caffeine and use tobacco as they would in real-world conditions. Each participant drove in a fixed-base advanced driving simulator for approximately one hour on four occasions (at 9:00 am, 3:00 pm, 9:00 pm, and 3:00 am). The 59.5-mile (95.8-km) test route was designed with overpasses and intersections and changes in speed limits—to make the driving experience more like real-word driving. After the fourth drive, the participants were driven to the University of Minnesota’s General Clinical Research Center, where they slept for eight hours. The main result was that the steering performance of CMV drivers was impaired when they stayed awake for an extended period: There was a considerable increase in steering instability between the morning drive, at 9:00 am, and the nighttime drive, at 3:00 am—an increase likely to have been produced by sleep deprivation. [Other results were: (1) stopping behavior improved throughout the session—suggesting practice effects; (2) after the fourth drive, there was less reduction in the participants’ pupil size—but, since there was no difference in pupil size before the fourth drive, there was no evidence to suggest that pupil size reductions could be used to predict sleep deprivation; (3) data from other visual performance tests showed no effect of time of day; and, (4) results obtained from reaction time tests did not show decrements in performance—instead there may have been practice effects.]
KW  - Commercial drivers
KW  - Driving performance
KW  - Driving simulators
KW  - Fatigue (Physiological condition)
KW  - Sleep deprivation
KW  - Steering
KW  - Truck drivers
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1078
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/885599
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01123013
AU  - Wang, Jianmin
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Leaching Behavior of Coal Combustion Products and the Environmental Implication in Road Construction: Project Progress Report
PY  - 2009/01//Project Progress Report
SP  - 44p
AB  - The use of coal fly ash in road base and sub-base applications can provide better properties and performance, and is superior to it being otherwise disposed and becoming a possible environmental liability. Understanding the metal leaching behavior for various fly ashes can help the construction industry and the energy industry in selecting the environmentally benign fly ash for road construction and for other beneficial use applications, and determining the long term environmental impact of fly ash during road construction. Coal fly ash contains many regulated cationic and oxyanionic elements such as antimony, arsenic, barium, boron, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, and selenium. Due to the implantation of several new air emission control regulations, future fly ash may contain elevated concentrations of volatile trace elements especially oxyanionic elements. Since oxyanionic elements have greater mobility in the environment, being less studied previously, and are generally more toxic than cationic elements, understanding the leaching behavior of oxyanionic elements from fly ash is significant in determining the potential environmental impact of fly ash during disposal or beneficial use, selecting the appropriate fly ash for road construction, and developing methods to control the leaching of oxyanionic elements. This research becomes more urgent due to the implementation of more stringent arsenic standards in drinking water that will become effective in January 2006. This research will focus on the leaching behavior of 6 major oxyanionic elements, antimony, arsenic, boron, chromium, molybdenum, and selenium, for various fly ashes under different management scenarios, using both batch and column experiments. Mathematical models will be developed to quantify the leaching behavior of these elements. Speciation of these oxyanion elements will be determined using the most advanced Perkin-Elmer HPLC-ICP-MS system available at Missouri University of Science and Technology.
KW  - Antimony
KW  - Arsenic
KW  - Boron
KW  - Chromium
KW  - Coal combustion products
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Fly ash
KW  - Leaching
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - Metals
KW  - Molybdenum
KW  - Road construction
KW  - Selenium
KW  - Subbase (Pavements)
KW  - Subbase materials
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/R201_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/884745
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01121744
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Pocket Guide to Transportation 2009
PY  - 2009/01
SP  - 56p
AB  - This booklet provides a statistical guide on the state of transportation in the United States. Covering highway, air, rail, maritime, urban transit and pipeline, the contents include transportation topics such as system extent and use; safety; security; mobility; economy; and environment. A glossary of terms is provided.
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Economic impacts
KW  - Economic indicators
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Highways
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Pipelines
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Security
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Transportation safety
KW  - United States
KW  - Utilization
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/pocket_guide_to_transportation/2009/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/879889
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01543894
AU  - Ekşioğlu, Sandra D
AU  - Petrolia, Daniel
AU  - National Center for Intermodal Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Analyzing the Impact of Intermodal Facilities to the Design and Management of Biofuels Supply Chain
PY  - 2009
SP  - 16p
AB  - This paper analyzes the impact that an intermodal facility has on location and transportation decisions for biofuel production plants. Location decisions impact the management of the in-bound and out-bound logistics of a plant. The authors model this supply chain design and management problem as a mixed integer program. Input data for this model are location of intermodal facilities and available transportation modes; cost and cargo capacity for each transportation mode; geographical distribution of biomass feedstock, and production yields; and biomass processing and inventory costs. Outputs from this model are the number, location and capacity of biofuel production plants. For each plant, the transportation mode used, timing of shipments, shipments size, inventory size, and production schedule that minimize the delivery cost of biofuel are determined. The state of Mississippi is considered as the testing grounds for the model. Experimental results indicate that the best location for a (corn-to-ethanol) biorefinery in Mississippi is Warren County, where an inland port is located. Results indicate that, even when the biomass available in Mississippi is enough to operate this facility, it is economical to ship corn from the Midwest using barge.
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Costs
KW  - Industrial location
KW  - Industrial plants
KW  - Intermodal facilities
KW  - Logistics
KW  - Minimization
KW  - Mississippi
KW  - Mixed integer programming
KW  - Supply chain management
UR  - http://ncit.msstate.edu/PDF/reports_61.pdf
UR  - http://ncit.msstate.edu/publications/reports/reports_61.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1332056
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01450874
AU  - Makki, Kami
AU  - Salari, Ezzatollah
AU  - Chou, Eddie Yein Juin
AU  - Lin, En-Bing
AU  - University of Toledo
AU  - Michigan Ohio University Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - A Novel Image Database Analysis System for Maintenance of Transportation Facility
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - 14p
AB  - This report looks at imaging technologies used to enhance the management of pavements. The main parameters of interest for pavement management are pattern classification and measurement of various parameters of crack features. The first section explains the imaging technologies used for processing images. The second section explains the algorithm and the third section shows the simulation result and progress in achieving goals set in this project.
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - Defects
KW  - Digital images
KW  - Flaw detection
KW  - Image analysis
KW  - Image processing
KW  - Imaging systems
KW  - Pavement cracking
KW  - Pavement distress
KW  - Pavement maintenance
KW  - Pavements
UR  - http://mioh-utc.udmercy.edu/research/ts-18-p1/pdf/MIOH_UTC_TS18p1_2009-Final_Rpt_A_Novel_Image_Database_Analysis_etc.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1218118
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01353551
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Applications of 3D Visualization: Peer Exchange Summary Report, Raleigh, North Carolina, July 8–9, 2009
PY  - 2009///Summary Report
SP  - 18p
AB  - On July 8–9, 2009, the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Office of Interstate and Border Planning sponsored a 1.5-day peer exchange to promote the sharing of information on the use of 3D visualization techniques at transportation agencies. North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) hosted the peer exchange. Participants included staff from the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, FHWA, California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), New York State DOT, Volusia County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), the U.S. DOT Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, and Washington State DOT (WSDOT). The purpose of the peer exchange, which focused on select transportation agencies’ 3D visualization activities, was to allow participants with noteworthy visualization capabilities, products, and organizational arrangements the opportunity to share their knowledge, experiences, and lessons learned. Challenges faced in creating visualizations and advancing the state of the practice at their respective agencies were also described. This report summarizes the peer exchange’s presentations, demonstrations and discussions. Comments, questions, and answers from each participant’s presentation session follow the report’s presentation overviews. It is expected that this document will be a resource for other transportation agencies seeking to learn more about their peers’ 3D visualization activities and practices.
KW  - Highway design
KW  - Metropolitan planning organizations
KW  - Peer exchange
KW  - State departments of transportation
KW  - State of the practice
KW  - Three dimensional displays
KW  - Visualization
UR  - http://www.gis.fhwa.dot.gov/documents/PeerEx_report_3D.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1118334
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01353550
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Geographic Information Systems Applications for Bicycle and Pedestrian Decision-Making: Peer Exchange Summary Report, Miami, Florida, May 11‐12, 2009
PY  - 2009///Summary Report
SP  - 29p
AB  - On May 11–12, 2009, during National Bike Month and National Bike to Work Week, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Interstate and Border Planning sponsored a 1.5-day peer exchange to promote the advancement of bicycling and walking as healthy, efficient, and safe transportation modes. The purpose of the peer exchange, which focused on select transportation agencies’ applications of geographic information systems (GIS) to accomplish various bicycle and pedestrian objectives, was to allow participants with notable GIS applications for bicycle and pedestrian planning the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences. Lessons learned and challenges faced in using GIS for bicycle and pedestrian considerations were also discussed. This report provides a summary of the presentations made and discussions held at the peer exchange. It should serve as a resource for State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and transportation agencies looking to learn more about the implementation of GIS for bicycle and pedestrian planning. The report concludes with a section on the lessons participants stated as having learned and recommendations they made for moving forward. The City of Miami hosted the peer exchange at the offices of the Miami-Dade County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). Participants included staff from FHWA, the Broward MPO, the Martin MPO, the Michigan DOT, the New Jersey DOT, the City of Seattle DOT, the Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission (TRORC), and the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Research and Innovative Technology Administration/Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center). Other observers included staff from the City of Miami Mayor’s Office, the City of Miami Public Works Department, and the Street Plans Collaborative.
KW  - Bicycle facilities
KW  - Bicycling
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Lessons learned
KW  - Metropolitan planning organizations
KW  - Pedestrians
KW  - Peer exchange
KW  - Planning and design
KW  - State departments of transportation
KW  - Walking
UR  - http://www.gis.fhwa.dot.gov/documents/GIS_BikePed_Peer_rpt.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1118339
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01353549
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - GIS Applications in Eco-Logical Grant Projects: Peer Exchange Summary Report, Austin, TX, July 22-23, 2009
PY  - 2009///Summary Report
SP  - v.p.
AB  - On August 22-23, 2009, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Interstate and Border Planning and Office of Project Development and Environmental Review sponsored a 1.5-day peer exchange to convene recipients of "Eco-Logical" grants whose funded projects related to geographic information systems (GIS). The Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG) in Austin, Texas hosted the peer exchange, and participants included staff from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6, Envision Central Texas, FHWA, Houston-Galveston Area Council, Mid-America Regional Council, New Hampshire Audubon Society, North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), Oregon State University, Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, the Trust for Public Land, the U.S. DOT Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, and The Wetlands Conservancy. The purpose of the peer exchange was to allow grant recipients the opportunity to share information on and learn about the various GIS activities implemented with support from FWHA's first Eco-Logical grant cycle. Lessons learned and challenges faced were also discussed. This report summarizes the presentations given and ensuing discussions. Comments, questions, and answers from participants' presentation sessions follow the presentation overviews. It is expected that this document will be a resource for other transportation agencies seeking to learn more about uses of GIS to support the implementation of an ecosystem approach to transportation project development.
KW  - Ecology
KW  - Environmental policy
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Highway design
KW  - Highway planning
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Lessons learned
KW  - Peer exchange
KW  - Project development
UR  - http://www.gis.fhwa.dot.gov/documents/PeerEx_report_72209.asp
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1118337
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01338796
AU  - Zhang, Chunsun
AU  - South Dakota State University, Brookings
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Monitoring the Condition of Unpaved Roads with Remote Sensing and Other Technology
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - 53p
AB  - This project investigated remote sensing technology for monitoring the condition of unpaved roads, which are usually low-volume roads serving remote areas and agricultural business and linking agricultural communities to nearby towns and markets. These unpaved roads are usually inadequately inspected and assessed. The primary thrust of this project was to develop an efficient and cost-effective system and methods for the collection of unpaved road condition data in support of the road management needs of transportation agencies and local government. The use of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) with a Global Positioning System and a digital camera as a road data collection platform was explored, and efficient methods and systems were developed to process UAV images and identify and quantify unpaved road surface condition parameters. The developed system has been tested over a number of rural roads with various surface conditions. Road images have been acquired and processed, and the size and dimension of surface distresses have been measured efficiently with sufficient accuracy. The difference of one centimeter between image-based measurement and precise ground survey demonstrates the capability of the developed system. The developed system is faster, safer and more consistent than manual surveys. The acquired road imagery, together with the derived 3D road images and condition measurements can be directly integrated into a rural road management system, thereby allowing more efficient management of rural road networks.
KW  - Condition surveys
KW  - Cost effectiveness
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Digital cameras
KW  - Drone aircraft
KW  - Farm roads
KW  - Field tests
KW  - Global Positioning System
KW  - Image processing
KW  - Low volume roads
KW  - Remote sensing
KW  - Surface course (Pavements)
KW  - Unpaved roads
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/42000/42300/42378/FinalReport.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1100717
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01330442
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Transportation Statistics Annual Report 2009
PY  - 2009///Annual Report
SP  - 227p
AB  - This report presents data and information selected by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a component of the U.S. Department of Transportation's (USDOT's) Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), to fulfill its legislative mandate. For the reader's convenience, the data and information have been selected and organized by topic or transportation mode. Chapter 1 discusses key USDOT initiatives: fostering safety, improving livable communities, improving the state of good repair, fostering economic competitiveness, and building environmental sustainability of the U.S. transportation system. The chapter reflects the intermodal and multimodal nature of the U.S. transportation system and also highlights the Commodity Flow Survey (CFS). The CFS identifies and reports hazardous material shipments by geographic regions, mode of transportation, and classification scheme. Chapter 2 examines the modal systems that comprise the U.S. transportation system. More specifically, this chapter covers aviation, motor vehicles, the marine transportation system, rail, and transit. The legislative mandate requires BTS to document the methods used to obtain the report's statistical information, ensure its quality, and make recommendations for improvements. In chapter 3, the major BTS program areas respond to this requirement by identifying the guidelines that apply to Federal data quality and the statistics included in this report. The chapter also lists the select Federal agencies that collect or compile transportation data. In addition, this chapter focuses on data gaps and improving the ways in which transportation statistics are collected, compiled, analyzed, and published.
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Commodity flow
KW  - Economics
KW  - Energy
KW  - Environment
KW  - Highway transportation
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Multimodal transportation
KW  - Pipeline transportation
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Transportation safety
KW  - United States
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/transportation_statistics_annual_report/2009/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1091189
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01330437
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Bureau of Transportation Statistics Significant Accomplishments 2009
PY  - 2009
SP  - 18p
AB  - The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) was established within the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) in 1992 to collect, report, and analyze transportation data. Today, BTS is a component of the USDOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). The BTS mission is to create, manage, and share transportation statistical knowledge with public and private transportation communities and the Nation. This mission is served by developing quality transportation data, promoting transportation knowledge through statistical products, and advancing the effective use of this knowledge by public and private transportation decision makers, researchers, and the American public. This report  presents the accomplishments of BTS during fiscal year 2009.
KW  - Data analysis
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Data quality
KW  - Information dissemination
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Transportation modes
KW  - U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics
KW  - United States
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1091191
ER  - 

TY  - CONF
AN  - 01173158
AU  - Zhang, Yan
AU  - McGovern, Seamus
AU  - U.S. Department of Transportation
TI  - Mathematical Models for Human Pilot Maneuvers in Aircraft Flight Simulation
PY  - 2009
SP  - 5p
AB  - Mathematical models are presented in this paper to describe human maneuvers for aircraft flight simulation. Input parameters for the human pilot model (HPM), such as the course deviation indicator (CDI) and the heading change, are defined for the model, and are related mathematically to those in the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller for automatic control. Similarities are discussed between the parameters in HPM and those in the automatic control for better understanding of the significance of human factors and their effect on aircraft behavior. Examples for the HPM include aircraft instrument landing system (ILS) lateral and vertical control, heading change, and homing. The model is tested by using the high-fidelity flight simulation simulator JSBSim.
U1  - 2009 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and ExpositionAmerican Society of Mechanical EngineersLake Buena Vista,FL,United States StartDate:20091113 EndDate:20091119 Sponsors:American Society of Mechanical Engineers
KW  - Aircraft pilotage
KW  - Behavior
KW  - Flight simulators
KW  - Human factors in crashes
KW  - Instrument landing systems
KW  - Landing aids
KW  - Maneuverability
KW  - Mathematical models
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/933258
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01159336
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - State Transportation Statistics 2008
PY  - 2009
SP  - 142p
AB  - This document is a statistical profile of transportation in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. It presents transportation information from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, other federal government agencies, and other national sources. It is divided into nine sections that cover infrastructure, safety, freight transportation, passenger travel, registered vehicles and vehicle-miles traveled, economy and finance, energy and the environment, information on data sources, and appendices and a glossary. Modes of transportation include highway, public transit, air travel, water transportation and railroad transportation. Data are for the year 2008 unless otherwise noted.
KW  - Economics
KW  - Energy
KW  - Environment
KW  - Finance
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Passenger transportation
KW  - Registrations
KW  - States
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Transportation modes
KW  - Transportation safety
KW  - Vehicle miles of travel
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/state_transportation_statistics/
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/state_transportation_statistics/state_transportation_statistics_2008/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34600/34686/2008STS.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/919333
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01152928
AU  - Trowbridge, Matthew J
AU  - Gurka, Matthew J
AU  - O'Connor, Robert E
AU  - University of Virginia, Charlottesville
AU  - University of Alabama at Birmingham University Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Emergency Medical Services and Congestion: Urban Sprawl and Pre-hospital Emergency Care Time
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - 7p
AB  - This research measured the association between urban sprawl and emergency medical service (EMS) response time.  The purpose was to test the hypothesis that features of the built environment increase the probability of delayed ambulance arrival.  Using data on motor vehicle crashes obtained from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, it was found that urban sprawl is significantly associated with increased EMS response time and a higher probability of delayed ambulance arrival.
KW  - Ambulances
KW  - Built environment
KW  - Emergency medical services
KW  - Emergency response time
KW  - Fatality Analysis Reporting System
KW  - Traffic crashes
KW  - Urban sprawl
UR  - http://www.uab.edu/utc/Final%20Reports.html
UR  - http://www.uab.edu/utc/PDF%20Files/Final%20Reports/Urban%20Sprawl%20FINAL%20REPORT.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/914507
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01146807
AU  - Zolnik, Edmund J
AU  - Sutter, Ryan
AU  - George Mason University
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Innovation in Government: Workforce Practices
PY  - 2009///Final Research Report
SP  - 26p
AB  - A review of the literature on innovation within government provides detailed case studies on innovative practices adopted by transportation agencies across the U.S.  These case studies focus on operational innovations adopted by transportation agencies, particularly innovative workforce practices, rather than policy innovations applicable to the broader transportation industry.  After reviewing two anecdotal examples of innovations to expand and maintain transportation infrastructure, the discussion shifts to five different case studies on innovative transportation workforce practices.  These innovative practices target the following workforce challenges which state departments of transportation (DOTs) are currently confronting: recruitment; retention; staff development; organizational change; and succession planning.  The case studies provide specific examples of how innovation occurs in state DOTs.
KW  - Innovation
KW  - Labor force
KW  - Organizational change
KW  - Personnel development
KW  - Personnel retention
KW  - Selection and appointment
KW  - State departments of transportation
KW  - Succession management
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/906921
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01146806
AU  - High, Jack
AU  - George Mason University
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Value-Based Investing for Government Infrastructure: Financing Virginia's Roads
PY  - 2009///Final Research Report
SP  - 42p
AB  - It is more difficult for government agencies to invest wisely than it is for business firms; bureaus usually do not generate revenue from their investments, so they do not have the price system to guide them.  This disadvantage can be overcome by using economic value estimates in place of actual prices.  Value estimates can be calculated by finding the market prices of similar services and adjusting them to new circumstances.  The author did this for two construction projects proposed by the Virginia Department of Transportation.  Using California's 91 ExpressLanes as a reference value, he was able to calculate value estimates for I-81 in Roanoke and I-66 in Fairfax.  Using these estimates, he was able to discover how much revenue could be generated from each investment.  $7 million in gross revenues could be generated yearly from the I-581 project; $38 million in gross revenues could be generated yearly from the I-66 project.  Since the costs of these two projects are about equal, investing in I-66 generates considerably more value than investing in I-581.  By creating a Bureau of Economic Value Estimation and giving it the power to prioritize road investments, the Virginia legislature could institutionalize the efficient investment of its scarce capital resources in roads, thus furthering growth at home and serving as a model for other States,
KW  - Financing
KW  - Highways
KW  - Investments
KW  - Revenues
KW  - Road construction
KW  - Road pricing
KW  - Value engineering
KW  - Virginia
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/906932
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01146776
AU  - Button, Kenneth
AU  - Hardy, Matthew
AU  - Doh, Soogwan
AU  - Yuan, Junyang
AU  - Zhou, Xin
AU  - George Mason University
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Transit Forecasting Accuracy: Ridership Forecasts and Capital Cost Estimates
PY  - 2009///Final Research Report
SP  - 24p
AB  - In 1992, Pickrell published a seminal piece examining the accuracy of ridership forecasts and capital cost estimates for fixed-guideway transit systems in the U.S.  His research created heated discussions in the transit industry regarding the ability of transit planners to properly plan large-scale transit systems.  Since then, evidence has arisen to suggest that ridership forecasting and capital cost estimation of both new transit systems and extensions to existing transit systems has improved.  However, no statistical analysis has been conducted of U.S. transit systems to determine this.  This research fills this gap in the literature by examining 47 fixed-guideway transit projects planned in the U.S. between 1972 and 2005 to see whether or not  Pickrell Effect can be observed whereby ridership forecasting and capital cost estimations improved due to Pickrell's work.
KW  - Capital costs
KW  - Cost estimating
KW  - Fixed guideway transit
KW  - Forecasting
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Rail transit
KW  - Ridership
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31300/31361/Transit_Forecasting.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/906917
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01144485
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - United States Department of Transportation Research, Development, Demonstration, & Deployment Roadmap for Hydrogen Vehicles & Infrastructure to Support a Transition to a Hydrogen Economy
PY  - 2009
SP  - 42p
AB  - The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Hydrogen Roadmap is the guiding document for the DOT Hydrogen Safety Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment (RDD&D) programs. It outlines the roles and activities of each participating operating administration and their parallel efforts within the DOT. The Roadmap also serves as an outreach document for communication, coordination, and collaboration with other Federal agencies, industry, the public, and Congress. The Roadmap began as an initiative of the DOT Hydrogen Working Group. It was developed with input from senior staff of all the participating DOT operating administrations: the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the Secretary’s Policy Office. The Department of Energy’s recommendations were also solicited, and are included. The Roadmap delineates four major topic areas: 1) Safety Codes, Standards, and Regulations; 2) Infrastructure Development and Deployment; 3) Safety Education, Outreach, and Training; and 4) Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicle Development, Demonstration, and Deployment. The Roadmap illustrates the paths and timeframes necessary to enable a successful hydrogen infrastructure for the transportation enterprise. It also responds to the internal need to coordinate and share information among the various DOT operating administrations, and to provide other Federal agencies with an understanding of DOT’s hydrogen program roles and funding requirements. Finally, the Roadmap provides a concise and consistent document for future program direction.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Demonstration projects
KW  - Department of Transportation
KW  - Deployment
KW  - Development
KW  - Heavy duty vehicles
KW  - Hydrogen fuels
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Interagency relations
KW  - Research
KW  - Transportation safety
KW  - Vehicles
UR  - http://hydrogen.dot.gov/publications/hydrogen_roadmap/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/903988
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142465
AU  - Carroll, A A
AU  - Haines, M J
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - 2003 Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety Research Needs Workshop. Volume 2: Appendices
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - 172p
AB  - The purposes of the workshop were to provide up-to-date information and research reports from selected organizations, analyze a number of safety research topics by a selected group of delegates from all areas of technology and government organizations associated with the rail industry, and define a new practical list of research needs for the Highway-Rail at Grade Crossing Safety Program of the Federal Railroad Administrations Office of Research and Development and Office of Safety in coordination with other organizations having similar needs.
KW  - Countermeasures
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Railroad grade crossings
KW  - Railroad safety
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Research
KW  - Workshops
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/376
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34500/34527/DOT-VNTSC-FRA-07-07-II.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902707
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01139285
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - National Transportation Atlas Database 2009
PY  - 2009
SP  - n.p.
AB  - The National Transportation Atlas Databases 2009 (NTAD2009) is a set of nationwide geographic databases of transportation facilities, transportation networks, and associated infrastructure. These datasets include spatial information for transportation modal networks and intermodal terminals, as well as the related attribute information for these features. Metadata documentation, as prescribed by the Federal Geographic Data Committee, is also provided for each database. The data on this DVD support research, analysis, and decision-making across all modes of transportation. They are most useful at the national level, but have major applications at regional, state, and local scales throughout the transportation community. NTAD2009 is organized into subdirectories, one for each feature type (point, polyline, and polygon) and one for each database. At the top level of the DVD, there is also a docs subdirectory containing the back cover notes and these liner notes. Transportation networks are polyline databases. Transportation facilities are point databases. The geographic reference databases may exist as any of the three feature types: point, polyline, or polygon.
KW  - Attributes (Features)
KW  - Databases
KW  - Features (Cartographic databases)
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Intermodal terminals
KW  - Metadata
KW  - Transportation modes
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/56000/56600/56695/NTAD_2009.zip
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/898674
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01135875
AU  - Patangia, Hirak C
AU  - Mack-Blackwell Transportation Center
AU  - Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Solar Powered Lighting for Overhead Highway Signs
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - 39p
AB  - The purpose of the research is to design and develop a low cost solar powered lighting system for overhead highway signs with a view to improving night visibility especially under poor driving conditions, and enhance highway safety. Two lighting systems have been researched, developed and tested: one system employs light emitting diode (LED) technology and the other uses compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) technology. The commercial CFL lights are ac powered and for dc operation with photo-voltaic energy, a new inverter design has been implemented. The inverter efficiency is better than 95% and the total harmonic distortion (THD) is less than 15%. The design incorporates SLA (Sealed Lead Acid) batteries for energy storage. The inverter is essential when hybrid operation (solar as well as ac line) is desired. For stand-alone solar application, it has been shown that the CFL lights can be directly operated from dc source and thus eliminate the inverter to minimize power losses. Further, a new dc operated ballast configuration was also investigated for CFL lighting to increase its luminous efficacy. The LED system employs pulse-width modulation technique controlled by a micro-controller for its operation. Both the systems incorporate a power management controller to adjust the lighting effect to compensate for weather conditions for days with inadequate solar charging. The two lighting systems have been deployed to illuminate two signs (Memphis and Remington Exit) on Interstate 40 East at the Remington exit. The CFL technology was used for the Remington Exit sign with a lighting area of 50-60 sq ft. This report presents the design and development of the two systems, their outdoor deployment results, and recommendations for future research.
KW  - Field tests
KW  - Fluorescent lamps
KW  - Future research
KW  - Illuminated traffic signs
KW  - Light emitting diodes
KW  - Lighting
KW  - Night visibility
KW  - Overhead traffic signs
KW  - Solar energy
UR  - http://www.arkansastrc.com/MBTC%20REPORTS/MBTC%202096.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/896199
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01133745
AU  - Bazant, Zdenek P
AU  - Baweja, Sandeep
AU  - Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Minimizing Shrinkage, Creep, and Cracking Damage to Concrete Bridges: Part 1: Creep and Shrinkage Prediction Model for Analysis and Design of Concrete Structures: Model B3; Part 2: Creep, Shrinkage, and Durability Mechanics of Concrete and Other Quasi-Brittle Materials
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - v.p.
AB  - This final report consists of two parts: a paper published previously in conference proceedings and the Table of Contents from another conference proceedings.  The first (designated Part 1) is part of the Adam Neville Symposium: Creep and Shrinkage--Structural Design Effects, ACI SP-194, 2000, pp 1-83.  It presents a model for the characterization of concrete creep and shrinkage in design of concrete structures (Model B3), which is simpler, agrees better with the experimental data and is better theoretically justified than the previous models.  The second (designated Part 2) is the table of contents of the Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Creep, Shrinkage and Durability Mechanics of Concrete and Other Quasi-Brittle Materials (CONCREEP-6), 20-22 August 2001, Cambridge, MA.
KW  - Concrete
KW  - Concrete bridges
KW  - Concrete structures
KW  - Cracking
KW  - Creep
KW  - Durability
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - Shrinkage
UR  - http://iti.northwestern.edu/publications/utc/tea-21/FR-1-2-Bazant.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894373
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01133744
AU  - Bazant, Zdenek P
AU  - Yu, Qiang
AU  - Pang, Sze-Dai
AU  - Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Introducing Size Effect into Design Practice and Codes for Concrete Infrastructure: Part 1: Designing Against Size Effect on Shear Strength of Reinforced Concrete Beams without Stirrups; Part 2: Size Effect and Design Safety in Concrete Structures Under Shear; Part 3: Probabilistic Size Effect in Fracture Mechanics of Quasi-Brittle Materials
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - v.p.
AB  - This final report consists of one journal article and two dissertations.  The journal article (designated Part 1) was prepared by Zdenek P. Bazant and Qiang Yu and was published in the ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering, December 2005.  The paper discusses the size effect on shear strength of reinforced concrete beams without stirrups.  The first dissertation (designated Part 2) was prepared by Quang Yu in June 2007.  It discusses incorporating fracture mechanics into design practice through the size effect.  The second dissertation (designated Part 3) was prepared by Sze-Dai Pang in December 2005.  It discusses the probabilistic size effect in fracture mechanics of quasibrittle materials.
KW  - Beams
KW  - Concrete structures
KW  - Fracture mechanics
KW  - Reinforced concrete
KW  - Safety
KW  - Shear strength
KW  - Size
KW  - Structural design
UR  - http://www.iti.northwestern.edu/publications/utc/tea-21/FR-3-8-Bazant.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894368
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01133743
AU  - Shah, Surendra P
AU  - Sun, Zhihui
AU  - Voigt, Thomas
AU  - Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Ultrasonic Technique for the In-Situ Monitoring of the Setting, Hardening, and Strength Gain of Concrete: Part 1: Monitoring the Early-Age Properties of Cementitious Materials with Ultrasonic Wave Reflection Method at Macro and Micro-Structural Levels; Part 2: The Application of an Ultrasonic Shear Wave Reflection Method for Nondestructive Testing of Cement-Based Materials at Early Ages
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - v.p.
AB  - This final report consists of two dissertations for the doctor of philosophy degree.  The first (designated Part 1) was prepared by Zhihui Sun in December 2005. It discusses a new nondestructive testing method called ultrasonic wave reflection method for measuring the shear wave reflection loss at an interface between the hydrating cement paste and a buffer material.  The objective of the research was to evaluate the possibility of using this method to predict the mechanical properties of early-age concrete.  The second (designated Part 2) was prepared by Thomas Voigt in September 2004.  It discusses a method based on ultrasonic shear wave reflections for measuring the reflection loss of ultrasonic waves at the interface of a steel plate and hydrating cementitious materials.
KW  - Concrete
KW  - Concrete hardening
KW  - Early age (Concrete)
KW  - Mechanical properties
KW  - Monitoring
KW  - Nondestructive tests
KW  - Rate of strength gain
KW  - S waves
KW  - Setting (Concrete)
KW  - Ultrasonic waves
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894369
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01133742
AU  - Dowding, Charles H
AU  - McKenna, Laureen M
AU  - Hughes, Brandon G
AU  - Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Autonomous Crack Monitoring: Part 1: Comparison of Measured Crack Response in Diverse Structures to Dynamic Events and Weather Phenomena; Part 2: Qualification of Autonomous Crack Monitoring Systems
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - v.p.
AB  - This final report consists of two theses for the master of science degree.  The first (designated Part 1) was prepared by Laureen M. McKenna in March 2002.  It consists of the data and analysis of structural responses for two different studies: the Office of Surface Mining study of the velocity response of "atypical" residential structures and the Autonomous Crack Monitoring study.  The second (designated Part 2) was prepared by Brandon G. Hughes in June 2006.  It summarizes the qualification and testing of two commercial Autonomous Crack Monitoring systems for use in measuring micrometer displacement of cracks.
KW  - Autonomous crack monitoring systems
KW  - Concrete structures
KW  - Cracking
UR  - http://iti.northwestern.edu/publications/utc/tea-21/FR-1-8-Dowding.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894381
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01133741
AU  - Finno, Richard J
AU  - Hanifah, Abdul Aziz
AU  - Chao, Hsiao-chou
AU  - Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - NDE of Foundations: Part 1: A Theoretical Evaluation of Guided Waves in Deep Foundations; Part 2: An experimental Model for Non-destructive Evaluation on Pile Foundations Using Guided Wave Approach
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - v.p.
AB  - This final report consists of two dissertations for the doctor of philosophy degree.  The first (designated Part 1) was prepared by Abdul Aziz Hanifah in June 1999.  It contains a theoretical approach to non-destructive evaluation of deep foundations using guided waves.  Guided wave propagation in an infinitely long cylindrical pile embedded in soil is developed from dynamic equations of elasticity.  Considering axisymmetric motion in the pile, the frequency equation for longitudinal modes is derived.  The frequency equation represents a transcendental relationship between the non-dimensional frequency and non-dimensional wave number.  The second dissertation (designated Part 2) was prepared by Hsiao-chou Chao in December 2002.  It extends the frequency range for surface reflection techniques for concrete piles using a three-dimensional guided wave approach.
KW  - Deep foundations
KW  - Guided wave inspection
KW  - Nondestructive tests
KW  - Pile foundations
KW  - Structural integrity
KW  - Theoretical studies
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894367
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01133738
AU  - Finno, Richard J
AU  - Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Micropiles
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - 79p
AB  - Micropiles socketed in rock are used in the Chicago area for rehabilitation work for infrastructure systems.  They differ from many micropiles in that they are designed based on end-bearing rather than interface shear.  There are no specially-created procedures for designing micropiles socketed in rock.  Their axial capacities typically are determined either on the basis of provisions in building codes not specifically related to micropiles or conventional design methods for drilled shafts.  The capacity of a micropile socketed in rock is selected as either a conservative estimate of structural capacity or its end bearing capacity neglecting the shearing resistance along its side.  Results of a number of field axial load tests indicate the load deflection responses are essentially linear to code-specified design loads, suggesting the true capacity of the piles are significantly higher than currently-allowed values.  In conjunction with TCDI, a division of Hayward Baker of Lincolnshire, IL, Northwestern University conducted four axial load tests on micropiles embedded in the Vulcan quarry of Countryside, IL.  The dolomite in the quarry was directly accessible and allowed evaluation of the friction at the interface of the micropiles with the rock, without the need to drill through deep deposits of overlying soil.  Strain gages were installed on the steel pipes and embedment strain gages were installed in the grout to study the load transfer during the testing.  This report briefly summarizes design procedures for micropiles in rock, describes the axial load test section, presents the load test results, and discusses the results in light of conventional design procedures and suggests a different approach for designing these foundation elements.
KW  - Axial loads
KW  - Design
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Load tests
KW  - Load transfer
KW  - Micropiles
KW  - Rehabilitation (Maintenance)
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894242
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01133736
AU  - O'Neil, Edward F
AU  - Jennings, Hamlin M
AU  - Thomas, Jeffrey J
AU  - Shen, Weiguo
AU  - Cummins, Toney
AU  - Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Development of a Frangible Concrete to Reduce Blast-Related Casualties
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - 44p
AB  - An investigation into the shrinkage and fracture properties of cement and slag binders was conducted along with studies on aggregate and aggregate gradation to develop a new high-performance concrete having adequate quasi-static load-bearing properties along with high frangibility under dynamic loading conditions.  The purpose of this frangible concrete is to minimize casualties from large fragments of concrete propelled by a vehicle bomb detonated outside of a safety perimeter wall.  Four sets of designed experiments were executed to find the optimum mixture of slag, cement, sand, activator, water-binder ratio, aggregate to paste ratio, and curing conditions to produce a matrix with the right level of preformed microcracks to carry a static load and to fracture under a higher dynamic load.  Laboratory designed experiments measuring compressive strength and frangibility indices were followed by field blast experiments on block walls made from the frangible material to document post-blast fragment size.
KW  - Aggregate gradation
KW  - Blast loads
KW  - Compressive strength
KW  - Concrete curing
KW  - Frangible concrete
KW  - High performance concrete
KW  - Microcracking
KW  - Shrinkage
KW  - Slag cement
KW  - Water cement ratio
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894219
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01133735
AU  - Thomas, Jeffrey J
AU  - Jennings, Hamlin M
AU  - Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Materials of Cement Science Primer: The Science of Concrete
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - 96p
AB  - This primer on the science of concrete is presented in the following chapters:  (1) Introduction - introduces a web site on the scientific aspects of concrete for the non-expert and provides a quick overview of the materials science of cement; (2) Concrete Basics; (3) The Concrete Construction Process; (4) Manufacture and Composition of Portland Cement; (5) Hydration and Microstructure of Portland Cement Paste; and (6) The Pore Structure and Surface Area of Cement Paste.
KW  - Cement paste
KW  - Composition (Materials)
KW  - Concrete
KW  - Concrete construction
KW  - Hydration
KW  - Manufacturing
KW  - Materials science
KW  - Microstructure
KW  - Pore structure
KW  - Portland cement
KW  - Properties of materials
KW  - Surface area
KW  - Websites (Information retrieval)
UR  - http://iti.northwestern.edu/publications/utc/tea-21/FR-5-Jennings-Thomas.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894280
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01133734
AU  - Finno, Richard J
AU  - Wang, Helsin
AU  - Lynch, James J
AU  - Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Concrete Evaluation Using Guided Waves: (Part 1) Theoretical Evaluation of Embedded Plate-Like and Solid Cylindrical Concrete Structures with Guided Waves; (Part 2) Experimental Evaluation of Concrete Piles Subjected to Flexural Guided Waves
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - v.p.
AB  - This final report consists of two dissertations for the doctor of philosophy degree.  The first (designated Part 1) was prepared by Helsin Wang in December 2004. It contains six chapters.  Chapter 1 is an introduction.  Chapter 2 presents the fundamentals of wave propagation with emphasis on waveguides and summarizes different type of guided waves.  Chapter 3 summarizes numerical analysis methods used in developing solutions to the dispersion equations, assumptions for material properties, and values of material properties for concrete and soil used herein.  Chapter 4 develops the solutions for guided waves propagating in an embedded plate-like concrete structure.  Chapter 5 describes the solution for the flexural mode waves propagating in an embedded solid cylindrical concrete structure.  Chapter 6 summarizes this thesis and presents conclusions related to the Rayleigh-Lamb waves propagating in an embedded plate-like concrete structure and flexural mode waves propagating in an embedded solid cylindrical concrete structure.  The second dissertation (designated Part 2) was prepared by James J. Lynch, Jr., in December 2007.  It encompasses eight chapters.  Chapter 1 is an introduction.  Chapter 2 summarizes the conventional sonic echo and impulse response methods for nondestructive evaluation of deep foundations, presents details of the structures by which the lateral impact method and flexural controlled frequency method are to be verified, and presents the governing equation for three dimensional wave propagation within a cylindrical waveguide and solutions of the flexural modes.  Chapter 3 describes the test procedures, test equipment, and analytical procedures used in the experimental program.  Chapter 4 describes the prototype pile evaluated by the impact and shaker methods.  Chapter 5 presents the results of lateral impact tests performed on the new prototype pile under traction-free conditions and embedded conditions, as well as the results of lateral impact tests performed on two existing prototype piles under embedded conditions to verify the guided wave theory presented in Chapter 2.  Chapter 6 presents the flexural controlled frequency results for the prototype pile under traction-free conditions to verify the guided wave theory presented in Chapter 2 for the higher frequencies generated in the flexural controlled frequency tests.  Chapter 7 presents the flexural controlled frequency results for the prototype pile and two existing prototype piles embedded in very loose sand to verify the guided wave theory presented in Chapter 2.  Chapter 8 summarizes the work presented in this thesis, presents conclusions regarding the applicability of guided wave theory for nondestructive evaluation of deep foundations, and provides recommended test procedures and analytical methods.
KW  - Analytical methods
KW  - Concrete
KW  - Concrete structures
KW  - Deep foundations
KW  - Drilled shafts
KW  - Guided wave inspection
KW  - Nondestructive tests
KW  - Piles (Supports)
KW  - Test procedures
KW  - Testing equipment
UR  - http://iti.northwestern.edu/publications/utc/tea-21/FR-5-6-Finno.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894288
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01133733
AU  - Thomas, Jeffrey J
AU  - Kosnik, David
AU  - Kotowsky, Mathew P
AU  - Marron, Daniel
AU  - Schofer, Joseph L
AU  - Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Structural Health Monitoring of Civil Infrastructure
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - 30p
AB  - The mission of the Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI) at Northwestern University is to develop strategies and tools to protect and improve the condition, capacity and performance of the nation's highway, railroad, and mass transit infrastructure systems.  The ITI does this through the development and deployment of (1) advanced technologies for structural health monitoring (SHM); (2) advanced infrastructure materials, analysis and testing techniques; and (3) new tools for integrating infrastructure condition and performance information into system management, investment, and policy decision processes.  Development and application of tools and methods for SHM of infrastructure represent core activities for the ITI.  Over the past eight years ITI has conducted more than 70 different SHM projects around the US.  ITI staff and its research partners (primarily Northwestern University professors) have made significant technical advances in SHM, including measurement techniques, remote monitoring methods, and data analysis.  This compendium discusses SHM in general, reviews ITI's role in this field, and presents a series of case studies that highlight ITI's achievements and capabilities.
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Highways
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Structural health monitoring
KW  - Technological innovations
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894248
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01133731
AU  - Zhang, Yingchun
AU  - Novick, David A
AU  - Hadavi, Ahmad
AU  - Krizek, Raymond J
AU  - Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Life Cycle Cost of Bridges: Part 1: Whole Life Cycle Cost for Chicago-Type Bascule Bridges; Part 2: Life Cycle Cost Analysis of Bridges and Tunnels
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - 17p
AB  - (Part 1) The whole life cost of a bridge consists of the total investment throughout the life of the bridge.  This investment includes the initial construction cost, repair and rehabilitation costs, and all maintenance costs.  An ability to determine the whole life cost of a bridge will help agencies evaluate the asset value of existing bridges, make better decisions on the design and construction of new bridges, and choose methods and approaches for rehabilitating existing structures such that the lowest life cycle cost is achieved rather than the lowest initial cost.  Toward this end the whole life costs of Chicago trunnion bascule bridges are analyzed and found to be less than five times the initial costs for life spans exceeding 100 years.  It was also shown that timely maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation can lower the life cycle cost of a bridge.  (Part 2) This paper presents an analysis of life cycle costs for four bridges and two tunnels constructed and operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.  Cost components include the initial cost, repair and rehabilitation costs, and annual maintenance costs.  Results show that the maintenance and rehabilitation costs, as a percentage of the initial cost, are reasonably similar for both bridges and tunnels for perhaps the first 65 years of their service life, after which these costs increase significantly for bridges.  However, based on cost per square foot and cost per traffic lane, the opposite is clearly true.  Only time and detailed cost records for ensuing years will reveal how the two types of structure compare over their entire service lives.
KW  - Bascule bridges
KW  - Bridges
KW  - Life cycle costing
KW  - Tunnels
UR  - http://iti.northwestern.edu/publications/utc/tea-21/FR-4-6-Krizek.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894281
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01133730
AU  - Fine, Morris E
AU  - Vaynman, Semyon
AU  - Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Commercialization of NuCu Steel
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - 8p
AB  - The objectives of this project were to (a) develop a high performance (70 Ksi yield strength) and less expensive construction steel and (b) market the steel for infrastructure application.  To achieve the first objective the carbon content in the steel was lowered.  The steel derived strength by copper precipitation hardening, which occurs during air cooling.  The alloying for hardenability was not required, therefore chromium and molybdenum were omitted.  Nickel was added to prevent hot-shortness during hot rolling.  Niobium and titanium were added to control grain size during hot rolling and welding.  Because of simplified processing and lean composition, the resulting steel is lower in cost than ASTM 709 HPS70, HSLA 80 or ASTM A710 steels.  To achieve the second objective, the authors worked with steel producers, steel consumers, American Iron and Steel Institute/Federal Highway Administration/US Navy Steering Committee on High Performance Steel Development, government agencies, etc.  They published papers and reported results of steel development at conferences and symposia.  The steel was included in the ASTM A710 Standard for Construction Steels.
KW  - Bridges
KW  - Costs
KW  - High performance steel
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Marketing
KW  - Structural steel
KW  - Yield strength
UR  - http://iti.northwestern.edu/publications/utc/tea-21/FR-1-3-fine-vaynman.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894236
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01133729
AU  - Dowding, Charles H
AU  - Kotowsky, Mathew P
AU  - Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Maintenance of NDE Websites: Maintenance of Legacy Remote Monitoring Web Sites
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - 10p
AB  - Over the course of TEA-21, the Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI) at Northwestern University engineers have developed, deployed, and verified techniques for the continuous remote monitoring of a variety of structures.  Every continuous remote monitoring project has an associated web site that is designed and maintained by the ITI staff in concert with Civil Data Systems, a private spin-off company that has commercialized ITI-developed web-based data display technologies.  Each of these web sites thoroughly documents the project and makes all collected data available in near real-time.  ITI's strategy of automated data collection and display provides project managers easy access to information about the health of a structure and quick warnings at the first signs of trouble with a structure or monitoring system.  Project A493 sought to maintain and update various web sites that were deployed prior to the end of Year 6 of TEA-21 (August 31, 2005).  The sites listed in this report document projects that may no longer be subjects of active transportation-related research, but whose design and legacy data remain relevant to active research topics.
KW  - Automatic data collection systems
KW  - Bridges
KW  - Monitoring
KW  - Remote sensing
KW  - Structures
KW  - Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century
KW  - Websites (Information retrieval)
UR  - http://iti.northwestern.edu/publications/utc/tea-21/FR-8-Dowding.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894228
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01133727
AU  - Dowding, Charles H
AU  - Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Instrumentation Conference Support
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - v.p.
AB  - This final report consists of three parts:  (Part 1) Project Description; (Part 2) The Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) 2006 Conference Brochure and the paper presented by David E. Kosnik entitled, "Internet-Enabled Remote Monitoring of Civil Infrastructure with TDR" (September 2006); and (Part 3) The 7th International Symposium on Field Measurements in Geomechanics (FMGM 2007) Conference Brochure and powerpoint presentations of six conference presentations.
KW  - Conferences
KW  - Field tests
KW  - Geophysics
KW  - Geotechnical engineering
KW  - Measuring instruments
KW  - Time domain reflectometers
KW  - Transportation infrastructure
UR  - http://iti.northwestern.edu/publications/utc/tea-21/FR-8b-Dowding.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894282
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01131221
AU  - Pape, Douglas
AU  - Arant, Michael
AU  - Hall, David
AU  - Nelson, Sue
AU  - Petrolino, Joseph
AU  - Franzese, Oscar
AU  - Knee, Helmut
AU  - Wood, Nathan
AU  - Yeakel, Skip
AU  - Hathaway, Richard
AU  - Keil, Mitchell
AU  - Pollock, Paul
AU  - National Transportation Research Center, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - U02: Heavy Truck Rollover Characterization (Phase-A) Final Report
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - 237p
AB  - This Heavy Truck Rollover Characterization Program is a major research effort conducted by the National Transportation Research Center, Inc. (NTRCI) in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Michelin Americas Research Company (MARC), Western Michigan University (WMU), and Battelle Memorial Institute (Battelle). The overall objectives of this research were to: (1) Contribute to the understanding of the dynamics of heavy truck rollover, (2) Contribute to the development of advanced models of heavy truck vehicle dynamics that reflect project experiences, and (3) Develop recommendations for improvement of the roll stability of heavy vehicles in preparation for realizing and testing such concepts in future phases of heavy truck rollover characterization research. This project involved four major types of activities; 1) Tractor and flatbed-trailer characterization, 2) Simulation modeling, 3) On-track testing, and 4) Data analyses. Using the combined tests of all of the phases, it appears that some tire and axle combinations hold the potential for improving class 8 tractor-trailer rollover threshold limits. However, there are many other parameters that may be reflected in the testing results, such as the torsional compliance of the flatbed-trailer, the torsional compliance of the tractor, the trailer length, and the load arrangement to name a few. These limit the definitive assessment of axle or tire effects on roll stability.
KW  - Heavy duty trucks
KW  - Rollover crashes
KW  - Tires
KW  - Tractor trailer combinations
KW  - Trucking safety
KW  - Trucks by number of axles
UR  - http://www.ntrci.org/ntrci-50-2008-006
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/891004
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01129334
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration Strategic Plan 2008-2012: Innovation for a Nation on the Move
PY  - 2009
SP  - 23p
AB  - This Strategic Plan for the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) lays out a clear vision for how RITA will operate over the next five years in order to achieve its mission and ensure that research management and activities are directed toward achieving measurable improvements in saving lives, improving mobility, and ensuring the health and well being of the Nation's transportation enterprise.  This Strategic Plan describes RITA's vision, mission, goals, and strategic objectives.  Also included is information on RITA's legislative history and assets.
KW  - Assets
KW  - Legislation
KW  - Research management
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - U.S. Research and Innovative Technology Administration
UR  - http://www.rita.dot.gov/publications/strategic_plan/2008_2012/index.html
UR  - http://www.rita.dot.gov/publications/strategic_plan/2008_2012/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/889610
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01127310
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - National Transportation Statistics 2009
PY  - 2009
SP  - 499p
AB  - This document presents information on the U.S. transportation system, including its physical components, safety record, economic performance, energy use, and environmental impacts. National Transportation Statistics is a companion document to the Transportation Statistics Annual Report, which analyzes some of the data presented here, and State Transportation Statistics, which presents state-level data on many of the same topics presented here. The report has four chapters: Chapter 1 provides data on the extent, condition, use, and performance of the physical transportation network. Chapter 2 details transportation’s safety record, giving data on accidents, crashes, fatalities, and injuries for each transportation mode and hazardous materials. Chapter 3 focuses on the relationship between transportation and the economy, presenting data on transportation’s contribution to the gross domestic product, employment by industry and occupation, and transportation-related consumer and government expenditures. Chapter 4 presents data on transportation energy use and transportation-related environmental impacts. Every transportation mode is covered.
KW  - Economic factors
KW  - Energy consumption
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Transportation infrastructure
KW  - Transportation modes
KW  - Transportation safety
KW  - United States
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/#front_matter
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/887848
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01127019
AU  - Murat, Alper E
AU  - Chinnam, Ratna Babu
AU  - Khasnabis, Snehamay
AU  - Wayne State University
AU  - University of Toledo
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Value of ITS Information for Congestion Avoidance in Inter-Modal Transportation Systems
PY  - 2009///Final Report
SP  - 58p
AB  - This Year 2 Final Report focuses on infrastructure utilization in the study of intelligent transportation system (ITS) information for congestion avoidance in intermodal transportation systems.  In this report, intermodal freight refers to the shipment of freight involving more than one mode of transportation (road, rail, air, and sea) during a single, seamless journey. In Section A the authors propose a modeling and solution framework for the dynamic air cargo routing on air networks subject to stochastic flight departure delays. After developing a stylized experimental setup, they illustrate the effect of various network factors on the dynamic routing efficiency. In addition, they present a case study using the real data for a dynamic air cargo routing originating from the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) and destined to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). In section B, the authors extend their approach in Section A to the integrated dynamic routing on the air-road intermodal network. In addition to routing on the air network, they also make alternative access airport selection and dynamic routing decisions on the road network. They illustrate the approach via a case study for a cargo originating from the regions of southeast Michigan and northern Ohio. They consider three main commercial airports in this region: Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), Toledo Express Airport (TOL) and Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport (CLE). They determine an alternative access airport for the cargo under various scenarios. In section C, the authors consider the operational response model of an automotive manufacturer faced with a delay in shipments of a component. They consider the case where the manufacturer allocates scarce component inventory among different product lines such that the impact of shipment delay is minimized. They illustrate the modeling and solution methods in a stylized example from a major OEM.
KW  - Air cargo
KW  - Air road intermodal network
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Congestion avoidance
KW  - Delays
KW  - Dynamic routing
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Just in time production
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Shipments
KW  - Supply chain management
UR  - http://www.utoledo.edu/research/ututc/docs/UT-UTC-IU-4_Final_Report_Murat.pdf
UR  - http://www.utoledo.edu/research/ututc/researchprojects/UTUTC-IU-4.html
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/44000/44700/44722/UTUTC-IU-17_Final_Murat.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/887763
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01126430
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Bureau of Transportation Statistics Significant Accomplishments Fiscal Year 2008
PY  - 2009
SP  - 16p
AB  - The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) was established within the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) in 1992 to collect, report, and analyze transportation data. Today, BTS is a component of the USDOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). The BTS mission is to create, manage, and share transportation statistical knowledge with public and private transportation communities and the Nation. This mission is served by developing quality transportation data, promoting transportation knowledge through statistical products, and advancing the effective use of this knowledge by public and private transportation decision makers, researchers, and the American public. This paper presents the accomplishments of BTS during fiscal year 2008.
KW  - Data analysis
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Data quality
KW  - Information dissemination
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Transportation modes
KW  - U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics
KW  - United States
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/significant_accomplishments/2008/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35300/35386/BTS2008.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/886528
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01325142
AU  - Gilbo, Eugene P
AU  - Smith, Scott B
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal aviation Administration
TI  - Characterization of Uncertainty in ETMS Flight Events Predictions and its Effect on Traffic Demand Predictions
PY  - 2008/71
SP  - 55p
AB  - The Enhanced Traffic Management System (ETMS) predicts traffic demand in the National Airspace System (NAS) up to 24 hours in the future to determine potential congestion in airspace or airports. To identify congestion, it finds time intervals and NAS elements (i.e., sectors, airports, and fixes) where predicted demand exceeds the capacity that has been input into ETMS. Based on the duration and magnitude of congestion, traffic flow management (TFM) specialists decide whether to take action to bring traffic demand down to capacity through various traffic management initiatives (TMIs), such as Ground Delay Programs (GDPs), Airspace Flow Programs (AFPs), or Miles-in-Trail (MIT). ETMS produces deterministic predictions of traffic demand and does not take into account the random errors in these predictions. This uncertainty in predictions creates uncertainty in the information that TFM specialists use in their decision-making process. A recent direction in TFM research is concerned with acknowledging the uncertainty in predictions and creating probabilistic TFM that considers the uncertainty in the decision-making process. The premise behind probabilistic TFM is that traffic managers will make better decisions if they use data and tools that reflect the uncertainty in the system. Probabilistic TFM is based on probabilistic representation of traffic demand and capacity of NAS elements through the respective probability distributions that allow for determining the probabilities of congestion. In order to obtain the probability distributions for probabilistic TFM, a thorough statistical analysis of prediction errors is needed to characterize the prediction uncertainties. This report presents the results of analysis and characterization of uncertainty in traffic demand predictions using ETMS data and probabilistic representation of the predictions. Our previous research, described in two prior reports, was focused on analysis of aggregate 15-minute traffic demand predictions in ETMS, on improving the accuracy of these predictions and increasing the stability of the ETMS monitor/alert function, while not explicitly considering the uncertainty in predictions of flight events for individual flights. This study continues the previous one. It also focuses on uncertainty in traffic demand predictions, but, unlike the previous one, it explicitly considers uncertainty in individual flights’ predictions for estimation of uncertainty in aggregate demand count predictions at NAS elements and for probabilistic representation of those predictions.
KW  - Air traffic control
KW  - Air traffic control facilities
KW  - Airport capacity
KW  - Airport congestion
KW  - Airspace (Aeronautics)
KW  - Airspace congestion
KW  - Flow control (Air traffic control)
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Travel demand management
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35000/35097/Gilbo_uncertainty_in_flight_events_predictions.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1085883
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01129888
AU  - Sanchez-Silva, Mauricio
AU  - Rosowsky, David V
AU  - University Transportation Center for Mobility
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - A Systems Approach to Risk Reduction of Transportation Infrastructure Networks Subject to Multiple Hazards
PY  - 2008/12/31/Final Report
SP  - 72p
AB  - Integrity, robustness, reliability, and resiliency of infrastructure networks are vital to the economy, security and well-being of any country.  Faced with threats caused by natural and man-made hazards, transportation infrastructure network management must be directed towards:  (1) understanding the network performance as a system; (2) modeling the dynamic interaction between the network and the external and internal demands; and (3) defining hazard management strategies to optimize resource allocation.  The objective of the project is to develop a model of infrastructure transportation network that can be used to design efficient risk management strategies to ensure an acceptable performance (e.g., in terms of expected damage or recovery times) when subject to the action of individual, simultaneous, or sequential hazards.  This study explores the performance of infrastructure networks using a systems approach.  This approach is different from most existing modeling techniques in that networks will not be modeled as a collection of separate elements, but rather as a dynamic structured functional unit.  This project develops new analytical methods built on a hierarchical structure of the system, which directs the analysis to the interaction and dependencies between components.  These are used to characterize and model the emergent properties of the entire system.  The performance of the network is integrated with the analysis of individual network components.  Time-dependent models will be used for studying the life-cycle performance (mechanical and operational) of network components (e.g., bridges) and to maximize the objective performance function (e.g., cost or efficiency of the response) for different time windows.  The case of the transportation network of Texas is used as an illustrative example of some parts of the model.
KW  - Analytical methods
KW  - Hazards
KW  - Life cycle analysis
KW  - Networks
KW  - Resource allocation
KW  - Risk management
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Systems analysis
KW  - Texas
KW  - Time dependence
KW  - Transportation infrastructure
UR  - http://utcm.tamu.edu/publications/final_reports/Sanchez-Silva_08-01-13.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/890110
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462617
TI  - North American Marine Highway Operations
AB  - A recent NCHRP study (Project 20-24 [52]) estimates that the U.S. population will grow from 300 million to 380 million by 2035 and that the underlying economy will expand even faster. To support this growth according to the study, freight transportation will almost double. As incomes rise, people and businesses use more transportation. Yet, widespread highway and rail transportation congestion already extracts enormous costs in lost revenue and wasted time and fuel because the nation has neither invested enough in new transportation infrastructure, nor used existing infrastructure efficiently. For example, the United States has an abundance of navigable rivers, lakes, canals, seaways, and coastal waterways. While this marine highway system (often referred to as short sea shipping) is used to move billions of tons of freight each year, a tremendous amount of capacity is unused. Greater use of the marine highway system capacity could reduce major choke points on highways and railroads, reduce fuel consumption, and reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. For instance, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, states that a marine barge carrying 456 containers would use 75 barrels of oil, while the 456 trucks that would be required to move the same cargo would use 645 barrels of oil. However, there are significant barriers and constraints -- ranging from governmental policy and regulations to inadequate landside access -- that currently preclude the widespread and efficient use of the North American marine highway system. Better insight is needed to understand the underlying reasons for the underutilization of the marine highway system. The objective of the research is to produce a white paper that evaluates the potential for moving intermodal containers, containers on chassis, non-containerized trailers, or rail cars on marine highways in North America. The research will assess the conditions for feasibility, identify barriers (e.g., economic, technical, regulatory, and logistical), and propose solutions for barrier elimination.
KW  - Carriers
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Intermodal terminals
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Policy
KW  - Policy, legislation and regulation
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Research projects
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2410
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230838
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01127013
AU  - Rephio, J
AU  - Miller, Sheryl
AU  - Haas, Robert
AU  - Saporta, Harry
AU  - Stock, Dan
AU  - Miller, D
AU  - Feast, L
AU  - Brown, Bruce
AU  - Science Applications International Corporation
AU  - Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
TI  - Side Object Detection System Evaluation: Final Evaluation Report
PY  - 2008/12/15/Final Evaluation Report
SP  - 179p
AB  - Nearly 46% of bus accidents across the United States each year occur on the left or right side of the bus. These collisions result in property damage, and they can negatively impact on revenue operations and public perception. The first commercially available side collision warning system for transit buses entered the market in 2004. The system is designed to help bus operators navigate tight maneuvers at speeds below 15 mph and with lane changes at speeds greater than 15 mph. This report presents the findings of a federally sponsored, independent evaluation of the system. The evaluation aimed to address three key goals: (1) to assess operator usability and acceptance of the technology; (2) to assess the return on investment of the technology; and (3) to identify lessons learned and other information that would be useful to agencies considering deployment of this technology or similar technologies. The evaluation team worked with three participating agencies to gather a wide range of data through interviews, surveys, focus groups, interviews, site visits and observations, collision records, and cost data. The findings indicated that operators were optimistic about the potential of a side-impact collision warning device and that the side object detection system (SODS) was useful in certain situations and that it had in fact prevented collisions, in particular those that involved detecting an object in the operator’s blind spot. However, operators did not find the system usable in its current design, particularly with regard to the quality and frequency of visual and audible alerts. Additionally, the return on investment analysis indicated that the early-adopters of this technology are not likely to experience a return on investment within 12 years, the typical life of a bus. However, agencies investing in this type of technology in the future may not face the same institutional challenges as the early-adopters or may have different collision characteristics, and thus may see a sooner return on their investment. These institutional issues can be significant if not properly accounted for prior to system deployment. All transit agency stakeholders—operations, maintenance, training, safety, and claims—must have a clear understanding of the technology capabilities and its limitations. Inconsistency in system installation resulted in varying operational characteristics among the different bus models and influenced operators’ perceptions of system reliability. Additionally incomplete training and system activation prior to all affected operators being trained led many operators to incorrectly understand the technology, system operation, and system limitations. Similarly, incomplete maintenance staff training led to improper troubleshooting and testing of the technology. Agencies considering SODS or similar safety devices for their transit fleet should first consider the lessons learned experienced by these agencies.
KW  - Acceptance
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Crash avoidance systems
KW  - Institutional issues
KW  - Lessons learned
KW  - Return on investment
KW  - Side crashes
KW  - Side object detection systems
KW  - Transit buses
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30700/30704/14461.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/887762
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01124562
AU  - Ndubisi, Forster
AU  - Dumbaugh, Eric
AU  - University Transportation Center for Mobility
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Graduate Certificate in Transportation Planning
PY  - 2008/12/12/Final Report
SP  - 37p
AB  - The purpose of this project was to develop and implement a graduate Certificate in Transportation Planning at Texas A&M University. Texas A&M currently offers instruction in transportation through its Masters of Urban Planning and Civil Engineering programs. However, there is a growing need in transportation workforce development for students with a broad, interdisciplinary foundation as well as specialized instruction in three critical areas: Transportation Systems Planning, Transportation and Urban Design, and Transportation Policy. The transportation planning certificate program meets the need by offering a broad selection of existing and newly developed courses in transportation-related disciplines taught by faculty from several academic units and researchers at Texas Transportation Institute. The program was developed by the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning in the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University, in partnership with the Texas Transportation Institute and Texas A&M’s Zachry Department of Civil Engineering and George Bush School of Government and Public Service. The certificate program fosters lasting partnerships between the participating departments and programs, and the certificate is an option for any graduate student at Texas A&M with an interest in transportation.
KW  - Certification
KW  - Education
KW  - Graduate study
KW  - Interdisciplinary studies
KW  - Texas A&M University
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Transportation policy
KW  - Urban design
UR  - http://utcm.tamu.edu/publications/final_reports/Ndubisi_07-06.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/885830
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01124563
AU  - Damnjanovic, Ivan D
AU  - Wimsatt, Andrew J
AU  - Butenko, Sergiy I
AU  - Seyedshohadaie, Reza
AU  - University Transportation Center for Mobility
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Impact of Reconstruction Strategies on System Performance Measures: Maximizing Safety and Mobility While Minimizing Life-Cycle Costs
PY  - 2008/12/08/Final Report
SP  - 49p
AB  - The objective of this research is to develop a general methodological framework for planning and evaluating the effectiveness of highway reconstruction strategies on the system’s performance measures, in particular safety, mobility, and the total cost of network rehabilitation. Transportation networks are characterized by uncertainty that stems from different sources and transportation planners should consider risks involved in uncertainty in model parameters. In this research, Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) is used to quantify and measure the risk in pavement performance and travel demand. First, a method of constructing risk‐based rehabilitation policies for a network of pavement facilities that ensures a specific quality level is introduced. Second, to enhance network mobility, several optimization models to minimize travel time for all paths connecting the same origin and destination pair is presented. Finally, to improve network safety during capacity expansion decisions, two models are presented to reduce accident rate by changing the ratio of flow to the link capacity to reduce injury and fatal accidents and property damage accidents.
KW  - Crash rates
KW  - Highway capacity
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Life cycle costing
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Pavement performance
KW  - Reconstruction
KW  - Rehabilitation (Maintenance)
KW  - Risk analysis
KW  - Risk based maintenance
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Traffic flow
KW  - Travel demand
KW  - Travel time
UR  - http://utcm.tamu.edu/publications/final_reports/Damnjanovic_07-04.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/885842
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462717
TI  - Truck Drayage Practices
AB  - Truck drayage is an integral part of the intermodal transportation network. The most visible drayage sector is at seaports, where dray drivers often spend a considerable amount of time waiting to enter the terminal and operating in non-productive ways while inside the terminal. This leads to increased truck idling, resulting in ever increasing air pollution and congestion on the roads leading into terminals. However, there has been little analysis of all the other aspects of drayage at intermodal facilities, such as overall quality of life issues, operational efficiency issues, community impact, and an understanding of the dray as a key link in the logistics chain. The objective of the research is to describe the total drayage system as it currently exists as a link to all freight modes, focusing both inside and outside the "gate." Factors to be investigated by mode include: idle time in the queue outside the gate and the reasons; air quality impacts; productivity comparisons; transaction requirements; security requirements and variations; and drayage driver economic issues by mode. </font></div>
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Drayage
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Mode choice
KW  - Truck tractors
KW  - Trucking
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2412
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230939
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01124568
AU  - Cherrington, Linda K
AU  - University Transportation Center for Mobility
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Nationwide Examples of State and Local Funds for Mass Transit
PY  - 2008/12/04/Final Report
SP  - 209p
AB  - One of the transportation challenges facing Texas is the identification of adequate funding for mobility projects. During the 80th Texas Legislature, several proposals were made to address mass transit funding for the metropolitan areas of the state. The chairman of the Texas Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security requested the Texas Transportation Institute to update previous research on national examples for funding regional transit and to provide additional information on regional rail projects. The research is presented in this paper documenting nationwide examples for funding mass transit and regional rail. The research findings provide background information for members of the Senate Committee as they consider and make decisions for funding mass transit in Texas.
KW  - Federal aid
KW  - Financing
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Rail transit
KW  - State aid
KW  - Texas
UR  - http://utcm.tamu.edu/publications/final_reports/Cherrington_08-00-19.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/885833
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01467993
TI  - Extraction of Truck Traffic Data Using Video Based Vehicle Detection (Video Detection Based Truck Traffic Data Collection)
AB  - Planning and Design of efficient freight transportation infrastructure is critical for the growth of the state and national economy. Planning and Design of efficient freight transportation facilities and networks should consider current and near-future traffic flows and demands to-and-from seaports, airports and adjacent roadway networks. To facilitate this, accurate and comprehensive traffic data extraction of freight (Truck) data on major roadways at macroscopic and microscopic levels are essential. The current data collection systems employed by Regional Trans. Comm. and the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) around the Las Vegas valley do not meet the current practical needs of advanced traffic management systems. Therefore, this project targets at developing a video based (freight) truck data extraction system to determine traffic flow characteristics like volume, average speed, density and classification of trucks with respect to lanes, time, day, month, etc. The extracted data will be used in computer simulation modeling that can be used to analyze the existing infrastructure to determine where inefficiencies are or where they may occur in the near future. A typical video based vehicle detection system consists of camera, video processing system, and/or a communication module or a storage module. The video based vehicle detector system (VVDS) is configured to collect various vehicle flow characteristics based on the application of the system. The virtual detectors and reference layouts are imaginary lines and boxes that are drawn on the snap shot acquired by the camera. The configuration parameters of the VDS include: 1) Height of the camera, 2) Dimensions and reference lines on the view of the camera, 3) Placement of virtual sensors, 4) Modeling of detector functions which combines the normal outputs of two or more detectors into one customized output, etc. There exist various freight transportation data from local, federal and private industries. However, this data is less coherent and adhoc raw data that is difficult for analysis. The research team will assemble such data into a unified data model for the purpose of identifying locations of video data collection and for validation of extracted freight data.
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Nevada
KW  - Planning and design
KW  - Sensors
KW  - Traffic data
KW  - Truck traffic
KW  - Vehicle detectors
KW  - Video cameras
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1236229
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01467991
TI  - Development of Tools to Integrate GPS, GIS, Cartegraph Data Conversion and Asset Data for All Traffic Infrastructure Management System (Development of Tools for Data Creation, Maintenance, and Conversion for Traffic Management)
AB  - The rapid growth in the population of Clark County, Nevada during the last two decades has had a direct impact on the travel demand and transportation system performance. The growth and its associated infrastructure maintenance costs in the county, have led Clark County Department of Public Works (CCDPW) to look for innovative solutions and strategies to better maintain, manage, and allocate its resources. The success of these strategies will have significant impacts on the business and economy of the region. Access to data is vital in the design of these strategies. In public works, such data relate to the traffic, construction, and development services. Traffic related data includes crosswalks, speed limits, streetlight poles, school flashers, signalized intersection data, street signs, truck routes, etc. Other data of interest include work order information, traffic volumes, proximate population, demographic characteristics, land use characteristics, etc. Data collection, storage and retrieval plays a key role in the operation and management of systems developed to support resource allocation. The accuracy and timeliness of the data are critical for managing resource allocation support systems. Here the term management includes planning, design, construction, operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation of the system. Agencies such as CCDPW that have jurisdictional responsibilities over regional transportation systems/networks are required to account for their infrastructure and develop a maintenance management system. The practice has been to use the "traditional" paper based mechanisms for this purpose. However, there has been a move to adapt computerized tools and systems such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Geographical Positioning Systems (GPS) for transportation infrastructure management. Advancements in technology have led to new ways of collecting, analyzing, managing and disseminating data. GPS is one such technology used to collect data based on the geographic location of a point of interest. GIS is commonly used software to manage and analyze spatial data, and to disseminate such information. Adoption and incorporation of such technologies can help improve the effectiveness of CCDPW's activities related to data collection, storage and display. CCDPW-Traffic division receives data related to traffic studies for various locations in the county. The data received are typically in hardcopy/paper format. Hence, it is tedious and labor intensive and time consuming to analyze such information either on a location specific or on a regional basis. Converting such data into digital format provides the user better access to the information for further analysis. Also, the possibilities of using such digitized traffic volume data as inputs for traffic simulation software would be valuable.
KW  - Clark County (Nevada)
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Global Positioning System
KW  - Integrated systems
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Regional transportation
KW  - Resource allocation
KW  - Signalized intersections
KW  - Traffic data
KW  - Traffic volume
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1236227
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01467989
TI  - Traffic Safety Information Depot
AB  - The University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Transportation Research Center (UNLV-TRC) has conducted several traffic safety related research projects. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) sponsored Pedestrian Safety Project, RTC sponsored Development of A Safety Analysis System, Nevada Department of Transportation sponsored Safety Analysis of Rumble Strips Project, and Nevada Office of Traffic Safety Sponsored Occupant Protection Surveys, to name a few. UNLV Safe Community Partnership conduct several education and enforcement campaigns, aimed at occupant protection for children and teenagers, alternate mode transportation for elderly, safe driving, etc. Some of these programs were great success, whereas some others were not as effective. The purpose of this project is to initiate an effort to document details of these programs, success/failure of these programs, and lessons learned from these. This would help other organizations/agencies across the nation and globe to learn from our experiences.
KW  - Aged
KW  - Information systems
KW  - Lessons learned
KW  - Nevada
KW  - Occupant protection
KW  - Pedestrian safety
KW  - Rumble strips
KW  - Safety Analyst
KW  - Safety campaigns
KW  - Traffic safety
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1236225
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01357429
AU  - Standridge, Charles R
AU  - Choudhuri, Shabbir
AU  - Zeitler, David
AU  - Khasnabis, Snehamay
AU  - Michigan Ohio University Transportation Center
AU  - Grand Valley State University
AU  - Wayne State University
AU  - Michigan Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Congestion Relief by Travel Time Minimization in Near Real Time – Detroit Area I-75 Corridor Study
PY  - 2008/12//Final Report
SP  - 27p
AB  - This project was motivated by the premise that congestion due to traffic accidents and other incidents can be avoided by using computer re-routing models combined with the analysis of voluminous data collected by intelligent transportation systems (ITS). Congestion avoidance reduces travel time and fuel consumption as well as the need for additional roadways and infrastructure, making the transportation system more efficient. The results of this project are targeted at ITS that seek to reduce congestion by better routing large volumes of traffic at a small time interval as opposed to personal travel assistants (PTAs) that route one vehicle at a time. One potential downside of rerouting large volumes of traffic in a small time interval is to simply move the congestion to a different place in the traffic corridor. This requirement is addressed.
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Detroit (Michigan)
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Personal digital assistants
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Routing
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic data
KW  - Travel time
UR  - http://michigan.gov/documents/mdot/MDOT_Research__Report_RC-1545E_364055_7.pdf
UR  - http://mioh-utc.udmercy.edu/research/ts-01/pdf/MIOH_UTC_TS1_projects_2-3_2008-Final_Report_Congestion_Relief_by_Travel_Time_Minimization_etc.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1120957
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01162954
AU  - Mishra, S
AU  - Schweiger, C
AU  - TranSystems Corporation
AU  - Science Applications International Corporation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Monterey Salinas Transit ITS Augmentation Project-Phase II Evaluation Report
PY  - 2008/12
SP  - 93p
AB  - The purpose of this document is to present the findings from the Phase II Evaluation of the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Augmentation Project that was implemented at the Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) in Monterey, California. This project, implemented using the Federal Fiscal Year 2003 ITS Integration Program Funds, originally included automated passenger counting (APC) technology, digital video surveillance, on-board automated vehicle annunciation (AVA), smart-card based fare payment, web-based trip planning, and real-time information systems. Although many of these systems were already implemented as of August 2008, deployment of some of these technologies has been delayed for institutional or technical reasons. The goal of the evaluation was to determine the impacts of these technologies in performing daily functions such as operations, scheduling, service planning, and maintenance, and to gather and document any lessons learned by the MST throughout the process of the deployment and operation of the technologies. This report discusses impacts to date of the technologies that have been in place for at least one year as of August 2008. Findings from customer satisfaction interviews and impacts of real-time information, transit signal priority and web-based trip planning on MST operations will be documented in the Phase III report.
KW  - Automatic vehicle location
KW  - Computer aided dispatch (CAD)
KW  - Customer satisfaction
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Passenger counting
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Transit operating agencies
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/920687
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01153261
AU  - Douma, Frank
AU  - Deckenbach, Jordan
AU  - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - The Implications of Current and Emerging Privacy Law for ITS
PY  - 2008/12//Final Report
SP  - 42p
AB  - As Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) incorporate data-gathering and compiling systems into the transportation infrastructure, questions about privacy implications stemming from the potential misallocation or abuse of collected data have started to arise. The United States has no comprehensive national regulatory structure for privacy, leaving answers to these privacy questions to be found through a consideration of variety of sources of federal and state privacy law. In this paper, the authors examine a number of the areas where privacy law could impact ITS projects. To address these concerns, developers and planners of ITS technologies have to navigate a myriad of legal considerations and consequences that correspond with the ways in which they utilize the technologies and the information they collect. In an attempt to assist in that endeavor, the final part of this paper suggests tools for ITS developers and planners that explain the level of restrictions that correspond with different kinds of information being collected.
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Federal laws
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Legal factors
KW  - Privacy
KW  - State laws
KW  - United States
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1280
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/reportdetail.html?id=1864
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/914850
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142752
AU  - Lee, Mary T
AU  - Multer, Jordan
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Visualizing Railroad Operations: A Tool for Planning and Monitoring Railroad Traffic
PY  - 2008/12//Final Report
SP  - 45p
AB  - This report provides an overview of the development and technology transfer of the Railroad Traffic Planner application, a visualization tool with string line diagrams that show train positions over time. The Railroad Traffic Planner provides support for scheduling activities and also includes near-real-time position information for trains and maintenance vehicles with associated global positioning system tracking devices installed. One objective of this project was to research the potential for this type of visualization tool to improve safety and productivity in the railroad industry. Another objective was to demonstrate the process of technology transfer by bringing this tool to additional railroads and other interested parties in the railroad industry. While some challenges were encountered during this project, many potential benefits of string line tools were identified. Recommendations for people interested in developing, transferring, and using systems like the Railroad Traffic Planner are offered.
KW  - Automatic train location
KW  - Car operations (Railroads)
KW  - Global Positioning System
KW  - Human factors
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Software
KW  - Straight line diagrams
KW  - Technology transfer
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/33000/33700/33709/33709.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/903032
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01138546
AU  - Adams, Teresa M
AU  - Juni, Emil
AU  - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Compass 2007 Data Analysis and Reporting – Operational Report
PY  - 2008/12//Final Report
SP  - 97p
AB  - The “Compass” program collects rating data each year to help the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) understand current infrastructure conditions and trends. The data also helps WisDOT managers set reasonable maintenance targets that reflect department priorities and respond to limited resources. To ensure that maintenance targets are consistently reflected in work programs around the state, these priorities are shared with the WisDOT regions to help structure the Routine Maintenance Agreements with counties. To evaluate the maintenance target setting process, existing conditions are compared to their target levels to see if the annual goals were met or exceeded.
KW  - Compass program (Wisconsin)
KW  - Data analysis
KW  - Data reporting
KW  - Maintenance management
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Transportation infrastructure
KW  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
UR  - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/01-06_CFIRE_FR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/898949
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01131609
AU  - Dutta, Utpal
AU  - McAvoy, Deborah S
AU  - Lynch, Jim
AU  - Vandeputte, Laurel
AU  - University of Detroit Mercy
AU  - Michigan Department of Transportation
AU  - Michigan Ohio University Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Evaluation of the SCATS Control System
PY  - 2008/12//Final Report
SP  - 114p
AB  - The purpose of this research study was to determine the effectiveness of Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (SCATS) in reducing traffic congestion by examining traffic delay, queue length and other characteristics as measures of effectiveness (MOEs).  Similar to many urban areas across the nation, Oakland County, one of the largest counties in the State of Michigan has been experiencing congestion for the past two decades.  Looking for innovative and cost effective ways to improve road user mobility and safety, the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) began investigating innovative traffic control strategies associated with Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS).  As a part of this effort, the county has gradually converted its signalized traffic network from optimized fixed-time to SCATS control starting from year 1992. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of SCATS signal system, a comparative parallel evaluation methodology was used, which compared the SCATS signal system with the pre-timed signal system.  Student's t-test and Paired t-test were used as a part of the statistical analysis.  Among the findings were the following:  (1) The performance of the SCATS system was found to be superior for several of the MOEs for each of the peak periods generally for the eastbound travel direction; (2) A statistical difference was found between the two signal systems based upon the number of stopped vehicles for the minor roadways during the Saturday peak period - the number of stopped vehicles under the pre-timed system was fewer than under the SCATS signal system; and (3) A statistical difference was found between the two signal systems based upon the number of stopped vehicles for M-59 during the weekday PM peak period - the number of stopped vehicles under the SCATS signal system was fewer than under the pre-timed signal system.
KW  - Measures of effectiveness
KW  - Oakland County (Michigan)
KW  - Queue length
KW  - SCATS (Computer program)
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic delays
KW  - Traffic mitigation
KW  - Traffic signal control systems
KW  - Travel time
UR  - http://michigan.gov/documents/mdot/MDOT_Research__Report_RC-1545F_364058_7.pdf
UR  - http://mioh-utc.udmercy.edu/research/ts-04/pdf/MIOH_UTC_TS4_2008-Final_Report_Evaluation_of_SCATS_Control_System.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/891744
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01127430
AU  - Sayer, James R
AU  - LeBlanc, David J
AU  - Bogard, Scott E
AU  - Hagan, Michael R
AU  - Sardar, H
AU  - Buonarosa, Mary Lynn
AU  - Barnes, Michelle
AU  - University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Department of Transportation
TI  - Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems: Field Operational Test Plan
PY  - 2008/12
SP  - 97p
AB  - This document presents the plan for conducting a field operational test (FOT) of the Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems (IVBSS) program. The plan describes the work that will be performed by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute using 16 passenger cars and 10 commercial trucks equipped with an integrated crash avoidance system. The goal of the IVBSS program is to conduct a field test to collect data to objectively assess the potential safety benefits and driver acceptance associated with prototype integrated crash warning systems. Both platforms have three integrated crash-warning subsystem systems (forward crash, lateral drift, and lane-change/merge warnings); the light-vehicle platform also has a fourth subsystem, curve-speed warning. For the light-vehicle portion of the FOT, 108 lay drivers will operate test vehicles in place of their own personal cars for a period of six weeks. Forty commercial-truck drivers from a commercial fleet will operate heavy trucks in place of the Class 8 tractors they normally use as their work vehicles for a period of five months. All vehicles will be instrumented to capture information regarding the driving environment, driver activity, system behavior, and vehicle kinematics. Driver information will be captured through a series of subjective questionnaires, focus groups, and debriefing sessions to determine driver acceptance and to gain insight for improving future versions of integrated crash warning systems.
KW  - Automobiles
KW  - Crash avoidance systems
KW  - Field tests
KW  - Instrumented vehicles
KW  - Integrated Vehicle Based Safety Systems (Initiative)
KW  - Intelligent vehicles
KW  - Prototypes
KW  - Trucks
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/62108
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/887960
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01122622
AU  - Michalopoulos, Panos G
AU  - Xin, Wuping
AU  - Hourdos, John
AU  - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Development of Real-Time Traffic Adaptive Crash Reduction Measures for the Westbound I-94/35W Commons Section
PY  - 2008/12//Final Report
SP  - 119p
AB  - Much research has been conducted in the development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative intelligent transportation system (ITS) technologies aiming to improve traffic operations and driving safety. An earlier project succeeded in supporting the hypothesis that certain traffic conditions are favorable to crashes and in developing real-time algorithms for the estimation of crash probability from detector measurements. Following this accomplishment a natural question is “how can this help prevent crashes?” This project has the ambitious plan of not only answering this question but also providing a multifaceted approach that can offer different types of solutions to an agency aimed at reducing crashes in this and other similar locations. This project has two major objectives; first it aimed at utilizing a cutting edge 3D virtual reality system to design and visualize different driver warning systems specifically for the I-94 westbound high crash location in Minneapolis, MN. Second, in view of the desire of local engineers for a more traditional approach, this project explored the use of existing micro-simulation models in the evaluation of safety improvements for the aforementioned high crash area. This report describes the results of these investigations but more importantly describes the lessons learned in the process of the research. These lessons are important because they highlight gaps of technology and knowledge that hampered this and other research projects with similar objectives.
KW  - Car following models
KW  - Crash prevention
KW  - High risk locations
KW  - Highway operations
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Improvements
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Lessons learned
KW  - Microsimulation
KW  - Minneapolis (Minnesota)
KW  - Rear end crashes
KW  - Vehicle trajectories
KW  - Virtual reality
KW  - Visualization
KW  - Warning systems
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1066
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/reportdetail.html?id=1720
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/884273
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01122619
AU  - Dill, Jennifer
AU  - Gliebe, John P
AU  - Portland State University
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Understanding and Measuring Bicycling Behavior: A Focus on Travel Time and Route Choice
PY  - 2008/12//Final Report
SP  - 73p
AB  - With rates of obesity, heart disease, and related health problems increasing in the U.S. , many policy makers are looking for ways to increase physical activity in everyday life. Using a bicycle instead of a motor vehicle for a portion of everyday travel could help address these problems. This research aims to fill a gap in the existing literature on the effect of different types of infrastructure, such as bicycle lanes or paths, on bicycling. The project used global positioning system (GPS) technology to record where a sample of 164 adults in the Portland, OR region rode their bicycles. Data were collected from March through November 2007. The participants in this study were primarily regular bicyclists who usually rode more than one day per week, year-round. This report uses those data to address the four primary sets of research questions: (1) How often, why, when, and where do cyclists ride? How does this vary based upon rider characteristics? (2) How do cyclists’ routes differ from the shortest network distance? (3) What factors influence cyclists’ route choice decisions? How do personal attributes influence these decisions? (4) What is the difference in travel time between bicycling and driving?
KW  - Behavior
KW  - Bicycle facilities
KW  - Bicycle lanes
KW  - Bicycle travel
KW  - Bicycling
KW  - Bikeways
KW  - Cyclists
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Global Positioning System
KW  - Portland (Oregon)
KW  - Route choice
KW  - Travel time
UR  - http://otrec.us/main/document.php?doc_id=966
UR  - http://otrec.us/project/33
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/884287
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01122618
AU  - Bryson, John M
AU  - Crosby, Barbara C
AU  - Stone, Melissa M
AU  - Mortensen, J Clare
AU  - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Collaboration in Fighting Traffic Congestion: A Study of Minnesota’s Urban Partnership Agreement
PY  - 2008/12//Final Report
SP  - 48p
AB  - The Twin Cities metropolitan area was selected to participate in a federal transportation initiative called the Urban Partnership program. This required the formation of a multi-agency collaboration of transportation-focused groups in the Twin Cities area. This collaboration – including the external forces affecting it, the internal processes, structures, and competencies that allowed it to operate, and its accountability mechanisms – is the focus of this analysis. Confirming lessons found in the collaboration literature, the Minnesota Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA) is a complex assembly of human (individuals and relationships) and non-human (technologies, artifacts, laws, and procedures) elements; therefore, it is not an easy answer to hard problems but a hard answer to hard problems. The research highlights some new findings. Most notably: the role of technology; linkages connecting high-level federal policymaking to local, operational implementation details; emphasis on multiple roles played by sponsors, champions, neutral conveners, process designers, and technical experts; importance of specific competencies; the role of rules and routines as drivers of collaboration; and the importance of spatial and temporal organizational ambidexterity. It is important to note that the work of this collaboration thus far has been virtually invisible to the public, but that will change in the upcoming stages of UPA implementation.
KW  - Cooperation
KW  - Partnerships
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic mitigation
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (Minnesota)
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/reportdetail.html?id=1714
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/884274
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01121748
AU  - Phanomchoeng, Gridsada
AU  - Rajamani, Rajesh
AU  - Hourdos, John
AU  - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
AU  - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
AU  - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Directional Sound for Long Distance Auditory Warnings from a Highway Construction Work Zone
PY  - 2008/12//Final Report
SP  - 60p
AB  - Directional sound can be used as a warning signal to denote that failure to follow an indicated action could result in serious accidents. In some applications such as to alert a vehicle that is likely to intrude into a highway construction work zone, long distance auditory warnings are necessary. In such cases, directed sound could be utilized to warn the specific vehicle without disturbing other vehicles on the highway. This report reviews the currently available scientific technologies that can potentially be used to develop a long distance auditory warning system for highway work zone applications. Of these, ultrasound based parameter arrays and time delay controlled arrays of compact ordinary speakers are taken up for detailed analysis and experimental evaluation. An ultrasound based parametric array is the most appropriate technology for generating highly directional sound. However, if cost, installation, maintenance, and price are considered, the most suitable technology is found to be arrays of flat panel loudspeakers with time delay control. Such a system can be used to generate directional sound effectively for long distance auditory warnings.
KW  - Audible warning devices
KW  - Auditory warnings
KW  - Directional audio
KW  - Road construction
KW  - Warning devices
KW  - Work zone safety
KW  - Work zones
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1058
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/883691
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01488641
TI  - Fire Safety Materials Testing
AB  - The objective of this project is to develop fire safety standards for performance and testing of interior materials for transit vehicles; and to update the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) 1984 Recommended Fire Safety Practices for Rail Transit Materials Selection. This research will identify and evaluate the latest fire safety technology to update guidelines for rail transit vehicle fire safety practices, including development of fire safety standards for the performance and testing of interior materials. Use of these guidelines in the selection of materials for transit vehicles is intended to reduce fire incidents, costly property damage and casualties. This 2002 project supports the update of the 1984 guidelines, Recommended Practices for Rail Transit Vehicle Materials Selection, containing tests and performance criteria for seat components (e.g., upholstery, cushions, shrouds, and frames), panels (e.g., walls and ceilings, partitions, windscreens, windows, and light diffusers) and thermal and acoustical insulation, floor structure and covering, elastomers, exterior end caps, and interior and exterior box covers.
KW  - Fire
KW  - Fire resistance
KW  - Fire resistant materials
KW  - Performance evaluations
KW  - Rail transit
KW  - Safety
KW  - Transit vehicle operations
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257618
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01144531
AU  - Zimmerman, Carol
AU  - Burt, Matt
AU  - Shao, Gang
AU  - Balke, Kevin
AU  - Turnbull, Katie
AU  - Ungemah, David
AU  - Cain, Alasdair
AU  - Schreffler, Eric
AU  - Battelle
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
TI  - Urban Partnership Agreement and Congestion Reduction Demonstration: National Evaluation Framework
PY  - 2008/11/21
SP  - 73p
AB  - This report provides an analytical framework for evaluating six deployments under the United States Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA) and Congestion Reduction Demonstration (CRD) Programs. The six UPA/CRD sites are Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Minnesota, San Francisco, and Seattle. Those sites are seeking to reduce congestion by employing strategies consisting of combinations of tolling, transit, telecommuting/TDM, and technology, also known as the 4 Ts. The national evaluation framework identifies the major questions to be answered through the evaluation; the approach to be used to address those questions; and risks to the evaluation and how they will be mitigated. Four objective questions posed by U.S. DOT serve as a starting point for the evaluation framework: how much congestion was reduced; what contributed to the reduction and what were the associated impacts; what lessons were learned about nontechnical factors for success; and what were the overall cost and benefit of the congestion reduction strategies. The four objective questions were translated into twelve evaluation analyses, which in turn consist of hypotheses and questions, measures of effectiveness (MOEs), and data required for the MOEs. This document explains each of the twelve analyses and discusses the major data requirements and data collection methods that will be needed. Next steps include development of site-specific evaluation plans and test plans.
KW  - Congestion management systems
KW  - Congestion pricing
KW  - Evaluation
KW  - Partnerships
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Telecommuting
KW  - Tolls
KW  - Travel demand management
KW  - Urban transit
KW  - Urban transportation
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30700/30764/14446.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/904385
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01538254
AU  - Baird, Malcolm E
AU  - Vanderbilt University
AU  - Southeastern Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Overview of Freeway Service Patrols in the United States
PY  - 2008/11//Final Report
SP  - 36p
AB  - This report provides an overview of freeway service patrols (FSPs) in the U.S., including information  about organizations and resources, operating practices, vehicles and equipment, and the types and  levels of services offered. The information was gathered over a four month period in mid-2008 relying  primarily on web searches, telephone interviews, and a survey of FSP operators. The most important objective of the project was to develop a complete and accurate directory of FSPs—to facilitate exchange of information among FSP operators and to enable additional FSP research.
KW  - Freeway operations
KW  - Freeway service patrols
KW  - Surveys
KW  - United States
KW  - Vehicles and equipment
UR  - http://www.safehighways.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/FSP_FinalReportNov2008-Malcolm-Baird.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1322933
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01343909
AU  - Sytsma, Mark
AU  - Portland State University
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Road Ecology Course and Seminar Series
PY  - 2008/11//Final Report
SP  - 44p
AB  - A course and seminar series in Road Ecology was offered in the Environmental Science and Management Program at Portland State University (PSU) in 2007 and 2008 to introduce the field to PSU students and faculty. Guest lectures by practitioners and field trips provided a real-life perspective to students. Student proposals and projects demonstrated the students’ mastery of the concepts and critical research needs in the field. The project stimulated preparation of two Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC) proposals by PSU faculty, one of which was successful. At least one student chose Road Ecology as a field of graduate study as a result of the course. Also as a result of the interaction of PSU faculty and students with guest speakers in the seminar series, a National Science Foundation (NSF) Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) proposal is under development in collaboration with the University of California, Davis. This course will be offered regularly at PSU if adequate funding is available.
KW  - Ecology
KW  - Education
KW  - Field studies
KW  - Highways
KW  - Portland State University (Oregon)
KW  - Workshops
UR  - http://otrec.us/project/21
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1106045
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01340792
AU  - Apel, Derek
AU  - Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Back Movement Monitor Field Testing: Summary Report
PY  - 2008/11//Final Report
SP  - 9p
AB  - The project consisted of development of the High Resolution Target Movement Monitor (HRTMM) and laboratory and field testing of the designed movement monitor. Laboratory evaluation included verification of the theories developed for determining the monitor’s maximum sensitivity and error as well developing procedures for using the monitor in various environmental conditions. Variables such as target surface roughness, laser incidence angle, lens focal length, lens filter color, digital camera parameters, and ambient lighting conditions were tested to determine their effect on the monitor’s usability and functionality. Field evaluation of the movement monitor included installing the monitor in an active underground lead mine and testing its response to fog particles, vibration from nearby machinery and mine explosions, and its ability to properly function in that particular atmosphere.
KW  - Earth walls
KW  - Embankments
KW  - Field tests
KW  - Mines
KW  - Monitoring
KW  - Seismicity
KW  - Vibration
UR  - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/R183_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1102823
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01153268
AU  - Adams, Teresa M
AU  - Juni, Emil
AU  - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Compass 2008 Data Analysis and Reporting
PY  - 2008/11//Final Report
SP  - 91p
AB  - The Compass Annual Report is issued each year to communicate the condition of Wisconsin’s state highway network and to demonstrate accountability for maintenance expenditures. The primary audience for this report includes Maintenance Supervisors and Operations Managers at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) and partner organizations including the 72 counties. Compass reports are used to understand trends and conditions, prioritize resources, and set future target condition levels for the state highway system. The condition data are also used to estimate the costs to reduce maintenance backlogs to varying levels of service. This report includes data on traveled ways (paved traffic lanes), shoulders, drainage, roadsides, selected traffic devices, specific aspects of winter maintenance activities, and bridges. The report does not include measures for preventive maintenance, operational services (like traveler information and incident management), or electrified traffic assets (like signals and lighting). It is important to consider what is not in the report when using this information to discuss comprehensive investment choices and needs.
KW  - Annual reports
KW  - Bridges
KW  - Data analysis
KW  - Drainage
KW  - Expenditures
KW  - Highway maintenance
KW  - Paved shoulders
KW  - Roadside
KW  - State highways
KW  - Traffic control devices
KW  - Winter maintenance
KW  - Wisconsin
UR  - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/FR_CFIRE_03-03.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/914868
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01126469
AU  - Manfredi, John
AU  - Walters, Thomas
AU  - Wilke, Gregory
AU  - Osborne, Leon
AU  - Hart, Robert
AU  - Incrocci, Tom
AU  - Schmitt, Tom
AU  - Garrett, V Kyle
AU  - Boyce, Brenda
AU  - Krechmer, Daniel
AU  - Science Applications International Corporation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Department of Transportation
TI  - Road Weather Information System Environmental Sensor Station Siting Guidelines, Version 2.0
PY  - 2008/11//Version 2.0
SP  - 85p
AB  - FHWA initiated an effort in 2007 to evaluate and update, as necessary the ESS Guidelines first published in 2004 (FHWA-HOP-05-026). This effort is summarized in a companion report “Implementation and Evaluation of RWIS ESS Siting Guidelines”. The consensus of the project was that the original Guidelines covered most of the major issues in the siting of ESS and provided the necessary information in a concise manner. The major change made to this version of the Guidelines involved an update to the metadata table that was included in the original report. Since the original Guidelines were developed a major effort was conducted as part of the Clarus project to define a standard set of metadata for ESS. An expanded metadata table was thus included in the Guidelines showing Clarus metadata in three categories; required, recommended and optional. Other than the modification to the metadata table, most of the additions were limited, and designed to highlight areas of concern noted by DOT’s with ESS experience. The feedback from most of the DOT’s interviewed was positive and they expressed an interest in using the document for future deployments. Several noted that they would require their contractors to use it.
KW  - Environmental sensor stations
KW  - Guidelines
KW  - Location
KW  - Metadata
KW  - Meteorological instruments
KW  - Road weather information systems
KW  - Sensors
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30700/30705/14447.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/887392
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01122471
AU  - Xin, Wuping
AU  - Hourdos, John
AU  - Michalopoulos, Panos G
AU  - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Enhanced Micro-Simulation Models for Accurate Safety Assessment of Traffic Management ITS Solutions
PY  - 2008/11//Final Report
SP  - 107p
AB  - Much research has been conducted in the development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative intelligent transportation system (ITS) technologies aiming to improve traffic operations and driving safety. Existing micro-simulation modeling only describes normative car-following behaviors devoid of weakness and risks associated with real-life everyday driving. This research aims to develop a new behavioral car-following model that is pertinent to the true nature of everyday human driving. Unlike traditional car-following models that deliberately prohibit vehicle collisions, this new model builds upon multi-disciplinary findings explicitly taking into account perceptual thresholds, judgment errors, anisotropy of reaction times and driver inattention, in order to replicate “less-than-perfect” driving behavior with all its weakness and risks. Most importantly, all parameters of this model have direct physical meaning; this ensures vehicle collisions are replicated as a result of behavioral patterns rather than simply being numerical artifacts of the model. Meanwhile, vehicle trajectories were extracted from real-life crashes collected from a freeway section of I-94WB. This is by far the first data collection effort that has aimed to collect vehicle trajectories from real-life crashes to aid car-following modeling. These data were employed in this study to test, calibrate and validate the model. This new model is successful in replicating these vehicle trajectories as well as crashes.
KW  - Behavior
KW  - Car following
KW  - Crashes
KW  - Highway operations
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Highway traffic control
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Microsimulation
KW  - Validation
KW  - Vehicle trajectories
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1030
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/884151
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01121758
AU  - Vijayaraghavan, Krishna
AU  - Rajamani, Rajesh
AU  - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
AU  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Novel Battery-Less Wireless Sensors for Traffic Flow Measurement
PY  - 2008/11//Final Report
SP  - 54p
AB  - This project presents a novel battery-less wireless sensor that can be embedded in the road and used to measure traffic flow rate, speed and approximate vehicle weight. Compared to existing inductive loop based traffic sensors, the new sensor is expected to provide increased reliability, easy installation and low maintenance costs. The sensor uses power only for wireless transmission and has ZERO idle power loss. Hence the sensor is expected to be extremely energy efficient. Energy to power this sensor is harvested entirely from the short duration vibrations that results when an automobile passes over the sensor. A significant portion of the project focuses on developing low power control algorithms that can harvest energy efficiently from the short duration vibrations that result when a vehicle passes over the sensor. To this effect this report develops and compares three control algorithms “Fixed threshold switching”, “Maximum Voltage switching” and “Switched Inductor” for maximizing this harvested energy. The novel “Switched inductor” algorithm with a dual switch control configuration is shown to be the most effective at maximizing harvested energy. All three of the developed control algorithms can be implemented using simple low power analog circuit components. The developed sensor is evaluated using a number of experimental tests. Experimental results show that the sensor is able to harvest adequate energy for its operation from the passing of every axle over the sensor. The sensor can reliably and accurately measure traffic flow rate.
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - Measurement
KW  - Sensors
KW  - Traffic flow
KW  - Traffic flow rate
KW  - Wireless sensor networks
UR  - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=1032
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/882519
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01118679
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Intelligent Transportation Systems: A Summary of Progress and Results
PY  - 2008/11
SP  - 40p
AB  - This booklet presents examples of and results from the public investment in intelligent transportation systems (ITS)  since its initial funding in 1991. All data compiled has been gathered from documented reports and on-line websites, the majority funded by the USDOT. These examples present the diversity of ITS impacts on the travelling public and the movement of goods. This booklet is organized as follows: The Federal ITS Program history and examples of: (1) Technologies deployed across the nation,  (2) Benefits derived for the nation,  (3) Case studies on specific ITS benefits,  (4) Major ITS research initiatives that summarize the current ITS Program.
KW  - Benefits
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Federal government
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - History
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Passenger transportation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Technology
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31500/31554/Intelligent_Transportation_Systems_A_Summary_of_Progress___Results.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/878701
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01115461
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Intelligent Transportation Systems for Planned Special Events: A Cross-Cutting Study
PY  - 2008/11
SP  - v.p.
AB  - Agencies across the country must contend with the transportation implications of hosting planned special events. Events can be large or small; they can be scheduled only once or repeat on a regular basis. All planned special events present challenges to host communities. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), which include equipment to sense current traffic conditions, to control traffic flow and to inform travelers of what to expect, as well as centers to bring all these functions together, can help agencies meet these challenges. This cross-cutting study examines how six agencies in five states used and continue to use ITS to reduce congestion generated by planned special events, thereby reducing crashes, increasing travel time reliability, and reducing driver frustration. Six locations were selected for in-depth examination in this crosscutting study: Montgomery County, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; Anaheim, California; Pasadena, California; Daytona Beach, Florida; Dutchess County, New York. Overall, the transportation officials interviewed found that the use of ITS helps to ease the congestion and frustration that accompany many planned special events. ITS benefit all types of agencies that host planned special events in all types of locations, from large urban areas that host many events throughout the year to small rural areas that host only one or two events annually. Transportation officials in localities around the country have recognized the important role ITS technologies play in the success of their planned special events. Many of these individuals also recognize that without those technologies, efficiently managing the transportation needs of both event attendees and local citizens would be a much more challenging proposition. The use of ITS technologies themselves can, however, offer challenges. Many systems use sophisticated communications or networking applications that require operator training prior to deployment. Systems that are newly acquired by a locality may also experience glitches or difficulties associated with initial deployment that require maintenance or remediation from the manufacturer. Other technologies or systems, while potentially effective, are cost-prohibitive for smaller communities and rural areas with more limited budgets. In addition, local factors can have a significant impact on the usefulness of a technology solution. For example, an event with significant use of radio frequency (RF ) bandwidths at the event venue may make wireless communication with equipment via cellular phone difficult or impossible.
KW  - Anaheim (California)
KW  - Boston (Massachusetts)
KW  - Daytona Beach (Florida)
KW  - Dutchess County (New York)
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Montgomery County (Maryland)
KW  - Pasadena (California)
KW  - Special events
KW  - Traffic mitigation
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Travel time
KW  - Travel time reliability
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30400/30470/14436.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/874792
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01160025
AU  - Balaguru, P N
AU  - Brownstein, Jeremy
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - New Jersey Department of Transportation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Inorganic Protective Coatings and Fiber Reinforced Polymers Demonstration Project: Route 47 Wildwood Drawbridge Bridge House Rehabilitations
PY  - 2008/10/31/Final Report
SP  - 13p
AB  - The primary scope and objective of this project was to demonstrate the use of fiber reinforced polymers for repair and rehabilitation of transportation structures located near the ocean. The structures selected were two bridge houses (towers) that are used to facilitate ship movement at the Route 47 Wildwood drawbridge. In the North Tower, the degradation of concrete occurred due to salt ingress in concrete walls. The salt water source and deterioration was more acute around window openings. In the South Tower, the water is entering near the roof and around window openings. In this tower an addition was constructed to house the bridge operating personnel, and detailing on the four corners seems to be the source of the water entry. The primary objective was the repair and rehabilitation of these structures. The work consisted of identifying and stopping the water ingress, and applying an inorganic coating on the inside walls. This coating protects the interior concrete surface and reduces water penetration, resulting in lower humidity inside the buildings. The permeability of the coating material is much less than the permeability of concrete, but it allows the release of vapor pressure build-up. Therefore, the coating does not delaminate from the parent surface. Fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) with highly extendable polymers were used to seal the joints between the concrete, timber beams, and roof connections to the timber beams. Other repairs to improve the aesthetics of the buildings were also made.
KW  - Bridge towers
KW  - Damage (Bridges)
KW  - Demonstration projects
KW  - Drawbridges
KW  - Fiber reinforced polymers
KW  - Inorganic compounds
KW  - Joints (Engineering)
KW  - Protective coating
KW  - Rehabilitation (Maintenance)
KW  - Repairing
KW  - Seawater
KW  - Walls
UR  - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/FHWA-NJ-2008-013.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/920597
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01121765
AU  - Baker, Richard
AU  - Goodin, Ginger
AU  - Lindquist, Eric
AU  - Shoemaker, David
AU  - University Transportation Center for Mobility
AU  - North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Feasibility of Mileage-Based User Fees: Application in Rural/Small Urban Areas of Northeast Texas
PY  - 2008/10/31/Final Report
SP  - 57p
AB  - This study explores the application of mileage-based user fees, or vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) fees, as an alternative to the fuel tax in rural and small urban areas. The purpose of the study is to identify the issues associated with implementation of a potential new transportation funding system so that public and political concerns in rural communities can be addressed. Researchers began by reviewing and evaluating the current fuel tax system in Texas to establish a baseline for any future alternative financing mechanisms. In partnership with the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority (NET RMA) the research team conducted several outreach activities within the study area to identify potential issues and challenges that could arise when a fundamental change in the existing transportation funding system is proposed. The researchers used a variety of public perception data collection tools – including stakeholder interviews, focus groups, and a community advisory committee – to identify public acceptance issues associated with implementing a mileage-based fee system in northeast Texas. The information gathered was used to develop a public acceptance framework for evaluating a future mileage-based user fee pilot project.
KW  - Acceptance
KW  - Financing
KW  - Mileage-based user fees
KW  - Outreach
KW  - Public participation
KW  - Rural highways
KW  - Small cities
KW  - Texas
KW  - Travelers
KW  - User charges
KW  - Vehicle miles of travel
UR  - http://utcm.tamu.edu/publications/final_reports/Goodin_08-11-06.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/883639
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01115370
AU  - Koon, Leann
AU  - Galarus, Douglas
AU  - Western Transportation Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Redding Responder Field Test - UTC
PY  - 2008/10/30
SP  - 24p
AB  - This University Transportation Center (UTC) project facilitated field testing and evaluation of the “Responder” system between Phases 1 and 2 of the Redding Responder Project, sponsored by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). A pilot system, with hardware purchased by Caltrans, was developed and subsequently tested by personnel in five Caltrans districts. A survey was administered to personnel following their use of the system and response was quite favorable. The survey addressed general system functionality, ease of use, cost and potential application. A number of specific issues or enhancements were identified and these issues are being addressed in Phase 2. Caltrans continues to use and test the pilot system.
KW  - Applications
KW  - California Department of Transportation
KW  - Costs
KW  - Ease of use
KW  - Emergency management
KW  - Emergency medical services
KW  - Functionality
KW  - Incident management
KW  - Pilot programs
KW  - Redding Responder Study
KW  - Testing
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/documents/reports/4w0938_final_report.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/874822
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01488599
TI  - Wayfinding Project
AB  - This project will study and evaluate the industry and traveler benefits associated with transit wayfinding/route information technologies and strategies. With the explosion in mobile-, vehicle-, and infrastructure-based information technologies over the past five years, industry has moved forward with providing products and services to consumers who demand instantaneous, easily accessible and easy-to-use information. The transportation systems and agencies have not kept pace with these changes and require Federal leadership, insight, and assistance on how to incorporate, integrate, and leverage the opportunities afforded by these technologies and services.
KW  - Benefits
KW  - Information technology
KW  - Mobile communication systems
KW  - Routes and routing
KW  - Traveler information and communication systems
KW  - Wayfinding
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257576
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01494909
TI  - Climate Change Report to Congress
AB  - The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 mandated that the US Department of Transportation produce a report to Congress on transportation's impact on climate change and solutions for reducing this impact.  The study also considered co-benefits of fuel savings and air quality improvement.  Completed in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Global Change Research Program.
KW  - Air quality
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Climate change
KW  - Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Environmental protection
KW  - Fuel conservation
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264143
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01459760
TI  - Current and Future Contributions to Freight Demand in North America
AB  - Freight transportation demand has historically been substantially under estimated. Among the consequences has been growing congestion on highways, railroads, and ports because of insufficient infrastructure. Freight demand is driven by demographic, economic, political, and environmental factors. A better understanding of the contribution of these interrelated factors to freight demand and their long term trends will greatly improve freight planning models. The objective of this research is to identify demographic, economic, environmental, and political factors that contribute significantly to the future demand for freight tons, ton miles, and freight activity (vehicle miles of travel and train miles) per ton mile of freight. The proposed research will identify historic and current factors, estimate the direction and relative magnitude of the influence of each factor on freight demand; identify whether the effects are national, regional, or local; identify the likelihood that the factor and its effects will continue over the next 30 years; and identify factors that should be monitored to detect major changes in current trends in the demand for freight transportation. The research will build on the results of NCFRP Project 01, "Review and Analysis of Freight Transportation Markets and Relationships".
KW  - Demand
KW  - Demographics
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Highways
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Planning
KW  - Port congestion
KW  - Ports
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic congestion
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2407
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1227975
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575587
TI  - Customizing Biodiesel Derived from Tropical Trees
AB  - This research project will result in the following: (1) An increased understanding of the effect of ambient temperature on the fatty acid profile of Jatropha curcas, kamani, and coconut oils; and (2) An increased understanding of the chemical composition, emissions, and engine performance of biodiesel produced by Jatropha curcas, kamani, and coconut.

