TY - ABST AN - 01616414 TI - Multidisciplinary Approach to Identify Innovative Strategies to Increase Seat Belt Use AB - The traffic safety community has made great strides with increasing seat belt use. However, there are still people not wearing seat belts. This group of nonusers has not demonstrated the same responsiveness to occupant protection countermeasures as those who are wearing their belts. The purpose of this research is to explore new occupant protection countermeasures that would be more effective with the current group of nonusers. This research takes a multidisciplinary approach by reviewing behavior change strategies not only used in traffic safety, but also in fields beyond traffic safety (e.g., education, healthcare, the military, and industry), to determine if these strategies could be redefined and adapted to address the current occupant protection problem. After several strategies are identified, Subject Matter Experts will be consulted to complete a summary of the strategy, including the strategy description, use, target population, effectiveness, cost, time to implement, challenges, and research needs. KW - Behavior KW - Countermeasures KW - Occupant protection devices KW - Safety campaigns KW - Seat belt use KW - Strategic planning KW - Traffic safety UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1434972 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01615066 TI - Analysis of SHRP2 Speeding Data AB - Studying speeding behavior poses many challenges. Much of the existing knowledge on speeding has been developed through small observational studies, traffic records data, and self-report surveys. Technology is now providing new insights on speeding behavior through naturalistic driving studies, which allow researchers to collect data on driving behavior from drivers as they engage in their normal day-to-day driving. The largest naturalistic driving study, to date, is the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP2). The SHRP2 project is generating a very large and unique data set that will provide information on many aspects of traffic safety, including speeding. This study is an initial exploration of the SHRP2 data with regard to speeding. The research team will address the following five target research questions on speeding-related behavior: (1) What is the relationship between speeding and crashes (and near crashes)? (2) How do seasonal changes affect speeding and crashes (and near crashes)? (3) How does time of day (daylight / nighttime) affect speeding and crashes (and near crashes)? (4) Do demographic differences affect speeding and crashes (and near crashes)? (5) How do speeding and crashes (and near crashes) vary with regard to speed limit and road type? KW - Crash causes KW - Driver performance KW - Periods of the day KW - Speeding KW - Strategic Highway Research Program 2 KW - Traffic data KW - Traffic safety UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1427691 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01612153 AU - Skibinski, Thomas J AU - Pennsylvania State University, University Park AU - Pennsylvania Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration AU - Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Maintenance Executive Development Program: Innovation Day PY - 2013/09/30/Final Report SP - 23p AB - The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) partnered with Penn State’s Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute (The Larson Institute) to host an Innovations and New Technology Day at the Institute’s test track facility on June 4, 2013. This event coincided with and served as the beginning of PennDOT’s annual Maintenance Executive Development Program (MEDP) Conference being held in State College, Pa. from June 4-6, 2013. This Innovations and New Technology Day brought together vendors to display, and in certain cases, demonstrate, products and services associated with roadway and bridge rehabilitation. PennDOT issued invitations to the vendors, other PennDOT personnel not involved with the MEDP conference, and to municipalities and counties within a certain radius of State College. Approximately 87 vendors and other attendees registered for the event. Eleven demonstrations were videotaped. The Larson Institute provided overall event coordination, including facilitating vendor setup, arranging transportation for PennDOT attendees from local hotels, food and beverages. Attendees received a booklet with individual pages showing vendor information and an adjacent page to write comments associated with each vendor and demonstration. The Larson Institute provided photographic documentation of vendors and coordinated video documentation of vendor demonstrations. Vendors and attendees provided very positive feedback on the event. KW - Bridges KW - Continuing education KW - Executives KW - Highway maintenance KW - Innovation KW - Rehabilitation (Maintenance) KW - Technological innovations KW - Vendors UR - http://www.mautc.psu.edu/docs/PSU-2013-06.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1424180 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01577147 TI - Pavement Performance Measures and Forecasting, and the Effects of Maintenance and Rehabilitation Strategy on Treatment Effectiveness AB - While many researches were carried out to study the efficacy of the pavement maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) activities, there remains a great need for improved understanding of how maintenance and rehabilitation treatments perform in series and over the pavement life.  This project aims at advancing the state of knowledge in estimating pavement performance, selecting cost-effective pavement treatment strategy, and extending the life of the pavement structure. The anticipated outcomes from this research are described as follows. (1) Developing simplified and implementable but advanced analyses techniques for: • Establishing pavement condition classification system that accurately reflects the true pavement conditions and rates of deterioration and can be used in the determination of the optimum (most cost effective) treatment application timing. • Studying and communicating the effects of various pavement treatment strategies on the life-cycle cost and longevity of the pavement structures. • Assessing the roles of pavement maintenance, preservation and rehabilitation on the longevity of the pavement structures and the agency life-cycle costs. • Estimating the remaining service life (RSL) (2 and 3) and the new remaining service interval (RSI) of damaged pavement sections. (2) Linking the analyses results and the pavement performance measures of the various Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) test sections for widespread use by the various State highway agencies (SHAs). (3) Enhancing the selection of cost-effective series of pavement maintenance, preservation, and rehabilitation actions (the long-term (lifecycle) pavement treatment strategy) that are needed over the life of the pavement systems to maximize their longevity. KW - Deterioration KW - Forecasting KW - Life cycle costing KW - Long-Term Pavement Performance Program KW - Pavement maintenance KW - Pavement performance KW - Rehabilitation (Maintenance) KW - Service life UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370421 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01576054 TI - A Self-Sensing Adaptive Material for New Generation of Multifunctional Highway Bridge Bearing System AB - The objective is to develop self-sensing adaptive bearing (SSAB) system that uses a wireless magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) sensor, which combines self-sensing (force, displacement, lateral stiffness-sensing actuation) with adaptive stiffness/vibration damping (tuned vibration absorption) into a single system. The proposed system will be capable of sensing transient displacement/load in monitoring bridge responses to environmental disturbances (such as traffic or high wind) at support locations, while at the same time producing variable stiffness properties for protection of bridges against various types of loading conditions. The successful realization of such a new multifunctional system could lead to quantum-leap changes in long-term highway bridge performance and maintenance. The information obtained through the MRE sensors will have an impact in future design of structures during extreme events. KW - Bearing capacity KW - Bridge design KW - Damping (Engineering) KW - Disasters and emergency operations KW - Highway bridges KW - Monitoring KW - Stiffness KW - Vibration UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/tfhrc/projects/projectsdb/projectdetails.cfm?projectid=FHWA-PROJ-13-0106 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370003 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01576048 TI - Development of Structural Carbon Nanotube-Based Sensing Composites for Rehabilitation of Deteriorating and Fatigue-Damaged Steel Bridges AB - Structural Health Monitoring has become a viable solution to continuously monitor critical infrastructure components that show distress or are unable to pass current load rating procedures. This research focuses on the development of a structural sensing composite layer for concrete structures that is capable of providing distributed monitoring capability. The layer consists of carbon nanotubes that are deposited on a carrier, which form a continuous conductive skin that is extremely sensitive to changes in strain and the formation and propagation of microdamage and macrodamage. It can be either loadbearing, i.e. the layer represents the reinforcement as well as the sensor, or nonloadbearing, i.e. the layer acts as a sensing skin alone. Distributed sensing allows for increased detectability of forming or growing defects that cannot necessarily be captured with conventional point-type sensors, such as strain gauges or accelerometers. KW - Bearing capacity KW - Concrete structures KW - Fatigue (Mechanics) KW - Load factor KW - Nanostructured materials KW - Sensors KW - Steel bridges KW - Strain gages KW - Structural health monitoring UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/tfhrc/projects/projectsdb/projectdetails.cfm?projectid=FHWA-PROJ-13-0046 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1369997 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01519415 AU - Mehta, Yusuf AU - Nolan, Aaron AU - DuBois, Eric AU - Zorn, Sara AU - Batten, Eileen AU - Shirodkar, Prashant AU - Rowan University AU - New Jersey Department of Transportation AU - University Transportation Research Center AU - Federal Highway Administration AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Correlation between Multiple Stress Creep Recovery (MSCR) Results and Polymer Modification of Binder PY - 2013/09/30/Final Report SP - 120p AB - Nationwide traffic loads are increasing, pushing conventional asphalt to its limit. In New Jersey matters are made worse by the heavy use of the Northeast Corridor. Polymer modification of asphalt, which can improve both low and high performance, is already available; however, in many cases traditional Superpave testing is not sensitive enough to quantify the impact of modification, dimensioning its use. Elastic Recovery and Forced Ductility, Superpave Performance Grade Plus tests, are sensitive to polymer modification but are time intensive and costly. These obstacles have lead the New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT) to require styrene-butadiene or styrene-butadiene-styrene to be incorporated in all modified binder to ensure performance, causing supply shortages and rising cost in the state. A relatively new test developed by the Federal Highway Administration, Multiple Stress Creep Compliance (MSCR) offers a simpler procedure using the Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR), thus it does not require the expense of purchasing additional testing equipment. The objective of this study is to determine the feasibility of using MSCR as a specification for binder testing. Upon testing a variety of binders it has been determined that MSCR binder testing is sensitive to flow time results. Binders with non-recoverable compliance value (Jnr) of less than 0.5 kPa-1 appear to show better high temperature performance. The MSCR elastic curve requirement appears to be the most stringent of the requirements to evaluate elastic response as compared to elastic recovery at 25ºC and phase angle of 75º. An MSCR recovery at 3.2kPa greater than 40% will ensure that it is above the MSCR elastic recovery curve. This could serve as an alternative specification to the MSCR elastic recovery curve. The guidelines set forth by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) MP 19-10, in which the binders are graded according to traffic (equivalent single axle loads) by using Jnr is recommended. Additionally 1) The New Jersey DOT should use the access database system as a prescreening process for binder selection, alleviating extraneous binder testing and the cost associated with them. 2) New Jersey DOT could eliminate the use of elastic recovery, thus saving almost $15,000 dollars on capital cost of equipment and up to $500 per binder characterization considering labor and depreciation cost. These could lead to considerable savings of thousands of dollars over several years.; 3) Additional testing, including field performance should be conducted on binders with low Jnr (less than 0.5 kPa-1) and with a lower PG-grade, such as PG 64-28 versus PG 64-22. and 4) This can be addressed by closely looking at the Original Dynamic Shear Rheometer (ODSR) result of binders. For example, at 64˚C, if the G*/sin(δ) is below 2.0 kPa, it is unlikely to pass a higher grade and withstand heavy traffic., and 5) Low non-recoverable creep compliance (Jnr < 0.5 kPa-1) coupled with high MSCR recovery at 3.2 kPa (recovery greater than 40%) and G*/sin(δ) high enough to pass the next high grade will ensure that the binder selected will withstand heavy and extreme traffic levels. KW - Binder content KW - Binders KW - Dynamic modulus of elasticity KW - Feasibility analysis KW - Mix design KW - Multiple Stress Creep Recovery KW - New Jersey KW - Pavement performance KW - Polymer asphalt KW - Polymers KW - Rheometers KW - Superpave KW - Test procedures UR - http://www.utrc2.org/sites/default/files/pubs/Final-MSCR-Polymer-Modification.