ITS Berkeley

Intelligent Transportation Systems and Infrastructure: A Series of Briefs for Smart Investments

ITS Berkeley
2017

Intelligent transportation systems and technology provide a high return on investment, especially when incorporated as part of ongoing construction activities. Efficient operation and maintenance of our transportation infrastructure requires real time data exchange provided by ITS (Intelligent Transportation System) technology. The cost to acquire and install this technology is roughly 5% of the overall construction budget if installed during construction. The ROI (measured in safety, travel time reliability, throughput and quality of life) takes less than 6 months in highly congested...

How Might Adjustments to Public Transit Operations Affect COVID-19 Transmission?

Huan, Yiduo, MSc
Shen, Zuojun Max, PhD
2022

During the COVID-19 pandemic, public transportation systems worldwide faced many challenges, including significant loss of ridership. Public agencies implemented various COVID-19-related policies to reduce transmission, such as reducing service frequency and network coverage of public transportation. Recent studies have examined the effectiveness of these policies but reach different conclusions due to varying assumptions about how passengers may react to service changes. Some studies proposed optimizing public transit operation timetables, service frequency, and network coverage to reduce...

Toll Pricing “Futures” Market Could Reduce Congestion and Increase Revenue

Fournier, Nicholas, PhD
Patire, Anthony, PhD
Skabardonis, Alexander
2024

Transportation agencies are increasingly relying on tolls to raise revenue and to mitigate congestion, but conventional fixed tolls do not necessarily encourage offpeak use of infrastructure, and high tolls can dampen economic productivity. Dynamically adjusting pricing based on demand can incentivize travelers to avoid peak traffic periods and shift it to other modes, but given the unpredictable nature of traffic, travelers lack the information necessary to accurately predict congestion, so dynamic pricing has minimal effect on demand. Dynamic toll pricing also poses equity concerns for...

Dashboard Cameras Combined with AI Provide an Affordable Method for Identifying Curb Usage

Arcak, Murat
Kurzhanskiy, Alexander
2024

The increasing reliance on transportation network companies (TNCs) and delivery services has transformed the use of curb space. The curb space is also an important interface for bikeways, bus lanes, street vendors, and paratransit stops for passengers with disabilities. These various demands are contributing to a lack of parking, resulting in illegal and double-parking and excessive cruising for spaces and causing traffic disturbance, congestion, and hazardous situations. How cities manage this public asset to support safety and the local economy relies on first understanding the usage...

Wildfire Evacuation Planning Can Be Greatly Enhanced by Considering Fire Progression, Communication Systems, and Other Dynamic Factors

Soga, Kenichi, PhD
Comfort, Louise, PhD
Zhao, Bingyu, PhD
Lorusso, Paola, MSc
Soysal, sena
2021

Wildfires have become a perpetual crisis for communities across California. For life-threatening wildfires, mass evacuation often becomes the only viable option to protect lives. Yet, looking back at recent events, including the devastating 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California, there are significant challenges associated with the evacuation process, such as multi-agency coordination, agency-resident communication, and management of extraordinarily high amounts of traffic within a short period of time. Currently, emergency planners use evacuation models that are typically based on existing...

Are our Transit Systems Ready for Earthquakes?

Soga, Kenichi, PhD
Comfort, Louise, PhD
Zhao, Bingyu, PhD
Tang, Yili (Kelly), PhD
Han, Tianyu
2024

Located on the tectonic boundary with multiple active faults, the San Francisco Bay Area is highly vulnerable to earthquakes. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has estimated a 72% probability of an earthquakewith a magnitude of 6.7 or greater striking the region within the next 30 years. Historical seismic events have demonstrated the profound impact earthquakes can have on transportation systems. During the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, the closure of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, a critical transit route for San Francisco commuters, left nearly 400,000 commuters and...

Low-Income Suburban Residents in the San Francisco Bay Area Face Significant Housing and Transportation Issues

Pan, Alexandra
Deakin, Elizabeth, PhD
Shaheen, Susan, PhD
2024

Growing poverty in America’s suburbs challenges their image as single-family residential communities for middle class, predominantly white families. Research shows that suburban areas now have the largest share of households under the poverty line. Since these areas have lower density development and lower levels of public transit service compared to urban areas, living in the suburbs may pose accessibility challenges for low-income households, particularly those without a personal vehicle. To explore housing and transportation issues associated with the suburbanization of poverty, we...

Defining Sensitive Communities Under SB 50

Hocberg, Simon
2019

In this brief, we analyze the coverage of the definition of “sensitive communities” that was included in the March 2019 revisions to the SB 50 bill language – we call this the “SB 50 Sensitive Communities” definition. We also present analysis of two alternative metrics –California SB 535’s definition of “Disadvantaged Communities” and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s “Racially/Ethnically Concentrated Areas of Poverty” (R/ECAPs) –as comparison points. We present these comparisons as a way to discuss how different definitions influence which places would be designated...

Connected and Automated Vehicle Technology is Not Enough; it Must also be Collaborative

Patire, Anthony D., PhD
Dion, Francois, PhD
Bayen, Alexandre M., PhD
2023

Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) willrevolutionize the way we travel; however, what impact this revolution will have on advancing broader societal goals is uncertain. To date, the private sector technology rollout has emphasized the automation side of CAVs and neglected the potentially transformative possibilities brought by a more collaborative notion of connectivity. This may have significant downsides from a broader societal perspective. For example, CAVs (including those on the road today) collect a vast amount of data gathered through onboard systems (e.g., radar, lidar, camera...

COVID-19 has Significantly Impacted the Mobility and Activities of the Senior Population in Contra Costa County

Ragland, David R.
Schorr, Glenn
Felschundneff, Grace
2020

Meeting the mobility needs of an aging population is one of the most substantial challenges facing California in the coming decades. The number of residents age 60 and above will grow to 13.9 million by 2050, representing over 25% of the state population. Meanwhile, the number of residents age 85 and above is expected to increase by over 70% between 2010 and 2030. In 2018, the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) at UC Berkeley conducted a survey on transportation mobility issues among older adults in Contra Costa County in California. Results indicated, among other...