KW  - Atmospheric temperature
KW  - Biodiesel fuels
KW  - Chemical composition
KW  - Engine performance
KW  - Oils
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Trees
KW  - Tropics
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1368242
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575029
TI  - Task Analysis

AB  - Task analysis is a systematic method to determine the elements of a task, how those elements are arranged in time, and the context in which the task occurs.  This includes cognitive task analysis which relates to the mental, as opposed to physical, elements of a task.  Task analysis is important for selection, training, and evaluation of the performance of railroad employees.

KW  - Cognition
KW  - Labor force
KW  - Performance evaluations
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Task analysis
KW  - Training programs
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/48000/48100/48181/TR_Rail_Industry_Job_Analysis_Freight_Conductor.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/50000/50600/50695/TR_Job_Analysis_Design_Rail_Industry_FINAL_1_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/54000/54200/54266/Development_of_Short_Line_Railroad_FINAL.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1367334
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01488639
TI  - Evaluation of Transit Wayfinding/Route Information Technologies and Strategies
AB  - The objective of this intra-agency agreement is to support the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) research effort to develop and submit a report on transit industry and traveler benefits associated with transit wayfinding/route information technologies and strategies. The Volpe Center will conduct a market analysis of wayfinding/route information products and services, define different wayfinding needs of each user (traveler), and assess the value and benefits of these products and services. Brief tests and field studies will be conducted of the emerging technologies. Doing so will allow for the ultimate understanding of the gaps that exist in the technologies and services from a transit perspective, and define where the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) can take a leadership role.
KW  - Benefits
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Route specific information
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Traveler information and communication systems
KW  - Wayfinding
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257616
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01465241
TI  - Median Barriers
AB  - This project focuses on median barrier treatments at highway rail intersections, and involves researching literature and existing median barrier installations, evaluating current demonstration tests and documenting the results.  The final product shall consist of documentation of median barrier use at highway rail grade crossings and lessons learned, best practices and guidance.  Currently, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) has or is conducting two demonstration tests of median barrier systems at highway rail intersections in Massachusetts.  The MBTA has suggested an independent evaluation of these demonstration projects based on the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA's) desire to complete this research.  This was an FY09 project.
KW  - Best practices
KW  - Demonstration projects
KW  - Installation
KW  - Literature reviews
KW  - Massachusetts
KW  - Median barriers
KW  - Railroad grade crossings
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1233474
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462361
TI  - An Assessment of Habitat Connectivity and Fracture Zones for Carnivores Within and Between the I-90 and US2 Corridors - UTC
AB  - The purpose of this project is to assess carnivore habitat connectivity and the impact of landscape fracture zones on carnivores within and between the I-90 and US Route 2 transportation corridors.
KW  - Carnivores
KW  - Connectivity
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Habitat (Ecology)
KW  - Montana
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Wildlife
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/research/4w2397.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230582
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461684
TI  - Deicer Interaction with Portland Cement Concrete
AB  - The purpose of this project is to evaluate the effect of chloride-based deicers on reinforced concrete structures, such as roadways and bridges, operated by the Washington State Department of Transportation; and to determine whether or not reducing deicer corrosiveness helps preserve the transportation infrastructure.
KW  - Concrete structures
KW  - Corrosion
KW  - Deicers (Equipment)
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Portland cement concrete
KW  - Reinforced concrete
KW  - Reinforced concrete bridges
KW  - Research projects
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/research/4w2379.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229904
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01460064
TI  - Synthesis of Short Sea Shipping in North America
AB  - <div><font size="3">The coastal waterways in North America could offer an alternative mode to move containers off the increasingly congested highway and rail transportation networks. Short sea shipping has been cited as more environmentally friendly, safer, and more energy efficient than other surface modes, and appears to be working well in Europe. However, in the United States it is regulated by the Jones Act, which limits foreign sea vessels to one stop at a port. </font><font size="3">The objective of this synthesis is to examine and summarize the recent studies such as, <em>The Public Benefits of the Short Sea Intermodal System, Short Sea and Coastal Shipping Options Study, </em>and <em>Four Corridor Case Studies of Short Sea Shipping Services</em>, as well as the international literature, and discuss the benefits and barriers to integrating short sea shipping into the U.S. intermodal freight transportation system. </font></div>
KW  - Coastwise shipping
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - International trade
KW  - North America
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Short sea shipping
KW  - Waterways
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2410
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228280
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01155066
AU  - Yeh, Michelle
AU  - Multer, Jordan
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Driver Behavior at Highway-Railroad Grade Crossings: A Literature Review from 1990–2006
PY  - 2008/10//Final Report
SP  - 135p
AB  - Accidents at grade crossings continue to be the leading cause of fatalities in the railroad industry. A large proportion of these accidents are the result of driver error. The purpose of this report is to review research that addresses driver behavior at grade crossings to better understand the decisions and actions drivers make so that countermeasures can be developed to discourage dangerous driving behavior. This report is intended to update a 1990 literature review titled, Driver Behavior at Rail-Highway Crossings, by Lerner, Ratte, and Walker, that provided a comprehensive examination of factors contributing to driver noncompliance at grade crossings. This report focuses on grade crossing research conducted since 1990 and extends the review by Lerner, et al. by examining the grade crossing problem in the context of the general driving task. This literature review is organized using the framework of a sociotechnical model such that driver behavior is examined not as individual elements but as a system. Recommendations for additional research are also identified.
KW  - Behavior
KW  - Driver errors
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Railroad grade crossings
KW  - Railroad safety
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/385
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35000/35017/DOT-VNTSC-FRA-08-03.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/915762
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01147415
AU  - Vivoda, Jonathon M
AU  - University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
AU  - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - A Survey of Educational Needs Among Transportation Professionals
PY  - 2008/10
SP  - 12p
AB  - One of the goals of the Michigan Center for Advancing Safe Transportation throughout the Lifespan (M-CASTL) is to expand the University of Michigan’s role in continuing education for transportation safety and mobility practitioners. This goal will be accomplished by developing a Professional Education Program within M-CASTL. This Program will aim to fill traffic safety and mobility needs through on-site education, giving lectures and talks, hosting conferences and seminars, as well as web-casting, video streaming, smart boards, and other media. In order to begin planning for development of the Program, it was necessary to better understand the potential educational needs of professionals working in the fields of traffic safety and mobility. To begin this process, a pilot survey was designed and disseminated, followed by a more in-depth survey submitted to a larger audience. The current report describes the process, the results of the survey, and the implications of those results for building the Program.
KW  - Education
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Professional personnel
KW  - Surveys
KW  - Traffic safety
UR  - http://m-castl.org/files/ProfEdReport.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/907681
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01125358
AU  - Owens, Nicholas
AU  - Jacobson, Les
AU  - Mitchell, Carol
AU  - Science Applications International Corporation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - National Evaluation Program FY 2003 Earmark Evaluation: Utah CommuterLink Expansion Case Study Evaluation Final Report
PY  - 2008/10//Final Report
SP  - 49p
AB  - This report presents a case study of the ongoing expansion of the Utah Department of Transportation’s CommuterLink Program. The program is expanding to include local and municipal government agencies outside of the Salt Lake Valley by integrating across the jurisdictional boundaries of the Cities of Orem and Provo, Davis County, and the UDOT Regional Headquarters. With the exception of Davis County, each of these entities now operates its own Traffic Control Centers for its jurisdiction. However, each entity wanted to collectively operate as one system that shares information, utilizes shared resources, and coordinates traffic management across boundaries while maintaining responsibility for their individual jurisdictions The case study identifies institutional and technical lessons learned and benefits.
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Coordination
KW  - Data sharing
KW  - Evaluation
KW  - Highway traffic control
KW  - Incident management
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Lessons learned
KW  - Utah
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30600/30642/14445.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/886045
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01118682
AU  - Biernbaum, Lee
AU  - Gay, Kevin
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Highway Economic Requirements System (HERS) Safety Model Assessment and Two-Lane Urban Crash Model
PY  - 2008/10//Final Report
SP  - 90p
AB  - There are many reasons to be concerned with estimating the frequency and social costs of highway accidents, but most reasons are motivated by a desire to minimize these costs to the extent feasible. Competition for scarce resources is a practical necessity, and society seeks to apply those resources where they will do the most good. With highway crashes, given the high costs of misprediction in fatalities and injuries, sound information for prioritizing projects with limited funds is essential. The Highway Economic Requirements System (HERS) model applies crash prediction equations in the context of deciding which kinds of highway improvements are justified for which sections of highway. Thus, it is concerned with the effects of geometric attributes on expected highway accidents.
KW  - Crash risk forecasting
KW  - Geometric segments
KW  - Highway Economic Requirements System
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Safety models
KW  - Traffic safety
KW  - Two lane highways
KW  - Urban highways
UR  - http://www.volpe.dot.gov/library/published/hers-sfty-mdl-assmnt_2008.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/878697
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01115533
AU  - Tufte, Kristin A
AU  - Kothuri, Sirisha M
AU  - Portland State University
AU  - Oregon Department of Transportation
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Assessment and Refinement of Real-Time Travel Time Algorithms for Use in Practice
PY  - 2008/10//Final Report
SP  - 83p
AB  - The Federal Highway Administration has strongly encouraged transportation departments to display travel times on their Dynamic Message Signs (DMSs). The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) currently displays travel time estimates on three DMSs in the Portland metropolitan area. In the near future, ODOT would like to make travel time estimates available over the Internet on tripcheck.com and via 511. The primary goal of this project was to determine the best approach for ODOT to use to estimate travel times for use on DMS signs, 511 and tripcheck.com. In addition to recommending a methodology, a crucial component of this project was to provide confidence in the estimates provided by the methodology. In the course of this project, over 500 ground truth travel time runs were collected on freeways in the Portland metropolitan area. These ground truth travel times were used to statistically analyze the performance of travel time estimation algorithms. The project report presents overall error analysis in addition to segment-by-segment analysis and recommendations for travel time estimation for all freeways in the Portland area.
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - Estimates
KW  - Estimating
KW  - Freeways
KW  - Portland Metropolitan Area (Oregon)
KW  - Real time data processing
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Travel time
KW  - Variable message signs
UR  - http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_64/5683000/5683000/2/print/5683000.pdf
UR  - http://www.otrec.us/main/document.php?doc_id=988
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31600/31692/OTREC-RR-08-02_Tufte_RealTimeTravel_FinalReport.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/875478
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01112644
AU  - Overman, John H
AU  - University Transportation Center for Mobility
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Regional Coordination Workshops
PY  - 2008/10//Final Report
SP  - 50p
AB  - There is a demonstrated need for outreach, education, training and technology transfer to public transportation providers, rural transit districts, mobility managers, councils of governments and staff involved in regional human service transit coordination. This project addresses those needs by providing training and technology transfer based on recent research efforts at various institutions to improve regional coordination and transit services. The Regional Coordination Workshop served as the venue to deliver the workshops in themed learning tracks. High priority workshop topics include: partnership development, marketing techniques, public involvement, and information technology applications. The Regional Coordination Workshop was held on July 23 and 24, 2008 at the Omni Austin Hotel at Southpark in Austin, Texas and attended by 172 participants from a variety of agencies and organizations involved in regional human service transit coordination. Regional Coordination Workshop materials and presentations can be found on the Regional Service Planning website (www.regionalserviceplanning.org).
KW  - Coordination
KW  - Information technology
KW  - Marketing
KW  - Partnerships
KW  - Public participation
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Regional planning
KW  - Technology transfer
KW  - Training
KW  - Workshops
UR  - http://utcm.tamu.edu/publications/final_reports/Overman_08-26-11.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/872433
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01345905
AU  - Maile, M
AU  - Neale, V
AU  - Ahmed-Zaid, F
AU  - Basnyake, C
AU  - Caminiti, L
AU  - Doerzaph, Z
AU  - Kass, S
AU  - Kiefer, R
AU  - Losh, M
AU  - Lundberg, J
AU  - Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance System Limited to Stop Sign and Traffic Signal Violations (CICAS-V)
PY  - 2008/09/30
SP  - 75 p
AB  - The objective of the Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance System for Violations (CICAS-V) is to develop and field test a comprehensive system to reduce the number of crashes at intersections due to violations of traffic control devices (TCDs), i.e. traffic lights and stop signs.  The CICAS-V system provides a salient and timely in-vehicle warning to drivers who are predicted to violate a TCD, with the aim of compelling the driver to stop.  This report presents the final summary report of the CICAS-V project.
KW  - Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance System for Violations (CICAS-V)
KW  - Crash avoidance systems
KW  - Driver information systems
KW  - Intersections
KW  - Traffic control devices
KW  - Traffic safety
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38600/38631/Appendix_A-1_Task_3_1_-_Report__FHWA-JPO-10-068_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38600/38631/Appendix_A-2_Task_3_2_-_Report__FHWA-JPO-10-068_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38600/38631/Appendix_A-3_Task_3_3_-_Report__FHWA-JPO-10-068_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38600/38631/Appendix_A-4_Task_3_4_-_Report_FHWA-JPO-10-068_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38600/38631/Appendix_A_Task_3_-_Report__FHWA-JPO-10-068_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38600/38631/Appendix_B_CICAS-V_ConOps_Final_v0301_02-10-09__FHWA-JPO-10-068_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38600/38631/Appendix_C-1_CICAS-V_HRS_Final_v0401__FHWA-JPO-10-068_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38600/38631/Appendix_C-2_CICAS-V_SRS_v0301__FHWA-JPO-10-068_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38600/38631/Appendix_D_CICAS-V_SAD_v0401__FHWA-JPO-10-068_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38600/38631/Appendix_E-1_SPS_Vehicle_0401_Revised_March_16_2010__FHWA-JPO-10-068_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38600/38631/Appendix_E-2_SDS_Infrastructure_0401_March_11_2010__FHWA-JPO-10-068_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38600/38631/Appendix_F_Task_8_Final_Report_v2.0_Feb_9__FHWA-JPO-10-068_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38600/38631/Appendix_G_CICAS-V_Task_10_Final_Report_4-29-10__FHWA-JPO-10-068_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38600/38631/Appendix_H-1_CICAS-V_Task_7--Test_Procedures_Descriptions_Final_Report_Revised_03-11-10__FHWA-JPO-10-068_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38600/38631/Appendix_H-2_CICAS-V_Task_11_Final_Report__FHWA-JPO-10-068_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38600/38631/Appendix_I_Task_12_Final_Report_01-19-09__FHWA-JPO-10-068_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38600/38631/Appendix_J_Task_13__Final_Report_Revised_04-08-10__FHWA-JPO-10-068_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38600/38631/CICAS-V_Final_Report_Rev_4-21-2010_v2_wAppendix_List__FHWA-JPO-10-068_.asd.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1105465
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01325159
AU  - Gilbo, Eugene P
AU  - Oiesen, Rick
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Aviation Administration
TI  - A New Method for Determining A Sector Alert
PY  - 2008/09/29
SP  - 16p
AB  - The Traffic Flow Management System (TFMS) currently declares an alert for any 15-minute interval in which the predicted demand exceeds the Monitor/Alert Parameter (MAP) for any airport, sector, or fix. For a sector, TFMS predicts the demand for each minute, and TFMS uses the demand of the peak minute in a 15-minute interval to decide whether to declare an alert for the entire 15-minute interval. Using the peak demand from a single minute to declare alerts has been criticized for three reasons. First, the demand from a single minute is a flawed measure of workload for the entire 15-minute interval. Second, using demand for a single minute leads to instability; that is, slight fluctuations in demand from minute to minute can lead to alerts flickering on and off. Third, the interval that is alerted depends on the arbitrary, 15-minute boundaries. To deal with these problems with the current method of declaring alerts, and to develop a method of declaring alerts that matches more closely the intuition of traffic managers about what patterns of demand represent a potential problem, this report proposes using information about both the magnitude and duration of excess demand to determine if there is an alert. To make this determination, this report defines three parameters: a, b, and Δ. By choosing particular values for these parameters, TFMS could control the magnitude and duration of excess demand that is required to trigger an alert. The thinking expressed by traffic managers is that a single minute of slightly excess demand should not be enough to trigger an alert. Therefore, a parameter a is defined as the number of minutes of excess demand that must occur for there to be an alert. (Excess demand means that the demand for a minute exceeds the MAP.) For example, if a = 3, then at least three minutes of excess demand are needed for an alert. The next question is how bunched in time these three minutes need to be. The proposal is that at least b consecutive minutes of normal, i.e., not excess, demand, are enough to prevent or end an alert. The larger a is set, and the smaller b is set, the harder it is for an alert to occur. Traffic managers also state that while one minute of slightly excess demand is not enough to justify an alert, even one minute of significant excess demand is enough. Therefore, the parameter Δ is used to determine how large the demand for a single minute should be to trigger an alert. If demand for a minute is greater than MAP + Δ , an alert is declared. This is called a short-term alert since it can arise from the demand for a single minute, while the type of alert explained in the previous paragraph is called a long-term alert. Discussions with traffic managers have led to the conclusion that this proposed new method of determining alerts holds promise, but it would be premature to say that it is ready to be implemented in TFMS. Therefore, it is proposed that a prototype of this method be implemented so that traffic managers can try it and also so that analysis can be carried out. This prototype could be used, for example, to try different values for the various parameters, and it could then be seen how this affected the frequency and stability of alerts. A prototype would also allow traffic managers to evaluate the usefulness of the concepts of short- and long-term alerts and to determine whether any alternate definition might be more useful. Some questions are whether the parameters should have the same value for the country as a whole, whether they should have the same values for every sector in each center, or whether they should be separately determined for every sector. Finally, there are user interface questions, such as how these two different types of alerts should be displayed. In summary, the goal is to allow TFMS to reliably identify patterns of demand that signal a potential problem. An alert would be used to call this potential problem to the attention of a traffic manager, who could then look at the situation in detail and decide if any action is needed.
KW  - Air traffic
KW  - Air traffic control
KW  - Air traffic controllers
KW  - Alerts
KW  - Flow control (Air traffic control)
KW  - Metering (Air traffic control)
KW  - Monitoring
KW  - Traffic flow
KW  - Traffic managers
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35000/35069/Report_New_Measure_of_Sector_Alerts_DOT-VNTSC-TRM-08-11.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1086060
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01490070
TI  - Vehicle Assist and Automation (VAA) Demonstration
AB  - This project will demonstrate the technical merits and feasibility of different Vehicle Assist and Automation (VAA) technology applications in bus revenue service, and to assess their costs and benefits. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the cooperative agreement recipient, is partnering with Alameda County (AC) Transit, Lane Transit District (LTD), the University of California Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH), and several private sector companies. Specifically, Caltrans will test lateral guidance through toll booths and on a four-mile section of high-occupancy vehicles (HOV) lane leading to the tool plaza and on AC Transit's M line. Caltrans also plans to test lateral guidance on LTD's Franklin EmX  bus rapid transit (BRT) transitway and precision docking at BRT bus stops. These applications will each use the following VAA technologies, individually and in combination: 1) magnetic marker sensing, and 2) Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) with inertial sensors.
KW  - Alameda (California)
KW  - Automatic vehicle monitoring
KW  - Benefit cost analysis
KW  - Bus rapid transit
KW  - California Department of Transportation
KW  - Global Positioning System
KW  - Guidance systems (Motor vehicles)
KW  - High occupancy vehicle lanes
KW  - Magnetic markers
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Vehicle assist and automation
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259617
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462757
TI  - Specifications for Freight Transportation Data Architecture
AB  - Public and private decision makers require a comprehensive picture of freight movement in order to understand and respond to pressing transportation issues. This requires the integration of data from many sources and across all levels of government; however, the task of integrating the freight data elements into a comprehensive picture can be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data, the statistical challenges of linking the data elements and understanding what part of the comprehensive picture they represent, proprietary interests, and national security concerns. The objective of the research is to establish the content of a freight data architecture that can be used to: integrate freight data from multiple sources to produce a national picture; guide public transportation planners on ways to obtain local detail that is consistent with the national picture; and help public and private planners better understand the local consequences of freight movements and the contributions of local shipping decisions to interregional freight activity. A well-defined and robust freight data architecture will facilitate the collection, use, and maintenance of interoperable freight data. It will reduce the cost and time of conducting freight transportation studies, as well as guide further investment in freight data collection.</font></div>
KW  - Commodity density
KW  - Data architecture
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Economic development
KW  - Freight security
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Shipping
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2408
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230980
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01112752
AU  - McNeil, Sue
AU  - Mizusawa, Daisuke
AU  - University of Illinois, Chicago
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Measuring the Benefits of Implementing Asset Management Systems and Tools
PY  - 2008/09/19/Research Report
SP  - 186p
AB  - Although transportation agencies in the U.S. have been developing Asset Management Systems (AMS) for specific types of infrastructure assets, there are several barriers to the implementation of AMS. In particular, implementation and development costs are critical issues. Without showing that AMS implementation improves asset performance and that the benefits of AMS implementation outweigh the costs for AMS implementation and operation, further implementation and development will not occur. This paper documents the development of a generic methodology for quantifying the benefits derived from implementation of AMS and justifying investment in AMS implementation. The generic methodology involves three analysis methods: descriptive analysis, regression analysis, and benefit-cost analysis. These methods draw on basic principles of engineering economic analysis and apply to two types of evaluations: an ex post facto evaluation and an ex ante evaluation depending on the time frame and the availability of time series data. While the concepts are relatively simple, the challenge lies in identifying data to support the application of the methodology. This paper demonstrates how the methodology can be applied to evaluate the implementation of a pavement management system in terms of efficacy, effectiveness, and efficiency (3Es).
KW  - Asset management
KW  - Benefit cost analysis
KW  - Economic benefits
KW  - Implementation
KW  - Pavement management systems
KW  - Regression analysis
UR  - http://www.mrutc.org/research/0606/06-06_FR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/872643
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01464757
TI  - Framework and Tools for Estimating Benefits of Specific Freight Network Investment Needs
AB  - The existing transportation network is currently straining under the volume of freight moving through it - and those volumes are predicted to continue growing. In addition, capital investments, whether for timely maintenance or new construction, have not kept pace with freight demand. Investment decisions affecting the future of efficient freight movement have been hindered by the absence of analytical frameworks, tools, and data of sufficient quality and detail to be credibly used to estimate benefits and impacts, and to assess attendant risks. Significant capital investment is needed to improve the efficiency and productivity of freight movement. However, investment funds are scarce, and for many infrastructure investments that would improve freight movement, costs are borne and benefits are enjoyed locally and nationally by both the public and private sector. Because of this complex interrelationship, a new, consistent, and usable analytic framework is necessary to guide and focus these multidimensional investment decisions. The objective of this project is to develop a comprehensive analytical framework and related tools for estimating public and private benefits to evaluate potential freight infrastructure investments (including investments in new, replacement, maintenance, and operational systems), as well as potential funding sources. The framework should be based on a multidimensional matrix and related tools that can be used to guide the allocation of project costs among (a) private-sector freight transportation modes and shippers and (b) public-sector transportation interests such as Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), states, multi-states, and freight transportation corridors.</font></div><div><font size="3"> </font></div>
KW  - Capital investments
KW  - Commodities
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Investments
KW  - Metropolitan planning organizations
KW  - Transportation networks
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=1577
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1232989
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01111970
AU  - McCord, Mark R
AU  - Mishalani, Rabi G
AU  - Ohio State University, Columbus
AU  - Ohio Transportation Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Planning for Multi-University Educational Activities Based on OSU's Smart Bus Campus Transit Laboratory
PY  - 2008/09/04/Final Report
SP  - 14p
AB  - The Ohio State University's (OSU's) Campus Area Bus Service (CABS) is one of the largest campus bus systems in the United States, serving three to four million passengers annually.  Efforts are underway to develop a unique infrastructure for education and research - the OSU Campus Transit Lab (CTL).  In this project the investigators identified two courses as candidates for implementing exercises and demonstrations based on eventual CTL data.  These courses are Civil Engineering 570: Introduction to Transportation Engineering and Analysis and Civil Engineering 670: Urban Public Transportation.  Three ideas that could be supported by the upcoming CTL data were identified as complementing the material presented in CE 570 and CE 670:  illustration of traffic variable measures through space-time trajectories (CE 570); estimation of expected travel times (CE 570); and modeling of dwell times as a function of passenger boardings and alightings (CE 670).
KW  - Boarding and alighting
KW  - Bus transit
KW  - Campus Transit Lab (Ohio State University)
KW  - Campus transportation
KW  - Curricula
KW  - Dwell time
KW  - Education
KW  - Estimating
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - Ohio State University
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Space-time trajectories
KW  - Traffic engineering
KW  - Transportation engineering
KW  - Travel time
UR  - http://www.otc.uakron.edu/docs/McCord_and_Mishalani_OTC_Project_Report_Sep08.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/871672
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572268
TI  - Breeding Switchgrass with Improved Biomass Productivity on Marginal Land for the Northeastern US
AB  - Although perennial grasses such as switchgrasses are expected to be used as a biofuel crop on marginal land there has been little to no extensive research to evaluate their performance on marginal land. Initial studies comparing switchgrass yields on marginal land vs. prime farmland found that performance across environments was not consistent and that the top performing entry is not the same on both soil types. The objectives of this research project are to: (1) Identify optimum breeding and selection techniques to identify the best performing switchgrass plants on marginal land (with low N) in Northeastern US and identify germplasm with improved performance on marginal land to use in a breeding program. (2) Identify cultivars of switchgrass with high biomass potential on marginal land (with low N) in the Northeastern US. (3) Develop new cultivars with improved biomass production on marginal land in order to optimize land use and provide a profitable biofuel crop for the North Eastern US. (4) Disseminate information to stakeholders in the industry through various outreach methods (e.g., fact sheets, presentations, internet postings, articles in trade magazines, and a workshop).
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Energy conservation
KW  - Farming
KW  - Grasses
KW  - Information dissemination
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Switch grass
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363886
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569195
TI  - Spatial Analysis of Mobility Patterns (formerly Integrated Land-Use, Transportation and Environmental Modeling: Complex Systems Approaches and Advanced Policy Applications)
AB  - The system of modern automotive transportation suffers from perpetually increasing demand. In this light, this project will be examining a simple cellular automata model of vehicle traffic (BML), and investigating the utility of intelligent traffic signals. The work is part of a larger effort at UVM to model traffic and its relationship to land use in Chittenden County, Vermont. As part of this larger effort, we are examining the stability of TRANSIMS, a state-of-the-art agent-based model of transportation developed by Los Alamos National Lab. UrbanSim will be coupled to TRANSIMS and used to simulate changes in land use. The sensitivity of the coupled model to the level of model complexity is being examined through comparative variation in different dynamic processes, submodels, variables, and parameters. The goal will be to develop a guidance matrix that would inform analysts of the appropriate level of model complexity required for a given practical application.
KW  - Calibration
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Los Alamos National Laboratory
KW  - Research projects
KW  - State of the art
KW  - Traffic models
KW  - Traffic signals
KW  - Traffic simulation
KW  - TRANSIMS (Computer model)
KW  - Validation
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359750
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569192
TI  - Elements and Ramifications of Varying Financing Scenarios on the Overall Cost of Transportation Capital Programs
AB  - This project explores the economic forces that are in play in transportation capital programs. The goal is to inform decision makers so that they can better determine the most efficient means of increasing funding for transportation capital programs without unduly affecting costs. Two factors have been widely discussed in the transportation sector over the last year. First, as we delay maintenance due to limited resources, the unit cost of fixing our infrastructure increases rapidly. That is, delayed maintenance leads to more costly repairs. Second, based on asset management principles, the costs to maintain our infrastructure at the desired level now exceeds our revenue sources for transportation. This project aims to develop a model to show the optimal rate of increase in transportation expenditures over time to most efficiently and cost effectively meet the infrastructure needs. The underlying assumption is that a tripling of the capital program in one year will not result in a tripling of the projects delivered and will, in fact, negatively affect project cost.
KW  - Asset management
KW  - Capital investments
KW  - Capital projects
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Economics
KW  - Financial analysis
KW  - Financing
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Resource allocation
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359747
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01566167
TI  - Atmospheric Oxidative Chemistry of Organic Particulate Emissions from Fuel Combustion
AB  - Experimental studies are proposed to investigate the oxidative processing by hydroxyl radical and ozone of organic nitrogen compounds common to particulate vehicular emissions. Specifically, the researchers seek to determine the reactive trends of particulate organic nitrogen with both ozone and the hydroxyl radical. In addition to flow reactor measurements (i.e., high oxidant concentrations and fast reaction times), we will conduct reactions in an environmental chamber, to more closely approximate atmospheric conditions of low oxidant concentrations and long reaction times, permitting comparison of the two exposure regimes for the first time. These data are needed because almost nothing is known regarding the heterogeneous oxidation of particulate nitrogen in the atmosphere by ozone and very little is known about the OH oxidation of organic particles in general and particulate organic nitrogen specifically.
KW  - Atmosphere
KW  - Chemistry
KW  - Oxidation
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Porous pavements
KW  - Sustainable development
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/atmospheric-oxidative-chemistry-of-organic-particulate-emissions-from-fuel-combustion/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1357255
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480789
TI  - Teaching Case Studies on Emergency Evacuation
AB  - This project will develop two teaching case studies on the policy and institutional dimensions of emergency evacuation planning and/or implementation. One case will focus on the actual experience of the metropolitan area of Houston during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The other case will deal with evacuation planning in another major metropolitan area. Each case study developed for this project will inform the student about a specific situation, providing background data, information about events, and policy dilemmas still confronting the area. It will then place the student in the position of devising and assessing policy and implementation options to evacuation capabilities. The experience of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma in 2005 dramatized the need for better planning for emergency evacuation in major metropolitan areas in the United States and has spurred planning efforts in many locales. The case studies in this project will be used as curriculum materials for training transportation, planning, and public policy/administration students at the graduate level, as well as in-service professionals, to deal with this issue more effectively.
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Emergency management
KW  - Evacuation
KW  - Houston Metropolitan Area
KW  - Hurricane Katrina, 2005
KW  - Hurricane Rita, 2005
KW  - Hurricanes
KW  - Policy analysis
KW  - Research projects
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249862
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480788
TI  - Improving Emergency Preparedness and Crisis Management Capabilities in Transportation--Year 2
AB  - While disaster preparedness and emergency management capabilities have had a high public profile during the current decade, Hurricane Katrina in late 2005 revealed serious weaknesses in the United States' emergency re¬sponse capabilities. There is thus much left to do if the full purposes of the consolidation of agencies into the Department of Homeland Security and of parallel development efforts carried out by other levels of government are to be achieved. This research will examine whether and how one significant functional area - surface transportation - is developing the capabilities necessary to fit effectively into the comprehensive, integrated emergency management system that the United States is committed to developing. Following earlier work on terrorism preparedness and emergency evacuation, the proposed study will focus specifically on implementation in transportation of the National Incident Management System (NIMS), a Congressionally-mandated national template for coordinated organization, operational command, and implementation of response. This system is useful for emergency management situations that because of scale must cut across work group, agency, or functional boundaries. The project will conduct empirical research in several major metropolitan areas and the federal government, thus looking at this issue from national, state, and local perspectives, with significant concentration on the linkages between these levels of government. The proposed extension of the current study will examine whether transportation is effectively implementing the National Incident Management System (NIMS), a Congressionally-mandated national template for coordinated organization, operational command, and implementation of response. This system is useful for emergency management situations that because of scale must cut across work group, agency, or functional boundaries.
KW  - Crisis management
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Emergency evacuations
KW  - Emergency management
KW  - Emergency response time
KW  - Evacuation
KW  - Hurricane Katrina, 2005
KW  - Incident management
KW  - National Incident Management System (NIMS)
KW  - Research projects
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249861
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480785
TI  - Modeling Cooperative Driving Behavior in Freeway Merges
AB  - Merging locations are major sources of freeway bottlenecks. Microscopic simulation tools are receiving increased popularity in analyzing these bottlenecks and designing optimum geometric configurations and control strategies. In congested situations, acceptable gaps for merging are often not available and freeway mainline drivers often cooperate with the on-ramp drivers and create gaps for the merge. This is usually done either by decelerating or by changing to an inner freeway lane. Existing approaches do not capture these phenomena and as a result often over-predict congestion. As part of Next Generation SIMulation (NGSIM) project of the Federal Highway Agency (FHWA), we have previously developed a model for the decisions of the merging driver that captures normal, courtesy and forced merges of the driver in a single decision framework. In the current project, we propose to extend the model to include the driving decisions of the freeway mainline drivers in the merging area. The developed model will be an integrated driving behavior model for lane-changing and acceleration decisions of freeway mainline drivers approaching a merging on-ramp that explicitly captures courtesy and cooperative actions of the driver. Parameters of the model will be estimated with vehicle trajectory data collected by NGSIM at Interstate-80, California during congested periods. The models will be implemented in microscopic traffic simulator MITSIMLab to improve its performance in congested merge locations. The enhanced MITSIMLab will be open-sourced and can serve as an excellent tool for transport professionals to test different congestion management mechanisms. Merging locations are major sources of freeway bottlenecks and are therefore important for freeway operations analysis. Microscopic simulation tools have been successfully used in analysis of merging bottlenecks and to design optimum geometric configurations and control strategies for such locations. In congested situations, acceptable gaps for merging are often not available and freeway mainline drivers often cooperate with the on-ramp drivers and create gaps for the merge. This is usually done either by decelerating or by changing to an inner freeway lane. Also, in some cases, the merging driver may become impatient and decide to force in compelling the lag driver in the freeway to decelerate. The lane-changing and acceleration decisions of the freeway mainline driver are therefore not only based on his present situation, but also influenced by the anticipated intention of the merging driver (e.g. whether or not he is executing a forced merge). After evaluation of the state-of-the art merging models, merging models have been identified as a prioritized Core Algorithm by NGSIM (Cambridge Systematics 2003). As part of NGSIM, we have developed a combined model for the decisions of the merging driver (Choudhury et al. 2006). In this model, the decisions of the freeway mainline driver are treated as external variables. The operational validation study of that model showed improvements in the simulation capability compared to the benchmark model. But the improvements can be more significant by detailed modeling of the decisions of the freeway mainline drivers. In this project, we will make the research complete by modeling the behavior of the freeway mainline driver in a congested situation. The developed model will be an integrated driving behavior model for lane-changing and acceleration decisions of a freeway mainline driver in the vicinity of an on-ramp. The model will explicitly capture courtesy and cooperative actions of the driver and take into account the anticipated actions of the merging driver in the decision framework. The model will be estimated with trajectory data and account for the unobserved heterogeneity among the drivers. The validity of the cooperative lane-changing model will be demonstrated by the improvements in the simulation capability of the microscopic traffic simulator MITSIMLab using aggregate traffic data.
KW  - Acceleration (Mechanics)
KW  - Behavior
KW  - Bottlenecks
KW  - Drivers
KW  - Freeway operations
KW  - Merging control
KW  - Merging traffic
KW  - Next Generation Simulation program
KW  - Ramps (Interchanges)
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic simulation
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249858
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480781
TI  - Community Design and Transportation Safety: Towards a "Vision Zero" Road Fatalities Plan
AB  - Two of the eight key recommendations from a recent OEDC report on meeting the mobility needs of an aging population are i) development of safer roads and infrastructure, ii) appropriate land-use practices. This proposed research addresses both of these key issues by posing the question of how transportation infrastructure and community design affect road safety. The foundation for this research is our ongoing study of 150 California cities, which showed a wide variation in road safety among the different cities. This result suggests that trying to learn the underlying cause of this pattern could be a very fruitful approach to understanding the factors of community and street design that affect road safety. Our analysis of the data shows that those cities with very low fatality rates have many characteristics in common. For example, all cities with high bicycle use for commuting have low to medium fatality rates. We do not yet know the reason why this is the case. However, other researchers have also reported this connection between bicycle use and safety and have speculated that the reason for this outcome is that cities with high bicycle use may also have streets that encourage low travel speed. Our data showing lower severity level for crashes in the high bicycle use cities seem to support this viewpoint. This project will allow us to build on the findings from this previous research and provide definitive answers as to the factors contributing to differences in safety outcome in different cities. We will focus on investigating the effect on safety of two main factors: i) street network configuration, and ii) street character and design. This is different from the conventional approach to road safety, which focuses on specific road segment design and not the overall context or network. We expect that the results of this study will help to inform the crafting of policy for community and network design that could lead to a reduction in road fatality for all road users. Since road fatalities have a disproportionate effect on older Americans, it is imperative we address the issue of road safety if we are to effectively provide mobility for the increasing numbers of older Americans.
KW  - Aging (Biology)
KW  - Aging population
KW  - California
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic safety
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249854
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480780
TI  - Development of a Crash Prediction Model for Older Drivers
AB  - Older drivers are more likely to crash and to be fatally injured when involved in a crash. (IIHS, 2001; Li, 2003)  As the driving population ages, jurisdictions are struggling to find ways to re-assess older driver competency in an equitable, cost effective manner. Because it will allow drivers to be identified as "high risk" based on objective criteria - recent driving performance - crash prediction modeling is a logical mechanism for identifying high-risk older drivers. In addition, the factors contributing the greatest weight to the prediction model will likely identify potential areas for focused retraining.  We propose to use historical data from Massachusetts' statewide crash, driver licensing, and citation datasets to derive and validate a crash prediction model that will identify a subgroup of older drivers at high risk for a near term injury causing crash.  	First, a crash prediction model will be derived using information from Massachusetts' crash, citation, and driver history datasets. These data will be deterministically linked using unique identifiers at the driver level for each of the more than 670,000 licensed drivers aged over 64 in 2004.  The primary outcome of interest will be driver participation in an injury crash in 2004.  Secondary analysis will evaluate for significant differences in the model if moderate or serious injury/fatal crashes are the primary outcome.  We intend to use Poisson or negative binomial regression modeling, depending on data characteristics.
KW  - Accident prone drivers
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Crash data
KW  - Crash injuries
KW  - Crash prediction models
KW  - Driver licenses
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Massachusetts
KW  - Research projects
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249853
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480779
TI  - Development of a Conceptual Framework toward an Integrated Transportation System - Phase II
AB  - United States relies heavily on an efficient and safe transportation system. However, such a system is facing many critical issues, among which congestion and safety are the foremost ones. While no single solution can respond to all transportation problems, there is a growing demand for integrated solutions that could address many of the problems and could potentially lead to fundamental changes in the way that transportation systems are managed and operated in the decades to come. This research envisions an integrated transportation system based on simulation and sensor technology where global-level traffic control will be proactive, local-level traffic control will be cooperative, and vehicle-level control will be attentive.  Underlying this research are sensor technology which enables ubiquitous situation-awareness and transportation simulation which assists decision-making at these three levels. Recognizing that such an integrated transportation system is not feasible in a single step, this research intends to advance the current state-of-the-practice towards such a system by achieving the following objectives:  (1) develop a conceptual framework of the integrated transportation system, (2) identify enabling technologies for the framework, and (3) design a prototype application under the framework.
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Integrated systems
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Simulation
KW  - State of the practice
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Transportation systems
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249852
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01467316
TI  - New Data for Relating Land Use and Urban Form to Private Passenger Vehicle Miles
AB  - The proposed research develops the most extensive and spatially detailed analysis of annual vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by type of vehicle, place of residence, and land use pattern.  The project will combine a unique Massachusetts State dataset of annual odometer readings since 2001 for more than six million vehicles with geographic information system (GIS) data layers of housing, infrastructure, and demographic characteristics in order to associate actual miles driven (for private passenger vehicles) with place of garaging at a very fine grain of spatial detail.  The work involves close collaboration with MassGIS (the State's GIS Office) and the Boston Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), two key state and regional planning agencies involved in the policy analysis and modeling of land use, growth management, and transportation strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The proposed work provides spatially detailed baseline data about 2001-2008 driving patterns throughout Massachusetts (by type of vehicle, type of neighborhood, population density, transit accessibility, land use mix, etc.) plus a related set of indicators and calibrated analytic models that can assist in 'what if' analyses of changing land use and transportation circumstances in metropolitan areas throughout the country.  Since the key datasets will continue to be collected for administrative reasons, the methods we develop will also facilitate subsequent analysis of changed driving patterns resulting from current shocks to the system.
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Greenhouse gases
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Massachusetts
KW  - Private passenger vehicles
KW  - Residential location
KW  - Travel patterns
KW  - Vehicle miles of travel
KW  - Vehicle type
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1235552
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01465130
TI  - Technical Support & Maintenance & Enhancement of CIREN Database
AB  - Provide technical support and maintenance for the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) database.
KW  - Crash data
KW  - Crash injuries
KW  - Crash injury research
KW  - Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Human factors in crashes
UR  - http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/Traffic%20Injury%20Control/Research%20In%20Progress/files/TechnicalSupportMaintenanceEnhancementCIRENDatabase.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1233363
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01464450
TI  - Public Perception and Attitudes about Roadside Vegetation: Pre and Post Environmental Education
AB  - Well-managed highway vegetation contributes to better water quality, cost savings, control of invasive species, and greater diversity of insect life. Traditionally, roadside vegetation in Delaware has been turfgrass that is routinely mown during the growing season. Since the Enhancing Delaware Highways project began in 1998, Delaware has established many roadside miles with a variety of roadside vegetation models including: un-mown turf (meadow), un-mown turf (meadow) with a mown margin, and meadow established and further supplemented with native flowering perennials. Questions remain about overall public acceptance of sustainable but less highly maintained roadside vegetation. This study will accurately quantify public perception of mown turf, un-mown turf (meadow), un-mown turf (meadow) with a mown margin, and meadow established and further supplemented with native flowering perennials. Additionally, this research will characterize the components of landscape that shape individuals' perception of roadside vegetation. Educational statements about environmental benefits of sustainable roadside vegetation will be developed and presented to survey respondents. Researchers will analyze the differences between pre and post survey responses from a variety of survey methodologies to discover the impact of educational information on respondents' perceptions.
KW  - Attitudes
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Environmental policy
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Roadside
KW  - Roadside flora
KW  - Roadside improvement
KW  - Vegetation
KW  - Water quality
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/Research.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1232680
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01464447
TI  - Developing Delaware's Agenda in Transportation within the Northeast Corridor
AB  - While the Northeast transportation corridor is a key economic driver in the national economy, its resiliency depends on its ability to respond to multimodal transportation pressures and issues. Although considerable scholarly research and dialogue regarding challenges facing the Northeast transportation corridor, there is an unmet need to identify, understand, and better aggregate data on specific issues impacting the area between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Baltimore, Maryland. Delaware's agenda within the Northeast transportation corridor needs to be developed to understand potential threats and opportunities, which may impact or enhance the resiliency of multimodal transportation systems within this region. The purpose of this project is to advance multimodal transportation planning to (1) frame the transportation issues impacting Philadelphia-Baltimore area, (2) foster an integration of ideas and cooperation among multi- and inter-jurisdictional transportation stakeholders, and (3) develop Delaware's transportation agenda with respect to the Northeast corridor. To accomplish this, the research approach will consist of an analysis of perspectives of regional transportation stakeholders for various modes in the Philadelphia-Baltimore area, a review of literature specific to Northeast corridor transportation studies within the Philadelphia-Baltimore area, a preliminary analysis of the literature review, and plan and execute a briefing workshop to bring together/engage regional transportation agencies and stakeholders to discuss Delaware's transportation agenda targeted to the Northeast corridor. The preliminary analysis will be distributed via an online, downloadable format to select transportation stakeholders. A working paper will be prepared to incorporate input from stakeholders at the briefing workshop.
KW  - Baltimore (Maryland)
KW  - Corridors
KW  - Delaware
KW  - Highway corridors
KW  - Mode choice
KW  - Multimodal transportation
KW  - Northeast Corridor
KW  - Philadelphia (Pennsylvania)
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transportation corridors
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/Research.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1232677
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461989
TI  - Understanding the Impacts of Climate Change on the I-95 Corridor in Maryland and Delaware
AB  - The Boston Norfolk (BOSFOLK) corridor is vulnerable to climate change. Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and states in the corridor need to integrate mitigation of and adaptation to climate change into their planning, design and construction practices as the infrastructure of today will be impacted by climate change in the future. Our objective is to develop an outline of guidelines for states and MPOs in the corridor to recognize the impacts of global climate change in the planning, design and construction of the corridor. This includes: 1. Reviewing ongoing relevant research related to climate change in the corridor 2. Developing a catalog of expected impacts and actions 3. Developing a process for exploring the impacts of climate change 4. Understanding how the impacts of climate change can be factored into the planning process. 5. Exploring how design and construction practices may have to change to mitigate climate change and adapt to the impacts of climate change. We will build on past work in other states and areas, explore the impacts of one aspect of climate change, sea level rise, on the I-95 and Northeast rail corridor in Maryland and Delaware, and then develop guidelines for states and MPOs along the corridor.
KW  - Boston (Massachusetts)
KW  - Climate change
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Interstate 95
KW  - Metropolitan planning organizations
KW  - Norfolk (Virginia)
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transportation corridors
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/Research.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230209
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461988
TI  - The Impact of Disruptions along the I-95 Corridor on Congestion and Air Quality
AB  - The resilience of a corridor can be defined as its ability to maintain its full functionality during an incident. While transportation corridors may be viewed as highly resilient due to the number of alternative paths that generally exist, the principal path and the alternatives may not have similar capacity. This research will evaluate resilience of the Interstate 95 corridor in Delaware and the impact of disruptions on congestion and air quality.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Incident management
KW  - Interstate 95
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Route choice
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic delays
KW  - Traffic incidents
KW  - Transportation corridors
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/Research.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230208
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461987
TI  - The Effects of Learning through the Arts on Transportation Knowledge and Skills of Elementary School Students, University Students and Classroom Teachers
AB  - The purpose of this study is to enhance knowledge of geographic concepts, particularly transportation, through the lens of dance and theater. Students and their teachers will gain knowledge through an interdisciplinary approach that combines the teaching of geography with the arts. This project will benefit current and future educators, artists, and geography researchers. The participants will include 4th and 5th grade students attending elementary school in Newark, Delaware, their teachers, and University of Delaware students with expertise in the arts and geography.
KW  - Art
KW  - Elementary school students
KW  - Knowledge
KW  - Learning
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transportation
KW  - Transportation careers
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/Research.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230207
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461986
TI  - Historic Resiliency of Bridges on the BOSFOLK Corridor
AB  - The Boston-Norfolk (BOSFOLK) corridor is a major transportation corridor in the northeast, the main artery of which is Interstate-95 (I-95). With construction initiating in the 1960's, many of the bridges on I-95 and in the corridor are nearing the end of their design life. This presents a unique opportunity to study the long-term performance of bridge on a major heavily traveled corridor. The questions can be asked - How resilient were the bridges in the BOSFOLK corridor? And - How did the bridges on I-95 perform compared to those not on the I-95 corridor? The study will specifically examine the historic resiliency of bridges in the corridor. It will be done through a systematic investigation of historic data from the National Bridge Inventory database.
KW  - Boston (Massachusetts)
KW  - Bridge design
KW  - Bridge management systems
KW  - Historic bridges
KW  - Interstate 95
KW  - Norfolk (Virginia)
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Resilience (Materials)
KW  - Transportation corridors
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/Research.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230206
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461985
TI  - Resiliency of Transportation Corridors during Disaster: An Examination of Cross-Border Networks
AB  - Transportation corridors are vital in allowing for public and commercial mobility. When these corridors are compromised during a disaster, the way in which emergency response networks function is critical to ensuring continuity or resumption of the transportation flow. This project expands upon ongoing research that examines how multi-organizational actors/agencies expect and are expected to interact during a transportation corridor disaster. The initial study concentrated on organizational networks within the state of Delaware, while also collecting information on their potential interaction with organizations in other states. This proposed research concentrates on those connections with organizations from outside Delaware. Using social network analysis, researchers will examine the codified and actor-anticipated interaction between states in maintaining the continuity of transportation flows along the I-95 corridor in Delaware.
KW  - Continuity of operations
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Delaware
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Disasters and emergency operations
KW  - Emergency response time
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transportation corridors
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/Research.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230205
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01459877
TI  - Application of Freight Transportation and Decision Models to Scope and Compare Freight Infrastructure Investment
AB  - This project will apply a decision analytic framework in terms of cargo transportation performance to evaluate landside and waterside investment alternatives. We will employ information and models previously developed under DOT-funded projects that were focused on freight operations and develop corresponding information for infrastructure elements. This project develops a freight-focused context for considering investment choices that will enable the integration of other University Transportation Center (UTC) and similar projects. It builds upon the Delaware regional analyses of multimodal freight activity and exercises an innovative, dynamic, network optimization model aimed at improving decision-making associated with freight transport in the US.
KW  - Cargo handling
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Trucks
KW  - United States
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/Research.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228092
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01459876
TI  - Infrastructure Security and Emergency Preparedness
AB  - Transportation Infrastructure security and emergency preparedness presents an enormous challenge for both the State of Delaware and for the major transportation corridors that run through the state. DelDOT and its extensive network of partner organizations have a strong coalition in place to plan, train, and run exercises related to regional evacuation issues. Given the complexity of this task and the many intersecting areas of interest, it is vital that relevant engineering and social sciences be brought to bear on the planning processes already underway. The objective of this project is to review the current state of practice for Delaware and the BOSFOLK corridor, review external research and apply insights from state of the art social science and engineering, and develop a plan for integrating research insights into practice. We will formulate a "Workplan for Improving Infrastructure Security and Emergency Preparedness.
KW  - Delaware
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Emergency management
KW  - Highway corridors
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Security
KW  - Social sciences
KW  - State of the art
KW  - State of the practice
KW  - Transportation corridors
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/Research.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228091
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01459875
TI  - Time-Varying Queueing Systems and Transportation Nework Resilience Transportation Corridor
AB  - This project will conduct a literature review on how the use of time-varying arrival rates can model the behavior of alternate routing due to transportation link failure. This is very important in addressing the resilience and vulnerability of transportation networks and corridors during disruption. Currently, the use of a data-driven approach in developing mobility patterns and indices in traffic simulation models is virtually non-existent.
KW  - Alternate routes
KW  - Corridors
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Resilience (Materials)
KW  - Time variant reliability
KW  - Traffic queuing
KW  - Traffic simulation
KW  - Transportation corridors
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/Research.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228090
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01459874
TI  - Commercial Freight and the Resilience of the BOSFOLK Corridor
AB  - The resilience of a corridor can be defined as its ability to maintain its function during or to recover from a terrorist attack or other incident. While transportation corridors can be viewed as highly resilient due to the fact the numerous alternatives routes exist, these alternative routes are not always available to commercial trucks. Restrictions of weight and height of overhead structures as well as the fact that they may be carrying hazardous materials limits the route choices for these commercial vehicles. This literature review will identify the relevant background material for exploring the resilience of the BOSFOLK corridor from the perspective of impact on commercial freight movement by truck.
KW  - Alternate routes
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Hazardous materials
KW  - Highway corridors
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Restrictions
KW  - Size and weight regulations
KW  - Transportation corridors
KW  - Truck tractors
KW  - Truck traffic
KW  - Trucking
KW  - Vehicle restrictions
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/Research.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228089
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01459826
TI  - Interactive TMC Decision Support Tool Combining Simulation and Optimization
AB  - This proposal addresses the operation of Traffic Management Centers (TMC). Traffic Management Centers play a critical role in the monitoring, management and planning of traffic within urban areas. The goal of the proposed study is to enhance the capabilities of TMCs by providing an advanced and versatile decision support tool that can be used across a broad range of applications. Specifically, the objective is to develop an interactive combined simulation-optimization decision support tool for TMC operations that can be used for both off-line applications as well as in real-time; can assist operators in developing optimal traffic control and management plans for a wide range of incident or emergency situations; can evaluate consequences of operator actions in response to special circumstances; can be used to train operators and management agencies to respond to special circumstances and can be used to plan for eventual emergencies.
KW  - Decision support systems
KW  - Highway traffic control
KW  - Incident detection
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic control centers
KW  - Traffic incidents
KW  - Traffic simulation
KW  - Traffic surveillance
KW  - Urban areas
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228041
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01478582
AU  - Hastings, Aaron L
AU  - Scarpone, Christopher J
AU  - Fleming, Gregg G
AU  - Lee, Cynthia S Y
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - National Park Service
TI  - Exterior Sound Level Measurements of Over-Snow Vehicles at Yellowstone National Park
PY  - 2008/09//Final Report
SP  - 89p
AB  - Sounds associated with oversnow vehicles, such as snowmobiles and snowcoaches, are an  important management concern at Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. The John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center’s Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division is supporting the National Park Service with its on-going Winter Use Planning program. As part of this support, acoustic measurements of ten snowcoaches and six snowmobiles were made at the south entrance to Yellowstone National Park from the 26th through the 28th of February 2008. Measurement methodologies were guided by SAE J1161 and SAE J192. There were two primary objectives: 1) to determine which snowcoaches had the Best Available Technology (BAT) with respect to noise emissions, and 2) to determine if there was a significant difference between snowmobile sound levels when tested using two revisions of SAE J192. Based on analysis of the data, it appears that among the snowcoaches, the Yellowstone Expeditions’ modified Dodge B530 snowcoach would be an  excellent candidate for BAT classification. It was also found that measurements guided by the two revisions of SAE J192 had very similar results.
KW  - Grand Teton National Park
KW  - Ground effect
KW  - INM (Integrated Noise Model)
KW  - National parks
KW  - Noise
KW  - Snowmobiles
KW  - Sound level
KW  - Sound transmission
KW  - Yellowstone National Park
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/47000/47000/47030/dot_vntsc_08-03.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1247586
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01344829
AU  - Rapoza, Amanda
AU  - MacDonald, John
AU  - Hastings, Aaron
AU  - Scarpone, Chris
AU  - Lee, Cynthia S Y
AU  - Fleming, Gregg G
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - National Park Service
TI  - Development of Improved Ambient Computation Methods in Support of the National Parks Air Tour Management Act
PY  - 2008/09//Final Report
SP  - 119p
AB  - Approximately 85 National Park units with commercial air tours will need Air Tour Management Plans (ATMPs). The objective of an ATMP is to prevent or mitigate significant adverse impacts to National Park resources. Noise impacts must be characterized in relation to representative baseline ambient sound levels. Computing ambient sound levels for acoustic conditions in National Parks is not straightforward. The National Park Service and Federal Aviation Administration, both supported by the Volpe Center, are evaluating current methods and developing standards for computing ambient sound levels in National Parks. This report describes the results of several on-going analyses: (1) Analysis of ambient data measured under high-wind conditions; (2) Quantification of the differences between in situ observer logging versus offline review of digital recordings; and (3) Computation of natural ambient and existing ambient without air tours.
KW  - Air tours
KW  - Air traffic
KW  - Ambient noise
KW  - National parks
KW  - National Parks Air Tour Management Act, 2000
KW  - Noise sources
KW  - Sound level
KW  - Tourism
KW  - Wind
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/37000/37800/37847/ATMP_Ambient_Analysis_093008.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/37000/37800/37847/DOT-VNTSC-NPS-11-08.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1105309
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01344714
AU  - Schlossberg, Marc
AU  - Larco, Nico
AU  - University of Oregon, Eugene
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Active Transportation, Neighborhood Planning and Participatory GIS (Geographic Information
System)
PY  - 2008/09//Final Report
SP  - 46p
AB  - Research on walking, the built environment, and healthy communities is a fairly recent area of inquiry, accelerated over the last ten years by an increased interest in the relationship between urban form and public health. A series of macro-oriented logic models and micro-focused data collection tools have been developed over this time in order to understand this healthy communities issue, as well as operationalize the hypotheses around the connection between the built environment and physical activity. None of these efforts, however, attempt to connect their assessment frameworks and tools with a public involvement process. The last ten years has also seen the development of a concentration of work known as Public Participation GIS (PPGIS), which aims to combine the spatial sophistication of the geographic information system (GIS) with expanded public access to the tools and data linked with GIS technology. This project advances this area of research and technology transfer in two ways. First, four new built environment audit tools using Mobile GIS technology have been developed with a focus on a community approach toward data gathering and usage. These tools include the School Environment Assessment Tool (SEAT), the Complete Streets Assessment Tool (CSAT), the Accessibility Audit Tool (AAT), and the Bicycle Assessment & Safety Index Tool (BASIT). Secondly, these tools have been tested with several communities across the country and have included non-technical, general members of the public interested in healthy communities and active transportation. The tools have been refined after each community workshop and two of the tools, SEAT and CSAT, are ready for a more robust national distribution. The work delineated in the following report pages progresses our understanding of community-based, participatory GIS tools that combine public involvement with technologically advanced tools for assessments of the active transportation environment.
KW  - Bicycling
KW  - Built environment
KW  - Communities
KW  - Computer tools
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Physical activity
KW  - Public health
KW  - Public participation
KW  - Technology transfer
KW  - Transportation audits
KW  - Urban form
KW  - Walking
UR  - http://otrec.us/project/18
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1106548
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01160026
AU  - Jafari, Mohsen
AU  - Golmohammadi, Davood
AU  - Moini, Nadereh
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - New Jersey Department of Transportation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Roadside Inspection Data and Crash Data Analysis
PY  - 2008/09//Final Report
SP  - 167p
AB  - The New Jersey Department of Transportation - Bureau of Trucking Services (NJDOT- BTS) had requested a review of inspection and crash data to determine frequent lateness and erroneous reporting by inspectors and law enforcement officers. In response, the Rutgers University team conducted this research to fulfill the NJDOT-BTS requirements. The project had two main objectives: 1) providing an independent and quantitative assessment of crash and inspection data contained in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) database (SAFETYNET); 2) development of a human-centered decision support system. The technical approach included a thorough analysis of inspection and crash databases, site visits and field studies, and interviews with stakeholders and domain experts. The assessment of inspection and crash data concluded that data quality and integrity can be significantly improved by streamlining the underlying data collection, hand-off and storage processes, and by using advanced technologies. The authors also prepared the functional specification of a decision support system that the NJDOT-BTS is planning to use for planning and decision making. Finally, this research included a preliminary analysis of commercial motor vehicle crashes to identify locations with the most crash incidents in the NJ roadway network.
KW  - Commercial vehicles
KW  - Crash data
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Data quality
KW  - Data storage
KW  - Decision support systems
KW  - High risk locations
KW  - Inspection
KW  - Roadside
KW  - SafetyNet
KW  - Truck crashes
KW  - Trucking
KW  - Trucks
UR  - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/MH-0734-1.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/920578
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01121707
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
TI  - Technology Applications for Traffic Safety Programs: A Primer
PY  - 2008/09
SP  - 56p
AB  - This document explores how emerging digital and communications technology can advance safety on the Nation’s highways. The range of technology described in this report is available or will be available in the near future to improve traffic safety. As new traffic safety applications become widespread and implementation costs decrease, there could be a network of advanced systems that improve traffic safety by providing information and services to drivers, traffic operations agencies, emergency services personnel, and law enforcement professionals. Discussions in this report include a general overview of traffic safety technology; the use of technology to reach traffic safety goals using the framework of the “Four E’s” of engineering, enforcement, education, and EMS; and the technical and non-technical challenges for these technology applications.
KW  - Communications
KW  - Countermeasures
KW  - Driver information systems
KW  - Emergency medical services
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Safety engineering
KW  - Safety programs
KW  - Technology
KW  - Traffic law enforcement
KW  - Traffic safety
KW  - Traffic safety education
UR  - http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/nhtsa_static_file_downloader.jsp?file=/staticfiles/DOT/NHTSA/Traffic%20Injury%20Control/Articles/Associated%20Files/811040.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30400/30469/811040.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/883645
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01118152
AU  - Lee, Richard W
AU  - Gosling, Geoffrey D
AU  - Irvin, Katja
AU  - Bossard, Earl G
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - University Transportation Centers Program
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Applying Smart Growth Principles and Strategies to Resolving Land Use Conflicts Around Airports
PY  - 2008/09
SP  - 468p
AB  - This report presents the results of a research project which examined how the principles and strategies of smart growth have been applied  in land use planning around airports in California. The research also studied the effectiveness of existing airport land use compatibility planning in the state from the perspective of smart growth and how applying smart growth principles and strategies might reduce the potential for conflicts around airports. The study included a literature review and interviews with airport and planning agency staff and others involved in airport land use planning decisions. In addition, 14 case studies of California airports were conducted.
KW  - Airport facilities
KW  - Airport planning
KW  - Airports
KW  - California
KW  - Land use
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Smart growth
KW  - Sustainable development
UR  - http://www.dot.ca.gov/newtech/researchreports/reports/2008/airport_and_smart_growth.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/876467
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01118111
AU  - Maccubbin, Robert P
AU  - Staples, Barbara L
AU  - Kabir, Firoz
AU  - Lowrance, Cheryl F
AU  - Mercer, Michael R
AU  - Philips, Brian H
AU  - Gordon, Stephen R
AU  - Noblis
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - ITS Benefits, Costs, Deployment, and Lessons Learned: 2008 Update
PY  - 2008/09
SP  - v.p.
AB  - Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) provide a proven set of strategies for addressing the challenges of assuring safety and reducing congestion, while accommodating the growth in transit ridership and freight movement. This report presents information on the performance of deployed ITS under each of these goal areas, as well as information on the costs, deployment levels, and lessons learned regarding ITS deployment and operations. The report, and the collection of four Web-based resources upon which it is based, have been developed by the U.S. DOT’s ITS Joint Program Office (JPO) to support informed decision making regarding ITS deployment. This report discusses 17 different areas of ITS application. These chapters are divided into two sections discussing technologies deployed on the transportation infrastructure and those deployed within vehicles. The 14 different infrastructure applications discussed can be grouped into ITS strategies applied to roadways, transit, management and operations of transportation systems, and freight movement. Lessons learned during ITS planning implementation and deployment, are highlighted throughout the report and in a chapter following the review of ITS applications.
KW  - Benefits
KW  - Costs
KW  - Deployment
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Highway travel
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Lessons learned
KW  - Operations
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Technology
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30400/30466/14412.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/876639
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01115490
AU  - Maccubbin, Robert P
AU  - Staples, Barbara L
AU  - Kabir, Firoz
AU  - Lowrance, Cheryl F
AU  - Mercer, Michael R
AU  - Philips, Brian H
AU  - Gordon, Stephen R
AU  - Noblis
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Department of Transportation
TI  - Intelligent Transportation Systems Benefits, Costs, Deployment, and Lessons Learned: 2008 Update
PY  - 2008/09
SP  - n.p.
AB  - Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) provide a proven set of strategies for addressing the challenges of assuring safety and reducing congestion, while accommodating the growth in transit ridership and freight movement. This report presents information on the performance of deployed ITS under each of these goal areas, as well as information on the costs, deployment levels, and lessons learned regarding ITS deployment and operations. The report, and the collection of four Web-based resources upon which it is based, have been developed by the U.S. DOT’s ITS Joint Program Office (JPO) to support informed decision making regarding ITS deployment. This report discusses 17 different areas of ITS application. These chapters are divided into two sections discussing technologies deployed on the transportation infrastructure and those deployed within vehicles. The 14 different infrastructure applications discussed can be grouped into ITS strategies applied to roadways, transit, management and operations of transportation systems, and freight movement. Lessons learned during ITS planning implementation and deployment, are highlighted throughout the report and in a chapter following the review of ITS applications.
KW  - Benefits
KW  - Costs
KW  - Deployment
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Lessons learned
KW  - Technology
KW  - Vehicles
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30400/30466/14412.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/874811
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01492233
TI  - Analysis Using Emissions & Dispersion Modeling System at JFK Airport
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Aircraft exhaust gases
KW  - Airport operations
KW  - Emission-dispersion models
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - John F. Kennedy International Airport
KW  - Pollutants
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261198
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01459694
TI  - Motor Vehicle VMT Forecasting Review
AB  - The prospective rate of growth in Motor Vehicle Travel over the near-term future is likely to emerge as a critical issue in the debate over reauthorization of the federal-aid highway program, as well as in other current discussions of transportation policy.  Future growth in motor vehicle use has three major implications for highway investment levels and their funding.  First, vehicle use will have a significant effect on fuel consumption and thus on revenues generated by federal and state fuel taxation, which are the primary source of total funding available to support highway spending. Second, growth in Motor Vehicle Travel and the resulting levels of recurring congestion provide a rough index of the benefits from investing in expanded highway capacity, and thus affect the ideal level of highway spending.  (However, the fact that highway user taxes are typically well below the cost imposed by peak-hour travel requires extreme caution in interpreting growth in vehicle use and congestion as signals to increase highway spending).  Third, most environmental impacts associated with motor vehicle use depend partly on the total number of miles they are driven, so projected growth in total travel have critical implications for future environmental impacts from highway use and potential resistance to increased highway investment.
KW  - Federal aid highways
KW  - Financing
KW  - Highway projects
KW  - Motor vehicles
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic forecasting
KW  - Vehicle miles of travel
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1227909
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01459693
TI  - Surface Transportation Environment and Planning (STEP) FY08 and FY09 Task
AB  - Section 5207 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) established the Surface Transportation Environment and Planning (STEP) Cooperative Research Program. The goal of this program is to improve the understanding of the complex relationship between surface transportation and environment. This cooperative research program requires extensive outreach and consultation with stakeholders and partners. The Office of Interstate and Border Planning within the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)'s Office of Planning, Environment and Realty administers this program. The Office of Planning, Environment and Realty requires support in planning and implementing the STEP Program. Per the terms of this Interagency Agreement (IAA), the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) will contribute to achieving the following objectives
KW  - Coordination
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Ground transportation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1227908
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01492340
TI  - Multimodal Transportation Human Factors Issues: Inattentional and Change
AB  - There have been a number of studies that show, that observers attending to a particular object or event often fail to report either the presence of unexpected items (inattentional blindness) or the presence of large changes in a display when these changes occur simultaneously with a transient such as an eye movement (change blindness). These phenomena affect all transportation modes. Examples of how they could manifest themselves include pilots not seeing an aircraft on the runway or missing important information on the cockpit display, or motorists not reacting to highway signage. This project responds to the mission of the Department of Transportation to enhance transportation safety. The study will compile information on inattentional and change blindness as it affects transportation operations. The information will be based primarily on a literature survey. Volpe will analyze the information on the basis of function and mode. Volpe will prepare a report that will (a) include findings on the extent to which inattentional and change blindness decrease the safety of the nation's transportation system (b) recommendations for a future study on mitigating the effects of inattentional and change blindness on those who operate the transportation conveyances and those who provide support.
KW  - Attention lapses
KW  - Blindness
KW  - Cockpits
KW  - Eye movements
KW  - Human factors in crashes
KW  - Multimodal transportation
KW  - Reaction time
KW  - Traffic signs
KW  - Transportation safety
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261473
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01490027
TI  - Intercity Motorcoach and Transit Bus Evacuation Research (Phase II)
AB  - Evaluation of emergency evacuation techniques, designs, and performance requirements including conducting evacuation trials with human subjects under various conditions are presented in this project.
KW  - Bus crashes
KW  - Bus transportation
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Evacuation
KW  - Incident management
KW  - Transit buses
UR  - http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/Traffic%20Injury%20Control/Research%20In%20Progress/files/IntercityMotorcoachTransitBusEvacuationResearchPhase2.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259574
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462584
TI  - A Decision Support Tool for locating an Inland Port in Inland Empire
AB  - By diverting port-related truck trips to rail, the development and operation of an inland port in the Inland Empire would (a) reduce the net truck-miles-traveled (TMT), (b) have the potential to reduce the truck congestion on I-710, (c) contribute to creating a cleaner environment, and (d) improve storage capacity and productivity at the San Pedro Bay (SPB) ports. In several reports, Mira Loma has been named as an attractive location for an inland port serving SPB ports. The main reasons for its attractiveness include proximity to the Colton intermodal facility, potential for finding an appropriate site, and relatively low initial investment. The purpose of this research project is to develop a decision support tool to identify the optimal location of the Inland Empire inland port. The decision support tool will take advantage of the mathematical models available for single facility location problems. Given the daily origin destination (O/D) data from SPB ports to the distribution centers and processing centers (DC/PCs) in the Inland Empire, the model identifies the optimal location of an inland port. Due to environmental, legal, land availability, and economical concerns, it may not be feasible to locate an inland port on the theoretical optimal site. The decision support tool will also provide a set of contour lines showing the total TMT for the sites other than the theoretical optimal site. All the nodes on the same contour line have the same transportation and environmental costs. The computational capabilities and graphical interface of the decision support tool are especially valuable because the O/D data between SPB ports and Inland Empire DC/PCs are not reliable. The decision support tool makes it possible to conduct a sensitivity analysis of the impact evaluation of changes in O/D data on the optimal location and contour lines. Moreover, as the available data from diverse resources are integrated, and more reliable estimates on container flows in the Inland Empire are available, the model could quickly reflect the impact of the more accurate data. More accurate data may gradually become available using the ports truck driver surveys, ports Truck Trip Reduction Program data, CalTrans truck counts, SCAG heavy duty truck model output, and MTA Comprehensive Truck/Freight Modeling effort. Furthermore, it is straightforward to use the decision support tool to evaluate the impact of O/D data aggregation on the optimal location and the contour lines. In addition, the software can also evaluate the tradeoff between train trips and truck trips. Finally, by defining a set of weights as the negative environmental impact of one mile of travel, the objective function could be entirely transformed into emissions minimization.
KW  - Decision support systems
KW  - Inland Empire (California)
KW  - Inland regions
KW  - Origin and destination
KW  - Physical distribution
KW  - Port congestion
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Truck facilities
KW  - Truck tractors
KW  - Truck traffic
KW  - Trucking
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230805
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462583
TI  - Transportation Decision-Making in San Bernardino County
AB  - The purpose of this proposed pilot study is to describe and analyze how current transportation planners in San Bernardino County make decisions on prioritizing transportation issues and deciding where limited funds are to be spent.  Specifically, this research project will employ a telephone survey of key Transportation Planners, City Engineers, Transportation Managers, and/or Traffic Engineers at the city, county, and regional levels to shed light on sources of information and procedures used by planners when making decisions concerning the relative importance and funding of potential and competing transportation projects.  In addition to surveys of "technical" people, selected elected officials will be interviewed for their political observations.  It is the intention of the Principal Investigators to use the data collected to write at least one article for publication in a refereed journal.  But perhaps a more important outcome is that it is anticipated that data gathered from this pilot study (and future "full-blown" studies) will be used by CSUSB's Leonard Transportation Center to enhance its presence as a major source of transportation data/information to be used by Transportation Planners, Engineers, and policy-makers in the two-county area.
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Policy making
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - San Bernardino County (California)
KW  - Transit operating agencies
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230804
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462582
TI  - Transportation Decision-Making in Riverside County
AB  - The purpose of this proposed pilot study is to describe and analyze how current transportation planners in Riverside County make decisions on prioritizing transportation issues and deciding where limited funds are to be spent.  Specifically, this research project will employ a telephone survey of key Transportation Planners, City Engineers, Transportation Managers, and/or Traffic Engineers at the city, county, and regional levels to shed light on sources of information and procedures used by planners when making decisions concerning the relative importance and funding of potential and competing transportation projects.  In addition to surveys of "technical" people, selected elected officials will be interviewed for their political observations.  It is the intention of the Principal Investigators to use the data collected to write at least one article for publication in a refereed journal.  But perhaps a more important outcome is that it is anticipated that data gathered from this pilot study (and future "full-blown" studies) will be used by CSUSB's Leonard Transportation Center to enhance its presence as a major source of transportation data/information to be used by Transportation Planners, Engineers, and policy-makers in the two-county area.
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Policy making
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Riverside County (California)
KW  - Transit operating agencies
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230803
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462581
TI  - Transportation and Distribution Systems in the Inland Empire: The Impact of the Port Ensenada Proposals
AB  - Over the last decades the Inland Empire has emerged as a global distribution center with over 700 million square feet of distribution and warehouses under roof. Along with this phenomenal growth, the transportation infrastructure of the region has become over burdened and highly congested. Adding to the growth and an infrastructure stretched thin is the ongoing arrival of super container ships at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. One proposal to lessen the pressure on the Southern California ports has been the expansion and redevelopment of Port Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. Once a favored port of cruise ships the port has embarked on moving from principally a passenger destination to becoming a global port facility. The focus of this study is to analyze the impact of Port Ensenada upon the Inland Empire by addressing identifiable consequences upon the transportation infrastructure including highway, rail and shipping utilization and the flow of goods in relation to existing and expected warehouses and distribution centers.
KW  - Container terminals
KW  - Containerships
KW  - Distribution centers
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Port congestion
KW  - Port operations
KW  - Railroad traffic
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Southern California
KW  - Warehouses
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230802
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462580
TI  - Evaluating Service Effectiveness of Bus Lines: A Combined Approach Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)
AB  - Public transit is an integral and important component of regional transportation systems. Currently many public transit agencies are under increasing pressure to operate more efficiently as the level of government funding reduces, or as a result of changing ownerships or regulations. This trend has stimulated much research interests to evaluate the performance of public transit systems. A glimpse of the literature reveals that existing research largely focuses on evaluating public transit agencies from management perspectives. Typically, the productivity of a public transit agency, as measured by its operating costs and revenues, is compared with productivities of similar agencies to determine the relative efficiency of the agency. Little attention has been given to the spatial aspects of a public transit system, such as the characteristics of local population, transportation network, employment and recreational destinations, and commuting patterns. However, it is well known that the geographical setting, within which a transit system operates, can exert great impact on its performance and effectiveness. After all, the main goal of a public transit system is to serve people who choose not to use automobiles due to necessity, resource limitation, or other personal reasons. The characteristics of local population, transportation network, and commuting pattern largely determine the passenger demand as well as operational scale for the public transit system. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the performance of public transit systems from the geographical perspective. It is against this background that this study is proposed. The goal is to develop a scientific approach to evaluate the service effectiveness of bus lines, taking into account critical elements in the operational environment. Methodologically, this project aims to integrate geographic information systems (GIS) and data envelopment analysis (DEA). GIS is the digital mapping technology that provides powerful support for spatial analysis and planning. DEA is an optimization-based technique to measure relative efficiencies. The project will mainly address the following three questions: 1. How to identify the service corridor and estimate the potential passenger demand associated with a bus line? 2. How to measure and compare the service effectiveness of bus lines? 3. How to plan transit routes and stops based on the evaluation of bus lines?
KW  - Bus transit
KW  - Bus transportation
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Operating costs
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Regional transportation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transit operating agencies
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230801
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462579
TI  - Preliminaries to a Feasibility Analysis of Southern California Association of Government's Maglev Proposal for the Region
AB  - With a rapidly increasing population, economic expansion, and high levels of roadway and air traffic congestion, the Southern California Association of Government's (SCAG) envisions the use of maglev (a variant of high speed rail) to connect the region's airports and augment the transportation infrastructure. This request is for funding to research background to the issue, identify sources factors and beneficiaries of costs and benefits and design a study to address the feasibility of a "Decentralized High Speed-Connected Airport System" in Southern California. The anticipated product of this study will include documentation of: highlights of the SCAG maglev proposal; components and generalized unit costs of "high speed rail" and bus rapid transit systems; identification of potential sources of funding the connection; and an outline of key elements of a detailed study for the conduct of a feasibility analysis of the proposal. Other outcomes may include a Transportation Research Board (TRB) paper and presentation and materials to respond to requests for proposal at the state and national levels for feasibility studies of high speed rail in this era of high fuel costs.
KW  - Air traffic
KW  - Air traffic control
KW  - Feasibility analysis
KW  - High speed ground transportation
KW  - Magnetic levitation vehicles
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Southern California
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230800
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462578
TI  - Development of a Real Time Crash Risk Model based on Microscopic Traffic Data
AB  - In the research, a real time crash risk model will be developed using microscopic traffic data. Unlike the conventional approaches which employ field-aggregated data over long periods of time, this proposed research is based on microscopic real-time data (obtained from a previous project funded by Caltrans). Binary logistic regression models will be developed to identify the relationship between various traffic flow factors and the probability of traffic disturbances. An alternative approach employing a multi-layer artificial neutral network will also be investigated to characterize different crash types. The results will provide insights into various microscopic traffic flow variables that could be used as crash precursors. Also, based on the findings of this preliminary study, a full grant proposal will be prepared and submitted to Federal and/or State agencies. Our ultimate goal is to develop a metric that is expected to provide a much improved real-time indicator of the instantaneous safety of highway traffic, for both analysis and real-time warning purposes.
KW  - Crash analysis
KW  - Crash risk forecasting
KW  - Microscopic traffic flow
KW  - Real time control
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Risk analysis
KW  - Traffic data
KW  - Traffic flow
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230799
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462577
TI  - Chinese Economic Growth and its Implications for the Goods Movement Industry in California and the Inland Empire
AB  - China's recent economic development and growth are impressive. It is, and for the foreseeable future will remain, the factory of the world. Its government and business culture remain a mystery to most Americans, even to those living on the Pacific Rim. Further, while its infrastructure continues to develop and improve, on other fronts its infrastructure remains a labyrinth to Western firms; and this is one of the reasons companies that specialize in the movement of goods will remain important to the myriad of other firms who do business in or with the Chinese. In summary, China is an important topic, both for those in the goods movement industry and other, to monitor and study. Said firms must study and understand critical areas of transportation and the supply chain such as: 1) Seaport transportation and security 2) Air transportation and security 3) China's own transportation system, and developments thereto 4) Increased off shoring 5) the use of logistics and supply chain support firms 6) The changing value of the RMB in relation to the US dollar 7) Payment and debt collection 8) Recent supply chain liability legal developments 9) The legal resolution of inevitable business disputes arising from these areas and said activities.
KW  - China
KW  - Economic development
KW  - Economic growth
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Inland Empire (California)
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Seaports
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230798
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462576
TI  - Transportation Related Collaboration
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - California
KW  - Cooperation
KW  - Regional transportation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230797
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462575
TI  - Managing Public Private Partnerships in Transportation: Lessons Learned from California's SR-91
AB  - Compelled by the wide-spread fiscal stress, governments at both state and federal levels have growing interest in public-private partnerships (PPPs) for transportation projects and legislatures are moving forward to open the door to many more such arrangements. Adopting the lens of a principal-agent theorist, this research will trace the evolution of a key California PPP in transportation - the SR-91 project - and discuss the potential pitfalls and challenges that can occur from such arrangements. Through in-depth investigation of the SR-91 case, this research aims at providing lessons for both public and private managers who might at one time or another be involved with PPP agreements. Scope The proposed research will investigate a single pioneering case of PPP which has significant impact to the transportation development of California state as well as nationwide. The study is envisioned as 1) a historical documentation of the evolution of the SR-91 PPP, especially its evolution in recent years; 2) the development of lessons learned from the case that will provide guidance to future PPP transportation projects; and 3) a projection of future trend of using PPP for the development and management of transportation infrastructure and services. Methods The study will involve reviewing the literature on PPPs and transportation development in order to fully investigate the SR-91 PPP. Data collection methods include related existing documents and interviewing key players in the PPP arrangement. The analysis will employ qualitative data documentation and analysis tools. From these analyses, recommendations will be made for public as well as business managers who engage in the practice of PPP. Deliverables Findings will be presented at a conference or event sponsored by the Leonard Transportation Center or a national public management or transportation conference. Research results will also be documented in an intermediate working paper and a final manuscript submitted to a Peer Reviewed Journal (PRJ).
KW  - California
KW  - Development
KW  - Lessons learned
KW  - Peer review
KW  - Project management
KW  - Public private partnerships
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230796
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462574
TI  - Providing Senior Citizens Mobility at Minimum Public Cost
AB  - Demographics trends in the US indicate significant increases in the number of people aged 65 years and over (seniors) and underscore the need to expand senior services. These services will include assisted transportation for older citizens who would no longer drive. Increases in senior demand for demand-responsive services, which tend to be very expensive to provide, will aggravate the financial situation of transit agencies, which already must rely on subsidies to maintain operations. There is the need therefore to devise and adopt innovative mobility services as well as methods of payment to meet the inevitable increase in the needs of seniors. The objective of this study is to examine ways of accomplishing that.
KW  - Aged
KW  - Driving cessation
KW  - Innovation
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transit operating agencies
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230795
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462573
TI  - GIS Best Practices for Transportation Agencies in the Inland Empire of Southern California
AB  - The project has the straightforward goal of adding value to the use of Geographic Information Systems (hereafter GIS) by public and quasi-public transportation agencies in the Inland Empire region, defined for these purposes as San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. Despite evidence of dramatic improvements from the application of GIS in both the operations and efficiency of transportation agencies, the transportation community nationwide has been a late (and as yet partial) adopter of GIS technology. Moreover, there have been no systematic studies of actual transportation agency uses of GIS, or of best practices in transportation agency use of GIS. The project is thus simultaneously extremely practical, and a broadly valuable contribution to the state of knowledge regarding transportation GIS in practice. Two important steps toward achieving the project's goal are to determine current GIS practices by the region's transportation agencies and to establish the state of knowledge regarding best practices for transportation agency use of GIS. A comparison of the two will reveal potential GIS service extensions - a universal wish list of possible GIS applications in transportation. From the potential extensions the research team will recommend a prioritized sequence of GIS service extensions for various agency types and sizes, with an eye toward helping agencies get the most out of their GIS systems given real budget constraints. The final report will be targeted to the regional community of transportation agencies and local policy makers, with an express focus on recommended GIS practices for agencies of varying size and type. The project will also benefit significantly from the GIS and regional research capabilities resident at Cal Poly Pomona. In particular, deliverables will include two products that capitalize on these opportunities. The first is a special workshop on GIS for transportation agencies, sponsored by the Center for the Study of the Inland Empire and targeted to the region's transportation agency professionals and policy makers. The second is a featured content channel on the Regional Research Portal, a web-based geospatial metadata portal currently under construction at the Cal Poly Pomona Center for GIS Research. Accordingly, an important secondary goal of the project is to build lasting links between transportation agencies and professionals in the region and the University's GIS faculty, staff and resources.
KW  - Best practices
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Inland Empire (California)
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Southern California
KW  - Transit operating agencies
KW  - Transportation departments
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230794
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462572
TI  - Interdisciplinary Study of Fuel Cell Technologies
AB  - Degradation mechanisms in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) will be identified and products quantified using an interdisciplinary approach involving a range of experimental techniques including ion chromatography (IC), gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), x-ray diffraction (XRD), polarization curves, and cyclic voltammetry. Increasing the lifetime and performance of fuel cells is a critical research area for alternative energy sources. Two components are of importance in these considerations: the polyelectrolyte membrane and the catalyst. Degradation of membranes is known to limit fuel cell lifetimes; however the mechanism(s) of this degradation isn't known exactly. We propose to study these mechanisms by quantifying the degradation products obtained from ordinary, variable-load operation in a durability test; the products obtained from accelerated degradation using Fenton's reagent; and that obtained from exposure to ionizing radiation such as X-rays. IC will be used to measure fluoride and sulfate in Nafion-type perfluorinated polymers, GC/MS and NMR will be used to identify organic products, and EPR will be utilized to identify radical intermediates. The performance of the fuel cells will be checked with polarization curves. In addition, platinum-based catalyst material will be synthesized and incorporated into fuel cells to observe the effect of catalysis on the degradation products. As an interdisciplinary effort between faculty and students in the departments of chemistry and physics, this project provides invaluable experience and education for students in a future technology area, intimately showing how fundamental research provides advances for society at large. We propose to make the project even more interdisciplinary by adding a M. S. Environmental Studies student to our group. She/he would make a life cycle assessment of fuel cell technology: overall, how much does it cost to implement fuel cells in comparison to conventional power technology?
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Chromatography
KW  - Degradation failures
KW  - Fuel cells
KW  - Proton exchange membrane fuel cells
KW  - Protons
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Spectrometers
KW  - X ray analysis
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230793
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462571
TI  - Foundation for Efficient and Effective Decision-Making on Environmental and Logistical Concerns: The Development of a GIS Database and Web Portal
AB  - Approximately 40% of the goods that come into the US come through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.  Given a dearth of available building sites close to the harbors, the Inland Empire with its cheap, available land has become a major inland global port.  The proposed research project would build on the Rohm (Inland Empire Logistics GIS Mapping Project-2008) pilot project. Using the projects findings of 41 cities with its specific information and the identification of a questionnaire, this project will be three fold: 1)It will send the questionnaire to the various warehousing and distribution facilities which will include a follow-up interview to obtain th necessary information,2)The information will be coded into a database which can be accessed by a GIS program, 3)A web portal will be designed and built which will allow for the GIS program to be accessed.
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Inland Empire (California)
KW  - Inland waterways traffic
KW  - Inland waterways vessels
KW  - Port of Long Beach
KW  - Port of Los Angeles
KW  - Questionnaires
KW  - Research projects
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230792
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462450
TI  - I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East: Pre-Construction Wildlife Monitoring of Fish Passage
AB  - The purpose of this research will be to collect baseline data regarding fish passage conditions, prior to reconstruction of a segment of I-90, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of fish crossing structures.
KW  - Crossing structures
KW  - Fish passage
KW  - Reconstruction
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Road construction
KW  - Wildlife
KW  - Wildlife crossings
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/research/4w2279.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230671
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01459869
TI  - Development of Multiple Authority Transportation Management Plan
AB  - The goal of this project is to develop a management mechanism and implementation tool. The intent is to allow transportation project managers to use this capability both in the decision making process to avoid and resolve conflicting requirements between the various impacted participants and in the implementation of an efficient and effective project plan. The probability of achieving a successful project would, therefore, be greatly enhanced.
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Implementation
KW  - Management
KW  - Project management
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228084
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01459868
TI  - Reconciling the Conflict Between Air Quality and Congestion-Relief Objectives of the Transportation Equity Act (TEA- LU)
AB  - Two important mandates of the US Department of Transportation are to improve air quality and to relieve congestion. Therefore the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ)program was incorporated in the Safe Accountable Flexible efficient Transportation Equity Act-Legacy for Users(SAFETEA-LU) Legislation of 2005. There are various measures available to relieve congestion, e.g. traffic control measures, travel demand management measures, Public transportation investment etc. If done carefully, they may reduce pollution because there will be less stop and go traffic. If they are overdone, they may produce additional vehicle miles traveled(induced traffic)resulting in more air pollution. The objective of this proposed research is to investigate various possible ways of congestion mitigation including public transportation that would provide higher pay off in terms of air quality conformity.
KW  - Air pollution
KW  - Air pollution sources
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Transit operating agencies
KW  - Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228083
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01537446
AU  - Elmore, Cecilia
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety/NUTC program
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Women in Science & Engineering and Minority Engineering Scholarships: Year 2 Report for 2007-2008 Activities
PY  - 2008/08//Final Report
SP  - 5p
AB  - Support made scholarships available to minority and women students interested in engineering and science and significantly increased the number of minority and female students that the Missouri University of Science and Technology can recruit to its science and engineering programs. Recipients of scholarships were also exposed to career opportunities in transportation.
KW  - Education and training
KW  - Engineering
KW  - Females
KW  - Financial aid
KW  - Minorities
KW  - Missouri University of Science and Technology
KW  - Outreach
KW  - Scholarships
KW  - Transportation careers
UR  - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/ETT196_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1322368
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01537417
AU  - Mullapudi, Ravi S
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety/NUTC program
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - A Finite Element Formulation with Combined Loadings for Shear Dominant RC Structures
PY  - 2008/08//Final Report
SP  - 14p
AB  - Inelastic failure of reinforced concrete (RC) structures under seismic loadings can be due either to loss of flexural, shear or bond capacity. Specifically, the effect of combined loadings can lead to a complex failure mechanism that plays a vital role in concrete mechanics. This report describes the formulation of an inelastic nonlinear beam element with axial, bending, and shear force interaction. The element considers shear deformation and is based on the section discretization into fibers with hysteretic material models for the constituent materials. The steel material constitutive law follows the Menegotto-Pinto model. The concrete material model uses an orthotropic constitutive relation in which the directions of orthotropy are the principal directions of total strain. These directions will change during the loading history, in accordance with the well-known rotating crack model. The concrete model accounts for the biaxial state of stress in the directions of orthotropy, in addition to degradation under reversed cyclic loading. Shear deformations are coupled with bending effects. Transverse strains are internal variables determined by imposing equilibrium at each fiber between the concrete and the vertical steel stirrups. Element forces are obtained by performing equilibrium based numerical integration on section axial, flexural, and shear behavior along the length of the element. In order to establish the validity of the proposed model, correlation studies were conducted between analytical results and experimental tests of columns tested under cyclic loading.  A structural analysis of a shear sensitive bridge pier subjected to ground input motion is also presented.
KW  - Beams
KW  - Bridge design
KW  - Bridge piers
KW  - Columns
KW  - Earthquake resistant design
KW  - Finite element method
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - Reinforced concrete bridges
KW  - Shear deformation
UR  - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/R203_Mullapadi_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1322364
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01333324
AU  - Harrington, Ryan
AU  - Lam, Andy
AU  - Nodine, Emily
AU  - Ference, John J
AU  - Najm, Wassim G
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
TI  - Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems Light-Vehicle On-Road Test Report
PY  - 2008/08
SP  - 39p
AB  - This report presents results from a series of on-road verification tests performed to determine the readiness of a prototype integrated warning system to advance to field testing, as well as to identify areas of system performance that should be improved prior to the start of the field test planned for 2009. Data was collected from tests conducted on public roads using a 2007 Honda Accord equipped with the prototype safety system. The system provides forward crash warning (FCW), lane departure warning (LDW), curve speed warning (CSW), and lane change/merge (LCM) functions, managed by an arbitration function that addresses multiple crash threats. The objectives of the on-road tests were to drive the test vehicle in an uncontrolled driving environment to measure the system’s susceptibility to nuisance alerts, assess alerts in perceived crash situations, and evaluate system availability. The prototype system showed continued improvement in system performance throughout the series of tests conducted between October 2007 and February 2008. Based on positive results from the track-based verification tests conducted in February and these on-road tests, it was recommended that the light-vehicle platform proceed to field testing in Phase II. Additional adjustment of the LCM and LDW warning functions is recommended to further reduce nuisance alerts and improve system robustness.
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Field tests
KW  - Forward collision warning
KW  - Integrated Vehicle Based Safety Systems (Initiative)
KW  - Lane changing
KW  - Lane departures
KW  - Light vehicles
KW  - Merging traffic
KW  - On-road data
KW  - Traffic crashes
KW  - Warning systems
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35200/35272/DOT_HS_811020.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1097262
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01333070
AU  - Harrington, Ryan
AU  - Lam, Andy
AU  - Nodine, Emily
AU  - Ference, John J
AU  - Najm, Wassim G
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
TI  - Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems Heavy-Truck On-Road Test Report
PY  - 2008/08
SP  - 44p
AB  - This report presents results from a series of on-road verification tests performed to determine the readiness of a prototype integrated warning system to advance to field testing, as well as to identify areas of system performance that should be improved prior to the start of the field test planned for 2009. Data was collected from tests conducted on public roads using an International 8600 heavy truck equipped with the prototype safety system. The prototype system provides forward crash warning (FCW), lane change merge (LCM), and lane departure warning (LDW) functions managed by an arbitration function to address multiple crash threats. The objectives of the on-road tests were to operate the heavy truck in an uncontrolled driving environment to measure the system’s susceptibility to nuisance alerts, assess alerts in perceived crash situations, and evaluate the system availability. Test results revealed significant improvement in system performance throughout the series of tests conducted between September 2007 and March 2008. Based on positive results from the track-based verification tests conducted in February and these on-road tests, it was recommended that the heavy-truck platform proceed to field testing in Phase II. Adjustments to alert timing were recommended to further reduce the number of FCW and LDW nuisance alerts.
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Field tests
KW  - Forward collision warning
KW  - Heavy duty trucks
KW  - Integrated Vehicle Based Safety Systems (Initiative)
KW  - Lane changing
KW  - Lane departures
KW  - Merging traffic
KW  - On-road data
KW  - Traffic crashes
KW  - Warning systems
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35200/35273/DOT_HS_811021.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1097261
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142928
AU  - McKeighan, Peter G
AU  - Southwest Research Institute
AU  - Foster-Miller Associates, Incorporated
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
TI  - Mechanical Properties of Tank Car Steels Retired from the Fleet