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1302422 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01502031 AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - A Report from the Portable Electronic Devices Aviation Rulemaking Committee to the Federal Aviation Administration: Recommendations on Expanding the Use of Portable Electronic Devices During Flight PY - 2013/09/30 SP - 222p AB - On January 7, 2013, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) established the Portable Electronic Devices (PED) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) in order to provide a forum for the United States aviation community and PED manufacturers to review the comments received from the Notice of Policy/Request for Comments regarding PED policy and guidance published in the Federal Register. The ARC was tasked to make recommendations to further clarify and provide guidance on allowing additional PED usage without compromising the continued safe operation of the aircraft. The ARC has completed its review, and this report provides the results and its recommendation to the FAA. KW - Aircraft operations KW - Aviation safety KW - Electronic equipment KW - Policy KW - Portable equipment KW - Recommendations KW - Regulations KW - United States UR - http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/ped/media/ped_arc_final_report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1279712 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01618698 TI - Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey AB - The Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey or MVOSS is a national self-report survey to track changes in public attitudes, knowledge, and behavior related to occupant protection. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted the baseline MVOSS in 1994, and this project will be the seventh administration of the MVOSS. The MVOSS is composed of two questionnaires, one focusing on seat belt use and the other on child passenger safety. Other modules included in the survey address Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and crash injury experience. Each questionnaire is administered to 6,000 respondents age 16 and older. While previous administrations of the MVOSS were conducted by telephone, the upcoming MVOSS will employ major changes in methodology by emphasizing Web-based responding, with a mail back paper questionnaire and telephone as alternative modes of response. The survey will use an address-based sampling frame instead of a telephone sampling frame to draw the sample. Data from the survey will identify current obstacles to public safety, detect emergent targeting issues for program activity, and provide an overall status report on where the public stands on key occupant protection matters. KW - Behavior KW - Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey KW - Occupant protection devices KW - Public participation KW - Questionnaires KW - Safety KW - Seat belt use KW - Seat belts KW - Telephone UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1436855 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516400 AU - Zatar, Wael AU - Wait, Isaac AU - Niemann, William AU - Rahall Appalachian Transportation Institute AU - West Virginia Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Criteria for Predicting Scour of Erodible Rock in West Virginia PY - 2013/09/25/Final Report SP - 335p AB - This research project was conducted to characterize the hydraulic scour of rock at 15 selected bridge sites in West Virginia (at least one site in each of West Virginia Division of Highway's (WVDOH’s) ten districts). The study assessed the applicability of a recently-developed rock scour prediction technique to the types of rock and scour conditions found in West Virginia, and identified techniques that can be used to better characterize scour potential at existing and proposed bridge locations. Foundation inspection, rock coring and sample collection, and measurement of scour depth at all sites led to a determination of each site’s mode of scour and enabled modified slake durability testing to develop a median Geotechnical Scour Number (GSN) for rock encountered at each bridge site. Flow conditions over time were assessed for each site using stream gage data where such data was available (three sites), and watershed models, coupled with probabilistic characterizations of precipitation, where stream gage data was not available (12 sites). Scour depth observed at each site, coupled with estimates of Cumulative Excess Stream Power, enabled the calculation of a Scour Number at each site. The scour prediction method applied for this project is designed specifically for sites characterized by abrasion of degradable rock. Ideally, this mode of scour can be confirmed before the method is applied, but in cases where the mode of scour is not clear from field data, or where more than one mode of scour is operating at the same site, this may not be possible or practical. For sites affected only by abrasion, Scour Number and GSN should be consistent, allowing GSN to be used as a predictive measure of scour potential. In this project, however, Scour Number and GSN deviated considerably. The Scour Number/GSN (which, if GSN is to be predictive should have been near 1.0) varied from 3.9 – 17,000. The quarrying mode of scour, where durable, fractured rock is plucked away in discrete scour events from its original location, was evident to varying degrees at 14 of the 15 project sites, and explains why the GSN-centered approach of predicting rock scour, which is contingent on the progressive wear (i.e., abrasion) of non-durable degradable rock, did not apply to the data collected. In those cases where the mode of scour was unclear from field evidence, the lack of agreement between Scour Number and GSN served as indirect confirmation that scour was significantly or wholly attributable to quarrying and not abrasion. Though methodologies have been proposed to attempt scour depth prediction for quarrying , such methods require a comprehensive characterization of the distribution of block shape and dimensions, joint angle, block density, block protrusion, and flow field conditions, and applying such an approach was beyond the scope of this project. Other likely contributors to differences between Scour Number and GSN include uncertainties inherent in probabilistic characterizations of flow, and variations in the flow field along abutments (in contrast to the relative simplicity of the flow field at a pier). Results lead to the conclusion that GSN may not be a universally-appropriate tool for predicting rock scour across the range of rock types and flow conditions found in West Virginia, particularly in view of widespread quarrying of durable rock at the project sites. A Scour Mode Decision Tree was developed to aid in identifying scour mode at future sites where scour assessments are performed, and a method was developed for generating a probabilistic estimation of Average Annual Cumulative Effective Stream Power. KW - Abrasion KW - Bridge foundations KW - Decision trees KW - Field studies KW - Mathematical prediction KW - Rocks KW - Scour KW - Streamflow KW - West Virginia UR - http://www.njrati.org/assets/reports/RP273_-_Rock_Scour_-_Revised_Final_Report_-_2013-09-26_2.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1300194 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01506244 AU - de Aragón, Fernando AU - Tompkins County Rideshare Coalition AU - Zimride, Incorporated AU - New York State Department of Transportation AU - New York State Energy Research and Development Authority AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Tompkins County Rideshare Coalition PY - 2013/09/25/Final Report SP - 83p AB - The objective of this project was to pilot the implementation of automated on-line ridesharing in Tompkins County, New York. Zimride was used as the web based ride matching platform. Four ‘portals’ were developed to serve different groups: three for local institutions of higher education and a fourth for community-wide access. The project was implemented for a period of three years. Results indicate substantial interest in online ridesharing services. Project metrics show impacts in energy savings and emission reductions from displaced potential private vehicle use. By pairing individuals looking for rides with drivers offering empty seats you increase the efficiency of the transportation system with minimal investment. One-time rides proved to be in very high demand, particularly in the college communities. Further work is needed to promote online ridesharing on a multi-county regional basis in order to capture a greater proportion of the large number of intercounty commuters. KW - Computer online services KW - Energy consumption KW - Pollutants KW - Ridesharing KW - Tompkins County (New York) UR - https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/trans-r-and-d-repository/C-10-04%20Final%20Report_10-16-13.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290262 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496802 AU - Schram, Scott AU - Williams, R Christopher AU - Iowa Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation of Bias in the Hamburg Wheel Tracking Device PY - 2013/09/25/Final Report SP - 17p AB - As the list of states adopting the Hamburg Wheel Tracking Device (HWTD) continues to grow, there is a need to evaluate how results are utilized. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials T 324 does not standardize the analysis and reporting of test results. Furthermore, processing and reporting of the results among manufacturers is not uniform. This is partly due to the variation among agency reporting requirements. Some include only the midpoint rut depth, while others include the average across the entire length of the wheel track. To eliminate bias in reporting, statistical analysis was performed on over 150 test runs on gyratory specimens. Measurement location was found to be a source of significant variation in the HWTD. This is likely due to the non-uniform wheel speed across the specimen, geometry of the specimen, and air void profile. Eliminating this source of bias when reporting results is feasible though is dependent upon the average rut depth at the final pass. When reporting rut depth at the final pass, it is suggested for poor performing samples to average measurement locations near the interface of the adjoining gyratory specimens. This is necessary due to the wheel lipping on the mold. For all other samples it is reasonable to only eliminate the 3 locations furthest from the gear house. For multi-wheel units, wheel side was also found to be significant for poor and good performing samples. After eliminating the suggested measurements from the analysis, the wheel was no longer a significant source of variation. KW - Bias (Statistics) KW - Evaluation KW - Hamburg Wheel Tracking Device KW - Ruts (Pavements) KW - Statistical analysis KW - Test procedures UR - http://publications.iowa.gov/15265/1/IA_DOT_RB00-010_Bias_Hamburg_Wheel_Tracking_Dev_Final.pdf UR - http://www.iowadot.gov/research/reports/Year/2013/fullreports/Hamburg%20Final%20Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265878 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01563872 TI - Miles Based User Fee (MBUF) AB - The objective of the pooled fund project is to learn and begin coordinating efforts with respect to the miles based user fee (MBUF) concept. Up to now, coordination between states has been difficult. Several states have conducted their own research and demonstration projects and some states have expressed interest in just learning more about the topic. In an effort to begin coordinating efforts and advancing the knowledge on MBUF the pooled fund will have two main objectives: (1) Offer membership to the MBUF Alliance. Each state will have opportunity to dedicate a portion of their annual contribution towards this organization and their educational events. As a research and educational organization, the mission of the Mileage-Based User Fee Alliance is to: (a) Create a constructive learning environment and policy space for collaboration and networking among individuals and groups interested in mileage based user fees; (b) Coordinate efforts to build awareness of mileage-based user fee programs in the US and around the world; and (c) Promote research to test the feasibility of mileage-based user fee programs. (2) Solicit and select specific research projects that all member states are jointly interested in performing. On an annual cycle, the remaining project moneys will be used to fund research projects that will cover areas of the MBUF concept that have not been explored to date. Topics could range from alternate tax collection designs, to enforcement alternatives, to private industry scenario testing and standards recommendations. KW - Demonstration projects KW - Financing KW - Mileage-based user fees KW - States KW - Strategic alliances KW - Taxes UR - http://www.pooledfund.org/Details/Study/531 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1354978 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01576053 TI - Inorganic Polymers: Novel Ordinary Portland Cement-free Binders for Transportation Infrastructure AB - Controlled compositional glasses and commercial Class F fly ash will be comprehensively characterized for physical and chemical characteristics and phase balance using x-ray fluorescence (spectroscopy) (XRF), x-ray diffraction (spectroscopy) (XRD), scanning electron microscope – energy dispersive x-ray (SEM-(EDS), and laser diffraction methods. Electrochemical surface forces apparatus (EC-SFA) and vertical scanning interferometry (VSI) methods will be used to quantify aluminosilicate dissolution processes. Outputs from these studies will be used to advance the thermokinetic simulation model and predict rate of reactions and phase balances in inorganic polymer (IP) formulations. KW - Binders KW - Electrochemical processes KW - Fly ash KW - Infrastructure KW - Inorganic compounds KW - Polymers KW - Portland cement KW - Simulation UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/tfhrc/projects/projectsdb/projectdetails.cfm?projectid=FHWA-PROJ-13-0105 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370002 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495413 AU - Kim, Taehyoung AU - Hobeika, Antoine G AU - Abbas, Montasir M AU - Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg AU - Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Genetic Algorithm-Based Stochastic Optimization for Preempted Signals at Highway Railroad Grade Crossing PY - 2013/09/19/Final Report SP - 22p AB - Decreasing the number of accidents at highway-railway grade crossings (HRGCs) is an important goal in the transportation field. The preemption of traffic signal operations at HRGCs is widely used to prevent accidents by clearing vehicles off the tracks before a train arrives. However, by interrupting normal traffic operations, preemption operations can contribute to congestion in highway traffic networks. This report presents a genetic algorithm (GA)-based stochastic optimization approach for preempted signals that is designed to minimize highway delays while improving safety. The first step of proposed method determines the preemption phase sequences that prevent the queue from backing on to the HRGC. The second step is to implement a GA-based algorithm to find the optimized signal phase lengths for reducing highway traffic delay. The GA-based Stochastic Optimization of Preempted Signals (GASOPS) model optimizes signal timing plans for both normal and preemption operations simultaneously, while current signal optimization models can optimize for only normal operations. Results show that the proposed approach is more efficient in signal optimization than traditional methods. This optimization approach reduces the delay by a maximum of 17% compared to optimal timing plans found using state-of-the-art methods. This model also improves safety because all queue lengths in GASOPS scenarios are 0, even when demand is doubled. This approach will be useful for designing and improving the preemption operations for signalized intersections near HRGCs. KW - Genetic algorithms KW - Grade crossing protection systems KW - Optimization KW - Railroad grade crossings KW - Stochastic processes KW - Traffic delays KW - Traffic signal preemption KW - Traffic signal timing UR - http://www.mautc.psu.edu/docs/VT-2012-08.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264712 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01613749 AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Local Road Safety Peer Exchange – Region 9 PY - 2013/09/17 SP - 14p AB - This report provides a summary of the proceedings of the Region 9 Local Road Safety Peer Exchange held in Sacramento, California on September 17 and 18, 2013. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Safety (HSA) sponsored the peer exchange in coordination with Region 9 of the National Local Technical Assistance Program Association (NLTAPA). The goal of the peer exchange was to facilitate the exchange of information on local road safety and explore opportunities for greater coordination and communication between FHWA, State Departments of Transportation (DOTs), Local/Tribal Technical Assistance Program (LTAP/TTAP) Centers, and local officials/practitioners within the States. The Peer Exchange covered the following key topics: (1) Improving local road safety data collection and analysis; (2) Encouraging local involvement in the development and implementation of Strategic Highway Safety Plans (SHSPs); (3) Increasing local agency participation in the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP); (4) Addressing new requirements under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21); and (5) Improving interagency collaboration. Region 9 States in attendance included: Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Washington. Representatives from the following local agencies participated in this event: the City of Sacramento, CA; Nevada County, CA; Placer County, CA; Trinity County, CA; the Cache Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), Logan, UT; Gila River Community, Sacaton, AZ; and Thurston County, WA. The format of the Peer Exchange consisted of a series of presentations and roundtable and breakout group discussions. Participants from each State were charged with developing action plans at the end of the workshop to address the key topics noted above in their respective States. The action plans identify strategies to address each issue, as well as resources and champions to advance those objectives. A brief description of the peer exchange proceedings is provided in this report. KW - California Department of Transportation KW - Cooperation KW - Data analysis KW - Data collection KW - Highway safety KW - Highway Safety Improvement Program KW - Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) KW - Peer exchange KW - State departments of transportation KW - Strategic Highway Safety Plan KW - Strategic planning UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/59000/59400/59453/peer_report_CA_Sept2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1425522 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01577462 TI - Warning Sign Legends for Emergency Incidents AB - This project will conduct simulation and field evaluations using motorists and first responders to the effectiveness of various text and symbol sign designs deployed by first responders such a fire, ems, and police for the purpose of Traffic Incident management and in the prevention of secondary crashes. KW - Field studies KW - Incident management KW - Secondary crashes KW - Simulation KW - Symbol signs KW - Text messaging KW - Warning signs UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370724 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01570482 TI - Next Generation Concrete Pavement Road Map AB - This problem statement is for the establishment of a Next Generation Concrete Pavement Road Map (Next Gen CP Road Map) Pooled Fund to carry on the work started by the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA's) initial Concrete Pavement Roadmap Pooled Fund, TPF-5(185), which ended June 2012. This initial pooled fund was developed to guide concrete pavement research investments identified as critical for accomplishing customer-driven goals. This Next Gen CP Road Map pooled fund will continue the effort to identify needed research to help the concrete pavement community meet today's paving needs and tomorrow's pavement challenges. KW - Concrete pavements KW - Next generation design KW - Pavement performance KW - Pavement testing KW - Paving UR - http://www.pooledfund.org/Details/Study/528 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1362123 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01570363 AU - Zhang, Lei AU - Vemulapati, Sapeksha AU - University of Maryland, College Park AU - Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Exploring the Linkages among Urban Form, Travel Behavior and Public Health with Person-Level Data from Smartphone Applications PY - 2013/09/15/Final Report SP - 51p AB - The interaction between the built environment, travel behavior and public health is now a major concern for both researchers and urban planners. Currently, there is little empirical research that explores and examines the relationship between each of them. This study explores the linkages between an individual’s health, the urban form and his/her everyday travel behavior. The objective of this study is two-fold: (1) to develop a Smartphone Application that would serve as a platform to automatically collect person-level travel behavior data, and (2) to analyze the influence of daily activity patterns of an individual, his/her healthy-living and the urban form of their neighborhood of residence, on each other. In the past, scholars have explored different variables and linked them with the individual’s travel behavior. This study explores the linkages between an individual’s health, urban form and his/her everyday travel behavior. In order to capture accurate and comprehensive travel behavior information, a smartphone application is developed that can track user location for long periods without the need of user intervention. Focus is placed on designing the application to have minimum respondent burden and long-standing battery life of the smart device. Subjects are recruited through a web survey designed to collect information about the individual’s healthy living habits. Data from the application is regressed against the health measure data acquired from the survey. Results show that active modes of travel are positively associated with the person’s general health measures. The feasibility of this platform as a data collection method is highlighted while explaining the limitations due to the sample distribution and size. KW - Data collection KW - Health KW - Mobile applications KW - Regression analysis KW - Smartphones KW - Surveys KW - Travel behavior KW - Urban areas UR - http://www.mautc.psu.edu/docs/UMD%202012-02.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55200/55264/UMD_2012-02.