Energy

Policy Making, Incrementalism, and News Discourse: Gasoline Tax Debates in Eight U.S. States

Watts, Richard A.
Frick, Karen Trapenberg
Maddison, Jonathan
2012

Gasoline taxes provide a significant source of funding for transportation in the United States but have failed to keep pace with system needs. This article examines the news media discourse surrounding proposed gasoline tax increases in eight states in 2008 and 2009: Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Idaho, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Oregon. Researchers use a frame analysis approach to examine the policy debate in these states. Results indicate that frequently occurring frames promoting gasoline tax increases emphasize the deterioration of the transportation system,...

Connected & Autonomous Vehicles – Environmental Impacts – A review

Kopelias, Pantelis
Elissavet, Demiridi
Vogiatzis, Konstantinos
Skabardonis, Alexandros
Zafiropoulou, Vassiliki
2020

Over the last decades the vehicle industry has shown interest in integrating new technologies on vehicles’ design. Such technologies are used in autonomous, connected and electrical vehicles with the primary hope of improving road safety and the environmental impact of road traffic. Regarding the environmental impact, the transport sector has been considered responsible for Greenhouse Gas emissions for the past thirty years or more, and efforts have been made to reduce impacts of such emissions on the environment. The environmental noise is also associated with road traffic and its effects...

Attica Tollway Management in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games

Halkias, Bill
Papandreou, Konstantinos
Kopelias, Pantelis
Prevedouros, Panos D
Skabardonis, Alexander
ITS America
2005

Attica Tollway (Attiki Odos Motorway), the peripheral motorway of Athens metropolitan area, is the first road concession project in Greece. Attica Tollway provides safe and uninterrupted traffic flow conditions, saving more 270,000 person hours of delay per day with substantial savings in fuel consumption and air pollutant emissions. During the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, special traffic management plans were successfully implemented to ensure quick and safe access to the Olympic venues and to maintain a high level of service to all tollway users. The paper presents routine and emergency...

An Assessment Of IVHS-APTS Technology Impacts on Energy Consumption And Vehicle Emissions of Transit Bus Fleets

Jolibois, Jr., Sylvan C.
Kanafani, Adib
1994

This study seeks to examine the potential impacts of Advanced Public Transportation Systems (APTS) technologies in terms of vehicle emissions, air quality, and fuel consumption. The potential impact of APTS technologies on pollutant emissions and fuel consumption are examined. The results invite some skepticism about the potential benefits of APTS technologies in these areas. Areas of concern are discussed, and recommendations are made regarding how program emphasis be given to those APTs technologies and services that can attract travelers from auto to transit without increasing bus miles...

The Potential of Using Transit Infrastructure for Air Freight Movement: A Case Study in the Bay Area

Wang, Rui
Lu, Xiao-Yun
Sivakumaran, Karthik
2010

This report examines the impact and feasibility of using urban railway system for freight movement. In particular, using the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system for FedEx Express air cargo movement is analyzed as a case study. Based on the framework constructed in the study of last phase, social impact (externalities), reliability, and infrastructure feasibility are considered. The social cost related to emission, energy consumption/efficiency, impact on road traffic and land use is considered. The reliability issue is examined from two aspects: transportation delay, and emergency...

Feasibility Study for the Use of Biodiesel in the Caltrans Fleet

Miller, J. Wayne
Durbin, Thomas D.
2009

Over the past several years, biodiesel use has dramatically increased due to its potential emissions benefits, classification as a low-carbon/renewable fuel and ability to be integrated into diesel fleet applications without significant infrastructure or other substitution issues. Caltrans has largest fleet in California, so biodiesel would provide many benefits in terms of meeting environmental and energy security objectives. However, all aspects of biodiesel use needed to be thoroughly investigated, including potential benefits and liabilities, prior to widespread introduction into the...

Stochastic Optimal Energy Management of Smart Home with PEV Energy Storage

Wu, Xiaohua
Hu, Xiaosong
Yin, Xiaofeng
Moura, Scott J.
2018

This paper proposes a stochastic dynamic programming framework for the optimal energy management of a smart home with plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) energy storage. This paper is motivated by the challenges associated with intermittent renewable energy supplies and the local energy storage opportunity presented by vehicle electrification. This paper seeks to minimize electricity ratepayer cost, while satisfying home power demand and PEV charging requirements. First, various operating modes are defined, including vehicle-to-grid, vehicle-to-home, and grid-to-vehicle. Second, we use...

Experimental Verification of Discretely Variable Compression Braking Control for Heavy Duty Vehicles: Final Report

Vahidi, Ardalan
Stefanopoulou, Anna G.
Wang, Xiaoyong
Tsao, Tsu Chin
2004

In the first two chapters of this report, the development of discrete compression brake and transmission models is explained. In the vehicle model development, special efforts have been put in transmission shifting scheduling. Transmission up-shift and down-shift scheduling are separated in the modelling. Hysteresis during shifting is introduced to reduce chattering. A compression brake effect on transmission shifting is identified and considered in the modelling. The new transmission shifting model has been validated through experimental data. The transmission shifting model is combined...

Remaining Useful Life Estimation of Lithium-Ion Batteries Based on Thermal Dynamics

Zhang, Dong
Dey, Satadru
Perez, Hector E.
Moura, Scott J.
2017

Longevity remains one of the key issues for Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technology. On-board Intelligent Battery Management Systems (BMS) implement health-conscious control algorithms in order to increase battery lifetime while maintaining the performance. For such algorithms, the information on Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of the battery is crucial for optimizing the battery performance and ensuring minimal degradation. However, accurate prediction of RUL remains one of the most challenging tasks until this date. In this paper, we present an online RUL estimation scheme for Li-ion...

Pre Conference Workshops

Moura, Scott
2020

Provides an abstract for each of the tutorial presentations and may include a brief professional biography of each presenter. The complete presentations were not made available for publication as part of the conference proceedings.