PY  - 2008/08//Final Report
SP  - 331p
AB  - As a consequence of several recent tank car accidents, the structural integrity of railroad tank cars has come under greater scrutiny, especially the older portion of the fleet fabricated prior to steel normalization requirements.  The purpose of this program was to obtain samples of the steel used for tank car shell and head fabrication in the current tank car fleet.  Once obtained, the dynamic fracture toughness of a subset of material was determined as well as basic material characterization of all samples.  The process of gathering the samples required coordinating with the fleet operators and railroads to obtain pieces of tank cars as they were retired from the fleet.  In total, steel samples from 34 tank cars were received and tested.  The vast majority of the TC128-B samples extracted from retired tank cars met current TC128-B material specifications.
KW  - Railroad cars
KW  - Railroad safety
KW  - Specifications
KW  - Structural analysis
KW  - Structural materials
KW  - Structural steel
KW  - Tank cars
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/47000/47500/47510/Mechanical_properties.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902976
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01135484
AU  - Glesbrecht, L H
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Multiple Imputation of Missing Passenger Boarding Data in the National Census of Ferry Operators
PY  - 2008/08
SP  - 4p
AB  - The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a component of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) of the U. S. Department of Transportation (DOT), conducted the National Census of Ferry Operators in 2006. This data collection updated information collected by the Federal Highway Administration in 2000. The resulting database contains ferry operation data for calendar year 2005 along with other sources of ferry data such as the U.S. Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers. Ferry operators were asked about their season of operation, vessel fleet, modes of access to their terminals, and information about the route segments that they serve between terminals such as the route segment length, average trip time, and the number of passengers served.
KW  - Boarding
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Ferry service
KW  - Ferry terminals
KW  - Marine terminals
KW  - Passenger transportation
KW  - Routing
KW  - Ships
KW  - Travel demand
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_technical_report/2008_004/
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_technical_report/2008_004/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/892102
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01125392
AU  - Redington, Mike
AU  - Rutyna, Eve
AU  - Grace, Nathan
AU  - Shanahan, Felicity
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
TI  - Drug and Alcohol Testing Results 2006 Annual Report
PY  - 2008/08//Final Report
SP  - 96p
AB  - This is the 12th annual report of the results of the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Drug and Alcohol Testing Program. This report summarizes the reporting requirements for calendar year 2006, the requirements of the overall drug and alcohol testing program (49 CFR Part 40 and 49 CFR Part 655), the results from the data reported for 2006, and the random drug and alcohol violation rates (the percentage of persons selected for a random test who produced a positive specimen or refused to take the test) for calendar years 1995 through 2006. This report provides a brief overview of the drug and alcohol testing requirements for both safety-sensitive employers and employees. The official random rates for 2006 are provided, as well as the official random rate trends over the last 12 years. The results of alcohol and drug tests are provided by test type, employee category, and region. The positive testing rates for drugs and alcohol are also provided for each test type, employee category, and region.
KW  - Alcohol tests
KW  - Annual reports
KW  - Drug tests
KW  - Employees
KW  - Safety-sensitive positions (Transportation)
KW  - U.S. Federal Transit Administration
UR  - http://transit-safety.volpe.dot.gov/publications/substance/damis06/pdf/damis2006.pdf
UR  - http://transit-safety.volpe.dot.gov/publications/substance/damis06/pdf/damis2006.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/885688
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01122496
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Meeting Environmental Requirements after a Bridge Collapse
PY  - 2008/08
SP  - v.p.
AB  - This report is intended to assist transportation and environmental professionals in the event of a bridge collapse or similar emergency. It analyzes the environmental review process in five cases of bridge reconstruction following collapse in Florida, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. The report describes how the key elements of the environmental review process in the cases reviewed were completed comparatively quickly. It finds that when emergencies occur they create a sense of urgency on the part of all stakeholders that leads to a consensus on the prioritization of the project. This report identifies several effective practices that allowed sponsor agencies to expedite the environmental review process. They include:  Implementing processes and agreements that lead to regular dialogue among state and Federal transportation and resource agencies and establish strong working relationships before emergencies occur; Limiting the scope of projects to reduce the potential for new environmental impacts or disagreements; Using contracting mechanisms that offer opportunities to quickly respond to emergency situations; Maintaining up-to-date inventories of historic, cultural and natural resources to quickly identify the potential impacts of proposed designs; Establishing formal and informal emergency procedures that clearly identify roles and responsibilities to help expedite the environmental review process; and, Networking with peers from other states.
KW  - Bay St. Louis Bridge Collapse, 2005
KW  - Biloxi Bay Bridge Collapse, 2005
KW  - Bridges
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Collapse
KW  - Contracting
KW  - Cultural resources
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Emergency procedures
KW  - Environmental impact analysis
KW  - Environmental reviews
KW  - Environmental streamlining
KW  - Escambia Bay, Florida, Bridge Collapse, 2004
KW  - Interagency relations
KW  - Inventory
KW  - Minneapolis Bridge Collapse, 2007
KW  - Natural resources
KW  - Reconstruction
KW  - Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, Bridge Collapse, 2002
UR  - http://environment.fhwa.dot.gov/projdev/bridge_casestudy.asp
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/884161
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01115807
AU  - Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Rethinking Bridge Deck Longevity and Maintenance with Portland Cement Polymer Concrete
PY  - 2008/08//Final Report
SP  - 111p
AB  - Bridge deck deterioration in the northern Midwest creates significant costs to state Departments of Transportation (DOT’s) in the region.  The fundamental cause of the problem is low tensile strength and water permeable reinforced concrete resulting in deck cracking and ultimately reinforcing bar corrosion.  Portland Cement Polymer Concrete (PCPC) combined with a design approach tailored to its advantages could virtually eliminate early deck deterioration and the associated costs providing an alternative asset management path for bridge decks.  Bridge decks would no longer have to be removed from their substructure every fifteen years and replaced.   The results would be higher quality, longer lasting bridge decks with lower life cycle costs.  This project will demonstrate the feasibility and methodology of such a strategy. This project will develop a strategy that combines innovative concrete materials, novel design and cost analysis that enhances the longevity and reduces the life cycle cost of highway bridge decks.  The project is expected to show significant life-cycle cost advantages to using a high performance bridge deck material.
KW  - Bridge decks
KW  - Bridge maintenance
KW  - Concrete
KW  - Life cycle costing
KW  - Polymers
KW  - Portland cement
KW  - Service life
KW  - Tensile strength
UR  - http://www.wistrans.org/mrutc/files/08-11_FR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/875431
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01115530
AU  - Rolufs, A
AU  - Baik, Hojong
AU  - Strack, E
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Rolla West Master Plan: Task 2, I-44 Interchange - Sub Consultant Services to HNTB
PY  - 2008/08//Final Report
SP  - 52p
AB  - The purpose of the Rolla West Master Plan (Plan) is to outline a long-term comprehensive vision for land use, transportation and infrastructure within the Rolla West Area. This area is primed for new development and will serve most of the future growth needs for Rolla over the next twenty years. The primary issues driving this opportunity for growth and the need for the Plan include the following: The extension of City sanitary sewer and water service to Rolla West; A potential fifth I-44 interchange that will provide improved access to the Rolla West area and serve as a significant catalyst for future development; and Other planned transportation improvements including a future Route 63 Bypass as well as potential transportation improvements, such as the Highway 72 (Ridgeview)extension, that will improve ease of east/west traffic flow.
KW  - Access
KW  - Bypasses
KW  - Highway improvement projects
KW  - Interchanges
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Long range planning
KW  - Master plans
KW  - Real estate development
KW  - Rolla (Missouri)
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/R222_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/875387
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01112647
AU  - Kommalapati, Raghava
AU  - Perkins, Judy
AU  - Stockton, William R
AU  - Benz, Robert Joseph
AU  - Jasek, Deborah L
AU  - Prairie View A&M University
AU  - University Transportation Center for Mobility
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Partnering to Promote Workforce Development for the Transportation Profession
PY  - 2008/08//Final Report
SP  - 42p
AB  - The objective of this multi-university/agency partnership among Prairie View A&M University, (PVAMU), Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) and Texas A&M University (TAMU) is to produce high quality transportation professionals from underrepresented groups. This partnership strengthens the existing pipeline program (Federal Highway Administration sponsored Summer Transportation Institute (STI)) between local high schools and PVAMU by attracting bright young minds for summer experiences during their last two summers before graduation from high school. One program is the current STI and the second is a new program for returning STI participants called STI Scholars. The more challenging STI Scholars curriculum allows Scholars to mentor first-year STI participants, while gaining valuable real world experience by observing and participating in projects conducted by transportation professionals at TTI. Scholars are then encouraged to pursue an undergraduate degree in the existing four-year Civil Engineering program at PVAMU. As part of this project, an advisory board for STI consisting of school teachers and counselors was established to increase the outreach of these programs to schools. A database containing more than 1,000 school teachers and counselors at more than 150 schools across Texas was developed and used to communicate the news about the 2008 STI program. A database of past STI participants was updated and communication links were established. A MySpace web page was created for STI and current and past STI participants were invited to join and network with each other. The preparatory work to establish the STI Scholars program was completed as part of this grant and the first STI Scholars program was conducted in June, 2008 utilizing the funds from the continuing UTCM grant.
KW  - High school students
KW  - Outreach
KW  - Partnerships
KW  - Summer Transportation Institute
KW  - Transportation careers
KW  - Transportation professionals
KW  - Universities and colleges
KW  - Websites (Information retrieval)
KW  - Workforce development
UR  - http://utcm.tamu.edu/publications/final_reports/Kommalapati_07-05.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/872432
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01111550
AU  - Roberto, Elizabeth
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Highlights of the 2006 National Census of Ferry Operators
PY  - 2008/08//Special Report
SP  - 4p
AB  - Ferries perform valuable functions in our nation’s transportation system. They provide a vital link across many of the nation’s waterways and, in some cases, present drivers with an alternative travel option. In some areas of the country, the ferry system offers a vital link between land routes in the event of an emergency or natural disaster. Statistics, a branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, conducted a Census of Ferry Operators. Selected findings are described next.  (1) Nationwide, ferries transported a total of 108 million passengers in 2005. (2) Travel by ferry amounted to 618 million passenger-miles in 2005. (3) The five states of California, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, and Washington accounted for two-thirds of all U.S. ferry passenger capacity.
KW  - California
KW  - Ferries
KW  - Ferry service
KW  - Massachusetts
KW  - Michigan
KW  - New York (New York)
KW  - Passenger transportation
KW  - Ridership
KW  - United States
KW  - Washington (State)
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2008_011/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/870619
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01111518
AU  - Memmott, Jeffery
AU  - Young, Peg
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Seasonal Variation in Traffic Congestion: A Study of Three U.S. Cities
PY  - 2008/08//Technical Report
SP  - 5p
AB  - Drivers may notice seasonal changes in patterns of highway traffic  congestion in many urban areas of the country. These patterns, however, can be very different for individual cities. This report looks at congestion patterns over a 3-year period for three U.S. cities—Chicago, Los Angeles, and Houston (selected to illustrate geographic diversity)—by estimating the changes in monthly congestion during the year, the differences occurring in morning and evening congestion, and differences in weekend and weekday congestion. Findings from the analysis of the 3 years of data are: (1) Chicago experiences an average of about 1 hour less congestion per weekday in the winter months of December and January compared to other months of the year. (2) The weekday congested hours in Los Angeles vary more during the year than they do in the other cities studied, with 7 months having at least ½ hour difference, either higher or lower, in congested hours compared to the yearly average. (3) Houston, in general, has less variation in congested hours; the exceptions are July and December morning weekday travel, with more than ½ hour less congestion per day compared to the rest of the year.
KW  - Chicago (Illinois)
KW  - Cities
KW  - Highway traffic
KW  - Houston (Texas)
KW  - Los Angeles (California)
KW  - Months
KW  - Peak hour traffic
KW  - Periods of the day
KW  - Seasons
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Weekdays
KW  - Weekends
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_technical_report/2008_005/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/870672
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01111305
AU  - Hanna, Awad S
AU  - Lynch, John C
AU  - El Asmar, Mounir
AU  - University of Wisconsin, Madison
AU  - Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Effective Implementation of the Design-Build Delivery System on Transportation Projects
PY  - 2008/08//Final Report
SP  - 52p
AB  - The use of design-build project delivery systems today is popular for delivering commercial, industrial, and institutional construction projects and is increasingly used on transportation projects. While some states have used design-build to deliver transportation projects for over a decade, others have little to no experience with this method and have not yet established any legislation to use design-build. Design-build has been shown to shorten the duration of a project as compared to the design-bid-build traditional delivery method, together with increasing cost certainty and without sacrificing quality. While these benefits make design-build a very attractive delivery system, its implementation is not always as easy. This report combines the knowledge from existing literature as well as Departments of Transportation (DOTs) from around the United States familiar with design-build to form an overview of the entire implementation process including: passing legislation, choosing appropriate projects, overcoming the barriers specific to design-build, selecting the best design-build team, and conditions for successful implementation. By being aware of the barriers to implementing design-build and how to best deal with them, DOTs can use this delivery method effectively, taking advantage of its benefits.
KW  - Barriers to implementation
KW  - Best practices
KW  - Construction projects
KW  - Design build
KW  - Implementation
KW  - Legislation
KW  - Literature reviews
KW  - State departments of transportation
KW  - Transportation projects
UR  - http://www.mrutc.org/research/0805/08-05_FR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/870957
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01110158
AU  - Bham, Ghulam Hussain
AU  - Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Analyzing Microscopic Behavior: Driver Mandatory Lane Change Behavior on a Multilane Freeway
PY  - 2008/08//Final Report
SP  - 28p
AB  - The driver gap acceptance and rejection behavior during mandatory lane changes on a multilane freeway are analyzed in this report. Gaps are accepted or rejected based on comparison with a minimum value generally defined as the critical gaps. Critical gaps are estimated based on the accepted and rejected gaps observed in the field. Driver behavior can be classified as consistent or inconsistent on the basis of gap rejection. For consistent driver behavior, it is assumed that the rejected gaps are shorter than the accepted gaps. This report focuses on the estimation of the critical gaps and its distribution for consistent driver behavior. Critical gap, for consistent driver behavior is defined as the minimum value of gap above which the lane changer does not reject a gap to execute a lane change. Several gaps may be rejected prior to a gap being accepted, therefore, different types of rejected gaps can be utilized to estimate critical gaps. To systematically evaluate rejected gaps and propose the most suitable rejected gaps for use in estimating critical gaps, rejected gaps were analyzed using the mean rejected, median rejected, and the largest rejected gaps less than the accepted gaps (LRLA). To model the consistent gap acceptance behavior of drivers, i.e., the rejected gap is less than the accepted gap, LRLA is used in estimating the critical gaps. Accepted, LRLA, and critical gaps were assumed to follow a gamma distribution. The values of critical time gaps were estimated using the maximum likelihood estimation method.  This report utilizes data collected by the Next Generation Simulation (NGSIM) project.
KW  - Behavior
KW  - Critical gaps (Traffic)
KW  - Drivers
KW  - Freeways
KW  - Gamma distributions
KW  - Gap acceptance
KW  - Lane changing
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/R157_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/869727
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01108516
AU  - Chen, Genda
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Sixth National Seismic Conference on Bridges and Highways, Charleston, SC, July 28-30, 2008
PY  - 2008/08//Final Report
SP  - 8p
AB  - The sixth National Seismic Conference on Bridges and Highways was held on July 28-30, 2008, in Charleston, South Carolina (www.scdot.org/events/6NSC). The conference was jointly organized by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Transportation Research Board (TRB), and the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER). It was hosted by the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT). The conference attracted over 300 bridge and highway engineers as well as bridge engineering researchers from 17 countries. Most state Departments of Transportation in the U.S., particularly AASHTO T3 states, participated in this biennial national conference.
KW  - Bridges
KW  - Conferences
KW  - Earthquake resistant design
KW  - Highway bridges
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/ETT212_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/868591
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01459695
TI  - Technical and Non-technical Support of TRANSIMS
AB  - Services provided by the Volpe Center will be targeted at specific areas that support FHWA's work in the use and promotion of TRANSIMS. The areas include the following and are described in subsequent sub-sections: (1) Contracting Officer Technical Representative (COTR) support to FHWA on one of the TRANSIMS deployments that is anticipated to be awarded in response to the previously mentioned BAA; (2) Management of the TRANSIMS on-line community; (3) Support of TRANSIMS peer reviews; and (4) Development of TRANSIMS documentation. Work performed by the Volpe Center is managed in accordance with the standard practices derived from the Project Management Institute and documented in Volpe Order 5000.5. A Project Management plan will be developed that describes in detail the practices that will be employed to manage this project including detailed deliverable schedules and reporting procedures.
KW  - John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
KW  - Project management
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Technical support
KW  - Traffic flow
KW  - Traffic simulation
KW  - TRANSIMS (Computer model)
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1227910
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575908
TI  - Prospecting for High Temperature Biocatalysts Using a Novel Strategy
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Catalysts
KW  - High temperature
KW  - Production
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1368831
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572266
TI  - Contrasting Soil Carbon Sequestration by Soybean and Canola
AB  - The overall objective of this research is to compare canola and soybean as biodiesel feedstocks in terms of net carbon dioxide (CO&amp;#8322;) emission savings with respect to petroleum diesel. Methodology: Contrasting rotations of soybean and canola will be compared in terms of soil carbon sequestration. Measurements will include inputs such as those due to plant and mycorrhizal fungal production, and outputs including soil respiration. The project will also measure processes associated with carbon sequestration including soil aggregation and glomalin production. Rationale: Life cycle analyses have shown that using biodiesel in place of petroleum diesel reduces net CO&amp;#8322; emissions by approximately 78%. This is because CO&amp;#8322; from the combustion of biodiesel from plant sources (vegetable oil) is recycled back into vegetation by photosynthesis, and because 3.2 times less fossil fuel is used in the production of biodiesel than in the production of petroleum diesel of equivalent energy content. Therefore, replacing even a small fraction of petroleum diesel with biodiesel can have a significant effect on net CO&amp;#8322; emissions. However, it is very probable that the choice of crops to produce biodiesel feedstock will have large but as yet unknown effects on net CO&amp;#8322; emissions because of large differences in their ability to sequester carbon in the soil. In the U.S. the most important biodiesel feedstock crop is currently soybean. In Canada and Europe the most important crop is canola. Canola has vast potential in many parts of the U.S., including much of the NE Sun Grant region, because of its much greater per acre oil yield compared to soybean. Because soybean forms a symbiotic relationship with mycorrhizal fungi that live at the interface of between the root and the soil, it is hypothesized that it will sequester significantly more soil carbon than canola, which is not mycorrhizal. Therefore, it ishypothesize that soybean will result in significantly lower net CO&amp;#8322; emissions than canola when used to produce biodiesel. No other studies have accounted for soil carbon sequestration in assessing life cycle CO&amp;#8322; emission reductions with biodiesel, and a direct comparison of competing biodiesel feedstock crops has not been made with respect to net carbon emissions. This research is relevant to both Feedstock Development and Systems Integration Enabling Activities for the BioFuels Strategic Area.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biodiesel fuels
KW  - Canola
KW  - Carbon dioxide
KW  - Carbon sequestration
KW  - Energy consumption
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Life cycle analysis
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Soybeans
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363884
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572264
TI  - Developing a Biological Process to Treat Feedstock for Cellulosic Ethanol Biorefining
AB  - The purpose of the project is to develop a technique to enhance production and delivery of cellulase enzymes through pelletization. The hypotheses are that the production of ligninolytic enzymes could be significantly enhanced by pelletized P. chrysosporium, and a pretreatment process using mixture of ligninases and cellulases can be further developed for industrial applications in a way close to the natural decomposition process of lignocellulosic materials. Specific objectives include: (1) Enhancing ligninase production on lignocellulosic materials using a pelletized fungal fermentation; (2) Developing an enzyme mixture with enhanced performance for integrated biological pretreatment and hydrolysis of the feedstock.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biological materials
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Biorefining
KW  - Decomposition
KW  - Energy conservation
KW  - Enzymes
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Lignocellulose
KW  - Research projects
UR  - http://nesungrant.cornell.edu/cals/sungrant/research-dev/upload/2008-Liao-1-Pager.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363882
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572263
TI  - Marketing New England Biofuels to Ensure Energy Security
AB  - Developing a cellulosic biofuels market provides a potential opportunity to revitalize the forest industrial sector, thereby enhancing employment opportunities and incomes in areas of the rural Northeast that typically has few other economic opportunities. This project focuses on the areas of Marketing, Economics and Policy and Systems Integration as it applies to designing and testing information strategies to promote biofuels use and production in the Northeast. The Energy Independence and Security Act requires the sale of specified quantities of renewable and advanced biofuels. These fuels will cost more to produce but will provide enhanced reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This research will provide crucial knowledge about how consumers understand and evaluate biofuels in a competitive marketplace taking into consideration their environmental impacts. The project will provide important information on how to best market and label advanced biofuels to insure that largest contribution to local economies and diversify regional energy supplies. This will provide valuable information about ways to promote purchases of biofuels, and provide information to policy makers on potential standards for certification and labeling of biofuel products. We will research, design, and test the effectiveness of various consumer information strategies to promote cellulosic ethanol in particular, and evaluate consumer's acceptance and understanding of biofuels generally. The research will also derive estimates of the market penetration of biofuels in the Northeast. These estimates of market penetration, combined with estimates of market share changes for alternatively fueled vehicles, will allow us to make petroleum displacement forecasts and evaluate the possible impact of biofuels on the Northeast's energy security. By focusing efforts on the Northeast region we are uniquely able to bring together economists and market researchers with bioproducts researchers at the University of Maine's Forest Bioproducts Research Initiative.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Competition
KW  - Economic factors
KW  - Energy conservation
KW  - Energy security
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Greenhouse gases
KW  - New England
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Research projects
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363881
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572258
TI  - Determination of the Underlying Cause of the Biodiesel Nox-effect in Common Rail Diesel Engines
AB  - While biodiesel has been shown to reduce emissions of particulate matter, carbon monoxide and total hydrocarbons, there have been widespread reports of increases in NOx emissions. (Cheng et al. reported NOx emissions increases of 1% for each 10% of biodiesel content.) NOx increase arises from changes in mixture stoichiometry at the lift-off length (Cheng et al., Brezinsky et al.) NOx increases arises from changes in radiative heat transfer effects (Cheng et al.)  Physical and chemical property effects of biodiesel on the combustion and emissions formation processes in common rail diesel engines. (Test engine will be supplied by Ford Motor Co.) Start with existing compuational fluid dynamics (CFD) Model Run numerical experiments to predict NOx emissions for variations in fuel 1) viscosity, 2) density, and 3) latent heat of vaporization. Verify CFD model predictions through companion experiments in the Penn State Diesel Combustion and Emissions Laboratory.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biodiesel fuels
KW  - Carbon monoxide
KW  - Diesel engine exhaust gases
KW  - Diesel locomotives
KW  - Heat transfer
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Railroad trains
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Viscosity
KW  - Volatilization
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363876
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572256
TI  - Camelina: A New Oilseed Crop for Permanent No-Till Systems in The Northeast
AB  - Camelina (Camelina sativa) is a widely adaptable oilseed crop native to Eastern Europe, but can also be grown in the U.S. This oilseed contains 30 to 40% oil that is high in Omega-3 fatty acids. Low input crop adaptable to some of the poorer soils of NW Pennsylvania. Field production and agronomics approach: Work with Ernst Seeds to establish 40 to 70 acres of camelina, including two newly released cultivars. Seed stock will be obtained from Montana. Enough seed for an additional 250 acres will be secured for additional on-farm production with selected interested growers. Establish field plots on at least five NW farms. Establish strip test of broadcast and no-till seeding methods. Replicate four times in two fields. Establish strip tests with variable nitrogen (and sulfur) fertilization rates. Replicate four times in two fields Evaluate yields using commercial harvesting equipment. Estimate biomass production, ground cover, harvest date, etc. Develop protocols for combining with minimal losses. Assessment for use as poultry feed: Feeding experiments based on established standards. Potential benefits for broilers may include a lower cost diet, benefits for bird health or growth potential, and a meat product with higher vitamin E, Omega-3 fatty acid levels and reduced lipid peroxidation than controls. Assessment for use in biodiesel production: Lake Erie Biofuels will test six samples of oil, two from each on three different cultivars of Camelina.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Crops
KW  - Fatty acids
KW  - Northeastern United States
KW  - Oilseeds
KW  - Pennsylvania
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Seeding
KW  - Till (Soil)
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363874
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572254
TI  - Determining Costs, Product Recovery Factors, and Environmental Impacts for Biomass Harvest Treatments in Northeastern Forests
AB  - The purpose of this work is to establish the initial study sites as part of a future network of similar sites on which biomass harvesting treatments are implemented and pre- and post-harvest ecological variables are measured. 1. Assess costs, outputs and environmental conditions resulting from four harvesting treatments likely to be applied in Pennsylvania forests: 1) a clearcut regeneration harvest in a mature sawtimber stand; 2) a first-cut shelterwood harvest in a mature stand; 3) a high-grade harvest in a mature stand; and 4) an improvement thinning in an immature stand. 2. ENVIRONMENTAL MEASUREMENTS. Establish sample plots within each site on which pre- and post-harvest yield and ecological variables will be measured and compared both within and among the different treatments. Variables measured and analyzed will include: 1) soil compaction effects; 2) removal and retention of macronutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg); 3) damage to residual trees and advanced regeneration; 4) overstory species composition and volumes; and, 5) understory species composition, density, and stem quality. 3. ECONOMIC MEASUREMENTS. Measure harvest and transportation costs associated with biomass removal on each site. Observations will be made on: 1) mechanized felling; 2) skidding; 3) chipping; 4) loading for off-site transportation; and, 5) transportation from the harvest site to the mill.
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Ecology
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Forests
KW  - Pennsylvania
KW  - Timber harvesting
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363872
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569546
TI  - Optimal Statewide Public Transit Network
AB  - This project creates a theoretical public transit network that maximizes the mobility of passengers. The end product could be used by policymakers to fix mobility and connectivity issues with our current system by revealing a new potential transit network.
KW  - Connectivity
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Networks
KW  - Policy making
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/the-development-of-an-optimal-transit-system-utilizing-vermont-based-e-911-data/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1361002
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569281
TI  - Facilitation of Behavior-Based Efficiency Opportunities in Vehicular Operations Through Retrofit Information Feedback Systems
AB  - This project tests the impact of continuous miles per gallon (MPG) feedback on driving behavior and fuel efficiency in gas-powered cars. Participants are employees who commute to work driving their own cars more than 20 minutes each way. For three months, a small computer device will be mounted in their cars to monitor, unobtrusively, MPG aggregated over daily driving intervals. Following a one-month baseline monitoring period, participants randomized to the experimental condition will receive one month of continuous MPG feedback through the computer device display, followed by a one-month return-to-baseline when the feedback display is again masked. Participants in the comparison condition will never observe the MPG feedback. Monthly surveys will assess self-reported efforts to engage in fuel efficient driving behaviors; however, the main dependent measure will be changes in mean MPG obtained during the feedback versus no feedback periods and conditions.  Report: Effects of Miles Per Gallon Feedback on Fuel Efficiency in Gas-Powered Cars  (Solomon, Lange, Schwob &amp; Callas)
KW  - Computer chips
KW  - Computer systems
KW  - Energy consumption
KW  - Feedback
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Travel behavior
KW  - Travel surveys
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1360255
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569205
TI  - Network Robustness Index: A Comprehensive Spatial-Based Measure for Transportation Infrastructure Management
AB  - This project investigates the robustness, redundancy and resiliency of the transportation network under current and future conditions. Transportation planning efforts, especially those involving highway capacity expansions, have traditionally relied on the Volume/Capacity (V/C) ratio to identify congested or critical links, resulting in localized solutions that do not consider system-wide impacts related to congestion, security and emergency response. Members of the research team recently developed the Network Robustness Index (NRI): a new, comprehensive, system-wide approach for identifying critical links and evaluating transportation network performance. It relies on readily available sources of data from travel demand forecasting models. Analysis of three hypothetical networks has demonstrated that NRI-based solutions yield far greater system-wide benefits than traditional (V/C) solutions, as measured by travel-time savings (Scott et al. 2006).  While the NRI has been tested on hypothetical networks, it has not yet been applied to a real world road network. As part of the current project, it is proposed to utilize actual road networks and origin/destination (O/D) pairs as input data to assess which network links are considered the most vulnerable in Chittenden County, Vermont. The integrated UrbanSim/TRANSIMS model will provide the inputs needed to calculate the NRI for Chittenden County. This will include information about specific road networks, traffic volumes and link capacities, and origin-destination flows. Researchers will use the NRI to identify specific road links that are the most critical or valuable with respect to maintaining the robustness of the overall road network system within Chittenden County based on average peak period traffic conditions. The most critical links identified by the NRI will be compared for overlap with those identified by other more traditional measures.
KW  - Emergency response time
KW  - Forecasting
KW  - Highway capacity
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic forecasting
KW  - Traffic network performance
KW  - Travel demand
KW  - Travel time
KW  - Volume/capacity ratio
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/network-robustness-index-a-comprehensive-spatial-based-measure-for-transportation-infrastructure-management/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359760
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569202
TI  - Future Transportation Financing Options: Challenges and Opportunities
AB  - The funding of America's transportation system is a complex process that includes a number of stakeholders, both private and public. Financing options for rural states have not been at the forefront of the national debate. This project aims to understand all the financing options under consideration and to assess their viability in rural states. The cost to maintain, or preserve, the current national transportation system is well documented and has eclipsed the amount of funds available under the current financing structure. In short, our transportation system is failing and so is the national system of funding it. Much of the current literature on transportation funding warns that failure to fund transportation infrastructure can lead to major consequences, as transportation plays a significant role in the national, state, and local economies for access to jobs, recreation, education, healthcare, and shipping goods. This situation is also true in Vermont where the challenges of small population, small tax base, rural setting and aging infrastructure have exacerbated the problem. The federal gas tax (and most state gas taxes) is a fixed amount per gallon, not indexed for inflation. This has been long known as a weak revenue structure to transportation professionals. New environmental, economic and transportation policies are seeking to increase fuel efficiency for vehicles and are encouraging alternative fuels. The success of these policies will cause revenues from the gas tax to decrease. This paradox of conflicting policies is not widely observed in the public discourse. As the public becomes increasingly engaged in the debate over how the post-gas tax transportation system will be funded there is a need to construct a better framework so that the current financing structure and options can be readily displayed and made accessible to the public and to policy makers.
KW  - Financing
KW  - Fuel taxes
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Rural areas
KW  - Transportation infrastructure
KW  - Transportation policy
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359757
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569197
TI  - Transportation Impacts of Transit-Oriented Development in Rural Towns
AB  - This project will investigate the relationship between land use development, which implements smart growth principles, and its impact on transportation by looking at different build out scenarios for brownfield/infill development in existing cities and/or towns. Researching the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) changes associated with different land use build out scenarios should answer the following questions: Does implementing higher density mixed use development in towns in a rural State result in a reduction in VMT in a specific geographic area? If so, by how much? What range? What percent(s)? This project will engage town officials, citizens, and planners to develop alternate visions of future municipal development, both with and without mixed land use transit oriented developments (TOD). It will quantify the changes, both positive and negative, on total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and vehicle air emissions under different future scenarios. VMT is a key measure used by transportation planners for identifying the magnitude of transportation impacts. In this project, two Maine towns will be modeled using a transportation planning model (TransCAD or something similar), that incorporates land use designations into VMT estimates. The impacts of TOD on vehicle miles traveled and vehicle emissions will be estimated. Scenario planning techniques, which have proven useful for land use planning in other states, will be used to select the locations for TOD as well as the make-up of the developments. Scenarios might consist of a spatial re-arrangement of future projected development for the entire town into appropriate concentrated parcels. In this way, the community will not only contribute to the research project but also experience a learning discussion about how land use patterns impact automobile travel. The suggested scenarios are: Assume build-out in the town is status quo and based on historic land use patterns. Assume build-out in the town incorporates 1-2 transit-oriented developments. Assume build-out in the town incorporates 2-4 transit oriented developments This is an important project because at present there are no known estimates of the magnitude of how transit oriented development could affect VMT in a rural state such as Maine. This project will provide estimates of the potential impacts of TOD in a rural environment using a real municipality, town or city and future land use assumptions developed in conjunction with local officials, planners, civic leaders and citizens. The project is a research and planning study; therefore it will not promote any individual existing projects or developments, nor will it necessarily tie in with any existing planning studies. It will be conducted over a two-year period and will be completed by the summer of 2010.
KW  - Exhaust gases
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Maine
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Rural areas
KW  - Small towns
KW  - Sustainable development
KW  - Transit operating agencies
KW  - Transit oriented development
KW  - Vehicle miles of travel
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359752
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569175
TI  - Optimal Design for Porous Concrete Pavement (Part 1)
AB  - This research can be subdivided into three phases. The first phase is the development of a mathematical model of the behavior of water in a system such described above and the creation of a computer program that will solve the equations inherent in this model. In the second phase the Performing Organization (PO) will apply the model to a VTrans test site to demonstrate the model's ability to accurately predict behavior in the field. Finally in the third phase the PO will use the resulting 'calibrated' model in combination with an optimization algorithm to examine the benefits and costs of various design strategies where the design variables are those presented earlier in this section. The PO is requesting funding for phase one only, and should the work proceed smoothly, the PO would seek funding for and initiate phase two and eventually phase three. However, please note that the phase one study is a stand-alone project. The development of a computer-based optimal design strategy for the behavior of porous concrete pavement in cold climates using advanced mathematical methods is, through its scope and focus, in concert with the theme of 'Sustainable Systems and Advanced Technologies for Northern Communities.'
KW  - Calibration
KW  - Concrete pavements
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - Moisture content
KW  - Optimization
KW  - Vermont
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/optimal-design-for-porous-concrete-pavement/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359730
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01566479
TI  - Modeling Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Impacts
AB  - In this study, funded by the US Department of Transportation and Vermont utilities, volunteer drivers will use the PHEV for their regular daily travel, and from these trips, data will be collected about carbon emissions, electricity use, local variations in the electrical supply, and performance over differing distances and driving styles. The research also includes an on-going effort to determine the capacity of Vermont's electric grid to handle 50,000, 100,000 or 200,000 plug-in hybrids.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Electric vehicles
KW  - Hybrid automobiles
KW  - Hybrid vehicles
KW  - Plug-in hybrid vehicles
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Vermont
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1357589
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01566477
TI  - Optimal Design for Porous Concrete Pavement (Part 2)
AB  - This research can be subdivided into three phases. The first phase is the development of a mathematical model of the behavior of water in a system such described above and the creation of a computer program that will solve the equations inherent in this model. In the second phase the Performing Organization (PO) will apply the model to a Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) test site to demonstrate the model's ability to accurately predict behavior in the field. Finally in the third phase the PO will use the resulting 'calibrated' model in combination with an optimization algorithm to examine the benefits and costs of various design strategies where the design variables are those presented earlier in this section. The PO is requesting funding for phase one only, and should the work proceed smoothly, the PO would seek funding for and initiate phase two and eventually phase three. However, please note that the phase one study is a stand-alone project. The development of a computer-based optimal design strategy for the behavior of porous concrete pavement in cold climates using advanced mathematical methods is, through its scope and focus, in concert with the theme of 'Sustainable Systems and Advanced Technologies for Northern Communities.'
KW  - Calibration
KW  - Concrete pavements
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - Moisture content
KW  - Optimization
KW  - Vermont
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/optimal-design-for-porous-concrete-pavement/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1357587
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01522828
TI  - Use of Shallow Anchors and Anchored Mesh System for Cut Slope Protection in Ice-Rich Soils
AB  - The overall objective of this research is to investigate the performance of shallow anchors in frozen soils and develop an anchored wire mesh system which can be used to solve the problems associated with the exposed ice-rich permafrost cut slopes. The system will be safe, environmentally acceptable, cost-effective, and requires little maintenance in the long term. The specific goals of the project are as follows: (1) Investigate the rate of thermal degradation of ice-rich permafrost cut slopes. (2) Investigate load transfer characteristics of a shallow anchors during freeze-thaw cycles. (3) Investigate the local and global stability of the slope protection systems. (4) Investigate performances of different anchored systems for ice-rich permafrost cut slopes exposed during construction and investigate the optimum design for ice-rich permafrost cut slopes. (5) Investigate methods to construct ice-rich permafrost cut slopes with an anchored slope protection system. The results will be used to develop design and construction guidance for anchored slope protection systems for a variety of field conditions in Alaska.
KW  - Alaska
KW  - Anchorages
KW  - Anchoring
KW  - Embankments
KW  - Load transfer
KW  - Permafrost
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Slope stability
KW  - Soils
KW  - Thermal degradation
UR  - http://www.alaska.edu/uaf/cem/ine/autc/projects.xml
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1307048
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01467541
TI  - Plant Pathogens of Feedstock Crops as a Source of Useful Enzymes
AB  - Plant pathogenic fungi are a rich and untapped source of cell wall degrading enzymes for feedstock conversion. Switchgrass pathogens are ideal candidates to prospect for enzymes usable in conversion of switchgrass biomass because these fungal strains have evolved the capacity to degrade cell walls of this species. Therefore this project will target biopropecting at necrotrophic fungal pathogens isolated from switchgrass and other potential feedstock crops in the Northeast. The ultimate long-term goal is to identify and develop enzyme systems for optimal bioethanol production. The end products should be higher catalytic function enzymes that can be used at lower amounts, at reduced overall costs and with higher efficiency in lignocellulosic bioconversion. Expected Outcomes: The investigators expect to identify superior fungal isolates that produce cellulases and xylanses equivalent to or better than the industry standard Trichoderma reesii. Symptomatic tissues of switchgrass and other biofeedstock species will be collected from natural and cultivated stands of these species in the field and plant pathogenic fungi will be isolated from these tissues, cultured, identified, and archived. The project will build a collection of 400 isolates of diverse fungal genera and species. These fungal isolates will be screened for growth on lignocellulosic substrates and for cellulase and xylanase activities.
KW  - Bioethanol
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Crops
KW  - Enzymes
KW  - Feedstock
KW  - Pathogens
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1235777
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462508
TI  - Value of Information for Optimal Adaptive Routing in Stochastic Time-Dependent Traffic Networks: Algorithms and Computational Tools
AB  - The objective of the project is to develop algorithms and computer implementations to study a class of optimal adaptive routing problems in stochastic time-dependent traffic networks where a wide variety of traveler information situations can be modeled and the value of information can be compared. The project is motivated by two observations of the traffic system: 1) the system is inherently uncertain with random disturbances such as incidents, bad weather, work zones and so forth; and 2) traveler information is or will be available so that travelers could make travel decisions adaptive to the random disturbances to reduce negative effects of uncertainty. The project will contribute to the state of the art by solving a class of fundamental network optimization problems; it will also provide algorithms and computer software for assessing effects of various forms of Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) in terms of reducing expected travel time and increasing travel time reliability
KW  - Advanced traveler information systems
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Time dependence
KW  - Travel time
KW  - Traveler information and communication systems
KW  - Value of information
KW  - Value of life
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230729
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462507
TI  - Development and Evaluation of an Attention Maintenance Training Program
AB  - This proposed research focuses on one of the key attributes that puts younger drivers at increased risk. In particular, we will focus on the finding that younger drivers pay less attention to the forward roadway and/or are more likely to be engaged in a distracting behavior. Distractions are estimated to cause some 20% - 30% of crashes among older teen drivers, and to be larger among newly licensed drivers than they are among more experienced drivers. Furthermore there is evidence to suggest that the longer time that younger drivers spend with their eyes off the forward roadway leads to an increased potential of an incident. Nevertheless, the data suggest that it may be possible to train newly licensed drivers to develop and adopt a more strategic scan pattern that allows successful completion of a task without a decrease in driving safety. Given both the increased number of in-vehicle electronic devices and the potential impact on traffic safety of a program designed to increase attention to the forward roadway, there is a definitive need to identify an effective attention maintenance training program. This research proposes such a training program, in the form of a Roadway Attention Maintenance Training (RAMT) program which aims to reduce the time that newly-licensed drivers spend with their eyes away from the forward roadway to under two seconds a glance, a duration below which the risk is minimal. The training will be developed as a computer-based training program and will consist of game like elements which make the benefits and costs associated with performing an in-vehicle secondary task similar to what they might be in the real world. Following development of RAMT, its effectiveness will be evaluated using a virtual world in a driving simulator environment where drivers' eye movements will be tracked to quantify their attention maintenance. The evaluation will then move to an on-road environment (closed course) to determine the extent to which the training translates to the real world driving environment. Given the national attention currently being focused on younger drivers, distracted driving, and traffic safety in general, it is anticipated that this research will serve as the foundation for larger-scale future research efforts at the national level.
KW  - Accident prone drivers
KW  - Attention
KW  - Crash risk forecasting
KW  - Preventive maintenance
KW  - Risk assessment
KW  - Teenage drivers
KW  - Younger drivers
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230728
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462506
TI  - Vehicle Modeling for Future Generation Transportation Simulation
AB  - Transportation systems in the 21st century are facing many critical issues including mobility and safety problems. Critical issues call for innovative technologies and solutions. Systems soon to be launched under the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) Initiative are directed toward addressing these critical issues. To facilitate an understanding of the VII initiative and to assess future VII-enabled transportation systems, future generation transportation simulation tools will be required. In response to this need for simulation tools, this research proposes to develop a dynamic vehicle model as the first step toward achieving long-term VII goals. Such a model is practically unavailable but particularly needed in a VII setting because many VII-enabled vehicle and traffic control strategies work directly on vehicles and the dynamic response of these vehicles determines the effect and overall performance of the VII strategies. This project is proposed with Federal, State, and local transportation research interests in mind. In addition, this project addresses the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Transportation Center theme "Improving Transportation Mobility and Safety with Innovative Technologies and Strategies" and this research responds to a national priority by contributing to the VII initiative.
KW  - Improvements
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Traffic control
KW  - Transportation engineering
KW  - Vehicle infrastructure integration
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230727
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462345
TI  - Validation of Rehab Strategies to Extend the Service Life of Concrete Bridge Decks
AB  - The objectives of this research is to investigate the long-term deteriorating effect of vehicular wheel loading relative to that of environmental loading on Caltrans reinforced concrete bridge decks, as well as to look into the long-term effectiveness of Caltrans' preservation and rehabilitation strategies for concrete bridge decks. Caltrans currently employs high molecular weight methacrylate (HMWM)-based crack sealing and polyester overlay. This research will also explore the value of Portland cement concrete (PCC) and asphalt concrete (AC) overlays on bridge decks, and identify the appropriate treatment time and frequency for these strategies.
KW  - Asphalt concrete
KW  - Bridge decks
KW  - California
KW  - Concrete bridges
KW  - Finite element method
KW  - Moisture content
KW  - Portland cement concrete
KW  - Rehabilitation (Maintenance)
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Service life
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/research/4w2179.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230566
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461697
TI  - Plant Pathogens of Feedstock Crops as a Source of Useful Enzymes for Conversion
AB  - Plant pathogenic fungi are a rich and untapped source of cell wall degrading enzymes for feedstock conversion. Switchgrass pathogens are ideal candidates to prospect for enzymes useable in conversion of switchgrass biomass because these fungal strains have evolved the capacity to degrade cell walls of this species. Therefore this project will target biopropecting at necrotrophic fungal pathogens isolated from switchgrass and other potential feedstock crops in the Northeast. The ultimate long-term goal is to identify and develop enzyme systems for optimal bioethanol production. The end products should be higher catalytic function enzymes that can be used at lower amounts, at reduced overall costs and with higher efficiency in lignocellulosic bioconversion. Expected Outcomes: The investigators expect to identify superior fungal isolates that produce cellulases and xylanses equivalent to or better than the industry standard Trichoderma reesii. Symptomatic tissues of switchgrass and other biofeedstock species will be collected from natural and cultivated stands of these species in the field and plant pathogenic fungi will be isolated from these tissues, cultured, identified, and archived. We will build a collection of 400 isolates of diverse fungal genera and species. These fungal isolates will be screened for growth on lignocellulosic substrates and for cellulase and xylanase activities.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Energy conservation
KW  - Energy conversion
KW  - Enzymes
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Fungi
KW  - Pathogens
KW  - Plants
KW  - Research projects
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229917
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01459827
TI  - Does Monitoring Naturalistic Driving through Vehicle Instrumentation Make a Difference in Decision-Making for Fitness to Drive in Early Stage Dementia? An Intervention Study
AB  - Latest technologies are used in the vehicle to collect detailed information on ability and performance of drivers in early-stage dementia in an on-going collaboration involving the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), the University of Massachusetts Boston, and the University of Houston. With funding from the Alzheimer's Association (2006-2009), the collaborative is exploring the perspectives of three of the stakeholder groups (persons with dementia, family members, and specialists in driving assessment) and will compare their assessments with empirical data on on-road performance gained through in-vehicle monitoring. Funding is now sought for a control group of drivers that have not been monitored with the in-vehicle instrumentation to treat the instrumentation as an intervention and to test its effects related to decision-making among drivers with dementia and their family members. Pre and post test survey instruments have already been developed for the experimental group through the Alzheimer's Association funding. The scope of the proposed research is to utilize the research tools developed for the experimental group and obtain and analyze the control group data. With our contribution, the collaborative will be able to achieve the following goals that reinforce and in some instances may go beyond their initial project: 1) Compare the validity of multiple forms of assessment of driving skills with naturalistic driving in persons with early stage-dementia and a control group; 2) Inform decision-makers about appropriate intervals for checking driving competency; 3) Bring greater visibility to deficits in driving performance unique to people with early-stage dementia; 4) Understand behaviors and issues of older drivers with dementia and their families; and 5) Assess the attitudes, knowledge, and activities of occupational therapists and driver rehabilitation specialists as they relate to older drivers with dementia.
KW  - Aged
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Driver monitoring
KW  - Drivers
KW  - Driving cessation
KW  - Fitness to drive
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Technological innovations
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228042
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01359650
AU  - Nixon, Julie L
AU  - Stevenson, Courtney
AU  - Yeh, Michelle
AU  - Bartinique, Ingrid
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
TI  - A Preliminary Review of English Proficiency and Safe Commercial Vehicle Operation
PY  - 2008/07//Final Report
SP  - 113p
AB  - Under sponsorship from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Office of Bus and Truck Standards and Operations, the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center performed a preliminary research study designed to review English proficiency in relation to safe CMV operation. The study endeavored to learn: 1) The tasks commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers perform that require language comprehension in the interest of safety. 2) The extent to which selected Federal and State enforcement personnel, motor carrier industry groups, individual motor carriers and drivers, State driver licensing agencies and highway departments, and highway safety advocacy groups believe that English language proficiency is necessary for the safe operation of trucks and buses by CMV drivers. 3) How these stakeholders interpret the current Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rule concerning English-language proficiency, and how they believe that a driver’s level of English proficiency could be assessed in the licensure and hiring processes, in the daily work environment, and during roadside inspections. 4) Whether stakeholder groups believe that the English-language standard, as currently written, can be applied in a fair and uniform manner. This study took a three-pronged approach of examining available data, observing commercial motor vehicle drivers during their regular schedules, and interviewing a wide range of stakeholders.
KW  - Commercial Driver'S License Program
KW  - Commercial drivers
KW  - Crashes
KW  - English language
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Motor carriers
KW  - Proficiency
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/42000/42700/42777/FMCSA-RRR-11-006.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1125657
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01342878
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Key Practices for Implementing Geospatial Technologies for a Planning and Environment Linkages (PEL) Approach
PY  - 2008/07
SP  - 24p
AB  - This report presents three case studies that illustrate how geographic information systems (GIS) have been used to implement the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Planning and Environment Linkages (PEL) approach. The PEL approach provides information and tools to help agencies integrate consideration of environmental factors into transportation planning. PEL represents an approach to transportation decision-making that considers environmental, community, and economic goals early in the planning stage and carries them through project development, design, and construction. This can lead to a seamless decision-making process that minimizes duplication of effort, promotes environmental stewardship, and reduces delays in project implementation. This report identifies some effective uses of GIS to support the goals of PEL and will be helpful to transportation and resource agencies considering applying GIS to implement PEL.
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Community involvement
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Economic impacts
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Environmental policy
KW  - Environmental stewardship
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Implementation
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Plan implementation
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/36000/36100/36145/geospatialPEL.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1104494
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01162962
AU  - Intercity Transit
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Intercity Transit: ITS Deployment Program Grant July 17, 2008 Local Evaluation Report. FY 2005
PY  - 2008/07
SP  - 22p
AB  - n April 2003, Intercity Transit, in Olympia, Washington, embarked on a project to improve its radio communications capabilities and add appropriate advanced transit technologies to assist in the management of its fixed route and Dial-A-Lift (Paratransit) operations and to enhance passenger services. Following a needs assessment study, which considered Intercity Transits needs and required elements of the Thurston County Regional ITS Architecture, and the development of a project plan, a technical specification was developed for the procurement of an Advanced Communication System (ACS). Proposals were solicited, evaluated, and a contract executed with Orbital TMS in August 2005 for the implementation of the ACS. The system, which included an updated and expanded radio communications infrastructure and comprehensive CAD/AVL and Smart Bus technologies was implemented, installed, and tested, and subsequently accepted by Intercity Transit in September 2007.
KW  - Bus transportation
KW  - Communication systems
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Intercity transportation
KW  - Passenger traffic
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Transit operating agencies
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30600/30643/14457.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/920685
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01153626
AU  - Koon, Leann A F
AU  - Western Transportation Institute
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Western States Rural Transportation Technology Implementers Forum: Review of 2008 Meeting
PY  - 2008/07//Draft
SP  - 44p
AB  - The purpose of this review is to document the 2008 Western States Rural Transportation Technology Implementers Forum (WSRTTIF): how and why it was planned, how the forum went, lessons learned and recommendations for the future. The concept of WSRTTIF originated through the rural California/Oregon Advanced Transportation Systems (COATS) partnership. This partnership, initiated in 1998 by the California and Oregon Departments of Transportation with support from the Western Transportation Institute (WTI), has sought to advance the implementation of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) to meet transportation challenges in rural areas. COATS has consisted of three major phases: COATS ITS Strategic Deployment Plan (1998-2001); COATS Showcase (2001-2006); and COATS Phase 3 (2005-present).
KW  - Conferences
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Lessons learned
KW  - Recommendations
KW  - Rural transportation
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Western States
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/documents/reports/4W1523_Final_Report.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/915031
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01135485
AU  - Kowalewski, R
AU  - Young, P
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Data-Driven Risk Models Could Help Target Pipeline Safety Inspections
PY  - 2008/07
SP  - 6p
AB  - Federal safety agencies share a common problem--the need to target resources effectively to reduce risk. One way this targeting is commonly done is with a risk model that uses safety data along with expert judgment to identify and weight risk factors. In a joint effort, the U.S. Department of Transportations Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) sought to develop a new statistical approach for modeling risk by letting the data weight the data by using the statistical relationships among the data, not expert opinion, to develop the weights.
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Hazardous materials
KW  - Inspection
KW  - Natural resources
KW  - Pipeline safety
KW  - Pipelines
KW  - Risk assessment
KW  - Safety
KW  - Statistical analysis
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2008_010/index.html
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/special_reports_and_issue_briefs/special_report/2008_010/html/entire.html
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35400/35463/Dtaa_driven.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/891718
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01122991
AU  - Peng, Zhong-Ren
AU  - Lynde, Eric
AU  - Chen, Wei-Ya
AU  - Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Improving Service Restoration Using Automatic Vehicle Location
PY  - 2008/07//Final Report
SP  - 57p
AB  - This study investigates important issues in transit service reliability, namely large service gaps and bus bunching. Using automatic vehicle location (AVL) data from the Route 20 – Madison bus route of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), the primary focus is on identifying and establishing conditions that indicate a large service gap is imminent. In addition, the spatial and temporal patterns of large service gaps along the route are illustrated, along with the degree to which large gaps and bunching propagate down the route. Recommendations for improving the service restoration approach at the CTA are also presented based on the AVL data analyses, field observations at the CTA, and interviews with key members of large transit agencies across the United States. Among the recommendations is the implementation of a flag system, which notifies control center personnel that a large service gap is likely to occur so that preventive action can be taken.
KW  - Automatic vehicle location
KW  - Bunching
KW  - Bus transit operations
KW  - Chicago Transit Authority
KW  - Gaps in service
KW  - Service reliability
KW  - Service restoration
KW  - Transit control centers
KW  - Transit service
UR  - http://www.mrutc.org/research/0809/08-09_FR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/884618
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01112757
AU  - Saka, Anthony A
AU  - Jeihani, Mansoureh
AU  - James, Petronella A
AU  - Morgan State University
AU  - National Transportation Center
AU  - Maryland State Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Estimation of Traffic Recovery Time for Different Flow Regimes on Freeways
PY  - 2008/07//Final Report
SP  - 78p
AB  - This study attempts to estimate post-incident traffic recovery time along a freeway using Monte Carlo simulation techniques. It has been found that there is a linear relationship between post-incident traffic recovery time, and incident time and traffic intensity. For purposes of this paper, the post-incident recovery time is defined as that time beyond the clearing of an incident when pre-incident traffic conditions are achieved and traffic has returned to normalcy or steady state. The research supports Objective 2.1 of the SHA Business Plan, which seeks to develop measures to enhance the Maryland State Highway Administration’s (SHA's) ability to quantify the impact of congestion and delay on the highway network. In addition, the SHA understands that the capability to reasonably estimate the traffic recovery time for a given duration of incident is crucial in quantifying the cost-effectiveness of current/future traffic management programs involving detection and clearance of incident on freeways. A total of 121 traffic scenarios of traffic intensity (Rho - volume to capacity ratio), incident duration, and proportion of lane blockage were simulated resulting in a total of 726 experiments. The VISSIM simulation platform was used to derive values for output flow, density, and speed to determine the post-incident traffic recovery times. The analysis of simulated data showed that for a given incident duration and lane blockage scenario, the recovery time of the traffic increases non-linearly with traffic intensity. The traffic recovery time becomes uniform (stable) for low and moderate traffic intensity values. A set of linear regression models was developed to reasonably estimate the post-incident traffic recovery time using traffic intensity, incident duration, and proportion of lane blockage as exogenous variables.
KW  - Cost effectiveness
KW  - Freeways
KW  - Incident duration
KW  - Incident management
KW  - Lane closure
KW  - Monte Carlo method
KW  - Post-incident traffic recovery time
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic delays
KW  - Traffic incidents
KW  - Traffic simulation
KW  - Volume to capacity ratio
UR  - http://roads.maryland.gov/OPR_Research/MD-09-SP608B4G_Life-Cycle-and-Economic-Efficiency-of-Durable-Material-Phase%20I_REPORT.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31600/31640/Oct_20_REVISION_-_Estimation_of_Traffic_Recovery_Time.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/872641
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01111293
AU  - Jones, June
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Opinions on Cell Phone Use on Airplanes, Congestion, and Telecommuting—from the 2006 and 2007 Omnibus Household Survey
PY  - 2008/07//Special Report
SP  - 5p
AB  - The annual Omnibus Household Survey (OHS), administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), asks respondents about their weekly travel habits, journey to work, opinions about the transportation system, and other related issues. Presented here are a few of the key findings from the November 2006 and 2007 surveys: (1) although nearly half of the 18- to 34-year-old survey respondents would allow in-flight cell phone use if deemed safe, less than 30% of respondents age 65 or older shared that opinion; (2) about 2 out of 5 U.S. workers who reported their commute as moderately to very congested also reported that congestion had gotten worse over the 12 months preceding the survey; (3) less than 3 of 10 workers who feel they could telecommute actually do; (4) the majority of workers use their personal vehicle to commute alone to work; (5) about 2 out of 5 public transit passengers used transit at least 5 days a week; and (6) over 90 percent of airline passengers were satisfied with the amount of time taken to get through security check points.
KW  - Airplanes
KW  - Attitudes
KW  - Automobile travel
KW  - Cellular telephones
KW  - Commuters
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Ridership
KW  - Security checkpoints
KW  - Telecommuting
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Travel surveys
KW  - Utilization
KW  - Work trips
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2008_009/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/868783
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01109938
AU  - Li, Zongzhi
AU  - Madanu, Sunil Kumar
AU  - Illinois Institute of Technology
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
TI  - A Methodology for Integrating Roadway Safety Hardware Management into the Overall Highway Asset Management Program
PY  - 2008/06/30/Final Report
SP  - 147p
AB  - Over the past two decades, state transportation agencies have developed management systems as analytical tools to support investment decision-making in Statewide Transportation Improvement Programs (STIP) and long-range plans. The most common management systems dealing with physical highway assets are those for pavements, bridges, and maintenance. In addition, there are management systems handling highway system operations, namely, congestion and safety. However, most state transportation agencies have not developed adequate management systems for roadway safety hardware assets such as roadway signs; signals; lighting; support and structure for signs, signals, and lighting; guardrails, barriers, and crash cushions; pavement markings; and traffic detecting devices. Cost-effective maintenance, rehabilitation, and upgrade/replacement of roadway safety hardware elements are vital to the safe and efficient operation of highways. The study began with review of literature on roadway safety hardware management. Questionnaire surveys were conducted to synthesize the current state-of-practice for managing roadway safety hardware assets across the country. Subsequent to administering the questionnaire surveys, a structured outline of questions was prepared to help conduct case studies aimed to obtain in-depth information on safety hardware asset management programs in the 12 Midwest states defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, as well as the state of Tennessee. Based on the findings of literature review, questionnaire surveys, and case studies, a methodology was proposed for roadway safety hardware data integration, primarily focusing on inventory process, data collection, and database management; and for estimating the benefits and costs of highway safety hardware projects proposed for implementation for highway segments and intersections. Finally, a new analytical framework was proposed for long-term and short-term roadway safety hardware investment programming and project selection. The analytical framework can also be adopted by state transportation agencies for integrating roadway safety hardware and general safety management, as well as pavement, bridge, and maintenance management by simultaneously considering candidate projects associated with the corresponding types of highway assets in the optimization models for project selection.
KW  - Asset management
KW  - Barriers (Roads)
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Crash cushions
KW  - Guardrails
KW  - Lighting columns
KW  - Literature reviews
KW  - Median barriers
KW  - Questionnaires
KW  - Roadway safety hardware management systems
KW  - Sign supports
KW  - State of the practice
KW  - Surveys
KW  - Traffic control devices
UR  - http://tam.transportation.org/Documents/TAM%20Files%20-%20Asset%20Mgmt%20101/MRUTC_project_08-06_RSHAMS_Project%C2%A0report_final.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/869578
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462475
TI  - Synthesis of International Freight Scans
AB  - <p>This project will summarize the results from the 3 international freight scans, with particular emphasis on the recommendations for changes in practices in the United States, as well as recommended new research areas.  The 3 international scans on freight are as follows: (1) Freight Transportation: The European Market--2002; (2) Freight Transportation: The Latin American Market--2003; Freight Mobility and Intermodal Connenctivity in China--2007.</p>
KW  - Carriers
KW  - China
KW  - Connectivity
KW  - Europe
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Infrared detectors
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - International markets
KW  - International trade
KW  - Latin America
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Scanners
KW  - United States
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2587
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230696
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575504
TI  - Solvent Fractionation for the Separation of Lignocellulosic Raw Materials
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Mechanical analysis
KW  - Raw materials
KW  - Solvents
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1367877
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01125391
AU  - Rephlo, J
AU  - Haas, R
AU  - Bauer, J
AU  - Science Applications International Corporation
AU  - Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Chattanooga SmartBus Project Final Phase II Evaluation Report
PY  - 2008/06/01
SP  - 59p
AB  - This report presents the results of Phase II of the national evaluation of the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority’s (CARTA’s) SmartBus Project. The Smartbus Project is a comprehensive transit ITS program for the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It involves deployment of a wide array of transit ITS technologies including: data warehousing and reporting software to accumulate data from different CARTA applications and provide reports to support CARTA operations; new operations management software to support fixed-route scheduling and demand response scheduling and dispatch; ticket vending machines for the Incline Railway; a remote diagnostics maintenance system; various on-board systems (mobile data computers, computer-aided dispatch / automated vehicle location software, a covert alarm, automated passenger counters, and a next stop automated announcement system); and new fareboxes, a revenue management system, and a multi-modal transit/parking smart card electronic fare payment system. The goal of the evaluation is to determine the impacts of these technologies in performing daily functions such as operations, scheduling, service planning, and maintenance, and to gather and document any lessons learned by the project team throughout the process of the deployment and operation of the technologies. This report discusses impacts to date of the technologies that have been in place for at least 1 year. It is important to note that the full impacts of many of the technologies are not expected to be realized until the onboard systems are in place and integrated with the existing technologies, and that those later impacts will be documented in the Phase III report. The evaluation involved a series of interviews with various CARTA staff, as well as gathering data on various performance measures including transit ridership, on-time performance, and on the road failures. The results of the study indicate that the ticket vending machines for the Incline Railway have helped CARTA access to make better business decisions about the Incline service; the data warehousing and reporting software has allowed for more rapid preparation of a variety of reports, has resulted in efficiencies in operations, and has made it possible to answer complex business decisions more quickly; the fixed route scheduling software has allowed CARTA to provide the same level of service with lower operating costs; and the paratransit scheduling and dispatch management software has increased efficiency in terms of passengers per vehicle-hour while it has not reduced the time required to issue invoices or improved the on-time performance.
KW  - Automatic vehicle location
KW  - Chattanooga (Tennessee)
KW  - Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority
KW  - Computer aided dispatch systems
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Next stop announcements
KW  - Paratransit services
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Scheduling
KW  - Software
KW  - Ticket vending machines
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30500/30587/14431.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/886041
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01344716
AU  - Dill, Jennifer
AU  - Weigand, Lynn
AU  - Portland State University
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation
PY  - 2008/06//Final Report
SP  - 22p
AB  - The Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation aims to advance the field of bicycle and pedestrian transportation through four primary mechanisms: (1) developing and pursuing a collaborative research agenda that more directly informs practice and involves students through dissertation research and fellowships; (2) translating relevant research into a format and language that is more useful to practitioners, and making that research available through technology transfer; (3) developing more holistic approaches to the education and training of planners and engineers; and (4) supporting community-based outreach and education, to promote awareness of bicycle and pedestrian issues statewide and nationally. This proposal seeks one year of start-up funding for the second objective (technology transfer). Key activities and outcomes from the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC) funding for the Initiative’s technology transfer activities include a website clearinghouse for research and evidence-based tools that is accessible and meaningful and a series of four white papers on areas of bicycle and pedestrian research that are directly relevant to professional practice and policy-making. The website increases the availability of existing resources for use by practitioners. These resources include an archive of weekly seminars sponsored by the Center for Transportation Studies at Portland State University and digests of recent research by faculty and students at Portland State University, Oregon State University and the University of Oregon. In addition, the website provides information on existing undergraduate and graduate courses at all three universities, links to other academic and practice-based resources, and information on upcoming and past professional development workshops. The white papers focused on topics that are new, cross-disciplinary, and innovative, including: (1) the economic impacts of bicycle and pedestrian transportation; (2) the effectiveness of Safe Routes to School programs and other approaches to creating safe, healthy transportation options for children; (3) the effectiveness of intersection safety treatments for bicycle facilities; and (4) the mental health benefits of bicycling and walking.
KW  - Bicycle facilities
KW  - Bicycle travel
KW  - Bicycling
KW  - Curricula
KW  - Economic impacts
KW  - Education
KW  - Health benefits
KW  - Innovation
KW  - Intersections
KW  - Pedestrians
KW  - Research reports
KW  - Safe Routes to School (Program)
KW  - Technology transfer
KW  - Walking
KW  - Websites (Information retrieval)
KW  - White papers
KW  - Workshops
UR  - http://otrec.us/project/67
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1106543
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01129885
AU  - Wang, Bruce (Xiubin)
AU  - Adams, Teresa M
AU  - Wittwer, Ernie
AU  - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Mississippi Valley Freight Coalition: Logistics Course for the Public Sector
PY  - 2008/06//Final Report
SP  - 130p
AB  - The primary purpose of the Course is to provide information to public sector—departments of transportation (DOTs) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations—staff who work with freight providers or in freight planning on logistics. This information will help them better understand the needs of the freight community and help them better perform their daily activities. More details on the Coalition efforts are posted to the Coalition website (http://www.mississippivalleyfreight.org).
KW  - Freight service
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Logistics
KW  - Metropolitan planning organizations
KW  - Mississippi Valley Freight Coalition
KW  - State departments of transportation
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/890102
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01118689
AU  - Troup, K
AU  - Newton, D
AU  - Jensen, M
AU  - Mitchell, C
AU  - Stock, D
AU  - Carter, M
AU  - Wolfe, M
AU  - Schaefer, R
AU  - Science Applications International Corporation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Department of Transportation
TI  - Columbus Electronic Freight Management Evaluation Final Report
PY  - 2008/06//Final Report
SP  - 222p
AB  - This document provides the independent evaluation of the USDOT-sponsored Columbus Electronic Freight Management (CEFM) Operational Test, which occurred from late May 2007 until December 2007. The Evaluation report includes descriptions of the CEFM system and defines quantitative and qualitative benefits in the following four primary study areas: (1) CEFM system usefulness in terms of participants’ perceptions regarding the system’s ability to improve their daily operations and whether CEFM represents an improvement in their Information Technology (IT) environment (improved information quality and flow). (2) The ability of CEFM to improve cargo visibility in terms of more actionable (complete, accurate, and timely) cargo location and status information for public and private sector participants. (3) CEFM’s ability to improve supply chain and logistics performance by reducing supply chain costs, shipping delays, cargo clearance times, or to improve overall levels of partner coordination and ultimate customer satisfaction. (4) Assessment of deployment scalability through participant willingness to integrate the Electronic Freight Management concept into their overall IT environments, and establishment of a business case demonstrating the public and private sector value propositions.
KW  - Cargo handling
KW  - Demonstration projects
KW  - Electronic freight management
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Information technology
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Logistics
KW  - Operations
KW  - Supply chain management
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31500/31594/14442.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/31000/31500/31594/14442_files/14442.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/878231
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01109933
AU  - Najafi, Mohammad
AU  - Salem, Sam
AU  - Bhattachar, Deepak V
AU  - Salman, Baris
AU  - Patil, Rahul
AU  - Calderon, Diego
AU  - University of Texas, Arlington
AU  - University of Cincinnati
AU  - Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - An Asset Management Approach for Drainage Infrastructure and Culverts
PY  - 2008/06//Final Report
SP  - 299p
AB  - Drainage infrastructure systems (culvert, storm sewer, outfall and related drainage elements) are mostly buried underground and are in need of special attention in terms of proactive/preventive asset management strategy. Drainage infrastructure systems represent an integral portion of roadway assets that routinely require inspection, maintenance, repair and renewal. Further challenges are the wide geospatial distribution of these infrastructure assets and environmental exposure. There has been considerable research conducted on culverts, but this research mostly looked at the problem from a traditional structural/geotechnical perspective. Asset management procedures for culverts and drainage infrastructure systems are complex issues, and can benefit a great deal from an optimal asset management program that draws from programs pertaining to buried pipes. The first and most important step in an asset management initiative is the establishment of a mechanism for asset inventory and asset conditions in a format compatible with the routine procedures of field operators and inspectors. The first objective of this research project was to develop field protocols and operational business rules for inventory data collection and management and inspection of drainage infrastructure in terms of types of data to be collected, frequency of inspection, and analysis and reporting mechanisms. After review of these protocols by the project oversight committee, a pilot study was conducted to verify the efficiency of their implementation. The condition assessment protocol introduced is useful in evaluating the overall condition of culverts and can be used for decision making regarding the repair, renewal or replacement of culverts. For the second objective of this project, investigators examined the inventory and inspection protocols employed by the Ohio Department of Transportation and developed a decision support platform, which establishes a link between the inspection results and appropriate repair, renewal and replacement procedures. After applying the recommended procedures, the transportation agencies can better track the conditions of culverts thereby reducing the risk of culvert failures.
KW  - Asset management
KW  - Condition surveys
KW  - Culverts
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Decision support systems
KW  - Drainage structures
KW  - Inspection
KW  - Inventory
KW  - Protocols
KW  - Underground structures
UR  - http://minds.wisconsin.edu/bitstream/handle/1793/53919/06-08_FR.pdf
UR  - http://wisdotresearch.wi.gov/wp-content/uploads/07-19-tpf-5036-f.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/869569
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01103978
AU  - Geiselbrecht, Tina Collier
AU  - University Transportation Center for Mobility
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - A Guide to Transportation Funding Options: A Website Development Project
PY  - 2008/06
SP  - 13p
AB  - As our nation’s transportation demand continues to grow due to population increases and an expanded economy, elected officials at all levels of government are faced with difficult decisions regarding mechanisms to adequately fund the maintenance and expansion of transportation systems. This project produced a concise, user-friendly website for leaders and policy-makers that describes the array of transportation funding options that are or may be available for use throughout the country. The site describes each funding option and, where possible, offers links to projects that are using or have utilized a particular type of funding. Phase 1 of the project includes funding for highways. Subsequent phases will focus on other modes of surface transportation.
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Financing
KW  - Fuel taxes
KW  - Guides to information
KW  - Highway user taxation
KW  - Highways
KW  - Websites (Information retrieval)
UR  - http://utcm.tamu.edu/publications/final_reports/Geiselbrecht_08-00-18.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/863645
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01118678
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Advanced Wireless Communication for the Transportation Sector, A Roundtable Discussion
PY  - 2008/05/22/Summary Report
SP  - n.p.
AB  - On May 22, 2008, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) convened the "Advanced Wireless Communication for the Transportation Sector Roundtable." It brought together 40 leading experts in the field of wireless communications and filled a conference room with a vast amount of intellectual capacity in the area of communications technology. Experts represented the private sector, academia, State and local Governments, and the research and advocacy community.  The roundtable was structured to accommodate presentations, discussion, and dialogue among participants. Its goal was to share with thought leaders in the field of wireless communications critical information about the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) vision, interest, and applications to the transportation sector.  The roundtable provided a forum to discuss how to enable internet and wireless communications technologies to better allow vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure, and infrastructure-to-system manager communications in order to avoid crashes and enable improved situational awareness (including dynamic rerouting and improvements in signal timing and synchronization based on real time and evolving traffic and weather conditions).  Other applications of advanced communications technologies include electronic tolling and fare collection for all modes of transportation, and developing mobility devices for remote monitoring of bridges, roads, rails, and other critical infrastructure.
KW  - Awareness
KW  - Crash avoidance systems
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Internet
KW  - Traffic safety
KW  - Vehicle to infrastructure communications
KW  - Vehicle to vehicle communications
KW  - Wireless communication systems
UR  - http://www.volpe.dot.gov/infosrc/rpt/wireless08/index.html
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35500/35543/RITA__Volpe_Center__Information_Resources.mht
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/878686
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569167
TI  - Transportation Education Development Pilot Program - Part 1
AB  - The grant awarded to the Transportation Research Center (TRC) will fund four new programs to help transportation leaders attract and maintain workers in this challenging environment. Transportation Systems Institute--is focused on maintaining or recruiting new talent to the DOT workforce in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Second Careers in Transportation Program--is focused on attracting retirees from other industries to bring their skills to bear on the 21st century challenges in transportation. Transportation Systems Academy--provides hands-on training for transportation industry jobs to students in the Community High School of Vermont Northern State Correctional Center campus and will provide this training at technical high schools. Community Colleges--Working with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) the project is collecting information about what community colleges are doing now and could do in preparing the next generation of transportation workers. The project  will present the results of this effort at the 2010 AACC Workforce Development Institute (WDI).
KW  - Education and training
KW  - Labor force
KW  - Maine
KW  - New Hampshire
KW  - Personnel retention
KW  - Professional employment
KW  - Recruiting
KW  - Transportation careers
KW  - Vermont
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359722
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01566210
TI  - Transportation Education Development Pilot Program - Part 3
AB  - The grant awarded to the Transportation Research Center (TRC) will fund four new programs to help transportation leaders attract and maintain workers in this challenging environment. Transportation Systems Institute--is focused on maintaining or recruiting new talent to the DOT workforce in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Second Careers in Transportation Program--is focused on attracting retirees from other industries to bring their skills to bear on the 21st century challenges in transportation. Transportation Systems Academy--provides hands-on training for transportation industry jobs to students in the Community High School of Vermont Northern State Correctional Center campus and will provide this training at technical high schools. Community Colleges--Working with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) the project is collecting information about what community colleges are doing now and could do in preparing the next generation of transportation workers. The project will present the results of this effort at the 2010 AACC Workforce Development Institute (WDI).
KW  - Education and training
KW  - Labor force
KW  - Maine
KW  - New Hampshire
KW  - Personnel retention
KW  - Professional employment
KW  - Recruiting
KW  - Transportation careers
KW  - Vermont
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1357381
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01112755
AU  - Guo, Jianhua
AU  - Xia, Jingxin
AU  - Smith, Brian Lee
AU  - University of Virginia, Charlottesville
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center
TI  - Investigation of Speed Estimation Using Single Loop Detectors
PY  - 2008/05/15/Final Report
SP  - 21p
AB  - The ability to collect or estimate accurate speed information is of great importance to a large number of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) applications.  Estimating speeds from the widely used single inductive loop sensor has been a difficult, yet important challenge for transportation engineers.  Based on empirical evidence observed from the sensor data from two metropolitan regions in Northern Virginia and California, this research effort developed a Kalman filter model to perform speed estimation for congested traffic.  Taking advantage of the coexistence of dual loop and single loop stations in typical freeway management systems, a calibration procedure was proposed for seeding and initiating the algorithm.  Empirical evaluation showed that the proposed algorithm can produce accurate speed estimates (on the order of 1-3 miles/hour error) under congested traffic conditions.
KW  - Accuracy
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - California
KW  - Estimating
KW  - Kalman filtering
KW  - Loop detectors
KW  - Northern Virginia
KW  - Single loop detectors
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic speed
UR  - http://www.mautc.psu.edu/docs/UVA-2007-01.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/872531
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01125354
AU  - Sallman, Doug
AU  - Sanchez, Robert R
AU  - Science Applications International Corporation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Department of Transportation
TI  - National Evaluation of the FY 2003 Earmarked ITS Integration Project:
Minnesota Traveler Information Guidance and Emergency Routing (TIGER) Project Final Phase II Evaluation Report
PY  - 2008/05/14/Phase II Report
SP  - 44p
AB  - This report presents the Phase II (Baseline) results for the national evaluation of the FY 2003 Earmarked ITS Integration Project: Minnesota Traveler Information Guidance and Emergency Routing (TIGER) project. This Phase II Report builds upon the Minnesota TIGER Final Evaluation Plan and Detailed Test Plan by providing a preliminary assessment of the Minnesota TIGER project. The report is intended to provide the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) ITS Joint Program Office (JPO) with: an update on the current deployment status of the project; a summary of available data and baseline (pre-deployment) performance measures; an identification of preliminary lessons learned from the deployment; and an assessment of the opportunity for continued evaluation of the project. The TIGER project is intended to provide traffic management and traveler information strategies and tools that can be used on a daily basis and to support emergency routing during evacuation conditions. The project is being deployed on the Interstate 94 and the parallel Highway 10 corridor, and is characterized by both urban and rural elements. Mn/DOT is seeking to improve the mobility and safety of travel along the corridor via improved monitoring of real-time conditions by operations personnel at the traffic management centers (TMC); the dissemination of enhanced traveler information to travelers; and the integrated operation of the two primary roadways to proactively manage diversion during incident conditions. These capabilities are intended to be provided through the implementation and integration of a number of freeway management, traffic surveillance, arterial signal control, and traveler information (dynamic message signs [DMS]) strategies. The Mn/DOT TIGER project evaluation consists of a study of system impacts and the development of lessons learned. Through the cooperative efforts and support of the Mn/DOT TIGER Project Program Manager, the Phase II evaluation resulted in the collection and analysis of selected baseline performance measures, preliminary lessons learned from the deployment, and an assessment of the evaluation opportunities and risks. The incident data from November 2006 through November 2007 yielded hundreds of incidents. However, only four met the criteria for severity, direction of travel, time of day, and most importantly, proximity to operational traffic detectors. Fortunately, now that the all TIGER traffic detections are operational, continuous data can be collected from a much more robust coverage of the corridor to capture the behavior of traffic during incident conditions. Historical crash data from July 2005 to July 2007 were analyzed to examine crash frequency by severity in the before deployment period and will form the basis for the comparison with data collected during the “after” period. It is recommended that the evaluation continue into Phase III but modify the approach for assessing system impacts to eliminate dependency on model-generated performance measures and focus on the identification of diversion behaviors in response to incident conditions. This analysis would be supplemented with the additional data provided by the new detector coverage added in late 2007. Also, proposed is an approach to develop outreach products to target audiences of the final results and findings.
KW  - Crash data
KW  - Emergency management
KW  - Emergency routes
KW  - Evacuation
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Highway traffic control
KW  - Incident management
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Minnesota
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Traveler information and communication systems
KW  - Variable message signs
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30600/30645/14454.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/886046
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01111949
AU  - Rephlo, Jennifer A
AU  - Haas, Robert
AU  - Feast, L
AU  - Newton, D
AU  - Science Applications International Corporation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
TI  - Evaluation of Transit Applications of Advanced Parking Management Systems - Final Evaluation Report
PY  - 2008/05/09/Final Evaluation Report
SP  - 82p
AB  - Throughout the United States, transportation agencies have begun implementing advanced parking information systems to increase customer satisfaction and to improve traffic operations. Through the use of variable message signs, these systems provide motorists with real-time information about parking availability at appropriate decision points on their route so that they can make an informed decision about where to park. These systems are being deployed in a variety of environments including central business districts, airports, and transit park-and-ride lots. The goals in deploying such a system can vary depending on the operating environment. When deployed in a transit environment, goals can include improved user satisfaction, increased parking utilization at a lot that is currently under-utilized, and increased transit ridership. This report presents the results of an independent national evaluation of two transit applications of parking management systems: one that was deployed in conjunction with two Metra Stations in suburbs southwest of Chicago, Illinois and the other which was deployed in conjunction with two Metro Stations in Montgomery County, Maryland. The study documents quantified system impacts in terms of parking utilization, transit ridership and mode choice, traffic circulation within and between transit park and ride lots, and customer satisfaction. It also includes an institutional issues review that includes organizational and institutional challenges encountered by the project stakeholders throughout the course of deployment and operation of these systems. The evaluation involved conducting passenger intercept surveys of transit riders, gathering data on transit ridership, gathering archived system data that documents in and out counts at the lots, as well as conducting a series of interviews with the staff. The results of the study indicate that it is unclear whether the parking management systems increased parking utilization or transit ridership, or whether they reduced circulation within and between park-and-ride lots. The results do indicate that commuters are in general satisfied with the sign locations and accuracy (and that they would like to see similar signs at other locations). In terms of mode share, although not many, a few respondents did indicate that the signs have affected how often they take transit and that the parking availability information has caused them to take transit rather than driving. Finally, the results show that, depending on the circumstances, parking management systems can increase driver awareness of parking alternatives or reduce circulation within and between lots.
KW  - Advanced parking information systems
KW  - Advanced parking management systems
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Chicago (Illinois)
KW  - Customer satisfaction
KW  - Institutional issues
KW  - Montgomery County (Maryland)
KW  - Park and ride
KW  - Parking availability
KW  - Parking management
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Ridership
KW  - Variable message signs
UR  - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/ParkingManagementEvaluationReport.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30500/30588/14432.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/871511
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572267
TI  - Development of Biocatalyst for Biobutanol Production and Recovery by Gas Stripping
AB  - Butanol, currently manufactured with petroleum feedstocks, is an important chemical with many applications including but not limited to the manufacture of butyl acetate, plasticizers, butylamines, amino resins, butyl acrylate, methacrylate, and glycol ethers. In addition, butanol finds its use in food and flavor industries for the extraction of food flavors. Currently, these uses represent the major markets for butanol (300 million gallons per year- Chemical Profile: n-Butanol, 2002, ChemExpo). Currently, butanol is not used as a biofuel because of cost. However, David Ramey, Environmental Energy Incorporated the Ohio State University drove an unmodified 1992 Buick 10,000 miles across the United States using only butanol as a fuel (www.butanol.com). Butanol has about 92% of the energy of gasoline. Under actual driving conditions, the fuel efficiency matched that of gasoline (http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Butanol). This was corroborated by the results David Ramsey that were presented following his 10,000 mile trip where his 1992 Buick demonstrated a 9% increase in efficiency (miles/ gallon) over conventional gasoline. Economical production of biobutanol has the potential to displace gasoline and aviation fuel (Schwarz et al., 2007) up to 100%. It is anticipated that the results obtained from the proposed research will advance acetone-butanol (AB) fermentation toward commercialization and could have a dramatic impact on addressing the nation's energy, fuel and industrial chemical needs.An important advantage of the solventogenic clostridia is their ability to ferment a wide range of carbon sources (starch, glucose, galactose, xylose, arabinose, mannose, etc) to AB. The project has obtained a hyper-butanol producing microbial strain isolated from a closed South African butanol plant and preliminary experiments in our laboratory indicate under batch culture conditions, this wild-type strain consistently produces a total AB up to 24 g/L with a productivity of 0.5 g/L/h. Through chemical mutagenesis and adaptation, we anticipate increasing total AB titer to 34 to 36 g/L. The project has made excellent progress in development of integrated AB fermentations and recovery systems employing gas stripping technologies. The project anticipates use of improved gas stripping technologies with the developed mutants (which is compatible with the technology) to produce AB. The technology will drastically reduce or eliminate butanol toxicity of the butanol tolerant biocatalyst (C. beijerinckii mutant), enhance AB productivity, reduce process waste streams, and ultimately reduce distillation costs. With the ability of the mutant to tolerate and produce greater concentrations of butanol, the saturation of gas bubbles with AB during gas stripping processes will increase the AB stripping rate which will lead to efficiency of the integrated process.
KW  - 1-Butanol
KW  - Acetone
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Butyl
KW  - Catalysts
KW  - Energy conservation
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Fuel efficiency
KW  - Gasoline
KW  - Plasticizers
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363885
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572265
TI  - Exploiting Diversity in Cellulosic Sorghums for Northern Latitudes
AB  - A preliminary study of 130 inbred lines grown in Aurora, New York in 2007 suggested that many cellulosic and sweet sorghums can currently produce high tonnage in northern latitudes. The overall goal is to develop parental lines and hybrids of sorghum that lead to the production of at least 10-15 tons per acre of dry matter per crop with minimal inputs of fertilizer, pesticides, and water. Historical records from research in the 1980's indicate this goal can readily be achieved and much unexploited potential exists in the more than 40,000 sorghum accessions held in the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System. Specific objectives and deliverables of the planned research include: (1) Screen and characterize germplasm for yield, photoperiod sensitivity, cold tolerance, and perenniality (ratooning ability). (2)  Screen and characterize germplasm pools for composition and quality traits. (3) Based on goals 1 and 2, identify and begin developing useful genepools of cellulosic and sweet sorghums for production in northern latitudes. The effort builds on a current collaboration between Cornell University and Texas A&amp;M University.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biodiversity
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Crops
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Fertilizers
KW  - Germplasms
KW  - Hybrids
KW  - New York (State)
KW  - Northern hemisphere
KW  - Pesticides
KW  - Plants
KW  - Research projects
UR  - http://nesungrant.cornell.edu/cals/sungrant/research-dev/upload/2008-Kresovich-1-Pager.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363883
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01492337
TI  - Research Extent Privitization Raise Nation's Welfare by Reducing Quality Travel US Highways
AB  - The purpose of this project is to identify and analyze the consequences that are likely to arise where a government agency competes directly with a private firm in the provision of highway services. This situation would allow private ownership and operation of highways to be introduced on a limited, controlled basis, and would require private operators to provide superior service in the lanes they controlled in order to compete effectively with a government agency offering free travel in the remaining lanes. At the same time, a private firm would be required to earn a reasonable profit in order to attract necessary investment capital, which would require it to charge tolls while competing with the free lanes operated by a public agency, while minimizing its costs for operating the lane(s).
KW  - Capital investments
KW  - Highways
KW  - Privatization
KW  - Quality of service
KW  - Toll roads
KW  - Traffic lanes
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261470
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01486829
TI  - Stabilizing Marginal Soils with Geofibers & Synthetic Fluid
AB  - The objectives of this project are to: (1) provide design guidelines, which will address the use of the newly introduced non-traditional soil improvement technology with soils encountered particularly in Western and Northwestern Alaska. Providing such design guidelines will eliminate the need for project-specific testing, and thus, reduce the overall project costs, (2) evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of the technology for typical Alaskan soils, and (3) gain an in-depth understanding of the improvement mechanism through laboratory and field tests.
KW  - Alaska
KW  - Field tests
KW  - Geofibers
KW  - Guidelines
KW  - Laboratory tests
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Soil stabilization
KW  - Soils
KW  - Synthetic fibers
KW  - Synthetics
UR  - http://www.alaska.edu/uaf/cem/ine/autc/projects.xml
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256615
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01343655
AU  - Parker, Robert
AU  - Johnson, Bethany
AU  - University of Oregon, Eugene
AU  - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Linking Experiential Education to Community Transportation Planning
PY  - 2008/05//Final Report
SP  - 21p
AB  - This Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC) education project links experiential education with local transportation planning through a collaborative partnership between the University of Oregon and the City of Eugene. The Community Planning Workshop (CPW) is an experiential/service learning program affiliated with the Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management at the University of Oregon. Through this service learning program, graduate students learn professional planning skills while assisting communities in actual planning and policy projects. The project results include: (1) a completed City of Eugene Bicycle and Pedestrian Strategic Plan; (2) the development of a rich, cross-disciplinary, experiential learning opportunity that could be replicated in other universities; and (3) a case study describing the methods used to integrate experiential learning into transportation planning processes as well as lessons learned. Recognizing the need to create a vehicle to share the results of this project, CPW created a website targeted to communities and universities. Community members, city staff, and/or university faculty can go to this site and download the strategic plan to use as an example for their own community, or download CPW’s service learning curriculum and/or a case study about lessons learned from this project. This website will host all deliverables from University of Oregon OTREC projects related to service learning.
KW  - Bicycle travel
KW  - Case studies
KW  - City planning
KW  - Education
KW  - Eugene (Oregon)
KW  - Lessons learned
KW  - Partnerships
KW  - Pedestrians
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - University of Oregon
KW  - Websites (Information retrieval)
UR  - http://otrec.us/project/51
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1106025
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01334240
AU  - Wang, Yinhai
AU  - Cheevarunothai, Patikhom
AU  - Hallenbeck, Mark
AU  - University of Washington, Seattle
AU  - Washington State Transportation Center
AU  - Washington State Department of Transportation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Quantifying Incident-Induced Travel Delays on Freeways Using Traffic Sensor Data
PY  - 2008/05//Final Research Report
SP  - 76p
AB  - Traffic congestion is a major operational problem for freeways in Washington State. Recent studies have estimated that more than 50 percent of freeway congestion is caused by traffic incidents. To help the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) identify effective countermeasures against such congestion-inducing incidents, a thorough understanding of travel delays caused by incidents is essential. By using traffic data extracted from archived loop detector measurements and incident log data recorded by the WSDOT Incident Response (IR) team, this research project developed a new algorithm for quantifying travel delays produced by different incident categories. The algorithm applies a modified deterministic queuing theory to estimate incident-induced delay by using 1-minute aggregated loop detector data. Incident-induced delay refers to the difference between the total delay and the recurrent travel delay at the time and location influenced by the incident. The uniqueness of the delay calculation in this study is the use of a dynamic traffic-volume-based background profile, which is considered a more accurate representation of prevailing traffic conditions. According to the test results, the proposed algorithm can provide good estimates for incident-induced delay and capture the evolution of freeway traffic flow during incident duration. Because actual traffic data measured by loop detectors were used in this study to compute vehicle arrival and departure rates for delay calculations, the estimated incident-induced delay should be very close to the reality. Additionally, the proposed algorithm was implemented in the Advanced Roadway Incident Analyzer (ARIA) system. ARIA is a database-driven computer system that automates all the computational processes. More accurate incident delay information will help WSDOT improve its understanding of congestion-inducing incidents and select more effective countermeasures against incident-related traffic congestion on freeways.
KW  - Advanced Roadway Incident Analyzer
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - Freeways
KW  - Loop detectors
KW  - Queuing theory
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic data
KW  - Traffic delays
KW  - Traffic flow
KW  - Traffic incidents
KW  - Washington (State)
UR  - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/700.1.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1097561
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01160030
AU  - Gucunski, Nenad
AU  - Rascoe, Carl D
AU  - Maher, Ali
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - New Jersey Department of Transportation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Rutgers/NJDOT Pavement Resource Program (NJDOT Statewide GPR Project Network GPR Data Collection and Analysis Update of HPMA GPR Database)
PY  - 2008/05//Final Report
SP  - 28p
AB  - The Center for Advanced Transportation Infrastructure (CAIT) of Rutgers University is mandated to conduct Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) surveys to update the New Jersey Department of Transportation's (NJDOT’s) pavement management system (PMS) with GPR measured pavement layer thicknesses. Based on the reviewof the GPR data currently in the pavement management system, it has been identified that 2328 miles of pavement have “No GPR Data” and 1550 miles of pavement have data with“Gaps”. Gaps generally refer to missing portions of data of about 50 to 100 ft in length. The number and distribution of Gaps vary. In some cases, the sections with Gaps contain adequate GPR information to interpolate thicknesses between the Gaps. For the purpose of this work plan, the section with “No GPR Data” are considered to be of the highest priority. As a part of the PMS project, GPR surveys were conducted at locations throughout New Jersey. Interpretations of the survey information were conducted for network-level pavement management purposes. The objective of the work was to provide NJDOT with information obtained by the GPR survey regarding pavement structure and layer properties (thickness, dielectric, etc.) to aid at decision-making, improvement of falling weight deflectometer (FWD) backcalculation or characterization of pavement thickness variability over potential project sections.
KW  - Data gaps
KW  - Ground penetrating radar
KW  - Missing data
KW  - New Jersey
KW  - Nondestructive tests
KW  - Pavement layers
KW  - Pavement management systems
KW  - Pavements
KW  - Thickness
UR  - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/166-RU9309_0.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/920571
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01135311
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Key Transportation Indicators, May 2008
PY  - 2008/05
SP  - 21p
AB  - This report is intended to provide timely, easily accessible information for the transportation community. It was developed by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and is updated each quarter on the BTS website. The indicators fall under two broad categories: those that provide context about the economy and society in which transportation functions, and those that convey information about an aspect of transportation. To the extent possible, these latter indicators are transportation-wide in scope; however, some apply to only part of the transportation system. Reference tables at the beginning of the document provide key statistics about U.S. social and
KW  - Air travel
KW  - Amtrak
KW  - Canada
KW  - Economic indicators
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Fuel prices
KW  - Indicators (Instruments)
KW  - Mexico
KW  - On time performance
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroad travel
KW  - Ridership
KW  - Safety
KW  - Transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/key_transportation_indicators/may_2008/index.html
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/key_transportation_indicators/may_2008/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894270
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01135235
AU  - Feuerberg, Gary
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Uncovering Trends in Seasonal Transportation Data: New Tool Analyzes Airline Revenue Passenger-Mile Trend Data
PY  - 2008/05
SP  - 6p
AB  - Transportation activity often varies appreciably from month to month and season to season, making it difficult to discern from the data whether the overall trend for the activity is increasing, unchanging, or decreasing. Traditionally, analysts adjust data to compensate for these fluctuations; however, conventional methods of controlling seasonal factors can be limiting particularly when viewing trends over many years or months. But by eliminating the seasonal influence, rather than simply controlling for it, decades of data can be grasped at a glance. In October 2004, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) began to remove the seasonal fluctuation in the data used in its monthly Transportation Services Index (TSI). And, although the approach for removing seasonal factors from airline revenue passenger-miles (RPMs) is examined here, this same approach can be used for most data series that show strong seasonal variation.
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Fluctuations
KW  - Passenger transportation
KW  - Revenue miles
KW  - Revenues
KW  - Seasonal activity patterns
KW  - Seasonal variations
KW  - Seasons
KW  - Statistical analysis
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_technical_report/2008_003/html/entire.html
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35400/35445/Trends.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/892112
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01120273
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - White House Economic Statistics Briefing Room Transportation, May 2008
PY  - 2008/05
SP  - 21p
AB  - This report presents information on more than 20 trends. Compiled monthly from multiple sources, the indicators fall under two broad categories, those that provide context about the economy and society in which transportation functions, and those that convey information about an aspect of transportation. To the extent possible, these latter indicators are transportation-wide in scope; however, some apply to only part of the transportation system. Reference tables at the beginning of the document provide key statistics about U.S. social and economic characteristics, and about the extent of the transportation system.
KW  - Domestic transportation
KW  - Economic and social factors
KW  - Economic indicators
KW  - Finance
KW  - Financial analysis
KW  - Information systems
KW  - Information technology
KW  - Statistical analysis
KW  - Transportation
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Vehicle miles of travel
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/white_house_economic_statistics_briefing_room/may_2008/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/880405
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01113192
AU  - Peck, Steven M
AU  - Carroll, Anya A
AU  - Kloeppel, Miriam
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Private Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety Research and Inquiry
PY  - 2008/05//Final Report
SP  - 122p
AB  - This report provides a summary of the private highway-rail grade crossing safety inquiry conducted by the United States Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration and the Volpe Center. The safety inquiry consisted of a series of public meetings to solicit oral commentary on the safety of the nation’s private highway-rail grade crossings, a docket for electronic comment submission, a panel discussion at the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting, and other activities as described in the table of contents.
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Private enterprise
KW  - Railroad grade crossings
KW  - Railroad safety
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/Details/L01317
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/871542
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01104565
AU  - Goldberg, Bruce
AU  - Chesser, David
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Sitting on the Runway: Current Aircraft Taxi Times Now Exceed Pre-9/11 Experience
PY  - 2008/05//Special Report
SP  - 8p
AB  - Several high profile incidents have focused attention on “tarmac delays” that resulted in air travelers spending long periods of time aboard aircraft waiting to either take off or move to a gate after landing. Taxi-time data collected by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) for the year 2007 shows: (1) Both outbound and inbound taxi times increased noticeably in 2007 and surpassed the previous peak reached in 2000. (2) 93 percent of flights left the ground within 30 minutes of gate departure, compared to 96 percent in 1995. (3) Extended taxi times in excess of 2 hours, which occur infrequently, increased in recent years but have not reached the levels experienced in the 1999 to 2000 period. (4) The longest taxi-out times occurred during the summer. (5) Although flight volumes impact taxiing times, other factors also come into play.
KW  - Aircraft
KW  - Passengers
KW  - Taxiing