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1360046 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01587751 AU - Balke, Kevin AU - Gopalakrishna, Deepak AU - Battelle AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Utah DOT Weather Responsive Traffic Signal Timing PY - 2013/09/13/Final Report SP - 109p AB - Over the past decade, Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Road Weather Management Program (RWMP) has championed the cause of improving traffic operations and safety during weather events. The program’s current emphasis is to encourage agencies to be more proactive in the way that they manage traffic operations during weather events. Weather Responsive Traffic Management (WRTM) is the central component of the program’s efforts. WRTM involves the implementation of traffic advisory, control, and treatment strategies in direct response to or in anticipation of developing roadway and visibility issues that result from deteriorating or forecasted weather conditions. WRTM also includes using weather forecasting to provide proactive advisories, control, and maintenance strategies In 2011, the RWMP initiated a project to document recent developments in WRTM, identify improvements to the strategies, and develop implementable Concepts of Operations. As a follow-on task, three concepts were selected for further implementation and real-world deployment. This report describes the implementation of one particular concept relating to weather responsive traffic signal management by Utah DOT. The report contains the system design, operation, evaluation approach, findings and lessons learned from the implementation. KW - Evaluation KW - Implementation KW - Road weather information systems KW - Road Weather Management Program KW - System design KW - Traffic signal control systems KW - Utah Department of Transportation KW - Weather conditions UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51100/51165/C42F9252.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1386606 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01576055 TI - Remote, Wireless Camera Systems for Environmental Monitoring of Transportation Corridors AB - Wildlife movement across, under, and adjacent to highway rights-of-way and crossing structures is of critical concern for environmental protection, regulatory, and public safety reasons. Using low-powered/self-powered camera networks communicating via wireless, wired, or cell technologies with Web-informatics could provide information for short-term project and mitigation needs and long-term monitoring needs. The goal of this research is to develop the technology to support the evolution of wildlife monitoring associated with transportation corridors from manually maintained cameras to wired and wireless camera systems employing a variety of communication technologies. Further, these systems are fully integrated and usable with Web-informatics systems, making data collection and sharing more consistent and easier. This new approach is both feasible and attractive to transportation planning and environmental assessment because it makes the cost and benefits of these systems more predictable and the outputs more continuous. The proposed system also resembles current traffic flow monitoring systems, which are increasingly familiar to transportation staff and the public. Finally, the system will reduce risk to staff accessing wildlife cameras from the right-of-way because camera system maintenance will be occasional. KW - Cameras KW - Environmental protection KW - Monitoring KW - Right of way (Traffic) KW - Risk assessment KW - Traffic flow KW - Wildlife crossings KW - Wireless communication systems UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/tfhrc/projects/projectsdb/projectdetails.cfm?projectid=FHWA-PROJ-13-0107 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370005 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01518766 AU - Gopalakrishna, Deepak AU - Cluett, Chris AU - Kitchener, Fred AU - Sturges, Leigh AU - Battelle AU - Federal Highway Administration AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Utah DOT Weather Responsive Traveler Information System PY - 2013/09/13/Final Report SP - 110p AB - Over the past decade, the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Road Weather Management Program (RWMP) has championed the cause of improving traffic operations and safety during weather events. The program’s current emphasis is to encourage agencies to be more proactive in the way that they manage traffic operations during bad weather. Weather Responsive Traffic Management (WRTM) is a component major element of the program. WRTM involves the implementation of traffic advisory, control, and treatment strategies in direct response to or in anticipation of developing roadway and atmospheric problems that result from deteriorating or forecasted weather conditions. WRTM also includes using weather forecasting to provide proactive advisory and control strategies based on forecasts of weather conditions, and not just traffic responses to those conditions. In 2011, the RWMP initiated a project to collate recent developments and best practices in WRTM, identify improvements to the strategies, and develop implementable Concepts of Operations. As a follow-on task, three concepts were selected for further implementation and real-world deployment. This report documents the implementation of one of those concepts relating to weather responsive traveler information. This concept focused on an initial implementation of a citizens reporting system and was conducted in partnership with Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT). This report documents the system design, operation, evaluation, findings and lessons learned from the implementation. Considering this was the first opportunity to implement a limited citizen reporting program, the results are encouraging. Fifty-six UDOT employees were trained, 89 of 143 road segments were covered, and 607 reports were submitted during the 2012/2013 winter season. Report accuracy was very high (over 99%), and they provided increased situational awareness for Traffic Operations Center (TOC) meteorologists and operators. Public response to this program was quite positive. Lessons from this initial implementation will help UDOT further develop and move this program forward and serve as a valuable model for other state DOTs that seek to implement similar improvements. KW - Advanced traveler information systems KW - Highway traffic control KW - Implementation KW - Information dissemination KW - Public participation KW - Road weather information systems KW - Road Weather Management Program KW - Utah KW - Weather conditions UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51000/51067/F9C62201.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1302115 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01494594 AU - Gutierrez, David A AU - Lechtenberg, Karla A AU - Bielenberg, Robert W AU - Faller, Ronald K AU - Reid, John D AU - Sicking, Dean L AU - University of Nebraska, Lincoln AU - Nebraska Department of Roads AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Midwest Guardrail System (MGS) with Southern Yellow Pine Posts PY - 2013/09/04/Final Report SP - 228p AB - The Midwest Guardrail System (MGS) has previously been approved for use with various alternative species of wood posts. However, Southern Yellow Pine (SYP) is the most common wood guardrail post material in the United States. The goal of this research was to evaluate the MGS with rectangular SYP posts. In a previous test, the 6-in. x 8-in. x 72-in. long (152-mm x 203-mm x 1,829-mm) rectangular White Pine post was found to have 39 percent lower capacity than the 6-in. x 8-in. x 72-in. long (152-mm x 203-mm x 1,829-mm) Southern Yellow Pine post. This result indicated that the MGS with SYP posts would likely be successful, but full-scale crash testing was deemed useful to verify satisfactory safety performance and obtain dynamic deflection and working width data under Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) TL-3 test conditions. The MGS was crash tested with 6-in. x 8-in. x 72-in. long (152-mm x 203-mm x 1,829-mm) Southern Yellow Pine posts. This system also used a 6-in. x 12-in. x 14¼-in. long (152-mm x 305-mm x 362-mm) blockout as well as 12-gauge (2.66-mm) guardrail sections. The design was evaluated using a small car (test no. 3-10) and a pickup truck (test no. 3-11) according to the testing standards established in the MASH. The MGS with Southern Yellow Pine posts met the MASH safety requirements for both full-scale crash tests. Following the full-scale crash testing, recommendations were given regarding the use of SYP posts in special MGS applications. KW - AASHTO Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware KW - Guardrails KW - Highway safety KW - Impact tests KW - Midwest Guardrail System KW - Posts KW - Southern yellow pine UR - http://www.transportation.nebraska.gov/mat-n-tests/research/docs/YellowPinePosts.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263481 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493298 AU - Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - FHWA Is Monitoring Unexpended Recovery Act Highway Funds, But Some Funds May Remain Unused PY - 2013/09/04 SP - 21p AB - The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provided $27.5 billion for investments in highway infrastructure projects nationwide. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is responsible for overseeing this investment, which included $26.1 billion in Highway Infrastructure Investment Grants(highway projects). FHWA issued guidance on ARRA within weeks of the law’s passage, and as of April 17, 2013, about 96 percent of these funds have been expended. As part of ongoing ARRA oversight, the status of any remaining unexpended ARRA highway project funds was examined and whether States can use them to the fullest extent before the time period for spending the funds expires after September 30, 2015. At the end of fiscal year 2012, States had unexpended ARRA funds of approximately $1.5 billion from ARRA obligations for highway projects and $155 million in de-obligations, or “recovered” funds, from ARRA projects. The objectives were to assess FHWA’s controls for monitoring unexpended funds; determine whether FHWA’s policies, procedures, and management activities result in the prompt, appropriate use of unexpended ARRA funds; and identify unexpended funds at risk of not being spent by final deadlines. This audit was conducted between July 2012 and June 2013 in accordance with generally accepted Government auditing standards. As part of this audit a statistical sample of 70 of 3,346 ARRA highway projects with unexpended ARRA Highway Infrastructure Investment Grant obligations as of September 30, 2012 was selected to project the amount of potential future recovered funds. KW - American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 KW - Expenditures KW - Government funding KW - Oversight KW - Procedures KW - States KW - U.S. Federal Highway Administration UR - http://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/dot/files/Web%20file_FHWA%20Unexpended%20ARRA%20Funds.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262717 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01578101 TI - Technology Transfer, Demonstrations and Post-Mortem Testing of Cast Iron and Steel Pipe Lined with Cured-in-Place Pipe Liners AB - The project will advance a broad understanding of cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) liners as they interact with host steel or cast iron pipe. CIPP lined pipe will be removed after years of gas service and tested using a solid foundation of protocols by Cornell University; an independent expert with a long history in testing of infrastructure. Also, a live gas company demonstration of re-conditioning job using CIPP liners will be performed and added to past test and usage information. KW - Cast iron KW - Cured in place pipe KW - Demonstration projects KW - Gas pipelines KW - Steel pipe KW - Technology transfer UR - http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/matrix/prjHome.rdm?prj=502 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1371556 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01578100 TI - Subsurface Multi-Utility Asset Location Tool AB - The project will determine parameters that would be critical to assure detection of multiple pipes in a vertical strata. KW - Asset management KW - Detection and identification technologies KW - Location KW - Pipelines KW - Strata KW - Underground structures UR - http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/matrix/prjHome.rdm?prj=490 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1371554 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01578084 TI - Real-Time Multiple Utility Detection During Pipe Installation Using Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) System AB - This project will integrate acoustic and radar technologies to detect buried pipes/objects in front and adjacent to the drill-head during installation of pipes using the horizontal directional drilling (HDD) machine. KW - Acoustic detectors KW - Drilling machines KW - Installation KW - Radar detectors KW - Technology KW - Underground utility lines UR - http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/matrix/prjHome.rdm?prj=493 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1371468 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01577978 TI - Development of