PATH

The purpose of this study is to investigate the reasons for an individual' s decision to ride rather than drive, and to draw any appropriate extensions to a future marketplace where automated vehicles may be an available mode choice. In the study, a focus group of existing vanpoolers is presented with the choice of driving alone or commuting with others after they had joined the vanpool. From the vanpoolers' stated choices, it is inferred whether a value may exist to future users of automated vehicles when they choose to travel in the automated mode, as opposed to driving themselves.

This report documents findings from analysis of traffic collision data from sites that display high collision rates only under wet pavement conditions. These sites were selected using Caltrans safety engineers’ field reports, Wet Table C “investigation required” locations, and a new approach called Continuous Risk Profile (CRP).The geometric features at the sites were studied via field visits and review of as-built plans. Rapid spatial changes (i.e., vertical and horizontal curve in short distance), narrower lane width, lack of median, and wider total freeway width were some of the notable...

This report contains research results of studies on magnetic marker systems that are used as a posi-tionreference system for Advanced Vehicle Control and Safety Systems. Effects of external objectsand earth background fields on such systems are investigated with experimental measurements inPart I. The results show that signal processing techniques must be adopted in field applications toimprove the accuracy and robustness of sensing algorithms. Part II of the report contains experimen-talresults from an evaluation study of PATH marker system and 3M Tape system. The objective isto identify...

Automated bus and truck systems hold the potential to improve road safety by eliminating some human error, increase the vehicle throughput by allowing vehicle convoying to shorten headways, and reduce costs associated with infrastructure, user time, and drivers. In this study, an automated bus system (ABUS) was compared with more-conventional light rail and bus-on-dedicated-lane (BDL) alternatives. A cost comparison (excluding accident costs) was also made among an automated freight trucking system (AHS-Truck), a no-build base condition, and configurations involving the addition of a...