KW  - Time duration
KW  - Waiting time
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2008_008/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/863303
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01101655
AU  - Schmitt, Robert L
AU  - Owusu-Ababio, Samuel
AU  - Denn, Kevin D
AU  - University of Wisconsin, Platteville
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
TI  - Database Development for an HMA Pavement Performance Analysis System
PY  - 2008/05//Final Report
SP  - 55p
AB  - The primary purpose of this report was to develop a database template, using the existing Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) pavement management system, from which to perform pavement performance analysis using design, construction, and performance data for hot-mix asphalt (HMA) pavements.  A second purpose was to investigate appropriate numerical or statistical methods that have the potential of quantifying and establishing relationships between design, construction, and performance data.  A series of tasks was conducted including a review of literature, review of Wisconsin DOT databases, database integration with emphasis on performance modeling, and recommended approaches for performance modeling.  The literature review found that data types collected for performance evaluation and modeling vary among agencies depending on needs, but the most common types include inventory, condition, traffic volume, and maintenance and rehabilitation.  Common referencing systems between various data collection systems can facilitate data integration for pavement performance modeling; however, a major barrier for achieving full data integration is lack of common referencing systems compounded by the use of different data formats.  To that end, Geographic Information System (GIS) was identified as an effective tool for data integration among various divisions within an organization.  Several Wisconsin DOT databases applicable to performance modeling for HMA pavements were reviewed for primary data categories including construction, design, traffic, and performance.  Semantic discrepancies among databases that impede integration were summarized, then recommendations were identified to enable simple or complex queries to relate data residing in the different databases.  A GIS-based database integration was recommended using similar Wisconsin DOT GIS practices.  A loose coupling approach, involving the transfer of data files between the GIS and other programs, was demonstrated using screen snapshots.  Then, the integrated data were prepared for export into a statistical analysis package and the results imported back to the GIS for data visualization or display.  Several statistical analysis methods to develop performance models were provided, along with reference examples for ANOVA (analysis of variance), comparison of means, and regression models.  Currently there is an on-going research study with estimated completion in 2008, NCHRP Project 9-22, Beta Testing and Validation of HMA PRS, that will develop software capable of developing pavement performance models.
KW  - Analysis of variance
KW  - Asphalt pavements
KW  - Data integration
KW  - Databases
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Literature reviews
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - Pavement management systems
KW  - Pavement performance
KW  - Statistical analysis
KW  - Wisconsin
UR  - http://minds.wisconsin.edu/bitstream/handle/1793/54134/07-11_FR.pdf
UR  - http://wisdotresearch.wi.gov/wp-content/uploads/06-13hmadatabase-f.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/860746
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01100212
AU  - Bingham, C Raymond
AU  - Hockanson, Heather M
AU  - University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
AU  - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - M-CASTL 2008 Synthesis Report: Volume 2, Teen Driver Safety
PY  - 2008/05
SP  - 41p
AB  - Teen drivers have the highest crash rates of any age-group of drivers, with the possible exception of the very oldest drivers. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among teens. Not only are teen drivers more likely to be involved in crashes, they are also more likely than any age-group of drivers to carry passengers more often and in larger numbers. As a result, crash-related injury and death among teens occurs most often to teenage passengers of teen drivers. Many factors contribute to the high crash risk of teen drivers. The purpose of this report is to review these factors and provide a synopsis of current knowledge and understanding of teen driver safety. The objective of this synopsis is to identify high priority areas and directions for research to move the field of teen driver safety forward. To accomplish this objective, topics from the literature spanning the past decade relating to teen driver safety are reviewed with the intent, not of providing a comprehensive review of all literature in this field, but of presenting a representative review of current knowledge and limitations to that knowledge, and to identify high priority areas for research in teen driver safety. Following a review of the current state of knowledge in teen driver safety, areas for future research are discussed, including: continued efforts to enhance programs that are currently having a positive effect on teen driver safety, as well as to identify additional effective programs; increased understanding of parents’ attitudes and needs viz a viz the safety of their teenage children who drive; multi-disciplinary research to develop a driver education program that is effective in increasing teen driver safety; continued program development and evaluation research in the areas of teen drink/driving, safety belt use, and risks due to teenage passengers; and research to ensure that technology that is unsafe for teen drivers is identified and eliminated from the driving situation. All of these areas must be addressed with the backdrop of what is known about adolescent development, so that programs are designed to be developmentally appropriate.
KW  - Crash injuries
KW  - Crash rates
KW  - Driver education
KW  - Drunk driving
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Literature reviews
KW  - Parents
KW  - Passengers
KW  - Research
KW  - Seat belt use
KW  - Syntheses
KW  - Teenage drivers
KW  - Traffic safety
UR  - http://m-castl.org/files/2008SynthesisReport-Vol2.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/860063
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01497501
AU  - Donecker, Stephen M
AU  - Yen, Kin S
AU  - Baumeister, Larry
AU  - Ravani, Bahram
AU  - Lasky, Ty A
AU  - University of California at Davis. Advanced Highway Maintenance and Construction Technology (AHMCT) Research Center
AU  - University of California, Davis
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Evaluation of Current Technologies and Development of Novel Techniques for Detection of Obstacles Buried in Snow
PY  - 2008/04/30
SP  - 33p
AB  - The project's goal was the development of a radar system to detect obstacles obscured by deep snow, and to provide range information for guardrails  under snowbanks. After the project started, the need for such a system was re-evaluated by Caltrans end users and management, and it was determined that such a system would not currently be cost-beneficial. In response, research work on this project halted after approximately one quarter of work. This report documents the work performed in one quarter, which included the development of complete architecture and high-level system design, as well as preliminary detailed system design. The report also provides further information on the motivation and history of the project.
KW  - California
KW  - Cost effectiveness
KW  - Proximity detectors
KW  - Radar detectors
KW  - Snow
KW  - Snowplows
UR  - http://www.dot.ca.gov/research/researchreports/reports/2008/final_report_task_0947.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264753
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461770
TI  - Transportation Planning Capacity Building Program
AB  - The objective of this research is to realize the research, development, and technical assistance objectives of the transportation planning capacity building (TPCB) initiative (and specifically the TPCB Programs). The FHWA requires the support of and access to multi-disciplined teams to meet the challenges of transportation planning for the twenty-first century.  Services provided by the Volpe Center will be targeted at specific needs and areas of interest that will support the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) work in transportation planning capacity building as well as innovation in transportation planning processes and decision-making, transportation and land use, and transportation and community impacts.  The Volpe Center will provide integrated support for transportation planning capacity building initiatives and activities via the following four program areas: (1) Assist Stakeholders in Accessing Training and education. (2) Enable Connections, Interactions, and Learning among Peers. (3) Collect/Synthesize Effective Practices and the State of the Art. (4) Assist in Solving Technical Problems.
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Education
KW  - Integrated systems
KW  - Research projects
KW  - State of the art
KW  - Technical assistance
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Training
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229990
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01111576
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - DART
TI  - Concept of Operations for the US-75 Integrated Corridor in Dallas, Texas
PY  - 2008/04/30
SP  - 148p
AB  - This Concept of Operations (Con Ops) for the US-75 Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) Program has been developed as part of the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, and RITA (FHWA/FTA/RITA) Integrated Corridor Management Initiative. This document is intended as a high-level Con Ops for the US-75 Corridor in Dallas consisting of freeway, arterial, bus and rail networks, and serving a central business district. The purpose of this Con Ops is to answer the questions of who, what, when, where, why and how for the application of an Integrated Corridor Management System (ICM) within this corridor. This Con Ops also defines the roles and responsibilities of the participating agencies and other involved entities. The US-75 Corridor is a major north-south radial Corridor connecting downtown Dallas with many of the suburbs and cities north of Dallas. The primary Corridor consists of a freeway, continuous frontage roads, light-rail line, transit bus service, park-and-ride lots, major regional arterial streets, toll roads, bike trails, and intelligent transportation systems. A concurrent-flow, high-occupancy vehicle lane in the Corridor, opened in December 2007, added significant expansion of the intelligent transportation systems for the freeway and arterials street systems.
KW  - Arterial highways
KW  - Bikeways
KW  - Bus transit
KW  - Central business districts
KW  - Concept of operations
KW  - Dallas (Texas)
KW  - Freeways
KW  - High occupancy vehicle lanes
KW  - Integrated corridor management
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Light rail transit
KW  - Park and ride
KW  - Toll roads
KW  - Transportation corridors
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30400/30409/14390.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/870872
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01111556
AU  - DART
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
TI  - High-Level Requirements for the US-75 Integrated Corridor in Dallas, Texas
PY  - 2008/04/30
SP  - 140p
AB  - This document is intended as a listing and discussion of the high-level Requirements for the US-75 Integrated Corridor Management System (ICMS) in Dallas. This document describes what the system is to do (the functional requirements), how well it is to perform (the performance requirements), and under what conditions (non-functional and performance requirements). This document does not define how the system is to be built; that is the providence of the design document. This document pulls together requirements from a number of sources including but not limited to the Concept of Operations and constraints identified by the agencies. This document sets the technical scope of the system to be built. It is the basis for verifying the system and sub-systems when delivered via the Verification Plan. The purpose of the US-75 ICMS is to implement a multi-modal operations decision support tool enabled by real-time data and live video pertaining to the operation of freeways, arterials, tollways, and public transit. The US-75 ICMS will be a multi-agency, de-centralized operation which will utilize a set of regional systems to integrate the operations of the corridor.
KW  - Arterial highways
KW  - Dallas (Texas)
KW  - Freeways
KW  - Functional requirements
KW  - Integrated corridor management
KW  - Multimodal transportation
KW  - Performance requirements
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Technical requirements
KW  - Toll roads
KW  - Transportation corridors
KW  - Transportation operations
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30400/30408/14426.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30400/30408/14426_files/14426.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/870508
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01577835
TI  - Development of a Lab-Scale Method to Produce Ethanol from Lignocellulosic Biomass
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Laboratory tests
KW  - Lignin
KW  - Production
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370903
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462451
TI  - Evaluation of Wildlife Mitigation Measures along US Hwy 93
AB  - Study the effectiveness of eleven wildlife underpasses, 29 jump-outs and two wildlife guards (equivalent to cattle guards) in terms of wildlife movements and wildlife/vehicle collisions on U.S. Highway 93 near Ravalli, Montana. In addition, the effectiveness of other, more isolated, wildlife crossing structures and shorter fencing on other locations along U.S. 93 between Polson and Evaro Hill, Mont., will be investigated in terms of a potential reduction in animal/vehicle collisions.
KW  - Animal vehicle collisions
KW  - Montana
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Underpasses
KW  - Wildlife
KW  - Wildlife fencing
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/research/4w2076.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230672
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01475837
AU  - LeBorgne, Matthew R
AU  - Gutkowski, Richard M
AU  - Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute
AU  - Mountain-Plains Consortium
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Load Testing of Wood-Concrete Beams Incorporating Recycled Utility Poles
PY  - 2008/04
SP  - 75p
AB  - A wood-concrete composite bridge constructed of recycled utility poles is a potentially cost effective  solution to repair a portion of the 108,647 rural bridges that have been deemed functionally obsolete or  structurally deficient and have a span under thirty feet in length. Wood-concrete bridges have been in use since 1929 with an excellent record of accomplishment for performance and durability with some bridges still in use after 69 years of service. This research project focuses on developing a design method for predicting the capacity of a composite longitudinal bridge deck section consisting of two utility poles topped with an interconnected concrete layer. The wood-concrete section is analyzed as a layered beam by using load and resistance factor design assuming the beam is fully composite. Adjustment factors are calculated to consider the additional mid-span stresses due to partially composite action. Full scale testing of the cast-in-place beams with a 29.52 ft span was performed with service and ultimate loads as high as 12.22 kips and 37.98 kips, respectively. The highest composite efficiency of the wood-concrete beams was determined to be 96.4%. An empirical relationship for modeling the time-dependent deflection during the critical 28-day curing period of the wood-concrete beams was developed.
KW  - Bridge decks
KW  - Bridge design
KW  - Cast in place concrete
KW  - Deflection
KW  - Load and resistance factor design
KW  - Rural areas
KW  - Utility poles
UR  - http://www.mountain-plains.org/pubs/pdf/MPC08-197.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1244466
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01139450
AU  - Owens, Nicholas
AU  - Zappone, Aaron
AU  - Mitchell, Carol
AU  - Science Applications International Corporation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - FY 2000 ITS Integration Earmarks: National Evaluation Program CapWIN: The Capital Wireless Integrated Network Phase III Final Report
PY  - 2008/04//Final Report
SP  - 91p
AB  - The Capital Area Wireless Integrated Net (CapWIN) is comprised of first responder agencies in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Through the use of the CapWIN application, responders are able to: 1. Exchange messages with other users at roadside locations or at fixed facilities such as dispatch centers directly without having to transmit messages through a third party; 2. Directly access and exchange information with databases such as Maryland Interagency Law Enforcement System (MILES), Washington Area Law Enforcement System (WALES), and Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN), instead of relying on a third party to conduct the exchange; 3. Access the CapWIN V2 online directory, which allows users to search the profiles of other users and locate their contact information, and, in addition, can also be used to search the capabilities or skill-sets (i.e., Spanish speaking, crash investigator) of other users; and 4. Establish real-time incident message reports/dialogues that can be accessed by all end users, and that enable users to post incident description/location, request on-scene help, upload incident photos, etc. The system is also designed to handle multiple users on a concurrent basis and to accommodate multiple platforms or operating systems. Additional system features include: seamless integration between multiple databases; chat and instant messaging capabilities; secured access and password-protected sign on; flexible input devices including keyboard, touch screen, WIN/PEN, and PDA, etc.; dynamic screens; built-in data integrity checks; and wireless electronic data transfer.
KW  - Capital Wireless Integrated Network
KW  - Electronic data interchange
KW  - First responders
KW  - Incident management
KW  - Information exchange
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Interoperability
KW  - On the scene crash investigation
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Safety
KW  - Text messaging
KW  - Washington Metropolitan Area
KW  - Wireless communication systems
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30800/30869/14430.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/899717
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01138303
AU  - Volpe, J A
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
TI  - SAFER (Safety and Fitness Electronic Records) CVIEW (Commercial Vehicle Information Exchange Window) Interface Re-Certification. Description of Re-Certification Process for CVISN Stakeholders. Version 1.0
PY  - 2008/04
SP  - 8p
AB  - The purpose of this document is to describe the re-certification process that Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks (CVISN) and PRISM/CVISN states are going to follow. In order to improve data quality in the SAFER system, two major software changes have been made in the recent SAFER releases. SAFER version 4.9, released in October 2005, has implemented data rules (SAFER CR 131) to support the requirements for mandatory and optional data elements in the Vehicle Registration input transaction (T0022). Data fields in the T0022 transaction are classified into three types: mandatory, optional, and conditional-mandatory. Whether a particular data field should be mandatory or not has been determined by the CVISN/PRISM stakeholders based on the data requirements that support the PRISM and CVISN business processes.
KW  - Commercial vehicles
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Fuels
KW  - Information dissemination
KW  - Motor carriers
KW  - Registration
KW  - Statistical analysis
KW  - Taxes
KW  - Traffic safety
KW  - U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
UR  - http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/images/cvisn/deployment/SAFER-CVIEW-Interface-Re-Certification-v7-2.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/898603
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01112657
AU  - daSilva, Marco P
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
TI  - Analysis of Event Data Recorder Data for Vehicle Safety Improvement
PY  - 2008/04//Final Report
SP  - 147p
AB  - The Volpe Center performed a comprehensive engineering analysis of Event Data Recorder (EDR) data supplied by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to assess its accuracy and usefulness in crash reconstruction and improvement of vehicle safety systems. The Volpe Center gathered and analyzed over 2,541 EDR files downloaded from the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS), Special Crash Investigations (SCI), and Crash Injury Research & Engineering Network (CIREN) databases supplied by NHTSA. The analyses focused on EDR file format and potential improvements, assessment of crash types where EDR data exist, review of EDR data for accuracy and completeness, EDR data comparisons with existing crash data, review of pre-crash, crash, and post-crash data for usefulness in better understanding the crash reconstruction, identification of error sources, and determination of methods by which researchers could use the EDR data to improve their crash case information. The results of the engineering analysis show that EDR data can objectively report real-world crash data and therefore be a powerful investigative and research tool, by providing very useful information to crash reconstructionists and vehicle safety researchers.  Due to significant limitations however, EDR data should always be used in conjunction with other data sources.
KW  - Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network
KW  - Crash reconstruction
KW  - Crash types
KW  - Data accuracy
KW  - Data analysis
KW  - Event data recorders
KW  - Improvements
KW  - National Automotive Sampling System
KW  - Special Crash Investigations program
KW  - Vehicle safety
UR  - http://www.harristechnical.com/downloads/810935.pdf
UR  - http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NRD/Multimedia/PDFs/EDR/Research/810935.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/872443
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01105479
AU  - Ferrell, Christopher E
AU  - Mathur, Shishir
AU  - Mendoza, Emilia
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - University Transportation Centers Program
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Neighborhood Crime and Travel Behavior: An Investigation of the Influence of Neighborhood Crime Rates on Mode Choice
PY  - 2008/04
SP  - 102p
AB  - The primary objective of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between neighborhood crime rates and the propensity to choose non-automotive modes of travel for home-based trips. The researchers hypothesized that people living in high-crime neighborhoods would be less likely to choose walking, bicycling, or transit. The researchers also studied the relationships between urban form and crime rates. Crime statistics from seven cities in the San Francisco Bay Area were merged with travel survey data and analyzed using logistic regression techniques to identify the effects of neighborhood crime rates on mode choice. Researchers were able to substantiate the proposition that neighborhood crime rates have an influence on the propensity to choose non-automotive modes of transportation for home-based trips.
KW  - Crimes
KW  - Neighborhoods
KW  - Property crimes
KW  - San Francisco Bay Area
KW  - Travel behavior
KW  - Travel by mode
KW  - Violent crimes
UR  - http://transweb.sjsu.edu/mtiportal/research/publications/documents/Ferrell%20(Complete).pdf
UR  - http://www.dot.ca.gov/newtech/researchreports/reports/2008/neighborhood_crime_and_travel_behavior.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/863552
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01105034
AU  - Apostolides, Anthony D
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - A Primer on Multifactor Productivity: Description, Benefits, and Uses
PY  - 2008/04
SP  - 13p
AB  - This primer presents a description of multifactor productivity (MFP) and its calculation. Productivity is an important measure of the state of the economy at various levels: firm, industry, sectoral, and the macroeconomic. The method described is the one used by government agencies, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), as well as the Economic Research Service (U.S. Department of Agriculture). The method is also used outside of government, including academia and other private researchers. The estimation of multifactor productivity includes the measurement of output (of an industry, etc.) and the inputs used to create the output. It also includes a weighting of the inputs; the weights indicate the relative importance of the inputs in industry output. Besides the description and measurement of multifactor productivity, the primer includes a discussion of the benefits of increasing MFP. These relate to increases in real income per capita in the country, which affects increases in the standard of living of the population. A rising standard of living has been a key goal of U.S. government policy as well as of other governments. Lastly, the primer discusses the uses that can be made of MFP estimates. They are indications of production efficiency and can be used as proxies to indicate rates of return to capital and other resources used in production, in an industry—such as the various transportation industries.  Rail truck and air transportation are included in the discussion of the transportation sector.
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Economic analysis
KW  - Economic benefits
KW  - Economic factors
KW  - Income
KW  - Industries
KW  - Multifactor productivity
KW  - Productivity
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Trucking
KW  - Utilization
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/programs/economics_and_finance/a_primer_on_multifactor_productivity/
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/programs/economics_and_finance/a_primer_on_multifactor_productivity/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35300/35378/a_primer.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/863690
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01100218
AU  - Eby, David W
AU  - Molnar, Lisa J
AU  - St Louis, Renee M
AU  - University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
AU  - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - M-CASTL 2008 Synthesis Report: Volume 1, Older Adult Mobility
PY  - 2008/04
SP  - 29p
AB  - The theme of the Michigan Center for Advancing Safe Transportation throughout the Lifespan (M-CASTL) is Safety and Mobility throughout the Lifespan. The purpose of the annual synthesis report is to identify short and long-term research needs that support the M-CASTL theme and reflect the US DOT’s national transportation research agenda. The intent of the reports is to help focus the Center’s research program and to maintain continuity over each year of the grant. The synthesis report also serves as the background for the annual M-CASTL Transportation Research and Education (TR&E) meeting. This report addresses the research needs for older adult mobility. The areas reviewed are: populations trends; driving trends; traffic safety; mobility needs; medical conditions and medications; screening and assessment; education and rehabilitation; vehicles and advanced technology; roadway design; transitioning to non-driving; and alternative transportation options. This synthesis reviews some of what is known about maintaining older adult mobility and defines several areas where further research is needed. There are several themes that thread through this synthesis report. First, mobility is needed by all people. If mobility needs are not met by driving, then they must be met by other means. Second, older adults are not a homogeneous group. Older adults vary greatly in: the functional declines they may be experiencing; their ability to compensate for declines; their financial and social resources; and their personalities. All of these characteristics interact with the factors influencing safe mobility. Third, older adults, as well as all drivers, need lifelong education to maintain safe mobility. For the older adult, learning about roadway design changes, how to use advanced technology, and the transportation options available when driving is no longer possible is an important component in safe mobility. Fourth, research to help older adults stay mobile will also help younger drivers. Finally, meeting the mobility needs of an aging population is complex and will require the expertise and collaboration of several academic and applied disciplines. The M-CASTL will continue to provide these collaborative opportunities.
KW  - Aged
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Diseases and medical conditions
KW  - Education
KW  - Highway design
KW  - Medication
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Research
KW  - Syntheses
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Traffic safety
KW  - Transportation
KW  - Vehicle design
UR  - http://m-castl.org/files/2008SynthesisReport-Vol1.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/860057
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142686
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Metropolitan Transportation Commission
AU  - Alameda County Congestion Management Agency
AU  - Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
AU  - San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District
AU  - University of California, Berkeley
TI  - System Requirement Specification for the I-880 Corridor in Oakland, California
PY  - 2008/03/31
SP  - 126p
AB  - This document summarizes the efforts conducted by the I-880 ICM team for the development of the system requirements for the I-880 Integrated Corridor Management System (ICMS). It describes the approach that the I-880 team took in defining the ICMS and in developing ICMS requirements. The I-880 corridor is already served by multiple transportation networks; including freeway, arterial and bus and rail transit systems, as well as a major container port and airport. However, despite their significant reliance on ITS technologies to support their own operations, these networks operate with relatively little mutual coordination on a daily basis. The I-880 ICMS is intended to help the existing highway, arterial, rail and bus transit networks along the corridor, operated by separate agencies, to function as an integrated transportation system, enhancing efficiency, mobility and transportation choices for all travelers (people and goods) under all conditions.
KW  - Arterial highways
KW  - Automated toll collection
KW  - Bus transit
KW  - Freeways
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Highway corridors
KW  - Highway traffic
KW  - Integrated corridor management
KW  - Interstate 880
KW  - Performance Monitoring System (PeMS)
KW  - Rail transit
KW  - Ramp metering
KW  - San Francisco Bay Area
KW  - Transportation corridors
KW  - Truck traffic
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30700/30765/14427.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/902604
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01122645
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - System Requirement Specification for the I-15 Integrated Corridor Management System (ICMS) in San Diego, California
PY  - 2008/03/31
SP  - 143p
AB  - This document presents a System Requirement Specification for an Integrated Corridor Management System (ICMS) in the I-15 Corridor in San Diego, California. The ICMS will consist of two major subsystems: the existing Intermodal Transportation Management Subsystem and a new, as-yet-undeveloped subsystem to be known as the Decision Support Subsystem. In addition, the ICMS will include organic functions such as Collect and Process Data, Access/Store Historical Data, System Management, and Lifecycle Support. Several existing and planned regional systems will be connected with the ICMS – some of these will be upgrades to Intermodal Transportation Management System (IMTMS), some will be new systems. Section 2 provides an overview description of the I-15 ICMS , which includes the ICMS Context, ICMS Description, ICMS User Characteristics, System Constraints and Assumptions, and Dependencies. Section 3 includes a requirements framework, definitions of the I-15 ICMS components and key terms, action verb description, user needs developed in the I-15 Concept of Operations, an overview “mind map” of the ICMS requirements, and an indexed listing of the system requirements organized according to the ICMS's 17 functional areas. Appendix A provides Definitions, Acronyms, and Abbreviations. Appendix B provides Requirements Management Metadata (for future requirements management activity). Appendix C includes U.S. Department of Transportation Comments on the Draft System Requirements Specification for the San Diego ICM Pioneer Site with SANDAG Responses.
KW  - Decision support systems
KW  - Integrated corridor management
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - San Diego (California)
KW  - Specifications
KW  - System requirements
KW  - Transportation corridors
KW  - Transportation system management
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30800/30840/sd_reqments.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/884305
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01115450
AU  - Southwest Research Institute
AU  - Texas Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - System Requirement Specification for the IH-10 Integrated Corridor
Management System (ICMS) in San Antonio, Texas
PY  - 2008/03/31
SP  - 103p
AB  - This Requirements Specification Document (RSD) was developed under the project titled “TransGuide Integrated Corridor Management – Stage 1” as part of the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) program. The purpose of the document is to capture the requirements of the San Antonio ICM System (ICMS). Requirements are primarily concerned with capturing “what” the system will accomplish as opposed to “how.” The document is a valuable and essential component of the system engineering process as part of the ICM project to improve quality and efficiency in implementing the ICM corridor in the San Antonio region. The document captures the system functionality to communicate the information to stakeholders and vendors that would implement the ICMS. Through revisions, the Requirements Specification Document has provided a mechanism for obtaining feedback and refining the system functions.
KW  - Highway corridors
KW  - Integrated corridor management
KW  - San Antonio (Texas)
KW  - Specifications
KW  - System architecture
KW  - System requirements
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30400/30465/14428.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/873681
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01111559
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - System Requirement Specification for the I-394 Integrated Corridor
Management System (ICMS) in Minneapolis, Minnesota
PY  - 2008/03/31
SP  - 177p
AB  - This System Requirement Specification (SRS) defines the requirements for the I-394 Corridor Integrated Corridor Management System (ICMS). These requirements describe ‘what’ the ICMS will do to fulfill its role as part of the overall I-394 Integrated Corridor Management approach. In some cases, the actions of the ICMS will require actions of other systems that are currently performed by the existing systems. In these circumstances, detailed functional requirements are not defined because the systems already exist and need not be built by this project. However, high level ‘External Requirements’ are identified describing these actions that the ICMS needs in order to function properly. This integration of systems and agencies will be accomplished by the design, development and implementation of the ICMS. The purpose of this system is to support the I-394 stakeholders at executing the Incident Corridor Management (ICM) strategies they have identified and prioritized for this corridor. Section 1 of this document provides an introduction. Section 1 provides a general system description. Section 3 presents the detailed requirements for the System of Systems for the I-394 ICMS. Section 4 presents the detailed system requirements for the individual systems of I-394 ICMS. Section 5 defines the Hardware Requirements, Section 6 describes the Interface Requirements, and Section 7 defines the Documentation and Training Requirements.
KW  - Computer program documentation
KW  - Computers
KW  - Integrated corridor management
KW  - Minneapolis (Minnesota)
KW  - Specifications
KW  - System requirements
KW  - Training
KW  - Transportation corridors
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30400/30405/14422.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30400/30405/14422_files/14422.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/870509
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01111510
AU  - Maryland Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Concept of Operations for the I-270 Corridor in Montgomery County, Maryland
PY  - 2008/03/31
SP  - 126p
AB  - This document presents the Concept of Operations (ConOps) for an Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) system along the Interstate-270 Corridor in Montgomery County, Maryland. The document offers a user-oriented view of the system concept. It progresses logically from a discussion of characteristics and conditions in the corridor, to an examination of the corridor’s transportation operational needs, to identification of an integrated management concept for addressing those needs. It concludes with consideration of a series of operational scenarios. The corridor measures approximately 20 miles in length and consists of a variety of transportation networks, including the Freeway Network (including I-270); the Arterial and Connector Route Network (including MD-355); the MARC Commuter Rail Network; the Metrorail Network; the MTA Commuter Bus Network; the Metrobus Network, and; the Ride On Network.
KW  - Arterial highways
KW  - Concept of operations
KW  - Freeways
KW  - I-270
KW  - Integrated corridor management
KW  - Interstate highways
KW  - Montgomery County (Maryland)
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Transportation corridors
KW  - Transportation operations
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30300/30312/14388.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30300/30312/14388_files/14388.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/870513
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01111494
AU  - Maryland Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - System Requirement Specification for the I-270 Integrated Corridor
Management System (ICMS) in Montgomery County, Maryland
PY  - 2008/03/31
SP  - 141p
AB  - This document presents a revised System Requirements Specification (SyRS) for an Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) System along the Interstate-270 Corridor in Montgomery County, Maryland. It provides a description of the planned ICM System and delineates high-level and detailed requirements for the system. Section 1 introduces the document, provides background information on the I-270 ICM corridor, and defines the purpose and scope of the System Requirements Specification. Section 2 provides a general description of the planned I-270 Integrated Corridor Management System (ICMS), including the overall context of the system, major system capability groupings, user characteristics, and examples of how the system will be used. Section 3 provides a summary of the physical attributes of the system, performance characteristics, security, information management, operational factors, applicable organizational policies, and system performance evaluation factors. Section 4 summarizes the requirements for the interfaces among different components of the system and defines the types of data to be collected and stored in the system. Section 5, the predominant portion of this document, presents the I-270 ICMS needs and detailed requirements.
KW  - I-270
KW  - Integrated corridor management
KW  - Interstate highways
KW  - Montgomery County (Maryland)
KW  - Needs assessment
KW  - Specifications
KW  - System requirements
KW  - Transportation corridors
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30400/30407/14423.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30400/30407/14423_files/14423.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/870512
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01111296
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Concept of Operations for the I-394 Corridor in Minneapolis, Minnesota
PY  - 2008/03/31
SP  - 155p
AB  - This Concept of Operations (Con Ops) for the I-394 Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) Program has been developed as part of the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, and RITA (FHWA/FTA/RITA) Integrated Corridor Management Initiative. I-394 serves as the core of a corridor that is critical to the movement of the over one million residents of Hennepin County. This corridor (commonly referred to as the I-394 Corridor) is served by a combination of three inter-related networks (a freeway network, a series of arterial highways, and a sophisticated transit system operated by three transit agencies). A driving tour of the corridor reveals a network of transit parking facilities, high occupant vehicle (HOV) bypasses; a freeway system that serves as the primary inbound/outbound access as well as serving to connect parallel access routes; and an arterial system that is coordinated and operates effectively and efficiently. In addition, innovations such as congestion pricing through High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes, shoulder access to buses, and reversible commuter lanes further add to the potential of the corridor. However, the three transportation networks lack integration and interoperability among each other. A systems engineering approach has examined the needs, defined a vision, and created a concept of operations for how an Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) system can unite the three networks of operations along the corridor to effectively manage traffic and inform travelers throughout the corridor.
KW  - Advanced traveler information systems
KW  - Arterial highways
KW  - Congestion pricing
KW  - Freeways
KW  - High occupancy toll lanes
KW  - High occupancy vehicle lanes
KW  - Highway traffic control
KW  - Integrated Corridor Management Initiative
KW  - Minneapolis (Minnesota)
KW  - Parking facilities
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Reversible traffic lanes
KW  - Transportation corridors
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30300/30310/14392.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30300/30310/14392_files/14392.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30300/30311/14395_files/14395.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/868797
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01109123
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Concept of Operations for the I-15 Corridor in San Diego, California
PY  - 2008/03/31
SP  - 204p
AB  - This Concept of Operations for an Integrated Corridor Management System (ICMS) to be deployed along the I- 15 corridor includes the cities of San Diego, Poway, and Escondido. The corridor connects major regional employment centers and interregional goods movement locations. The 21-mile I-15 corridor, including a Managed Lanes section, is already a model for the multi-modal deployment of the latest and evolving technologies for data collection, demand management, and pricing strategies. The region is dedicated to providing additional value from comprehensive approaches to transportation management. The newly implemented 511 advanced traveler information system (511 ATIS) provides corridor users with real-time information and efficient travel alternatives. This document provides an overview of the San Diego region’s ICMS concept, describes current operations in the corridor, how they will function in the near term once the ICMS concept is operational, and identifies current and future responsibilities of San Diego regional stakeholders. By highlighting the flexible and innovative approaches to management along this corridor, the user will understand how improvements currently underway along the corridor serve as a foundation for even further integration in the future. By providing a user-oriented view of the potential for integrated management along the I-15 corridor, the ConOps focuses on the corridor’s needs and problems, goals and objectives, proposed operational approaches, and strategies for attaining these goals, the institutional framework in which the ICMS will operate, and the associated operational, technical, and institutional issues that must be addressed in the future.
KW  - 511 (National Travel Information Number)
KW  - Advanced traveler information systems
KW  - Freeways
KW  - Highway operations
KW  - Integrated corridor management
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Managed lanes
KW  - Public transit
KW  - San Diego (California)
KW  - Transportation corridors
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30300/30311/14395.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30300/30311/14395_files/14395.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/868425
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462739
TI  - Performance Measures for Freight Transportation
AB  - As the demand for freight movements outstrips the capacity of the nation's highway, rail, waterway, air, and port systems, the effects are felt as congestion, longer and less reliable transit times, upward pressure on freight prices, and higher inventory levels. These impacts boost the cost of doing business and the cost of living resulting in a less productive and competitive economy. The increased demand for freight movement will create social costs and benefits that should be understood.  A comprehensive, objective, and consistent set of measures of performance of the U.S. freight transportation system is important for assessing the condition of that system, identifying its problems, and setting priorities on actions to resolve those problems. Freight system performance measures are important to support decisions about investments, operations, and policies for both the public and private sectors, and for the system as a whole and its critical components--corridors, links, and nodes (terminals). Performance measures for the freight system that are applicable and comparable at various geographic levels will also help educate planners, decisionmakers, and the public about the importance of freight transportation to our economy and quality of life. The objective of this project is to identify measures to gauge the performance of the freight transportation system. The measures should support investment, operations, and policy decisions by a range of stakeholders, both public and private, and reflect local, regional, national, and global perspectives. Areas of emphasis should include, but not be limited to, efficiency, effectiveness, capacity, safety, security, infrastructure condition, congestion, energy, and environment. </font></div><div><font size="3"> </font></div>
KW  - Commodities
KW  - Commodity density
KW  - Corridors
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Intermodal terminals
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Performance measurement
KW  - Quality of life
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=1575
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230961
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01461771
TI  - Carbon Sequestration Pilot Program (CSPP)
AB  - The Volpe Center will develop a framework to communicate the purpose and intent of the pilot program to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Division Offices and state DOTs interested in being considered for the pilot.  The framework will include background information on the concept and approach to sequestration, credits, markets, and potential value of participating in the project; and the requirements, considerations, and criteria for selection.  The Volpe Center will rely on discussions with HEPN for related background information.
KW  - Carbon
KW  - Carbon sequestration
KW  - Carbon Sequestration Pilot Program
KW  - Internet
KW  - Pilot programs
KW  - Questionnaires
KW  - Research projects
KW  - State departments of transportation
KW  - Websites (Information retrieval)
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1229991
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462716
TI  - Developing High Productivity Truck Corridors
AB  - Loaded trucks traveled 164 billion miles in 2004; over the next 30 years that is projected to double. The capacity of the current highway system will be unable to meet this demand given the equivalent increase in passenger vehicle mileage on the same highway system. One solution to this looming problem is truck-only highway lanes. </font><font size="3">The objective of this research is to develop a set of operational scenarios for truck-only lanes, both urban and rural; develop performance measures for these scenarios including capital costs, operating costs, safety impacts, and other productivity measures; and identify a recommended concept of operations and a road map for implementation, including necessary infrastructure changes, technology requirements (both vehicle-based and infrastructure-based), the role of government and the private sector, financing mechanisms, environmental considerations, regulatory changes, and other factors.</font></div>
KW  - Corridors
KW  - Highway corridors
KW  - Operating costs
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transportation corridors
KW  - Truck lanes
KW  - Truck tractors
KW  - Trucking
KW  - Trucks
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=2413
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230938
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569196
TI  - Demographics of Transportation in the Two Rivers Area
AB  - This survey-based project is collecting data on the origins and destinations of non-work travel in this region. The results will enable the creation of policies that enhance transportation choices, promote sustainable economic growth, conserve natural and energy resources, and preserve our high quality of life.
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Demographics
KW  - Economic growth
KW  - Mode choice
KW  - Origin and destination
KW  - Quality of life
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Sustainable development
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Vermont
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359751
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462453
TI  - Portable TMC-TMS Communications Demonstration
AB  - The general goal of the project is to present to Caltrans/other Department of Transportation (DOT) technical staff a number of new, viable alternatives for TMC-TMS communications in a (semi-) realistic, portable demonstration environment using real ITS equipment. The primary outcome of the project is the demonstration, with the system itself and associated documentation as related deliverables.
KW  - Advanced traffic management systems
KW  - California Department of Transportation
KW  - Communication systems
KW  - Demonstration projects
KW  - Highway traffic control
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic control centers
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/research/4w2032.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230674
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01162542
AU  - Oakland Pioneer Site Team
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Concept of Operations for the I-880 Corridor in Oakland, California
PY  - 2008/03
SP  - 290p
AB  - This report describes the draft Concept of Operations that has been developed for the Integrated Corridor Mobility (ICM) program by the I-880 corridor team. The I-880 corridor team has defined this Concept of Operations (ConOps) based on two primary principles: (1) it must improve overall corridor performance by meeting the needs of the local stakeholder agencies, within their practical operational, institutional and financial constraints; and (2) it must focus on integration of pre-existing systems rather than on implementation of new equipment or infrastructure. The I-880 corridor is a truly multimodal corridor, including a robust freeway network, major arterials which carry high volumes of local traffic as well as absorb diversion from the freeway networks, a transit network which includes the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) rail system and multiple AC Transit bus transit lines, and heavy freight movements with trucks comprising between 4% and 11% of the average annual daily traffic in the corridor. Transportation management systems (TMS) have been widely deployed in the corridor for many years including: (a) ramp metering on I-880;( b) HOV lanes and HOV bypass lanes for ramp meters; (c) incident and emergency management systems on all freeways; (d) changeable message signs on freeways; (e) electronic toll collection systems (FasTrak); (f) coordinated traffic signal systems on major arterials; (g) BART transit management system; (h) bus transit with signal priority capabilities and AVL; and (i) transportation management centers for freeways, arterials, BART, bus transit and the Port of Oakland. Transportation facilities in the corridor are highly instrumented with real-time data collection systems. An institutional integration/coordination setting is already in place: the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), California DOT (Caltrans), Alameda County Congestion Management Agency (ACCMA), BART, Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit), and cities in the corridor have a history of cooperation.
KW  - Highway corridors
KW  - Highway operations
KW  - Incident detection
KW  - Incident management
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Oakland (California)
KW  - Performance measurement
KW  - Ramp metering
KW  - Variable message signs
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30700/30766/14389.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/920674
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01160029
AU  - Gucunski, Nenad
AU  - Rascoe, Carl
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - University of Vermont, Burlington
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Advanced Ground Penetrating Radar Data Collection and Imaging of Bridge Decks Using 3-D Radar
PY  - 2008/03//Final Report
SP  - 26p
AB  - The main objective of the conducted research was to evaluate three dimensional ground penetrating radar (3D-GPR) in bridge deck condition assessment and imaging, with an emphasis on detection and characterization of corrosion induced bridge deck delamination. A broader objective of the study was to provide data for comparative evaluation of the performance of 3-D Radar, PERES (Precision Electromagnetic Roadway Evaluation System) GPR and other nondestructive technologies in nondestructive bridge deck evaluation. The main task of this project was to provide comparative field evaluation of the 3D-GPR and impact echo (IE) technique in delamination detection and characterization
KW  - Bridge decks
KW  - Comparative analysis
KW  - Condition surveys
KW  - Corrosion
KW  - Delamination
KW  - Ground penetrating radar
KW  - Impact echo tests
KW  - Nondestructive tests
KW  - Three dimensional imaging
UR  - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/UVM-RU2757_0.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/920587
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01133725
AU  - Massabo, Roberta
AU  - Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - The ICCML as a Novel Teaching Tool to Improve Undergraduate Education and Student Learning of Civil Engineering
PY  - 2008/03//Final Technical Report
SP  - 30p
AB  - This project investigated the feasibility of using the Infrastructure Construction and Condition Monitoring Laboratory (ICCML) of the Infrastructure Technology Institute at Northwestern University, its website and remotely operated web-cameras as a novel teaching tool to improve undergraduate education and student learning of civil engineering.  Teaching material (courseware) has been developed using the case study method and new technologies.  The courseware is incorporated into a highly structured and expandable website (http://www.iti.northwestern.edu/iccml_site) and deals with an in-depth analysis and presentation of the 11th Street Pedestrian Bridge, a project of the City of Chicago (under construction at the southwest end of Grant Park in the years 2003-04).  Real time view of the construction operations was made possible through a remotely operated web camera overlooking the construction site.  The main educational goal of the project is to bring knowledge from the infrastructure/building industry to university curricula.  The website allowed active monitoring of construction sites that would otherwise be restricted and incorporates information on the history of the projects, construction plans, design drawings, calculations and other material that would otherwise be confidential and restricted to the design team and contractors.  The courseware is intended to be a tool to synthesize and apply knowledge acquired in different undergraduate civil engineering courses through interactive activities, quizzes and open-ended problems.
KW  - Civil engineering
KW  - Construction sites
KW  - Education and training methods
KW  - Infrastructure Construction and Condition Monitoring Laboratory (Northwestern University)
KW  - Web cameras
KW  - Websites (Information retrieval)
UR  - http://iti.northwestern.edu/publications/utc/tea-21/FR-3-5-Massabo.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894216
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01111558
AU  - Alexiadis, Vassili
AU  - Cambridge Systematics, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Integrated Corridor Management Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation Test Corridor Model Description
PY  - 2008/03
SP  - 49p
AB  - This technical memorandum provides a description and definition of the test corridor; and provides explanatory meta-data including an inventory of the facilities in the test corridor, and the key challenges in providing efficient traffic operations in the test corridor. This document summarizes the results of the corridor selection process and makes the recommendation of selecting the I-880 corridor in Alameda County, California as the test corridor for analysis, modeling and simulation.
KW  - Analysis
KW  - Highway operations
KW  - Integrated corridor management
KW  - Metadata
KW  - Modeling
KW  - Simulation
KW  - Tests
KW  - Transportation corridors
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30400/30406/14413.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30400/30406/14413_files/14413.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/jpodocs/repts_te/14415_files/14415.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/870510
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01108657
AU  - Winters, Philip L
AU  - Barbeau, Sean J
AU  - Georggi, Nevine L
AU  - National Center for Transit Research
AU  - Florida Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Smart Phone Application to Influence Travel Behavior (TRAC-IT Phase 3)
PY  - 2008/03//Final Report
SP  - 140p
AB  - This three-phase research study focuses on using innovative technology to better understand and pattern household travel behavior for the purposes of educating, promoting, and encouraging households to utilize other alternatives to driving alone. The scope of Phase 1 called for preliminary development and testing of a portable unit consisting of a personal digital assistant (PDA), a global positioning system (GPS) device, and a wireless card, all-in-one unit nicknamed “TRAC-IT.” Phase 2 investigated the impact of the travel feedback advisory system on household travel behavior. The objective of Phase 3 was to determine the capabilities of GPS-enabled mobile phones in tracking person movements across modes (car, bike, bus, etc.) and over extended time periods (e.g., weekly versus daily). A basic requirement of the system was that the mobile device selected had to be a commercially available, low cost, off-the-shelf, and a widely used device. The device also had to be equipped with embedded GPS capabilities for highly accurate position data, able to communicate this information wirelessly back to a server, and able to receive user input allowing the manual entry of survey data by participants that cannot be extracted from GPS data. Wireless communication features of the mobile phone were envisioned to offer the user with real-time information that could influence their current travel behavior. The use of GPS-enabled mobile phones and an application such as TRAC-IT presents a unique opportunity to collect high-resolution individual travel behavior data that are instantly transferred to a server for analysis by transportation professionals. As more “indoor GPS” (high-sensitivity) chips become available in the mobile phone market, it is expected that GPS data from mobile phones that are more accurate will be collected and these should be able to obtain location fixes where current phones cannot. Based on the continuous research of new innovative approaches to travel data collection using location-based approaches, the TRAC-IT research team concluded that GPS-enabled mobile phones will continue to be a vital tool in travel behavior data collection.
KW  - Cellular telephones
KW  - Feedback
KW  - Global Positioning System
KW  - Mode choice
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Smart growth
KW  - Smart structures
KW  - Surveys
KW  - Tracking systems
KW  - Transit operating agencies
KW  - Travel behavior
KW  - Travel surveys
UR  - http://www.fdot.gov/research/Completed_Proj/Summary_PTO/FDOT_BD549-35_rpt.pdf
UR  - http://www.nctr.usf.edu/abstracts/abs77709.htm
UR  - http://www.nctr.usf.edu/pdf/77709.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/865780
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01105624
AU  - Alexiadis, Vassili
AU  - Cambridge Systematics, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Integrated Corridor Management Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation Experimental Plan for the Test Corridor
PY  - 2008/03
SP  - 38p
AB  - This document, the Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation (AMS) Experimental Plan, lays out the scope of analysis that will be conducted through the application of the AMS methodology to the Test Corridor. The specific objectives of the Experimental Plan are: (1) Create an AMS framework that identifies strategies, scenarios, and procedures for tailoring AMS general approaches towards the Test Corridor; and (2) Specify the AMS framework, based on the analysis and application of existing tools, and integrating existing tools into an internally consistent and flexible system approach that is able to support the Test Corridor ICM functional requirements.
KW  - Analysis
KW  - Integrated corridor management
KW  - Modeling
KW  - Simulation
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Transportation corridors
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/jpodocs/repts_te/14415.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/jpodocs/repts_te/14415_files/14415.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/864894
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01100235
AU  - de Melo e Silva, Fernando
AU  - McNinch, Terance L
AU  - Dong, Jianping
AU  - Gadgil, Kedar
AU  - Michigan Technological University, Houghton
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
TI  - Meaningful Use of Collected Local Roads Data and Information
PY  - 2008/03//Final Report
SP  - 167p
AB  - There are more than 39,000 local agencies managing 2,000,000 miles of roads throughout the United States.  The responsibility for such an immense infrastructure network in a time of limited resources demands the application of contemporary pavement management principles.  Yet, the vast majority of these agencies could be classified as small or rural, and implementation of management systems and practices is a significant challenge.  The study analyzed responses of an extensive survey completed by over 400 local agencies throughout the upper Midwest.  The report identifies current pavement management practices, factors that promote management system implementation, and the challenges (organizational, cultural and technical) that impede implementation.  Pavement management systems used throughout the U.S. were cataloged along with capabilities and system specifics.  Training available in the survey states was identified and cataloged, and training objectives were applied against a Body of Knowledge Framework.  Researchers also conducted in-depth review of the models that had been adopted for use in the RoadSoft® GIS Pavement Strategy module.  This review reconsidered the original assumptions of the models, made adjustments to conform to those assumptions, and used actual condition data (three counties, 1733 data points) to compare the output of the new models.  The findings are of value to the Federal Highway Administration, state departments of transportation, local agencies, universities and technology transfer centers in their efforts to expand pavement management system implementation within cities, counties, towns, and villages.
KW  - Asset management
KW  - Cities
KW  - Counties
KW  - Implementation
KW  - Local government agencies
KW  - Local roads
KW  - Midwestern States
KW  - Pavement management systems
KW  - Rural highways
KW  - Surveys
KW  - Towns
KW  - Urban highways
UR  - http://www.mrutc.org/research/0605/06-05_FR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/860133
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01098927
AU  - Alexiadis, Vassili
AU  - Cambridge Systematics, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
TI  - Integrated Corridor Management Analysis, Modeling and Simulation (AMS) Methodology
PY  - 2008/03
SP  - 69p
AB  - This Analysis, Modeling and Simulation (AMS) Methodologies Document provides a discussion of potential Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) analytical approaches for the assessment of generic corridor operations. The AMS framework described in this report identifies strategies and procedures for tailoring AMS general approaches toward individual corridors with different application requirements and modeling characteristics.
KW  - Bus transit operations
KW  - Highway operations
KW  - Integrated corridor management
KW  - Integrated Corridor Management Initiative
KW  - Methodology
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Transportation corridors
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/jpodocs/repts_te/14414.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/jpodocs/repts_te/14414_files/14414.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/859204
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01099608
AU  - Bhamidipati, Chiranjivi Sarma
AU  - Demetsky, Michael
AU  - University of Virginia, Charlottesville
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Framework for Evaluation of System Impacts of Intermodal Terminals using Commodity Flow Data
PY  - 2008/02/08/Final Report
SP  - 117p
AB  - With the challenges attributable to increasing freight traffic and roadway congestion it is necessary to investigate opportunities for better management of goods movements.  Rail-truck intermodal freight transportation can be considered as one such solution for reducing long-haul truck traffic on highways.  For the rail-truck intermodal freight transportation to act as an effective transportation alternative, it is necessary to evaluate its impacts on the transportation system.  A framework for evaluation of rail-truck intermodal terminal projects with qualitative and quantitative measures has been established using public goals and private stakeholder perspective.  With the use of a case study, some of these measures have been evaluated.  Recommendations have also been made on data collection procedures for making a full scale evaluation.  The case study selected for the Project is the proposed freight intermodal terminal at Petersburg, Virginia, conceived by the Norfolk Southern Corporation.  This analysis formed a bridge between a region and a corridor based analysis.  The key findings of the study are as follows: (a) Evaluation of an intermodal terminal project requires a systematic multi-regional modeling approach; (b) The impacts of an intermodal terminal are region and trade corridor specific; and (c) In cases where estimated intermodal rail drayage forms a small share of the overall truck traffic, the introduction of an intermodal terminal does not have substantial impacts on accessibility, mobility, or safety.  The study successfully developed models for estimation of impacts, including a two-stage accessibility model for drayage, a truck-rail mode choice model, truck involved crash models, and secondary local freight traffic impact model, mainly using data from the Commonwealth of Virginia.
KW  - Commodity flow
KW  - Evaluation
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Impacts
KW  - Intermodal terminals
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Mode choice
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Regional transportation
KW  - Trade
KW  - Transportation corridors
KW  - Trucking
UR  - http://cts.virginia.edu/docs/UVACTS-14-5-111.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/859201
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01366520
AU  - Jocoy, Christine L
AU  - Del Casino, Vincent J
AU  - University of Southern California, Los Angeles
AU  - METRANS Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - The Mobility of Homeless People and Their Use of Public Transit in Long Beach, California
PY  - 2008/02
SP  - 92p
AB  - The mobility of the homeless is often constrained by certain social and geographic factors, including the concentration of homeless in neighborhoods with high levels of poverty and in public spaces in downtown areas that can be used for sleeping and networking. Geographically, these spaces may be identified as “spaces of containment,” sites in which marginalized populations, such as the homeless, are maintained through the production of social and spatial barriers to their mobility. Despite the assumption that homeless individuals are relatively immobile because of their circumstances, mobility is crucial to the ability of homeless people to move between stigmatized and nonstigmatized places, such as places of employment. Public transportation services offer a critical outlet for homeless individuals with limited resources who must use public transit to access services, shelter, affordable housing, education, and employment. This research examines the mobility patterns and public transit use by homeless people in Long Beach, CA, and evaluates the extent to which the mobility provided by public transit constrains or enables their ability to navigate between stigmatized and non-stigmatized places. The goal is to provide insights for addressing the needs of the City of Long Beach’s homeless population.
KW  - Central business districts
KW  - Economic and social factors
KW  - Employment
KW  - Gender
KW  - Homeless persons
KW  - Long Beach (California)
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Network analysis (Planning)
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Transportation disadvantaged persons
KW  - Travel behavior
UR  - http://www.metrans.org/sites/default/files/research-project/06-13_Jocoy_final_0_0.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1134472
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01135377
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Key Transportation Indicators, February 2008
PY  - 2008/02
SP  - 20p
AB  - This report is intended to provide timely, easily accessible information for the transportation community. It was developed by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and is updated each quarter on the BTS website. The indicators fall under two broad categories: those that provide context about the economy and society in which transportation functions, and those that convey information about an aspect of transportation. To the extent possible, these latter indicators are transportation-wide in scope; however, some apply to only part of the transportation system. Reference tables at the beginning of the document provide key statistics about U.S. social and economic characteristics, and about the extent of the transportation system. For indicators that are highly seasonal, the current value of that indicator is compared to the same time period in the previous year (e.g., April 2001 compared to April 2000). Otherwise, the tables show a comparison of the current value to a comparable preceeding period of time (e.g., the data for the month of April 2001 compared to that of March 2001).
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Amtrak
KW  - Economic indicators
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Fuel prices
KW  - Ground transportation
KW  - Indicators (Instruments)
KW  - Mexico
KW  - On time performance
KW  - Passenger transportation
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Statistical analysis
KW  - Transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/key_transportation_indicators/february_2008/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894435
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01104561
AU  - Yoo, Sang Hong
AU  - Rahall Appalachian Transportation Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Appalachian Regional Commission
TI  - Phase III - GIS for the Appalachian Development Highway System 2007 Cost to Complete Estimate
PY  - 2008/02//Final Report
SP  - 13p
AB  - The proposed research will create an Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) Geographic Information System (GIS) for integrating and disseminating GIS and transportation data that will increase the accuracy and efficiency associated with completing the 2007 ADHS Cost to Complete Estimate. This project will create applications needed in order to facilitate improved methods of data collection and mapping utilizing the most advanced web-based techniques in GIS. This project will not only help the ARC but will provide a model for other federal and state agencies to follow for improved efficiencies with regards to updating and editing geospatial information.
KW  - Cost estimating
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Information dissemination
KW  - Mapping
KW  - Web-based systems
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/26000/26900/26954/TTP_0601_ARC_Phase_III_Final_Report_feb_2008.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/863375
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01103803
AU  - Binger, Gary
AU  - Lee, Richard J
AU  - Rivasplata, Charles R
AU  - Lynch, Alexis
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Connecting Transportation Decision Making with Responsible Land Use: State and Regional Policies, Programs, and Incentives
PY  - 2008/02
SP  - 170p
AB  - This report examines the coordination between transportation funding and land use practices. It focuses on state and regional initiatives that are directed at curbing unsustainable land use patterns through the use of targeted transportation funding. The objective of the report is to provide planning agencies at varying levels of government with tools that can be used to strengthen the connection between transportation and land use planning. The report showcases 17 jurisdictions in the United States that have developed a total of 40 policies, programs, and incentives to connect transportation funding with various “smart growth” efforts. The variety of approaches indicate that the successful linkage of transportation planning with land use decision making is most likely dependent on creating context-specific strategies.
KW  - Government funding
KW  - Incentives
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Local government agencies
KW  - Policy
KW  - Regional government
KW  - Regional planning
KW  - State government agencies
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://transweb.sjsu.edu/mtiportal/research/publications/documents/07-03.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/863301
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01091661
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Pocket Guide to Transportation 2008
PY  - 2008/02
SP  - 56p
AB  - This booklet provides a statistical guide on the state of transportation in the United States. Covering highway, air, rail, maritime, urban transit and pipeline, the contents include transportation topics such as system extent and use; safety; security; mobility; economy; and environment. A  glossary of terms is provided.
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Economic impacts
KW  - Economic indicators
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Highways
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Pipelines
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Security
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Transportation safety
KW  - United States
KW  - Utilization
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/pocket_guide_to_transportation/2008/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/26000/26900/26904/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/851376
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01333357
AU  - Senzig, David A
AU  - Lee, Jonathan T
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Environmental Considerations of the NGATS ATM-Airportal Concept
PY  - 2008/01/31
SP  - 31p
AB  - This report discusses some of the environmental considerations of the Airportal Concept. This information in this report is based on the NGATS ATM-Airportal Concept by J. Lee, et al., version 1.0 dated September 28, 2007. This report is intended to provide the Airportal project with an overview of environmental aspects of the Airportal Concept document, and to present possible environmental gaps and overlaps with other JPDO projects. This report begins with a general overview of aviation environmental considerations, including a sub-section on how an individual aircraft operation can impact the environment. The next section discusses environmental elements of Airport surface concepts, which is followed by a section on Airportal terminal concepts. The final section discusses some to gaps and overlaps of Airportal relative to some existing programs. A list of acronyms can be found after the main body of the document. Two appendices present details of some of the environmental analyses in the body of the document.
KW  - Air traffic
KW  - Air traffic control
KW  - Air transportation facilities
KW  - Airport operations
KW  - Airport terminals
KW  - Civil aviation
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Next Generation Air Transportation System
KW  - Terminal operations
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35700/35796/DOT-VNTSC-FTA-11-01.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1094917
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01108453
AU  - Brown, V J
AU  - Anderson, M S
AU  - Sell, R N
AU  - Zewatsky, J A
AU  - Orban, J E
AU  - Battelle
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Kentucky Commercial Vehicle Safety Applications Evaluation: Technical Report
PY  - 2008/01/31/Technical Report
SP  - 144p
AB  - An advanced-technology Integrated Safety and Security Enforcement System (ISSES), now deployed at three commercial vehicle inspection sites along interstate highways in Kentucky, was evaluated from the point of view of system performance, potential effects on inspection selection efficiency (choosing the highest-risk trucks from the stream of commerce), user acceptance, and costs. Overall, despite the fact that commercial vehicle law enforcement staffing levels in Kentucky did not allow for full-time, dedicated use of the ISSES by inspectors at the time of the evaluation, the subsystems that were under evaluation in this task were found to be performing effectively in a stand-alone mode. The ISSES software and components now deployed, though operational, are considered to be in a development mode. The roadside system was not yet integrated with in-state or national databases of historical safety information on carriers or vehicles, so the ISSES was not able to provide instant, “actionable” historical information that the inspectors could apply in their decision-making. Such integration has the potential, if implemented, to afford significant benefits in vehicle screening and safety enforcement. Kentucky’s current inspection selection methods were compared with potential applications of ISSES technology across a set of scenarios, used to model improvements in commercial vehicle safety. Applying various combinations of inspection selection strategies and available or envisioned technologies for real-time vehicle identification and safety information exchange at the roadside, in a hypothetical statewide deployment supporting about 44,000 vehicle inspections and 86,000 driver inspections in a year, the ISSES was estimated to contribute to incremental reductions of between 63 and 629 commercial vehicle-related crashes per year, reductions of between 16 and 163 personal injuries, and reductions of up to 7 fatalities. Overall, to the extent that they had been exposed to the ISSES, the users were positive toward it and appeared to recognize its potential, but within their current organizational environment, they regarded it as more of a developmental test or research device than as a tool that they wanted to use immediately in their day-to-day commercial vehicle inspection and law enforcement duties.
KW  - Commercial vehicle operations
KW  - Inspection
KW  - Inspection stations
KW  - Integrated Safety and Security Enforcement System
KW  - Kentucky
KW  - Law enforcement
KW  - Trucking
KW  - Vehicle safety
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/jpodocs/repts_te/14400.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/jpodocs/repts_te/14400_files/14400.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/868487
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462738
TI  - Identifying and Using Low-Cost and Quickly Implementable Ways to Address Freight-System Mobility Constraints
AB  - The nation's freight infrastructure is well established and mature but overburdened. Dramatically increasing congestion inflicts costs on shippers, consumers, and the environment. Evolving technologies, growing demand, changing business practices, shifting patterns of commerce, and government policies designed to address environmental and other public concerns have impact on system performance. Because expansions to the system are often complicated and expensive, both private-sector firms and public policymakers try to find operational improvements, organizational changes, or other low-cost and quickly implementable ways to address freight-system mobility constraints. Both the public and private sectors benefit from such solutions that make the best use of the existing system. However, efforts to improve system capacity may sometimes have unanticipated consequences when users or supply chains react in unexpected ways; for example, traffic diversions caused by a new highway toll charge may exceed planners' projections when large numbers of trucks operated by smaller companies choose alternate routes to avoid out-of-pocket expenses. Research is needed to develop widely acceptable methods for identifying and evaluating low-cost and quickly implementable ways to address freight-system mobility constraints and their potential contribution to improving the nation's freight system. The objectives of this project are to (a) develop a more standardized description of the dimensions of the freight system (e.g., elements of each mode and across modes, stakeholders, types of mobility constraints) that will help improve communication among freight-system decisionmakers and stakeholders and facilitate examination of freight-system mobility constraints and the operational practices or system enhancements used to address these constraints; (b) analyze explicitly the business practices and institutional factors that influence freight-system decisionmakers and stakeholders as they respond to freight-system mobility constraints and regulatory and other public policy initiatives; (c) develop a methodology that private- and public-sector decisionmakers can use to identify, categorize, and evaluate quickly implementable, low-cost capital, operational, and public policy actions that can enhance freight mobility by addressing system constraints; and (d) apply that methodology in a generic way to create a catalog of actions that may be most useful in addressing the nation's freight-system mobility constraints. </span></div><div style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </div>
KW  - Carriers
KW  - Commodities
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Policy
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Truck tractors
KW  - Trucking
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=1576
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230960
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462737
TI  - Institutional Arrangements in the Freight Transportation System
AB  - The freight industry is a unique blend of private- and public-sector organizations, each with its own objectives and constraints.  Political and jurisdictional boundaries do not define market relationships, but can impact them.  Effective freight policy requires coordination and collaboration among public and private interests. New forms of public-private, private-private, and public-public arrangements are needed to address challenges that do not conform to government jurisdictions, geographic boundaries, or traditional dividing lines between government and business. The objective of this project is to describe successful and promising institutional arrangements for improving freight movement, now and in the future.  <br /></font><font size="3"><br /></font></div>
KW  - Coordination
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Institutional issues
KW  - Jurisdictions
KW  - Political factors
KW  - Public private partnerships
KW  - Research projects
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=1581
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230959
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462824
TI  - Freight-Demand Modeling to Support Public-Sector Decision Making
AB  - The private sector is largely responsible for development and management of the nation's freight flow system, but public agencies at all levels face important investment and policy decisions that may affect those flows. Decision makers need to understand the large and shifting increases in traffic generated, for example, by ports, inland terminals, and mega-destination centers. The U.S. Department of Transportation in 2004 launched the Freight Model Improvement Program (FMIP) as a joint effort with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and with support from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Each of these agencies has developed models for national-level analysis in support of their own unique missions. Some state and regional agencies have undertaken their own modeling efforts. The Florida Intermodal Statewide Highway Freight Model, for example, is intended to serve as a planning tool to support the state's efforts to provide adequate highway connections to other freight modes and regional freight hubs. Agencies in Ohio and Oregon are pursuing similar efforts. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is one of several metropolitan agencies developing and using models for truck traffic in their regions. Other regional and local agencies such as port and toll-road authorities also model the markets they serve. Given the growth in freight and its importance to national, state, and regional economies, public-sector agencies need improved capabilities to analyze freight demand. The objective of this project is to (a) investigate, identify, and report on high-priority, high-payoff improvements in freight-demand models and other analysis tools and (b) develop a guidebook to assist model developers in implementing these improvements. This project will select one or more of the highest-priority, high-payoff recommendations and develop a comprehensive process to implement the improvement. The recommendations included in the guidebook will ultimately improve the usability of freight-demand models and other analysis tools for public-sector decision makers at a range of geographical levels. The guidebook will relate freight-demand models and other analysis tools to planning; engineering; construction; and use of infrastructure, finance, environmental mitigation, systems operation, and economic impact.
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Demand responsive transportation
KW  - Freight service
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Toll roads
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=1578
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1231047
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462825
TI  - Impacts of Public Policy on the Freight Transportation System
AB  - Public policies that affect transportation often focus on the movement of people with less attention to the movement of goods. When freight is considered, the focus is often on one mode, rather than on all components of the freight system. The freight system is largely a private-sector enterprise, but public policy decisions have major impacts on its development and operations. Policy decisions potentially impacting the freight system can be categorized in such areas as: energy, environment, finance and investment, incentives, institutional and programmatic structure, markets and market change, modal choice, public health, real estate and land use, regulation, safety, security, social issues, subsidies and user fees, tax structure, and trade and national competitiveness. These decisions often have intended and unintended consequences for one or more sectors of the freight transportation system. Policymakers would benefit from research that identifies the impacts that public policies can have on the freight transportation system. The objective of this research is to identify intended and unintended impacts (either direct or indirect) of a broad array of public policies on the freight system. The intent is to promote a better understanding of these complex relationships and foster appreciation for how public policies affect the freight transportation system.
KW  - Freight service
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Land use
KW  - Mode choice
KW  - National Cooperative Freight Research Program
KW  - Public policy
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Safety and security
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=1574
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1231048
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01566217
TI  - Transportation Equity and Communities at Risk: Refugee Populations and Transport
AB  - In order to get to new jobs, schools, hospitals, community centers, and a raft of other services necessary to help them transition to their new lives, refugees must be able to travel in a timely and cost-efficient manner. This project examines the transportation infrastructure, utility, and exclusion of the potentially 'at-risk' refugee community in the state of Vermont.
KW  - Cost effectiveness
KW  - Equity (Justice)
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Refugees
KW  - Transit operating agencies
KW  - Vermont
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/transportation-equity-and-communities-at-risk-refugee-populations-and-transport/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1357388
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462362
TI  - Simulation, Modeling and Interpretation of Asphalt Rheology
AB  - Rheological methods from polymer science such as time-temperature superposition and linear viscoelasticity will be used to model the time, frequency, and temperature dependence of dynamical mechanical properties of asphalts. Experimental data will be taken from the literature and/or will be measured at the Rhode Island Department of Transportation. Master curves for storage and loss modulus and tan will be modeled using fundamental constitutive equations, such as multicomponent Maxwell models. Those same models will be used to interpret other mechanical experiments, such as creep and recovery. Research will involve ongoing participation by a graduate student and an undergraduate researcher. What defines a sustainable road? One aspect would certainly include physical durability across a variety of environmental and loading conditions. The same roadway materials would maintain their structure at high temperatures, without creeping under heavy loads, while they would exhibit flexibility at low temperatures, preventing brittle fracture, and would resist fatigue cracking over the vast number of days spent at more typical temperatures. A transportation system built on poor materials is arguably unsustainable, regardless of the sustainability of the material supply, due to delays resulting from potholes, repairs, reconstruction, etc. Asphalts are complicated mixtures whose properties vary depending on the supplier and the original source. It is difficult to determine specific and effective strategies for attaining targeted properties, such as at the extremes of pavement temperature used in classifications. Adding polymers creates modified asphalts with improved results: polymer-modified asphalts maintain specified creep compliance at yet higher temperatures and failure strain and stiffness at yet lower temperatures. Core asphalts from the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) are well-defined from a highway engineering perspective and have provided a context for research studies into asphalt modification strategies, the different contributions to physical properties from different asphalt components, etc. Despite the resulting knowledge and Superpave recommendations for improved asphalt binders, the question of which chemical process or procedure provides the best modification strategy remains an open question. In addition, a potential problem has been findings that Superpave measurements do not test all of the properties affected in polymer-modified asphalts. For example, polymer-modified control sections in a roadway test showed "significantly less cracking than (shale oil-modified) test sections," despite both modified asphalts having a lower temperature performance grading (PG) of -22ºC.  The proposed work addresses properties of the asphalt binder used in roadways and bikeways. The research will develop self-consistent mechanistic models of asphalt physical properties, such as viscosity and dynamic modulus. The expectation is that such "physics-based" models will function effectively in the extrapolation-derived scenarios that occur when testing the extremes of a pavement design. The ultimate project aim is to develop tests and promote new methods of interrelating asphalt properties that can complement standard methods used currently in the Superpave method. Under Superpave guidelines and the PG grading system, asphalts are selected for pavements based on their rheological performance under a few conditions of temperature, frequency, and time. The complex modulus under shear (|G*|), the phase angle, and the tensile modulus (via stiffness S, its reciprocal) are measured using dynamic shear rheometry and bending beam rheometry in order to predict if the asphalt will display sufficient strength at high temperature to prevent rutting, sufficient flexibility at low temperature to resist thermal cracking, and resistance at intermediate temperatures to fatigue cracking. Beyond these direct relationships, correlations have also been made between pavement cracking and properties such as viscosity and ductility. Theoretically, it is possible to inter-relate these different measurements using mathematical tools such as time-temperature superposition, Boltzmann superposition integrals, and Kramer-Kronig relationships, in conjunction with parameterized rheology models. While current practice does employ time-temperature superposition to some extent, there is additional asphalt property information available from trends in temperature and frequency, beyond the individual data points required to compare with a specification. Such information, when combined with an appropriate mechanical modeling tool, can potentially improve the ability to anticipate pavement failures due to unexpected asphalt mechanical responses that were not assumed when devising the specifications. The proposed work will naturally address asphalt rheology using a multidisciplinary approach, despite there being a single principal investigator. The methods described originate from polymer science. Their application to asphalts was emphasized during the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP, the research that led to Superpave) and was reinterpreted through a civil engineering perspective. In the proposed work, a combination of chemical engineering a polymer science perspectives, both held by the PI, will be used to investigate the potential to unify many mechanical tests using a single set of models. The experience will expose chemical engineering undergraduate and graduate students to questions posed by civil engineers. Advice from project End Use Advisors, who are civil engineers at Rhode Island Department o Transportation (RIDOT), will help to ensure that the results are in forms that can truly help to solve problems in the pavement design community. The expected results fall into two categories. The direct result will be parameterized rheological models for asphalts similar to those used by RIDOT in paving applications. Such models can be used in additional research projects about pavement mechanics (e.g. finite element calculations). The indirect result will be increased understanding (both within RIDOT and in the general asphalt community) about how different experiments can be inter-related. Spreadsheets and other programs for doing the modeling will be transferred to RIDOT as part of the modeling effort. The project will initially rely on experimental data available from the literature, through assistance of fellow asphalt researchers. An excellent example is work by Marateanu and co-workers; they measured frequency dependence of complex modulus over a range of temperatures for both RTFO and PAV-aged asphalts. Methods summarized here will be applied initially to their data. Many others have published asphalt rheology data as well. For example, Shenoy presented dynamic shear rheometry studies of polybutadiene/polystyrene and polyethylene modified asphalts, demonstrating superposition of the rheological results. Masson and co-workers have used tools such as infrared spectroscopy and modulated differential scanning calorimetry to study phase behavior and microstructure of polymer modified and unmodified asphalts. Many other data sets are published as well, such as for SBS and polyethylene modified asphalts.
KW  - Asphalt pavements
KW  - Cracking
KW  - Creep
KW  - Mechanical properties
KW  - Pavement design
KW  - Potholes (Pavements)
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Rheological properties
KW  - Rhode Island
KW  - Viscoelasticity
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230583
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01566455
AU  - Boeker, Eric R
AU  - Dinges, Eric
AU  - He, Bill
AU  - Fleming, Gregg
AU  - Roof, Christopher J
AU  - Gerbi, Paul J
AU  - Rapoza, Amanda S
AU  - Hemann, Justin
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - ATAC Corporation
AU  - Federal Aviation Administration
TI  - Integrated Noise Model (INM) Version 7.0 Technical Manual
PY  - 2008/01//Final Report
SP  - 211p
AB  - The Federal Aviation Administration, Office of Environment and Energy (FAA, AEE-100) has developed Version 7.0 of the Integrated Noise Model (INM) with support from the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Acoustics Facility (Volpe Center) for development of the acoustic computation module, and from the ATAC Corporation for systems integration, development of the graphical interface, and methods for computing aircraft flight profiles and constructing flight paths, which are processed by the acoustics module. This Technical Manual describes the core technical components in INM Version 7.0, including the flight-path methodology (Chapter 2), along with the basic methodology employed by the INM to compute noise levels or time-based metrics at a single, user-specified observer, or at an evenly-spaced, regular grid of observers (Chapter 3). The noise/time computation methodology includes a description of: (1) computation of the flight-segment geometric and physical parameters; (2) flight-segment noise-level interpolation process; (3) atmospheric absorption adjustment; (4) acoustic impedance adjustment; (5) flight-segment noise-fraction adjustment for exposure-based metrics; (6) aircraft speed adjustment for exposure-based metrics; (7) updated lateral attenuation adjustment; (8) ground-based directivity adjustment for observers behind start-of-takeoff-roll, as well as for computing metrics associated with run-up operations; (9) new helicopter noise modeling capabilities and associated adjustments (including advancing tip mach number, lateral directivity, static directivity and static duration adjustments); (10) metric computation process; and (11) development of a recursively-subdivided irregular grid methodology, which is used for computing noise contours (Chapter 4).
KW  - Airport noise
KW  - Computer program documentation
KW  - Day Night Sound Level (DNL)
KW  - Helicopters
KW  - Heliports
KW  - INM (Integrated Noise Model)
KW  - Metrics (Quantitative assessment)
KW  - Noise contours
KW  - Sound level
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/54000/54900/54926/INM_7.0_Technical_Manual.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1355723
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01457184
AU  - Vonderohe, Alan P
AU  - University of Wisconsin, Madison
AU  - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Implementation of GPS Controlled Highway Construction Equipment – Phase II
PY  - 2008/01//Final Report
SP  - 103p
AB  - During 2006, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) and the Construction Materials and Support Center at the University of Wisconsin- Madison (UW-Madison) worked together to develop a specification and quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA) procedures for global position system (GPS) machine guidance on highway construction grading operations. These specifications and procedures are intended for incorporation in contracts on two to five pilot projects during the 2007 construction season. The 2006 work, and the 2007 pilot projects are the first two steps in a phased implementation plan that includes refinement of the specification and procedures after the 2007 pilots, additional pilots during 2008, and potential statewide implementation of optional GPS machine guidance for grading on 2009 contracts. To be effective, the goals, objectives, and methods for data collection and analysis for the 2007 pilot projects must be well-articulated; the project sites must be carefully selected; and a set of deliverables and management plan for coordination of the effort must be developed.
KW  - Construction equipment
KW  - Global Positioning System
KW  - Grading (Earthwork)
KW  - Implementation
KW  - Quality assurance
KW  - Quality control
KW  - Road construction
KW  - Specifications
UR  - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/02-12_CFIRE_FR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1224260
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01112655
AU  - Redington, Mike
AU  - Rutyna, Eve
AU  - Grace, Nathan
AU  - Shanahan, Felicity
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
TI  - Drug and Alcohol Testing Results 2005 Annual Report
PY  - 2008/01//Final Report
SP  - 94p
AB  - This is the 11th annual report of the results of the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA's) Drug and Alcohol Testing Program. This report summarizes the reporting requirements for calendar year 2005, the requirements of the overall drug and alcohol testing program (49 CFR Part 40 and 49 CFR Part 655), the results from the data reported for 2005, and the random drug and alcohol violation rates (the percentage of persons selected for a random test who produced a positive specimen or refused to take the test) for calendar years 1995 through 2005. This report provides a brief overview of the drug and alcohol testing requirements for both safety-sensitive employers and employees. The official random rates for 2005 are provided, as well as the official random rate trends over the last 11 years. The results of alcohol and drug tests are provided by test type, employee category, and region. The positive testing rates for drugs and alcohol are also provided for each test type, employee category, and region.
KW  - Alcohol tests
KW  - Drug tests
KW  - Random testing
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Trend (Statistics)
KW  - U.S. Federal Transit Administration
KW  - Violation rate
UR  - http://transit-safety.volpe.dot.gov/publications/substance/damis05/pdf/damis2005.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34600/34678/DOT-VNTSC-FTA-08-01.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/872445
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01100233
AU  - Stewart, Richard D
AU  - Ogard, Libby
AU  - Pagano, Anthony M
AU  - Williams, R Christopher
AU  - Bausano, Jason Paul
AU  - University of Wisconsin, Superior
AU  - Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Rail to Truck Modal Shift: Impact of Increased Freight Traffic on Pavement Maintenance Costs
PY  - 2008/01//Research Final Report
SP  - 83p
AB  - The loss of rail network infrastructure and rail service throughout the U.S. has in most instances resulted in the modal shift of rail freight to truck.  Rail freight converted to truck may have significant impact on pavement maintenance costs and activities due to the increased highway traffic volumes.  This study investigated three short-line rail routes in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and determined the potential impact of diverting rail freight flows to truck.  A freight flow analysis was undertaken to illustrate the new truck flows by highway classification and usage.  The highway route current conditions and asset management techniques were documented.  A pavement maintenance model was created to determine the incremental maintenance costs per ton-mile if additional freight moved over various classes of highway and the resulting impact on highway funding.
KW  - Asset management
KW  - Commodity flow
KW  - Costs
KW  - Economic impacts
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Highways
KW  - Impact studies
KW  - Maintenance costs
KW  - Minnesota
KW  - Modal diversion
KW  - Modal shift
KW  - Pavement maintenance
KW  - Short line railroads
KW  - Traffic volume
KW  - Trucking
KW  - Upper Peninsula (Michigan)
KW  - Wisconsin
UR  - http://www.mrutc.org/research/0603/06-03_MRUTC_FR_3-08.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/860134
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01088292
AU  - Cain, Alasdair
AU  - National Center for Transit Research
AU  - Florida Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Designing Printed Transit Information Materials: A Guidebook for Transit Service Providers
PY  - 2008/01
SP  - 40p
AB  - Designing effective transit information materials is clearly a challenging task. However, resources are available to help: design guideline publications developed in the U.S. and in other countries; research studies that have identified design options that maximize user comprehension; high quality materials developed by transit agencies and design consultants that are based on best practice recommendations. This guidebook is based on a synthesis of the above resources. It is designed to help transit agencies develop user-friendly transit information materials for their fixed route bus services. This guide attempts to illustrate the wide variety of design styles that meet best practice requirements, though some of the strongly recommended design options are repeated often in different examples throughout the guide. There will always be trade-offs in material design due to financial and spatial constraints. This guidebook provides suggestions on how to address such trade-offs, while also showing how the information needs of different customers may be accommodated within one set of materials. This guidebook begins with a General Publication Guidelines section. This is followed by a section on System Map Design, and then a section on Route Map/Schedule Design. Route map design and schedule design have been addressed within the same section because their design elements are very closely related and because they are typically presented together. The guidebook ends with a section on Instruction Design. This section offers suggestions for the design and presentation of instructions that can help customers use the printed information materials effectively. Within each section, the guidebook provides a series of design recommendations accompanied by examples of successful designs. In this way, the fundamental elements of good design are defined while also illustrating the wide variety of stylistic options that are available. Each section concludes with a summary checklist of important design elements to be considered.
KW  - Bus transit
KW  - Design
KW  - Handbooks
KW  - Instructions
KW  - Maps
KW  - Schedules
KW  - Trip planning
UR  - http://www.nctr.usf.edu/pdf/77710guidebook.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/849481
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01088275
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Transportation Vision for 2030
PY  - 2008/01
SP  - 36p
AB  - This report contains a message from the U.S. Secretary of Transportation and from the Administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration concerning the Transportation Vision for 2030 which will help guide investment decisions and research.  They foresee that the transportation system in 2030 will be safe and less congested, economically competitive, energy independent, environmentally sustainable, secure, and resilient.  The report includes a vision statement followed by a review of trends, a look at the pathway to the future, and a spotlight on progress in each of the following four areas:  passenger transportation, freight transportation, financing and partnerships, and technology and innovation.
KW  - Congestion mitigation
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Economic growth
KW  - Energy policy
KW  - Energy security
KW  - Financing
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Future
KW  - Investments
KW  - National security
KW  - Partnerships
KW  - Passenger transportation
KW  - Research
KW  - Security
KW  - Sustainable development
KW  - Sustainable transportation
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Technology
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Transportation safety
UR  - http://www.rita.dot.gov/publications/transportation_vision_2030/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/849439
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01596825
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - National Transportation Atlas Databases 2008
PY  - 2008
AB  - The National Transportation Atlas Databases 2008 (NTAD2008) is a set of nationwide geographic databases of transportation facilities, transportation networks, and associated infrastructure. These datasets include spatial information for transportation modal networks and intermodal terminals, as well as the related attribute information for these features. Metadata documentation, as prescribed by the International Organization of Standards, is also provided for each database. The data support research, analysis, and decision-making across all modes of transportation. They are most useful at the national level, but have major applications at regional, state, and local scales throughout the transportation community. This product is distributed in shapefile format.
KW  - Databases
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Intermodal facilities
KW  - Metadata
KW  - Spatial analysis
KW  - Transportation modes
KW  - Transportation, hydraulic and utility facilities
KW  - United States
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/56000/56600/56694/NTAD_2008.zip
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1400859
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01487058
AU  - Martinelli, David
AU  - Diosdado, Paulina
AU  - West Virginia University, Morgantown
AU  - Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Economic Externalities of Relative Accident Rates
PY  - 2008///Final Report
SP  - 52p
AB  - In 2005, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reported 2,448,017 deaths in the U.S., of these  43,510 happened in motor vehicle crashes (Fatality Analysis Reporting System, FARS). Every year, around  42,700 people are killed in motor vehicle crashes (Table 1.1), which occur in roughly 38,400 fatal crashes  (Table 1.2).Several factors lead to the occurrence of fatal automobile crashes. These factors fall into three  general classifications: the driver, the road, or the vehicle, and in some extreme cases, a combination of  them. Mostly, the driver is the source in the form of behavior, driving error, or physical condition. Often it is  assumed that driver behavior is shaped by age, sex, and marital status, among other characteristics. In  recent years, there has been a broad variety of vehicle types, makes, and models to suit a diversity of  needs. One prominent vehicle feature is vehicle body type, providing not only a trend in terms of sales but  also some behavioral characteristics could be inferred from the buyer.  In particular, one body vehicle type has emerged as highly popular among U.S. motorists, namely; the Sport  Utility Vehicle (SUV). According with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), SUV sales have grown  from only 183,000 in 1980 to 4,515,000 in 2008 (Table 1.3)This dramatic SUV ownership has raised  several safety issues over the years, including: regarding the, fleet incompatibility, SUVs safety, and rollover  propensity, hazards associated with interaction with smaller vehicles, offsetting driver behavior, and gasoline  mileage.
KW  - Behavior
KW  - Crash characteristics
KW  - Crash data
KW  - Drivers
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Passenger vehicles
KW  - Sport utility vehicles
UR  - http://www.mautc.psu.edu/docs/WVU-2008-02.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1254563
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01353553
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Geographic Information Systems Applications for Transportation Right-of-Way: Summary Report on a Follow-Up Peer Exchange, July 22-24, 2008, Lee's Summit, Missouri
PY  - 2008///Summary Report
SP  - v.p.
AB  - On July 22–23, 2008, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Interstate and Border Planning and Office of Real Estate Services sponsored a 1.5–day peer exchange focusing on select State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) applications of geographic information systems (GIS) in the right-of-way (ROW) area. Purposes of the peer exchange, which was a follow-up to a peer exchange held in August 2007 on the same topic, were to: provide participants with an update on the progress of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 8-55A, Developing a Logical Model for a Geospatial ROW Information Management System; allow participants from the 2007 peer exchange to describe the progress each has made over the last year in developing their respective GIS for ROW applications; and, more generally, give state DOTs with noteworthy GIS applications for ROW the opportunity to share their knowledge and experiences with each other and with state DOTs in the beginning stages of implementing GIS in the ROW area. Participants at the event, which Missouri DOT hosted at its District 4 Office in Lee's Summit, Missouri, consisted of staff from the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD), California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), FHWA Headquarters, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Minnesota DOT, Missouri DOT, Nevada DOT, Oregon DOT, USDOT Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Virginia Tech University, Washington DOT, and Wisconsin DOT (See Appendix A for complete list of participants).
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Geospatial analysis
KW  - Peer exchange
KW  - Right of way (Land)
KW  - State departments of transportation
UR  - http://www.gis.fhwa.dot.gov/documents/rightOfWay.asp
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1118340
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01139449
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - ITS Research Results: ITS Program Plan 2008
PY  - 2008
SP  - v.p.
AB  - This report describes the progress and changes in the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Program over the past two years. The ITS Program Plan 2008, builds on the previous 2006 Five-Year Plan to report on: the status of the ITS Program and research initiatives in 2008; progress, accomplishments, and changes to the ITS Program since 2006; and how the ITS Program has and will fulfill the requirements of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Joint Program Office for Intelligent Transportation Systems
KW  - National ITS Program Plan
KW  - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
KW  - Strategic planning
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30800/30867/ITS_Research_Results__ITS_Program_Plan_2008_-_ITS_Report.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/899721
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01135929
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Transportation Statistics Annual Report, 2008
PY  - 2008
SP  - 183p
AB  - The Transportation Statistics Annual Report presents transportation data and information that the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a component of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), has selected in accordance with the 13 topics specified in the Department's legislative mandate, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). Where possible, the figures and tables cover the 10 most recent years for which data are available BTS has expanded and restructured this year's report. Chapter 1 highlights environmental stewardship and transportation security and contains a summary of the 2007 Commodity Flow Survey. Chapter 2 explores transportation infrastructure, safety, congestion, and global connectivity. These groupings reflect the intermodal/multimodal nature of the U.S. transportation system, which is a complex system of systems. For the reader's convenience, chapter 3 examines the modal systems that comprise the U.S. transportation system, including civil aviation, motor vehicle highway system, marine transportation system, railroad network, and transit. Chapter 4 describes the economic and social impact of the U.S. transportation system. The legislative mandate, SAFETEA-LU, also requires BTS to document the methods used to obtain the report's statistical information, ensure its quality and make recommendations for improving transportation statistical information. In chapter 5, the major BTS program offices respond to this requirement. This chapter identifies the guidelines that apply to federal data quality and the statistics included in this report. Further, this chapter focuses on closing data gaps and improving the ways in which transportation statistics are collected, compiled, analysed and published. Appendix A includes a list of acronyms used throughout the report. Appendix B provides a glossary. Appendix C includes the ferry routes and terminal maps for New York, NY, San Francisco, CA, and Seattle, WA, as well as maps highlighting alternative fuelling stations. Appendix D provides a snapshot of the U.S. demographics factors such as population, labour force, and economic conditions that influence travel patterns and goods movement (1 of the 13 topics).  For other Transportation Statistics Annual Reports see http://www.bts.gov/publications/transportation_statistics_annual_report/
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Economics
KW  - Energy
KW  - Environment
KW  - Highway transportation
KW  - Pipeline transportation
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Safety
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Transportation
KW  - Transportation modes
KW  - United States
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/transportation_statistics_annual_report/
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34700/34790/TSAR2008entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/896264
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01135316
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Key Transportation Indicators. November 2008
PY  - 2008
SP  - 21p
AB  - This report contains: Transportation Services Index; Air Travel Price Index; Domestic Airline Jet Fuel; Major U.S. Air Carriers On-Time Performance; Motor Fuel Prices: Retail Diesel Prices; Motor Fuel Prices: Retail Gasoline; U.S. Highway Vehicle Miles Traveled; Amtrak Ridership; Index of Railroad Fuel Prices; Rail Capacity Utilization: Rail Passenger Load Factor; Rail Freight: Revenue Ton-Miles; Rail On-Time Performance; Use of Passenger Rail: Revenue Passenger Miles; U.S. Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico.
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Amtrak
KW  - Canada
KW  - Car utilization (Railroads)
KW  - Economic indicators
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Fuel costs
KW  - Mexico
KW  - On time performance
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Ton miles
KW  - Travel costs
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/key_transportation_indicators/november_2008/index.html
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/key_transportation_indicators/november_2008/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/892809
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01131245
AU  - Han, Lee D
AU  - Jeong, Myong-Kee
AU  - Oliveira-Neto, Francisco Moraes
AU  - National Transportation Research Center, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - License Plate Recognition
PY  - 2008
SP  - 23p
AB  - License Plate Recognition (LPR) technology has been used for off-line automobile enforcement purposes. The technology has seen mixed success with correct reading rate around 60 to 70% depending on the specific application and environment. This limitation can be, and is often, remedied through human verification after the fact and before a citation is issued. Armed with advanced text-mining algorithms, this study enables LPR technology for real-time enforcement by matching plates whether correctly or incorrectly read at various locations in a network or along a corridor and, hence, tracking the movement and speed of vehicles. The focus of the project is on heavy vehicles as they are required to enter weigh stations, where the LPR tracking information can be used, in real time, for speed enforcement and/or as a triggering factor for other inspectional activities. The first phase of the project, which is reported herein, saw the development of the enabling text-mining algorithm and the demonstration of plate matching rate improvement from less than 60% to better than 90%. The second phase will deploy the LPR technology and matching algorithm in real-time so that a trooper sitting in the weigh house can warn a truck driver, in person and within minutes, of his or her speeding offense without having to chase the truck down in a patrol car. The initial objective of the study is to devise an inexpensive and effective means for helping improve air quality in non-attainment metropolitan areas through speed enforcement. The successful deployment of such a measure can also potentially lead to improved highway safety, fuel efficiency, and national security.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Automatic license plate readers
KW  - Heavy duty vehicles
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Speeding
KW  - Traffic law enforcement
KW  - Trucking
KW  - Weigh stations
UR  - http://www.ntrci.org/ntrci-50-2008-002
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/891018
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01129925
AU  - Ahmed, Mashud
AU  - Meade, Oliver
AU  - Medina, Mario A
AU  - University of Kansas, Lawrence
AU  - University of Kansas, Lawrence
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Reducing Heat Transfer Across the Insulated Walls of Refrigerated Truck Trailers by the Application of Phase Change Materials
PY  - 2008
SP  - 16p
AB  - Trucks alone consumed 19% of the total diesel and gasoline consumed in 2006 in the United States. The total cost of this fuel (mainly diesel) was estimated at $106.0 billion, which increased by $6.6 billion (6.2 %) in 2007. A general estimate shows that 80% of communities across the United States receive their goods exclusively by these trucks, of which a significant number are climate-controlled because they carry perishable goods, pharmaceutical items and many other temperature-sensitive commodities. Keeping the inside of a truck trailer at a constant temperature and relative humidity requires exact amounts of heat and/or moisture management throughout the shipment period, which is regulated via small refrigeration units, placed outside the truck, that operate by burning fuel. These trucks, known as refrigerated truck trailers, are the focus of this paper. In the research presented herein, the conventional method of insulation of the refrigerated truck trailer was modified using phase change materials (PCMs). The limited research carried out in refrigerated transport compared to other refrigeration processes has left spaces for innovative solutions in this area. The research investigated the inclusion of paraffin-based PCMs in the standard trailer walls as a heat transfer reduction technology. An average reduction in peak heat transfer rate of 29.1% was observed when all walls (south, east, north, west, and top) were considered. For individual walls, the peak heat transfer rate was reduced in the range of 11.3% to 43.8%. Overall average daily heat flow reductions into the refrigerated compartment of 16.3% were observed. These results could potentially translate into energy savings, pollution abatement from diesel-burning refrigeration units, refrigeration equipment size reduction, and extended equipment operational life. The research and its results will help to better understand the scope of this technology.
KW  - Energy conservation
KW  - Heat insulating materials
KW  - Heat transfer
KW  - Phase change materials
KW  - Refrigerator trucks
KW  - Technological innovations
UR  - http://tris.trb.org/common/TRIS%20Suite/includes/getfile.aspx?subdir=docs&nodl=1&f=Medina.RefrigeratedTruck.FinalReport.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/890249
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01127116
AU  - American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
AU  - American Public Transportation Association
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Survey of State Funding for Public Transportation 2007
PY  - 2008///26th Edition
SP  - 216p
AB  - The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), in coordination with the U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), conducts an annual public transportation funding survey of the 50 state transportation departments and the District of Columbia. This 2007 Survey of State Funding for Public Transportation includes responses from 50 of the 51 departments and the data reflect Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 funding. States provided $13.3 billion in funding for transit in FY 2007 compared to $10.7 billion provided by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) of the US DOT. The state funding level in 2007 is almost three times the $4.8 billion provided by the states in FY 1995. The most utilized sources of funding for transit included: Gas taxes - 17 states; General funds - 15 states; Bond proceeds - 12 states; Motor vehicle/rental car sales taxes - 10 states; General sales taxes - 7 states; Registration/license/title fees - 7 states; and Interest income - 7 states.  About 64% of state funding for transit was designated for operating assistance only, about 28% for capital purposes only, and about 2% could be used for both. The remaining 6% was used for other purposes. The following state funding trends were found: Total state transit funding is now more than three times greater than the total expended by states in 1990 ($3.7 billion compared to $13.3 billion) and states consistently provide more funding than the federal government; State transit funding was $2.6 billion greater than federal funding in 2007; State transit funding was up $2.2 billion in 2007, compared to 2006; 32 states increased their transit funding in 2007; and In 2007, 90% of the states provided state funding for public transportation.
KW  - Financing
KW  - Public transit
KW  - State aid
KW  - States
KW  - Surveys
UR  - http://www.transportation.org/sites/scopt/docs/SSFP-2.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/887820
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01120527
AU  - Perlmutter, David D
AU  - Wang, Ming-Heng
AU  - Schrock, Steven D
AU  - University of Kansas, Lawrence
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Top Transportation & Energy Issues Facing the Nation
PY  - 2008
SP  - 32p
AB  - The University of Kansas Transportation Research Institute (KU TRI) and the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics held a summit of major academic, government, business and advocacy & NGO leaders and researchers to outline energy and transportation policy and program priorities and options for action. The summit identified (a) a "top 9" list of the most pressing problems facing the nation and (b) a range of options for government and industry to consider. Some of the items on the menu of options reflected disagreement on courses of action, but everyone agreed that for each of these crises, America needs to take some actions immediately.  The top 9 list includes the following: 1. Transportation Planning, 2. Congestion, 3. Energy Prices and Independence, 4. Global Warming, 5. Finance and Investment, 6. Deteriorating Infrastructure and Capacity, 7. Human Capital, 8. Driver Distraction, and 9. Aging Drivers.
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Deterioration
KW  - Distraction
KW  - Energy
KW  - Financing
KW  - Global warming
KW  - Highway capacity
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Investments
KW  - Personnel
KW  - Prices
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/879061
ER  - 