an Industry Test Facility and Qualification Processes for Inline Inspection (ILI) Technology Evaluation and Enhancements AB - The project will standardize a process for evaluating in-line inspection technologies for the energy pipeline industry. The project will complete the design and construction of a highly flexible and modern pipeline pull test facility at Pipeline Research Council International (PRCI's) nondestructive evaluation (NDE) repository, where a range of real world pipeline test samples have been accumulated and are retained to support technology improvements and developments for pipeline inspection. KW - Evaluation and assessment KW - Inspection KW - Nondestructive tests KW - Pipelines KW - Technology KW - Test facilities UR - http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/matrix/prjHome.rdm?prj=499 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1371338 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01570501 TI - Urban Mobility Study, 2009 Continuation AB - The objectives of this project are to: (1) Form Steering Committee, which will decide on the congestion reduction methods to include in the new methodology and which cities will be included in study. (2) Continuously Refine the Congestion Index to include multimodal operations or regional operational improvement programs (i.e., Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) service, incident detection and response, travel demand management, transportation systems management, and computerized signal control coordination. (3) Maintain Existing Congestion Measures. (4) Add Additional Urban Areas. and (5) Respond to Requests for Mobility Data. KW - Congestion management systems KW - Intelligent transportation systems KW - Mobility KW - Multimodal transportation KW - Traffic signal control systems KW - Travel demand KW - Travel demand management KW - Urban areas UR - http://www.pooledfund.org/Details/Study/424 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1362142 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01497389 AU - Kang, Jee Eun AU - University of California, Irvine AU - University of California Transportation Center (UCTC) AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Integration of Locational Decisions with the Household Activity Pattern Problem and Its Applications in Transportation Sustainability PY - 2013/09/01 SP - 242p AB - This dissertation focuses on the integration of the Household Activity Pattern Problem (HAPP) with various locational decisions considering both supply and demand sides. We present several methods to merge these two distinct areas—transportation infrastructure and travel demand procedures—into an integrated framework that has been previously exogenously linked by feedback or equilibrium processes. This work demonstrates the significance of the integration between travel demand model and infrastructure problems, but also draws insightful policy measurements regarding alternative fuel vehicle adoption. One of the early adoption communities targeted by auto manufacturers is chosen as the study area, and then three different values of accessibility are tested and measured in terms of tolerances to added travel time. Under optimal conditions, refueling trips are found to be toured with other activities. More importantly, there is evidence that excluding such vehicle-infrastructure interactions as well as routing and scheduling interactions can result in overestimation of minimum facility requirement. KW - Activity choices KW - Algorithms KW - Alternate fuels KW - Dynamic programming KW - Location KW - Origin and destination KW - Sustainable transportation KW - Travel demand UR - http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3sb124zz.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262770 ER - TY - SER AN - 01497388 JO - University of California Transportation Center Faculty Research PB - University of California Transportation Center (UCTC) AU - Jariyasunant, Jerald AU - Abou-Zeid, Maya AU - Carrel, Andre AU - Ekambaram, Venkatesan AU - Gaker, David AU - Sengupta, Raja AU - Walker, Joan AU - University of California Transportation Center/Institute of Transportation Studies AU - University of California, Berkeley AU - American University of Beirut AU - University of California, Berkeley AU - University of California, Berkeley AU - University of California, Berkeley AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Quantified Traveler: Travel Feedback Meets the Cloud to Change Travel Behavior PY - 2013/09/01 SP - 25p AB - The authors describe the design and evaluation of a system Computational Travel Feedback System named Quantified Traveler (QT). Travel Feedback is an established programmatic method whereby travelers record travel in diaries, and meet with a counselor who guides her to alternate mode or trip decisions that are more sustainable or otherwise beneficial to society, while still meeting the subject’s mobility needs. QT is a computation surrogate for the counselor. Since counselor costs can limit the size of travel feedback programs, a system such as QT at the low costs of cloud computing, could dramatically increase scale, and thereby sustainable travel. QT uses an app on the phone to collect travel data, a server in the cloud to process it into travel diaries and then a personalized carbon, exercise, time, and cost footprint. The subject is able to see all of this information on the web. The authors evaluate with 135 subjects to learn if subjects allow use of their personal phones and data-plans to build travel diaries, whether they actually use the website to look at their travel information, whether the design creates pro-environmental shifts in psychological variables measured by entry and exit surveys, and finally whether the revealed travel behavior records reduced driving. Before and after statistical analysis and the results from a structural equation model suggest that the results are a qualified success. KW - Cellular telephones KW - Cloud computing KW - Mode choice KW - Planning KW - Statistical analysis KW - Structural equation modeling KW - Travel behavior KW - Travel diaries KW - Travel feedback programs UR - http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/2dh952gj.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262771 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01611975 AU - Tyagi, Avdhesh AU - Ali, Abdelfatah AU - Hamilton, Matthew AU - Johnson, Nicholas AU - Oklahoma State University, Stillwater AU - Oklahoma Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Energy Dissipation in Twelve-Foot Broken-Back Culverts using Laboratory Models PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 146p AB - This report represents Phase IV of broken-back culverts with a drop of 12 feet. The first phase of this research was performed with a drop of 24 feet, the second phase of this research was carried with for a drop of 6 feet, and the third phase of this research, performed was a drop of 18 feet. This research investigates the reduction in scour downstream of a broken-back culvert by forming a hydraulic jump inside the culvert. A broken-back culvert is used in areas of high relief and steep topography as it has one or more breaks in profile slope. A broken-back culvert in the laboratory represents a 1 (vertical) to 2 (horizontal) slope after the upstream inlet and then continuing 126 feet at a 1 percent slope in the flat part of the culvert to the downstream outlet. The prototypes for these experiments were either a two barrel 10-foot by 10-foot, or a two barrel 10-foot by 20-foot reinforced concrete culvert. The drop between inlet and outlet was selected as 12 feet. Three flow conditions were simulated, consisting of 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2 times the culvert depth. The Froude number (Fr1) of the hydraulic jump created in the flat part of the culvert ranged between 2.21 and 3.32. This Fr1 classifies the jump as an oscillating jump. The jump began nearly at the toe by placing sills in the flat part. For new culvert construction, the best option to maximize energy dissipation under open channel flow conditions is to use one 4.2-foot sill located 58.33 feet from the outlet. The maximum length of the culvert can be reduced from 45 feet to 58 feet. In pressure flow conditions, the optimal location was determined at a distance of 88 feet from the outlet for 2.5-foot sill. The length of the culvert can be reduced by 60 feet to 75 feet. Such a scenario is important where right-of-way problems exist for culvert construction. Also examined was a slotted sill which has a cut in the middle for cleanup purposes. In open channel flow conditions, the best option to maximize energy dissipation is to use one 5-foot slotted sill located 70 feet from the outlet. In the pressure flow conditions, the optimal slotted sill was 3.33-foot at a distance of 88 feet from the outlet. The regular and slotted sills contain two small orifices at the bottom to allow the culvert to completely drain. The impact of friction blocks was found to be minimal. No friction blocks were used to further dissipate the energy. In sedimentation experiments under regular and slotted sills, there was no sedimentation left. KW - Culverts KW - Dissipation KW - Flow KW - Hydraulic jump KW - Laboratory studies KW - Optimization KW - Scour KW - Sedimentation KW - Slopes UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1423511 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01577114 AU - Bowlby, William AU - Pratt, Geoffrey AU - Kaliski, Kenneth AU - RSG, Incorporated AU - Bowlby & Associates, Incorporated AU - Environmental Acoustics AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Noise Barrier Acceptance Criteria: Evaluation Tools PY - 2013/09 SP - v.p. AB - This report describes two tools for evaluating the effects on noise abatement decisions caused by changes to the feasibility and reasonableness criteria in state highway agency (SHA) noise policies developed under the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) noise regulation in 23 CFR 772. The Noise Abatement Feasibility and Reasonableness Analysis Tool (NAFRAT) uses results from noise barrier designs created with the FHWA Traffic Noise Model Version 2.5. Results are built in for two designs for each of four actual highway projects or may be user-entered. The analyst may test abatement decisions for one or more designs for a single project against one or more sets of policy criteria or multiple projects' designs against one or more sets of criteria. The Noise Abatement Reasonableness Sensitivity Analysis Tool (NARSAT) is based on series of 108 cases derived from hypothetical scenarios involving: one, two, and three rows of receptors; three different receptor densities; two different setbacks from the barrier to the first row of receptors; and six different barrier heights. Both tools include the current policy criteria in most of the SHA noise policies. The tools were utilized for research documented in a companion report. KW - Decision making KW - Evaluation KW - Feasibility analysis KW - Noise barriers KW - Noise control KW - Policy KW - Sensitivity analysis KW - State highway departments KW - Traffic Noise Model UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/noise/noise_barriers/acceptance_criteria/evaluation_tools/et00.cfm UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370095 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01577101 AU - Bowlby, William AU - Pratt, Geoffrey AU - Kaliski, Kenneth AU - RSG, Incorporated AU - Bowlby & Associates, Incorporated AU - Environmental Acoustics AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Noise Barrier Acceptance Criteria: Analysis PY - 2013/09 SP - 121p AB - This report examines the feasibility and reasonableness factors in the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) noise regulation (23 CFR 772) as implemented in the individual state highway agency noise policies. The studied factors include: (1) Feasibility: noise reduction and quantity of impacted receptors achieving that reduction and (2) Reasonableness: benefited noise reduction; noise reduction design goal and quantity of benefited receptors achieving that goal; cost effectiveness (allowable cost or barrier area per benefited receptor). The analysis examines how changes in the permissible ranges for each factor – while the others factors remain static – affect noise abatement decisions. Also examined is how changes to multiple factors in combination affect decisions. The goal was to identify combinations of factors that are likely to result in inclusion or exclusion of noise abatement. The range in potential decisions based on the combinations permitted under the regulation is examined to provide an aid for future policy guidance and planning. A sensitivity analysis on the factors identifies outcomes of possible combinations of factors. Actual highway projects are also used to identify the effects on the likelihood of abatement. Reported separately is the development of tools to evaluate the effects of policy changes on abatement feasibility and reasonableness. KW - Cost effectiveness KW - Decision making KW - Feasibility analysis KW - Implementation KW - Noise barriers KW - Noise control KW - Policy KW - Sensitivity analysis KW - State highway departments UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/noise/noise_barriers/acceptance_criteria/analysis/analysis.