Intelligent Transportation Systems

EasyConnect: Low-Speed Modes Linked to Transit Planning Project

Shaheen, Susan A., PhD
Rodier, Caroline J., PhD
2006

The EasyConnect Low-Speed Modes Linked to Transit Planning Project (TO 5113) project represents the integration of innovative strategies to enhance transit use during the development and construction of a suburban transit oriented development at the Pleasant Hill Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District station in the East San Francisco Bay Area. This planning project brings together a unique partnership including small technology businesses, transportation agencies, city and county government, and academia. The project components include the introduction of shared-use low speed mode...

Smart Parking Linked to Transit: Lessons Learned from Field Test in San Francisco Bay Area of California

Shaheen, Susan A.
Kemmerer, Charlene
2008

Rising demand for parking at suburban transit stations, such as the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District in California, necessitates strategies to manage traveler demand. To better manage parking supply, researchers implemented a smart parking field test at the Rockridge BART station from 2004 to 2006 to evaluate the effects of smart parking technologies (changeable message signs (CMSs), Internet reservations and billing, mobile phone and personal digital assistant communications, and a wireless parking lot counting system) on transit ridership and response to service pricing....

A Cooperative V2V Alert System to Mitigate Vehicular Traffic Shock Waves

Vince Rabsatt, Reuben
Gerla, Mario
2018

We address the problem of shockwave formation in uncoordinated highway traffic. The problem is caused by the combination of heavy traffic and small traffic perturbations or unexpected drivers actions. We propose a novel distributed communication protocol that helps mitigate upstream shockwave formation even with extremely low system penetration rates. Based on traffic information ahead, the Cooperative Advanced Driver Assistance System (CADAS) recommends non-intuitive velocity reductions in order to redistribute traffic more uniformly and eliminate traffic peaks. Simulation results show...

Mobile Apps and Transportation: A Review of Smartphone Apps and A Study of User Response to Multimodal Traveler Information

Shaheen, Susan
Martin, Elliot
Cohen, Adam
Musunuri, Apoorva
Bhattacharyya, Abhinav
2016

In recent years, technological and social forces have pushed smartphone applications (apps) from the fringe to the mainstream. Understanding the role of transportation apps in urban mobility is important for policy development and transportation planners. This study evaluates the role and impact of multimodal aggregators from a variety of perspectives, including a literature review; a review of the most innovative, disruptive, and highest-rated transportation apps; interviews with experts in the industry, and a user survey of former multimodal aggregator RideScout users. Between February...

Reversibility of the Time-Dependent Shortest Path Problem

Daganzo, Carlos F.
1998

Time-dependent shortest path problems arise in a variety of applications; e.g., dynamic traffic assignment (DTA), network control, automobile driver guidance, ship routing and airplane dispatching. In the majority of cases one seeks the cheapest (least generalized cost) or quickest route between an origin and a destination for a given time of departure. This is the "forward" shortest path problem. In some applications, however, e.g., when dispatching airplanes from airports and in DTA versions of the "morning commute problem", one seeks the cheapest or quickest routes for a given arrival...

Transit-Based Smart Parking in the San Francisco Bay Area: an Assessment of User Demand and Behavioral Effects

Rodier, Caroline J.
Shaheen, Susan A.
Eaken, Amanda M.
2004

This paper presents early findings from an application of advanced parking technologies to increase effective parking capacity at a transit station during the first half of 2004 in the San Francisco Bay Area (CA). It begins with an extensive review of the literature related to transit-based smart parking management systems to illustrate the range of system configurations and their potential travel, economic, and environmental effects. Two important conclusions from this review are: (1) lack of parking spaces at transit stations may be a significant constraint to transit use and (2) pre-...

Applying Integrated ITS Technologies to Parking Management Systems: A Transit-Based Case Study in the San Francisco Bay Area

Rodier, Caroline J.
Shaheen, Susan A.
Eaken, Amanda M.
2004

California Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways has teamed with the California Department of Transportation, the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District, ParkingCarmaTM, and Quixote Corporation to launch a smart parking research demonstration at the Rockridge BART station in the East San Francisco Bay Area (California, USA). The results of an extensive literature review demonstrate that different smart parking applications implemented worldwide can ease traveler delays, increase transit ridership, and reduce operator costs. Observational analyses at the station indicated that existing...

The Role of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) in Intermodal Air Cargo Operations

Tsao, H.-S. Jacob
Rizwan, Asim
2001

This study examines the extent to which states have devolved one of the most fundamental decisions in transportation policy—whether to use taxation powers to fund transportation improvements—to local and regional governments. The purpose of the study is to generate a baseline of knowledge on “local option transportation taxes” in all fifty states, including the relevant legislative authority for these taxes, the extent to which local areas have adopted them, and the roles they play within their states’ overall transportation finance frameworks.

Evaluation of Coordinated Ramp Metering (CRM) Systems in California

Mauch, Michael
Skabardonis, Alexander
2021

Freeway on-ramp metering (RM) has been extensively used as a traffic control strategy to regulate the entry of the on-ramp vehicles to prevent congestion at the freeway merging areas and preserve the freeway capacity. Benefits of RM include improved freeway travel times, improved travel time reliability, and accident reductions. Fixed-rate ramp metering strategies are based on historical data and implemented by time of day. Traffic responsive RM strategies are based on real time freeway traffic data provided by loop detectors at the vicinity of the on-ramp. Coordinated RM determine the...

Meeting SB1 Transportation Systems Performance Goals

Mauch, Michael
McKeever, Benjamin
Skabardonis, Alexander
2018

This research project directly addresses the Caltrans policy question of “How to meet the SB 1 ten-year (2027) mandated preliminary performance outcomes for additional state highway investments?” More specifically, the study focuses on performance outcome number 4: “Not less than 90 percent of the transportation management system units in good condition”. As part of this project, the research team evaluated the Caltrans performance-based methodology to achieve the 90% performance goal in addition to completing a review of relevant reports from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA),...