TY  - SER
AN  - 01120119
JO  - Research report ;
AU  - Guo, Jinhua
AU  - Smith, Brian L
AU  - Xia, Jingxin
AU  - Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - University of Virginia, Charlottesville
TI  - Investigation of speed estimation using single loop detectors
PY  - 2008
SP  - 21 p.
KW  - California
KW  - Evaluation
KW  - Information processing
KW  - Kalman filtering
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - Measurement
KW  - Motor vehicles
KW  - Northern Virginia
KW  - Remote sensing
KW  - Speed
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic surveillance
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/880329
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01115425
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Final Report for the Application of Technology to Transportation Operations in Biohazard Situations
PY  - 2008///Final Report
SP  - n.p.
AB  - The goal of this project was to develop a more comprehensive and actionable understanding of the role of transportation agencies during a biohazard situation. The documents and tools produced during this project are intended to help state and local transportation agencies perform the roles expected of them during all phases of a biohazard incident. Those roles can differ significantly from the ones they typically perform during other types of emergencies. This project had the following components: (1) Task 2, Literature Review, May 17, 2005. (2) Task 3, Workshop Summary, August 3, 2005. (3) Task 4, Transportation Biohazard Operational Concept, August 31, 2005. (4) Task 5, Transportation Activities & Applications of Technology, November 22, 2005. (5) Task 6, Transportation Operations during Biohazard Events Learning Tool, December 2, 2005. (6) Recommended Practices. This section provides recommended practices for transportation management and technology application during biohazard events. (7) Additional Research Needs. This section documents recommended areas for additional research. Findings from each product are summarized in this report.
KW  - Biohazard situations
KW  - Biological and chemical weapons
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Emergency management
KW  - Hazardous materials
KW  - Technology
KW  - Transportation departments
KW  - Transportation operations
UR  - http://www.its.dot.gov/eto/docs/transops_biohazard/executive.htm
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/874786
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01115230
AU  - Sayer, James
AU  - LeBlanc, David
AU  - Bogard, Scott
AU  - Hagan, Michael
AU  - Sardar, H
AU  - University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems Preliminary Field Operational Test Plan
PY  - 2008
SP  - 96p
AB  - This document presents the plan for conducting a field operational test (FOT) of the Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems (IVBSS) program. The plan describes the work that will be performed by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute using 16 passenger cars and 10 commercial trucks equipped with an integrated crash avoidance system. The purpose of the IVBSS program is to evaluate the suitability of a state-of-the-art integrated crash warning system for widespread deployment in the U.S. passenger car and commercial truck fleet. Both platforms have three integrated crash-warning subsystem systems (forward crash, lateral drift, and lane-change/merge warnings); the light-vehicle platform also has a fourth subsystem, curve-speed warning. For the light vehicle portion of the FOT, lay drivers will operate test vehicles in place of their own personal cars for a period of six weeks. Commercial-truck drivers from a commercial fleet will operate heavy trucks in place of the Class 8 tractors they normally use as their work vehicles. All vehicles will be instrumented to capture information regarding the driving environment, driver activity, system behavior, and vehicle kinematics. Driver information will be captured through a series of subjective questionnaires, focus groups, and debriefing sessions to determine driver acceptance and to gain insight for improving future versions of integrated crash warning systems.
KW  - Commercial vehicles
KW  - Crash avoidance systems
KW  - Heavy duty trucks
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Intelligent vehicles
KW  - Lane changing
KW  - Ran off road crashes
KW  - Vehicle design
KW  - Vehicle safety
KW  - Warning systems
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/873948
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01113355
AU  - Beningo, Steve
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - U.S.-China Trade Growth and America's Transportation System
PY  - 2008
SP  - 8p
AB  - The growth in U.S. - China trade over the last two decades has impacted the U.S. transportation system by increasing traffic at air cargo hubs and seaports. The highway and rail infrastructure that supports the movement of cargo to and from these facilities has also been affected. In particular, growing air trade with China in the Southwest and Great Lakes regions of the United States and the increase in water trade at west coast ports have put an even greater demand on the transportation infrastructure serving these areas. The addition of work shifts at busy sea ports, the use of variable highway tolls to manage freight traffic, shifting trade flows among entry and exit points, and changing domestic trade routes can all be at least partly attributed to the marked increase in U.S.-China trade. Infrastructure changes will also affect the trade routes. For example, when completed several years from now, the widening of the Panama Canal will likely facilitate a shift in trade-related traffic from congested west coast ports to less crowded ports in the Southeast.
KW  - Cargo facilities
KW  - China
KW  - Economic growth
KW  - Harbors
KW  - Highway transportation
KW  - International trade
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Trucks
KW  - United States
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/872628
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01110680
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - ITS/Operations Resource Guide 2008
PY  - 2008
SP  - 464p
AB  - The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (U.S. DOT’s) ITS/Operations Resource Guide 2008 is a comprehensive listing of over 500 documents, videos, websites, training courses, software tools, and points-of-contact related to intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and other innovative transportation operations strategies. Most resources have been developed under Federal sponsorship, but other useful resources are also included. New in this eighth edition are: A chapter on parking management systems that brings together resources related to parking both trucks and private vehicles; Software tools for road weather management and transportation operations during biohazard events; A training course showing how ITS technologies can be integrated into a regional context to improve transit operations; Documents related to automated enforcement, low-cost transportation improvements, planned special events, systems engineering, transit signal priority, transportation system management and operations (TSM&O), traveler information, and work zones; Websites related to archived data management systems, congestion pricing, and systems engineering; and Several resources related to the Emergency Transportation Operations (ETO), Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems (IVBSS), Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1), U.S. DOT Rural Safety, and Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) initiatives, including the announcement of the SafeTrip-21 demonstration and testing program. Resources are grouped by topic area. Each section begins with a list of U.S. DOT points-of-contact, so you always know whom to call. This guide will help you realize the benefits of innovative transportation strategies.
KW  - 911 Emergency Telephone System
KW  - Automated enforcement
KW  - Biohazard situations
KW  - Bus priority
KW  - Bus transit operations
KW  - Congestion pricing
KW  - Contacts (People)
KW  - Data management systems
KW  - Disasters and emergency operations
KW  - Documents
KW  - Integrated Vehicle Based Safety Systems (Initiative)
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Parking
KW  - Resource guides (Guides to information)
KW  - Software
KW  - Special events
KW  - Systems engineering
KW  - Training courses
KW  - Transportation system management
KW  - Traveler information and communication systems
KW  - Vehicle infrastructure integration
KW  - Videotapes
KW  - Weather
KW  - Websites (Information retrieval)
KW  - Work zones
UR  - http://www.resourceguide.its.dot.gov/default.asp
UR  - http://www.resourceguide.its.dot.gov/ITS%20Resource%20Guide%202008v4.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/870803
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01108907
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - State Transportation Statistics 2007
PY  - 2008
SP  - 140p
AB  - This document is a statistical profile of transportation in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. It presents transportation information from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, other federal government agencies, and other national sources. It is divided into nine sections that cover infrastructure, safety, freight transportation, passenger travel, registered vehicles and vehicle-miles traveled, economy and finance, energy and the environment, information on data sources, and appendices and a glossary. Modes of transportation include highway, public transit, air travel, water transportation and railroad transportation. Data are for the year 2006 unless otherwise noted.
KW  - Air travel
KW  - Economics
KW  - Energy
KW  - Environment
KW  - Finance
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Highway travel
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Passengers
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Registrations
KW  - States
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Transportation safety
KW  - United States
KW  - Vehicle miles of travel
KW  - Vehicles
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/state_transportation_statistics/
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/state_transportation_statistics/state_transportation_statistics_2007/index.html
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34600/34687/2007STS.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/865212
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01105622
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - National Transportation Statistics 2008
PY  - 2008
SP  - 503p
AB  - This document presents information on the U.S. transportation system, including its physical components, safety record, economic performance, energy use, and environmental impacts. National Transportation Statistics is a companion document to the Transportation Statistics Annual Report, which analyzes some of the data presented here, and State Transportation Statistics, which presents state-level data on many of the same topics presented here. The report has four chapters: Chapter 1 provides data on the extent, condition, use, and performance of the physical transportation network. Chapter 2 details transportation’s safety record, giving data on accidents, crashes, fatalities, and injuries for each transportation mode and hazardous materials. Chapter 3 focuses on the relationship between transportation and the economy, presenting data on transportation’s contribution to the gross domestic product, employment by industry and occupation, and transportation-related consumer and government expenditures. Chapter 4 presents data on transportation energy use and transportation-related environmental impacts. The transportation modes that the document covers include highways, railroads, water transportation, air transportation, pipelines and public transit.
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Air transportation crashes
KW  - Consumers
KW  - Economic analysis
KW  - Employment
KW  - Energy consumption
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Expenditures
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Federal government
KW  - Gross domestic product
KW  - Hazardous materials
KW  - Highways
KW  - Industries
KW  - Injuries
KW  - Occupations
KW  - Performance
KW  - Pipeline accidents
KW  - Pipeline transportation
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroad crashes
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Traffic crashes
KW  - Transit crashes
KW  - Transportation safety
KW  - Transportation systems
KW  - United States
KW  - Utilization
KW  - Water transportation
KW  - Water transportation crashes
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/864813
ER  - 

