This research investigates the feasibility of offering demand-responsive transit (DRT) service to the general public in situations of low demand density. The study region is AC Transit District 2 which consists of the cities of Fremont and Newark, California. We developed a methodology to evaluate operating efficiencies of existing bus lines and line segments, and identified areas suitable for DRT service based on year 2001 data. We proposed an alternating strategy of checkpoint DRT service and compared it to other strategies. The report also described the schema for an automated...
This research report is the final deliverable for PATH Task Order 6408: “Improving Mobility through Enhanced Transit Services”. The purpose of this task order is to explore alternative methods of providing transit service to areas with low passenger demand density. This report first presents analytical models for determining optimal headway and line spacing for fixed-route, fixed schedule buses, either with fixed stops or allowing buses to stop anywhere along the route. Next, transit taxi services with either fixed or flexible routes that specifically target focused demand patterns are...
Authors: Nicholas Fournier, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Researcher, SafeTREC, PATH, University of California, Berkeley; Anthony Patire, Ph.D., Research & Development Engineer, PATH, University of California, Berkeley; and Alexander Skabardonis, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley.
Abstract:
Dynamic toll pricing based on demand can increase transportation revenue while also incentivizing travelers to avoid peak traffic periods. However, given the unpredictable nature of...
Dynamic toll pricing based on demand can increase transportation revenue while also incentivizing travelers to avoid peak traffic periods. However, given the unpredictable nature of traffic, travelers lack the information necessary to accurately predict congestion, so dynamic pricing has minimal effect on demand. Dynamic toll pricing also poses equity concerns for those who lack other travel options. This research explores a potential remedy to these concerns by using a simple “futures market” pricing mechanism in which travelers can lock in a toll price for expected trips by prepaying for...
Dynamic toll pricing based on demand can increase transportation revenue while also incentivizing travelers to avoid peak traffic periods. However, given the unpredictable nature of traffic, travelers lack the information necessary to accurately predict congestion, so dynamic pricing has minimal effect on demand. Dynamic toll pricing also poses equity concerns for those who lack other travel options. This research explores a potential remedy to these concerns by using a simple “futures market” pricing mechanism in which travelers can lock in a toll price for expected trips by prepaying for...
Integrated land use-transportation-emissions models are necessary to rigorously assess the potential of land use and transportation policies to reduce the vehicular emissions contributing to tropospheric ozone and to fine particulate matter. A theoretically- and empirically-grounded model contains these major components: data on economic sectors, population sectors, and intersectoral flows of commodities and labor; a transportation network; sectoral demands for land, predicting both the quantity and location demanded; elastic trip generation; transportation mode choice including non-...
The project reuses the sensor and actuator interface software developed by California PATH for the DEN1097 automated highway system demonstration on Highway I17 in San Diego during August 1997. This software is provided on the QNX operating system. It interfaces with the magnetometers, radars, and the various intenal sensors such as wheel speed, engine speed, steering angle, etc, as well as with the actuators such as throttle, brake, and steering. In this project, we wrote an interface process that communicates between the driver process described above and the controller process described...
Reliable origin/destination (O-D) data are critical to many applications in transportation planning, design and operations. Because of the high costs of and challenges in obtaining reliable O-D trip matrices from surveys or other direct sampling methods, estimating O-D trip tables from a readily available data source, traffic counts, provides an attractive, economical alternative. This project investigates one such an estimation method and implements it in a user-friendly software tool called Visual PFE TD. The developed O-D estimation tool can be used to obtain both static and dynamic O-D...
This research report is the final deliverable for PATH Task Order 6408: “Improving Mobility through Enhanced Transit Services”. The purpose of this task order is to explore alternative methods of providing transit service to areas with low passenger demand density. This report first presents analytical models for determining optimal headway and line spacing for fixed-route, fixed schedule buses, either with fixed stops or allowing buses to stop anywhere along the route. Next, transit taxi services with either fixed or flexible routes that specifically target focused demand patterns are...
COVID-19 has upended travel across the world, disrupting commute patterns, mode choices, and public transit systems. In the United States, changes to transit service and reductions in passenger volume due to COVID-19 are lasting longer than originally anticipated. In this paper we examine the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on individual travel behavior across the United States. We analyze mobility data from...