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370094 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01570358 AU - Levine, J AU - Zellner, M AU - Shiftan, Y AU - Arquero de Alarcon, M AU - Diffenderfer, A AU - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor AU - University of Illinois, Chicago AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Effects of Automated Transit, Pedestrian, and Bicycling Facilities on Urban Travel Patterns PY - 2013/09 SP - 260p AB - Transit in the United States often suffers from the problem of inability to deliver travelers all the way from their point of origin to their destination. This “last-mile” problem is thought to deter transit use among riders with auto access, even when high-quality transit service is provided for the majority of the trip distance. This study explores how transportation improvements, including automated driverless community transit between origins of trips and nearby transit stations, and urban-design improvements enhancing pedestrians’ and cyclists’ commute might help overcome the last-mile problem. This study was based on four neighborhoods in metropolitan Chicago, selected as an area with significant regional rail but also room to grow in terms of transit use. The neighborhoods were chosen to represent similar access to the Chicago Transportation Authority (CTA) rail system but different combinations of affluence and density: higher-income/higher-density (Evanston); higher-income/lower-density (Skokie); lower-income/higher-density (Pilsen) and lower-income/lower-density (Cicero). Overall, the presence of the community transit and urban-design improvements had a marked effect on the sample modeled. The sample lived within 1.5 miles of a CTA rail station and worked within 3 miles of a station. The transportation mode choices of this group were modeled with and without community transit and a set of urban amenities. Deploying these reduced driving by between 7 and 29 percentage points; the largest percentage-point reductions were in the more auto-oriented areas of Cicero (16 percentage points) and Skokie (29 percentage points). Auto-use reductions were somewhat lower in areas with greater transit use to begin with: Pilsen (8 percentage points) and Evanston (7 percentage points). Use of the train increased between 9 and 28 percentage points, with more auto-oriented Skokie (28 percentage points) and Cicero (23 percentage points) exceeding the denser Pilsen (12 percentage points) and Evanston (9 percentage points). CTA mode shares among the sampled/modeled population increased from 24% to 52% in Skokie, 46% to 55% in Evanston, 52%to 75% in Cicero, and 52% to 64% in Pilsen. Across all neighborhoods community transit is forecast to decrease car share from its current 36% to 22% and increase CTA share from its current 50% to 67%. The findings that community transit produced greater change in the lower density areas of Skokie and Cicero are among the more robust in the study. Results from the stated-preference experiments suggest that these changes could be further improved with supportive augmenting policies, notably pertaining to parking pricing. KW - Bicycle facilities KW - Chicago (Illinois) KW - Improvements KW - Income KW - Modal split KW - Mode choice KW - Pedestrian areas KW - Population density KW - Public transit KW - Stated preferences KW - Travel patterns KW - Urban areas KW - Urban design UR - https://taubmancollege.umich.edu/faculty/faculty-publications/effects-automated-transit-pedestrian-and-bicycling-facilities-urban UR - https://taubmancollege.umich.edu/sites/default/files/files/effects-of-automated-transit-pedestrian-and-bicyling-facilities-on-urban-travel-patterns.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1361372 ER - TY - SER AN - 01570316 JO - TechBrief PB - Federal Highway Administration TI - Asphalt Material Characterization for AASHTOWare® Pavement ME Design Using an Asphalt Mixture Performance Tester (AMPT) PY - 2013/09 SP - 11p AB - This Technical Brief provides an overview of the asphalt materials input requirements in AASHTOWare® Pavement Mechanistic Empirical (ME) Design and how the Asphalt Mixture Performance Tester can be used to characterize asphalt mixtures for flexible pavement ME designs. The Asphalt Mixture Performance Tester (AMPT) is a servo-hydraulic testing device developed to test asphalt mixtures over a range of temperatures and frequencies KW - Asphalt Mixture Performance Tester KW - Asphalt mixtures KW - Data collection KW - Flexible pavements KW - Mechanistic-empirical pavement design KW - Software UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/pubs/hif13060.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1360025 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01562613 AU - Binder, Lara Whitely AU - Tohver, Ingrid AU - Shatzkin, Amy AU - Snover, Amy K AU - Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - Sound Transit Climate Risk Reduction Project PY - 2013/09 SP - 260p AB - The Climate Risk Reduction Project assessed how climate change may affect Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (Sound Transit) commuter rail, light rail, and express bus services. The project identified potential climate change impacts on agency operations, assets, and long-term planning; options for strengthening the agency’s resilience to these impacts; and opportunities for integrating climate change considerations into agency decision making processes. The project concluded that many climate change impacts will likely be minor to moderate, although potentially significant impacts are possible with higher rates of sea-level rise and mudslide activity KW - Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority KW - Climate change KW - Decision making KW - Long range planning KW - Public transit KW - Risk assessment KW - Risk management KW - Transit operating agencies UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Report_No._0075.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55500/55558/FTA_Report_No._0075.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1352132 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01555760 AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - 2013 National Aviation Research Plan PY - 2013/09 SP - 155p AB - The National Aviation Research Plan (NARP) is the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA’s) performance-based plan to ensure that research and development (R&D) investments are well managed, deliver results, and sufficiently address national aviation priorities. The NARP integrates the FAA R&D programs into a portfolio that addresses the near-, mid-, and far-term research needs of the aviation community. The NARP features R&D principles and goals that support the strategic visions laid out by the President, Secretary of Transportation, and FAA Administrator. This approach enables the FAA to address the current challenges of operating the safest, most efficient air transportation system in the world while building a foundation for the future system in an environmentally sound manner. In 2012, the R&D Executive Board (REB) thoroughly analyzed the existing 10 R&D goals, R&D Targets, and Methods of Validation and replaced them with 3 new R&D principles and 22 R&D goals. The three R&D principles align with the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) National Aeronautics Research and Development Plan, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2012–2016, and FAA strategic planning. The new R&D goals cover the FAA’s main research areas of Aircraft Safety, Weather, National Airspace System (NAS) Operations, Commercial Space, Airports, and Environment and Energy. KW - Airports KW - Aviation safety KW - Commercial space transportation KW - Energy KW - Environmental impacts KW - National Airspace System KW - Research KW - Strategic planning KW - Weather UR - http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ang/offices/tc/about/campus/faa_host/rdm/media/pdf/2013NARP.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1344317 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01548583 AU - Preisen, Linda AU - Deeter, Dean AU - Roelofs, Tina AU - Athey Creek Consultants AU - Michigan Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Use and Impacts of Camera Images and Other Displays of Traveler Information PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 67p AB - The overall objective of this project was to understand the use and impacts of camera images and other “unverified” displays of information that can be interpreted by travelers, especially when compared to the use of verified reports. It is anticipated that the results from this project could be used by agencies who are questioning whether to display “unverified” information to travelers or whether they should increase/decrease their current displays (e.g. add more cameras for display to the public). The focus of the project was on traveler information websites hosted by transportation agencies, as opposed to information accessed via agency 511 phone lines, changeable message signs on roadways, or other sources of traveler information. KW - Cameras KW - Imagery KW - Information management KW - Transportation departments KW - Traveler information and communication systems KW - Websites (Information retrieval) UR - http://enterprise.prog.org/Projects/2010_Present/interpretable/ENT_Use_Impacts_Cameras_TravelerInfo_Rpt_FINAL_Sept2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1333226 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01541446 AU - Szary, Patrick AU - Roda, Andrés M AU - Monopolis, Christopher AU - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration AU - New Jersey Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Supplement to the Bridge Resource Program: State-of-the-Art Practices of Mass Concrete: A Literature Review PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 19p AB - The mission of Rutgers University’s Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) Bridge Resource Program (BRP) is to provide bridge engineering support to the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT)’s Bridge Engineering and Infrastructure Management Unit. The program is a partnership between federal and state transportation agencies and Rutgers University, which provides technical and educational services to address infrastructure needs in New Jersey. CAIT supports the NJDOT by providing staff and resources to address the most pressing bridge engineering and training challenges in New Jersey (through advanced materials development, design enhancements, construction improvements, evaluation, monitoring, data mining, management enhancement and support, and bridge research). The purpose of this grant is to supplement the Bridge Resource Program through the on-call investigation of mass concrete construction practices, which resulted in a report to NJDOT on state-of-the-art practices in mass concrete construction. The findings in the report were used to compare with the Thermal Control Plan for the Route 7 Wittpenn Bridge Pier 1W cap as well as the current mass concrete specifications included in the NJDOT 2007 Standard Specifications. The review focused on material composition, with description of each component’s contribution to heat of hydration. The team observed that the literature focused on two areas of concern, maximum temperature reached during curing and thermal differentials between the core and surface of the mass concrete element. The literature has extensively documented the urgency of maintaining the maximum curing temperature below 160°F. The adverse effects associated with exceeding the maximum temperature threshold are severe, but not visible for months or years after construction. This threshold should never be exceeded. The literature also documents damages resulting from exceeding temperature differential thresholds, which are more immediate and can be identified during construction. The thermal-induced cracking that results may be repaired through industry accepted means, from seals, coatings for hairline cracking, to more comprehensive repairs. During early stages of curing, the concrete has not developed sufficient strength to resist excessive thermal gradients. Thus, form insulation and other methods to protect the concrete surface from dissipating heat greatly or reach excessively high peak temperatures reduces the likelihood of deleterious effects. The results of this literature review suggest that current research and industry agree that temperature thresholds are critical to mass concrete. Proper controls must be established in order to ensure well-performing concrete elements to be constructed. KW - Bridge construction KW - Concrete curing KW - Heat of hydration KW - Literature reviews KW - Mass concrete KW - Mix design KW - New Jersey KW - State of the practice KW - Temperature KW - Thermal degradation UR - https://cait.rutgers.edu/files/CAIT-UTC-006-final.