TY  - CONF
AN  - 01103635
JO  - Transportation Research Board Conference Proceedings
PB  - Transportation Research Board
AU  - Sureshan, Selva
TI  - Ontario Commercial Vehicle Survey: Use of Geographic Information Systems for Data Collection, Processing, Analysis, and Dissemination
SN  - 9780309113076
PY  - 2008
IS  - 40
SP  - pp 72-74
AB  - The Ontario Commercial Vehicle Survey (CVS) is part of the National Roadside Study (NRS) conducted by Transport Canada about every 5 years across Canada on major highways and international border crossings. The NRS is a roadside truck driver intercept survey that captures many aspects of the trip, including route, commodity, vehicle weight and dimensions, and driver and carrier profile. In the past 10 years, significant improvements have been made in data collection, processing, and reporting techniques to enhance the accuracy of the survey data. The direct data entry method was introduced in 1995, followed by data processing and reporting techniques based on geographic information systems (GIS) in the 1999–2001 survey. The ongoing 2005–2007 survey software includes a GIS-based routing component that will enable the surveyor to confirm the route with the driver and modify it, if required, to get an accurate profile of the highways used for the trip. Currently the CVS is the most detailed source of intercity commercial vehicle characteristics and commodity flow information available to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO). The data have been used by various levels of government and private-sector consultants for studies to prioritize multiyear strategic investments.
U1  - Freight Demand Modeling:  Tools for Public-Sector Decision MakingTransportation Research BoardFederal Highway AdministrationU.S. Army Corps of EngineersResearch and Innovative Technology AdministrationFederal Railroad AdministrationWashington,D.C.,United States StartDate:20060925 EndDate:20060927 Sponsors:Transportation Research Board, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Federal Railroad Administration
KW  - Accuracy
KW  - Commercial vehicle operations
KW  - Commodity flow
KW  - Data analysis
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Data reporting
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Information processing
KW  - Ontario (Province)
KW  - Surveys
UR  - http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/159983.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/863315
ER  - 

TY  - CONF
AN  - 01103634
JO  - Transportation Research Board Conference Proceedings
PB  - Transportation Research Board
AU  - Hunt, John Douglas
TI  - Tour-Based Microsimulation of Urban Commercial Vehicle Movements in Calgary, Alberta, Canada: Case Example (With Discussion)
SN  - 9780309113076
PY  - 2008
IS  - 40
SP  - pp 61-71
AB  - This paper describes the representation of commercial vehicle movements in the Calgary region provided by a tour-based microsimulation system, a working model with a history of use in practical forecasting and policy analysis. The model provides explicit representation of vehicle movements for transport and delivery of both goods and services, with for-hire or carrier services included as the transport sector providing the service of moving goods. The lack of an explicit representation of shipments per se allows some of the complexities associated with such representation to be avoided. Yet the model accounts for truck routes and responds to truck restrictions and related policy. It includes all types of commercial vehicles, from light vehicles to heavier single-unit and multiunit configurations. All sectors of the economy are incorporated into the representation, including retail, industrial, service, and wholesaling. The model has been connected with an aggregate equilibrium model of household-related travel, with the trip tables from the two models assigned jointly to the relevant network representations. The microsimulation processes in the model are performed by using external Java applications.
U1  - Freight Demand Modeling:  Tools for Public-Sector Decision MakingTransportation Research BoardFederal Highway AdministrationU.S. Army Corps of EngineersResearch and Innovative Technology AdministrationFederal Railroad AdministrationWashington,D.C.,United States StartDate:20060925 EndDate:20060927 Sponsors:Transportation Research Board, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Federal Railroad Administration
KW  - Calgary (Canada)
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Commercial vehicle operations
KW  - Forecasting
KW  - Heavy duty trucks
KW  - Light trucks
KW  - Microsimulation
KW  - Policy analysis
KW  - Tour-based models
KW  - Tractor trailer combinations
KW  - Trucking
KW  - Urban goods movement
UR  - http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/159983.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/863314
ER  - 

TY  - CONF
AN  - 01103633
JO  - Transportation Research Board Conference Proceedings
PB  - Transportation Research Board
AU  - Hunt, John Douglas
AU  - Gregor, Brian J
TI  - Oregon Generation 1 Land Use–Transport Economic Model Treatment of Commercial Movements: Case Example
SN  - 9780309113076
PY  - 2008
IS  - 40
SP  - pp 56-60
AB  - This paper describes the representation of commercial movements included in the Oregon Generation 1 statewide land use–transport model, a working model with a history of use in practical forecasting and policy analysis. This model is entirely aggregate in nature and establishes short-run equilibrium points in 5-year steps that together constitute a quasi-dynamic long-run equilibrium through time into the future. In the model, the magnitude and spatial distribution of production and consumption activities give rise to flows of commodities that are translated into truck flows. The truck flows are loaded, together with private vehicle and transit vehicle flows carrying people making trips for household purposes, onto road networks, taking account of congestion. The resulting times and distances for truck movements are translated into costs for moving commodities, which influence the magnitude and spatial distribution of production and consumption activities in the next 5-year time point. The model provides an integrated representation of trucks and goods movements more generally within the rest of the economic system—one that has been used in practical applications.
U1  - Freight Demand Modeling:  Tools for Public-Sector Decision MakingTransportation Research BoardFederal Highway AdministrationU.S. Army Corps of EngineersResearch and Innovative Technology AdministrationFederal Railroad AdministrationWashington,D.C.,United States StartDate:20060925 EndDate:20060927 Sponsors:Transportation Research Board, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Federal Railroad Administration
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Commercial transportation
KW  - Commodity flow
KW  - Costs
KW  - Economic models
KW  - Forecasting
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Integrated transportation systems
KW  - Land use models
KW  - Oregon
KW  - Policy analysis
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Travel time
KW  - Trucking
UR  - http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/159983.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/863313
ER  - 

TY  - CONF
AN  - 01103632
JO  - Transportation Research Board Conference Proceedings
PB  - Transportation Research Board
AU  - Tavasszy, Lorant
TI  - Freight Modeling: An Overview of International Experiences (With Discussion)
SN  - 9780309113076
PY  - 2008
IS  - 40
SP  - pp 47-55
AB  - Compared with passenger transportation modeling, freight modeling is young, and it is developing quickly in different directions all over the world. The objective of this paper is to summarize the international state of the art in freight modeling, with a focus on developments in Europe. Key issues in freight policy that create a growing demand for freight demand modeling are described briefly. Some of them are common to the freight agendas in many places of the world, and some are more pertinent to the European situation. A conceptual framework of the freight system is sketched first. Three emerging areas of innovation in freight modeling that have been driven by the European transport policy context and are relevant for U.S. freight policy are identified: freight–economy linkages, logistics behavioral modeling, and freight trips and networks. The state of the art in these areas is described, and areas of further modeling work are identified. Finally, the main ideas of the paper are summarized, including the challenge of creating new data sources concerning freight flows.
U1  - Freight Demand Modeling:  Tools for Public-Sector Decision MakingTransportation Research BoardFederal Highway AdministrationU.S. Army Corps of EngineersResearch and Innovative Technology AdministrationFederal Railroad AdministrationWashington,D.C.,United States StartDate:20060925 EndDate:20060927 Sponsors:Transportation Research Board, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Federal Railroad Administration
KW  - Commodity flow
KW  - Data sources
KW  - Demand
KW  - Europe
KW  - Freight demand modeling
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Innovation
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - State of the art
KW  - Transportation policy
UR  - http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/159983.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/863312
ER  - 

TY  - CONF
AN  - 01103631
JO  - Transportation Research Board Conference Proceedings
PB  - Transportation Research Board
AU  - Turnquist, Mark A
TI  - Characteristics of Effective Freight Models
SN  - 9780309113076
PY  - 2008
IS  - 40
SP  - pp 11-16
AB  - The paper postulates four main characteristics that are important for effective modeling:  (1) An effective model is focused on producing an output that someone wants and knows how to use; (2) An effective model includes the important variables that describe how the system works and represents their interactions clearly and correctly; (3) An effective model operates in a way that is verifiable and understandable; and (4) An effective model is based on data that can be provided, so that it can be calibrated and tested.  These ideas are discussed in greater detail in the context of freight transportation system models.
U1  - Freight Demand Modeling:  Tools for Public-Sector Decision MakingTransportation Research BoardFederal Highway AdministrationU.S. Army Corps of EngineersResearch and Innovative Technology AdministrationFederal Railroad AdministrationWashington,D.C.,United States StartDate:20060925 EndDate:20060927 Sponsors:Transportation Research Board, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Federal Railroad Administration
KW  - Demand
KW  - Freight demand modeling
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Mathematical models
UR  - http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/159983.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/863311
ER  - 

TY  - CONF
AN  - 01103630
JO  - Transportation Research Board Conference Proceedings
PB  - Transportation Research Board
AU  - Hancock, Kathleen L
TI  - Freight Demand Modeling: Tools for Public-Sector Decision Making. Summary of a Conference
SN  - 9780309113076
PY  - 2008
IS  - 40
SP  - 120p
AB  - This conference was designed to complement the Federal Highway Administration's work on the Freight Model Improvement Program and focused on modeling methodologies, applications of existing models at the national and local levels (including international examples), and related data needed to support modeling efforts. The objectives were to engage members of the freight transportation community in examining current modeling practice and identifying areas where improvement may be needed. The conference brought together approximately 120 individuals from across the freight transportation communities, at national, state, regional, and local levels and from the public and private sectors and academia.  The conference benefited from the contributions of international speakers and participants.  In this summary report, the presentations made in each session are summarized and summaries of the breakout sessions are provided.  Five peer reviewed papers prepared in connection with the conference are included.  A list of conference attendees is also provided.
U1  - Freight Demand Modeling:  Tools for Public-Sector Decision MakingTransportation Research BoardFederal Highway AdministrationU.S. Army Corps of EngineersResearch and Innovative Technology AdministrationFederal Railroad AdministrationWashington,D.C.,United States StartDate:20060925 EndDate:20060927 Sponsors:Transportation Research Board, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Federal Railroad Administration
KW  - Commercial vehicle operations
KW  - Conferences
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Demand
KW  - Freight demand modeling
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - Motor carriers
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/159983.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/863296
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01091702
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
TI  - Points of Pride 2007
PY  - 2008
SP  - 80p
AB  - This report highlights the annual accomplishments of the Volpe Center and illustrates its role as a unique federal resource within the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). These accomplishments demonstrate the many different ways that the Volpe Center supports the Department and the broader transportation community in achieving their goals.  Each accomplishment is aligned with DOT’s national transportation objectives of safety, reduced congestion, global connectivity, environmental stewardship, and security, preparedness and response, the Federal government’s principle management objective of achieving organizational excellence.  The Center is committed to helping clients achieve these goals through safer, simpler, and smarter transportation solutions.  All modes of transportation are represented in the report - highways, public transit, water transportation, air transportation, pipelines, and railroads.
KW  - Annual reports
KW  - Congestion management systems
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Environmental stewardship
KW  - John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
KW  - Program management
KW  - Security
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Transportation safety
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/32000/32200/32204/pop07.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/851317
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01091649
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
TI  - How to Implement the TimeTable Publisher: An Open Source Application for Transit Agencies, T3 Webinar
PY  - 2008
SP  - n.p.
AB  - TimeTable Publisher is a single system that allows a transit agency to examine, modify, and transform raw scheduling data into easy-to-read timetables for customer information purposes.  The application simplifies and accelerates production of printed on-street schedules and web schedules.  As an open sources application, the TimeTable Publisher is available for free so that other transit agencies can use it and even contribute enhancements to it.
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Scheduling
KW  - Timetables
UR  - http://www.pcb.its.dot.gov/_Archived_Site_4-25-08/t3/s080514_open.asp
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/851329
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462197
TI  - Separation of Vehicles---CMV Only Lanes
AB  - The funds for this project have been added to NCHRP 03-73 and the scope of that project was expanded to include the issues that the governing board for the National Cooperative Freight Research Program wanted researched.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; For further information see the writeup under NCHRP 03-73.
KW  - Commercial vehicles
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight traffic measurement
KW  - High occupancy vehicle lanes
KW  - Lane occupancy
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Separators
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=1582
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230418
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01576083
TI  - Identifying Novel Lignin and Lignocellulose Degrading Enzyms from Natural Decomposer Communities
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Decomposition
KW  - Degradation (Thermodynamics)
KW  - Lignin
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370156
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572224
TI  - Optimization of Pretreatments for the Production of Ethanol from Genetically Modified Hardwoods with High Cellulose and Low Lignin Content
AB  - This research project will develop an integrated economical process for saccharification of lignocellulosic residual biomass into energy-related products by optimizing of pretreatments for the production of ethanol from genetically modified hardwoods with high cellulose and low lignin content.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Lignin
KW  - Lignocellulose
KW  - Optimization
KW  - Production
KW  - Saccharification
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363842
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01594241
AU  - Stewart, Richard D
AU  - Wang, Xiubin
AU  - Ojard, Adolph
AU  - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Establishing Intermodal Service on the Prince Rupert Gateway
PY  - 2007/12//Final Report
SP  - 10p
AB  - A new Canadian container port being developed in Prince Rupert, British Columbia opens a new intermodal freight corridor operated by the Canadian National Railroad (CN) to serve the Midwest United States for trade with East Asian countries. This paper particularly explores new potential intermodal services to the Twin Cities region. The new Prince Rupert route has potential to serve the Twin Cities through two gateways: Chicago, Illinois and the Twin Ports of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin. The advantages and disadvantages of using each gateway are discussed. The paper examines for both routes the issues of: transit time, terminal availability, drayage, corridor congestion, asset utilization, interest inventory costs, freight rates, growth potential, circuitry and transloading. It provides a basis for more studies in the future on this new freight corridor of significant economic values.
KW  - Chicago (Illinois)
KW  - Container terminals
KW  - Costs
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Gateways
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Operations
KW  - Port of Duluth-Superior
KW  - Port of Prince Rupert
KW  - Routes and routing
KW  - Travel time
KW  - Twin Cities, Minnesota
UR  - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/FR_0223.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1398467
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01475817
AU  - Peterson, Del
AU  - Molloy, Michael
AU  - Small Urban and Rural Transit Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Advanced Small Transit Vehicle Technology Study
PY  - 2007/12
SP  - 43p
AB  - In October 2005, the Federal Transit Administration and the Small Urban & Rural Transit Center at North Dakota State University held a meeting with several transit industry representatives launching a project to examine the state of small transit vehicles. The scope of this paper is primarily focused on small transit vehicle design and performance. Discussion of broader areas, such as infrastructure and operating practices, are included mostly on a cursory level. There are many issues, from procurement to service coordination, that are vital to the improvement of small urban and rural transit. These issues are receiving some attention in the research community, and more information can be found in referenced sources.
KW  - North Dakota
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Rural transit
KW  - Small buses
KW  - Transit buses
KW  - Vans
KW  - Vehicle design
KW  - Vehicle performance
UR  - http://www.ugpti.org/pubs/pdf/DP195.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1244469
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01357459
AU  - Benvenuto, Mark
AU  - Winter, Charles W
AU  - Shewchun, John
AU  - Michigan Ohio University Transportation Center
AU  - Wayne State University
AU  - Michigan Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Production of Fuel Ethanol from Cellulosic Peat for Future Transportation Systems: First Year, Annual Report
PY  - 2007/12
SP  - 5p
AB  - The production of bioethanol from peat is proposed. A search of the available literature yields no prior information on the use of peat as a carbon source for bioethanol. This proposal addresses the production in the most cost-effective manner possible, utilizing special enzymes, and using materials native to Michigan. The bioethanol proposed will either be utilized as fuel or in fuel blends.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Cost effectiveness
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Fuels
KW  - Michigan
KW  - Peat
UR  - http://michigan.gov/documents/mdot/MDOT_Research__Report_RC-1545A_364028_7.pdf
UR  - http://mioh-utc.udmercy.edu/research/af-03/pdf/MIOH_UTC_AF3p2_2007-Final_Rpt_Production_of_Fuel_Ethanol_from_Cellulosic_Peat_etc.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1120880
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01329301
AU  - Young, P
AU  - Notis, Ken
AU  - Feuerberg, G
AU  - Nguyen, L
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Bureau of Transportation Statistics Technical Report. Transportation Services Index and the Economy. Phase III Project
PY  - 2007/12
SP  - 12p
AB  - The March 2005 release of the Transportation Services Index (TSI), an economic measure of freight and passenger movements, marked the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) entry into the company of federal statistical agencies that produce monthly U.S. economic indicators. The TSI consists of three component indexes: a freight index, a passenger index, and a combined (or total) index. Figure 1 shows the freight and passenger indexes as recently displayed on the BTS website. The TSI is the broadest monthly measure of U.S. domestic transportation services and, as such, provides the best current measure available of these services. As an index, the TSI reflects real monthly changes in freight and passenger services in the United States.
KW  - Economic factors
KW  - Economic indicators
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Monthly
KW  - Planning
KW  - Statistical analysis
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_technical_report/2007_12_21/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1090598
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01164861
AU  - Jafari, Mohsen
AU  - Bodnar, Lisa
AU  - Amini, Ardavan
AU  - Dayhim, Muhammad
AU  - Fischer, John
AU  - Golmohammadi, Davood
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - New Jersey Department of Transportation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Transportation Management System Data Validation and Data Quality Assessment
PY  - 2007/12//Final Report
SP  - 56p
AB  - This report details an independent and quantitative assessment of traffic data by the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT), with a focus on data validity, quality and integrity for the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s (NJDOT's) traffic monitoring management system (TMS). The Bureau of Transportation Data Development (BTDD) is a bureau within the Division of Traffic Engineering and Safety of the NJDOT. This study is being conducted for the purpose of evaluating the quality assurance/quality control aspects of data collection by the BTDD to benefit the ongoing transportation integration initiative.
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Data quality
KW  - New Jersey
KW  - New Jersey Department of Transportation
KW  - Quality assurance
KW  - Quality control
KW  - Traffic data
KW  - Traffic surveillance
UR  - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/176-RU6598_0.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/33000/33500/33574/176-RU6598_0.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/925769
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01164858
AU  - Bennert, Thomas
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Laboratory Evaluation of Vestoplast Modified Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA)
PY  - 2007/12//Final Report
SP  - 18p
AB  - The scope of the work encompassed evaluating the effect of Vestoplast on the performance of hot mix asphalt. The Vestoplast was added to a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) FAA #3 asphalt mixture with a PG64-22 asphalt binder. Two baseline mixes were also evaluated for comparisons: 1) FAA #3 with a PG64-22 and 2) FAA #3 with a PG76-22. The FAA #3 with a PG64-22 was the base mix used prior to the addition of the Vestoplast. This allows for a comparison of the increase or decrease in performance simply due to the addition of the Vestoplast additive. The FAA #3 with PG76-22 would be the performance the researcher was striving to achieve with the Vestoplast modification. Three different characterization tests were used to evaluate the performance of the mixtures:  1) dynamic modulus (AASHTO TP62-07); 2) flexural beam fatigue (AASHTO T321); and repeated load (NCHRP report 465).
KW  - Asphalt additives
KW  - Asphalt mixtures
KW  - Bituminous binders
KW  - Dynamic modulus of elasticity
KW  - Fatigue (Mechanics)
KW  - Flexural strength
KW  - Hot mix asphalt
KW  - Laboratory tests
KW  - Repeated loads
KW  - Rutting
UR  - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/PANYNJ-RU9247_1.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/33000/33500/33575/PANYNJ-RU9247_1.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/925775
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01164849
AU  - Jafari, Mohsen
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Strategic Distribution Business Promotion Plan (SDBPP) of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
PY  - 2007/12//Final Report
SP  - 13p
AB  - The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, recognizing the increasingly important role played by retail importers and their supply chain strategies on port container traffic and growth, have embarked on the development of a “Strategic Distribution Business Promotion Plan” (SDBPP). This report presents the results of the first phase of this effort which was led by the Rutgers University team. The report presents the findings and observations from interviews conducted with 22 of the top 100 retail importers, delineating their objectives and criteria for the design of their distribution strategies, including the location of international distribution centers. The implications of these findings for the further development of the SDBPP, including the evaluation of potential investments and development, have been identified and described. The report also classified and evaluated potential site developments in the Port of New York and New Jersey (PONYNJ) region. Site selection considerations and competitive assessment criteria were developed and applied. Finally, the report describes a detailed model that utilizes the findings of the previously described tasks to address the competitiveness of the PONYNJ in the retail supply chain network. The model incorporates both operational and financial costs incurred by the importer through alternative ports in supplying their demand. The model demonstrates the sensitivity of port market share to key components of the distribution system and is a tool that can be used to evaluate candidate infrastructure projects intended to improve PONYNJ’s market share in the import segment.
KW  - Business administration
KW  - Container traffic
KW  - Distribution centers
KW  - Importers
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Interviewing
KW  - Location
KW  - Market share
KW  - Physical distribution
KW  - Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
KW  - Ports
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Supply chain management
KW  - Warehousing
UR  - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/PORT-RU6879.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/33000/33500/33577/PORT-RU6879.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/925779
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01112654
AU  - Wilson, Bruce H
AU  - Stearns, Mary D
AU  - Koopmann, Jonathan
AU  - Yang, C Y David
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
TI  - Evaluation of a Road-Departure Crash Warning System
PY  - 2007/12//Final Report
SP  - 289p
AB  - This report presents the results of an independent evaluation of the Road-Departure Crash Warning System (RDCW), which is designed to warn drivers when they are drifting out of their lane or about to enter a curve at an unsafe speed. The RDCW lateral-drift-warning subsystem monitors a vehicle’s lane position and lateral speed, and alerts the driver when the vehicle is in danger of departing the road or lane. The RDCW curve-speed-warning subsystem monitors vehicle speed and upcoming road curvature and alerts the driver when the vehicle is in danger of losing control in an upcoming curve. The goal of the RDCW is to improve automotive safety by helping drivers avoid road-departure crashes, but this can only occur if the system is useful and drivers respond to it. The RDCW Field Operational Test (FOT) collected 130,000 km of driving data from 78 participants to evaluate the performance, driver acceptance, and safety benefits of the RDCW. The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute conducted the test. Visteon Corporation built the FOT vehicles and Assistware Corporation developed the RDCW lateral-drift-warning subsystem. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sponsored the FOT to determine if the RDCW will help reduce road-departure crashes in the United States. The Volpe National Transportation Systems Center of the U.S. DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, under agreement with NHTSA, independently evaluated the RDCW.
KW  - Acceptance
KW  - Crash avoidance systems
KW  - Driver vehicle interfaces
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Field tests
KW  - Highway curves
KW  - Lateral drift
KW  - Ran off road crashes
KW  - Road-Departure Crash Warning System
KW  - Speed
KW  - Warning systems
UR  - http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/staticfiles/DOT/NHTSA/NRD/Multimedia/PDFs/Crash%20Avoidance/2007/4638-810_854%20RDCW%20EvalCLTest.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/872444
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01090434
AU  - Young, Peg
AU  - Notis, Ken
AU  - Feuerberg, Gary
AU  - Nguyen, Long
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Transportation Service Index and the Economy
PY  - 2007/12//Technical Report
SP  - 12p
AB  - The March 2005 release of the Transportation Services Index (TSI), an economic measure of freight and passenger movements, marked the Bureau of Transportation Statistics' (BTS') entry into the company of federal statistical agencies that produce monthly U.S. economic indicators. The TSI consists of three component indexes: a freight index, a passenger index, and a combined (or total) index. The TSI is the broadest monthly measure of U.S. domestic transportation services and, as such, provides the best current measure available of these services. As an index, the TSI reflects real monthly changes in freight and passenger services in the United States. After development of the TSI, followed by additional research, it became clear the TSI moved in conjunction with other indicators of the national economy. Cycles of various kinds, depths, and durations occur frequently in the U.S. economy. Of these, the business cycles of recession and expansion, and the growth cycle are of particular interest to economists. The TSI, as presently published on the BTS website, spans the time period from 1990 to the present and covers two recessions. But, extending the TSI back to 1979 allows coverage of four recessions2 and numerous growth cycles. By comparing the turning points in the extended TSI with other economic data series, it is possible to ascertain whether and how transportation services relate to movement in the overall economy.
KW  - Business cycles
KW  - Economic indicators
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Transportation Service Index
KW  - United States
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_technical_report/2007_12_21/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/850773
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01089660
AU  - Petrella, Margaret
AU  - Biernbaum, Lee
AU  - Lappin, Jane E
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Exploring a New Congestion Pricing Concept: Focus Group Findings from Northern Virginia and Philadelphia
PY  - 2007/12
SP  - 67p
AB  - This study explored attitudes about congestion pricing. Focus groups were convened in Northern Virginia and Philadelphia among the general public, business owners and managers, and owners and managers of shipping and transportation logistics firms. The purpose of these focus groups was to obtain feedback on a specific congestion pricing scenario and to better understand the public's concerns regarding congestion pricing. A secondary purpose was to learn more about how to communicate with the public on the topic of congestion pricing.  Overall there was a mix of opinion regarding the proposed congestion pricing system.  Briefly, concerns were raised about the following: diversion to arterials, administrative costs, distrust of government, high personal (business) cost, equity issues, enforcement difficulties, that it won't solve the problem, restraint of choice, and privacy.  Despite their concerns, respondents were also able to articulate the potential benefits of the new concept, including reduced congestion, time savings and reduced emissions. In particular, respondents reacted very positively toward E-ZPass, and the general public was generally favorable towards telecommuting and flextime, with some respondents indicating that they would take advantage of such options (though others pointed out that telecommuting or flextime were not feasible in their business). While some mentioned that the new system would provide an incentive to carpool, most did not seem willing to carpool themselves. Some respondents, however, did indicate they would switch to public transit if service were expanded to their area. In Philadelphia respondents felt that for transit to become a viable option, there would need to be significant improvements in reliability, safety and cleanliness. Overall, respondents wanted more information about the mechanics of the new system and evidence that it would in fact reduce congestion. Many were hopeful that congestion pricing might help solve the problem of traffic congestion, and a number thought that the new system was worth a try. People's willingness to consider a congestion pricing system seems to be due, in part, to their sense that traffic congestion has only gotten worse over time and that "something has to be done."
KW  - Attitudes
KW  - Benefits
KW  - Carpools
KW  - Congestion pricing
KW  - Costs
KW  - E-ZPass
KW  - Equity (Justice)
KW  - Flexible hours
KW  - Focus groups
KW  - Law enforcement
KW  - Northern Virginia
KW  - Philadelphia (Pennsylvania)
KW  - Privacy
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Telecommuting
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic mitigation
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35500/35541/congestion_focus_grp.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/850111
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01088855
AU  - Nadler, E
AU  - Yost, A
AU  - Kendra, A
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Aviation Administration
AU  - Federal Aviation Administration
TI  - Use of Traffic Displays for General Aviation Approach Spacing: A Human Factors Study
PY  - 2007/12//Final Report
SP  - 40p
AB  - A flight experiment was conducted to assess human factors issues associated with pilot use of traffic displays for approach spacing. Sixteen multi-engine rated pilots participated. Eight flew approaches in a twin-engine Piper Aztec originating in Sanford, ME, and eight flew approaches in the same aircraft originating in Atlantic City, NJ. The spacing target was a Cessna 206. The traffic display was either a Garmin International MX-20™ (the “Basic” Cockpit Display of Traffic Information, or CDTI) or an MX-20™ modified with features to help the pilot monitor the closing rate, the range and ground speed of the traffic-to-follow, and ownship ground speed (Range Monitor). Two other Equipment conditions were Baseline and Autopilot. Pilots successfully used the displays to maintain the assigned spacing on visual and instrument approaches. The spacing deviations were significantly lower when using the displays during visual approaches than when attempting to maintain spacing without a traffic display. The mean spacing deviation during the IFR approaches was less than 0.10 NM for all three equipment conditions (Basic CDTI, Range Monitor, Autopilot), and these mean spacing deviations did not differ significantly. Range Monitor features appeared to particularly benefit the low-hour pilots. While the traffic display reduced visual reacquisition times, this effect was only found with pilots whose displays showed additional traffic (not only the traffic-to-follow). In general, however, the additional traffic was associated with less time between fixations on the display and higher workload. Subjects appeared to have had difficulty identifying an optimal display range that would simultaneously provide traffic awareness and spacing task performance. The traffic display necessarily requires visual attention and reduces the attention available for scanning the instrument panel and on visual approaches, the outside world. For this reason, even if pilots assume responsibility for spacing when they temporarily lose visual contact with the assigned traffic-to-follow, they should notify ATC of the loss of visual contact so that controllers can assume responsibility for separation from other aircraft.
KW  - Air traffic
KW  - Approach control
KW  - General aviation
KW  - General aviation pilots
KW  - Human factors
KW  - Human subject testing
KW  - Information display systems
KW  - Visual attention
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35500/35536/CDTI_Approach_Spacing_Nadler_Yost_Kendra_2007.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/849400
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01108451
AU  - Zimmerman, Carol
AU  - Gopalakrishna, Deepak
AU  - Battelle
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Enhanced Human Service Transportation Models. Joint Demonstration: Phase I - System Planning and Design. Process Evaluation: Baseline Analysis
PY  - 2007/11/13/Evaluation Report
SP  - 55p
AB  - This document presents the findings from the baseline phase of the evaluation of the process being used by eight sites to develop a design for a Travel Management Coordination Center (TMCC) for improved coordination of human service transportation within a region. The process evaluation focuses on how the sites go about the design activity, the challenges they face and how they solve them throughout the fifteen-month design period. The objective is to draw lessons from the experience of these eight sites so that other communities seeking to implement a TMCC can benefit from their experience. Intended for use by the U.S. DOT management team and the demonstration sites, this report documents the baseline conditions, the situation at the beginning of the process. The findings focus on how the sites are working toward a common vision for the TMCC, understanding the process for engaging the stakeholders, how the sites assess their technological needs, and the teaming and organizational framework at each of the sites.
KW  - Advanced public transportation systems
KW  - Coordination
KW  - Human service transportation
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Mobility Services for All Americans Initiative
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Transportation disadvantaged persons
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Travel Management Coordination Center
KW  - United We Ride
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/jpodocs/repts_te/14403.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/jpodocs/repts_te/14403_files/14403.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/868450
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575718
TI  - Use of Ethanol By-products to Increase Consumption and Digestibility of Forages in Goats
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Animal materials
KW  - Animals
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Waste products
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1368344
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572217
TI  - Biological Energy Production from Biomass by Wood-Feeding Termites
AB  - This research project will evaluate and analyze hydrogen and methane gas production of different subterranean termite species with their associated symbiotic microorganisms and assemble a prototype of an energy gas production system using termites in a sustainable development to produce hydrogen.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Hydrogen production
KW  - Methane
KW  - Sustainable development
KW  - Termites
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363835
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01467546
TI  - Development of a Microbial Factory for Efficient Conversion of Biodiesel Glycerol to Value-Added Products
AB  - The objective of this research project is to develop genetic engineering and metabolic engineering tools to enable the Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria to function as microbial factory for converting biodiesel glycerol to value-added products to improve the long-term sustainability of biodiesel industry and generate new income for farmers and agricultural industries.
KW  - Agricultural industry
KW  - Bacteria
KW  - Biodiesel fuels
KW  - Energy conversion
KW  - Glycerol
KW  - Microbiology
KW  - Value added
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1235782
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01328140
AU  - Finkbiner, Thomas
AU  - Prince, Theodore
AU  - Foundation for Intermodal Research and Education
AU  - National Center for Intermodal Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Leveraging the Freight Network: 10 Steps to Improved Modal Connectivity
PY  - 2007/11
SP  - 28p
AB  - Historically, the U.S. federal government has recognized—and supported—the national development of transportation infrastructure necessary for economic growth and national defense. For many years, any investment was an improvement. However, such a haphazard arrangement is no longer acceptable. Today, we find ourselves with a funding mechanism as dysfunctional as the policy mechanism itself. Transportation is an asset-based, network-operating business. Unfortunately, the system cannot efficiently accommodate the demands being placed on the road, rail, and waterway networks. In 2005, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave our nation’s infrastructure a grade of D+ and estimated a $1.6 trillion price to repair it. Many transportation stakeholders are raising issues in advance of the 2009 reauthorization cycle. During the authors' interviews, they heard many ideas about our nation’s transportation problems. They do not all bear repeating, but a unified theme emerged: The industry consensus is that freight is talking, and the federal government is not listening. The overriding common theme expressed was the need for modal connectivity and solutions which support the interdependent freight transportation network. Unfortunately, intermodal transportation, the unifying force of our national transportation system, does not fit within the legacy modal governance and funding maintained by the federal government in both the executive and legislative branches. It has, therefore, failed to attract meaningful support.  The authors'  proposed solutions focus on intermodal improvements, which they believe have the power to leverage other freight network initiatives and maximize overall value for the entire network, not just a single mode or special interest.
KW  - Connectivity
KW  - Federal government
KW  - Financing
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Maintenance
KW  - Transportation infrastructure
UR  - http://ncit.msstate.edu/PDF/LeveragingtheFreightNetworkFinal.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1089365
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01155094
AU  - Roth, Emilie
AU  - Multer, Jordan
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Communication and Coordination Demands of Railroad Roadway Worker Activities and Implications for New Technology
PY  - 2007/11//Final Report
SP  - 70p
AB  - This report documents the results of a cognitive task analysis (CTA) that examined the cognitive and collaborative demands and activities of railroad roadway workers. The purpose of the CTA of roadway workers was to understand the factors that complicate performance in today’s environments, as well as the knowledge and skills that roadway workers have developed to cope with the cognitive and collaborative demands placed on them. The results revealed numerous activities that railroad workers engage in that improve overall efficiency of railroad operations and enhance roadway worker safety on and around the track. These include cooperative activities within and across crafts, including dispatchers, train crews, and roadway workers. Some of these activities are codified in formal operating rules. Others have developed informally. The results point to the potential benefits of introducing portable digital communication systems with global positioning system capabilities and suggest specific design recommendations. The results also suggest potential benefits of implementing positive train control systems for enhancing roadway worker safety.
KW  - Cognition
KW  - Communication
KW  - Coordination
KW  - Human factors
KW  - Maintenance personnel
KW  - Positive train control
KW  - Railroad facility operations
KW  - Task analysis
KW  - Train crews
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/389
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35500/35538/ord0728.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/915773
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142757
AU  - Gill, Monica
AU  - Multer, Jordan
AU  - Yeh, Michelle
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Effects of Active Warning Reliability on Motorist Compliance at Highway-Railroad Grade Crossings
PY  - 2007/11//Final Report
SP  - 89p
AB  - The Federal Railroad Administration is interested in understanding the effect of warning reliability on motorist compliance to warnings at active grade crossings. The John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center conducted two studies to examine motorist behavior as a consequence of warning signal failure. Experiment one measured motorist behavior in response to false alarms (i.e., the presentation of a warning when no train was approaching). Experiment two examined how motorist responses to grade crossing warning signals were influenced by false alarms and missed signals (i.e., the failure of the warning system to signal an approaching train). The results of the experiments support the hypothesis that warning systems reliability exerts a predictable effect on motorists. As motorist’ perceive the warning system to be less reliable, they are more likely to violate the warning signal, perceiving little risk to their safety. Although it is not possible to define empirically the precise warning reliability required to achieve a desired level of compliance, measures for improving motorist behavior from an engineering and cognitive science perspective are considered and areas for future research are discussed.
KW  - Compliance
KW  - Grade crossing protection systems
KW  - Highway traffic control
KW  - Railroad grade crossings
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Traffic control devices
KW  - Traffic safety
KW  - Warning signals
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/378
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/903028
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01095547
AU  - Brecher, Aviva
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
TI  - A Safety Roadmap for Future Plastics and Composites Intensive Vehicles
PY  - 2007/11//Final Report
SP  - 104p
AB  - This report summarizes the approach, activities, and results of a study to evaluate the potential safety benefits of Plastics and Composites Intensive Vehicles (PCIVs) to enable their deployment by 2020.  The main goals were to review and assess the state of knowledge in order to identify gaps, key research needs, and the challenges and opportunities for safety enhancements.  PCIV-related safety enhancements that could benefit an aging driver population were selected as a priority research focus.  The Situation Analysis was conducted, based on a review of technical literature, national research efforts on automotive light-weighting and the crash safety performance of advanced materials, complemented by a focused survey of diverse subject matter experts.  The analysis identified near-term, mid-term, and long-term research needs and priorities to facilitate future PCIV deployment.  A PCIV Safety Roadmap was developed, which synthesizes the study findings and outlines follow-on research and milestones to measure progress towards the design, development and technology integration of fuel-efficient and safe PCIVs by 2020.
KW  - Automobiles
KW  - Automotive materials
KW  - Composite materials
KW  - Lightweight materials
KW  - Plastics
KW  - Research
KW  - Vehicle safety
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34700/34726/DOT-VNTSC-NHTSA-07-02.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/855705
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01089661
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
TI  - Interim Report to the U.S. Congress on the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program SAFETEA-LU Section 1807
PY  - 2007/11//Interim Report
SP  - 67p
AB  - This interim report to Congress summarizes the progress and initial results of the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA's) and the four pilot communities’ participation in the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP) from its inception through May 2007. Section 1807 of the Safe, Accountable Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), P.L. 109-59, established the NTPP in August 2005. Over the span of 4 years, the legislation provides $25 million in contract authority for each of the NTPP’s four pilot communities (Columbia, Missouri; Marin County, California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Sheboygan County, Wisconsin) “to construct … a network of nonmotorized transportation infrastructure facilities, including sidewalks, bicycle lanes, and pedestrian and bicycle trails, that connect directly with transit stations, schools, residences, businesses, recreation areas, and other community activity centers.” In addition to describing the Working Group, the evaluation plan, and the results of Phase 1, this report compares the characteristics of the pilot communities and the control community (Spokane, Washington), describes the Communications Plan developed by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy to disseminate information about the NTPP, and discusses the NTPP’s challenges and plans.
KW  - Bicycle travel
KW  - Columbia (Missouri)
KW  - Marin County (California)
KW  - Minneapolis (Minnesota)
KW  - Nonmotorized transportation
KW  - Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program
KW  - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
KW  - Sheboygan County (Wisconsin)
KW  - Transportation infrastructure
KW  - Walking
UR  - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bicycle_pedestrian/ntpp/2007_report/ir1807safetealu.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35500/35537/ir1807safetealu.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/850119
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01088304
AU  - Horowitz, Alan J
AU  - Jin, Xia
AU  - Zhu, Yi
AU  - University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
AU  - Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - An Evaluation of the Business Attraction Module in Montana's Highway Economic Analysis Tool
PY  - 2007/11//Final Report
SP  - 37p
AB  - Montana’s Highway Economic Analysis Tool (HEAT) was created to forecast the economic benefits of highways projects, including possible growth in employment. Of particular interest is the business attraction module in HEAT, which estimates the direct employment gains within counties by many industrial sectors owing to improvements in accessibility. This study investigates the transferability of HEAT to other locales by implementing essential aspects of HEAT’s business attraction module for five candidate highway projects in Wisconsin. HEAT’s business attraction module gives plausible results, but the impacts of these five candidate highway projects were each estimated to be very small. HEAT’s business attraction module, for the most part, uses readily-available national data, so any agency with access to a statewide travel forecasting model could implement a similar economic forecast.
KW  - Accessibility
KW  - Business attraction
KW  - Economic benefits
KW  - Economic development
KW  - Employment
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Forecasting
KW  - Highway Economic Analysis Tool (HEAT)
KW  - Highway projects
KW  - Montana
KW  - Transferability
KW  - Wisconsin
UR  - http://www.mrutc.org/research/0703/MRUTC_07-03_FinalReport.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/849617
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01088259
AU  - Cain, Alasdair
AU  - University of South Florida, Tampa
AU  - Florida Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Developing a Printed Transit Information Material Design Manual
PY  - 2007/11//Technical Memorandum
SP  - 104p
AB  - Previous phases of National Center for Transit Research (NCTR) research have shown that a significant proportion of the general public is unable to successfully plan a transit trip using printed transit information materials. There is evidence that such trip planning difficulties represent a major barrier to transit use among non-users, and may also contribute to the underutilization of transit services by existing users. A lack of recognized design standards has also contributed to inconsistencies in the material designs produced by different agencies, resulting in an unnecessary source of user confusion. At its inception, this project aimed to address these issues by developing a printed transit information material design manual capable of assisting transit agencies in the production of effective and consistent printed transit information materials. As the project progressed, it became clear that the term “design manual” was too prescriptive, and that the term “guidebook” better reflected the type of document that was being developed. As such, readers should be aware that this document includes references to both “design manual” and “guidebook”. Within this document, it should be noted that these two terms are interchangeable. This Technical Memorandum documents the different project tasks that were conducted in order to provide input into the development of the printed information material guidebook. This document is intended to provide supplementary information for those interested in finding out how the guidebook’s recommendations have been derived, and for those wishing to learn more about the subject area. This Technical Memorandum summarizes Project Tasks 1 and 2. Task 1 was to conduct a literature review to obtain a broad knowledge of the challenges faced by customers in planning a transit trip and the importance of printed materials within the wider context of the variety of transit information aids that exist. Another important goal of the review was to obtain existing guidelines and research on the design of printed materials, both from within the United States and abroad, and to synthesize these into a cohesive list of best practice recommendations. Task 2 was actually two sub-tasks based around a survey of transit agencies across the United States. The survey instrument was designed to obtain an understanding of the issues facing each agency in designing their materials. The other sub-task was to classify the sample materials sent by each agency in order to obtain an understanding of the designs currently employed across the transit industry. The document ends with a conclusions section.
KW  - Best practices
KW  - Handbooks
KW  - Manuals
KW  - Maps
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Recommendations
KW  - Schedules
KW  - Surveys
KW  - Timetables
KW  - Transit itinerary planning
KW  - Transit operating agencies
KW  - Transit trip planning
UR  - http://www.nctr.usf.edu/pdf/77710.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/849401
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01495189
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Feasibility Assessment, Bicycle or Bicycle/Pedestrian (Multi-User) Facility at Appomattox Court House NHP
PY  - 2007/10/12
SP  - 20p
AB  - This memorandum provides a preliminary feasibility assessment for a bicycle or combined bicycle/pedestrian (i.e., multi-user) facility at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (NHP). This assessment is based on discussions with park staff, the VDOT Resident Engineer, and the Region 2000 Commission trail plan coordinator. It also is based on a site field reconnaissance, the collection of new data (i.e., the collection of the geo-coordinates and the lateral offset from the pavement edge of existing trees within the right-of-way (ROW) limits of the Rt. 24 corridor that bisects the park), and a review of maps, drawings, and reports.
KW  - Appomattox (Virginia)
KW  - Bicycle facilities
KW  - Cyclists
KW  - Feasibility analysis
KW  - Historic sites
KW  - Pedestrian areas
KW  - Pedestrians
KW  - Trails
KW  - Vehicle mix
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/48000/48100/48188/Memo_bicycle_facility_appomattox.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263014
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01578097
TI  - Agglomeration of Biomass Feedstocks for Bioenergy Applications
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Renewable energy sources
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1371550
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575486
TI  - Synergies between Heme Peroxidases and Cellulases in the Bioconversion of Lignocellulosic Feedstocks to Ethanol
AB  - An enzymatic process for the bioconversion of softwood to sugars for fermentation to ethanol will be developed, including optimization of the cellulase formulation specifically for hydrolysis of Douglas-fir pretreated by acid-catalyzed steam explosion. High throughput methods to intensively optimize enzyme composition for the specific softwood feedstocks available in the Western region may provide sound data with which realistic economic analysis may be performed and policy issues regarding the near-term expectations for lignocellulosic ethanol enlightened. 
Microorganisms produce a “barrage” of extracellular enzymes when growing on wood, and these “auxiliary” enzymes are likely to increase the rate of cellulose hydrolysis in complex lignocellulosic substrates. Using a high throughput approach, synergies between cellulases and heme peroxidases can be explored. It is likely from the scientific evidence available that heme peroxidases will increase cellulase activity by removing residual lignin. The proposed research using heme peroxidases will provide quantitative measurements as to the significance of this effect, and may provide evidence of other previously undiscovered auxiliary enzymes or synergistic interactions. Further exploiting the true metabolic potential of wood-degrading fungi may lower the cost of producing lignocellulosic ethanol from softwoods, providing a significant source of transportation fuel from the prevalent forestry wastes in the Western region.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Fermentation
KW  - Fungi
KW  - Synergism (Ecology)
KW  - Wood waste
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1367711
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575286
TI  - Use of Complex Fluids for Enhanced Cellulosic Pre-treatment
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Cellulose
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1367540
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575030
TI  - Close Call Confidential Reporting System

AB  - Demonstration project.  Purpose was to demonstrate successful implementation of a near miss reporting system in freight and passenger operations.  Program evaluation, formative and summative, is included in this project to document the costs and benefits of the program.  Largely funded by the Office of Safety for the past 5 years.

KW  - Benefit cost analysis
KW  - Demonstration projects
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Operations
KW  - Passenger traffic
KW  - Railroad safety
KW  - Reports
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51000/51000/C3RS_Site_Improves_Safety_20131219.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/54000/54200/54249/Safety_Culture_and_Trend_Analysis_20140715_1_.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/54000/54200/54250/Four_Demonstration_Pilots_20140715_1_.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1367335
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01573774
TI  - High Speed Truck
AB  - The objective of this project is to develop detailed design requirements for a high speed bogie based on performance criteria appropriate for operating on existing North American railway tracks that are maintained to meet the requirements of both passenger and freight service and then to design, build, and test the bogie to evaluate the benefits of the improved design.  The initial efforts of this project will concentrate on understanding the relationship between bogie design, track configuration, and irregularities.  This will involve conducting a review of the existing bogie designs and literature for both tilt and non-tilt equipment and the tradeoffs of various bogie parameters to meet performance specifications.
KW  - Car trucks (Railroads)
KW  - High speed vehicles
KW  - North America
KW  - Performance based specifications
KW  - Railroad tracks
KW  - Vehicle design
KW  - Vehicle tests
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1366871
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572232
TI  - Regional Economic Analysis of Feedstock Production and Procession in Pacific NW -- Expected Economic Impact
AB  - This project will use feedstock production data to develop a regional economic analysis focused on the biofuel industry. The project team's regional (computable general equilibrium (CGE)) models will inform policy recommendations regarding the most efficient use of our resources given current technology and prices. For example, in the case of biodiesel, price information that will determine its economic viability in a given region includes: the price of oilseed produced in the region, the imported oilseed price, the imported price of other alternative feedstocks for biodiesel like palm oil, the regional price of biodiesel, the regional price of ordinary diesel, and the net return of other crops in the region with which oilseeds must compete.  The project team will simulate the supply response of a given biofuel (in this case biodiesel) to different combinations of the above-noted prices.  General equilibrium models are very well suited for this kind of simulation analysis; only by conducting this kind of simulation can the economic viability of a particular biofuel be determined under a broad range of economic conditions. The project team will also examine the issue of possible subsidies to farmers and biofuel producers that may be necessary to make in-state biofuel production competitive with other alternatives. The economic benefits to each state generated by multiplier effects from the biofuel program, and the economic implications of those changes for household welfare, will also be measured. CGE analysis is particularly adept at measuring the productivity changes in feedstock production and biofuel refining that are likely to be necessary in order to make biofuels competitive with fossil fuels.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biodiesel fuels
KW  - Crops
KW  - Economic analysis
KW  - Economic benefits
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Feedstock
KW  - Pacific Northwest
KW  - Production methods
KW  - Subsidies
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363850
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572229
TI  - Development of Camelina as a Low-Input Oilseed Crop
AB  - The objective of this research project is to develop cropping systems and practices to incorporate Camelina, a summer annual oilseed crop, into Pacific Northwest crop production systems.
KW  - Camelina meal
KW  - Crops
KW  - Development
KW  - Oilseed
KW  - Pacific Northwest
KW  - Production methods
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363847
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572219
TI  - A Novel Approach to Facilitate Accessibility of Cellulose and Hemicellulose: Characterization of Hybrid Poplar Transformed with a Tyrosine Rich Peptide Gene
AB  - The objective of this research project is to develop a process for replacing a small fraction of lignin-lignin linkages with lignin-peptide linkages that will not compromise plant fitness but will facilitate the "cracking" of lignin so cellulosic components can be more easily hydrolyzed.
KW  - Accessibility
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Hybrids
KW  - Lignin
KW  - Plants
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363837
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569211
TI  - Multi-Scale Model of the U.S. Transportation Energy Market for Policy Assessment - Part 1
AB  - Our current regulatory scheme for energy may not be viable as we turn to new energy sources including plug-in hybrid vehicles. By understanding the multitude of factors influencing market forces, this project will help assure that the regulatory actions by federal, state and local governments play a positive role in influencing the transportation energy market.  Achievement of federal targets for alternative energy use will require large-scale infrastructure investment in:  - New types of vehicles - Facilities for extraction, refining, and transportation of different alternative fuels - Biofuel feedstock production and transportation facilities - Fuel storage facilities - Fuel supply stations - Research and research facilities necessary to provide technological advances required for alternative fuels to be feasible  The exact type of investment, and the utility and life-span of the resulting infrastructure, is sensitive to a wide variety of dynamic factors, including supply and usage of different alternative fuels, weather fluctuations, production of biofuel feedstocks, prices and supply of traditional fossil fuels, and public perception of environmental concerns. All of these various factors are closely integrated and are ultimately regulated by market forces. Regulatory actions by federal, state and local governments can play a critical role in influencing the transportation energy market, but because of the high degree of interdependency between the various factors that govern this market, it is difficult to predict the market consequences and sensitivity to any given regulatory change. The proposed research will develop an agent-based complex systems model for transportation energy usage. This model is intended to be used for development of optimal regulatory approaches for control of alternative energy usage and infrastructure investment. Two scales of modeling are considered - a city scale, in which the actions of agents represent choices made by individual users, and a national scale, in which agents represent the aggregate population of a town or city and the agent choices are made subject to a probability distribution representative of the choices of the city population.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Energy consumption
KW  - Energy conversion
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Policy
KW  - Policy, legislation and regulation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Sustainable development
KW  - Transportation facilities
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/multi-scale-model-of-the-u-s-transportation-energy-market-for-policy-assessment/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359766
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01465244
TI  - Aggravating Risk Factors
AB  - The Phase I report documents the results of the first phase of a multi-phase project, which will identify new factors and evaluate the feasibility of adding them to the current Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) accident prediction risk model.  Phase I is the basis of the current project, and concludes with suggestions for further direction of the initial research on post-crash aggravating risk factors.  In Phase II, research will be conducted into the occurrence of crashes involving post-crash aggravating risk factors and the associated severity.
KW  - Crash investigation
KW  - Crash risk forecasting
KW  - Crash severity
KW  - High risk locations
KW  - Railroad crashes
KW  - Risk assessment
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1233477
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01465243
TI  - Development and Evaluation of a Portable Intrusion Detection and Warning System
AB  - This project will provide technical support to evaluate a driver feedback device for passive grade crossings that was developed under the Safety Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) program, Project 09. This task will include testing of specific components, systems, and requirements as described in the IDEA project final report. These criteria include general specifications, vehicle, train, and environmental sensing as they pertain to specified capabilities. Determination of day/night use, precision/reliability, camera mounting structures, and vandal-proofing will be reviewed for the commercialization of the product. This was an FY08-09 project.
KW  - Grade crossing protection systems
KW  - Intrusion detection
KW  - Sensors
KW  - Train operation
KW  - Warning systems
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1233476
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01465242
TI  - ITS Applications at HRIs
AB  - This task will research current intelligent transportation systems (ITS) related projects to determine the capabilities of such systems to enhance highway-rail interfaces (HRI) safety.  Staff will determine if a demonstration program could be adapted to include functions that would enhance HRI safety through additional warning systems such as in-vehcile warnings. Currently, there are three subtasks:  Technical Evaluation of Commercial Off-the-shelf (COTS) global positioning system (GPS) Navigation Systems; French and Finnish In-Vehicle System Review; and Conference Participation.  This was an FY2008 project.
KW  - Audible warning devices in vehicles
KW  - Global Positioning System
KW  - Grade crossing protection systems
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Railroad grade crossings
KW  - Warning systems
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1233475
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01465240
TI  - Railroad Trespass Hot Spots
AB  - The objective of this research is to develop a methodology for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and other interested organizations to study locations of high concentration of train/vehicle and trespass incidents and fatality events known as "hot spots."  The results of this work will aid the Federal Government and State agencies in targeting mitigation strategies. The University of Waterloo in Canada has performed similar research of rail hot spots. The initial task of this research will be to develop a project implementation plan and produce two scoping documents.  This was a FY08 project.
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Hazard mitigation
KW  - Hot spot identification
KW  - Incident management
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Trespassers
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1233473
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01465239
TI  - Success Factors in the Reduction of HRI Incidents (Phase II)
AB  - This project is a follow-up to work completed under RR03 DB013. This purpose of the first phase was to identify the reasons for a reduction of incidents at highway-rail grade crossings during the years 1994 to 2003. This second phase will investigate the continuing effects (if any) of the success factors identified in the first phase, the impact of new factors, and potential areas for safety improvement for the years 2003 to 2007. A program prototype that will provide summary analysis will be designed for transportation professionals at the State and local level. This was an FY08 project.
KW  - Crash reduction factors
KW  - Grade crossing protection systems
KW  - Railroad grade crossings
KW  - Safety factors
KW  - Traffic incidents
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/43000/43300/43399/RR_Success_Factors_and_Grade_Xing_Incidents_final.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1233472
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01446299
AU  - Chinnam, Ratna Babu
AU  - Murat, Alper E
AU  - Ulferts, Gregory
AU  - Michigan Ohio University Transportation Center
AU  - Wayne State University
AU  - University of Detroit Mercy
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Enabling Congestion Avoidance and Reduction in the Michigan-Ohio Transportation Network to Improve Supply Chain Efficiency: Freight ATIS
PY  - 2007/10/01/Progress Report
SP  - 28p
AB  - The overall goal was to develop effective dynamic routing algorithms for congestion avoidance and reduction for commercial cargo carriers given real-time information regarding recurring and non-recurring congestion by Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS). The authors reviewed the literature on state-of-the-art dynamic routing algorithms, tested promising algorithms, recognized their strengths/weaknesses, and identified means to improve their performance. The focus during the previous phase had been on developing Stochastic Dynamic Programming (SDP) based algorithms for optimal routing under ATIS. In this progress report, the authors adapted the more computationally efficient AO algorithms for developing optimal policies.
KW  - Advanced traveler information systems
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - Congestion avoidance
KW  - Delivery service
KW  - Dynamic models
KW  - Dynamic programming
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Incident management
KW  - Literature reviews
KW  - Michigan
KW  - Ohio
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Traffic congestion
UR  - http://mioh-utc.udmercy.edu/research/sc-02/pdf/MIOH_UTC_SC2__Proj2_2007Oct_Final_Report_Enabling_Congestion_Avoidance_etc.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1213879
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01537444
AU  - Brewe, Jared
AU  - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety/NUTC program
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Behavior of High-Performance Concrete in Structural Applications
PY  - 2007/10//Final Report
SP  - 6p
AB  - This research project is comprised of several phases of work, with each phase including several opportunities for contribution to civil engineering. The first phase involved concrete mixture optimization for high-strength concrete; followed by phase two looking into important material characteristics of high-strength concrete such as creep and shrinkage which would include structural testing of specimens produced using mixtures developed, and the final phase would lead to development of empirical predictors or models of structural behavior.
KW  - Creep
KW  - High performance concrete
KW  - High strength concrete
KW  - Laboratory tests
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - Mix design
KW  - Optimization
KW  - Shrinkage
UR  - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/R203_Brewe_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1322363
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01475842
AU  - Ripplinger, David
AU  - Mielke, Jon
AU  - Small Urban and Rural Transit Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - City of Brookings: Transportation Gap Analysis & Recommendations
PY  - 2007/10
AB  - This report presents the findings and recommendations of a study commissioned by the City of Brookings to identify gaps between residents' personal mobility needs and existing services and to recommend actions, including opportunities to improve coordination among area service providers. The study included two meetings of an advisory group, which included representatives from the City of Brookings, public and private transportation providers, social service agencies, South Dakota State University, Brookings Public School District, and downtown Brookings. During the first meeting, transportation needs and available services were identified. During the second meeting, areas of concern and recommendations were presented for discussion. Information gathered during these meetings was crucial to the preparation of this report.
KW  - Brookings (South Dakota)
KW  - Coordination
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Needs assessment
KW  - Service agencies
KW  - Transportation disadvantaged persons
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://www.ugpti.org/pubs/pdf/SP167.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1244472
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01475829
AU  - Miller, James H
AU  - Small Urban and Rural Transit Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Business Plan for River Cities Public Transit, Pierre, South Dakota
PY  - 2007/10
SP  - 68p
AB  - This business plan includes an analysis of the current River Cities Public Transit (RCPT) services, organization, management, and vehicles and facilities. It also includes an analysis of the market for public transit in RCPT's eight-county region and how well RCPT serves that market. Finally, the plan includes an analysis of the financial condition of RCPT and projects future financing requirements for both capital and operating expenses. Key findings and recommendations are included throughout the plan.
KW  - Financing
KW  - Market assessment
KW  - Pierre (South Dakota)
KW  - Planning
KW  - Public transit
KW  - River Cities Public Transit
KW  - Transit operating agencies
UR  - http://www.ugpti.org/pubs/pdf/DP194.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1244470
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01475828
AU  - Mielke, Jon
AU  - Ripplinger, David
AU  - Small Urban and Rural Transit Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Tribal Transit Demographic Need Indicators
PY  - 2007/10
SP  - 140p
AB  - In 2005, Congress enacted the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act - A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). This highway funding legislation created a new Section 5311c program, which provided funding for Indian tribes and the provision of public transit programs serving small urban and rural (other than urbanized) areas with populations of under 50,000. This study provides transit-related demographic information concerning the 332 federally recognized Indian tribes in the lower 48 states. Quantifying related needs is an essential component of designing and carrying out public policy related to the new 5311c program.
KW  - Demographics
KW  - Indian reservations
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Native Americans
KW  - Needs assessment
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Rural areas
KW  - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
KW  - United States
UR  - http://www.ugpti.org/pubs/pdf/DP197.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1244473
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01468451
TI  - Environmental Policy and Environmental Protection: A Longitudinal Analysis of the Impact of Governmental Policies on CO2 Emissions in OECD Countries, 1990-2003
AB  - Despite clear evidence that carbon dioxide emissions have contributed significantly to global climate change, there exist few studies examining the effect of governmental policies on the release of greenhouse gases (GHGs) including carbon dioxide (CO2). The study proposed here will address this lacuna in the literature by using longitudinal regression analysis to assess the effects of governmental policies on CO2 emissions in developed countries, relying on data from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the years 1990 through 2003. Policies targeting the transportation sector figure prominently in this analysis. In particular, this research examines the impact each of the following policies have had on CO2 emissions: the adoption of fuel mileage standards, the levying of "green" taxes on petroleum and diesel fuels, investment in public transportation and the road and rail infrastructure, and the channeling of research and development funds toward the development of alternative fuels.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Carbon dioxide
KW  - Climate change
KW  - Diesel fuels
KW  - Environmental policy
KW  - Environmental protection
KW  - Greenhouse gases
KW  - Pollutants
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1236688
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01138551
AU  - Holloway, William
AU  - Adams, Teresa M
AU  - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE)
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Wisconsin Trucker's Guide 2007
PY  - 2007/10
SP  - 46p
AB  - The purpose of this guidebook is to provide general information about rules and regulations that directly relate to the Wisconsin trucking industry.  The contents are organized as follows:  (1) General Information; (2) Carrier Requirements; (3) Driver Requirements; (4) Vehicle Requirements; (5) Size/Weight Requirements; and (6) Hazardous Materials.
KW  - Commercial drivers licenses
KW  - Commercial vehicle operations
KW  - Guidelines
KW  - Hazardous materials
KW  - Motor carriers
KW  - Size and weight regulations
KW  - State laws
KW  - Truck drivers
KW  - Trucking
KW  - Trucks
KW  - Wisconsin
UR  - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/TruckersGuideFinal.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/898964
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01103858
AU  - Rodier, Caroline J
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Beyond Uncertainty: Modeling Transportation, Land Use, and Air Quality in Planning
PY  - 2007/10
SP  - 60p
AB  - This study focuses on moving past the issues of uncertainty in models used to forecast the travel, land use, and air quality effects of transportation projects and policies. This is accomplished by first presenting a literature review on error and uncertainty in travel and land use models. The objective here is to understand key sources, likely confidence bounds, and potential biases. The report next presents results of interviews with modeling experts in order to gain insight into how uncertain models may be improved and better applied in transportation studies. Finally, the report presents a series of cases studies that illustrate innovative and potentially more credible approaches to modeling given different study objectives, model capability, and knowledge of model uncertainty.
KW  - Air quality
KW  - City planning
KW  - Land use models
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Policy analysis
KW  - Uncertainty
UR  - http://transweb.sjsu.edu/mtiportal/research/publications/documents/07-01.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/863304
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01095650
AU  - Tyrell, David
AU  - Martinez, Eloy
AU  - Jacobsen, Karina
AU  - Perlman, Benjamin
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Passenger Cab Car Grade Crossing Impact Test Report: Rail Passenger Equipment Impact Tests
PY  - 2007/10//Final Report
SP  - 72p
AB  - Two full-scale oblique grade crossing impact tests were conducted in June 2002 to compare the crashworthiness performance of alternative corner post designs on rail passenger cab cars. On June 4, 2002, a cab car fitted with an end frame built to pre-1999 requirements impacted a steel coil at approximately 14 mph (22.5 km/h). Following on June 7, 2002, a cab car fitted with an end frame built to current requirements also impacted a steel coil at approximately 14 mph (22.5 km/h). The tests were conducted in response to a recommendation from the American Public Transportation Association’s Passenger Rail Equipment Safety Standards Committee to measure the crashworthiness performance of alternative cab car end frame designs. During the test of the 1990s design, the corner post failed, eliminating the survival space for the operator. During the test of the state-of-the-art (SOA) design cab car, the corner post remained attached and deformed less than 9 in (228 mm), preserving space for the operator. The crush of the cars was analyzed using detailed finite element models. The impact end of each car was modeled, including approximately one quarter of the length of the car. The back end of the cab car model was fixed, and its end structure was impacted by an initially moving cylinder with the same mass and dimensions as the steel coil used in the tests. The results from the full-scale grade crossing impact tests validated the preliminary results of the three-dimensional lumped parameter computer model of the collision dynamics.
KW  - Crashworthiness
KW  - Finite element method
KW  - Impact tests
KW  - Railroad cab cars
KW  - Railroad facilities
KW  - Railroad grade crossings
KW  - Railroad safety
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - State of the art
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34500/34530/DOT-VNTSC-FRA-08-01.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/855731
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01084830
AU  - Memmott, Jeffery
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Trends in Personal Income and Passenger Vehicle Miles
PY  - 2007/10//Special Report
SP  - 4p
AB  - For years, increasing income has been a principal factor contributing to the rapid growth of highway passenger travel. As incomes increased, the demand for additional transportation services manifested itself in a variety of ways: (1) more individuals and households acquired personal vehicles; (2) the proportion of multiple vehicle households grew; (3) families moved to larger and more comfortable housing in the suburbs, thereby increasing commuting trip distances; and (4) the number and length of discretionary trips increased. As a result, passenger highway travel, as reflected in vehicle miles of travel (VMT), increased rapidly. But there have been discussions since at least the early 1990s about whether the effects of rising incomes on travel demand would start to diminish. That speculation now appears to be a reality as recent data suggest the relationship has weakened—vehicle travel growth has started to slow in comparison to growth in real personal income. Historically, passenger vehicle miles traveled and real personal income have grown at about the same rate, and at a much higher rate than population. Both also exhibit very similar patterns during periods of economic recession and expansion. However, since 1997, a widening gap has emerged between the trends in real personal income and passenger VMT. The growth in passenger VMT is slowing down even though personal income continues to increase.
KW  - Commuters
KW  - Highway travel
KW  - Income
KW  - Passenger vehicles
KW  - Residential location
KW  - Suburbs
KW  - Travel demand
KW  - Trend (Statistics)
KW  - Trip length
KW  - Vehicle miles of travel
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2007_10_03/index.html
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2007_10_03/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/844594
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01103411
AU  - Li, Zongzhi
AU  - Kaini, Praveen
AU  - Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
TI  - Optimal Investment Decision-Making for Highway Transportation Asset Management Under Risk and Uncertainty
PY  - 2007/09/30/Final Report
SP  - 211p
AB  - Efficient highway investment decision-making becomes increasingly important in transportation. In order to facilitate such a decision process, first issue is to estimate benefits of highway projects and utilize those values for project selection to yield optimal investment decisions. The existing methodologies for highway project evaluation are limited to probabilistic risk assessments of input factors such as construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance costs, travel demand, and discount rates that are inherited with risks. This research introduces a new approach for highway project evaluation extended from Shackle’s model to explicitly address cases where those factors are under uncertainty with no definable probability distributions. Then, a generalized methodology for highway project evaluation with input factors under certainty, risk, and uncertainty is established. If an input factor is under certainty, its single value is directly used. If an input factor is under risk, the mathematical expectation of the factor based on probabilistic risk assessment can be determined. If an input factor is under uncertainty, a single-valued outcome of the factor can be estimated according to a preset decision rule in the extension of Shackle’s model. The values of input factors separately determined under certainty, risk, and uncertainty can be used to compute the overall benefits of a highway project in the physical asset’s one service life-cycle and in perpetuity horizon, respectively. The developed methodology offers flexibility for the decision-maker to consider any combination of input factors under certainty, risk or uncertainty and it could be applied to estimate the amount of benefits associated with sub-project benefit items (if a specific benefit item is further separable) under certainty, risk, or uncertainty in accordance with available information. For project selection, a stochastic optimization model is developed as the multi-choice multidimensional Knapsack problem with Ω-stage budget recourses. The model facilitates the selection of a subset of candidate highway projects across a multiyear period under budget uncertainty in order to achieve maximized overall project benefits. Contract-, corridor-, and deferment-based tradeoff methods are employed to assess the impacts of spatial and temporal restrictions on project selection results. An efficient solution algorithm with the computational complexity of O(N2) is developed for the proposed stochastic model. A case study using data on state highway programming in Indiana for period 1996-2006 is conducted to apply the methodology for project evaluation with input factors under certainty, risk, and uncertainty, and the stochastic model for project selection under budget uncertainty. Cross comparisons of project benefits estimated with and without uncertainty considerations are made. The overall benefits of projects selected using different tradeoff analysis methods in the stochastic model are compared. Furthermore, the respective project selection results are matched with the actual programming decisions and relatively high consistency rate is obtained. The new methodology and model can be adopted by state transportation agencies to improve the efficiency of highway investment decisions.
KW  - Alternatives analysis
KW  - Asset management
KW  - Benefits
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Evaluation
KW  - Financing
KW  - Highway projects
KW  - Highways
KW  - Investments
KW  - Optimization
KW  - Programming (Planning)
KW  - Project selection
KW  - Risk analysis
KW  - Stochastic processes
KW  - Uncertainty
UR  - http://www.mrutc.org/research/0710/07-10_MRUTC_FR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/860547
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01543774
TI  - Public and Private Sector Interdependence in Freight Transportation Markets
AB  - Decisions about the future of the U.S. freight system should be based on a good understanding of freight markets, trends, and relationships. Fundamental to this assessment is an understanding of the demand and supply for various freight modes, including pricing, and how they are affected by public-sector decisions. There is a perception that the public sector and private sector are two distinct cultures and possess different socioeconomic decision drivers. There may be a gap between public-sector and private-sector objectives that can be detrimental to our economy, and the efficient and effective movement of freight. There are real differences in the decision processes and objectives between public-sector and private-sector organizations. Research is needed to provide the perspective of each that will improve communication and thereby freight policy planning. The objective of this project is to develop a freight primer that offers public-sector decision makers a deeper understanding of the importance of freight, the factors that drive private freight decisions, and the interaction of public policy with the public- and private-sector decision-making processes. The primer will provide guidance and a discussion framework for public-sector decision makers so that they have an improved understanding of how public policies influence freight transportation markets and private freight decisions. The research will focus on current and future demand for freight transportation (in the context of global and national economic trends and advanced business logistics practices) and should serve as a foundation for future research.
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Freight service
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Public policy
KW  - Research projects
UR  - http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=1573
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1331881
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01151298
AU  - Skaggs, R Wayne
AU  - Chescheir, George M
AU  - Phillips, Brian D
AU  - North Carolina State University, Raleigh
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Determination of Lateral Effects of Borrow Pits on Hydrology of Adjacent Wetlands
PY  - 2007/09/28/Final Report
SP  - 87p
AB  - A three year research project was conducted to develop and test a method to predict the distance borrow pits should be set back from adjacent wetlands to avoid detrimental impacts on wetland hydrology. The method is based on the Boussinesq equation. Knowledge of soil hydraulic properties and the time, T25, required for characteristic water table drawdown is necessary to calculate the setback. DRAINMOD simulations were conducted to determine the T25 values for all 100 North Carolina counties. A survey of 27 borrow pits indicated seepage from the wetland to the pit in 42% of the pits, pit to the wetland in 31% and sometimes in one direction and vice versa in 27% of the pits. Eight borrow pits were instrumented to determine the response of the water level in the pit, and the water table in adjacent wetlands, to rainfall, evapotranspiration and seepage. The time required after closure for the water level in pits to rise to equilibrium varied from 10 to 23 months with an average of 17 months. The equilibrium water level is a critical factor affecting the impact of the pit on hydrology of adjacent wetlands. This depth depends primarily on the elevation of surface water outlets, the depths of adjacent drainage ditches or other subsurface drainage sinks in close proximity to the pit, and the natural depth of the water table prior to the construction of the pit. Equilibrium water levels in 5 of the 8 instrumented pits were lower than the surface of adjacent wetlands, with seepage from the wetland to the pit. The average water levels in the 5 pits ranged from 1.0 to 4.1 ft. below the surface of adjacent wetlands. Water level elevations in the other 3 pits were equal to or above the elevation of adjacent wetlands. The method developed herein was used to predict setback requirements for the 5 instrumented borrow pits having seepage from wetlands to the pit. Results were compared to the potential lateral impacts determined from measured water table data. The setback distances predicted using the measured pit water levels were about 60% greater than the measured impacts on average. The method is based on conservative assumptions so the overestimation was not unexpected. Use of a constant 2 ft. depth of water in the pit predicted setback requirements within 16% of measured potential impacts for 3 of the 5 cases; the setback was overestimated by more than a factor of 2 for the other two pits. However, the projected lateral impacts were less than 50 ft. in both cases. It was concluded that the proposed method will provide conservative but reasonable estimates of the setback necessary to avoid impacts on the hydrology of wetlands adjacent to borrow pits.
KW  - Borrow pits
KW  - Drainage
KW  - Hydrology
KW  - Lateral effect
KW  - Water table
KW  - Wetlands
UR  - http://www.ncdot.org/doh/preconstruct/tpb/research/download/2005-24FinalReport.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/913328
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572222
TI  - Enzymatic and Multiphase Solution Processing of Lignocellulosic Biomass
AB  - The objective of this research project is to develop an integrated economical process for saccharification of lignocellulosic residual biomass into energy-related products.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Energy
KW  - Enzymes
KW  - Lignocellulose
KW  - Saccharification
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363840
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572304
TI  - Developing the Potential of Hazelnuts as a Feedstock for Biodiesel and Other Oleochemicals in the Northeast
AB  - Hazelnuts produce nearly twice as much oil per acre as soybean, but are susceptible to a blight.  This project will evaluate up to 200 Eastern Filbert Blight Resistant varieties of hazelnut for oil quality and yield and will establish field trials on the top 10 performers.  The project encountered significantly more weed pressure at class IV Kleinsville shale - Somerset, NJ location compared to the other two locations. Based on recommendations, Triple Super Phosphate was applied at 0.25 lbs/1000 sq ft to the switchgrass seeding to improve phosphorous availability and promote root growth of the switchgrass seedlings. Plots are establishing well, however there is still significant weed pressure. A broadleaf weed control application is scheduled for this week to remove broadleaf weeds.
KW  - Biodiesel fuels
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Field tests
KW  - Grasses
KW  - Nuts (Fruit)
KW  - Oils
KW  - Seeding
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363924
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572302
TI  - Enhanced Microbial Cellulose Degradation and H₂ Production above 80°C
AB  - This research project will screen a culture collection (>25) of microbes from deep-sea geothermal vents for their ability to grow on microcrystalline cellulose and to determine whether these organisms can degrade cellulose with H&amp;#8322; as the primary waste product.
KW  - Aquatic life
KW  - Biodeterioration
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Degradation (Hydrology)
KW  - Geothermal resources
KW  - Waste products
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363922
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572271
TI  - Improving Woody Biomass Separation by Enzymatic Means
AB  - Breaking down the complex microscopic plant cell structures into sugars is an important and complex step in making ethanol from lignocellulosic plant materials. The project examines enzymatic methods to break bonds between the lignin and hemicellulose components of wood. No enzymes had been known that specifically target the ether bonds between lignin and hemicellulose. With the aid of a unique artificial hemicellulose-lignin molecule that lights up when a potentially useful enzyme acts on it, the laboratory has discovered a new enzyme that targets these bonds, along with the novel microorganism that makes it. The laboratory has characterized the expression of the enzyme and has isolated and sequenced a recombinant version of the enzyme's active site. The recombinant version of the enzyme is being isolated and will be used for tests on natural wood substrates.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Energy conservation
KW  - Enzymes
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Plants
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Wood
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363889
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572270
TI  - Biomass Feedstock Production in the Northeast: Economic and Environmental Implications
AB  - The goal of this project is to assist landowners and land managers, their technical advisors, and policy developers in evaluating options for dramatically increasing the biomass productivity of landscapes in the Northeast Sun Grant region. The analyses were conducted at three scales: 1) field &amp; farm scale, 2) watershed &amp; biorefinery scale, and 3) Northeast regional scale. FIELD &amp; FARM SCALE: The analysis will predict feedstock production potential and effects at farm scale using DAYCENT (field scale biophysical model - carbon, nitrogen fluxes, energy bal). Then, DAYCENT predictions are compared with data-base driven tools: IFSM (whole-farm scale mechanistic model -growth, harvest, handling, storage) I-FARM - (whole-farm scale - biophysical &amp; economic model to simulate feedstock production. Predict financial gains and losses at farm scale. Develop biomass farm profit optimization report by state, Biomass production roadblocks report by state, Guidelines for biofuels investment at farm level by state, Identify incentives that promote profitable production of biofuels in Northeast. REGIONAL and BIOREFINERY SCALES: The project will develop scenarios of regional biomass supply chains and processing facilities, analyze technical/economic feasibility of regional biomass processing facilities (RBMPF), and develop 3 test location/scenarios for northeast RBMPF, identify factors for success; Geospatial - strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis on regional level (near term 5-10 y, and 20-30 y), biomass feedstock production capacity, potential effects of northeast region fuel production on: food, feed, fiber production capacity Regional variation in energy inputs/outputs including transportation fuels Net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water and air quality impacts.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Biorefining
KW  - Energy conservation
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Farming
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Northeastern United States
KW  - Research projects
KW  - SWOT analysis
KW  - Watersheds
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363888
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572269
TI  - Development of a Temperature-Phased Anaerobic Digester for Enhanced Conversion of Solids in Animal Manure and Food Wastes to Methane
AB  - Methane production by anaerobic digestion is considered on the best methods to generate methane bioenergy, especially from livestock manures and food-processing wastes, however up to 50% of the lignocellulosic solids pass through AD undigested. The objectives of this project are: (1) Develop a temperature-phased anaerobic digester (TPAD) process with enhanced digestion of solids by increasing hydrolysis of lignocellulose in these wastes. (2) Implementation of an integrated research platform consisting of rrs gene sequencing and metagenomics to identify key microbes mediating the TPAD process. (3) Phylogenetic identification of microbes from 3 communities(thermophilic, mesophilic and control) (rrs genes - which microbes are present and which are missing). (4) Identification and characterization of genes encoding hydrolysis of cellulose and other plant polymeric materials.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Bioenergy
KW  - Energy conservation
KW  - Energy conversion
KW  - Food processing
KW  - Livestock
KW  - Methane
KW  - Waste products
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363887
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572255
TI  - Small Farm Integrated Energy System Design
AB  - The purpose of this project is to design an anaerobic digester for dairy farm with less than 100 cows (representing 75% of New York (NY) diary farms). The anaerobic digester design will not exceed the normal management skills of a small farm operator and could be incorporated into a system. as shown here. The anaerobic digester design will be: Inexpensive, simple design, easy to operate.
KW  - Cows
KW  - Dairy products
KW  - Design
KW  - Energy
KW  - Energy resources
KW  - Farms
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363873
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572223
TI  - Bacterial Adaptations for Enhanced Cellulose Utilization: A Systems Approach
AB  - This research project will demonstrate a broad range of metabolic pathway responses of cellulose thermocellum bacteria using dissolved gas/growth rate as environmental perturbations to improve ethanol production.
KW  - Bacteria
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Perturbations
KW  - Production
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363841
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572221
TI  - Mechanisms of Surfactant Effects on Biomass Conversion
AB  - The objective of this research project is to develop a comprehensive understanding (set of parameters) of the mechanisms by which surfactants enhance the enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Energy conversion
KW  - Enzymes
KW  - Hydrolysis
KW  - Surface active agents
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363839
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572220
TI  - Comparative Genomics Guided Genetic Modification of Switchgrass Cell Wall for Improved Lignin Characteristics and Increased Cellulose Availability
AB  - This research project will identify key switchgrass genes for lignin down-regulation and develop modified switchgrass plants for future research.  The goal is to genetically modify switchgrass cell wall for improved lignin characteristics and increased cellulose availability.
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Genetics
KW  - Grasses
KW  - Lignin
KW  - Modifications
KW  - Plants
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363838
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572218
TI  - Evaluation of Reduced Lignin Softwood and Hardwoods for Improved Conversion to Bioethanol
AB  - The objective of this research project is to develop a process to increase the amount and efficiency of hemicellulose extraction, analyze yield and efficiency of low-lignin wood conversion to biofuels.
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Energy conversion
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Hardwoods
KW  - Lignin
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363836
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569479
TI  - Spatial Analysis of Mobility Patterns (formerly Integrated Land-Use, Transportation and Environmental Modeling: Complex Systems Approaches and Advanced Policy Applications)
AB  - The system of modern automotive transportation suffers from perpetually increasing demand. In this light, we are examining a simple cellular automata model of vehicle traffic (BML), and investigating the utility of intelligent traffic signals.  The work is part of a larger effort at UVM to model traffic and its relationship to land use in Chittenden County, Vermont.  As part of this larger effort, we are examining the stability of TRANSIMS, a state-of-the-art agent-based model of transportation developed by Los Alamos National Lab.  UrbanSim will be coupled to TRANSIMS and used to simulate changes in land use.  The sensitivity of the coupled model to the level of model complexity is being examined through comparative variation in different dynamic processes, submodels, variables, and parameters.  The goal will be to develop a guidance matrix that would inform analysts of the appropriate level of model complexity required for a given practical application. Graduate students interested in becoming involved should contact the Co-PI Chris Danforth at Chris.Danforth@uvm.edu.
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Land use models
KW  - Policy analysis
KW  - Research projects
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1360875
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569214
TI  - Emissions & Performance of Alternative Vehicles in Northern Climates
AB  - The focus of this project is to quantify "real-world" emissions from hybrid versus non-hybrid vehicles. State-of-the-art micro-simulation models can replicate vehicle activity, fuel economy and emissions. Unfortunately, the factors used by such models are often based on data from laboratory tests conducted under ideal conditions.  Transportation planning models are the basis for decision-making related to new infrastructure, congestion mitigation and safety. These models are also used to evaluate the air quality impacts of transportation projects under Federal "Conformity" legislation requirements (CFR, 2006; FHWA, 2006). State-of-the-art micro simulation models, such as TRANSIMS, model second-by-second vehicle activity (speed and acceleration rate), fuel economy, and emissions (LANL, 2005). Unfortunately, the emissions algorithms used by such models are often based on look-up tables of data from laboratory dynamometer tests conducted under ideal conditions (i.e. new vehicles, 70 degrees F) that do not capture actual "real-world", on-road emissions accurately and do not account for real-world factors such as road grade, temperature or other non-ideal factors. Furthermore, due to their recent introduction, the emissions benefits of alternative technologies like hybrid-electric vehicles and alternative fuels (biofuels) are not incorporated due to a lack of emissions and performance data.  The project's engineers will focus on quantifying real-world emissions from alternative vehicles; the project's behavioral scientists will focus on public understanding of vehicle emissions - how citizens understand things they cannot see -- and the effect that their understanding has on their behavior related to emissions. Therefore, in addition to developing a new alternative vehicle/fuels emissions database, this unique research collaboration will explore ways to improve the communication of the research results to the public as well as to transportation planners and policy makers.  The objectives of the project are to:  1. Quantify real-world emissions and performance of hybrid passenger car vehicles operating in cold weather and hilly, rural terrain. 2. Quantify emissions from diesel vehicles and engines operating on biodiesel fuels. 3. Develop and evaluate low-cost sensors to facilitate widespread real-world vehicle testing. 4. Evaluate disaggregate hybrid vehicle performance for micro simulation models. 5. Develop modal emissions and activity models for hybrid and biodiesel vehicles. 6. Establish a baseline for public knowledge of and behaviors affecting vehicle emissions. 7. Utilize the public knowledge baseline from Objective 6 to develop educational materials that maximize information internalization and affect subsequent emissions-related behavior, including information dissemination through social networks.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Emission control systems
KW  - Hybrid vehicles
KW  - Microsimulation
KW  - Northern California
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Research projects
KW  - State of the art
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/emissions-performance-of-alternative-vehicles-in-northern-climates/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359769
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569204
TI  - The Incentive Elasticity of Demand for Non-Motorized Transportation
AB  - Transportation and obesity are two of this decade's largest public policy challenges, with non-motorized commuting at the nexus of the two issues. Economists and transportation planners have long been studying mode choice and predicting demand for motorized alternatives. This research represents a preliminary investigation into demand for non-motorized commute modes and the role policy may play in promoting these modes.
KW  - Commuters
KW  - Elasticity (Economics)
KW  - Mode choice
KW  - Nonmotorized transportation
KW  - Obesity
KW  - Policy making
KW  - Public policy
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/estimating-an-incentive-elasticity-of-demand-for-non-motorized-transportation/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359759
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569199
TI  - Integrated Land-Use, Transportation and Environmental Modeling: Stormwater - Part 1
AB  - This project is investigating how various road types (highway, suburban paved, and rural unpaved) and road density (low versus high) affects water quality, stream integrity, and pollutant load. The research team has instrumented six small watersheds in Chittenden County ranging from a highly urban watershed with a high density of paved roads to a relatively undeveloped watershed with rural unpaved roads to continuously measure water flow, temperature, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen concentrations. The team is also collecting flow-proportional water samples to examine water quality changes in storm events, focusing on suspended sediment, chloride (road salt), total phosphorus, and total nitrogen concentrations. The project team will also characterize stream geomorphic and habitat conditions, and gather detailed land use, soils, and other information about the watersheds draining to each site. The results from this research will then be used to develop models that can be used to predict how differences in road types, road densities, soils, and land use affect water quality, stream integrity, and pollutant load. These analyses are relevant to the integrated model because land use and land cover are standard outputs of UrbanSim. Once these relationships are established, they can be used to link standard model outputs (e.g. land use change, road type and density) under varying development scenarios to predicted water quality characteristics.
KW  - Deicing chemicals
KW  - Detention basins
KW  - Drainage
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Runoff
KW  - Water quality management
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/integrated-land-use-transportation-and-environmental-modeling-stormwater/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359754
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569191
TI  - Application of the Network Robustness Index to Identify Critical Road Network Links
AB  - This project investigates the robustness, redundancy and resiliency of the transportation network under current and future conditions. Transportation planning efforts, especially those involving highway capacity expansions, have traditionally relied on the Volume/Capacity (V/C) ratio to identify congested or critical links, resulting in localized solutions that do not consider system-wide impacts related to congestion, security and emergency response. Members of the research team recently developed the Network Robustness Index (NRI): a new, comprehensive, system-wide approach for identifying critical links and evaluating transportation network performance. It relies on readily available sources of data from travel demand forecasting models. Analysis of three hypothetical networks has demonstrated that NRI-based solutions yield far greater system-wide benefits than traditional (V/C) solutions, as measured by travel-time savings (Scott et al. 2006). While the NRI has been tested on hypothetical networks, it has not yet been applied to a real world road network. As part of the current project, it is proposed to utilize actual road networks and origin/destination (O/D) pairs as input data to assess which network links are considered the most vulnerable in Chittenden County, Vermont. The integrated UrbanSim/TRANSIMS model will provide the inputs needed to calculate the NRI for Chittenden County. This will include information about specific road networks, traffic volumes and link capacities, and origin-destination flows. Researchers will use the NRI to identify specific road links that are the most critical or valuable with respect to maintaining the robustness of the overall road network system within Chittenden County based on average peak period traffic conditions. The most critical links identified by the NRI will be compared for overlap with those identified by other more traditional measures.
KW  - Highway capacity
KW  - Network Robustness Index
KW  - Origin and destination
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic flow
KW  - Traffic volume
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Travel time
KW  - Vermont
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/network-robustness-index-a-comprehensive-spatial-based-measure-for-transportation-infrastructure-management/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359746
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569169
TI  - Emissions and Performance of Alternative Vehicles in Northern Climates
AB  - The focus of this project is to quantify "real-world" emissions from hybrid versus non-hybrid vehicles. State-of-the-art micro-simulation models can replicate vehicle activity, fuel economy and emissions. Unfortunately, the factors used by such models are often based on data from laboratory tests conducted under ideal conditions. Transportation planning models are the basis for decision-making related to new infrastructure, congestion mitigation and safety. These models are also used to evaluate the air quality impacts of transportation projects under Federal "Conformity" legislation requirements (CFR, 2006; FHWA, 2006). State-of-the-art micro simulation models, such as TRANSIMS, model second-by-second vehicle activity (speed and acceleration rate), fuel economy, and emissions (LANL, 2005). Unfortunately, the emissions algorithms used by such models are often based on look-up tables of data from laboratory dynamometer tests conducted under ideal conditions (i.e. new vehicles, 70 degrees F) that do not capture actual "real-world", on-road emissions accurately and do not account for real-world factors such as road grade, temperature or other non-ideal factors. Furthermore, due to their recent introduction, the emissions benefits of alternative technologies like hybrid-electric vehicles and alternative fuels (biofuels) are not incorporated due to a lack of emissions and performance data.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Exhaust gases
KW  - Hybrid vehicles
KW  - Microsimulation
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - State of the art
KW  - TRANSIMS (Computer model)
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/emissions-performance-of-alternative-vehicles-in-northern-climates/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359724
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01566186
TI  - Emissions and Performance of Alternative Vehicles in Northern Climates
AB  - The focus of this project is to quantify "real-world" emissions from hybrid versus non-hybrid vehicles. State-of-the-art micro-simulation models can replicate vehicle activity, fuel economy and emissions. Unfortunately, the factors used by such models are often based on data from laboratory tests conducted under ideal conditions. Transportation planning models are the basis for decision-making related to new infrastructure, congestion mitigation and safety. These models are also used to evaluate the air quality impacts of transportation projects under Federal "Conformity" legislation requirements (CFR, 2006; FHWA, 2006). State-of-the-art micro simulation models, such as TRANSIMS, model second-by-second vehicle activity (speed and acceleration rate), fuel economy, and emissions (LANL, 2005). Unfortunately, the emissions algorithms used by such models are often based on look-up tables of data from laboratory dynamometer tests conducted under ideal conditions (i.e. new vehicles, 70 degrees F) that do not capture actual "real-world", on-road emissions accurately and do not account for real-world factors such as road grade, temperature or other non-ideal factors. Furthermore, due to their recent introduction, the emissions benefits of alternative technologies like hybrid-electric vehicles and alternative fuels (biofuels) are not incorporated due to a lack of emissions and performance data.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Exhaust gases
KW  - Hybrid vehicles
KW  - Microsimulation
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - State of the art
KW  - TRANSIMS (Computer model)
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/emissions-performance-of-alternative-vehicles-in-northern-climates/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1357357
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480778
TI  - Clear Roads' Safety Effect on Elderly Drivers
AB  - Since about five years, Maine Department of Transportation (and many other states) uses anti-icing rather than deicing to keep the state's highways clear of snow and ice, a Clear Roads Strategy.  It meets the general public's demand for high-speed highways in all but the worst storms.  But there are instances when icy spots remain.  Especially elderly drivers with less good eye-sight (particularly when it is dark) may not notice those slippery spots.  The influence of different anti-icing and deicing techniques on crash statistics during storms have not been analyzed in Maine or in any other state according to the literature survey conducted as part of preparing this proposal.  The objective with this project is to study the safety of the Clear Roads Strategy.  In particular, has the strategy lead to higher-speed injury crashes substituting low-speed property-damage-only crashes?  If it is concluded that there is a safety problem, one solution may be to reduce speeds by making the variable advisory speed limits on Maine highways enforceable.
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Anti-icing
KW  - Deicing
KW  - Deicing chemicals
KW  - Maine
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Snow and ice control
KW  - Traffic safety
KW  - Winter maintenance
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249851
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01480777
TI  - Characterizing Older Driver Behavior for Traffic Simulation and Emissions Modeling
AB  - Field data for velocity, acceleration and global positioning system (GPS) location will be collected on actual routes using in-vehicle instrumentation from 60 drivers in Burlington VT. Vehicles specific power will be calculated. Trends and differences in cruise, acceleration an deceleration data while drivers are not constrained by a vehicle in front of them will be explored. Video data will be sued to determine if the driver is constrained. The objective of this proposal is to compare the second-by-second driver behavior of older and middle aged drivers to determine if the aging population should be accounted for in traffic simulation and emission models.
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Crash data
KW  - Cruise control
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Driver information systems
KW  - Global Positioning System
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic simulation
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1249850
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01468417
TI  - Develop Guidelines for Access Management in Las Vegas
AB  - Las Vegas is a rapidly developing area where existing roads may reach their capacity quickly after their open to public. In this case, the roads would have to be widened. A good example for this case may be the Blue Diamond Road. The worry about this road is that the widened road may become congested soon again if the accesses to this road are not well controlled. In that case, there may not be sufficient land available to widen it again.   In the City of Las Vegas, it has been observed that land use plays a dominant role on influencing the operations of transportation system. It has been well recognized that traffic operations can be improved if only one or two corners of an intersection is used for commercial development. It can be seen that over the Las Vegas area, gas stations or retail stores are on every corner of a major intersection. It has been going on for years and the chance to see it changing would not be much.    One way to reduce the number of accesses is to develop a large commercial division at a corner of an intersection in which a circulation system is provided. With fewer access provided to connect to the outside road network, customers or motorists have no problem accessing to their activity destinations. In the current Las Vegas area, there are not many such circulation systems existing.  Conceptually, the spacing between accesses may not need to be too long or too short. If it is too long, traffic would concentrate on one point in space. If it is too short, there would be more conflict points over space. Finding the optimal spacing is actually to find the balancing point. Note that there are two sets of criteria: mobility and safety. It is also worthwhile to investigate the balance points when these two sets of criteria are considered together.   Basically, two approaches will be taken to evaluate the spacing for different accesses. One is based on field data, and the other is based on microscopic simulation. In the first approach, field observational data such as travel time and speed data derived from GPS and crash data from RTC will be used to derive the spacing of different accesses. This approach relies upon the statistical models to derive the optimal spacing criteria. In the second approach, microscopic traffic simulation models will be developed. By conducting sensitivity type of analysis, the optimal spacing can also be derived. In addition to the investigation of spacing, the effectiveness of some typical access management strategies such as street corner circulation system and frontage roads will be analyzed using simulation models. Basically, simulation models will be calibrated for several locations (including both corridors and intersections) in the Las Vegas area. The measures of effectiveness for mobility and safety that can be produced in the traffic simulation model can be used in the investigation. The objective of the study is to develop guidelines on access management for the Las Vegas area. Specially, the spacing between accesses including signal intersections, driveways, and opening in medians will be investigated. The benefit of corner clearance, circulations in commercial subdivisions, and frontage roads will also be evaluated. The investigation and evaluation will be conducted based on (1) using statistics model analyzing field data and (2) developing microscopic simulation models. The findings from the study will be used as a foundation for developing guidelines on access management for the Las Vegas area.
KW  - Access control (Transportation)
KW  - Driveways
KW  - Guidelines
KW  - Intersections
KW  - Land use
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Las Vegas (Nevada)
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Spacing (Engineering)
KW  - Traffic signals
KW  - Urban areas
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1236654
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01468416
TI  - Defining the Digital Highway
AB  - The "Digital Highway" is a static, dynamic, and real-time description of the physical and operational characteristics of our nation's highways that positively impacts the performance, efficiency, safety, security and comfort of drivers.   The digital highway is the backbone that supports the concept of the intelligent highway transportation system of the future.  The information contained in the digital highway database will be used to support future research in a wide range of transportation areas.  This project focuses developing all of the parameters needed to define the "Digital Highway" on 10 miles of highway in Nevada. The proposed research is focused on defining10 miles of Nevada highway as a digital highway.  The static and dynamic parameters that describe the section of highway will be measured and defined.  The test vehicle will be used to monitor and record the real-time parameters that are required to define the selected section of highway.  A web based system will be developed to store and display the information recorded on the digital highway.
KW  - Automated highways
KW  - Digital Highway Data Vehicle
KW  - Real time data processing
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Real time measurement
KW  - Research projects
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1236653
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01468415
TI  - Dust Suppression through Active Control of Vehicle Surfaces
AB  - Vehicle wakes result in the entrainment of dust and result in the injection of particulates high into the atmosphere. If the vehicle wake can be minimized in size, less entrainment will take place. A smaller wake will also decrease vehicle drag with the subsequent decrease in the consumption of fuel. The proposed research project will involve the development of novel control surfaces to be placed on the downstream portion of a vehicle. A pressure transducer located on the back of the vehicle will provide feedback on the strength of the wake. A novel control mechanism will be used to maximize the downstream pressure by adjusting the control surfaces. To test this concept, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) wind tunnel will be used to measure the performance of the control algorithm on a scale model of a vehicle trailer. Dimensional similitude limits the results to low vehicle velocities, but the concept can be verified in the wind tunnel and optimal placement of the control surfaces can be found. Fugitive dust presents a significant health problem in southern Nevada where off-road recreational and construction vehicles can generate large plumes of caliche and surface soils high into the air. In addition to producing a visibility hazard, settling dust with small diameter (PM 10) can settle in human lungs producing health problems and evading the body's ability to remove them. We propose to combine computer-activated control surfaces with control software to reduce the size of vehicle wakes and the subsequent injection of fugitive dust into the atmosphere. If successful, vehicle wake management will reduce the production of dust in the Las Vegas Valley with the add benefit of reducing vehicle drag and fuel costs
KW  - Dust control
KW  - Exhaust gases
KW  - Particulates
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Vehicle performance
KW  - Visibility
KW  - Wind tunnels
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1236652
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01468414
TI  - Build a Mobile Vehicle for In-Situ Measurement of Dust of UFP and PM1
AB  - This project will develop a mobile vehicle equipped with particle size analyzers for in-situ measurement of traffic-generated Ultrafine Particles (UFP, particles with a diameter of 0.1 micrometers or less)) and PM1 (particles with a diameter of 1.0 micrometers or less). The vehicle is different from existing systems which currently measure PM10 (particles with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less) or PM2.5 (particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less). The existing systems can not determine UFP and PM1 which are considered to be a significant human health concern because of the variable composition and the ability of these particles to penetrate deeply into the respiratory tract. The vehicle being developed can measure both particle number concentration and particle size distribution, while the existing systems can only measure the particle number concentration. When the vehicle travels on a predetermined route in urban areas such as Las Vegas, the obtained particle size distribution data would help to develop fine particle emission inventories. This would be the first system of its kind with these capabilities, and may help develop understanding of the emissions of ultrafine particles.
KW  - Air pollution
KW  - Air pollution sources
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Dust control
KW  - Emissions testing
KW  - Exhaust gases
KW  - Particulates
KW  - Pollution
KW  - Research projects
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1236651
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01468413
TI  - Analysis of Alternatives for Accommodating Trucks on Urban Freeways in Southern Nevada
AB  - The objective of this research study is to evaluate short-term operational strategies (e.g., truck restriction, truck only lane) in dealing with existing and near-term growth in truck traffic and long-term strategies (truck only toll and truckways with toll) to accommodate the future truck traffic on urban freeways in Las Vegas. In the evaluation, the mobility and safety benefits of various strategies on accommodating the existing and projected truck traffic in Las Vegas urban freeways will be quantified. Based on the comparison of the strategies with different truck flow forecasts in future, the best strategy for short-term and long-term on accommodating truck traffic on congested urban freeways will be recommended.
KW  - Highway operations
KW  - Las Vegas (Nevada)
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic simulation
KW  - Truck lanes
KW  - Trucks
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1236650
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01464803
TI  - Assessing the Vulnerability of Delaware's Coastal Bridges to Hurricane Forces
AB  - The vulnerability to hurricane forces of a sample of Delaware's coastal bridges will be assessed in this study. The procedures to be used were developed from extensive hurricane history and data collection in the State of Florida and have been extended for application to the entire Gulf and Atlantic coasts. Other efforts are concentrating on the Gulf and southeastern Atlantic coasts to validate the applicability of the procedure. This study extends this validation to the middle Atlantic coast.
KW  - Aerodynamic force
KW  - Atlantic Coast (United States)
KW  - Bridges
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Gulf Coast (United States)
KW  - Hurricanes
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Risk assessment
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/Mertz.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1233035
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01464802
TI  - The Planning and Policy-Making Infrastructure for Transportation in the Northeast Corridor
AB  - The viability and growth of the Northeast Corridor will depend upon how well its transportation infrastructure can anticipate and respond to future demographic and technological changes. However, responsibility for overall Corridor transportation governance, and for each of the major modes operating within it, are fragmented among and within the public and non-governmental sectors and little research has been undertaken to delineate and assess all of its elements and their performance. This project's purpose is to identify the components of the transportation planning and policy making infrastructure for each mode - aerial, auto, marine, rail, trucking - within the Corridor and for their coordination and linkage. The research will produce a directory of major public and non-governmental entities involved in transportation planning and policy making, indicate their purpose and authority, and identify the spatial scale of their transportation-related activities. The resulting database will be publicly available in published form and accessible on the Web and be a first-step in a larger project to assess and examine how to enhance Corridor transportation governance.
KW  - Corridors
KW  - Highway corridors
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Mode choice
KW  - Northeast Corridor
KW  - Policy making
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transportation corridors
KW  - Transportation modes
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/warren.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1233034
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01464801
TI  - Resiliency of Transportation Corridors Before, During, and After Catastrophic Natural Hazards
AB  - The objective of this project is to develop a framework to evaluate the resiliency of transportation corridors before, during or after a catastrophic event. The proposed project faces the challenge of working with diverse sets of data that present several problems such as incomplete data, lack of data, data that is too dense for real-time analysis, and data not made available due to homeland security policies. Given these data challenges, the project develops the framework using a specific example and then attempts to generalize the findings. The project uses US 13 in Sussex County, Delaware as the example. US 13 is subject to flooding, and the project is aware of much of the data that the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) has available. The evaluation will use real-time emergency event management utilizing data generated from the Transportation Management Center integrated with data from other DelDOT sections and other institutions. The proposed research will serve as the initial concepts and framework for a suite of tools to assist agencies to be better prepared for, better able to respond to and better able to recover from catastrophic events due to natural hazards. The research uses existing data, geographic information system (GIS) tools and concepts of resiliency to assist in this important area. A technical report and presentation will document the research results and provide direction for further research, development and implementation.
KW  - Catastrophic events
KW  - Corridors
KW  - Delaware
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Emergency management
KW  - Flood damage
KW  - Floods
KW  - Highway corridors
KW  - National security
KW  - Natural disasters
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transportation corridors
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/Mcneilniggdeliberty.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1233033
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01460227
TI  - Resiliency of Transportation Corridors During Disasters
AB  - Transportation corridors are vital in allowing for public and commercial mobility. When these corridors are compromised during a disaster, the way in which emergency response networks function is critical to ensuring continuity or resumption of the transportation flow. Inter-organizational coordination is central to an effective disaster response and may require interaction across jurisdiction, timely exchange of information, and provision of personnel or material resources. This study examines how multi-organizational actors/agencies expect and are expected to interact during a transportation corridor disaster. Using social network analysis, researchers will examine the codified and actor-anticipated interaction in maintaining the continuity of transportation flows along the I-95 corridor in Delaware. The research will serve to 1) provide information to facilitate planning and management of response in Delaware and the surrounding states; 2) increase our understanding of social response networks in place during corridor disasters, which may have applicability in other geographic areas; and 3) generate results useful in the development of socio-technical systems to better communication and coordination during corridor disasters.
KW  - Corridors
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Emergency management
KW  - Emergency transportation
KW  - Highway corridors
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic flow
KW  - Transportation corridors
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/Wachtendorf.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228443
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01460226
TI  - Development of Delaware Regional Freight Data for Geographic Intermodal Freight Transportation (GIFT) Model
AB  - Freight transportation represents an economically important and fast-growing activity that threatens the resiliency of transportation corridors in many dimensions. Congestion and capacity issues are changing intermodal transportation operations, and increased freight volume add stressors to energy and environmental impacts that require innovative management decisions. The project develops a Geospatial Intermodal Freight Transportation Model (GIFT) that integrates three freight transport modes (road, rail, water) in a single Geographic Information System (GIS) network. This will allow users to conduct route analyses based on such network attributes as: cost, time, distance, energy use, and emissions. Dynamic and visual analysis of these characteristics using an innovative, dynamic, network optimization model supports decision-making associated with freight transport facilities of national significance. The model can be used to evaluate: i) economic, energy, and environmental impacts associated with freight movement; ii) decisions related to various highway and intermodal facility infrastructure decisions; and, iii) decisions aimed at improving highway use efficiency. This project develops Delaware regional analyses of multimodal freight activity for the I-95 corridor, the Northeast Rail corridor, and the Port of Wilmington. The project characterizes freight transportation data and conduct a validation/case analysis for the region, and the project will work to improve the empirical quality of the waterway network. In addition to regionally important insights, this University of Delaware, University Transportation Center  (UD UTC) support will expand capacity at the University of Delaware to complement collaborating partners at Rochester Institute of Technology as the project  works jointly to design and deliver research that will provide a springboard for a high-end, web-enabled modeling system available to agencies and transportation researchers.
KW  - Commodities
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Delaware
KW  - Economic impacts
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight trains
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Research projects
UR  - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/corbett.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228442
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01333196
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Aviation Administration
TI  - Constructing a Low-Cost Ground-Vehicle Driving Simulator at an Airport
PY  - 2007/09//Final Report
SP  - 175p
AB  - Vehicle/pedestrian deviations (VPDs) occur due to many factors, such as the driver’s knowledge of airport layout, required communications, and other operational procedures. To address and create awareness of these issues, research has been conducted to explore the use of simulators in the driver training curriculum. Since training in a simulator, or virtual environment, has been found to be very helpful in learning complex routes as well as in spatial orientation and in assimilating signs and markings (Darken and Peterson, 2002), an initial investigation into making this technology more accessible to airports was needed. Previous work demonstrated the benefits of incorporating a high-fidelity driving simulator into ground vehicle drivers’ training (Chase and Hannon, 2006). Subsequent work showed that a low-cost simulator provided comparable benefits (Chase, 2006). This low-cost simulator was designed and built by staff at the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center and was tested using ground vehicle operators from the Hanscom Field Airport (BED) in Bedford, Massachusetts. The results of training ground vehicle drivers with the low-cost simulator were positive with regard to navigational and spatial awareness issues. The purpose of the current work was to determine the feasibility of airport personnel building and implementing a customized, low-cost driving simulator (approximately $1,000 each). In particular, the project’s goal was to provide the information needed to build a low-cost simulator from the ground up. The report is divided into five sections. Section 1 provides an introduction to the project. Section 2 describes airports’ expectations of a simulator before they began the building process. Section 3 discusses airports’ experience during the building process, including setup activities, the types of questions that arose, and the final product. Section 4 examines how well the end product and the process by which it was achieved matched expectations. Section 5 summarizes the results and explores potential next steps for future research. This work resulted in three key findings. First, airports, regardless of their size, can build their own simulators for vehicle driver training with minimal outside support. Second, the time required for facilities to build their own simulators was three to five hours per week over a period of 25 weeks. Third, the approximate cost of this activity was $1,000 for hardware and software combined. Although the process was more complex than airport personnel anticipated, all who reported stated positive outcomes with their final product and found the simulator to be very beneficial in driver training.
KW  - Airport operations
KW  - Aviation safety
KW  - Driver training
KW  - Driving simulators
KW  - Landside operations (Airports)
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35500/35520/Chase_Constructing.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1096606
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01322412
AU  - Bausch, Carl
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
TI  - Keys to Efficient Development of Useful Environmental Documents
PY  - 2007/09//Final Report
SP  - 45p
AB  - National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents—environmental impact statements and assessments—inform agency  decision making and let the public know about anticipated effects of a proposed Federal action.  The fundamental purposes and  principles of efficient, effective Federal impact statement preparation are set forth in the Council on Environmental Quality’s implementing regulations and guidance that have been in existence for nearly three decades.  These implementing regulations  stress the need for environmental documents to focus on considerations that are truly useful to decision makers and the public.  Over the years, however, a tendency to create excessively long, opaque, and costly environmental impact statements and  assessments has surfaced. Instead of describing in reasonable and comprehensible terms the substance of a proposed project’s  purpose and need, alternatives considered, and potential environmental impacts, these documents are now often sources of  confusion and delay in project approval and implementation.  To facilitate improvement in the clarity, analytical value, and overall quality of environmental documents for transit projects, the  Federal Transit Administration is reexamining its guidance on and practices for environmental documentation.  This handbook is  intended as a tool to assist in achieving compliance, utility, and practicality when preparing environmental documents.
KW  - Compliance
KW  - Environmental impact statements
KW  - Environmental policy
KW  - Environmental risk assessment
KW  - Planning
KW  - Policy making
KW  - Transit projects
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34800/34821/DOT-VNTSC-FTA-07-03.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1083959
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01153625
AU  - Strong, Christopher K
AU  - Western Transportation Institute
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Western States Rural Transportation Technology Implementation Forum: Review of 2007 Meeting
PY  - 2007/09//Draft
SP  - 23p
AB  - The purpose of this review is to document the 2007 Western States Rural Transportation Technology Implementers Forum (WSRTTIF): how and why it was planned, how the forum went, lessons learned and recommendations for the future. The concept of WSRTTIF originated through the rural California/Oregon Advanced Transportation Systems (COATS) partnership. This partnership, initiated in 1998 by the California and Oregon Departments of Transportation with support from the Western Transportation Institute (WTI), has sought to advance the implementation of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) to meet transportation challenges in rural areas. COATS has consisted of three major phases: COATS ITS Strategic Deployment Plan (1998-2001); COATS Showcase (2001-2006); and COATS Phase 3 (2005-present).
KW  - Conferences
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Lessons learned
KW  - Recommendations
KW  - Rural transportation
KW  - Technological innovations
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/documents/reports/4W0905_Final_Report_2007WSRTTIF_Wrap2.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/915032
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01084839
AU  - Young, Peg
AU  - Notis, Ken
AU  - Feuerberg, Gary
AU  - Nguyen, Long
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - The Transportation Services Index Shows Monthly Change in Freight and Passenger Transportation Service
PY  - 2007/09//Special Report
SP  - 4p
AB  - After ringing the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange, on Jan. 29, 2004, then U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta announced the Transportation Services Index (TSI), a new economic indicator intended to use changes in freight and passenger activity as a measure of the performance of the economy. Six weeks later, the first monthly release of the TSI, on March 10, marked the entry of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) into the company of federal statistical agencies that produce monthly U.S. economic indicators. In each ensuing month, BTS has released the updated index showing the change in level of transportation services. The TSI provides a monthly measure of freight and passenger service. Statistical and economic techniques are used to present the output of the different transportation modes in comparable terms, adjusted to correct for the seasonal nature of transportation. The TSI consists of two indexes, a freight TSI and a passenger TSI, which are then combined into a total TSI. Using 2000 as a base year with an index value of 100, the overall TSI has ranged from a value of 66 at the beginning of 1990 to approximately 110 at the end of 2006, reflecting an increase of nearly 70 percent over 17 years. Research has been undertaken on how the pattern of change in the TSI compares with the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and with measures of the business cycle. The passenger TSI has grown over time, despite a sharp drop at the time of the terrorist acts of Sept. 11, 2001, and its growth tends to coincide with growth in GDP. The freight TSI has grown over time as well, though it has grown more slowly than GDP. It tends to move ahead of GDP – that is, it begins to increase its rate of growth before GDP does, and it tends to decrease before GDP declines or slows down.  This special report describes how the TSI is calculated and discusses current research using the TSI.  Modes of transportation included in the TSI include highways, air transportation, water transportation, pipelines, public transit and railroads.
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Business cycles
KW  - Economic conditions
KW  - Economic growth
KW  - Economic indicators
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Gross domestic product
KW  - Highways
KW  - Passenger transportation
KW  - Pipelines
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Transportation services index
KW  - United States
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2007_09_10/index.html
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2007_09_10/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/844596
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01084834
AU  - Memmott, Jeffery
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Highway Bridges in the United States—an Overview
PY  - 2007/09//Special Report
SP  - 6p
AB  - Bridges are an integral part of the U.S. highway network, providing links across natural barriers, passage over railroads and highways, and freeway connections. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) maintains a database of our nation’s highway bridges—the National Bridge Inventory (NBI)—with detailed information on all public road bridges greater than 20 feet. This special report gives a brief synopsis of that inventory, including bridge condition and the resources spent for maintenance and upgrades.
KW  - Bridge condition
KW  - Highway bridges
KW  - Inventory
KW  - Maintenance
KW  - Modernization
KW  - National Bridge Inventory
KW  - United States
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2007_09_19/index.html
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2007_09_19/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30100/30151/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/844595
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01079304
AU  - Goldberg, Bruce
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Making Connections: Intermodal Links in the Public Transportation System
PY  - 2007/09
SP  - 4p
AB  - Since at least 1991, federal transportation policy has sought to encourage intermodal connections – the links that allow passengers to switch from one mode of public transportation to another. The intermodal terminal is a key building block for developing connectivity because travelers can only transfer directly between modes if there is a place to do so. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) has developed a new database of passenger terminals and the connecting modes that directly serve them. The first phase of the database is complete and includes information on direct connections available at all intercity rail stations and all airports with scheduled service. Initial findings for the 48 contiguous states show that: (1) 54 percent of intercity rail stations have intermodal links, (2) 35 percent of airports are served by another scheduled public transportation mode, and (3) Transit bus is the most prevalent connecting mode at airports and intercity rail stations.
KW  - Airport ground transportation
KW  - Airports
KW  - Bus transit
KW  - Connectivity
KW  - Intercity transportation
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Links (Networks)
KW  - Passenger terminals
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroad stations
KW  - Transportation modes
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2007_09_18/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/836638
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01366333
AU  - Patil, Shekhar S
AU  - Abdalla, Ramy S
AU  - Davidson, James S
AU  - University of Alabama, Birmingham
AU  - University Transportation Center for Alabama
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Deck Forms for Bridge Construction Safety
PY  - 2007/08/31/Final Report
SP  - 75p
AB  - Because I-girders have inherently weak torsion resistance, cross-frames and/or diaphragms are placed at close spacing intervals to minimize the susceptibility of individual girders to instability during construction. A recent increase in fatigue problems around discrete brace connections, along with the costs of fabrication, erection, and inspection associated with cross-frames, has prompted the removal of the minimum-spacing requirement from bridge specifications and created interest in identifying alternative construction bracing approaches. Although permanent metal deck forms (PMDF) are widely used in the construction of steel bridges today, the stability they provide is not considered in construction-sequence engineering. Other researchers have investigated the stability that PMDF provides during the construction of bridges of moderate span length. The overall objective of this project was therefore to improve bridge-design efficiency and construction safety by developing strength definition and engineering methodology that considers the contribution of PMDF to stability during the construction of long-span deep steel plate girder bridges. Global tasks included the following: (1) synthesizing all relevant literature; (2) synthesizing state-of-the-art design and construction practice relevant to PMDF, including connection details; (3) developing preliminary engineering approach and concepts and identify research focus; and (4) using advanced finite element methodology to develop and verify proposed design methodology.
KW  - Bridge construction
KW  - Bridge decks
KW  - Bridge design
KW  - Plate girders
KW  - Safety
KW  - Stability (Mechanics)
KW  - Steel
KW  - Strength of materials
UR  - http://utca.eng.ua.edu/files/2012/01/06210-Final-Report.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1134989
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01091658
AU  - Liu, Qun
AU  - Garber, Nicholas J
AU  - University of Virginia, Charlottesville
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Identifying the Impact of Truck-Lane Restriction Strategies on Traffic Flow and Safety Using Simulation
PY  - 2007/08/31/Final Report
SP  - 170p
AB  - The continuous growth of freight transportation over recent years has resulted in an increasing proportion of commercial vehicles on our nations’ highways, which has led to higher truck volumes and more severe truck-related crashes every year. Safety proponents have therefore been advocating for more restrictions to be placed on these commercial vehicles in order to reduce the interaction of these larger vehicles and passenger cars. A popular strategy is the use of different lane restrictions for trucks. However, the effectiveness of these restrictions for trucks differs from case to case due to unique factors of each site, including the type of restriction used, traffic conditions and the geometric characteristics at the site. This has motivated the author to conduct this study to evaluate the impact of these restrictions on traffic operations and safety on freeways with different traffic and geometric characteristics. For the safety evaluation, this research measures the impact of different truck lane restriction strategies (TLRS) using conflict as the measurement of effectiveness (MOE). Conflict has been proven to be highly related to traffic crushes on freeways (FHWA, 1990; Sayed and Zein, 1999; Kaub, 2000). The high frequency of conflicts has also made it possible to collect adequate data for statistical analysis. The MOEs used to evaluate the impact of different lane restrictions on operational performance were lane changes, average speed, speed distribution, and volume distribution. Due to the lack of existing highway locations with different lane restrictions considered in this study, the conflict data were collected using a traffic simulation tool – PARAMICS V3.0 (Quadstone Ltd., 2000), which can simulate the emergent interaction between vehicles but not random crashes on the road network. The effectiveness of different lane restrictions in terms of the above MOEs were evaluated for 14,400 different simulation scenarios by varying lane restriction strategies, traffic conditions (volume, truck percentage) and geometric characteristics (gradient, speed limit, interchange density). The simulation results showed that all the geometric and traffic characteristics had a significant impact on freeway safety and operation. In addition, truck percentage and volume were identified as key factors that had a significant impact on the selection of the optimal truck lane restriction strategy. The ANOVA analyses indicated that the degree of effect of truck lane restriction strategies on safety intensify with the increase in truck percentage and traffic volume. Optimal alternatives of truck lane restriction strategies under different truck percentages and volumes were identified with the objective of reducing traffic conflicts and enhancing LOS (level of service). Guidelines were then developed for the application of truck lane restrictions under alternative traffic and geometric conditions.
KW  - Automobiles
KW  - Geometric segments
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Highway traffic
KW  - Lane restrictions
KW  - Level of service
KW  - Measures of effectiveness
KW  - Simulation
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Traffic characteristics
KW  - Traffic conflicts
KW  - Traffic flow
KW  - Truck lanes
KW  - Truck traffic
KW  - Trucking safety
KW  - Vehicle mix
UR  - http://cts.virginia.edu/docs/UVACTS-14-5-103.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/851568
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01118107
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Rural Interstate Corridor Communications Study Report to Congress
PY  - 2007/08/28
SP  - 178p
AB  - The United States Department of Transportation, working with the U.S. Department of Commerce and with State and local agencies, investigated the prospects for deploying high-speed telecommunications (HST) in three largely rural interstate highway corridors: 1. Interstate Route 90 through South Dakota, northern Iowa, southern Minnesota, and central and western Wisconsin; 2. Interstate Route 20 through northern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama; and 3. Interstate Route 91 through Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Analysis of the corridors was accomplished using geographic information systems (GIS) technology to organize data on demographic, socioeconomic, and other characteristics. State and local stakeholders were consulted regarding telecommunications initiatives, opportunities, and policies in the corridors. Potential benefits of broadband access were assessed using available information on the impacts of high-speed telecommunications access, along with an assessment of the telecommunications needs of residents and business, educational, health industry, and governmental entities in the corridors. Some level of high-speed telecommunications infrastructure exists in all of the corridors, but the availability of new wireless and/or fiber optic capacity in the interstate highway rights-of-way could have significant benefits for the transportation agencies responsible for operating and maintaining these rights-of-way. In addition, the presence of HST in these corridors could make broadband access more available to rural communities where broadband is either currently unavailable or prohibitively expensive.
KW  - Benefits
KW  - Broadband
KW  - Fiber optics
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - High speed telecommunications
KW  - Highway corridors
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Interstate highways
KW  - Rural highways
KW  - Telecommunications
KW  - Wireless communication systems
UR  - http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/int_its_deployment/rural/congrpt0807/report_to_congress.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/876548
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575586
TI  - Development of a Bio-based Industry Utilizing Organic Waste Streams (Confined Animal Feedlot and Biodiesel Co-Products): Production of Biological Thermoplastics and Natural Fiber-Plastic Composites (NFPCs)
AB  - The proposed polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA)-wastewater treatment process represents an application of environmentally benign manufacturing that reduces reliance on fossil fuel, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and yields a sustainable commodity.  By integrating PHA production into wastewater treatment the research team eliminates costs associated with feedstock production; recycle waste carbon that would otherwise be landfilled, land applied, or combusted; and incur negligible additional energy requirements given that wastewater treatment is mandated in most countries.  By utilizing unextracted PHA in the manufacture of a commodity,  Natural Fiber-Plastic Composites (NFPCs) the research team eliminates the energy and costs associated with extraction in conventional PHA production.  NFPCs produced from biologically derived PHA and biosolids represent can be used to offset the cost of advanced wastewater treatment.   
Both of the industries targeted in this research are fundamentally rural-based, highly relevant and important in the western United States, and rely on the supply of regional feedstocks; integration of a polymer production and NFPC process utilizing the associated waste byproducts would only serve to enhance, diversify, and make more competitive these rural, bio-based industries.  More specifically, relative to the SunGrant mission and objectives, the proposed study will do the following:
 (1) Assess the feasibility of utilizing alternate raw materials for generating products; (2) Develop efficient, economical, and environmentally sound conversion processes for organic-rich waste streams and biomass residues; (3) Develop an integrated system for the conversion of feedstocks into bioproducts; (4) Mitigate environmental impacts associated with biofuel (e.g., biodiesel) production through in a sustainable manner; (5) Identify valuable bioproducts and production technologies; (6) Define useful characteristics of co-products derived from existing bioproduct industries; and
(7) Devise strategies to mitigate environmental impacts associated with production of biofuels.
KW  - Biodiesel fuels
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Fiber composites
KW  - Production
KW  - Renewable energy sources
KW  - Thermoplastic materials
KW  - Waste products
KW  - Wastewater
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1368238
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572230
TI  - Bio-electrolysis: Novel Technology for Hydrogen Production from Lignocellulosic Biomass
AB  - The successful completion of the project will result in the development of a novel process for hydrogen production from woody biomass. With little modification, the process can also be used to produce hydrogen from other biomass. The project will lead to a better understanding of how the hydrolysate of woody biomass, electrode materials, and operational conditions affect the bio-electrolytic hydrogen production process. Knowledge derived from this research about the impacts of electrode material on biofilm formation will also have significant implications for many other environmental and industrial applications, such as microbial fuel cell and bioremediation. Presentations at regional and national conferences will be made and 2-3 peer reviewed papers will be published from the results of the project.
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Bioremediation
KW  - Cost effectiveness
KW  - Electrolysis
KW  - Hydrogen fuels
KW  - Lignocellulose
KW  - Production methods
KW  - Renewable energy sources
KW  - Shrubs
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363848
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569213
TI  - Sustainable Transportation for Tourism: Indicators & Standards, Green Certification Programs, and Simulation Modeling (Part 1)
AB  - Transportation engineers often study patterns for routine daily travel: to work, to school, for social activities and errands. In this project an experienced interdisciplinary team tackles the issue of sustainable transportation in the context of tourism.  The researchers propose a model built on a matrix-based approach to define varying levels of sustainability where "indicators" are organized into a three-fold framework of environmental, social, and economic considerations. A range of "standards" for these indicators is arrayed across the matrix. Researchers are focusing on three types of geography where tourism travel is significant: tourist towns, scenic corridors and national parks. By incorporating indicators and standards a Level of Service (LOS) style metric can be extended to tourist travel.  Researchers are also considering marketing aspects of tourist travel behavior. Provision of more sustainable transportation such as a certified Green Coach is hypothesized to not only affect tourist travel decisions but to also provide public education and community/economic development.
KW  - Cultural landscapes
KW  - Highway capacity
KW  - Level of service
KW  - New England
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Sustainable development
KW  - Sustainable transportation
KW  - Tourism
KW  - Tourists
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359768
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569209
TI  - Modeling Transportation Alternatives
AB  - This project develops an "outreach model" that isolates and simplifies the most essential dynamics of the complete integrated model in a way that is more transparent and that facilitates outreach to stake holders. The immense complexity of the combined UrbanSim and TRANSIMS models complicates any attempts to facilitate outreach with stakeholders. A simplified systems oriented "outreach model" will be designed to facilitate such outreach and dialogue. The purpose of this model is to help convey to stakeholders how transportation issues relate to the other major issues with which they are interdependent, including land use, energy, economics, environment and quality of life. Through a web interface stakeholders will be able to run their own simplified versions of the model under different scenarios and vary parameters in a way that makes the key dynamics and assumptions of the model clear and easy to understand. If there is general convergence between the results of both, this may be a good indication of the overall robustness of both approaches. If there is extreme difference in the results, an analysis of the sources of these differences may help us better understand some of the sensitivities and assumptions of both model approaches. Development of the outreach model will consist of the following tasks: * Regular stakeholder workshops to verify model design and components, to review preliminary results, and to design and review scenarios. * Intensive model development activities between workshops. This would include model coding, calibration, and testing, as well as development of user interfaces. Existing more complex models (i.e. URBANSIM) would be used for cross-calibration and testing. * Problem-based (atelier) courses structured around the project and involving students from many departments on campus. * Web-based outreach. A sophisticated, interactive web site will be developed that will serve to connect stakeholders during project development and to serve as the major portal for delivery of the Integrated Modeling Package after completion.
KW  - Integrated systems
KW  - Land use
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Model integration
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Simulation
KW  - Sketch planning models
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/modeling-transportation-alternatives/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359764
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569208
TI  - Vermont Transportation and Land Use Carbon Calculator: Modeling Transportation Alternatives - Part 2
AB  - The objective of this project is to develop the "Vermont Integrated Land Use and Transportation Carbon Estimator". The estimator will be used by regional transportation planners and will advance the current state of the practice by considering directly the greenhouse gas (GHG) implications of alternative land use strategies. Currently, only GHGs from tailpipe emissions are estimated using existing transportation demand forecasting models. While land use arrangement indirectly affects the amount of travel and thus GHG emissions, land use also has a direct impact as well (forest versus parking lot for example). For input, the team will be guided by the typical and readily available datasets used by regional planners. The calculator or estimator will be deployed on the web with expert guidance from RSG Inc.
KW  - Air pollution
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Chittenden County (Vermont)
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Fuel consumption
KW  - Greenhouse gases
KW  - Land use
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Model integration
KW  - Research projects
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/vermont-transportation-and-land-use-carbon-calculator-formerly-modleing-transportation-alternatives/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359763
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569177
TI  - Sustainable Transportation for Tourism: Indicators & Standards, Green Certification Programs, and Simulation Modeling (Part 2)
AB  - Transportation engineers often study patterns for routine daily travel: to work, to school, for social activities and errands. In this project an experienced interdisciplinary team tackles the issue of sustainable transportation in the context of tourism.  The researchers propose a model built on a matrix-based approach to define varying levels of sustainability where "indicators" are organized into a three-fold framework of environmental, social, and economic considerations. A range of "standards" for these indicators is arrayed across the matrix. Researchers are focusing on three types of geography where tourism travel is significant: tourist towns, scenic corridors and national parks. By incorporating indicators and standards a Level of Service (LOS) style metric can be extended to tourist travel.  Researchers are also considering marketing aspects of tourist travel behavior. Provision of more sustainable transportation such as a certified Green Coach is hypothesized to not only affect tourist travel decisions but to also provide public education and community/economic development.
KW  - Certification
KW  - Economic development
KW  - Green
KW  - Level of service
KW  - New England
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Sustainable development
KW  - Sustainable transportation
KW  - Travel behavior
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359732
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569171
TI  - Sustainable Transportation for Tourism: Indicators & Standards, Green Certification Programs, and Simulation Modeling (Part 3)
AB  - Transportation engineers often study patterns for routine daily travel: to work, to school, for social activities and errands. In this project an experienced interdisciplinary team tackles the issue of sustainable transportation in the context of tourism. The researchers propose a model built on a matrix-based approach to define varying levels of sustainability where "indicators" are organized into a three-fold framework of environmental, social, and economic considerations. A range of "standards" for these indicators is arrayed across the matrix. Researchers are focusing on three types of geography where tourism travel is significant: tourist towns, scenic corridors and national parks. By incorporating indicators and standards a Level of Service (LOS) style metric can be extended to tourist travel. Researchers are also considering marketing aspects of tourist travel behavior. Provision of more sustainable transportation such as a certified Green Coach is hypothesized to not only affect tourist travel decisions but to also provide public education and community/economic development.
KW  - Certification
KW  - Economic development
KW  - Green
KW  - Level of service
KW  - New England
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Standards
KW  - Sustainable development
KW  - Sustainable transportation
KW  - Travel behavior
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359726
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01566211
TI  - Modeling Transportation Alternatives
AB  - This project develops an "outreach model" that isolates and simplifies the most essential dynamics of the complete integrated model in a way that is more transparent and that facilitates outreach to stake holders. The immense complexity of the combined UrbanSim and TRANSIMS models complicates any attempts to facilitate outreach with stakeholders. A simplified systems oriented "outreach model" will be designed to facilitate such outreach and dialogue. The purpose of this model is to help convey to stakeholders how transportation issues relate to the other major issues with which they are interdependent, including land use, energy, economics, environment and quality of life. Through a web interface stakeholders will be able to run their own simplified versions of the model under different scenarios and vary parameters in a way that makes the key dynamics and assumptions of the model clear and easy to understand. If there is general convergence between the results of both, this may be a good indication of the overall robustness of both approaches. If there is extreme difference in the results, an analysis of the sources of these differences may help us better understand some of the sensitivities and assumptions of both model approaches. Development of the outreach model will consist of the following tasks: * Regular stakeholder workshops to verify model design and components, to review preliminary results, and to design and review scenarios. * Intensive model development activities between workshops. This would include model coding, calibration, and testing, as well as development of user interfaces. Existing more complex models (i.e. URBANSIM) would be used for cross-calibration and testing. * Problem-based (atelier) courses structured around the project and involving students from many departments on campus. * Web-based outreach. A sophisticated, interactive web site will be developed that will serve to connect stakeholders during project development and to serve as the major portal for delivery of the Integrated Modeling Package after completion.
KW  - Integrated systems
KW  - Land use
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Model integration
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Simulation
KW  - TRANSIMS (Computer model)
KW  - UrbanSim (Computer model)
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/modeling-transportation-alternatives/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1357382
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01565927
TI  - Sustainable Transportation for Tourism: Indicators & Standards, Green Certification Programs, and Simulation Modeling (Part 4)
AB  - Transportation engineers often study patterns for routine daily travel: to work, to school, for social activities and errands. In this project an experienced interdisciplinary team tackles the issue of sustainable transportation in the context of tourism.  The researchers propose a model built on a matrix-based approach to define varying levels of sustainability where "indicators" are organized into a three-fold framework of environmental, social, and economic considerations. A range of "standards" for these indicators is arrayed across the matrix. Researchers are focusing on three types of geography where tourism travel is significant: tourist towns, scenic corridors and national parks. By incorporating indicators and standards a Level of Service (LOS) style metric can be extended to tourist travel.  Researchers are also considering marketing aspects of tourist travel behavior. Provision of more sustainable transportation such as a certified Green Coach is hypothesized to not only affect tourist travel decisions but to also provide public education and community/economic development.
KW  - Certification
KW  - Economic development
KW  - Green
KW  - Green technology
KW  - Level of service
KW  - New England
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Standards
KW  - Sustainable development
KW  - Sustainable transportation
KW  - Travel behavior
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1356566
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462115
TI  - UTC Graduate Research Assistantship for V.G.K. Menta (Ph.D Student)--Development and Characterization of Multifunctional Composites
AB  - A low-cost Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (VARTM) process has been developed to manufacture Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites. In VARTM, a fiber preform is placed into a one-sided mold and the mold is vacuum sealed. Resin is then drawn into the mold by vacuum to infuse the preform. Resin flow is assisted by microgrooves built into a distribution medium placed beneath the vacuum bag. After full infiltration of the resin has been achieved, the mold is heated to the curing temperature and the part is solidified. The process has certain advantages such as low cost one sided hard tooling, net shape manufacturing of large complex parts, and high fiber volume fraction. Physics based process simulation tools is be used for the optimization of the injection locations and resin infusion during the process. This process can be used to manufacture complex shapes and multifunctional composites. A multifunctional structure is a unique design approach with the composition of structures performing several functions beyond carrying mechanical loads. It involves integration of several functions such as flame resistance and impact resistance. Physical and mechanical tests are performed to evaluate the performance of the manufactured parts.
KW  - Composite materials
KW  - Curing temperature
KW  - Fiber reinforced polymers
KW  - Fibers
KW  - Infiltration
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Resins
KW  - Vacuum sealing method
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1230336
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01475804
AU  - Ripplinger, David
AU  - Small Urban and Rural Transit Center
AU  - Brookings Area Transit Authority
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Campus Transit Development Planning: A Case Study
PY  - 2007/08
SP  - 62p
AB  - This report presents the findings and recommendations of a study commissioned by the Brookings Area Transit Authority to identify the transportation needs and attitudes of members of the South Dakota State University (SDSU) community. The report is intended to serve as a resource and guide in the development, implementation, and operation of a university community public transportation service. The study included a survey of SDSU students, faculty, and staff; open forum meetings; and a series of meetings by the study advisory board.
KW  - Brookings (South Dakota)
KW  - Campus transportation
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Needs assessment
KW  - Public transit
KW  - South Dakota State University
UR  - http://www.ugpti.org/pubs/pdf/SP166.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1244474
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01164857
AU  - Maher, Ali
AU  - Jafari, Mohsen
AU  - Weissman, Sarah
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - New Jersey Department of Transportation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Transportation Safety Resource Center (TSRC)
PY  - 2007/08//Final Report
SP  - 10p
AB  - The Transportation Safety Resource Center (TSRC) is a partnership between federal and state transportation agencies, local stakeholders, academic institutions, and the private sector to provide technical and educational services to address transportation safety in New Jersey. The center will strive to assist the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) in their efforts to improve highway safety by creating a new core program that consolidates existing efforts championed by both the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The TSRC will provide services to the NJDOT Division of Traffic Engineering and Safety Programs, along with technical support on merging specialized data sources with the New Jersey Crash Records System. More specifically the TSRC will partner with the NJDOT to develop and deliver training programs and technical assistance programs to supply the locals with the preliminary analysis of crash data using advanced decision support systems. The TSRC will also provide support to the New Jersey Safety Conscious Planning (SCP) Network that has been established between NJDOT and the Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs). Research and technical support will also be provided to NJDOT with the efforts to establish a comprehensive safety management system (SMS) which will integrate existing and yet to be identified databases involving both traditional and non-traditional stakeholders. The TSRC will be focused on assisting locals with developing safety solutions that meet the “tier one” or quick fix/low cost projects. By using the resources of the TSRC, the local users will package and present their problems to NJDOT along with potential solutions. This will then allow for a much more efficient and objective response from the NJDOT.
KW  - Crash data
KW  - Crash records
KW  - Decision support systems
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Local government agencies
KW  - Metropolitan planning organizations
KW  - New Jersey
KW  - New Jersey Department of Transportation
KW  - Records management
KW  - Safety Management Systems
KW  - Technical assistance
KW  - Technical support
KW  - Training programs
KW  - Transportation Safety Resource Center
UR  - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/150-RU9142.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/925765
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01135403
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Key Transportation Indicators, August 2007
PY  - 2007/08
SP  - 22p
AB  - This report is intended to provide timely, easily accessible information for the transportation community. It was developed by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and is updated each quarter on the BTS website. The indicators fall under two broad categories: those that provide context about the economy and society in which transportation functions, and those that convey information about an aspect of transportation. To the extent possible, these latter indicators are transportation-wide in scope; however, some apply to only part of the transportation system. Reference tables at the beginning of the document provide key statistics about U.S. social and economic characteristics, and about the extent of the transportation system. For indicators that are highly seasonal, the current value of that indicator is compared to the same time period in the previous year (e.g., April 2001 compared to April 2000). Otherwise, the tables show a comparison of the current value to a comparable preceeding period of time (e.g., the data for the month of April 2001 compared to that of March 2001).
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Amtrak
KW  - Economic indicators
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Fuel processing
KW  - Ground transportation
KW  - Indicators (Instruments)
KW  - Mexico
KW  - On time performance
KW  - Passenger transportation
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Statistical analysis
KW  - Transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/key_transportation_indicators/august_2007/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894434
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01105550
AU  - Ghert, Kenneth C
AU  - Rajan, Mahesh
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - A Consumer Logistics Framework for Understanding Preferences for High-Speed Rail Transportation
PY  - 2007/08
SP  - 46p
AB  - The objective of this study was to obtain a fuller understanding of consumers’ perceptions of a high-speed rail (HSR) service for the San Francisco-Los Angeles corridor in California. The study used consumer logistics theory as a framework for understanding consumer perceptions as well as informing future efforts for developing and marketing HSR service. The consumer logistics framework was used to help understand how various demographic groups, public transportation user groups, and groups defined by HSR usage intention level perceive various logistical aspects of HSR service. The consumer logistics framework was also used to develop a macro model for examining the relationship between performance of consumer logistics functions, perceptions of HSR travel value (consisting of travel efficiency and effectiveness), and HSR travel intention for intercity business commuters. Seven logistics themes were explored in this study: 1) information; 2) safety and cleanliness; 3) on-board amenities; 4) transportation connections; 5) station arrival and departure; 6) computer connections; and, 7) station amenities. Research results showed that when making the decision to use proposed HSR services, consumers indicated that safety and cleanliness and transportation connections were the two most important considerations.
KW  - California
KW  - High speed rail
KW  - Market assessment
KW  - Marketing
KW  - Public opinion
KW  - Railroad commuter service
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://transweb.sjsu.edu/mtiportal/research/publications/documents/Gehrt%20(Complete).pdf
UR  - http://www.dot.ca.gov/newtech/researchreports/reports/2007/consumer_logistics_publication_mti.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/863551
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01079052
AU  - Hayden, Larry
AU  - Western Transportation Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Traffic Monitor Trailers, Configuration and Deployment
PY  - 2007/08//Final Report
SP  - 66p
AB  - The Western Transportation Institute (WTI) Trailer Configuration and Deployment Project was created by a desire to improve Bozeman traffic flow, particularly during campus events. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, a wireless communication system, and portable mast trailers with solar power had been obtained by the Civil Engineering (CE) department at Montana State University (MSU) for student traffic study projects. A Motorola Canopy Access Point (AP) for the wireless communication system was designed and installed in 2005. The communication system was tested by students at several locations within the city of Bozeman with temporary antenna mounts but the portable mast trailers were not available until the summer of 2006. This project was initiated in September 2006 by the vision and support of Steve Albert, WTI Director, with a proposal (written by the Principal Investigator (PI)) that documented the capabilities and limitations of the available equipment for the purpose of integrating and testing the trailers, cameras, and communication system. Funding for the effort was obtained in October 2006 through WTI’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) – University Transportation Center (UTC) grant. The project involved designing, fabricating, and installing fixtures and cabling to mount two AutoScope cameras and a Motorola Canopy Subscriber Module (SM) on each portable mast trailer. The trailers would be used for transmitting traffic information back to the campus network for access by the Civil Engineering (CE) transportation lab or the WTI virtual traffic management center (TMC). The Trailer Configuration and Deployment Project contract was closed in August 2007. The mobile traffic data collection system is expected to have a lifespan of many years, but may require upgrades due to the rapidly changing technology. This document is divided into five main sections; Introduction, Design, Assembly, Recommendations, and Quick Users Guide. The Introduction section describes the impetus and focus of the project. The Design section details the integration issues encountered, possible solutions, reasons for the option(s) chosen, and notes on the results. The Assembly section provides details for all connection and setup issues. The Recommendation section provides insight for building an optimal mobile traffic monitoring system from scratch. Finally, the Quick Users Guide provides instructions to successfully deploy the trailers.
KW  - Bozeman (Montana)
KW  - Campuses
KW  - Closed circuit television
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Deployment
KW  - Portable mast trailers
KW  - Special events
KW  - Traffic flow
KW  - Traffic surveillance
KW  - Wireless communication systems
UR  - http://www.wti.montana.edu/ForceDownloadHandler.ashx?name=4W1402_Final_Report.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/836967
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01076995
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - White House Economic Statistics Briefing Room Transportation
PY  - 2007/08
SP  - 22p
AB  - This document presents transportation statistics from white house briefings. The statistics cover the following topics: Transportation Services Index;  Air Travel Price Index;  Domestic Airline Jet Fuel;  Major U.S. Air Carriers On-Time Performance;  Motor Fuel Prices - Retail Diesel Prices;  Motor Fuel Prices - Retail Gasoline;  U.S. Highway Vehicle Miles Traveled;  Amtrak Ridership;  Index of Railroad Fuel Prices;  Rail Capacity Utilization - Rail Passenger Load Factor;  Rail Freight - Revenue Ton-Miles;  Rail On-Time Performance;  Use of Passenger Rail - Revenue Passenger Miles;   U.S. Surface Trade with Canada and Mexico.  Modes of transportation include highways (trucking), railroads, air transportation and pipelines.
KW  - Air cargo
KW  - Air travel
KW  - Airlines
KW  - Amtrak
KW  - Canada
KW  - Diesel fuels
KW  - Domestic transportation
KW  - Economic indicators
KW  - Freight trains
KW  - Gasoline
KW  - Ground transportation
KW  - Highways
KW  - Jet engine fuels
KW  - Load factor
KW  - Mexico
KW  - Motor fuels
KW  - On time performance
KW  - Passenger trains
KW  - Pipelines
KW  - Prices
KW  - Railroad capacity
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Retail trade
KW  - Revenues
KW  - Ridership
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Ton miles
KW  - Trade
KW  - Transportation services index
KW  - Trucking
KW  - United States
KW  - Utilization
KW  - Vehicle miles of travel
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/white_house_economic_statistics_briefing_room/august_2007/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/836126
ER  - 

