Infrastructure

CARTESIUS and CTNET - Integration and Field Operational Test

McNally, Michael G.
Rindt, Craig R.
2010

This report describes the conclusion of PATH Task Order 6324: CARTESIUS and CTNET---Field Operational Test. We describe the results of the multi-year project focused on integrating Caltrans primary signal management system, CTNET, with a major product from the Caltrans ATMS Testbed: the Coordinated Adaptive Real-Time Expert System for Incident management in Urban Systems, or more simply, CARTESIUS. The major products of this research include numerous software products for integrating CTNET with field devices, simulation software, with other traffic management systems in general, and with a...

ATIS -- Alternative Revenue Approaches

Yim, Y. B.
2001

As part of a continuing research on Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS), this report presents an institutional analysis of alternative approaches to sustaining publicly supported ATIS. The fifteen largest metropolitan regions in the US and the private sector efforts were investigated through a literature review and in-person and telephone interviews. The study goals were to investigate alternative revenue approaches to achieve a self sustaining ATIS, identify institutional barriers to achieving self-sustainability, and develop a framework of assumptions. Two public sector...

Traffic Surveillance by Wireless Sensor Networks: Final Report

Cheung, Sing-Yiu
Varaiya, Pravin
2007

Traffic surveillance systems provide the data used by Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). The disadvantages of inductive loop detectors have led to the search for a reliable and cost-effective alternative system. This report summarizes a three-year research project in the prototype design, analysis and performance of wireless sensor networks for traffic surveillance, using both acoustic and magnetic sensors.A robust real-time vehicle detection algorithm for both signals is developed. Magnetic sensors turned out to be superior, achieving detection rates above 97% in the field, and led...

Task B-2: Status of Legislative Settings to Facilitate Public Private Partnerships in the U.S.

Iseki, Hiroyuki, PhD
Eckert, Jeanette
Uchida, Kansai
Dunn, Ryan
Taylor, Brian D.
2009

In the search for new sources of funding, federal, state, and local government officials in the U.S. have recently been exploring public private partnerships (PPPs). While promising, PPPs are neither a panacea nor an unwarranted gamble: both shining successes and troubling failures abound. Given the large variation in the efficiency, effectiveness, equity, and feasibility of public-private highway finance partnerships in past projects, federal and state officials have been enacting legislation and statutes to both promote PPPs and to protect public interests from the potential pitfalls of...

BRT-Oriented Development in Quito and Bogotá

Rodriguez, DA
Vergel, E
Triana, WFC
2013

This report summarizes a study that combines different methods to understand the land development impacts of bus rapid transit (BRT) investments in Quito and Bogotá. Intervention and control zones in each zone are used to quantitatively examine changes in the land market in both cities. Outcomes include land market characteristics such as built area added per year (both cities), units added (Quito), and building permits issued (Bogotá). We use qualitative analyses to examine interviews conducted with 44 key informants in both cities to understand the factors that explain the presence or...

System Fault Detection in Human-Augmented Automated Driving

Cohn, Theodore
2001

Lateral control of a vehicle in the Automated Highway System (AHS) has been formulated and simulated as part of the hierarchical AHS control structure. In that structure, lateral control resides in the vehicle, and is implemented as a closed-loop control system with the lateral deviation of the vehicle from a reference position as a controlled variable and the steering angle or its rate as a controlling input. The PATH AHS scenario has assumed a road reference and sensing system based on magnetic markers equally spaced along a highway lane. Freedom in the selection of the polarity of each...

Vehicle Assist and Automation Demonstration Report

California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology (PATH)
2017

Vehicle Assist and Automation (VAA) systems enable lane-keeping and precision docking of transit vehicles. They offer the opportunities of providing high-quality transit service within reduced lane widths. Sponsored by the United States Department of Transportation, this VAA project aimed to demonstrate the technical merits and feasibility of VAA applications in bus revenue service. The VAA Demonstration project was carried out through the four phases of design, development, deployment, and operational tests. In the design phase, the system architecture and requirements were finalized, and...

Development of Deployment Strategy for an Integrated BRT System

Miller, Mark A.
Tan, Chin-Woo
Golub, Aaron
Hickman, Mark
Lau, Peter
Zhang, Wei-Bin
2006

BRT mixes the flexibility of traditional bus transit service with an array of higher performance rail transit features. One of its advantages over rail, however, is its possibility for incremental and flexible deployment. With this flexibility and incremental nature comes a deployment process for BRT that is highly complex because numerous elements can be incorporated in any number of distinct phases. In almost all BRT deployments, ITS and advanced bus technologies have been applied to BRT, however, in less than a fully integrated manner. This project explores how deployment decisions can...

Community-Based Pedestrian Safety Training in Virtual Reality: A Pragmatic Trial

Schwebel, DC
Combs, T
Rodriguez, D
Severson, J
Sisiopiku, V
2016

Child pedestrian injuries are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity across the United States and the world. Repeated practice at the cognitive-perceptual task of crossing a street may lead to safer pedestrian behavior. Virtual reality offers a unique opportunity for repeated practice without the risk of actual injury. This study conducted a pre-post within-subjects trial of training children in pedestrian safety using a semi-mobile, semi-immersive virtual pedestrian environment placed at schools and community centers. Pedestrian safety skills among a group of 44 seven- and eight...

Using Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) to Form High-Performance Vehicle Streams

Shladover, Steven E
Nowakowski, Christopher
Lu, Xiao-Yun
Hoogendoorn, Raymond
2014

This research identifies the operational concepts for managing cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) vehicle maneuvering and traffic flows. This includes approaches for grouping the CACC vehicles, ranging from ad-hoc to centrally coordinated strategies, and the incentives that could be used to facilitate the vehicle clustering, both operational and financial. These are particularly important at low market penetrations, when the CACC vehicles are likely to be widely separated. The dissolution of CACC strings is also discussed, since this needs to be done carefully to avoid adverse...