ITS Berkeley

Research Synthesis for the California Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force

Grembek, Offer, PhD
Chen, Katherine
Taylor, Brian D., PhD
Hwang, Yu Hong
Fitch, Dillon, PhD
Anthoine, Sonia
Chen, Bingchu
Grover, Salvador
2020

This research synthesis consists of a set of white papers that jointly provide a review of research on the current practicefor setting speed limits and future opportunities to improve roadway safety. This synthesis was developed to inform thework of the Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force, which was formed in 2019 by the California State Transportation Agencyin response to California Assembly Bill 2363 (Friedman). The statutory goal of the Task Force is to develop a structured,coordinated process for early engagement of all parties to develop policies to reduce traffic fatalities to zero....

Subsidizing Transportation Network Companies to Support Commutes by Rail

Darling, Wesley
Cassidy, Michael J., PhD
2024

We explore how rail transit’s first- and last-mile issue might be addressed by partnering with transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft. The goal is to lure high-income commuters to shift from cars to TNCs and rail. We also explore how rail and TNC partnerships can improve travel for low-income commuters who currently rely on low-frequency bus service. We parametrically test subsidizing TNC fares for feeder services in the San Francisco Bay Area in an idealized fashion. Inputs such as the residents’ value of time and vehicle ownership were taken from various local data...

Bus Operations of Three San Francisco Bay Area Transit Agencies during the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kurzhanskiy, Alex, PhD
Lapardhaja, Servet
2021

From March 2020 through March 2021, researchers monitored three San Francisco Bay Area transit agencies: two large – Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit), Valley Transportation Authority (VTA); and one small – Tri Delta Transit. As the lockdown was imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, white-collar commuters, students, and the elderly stopped using public transit. Initially, ridership fell 90 percent, and then over the year slowly climbed to less than 50 percent for AC Transit and VTA, and to around 60 percent for Tri Delta Transit. The pace of recovery was not steady...

Using Automated Vehicle (AV) Technology to Smooth Traffic Flow and Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Almatrudi, Sulaiman
Parvate, Kanaad
Rothchild, Daniel
Vijay, Upadhi
2022

Passenger and heavy-duty vehicles make up 36% of California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Reducing emissions from vehicular travel is therefore paramount for any path towards carbon neutrality. Efforts to reduce GHGs by encouraging mode shift or increasing vehicle efficiency are, and will continue to be, a critical part of decarbonizing the transportation sector. Emerging technologies are creating an opportunity to reduce GHGs. Human driving behaviors in congested traffic have been shown to create stop-and-go waves. When waves form, cars periodically slow down (sometimes to a stop) and...

Influence of Capacity Constraints on Airline Fleet Mix

Hansen, Mark M.
Gosling, Geoffrey D.
Margulici, Jean-David
Wei, Wen-Bin
2001

This report documents the findings of research sponsored by the Los Angeles World Airports to examine the influence of airport capacity constraints on airline fleet mix and to explore the potential effects of policy options to influence airlines to use larger aircraft types and thereby accommodate growth in passenger or cargo demand without a corresponding increase in the number of aircraft operations. This issue is of growing importance at many major airports in the United States and indeed around the world, as a steadily increasing demand for air transportation has resulted in volumes of...

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...

Zero-Emission Bus Implementation Guidebook for California Transit Fleets

Lipman, Timothy, PhD
Rogers, Emily, MS
2023

Transit bus operations in California are experiencing new challenges due to economic conditions and the ongoing global pandemic. A confluence of factors has created a focus on this critical public-needs serving industry, due to state and local efforts to reduce emissions of pollutants and climate-changing gases. Transit bus operations in California provide essential and additional useful services that offer critical mobility to needy populations (elderly and handicapped) as well as many other groups for whom transit buses provide the most economical, convenient, and low-emission options....

Development Of The Flight Crew Human Factors Integration Tool

Gosling, Geoffrey D.
Roberts, Karlene H.
1998

In May 1996, the FAA announced a new and innovative approach to reach a goal of "zero accidents," known as the Global Analysis and Information Network (GAIN). This would be a privately owned and operated international information infrastructure for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of aviation safety information. It would involve the use of a broad variety of worldwide aviation data sources, coupled with comprehensive analytical techniques, to facilitate the identification of existing and emerging aviation safety problems. A major component of the GAIN approach is the application...

East Oakland Mobility Justice: A Case Study of the International Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit Project Safety and Displacement

Soucy, Andre B.
2024

Low-income communities of color in formerly redlined neighborhoods face persistent racial disparities and inequities in pollution exposure, access to transportation and safe streets, and inadequate provisions for health, safety, stable housing, clean air, education, and employment. In the process of attempting to remedy such disparities through major transportation infrastructure and access improvements, residents who are intended to benefit from expanded transportation access and options are often placed at increased risk of harmful displacement, gentrification, and environmental...

Lower and Upper Bounds for a Symmetric Multiple Depot, Multiple Travelling Salesman Problem

Rathinam, Sivakumar
Sengupta, Raja
2006

This paper extends the well known Held-Karp's lower bound available for a single Travelling Salesman Problem to the multiple depot case. The LP-relaxation of a symmetric multiple vehicle, multiple depot problem is shown to be lower bounded by an infinite family of bounds. Each lower bound can be computed in a tractable way using a matroid intersection algorithm. When the costs of travelling between any two locations satisfy triangle inequality, it is shown that there exists a 2-approximation algorithm for solving the multiple depot, multiple TSP. These results are useful in solving the...