PATH

Investigating Intelligent Transportation Systems Strategies on the Santa Monica Freeway Corridor: Technical Appendix

Bacon, Jr., V.
Windover, John
May, Adolf D.
1995

This document contains the technical appendices to the report on Investigating Intelligent Transportation Systems Strategies on the Santa Monica Freeway Corridor (see PATH Database record no. 8800.)

The Impact of Intelligent Transportation Systems on Bus Driver Effectiveness

Bailey, Diane E.
Hall, Randolph
1997

This paper examines the potential for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) to improve bus driver effectiveness. Analysis of data gathered reveals the unlikelihood of improvement of individual bus driver effectiveness measures. The authors determined that the most visible benefits were seen in the automatic processing of information related to transferring passengers and in the increased speed with which emergency and maintenance calls can be handled.

The I-880 Field Experiment: Effectiveness of Incident Detection Using Cellular Phones

Skabardonis, Alexander
Chira-chavala, Ted
Rydzewski, Daniel
1996

This report describes the evaluation of the effectiveness and adequacy of cellular phones for incident detection as an alternative to infrastructure-based surveillance systems. The analysis was part of the I-880 field experiment using the California Highway Patrol's (CHP) Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) incident database. Cellular phones have the highest detection rate among the examined detection sources. Results from the study, however, indicate that incidents reported by cellular phones show greater incident durations than similar incidents reported by the CHP or the Freeway Service...

Freeway Traffic Control Using Variable Speed Limits

Lu, Xiao-Yun
Nowakowski, Christopher
Su, Dongyan
Shladover, Steven E.
2011

The work reported here includes the development of the underlying theory for detecting traffic flow breakdown at a bottleneck and for defining the speed profiles that vehicles should be following in order to maximize the flow through the bottleneck region. It also includes a preliminary test of the communication of the variable speed limit values to an instrumented vehicle for display to drivers from the general public, in order to determine their reactions to the variable speed limits. The selection of variable speed limits (VSL) to reduce traffic breakdowns is based on careful modeling...

Models of Vehicular Collision: Development and Simulation with Emphasis on Safety III: Computer Code Programmer's Guide and User Manual for Medusa

O'reilly, Oliver M.
Papadopoulos, P.
Lo, G.-J.
Varadi, P.C.
1998

This report presents a user's manual and a programmer's guide for the computer program MEDUSA. The program is capable of simulating the impacts of several vehicles. It assumes that the collision are elastic, and is consequently applicable for low relative velocity impacts. A theoretical background of the collision detection algorithm is first given, followed by user's manual and programmer's guide.

The Economics of Traffic Information: A State-of-the-Art Report

Malchow, M.
Kanafani, A.
Varaiya, P.
1996

This working paper is a preliminary review of the state of the art in the study of theeconomics of traffic information. The focus is on the different methods used to model thedecision process of drivers in a traffic system, and on the effect of traffic information on thisprocess. In addition, the review includes the characterization of information in terms of contentand accuracy. The purpose is to develop an understanding of the market for different types oftraffic information. The paper also includes some preliminary models that can be used to modelthe demand and supply of traffic...

Analysis and Documentation of Roadway Incident Using Software and Photogrammetric Techniques

Su, Ray J.
Chan, Ching-Yao
2004

This report is a deliverable of a project, TR0002, sponsored by the California Office of Traffic Safety, contracted through California Department of Transportation, and conducted by California PATH. Roadway incidents, besides their direct impacts of property damage, injuries and fatalities, can quickly lead to further congestion or even secondary incidents of nearby traffic. Due to the direct and indirect effects of incidents and congestion afterwards, it is important that post-incident handling proceed as quickly as they can. One primary factor in the delays of incident handling is the...

The Costs and Benefits of Telecommuting: An Evaluation of Macro-Scale Literature

Shafizadeh, K.
Niemeier, D.
Mokhtarian, P.
Salomon, I.
1998

This report presents a literature review designed to synthesize and assess previous large-scale evaluations of telecommuting. A concept framework is first proposed to organize the inputs and outputs of a macro-scale telecommuting benefit-cost analysis. Four federal and regional reports are studied in terms of methodology, assumptions, economic approach, and major findings. The review identifies common inputs and discusses the critical assumptions that routinely affect the results. The report concludes with some major findings and an analysis of the economic approaches.

The Cell Transmission Model. Part I: A Simple Dynamic Representation of Highway Traffic

Daganzo, Carlos
1993

This paper presents a simple representation of traffic on a highway with a single entrance and exit. The representation can be used to predict traffic's evolution over time and space, including transient phenomena such as the building, propagation and dissipation of queues. The easy-to-solve difference equations used to predict traffic's evolution are shown to be the discrete analog of the differential equations arising from a special case of the hydrodynamic model of traffic flow. The proposed method automatically generates appropriate changes in density at locations where the...

The Aerodynamic Forces on Misaligned Platoons

Marcu, Bogdan
Browand, Fred
1998

This report summarizes wind tunnel experimental measurementson the aerodynamic interaction between members of misaligned platoons. Experiments are conducted at the University of Southern California's Dryden Wind Tunnel Facility. All experiments are made using 1/8 scale models of 1991 Chevy Lumina minivan. Models are placed above a ground plane with a porous surface, through which slight suction is applied to remove the boundary layer. Refurbishing of the ground plane surface, and its repositioning to a 1 degree angle of attack produce significantly improved air flow through the test...