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1326370 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01530136 AU - Ge, Maochen AU - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety/NUTC program AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Breaking Wire Detection and Strain Distribution of Seven-Wire Steel Cables with Acoustic Emission and Optical Fiber Sensors PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 7p AB - Cable-stayed bridges have been increasingly used as river-crossing links in highway and railway transportation networks. In the event of an abnormal situation, they can not only impact the local and national economy but also threaten the safety of passengers. To assess the structural condition of cables, the strain distribution among multiple wires must be effectively determined as one or more wires are broken due to overstress and/or corrosion. This proposal is focused on a preliminary study of wire breakage detection and associated strain redistribution. The specific objectives are to develop and validate a new algorithm for the localization of broken wires with acoustic emission technology and a new model for the determination of strain redistribution with distributed optical fiber sensor measurements. Both laboratory tests and numerical simulations will be conducted to understand the mechanism of strain redistribution as a result of wire breakage. In particular, a seven-wire steel cable will be tested and analyzed to take into account both the initial stress due to wire twisting and the friction effect between wires. For sensitivity study, various section losses in percentage of sectional area will be considered to understand the effective length of a cable over which the strain condition prior to the loss of wire sections can be recovered. KW - Acoustic emission KW - Bridge cables KW - Cable stayed bridges KW - Deformation curve KW - Fracture mechanics KW - Optical fibers KW - Sensors KW - Wire UR - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/R305%20Final%20Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1315448 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01529432 AU - Hanley, Richard C AU - Connecticut Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Development of an Automated Stop Sign Recognition System (ASRS) PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 26p AB - The objective of this project was to develop a system to recognize the presence of stop signs occurring in Connecticut Department of Transportation photolog images of the state highway system. KW - Automation KW - Connecticut Department of Transportation KW - Image processing KW - Photointerpretation KW - Photologging KW - Stop signs UR - http://www.ct.gov/dot/lib/dot/documents/dresearch/CT-2221-F-05-7.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1311230 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01529294 AU - Hall, Andrea AU - Walton, C Michael AU - Jin, Peter J AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Southwest Region University Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Transportation Revenue Impacts from a Changing Light-Duty Vehicle Fleet PY - 2013/09//Research Report SP - 87p AB - Advanced fuel economies in both traditional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEs) and electric vehicles (EVs) have a strong influence on transportation revenue by reducing fuel consumption per vehicle and ultimately drawing down the amount of fuel tax revenue received. It is expected that more ICE vehicles with advanced fuel economies and EVs, especially gasoline hybrid EVs, will enter the roadway in coming years, and fuel tax revenues and the Highway Trust Fund will increasingly become more affected. This study estimates the impact that increased sales of advanced ICEs and EVs will have on future fuel tax revenues by drawing on industry estimates of future EV and ICE market shares and anticipates future fleet mix and fuel economy for both vehicle technologies. An estimation process overview is provided and assumptions are described. Fuel tax revenue amounts that would be expected from future light vehicle fleets with increased shares of EVs are compared to equivalently sized fleets composed of all ICEs, and future fleet mixes are estimated. Results show that as more EVs enter the light vehicle fleet, greater revenue losses are expected, and total losses from years 2011 through 2050 depend on fleet composition and fuel economy of both vehicle types. It is found that the amount of fuel taxes paid by ICE drivers each year remain greater than fuel taxes paid by EV drivers even with advances in the average ICE vehicle fuel economy. Finally, a review of alternative revenue generation methods that states are employing to cover fuel tax revenue gaps is given. KW - Economic impacts KW - Electric vehicles KW - Fuel consumption KW - Fuel taxes KW - Internal combustion engines KW - Light vehicles KW - Market share KW - Revenues KW - Vehicle fleets UR - http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/600451-00073-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1312414 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01523314 AU - Barr, Paul AU - Halling, Marv AU - Higgs, Arek AU - Utah State University, Logan AU - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation AU - Utah Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Forensic Testing of Prestress Concrete Girders after Forty Years of Service PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 127p AB - This report describes an investigation to quantify the behavior of precast, prestressed concrete bridge girders made with high-strength concrete. As part of the investigation, four bridge girders that were made with 77.2 MPs (11.2 ksi) concrete were salvaged from a decommissioned bridge in Orem, Utah. Each girder was subjected to a cracking test to determine the residual prestress force after approximately seven years of service life. Once the prestress losses were quantified, a flexural capacity test was performed on one girder and shear capacity tests were performed at various distances from the support on the remaining three girders. The measured losses and capacities were compared to estimated values calculated according to procedures in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Load and Resistance Factor Design (AASHTO LRFD) Specifications. It was concluded that, in general, the AASHTO LRFD procedures were accurate despite the current limitation of restricting the concrete compressive strength to 68.9 MPs (10.0 ksi). In addition to the physical tests, a nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted using ANSYS that was found to replicate the experimental behavior, failure and mechanism magnitude. KW - AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications KW - Bending stress KW - Cracking KW - Finite element method KW - Girders KW - Prestressed concrete KW - Service life KW - Shear tests KW - Utah UR - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/CAIT-UTC-004-final_2.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1307062 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01523311 AU - Barr, Paul J AU - Halling, Marv W AU - Wells, Zane AU - Utah State University, Logan AU - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation AU - Utah Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - ABC Deck Panel Testing PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 82p AB - Accelerated Bridge Construction techniques have resulted in innovative options that save time and money during the construction of bridges. One such group of techniques that has generated considerable interest is the usage of individual precast concrete decks in place of cast-in-place bridge decks. Utilizing precast concrete decks allow for offsite curing, thus eliminating long delays due to formwork and concrete curing time. These precast concrete decks have inherent joints between the individual panels. These joints are locations for potential leakage, which can lead to corrosion or inadequate long-term performance. Post-tensioning the precast deck panels helps to eliminate leakage; however, conventional longitudinal post-tensioning systems require complete deck replacement in the event of a single faulty deck panel. A proposed post-tensioned, curved strand connection that allows for a single panel replacement was studied for this research. The capacity of the proposed curved strand connection was investigated in order to compare its behavior to other systems that are currently in use. KW - Bridge construction KW - Bridge decks KW - Bridge members KW - Joints (Engineering) KW - Posttensioning KW - Precast concrete UR - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/CAIT-UTC-003-final_0.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1307061 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01522377 AU - Rumsey, Alan AU - Colangelo, Lori AU - Astell, Nigel AU - Ghaly, Nabil AU - Delcan Corporation AU - Federal Transit Administration AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - An Assessment of the Business Case for Communications-Based Train Control PY - 2013/09 SP - 195p AB - This study examines the retrofit of Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) on two North American transit properties, namely New York City Transit (NYCT) and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), with the objective of assessing the benefits realized and implementation challenges experienced. The study validates broader industry experience that CBTC offers benefits that cannot be achieved with prior generations of signaling technology. The study also highlights that the challenges in upgrading the signaling/train control systems on an existing high-capacity mass transit system should not be underestimated. To this end, the study recommends that an increased emphasis on a Systems Engineering process be adopted throughout the life-cycle of a CBTC upgrade project. This study provides transit agencies contemplating a CBTC upgrade program with a better understanding of CBTC technology, as well as a tool to assist in the planning, business case development, and management of CBTC projects. KW - Automatic train control KW - Benefit cost analysis KW - Communications Based Train Control KW - Implementation KW - New York City Transit Authority KW - Rail transit KW - Recommendations KW - Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority KW - Systems engineering UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_REPORT_No._0045.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1303969 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01522313 AU - Cabrera, Antonio AU - Vargas, Marcelo AU - MTA-NYCT AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - Automated Track Video Inspection Pilot Project PY - 2013/09 SP - 84p AB - This project had two main objectives. The first was to improve the safety of transit workers, specifically right-of-way safety for rail transit workers through demonstration of advanced track inspection techniques that limit the inspector’s exposure to rail right-of-way by visually inspecting the condition of the tracks from a safe location. The second objective was to enhance the quality of inspection by the use of objective, high-quality video systems capable of recording detailed images of the track and its main components at train speeds, coupled and synchronized with the use of multiple measuring systems installed onboard a Track Inspection Car. This report describes the use of those systems under a Pilot Project performed by MTA-NYCT using its TGC4 car on a segment of the Flushing Line (#7 Train) in New York City and includes a discussion of the results and benefits found by the use of the video and measuring systems together. KW - Inspection KW - Inspection cars KW - Maintenance of way KW - New York (New York) KW - Occupational safety KW - Pilot studies KW - Rail transit KW - Railroad tracks KW - Video cameras UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Report_No._0049.