TY  - CONF
AN  - 01056187
JO  - Transportation Research E-Circular
PB  - Transportation Research Board
AU  - Schofer, Joseph L
TI  - Information Assets to Support Transportation Decision Making: Report of a Peer Exchange of State Transportation Organizations
PY  - 2007/08
IS  - E-C121
SP  - 32p
AB  - This circular summarizes discussions at a peer exchange of state department of transportation officials and other professionals that focused on data and information uses, management strategies, needs, and gaps in their organizations.  The peer exchange examined the role of data and information in transportation decision making; identified information resources, gaps, and opportunities; and explored data, access, and analysis improvements for information resource programs.  In addition, participants discussed possible strategies that the transportation community might use to implement such improvements.
U1  - Information Assets to Support Transportation Decision Making: A Peer ExchangeTransportation Research BoardKansas Department of TransportationResearch and Innovative Technology AdministrationKansas City,KS,United States StartDate:20070417 EndDate:20070418 Sponsors:Transportation Research Board, Kansas Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Data sharing
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Improvements
KW  - Information management
KW  - Information processing
KW  - Information technology
KW  - Peer exchange
KW  - State departments of transportation
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Workshops
UR  - http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/156772.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/815486
ER  - 

TY  - CONF
AN  - 01056185
JO  - Transportation Research E-Circular
PB  - Transportation Research Board
TI  - North American Freight Transportation Data Workshop
PY  - 2007/08
IS  - E-C119
SP  - 72p
AB  - This circular summarizes sessions that took place as part of a workshop that allowed data users and providers to discuss freight transportation data from a North American perspective.  The workshop highlighted changes in government-supplied data sources and explored data users' needs.  The workshop showcased recent and innovative applications of cross-border and freight flow data to address important transportation, policy, and development issues.
U1  - North American Freight Transportation Data WorkshopTransportation Research BoardResearch and Innovative Technology AdministrationWashington,DC,United States StartDate:20070515 EndDate:20070515 Sponsors:Transportation Research Board, Research and Innovative Technology Administration
KW  - Commodity flow
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Data needs
KW  - Data quality
KW  - Data sources
KW  - Data users
KW  - Freight data
KW  - Freight flow data
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Innovation
KW  - North America
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Shipping
KW  - Transborder data flow
KW  - Transportation policy
KW  - Trucking
KW  - United States-Canada Border
KW  - United States-Mexico Border
KW  - Workshops
UR  - http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/157795.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/815478
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01460147
TI  - Technical Support for the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program
AB  - The Pilot Program authorizes $100 million to four communities (Columbia, Missouri; Sheboygan County, Wisconsin; Marin County, California; and Minneapolis, Minnesota) to construct transportation infrastructure facilities, including sidewalks, bicycle lanes, and trails, that connect to transit stations, schools, residences, businesses, recreation areas and other activity centers. The Pilot Program requires the U. S. Department of Transportation Secretary to collect statistical information on changes in travel behavior in the four communities and to assess how these changes decrease congestion and energy use and promote a healthier and cleaner environment. The Secretary is required to make reports on the results of the program to Congress in 2007 and 2010. Under this agreement, the Volpe Center will work with FHWA and the pilot communities to develop and implement a comprehensive technical approach to evaluate the four projects and the overall results of the program as required to meet the Congressional reporting requirements. Although the Volpe Center will be responsible for specific technical tasks and deliverables, it will also provide flexible support to assist FHWA in administering the program and to work collaboratively with the communities to develop and implement an evaluation process for this new and high profile national program. The Volpe Center will serve as a technical advisor to and member of the working group composed of staff leads from the four communities, FHWA, and other organizations involved with the program.
KW  - Bikeways
KW  - Cyclists
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Nonmotorized transportation
KW  - Sidewalks
KW  - Technical support
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Travel behavior
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228363
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01577936
TI  - Chemical Transformation of Biochemical Intermediates: Converting Biorefinery Sugars to New Polymers and Chemicals
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Biochemistry
KW  - Chemicals
KW  - Energy conversion
KW  - Polymers
KW  - Sugar
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1371305
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01576037
TI  - Ionic Liquids: Solubilization Agents for the Chemical Analysis and Pre-Fractionation of Glucan, Xylan, and Lignin
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Chemical analysis
KW  - Ionization
KW  - Lignin
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1369879
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575547
TI  - Identification of Insect Digestive Enzymes for Biomass Degredation
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Degradation (Thermodynamics)
KW  - Insects
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1368084
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575544
TI  - Introduction of Cellulosomes into Low Lignin Plants for Improved Cellulose and Hemicellulose Digestion
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Lignin
KW  - Plants
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1368009
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572233
TI  - Biofuels from Salt Basin Algae - A Renewable Energy Crop
AB  - The proposed research will result in the identification of optimal growth conditions for laboratory and native strains of Dunaliella and related salt-loving microalgae. This information will be used in implementation of room-scale and pilot-plant scale production systems by the end of year 1. Through mutant screens the project team will identify proprietary strains of Dunaliella and other salt-loving microalgae that will convert up to 50% of their biomass to triacylglycerols (TAGs) suitable for conversion to biodiesel. These improved strains will be deployed in the room-scale and pilot-plant scale production systems by the end of year 2. The complete genome sequence of Dunaliella salina CCAP 19/18 will be available by the end of 2007.  The project team will leverage genomic resources and mRNA expression profiling to identify candidate genes that play key roles in the control of production TAGs or the elusive "lipid trigger" under conditions of nutrient starvation (nitrogen-deficiency in green algae) by the end of year 3. Such information will allow us to rationally manipulate TAG quality and quantity, and thus, to provide customized feedstocks for optimal biofuel production systems. Overall, these research aims are designed to provide a novel and fundamental advance in the ability to develop a biofuel crop ideally suited to the Great Basin's unique land and water resources.
KW  - Algae
KW  - Biodiesel fuels
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Crops
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Field tests
KW  - Production methods
KW  - Renewable energy sources
KW  - Salts
KW  - United States
KW  - Watersheds
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363851
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572231
TI  - Hybrid Poplar as a Regional Ethanol Feedstock - Its Development, Production, and Economics
AB  - At the completion of the project the team will have a list of the best performing hybrid poplar varieties that would be used in establishing poplar energy plantations throughout the region, they will have planting density recommendations based on harvest age of those plantations in order to maximize site productivity, they will have predictive near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) models that will allow them to screen poplar trees in the field (possibly live trees) to determine their feedstock quality, they will have conducted breeding to determine the potential for developing "designer feedstock" based on end-used requirements and they will have conducted economic analysis of the system to determine if using hybrid poplar as a feedstock for ethanol production can be economically viable.
KW  - Breeding ponds
KW  - Economics
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Hybrids
KW  - Infrared spectroscopy
KW  - Production methods
KW  - Trees
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363849
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01543773
TI  - Operational and Low-Cost Improvements to Freight Transportation System Performance
AB  - The infrastructure for moving freight in the United States is well established but overburdened.  Dramatically increasing congestion inflicts costs on shippers, consumers, and the environment.  Because expansions to the system are often complicated and expensive, both the public and private sector benefit from making the best use of the existing system, either through improved operations or by enhancing the system using low-cost techniques.  Targeted investment and improved operations by both private businesses and government will be required to avert even more severe capacity constraints. The objective of this project is to describe successful practices in maximizing the utility of the existing freight transportation infrastructure, either through operational practices or relatively inexpensive system enhancements.  The research should examine each element of each mode for weakness or failure and then describe the operational practice or system enhancement used to strengthen it and do the same for the linkages between the modes so that a full picture of the system emerges.  These practices may be mode-specific or logistical.  The practices should be related to the different types of constraints in freight flow and the description should indicate whether implementation depends on the private sector, public sector, or both.  Operations and ITS alternatives such as routing and time of day adjustments made by carriers as well as targeted infrastructure improvements such as those done by the State of  Ohio's interchange upgrade program should be included.  It is expected that some successful practices are proprietary, but that a sufficient number of nonproprietary practices will be found to justify this effort.
KW  - Congestion management systems
KW  - Freight service
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight traffic measurement
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Shipping
UR  - http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=1576
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1331880
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01543772
TI  - Review of Freight Investment Decision-Making Proceses in the Public Sector
AB  - While private-sector firms must rigorously justify investment decisions to show that they contribute to corporate and community goals, public-sector transportation agency decisions must consider a much wider set of concerns. The economic impacts of public-sector investment decisions on the freight system can often be influenced by other issues, and it is important to develop a better understanding of the cause and effect relationships. The objective of this project is to recommend methods that public sector transportation agencies, at all levels of government, can use to consider system performance, freight movement, and economic impact issues in making rational investment decisions. Determining a project's return on investment is of particular interest. Case studies of individual projects should be conducted that show 1) how freight impacts were considered in the project selection process, 2) the freight and economic objectives of the project, 3) the eventual outcome of the project with regard to the impact on freight movement efficiency and productivity, and 4) how the project outcomes relate to the original project goals. The case studies should cover significant public programs that affect all surface freight modes. The report should 1) compile successful practices and lessons learned; 2) discuss procedures for identifying projects that are likely to generate the greatest economic return, nationally, or regionally; and 3) identify the need for and benefits from potential statutory, regulatory, and institutional changes. It will be especially important that this project make explicit how measures of system performance and factors and techniques to quantify benefits and costs were employed.
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Freight service
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Investments
KW  - Public participation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - System performance
UR  - http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=1577
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1331879
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01543771
TI  - Private Sector Responses to Freight Transportation Capacity Constraints
AB  - The nation's freight infrastructure is mature, and the capacity constraints in the system are well known by logistics providers and freight carriers. It is clear that capacity is expanding too slowly to keep up with demand. The congestion and inefficiencies resulting from this gap hurt the nation's economy and its competitive status in the global marketplace.  Although private-sector firms often cannot improve the bottlenecks, they are innovative in adapting their operations to move freight through congested areas.  The users of the infrastructure, operating in a free market, compete to squeeze maximum benefit from the transportation system and may behave in ways that will affect the need for certain public sector investments.  It is also the case that public sector agencies make decisions about expanding infrastructure or changing operations without necessarily having a solid understanding of how the private sector will respond. The objective of this project is to catalogue ways in which those responsible for moving freight respond to constraints on freight system capacity.  This will be useful in assessing the impacts of projects designed to remedy system constraints.  It should also include case analyses of private sector responses to public sector decisions that illustrate both intended and unintended outcomes and the underlying causes.  This study will focus on congested segments and chokepoints in the freight transportation system that cause significant drags on its efficiency and costs to the economy.  Responses to be considered should include consolidation of origins and destinations for freight movements, as well as various strategies used in transportation management optimization software applications.
KW  - Freight service
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight traffic measurement
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Origin and destination
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic congestion
UR  - http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=1579
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1331878
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01543770
TI  - Analytical Tools for Freight Infrastructure Investments
AB  - A thorough study of alternative freight infrastructure investments relies on analytical tools to develop the information needed by decision makers.  Decisions affecting the freight system are made at many levels of government and must consider externalities such as land use and the environment.  There is a need to improve the foundation of data and analysis on which to build a strategy for dealing with growing freight demand and severe capacity constraints. The objective of this project is to recommend analytical tools that transportation agencies can use to assess freight infrastructure investments.  These tools should help agencies estimate the public benefit or return on the infrastructure investment and facilitate comparison among alternative improvements, including those in different modes.  They should be appropriate and feasible for public agency use.  This study will identify gaps and weaknesses in public and private data sources and their adequacy for analysis of the freight transportation system. Improvements needed to further advance the development of tools should be identified.  The report should include strategies for communicating the applicability and value of different analytical tools and will include recommendations for improvements in collection, analysis, and use of data.  The tools recommended should be congruent with a general description of the operations of the freight transportation system and measures of system performance.   They should also be consistent with the results of NCFRP Project 5, Review of Freight Investment Decision-Making Processes in the Public Sector.
KW  - Capacity constraints
KW  - Demand responsive transportation
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Investments
KW  - Land use
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Shipper demand
UR  - http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=1580
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1331877
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01543769
TI  - Institutional Strategies in the Freight Transportation System
AB  - The freight industry is a unique blend of private and public-sector organizations, each with its own objectives and constraints.  Political and jurisdictional boundaries do not define market relationships, but they do have a significant influence on infrastructure funding.  Effective freight policy will require coordination and collaboration among public and private interests. New forms of public-private and public-public partnerships are needed to address challenges that do not conform to government jurisdictions, geographic boundaries, or traditional dividing lines between government and business. Some state DOTs and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), for example, have established freight offices and they and others have formed freight advisory councils in order to engage carriers and shippers on issues of mutual interest.  A number of states are involved in multistate, multimodal collaborations to deal with freight transportation problems and objectives that cross state boundaries. The objective of this project is to describe successful and promising institutional strategies for the current and future freight industry.  Determining which strategies are successful and promising will require the following: (1)Determination of federal, state, and local interests and roles regarding freight movement; (2)Identification of existing institutional strategies and their context and original purpose; (3)Definition of the levers of influence in shaping the freight industry (e.g., money, regulation, and leadership); and (4)Consideration of regulatory and other constraints on the effectiveness of institutional strategies. A review of domestic and international experience should be used to identify successful and promising institutional strategies.  Of particular interest are joint entities that have the authority to make improvements to the freight system.  The research will identify potential institutional changes to address local, state, regional, and national needs and opportunities for efficient freight transportation.  It will incorporate the results of work completed and underway supported by organizations such as the NCHRP, FHWA, and AASHTO.
KW  - Freight service
KW  - Freight terminals
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight traffic measurement
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Metropolitan planning organizations
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Strategic planning
UR  - http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=1581
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1331876
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01543768
TI  - Success Factors for Truck-Only Lane Projects
AB  - NCHRP Project 3-73, "Separation of Vehicles - CMV Only Lanes," starting early in 2007 and ending late in 2008, has the following objectives, (1) examine the various performance characteristics of a CMV-only lane application within a highway (e.g., reduced congestion, accident reduction); (2) examine relative items such as cost variables, aspects of reduced and/or increased pavement wear; (3) examine/explore modeling scenarios which have been completed by others; (4) examine/explore the benefits to Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technologies that are being used by various states [e.g., Automated Vehicle Identification (AVI) readers, Electronic Traffic Control and Monitoring (ETCM) system]; (5) examine/review the feasibility of increased size and weight standards on CMV only lanes; and (6) prepare a report of pertinent data and findings that includes economic implications, transportation performance, safety benefits, and other impacts associated with the application of CMV-only lanes. The objective of this project is to augment NCHRP Project 3-73 by examining additional factors related to the success of truck-only lane projects.  The specific factors to be examined will be negotiated with the panel overseeing NCHRP Project 3-73 but could include the planning process, institutional considerations, return-on-investment analysis, public benefits, equity and environmental impacts, and technology applications to increase capacity.  The research should examine the suitability of tolling and privatization.
KW  - Automatic vehicle identification
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems programs
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Truck crashes
KW  - Truck lanes
KW  - Truck traffic
KW  - Trucking
KW  - Trucking safety
UR  - http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=1582
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1331875
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01460364
TI  - Performance Metrics for Freight Transportation Productivity
AB  - Public and private decisions related to the freight industry should be based on a thorough analysis of the impacts of those decisions.  These analyses are routinely made in the private sector but less commonly in the public sector.  As the demand for freight movements outstrips the capacity of the nation's highway, rail, waterway, air, and port systems, the effects are felt as congestion, upward pressure on freight prices, and longer and less reliable transit times. These indicators of distress in the freight transportation system result in increased supply costs for manufacturers, higher import prices, and higher inventory levels.  Ultimately, these costs add up to a higher cost of doing business for firms, a higher cost of living for consumers, and a less productive and competitive economy. Such indicators need to be quantified to be useful to decision makers as well as for public education on freight issues.  Establishing consistent performance metrics for the freight system will be very helpful in conducting and comparing analyses of the freight system, particularly by identifying the critical data that are needed to assess system performance. The objective of this project is to determine performance measures that should be used to gauge the effectiveness and efficiency of the freight transportation system and to promote public understanding of the importance of efficient freight transportation to the nation's economy.  It is expected that these performance measures would be useful both in the public and private sector, particularly in making investment decisions at the national, state and local levels.  It should be noted that decision makers are looking for no more than 4 to 6 key performance metrics to be used to measure progress toward stated organizational or societal objectives/goals.  Examples of issues that should be considered in establishing performance measures include: infrastructure condition, capital needed and available, congestion, injuries, fatalities, cost of security, energy usage and availability, environmental costs, human capital, ton-mile production, and intermodal transfers.  For each recommended performance measure, identify the data sources and gaps and describe any needs for data standards.  Describe any concerns identified with current confidentiality/privacy laws and regulations.  For any data drawn from the private sector, provide a rationale for firms to participate in the effort.  The project should produce initial thoughts on a freight data architecture and methods to capture raw trend data on a routine basis.
KW  - Freight service
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Governments
KW  - Performance measurement
KW  - Public participation
KW  - Research projects
UR  - http://www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=1575
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228580
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01577456
TI  - Evaluate CRP Land Potential for Biomass Feedstock Production
AB  - There have been concerns from environmental groups about possible impact these minimally managed Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) ecosystems have on the natural habitat for birds and other organisms acclimated to the land. Timing and management of biomass harvest so as to avoid the nesting and breeding seasons of the wildlife in these areas or provide a continued habitat would be beneficial. This can be achieved by strip harvesting or staggering the harvest. In this study, the research team proposes two harvest timings: one at peak standing crop and the other after frost kill. These harvest times would be useful to monitor the changes in the native habitat during the five year period of the project.
There is an urgent need to train scientists who can scientifically manage CRP lands for bioenergy feedstock production. As the project evolves, a graduate and undergraduate student will help. These future scientists will gain a better understanding and practical training based on sound scientific principles for biomass production on CRP lands. The site location will be made as accessible and visible as possible so the producers and other visitors can evaluate the productivity and sustainability of these biomass production systems on CRP lands in Oklahoma. The site will also be used for demonstration to students in the Bioenergy Crop Production course that Dr. Kakani will teach in 2009.
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Conservation Reserve Program
KW  - Crops
KW  - Ecosystems
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Habitat (Ecology)
KW  - Oklahoma
KW  - Production
KW  - Renewable energy sources
KW  - Training
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370610
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01576080
TI  - Improving Switchgrass Stand Establishment through Seed Technology
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Agriculture
KW  - Cultivation
KW  - Grasses
KW  - Seeds
KW  - Technology
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370153
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01575905
TI  - Regional Comparative Advantage for Woody Biofuels Production
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Production
KW  - Regional analysis
KW  - Wood
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1368830
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572303
TI  - Biofuel Screening Program for Grass Feedstocks: Diversity, Physiological Traits and Compositional Characteristics for Optimal Yield
AB  - The objectives of this research are to evaluate biomass yield, understand establishment and  predicted ethanol yields on a wide range of monoculture and mixed grasses in the northeast region.
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Grasses
KW  - Northeastern United States
KW  - Yield stress
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363923
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572301
TI  - Effects of Syngas Sources on Ethanol Production via Fermentation
AB  - This research project will analyze biomass-syngas generated from switchgrass, corn gluten, wheat straw and coal mixed with switchgrass and wheat straw (co-firing).
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Corn
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Fermentation
KW  - Grasses
KW  - Production methods
KW  - Wheat
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363921
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572300
TI  - Development of a Skid-mounted Gasification System for On-site Heat, Fuel, and Power Production
AB  - The objective of this research project is to develop and evaluate technical, economic, (including commercialization) and environmental feasibility of on-site skid mounted thermal gasification systems for regional biowastes.  The aim is to produce heat, fuel, and power.
KW  - Electric power generation
KW  - Fuels
KW  - Gasification
KW  - Heat
KW  - Production methods
KW  - Wastes
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363920
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572299
TI  - Designer Sorghums: Development of High Yielding Sorghum Cultivars with Modified Endosperm Matrices for Optimized Low Energy Input Ethanol Production and High Nutrition Feed
AB  - The objective of this research project is to develop a systems approach for designer sorghum cultivars to optimize the grain's endosperm matrix for bio-ethanol conversion and distiller's feed for low rain fall Texas environments.
KW  - Bioethanol
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Conversion factors
KW  - Cultivation
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Grain
KW  - Optimization
KW  - Production methods
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363919
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572298
TI  - Evaluation of Sweet Sorghum Hybrids as a Bioenergy Feedstock - Germplasm Development, Agronomic Practices, and Conversion Efficiency
AB  - This research project will breed, develop and release sweet sorghum for commercial production.  The p[project will also evaluate production, processing, and conversion issues of sweet sorghum cultivars and hybrids.  The project is developing and selecting sweet sorghum hybrids for use as a bioenergy feedstock.  The project is examining adaptability of high biomass sorghum and sweet sorghum to the South Central U.S., including the Coastal Plains, High Plains, and the Central Great Plains as well as developing production guidelines for sweet sorghums for these production regions.  Agronomic emphasis will be on seeding rate, nitrogen management, and multiple harvest efficacy and water use efficiency.  The project is evaluating the effects of juice press operation and time of harvest on juice yield and sugar content of the expressed juice.  Finally, the project will determine the relative efficiency of ethanol conversion from sweet sorghum and assess the relative role genotype, environment, and genotype x environment interaction on ethanol production potential.
KW  - Bioenergy
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Conversion factors
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Germplasms
KW  - Great Plains
KW  - Hybrids
KW  - Production methods
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363918
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572243
TI  - Cofiring Animal Waste in Low NOx Burners for NOx and Hg Reduction in Coal Fired Plants
AB  - This research project will develop new technology and provide additional market for cattle biowaste (CB) (manure) as fuel in coal fired plants. The goal is to demonstrate use of CB as a co-fired low fuel in low nitrogen oxide (NOx) burners (which serve as primary control of NOx in boilers) and demonstrate the new technology in reducing NOx and mercury (Hg).
KW  - Animal materials
KW  - Burners
KW  - Mercury
KW  - Nitrogen oxides
KW  - Plants
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Wastes
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363861
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572242
TI  - Advanced Technologies for Biodiesel Production
AB  - This research project will use batch (conventional solvent extraction) and continuous microwave technology to extract oil from traditional (soybeans) and alternative (rice bran, Chinese tallow tree seeds) feedstocks to convert oils into biodiesel and determine the technological feasibility and economic viability of process.  The quality of oil will also be studied.
KW  - Biodiesel fuels
KW  - Conversion factors
KW  - Extraction (Materials)
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Microwave devices
KW  - Oils
KW  - Soybeans
KW  - Technological innovations
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363860
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572241
TI  - Vibrio Furnissii: A Biotechnology Platform for Biomass Bioconversion
AB  - This research project will develop an efficient and economical platform for direct bioconversion of biomass into kerosene and other long-chain alkanes.  The accomplishments have verified oil secretion by D. Hansenii under various conditions and quantified oil secretion by D. Hansenii under various conditions.
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Conversion factors
KW  - Kerosene
KW  - Oils
KW  - Technology
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363859
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572240
TI  - Optimizing a New Downdraft Gasification System for Synthesis Gas Production from Low Bulk Density Biomass Materials
AB  - This project will further develop a unique downdraft gassifer design capable of utilizing low density feedstocks.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Biomass gasification
KW  - Downdrafts
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Gasification
KW  - Low density
KW  - Optimization
KW  - Synthesis (Chemistry)
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363858
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572239
TI  - Saline Extractive Distillation for Ethanol Separation
AB  - The objective of this research project is to reduce capital and operating costs, especially energy demand, of current multi-stage separation process for recovery of fuel grade ethanol from fermentation broth through the extractive distillation of salt by electrodialysis.
KW  - Distillation
KW  - Energy demand models
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Fermentation
KW  - Operating costs
KW  - Salts
KW  - Separation
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363857
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572238
TI  - Breaking the Cost Barrier for Bio-ethanol: Reactive Adsorption of Fermentation Broth
AB  - The objective of this research project is to develop an ethanol recovery system using reactive adsorption technology that eliminates the highly energy intensive distillation process and substantially reduces cost of ethanol production. During the first quarter of 2009, activities focused on evaluating alternative system designs to determine the key barriers to cost reduction.  Evaluations of the performance of the conventional distillation columns employed for the recovery of ethanol from fermentation broth was completed.  In this study, data was gathered from the literature relating to the precise composition of the fermentation broths encountered in conventional corn-based fermentations, fermentation of sorghum grain, and fermentation of cellulose.  Using this data, the energy associated with each of the subsequent separation steps was evaluated (including the beer column, the rectifying column, and the adsorption units).
KW  - Adsorption
KW  - Barriers (Challenges)
KW  - Costs
KW  - Distillation
KW  - Energy recovery systems
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Fermentation
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363856
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572237
TI  - Nanoparticle Systems for Delivery of Biological Antimicrobial Compounds to Limit Microbial Contamination in Industrial Yeast Fermentation
AB  - The objective of this research project is to identify feasible antimicrobial invention method(s) that can be routinely integrated with economical delivery systems in large scale industrial yeast nanoparticle fermentation systems.  The goal is to produce biological antimicrobial compounds to limit microbial contamination to industrial yeast fermentation.
KW  - Biological activity
KW  - Contaminants
KW  - Contamination
KW  - Fermentation
KW  - Industrial hygiene
KW  - Microbial contamination
KW  - Microbiology
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363855
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572236
TI  - Biodiesel Feedstock Development for the Southern Great Plains
AB  - The objective of this research project is to develop specialty canola cultivars adapted to winter with superior oil quality for production of a high quality feedstock to produce biodiesel. The first Superior Oil Quality (SOQ) F1 progeny were developed in the greenhouse in the fall of 2007.  These F1 progeny were increased to the F2 generation in the greenhouse in the fall of 2008 and will be planted in the field in the fall of 2009.  Due to limited space, the second set of SOQ F1 progeny will be increased in the greenhouse in the fall of 2009.  Profiles thus far of all harvested populations have been favorable and show potential for genetic improvement of canola oil quality.  The first SOQ backcrossing block also was planted in the greenhouse in October 2008.  These crosses were harvested in early 2009.  The third set of SOQ crosses are currently being evaluated for their fatty acid contents.  Altogether, over 400 new breeding populations have been developed from the beginning of this project.
KW  - Biodiesel fuels
KW  - Canola
KW  - Cultivation
KW  - Fatty acids
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Genetics
KW  - Great Plains
KW  - Greenhouses
KW  - Oils
KW  - Production
KW  - Winter
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363854
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572235
TI  - Develop Comprehensive Understanding and Utilization of Sorghum Stover and Brown Midrib Forage Sorghum for Ethanol Production
AB  - The objective of this research project is to develop a comprehensive understanding and use of regular sorghum stover and brown midrib sorghum (sorghum biomass) for ethanol production by evaluating physical properties and chemical composition, pretreatment technologies to increase fermentable sugar yields, increase ethanol yields by identifying and reducing inhibitors and investigate energy balance issues (inputs and outputs).
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Chemical composition
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Fermentation
KW  - Physical properties
KW  - Production
KW  - Sugar
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363853
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572234
TI  - A Multifunctional Frequency-Response Permittivity Sensor for Biodiesel Concentration Measurement and Impurity Detection
AB  - This research project will develop a portable sensor for quick and reliable measurement of blend ratio and impurities concentration for biodiesel and  an embedded sensor for use in diesel engines.
KW  - Biodiesel fuels
KW  - Diesel engines
KW  - Fuel mixtures
KW  - Impurities
KW  - Portable equipment
KW  - Sensors
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363852
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572227
TI  - Diversifying Midwestern Biofuel Feedstocks: Evaluation of Nitrogen Fixing Alnus & Salix Germplasm
AB  - This research project will evaluate and develop woody feedstocks such as hybrid polar and alder to augment cellulosic feedstock production.  Sites have been secured and plantings and seedlings purchased.  Mature wood samples collected to compare to seedlings for wood structure and carbohydrate yield.  Samples analyzed for ash, lignin, carbohydrate &amp; extractive content.  Currently  finalizing cellulase enzymes for enzymatic hydrolysis and a standard hydrolysis process for all samples. Task 1: Characterize juvenile wood samples of Alnus.  Task 2: Quantify the ash content of the juvenile Alnus samples.  Task 3: Assay enzymes used for hydrolyzing biomass to determine their viability/activity level . Task 4: Compile the viability and height data from the planting sites. 3rd Quarter Report: efforts have focused on the enzymatic hydrolysis of all species of Alnus. Procedures outlined by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for the enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass have been completed, and the resulting hydrolysate is set to be analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. This data will provide a baseline efficiency for the enzymatic hydrolysis of Alnus polysaccharides to their monomeric sugar constituents. With the baseline established, enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency gains achieved through the incorporation of a biomass pretreatment step can be properly assessed through comparative analysis.
KW  - Ash content
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Enzymes
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Lignin
KW  - Nitrogen
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363845
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572205
TI  - Development of Enrichment Cultures that Degrade Lignin for Enhanced Biofuel Production
AB  - The primary goal of this project is to assess the ability of enrichment cultures to degrade/depolymerize lignin and enhance the bioavailability of cellulose and hemicelluloses (and thus, enhance saccharification) in alfalfa and switchgrass.
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Cultures (Biology)
KW  - Degradation (Thermodynamics)
KW  - Lignin
KW  - Plants
KW  - Production
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363823
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572197
TI  - Evaluation of the Energy and Cost Advantages of Modules for Packing and Transporting Biomass Energy Crops
AB  - The objective of this research project is to address engineering and economic aspects of using modular packages for switchgrass biomass.
KW  - Benefit cost analysis
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Crops
KW  - Modules (Electricity)
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363815
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572193
TI  - Breeding and Testing of New Switchgrass Cultivars for Increased Biomass Production in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Kansas
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Arkansas
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Kansas
KW  - Oklahoma
KW  - Production
KW  - Texas
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363811
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569198
TI  - Mobility and Livability: Season and Built Environmental Impacts: Bicycle Travel - Part 1
AB  - Recognition of disadvantages of automobile-focused transportation systems, such environmental and public health impacts, has motivated a focus on options. Non-motorized transport modes such as bicycling have multiple advantages in these respects, but barriers to expanded use of these options need to be better understood. This study will document factors influencing choice of bicycling as a transportation mode for commuting to work in a northern climate. Results will contribute to methods for estimating demand for these services. Motorized transportation has disadvantageous impacts on human health, quality of life, and the environment. The direct effects of sedentary lifestyle and the anticipated effects of climate change associated with the use of motor vehicles are increasingly evident. Non-motorized transport such as bicycling is an alternative to use of motor vehicles for a substantial number of transportation needs. Public health researchers and transportation planners are teaming up to learn more about bicycle travel. The Office of Health Promotion Research in the College of Medicine at the University of Vermont (UVM) is collaborating with the UVM Transportation Research Center in a study of weather-related factors on bicycling for transportation in order to inform public policies. The impact of seasonal differences, including temperature, amount of rain or snow, and hours of daylight, on utilitarian bicycling has not received much attention from transportation or public health researchers. Better information about the impact of these influences on choosing bicycling instead of motorized transportation could help predict demand for resources and policies that facilitate utilitarian use of bicycles. People who commute to work by bicycle at least occasionally are invited to participate in the study. Participants will provide information about their method of transportation to work and use of bicycle transportation for a seven day period four times in one year (once per season during a specific week) using an online questionnaire. Descriptions of trips will include purpose, time spent and distance. Individual reports of transportation mode choices will be matched with date and place-specific weather conditions. Data analyses will focus on the impact of weather conditions on choice of transportation mode for commuting trips. Project activities begin in the fall of 2008 with interviews and focus groups designed to inform the development of the online questionnaire and data collection process, scheduled to begin fall 2009 with approximately 200 adults who commute to work by bicycle at least occasionally.
KW  - Bicycle travel
KW  - Mixed use development
KW  - Mode choice
KW  - Nonmotorized transportation
KW  - Questionnaires
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Seasonality
KW  - Software
KW  - Weather conditions
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359753
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569176
TI  - Livability, Mobility and Seasonality (Part 1)
AB  - The climate and development patterns of rural northern communities make mobility particularly challenging and often cost prohibitive. This project focuses on how weather impacts three aspects of mobility: un-served travel demand, bicycle travel and pedestrian transportation. First, in partnership with the New England Transportation Institute (NETI), using new survey data and existing Center for Rural Studies (CRS) built environment data; team members are measuring and describing the effects of weather on both revealed and un-served travel demand in rural northern communities. Focus groups and surveys are measuring the seasonal variation in bicycle travel demand as well as the associated causes of this variation in order to recommend policies and programs that might promote year-round use. A continuing analysis of pedestrian volume data has already indicated that weather can account for 30% of volume variation.
KW  - Bicycle travel
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Pedestrian traffic
KW  - Rural areas
KW  - Travel demand
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359731
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01566478
TI  - Mechanical and Economic Performance of an Electric Car Utilizing the Zebra Battery Technology in Vermont
AB  - Due to its hilly terrain and cold climate, Vermont offers a unique environment for testing the performance of electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. In this study, researchers evaluated the performance of a battery electric vehicle. Vermont converted a 2005 Toyota Echo from an internal combustion engine automobile to a battery powered electric vehicle. The researchers examined the overall performance of this vehicle in daily use. In particular, they investigated the influence of air temperature and internal battery temperature on vehicle performance. Additionally, Dr. Varhue considered the economic cost of operating this vehicle. Data was collected over a period of nine months and 260 trips totaling over 5,500 miles traveled. The yearly range of the vehicle in this study was found to be 67 miles, with an estimated energy cost of 7.7 cents per mile.
KW  - Cold weather
KW  - Electric vehicles
KW  - Energy conservation
KW  - Hybrid vehicles
KW  - Plug-in hybrid vehicles
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Terrain
KW  - Toyota automobile
KW  - Vehicle tests
KW  - Vermont
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1357588
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01494575
TI  - Integrative Freight Demand Management in the New York City Metropolitan Area - Implementation Phase
AB  - The purpose of this project is to design and develop policies and programs to foster unassisted off-hour deliveries (UOHD) and off-hour deliveries (OHD) at large traffic generators in New York City.  As part of this project UOHD will be implemented and the results will be assessed.  The main tasks include: (1) Identification of Operational Concepts and Policies; (2) Institutional Coordination, Community/Private Sector Outreach; (3) Implementation Planning; (4) Remote Sensing Based Performance Assessment System; (5) Redesign and Enhancement of Behavior Micro-Simulation (BMS); (6) Develop Traffic Simulation, Modify/Enhance the Regional Demand Model; (7) Implementation Design and Evaluation; (8) Implementation of OHD in Study Area(s); (9) Implementation Assessment and Economic Analysis; and (10) Final Report.
KW  - Freight demand management
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Integrated corridor management
KW  - Metropolitan areas
KW  - New York (New York)
KW  - Plan implementation
UR  - http://www.transp.rpi.edu/~usdotp/projects/main.php
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263744
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01494541
TI  - CRESTA - Consortium on Remote Sensing of Freight Flows in Congested Border Crossings and Work Zones
AB  - CRESTA will investigate and advance the potential of integrating present and future commercial remote sensing capabilities (CRS) with positioning, timing, and navigation (PNT), intelligent transportation systems (ITS), and spatial information technologies for improved efficiency in freight flow at borders and large construction sites. CRESTA will team w/ public &amp; private partners and focus its efforts on demonstrating the use of various data sources to provide information that allows the documentation and understanding of factors influencing truck travel times, and on determining effective planning and operational strategies to mitigate the effects of congestion on truck movements at borders crossing an around construction sites.
KW  - Border regions
KW  - Freight flow
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Remote sensing
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Work zone safety
KW  - Work zone traffic control
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/43000/43500/43508/record_152.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263710
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01494540
TI  - MeTriS: Metropolitan Transportation Information System Applying Space Based Technologies for Freight Congestion Mitigation
AB  - MeTriS envisages extensive tracking  of freight assets in a metropolitan area using global positioning system (GPS) and Vehicle-Infrastructure Integration (VII) technologies, Vehicles report their location and container contents in real time. Sensors in static infrastructure simultaneously report conditions such as bridge ice or fog. The data stream from these sensors enables a variety of synoptic information product, both real time and longitudinal.
KW  - Containers
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Global Positioning System
KW  - Metropolitan areas
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Sensors
KW  - Tracking systems
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Vehicle infrastructure integration
UR  - http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/ncrst/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263709
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01494538
TI  - Streamlining Transportation Corridors Planning Processes and Validating the Application of Commercial Remote Sensing and Spatial Information (CRS-SI) Technologies for Envionmental Impact Assessments
AB  - A segment of I-69 from I-55 near Hernando, MS to US 51 385 near Millington, TN provides an ideal testbed to implement the proposed use of new and innovative technologies for quantifying benefits versus traditional approaches to transportation infrastructures planning for corridor of national significance for which an environmental impact statement (EIS) has been recently completed. New and innovative approaches include multi-source remote sensing (RS) data and analysis for rapid evaluation of transportation corridor alignment options, screening of non-viable alternatives, and identification of environmentally sensitive areas and quantification of impacts; advanced transportation modeling of normal and emergency operations; and new global positioning system (GPS) technologies to enhance field data collection.
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Global Positioning System
KW  - Remote sensing
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Transportation corridors
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://www.ncrste.msstate.edu/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263707
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01466354
TI  - Indian Reservation Roads (IRR) and Local Roads Modeling and Management Databases
AB  - None
KW  - Highway planning
KW  - Indian reservations
KW  - Local transportation
KW  - Low volume roads
KW  - Planning
KW  - Planning and design
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Tribal government
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1234589
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01466353
TI  - Demand Estimation for Corn Transportation: A North Dakota Case Study
AB  - none
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Corn
KW  - Demand
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Grain
KW  - Grain elevators
KW  - Mode choice
KW  - North Dakota
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Trucking
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1234588
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462810
TI  - Geophysical Characterization of Tunnel Construction Site, Louisville, Kentucky
AB  - University of Missouri, Rolla (UMR) proposes to acquire electrical resistivity and refraction tomography at the Kentucky Department of Transportation (KDOT) tunnel site, Louisville, Kentucky. These geophysical data will be processed, analyzed and interpreted with the objective of mapping and characterizing soil and bedrock at this construction site. The main project deliverables will be a suite of maps and geologic cross-sections depicting variations in soil thicknesses and lithology and rock quality. Maps showing the locations and orientations of solution-widened joints and other potential engineering hazards will also be presented.
KW  - Bedrock
KW  - Construction
KW  - Electrical resistivity
KW  - Geophysical prospecting
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Soil structure
KW  - Structural engineering
KW  - Tunnels
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/research/R202.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1231033
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01460131
TI  - The Assessment of Chloride Injury from De-Icing Salts in Trees along State Highways in the Black Hills
AB  - This project started in FY-07 and is being continued in FY-08. During the past several years there has been an increasing concern from the general public regarding the poor appearance and mortality of tree stands along the highways and roads in the Black Hills. The trees, almost exclusively ponderosa pines (Pinus ponderosa), were exhibiting stunted growth, needle chlorosis and burn, and shoot dieback. These stands generally have between 5 to 30 or more symptomatic trees along with several dead trees. Due to the proximity of these symptomatic trees to the road, many occur within 60 feet of the edge of the pavement, the primary suspect for the decline and mortality been road de-icing salt. A limited random sampling of symptomatic ponderosa pines was made during the summer of 2004. At that time foliage samples taken from trees along state highways 79 and 87 and analyze for foliage chloride content and the presence of picloram, a herbicide that can produce similar symptoms. Chloride levels in normal, healthy foliage and twigs are generally less than 0.1% (dry weight basis). Symptoms and injury of trees may occur when the internal chloride concentration rises above 0.3%. The foliage samples collected from symptomatic pines along the highways showed chloride levels of 0.47 to 0.63%. Picloram, a common herbicide used to clear weeds from roadsides, produces similar symptoms. The samples were also analyzed for this herbicide and only a few samples taken along highway 87 within Custer State Park had any detectable levels of this chemical. Herbicide applications do not appear to be responsible for the injury of roadside pines outside of the park but there is a high likelihood that de-icing salts, specifically chloride, is responsible for tree decline and mortality along state highways. The objectives of this research are to: (1) Define the extent, distribution, sources and contributing factors involved in roadside tree damage and injury adjacent to highways in the Black Hills, and (2)Develop recommendations and guidelines for modifying current de-icing and roadside maintenance practices to minimize impact to roadside trees.
KW  - Black Hills (South Dakota)
KW  - Chlorides
KW  - Deicing
KW  - Deicing chemicals
KW  - Herbicides
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Roadside flora
KW  - Trees
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228347
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01387307
AU  - Yeh, M
AU  - Pollard, J K
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
TI  - Emissions impacts on driver safety
PY  - 2007/07
IS  - DOT-VNTSC-FMCSA-07-0
SP  - 51p
AB  - The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is concerned that truck drivers' exposure to high levels of air pollutants and mobile air toxics for potentially long periods of time, may lead to acute and/or long term cognitive impairments as a result.  The goal of this project was to compile existing information addressing the following question: Does exposure to diesel exhaust at levels found in cabs affect driver safety performance by affecting driver sleep, alertness, reaction time, fatigue levels, or judgment-making abilities?  To determine whether such an effect exists, the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center conducted expert interviews to obtain insight into the question and searched the environmental and medical literature.  The results of these activities are reported here.  The results of the expert interviews and literature search highlighted the fact that very little is known regarding the cognitive impact of exposure to diesel exhaust emissions.  Certainly, the potential for an effect exists, but cognitive ability is generally confounded with other "lifestyle" factors for truck drivers (e.g., fatigue, shift work).  Consequently, the question will be difficult to answer.  Challenges for future research are identified.
KW  - Air pollution
KW  - Air pollution
KW  - Attention
KW  - Attention
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Diesel fuel
KW  - Diesel fuels
KW  - Driver performance
KW  - Driver performance
KW  - Drivers
KW  - Exhaust gases
KW  - Heavy vehicle driver
KW  - Heavy vehicles
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Interview
KW  - Literature review
KW  - Literature reviews
KW  - Occupational health
KW  - Occupational safety
KW  - Planning and Environment
KW  - Reaction time
KW  - Reaction time
KW  - Road safety
KW  - Road safety (engineering and vehicles)
KW  - Vehicle emissions
UR  - http://ai.volpe.dot.gov/CarrierResearchResults/PDFs/Driver/Emissions%20Impact%20on%20Driver%20Safety%20Final%20Report.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1155072
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01380457
AU  - Clark, Kevin L
AU  - Wassaf, Hadi S
AU  - Wang, Frank Y
AU  - Gulsrud, Andrew
AU  - Dunkel, John
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
TI  - Wake Vortex Acoustic Characteristics and SOCRATES Sensor Performance
PY  - 2007/07//Final Report
SP  - 93p
AB  - This report provides an evaluation of the current state of the SOCRATES sensor and its readiness for use as an operational sensor for active monitoring of aircraft wake turbulence. SOCRATES is a laser opto-acoustic array designed to passively detect and track the sound emissions of aircraft vortices. The evaluation period, January 2003 to December 2006, included two field tests designed to improve understanding of the fundamentals of wake acoustic phenomenology and aspects of the SOCRATES sensor performance.
KW  - Acoustic detectors
KW  - Monitoring
KW  - Sensors
KW  - Socrate (Computer program)
KW  - Turbulence
KW  - Vortices
KW  - Wakes
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/45000/45100/45127/DOT-VNTSC-NASA-07-01.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1147536
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01173202
AU  - Pollard, John K
AU  - Nadler, Eric D
AU  - Stearns, Mary D
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
TI  - Review of Technology to Prevent Alcohol-Impaired Crashes (TOPIC)
PY  - 2007/07
SP  - 108p
AB  - This report summarizes the results of an evaluation of vehicular technology alternatives to detect driver blood alcohol concentration and alcohol-impaired driving. Taking an international perspective, this report references relevant literature, incorporates input from stakeholders, and includes a concept of operations to describe how to implement technology-based countermeasures that addresses concerns such as privacy, public acceptance, and legal issues.
KW  - Alcohol effects
KW  - Alcohol ignition interlock devices
KW  - Blood alcohol levels
KW  - Crash avoidance systems
KW  - Drunk drivers
KW  - Impaired drivers
KW  - In vehicle technology
KW  - Intoxication
KW  - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
UR  - http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NRD/Multimedia/PDFs/Crash%20Avoidance/2007/TOPICrev.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/33000/33800/33804/33804.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/933315
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01095687
AU  - Ranney, J
AU  - Nelson, C
AU  - Research and Special Programs Administration
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
AU  - Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo
TI  - The Impact of Participatory Safety Rules Revision on Incident Rates, Liability Claims, and Safety Culture in the U.S. Railroad Industry
PY  - 2007/07//Final Report
SP  - 69p
AB  - The Federal Railroad Administration Human Factors Research and Development Program sponsored a lessons learned study to examine the impact of safety rules revision on safety culture, incident rates, and liability claims in the railroad industry. Safety rules revision identifies key rules that are universally enforceable and eliminates unnecessary and conflicting rules. The process also seeks to promote improvements in safety culture through labor-management collaboration by including a shift in primary responsibility for rules creation from management to front-line workers. In this study, the evaluation team reviewed relevant literature, interviewed key participants (management and labor) from transportation carriers that had undertaken safety rules revision, and analyzed relevant incident and injury data. Although outcome data were statistically inconclusive, a number of other indicators in this study suggested a positive benefit on carriers that used the process. Interviewees reported more enforceable safety rules, increased compliance, and overall improvements in several aspects of safety culture, such as labor-management relations. Moreover, some carriers reported significant reductions in the number of claims related to the Federal Employer’s Liability Act and the cost per claim. This report examines other potential benefits, challenges, and successful implementation strategies, as well as future directions and activities.
KW  - Claims
KW  - Federal Employers Liability Act
KW  - Human factors
KW  - Incident detection
KW  - Lessons learned
KW  - Liability
KW  - Operating rules
KW  - Railroad safety
KW  - Safety programs
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/400
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/855789
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01095684
AU  - Stringfellow, Richard
AU  - Llana, Patricia
AU  - Tiax LLC
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
TI  - Detailed Modeling of the Train-to-Train Impact Test: Rail Passenger Equipment Impact Tests
PY  - 2007/07//Final Report
SP  - 85p
AB  - This report describes the results of a finite element-based analysis of the train-to-train impact test conducted at the Federal Railroad Administration’s Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, CO, on January 31, 2002. The ABAQUS/Explicit dynamic finite element code was used to simulate the first 0.5 second (s) of the collision. The primary objective of this program was to extend the use of finite element-based models for simulating the crush of train structures to include vehicle-to-vehicle interactions. A subset of the data collected during the test was first selected as a basis for comparison with model predictions. A finite element model of the train was then developed. This model includes detailed representations of the end structures of the cab car and the locomotive, and coarser representations of the back of these vehicle bodies and the trucks of the cab car. Connections between the cab car body and trucks were modeled to allow for lift of the body during the collision. Trailing vehicles and vehicle-to-vehicle connections were modeled using lumped mass parameters. The results of the model were compared to the selected data. These comparisons indicate that the model captures many aspects of collision behavior, with a fair degree of accuracy, especially over the first 0.25 s of the collision
KW  - Cabs (Vehicle compartments)
KW  - Crashes
KW  - Crashworthiness
KW  - Finite element method
KW  - Locomotives
KW  - Railroad safety
KW  - Railroad traffic
KW  - Railroad trains
KW  - Train operations
KW  - Transportation safety
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34500/34520/DOT-VNTSC-FRA-07-06.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/855787
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01088299
AU  - Adams, Teresa M
AU  - Juni, Emil
AU  - University of Wisconsin, Madison
AU  - Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
AU  - Wisconsin Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Compass 2006 Data Analysis and Reporting
PY  - 2007/07//Final Report
SP  - 101p
AB  - The Compass Operational Report is issued annually to identify the condition of Wisconsin’s state highway network. The primary audience for this report includes Operations Supervisors and Operations Managers at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) and partner organizations including the 72 counties. Compass reports are used to understand trends and conditions, prioritize resources, and set future target condition levels for the state highway system. As more information is gathered, data will also be used to illustrate and understand the consequences of funding and policy shifts, and to demonstrate accountability to decision-makers at WisDOT and in the State Legislature. This report includes data on bridges, traveled ways, shoulders, drainage, roadsides, selected traffic devices, and specific aspects of winter operations. It is important to note information not contained in this report when using it to make decisions. It does not include measures of preventive maintenance, operational services (like traveler information and incident management), or electrified traffic assets (like signals and lighting). The first section of this report is an executive overview, a condensed version of the full report for executive managers in WisDOT.
KW  - Bridge maintenance
KW  - Bridges
KW  - Data analysis
KW  - Drainage
KW  - Highway maintenance
KW  - Pavements
KW  - Road shoulders
KW  - Roadside
KW  - State highways
KW  - Traffic lanes
KW  - Traffic signs
KW  - Trend (Statistics)
KW  - Winter maintenance
KW  - Wisconsin
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/849619
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01055898
AU  - Dennis, Scott M
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - A Decade of Growth in Domestic Freight - Rail and Truck Ton-Miles Continue to Rise
PY  - 2007/07//Special Report
SP  - 4p
AB  - Domestic freight traffic carried by air, truck, rail, water, and pipeline totaled more than 4.5 trillion ton-miles in 2005—an increase of more than 350 billion over the 1996 total. This 8.7 percent growth in ton-miles, the primary physical measure of freight transportation output, reflects a 0.9 percent compound annual growth rate between 1996 and 2005, the latest year for which complete data are available. However, the overall growth masks some notable differences among modes, with ton-miles in three modes (rail, truck, and air) increasing while ton-miles in the other two modes (pipeline and water) declined over the 10-year span. While there was mostly year-to-year growth in overall ton-miles during the decade, it is estimated that total domestic ton-miles declined from 4.542 trillion in 2004 to 4.538 trillion in 2005, a decline of 0.1 percent. This preliminary estimate is essentially unchanged for 2005 relative to the previous year.
KW  - Air cargo
KW  - Domestic transportation
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight trains
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Pipelines
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Ton miles
KW  - Traffic growth
KW  - Trucking
KW  - United States
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2007_07_27/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30100/30153/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/814973
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01055652
AU  - daSilva, Marco P
AU  - Baron, William
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - State-of-the-Art Technologies for Intrusion and Obstacle Detection for Railroad Operations
PY  - 2007/07//Final Report
SP  - 44p
AB  - This report provides an update on the state-of-the-art technologies with intrusion and obstacle detection capabilities for rail rights of way (ROW) and crossings. A workshop entitled Intruder and Obstacle Detection Systems (IODS) for Railroads Requirements was held in 1998, and the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center published the proceedings in 2001. A suite of possible alternative detection technology systems were then field-tested; the results were published in 2003. A host of novel approaches to detection involving existing and emerging technologies have since appeared. This report identifies these new non-track circuit based approaches and methods of identifying obstacles and intruders on the ROW and at crossings. The results obtained from this analysis provide a technology update for the Federal Railroad Administration, as well as recommend potential technology concepts for future field testing. The application of intrusion and obstacle detection or remote sensing technologies would serve to improve the safety of rail passengers and road users, as well as protect the general population and environment from the risks associated with hazmat shipments, and aid in the relief of congestion by reducing the number of incidents and delays due to those incidents.
KW  - Hazardous materials
KW  - Incident detection
KW  - Intrusion detection
KW  - Obstacle detectors
KW  - Railroad incidents
KW  - Railroad operations
KW  - Railroad tracks
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Remote sensing
KW  - Right of way
KW  - State of the art
KW  - Technology
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/410
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34500/34517/DOT-VNTSC-FRA-07-04.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/814826
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01091734
AU  - Smith, Brian
AU  - Venkatanarayana, Ramkumar
AU  - University of Virginia, Charlottesville
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - System Operations Data Integrity Assessment
PY  - 2007/06/25/Final Report
SP  - 20p
AB  - Traffic sensors are being deployed widely across the nation, and their data is increasingly being archived for use in multiple applications.  However, before the data can be used, it is important to ask, "Can we really trust the data?"  This may be addressed through two basic and important value-added services of a traffic data archive.  Firstly, data screening checks the feasibility (i.e. is the data reasonable?) and usability of the data already collected.  In the second phase, the health of the detection system is continuously monitored to support proactive maintenance of the sensor infrastructure.  This research effort focused on developing a methodology to tailor these functions for specific archives.  The report presents the methodology, as well as examples of its application in the Regional Integrated Transportation Information System (RITIS) of the Washington, D.C. area.
KW  - Data quality
KW  - Highway operations
KW  - Sensors
KW  - Traffic data
KW  - Traffic surveillance
KW  - Washington (District of Columbia)
UR  - http://cts.virginia.edu/docs/UVACTS-14-5-129.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/851365
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01494539
TI  - Integrated Remote Sensing & Visualization (IRSV) System for Transportation Infrastructure
AB  - The goal of this project is to extend current application of Commercial Remote Sensing and Spatial Information (CRS-SI) technologies for transportation infrastructure asset management and maintenance. This is to be accomplished via the development of a platform that allows validation of commercial CRS-SI data. The project focuses on bridge management systems and will enhance current procedures of our two public partners North Carolina Department of Transportation (NC DOT) and Charlotte Department of Transportation (DOT). The approach will integrate CRS-SI with large-scale visualization and bridge inspection data. Optimal sensing technology for local implementation will identify sensing criteria including rapid return-of-response requirements, develop domain knowledge such as image/degradation correlation, and develop an integration approach including data access optimization and control hierarchy.
KW  - Asset management
KW  - Bridge management systems
KW  - Inspection
KW  - North Carolina
KW  - Remote sensing
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Visualization
UR  - http://ncrst.uncc.edu/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263708
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01494537
TI  - Asphalt Surface Aging Prediction (ASAP) System
AB  - New construction miles make up only a small fraction of the Federal highway construction effort each year. The bulk of Federal effort is in reconstruction and rehabilitation. One of the biggest impacts on rehabilitation and construction costs can result from extending the life of existing pavements through the use of new technologies fro determining optimum maintenance treatments and schedules. Technologies are needed that assess the pavement condition prior to the appearance of visible distress. Successful technologies could reduce pavement maintenance and rehabilitation costs by a factor of six. A non-contact infrared technology will be examined in this work that addresses the early detection of pavement distresses. The Asphalt Surface Aging Prediction (ASPA) system is based on the indirect measurement of the stiffness or modulus of the binder at the surface of an asphalt pavement using Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. This technology, if proven successful will determine the modulus of the binder at the pavement surface, and with two or more field measurements, allow prediction of the rate of modulus increase. Couple with climate information, this will allow a preemptive maintenance trigger to be created based on a limiting modulus value for a pavement.
KW  - Aging (Materials)
KW  - Asphalt pavements
KW  - Fourier transforms
KW  - Highway maintenance
KW  - Infrared spectroscopy
KW  - Pavement distress
KW  - Service life
KW  - Surface course (Pavements)
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263706
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01494536
TI  - Monitoring the Condition of Unpaved Roads with Remote Sensing and other Technology
AB  - Strategy for monitoring the condition of unpaved roads is a hybrid approach comprising two interrelated systems: UAV-based Remote Sensing (RS) of road condition - will acquire road imagery with high resolution from an UAV platform, and assess roads based on the condition parameters derived through the development of sophisticated algorithms for image processing and analysis: and Predictive Road Condition Modeling using RS Data - the road condition data are produces by developing a robust road condition model using satellite derived environment data and other road data. The extracted road condition parameters in approach 1 will be directly used in local transportation agencies for road condition monitoring and maintenance. In addition these data will also be used in the development of the statistical model in approach 2 as field data for training and verification. Furthermore, the statistical model that will be developed in approach 2 will be constantly updated and improved by the observation data and the derived parameters provided in approach 1, leading to an operational system for road condition monitoring.
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - Condition surveys
KW  - Drone aircraft
KW  - Image processing
KW  - Monitoring
KW  - Remote sensing
KW  - Unpaved roads
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263705
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462800
TI  - Ant Colony Optimazation for Transportation Optimization Problems
AB  - The Western Transportation Institute (WTI) leads numerous research projects to improve transportation in rural areas. A typical challenge in locations is the absence of seamless or reliable communication, due to the difficulty of effectively placing infrastructure in remote areas or rugged terrain. A WTI researcher has conducted preliminary research into the use of an optimization technique called "Ant Colony Optimization," to investigate whether it can be applied to select optimal placement of communications infrastructure along a roadside. The initial research has included computational analysis, integration of digital elevation models, and development of a working algorithm. Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is an artificial intelligence algorithm and is a form of "Swarm Intelligence." Ant Colony Optimization algorithms mimic the behavior of ants searching for food. Ants deposit pheromones on the paths they follow when searching for food. The ants that find food survive and retrace their paths back to their homes, making the pheromone deposited along trails leading to food even stronger. Other ants follow pheromone-laden trails leading to food, and ultimately the shortest paths to food are found by the collective ant colony. Similarly, ACO explores potential paths to solutions of problems and increases the weights of paths leading to good solutions. Ultimately, ACO algorithms converge to near-optimal solutions for very complex problems, such as the infrastructure placement problem. This project will allow the researchers of the Systems Engineering Group to build on the previous research through enhancement of the estimation techniques and algorithm, generation of test cases based on real locations and equipment, and identification of other applications for the techniques used in the research. The overall objective of this project is to formalize, test and enhance propagation estimate techniques used to select the optimal placement of communications infrastructure using artificial intelligence.
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - Communication systems
KW  - Estimation theory
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Remote areas
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Roadside structures
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/research/4w1618.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1231023
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462791
TI  - Paving the Way for Best Management Practices of Fugitive Water on Pavement Surfaces
AB  - Various Best Management Practices (BMP) used for both storm water and irrigation management may have a negative impact on the life expectancies of pavements. This study will review the current state-of-the-art on BMPs and catalog these for potential impacts. It will develop templates of typical scenarios found in the field that incorporate these BMPs and using the templates, identify field locations that have the potential for conducting detailed field measurements on the physical impact these BMPs have. Field locations will be identified and various constraints will be addressed, including measuring equipment and techniques to be used in the research. The results will be available for publication and presentation, and will be used to seek addition funding to conduct the field studies.
KW  - Drainage
KW  - Field studies
KW  - Pavements
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Service life
KW  - State of the art
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1231014
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462790
TI  - Degradation Process in Hydrogen Fuel Cells
AB  - This project proposes to extend our NASA funded research to study the basic chemistry and physical processes involved in degradation mechanisms within proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. These studies will help determine relative fuel cell lifetimes, information necessary to maximize them, and the identification of degradation processes. The project further proposes to continue to involve students in meaningful research, thereby better preparing them for future careers in the rapidly changing transportation industry.
KW  - Degradation failures
KW  - Fuel cells
KW  - Hydrogen fuels
KW  - Information systems
KW  - Proton exchange membrane
KW  - Protons
KW  - Research projects
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1231013
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462789
TI  - Performance Metrics Used by Freight Transport Providers
AB  - The newly-established National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) has allocated funding to a project entitled "Performance Metrics for Freight Transportation Productivity." According to the project's background discussion, "public and private decisions related to the freight industry should be based on a thorough analysis of the impacts of those decisions.  These analyses are routinely made in the private sector but less commonly in the public sector.  As the demand for freight movements outstrips the capacity of the nation's highway, rail, waterway, air, and port systems, the effects are felt as congestion, upward pressure on freight prices, and longer and less reliable transit times. These indicators of distress in the freight transportation system result in increased supply costs for manufacturers, higher import prices, and higher inventory levels. Ultimately, these costs add up to a higher cost of doing business for firms, a higher cost of living for consumers, and a less productive and competitive economy. Such indicators need to be quantified to be useful to decision makers as well as for public education on freight issues. Establishing consistent performance metrics for the freight system will be very helpful in conducting and comparing analyses of the freight system, particularly by identifying the critical data that are needed to assess system performance."
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight traffic measurement
KW  - Freight trains
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Highway capacity
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Port capacity
KW  - Research projects
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1231012
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462788
TI  - Use of GIS Technology to Facilitate the Transportation Project Programming Process
AB  - Transportation project programming in a transportation agency is a process of matching potential projects with available funds to accomplish the agency's mission and goals of a given period of time. Result of this process is normally a transportation improvement program (TIP) that sets up the financial plan as well as the scope and schedule of transportation improvement projects to be implemented by a transportation agency. Many transportation agencies (including SCAG and the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA)) recently have employed GIS technology to facilitate their project programming process. The geographical representation of transportation projects greatly helps decision-makers prioritize transportation projects visually. It also helps notify the public of transportation improvement projects in an easy-to-read, graphic format on the Web. This project is aimed at assessing the potential use of geographic information system (GIS) technology to facilitate the transportation project programming activities within the Inland Empire transportation agencies. Based on the assessment, the project will provide recommendations and methodologies for incorporating GIS and project programming tools in the development of transportation improvement programs. Also the project will develop a conceptual framework and a work plan whose purpose is to implement the programming methodologies for cities, counties, and regional transportation agencies within the Inland Empire region.
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Orange County (California)
KW  - Programming (Planning)
KW  - Project management
KW  - Regional transportation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Transportation Improvement Program
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1231011
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462787
TI  - Caltrans TMC Coordination
AB  - Caltrans districts utilize data and video to manage traffic within district boundaries. Districts utilize networks of vehicle detection stations to generate roadway data and closed-circuit television cameras to allow visual surveillance of district highways. TMC personnel utilize this data in conjunction with information from external sources such as the California Highway Patrol to log, track, and respond to traffic anomalies through incident logging systems. Caltrans Traffic Management Centers (TMCs) do not currently have a seamless mechanism for sharing collected roadway loop data, video, and incident logs between districts. Caltrans districts are all linked by the Caltrans WAN, which has the potential to facilitate the sharing of such data and video between districts. Leveraging this data, video, and wide-area networking capacity has the potential aid traffic management on a larger scale. Caltrans District 8, which encompasses San Bernardino and Riverside counties, has several transportation corridors entering/leaving it from neighboring Caltrans Districts. This project will identify these critical transportation corridors, key traffic management personnel within them, and data/video that could be shared across boundaries to effect improvements in traffic management. It is anticipated that this project will result in an initial framework for data and video sharing between key Southern California Caltrans Districts.
KW  - California
KW  - Closed circuit television
KW  - Logging (Recording)
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Tracking systems
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic control centers
KW  - Traffic flow
KW  - Transportation corridors
KW  - Vehicle detectors
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1231010
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462786
TI  - Enhancing Road Traffic Safety in Inland Empire: A GIS Based Methodology to Identify Potential Areas of Improvement
AB  - It is well known that the major goal of transportation system is to enhance mobility and crashes are unwanted by-products which have to be minimized while achieving the primary goal. Although general people value travel time more than any other outcome of transportation system, traffic accidents impose huge economic burden on the society. A detail investigation of the State of California crash statistics showed over representation of fatal, injury, alcohol related crashes, road departure crashes, speeding related crashes in Inland Empire (http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-30/ncsa/STSI/6_CA/2005/6_CA_2005.htm) and identified as one of the major transportation issues affecting this region. This seed-grant proposal aims to investigate the reason behind the high crash statistics in Inland Empire and develop methodologies to identify potential areas of safety improvements using Geographic Information System (GIS). Researchers have shown that (Kim et al, 2006; Mitra et al, 2007) land use, economic activities, spatial traffic generators such as schools, universities, bars and pubs have strong influence in traffic crashes. Consequently identification of these spatial factors in relation to high crash location is important in enhancing traffic safety of a region as many aspects of roadway safety management may suffer from omitting spatial variables that have possible impact on road traffic crashes. To ensure a comprehensive safety analysis of Inland Empire, this researcher would like to form a partnership with experts in GIS and traffic safety from Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona to develop road-safety research program in new transportation center. This seed-grant also seeks to gather crash information, land use and socioeconomic data from local agencies and develop GIS databases for further and in depth analysis of traffic safety in Inland Empire.
KW  - California
KW  - Crash data
KW  - Crash rates
KW  - Crash severity
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic crashes
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1231009
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01460156
TI  - Assessment & Development of Biodiesel instructional Techniques
AB  - Biodiesel is an emerging renewable fuel whose potential is not well known or understood by the general public. Little prior work has been done to evaluate the effectiveness of biodiesel instructional demonstrations using different feedstock oils and at various scales. Similarly, there is little hands-on biodiesel educational opportunity in the Inland Empire. In this study, it is proposed to: 1) quantify the clarity and color contrast of biodiesel and glycerin products of the biodiesel chemical reaction using different types of vegetable oil, and 2) take video and photographs of small-batch biodiesel production steps, and industrial-scale biodiesel operations in order to produce new and original PowerPoint presentations and lectures for both student courses and general public education. Results will be used in the course NSCI 320 - Energy, in preparing fee workshops offered jointly through the College of Extended Education and the Transportation Center, and all video will be archived with the Transportation Center.
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Biodiesel fuels
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Fuel conservation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Vegetable oils
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228372
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01460155
TI  - Tertiary Disaster Response in the Inland Empire: Operationalizing Supply Chain Restoration, Phase 1
AB  - This proposal focuses on the aftermath of catastrophic events that may be of natural or human origin. The concept of Tertiary Disaster Response (TDR) focuses on the systematic, planned restoration of key services following a disaster. As evidenced by the follies and failures following Hurricane Katrina, the need to revitalize the supply chain is of critical importance to re-establishing a city's or region's economic vitality. A key component of the restoration process is the development of a planned response program that effectively prioritizes the needs of the region and the logistics and supply chains that efficiently meet the identified priorities.
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Disaster relief
KW  - Disasters and emergency operations
KW  - Emergency management
KW  - Evacuation
KW  - Logistics
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Restoration
KW  - Supply chain management
KW  - Tertiary flow
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228371
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01460154
TI  - Inland Empire Logistics GIS Mapping Project
AB  - The Inland Empire has experienced exponential growth in the area of warehousing and distribution facilities within the last decade. Where are these facilities located? How large are the facilities? Can identification and location of these facilities be used by strategic decision makers at the commercial, governmental and military level? This pilot project would be used to identify the elements for a database and the identification of elements for a geographic information system (GIS) mapping project. Obviously, the project is too large to be completed in a short period of time; however, the identification of the resources available, the elementary structure of the database and the development of a plan for the GIS map would be useful when completed to strategic decision makers in the area.
KW  - California
KW  - Databases
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Mapping
KW  - Physical distribution
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Warehouses
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228370
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01460153
TI  - Applicability of Adaptive Traffic Signal Control Systems to Arterials in the Inland Empire
AB  - The proposed project is intended to study the ability to apply adaptive traffic signal control systems, i.e. those which analyze and respond to shifts in traffic patterns in "real-time", on arterials in the Inland Empire. This would be considered, in terms of the focus areas of the Leonard University Transportation Center, a mobility improvement measure aimed at minimizing traffic delay. The project at this stage will essentially consist of determining the geometric and traffic patterns of one or more sample arterials in the Inland Empire, determining the basic effectiveness of the current traffic signal control systems, and considering methods of application that might improve the state of traffic of the sample arterials.
KW  - Adaptive control
KW  - Real time control
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic delays
KW  - Traffic signal control systems
KW  - Traffic signals
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228369
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01460152
TI  - California's 2050 Transportation Context: A Response to Global Warming and Executive Order #S-3-05
AB  - Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transportation sector is a vital part of a coherent global warming response. In order to develop sensible responses, California policy-makers need to understand how the conditions affecting the movement of people and goods will change in the long-term future. Executive Order #S-3-05 calls for California GHG emissions in 2050 to be 80% below 1990 levels. This is a tremendous challenge to the transportation sector. California's responses are made difficult by the lack of information about likely market conditions, technological innovation, and the Federal regulatory conditions in the 2050 time frame. This project will provide research that begins to address these questions and leads to a second proposed phase for a Delphi panel that will provide the best predictions of the transportation sector's future carbon footprint. The project will examine trends in (i) transportation economics (e.g., carbon based fuel costs, vehicle technology, congestion impacts, trade), (ii) technological innovation that affect the vehicle fleet and travel demand, and (iii) the evolving Federal and international regulatory framework (e.g., possible carbon based fuel taxes, transportation pricing, investment strategies, etc). For this seed grant, information would be developed through a preliminary literature review that will frame the issues and the focus of the proposed subsequent Delphi panel. A Delphi panel is an iterative prediction process that will help transportation, energy, and policy experts converge on consensus predictions about the future. The Delphi panel is the best technique for generating predictions of future events where there is a great uncertainty. Although specific technical assessments may exist concerning specific trends, no comprehensive assessment is available. The development of California policies to achieve compliance with the Executive Order requires the best available predictions of the context for future GHG emissions reduction strategies.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - California
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Environmental policy
KW  - Global warming
KW  - Greenhouse effect
KW  - Greenhouse gases
KW  - Policy
KW  - Policy making
KW  - Pollution control
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Technological innovations
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228368
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01460151
TI  - Electrification of the Freight Train Network from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to the Inland Empire
AB  - The proposed project evaluates the benefits of electrifying the freight railroads connecting the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach with the Inland Empire. These benefits include significant reduction in air pollution, and improvements in energy efficiency. The project also includes developing a scope of work for a much more detailed study, along with identifying potential funding sources for such a study.
KW  - Freight cars
KW  - Freight service
KW  - Freight terminals
KW  - Freight trains
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Research projects
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228367
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01616132
AU  - Poindexter, Gavin
AU  - Krizek, Kevin J
AU  - Barnes, Gary
AU  - Thompson, Kristen
AU  - Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Guidelines for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Bicycle Facilities: Refining Methods for Estimating the Effect of of Bicycle Infrastructure on Use and Property Values
PY  - 2007/06//Final Report
SP  - 67p
AB  - Following the passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Equity Act (ISTEA) in 1991, many communities began building and/or expanding their bicycle networks. With the increase in investment in bicycle facilities comes a need to measure the impact of the investments. This report expands on how these measurements can be done through case studies based in the Twin Cities. It is a compilation of studies related to estimating the effects of bicycle infrastructure on the community around the infrastructure and is a continuation of previous work that was included in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 552 Guidelines for Analysis of Investments in Bicycle Facilities. The work is divided into four main parts: (1) the relationship between bicycle facilities and rates of bicycling, (2) the impact of establishing bicycle facilities on residential property values, (3) the effect of building a bicycle facility on the number of bicycle crashes in the area, and (4) the impact of the Midtown Greenway on the surrounding community. In addition, the report also describes the use and refinement of a online tool for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Bicycle Facilities. . The tool was created as part of the NCHRP project, and was recently used as part of graduate planning and civil engineering course. Included in this report is the findings of the research, and feedback from the students regarding the on-line tool. The on-line tool can be found at http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/bikecost/.
KW  - Benefit cost analysis
KW  - Bicycle facilities
KW  - Bicycle travel
KW  - Property values
UR  - http://www.wistrans.org/mrutc/files/Benefit-CostAnalysisofBicycleFacilities_FINAL21.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1428948
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01380448
AU  - Hallock, James M
AU  - Soares, Melanie A
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Aviation Administration
TI  - Comparison of the Wake Vortices of Heavy and non-Heavy B757
PY  - 2007/06//Technical Report
SP  - 39p
AB  - In July 1996, a new wake vortex category was created for the B757-200 which placed it between revised Large and Heavy categories.  Shortly thereafter, the B757-300, stretched version of the B757-200, was placed in service and soon was treated by Air Traffic Control as a Heavy aircraft due to its maximum certificated takeoff weight.  This study examines the behavior of vortices from both aircraft during landing operations, and shows little difference between the vortices of the two B757 series.  Both measurements and theory indicate that the B757-300 vortices decay somewhat faster than B757-200 vortices.  Therefore, the B757-300 is being penalized by an unneeded increased wake vortex spacing during landing operations.
KW  - Air traffic control
KW  - Aircraft
KW  - Heavy aircraft
KW  - Landing
KW  - Vortices
KW  - Wakes
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/45000/45100/45126/B757_Report.doc
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1147507
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01356717
AU  - Lowell, Dana
AU  - Chernicoff, William P
AU  - Lian, F Scott
AU  - M. J. Bradley & Associates, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
TI  - Fuel Cell Bus Life Cycle Cost Model: Base Case & Future Scenario Analysis
PY  - 2007/06//Final Report
SP  - 46p
AB  - This report describes the results of a life cycle cost analysis conducted using a spreadsheet-based Lifecycle Cost Model developed to allow the user to evaluate the differential costs of different transit bus propulsion technologies. The model is set up to allow analysis of bus/technology types that operate on various liquid and gaseous fuels. The model includes six input worksheets into which the user is required to enter various fleet data assumptions, and four output worksheets which display the costs calculated by the model for the bus/technology types analyzed. The user can choose up to eight different bus/technology types at a time for analysis, organized by fuel type. The model allows simultaneous analysis of two different bus types operating on each of two different liquid fuels and two different bus types operating on each of two different gaseous fuels.
KW  - Compressed natural gas
KW  - Cost models
KW  - Diesel fuels
KW  - Fuel cells
KW  - Hydrogen fuels
KW  - Life cycle costing
KW  - Operating costs
KW  - Propulsion
KW  - Transit buses
UR  - http://www.rita.dot.gov/publications/fuel_cell_bus_life_cycle_cost_model/index.html
UR  - http://www.rita.dot.gov/publications/fuel_cell_bus_life_cycle_cost_model/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1121557
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01333336
AU  - Noel, George J
AU  - Boeker, Eric
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Thrust Reverser Analysis for Implementation in the Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT)
PY  - 2007/06//Letter Report
SP  - 8p
AB  - This letter report presents an updated implementation for thrust reversers in Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT). Currently, thrust reverser is applied to all STANDARD approach profiles in the Integrated Noise Mode (lNM) as 60% of the max rated thrust for jets and 40% for props over a distance of 90% of the total roll-out distance after touchdown. These thrust values during landing ground roll in INM were used to ensure good agreement between measured and modeled noise, but were not necessarily representative of actual thrust levels during thrust reverser deployment. The ground roll distance associated with reverse thrust in INM is also somewhat arbitrary. Since the aircraft performance model is common to noise and emissions computations in AEDT, the unrealistically high thrust assumption specifically is an issue when computing fuel flow and emissions. Therefore, there is a need to update thrust reverser assumptions in AEDT to better represent conditions in typical aircraft operations. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has committed to developing a noise module within AEDT that is compliant with European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) Doc 29 3rd Edition 2005 "Report on Standard Method of Computing Noise Contours Around Civil Airports" (Doc 29). This implementation of thrust reversers in ADET was undertaken in cooperation with the United Kingdom (UK) Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as part of the effort to update ICAO Circular 205, and to advance the previous related work of ECAC DOC 29. Doc 29 specifies a more complex implementation of reverse thrust than currently exists in INM, citing a typical reverse thrust power level of 20% of static thrust coupled with an additional noise-power-distance (NPD) dB adjustment that varies according to distance traveled from touchdown. Even though this implementation is more representative of actual thrust reverser deployment, the Doc 29 development team noted that their recommendation was preliminary and that they were still investigating the issue further. This letter report presents an interim solution to better represent thrust reversers in AEDT.
KW  - Air traffic control
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Aircraft noise
KW  - Civil aviation
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - INM (Integrated Noise Model)
KW  - Landing
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Thrust reversers
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35600/35608/rtv-4f-fa4t-lr1.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1094929
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01138307
AU  - Howarth, Heidi D
AU  - Alton, S
AU  - Arnopolskaya, N
AU  - Barr, Lawrence C
AU  - Di Domenico, Tara E
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
TI  - Driver Issues: Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Literature Review
PY  - 2007/06
SP  - 219p
AB  - The objective of this project was to provide the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) with a more complete understanding of the non-regulatory factors which make for safer commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers. Through the review of available literature, the relationship between the CMV driver and the motor carrier was explored with respect to safety outcomes. A tailored Haddon Matrix was used as a means to structure the literature and provide clear direction for the development of future intervention strategies. Haddons Matrix provides a framework for identifying factors that influence an event by dividing the event in terms of timeframe (i.e., pre-event, event, and post-event) and the actors and/or environments involved in the event. The Haddon Matrix was adapted for the current project by considering the driver and the motor carrier as the major actors/environments, and identifying events in the driver-motor carrier relationship that are important for improving driver safety. Two separate reviews were conducted. Review No.1 examined literature relating to the selection of safe drivers; its outcomes pointed to employee turnover as a primary focus of the data-driven research conducted over the past decade, as well as a primary concern highlighted in trade and industry sources. Review No.2 investigated research and trade publications as related to improving driver safety; its outcomes demonstrated that recent literature has largely concentrated on the identification and comprehension of driver characteristics and motor carrier practices as they relate to safety outcomes (e.g., age and CMV driving history). General conclusions derived from the literature and future research needs are also discussed.
KW  - Commercial vehicle operations
KW  - Driver experience
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Literature reviews
KW  - Motor carriers
KW  - Traffic safety
KW  - Truck drivers
KW  - Trucking
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/49000/49800/49840/Driver-Issues-CMV-Safety-Literature-Review-June2007.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/49000/49800/49840/Driver-Issues-CMV-Safety-Literature-Review-June2007.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/898497
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01079145
AU  - Irwin, Lynne H
AU  - Orr, David P
AU  - Cornell University Local Roads Program
AU  - University Transportation Research Center
AU  - New York State Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Seasonal Variations of In Situ Materials Properties in New York State
PY  - 2007/06//Final Report
SP  - 282p
AB  - In 2001, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) solicited proposals for research on development of seasonal models for the in situ characteristics of pavement materials to help them implement the new mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide being developed by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). The Cornell University Local Roads Program worked with NYSDOT and a technical advisory committee to meet the needs of the proposal. The models used in most pavement designs fail to take into account the spatial and seasonal stochastic variations that exist in real world situations. In order to provide NYSDOT with the most practical models possible, the experimental plan called for a large number of Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) tests over a single year. The collected data were used to determine seasonal and spatial variations at four sites in New York State. By analyzing the variables between the sites, a combined model of seasonal pavement variation was developed. The concept of practical evaluation tests and the limited budget led to the development of an initial experimental design influenced by economic considerations and practical time constraints. Tests currently performed by NYSDOT were preferred. Since NYSDOT owned an FWD, FWD testing was preferred over expensive laboratory tests which are unlikely to be used in typical pavement design analyses. Since an FWD tests in situ conditions, the results could be used to define the spatial and temporal variations in pavement response for a particular site.
KW  - Framework
KW  - In situ site characterization
KW  - Location
KW  - Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide
KW  - Methodology
KW  - New York (State)
KW  - Pavement design
KW  - Properties of materials
KW  - Research
KW  - Seasonal models
KW  - Seasonal variations
KW  - Soils
KW  - Subgrade (Pavements)
UR  - http://www.utrc2.org/research/assets/71/SeasonalVariations1.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/836644
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01055745
AU  - Poindexter, Gavin
AU  - Krizek, Kevin J
AU  - Barnes, Gary
AU  - Thompson, Kristen
AU  - Midwest Regional University Transportation Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Optimization of Transportation Investments: Guidelines for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Bicycle Facilities: Refining Methods for Estimating the Effects of Bicycle Infrastructure on Use and Property Values
PY  - 2007/06//Final Report
SP  - 57p
AB  - Following the passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Equity Act (ISTEA) in 1991, many communities began building and/or expanding their bicycle networks.  With the increase in investment in bicycle facilities comes a need to measure the impact of the investments.  This report expands on how these measurements can be done through case studies based on the Twin cities.  It is a compilation of studies related to estimating the effects of bicycle infrastructure on the community around the infrastructure and is a continuation of previous work that was included in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 552 "Guidelines for Analysis of Investments in Bicycle Facilities".  The work is divided into four main parts: (1) the relationship between bicycle facilities and rates of bicycling, (2) the impact of establishing bicycle facilities on residential on residential property values, (3) the effect of building a bicycle facility on the number of bicycle crashes in the area, and (4) the impact of the Midtown Greenway on the surrounding community.  In addition, the report also describes the use and refinement of a online tool for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Bicycle Facilities.  The tool was created as part of the NCHRP project, and was recently used as part of graduate planning and civil engineering course.  Included in this report is the findings of the research, and feedback from the students regarding the on-line tool.  The on-line tool can be found at http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/bikcost/.
KW  - Benefit cost analysis
KW  - Bicycle crashes
KW  - Bicycle facilities
KW  - Bicycles
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - National Cooperative Highway Research Program
KW  - Online training
KW  - Property values
KW  - Transportation investment
KW  - Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (Minnesota)
UR  - http://www.mrutc.org/research/0607/Benefit-CostAnalysisofBicycleFacilities_FINAL2.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/813620
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01055577
AU  - Wreathall, John
AU  - Roth, Emilie
AU  - Bley, Dennis
AU  - Multer, Jordan
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Human Factors Considerations in the Evaluation of Processor-Based Signal and Train Control Systems: Human Factors in Railroad Operations
PY  - 2007/06
SP  - 160p
AB  - In August 2001, the Federal Railroad Administration issued the notice of proposed rulemaking: Standards for Development and Use of Processor-Based Signal and Train Control Systems (49 Code of Federal Regulations Part 236). This proposed rule addresses the design and implementation of processor-based train control systems. Under the proposed rule, a railroad wishing to implement a positive train control (PTC) system in revenue service must develop and submit a product safety plan (PSP) and assess the risk associated with the new system. This report attempts to fill the gap provided by the lack of knowledge about the kinds of human performance challenges and safety risks that will occur with these proposed systems. To fill this gap, the authors identified human factors issues that arose in other industries where similar kinds of technology and human-machine interfaces were used. This literature review, along with an analysis of PTC-preventable accidents, served as the basis for structuring interviews with employees at several railroads that had experience with train control technology containing elements of PTC. The answers to these questions provide the reader with a roadmap of human performance issues to consider in preparing or evaluating a PSP, along with the implications for risk.
KW  - Automatic train control
KW  - Communications
KW  - Crashes
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Human factors
KW  - Positive train control
KW  - Railroad operations
KW  - Railroad safety
KW  - Risk assessment
KW  - Safety
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/408
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/33000/33700/33704/33704.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/814823
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01054417
AU  - Lewis, Stephen M
AU  - Ammah-Tagoe, Felix
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - How Freight Moves: Estimating Mileage and Routes Using an Innovative GIS Tool
PY  - 2007/06//Technical Report
SP  - 6p
AB  - The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) has developed an innovative software tool, called GeoMiler, that is helping researchers better estimate freight travel. GeoMiler is being used to compute mileages along likely routes for the nearly 6 million freight shipments expected to be reported in the 2007 Commodity Flow Survey (CFS), the nation’s largest survey of freight movements. These computations are used in estimating modal ton-miles of freight—a key measure for understanding the use and performance of our nation’s freight transportation system. BTS, part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), developed GeoMiler using current Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to assign routes and calculate mileage from the true origin to the true destination of each freight shipment even when more than one freight mode is used. While developed for use in the CFS, the tool’s integration of core GIS technology and its modeling approach can be used for any multimodal freight movement at all geographic levels.
KW  - 2007 Commodity Flow Survey
KW  - Air cargo
KW  - Commodity flow
KW  - Estimating
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Innovation
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Mileage
KW  - Multimodal transportation
KW  - Origin and destination
KW  - Pipelines
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Routes
KW  - Software
KW  - Ton miles
KW  - Trucking
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_technical_report/2007_07_13/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35400/35447/Freight.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/813705
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01446289
AU  - Chinnam, Ratna Babu
AU  - Murat, Alper E
AU  - Ulferts, Gregory
AU  - Michigan Ohio University Transportation Center
AU  - Wayne State University
AU  - University of Detroit Mercy
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Enabling Congestion Avoidance and Reduction in the Michigan-Ohio Transportation Network to Improve Supply Chain Efficiency: Freight ATIS
PY  - 2007/05/30/Progress Report
SP  - 16p
AB  - The overall goal was to develop effective dynamic routing algorithms for congestion avoidance and reduction for commercial cargo carriers given real-time information regarding recurring and non-recurring congestion by Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS). The authors reviewed the literature on state-of-the-art dynamic routing algorithms, tested promising algorithms, recognized their strengths/weaknesses, and identified means to improve their performance.
KW  - Advanced traveler information systems
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - Congestion avoidance
KW  - Delivery service
KW  - Dynamic models
KW  - Dynamic programming
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Incident management
KW  - Literature reviews
KW  - Michigan
KW  - Ohio
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Traffic congestion
UR  - http://mioh-utc.udmercy.edu/research/sc-02/pdf/MIOH_UTC_SC2_Proj1_2007_Final_Report_Enabling_Congestion_Avoidance_etc.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1213878
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01491348
AU  - McGowen, Patrick
AU  - Western Transportation Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Studying Travel Patterns in National Parks
PY  - 2007/05/22
SP  - 16p
AB  - The Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University has done a number of studies on how visitors to various National Parks travel. Most recently a study was completed in Grand Teton National Park which included license plate surveys (to track vehicle paths), visitor surveys, mode use counts (e.g., bicycle, taxi, single occupancy vehicles (SOV), etc.), and traffic counts. This report summarizes the results of this data collection with some supplemental data from studies in other parks in an attempt provide some general characteristics of park travelers. Understanding these general characteristics will help national parks in their transportation planning to accommodate visitors.
KW  - Grand Teton National Park
KW  - National parks
KW  - Traffic counts
KW  - Transportation modes
KW  - Travel patterns
UR  - http://www.coe.montana.edu/ce/patm/pubs/files/2007ited6.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257431
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01359714
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
TI  - Report to Congress on the “Review of Federal and State Laws Regarding Vehicle Towing”
PY  - 2007/05/21/Final Report
SP  - 52p
AB  - This report summarizes current federal and state law and jurisprudence regarding nonconsensual motor vehicle towing, and also provides an overview of information obtained from major stakeholder groups regarding this topic. Major issues related to nonconsensual towing are highlighted, and some potential remedies to the problems identified are discussed.
KW  - Federal laws
KW  - State laws
KW  - Towed vehicles
KW  - United States Congress
KW  - Vehicle impoundment
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/42000/42800/42819/Predatory_Towing_Final_Report_to_Congress.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1125701
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01325104
AU  - Machek, Elizabeth C
AU  - Fisher, Frances B
AU  - Peirce, Sean
AU  - Ritter, Gary T
AU  - Spiller, David J
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Department of Agriculture
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center Vehicular and Pedestrian Congestion Study
PY  - 2007/05/14/Final Report
SP  - 128p
AB  - The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center of Tongass National Forest in Juneau, Alaska, is experiencing vehicular and pedestrian congestion. This study was initiated by the United States Forest Service, Alaska Region, in cooperation with the Western Federal Lands Highway Division pf the Federal Highway Administration. The study objective was to identify feasible alternatives for alleviating vehicular and pedestrian congestion. Safety and wayfinding improvements are recommended before the opening of the 2007. In the short term, traffic management strategies and minor design changes to moderate the flow of visitors are recommended and four alternatives are provided. In the long term, a more comprehensive management plan to assess and plan for resource use is recommended. Transportation considerations for that planning are provided.
KW  - Buses
KW  - Juneau (Alaska)
KW  - Mendenhall Glacier
KW  - National parks
KW  - Tour buses
KW  - Tourists
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic control centers
KW  - Traffic flow
KW  - Traffic safety
KW  - Wayfinding
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35000/35073/DOT-VNTSC-USDA-07-01.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1085936
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01055098
AU  - Murray, Yvonne D
AU  - Abu-Odeh, Akram Y
AU  - Bligh, Roger P
AU  - APTEK, Incorporated
AU  - Texas Transportation Institute
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Evaluation of LS-DYNA Concrete Material Model 159
PY  - 2007/05//Final Report
SP  - 206p
AB  - An elastoplastic damage model with rate effects was developed for concrete and implemented into LS-DYNA, a commercially available finite element code.  This manual documents the evaluation of the concrete material model, including the selection of the concrete model input parameters.  The model is evaluated through correlations with test data: drop tower impact of 1/3-scale beams (plain and reinforced), bogie vehicle impact of full-scale reinforced beams, pendulum impact of bridge rails, and quasi-static loading of a safety-shaped barrier.  Although the model was developed and evaluated for roadside safety applications, it should also be applicable to many dynamic problems.
KW  - Barriers (Roads)
KW  - Bridge railings
KW  - Concrete
KW  - Concrete beams
KW  - Correlation analysis
KW  - Damage models
KW  - Elastoplasticity
KW  - Finite element method
KW  - Impact tests
KW  - LS-DYNA (Computer program)
KW  - Material models
KW  - Reinforced concrete beams
KW  - Roadside safety
UR  - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/infrastructure/structures/05063/index.cfm
UR  - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/infrastructure/structures/05063/index.cfm
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/814753
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01054032
AU  - Sprung, Michael J
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Increased Trade Spurs Growth in North American Freight Transportation
PY  - 2007/05
SP  - 4p
AB  - Freight Transportation between the United States and our North American Free Trade Agreement partners – Canada and Mexico – continues to grow at a strong pace. In 2006, the U.S. transportation system carried goods for export worth $364 billion and imports worth $502 billion in trade with Canada and Mexico. Transporting this merchandise requires an enormous amount of transportation equipment – trucks, railcars, aircraft, pipeline, and maritime vessels plus millions of containers. Between 1996 and 2006, U.S. merchandise freight with our NAFTA partners more than doubled in value, increasing from $419 billion to $866 billion. In 2006, imports accounted for over half (58 percent) of this freight activity, slightly up from 55 percent in 1996. Growth in this trade, whether outbound exports or inbound imports, results in higher levels of international freight movement and the demand for expanded freight transportation services in the United States.
KW  - Aircraft
KW  - Canada
KW  - Containers
KW  - Demand
KW  - Economic growth
KW  - Exports
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Imports
KW  - International trade
KW  - Market value
KW  - Mexico
KW  - North America
KW  - North American Free Trade Agreement
KW  - Pipelines
KW  - Railroad cars
KW  - Ships
KW  - Trade
KW  - Transportation growth
KW  - Trucks
KW  - United States
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/bts_special_report/2007_05/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/30000/30100/30154/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/811568
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01052039
AU  - Murray, Yvonne D
AU  - APTEK, Incorporated
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Users Manual for LS-DYNA Concrete Material Model 159
PY  - 2007/05//Final Report
SP  - 89p
AB  - An elasto-plastic damage model with rate effects was developed for concrete and implemented into LS-DYNA, a commercially available finite element code.  This manual documents the theory of the concrete material model, describes the required input format, and includes example problems for use as a learning tool.  A default material property input option is provided for normal strength concrete.  The model was developed for roadside safety applications, such as concrete bridge rails and portable barriers impacted by vehicles, but it should also be applicable to other dynamic applications.
KW  - Barriers (Roads)
KW  - Bridge railings
KW  - Computer program documentation
KW  - Concrete
KW  - Damage models
KW  - Elastoplasticity
KW  - Finite element method
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - LS-DYNA (Computer program)
KW  - Material models
KW  - Roadside safety
UR  - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/infrastructure/pavements/05062/
UR  - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/infrastructure/pavements/05062/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/811202
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569207
TI  - Agricultural Freight: Network Access and Issues
AB  - The modeling framework and tools under development throughout Signature Project 1 focus on informing policy related to passenger transportation. Yet, the concept of evaluating transportation in light of environmental impacts and resiliency to disruption applies equally well to freight transportation. View Full Summary The modeling framework and tools under development throughout Signature Project 1 focus on informing policy related to passenger transportation. Yet, the concept of evaluating transportation in light of environmental impacts and resiliency to disruption applies equally well to freight transportation. In a state where agriculture is one of the largest sectors of the economy, contributing about a half billion dollars in gross receipts annually (USDA ERS, 2006), and is important for attracting tourists who bring another $20 million (USDA NASS, 2004) to the state each year, agricultural freight deserves attention. Because the majority of agricultural freight transportation in Chittenden County either originates or has destinations outside of the county, it is not appropriate to model within the closed-system model used for passenger transportation. However, by gaining a better understanding of agricultural freight networks within Vermont, modelers and planners will have a more complete picture of the transportation network under study. The issues related to agricultural freight, including potential impacts on road surface integrity, air and environmental quality need to be better understood before models can be extended or developed for this context. This project will describe how milk moves from farms to first collection points or processing plants and analyze the robustness of the road networks carrying this agricultural freight. This information will be useful to public and private sector entities concerned with how transportation relates to sustainable agriculture.
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Land use
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Local transportation
KW  - Model integration
KW  - Policy making
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Vermont
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/agricultural-freight-network-access-and-issues/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359762
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569178
TI  - Agricultural Freight: Network Access and Issues (Part 1)
AB  - The modeling framework and tools under development throughout Signature Project 1 focus on informing policy related to passenger transportation. Yet, the concept of evaluating transportation in light of environmental impacts and resiliency to disruption applies equally well to freight transportation. In a state where agriculture is one of the largest sectors of the economy, contributing about a half billion dollars in gross receipts annually (USDA ERS, 2006), and is important for attracting tourists who bring another $20 million (USDA NASS, 2004) to the state each year, agricultural freight deserves attention. Because the majority of agricultural freight transportation in Chittenden County either originates or has destinations outside of the county, it is not appropriate to model within the closed-system model used for passenger transportation. However, by gaining a better understanding of agricultural freight networks within Vermont, modelers and planners will have a more complete picture of the transportation network under study. The issues related to agricultural freight, including potential impacts on road surface integrity, air and environmental quality need to be better understood before models can be extended or developed for this context. This project will describe how milk moves from farms to first collection points or processing plants and analyze the robustness of the road networks carrying this agricultural freight. This information will be useful to public and private sector entities concerned with how transportation relates to sustainable agriculture.
KW  - Accessibility
KW  - Agricultural products
KW  - Chittenden County (Vermont)
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Farm roads
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Origin and destination
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/agricultural-freight-network-access-and-issues/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359733
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569168
TI  - Agricultural Freight: Network Access and Issues (Part 2)
AB  - The modeling framework and tools under development throughout Signature Project 1 focus on informing policy related to passenger transportation. Yet, the concept of evaluating transportation in light of environmental impacts and resiliency to disruption applies equally well to freight transportation. View Full Summary The modeling framework and tools under development throughout Signature Project 1 focus on informing policy related to passenger transportation. Yet, the concept of evaluating transportation in light of environmental impacts and resiliency to disruption applies equally well to freight transportation. In a state where agriculture is one of the largest sectors of the economy, contributing about a half billion dollars in gross receipts annually (USDA ERS, 2006), and is important for attracting tourists who bring another $20 million (USDA NASS, 2004) to the state each year, agricultural freight deserves attention. Because the majority of agricultural freight transportation in Chittenden County either originates or has destinations outside of the county, it is not appropriate to model within the closed-system model used for passenger transportation. However, by gaining a better understanding of agricultural freight networks within Vermont, modelers and planners will have a more complete picture of the transportation network under study. The issues related to agricultural freight, including potential impacts on road surface integrity, air and environmental quality need to be better understood before models can be extended or developed for this context. This project will describe how milk moves from farms to first collection points or processing plants and analyze the robustness of the road networks carrying this agricultural freight. This information will be useful to public and private sector entities concerned with how transportation relates to sustainable agriculture.
KW  - Agricultural products
KW  - Chittenden County (Vermont)
KW  - Farm roads
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Land use
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Local transportation
KW  - Model integration
KW  - Policy making
KW  - Public transit
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/agricultural-freight-network-access-and-issues/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359723
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01566461
AU  - He, Bill
AU  - Dinges, Eric
AU  - Hemann, Justin
AU  - Rickel, Denise
AU  - Mirsky, Lena
AU  - Roof, Christopher J
AU  - Boeker, Eric R
AU  - Gerbi, Paul J
AU  - Senzig, David
AU  - ATAC Corporation
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Aviation Administration
TI  - Integrated Noise Model (INM) Version 7.0 User's Guide
PY  - 2007/04//Final Report
SP  - 449p
AB  - The Federal Aviation Administration, Office of Environment and Energy, Noise Division (FAA, AEE-100) has developed Version 7.0 of the Integrated Noise Model (INM) with support from the ATAC Corporation and the Department of Transportation Volpe National Transportation Systems Center. The FAA Integrated Noise Model is widely used by the civilian aviation community for evaluating aircraft noise impacts in the vicinity of airports. The model is typically used in the U.S. for FAR Part 150 noise compatibility planning, FAR Part 161 approval of airport noise restrictions, and for environmental assessments and environmental impact statements under the current version of FAA Order 1050.1E. New features in INM 7.0 include: lateral attenuation calculations based on SAE-AIR-5662; flight path segmentation, flight procedure step types, bank angle calculations, and thrust reverser implementation based on ECAC Doc 29; helicopter modeling methods based on Version 2.2 of FAA’s Heliport Noise Model (HNM); an HNM study import function; a scenario annualization function allowing operations to be adjusted after performing a run; a multi-threaded run mode; fixed-spacing contour grid functionality; increased differentiation between different type of aircraft (civil, military, and helicopter); the ability to input location values in lat/long or X/Y; and many extended database fields. INM Version 7.0 software runs on PCs using a minimum hardware configuration of a Pentium III processor, Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP operating systems, 1.0-Gb RAM, mouse input device, hard disk drive, and CD-ROM drive.
KW  - Airport noise
KW  - Computer program documentation
KW  - Helicopters
KW  - Heliports
KW  - INM (Integrated Noise Model)
KW  - Noise contours
KW  - Sound level
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/54000/54900/54923/INM_7.0_User_Guide.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1355724
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01325137
AU  - Najm, Wassim G
AU  - Smith, John D
AU  - Yanagisawa, Mikio
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
TI  - Pre-Crash Scenario Typology for Crash Avoidance Research
PY  - 2007/04//Final Report
SP  - 132p
AB  - This report defines a new pre-crash scenario typology for crash avoidance research based on the 2004 General Estimates System (GES) crash database, which consists of pre-crash scenarios depicting vehicle movements and dynamics as well as the critical event immediately prior to a crash. This typology establishes a common vehicle safety research foundation for public and private organizations, which will allow researchers to determine which traffic safety issues should be of first priority to investigate and to develop concomitant crash avoidance systems. Its main objectives are to identify all common pre-crash scenarios of all police-reported crashes involving at least one light vehicle (i.e., passenger car, sports utility vehicle, van, minivan, and light pickup truck); quantify their severity in terms of frequency of occurrence, economic cost, and functional years lost; portray each scenario by crash contributing factors and circumstances in terms of the driving environment, driver, and vehicle; and provide nationally representative crash statistics that can be annually updated using national crash databases such as GES. This new typology includes 37 pre-crash scenarios accounting for approximately 5,942,000 police-reported light-vehicle crashes, an estimated economic cost of 120 billion dollars, and 2,767,000 functional years lost. These statistics do not incorporate data from non-police-reported crashes.
KW  - Crash avoidance research
KW  - Crash data
KW  - Databases
KW  - General Estimates System
KW  - Police reports
KW  - Pre-crash scenarios
KW  - Traffic crashes
KW  - Traffic safety
KW  - Vehicle safety
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35000/35064/DOT-VNTSC-NHTSA-06-02.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1086065
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01095918
AU  - Najm, Wassim G
AU  - Smith, John D
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
TI  - Development of Crash Imminent Test Scenarios for Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems
PY  - 2007/04//Final Report
SP  - 57p
AB  - This report identifies crash imminent test scenarios based on common pre-crash scenarios for integrated vehicle-based safety systems that alert the driver of a light vehicle or a heavy truck to an impending rear-end, lane change, or run-off-road crash. Pre-crash scenarios describe vehicle movements and critical events immediately prior to the crash. The General Estimates System (GES) crash database was queried to distinguish common pre-crash scenarios for light vehicles (2003 GES) and heavy trucks (2000-2003 GES) in terms of their frequency of occurrence. Analysis of two-vehicle rear-end crashes revealed four dominant scenarios that accounted for 97 percent of light-vehicle crashes and 95 percent of heavy-truck crashes in which the subject vehicle was striking. Four scenarios were also identified from an analysis of two-vehicle lane change crashes, comprising 65 percent of light-vehicle crashes and 76 percent of heavy-truck crashes in which the subject vehicle was encroaching onto another vehicle in adjacent lanes. There were five single-vehicle, run-off-road scenarios representing 63 percent of light-vehicle crashes and 83 percent of heavy-truck crashes, excluding crashes caused by vehicle failure or evasive maneuver. An additional set of scenarios is proposed to address multiple threats from near simultaneous critical events. This report also provides a statistical description of individual scenarios in terms of their environmental factors, roadway geometry, and speed conditions.
KW  - General Estimates System
KW  - Heavy duty trucks
KW  - Integrated Vehicle Based Safety Systems (Initiative)
KW  - Integrated vehicle-based safety systems
KW  - Lane changing
KW  - Light vehicles
KW  - Pre-crash scenarios
KW  - Ran off road crashes
KW  - Rear end crashes
KW  - Test scenarios
UR  - http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NRD/Multimedia/PDFs/Crash%20Avoidance/2007/DOTHS810757IVBSS.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34700/34725/DOT-VNTSC-NHTSA-07-01.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/855910
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01055110
AU  - Zimmerman, Carol
AU  - Bolton, Patricia
AU  - Raman, Mala
AU  - Kell, Todd
AU  - Unholz, Stacy
AU  - Bausher, Chris
AU  - Battelle
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Communicating with the Public Using ATIS During Disasters: A Guide for Practitioners
PY  - 2007/04
SP  - 36p
AB  - Advanced Traveler Information Systems, ATIS, can play an important role in communicating essential information to the public during disasters. Variable message signs, 511 telephone systems, highway advisory radio, and websites are some of the dissemination devices of systems that collect, process, and disseminate information about travel conditions to the public for day-to-day transportation operations, and these same systems need to be effectively used during disaster situations. This document provides advice on use of ATIS during disasters and is intended not only for state and local transportation agencies but for their partners in public safety and emergency management agencies. It offers practical guidance to managers of transportation management centers and emergency operations and to public information officers who may be called on to staff joint information centers during disasters. The document discusses what we know about human behavior in disaster situations based on findings from several decades of research. That perspective can help in maximizing the effectiveness of traveler information communications. The current use of traveler information in managing normal incidents and planned special events is examined as a starting point for gauging the processes and technologies that are in place today. Five case studies of actual disasters in Georgia, California, Nevada, Utah, and Washington State show the role that traveler information has played in current practice and provide lessons for others. A concept of operations is presented that characterizes the flow of information among the people, organizations, and technologies comprising traveler information dissemination during disasters. To maximize the benefit of ATIS as a tool for communicating with the public during disasters, a local strategy should be developed. A toolkit for organizing and conducting a strategy workshop is provided in this document as a starting point. A workshop that encompasses all the key stakeholders can acquaint them with currently available ATIS assets, potential future enhancements, and each agency’s role in ensuring that ATIS is an important tool for helping the public when disaster strikes.
KW  - 511 (National Travel Information Number)
KW  - Advanced traveler information systems
KW  - California
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Communication
KW  - Disasters and emergency operations
KW  - Emergency communication systems
KW  - Georgia
KW  - Highway advisory radio
KW  - Information dissemination
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Lessons learned
KW  - Nevada
KW  - State of the practice
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Toolkits
KW  - Traffic control centers
KW  - Utah
KW  - Variable message signs
KW  - Washington (State)
KW  - Websites (Information retrieval)
UR  - http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/atis/index.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/38000/38800/38806/atis_guidance.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/814695
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01165299
AU  - Rahall Appalachian Transportation Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - WVDOT Workforce Development Study
PY  - 2007/03/08/Final Report
SP  - 51p
AB  - The purpose of the West Virginia Department of Transportation Workforce Study was to collect and analyze data concerning the current and projected demographics of the workforce and to recommend strategies which would: address any critical shortages of workers; reduce turnover; attract the skilled personnel needed by the departments and to develop a cooperative infrastructure of education and training providers.
KW  - Abilities
KW  - Demographics
KW  - Labor force
KW  - Personnel development
KW  - Personnel retention
KW  - State departments of transportation
KW  - Training
KW  - West Virginia
UR  - http://www.njrati.org/wp-content/plugins/research_projects/reports/TRP%2008-04.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/925242
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01142927
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - United States Coast Guard
TI  - Estimating Economic Impacts of Regulatory Changes to U.S. Port Operations
PY  - 2007/03//Final Report
SP  - 65p
AB  - This report describes a framework for estimating the changes to port costs, handling time, and reliability due to potential regulations imposed by the Coast Guard, as mandated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The framework focuses on the container port sector of the overall port industry.
KW  - Cargo handling
KW  - Container terminals
KW  - Costs
KW  - Economic impacts
KW  - Port operations
KW  - Regulations
KW  - United States
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35600/35610/Port_Impacts_Final_Report.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/903049
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01055596
AU  - Hellman, Adrian D
AU  - Carroll, Anya A
AU  - Chappell, Debra M
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Evaluation of the School Street Four-Quadrant Gate/In-Cab Signaling Grade Crossing System
PY  - 2007/03//Final Report
SP  - 48p
AB  - Under sponsorship from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Research and Development, the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center performed an evaluation of the four-quadrant gate/obstruction detection system at the School Street crossing in Groton, CT. The primary objectives of this evaluation were to assess the safety benefits and to document the operational performance provided by this non-standard technology. Highway-railroad grade crossing risk mitigation research in the United States has historically focused on the safety benefits of active warning devices, such as flashing lights, bells, and dual crossing gates. In addition, clear agreement has predominated within the research community that grade separation or closure provides the highest level of risk treatment. As the economic and societal costs of these treatments have increased, however, research has been increasingly concentrated on technologies that provide many of the same benefits without the obtrusiveness of grade separation or closure.
KW  - Cab signals
KW  - Connecticut
KW  - Crossing gates
KW  - Flashing lights
KW  - Four quadrant gates
KW  - Gates
KW  - Railroad cars
KW  - Railroad grade crossings
KW  - Railroad safety
KW  - Warning devices
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/407
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34400/34403/DOT-VNTSC-FRA-03-04.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/814678
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01051581
AU  - Shaheen, Susan A
AU  - Rodier, Caroline J
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Video Transit Training for Older Travelers: A Case Study of the Rossmoor Senior Adult Community, California
PY  - 2007/03//Final Report
SP  - 66p
AB  - In this study, the authors applied principles of social learning and marketing to develop a transit training video for residents of the Rossmoor senior adult community in California. The video features familiar community members successfully navigating specific concerns and problems related to transit use in accessing key community destinations [shopping, health care, and the nearest Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) district station]. To evaluate the effectiveness of the video, residents were recruited to complete questionnaires before and after viewing it.  Video messages aimed to educate viewers on how to obtain transit information, costs, and payment generated a significant and positive attitudinal change. However, respondents reported that the video did not adequately address the difficulties associated with reading schedules and climbing stairs at transit stations. Survey results also indicated significant and positive change in respondents’ future use of a broader range of Internet-related information sources. The results also revealed a significant and positive change among respondents in using transit services to the specific destinations presented in the video. However, results were mixed on whether participants might take transit to general destinations not explicitly represented in the video.
KW  - Adults
KW  - Aged
KW  - California
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Costs
KW  - Education and training
KW  - Focus groups
KW  - Marketing
KW  - Questionnaires
KW  - Respondents (Surveys)
KW  - San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District
KW  - Surveys
KW  - Transit riders
KW  - Travel behavior
KW  - Videotapes
UR  - http://transweb.sjsu.edu/mtiportal/research/publications/documents/06-04/MTI-06-04.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/809156
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01050457
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
AU  - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - The Importance of Sharing Data
PY  - 2007/03
SP  - 12p
AB  - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), are Administrations that are represented on the U.S. DOT Traffic Records Coordinating Committee (TRCC).  These Administrations collect data from the States for use in a variety of data-driven systems.  The data collected is used extensively for basic research; identifying problem areas; identifying program and rulemaking needs; developing and evaluating programs, rules, and standards; evaluating new technologies; and allocating grants.  The 4 Administrations and the entire highway traffic safety community use the data to quantify emerging traffic safety issues and problems, determine priorities, support decision-making and target resources where they will be most effective.  Data allows for complete understanding of the nature, causes, and injury outcomes of crashes; and the strategies and interventions that will reduce  crashes and their consequences.  This paper describes all of the data systems and programs that are supported by data from each of the aforementioned Administrations.
KW  - Countermeasures
KW  - Crash causes
KW  - Crash data
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Data sharing
KW  - Grant aid
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Injuries
KW  - Research
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Technology
KW  - Traffic crashes
KW  - Traffic data
KW  - Traffic safety
KW  - U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
KW  - U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
KW  - U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
KW  - U.S. Research and Innovative Technology Administration
UR  - http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/810687.PDF
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/809336
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01049411
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - America's Container Ports: Delivering the Goods
PY  - 2007/03
SP  - 20p
AB  - From 1995 to 2006, world container traffic more than tripled in volume from 137 million to 417 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), growing at an average annual rate of about 11%. Expanding U.S. and global economic activity fueled this phenomenal growth in maritime container freight. With the exception of a few products, such as cars transported in specialized vessels, huge container vessels carry manufactured products of nearly every description. Although the United States remained the leading trading nation, accounting for 12% of total world merchandise trade in 2005, the United States ranked second in container traffic, a position it has held since relinquishing the number one position to China in 1998. The United States’ position in container traffic directly relates to its position as the world’s largest trading partner with the world’s biggest economy. U.S. total imports ranked first with over 16% of global imports in 2005, while U.S. total exports accounted for 8.7% of global exports, following Germany, which was the leading exporter. The United States also remained the world’s largest economy, accounting for 28% of world gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005, up from 25% in 1995.  These highlights are discussed in greater detail in this report in the following sections:  Inbound v. Outbound Traffic; Port Concentration; Regional Port Trends; Vessel Calls and Capacity; Trading Partners; Entries of Oceanborne Container Units; Container Entries by All Modes from all Countries; and Container Ports and Data Needs.
KW  - Container terminals
KW  - Container traffic
KW  - Data needs
KW  - Economic growth
KW  - Exports
KW  - Gross domestic product
KW  - Imports
KW  - International trade
KW  - United States
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/americas_container_ports/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35300/35372/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/808958
ER  - 

TY  - CONF
AN  - 01046080
JO  - Transportation Research E-Circular
PB  - Transportation Research Board
TI  - Research Opportunities in Radio Frequency Identification Transportation Applications
PY  - 2007/03
IS  - E-C114
SP  - 88p
AB  - This circular summarizes the conference, Research Opportunities in Radio Frequency Identification Transportation Applications, which was held October 17-18, 2006, in Washington, D.C.  This conference focused on current and future research on radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies in transportation applications, which include the tagging of containers, pallets, individual packages, and building equipment and components; vehicle collision avoidance; electronic preclearance of vehicles and individuals through security checkpoints; and electronic toll collection.  The conference was a unique opportunity to create a more focused research agenda for transportation applications of RFID technology.  Conference objectives were to: inform government transportation agencies about current and potential RFID applications that have the potential to enhance the mobility of freight and people; increase communication among researchers involved in RFID technology applications for transportation; give government program managers a better understanding of University Transportation Centers (UTC) programs and link those program managers interested in RFID applications with university experts; and identify RFID research opportunities.  An appendix contains research problem statements developed by conference participants.
U1  - Research Opportunities in Radio Frequency Identification Transportation ApplicationsTransportation Research BoardResearch and Innovative Technology AdministrationWashington,D.C.,United States StartDate:20061017 EndDate:20061018 Sponsors:Transportation Research Board, Research and Innovative Technology Administration
KW  - Automated preclearance systems
KW  - Automated toll collection
KW  - Conferences
KW  - Containers
KW  - Crash avoidance systems
KW  - Equipment
KW  - Freight security
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Pallets
KW  - Radio frequency identification
KW  - Research
KW  - Research problem statements
KW  - Safety and security
KW  - Sensors
UR  - http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/158706.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/806272
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01577883
TI  - Conversion of Agricultural Materials to Biofuels and Bioproducts by Thermotoga Neapolitana, a Hyperthermophilic, Anaerobic Bacterium
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Agriculture
KW  - Bacteria
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Energy conversion
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1371184
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01356818
AU  - Chen, Genda
AU  - Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Fifth National Seismic Conference on Bridges and Highways: Innovation in Earthquake Engineering for Highway Structures (Missouri University of Science and Technology Report on the Conference)
PY  - 2007/02//Final Report
SP  - 50p
AB  - This report consists of a copy of the Conference Program.  The conference was held in San Francisco on September 18-20, 2006.  It attracted over 300 engineers, academicians, and students from around the world.  The actual proceedings of the conference are published by the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research, State University of New York.
KW  - Bridges
KW  - Conferences
KW  - Earthquake resistant design
KW  - Geotechnical engineering
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/documents/ETT185_CR.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/26000/26900/26951/ETT185_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1122599
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01046434
AU  - Short, Andrew J
AU  - University of Virginia, Charlottesville
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - An Analysis of State DOT Options for Transporting Future Freight Flows on the U.S. Interstate Highway System (Freight on the Interstate Highway System: Current State, Forecasts, and Alternatives)
PY  - 2007/01/03/Final Report
SP  - 112p
AB  - Over the course of its history, there has been a dramatic increase in automobile and truck traffic, from 54 million vehicles in the U.S. in 1956 to 237 million in 2006. Interstate planners did not foresee the rapid growth of freight transportation on the interstate highways. Representing just over 3% of the nation’s highway system mileage, the interstate highway system carries about 24% of all roadway traffic. Truck transportation on the interstates comprises almost 20% of this total traffic and further growth is expected in the coming years. Planners predict that growth in freight traffic will occur in both urban and suburban areas, resulting in congestion, higher shipping costs, higher consumer prices, and further stress on the environment. Our nation’s international competitiveness depends on a variety of factors, one of which is the efficiency of transport and Interstate highway system. The Interstate system has reduced manufacturing and distribution costs in the domestic market, which in turn makes U.S. products more competitive in world markets. Thus, the highway system is vital in maintaining the superiority of U.S. productivity. The Interstate system was predicated on forecasts for 1976 – a 20-year design life. Much has changed. Planners never could have seen the way Americans now commute from the suburbs, nor have predicted the impact of building highways through downtown urban areas of large cities. Urban sprawl, coupled with increased freight trucking traffic, has led to congestion and delays on these superhighways which is hurting the productivity of our country. The purpose of this study is to investigate the current state of freight on the Interstate system, determine the attitude of state Department of Transportations (DOTs) towards interstate freight, and suggest options for freight transport and the future of the Interstate system. This study is based on a comprehensive literature review and surveys of state departments of transportation. For this study, four different sources were used to gather current state DOT attitudes towards the Interstate system: an American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) survey and conference results , TRB’s state visit program, a self-conducted University of Virginia (UVA) survey, and literature on current state initiatives. The research demonstrates that state DOTs are concerned about congestion and freight flows on the Interstate system.
KW  - Commodity flow
KW  - Costs
KW  - Forecasting
KW  - Freight flow
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Interstate highways
KW  - Literature reviews
KW  - Manufacturing
KW  - State departments of transportation
KW  - Surveys
KW  - Traffic
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Truck traffic
KW  - Urban sprawl
UR  - http://cts.virginia.edu/docs/UVACTS-14-5-112.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/806322
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01578006
TI  - Annual Updating of the Spatial Extent of Feedstock Agriculture
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Agriculture
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Spatial analysis
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1371390
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572228
TI  - Sustainable Cropping Systems for Harvesting Corn Stover for Biomass
AB  - The objectives of this research projects are: (1) Identify groundcover species compatible with corn grown for grain and biomass; (2) determine genetic characteristics of corn that enhance its potential to germinate and compete with perennial groundcovers; (3) develop management systems to minimize competition between corn and the groundcover, while maximizing soil carbon contribution, soil erosion protection, and nutrient cycling. Third quarter reports 60% completed: Variability in these clump-forming grass plots give the confidence that bare soil buffer regions around corn will have a significant effect on yield; project recorded days when the 2 harvest rows each plot had 50% of plants silking/shedding; and Weed composition and density data were collected at silking in all plots.
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Corn
KW  - Crops
KW  - Erosion
KW  - Grain
KW  - Grasses
KW  - Ground cover
KW  - Sustainable development
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363846
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572226
TI  - Developing a Sustainable Feedstock and Next Generation Processing Technologies for Biofuels Production
AB  - The objective of this research project is to develop prairie cord grass (PCG) as a feedstock for marginal lands and biochemical processes to improve its conversion to biofuel and bioproducts.  Sites have been identified.  Grass breeding program initiated to create hybrids. The project will conduct disease survey and genetics studies on key traits for biomass production.  Work underway on economical and effective pretreatment strategies and single-step bioconversion at high solids levels. Sequencing of PCG caffeic_acid_3-O-methyltransferase (COMT)  based on primers from comparative genomics the first exon (Cloned) was cloned and sequenced. Transcriptome analysis identified the second exon (Contig). From these sequences additional primers have been developed and sequenced to bridge the gap between the two putative exons. Some additional sequence has been found (cloned2).
KW  - Biomass fuels
KW  - Feedstocks
KW  - Grasses
KW  - Next generation design
KW  - Production methods
KW  - Sustainable development
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363844
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572225
TI  - Novel Recoverable Enzyme Nanoparticles for Cellulose Hydrolysis
AB  - This research project developed a method to capture and reuse cellulose enzymes to improve ethanol conversion efficiency. Protein nanoparticles with bovine serum albumin were successfully fabricated.  Through variation in concentrations and time, control was demonstrated over nanoparticles size in range of 80 - 500 nm. Initial results show glucose oxidase-manganese peroxidase (MNP) constructs are stable for up to 40 days. Magnetic nanoparticles have begun to synthesize to test size dependence on activity and recoverability.
KW  - Cellulose
KW  - Conversion factors
KW  - Enzymes
KW  - Ethanol
KW  - Glucose
KW  - Hydrolysis
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363843
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01572216
TI  - Develop Sustainable Renewable Energy Systems for Practical Utilization of Bulky Biomass
AB  - No summary provided.
KW  - Biomass
KW  - Development
KW  - Renewable energy sources
KW  - Sustainable development
KW  - Utilization
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363834
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569210
TI  - Integrated Land-Use, Transportation and Environmental Modeling: Complex Systems Approaches and Advanced Policy Applications
AB  - This project develops, evaluates, calibrates, and validates combinations of integrated frameworks for agent-based land use and transportation models using Chittenden County as a test-bed. The project proposes to implement UrbanSim with TRANSIMS for Chittenden County and to integrate the two models together with an activity model developed by partners at RSG Inc. Future conditions shall be simulated based on alternative scenarios generated in stakeholder meetings and ranging from changed land use policy constraints to construction of new infrastructure. The impacts of the transportation sector on mobile source air pollution will be conducted using data from Vermont UTC Signature Project #2. Researchers in other projects will be providing new model output metrics to consider land cover and carbon; storm water; impacts on plants and soils; network robustness; and commodity transportation. The researchers will develop code for processes to integrate these new output metrics into the combined model in a format that services the MPO context and models. The most important aspect of project 1B is evaluating which of the combined model architecture components are necessary for which set of regional planning and policy questions.
KW  - Integrated systems
KW  - Land use
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Model integration
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Simulation
KW  - Urban areas
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359765
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569187
TI  - Integrated Land-Use, Transportation and Environmental Modeling: Complex Systems Approaches and Advanced Policy Applications, Phase 2
AB  - This project develops, evaluates, calibrates, and validates combinations of integrated frameworks for agent-based land use and transportation models using Chittenden County as a test-bed. The project proposes to implement UrbanSim with TRANSIMS for Chittenden County and to integrate the two models together with an activity model developed by partners at RSG Inc. Future conditions shall be simulated based on alternative scenarios generated in stakeholder meetings and ranging from changed land use policy constraints to construction of new infrastructure. The impacts of the transportation sector on mobile source air pollution will be conducted using data from Vermont UTC Signature Project #2. Researchers in other projects will be providing new model output metrics to consider land cover and carbon; storm water; impacts on plants and soils; network robustness; and commodity transportation. The researchers will develop code for processes to integrate these new output metrics into the combined model in a format that services the MPO context and models. The most important aspect of project B is evaluating which of the combined model architecture components are necessary for which set of regional planning and policy questions.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Chittenden County (Vermont)
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Environmental policy
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Mobile sources
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Transportation modeling
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359742
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01566205
TI  - Integrated Land-Use, Transportation and Environmental Modeling: Complex Systems Approaches and Advanced Policy Applications, Phase 3
AB  - This project develops, evaluates, calibrates, and validates combinations of integrated frameworks for agent-based land use and transportation models using Chittenden County as a test-bed. The project proposes to implement UrbanSim with TRANSIMS for Chittenden County and to integrate the two models together with an activity model developed by partners at RSG Inc. Future conditions shall be simulated based on alternative scenarios generated in stakeholder meetings and ranging from changed land use policy constraints to construction of new infrastructure. The impacts of the transportation sector on mobile source air pollution will be conducted using data from Vermont UTC Signature Project #2. Researchers in other projects will be providing new model output metrics to consider land cover and carbon; storm water; impacts on plants and soils; network robustness; and commodity transportation. The researchers will develop code for processes to integrate these new output metrics into the combined model in a format that services the MPO context and models. The most important aspect of project B is evaluating which of the combined model architecture components are necessary for which set of regional planning and policy questions.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Chittenden County (Vermont)
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Environmental policy
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Mobile sources
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Transportation modeling
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/integrated-land-use-transportation-and-environmental-modeling/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1357376
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01459989
TI  - Alternative Transportation in Parks and Public Lands
AB  - The Alternative Transportation in Parks and Public Lands (ATPPL) program is a new discretionary program administered by the Federal Transit Administration in partnership with the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service. The program funds capital and planning expenses for alternative transportation systems such as shuttle buses, intelligent transportation systems, and financial feasibility studies in national parks and public lands. The goals of the program are to improve visitor mobility and accessibility; reduce congestion and pollution; enhance visitor experience; ensure access to all, including persons with disabilities; and conserve natural, historical, and cultural resources. This project enables the Volpe Center to provide technical assistance to advance the development of the Alternative Transportation in Parks and Public Lands program.
KW  - Accessibility
KW  - Air pollution
KW  - Alternatives analysis
KW  - Mobility
KW  - National parks
KW  - Public land
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Transit operating agencies
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228204
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01123434
AU  - Strong, Christopher K
AU  - Eidswick, Jaime
AU  - Gartland, Chad
AU  - Lindsay, Abby
AU  - Western Transportation Institute
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Evaluation of Portable Changeable Message Signs at Golden Gate National Recreation Area
PY  - 2007/01
SP  - 140p
AB  - Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) is one of the largest urban parks in the world, and is one of the most popular sites within the national park system.  Due to a high number of visitors, GGNRA wanted to improve traveler safety and decision-making for motorists visiting Stinson Beach and Muir Woods, both park sites in southwest Marin County.  To accomplish this, GGNRA and the California Department of Transportation agreed to place portable changeable message signs north and south, one in each direction, of the US Route 101 and state Route 1 interchange.  Therefore, motorists traveling both northbound and southbound on US Route 101 would have the benefit of these signs.  These signs would broadcast messages about real-time parking and congestion information during the parks' congested periods from April through September.  This project evaluated the success of these improvements, and this report summarizes the results of the evaluation.
KW  - Evaluation
KW  - Golden Gate National Recreation Area
KW  - Highway traffic control
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Parking
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Variable message signs
UR  - http://www.wti.montana.edu/ForceDownloadHandler.ashx?name=426131_Final_Evaluation.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/884643
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01042510
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Pocket Guide to Transportation 2007
PY  - 2007/01
SP  - 50
AB  - This booklet provides a statistical guide on the state of transportation in the United States. Covering highway, air, rail, maritime, urban transit and pipeline, the contents include transportation topics such as system extent and use; safety; security; mobility; economy; environment, and a glossary of terms is provided.
KW  - Air travel
KW  - Crash rates
KW  - Economics
KW  - Environment
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Hazardous materials
KW  - Highways
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Passengers
KW  - Petroleum pipelines
KW  - Pipeline transportation
KW  - Ports
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Safety and security
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Urban transportation
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/pocket_guide_to_transportation/2007/
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/pocket_guide_to_transportation/2007/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/798954
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01596787
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - National Transportation Atlas Databases 2007
PY  - 2007
AB  - The National Transportation Atlas Databases 2007 (NTAD2007) is a set of nationwide geographic databases of transportation facilities, transportation networks, and associated infrastructure. These datasets include spatial information for transportation modal networks and intermodal terminals, as well as the related attribute information for these features. Metadata documentation, as prescribed by the International Organization of Standards, is also provided for each database. The data support research, analysis, and decision-making across all modes of transportation. They are most useful at the national level, but have major applications at regional, state, and local scales throughout the transportation community. This product is distributed in shapefile format.
KW  - Databases
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Intermodal facilities
KW  - Metadata
KW  - Spatial analysis
KW  - Transportation modes
KW  - Transportation, hydraulic and utility facilities
KW  - United States
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/56000/56600/56693/NTAD_2007.zip
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1400858
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01547512
AU  - Dennis, Norman D
AU  - Schwarz, Lois
AU  - Bruce, Jason W
AU  - Mack Blackwell National Rural Transportation Center
AU  - Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Estimating Subgrade Resilient Modulus for Pavement Design
PY  - 2007
SP  - 272p
AB  - Many variables are evaluated during the design of flexible pavements. Three basic components of flexible pavement design are the asphalt, base and the subgrade soil. The latter component is of most importance to this project. The variable that expresses how suitable the subgrade is for pavement design is resilient modulus. Because of the extensive amount of time required for resilient modulus testing and the high costs associated with testing equipment, an effort will be made to develop a mathematical model for Arkansas soils that will reliably estimate resilient modulus based upon its index properties. An effort was made to develop this same relationship in TRC-94 (Elliott et al., 1988). A relationship was developed, however; it was felt that there was still a need to validate and/or improve this relationship. What resilient modulus is and past research efforts in predicting resilient modulus from index properties and other strength tests are discussed in chapter two. Soil collection, index property testing and resilient modulus testing are discussed in chapter three. A discussion of how well two different models predict the resilient modulus data from this project is presented in chapter four. The effects of stage loading on the resilient modulus test data are presented in chapter five. The regression procedure followed for model development is presented in chapter six. The sensitivity analysis performed on the equations developed in chapter six is presented in chapter seven. A summary of the project along with conclusions and recommendations is presented in chapter eight.
KW  - Arkansas
KW  - Flexible pavements
KW  - Mathematical models
KW  - Modulus of resilience
KW  - Pavement design
KW  - Subgrade (Pavements)
UR  - http://www.arkansastrc.com/MBTC%20REPORTS/MBTC%202007.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1334557
ER  - 

