Planning

Highway pavement rehabilitation (HPR) is a service provided by departments of transportation (DOTs) worldwide. The process of delivering HPR projects involves not only a transportation department but also many other project participants and stakeholders; furthermore, it is subject to numerous technical- as well as socio-political considerations. Interestingly—though not surprisingly—the processes DOTs use to deliver this service vary widely, not only between countries or between states in the US, but also regionally within a given state such as California. While some variation is to be...

Electric vehicles (EV) are promoted as a foreseeable future vehicle technology to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions associated with conventional vehicles. This paper proposes a data-driven approach to improving the electrification rate of the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by a taxi fleet in Beijing. Specifically, based on the gathered real-time vehicle trajectory data of 46,765 taxis in Beijing, we conduct time-series simulations to derive insight for the public charging station deployment plan, including the locations of public charging stations, the number of...

This report explores opportunities for employing autonomous driving technology to dampen stop-and-go waves on freeways. If successful, it could reduce fuel consumption and emissions. This technology was tested in an on-road experiment with 100 vehicles over one week. Public stakeholders were engaged to assess the planning effort and feasibility of taking the technology to the next level: a pilot involving 1000+ vehicles over several months. Considerations included the possible geographical boundaries, target fleets of vehicles, and suitable facilities such as bridges or managed lanes. Flow...

During the COVID-19 outbreak, serious concerns were raised over the risk of spreading the infection on public transportation systems. As the pandemic recedes it will be important to determine optimal timetable design to minimize the risk of new infections as systems resume full service. In this study, we developed an integrated optimization model for service line reopening plans and timetable design. Our model combines a space-time passenger network flow problem and compartmental epidemiological models for each vehicle and platform in the transit system. The algorithm can help policy...