Economics and Finance

Distributed Surveillance and Control on Freeways

Coifman, Benjamin
2004

Efficient management of a road network requires continuous decision-making based on conditions on the network and an understanding of the impacts of the decisions made. These conditions are usually measured with fixed-point surveillance systems, most of which are deployed in such a manner as to require communication links that are always connected and are polled at regular intervals. All of the sensor data are typically sent to a Traffic Management Center (TMC) for assessment, yet most of the time no action is taken in response to the data, leading to unnecessarily high communication costs...

Virtual Weigh Stations in California: A Preliminary Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

Santero, Nicholas
Nokes, William
Harvey, John
2005

A new technology known as Virtual Weigh Stations (VWS) is intended to transform data-collecting weigh-in-motion (WIM) sites to weight enforcement mechanisms. This study investigates the possible benefits to the highway pavements in California from potential use of VWS. The investigation proceeded in two steps: (1) determining the damage currently caused by overweight trucks and (2) modeling the potential pavement life saved with VWS. The data used for analysis is from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) WIM database.

Development and Evaluation of Selected Mobility Applications for VII

Shladover, Steven E.
Lu, Xiao-Yun
Cody, Delphine
Nowakowski, Christopher
Qiu, Zhijun (Tony)
Chow, Andy
O’Connell, Jessica
Nienhuis, Jaap
Su, Dongyan
2010

This report describes the development of two of the three mobility applications that PATH is developing and evaluating under the sponsorship of the FHWA Exploratory Advanced Research Program, with cost share funding provided by PATH TO 6224. These applications are intended to use DSRC wireless communications among vehicles and between vehicles and the roadway infrastructure to improve mobility on limited-access highways. The first application combines ramp metering with variable speed limits to enhance control of traffic so that traffic flow breakdowns can be deferred or avoided at...

Evaluation of ITS Technology for Bus Transit Systems

Hall, Randolph
Dessouky, Maged
Zhang, Lei
Singh, Ajay
Patel, Vishal
1999

Recently, bus transit service providers have begun to adopt Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technologies such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Mobile Data Terminals. These systems taken together have the potential to reduce the cost of providing transportation services through the execution of real-time control strategies, performance monitoring systems and data collection to support service realignment. We evaluate bus control strategies using ITS against those without ITS. Two levels of ITS are considered: (1) system with centralized tracking and (2) system with...

Survey on Status of Knowledge and Interest of Smartcard Fare Collection Systems Among US Transit Agencies

Iseki, Hiroyuki
Yoh, Allison C.
Taylor, Brian D.
2006

This study analyzes data collected from an on-line survey of U.S. transit agencies to (1) gauge current levels of interest in smart card technologies, (2) document the current status of smart card system adoption among transit agencies, the degree of planning and implementation, and levels of participation in interagency collaborations, and (3) examine factors common to agencies that have adopted smart card technology and those that have not.Reflecting significant diversity in their goals and objectives, operating environments, financial conditions, and clients served, transit agencies...

TASK A-3: Examining the Linkages between Electronic Roadway Tolling Technologies and Road Pricing Policy Goals

Demisch, Alexander
Iseki, Hiroyuki, PhD
Taylor, Brian D.
2009

The surge of road pricing projects in the U.S. and around the globe over the past fifteen years has been enabled by a set of new communication and transportation technologies. There is currently a wide array of technical configurations ranging from systems based on “tried and true” short-range radio communications to experimental systems relying on global positioning satellites. These technologies provide for a more efficient collection of simple tolls, and also facilitate a movement toward more dynamic, variable user fees.In this study, we provide a comprehensive literature review of...

Deploying Electronic Tolls

Levinson, David
Chang, Elva
2000

This paper examines the deployment of electronic toll collection (ETC) and develops a model to maximize social welfare associated with the toll plaza.

Cooperative Multiple-Sensor Fusion for Automated Vehicle Control

Hedrick, J. K.
Jang, J.
Potier, A.
2004

The number and quality of sensors available for both on-board vehicle and infrastructure-based sensing is increasing while the cost of these sensors is rapidly decreasing. On-board vehicle sensors can be utilized for both individual vehicle safety as well as automated vehicle control. It is becoming imperative that "fusion" techniques be developed, i.e., methods to combine the wide variety of sensors available so that reliable and accurate information can be obtained even though individual sensors may fail or become extremely noisy. The process of sensor fusion combines multiple sensor...

Automatic Steering For Conventional Truck Trailers: Development and Assessment of Operating Concepts for Improving Safety, Productivity and Pavement Durability

Tsao, H.-S. Jacob
Dessouky, Yasser
Rangavajhula, Krishna
Zeta, Joseph Benjamin
Zhou, Lihong
2006

Trucking productivity can be significantly increased by moving freight with longer combination vehicles (LCVs). However, LCV operations not only raise safety concerns for the surrounding traffic and the LCV drivers themselves but also can damage roadways and bridges not equipped to support the operations. All the discussion about truck size and weight limitations or about the pros and cons of LCV operations is predicated on the use of conventional tractors and trailers. We however observed that a root cause of several major issues associated with LCV operations is the problem of off-...

An Investigation Of The Costs Of Roadway Traffic Congestion: A Preparatory Step For IVHSBenefit's Evaluation

Miller, Mark A.
Li, Kayin
1994

This report focuses on traffic congestion under current road conditions with the objective of developing a quantitative understanding of their costs. The work is intended to provide a foundation upon which to build later estimates of the benefits that could be attributable to the use of Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems (IVHS) technologies. The report gives an overview of traffic congestion and summarizes the principal sources of research in the areas of quantifying the costs of congestion. It reviews this past work relative to the usage of data, methodological approaches used in the...