Planning

The Effects of Data Inaccuracy on the Performance of Traffic Signal Timing Plans

Lin, Wei-Hua
Liao, Lawrence C.
1998

This paper explores the performance of signal timing plans calibrated with perfect or imperfect information. The arrival information considered include arrival rates and arrival distributions. The study is conducted for different levels of arrival rates and different forms of arrival distributions under a wide range of arrival information inaccuracy, traffic intensity, and intersections with balanced and unbalanced flows.Our results indicate that the increase in delay, the number of stops, and queue length is in general insignificant when the arrival distribution used to calibrate the...

EasyConnect: Low-Speed Modes Linked to Transit Planning Project

Shaheen, Susan A., PhD
Rodier, Caroline J., PhD
2006

The EasyConnect Low-Speed Modes Linked to Transit Planning Project (TO 5113) project represents the integration of innovative strategies to enhance transit use during the development and construction of a suburban transit oriented development at the Pleasant Hill Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District station in the East San Francisco Bay Area. This planning project brings together a unique partnership including small technology businesses, transportation agencies, city and county government, and academia. The project components include the introduction of shared-use low speed mode...

Planning Workshop - Seminar Series

Argote-Cabanero, Juan
Camel, Madonna
Hernandez, Maribel
2016

The University of California Center on Economic Competitiveness in Transportation (UCCONNECT) together with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) organized four seminars in areas of interest to the Division of Transportation Planning (DOTP). UCCONNECT and DOTP collaborated to identify topics and speakers within the consortium who could present their latest research findings on the selected areas. Each session in the series consisted of a 1-2 hour presentation followed by a Q&A discussion moderated by an expert in the field. The title of the first event in the...

From LOS to VMT, VHT and Beyond Through Data Fusion: Application to Integrate Corridor Management

Bayen, Alexandre
Gan, Qijian
Gomes, Gabriel
2016

Traffic performance metrics such as delay and Level Of Service (LOS), which are well documented in the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM), have been widely used by most of the transportation consulting companies, public agencies, and etc. For arterial delay analysis, prevailing commercial tools like Synchro have adopted the method proposed by the HCM, which is rooted in the Webster’s delay calculation proposed more than 50 years ago. The LOS is obtained using a lookup table that assigns a certain grade (from A to F) to the estimated delay according to its value. Without knowing detailed...

Strategic Charging Infrastructure Deployment for Electric Vehicles

Shen, Max
Li, Meng
He, Fang
Jia, Yinghao
2016

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...

Mapping and Improving the Delivery Process of Highway Pavement Rehabilitation Projects

Tommelein, Iris D.
Blampied, Nigel
2018

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...

SB 743 Implementation: Challenges and Opportunities

Barbour, Elisa
Chatman, Daniel G.
Doggett, Sarah
Yip, Stella
Santana, Manuel
2019

California’s Senate Bill (SB) 743, enacted in 2013, marks a historic shift in how the traffic impacts of development projects are to be evaluated and mitigated statewide. To help achieve state climate policy and sustainability goals, SB 743 eliminates traffic delay as an environmental impact under the California Environmental Quality Act. State implementing guidelines for SB 743 instead require an assessment of vehicle miles traveled (VMT). The adoption of the guidelines sparked debate and raised far-reaching questions about development planning. Our research consisted of four parts. First...

Strategic Charging Infrastructure Deployment for Electric Vehicles

Shen, Max
Li, Meng
He, Fang
Jia, Yinghao
2016

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...

Mobile Apps and Transportation: A Review of Smartphone Apps and A Study of User Response to Multimodal Traveler Information

Shaheen, Susan
Martin, Elliot
Cohen, Adam
Musunuri, Apoorva
Bhattacharyya, Abhinav
2016

In recent years, technological and social forces have pushed smartphone applications (apps) from the fringe to the mainstream. Understanding the role of transportation apps in urban mobility is important for policy development and transportation planners. This study evaluates the role and impact of multimodal aggregators from a variety of perspectives, including a literature review; a review of the most innovative, disruptive, and highest-rated transportation apps; interviews with experts in the industry, and a user survey of former multimodal aggregator RideScout users. Between February...

Reduce Emissions and Improve Traffic Flow Through Collaborative Autonomy

Patire, Anthony D., PhD
Dion, Francois, PhD
Bayen, Alexandre M., PhD
2024

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...