TY  - CONF
AN  - 01526364
AU  - Choros, John
AU  - Marquis, Brian
AU  - Coltman, Michael N
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
TI  - Prevention of Derailments due to Concrete Tie Rail Seat Deterioration
PY  - 2007
SP  - 9p
AB  - Concrete tie rail seat abrasion/deterioration (RSA) has been an issue since the inception of concrete ties. As a result of recent derailments involving abraded concrete ties on curved track, the Federal Railroad Administration set up a task force to study abrasion/deterioration mechanisms and develop automated detection methods using existing research vehicles. A portion of this study reviews historical development of concrete abrasion due to moisture or foreign materials incorporated under the rail seat that tend to abrade concrete ties evenly across the rail seat area. This report discusses a newly identified concrete tie deterioration mechanism characterized by material loss in a triangle toward the field side of the rail seat, resulting from wheel rail interaction involving track geometry variations. The NUCARS™ model was used to evaluate the vertical and lateral loading at one of the recent derailment sites using the track geometry measured approximately one month before the derailment. Wheel loads predicted from the model, based on P-42 Amtrak Locomotive, were used to evaluate the pressure distribution at the rail concrete tie interface and were compared with allowable design bearing pressure for concrete used in the manufacture of concrete ties. The results indicate that applied stress on the field side of a concrete tie due to outward rail roll can exceed the design values. Applied pressure distribution exceeding the design strength on the field side tends to abrade concrete ties in a triangular wear pattern that produces wide gage. Charts were developed to convert measured field side abrasion/deterioration to additional gage widening under an applied vertical load for identifying critical locations with wide gage defects. Further, techniques for field inspectors to detect, measure, and evaluate rail seat abrasion/deterioration (RSA) based on commonly used inspection technology are discussed.
U1  - 2007 ASME/IEEE Joint Rail Conference & Internal Combustion Engine Spring Technical ConferenceAmerican Society of Mechanical EngineersInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)Pueblo,Colorado,United States StartDate:20070313 EndDate:20070316 Sponsors:American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
KW  - Abrasion
KW  - Concrete ties
KW  - Derailments
KW  - Deterioration
KW  - Inspection
KW  - NUCARS (Computer program)
KW  - Rail seats
KW  - Railroad tracks
KW  - Wheel loads
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51600/51639/JRCICE2007-Prevention_Derailments.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1310511
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01516522
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Visualization Case Studies : A Summary of Three Transportation Applications of Visualization
PY  - 2007
SP  - 25p
AB  - Visualization is a vehicle for collaboration with the public, resource and regulatory agencies, and stakeholders. There have been many recent, successful examples of visualization used to improve the transportation project development process, including enhancing communication among these groups. As a first step toward learning and disseminating some experiences and lessons learned in developing visualization tools, Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center), in coordination with the Federal Highway Administration’s (FWHA) Office of Project Development and Environmental Review and FHWA’s Office of Interstate and Border Planning, developed the three case studies presented here. The case studies are based on a series of interviews with a wide range of people including staff from FHWA Division Offices, state Departments of Transportation (DOT), State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPO), resource agencies, local governments, consultants, and other stakeholders, such as environmental organizations and chambers of commerce. Case study one investigates Arizona Department of Transportation's (DOT’s) use of visualization during formal public information meetings for proposed enhancements to the I-10 corridor. The second case study summarizes visualization’s role in helping Ohio DOT quantify the visual impacts of a proposed transportation project. The final case study describes Wyoming DOT’s effort to better communicate project alternatives to resource agencies and analyze resource impacts through the use of visualization.
KW  - Arizona
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Communication
KW  - Computer animation
KW  - Information dissemination
KW  - Interviewing
KW  - Ohio
KW  - Project management
KW  - State departments of transportation
KW  - Visual aids
KW  - Visualization
KW  - Wyoming
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/48000/48900/48965/visual.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290303
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01496648
AU  - Sussmann, Theodore
AU  - Kish, Andrew
AU  - Trosino, Michael
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Amtrak
TI  - Investigation of the Influence of Track Maintenance on the Lateral Resistance of Concrete Tie Track
PY  - 2007
SP  - 18p
AB  - Adequate lateral resistance is required to provide the stable track structure necessary for safe rail operations on passenger and freight railroad track. Insufficient lateral resistance coupled with a large thermal compression force in the rail from high rail temperature could buckle the track structure. Railroads typically employ mechanical stabilization, slow orders, or both following maintenance operations that disturb the ballast section such as surfacing and alignment of track. The objective of the test reported in this paper was to improve the understanding of lateral resistance variations on concrete tie track due to surfacing and subsequent stabilization/compaction. The paper begins with a summary of the factors influencing track stability, briefly describes the maintenance procedures,  describes the testing conducted using the single tie push test, and presents the results. The test was conducted to evaluate the changes in lateral resistance from the trafficked, well-consolidated track structure prior to surfacing and alignment through the laterally weak track structure after surfacing and then to evaluate the influence of stabilization on the lateral resistance of the track structure. The results of the test indicate that surfacing significantly reduces the lateral stability of the track to a potentially critical level. Mechanical stabilization following surfacing provided a significant increase in lateral stability in all sections tested.
KW  - Buckling
KW  - Concrete ties
KW  - Lateral resistance
KW  - Maintenance of way
KW  - Railroad ties
KW  - Railroad tracks
KW  - Stability (Mechanics)
KW  - Surfacing
UR  - http://www.volpe.dot.gov/coi/pis/docs/trb-0103.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/48000/48000/48042/trb-0103.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264932
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01342856
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Maritime Trade and Transportation 2007
PY  - 2007
SP  - 101p
AB  - The Marine Transportation System (MTS) contributes to U.S. economic growth, enhances our global competitiveness, and supports national security objectives, among many other things. The MTS consists of an extensive network of waterways, ports, channels, cargo handlers and other transportation workers, intermodal facilities, and vessels. Each component of this system is dependent on the other for the smooth and efficient flow of waterborne trade, transportation, and U.S. foreign and domestic commerce. This report provides an update on major trends in marine infrastructure, maritime-related transportation services, domestic and international freight and passenger trade, the economic impact of the MTS, safety and environment, national security, and shipbuilding. In addition, this report presents information about the St. Lawrence Seaway and the U.S. Coast Guard.
KW  - Cargo handling
KW  - Freight security
KW  - Freight traffic
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Intermodal terminals
KW  - International trade
KW  - National security
KW  - Port operations
KW  - Ports
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/maritime_trade_and_transportation/2007/index.html
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/maritime_trade_and_transportation/2007/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1103148
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01133737
AU  - Fine, Morris E
AU  - Vaynman, Semyon
AU  - Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI)
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Monitoring and Advising on Lake Villa Bridge
PY  - 2007///Final Report
SP  - 7p
AB  - This paper briefly describes the construction and monitoring of the bridge at Lake Villa, Illinois.  The bridge was constructed using girders made with 70-ksi yield strength grade structural steel developed by the Infrastructure Technology Institute at Northwestern University.  This high performance steel exhibits easier welding and has the best weathering resistance of any structural steel available.  It doesn't require painting.
KW  - Construction
KW  - Girder bridges
KW  - High performance steel
KW  - Monitoring
KW  - Weather resistance
KW  - Welding
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894215
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01131249
AU  - Plaxico, Chuck
AU  - Kennedy, James
AU  - Simonovic, Srdjan
AU  - Zisi, Nikola
AU  - National Transportation Research Center, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Enhanced Finite Element Analysis Crash Model of Tractor-Trailers (Phase A)
PY  - 2007
SP  - 120p
AB  - While many highway crashes involve vehicle-to-vehicle impacts, a substantial number of injuries and fatalities result from single vehicle impacts with roadside infrastructure such as guardrails, protective barriers, roadway signs and other fixed objects. Very limited work has been conducted on crash performance of barriers when impacted by medium and heavy duty trucks due to the cost and the complexity of full scale truck testing. In collaboration with the Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC), the National Transportation Research Center, Inc. (NTRCI) has taken an active role in enhancing industry understanding of truck-infrastructure crash behavior through funding the development and enhancement of advanced finite element (FE) computer simulation models of truck-infrastructure crashes. Recent NTRCI funded work on refinement and enhancement of models of single unit truck crashes into concrete barriers has demonstrated the ability of this advanced computer simulation technology to provide sorely needed high quality data and analysis results at substantially lower cost than full-scale crash tests. The objective of this current investigation led by Battelle is to validate and enhance computer models of a tractor-trailer combination that will be used in analysis, design, and evaluation of roadside safety hardware. The research team will evaluate the overall fidelity of the tractor-trailer model by verifying vehicle failure modes from simulation against those from actual truck crash tests. This effort will enable the tractor-trailer model to provide more realistic predictions of crash performance and significantly reduce the need for costly full-scale truck testing.
KW  - Barriers (Roads)
KW  - Finite element method
KW  - Guardrails
KW  - Heavy duty trucks
KW  - Impact
KW  - Single vehicle crashes
KW  - Tractor trailer combinations
KW  - Truck crashes
KW  - Trucking safety
UR  - http://www.ntrci.org/ntrci-50-2008-001
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/891019
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01131241
AU  - Liu, Changqin
AU  - Elhananay, I
AU  - Xu, J
AU  - Kohls, A
AU  - Urbanik, T
AU  - National Transportation Research Center, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Improved Truck Safety At Traffic Signals (Phase A)
PY  - 2007
SP  - 27p
AB  - The project is developing new traffic signal control logic to improve the safety of heavy vehicles on high speed approaches to signalized intersections using wireless communications between the heavy vehicle and the traffic signal controller. The project builds upon the Trusted Truck infrastructure in order to have a more cost effective deployment. Given that existing traffic signals do not have the necessary information or logic to implement truly intelligent decisions, it is necessary to re-engineer a solution to provide the necessary logic to achieve the objective. The project also focuses on existing intelligent transportation system standards (National Transportation Communications for ITS Protocol [NTCIP]) to achieve a practical implementation path. During the first year on which this report focuses, a signal scheduling algorithm was developed to maximize throughput while minimizing the delay experienced by vehicles across the intersection. In particular, truck safety is a key consideration. This is achieved by allowing the algorithm to give preference to trucks that are both waiting for service as well as approaching the intersection. By stopping trucks less at high speed intersections, safety is increased. By considering the requests (i.e. vehicles awaiting service) on all approaches of the intersection and issuing green light to the most urgent combination of flows, the algorithm achieves its high performance. As a result of applying a more intelligent traffic scheduling controller, the authors observed lower average vehicle delay as well as reduced truck stops, across different traffic scenarios.
KW  - Algorithms
KW  - Heavy duty vehicles
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Signalized intersections
KW  - Traffic signal controllers
KW  - Traffic signal preemption
KW  - Trucking safety
KW  - Wireless communication systems
UR  - http://www.ntrci.org/ntrci-50-2008-005
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/891006
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01123425
AU  - Pan, Tongyan
AU  - Western Transportation Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Mitigation of Moisture & Deicer Effects on Asphalt Thermal Cracking through Polymer Modification
PY  - 2007
SP  - 24p
AB  - Concurrent to the applications of acetate-based deicing and anti-icing agents (deicers), some Nordic airports have seen accelerated degradation of asphalt concrete (AC) in the last two decades.  The coincidence of the acetate applications and the premature AC deterioration, however, hasn't received much attention in North America.  A research study was recently conducted by the PI to investigate the potential AC deterioration by the acetate-based deicers and to explain its possible mechanism, of which the findings are presented in this study.  Using a modified version of the ASTM Standard D3625-96, the field observation of acetate-induced AC deterioration was confirmed in the laboratory; and more severe mixture deterioration was consistently observed at higher acetate concentrations.  Emulsification of asphalt was then studied in a series of aqueous solution tests that involved subjecting the asphalt binder to acetate solutions with different concentrations at different temperatures.  The acetate-induced asphalt emulsification was further investigated using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and a possible physiochemical mechanism was proposed based on which the process of acetate-induced AC deterioration was explained.  This work tries to shed light on a somewhat neglected distress process occurring in AC pavements of U.S. airports, and can be expected to guide the best practices of deicer application, asphalt mix design, and the rehabilitation and maintenance of airfield AC pavements.
KW  - Acetates
KW  - Airport runways
KW  - Asphalt concrete pavements
KW  - Cracking of asphalt concrete pavements
KW  - Deicing chemicals
KW  - Deterioration
KW  - Emulsified asphalt
KW  - Mix design
KW  - Pavement distress
KW  - Winter maintenance
UR  - http://www.wti.montana.edu/ForceDownloadHandler.ashx?name=4W1454_Final_Report.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/884668
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01108877
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Transportation Statistics Annual Report, 2007
PY  - 2007///Annual Report
SP  - 181p
AB  - This thirteenth edition of the Transportation Statistics Annual Report presents selected transportation data on 13 topics specified in the legislative mandate of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). Chapter 1 summarizes the data under seven headings: The Transportation System; Extent, Connectivity, and Condition of the Transportation System; Safety and Security; Congestion and Other Impediments to Use of the Transportation System; Global Connectivity; Energy and Environment; and Transportation and the Economy. In most cases, the data cover the 10 most recent years for which data are available. The data are presented in Chapter 2. The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) also requires RITA's BTS to make recommendations for improving transportation statistical information and to document methods used to obtain and ensure the quality of the report's statistics. These two subjects are discussed in Chapter 3. The focus for improvements is on data gaps, including gaps that may arise because of suspension of several data collection efforts. Chapter 3 also discusses methodological guidelines that apply to federal data quality; documentation on specific data accompanies each table in Chapter 2.
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Condition surveys
KW  - Economic factors
KW  - Energy
KW  - Environment
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Highways
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Passenger transportation
KW  - Pipelines
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
KW  - Security
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Transportation safety
KW  - United States
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/transportation_statistics_annual_report/2007/
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34700/34789/TSAR2007entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/865214
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01084805
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Bureau of Transportation Statistics Significant Accomplishments Fiscal Year 2007
PY  - 2007
SP  - 16p
AB  - The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) was established within the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) in 1992 to collect, report, and analyze transportation data for all modes of transportation. Today, BTS is a component of the DOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). RITA coordinates the U.S. Department of Transportation’s ever-increasing range of innovative transportation activities, statistics, research, and technologies. RITA has several statutory missions, including comprehensive transportation statistics research, analysis, and reporting. The BTS mission is to create, manage, and share transportation statistical knowledge with public and private transportation communities and the Nation. This mission is served by developing quality transportation data, promoting transportation knowledge through statistical products, and advancing effective use of this knowledge by public and private transportation decisionmakers, researchers, and the American public. In sum, BTS is a high-performance, results-oriented organization, committed to creating, managing, and sharing transportation statistical knowledge. Originally created under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991, today BTS’ authorizing legislation is the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), which authorized $27 million for the agency each year from 2005 through 2009. BTS is led by a Director, appointed by the Secretary of Transportation, who reports to the Administrator of RITA. BTS staff focus their expertise in transportation, statistics, economics, information technology, library science, and geographic information systems on a wide-range of transportation matters with authoritative results.  This report presents the accomplishments of BTS for fiscal year 2007.
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Data analysis
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Economics
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Highway travel
KW  - Information technology
KW  - Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991
KW  - Library operations
KW  - Performance
KW  - Pipelines
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
KW  - Statistical analysis
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Transportation libraries
KW  - U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/significant_accomplishments/2007/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35300/35387/BTS2007.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/844462
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01082688
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - National Transportation Statistics 2007
PY  - 2007
SP  - 502p
AB  - This document presents information on the U.S. transportation system, including its physical components, safety record, economic performance, energy use, and environmental impacts. National Transportation Statistics is a companion document to the Transportation Statistics Annual Report, which analyzes some of the data presented here, and State Transportation Statistics, which presents state-level data on many of the same topics presented here. The report has four chapters: Chapter 1 provides data on the extent, condition, use, and performance of the physical transportation network. Chapter 2 details transportation’s safety record, giving data on accidents, crashes, fatalities, and injuries for each transportation mode and hazardous materials. Chapter 3 focuses on the relationship between transportation and the economy, presenting data on transportation’s contribution to the gross domestic product, employment by industry and occupation, and transportation-related consumer and government expenditures. Chapter 4 presents data on transportation energy use and transportation-related environmental impacts. The transportation modes that the document covers include highways, railroads, water transportation, air transportation, pipelines and public transit.
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Air transportation crashes
KW  - Consumers
KW  - Economic analysis
KW  - Employment
KW  - Energy consumption
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Expenditures
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Federal government
KW  - Gross domestic product
KW  - Hazardous materials
KW  - Highways
KW  - Industries
KW  - Injuries
KW  - Occupations
KW  - Performance
KW  - Pipeline accidents
KW  - Pipeline transportation
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroad crashes
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Traffic crashes
KW  - Transit crashes
KW  - Transportation safety
KW  - Transportation systems
KW  - United States
KW  - Utilization
KW  - Water transportation
KW  - Water transportation crashes
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/841867
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01054023
AU  - Dodge, Linda D
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Greater Expectations: The Department of Transportation is Leading an Effort to Help Chart the Course for Tomorrow’s 9-1-1 Network
PY  - 2007
SP  - 4p
AB  - The 9-1-1 system has been an unqualified success story for more than 30 years, speeding emergency services in times of personal, regional, and  national need. Today, however, changes in the public’s  use of technology, the saturation of the mobile market, and the spread of VoIP telephony contribute to greater expectations for 9-1-1 — expectations that the current system can’t meet. Text, data, images, and video are more common in personal communications and are critical to future transportation safety and mobility advances. Text messages, photos taken by cell phones, and automatic crash notification (ACN) are just a few kinds of data that would expedite emergency response and reduce crash clearance time. As time goes on, the 9-1-1 system will be expected to accommodate highly mobile, dynamic communications modes for which the current system is neither designed nor equipped. The 9-1-1 system of the 1970s was created to transmit voice media only. Consequently, the current multimedia, wireless, mobile society presents both opportunities and challenges for the 9-1-1 system. Opportunities include harnessing new technologies that provide instant, accurate location information and incorporating new media, such as video, into the system. These technologies also increase capabilities to share and coordinate critical information and data within the emergency response community. For example, exact location data could be transmitted from a crashed vehicle to a PSAP and emergency responders to  reduce the time it takes to  find the crash, especially in  rural areas. Challenges  include developing universal interfaces that extract the  necessary data from mobile  and IP-based calls and delivering that information to PSAPs — not all of which are equipped with the latest communications technology. As a result, a nationwide vision for a 9-1-1 system for the 21st century — one that builds on and respects current planning — is needed. This vision must give government and industry a means to move from a parochial perspective to a more comprehensive and nationwide vision for the next-generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1) system. To guide and foster that vision, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is leading research and development (R&D) efforts among a community of diverse stakeholders to bring about a new, more capable system surrounding emergency call delivery and response. When implemented, the envisioned system will enable: Quick and accurate information delivery to responders; Better and more useful forms of information (real-time location, text, images, video, and other data) than currently available; Flexible, secure, and robust PSAP operations; and  Low public capital and operating costs for emergency communication services.
KW  - 911 Emergency Telephone System
KW  - Automatic crash notification
KW  - Capital costs
KW  - Cellular telephones
KW  - Communications
KW  - Emergency communication systems
KW  - Emergency medical services
KW  - Emergency response time
KW  - Location
KW  - Operating costs
KW  - Photographs
KW  - Real time information
KW  - Rural areas
KW  - Technology
KW  - Text messaging
KW  - Traffic crashes
KW  - Video cameras
UR  - http://www.its.dot.gov/press/pdf/911_network.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/811485
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01052310
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - ITS/Operations Resource Guide 2007
PY  - 2007
SP  - 416p
AB  - The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (U.S. DOT’s) ITS/Operations Resource Guide 2007 is a comprehensive listing of over 400 documents, videos, websites, training courses, software tools, and points of contact related to intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and other innovative transportation operations strategies. Most resources have been developed under Federal sponsorship, but other useful resources are also included. New in this seventh edition are: A chapter on Intelligent Safety Systems, which includes the new National Highway Institute training course “Improving Highway Safety with ITS”; Documents, websites and a video related to access management, included in the Arterial Operations and Traffic Signal Control chapter; Documents and websites related to planned special events, included in the Traffic Incident Management chapter; Documents and websites related to commercial vehicle operations (CVO), including product guides for CVO safety and security products and a website designed to help partners in the Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks (CVISN) program apply for Federal funds; and Documents relating to various aspects of traveler information, including the national telephone traveler information number 511. Resources are grouped by topic area. Each section begins with a list of U.S. DOT points of contact, so you always know whom to call. This guide will help you realize the benefits of innovative transportation strategies.
KW  - Access control (Transportation)
KW  - Commercial vehicle operations
KW  - Contacts (People)
KW  - Documents
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Incident management
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Resource guides (Guides to information)
KW  - Software
KW  - Special events
KW  - Training courses
KW  - Transportation operations
KW  - Traveler information and communication systems
KW  - Videotapes
KW  - Websites (Information retrieval)
UR  - http://www.its.dot.gov/press/announcement/resource_guide.htm
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/jpodocs/rept_mis/14353.htm
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/811398
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01206970
AU  - DiFiore, Amanda
AU  - Cardosi, Kim
AU  - U.S. Department of Transportation
AU  - Federal Aviation Administration
TI  - Human Factors in Airport Surface Incidents: An Analysis of Pilot Reports Submitted to the
Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS)
PY  - 2006/12//Final Report
SP  - 32p
AB  - The purpose of was to examine human factors involved surface incidents by pilots. Reports submitted to the Aviation System (ASRS) are a good source regarding the human performance issues and/or failures that contribute to surface incidents and can be used to supplement the information contained in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reports of. This 300 ASRS reports of airport surface(runway incursions incidents) at the 34 busiest towered airports in the U.S., submitted 2001 2002. The reports to include those filed by a captain or first was operating the FAA Part 121,135, or 91, and who was directly involved in the incident.
KW  - Air pilots
KW  - Air traffic control
KW  - Air transportation crashes
KW  - Airline pilots
KW  - Airport ground transportation
KW  - Aviation safety
KW  - Communication systems
KW  - Human error
KW  - Human factors in crashes
KW  - Runway incursions
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/33000/33700/33703/33703.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/968074
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01160033
AU  - Altiok, Tayfur
AU  - Melamed, Benjamin
AU  - Karaman, Abdullah
AU  - Rutgers University, Piscataway
AU  - Department of Homeland Security
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Modeling VACIS Security Operations at NY/NJ Marine Terminals
PY  - 2006/12//Final Report
SP  - 34p
AB  - The goal of the project was to study the Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS, a gamma ray imaging system) operation at the APM terminal in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, using the simulation modeling and analysis capabilities at the Laboratory for Port Security (LPS) at Rutgers University, with the purpose of improving VACIS operational efficiency and throughput. The project started in August 2005 on the premises of APM Terminals (APM, for short). Relevant terminal operations data and inspection process data were collected, and a detailed simulation model, called CIPS (Container Inspection Process Simulator), was developed for the container inspection operation. The model captures vessel arrivals, container storage at the yard, presentation of containers to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, and the actual inspection process. Numerous discussions were conducted with CBP officers and APM personnel. These collaborating individuals have been instrumental in providing information and data for the model to be developed. Based on the information received, a simulation model was constructed, verified and validated, and then run for a number of scenarios to understand the capabilities of the inspection process under various surge conditions. This report briefly describes project details, including the simulation model, run results, analysis discussions, and the next stage of the study. The authors present results from CIPS runs, based on experiments with the CIPS model to understand the impact of parameter changes on key performance metrics. For instance, increasing inspection percentage without changing the available resources has been shown to increase the number of inspected containers up to a certain level, beyond which the containers accumulate in the segregation area and consequently the inspected number of container drops. Furthermore, as the batch size increases, the time a container spends in the system increases, since waiting to accumulate a container batch and inspect give rise to longer delays. Finally, the report outlines the proposed next phase of the project, where CBP operations over the entire NY/NJ port complex will be modeled.
KW  - APM Terminals
KW  - Cargo throughput
KW  - CIPS (Computer model)
KW  - Container terminals
KW  - Freight security
KW  - Inspection
KW  - Marine terminals
KW  - Operational efficiency
KW  - Port Elizabeth (New Jersey)
KW  - Simulation
KW  - Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS)
UR  - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/PSL-RU9327_0.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/920575
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01076691
AU  - daSilva, Marco P
AU  - Najm, Wassim G
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Development of Collision Avoidance for Light Vehicles: Near-Crash/Crash Event Data Recorders
PY  - 2006/12//Final Report
SP  - 52p
AB  - This report presents the results of an analysis effort undertaken to address the following research question:  What sensor(s) can be cost effectively added to vehicles on a wide scale to significantly improve the understanding and modeling of naturalistic near-crash/pre-crash drive performance?  Current sensor and computer technology allows for the efficient collection and storage of driver and vehicle performance data on board vehicles.  Crash data recorders or black boxes exist today on many vehicles, although they are limited in number of recorded parameters and storage capacity.  However, their capability is increasing.  Recent field operational tests of advanced-technology crash avoidance systems and naturalistic driving data collection efforts have employed comprehensive data acquisition systems to characterize driver and vehicle performance as well as the driving environment.  These projects gathered data on driver exposure to various environmental factors and on driver encounters with driving conflicts, near-crashes, and actual crashes.  Unfortunately, the in-vehicle data acquisition packages in these projects cost over $10,000 per vehicle.  It would be advantageous to build and install a very small, inexpensive package under $1,000 for a vehicle fleet of 5,000 or more.  The presence of low-cost near-crash/crash event data recorders (EDRS) on thousands of vehicles would enable a more accurate assessment of safety benefits for intelligent vehicle crash avoidance technologies, and would greatly improve the quality of data in national crash databases such as the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) Crashworthiness Data System (CDC) and General Estimates System (GES).
KW  - Crash avoidance systems
KW  - Crash sensors
KW  - Crashworthiness
KW  - Data analysis
KW  - Data recorders
KW  - Event data recorders
KW  - In vehicle sensors
KW  - Light vehicles
KW  - Near accidents
KW  - Near miss collisions (Ground transportation)
KW  - Technological innovations
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34700/34724/DOT-VNTSC-NHTSA-06-03.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/815503
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01055657
AU  - McKeighan, Peter C
AU  - Feiger, James H
AU  - Southwest Research Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Fatigue Crack Growth Behavior of Railroad Tank Car Steel TC-128B Subjected to Various Environments -- Volume I
PY  - 2006/12//Final Report
SP  - 92p
AB  - As part of an effort to apply damage tolerance concepts to railroad tank cars, the fatigue crack growth (FCG) behavior of two lots of TC-128B steel was investigated. In addition to the material lot difference, variables assessed include: load ratio, orientation, environment, and crack growth test technique. The two material lots yielded essentially identical FCG properties for low and high stress ratios. The influence of stress ratio was slight, except in the near-threshold regime. The in-plane orientation (L-T) exhibits a growth rate approximately two times faster than the out-of-plane orientation (L-S). The influence of varying the test environment from −60 °F to +140 °F, with moisture content ranging from high to low humidity, was slight.
KW  - Alloy steel
KW  - Baseline modeling
KW  - Crack growth
KW  - Cracking
KW  - Damage tolerance
KW  - Loading
KW  - Railroad cars
KW  - Steel
KW  - Tank cars
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/1210
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34300/34385/DOT-VNTSC-FRA-02-03-1.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/814831
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01055622
AU  - McMaster, Fraser J
AU  - Robledo, Guadalupe B
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Southwest Research Institute
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Fatigue Behavior of AAR Class A Railroad Wheel Steel at Ambient and Elevated Temperatures
PY  - 2006/12//Final Report
SP  - 60p
AB  - This report documents a test program to determine the material properties (chemical composition, tensile, and fatigue) at ambient and elevated temperatures of a Class A wheel steel as designated by the Association of American Railroads. The 3 temperatures examined included ambient room temperature, 500 °F, and 1000 °F. The fatigue properties determined at ambient temperature are required to address rail vehicle wheels equipped with disc brakes, which are not exposed to frictional heating during stop-braking. Researchers performed fatigue testing to determine the S-N curves at each of the three temperatures. Furthermore, the research team performed a large number of fatigue tests at R-ratios of -1.0 and 0.05 for each of the test temperatures to enable reliable estimates of the Sines parameters, A and α.
KW  - Atmospheric temperature
KW  - Car wheels (Railroads)
KW  - Disc brakes
KW  - Fatigue (Mechanics)
KW  - Fatigue tests
KW  - Loading
KW  - Steel
KW  - Tensile strength
KW  - Wheelsets (Railroads)
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/1197
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/814828
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01055619
AU  - Feiger, James H
AU  - McKeighan, Peter C
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Variable Amplitude Fatigue Crack Growth Characteristics of Railroad Tank Car Steel Volume III
PY  - 2006/12//Final Report
SP  - 44p
AB  - The load history that railroad tank cars experience has a significant variable amplitude characteristic. Although previous efforts have been directed toward understanding baseline fatigue crack growth behavior of TC-128B steel as a function of material lot, orientation, and environment, little is known regarding how load interaction impacts crack growth behavior in a typical tank car steel. Load interaction occurs when the variable amplitude character of the loading results in crack growth that differs as a function of load history effects in the wake of the crack. The focus of this testing effort was to determine empirically how TC-128B behaves under these types of simplified loading conditions. The data provided in this report links the constant amplitude loading regime to the more complex variable amplitude-loading regime that tank cars experience during in-service use. The data can also be used as modeling guidelines to better understand the role of variable amplitude loading on TC-128B.
KW  - Amplitude (Physics)
KW  - Crack growth
KW  - Cracking
KW  - History
KW  - In service performance
KW  - Loading
KW  - Railroad cars
KW  - Steel
KW  - Tank cars
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/1208
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34500/34510/DOT-VNTSC-FRA-05-03.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/814829
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01054434
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - State Transportation Statistics 2006
PY  - 2006/12
SP  - 141p
AB  - This document is a statistical profile of transportation in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. It presents transportation information from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, other federal government agencies, and other national sources. It is divided into nine sections that cover infrastructure, safety, freight transportation, passenger travel, registered vehicles and vehicle-miles traveled, economy and finance, energy and the environment, information on data sources, and appendices and a glossary. Modes of transportation include highway, public transit, air travel, water transportation and railroad transportation. Data are for the year 2005 unless otherwise noted.
KW  - Air travel
KW  - Economics
KW  - Energy
KW  - Environment
KW  - Finance
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Highway travel
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Passengers
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Registrations
KW  - States
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Tables (Data)
KW  - Transportation safety
KW  - United States
KW  - Vehicle miles of travel
KW  - Vehicles
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/state_transportation_statistics/
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/state_transportation_statistics/state_transportation_statistics_2006/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34600/34688/2006STS.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/813581
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01051550
AU  - Sposato, Suzanne
AU  - Biem-Aime, Patrick
AU  - Chaudhary, Mina
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Public Education and Enforcement Research Study
PY  - 2006/12//Final Report
SP  - 110p
AB  - The Public Education and Enforcement Research Study (PEERS) was a collaborative effort between the Federal Railroad Administration, the Illinois Commerce Commission, and local communities in the State of Illinois. The purpose of the project was to promote safety at highway-rail intersections by reducing incidents, injuries, and fatalities through new technologies and methodologies. The role of the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center was to monitor and evaluate highway-rail intersections in Illinois communities using video data collection while the communities conducted education and enforcement campaigns. The data collection and analysis efforts focused on three highway-rail intersections in Arlington Heights, IL. The effectiveness of the programs was determined by counting the number of motorists and pedestrians that violated the crossing warning devices during three project phases. These violations were divided into three types based on highway-user assumed risk. The crossings in Arlington Heights saw an overall reduction in violations from the pre-test to the post-test of 30.7%. The largest reduction, 71.4%, occurred in the most risky type of violation, type III. Pedestrians most often committed these types of violations. At the crossing with an adjacent commuter rail station, a reduction of 76.3% occurred in the most risky pedestrian violations. Overall, highway-user behavior changed for the safer during the study, and pedestrians, especially commuters, were the most affected by the PEERS programs.
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Education
KW  - Illinois
KW  - Pedestrians
KW  - Railroad commuter service
KW  - Railroad grade crossings
KW  - Railroad safety
KW  - U.S. Federal Railroad Administration
KW  - Video data
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/423
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34500/34513/DOT-VNTSC-FRA-06-03.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/809350
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01049676
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Transportation Statistics Annual Report, 2006
PY  - 2006/12//Annual Report
SP  - 166p
AB  - This twelfth edition of the Transportation Statistics Annual Report presents selected transportation data on 13 topics specified in the legislative mandate of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA).  Chapter 1 summarizes the data under four headings:  Mobility and Access to Transportation, Safety and Security, Global Connectivity, and Energy and Environment.  In most cases, the data cover the 10 most recent years for which data are available.  The data are presented in Chapter 2.  The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) also requires RITA's BTS to make recommendations for improving transportation statistical information and to document methods used to obtain and ensure the quality of the report's statistics.  These two subjects are discussed in Chapter 3.  The focus for improvements is on data gaps, including gaps that may arise because of suspension of several data collection efforts.  Chapter 3 also discusses methodological guidelines that apply to federal data quality; documentation on specific data accompanies each table in Chapter 2.
KW  - Access
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Data gaps
KW  - Data quality
KW  - Energy
KW  - Environment
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Highway transportation
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Passenger transportation
KW  - Pipelines
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
KW  - Safety
KW  - Security
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Tables (Data)
KW  - Transportation
KW  - Transportation networks
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/transportation_statistics_annual_report/
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34700/34788/TSAR2006entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/809267
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462812
TI  - Design of FRP Systems for Strengthening Concrete Girders in Shear: Phase I
AB  - FRP systems have been used on a project-specific basis for the last two decades. They are now becoming a widely accepted method of strengthening concrete structures. The acceptance and utilization of these new strengthening techniques depend on the availability of clear design guidelines, installation procedures and construction specifications. Standard specifications exist for all commonly used traditional materials in civil engineering structures. At this time, design specifications for FRP use are still under development. The results of several experimental investigations have shown that FRP systems can be effective for increasing ductility and strength to structural members such as columns and girders. As most of the research focused on strengthening of axial members of flexural members, there are less experimental and analytical data on the use of FRP systems for shear strengthening of girders. Shear strengthening with FRP is still under investigation and the results obtained thus far are scarce and sometimes controversial. Even in traditional reinforced concrete members without FRP, the shear design is a complex challenge and uses more empirical methods as compared to axial and flexural design methods. Adding FRP to the equation, with its specific design issues, would bring another level of complication in the design. These FRP-related shear design issues and lack of comprehensive analytical and experimental models are the main motivation for this research project. Thus, a thorough understanding of the shear design problem along with the development of an AASHTO design method for FRP shear strengthening of concrete girders are needed. As such, the objective of this project is to develop design methods, specifications, and examples for design of FRP systems for strengthening concrete girders in shear. The proposed specifications will be in LRFD format and will be suitable for recommendation to the AASHTO Highway Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures for adoption.
KW  - AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications
KW  - Concrete structures
KW  - Fiber reinforced concrete
KW  - Reinforced concrete
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Shear design
KW  - Strengthening (Maintenance)
KW  - Structural members
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/research/r186.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1231035
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01325105
AU  - Redington, Mike
AU  - Rutyna, Eve
AU  - Grace, Nathan
AU  - Shanahan, Felicity
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Transit Administration
TI  - Drug and Alcohol Testing Results 2004 Annual Report
PY  - 2006/11//Final Report
SP  - 94p
AB  - This is the 10th annual report of the results of the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Drug and Alcohol Testing Program. This report summarizes the reporting requirements for calendar year 2004, the requirements of the overall drug and alcohol testing program (49 CFR Part 40 and 49 CFR Part 655), the results from the data reported for 2004, and the random drug and alcohol violation rates (the percentage of persons selected for a random test who produced a positive specimen or refused to take the test) for calendar years 1995 through 2004. This report provides a brief overview of the drug and alcohol testing requirements for both safety-sensitive employers and employees. The official random rates for 2004 are provided, as well as the official random rate trends over the last 10 years. The results of alcohol and drug tests are provided by test type, employee category, and region. The positive testing rates for drugs and alcohol are also provided for each test type, employee category, and region.
KW  - Alcohol tests
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Drug tests
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Moving violations
KW  - Random testing
KW  - Traffic safety
KW  - Traffic violations
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35000/35038/DOT-VNTSC-FTA-06-02.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1086079
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01135384
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Key Transportation Indicators, November 2006
PY  - 2006/11
SP  - 19p
AB  - This report is intended to provide timely, easily accessible information for the transportation community. It was developed by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and is updated each quarter on the BTS website. The indicators fall under two broad categories: those that provide context about the economy and society in which transportation functions, and those that convey information about an aspect of transportation. To the extent possible, these latter indicators are transportation-wide in scope; however, some apply to only part of the transportation system. Reference tables at the beginning of the document provide key statistics about U.S. social and economic characteristics, and about the extent of the transportation system. For indicators that are highly seasonal, the current value of that indicator is compared to the same time period in the previous year (e.g., April 2001 compared to April 2000). Otherwise, the tables show a comparison of the current value to a comparable preceeding period of time (e.g., the data for the month of April 2001 compared to that of March 2001).
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Amtrak
KW  - Canada
KW  - Economic indicators
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Fuel prices
KW  - Ground transportation
KW  - Indicators (Instruments)
KW  - Mexico
KW  - On time performance
KW  - Passenger transportation
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Statistical analysis
KW  - Transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/key_transportation_indicators/november_2006/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/894437
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01120262
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - White House Economic Statistics Briefing Room Transportation, November 2006
PY  - 2006/11
SP  - 19p
AB  - This report presents information on more than 20 trends. Compiled monthly from multiple sources, the indicators fall under two broad categories, those that provide context about the economy and society in which transportation functions, and those that convey information about an aspect of transportation. To the extent possible, these latter indicators are transportation-wide in scope; however, some apply to only part of the transportation system. Reference tables at the beginning of the document provide key statistics about U.S. social and economic characteristics, and about the extent of the transportation system.
KW  - Domestic transportation
KW  - Economic and social factors
KW  - Economic indicators
KW  - Finance
KW  - Financial analysis
KW  - Information systems
KW  - Information technology
KW  - Statistical analysis
KW  - Transportation
KW  - Transportation planning
KW  - Vehicle miles of travel
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/white_house_economic_statistics_briefing_room/november_2006/index.html
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/white_house_economic_statistics_briefing_room/november_2006/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/880406
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01083326
AU  - de Cerreno, Allison L C
AU  - Mathur, Shishir
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management
TI  - High-Speed Rail Projects in the United States: Identifying the Elements of Success Part 2
PY  - 2006/11//Final Report
SP  - 208p
AB  - In August 2005, the NYU Wagner Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management and the Mineta Transportation Institute issued the report, High-Speed Rail Projects in the United States: Identifying the Elements for Success. This report is, in essence, volume 2 of the previous study. Also using a comparative case study approach, this effort adds to the earlier work with three additional cases; the Chicago Hub, the Keystone Corridor, and the Northeast Corridor (NEC). As with the earlier report, the goal of this study is to identify lessons learned for successfully implementing HSR in the United States. Given the early stages of most of these projects, "success" is defined by whether a given HSR project is still actively pursuing development or funding. However, in the case of the Northeast Corridor, a fuller discussion of success is provided since HSR has been implemented on that corridor for some time now.
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Chicago (Illinois)
KW  - Development
KW  - Financing
KW  - High speed ground transportation
KW  - High speed rail
KW  - Implementation
KW  - Keystone Corridor (Pennsylvania)
KW  - Lessons learned
KW  - Midwestern States
KW  - Northeast Corridor
KW  - Railroads
KW  - United States
UR  - http://transweb.sjsu.edu/MTIportal/research/publications/documents/06-03/MTI-06-03.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/842363
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01076710
AU  - Sheridan, Thomas B
AU  - Corker, Kevin M
AU  - Nadler, Eric D
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
TI  - Final Report and Recommendations for Research on Human-Automation Interaction in the Next Generation Air Transportation System
PY  - 2006/11//Final Report
SP  - 37p
AB  - This is the final report of an 18-month project to: (1) review Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS) Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) documents as they pertain to human-automation interaction; (2) review past system failures in aviation and other contexts involving human-automation interaction; (3) conduct a workshop of JPDO, NASA and academic experts in the area; (4) perform analyses of selected problems; and (5) make recommendations for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) research that is needed to support JPDO on these aspects of NGATS.  This report first reviews reports issued separately on the failures review and the workshop findings as well as several papers and technical notes.  Recommendations for needed research in human-automation interaction are then detailed.
KW  - Automation
KW  - Aviation
KW  - General aviation
KW  - Human factors
KW  - Human interaction
KW  - Interactions
KW  - Joint Planning and Development Office
KW  - Next Generation Air Transportation System
KW  - Research
KW  - System failure
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34700/34712/DOT-VNTSC-NASA-06-05.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/815489
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01051565
AU  - Choros, John
AU  - Hellman, Adrian
AU  - Carroll, Anya
AU  - Baker, Gary
AU  - Haines, Marsha
AU  - Anderson, Jon
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - San Joaquin, California, High-Speed Rail Grade Crossing Data Acquisition Characteristics, Methodology, and Risk Assessment
PY  - 2006/11//Final Report
SP  - 52p
AB  - This report discusses data acquisition and analysis for grade crossing risk analysis at the proposed San Joaquin High-Speed Rail Corridor in San Joaquin, California, and documents the data acquisition and analysis methodologies used to collect and analyze grade crossing data and evaluate the effects of each method in the overall risk calculations for the entire corridor. This report describes grade crossing data acquisition techniques from existing Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) inventory data, track charts, site surveys and interviews, and aerial and video surveys. Costs for data acquisition and analysis associated with each method were documented and analyzed to determine their influences on the overall risk assessment for the corridor. Results using FRA’s Accident Prediction Formula indicate that all data acquisition and analysis methods are suitable for evaluating the grade crossing risk at a given corridor.
KW  - Crash risk forecasting
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Laser radar
KW  - Methodology
KW  - Railroad corridors
KW  - Railroad grade crossings
KW  - Risk assessment
KW  - San Joaquin County (California)
KW  - U.S. Federal Railroad Administration
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/1212
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/809472
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01465238
TI  - Acoustic Warning Device Evaluation
AB  - Acoustic warning devices truly pose a three-horned dilemma: a device must be capable of alerting motorists to the train's approach, not annoy residents, and not damage train crew hearing. This project examines new technology, such as hypersound, that might be able to resolve this dilemma and the combination of acoustic characteristics that might be manipulated to achieve an effective warning that does not annoy or damage crew hearing. This project is examining the spectral characteristics of devices, timing and duration of sound and no-sound intervals, etc., to improve device effectiveness.
KW  - Acoustic equipment
KW  - Grade crossing protection systems
KW  - Hearing loss
KW  - Technological innovations
KW  - Train crews
KW  - Warning devices
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1233471
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01465232
TI  - Railroad Signage Ergonomics
AB  - The design of equipment and environments to fit human capabilities is an important element of improving safety in any industry. This project is currently examining the design of railroad wayside signage to determine the minimum requirements needed to ensure that signs can be read at normal operating speeds and environmental conditions, and to provide a higher degree of consistency in railroad signage such as is accomplished in highway signs by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).
KW  - Ergonomics
KW  - Human factors
KW  - Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
KW  - Safety
KW  - Signs
KW  - Traffic control devices
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/43000/43400/43497/railroad_signage_ergonomics.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1233465
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01468463
TI  - On-Board Vehicle Emissions Monitoring System Equipment Request
AB  - Vehicle emissions monitoring equipment have improved over the last decade. Only one system is capable of providing laboratory-grade emissions from an on-board sampling regime: Sensors' Semtech system. The Semtech system was developed in cooperation with the US Environmental Protection Agency and is the gold standard in on-board emissions monitoring. Acquiring this system will allow the Kansas University (KU) Air Quality team to compare emissions estimates used in Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) air quality models with actual vehicle emissions and will allow better characterization of both conventional and alternatively-fueled vehicles.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Alternate fuels
KW  - Emissions testing
KW  - Environmental control
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Environmental protection
KW  - Exhaust gases
KW  - Pollutants
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1236700
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01468453
TI  - Vehicular Vibrations and Neuromotor Transmissibility
AB  - Vibration exposure is a known risk factor for low back pain disorders and a common complaint for commercial vehicle (eighteen-wheelers) operators to helicopter pilots. It can also be a common work-related complaint of construction workers, particularly highway construction where whole body vibrations occur in everything from heavy equipment operation to jackhammers. The goal of this study is to verify this connection and examine ways to reduce how vibration is delivered to the neuromotor system. Both traditional methods such as restricting belts to reduce flexion-extension motions in the lumbar region and use of novel exercise and muscle stretching regimes will be evaluated. The primary objective is to analyze effects of vertical seat pan vibration on humans to better understand how vibration could lead to low back injury.  It is hypothesized that mechanical-neuromotor transmission from the seat pan to lumbar rotation may result in cyclic paraspinal muscle activation.  Other objectives are: examine potential methods of preventing this mechanical-neuromotor transmission including a rigid backrest and a stiff lumbar belt; and, use this work to develop a collaborative relationship with National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Health Effects Laboratory (HELD) and use this material for future grants &amp; collaborative research. Understanding these vibration-induced neuromotor responses is important for understanding the first premise,  Resonances in transmissibility at 6 and 10-12 Hz suggest these frequencies may be critical to prevention. Complex nature of these response may also play a role in the neuromotor effects of vibration.
KW  - Commercial vehicle operations
KW  - Lumbar spine
KW  - Muscles
KW  - Risk assessment
KW  - Truck drivers
KW  - Vibration
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1236690
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01468452
TI  - Increasing the Overall Efficiency of Commercial and Industrial Refrigerated Vehicles by the Application of a Phase Change Technology Developed at the University of Kansas
AB  - This project seeks to extend a heat transfer reduction technology, developed at Kansas University (KU), to the transportation sector. In this proposal, the technology is aimed at commercial and industrial applications that use refrigerated and/or climate-controlled (herein referred to as "Refrigerated") trucks to transport perishable goods that require strict temperature control during shipping. The proposed technology offers the potential to save significant amounts of fuel and costs from diesel-driven refrigeration units by reducing the amount of heat transfer across the walls of and into refrigerated van trailers during transportation. The proposed walls of the refrigerated van trailer will consist of the typical, currently used, enclosure-walls, but with the inclusion of phase-change materials (PCMs) integrated in an innovative way to enhance their energy performance capabilities via the high latent heat of fusion of the PCMs. The successful completion of this project will establish a new technology that would represent another step in minimizing the impacts of the Country's energy related problems.
KW  - Air conditioning systems
KW  - Commercial vehicles
KW  - Diesel trucks
KW  - Refrigerated cargo
KW  - Refrigeration
KW  - Refrigerator trucks
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Temperature control
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1236689
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01333120
AU  - Cardinal, Joseph W
AU  - Feiger, James H
AU  - McKeighan, Peter C
AU  - Southwest Research Institute
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
TI  - Fatigue Crack Growth Equations for TC-128B Tank Car Steel
PY  - 2006/10
SP  - 12p
AB  - In an effort to develop relevant data for use in applying damage tolerance analysis concepts to railroad tank cars, the fatigue crack growth (FCG) behavior of TC-128B tank car steel was investigated by SwRI in a previous test program conducted for the Volpe Center. Fatigue crack growth rate data (da/dN vs ΔK) for TC-128B tank car steel were obtained.for two lots of TC-128B steel donated by two tank car manufacturers. In order for these data to be available for use in fatigue crack growth analyses of railroad tank cars, they must be mathematically characterized in terms of crack growth equations or laws. Therefore, the objective of the work reported herein was to obtain empirical constants for crack growth equations that are commonly employed in damage tolerance analyses. These equations are the Paris equation, the Walker equation and the NASGRO® equation. In the following, a brief review of the previous fatigue crack growth rate test program is first presented, followed by a summary of the crack growth equations that were used to fit the empirical data. The curve fits to the data for each equation are then presented along with recommendations for their use.
KW  - Damage tolerance
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Empirical methods
KW  - Equations
KW  - Fatigue cracking
KW  - Railroad trains
KW  - Steel
KW  - Tank cars
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35200/35263/fatigue-1006-final.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1097251
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01325109
AU  - Sheridan, Thomas B
AU  - Corker, Kevin M
AU  - Nadler, Eric D
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
TI  - Report of a Workshop on Human-Automation Interaction in NGATS
PY  - 2006/10//Final Report
SP  - 28p
AB  - A workshop was held on May 10 and 11, 2006, at the conference facilities of the Georgia Institute of Technology Research Institute in Arlington, Virginia, under the sponsorship of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS) Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO).  The purpose of the workshop was to bring together NASA, FAA, JPDO and academic engineers and scientists to discuss what research is needed in the coming few years in order to understand the human-automation interactions posed by NGATS concepts of operation sufficient for system design.  The workshop was organized as part of a NASA funding agreement with the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center to identify human-automation issues and research needs in NGATS.  While NGATS will involve much greater automation compared to the current air transportation system, human pilots, air traffic service providers, and other system operators will still be required to monitor operations and ensure safety, especially in the case of hardware or software failures or other unanticipated events.  These human operators will have to assume new roles and responsibilities.  Thus there are many issues of human-automation interaction that have not been sufficiently researched and remain unresolved with respect to design requirements.  This includes security issues that are intentionally not raised in this report.
KW  - Advanced automation system (Air traffic control)
KW  - Air traffic control
KW  - Airport operations
KW  - Automation
KW  - Aviation safety
KW  - Human factors
KW  - Joint Planning and Development Office
KW  - Next Generation Air Transportation System
KW  - Workshops
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35000/35062/DOT-VNTSC-NASA-06-02.doc
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1086068
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01076722
AU  - Sheridan, Thomas B
AU  - Nadler, Eric D
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
TI  - A Review of Human-Automation Interaction and Lessons Learned
PY  - 2006/10//Final Report
SP  - 44p
AB  - This report reviews 37 accidents in aviation, other vehicles, process control and other complex systems where human-automation interaction is involved.  Implications about causality with respect to design, procedures, management and training are drawn.  A number of caveats and recommendations from the salient literature are discussed with regard to human-automation interaction.
KW  - Air transportation crashes
KW  - Aircraft
KW  - Aircraft pilotage
KW  - Automation
KW  - Aviation safety
KW  - Crash analysis
KW  - Human factors
KW  - Human factors in crashes
KW  - Human interaction
KW  - Next Generation Air Transportation System
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34700/34709/DOT-VNTSC-NASA-06-01.doc
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/815494
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01076682
AU  - Sheridan, Thomas B
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
TI  - Strategy for Optimum Acquisition of Information
PY  - 2006/10//Final Report
SP  - 8p
AB  - This note is a brief tutorial on a strategy optimizing the acquisition of information.  It is a procedure well know to decision theorists but hardly understood or applied by those making decisions about spending dollars, time and other forms of capital on the acquisition of information.  In the writer's judgement it has wide applicability to Next Generation Air Transportation Systems (NGATS) with to aircraft and ATM equipage, design of decision support tools, operator training, and system architecture.  By "acquisition of information" the author means either doing research presumably to discover a state S (the value of some property of an object or event) or designing/deploying some physical instrumentation to measure S.  In the latter case, for example, the question may be what instrumentation to put on on board an aircraft to provide operating performance and safety of greater worth by knowing S, or whether to add that instrumentation at all, given the cost of the instrumentation itself.
KW  - Acquisition
KW  - Air travel
KW  - Aircraft
KW  - Aircraft navigational aids
KW  - Aircraft pilotage
KW  - Aircraft safety
KW  - Automation
KW  - Benefit cost analysis
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Decision support systems
KW  - Human factors
KW  - Information systems
KW  - Information technology
KW  - Next Generation Air Transportation System
UR  - http://www.volpe.dot.gov/hf/docs/optimum_acquisition-sheridan.doc
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34700/34711/DOT-VNTSC-NASA-06-04.doc
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/815482
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01076670
AU  - Sheridan, Thomas B
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
TI  - The Possibility of Instability in NGATS Upstream Control of Flow into Airports
PY  - 2006/10//Final Report
SP  - 9p
AB  - Representation, estimation and optimization of airport capacity has been a subject of research since the 1950s.  Typically the concern has been to establish constraints on the Pareto constraint curve for various combinations of arrival and departure for various time intervals as a function of factors such as weather, runway configuration, etc.  Upstream flow control of aircraft into airports (e.g. relative to an arrival fix) has been performed by human air traffic controllers, more recently aided by such tools as the Center-Terminal Radar Approach Control Automation System (CTAS) to assist in predicting near-future 4D trajectories.  The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS) Concept of Operations mentions that tactical trajectory management “is aided by automation that optimizes for a number of factors” (including weather, airport configuration, airline priorities, etc.)  In this regard it poses the following research issue: “With trajectories manipulated 20 minutes or less ahead, how is trajectory stability affected?  What is the effect on keeping computed-times-of-arrival (CTAs) and what is the effect on system functions that rely on CTAs?
KW  - Advanced automation system (Air traffic control)
KW  - Air traffic
KW  - Air traffic control
KW  - Air traffic control radar beacon system
KW  - Airport capacity
KW  - Arrivals and departures
KW  - Automation
KW  - Aviation safety
KW  - Flow control (Air traffic control)
KW  - Human factors
KW  - Next Generation Air Transportation System
UR  - http://www.volpe.dot.gov/hf/docs/upstream_flow_control-sheridan.doc
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34700/34710/DOT-VNTSC-NASA-06-03.doc
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/815500
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01052203
AU  - Weinstein, Asha
AU  - Dill, Jennifer
AU  - Goldman, Todd
AU  - Hall, John
AU  - Holtzman, Franziska
AU  - Recker, Joe
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Transportation Financing Opportunities for the State of California
PY  - 2006/10
SP  - 234p
AB  - Available funding for transportation in California is expected to decline significantly over the next 15 years if the current transportation finance system remains unchanged. This report presents an analysis of a range of alternative sources of revenue, as well as different finance options. The research is based upon reviews of existing literature, interviews with key stakeholders, analyses of revenue trends, fuel tax rates and trends, statewide ballot measures, and two statewide phone surveys. The facility-based sources considered were toll roads and lanes, truck-only toll lanes, privatized rest areas, and public-private partnerships (PPPs). The taxes and fees evaluated were increasing fuel taxes by a fixed amount, indexing fuel taxes to inflation, mileage-based fees, vehicle registration fees, vehicle license fees, weight-mile taxes for trucks, a statewide sales tax, and state general fund revenues allocated either for current expenditures or to pay off general obligation bonds. Each of the revenue and finance options was evaluated according to five criteria: (1) revenue generation; (2) ease of implementation; (3) transportation system performance; (4) equity; and (5) political feasibility.
KW  - California
KW  - Government funding
KW  - Highway user taxation
KW  - Motor fuels
KW  - Revenues
KW  - Taxation
KW  - Toll roads
KW  - User charges
UR  - http://transweb.sjsu.edu/mtiportal/research/publications/documents/06-01/TransportFinanceOpps5_020107.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/809626
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01051543
AU  - Fugate, David
AU  - Jacobs, William
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - EMF Monitoring on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor: Post Electrification Measurements and Analysis
PY  - 2006/10//Final Report
SP  - 206p
AB  - This survey of electromagnetic fields (EMF) and radiation (EMR) due to the electrification infrastructure and operations of Amtrak Acela trains on the Northeast Corridor from New Haven, CT, to Boston, MA, was performed by Electric Research & Management (ERM) with Amtrak cooperation. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Volpe National Transportation Systems Center sponsored this survey to comply with environmental requirements. EMF levels were measured as a function of frequency and location on board the locomotive, inside a passenger coach, under the catenary and along the wayside in urban and rural locations, and near 10 representative traction power substations. Observed temporal and frequency-variability on board Acela and near the wayside is common to all of the electric transportation systems. Average magnetic fields in the passenger compartment were lower than, and maxima were comparable to most other rail and maglev systems. EMF exposures of passengers onboard Acela are lowest among rail and maglev systems studied to date. Average and maximum magnetic fields in the locomotive cab were lower than most other electric rail and maglev systems. Background EMF levels increased by 1-2 orders of magnitude after rail electrification but are well below limits in all applicable human exposure safety standards.
KW  - Acela Express
KW  - Amtrak
KW  - Boston (Massachusetts)
KW  - Electromagnetic fields
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Locomotives
KW  - New Haven (Connecticut)
KW  - Railroad electrification
KW  - Surveys
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/Details/L04332
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/809656
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01039090
AU  - Sundaram, Narayana
AU  - Sussmann, Theodore
AU  - Ensco, Incorporated
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Development of Gage Widening Projection Parameter for the Deployable Gage Restraint Measurement System
PY  - 2006/10//Final Report
SP  - 53p
AB  - Recent gage restraint measurement system (GRMS) developments include the redesign of GRMS vehicles to conduct testing from a deployable axle instead of using freight truck mounted axle and GRMS on hi-rail vehicles.  This new test configuration results in boundary condition changes in the applied loads and split axle location; both of which influence the results.  To ensure equivalent safety considering these significant changes, a comprehensive evaluation of the mechanistic basis for previous GRMS rulemaking, coupled with a fundamental investigation of factors influencing GRMS performance and inspection accuracy, was conducted along with field-testing to verify conclusions.  Results of the investigation to date suggest a need for reconsideration of the gage widening ratio (GWR) equation, which treated vertical load as a constant parameter.  With the new GRMS testing capability at a wider range of test loads, it is necessary to include vertical load in the GWR equation.  GWR has been the leading source of discrepancies between the inspections conducted by original GRMS design and redesigned vehicles over the same territory.  This report describes the analysis and recent field-testing to provide the fundamental basis for a proposed gage widening projection formula.
KW  - Accuracy
KW  - Equations
KW  - Field tests
KW  - Gage (Rails)
KW  - Gage restraint
KW  - Gage widening ratio
KW  - Inspection
KW  - Maintenance of way
KW  - Nondestructive tests
KW  - Performance
KW  - Railroad tracks
KW  - Widening
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/1199
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35500/35535/ord0613.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/795678
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462857
TI  - Development of a Cold Region Rural Transportation Research Test Bed in Lewistown, Montana
AB  - The objective of this project is to improve transportation maintenance, operations and safety with cold-regions research through the collaboration of academia, industry and government.  Northern tier states as well as many countries must address similar issues regarding the impacts of harsh winter conditions on operation and maintenance activities, and how these activities affect the environment, roadway infrastructure, and travelers safety. Oftentimes it becomes necessary to research innovative designs, maintenance practices and technology applications to address these challenges. However, conducting this type of research can create a public nuisance or safety hazard.  Furthermore, and perhaps most importantly, transportation research can oftentimes be one-dimensional. For example, winter maintenance has many interrelated issues such as road surface friction and travelers safety, environmental concerns to surrounding ecosystems, optimal timing of mitigation measures, and impacts to infrastructure. Researchers worldwide recognize and appreciate the multidimensional aspects of this type of research, yet do not have the opportunity to simultaneously study them in a controlled environment.   The Western Transportation Institute was recently given the opportunity to create a nationally recognized transportation research test bed for national and international researchers to study rural transportation issues related to design, maintenance and operations in a colder climate using the runways, taxiways, and other underutilized assets at the Lewistown airport. This transportation research test bed will provide an excellent opportunity to pool resources from various partners to answer a variety of basic and applied transportation research questions. For instance, a research project to study the performance of various roadway deicing chemicals may coincidentally investigate a host of concerns related to their use such as, their affect on the frictional characteristics of the road surface, impacts to adjacent vegetation and bodies of water, or corrosive impacts to vehicle or highway infrastructure. The opportunity to control and study multiple test variable associated with a particular research topic is afforded by the large-scale laboratory-like facility at the Lewistown airport.  The overall objective of this efforts is to develop the existing Lewistown airport facility to be a state-of-the-art, multidisciplinary research facility capable of addressing multiple transportation challenges. By establishing a single research facility that has the capability to conduct a broad array of transportation research will save much needed resources over time.
KW  - Cold weather
KW  - Frigid regions
KW  - Highway operations
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Maintenance
KW  - Montana
KW  - Research projects
KW  - State of the art studies
KW  - Test beds
KW  - Traffic safety
KW  - Weather conditions
KW  - Winter
KW  - Winter maintenance
UR  - http://www.westerntransportationinstitute.org/research/4w1352.aspx
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1231081
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01467319
TI  - Improving Emergency Preparedness and Crisis Management Capabilities in Transportation
AB  - While disaster preparedness and emergency management capabilities have had a high public profile during the current decade, Hurricane Katrina in late 2005 revealed serious weaknesses in the United States' emergency re sponse capabilities. There is thus much left to do if the full purposes of the consolidation of agencies into the Department of Homeland Security and of parallel development efforts carried out by other levels of government are to be achieved. The research proposed here will examine whether and how one significant functional area - surface transportation - is developing the capabilities necessary to fit effectively into the comprehensive, integrated emergency management system that the United States is committed to developing. The study will conduct empirical research in three metropolitan areas and the federal government, thus looking at this issue from national, state, and local perspectives, with significant concentration on the linkages between these levels of government.
KW  - Crisis management
KW  - Disaster preparedness
KW  - Disasters and emergency operations
KW  - Emergency management
KW  - Federal government agencies
KW  - Ground transportation
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1235555
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01467297
TI  - Teaching Case Studies on the Regulation of Motor Vehicle Air Pollution in China
AB  - This project will develop two teaching case studies on the policy and institutional dimensions of efforts to control motor vehicle air pollution in China. These cases will focus on: (1) Improving Air Quality in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games, (2) Strategies and Constraints on Reducing Motor Vehicle Air Pollution in the Pearl River Delta Region. Each case study will inform the student about the pollution reduction effort in the context of the rapidly changing Chinese urban transportation system. It will then place the student in the position of devising and assessing policy and implementation options to reduce motor vehicle air pollution.
KW  - Air pollution
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Beijing (China)
KW  - Emissions reduction
KW  - Environmental impacts
KW  - Motor vehicle operations
KW  - Olympic Games (29th : 2008 : Beijing, China)
KW  - Pollutants
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1235533
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01466333
TI  - Measuring the Effect of Passengers on the Safety of Older Drivers
AB  - Older drivers cause a disproportionate number of traffic crashes. With the continued increase in the number of older drivers there is significant motivation to further understand the many factors causing these high crash rates. The proposed research will determine whether including or avoiding different passengers groups in the vehicle could improve the safety records of older drivers. One can hypothesize that passengers might represent either a distraction or an advantage (e.g., "extra" helpful eyes on the road and traffic). No significant research on the effect of passengers exists for older drivers. Because the number of teenage passengers in a vehicle has been shown to negatively impact young driver safety in several research studies, limitations on the number of passengers a young driver can carry has become a key component in many state graduated driver licensing systems. In contrast, our previous preliminary research has shown that adult passengers may have a positive effect on older driver safety (Padlo et al. 2006). The proposed study will make use of the quasi-induced exposure methodology. The effect of the number, age and gender of passengers on the crash-causing propensity of older drivers will be evaluated. Five years of data from 3 states will be used in the disaggregate analysis; making the results of this research appropriate for potential nationwide countermeasure development. It has been well documented that the aging process generally reduces one's capability to operate an automobile safely. Older drivers face a variety of physical barriers to safe continued automobile use and show high crash involvement ratios. In certain traffic conditions, older drivers have been found at fault in a disproportionate number of crashes compared to other age groups. Although it is speculated that older drivers often practice compensatory driving practices (driving slower, avoiding inclement weather), the types of crashes in which older drivers are most frequently involved are consistent with declines in visual skills. In the last few decades, the professional community has been increasingly concerned with the traffic safety of older drivers as senior citizens are the fastest growing segment of the population in the United States. Countermeasures to improve older driver safety have included driver license re-testing, new technologies, and education to improve the older driver's choice to drive or not drive. The number of passengers in a vehicle has been shown to impact young driver safety in several research studies. Research by the authors of this proposal has shown that the presence of additional young people as passengers increases the crash propensity of the young drivers, while the presence of adult passengers decreases this propensity. The influence of the number of passengers in a vehicle is so significant for young drivers that limitations on the number of passengers a young driver can carry have become a key component in the graduated driver licensing systems that have proliferated across the states. No research on the impact of passengers exists for older drivers. It is possible that the number and age of passengers may pose problems or perhaps provide helpful assistance for the older drivers. Preliminary research, undertaken with Kentucky and Connecticut crash data, showed an improved safety effect of passengers for some older drivers but not others. While it is unlikely a reverse system of graduated licensing could be established for older drivers, creating the knowledge base for how vehicle occupants affect older driver safety would allow further education countermeasures to improve older driver decision making. For example, perhaps wide promotion of the idea of "Drive with a Buddy" would change the driving habits of older drivers. The objective of this research is to evaluate the effect of the number, age and gender of passengers on the crash propensity of older drivers using the quasi-induced exposure technique and 5 years of data from 3 states (Maine, Connecticut and Kentucky). The overall relative impact of passengers on older drivers will be compared to other adults. Furthermore, disaggregate analysis will be undertaken with the older driver crash records to determine if the impact of passenger groups varies by older driver age and gender, as well as driving circumstances such as day versus night, road type and rural versus urban locations. Single and multiple vehicle crashes will be considered separately and cross state comparisons will be made.
KW  - Aged
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Connecticut
KW  - Crash data
KW  - Driver experience
KW  - Driving cessation
KW  - Impact tests
KW  - Kentucky
KW  - Maine
KW  - Passengers
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic crashes
KW  - Traffic safety
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1234568
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01466332
TI  - Measuring and Modeling Travel Well-Being
AB  - Transportation project evaluation is heavily focused on the assessment of travel time and cost savings to the end users. There are, however, other intangible benefits to transportation improvements manifested in lower anxiety, greater pleasure, etc. which might be more important to the travelers. This project aims at measuring travel well-being under various travel conditions with a focus on congestion and for different population groups. We will collect self-reported and physiological indicators of well-being and use advanced analysis and modeling techniques to identify the interrelationships between travel well-being, its causes, indicators, and travel behavior. One major contribution will be that the well-being measurement and in-depth understanding of traveler behavior will derive new demand functions, leading to better product attributes, public policy measures, and successful project evaluations. By proposing new evaluation methods for congestion mitigation policies and understanding the travel well-being causes of different population groups, the project contributes to the areas of disruptive demographics and disruptive environments of the UTC theme. The overarching goal of this project is to develop and test a framework for the measurement and modeling of travel well-being. There are three main objectives: (1) Developing and testing a travel well-being measurement model: this will be accomplished through the use of reported well-being measures obtained from travel surveys and physiological indicators obtained from driving simulation experiments. (2) Identifying the drivers of travel well-being and relating it to behavior: the individual specific and travel related data collected from the surveys and experiments will be used to model travel well-being as a function of its causes. The impact of well-being on subsequent travel choices will then be modeled. (3) Estimating the benefits of the travel well-being approach: the modeling approach using travel well-being will be compared against the traditional approach of using generalized cost functions, and the implications of the travel well-being approach for transportation project evaluation will be assessed.
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Modeling
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Simulation
KW  - State of the art
KW  - Stated preferences
KW  - Travel costs
KW  - Travel surveys
KW  - Travel time
KW  - Well being
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1234567
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01466331
TI  - How Do You Teach Local Transportation Professionals What They Need to Know About Intelligent Transportation Systems?
AB  - A major question being addressed as part of the intelligent transportation systems movement in the U.S. is: How do you teach local transportation professionals what they need to know about ITS? Such professionals include, for example, local traffic engineers, public works directors, highway superintendents, transit operators, and transportation planners. The objective of this education project is to formulate a strategic plan to teach local professionals what they should know about ITS concepts, technologies, benefits and risks associated with the integration of ITS applications into local transportation plans and projects. The strategy would likely consist of a set of goals, objectives, and learning activities including traditional classroom short courses and training workshops as well as activities employing innovative delivery mechanisms such as on line courses, interactive webinars, and internet based technical assistance tools. This education project will be conducted in collaboration with the UMass Transportation Academy and the Massachusetts Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP). The objective of this education project is to formulate a strategic plan to teach local transportation professionals in Massachusetts about basic ITS concepts, technologies, benefits and risks.
KW  - Benefits
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Massachusetts
KW  - Professional employment
KW  - Regional transportation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transportation careers
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1234566
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01466330
TI  - Evaluation of Dynamic Message Sign Deployments and their Effects on Older Drivers
AB  - The primary objective of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of dynamic information and warning systems along major highways in New England.  Examples of such systems include Dynamic Message Signs (DMS) providing real time traveler information and Variable Speed Limit Signs (VSLS) warning drivers of prevailing speed limits. Central to this research will be an evaluation of the effects of such dynamic systems on elderly drivers. For comparison purposes the research will also examine the effects of these systems on other drivers. An underlying aim of the research is to determine the extent to which these systems tend to contribute to improvements in safety and mobility for all transportation user groups and in particular older drivers.
KW  - Aged
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Field tests
KW  - New England
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Speed limits
KW  - Variable message signs
KW  - Variable speed limits
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1234565
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01466329
TI  - Student Driving Skills and Safety Record
AB  - This education project will be a hands-on-project having students look at the correlation between cautiousness, personality type, driving skills, and actual safety record.  Students will be participating in this on a voluntary basis.  Anonymity will be ensured among students by having them use aliases rather than their real names when the data is analyzed.  Students will be driving an obstacle course, using my car or their own, and the number of errors they make will be recorded.  Students will also be assessed as to whether they are cautious or not through interviews conducted by the PI and possibly some simple tests.  Finally, the students will be given a traffic safety 'grade' by comparing their self-reported crash record to the number of years and number of miles they have driven
KW  - Crash data
KW  - Driver experience
KW  - Human factors
KW  - Human factors in crashes
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Students
KW  - Teenage drivers
KW  - Traffic safety
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1234564
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01466328
TI  - Open Access for Freight Railroads: Worthwhile or Wasteful Disruption?
AB  - This project will examine the advantages and disadvantages of requiring freight railroads to provide open access to their track, as they do in Europe or Australia, instead of very limited and selective track sharing of the type practiced currently in the United States.  Requiring open access is a radical change in traditional railroad practice, and while such changes have the power to generate substantial benefits they also can be very disruptive.  Requirements that local telephone companies complete the calls of independent carriers has led to healthy competition in mobile and long distance telephony, for example, but a poorly thought-out attempt to restructure California's electricity industry to introduce competition led to bankruptcies, blackouts and higher rates.  This project will contrast the United States experience with limited track sharing with that of open access in Australia.  Australia was chosen as the comparison because it has had open access for a decade and because its freight railroads are similar to those in the United States.  The focus is whether competition would be increased significantly and at what price in disrupted coordination between train operations and infrastructure services.
KW  - Accessibility
KW  - Australia
KW  - Competition
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Open access
KW  - Railroad tracks
KW  - Railroad transportation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - United States
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1234563
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01466327
TI  - Differences in Gap Acceptance of Elderly Drivers and the Impact on Traffic Simulation Modeling
AB  - As the population of the US ages, so does the driving population. This is a potential problem for microscopic traffic simulation models, which depend heavily on assumptions about driver behavior. This project proposes to investigate the possibility that elderly drivers (65 years or older) exhibit different gap acceptance behavior when making unprotected left turns across oncoming traffic, and whether or not accounting for this different behavior improves the fidelity of micro-simulation models. Elderly and other drivers will be observed turning left at unsignalized intersections both with and without left turn lanes and when crossing either a single or two lanes of oncoming traffic on roads with different speed limits, and considering other relevant factors. Statistical analysis will be used to identify whether or not older drivers choose different gaps for turning left, and under which conditions these differences are most significant. Finally, traffic simulations of the observed conditions will be run with both default gap acceptance distributions and those observed to determine how sensitive the simulation program output is to this basic parameter. We expect the results to provide valuable information about how to more accurately account for the effect of growing numbers of seniors in the driving population as well as how to improve the safety and confidence of senior drivers as they become a more dominant element of the population. The objectives of this project are to conduct field studies of driving behavior classified by age category to identify differences in gap acceptance decisions between elderly and other drivers. This study will focus on left turns at unsignalized intersections, where drivers must evaluate gaps in oncoming traffic and decide whether or not it is safe and comfortable to execute a left turn maneuver through each gap. Our approach will be to observe the operation at unsignalized intersections where there are a substantial number of left turning vehicles and after classifying drivers by age range, note the lengths of all gaps each declines and uses, and from this information determine the critical gap for each driver. We will control for physical characteristics of intersections, including presence and absence of left turn lanes, number of oncoming traffic lanes, urban, suburban or rural setting, speed of oncoming traffic and traffic volume. We will study not only the "average" critical gap, but also the frequency of accepted gaps that are significantly shorter than the typically accepted gap (causing conflicts and potential crashes) and the frequency of rejected gaps that are significantly longer than the typically accepted gap (causing undue delays). We will then incorporate the resulting gap distributions in simulations of the intersections studied to confirm that accounting for the actual gap acceptance behavior of the drivers improves the fidelity of the simulation. We will also note the conditions under which any differences in gap acceptance behavior are greatest, to provide information about how best to improve intersections to help make this maneuver less dangerous and more comfortable for senior drivers, and thus, for the general population as well.
KW  - Aged
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Behavior
KW  - Gap acceptance
KW  - Left turn lanes
KW  - Microsimulation
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic simulation
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1234562
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01466326
TI  - Transitioning from Passenger to Driver: Changes in Stress, Driving Habits and Mobility among Widowed Drivers
AB  - This study explores the impact of stress and life transitions on mobility.  Specifically, the focus is on the impact of widowhood on women's driving habits and mobility.  On average, women live longer than men, and thus married women at some point are thus likely to face the possibility of becoming widows.  The transition can be difficult for any number of reasons - the loss of a loved one and companion, the financial implications of the loss, its impact on health, and so forth.  Often the impact of the stress and life change on mobility patterns and transportation is ignored.  For many of these women, however, their spouses will have been the primary drivers in the household, and transportation is essential to maintaining social ties and to managing the necessities of life.  The loss of a spouse therefore has the potential to affect women's travel patterns, mobility and behaviors in ways that are less likely to be the same for men.  This project will focus more directly on women who have had greater difficulty in transitioning to becoming the primary driver for themselves and their household.  They are more likely to depend on others to provide them with rides.  The questions in this study include how their mobility has changed as time passes; the role of social commitments, social ties, and work on widow women's travel patterns, as well as the impact of reduced mobility on each of these; and the relationship between stress and confidence and driving behaviors.  The implications of this work may result in changes in transportation practice to improve the mobility of people in similar situations, or may help newly widowed women address or cope with difficulties they may face around transportation and mobility. This study explores the impact of stress and life transitions on mobility.  Specifically, we focus on the impact of widowhood on women's driving habits and mobility.  On average, women live longer than men, and thus married women at some point are thus likely to face the possibility of becoming widows.  The project fits squarely into the New England University Transportation Center's theme of disruptive demographics.  While women among the current older generation have longer lifespans than men, this trend will be amplified by the improvements in health and education that have led to a growing population of older adults.  There will be more widows, more divorced women, and more never married women among the future generations of older adults.  For those who do have family members, they are less likely to live within an easy distance and less likely to be able to provide for all of their transportation needs.  The next generation of older women will be more likely to have to depend on themselves at some point to provide for their transportation needs than any previous generation of older women, at a time when mobility and access to driving are more important than ever for meeting the daily and social needs of everyday life. The transition for women to widowhood can be difficult for any number of reasons - the loss of a loved one and companion, the financial implications of the loss, its impact on health, and so forth.  Often the impacts of the stress and life change on mobility patterns and transportation are ignored.  For many of these women, however, their spouses will have been the primary drivers in the household, and transportation is essential to maintaining social ties and to managing the necessities of life.  The loss of a spouse therefore has the potential to affect women's travel patterns, driving habits and behaviors in ways that are less likely to be the same for men.  This project will focus more directly on women who have had greater difficulty in transitioning to becoming the primary driver for themselves and their household.  They are more likely to depend on others to provide them with rides.  The questions in this study include how women's mobility has changed as time passes; the role of social commitments, social ties, and work on widow women's travel patterns, as well as the impact of reduced mobility on each of these; and the relationship between stress and confidence and driving behaviors.  With a mix of qualitative focus group data and analysis of existing secondary survey data, the project promises to create a rich description of the impact of this stressful life event on transportation habits and mobility, and to generate hypotheses about how the current and future generations of older adults will be affected by the experiences of their own stressful life events.
KW  - Aged
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Drivers
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Pedestrians
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Spouse
KW  - Stress (Psychology)
KW  - Transitions
KW  - Travel behavior
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1234561
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01466325
TI  - Development of a Conceptual Framework Toward an Integrated Transportation System
AB  - The United States relies heavily on an efficient and safe transportation system. However, such a system is facing many critical issues, among which congestion and safety are the foremost ones. While no single solution can respond to all transportation problems, there is a growing demand for integrated solutions that could address many of the problems and could potentially lead to fundamental changes in the way that transportation systems are managed and operated in the decades to come. This research envisions an integrated transportation system based on simulation and sensor technology where global-level traffic control will be proactive, local-level traffic control will be cooperative, and vehicle-level control will be attentive.  Underlying this research are sensor technology which enables ubiquitous situation-awareness and transportation simulation which assists decision-making at these three levels. Recognizing that such an integrated transportation system is not feasible in a single step, this research intends to advance the current state-of-the-practice towards such a system by achieving the following objectives:  (1) develop a conceptual framework of the integrated transportation system, (2) identify enabling technologies for the framework, and (3) design a prototype application under the framework.
KW  - Conceptual framework
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Research projects
KW  - State of the practice
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic safety
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1234560
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01466324
TI  - Age Related Changes in Cognitive Response Style in the Driving Task
AB  - The presence of secondary tasks in the automobile appears to be increasing among drivers of all ages.  The operation of these in-vehicle devices while underway produces an increase in workload and acute stress.  According the Yerks-Dodson principle, a critical balance exists between maximum task performance and an individual's stress level.  An increase in heart rate, respiration rate and skin conductance level typically corresponds with an increase in workload / stress.  However, recent work shows that under a dual task condition driver age impacts the probability of heart rate acceleration.  This project will conduct simulated experimentation that will focus on comparing response mechanisms of the younger adults with aged drivers. We hypothesize that patterns of physiological response will vary between the younger and older group.  Furthermore, the older group will better balance the focus of attention, i.e. show less cardiac acceleration.  We believe that over both age groups the shift in attentional focus will not compromise a basic simulated driving task. Outcomes of this research have profound policy implications on the use of secondary devices by different age groups.   Objective: In this work we plan to investigate, how everyday secondary tasks such as cellular telephones internally impact drivers of different ages, i.e. to what state do drivers of different ages internalize the stress associated with the use of secondary technology in the car.  According the Yerks-Dodson principle a critical balance exists between maximum task performance and an individual's stress level.  Therefore, it is critical that the stress of the driving task be high enough for individuals to maintain a high level of performance but not overwhelm the driver to the point at which performance begins to fall.  Physiological measurements such as heart rate, galvanic skin resistance and respiration are often used to gauge changes in stress and workload.  Cardiac acceleration, increases in galvanic skin resistance and respiration rate are often linked to acute or short duration stressors (Backs &amp; Seljos, 1994; Veltman &amp; Gaillard, 1998).
KW  - Aged
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Cellular telephones
KW  - Cognition
KW  - Cognitive impairment
KW  - Distraction
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Stress (Psychology)
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1234559
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01466323
TI  - Securing Global Trade through Secure Freight Transportation
AB  - This project proposes to leverage recent work on supply chain security and response to terrorism and disruptions, with specific focus on securing global trade by understanding and mitigating the vulnerabilities existing in global freight transportation systems and processes.  The study first entails developing a structured vulnerability assessment tool - a 'Chain of Custody' framework - and applying it to assess the security of freight flows in the global freight transportation system.  The second aspect of the study entails applying disruptive technologies (e.g. RFID tags and readers, motes and sensors) and innovative processes to the global freight transportation system for the purpose of assessing the impact of such investments on freight and system security.  A third aspect entails quantifying the potential benefits of such investments, including direct security benefits and indirect or collateral benefits.  At the current funding level, the work will address the first study and potentially some examination of the second aspect. The objective of this project is to develop new methods for analyzing extended supply chain vulnerability through the creation of a 'chain of custody' mapping framework
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Globalization
KW  - International trade
KW  - Radio frequency identification
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Sensors
KW  - Supply chain management
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1234558
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01466322
TI  - Design and Management of Flexible Transportation Networks through the use of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
AB  - Design and operation of transportation systems is complicated by multiple uncertainties , including uncertainties in future traffic demand, mode splits between private autos and transit, freight volumes. and political and economic factors  Creating and evaluating a flexible transportation system that can dynamically adapt to changing future conditions is a goal of this research.  In particular, we aim to determine if certain Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) architectures and technologies centered on various managed lane concepts can be used to create flexibility in a transportation network.  This research applies concepts from the areas of transportation system design, ITS, flexible systems and political economy to design and evaluate flexible transportation systems, as well as identify and understand challenges associated with them, through the application of quantitative traffic demand modeling and simulations, qualitative interviews of transportation practitioners and the creation of a generalizable framework for designing flexible systems. The research described in this proposal aims to develop the concept of using Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) architectures and technologies to create a flexible transportation system for the purpose of better coping with the various types of uncertainty associated with transportation systems.  Researchers and practitioners have contended that, properly designed, ITS capabilities offer the ability to respond flexibly to changes in circumstances and that this flexibility has value above and beyond the inherent value of ITS in improving transportation system performance. This project will describe and quantify how ITS can be used to create and value flexibility in responding to changes in medium term operations and long term transportation usage trends.  Further, our wok will describe possible implementation barriers and suggest solutions for overcoming these barriers.
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transit operating agencies
KW  - Transportation networks
KW  - Transportation systems
KW  - Uncertainty
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1234557
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01466321
TI  - Gated Communities & Boomers' Travel Behavior: Evidence from Developments for the Elderly
AB  - This project aims to improve understanding of older adult preferences for community settings and subsequent influences on older adult travel behavior.  The basic objectives are to: (1) develop empirical evidence on older adults' choices of different types of community, particularly age-restricted active adult communities (ARAACs), and how those choices might affect travel; (2) subsequently inform community development decisions (including by relevant agencies and developers); (3) contribute to the ongoing and active research base on the influence of the built environment on travel behavior and the growing interest in promoting active living settings, including for the elderly.  To date, the project has established the foundation for better understanding older adults' locational characteristics in the Boston Metro Area and is allowing us to gain preliminary insights into the relationship between the built environment and the travel behavior of older adults through the study of four different urban edge communities (two age-restricted communities, two matching non-age-restricted communities), utilizing focus groups.
KW  - Aged
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Design build
KW  - Development
KW  - Gated communities
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Travel behavior
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1234556
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01460290
TI  - Optimization of Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducers (EMATs) for Condition Assessment of Civil Infrastructure
AB  - Concrete is a primary construction material for infrastructure in the United States. The ability to effectively assess the condition of concrete structures during their service life is critically important to maintaining the safety and efficiency of our infrastructure. Corrosion of reinforcing steel bars and strands that are embedded in the concrete is a primary deterioration mode for structures across the spectrum of the civil infrastructure. The Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducer (EMAT) technology to be developed under the proposed project can help address the need for improved condition assessment tools, by allowing a concrete structure to be built with an embedded acoustic sensor network. The embedded sensors will be capable of detecting corrosion, cracking in concrete, and fracture of embedded steel such as reinforcing steel and prestressing strand. This technology will lead to a "smart bridge" that has an embedded sensor network that is analogous to the nervous system in the human body, detecting deterioration in its embryonic stages such that mitigation methods can be employed. The goal of the proposed project is to develop improved sensor designs for magnetostrictive EMATs that will overcome limitations in the current sensors designs, allowing for the sensors to be embedded in concrete. The improved design and design models to be developed under this project will broaden the scope of application for this unique sensor technology for the condition assessment of bridges and other civil structures.
KW  - Bridge design
KW  - Concrete
KW  - Concrete structures
KW  - Condition surveys
KW  - Corrosion
KW  - Cracking
KW  - Electromagnetic properties
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Service life
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/research/r184.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228506
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01459746
TI  - Living and Moving in 2021: Developing Strategic Education Materials to Prepare for the Mobility and Safety of an Aging Society
AB  - The nation's driver population is aging. The fastest growing portion of the American population is 50+. As the baby boomers turn 60 nearly every seven seconds, numbering almost 80 million people, this population is the first generation that is truly the automobile society. As they age, their continued dependence on the car for mobility and independence will be crucial to their health, wellness and overall quality of life. Although the aging driver is not new, this population will have a number of novel features, they are likely to make more trips, include more women, be more technology savvy and greater seekers of education that will empower them to make the right decisions and the right time.  Although the older driver issue has been a research, policy and education topic for at least sixty years, there has never been a single body of global thought leaders, practitioners, researchers, educators and recognized experts dedicated to ensuring that the best thinking is available and translated into driver education programs, outreach and curriculum. This work leverages the creation of the National Older Drivers Safety Advisory Council at MIT to assemble a comprehensive volume on the future of older adult mobility in the United States, related safety issues and how lifelong mobility education might improve safety and mobility throughout the lifespan.
KW  - Aged
KW  - Aged drivers
KW  - Automobile industry
KW  - Baby boomer generation
KW  - Massachusetts
KW  - Mobility
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Traffic safety
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1227961
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01459744
TI  - Older Transit Workers and Managing Healthcare Costs
AB  - The nation's population is aging. The once perpetually youthful baby boomers, born between 1946-1964, are now turning 60 one every seven seconds. While the aging of this population is affecting the planning and safety of the transportation enterprise, it is also dramatically affecting the system's workforce. As the transportation workforce ages, chronic disease becomes more prevalent. Many Americans over age 40 manage at least one or more conditions. Diabetes, hypertension, obesity and related metabolic disorders are driving dramatic increases in healthcare costs to public and private transportation organizations. In addition to insurance costs, lost productivity and potential safety issues are some of the potential implications of chronic disease in an older transportation workforce. This is the first of a larger phased study on the 'new older mobile workforce' examining the impact of age, chronic disease on the operations, costs and productivity of public and private operators. This first phase will examine public transportation workers with a focus on public bus drivers and rail engineers. Using interviews, secondary data sources and a workshop, this study will characterize both the size, costs and current strategies used by public transportation properties to manage chronic disease in an older transit workforce.
KW  - Aged
KW  - Bus transit
KW  - Health care facilities
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Transit operating agencies
KW  - Transit operators
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1227959
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01076720
AU  - Chandra, Divya C
AU  - Yeh, Michelle
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Aviation Administration
TI  - A Tool Kit for Evaluating Electronic Flight Bags
PY  - 2006/09
SP  - 64p
AB  - Over the past few years, the Volpe Center has developed a set of five tools that can be used to evaluate Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs) from a human factors perspective. The goal of these tools is to help streamline and standardize EFB human factors assessments by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The tools were developed and documented for the FAA in order to facilitate the identification and resolution of human factors/pilot interface issues with EFB systems, either in terms of design and/or operational use. The tools are designed for use by evaluators who are not human factors experts. They can be used at different stages of EFB development for different types of evaluations. By understanding the tools before beginning the approval process, the most appropriate tools can be selected, customized, and incorporated into the EFB evaluation at relatively little incremental cost. This report contains descriptions of the tools and practical information on when and how to use each tool. The appendices to this report contain the full version of every tool.
KW  - Airport capacity
KW  - Airport design
KW  - Airport facilities
KW  - Airport operations
KW  - Airport ticket counters
KW  - Electronic flight bags
KW  - Human factors
KW  - Tool kits
KW  - Tools
KW  - Usability
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34200/34294/DOT-VNTSC-FAA-06-21.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/815501
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01569179
TI  - Development of a Transportation Air Quality Laboratory
AB  - The University of Vermont (UVM) Transportation Air Quality Laboratory (TAQLab) is a campus research facility housing instrumentation dedicated to vehicle emissions and performance research. The TAQLab focus is collection of real-world, on-board and lab-based tailpipe emissions and engine performance data for use in the new generation of mobile source emissions models. Unique to this laboratory are instruments capable of collecting high temporal resolution particle number and gas-phase air toxics emission rates while vehicles operate under real-world conditions in Vermont.
KW  - Air quality management
KW  - Engine performance
KW  - Exhaust gases
KW  - Exhaust pipes
KW  - Mobile sources
KW  - Pollutants
KW  - Toxicity
KW  - Vermont
UR  - http://www.uvm.edu/trc/university-transportation-center/utc-current-project-list/evaluation-of-transportationair-quality-model-improvements-based-on-totems-on-road-driving-style-and-tailpipe-emissions-data/
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1359734
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01462811
TI  - Design, Construction, Laboratory and Field Testing of the Bridge on the Arnault Branch, Washington County, Missouri
AB  - Two innovative FRP technologies will be employed for the rapid and effective replacement of different portions of the structure with a safer and more functional slab type bridge. The design strategies consist of a) helicoidal FRP helixes integrated with longitudinal FRP rebars as slab reinforcement, and b) prefabricated pultruded FRP panels as stay-in-place (SIP) formwork and structural reinforcement.
KW  - Bridge design
KW  - Construction
KW  - Fiber reinforced materials
KW  - Formwork
KW  - Missouri
KW  - Reinforcement (Engineering)
KW  - Research projects
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/research/r193.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1231034
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01354644
AU  - Little, Michael
AU  - Rahall Appalachian Transportation Institute
AU  - West Virginia Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Endangered Species Identification Along Corridors in WV Using GIS
PY  - 2006/08/11/Final Report
SP  - 81p
AB  - Since the late 19th century, the exploitation of oil, gas, timber, and mineral resources in Appalachia has been associated with the production of an extensive transportation system and with a concurrent decline in the environmental quality of aquatic systems. This project will establish the infrastructure for a web delivered, interactive mapping system developed from satellite imagery and integrated with Geographical Information Systems that will locate all endemic, threatened, or endangered species relative to transportation systems in West Virginia. The project will incorporate a detailed case study along the proposed Corridor H of the Appalachian Highway System to establish the interactive mapping system criteria and processes, The case study will also address the authentication of a specific rare Appalachian fish as an endangered species or a rare hybrid developed as a result of previous transportation related environmental disturbances in this area. The Cheat minnow, Rhinichthys bowersi, is a rare fish that has been reported almost exclusively from streams in the Monongahela River system of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The status of the Cheat minnow is currently controversial. There have been reports that the Cheat minnow has unique genetic characters, is reproductively isolated from other minnows, has a limited distribution, and should be considered a valid species.
KW  - Appalachian Region
KW  - Aquatic life
KW  - Case studies
KW  - Endangered species
KW  - Environmental quality
KW  - Fishes
KW  - Geographic information systems
KW  - Mapping
KW  - Transportation corridors
KW  - Watersheds
KW  - West Virginia
UR  - http://www.njrati.org/wp-content/plugins/research_projects/reports/TRP%2099-10.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1118265
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01460291
TI  - Back Movement Monitor Field Testing
AB  - The investigators seek funds to evaluate this system at underground tunnels to asses the impact of elements such as dust, vibration and lighting on the performance of HRTMM.
KW  - Dust
KW  - Dust control
KW  - Lighting
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Tunnels
KW  - Vibration
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/research/r183.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228507
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01322430
AU  - Knauer, Harvey S
AU  - Pedersen, Soren
AU  - Reherman, Clay N
AU  - Rochat, Judith L
AU  - Thalheimer, Erich S
AU  - Lau, Michael C
AU  - Fleming, Gregg G
AU  - Ferroni, Mark
AU  - Corbisier, Christopher
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - FHWA Highway Construction Noise Handbook
PY  - 2006/08//Draft Report
SP  - 185p
AB  - The John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center Acoustics Facility (VCAF), in support of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Natural and Human Environment, has developed the Highway Construction Noise Handbook (the Handbook). The Handbook provides guidance to U.S. state transportation agencies in measuring, predicting, and mitigating highway construction noise and developing noise criteria. In order to help users predict construction noise, the Handbook includes the User’s Guide for the FHWA Roadway Construction Noise Model (RCNM). This Handbook, which is accompanied by a CD-ROM, reflects substantial improvements and changes in the way highway construction noise has been addressed since the 1977 publishing of the FHWA Special Report, Highway Construction Noise: Measurement, Prediction and Mitigation. This updated Handbook, and the companion CD-ROM, address both acoustical and non-acoustical issues associated with highway construction noise. While it is understood that both similarities and differences exist between construction-related noise and construction-related vibration, the focus of the Handbook and CD-ROM is confined to noise-related issues.
KW  - Acoustics
KW  - Guidelines
KW  - Handbooks
KW  - Noise
KW  - Road construction
KW  - Traffic noise
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/34000/34300/34369/DOT-VNTSC-FHWA-06-02.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1082781
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01160534
AU  - Bakhadyrov, Izzat
AU  - Williams, Treffor
AU  - Orth, Joseph
AU  - Maher, Ali
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - New Jersey Department of Transportation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Windows-based PDAs for Emergency Service Patrol
PY  - 2006/08//Final Report
SP  - 35p
AB  - The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Traffic Operations South had a need for efficient paperless case data entry solutions for their Emergency Service Patrol (ESP) personnel, to capture and collect traffic incidence assistance data. Currently, the paperless data entry system has been developed and implemented in the NJDOT Traffic Operations South ESP Team. The system uses Windows-based personal digital assistants (PDAs) by Hewlett-Packard and custom developed software to collect the field data in the electronic format and then upload it into the centralized database for analysis and reporting. NJDOT Traffic Operations North ESP team requires the customization and integration of the similar solution into its infrastructure. NJDOT Traffic Operations South ESP team requires observation of its paperless data entry system for one year, in order to identify system bottlenecks, develop solutions for them and investigate various ways to improve system features, such as multimedia databases, integration with GPS/GIS, advanced reporting/alarm capabilities, etc.
KW  - Data collection
KW  - Data entry
KW  - Freeway service patrols
KW  - Highway operations
KW  - Personal digital assistants
KW  - Traffic incidents
KW  - Traffic patrol
UR  - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/138-RU9091.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/921191
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01047575
AU  - Knauer, Harvey S
AU  - Pedersen, Soren
AU  - Reherman, Clay N
AU  - Rochat, Judith L
AU  - Thalheimer, Erich S
AU  - Lau, Michael C
AU  - Fleming, Gregg G
AU  - Ferroni, Mark
AU  - Corbisier, Christopher
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Highway Construction Noise Handbook
PY  - 2006/08//Final Report
SP  - 175p
AB  - The John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center Acoustics Facility (VCAF), in support of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Natural and Human Environment, has developed the Highway Construction Noise Handbook (the Handbook). The Handbook provides guidance to U.S. state transportation agencies in measuring, predicting, and mitigating highway construction noise and developing noise criteria. In order to help users predict construction noise, the Handbook includes the User's Guide for the FHWA Roadway Construction Noise Model (RCNM). This Handbook, which is accompanied by a CD-ROM, reflects substantial improvements and changes in the way highway construction noise has been addressed since the 1977 publishing of the FHWA Special Report, Highway Construction Noise: Measurement, Prediction and Mitigation. This updated Handbook, and the companion CD-ROM, address both acoustical and non-acoustical issues associated with highway construction noise. While it is understood that both similarities and differences exist between construction-related noise and construction-related vibration, the focus of the Handbook and CD-ROM is confined to noise-related issues.
KW  - Acoustics
KW  - CD-ROM
KW  - Computer program documentation
KW  - FHWA Roadway Construction Noise Model
KW  - Handbooks
KW  - Mathematical prediction
KW  - Measurement
KW  - Noise
KW  - Noise control
KW  - Road construction
KW  - Sound level
UR  - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/noise/handbook/index.htm
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/807069
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01041421
AU  - daSilva, Marco P
AU  - Baron, William
AU  - Carroll, Anya A
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - Federal Railroad Administration
TI  - Highway Rail-Grade Crossing Safety Research: Railroad Infrastructure Trespassing Detection Systems Research in Pittsford, New York
PY  - 2006/08//Final Report
SP  - 50p
AB  - The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, under the direction of the Federal Railroad Administration, conducted a 3-year demonstration of an automated prototype railroad infrastructure security system on a railroad bridge. Specifically, this commercial-off-the-shelf technology system was installed at a bridge in Pittsford, New York, where trespassing is commonplace and fatalities have occurred. This video-based trespass monitoring and deterrent system had the capability of detecting trespass events when an intrusion on the railroad right-of-way occurred. The interactive system comprised video cameras, motion detectors, infrared illuminators, speakers, and central processing units. Once a trespass event occurred, the in-situ system sent audible and visual signals to the monitoring workstation at the local security company where an attendant validated the alarm by viewing the live images from the scene. The attendant then issued a real-time warning to the trespasser(s) via pole-mounted speakers near the bridge, called the local police, and then the railroad police, if necessary. All alarm images were stored on a wayside computer for evaluation. The system was installed in August 2001 and evaluated over a 3-year period ending in August 2004. This report describes the results of this research endeavor. Topics addressed include the project location, system technology and operation, system costs, results, potential benefits, and lessons learned. The results indicate this interactive system can serve as a model for railroad infrastructure security system for other railroad ROW or bridges deemed prone to intrusion.
KW  - Central processing units (Computers)
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Infrared imagery
KW  - Infrastructure
KW  - Intrusion detection system
KW  - Loudspeakers
KW  - Monitoring
KW  - Motion detectors
KW  - Pittsford (New York)
KW  - Railroad bridges
KW  - Railroad grade crossings
KW  - Railroad safety
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Right of way (Land)
KW  - Security
KW  - Trespassers
KW  - Video cameras
UR  - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/2551
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/795856
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01049670
AU  - Phillips, Brian D
AU  - Skaggs, R Wayne
AU  - Chescheir, George M
AU  - North Carolina State University, Raleigh
AU  - North Carolina State University, Raleigh
AU  - North Carolina Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Development of Methods to Determine Lateral Effect of Highway Drainage Systems on Wetland Hydrology - Phase 2
PY  - 2006/07/31/Final Report
SP  - 28p
AB  - A method was developed in the first phase of this project to predict the lateral effect of a drainage ditch on adjacent wetland hydrology.  The method predicts the distance of influence of a single ditch constructed through a wetland, i.e., the width of a strip adjacent to the ditch that is drained such that it would no longer satisfy wetland hydrologic criteria, in terms of T25 values which are dependent on climatological conditions.  Main objectives of the second phase were to complete determination of the T25 values and to test the validity of the method.  T25 represents the time required for the water table to draw down from the surface to a depth of 25 cm at the location on the landscape that will just barely satisfy the wetland hydrologic criterion.  Values were determined for all 100 North Carolina counties for ditch depths of 0.3 to 1.8 m (1-6 ft) and for surface depressional storage values of 2.5 and 5.0 cm (1 and 2 in.).  Data to test the method were collected at two wetland mitigation sites in eastern North Carolina: Mildred Woods in Edgecombe County and ABC near the town of Pinetown in Beaufort County.  The method predicted lateral effects of 42.6, 7.2, and 14.1 m for Mildred Woods, ABC shallow ditch, and the ABC deep ditch, respectively.  Compared to direct interpolation of 3-year average field results for Mildred Woods (41 m) and the deep ditch (12 m), the method performed well.  The lateral effect predicted by the method for the shallow ditch at the ABC site was at least two times that measured in the field (<3.75 m).  In this case, the ditch was located in a tight clay layer which substantially reduced the effective transmissivity of the profile and the lateral effect of the ditch on the hydrology of adjacent wetlands.  Long-term simulations, (1951-2004), were performed with DRAINMOD and WATRCOM for all transect wells to provide alternative assessment of the lateral effects.  Results were in general agreement with the predictions of the new method, and, except for the ABC shallow ditch site, with lateral effects determined from field data.
KW  - Ditches
KW  - Drainage
KW  - Field data
KW  - Hydrology
KW  - Mitigation sites
KW  - North Carolina
KW  - Simulation
KW  - Water table
KW  - Wetlands
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/809225
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01160535
AU  - Boile, Maria
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - New Jersey Department of Transportation
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Empty Intermodal Container Management
PY  - 2006/07//Final Report
SP  - 130p
AB  - This research analyzes the empty marine container accumulation problem specific to the region of NY/NJ. An elaborate literature review is performed. Critical factual documentation is presented and subsequently the empty container logistics are presented. The factors affecting accumulation and the complex relationships between players and stakeholders involved are discussed. A mapping of the movement of containers at a global, regional and local level, with a focus on the movement and accumulation of empty containers is presented. The relative merits and limitations of addressing the problem at a regional and local level are critically discussed and analyzed. A conceptual decision making procedure based on empirical goal setting is presented. Key efforts and projects, which if implemented have the potential to increase the efficiency of the current system and reduce the overall costs associated with moving and storing empty containers are outlined.
KW  - Containers
KW  - Costs
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Economic efficiency
KW  - Empty containers
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Intermodal transportation
KW  - Literature reviews
KW  - Logistics
KW  - Management
KW  - Marine terminals
KW  - New Jersey
KW  - New York (State)
UR  - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/FHWA-NJ-2006-005.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/921214
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01079113
AU  - Kachani, Soulaymane
AU  - Perakis, Georgia
AU  - Columbia University
AU  - New York State Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - University Transportation Research Center
TI  - Collaborative Exploratory Research: The Anticipatory Route Guidance Problem
PY  - 2006/07//Final Report
SP  - 100p
AB  - Finding solutions to fixed point problems can help government and industry leaders to plan for real world success. One concrete example of problem solving which may be amenable to fixed point solution is the anticipatory route guidance problem (ARG). An exercise in dynamic traffic user equilibrium, this problem envisions a communications system which transmits dynamic, shortest path traffic data to drivers. But anything that influences the path-choice decisions of drivers will, in itself, affect traffic conditions on the ground. The challenge is clear: develop a model in which shortest-path forecasting does not become a self-defeating prophecy. This research develops and evaluates a software system which explores the ARG problem from a fixed point perspective. A significant part of our research consists in identifying the best algorithms for step size computation. Methods evaluated include: MSA (Method of successive averaging), Polyak iterate averaging method, and a variety of potential optimization line search methods.
KW  - Advanced driver information systems
KW  - Anticipatory control
KW  - Cooperation
KW  - Dynamic user equilibrium
KW  - Fixed routes
KW  - Method of successive averages
KW  - Route guidance
KW  - Shortest path algorithms
KW  - Traffic flow
KW  - Traffic forecasting
UR  - http://www.utrc2.org/research/assets/99/RouteGuidance1.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/836642
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01033165
AU  - Yonas, Albert
AU  - Zimmerman, Lee
AU  - University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
AU  - Minnesota Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Improving the Ability of Drivers to Avoid Collisions with Snowplows in Fog and Snow
PY  - 2006/07//Final Report
SP  - 33p
AB  - The goal of this work is to understand how the processing of motion under the conditions created by blowing snow causes drivers to fail to detect that they are approaching a vehicle ahead. Color was examined under blowing snow conditions to assess whether an equiluminant (equal brightness) situation was created. In this situation, contrast in light level is not detected but differences in color are. When an equilument situation is created by snow, a perceptual illusion lowers the ability to perceive approach. The results indicate that colors in the red-yellow part of the spectrum can create a dangerous equiluminant situation in blowing snow and fog. Authors were unable to find an optimum color to paint snowplows to make them less susceptible to rear-end collisions. Perception studies investigated the ability of the visual system to detect the expansion pattern that drivers use to perceive that they are approaching a vehicle. Authors found that low contrast created by a snow cloud greatly reduces the ability to perceive approach. Flashing lights that increase conspicuity, substantially decreased the chances that a driver will be able to avoid a crash. Additional ways to improve the placement of warning lights based on these findings were proposed.
KW  - Blizzards
KW  - Color
KW  - Contrast
KW  - Crashes
KW  - Drivers
KW  - Equiluminant
KW  - Flashing lights
KW  - Fog
KW  - Rear end crashes
KW  - Snow
KW  - Snowplows
KW  - Visibility
KW  - Vision
KW  - Visual perception
KW  - Warning devices
UR  - http://www.dot.state.mn.us/research/TS/2006/200629.pdf
UR  - http://www.lrrb.org/PDF/200629.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/789729
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01490674
TI  - Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems (IVBSS) Field Operational Test Independent Evaluation
AB  - The objective of this project is to develop an Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems (IVBSS) field operational test evaluation plan and carry out the program independent evaluation.
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Field tests
KW  - Integrated systems
KW  - Intelligent vehicles
KW  - Vehicle safety
UR  - http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/Traffic%20Injury%20Control/Research%20In%20Progress/files/IntegratedVehicleBasedSafetySystems(IVBSS)FieldOperationalVolpeCenter.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1260384
ER  - 

TY  - ABST
AN  - 01460292
TI  - Development and Testing of High Resolution Target Monitor
AB  - The proposed High-resolution Target Movement Monitor uses triangulation theory but in a unique way. Unlike the commercially available triangulation systems which use sensing diodes to perceive reflected laser signatures and are limited to very short distances, the proposed system uses lasers and image analyzing software to detect distance change between camera and the monitored surface. This proposed image analyzing technique removes the need to use the linear photodiodes that only measure laser spot light intensity and are limited in their receptiveness. Target measurements made through air (gaseous) and other transparent media may be analyzed. The main advantage of this system over the commercially available systems is its accuracy and low cost which makes this system attractive for monitoring mining and civil engineering structures. The accuracy and range of this system depend upon the resolution and the focal length of the camera that is used. The HRTMM system underwent some preliminary lab testing which showed very promising results. The investigators seek funds to evaluate this system at underground tunnels to asses the impact of elements such as dust, vibration and lighting on the performance of HRTMM.
KW  - Cameras
KW  - Diodes
KW  - High resolution modeling
KW  - Monitoring
KW  - Research projects
KW  - Sensors
KW  - Targeting
KW  - Triangulation
KW  - Tunnels
UR  - http://utc.mst.edu/research/r174.html
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1228508
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01364061
AU  - Anderson, N
AU  - University of Missouri, Rolla
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Geophysics 2003: Conference on Applied Geophysics
PY  - 2006/06//Final Report
SP  - 3p
AB  - The 3rd International Conference on Applied Geophysics (Geophysics 2003) was held at the Hotel Royal Plaza, a Downtown Disney Resort, in Orlando, Florida, December 8-12, 2003.  The conference was co-hosted by the Federal Highway Administration and the Florida Department of Transportation.  The conference was attended by approximately 160 persons.
KW  - Conferences
KW  - Geophysics
UR  - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/ett102-cr.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1132653
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01364059
AU  - Kiger, S
AU  - University of Missouri, Rolla
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Travel Support to Establish the Center for Transportation Security (CTS)
PY  - 2006/06//Final Report
SP  - 4p
AB  - This project will provide travel support for the PI, who must travel to various cities to set up the new Center for Transportation Security (CTS).  Cities visited include San Diego, CA; Vicksburg, MS; Naples, Italy; and Fort Knox, KY.
KW  - Security
KW  - Travel
UR  - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/R149_CR.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1132656
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01364044
AU  - Chandrashekhara, K
AU  - University of Missouri, Rolla
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Manufacturing and Performance Evaluation of Soy Protein Based Plastics and Composites
PY  - 2006/06//Final Report
SP  - 5p
AB  - The objective of this research is to manufacture composite products using soy-based resin system. A novel soy-based resin, Epoxidized Allyl Soyate (EAS) has been synthesized and evaluated at the University of Missouri, Rolla. The EAS resin, in general, is more ductile and exhibits higher strains to failure without a significant reduction in modulus as compared to the base Epon Shell resin. The suitability of using EAS resin is being investigated to manufacture environmentally-benign composite structures. In Phase I of the project, impact properties of the pultruded soy-based composites were studied.  Results show that the EAS resin system imparts higher energy absorbing characteristics and lower impact damage compared to the Epon Shell rein.  In Phase II of the project new epoxy foam was synthesized using the soy based resin system developed at UMR.  The relation between the composition, density and properties of the foam was analyzed.  The cure kinetics and rheology of the soy-based resin system were also studied and analytical models were developed.  These models for the cure kinetics and rheology of the soy-based epoxy resin system can be readily applied into numerical modeling of various composite manufacturing processes,
KW  - Composite materials
KW  - Epoxides
KW  - Foams
KW  - Kinetics
KW  - Numerical analysis
KW  - Resins
KW  - Rheology
KW  - Soybeans
UR  - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/148-cr.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1132659
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01364042
AU  - Elmore, Cecilia
AU  - Vogt, Cynthia
AU  - Fransaw, Jacques
AU  - University of Missouri, Rolla
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Scholarships for Women and Minority Students Studying Engineering and Science
PY  - 2006/06//Final Report
SP  - 3p
AB  - Support will make scholarships available to minority and women students interested in engineering and science and will increase significantly the number of minority and female students that UMR can recruit to its science and engineering programs.  Recipients of scholarships will also be exposed to career opportunities in transportation.
KW  - College students
KW  - Engineering
KW  - Females
KW  - Financing
KW  - Minorities
KW  - Science
UR  - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/ett162cr.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1132262
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01325112
AU  - Rasmussen, Benjamin K
AU  - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
AU  - National Park Service
TI  - Fort Stanwix National Monument Transportation Summary Report
PY  - 2006/06
SP  - 67p
AB  - The primary purpose of this project is to conduct an inventory and review of the myriad transportation plans and studies completed or underway by local and governments and other regional stakeholders that affect and have implications for Fort Stanwix. The report represents a summary of the plans and studies organized by topic, which are in turn divided into three sub-sections: Current Conditions, Future Conditions, and Considerations and Recommendations.
KW  - Alternatives analysis
KW  - Fort Stanwix (New York)
KW  - Inventory
KW  - National parks
KW  - Planning
KW  - Transportation
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35000/35081/DOT-VNTSC-NPS-08-01.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/1085929
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01122736
AU  - Gray, George
AU  - Kelley, Norman
AU  - Larwin, Tom
AU  - San Jose State University
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Bus Rapid Transit: A Handbook for Partners
PY  - 2006/06//Final Report
SP  - 78p
AB  - Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a maturing mode with proven operational experience in many parts of the world.  BRT is universally accepted, offers a potentially cost-effective transportation mode that  bridges a capital cost gap between regular bus service and light rail transit, and can deliver services with features that normally are found only with rail service. Many systems have been evaluated in the United States and from around the world. This handbook draws on those experiences and pulls them together to clarify the service and infrastructure characteristics that define BRT. However, this is not a technical manual. Rather, this document strives to inform Caltrans staff and others what elements constitute a BRT system, while addressing Caltrans’ role with its partners considering BRT features as an alternative on or supplement to the State Highway System. Lessons learned from BRT case study experiences in California are summarized. This handbook also is intended for use by Caltrans professionals, elected officials, local jurisdictions, transit operating and planning agencies, and the general public to understand Caltrans’ role in BRT development, both on and off the State Highway System. To aid in the understanding, the respective roles and responsibilities for the various partners are outlined. Finally, technical information about many BRT and rapid bus projects in California, along with a summary of international experiences, are included in the Appendix.
KW  - Bus rapid transit
KW  - California
KW  - Handbooks
KW  - Lessons learned
KW  - Partnerships
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Transportation planning
UR  - http://transweb.sjsu.edu/mtiportal/research/publications/documents/BRT2006/BRT_06_02%20book.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/884256
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01038873
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - North American Freight Transportation: U.S. Trade with Canada and Mexico
PY  - 2006/06
SP  - 36p
AB  - The freight transportation industry used the nation’s transportation system to carry $790 billion in merchandise, a record high, between the United States and its two largest trading partners, Canada and Mexico, in 2005. The goods, weighing nearly 679 million short tons, were transported across our land borders, airports, and seaports to and from locations in Canada and Mexico. These and other annual data presented in this report highlight the value and weight of freight shipped across our northern and southern borders, as well as the number of incoming land border crossings by truck, truck containers, rail, and rail containers from Canada and Mexico. Major Highlights include the following: Land modes of transportation carried 88 percent of the value of goods traded with Canada and Mexico, our North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, in 2005. More imports than exports of freight were transported across our borders with these two countries. Among the individual modes, trucks carried the highest percentage of freight by value (62 percent), and maritime vessels carried the highest percentage of freight by weight (38 percent). Canada remains our number one trading partner, followed by Mexico, with both countries accounting for 31 percent of the total U.S.-international merchandise trade in 2005. Transportation mode statistics include: Trucks transported 62 percent of the value and 28 percent of the weight of U.S.-NAFTA merchandise freight. Rail hauled 15 percent of the value and 21 percent of the weight. Pipelines carried 7 percent of the value and 13 percent of the weight. Maritime vessels moved 8 percent of the value and 38 percent of the weight. Air flew 4 percent of the value and a much smaller portion of the weight. The report data are also organized by geography, commodity, and border crossings.
KW  - Air cargo
KW  - Canada
KW  - Commodities
KW  - Containers
KW  - Freight transportation
KW  - Geography
KW  - International borders
KW  - International trade
KW  - Mexico
KW  - North America
KW  - North American Free Trade Agreement
KW  - Pipelines
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Trucking
KW  - Trucks
KW  - United States
KW  - Values
KW  - Water transportation
KW  - Weight
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/north_american_freight_transportation/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35500/35555/NAFT.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/794975
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01036363
AU  - Kumar, Manjunathan
AU  - Wang, Shaowei
AU  - Western Transportation Institute
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - California Department of Transportation
AU  - Oregon Department of Transportation
TI  - Impacts of Weather on Rural Highway Operations - Showcase Evaluation #2
PY  - 2006/06//Final Report
SP  - 93p
AB  - There have been numerous intelligent transportation systems (ITS) applications deployed all over the nation to help improve the safety and operations of roadways in both urban and rural areas. One major goal of these applications is to help reduce both recurrent and non- recurrent congestion. While recurrent congestion is primarily an urban transportation problem, non-recurrent congestion occurs in both urban and rural areas. Adverse weather conditions affect the safety and operations of all components of the nations’ roadway system. It has been estimated that there are nearly 6,500 fatal crashes and over 450,000 injury crashes during adverse weather conditions. After delays caused by incidents, the largest source of non-recurrent congestion on highways is adverse weather conditions. While weather cannot be controlled, the effects of weather on the surface transportation system can be mitigated through surveillance, monitoring and prediction, information dissemination, decision support, control and treatment. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of any of these measures, it is important to have an accurate estimate of the baseline condition. This is especially true in rural areas where the resources available for ITS deployments are relatively low. The primary objective of this study is to establish the correlation if any, empirically between rural highway operations, specifically volume, capacity or travel speed, and weather events. The following are the overall objectives of this study: (1) research the documented studies on the impacts of severe weather events on highway operations; (2) examine the correlation between severe weather events and highway operations; (3) quantify the impacts of severe weather events on traffic volume and capacity on rural highways; and (4) quantify the impacts of severe weather events on traffic speed on rural highways.
KW  - Baseline data
KW  - Correlation analysis
KW  - Fatalities
KW  - Highway capacity
KW  - Highway operations
KW  - Highway safety
KW  - Impacts
KW  - Injuries
KW  - Intelligent transportation systems
KW  - Nonrecurrent congestion
KW  - Rural highways
KW  - Traffic congestion
KW  - Traffic crashes
KW  - Traffic speed
KW  - Traffic volume
KW  - Weather conditions
UR  - http://www.wti.montana.edu/ForceDownloadHandler.ashx?name=426243_Final_Report.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/792570
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01032982
AU  - Maher, Ali
AU  - Bennert, Thomas
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Rutting and Fatigue Properties of Plant Mixes from AE Stone
PY  - 2006/06//Final Report
SP  - 12p
AB  - Loose mix from A.E. Stone, Inc. in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey (NJ) was supplied to the Rutgers Asphalt Pavement Laboratory (RAPL) for evaluation. Three different plant mixes were supplied for permanent deformation (rutting) and flexural fatigue testing; (1) A.E. Stone ¼” Mix, (2) I-4 HD, and (3) I-5 HD. To evaluate the rutting resistance properties of the different Hot-Mix Asphalt (HMA) mixes, the samples were tested in the Asphalt Pavement Analyzer (APA). Meanwhile, to compare the fatigue properties the different HMA mixes, the Flexural Fatigue Device (FFD) was used. A brief description of each of the testing devices are provided.
KW  - Aggregates
KW  - Asphalt mixtures
KW  - Asphalt Pavement Analyzer
KW  - Evaluation
KW  - Fatigue (Mechanics)
KW  - Flexural fatigue
KW  - Flexural fatigue device
KW  - Hot mix asphalt
KW  - New Jersey
KW  - Plant mix
KW  - Rutting
KW  - Testing
UR  - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/AES-RU9247_0.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35000/35052/AES-RU9247_0.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/788479
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01032973
AU  - Defazio, Christian
AU  - Arafa, Mohamed Danish
AU  - Balaguru, P N
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - Ceramatec, Incorporated
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Functional Geopolymer Composites for Structural Ceramic Applications
PY  - 2006/06//Final Report
SP  - 18p
AB  - The results of an experimental investigation on the behavior of milled and short-fiber reinforced composite plates are presented in this paper. The target operating temperature for the plates was 1300°C. The principal variables were the type and volume fraction of fibers and the matrix composition. Three fiber types and five fiber contents ranging from 2.5 to 10 weight percent were evaluated. The density of the samples varied from 1500 to 2800 kg/m³. For the matrix, the ratio between alumina and silica was varied from 1:1 to 5:1. The flexural tensile strength, (modulus of rupture) varied from 10 to 95 MPa. The modulus of elasticity varied from 5 to 60 GPa. There is a strong correlation between the unit weight and the mechanical properties of strength and modulus. Load-deflection response in flexure, strength and stiffness for the various mix formulations and their relation to unit weight are presented.
KW  - Ceramic materials
KW  - Density
KW  - Fiber composites
KW  - Fibers
KW  - Flexural strength
KW  - Geopolymer composites
KW  - High temperature
KW  - Mechanical properties
KW  - Modulus of elasticity
KW  - Modulus of rupture
KW  - Stiffness
KW  - Strength of materials
KW  - Tensile strength
UR  - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/Ceram-RU9163.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35000/35055/Ceram-RU9163.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/788478
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01032966
AU  - Maher, Ali
AU  - Bennert, Thomas
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Advanced Characterization Testing of the Port Authority of NY/NJ's Hot Mix Asphalt Materials
PY  - 2006/06//Final Report
SP  - 71p
AB  - The Port Authority of New York/New Jersey (PANYNJ) is moving towards performance-based evaluations of hot mix asphalt (HMA) to verify the cost of new and innovative HMA mixes for use on the George Washington Bridge and on airports, such as Newark Liberty International. HMA mixes for the George Washington Bridge were evaluated using repeated load testing, the Asphalt Pavement Analyzer, Flexural Beam Fatigue, and Dynamic Modulus. The various mixes evaluated consisted of Epoxy-based HMA, asphalt-rubber HMA, Rosphalt (which is an asphalt rubber based mix), and a PG76-22 asphalt binder with fibers. Laboratory testing concluded that the Epoxy-based HMA provided excellent rutting and fatigue properties, however, the mix has a tendency “set-up” and cure at sometimes unpredictable times, thereby, not lending itself to traditional paving delays that occur. The Rosphalt mix performed almost as well as the Epoxy-based HMA, but without the “set-up” issues. All “innovative” HMA mixes tested outperformed the current in-place I-5 PG76-22 in both rutting and fatigue testing. Work conducted on the interface bond testing of HMA cores taken from Newark Liberty International Airport clearly showed that HMA with a granite-gneiss aggregate had lower repetitions to debonding than HMA with Trap Rock aggregates. The laboratory results were validated by field observations of debonding in areas where granite-gneiss aggregates were used. Testing conducted used a bi-axial repeated load test to simulate the axial and shear stresses developed during airplane trafficking. Asphalt Pavement Analyzer (APA) testing of different a Federal Administration Aviation (FAA) #3 surface course mix with various PG-graded asphalt binders showed that, as expected, asphalt binders with higher PG grades are less susceptible to rutting. The results indicated that the fuel resistance asphalt binder, high PG graded at 94°C, accumulated half of the total APA rutting as the PG64-22.
KW  - Aggregates
KW  - Airport traffic
KW  - Airports
KW  - Asphalt Pavement Analyzer
KW  - Asphalt rubber
KW  - Bituminous binders
KW  - Debonding
KW  - Dynamic modulus of elasticity
KW  - Epoxides
KW  - Fatigue tests
KW  - Flexural beam fatigue
KW  - George Washington Bridge
KW  - Hot mix asphalt
KW  - Laboratory tests
KW  - Load tests
KW  - Newark Liberty International Airport
KW  - Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
KW  - Rutting
KW  - Shear stress
KW  - Steel plates
UR  - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/PA-RU9247_0.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/788496
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01032961
AU  - Defazio, Christian
AU  - Arafa, Mohamed Danish
AU  - Balaguru, P N
AU  - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
AU  - University of Maryland, College Park
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Federal Highway Administration
TI  - Geopolymer Column Wrapping
PY  - 2006/06//Final Report
SP  - 8p
AB  - This report deals with the use of an inorganic-polymer coating for the protection and strengthening of transportation infrastructures. The constituents of the coating include nano-silicates and other nano-size activators and fillers. The demonstration project consisted of wrapping of columns with carbon fibers and inorganic-polymer, which is located in Maryland State. Details of the projects and the basic study conducted for the evaluation of durability of the coating are presented.
KW  - Carbon fibers
KW  - Column wrapping
KW  - Columns
KW  - Durability
KW  - Epoxy coatings
KW  - Evaluation
KW  - Fillers (Materials)
KW  - Geopolymer
KW  - Jacketing (Strengthening)
KW  - Maryland
KW  - Nanostructured materials
KW  - Piers (Supports)
KW  - Polymers
KW  - Transportation infrastructure
UR  - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/Mary-RU9088.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/788495
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01029289
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - A Strategic Plan for Transportation Statistics 2003-2008
PY  - 2006/06
SP  - 58p
AB  - The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a statistical agency within the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), compiles, analyzes, and publishes data and information needed for transportation decisionmaking, and generally coordinates DOT statistical programs. BTS also manages the National Transportation Library and the Office of Airline Information, and leads the federal effort in developing transportation geo-data to fulfill the vision of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). As one of the federal statistical agencies, BTS maintains a special degree of objectivity and independence. Their products include reports to Congress and the Secretary of Transportation along with stakeholders in the transportation community. Special protections are in place to maintain confidentiality in their data collection. They do not advocate policies or programs. Their efforts focus on getting—and helping to objectively interpret—data that can be used to better inform decisionmaking, regardless of what the data show.  This strategic plan includes BTS's mission statement and a vision for the future.  The success of BTS endeavors will be measured by outcomes in six areas - relevance, accuracy, timeliness, cost, dissemination, and mission achievement. BTS addresses all modes of transportation, including highways, air transportation, railroads, water transportation, public transit and pipelines.
KW  - Accuracy
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Costs
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Federal government agencies
KW  - Future
KW  - Highways
KW  - Information dissemination
KW  - Mission
KW  - Pipelines
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Relevance
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Timeliness
KW  - U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/strategic_plan/2003_2008/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/35000/35500/35563/Strategic_plan.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/784511
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01029217
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
TI  - Bureau of Transportation Statistics Performance Report 2001-2005
PY  - 2006/06
SP  - 28p
AB  - This report describes the performance goals and standards of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) , and records how well the agency has met those goals.  The performance goals relate to the outcomes in six key areas that frame strategic goals. These six dimensions and focus areas were developed by the statistical agencies and statistical units represented on the Interagency Council on Statistical Policy (ICSP).  The six areas are relevance, accuracy, timeliness, cost, dissemination, and mission achievement.  BTS addresses all modes of transportation, including highways, air transportation, railroads, water transportation, public transit and pipelines.
KW  - Accuracy
KW  - Air transportation
KW  - Costs
KW  - Evaluation and assessment
KW  - Federal government agencies
KW  - Highways
KW  - Information dissemination
KW  - Mission
KW  - Performance
KW  - Performance measurement
KW  - Pipelines
KW  - Public transit
KW  - Railroads
KW  - Relevance
KW  - Standards
KW  - Statistics
KW  - Strategic planning
KW  - Timeliness
KW  - U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics
KW  - Water transportation
UR  - http://www.bts.gov/publications/performance_report/pdf/entire.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/784512
ER  - 

TY  - RPRT
AN  - 01031143
AU  - Kump, Cyrus Stevenson
AU  - Demetsky, Michael J
AU  - Grimes, Matthew C
AU  - University of Virginia, Charlottesville
AU  - Research and Innovative Technology Administration
AU  - Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center
TI  - Evaluation of Procedures to Estimate Trip Generation for Generalized Land Uses
PY  - 2006/05/03/Final Report
SP  - 94p
AB  - When planning for new growth and development, one of the challenges that local officials face is determining how much traffic will be generated by a given land use or parcel, given that all that is known is the current zoning or potential rezoning of the land.  Suppose a parcel of land is zoned commercial for a particular county in Virginia.  Any number of detailed land uses is permitted under that zoning.  Each of these detailed land uses will generate a very different number of vehicle trips per day and can dramatically affect the transportation network in the future.  If the specific land use in unknown, the analyst must determine a generalized land use for the study.  A generalized land use is chosen based on the local zoning ordinance's permissible land uses and also the prevailing mix of land uses within recently developed areas under that same zoning classification in similar locales with similar site size and access characteristics.  Real estate databases such as Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) can greatly help the analyst choose the best possible generalized land uses and determine the development quantities because the database includes information such as zoning, acreage, and building square footage of each parcel within the study area.  The purpose of the study is to investigate the procedure for estimating trip generation for generalized land uses by validating the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) method described in Chapter 6 of the ITE Trip Generation Handbook.  The methodology must have a reasonable degree of accuracy and be computationally feasible given available real estate databases such as the CAMA database.  The procedure for estimating trip generation for generalized land uses will be validated by comparing the estimated trip generation for generalized land uses to the observed trip generation for the current land uses.  The trip generation from the current uses is obtained from collecting field traffic data and also by using the 7th Edition ITE Trip Generation Informational Report.  Guidelines for localities to use Chapter 6 in the ITE Trip Generation Handbook to estimate trip ends early in the planning process using generalized land uses, given various types of zoning, are an essential output of this project.  The procedure for estimating trip generation for generalized land uses is a simple procedure for planners to follow in the early development stages in order to help them get a general idea of the possible number of trips a development can generate.  This procedure will help planners to quickly evaluate the extent of possible needed roadway improvements to account for increased traffic from the development, such as changing a two-lane roadway to a four-lane roadway or implementing a signal.
KW  - Estimating
KW  - Guidelines
KW  - Handbooks
KW  - Land use planning
KW  - Real estate development
KW  - Traffic forecasting
KW  - Trip generation
KW  - Zoning
UR  - http://cts.virginia.edu/docs/UVACTS-14-5-100.pdf
UR  - https://trid.trb.org/view/787836
ER  -