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55500/55536/FTA_Report_No._0049.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1306587 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01520710 AU - Szary, Patrick AU - Roda, Andres M AU - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation AU - New Jersey Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Bridge Resource Program PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 25p AB - The mission of Rutgers University’s Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) Bridge Resource Program (BRP) is to provide bridge engineering support to the New Jersey Department of Transportation's (NJDOT's) Bridge Engineering and Infrastructure Management Unit. The program is a partnership between federal and state transportation agencies and Rutgers University, which provides technical and educational services to address infrastructure needs in New Jersey. CAIT supports the NJDOT by providing staff and resources to address the most pressing bridge engineering and training challenges in New Jersey (through advanced materials development, design enhancements, construction improvements, evaluation, monitoring, data mining, management enhancement and support, and bridge research). The overarching goal of the Bridge Resource Program is to achieve more effective asset management. This includes consideration and potential adoption of next generation assessment approaches to augment current reliance on qualitative condition metrics with more quantitative performance metrics. Although conventional engineering terms are used in this proposal to describe program services, the proposed tasks within each service will be focused on providing decision making assistance for concept development. BRP has provided opportunities to bring technologies to NJDOT, review existing practices, and propose the use of new construction techniques to improve asset management, design and construction practices. In addition, it has created a new channel of communication between CAIT and NJDOT that allows for the rapid deployment of innovative technologies. In the future, the BRP is envisioned to continue to identify opportunities for innovation. It is anticipated that new research topics will be borne out of the program. As research is completed, it can return back to the BRP for pilot testing and recommendation for deployment. The cycle of innovation, testing, implementation and need for further innovation can be perpetuated through the creation of similar resource programs. KW - Asset management KW - Bridge engineering KW - Bridge management systems KW - Decision support systems KW - New Jersey Department of Transportation KW - Performance measurement KW - Technological innovations UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1303631 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01519011 AU - Richard, Christian M AU - Campbell, John L AU - Lichty, Monica G AU - Brown, James L AU - Chrysler, Susan AU - Lee, John D AU - Boyle, Linda AU - Reagle, George AU - Battelle Memorial Institute AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Motivations for Speeding, Volume III: Appendices. PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 109p AB - This is Volume III of a three-volume report. The report contains the results of a study that examined the speeding behavior of drivers in their own vehicles over the course of three to four weeks of naturalistic driving in urban (Seattle, Washington) and rural (College Station, Texas) settings. The purpose of this research was to (1) identify the reasons why drivers speed, (2) model the relative roles of situational, demographic, and personality factors in predicting travel speeds, (3) classify speeders, and (4) identify interventions/countermeasures and strategies for reducing speeding behaviors. Data collected from 164 drivers included 1-Hz recordings of vehicle position and speed using global positioning system (GPS) receivers, responses to a battery of a personal inventory questionnaires, and daily driving logs that captured trip-specific situational factors. Vehicle speed and position data were combined with road network data containing validated posted speed information to identify speeding episodes. The descriptive analysis of speeding data provided evidence for different types of speeding behaviors among individual drivers including: (1) infrequent or incidental speeding, which may be unintentional, (2) trip-specific situational speeding, (3) taking many trips with a small amount of speeding per trip (i.e., casual speeding), and (4) habitual or chronic speeding. Regression models were developed to identify predictors of “any” speeding (logistic regression) and amount of speeding (linear regressions). Significant predictors included demographic variables such as age and gender, situational factors such as time-of-day and day-of-week, and key personal inventory factors such as attitudes towards reckless driving. In addition, focus group discussions were conducted with a subset of study participants who were classified as “speeders” and “non-speeders” to identify key attitudes and beliefs towards speeding and the effectiveness of potential countermeasures. KW - Automobile drivers KW - Behavior KW - College Station (Texas) KW - Factor analysis KW - Focus groups KW - Information processing KW - Linear regression analysis KW - Logistic regression analysis KW - Personality KW - Seattle (Washington) KW - Speeding KW - Validation UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811819.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1300468 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01518773 AU - Richard, Christian M AU - Campbell, John L AU - Lichty, Monica G AU - Brown, James L AU - Chrysler, Susan AU - Lee, John D AU - Boyle, Linda AU - Reagle, George AU - Battelle Memorial Institute AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Motivations for Speeding, Volume II: Findings Report PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 204p AB - This is Volume II of a three-volume report. It contains the results of a study that examined the speeding behavior of drivers in their own vehicles over the course of three to four weeks of naturalistic driving in urban (Seattle, Washington) and rural (College Station, Texas) settings. The purpose of this research was to (1) identify the reasons why drivers speed, (2) model the relative roles of situational, demographic, and personality factors in predicting travel speeds, (3) classify speeders, and (4) identify interventions/countermeasures and strategies for reducing speeding behaviors. Data collected from 164 drivers included 1-Hz recordings of vehicle position and speed using global positioning system (GPS) receivers, responses to a battery of a personal inventory questionnaires, and daily driving logs that captured trip-specific situational factors. Vehicle speed and position data were combined with road network data containing validated posted speed information to identify speeding episodes. The descriptive analysis of speeding data provided evidence for different types of speeding behaviors among individual drivers including: (1) infrequent or incidental speeding, which may be unintentional, (2) trip-specific situational speeding, (3) taking many trips with a small amount of speeding per trip (i.e., casual speeding), and (4) habitual or chronic speeding. Regression models were developed to identify predictors of “any” speeding (logistic regression) and amount of speeding (linear regressions). Significant predictors included demographic variables such as age and gender, situational factors such as time-of-day and day-of-week, and key personal inventory factors such as attitudes towards reckless driving. In addition, focus group discussions were conducted with a subset of study participants who were classified as “speeders” and “non-speeders” to identify key attitudes and beliefs towards speeding and the effectiveness of potential countermeasures. KW - Attitudes KW - Automobile drivers KW - Behavior KW - College Station (Texas) KW - Countermeasures KW - Demographics KW - Focus groups KW - Personality KW - Seattle (Washington) KW - Speeding UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811818.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1300586 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516506 AU - Friedman-Berg, Ferne AU - Racine, Nicole AU - Federal Aviation Administration AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - Staffed NextGen Tower: A Camera Integration and Computer-Human Interface Part-Task Evaluation PY - 2013/09//Technical Report SP - 66p AB - The purpose of this study was to elicit user feedback and identify computer-human interface issues related to integrating the camera views onto the Staffed NextGen Tower (SNT) displays prior to full human-in-the-loop simulations. Tower controllers in proposed SNT environments will use certified surveillance and camera views instead of the out-the-window view while providing Air Traffic Control services. As the use of cameras for this purpose is a new concept, there are many different ways this concept could be implemented. This study examined some of the alternatives for implementing the SNT concept in a realistic environment. In this study, four NextGen Air Traffic Control Management Cadre members controlled traffic and evaluated camera use during nine 15-minute, low-level traffic scenarios that included off-nominal events. At the end of each scenario and at the end of the study, the participants completed a questionnaire, suggested improvements, and provided comments on adequacy, necessity, and usability of the cameras and displays. The participants suggested making several changes to the camera system prior to future studies. These suggestions included changing the camera placement, increasing the camera resolution, and providing independent cameras for each control position. The participants identified viewing aircraft on final approach and holding short of runways as potential applications for cameras in an SNT environment. Participants also identified the need for some type of alerting decision-support tool. Participants provided specific feedback that can lead to changes in the way the SNT concept is implemented. Suggested improvements from this study will be incorporated into a future SNT human-in-the-loop simulation and into field demonstrations. The changes identified in this study will guide the future implementation of the SNT concept. KW - Air traffic control KW - Air traffic controllers KW - Airport control towers KW - Cameras KW - Information display systems KW - Next Generation Air Transportation System KW - Simulation KW - Surveillance KW - User interfaces (Computer science) UR - http://www.tc.faa.gov/its/worldpac/techrpt/tc13-45.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290613 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516418 AU - Ukkusuri, Satish V AU - Kamga, Camille AU - Zhan, Xianyuan AU - Qian, Xinwu AU - City College of New York of the City University of New York AU - University Transportation Research Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - The Use of Large Scale Datasets for Understanding Traffic Network State PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 66p AB - The goal of this proposal is to develop novel modeling techniques to infer individual activity patterns from the large scale cell phone datasets and taxi data from New York City (NYC). As such large scale, disaggregate data provides a unique perspective to understand the complex interactions among human behavior, urban environments and traffic patterns. Urban development shapes the transportation systems, it determines what kind of transportation system a city has, and what does it look like. As an important dynamic component in urban systems, activities of transportation systems in turn capture the dynamics of the entire urban system and enhance knowledge about the complex urban system. This will ultimately contribute to the improvement of level of service and policy making on transportation systems. Taxi as a transportation tool has its unique characteristics. It is capable of capturing urban movement patterns both spatially and temporally since they serve as real‐time probes in the network. Moreover, one may examine the pulse of the city, the gap between supply and demand, real time road congestion and even more. On the other hand, accurate estimation and prediction of urban link travel times are important for improving urban traffic operations and identifying key bottlenecks in the traffic network. They can also benefit users by providing accurate travel time information, thereby allowing better route choice in the network and minimizing overall trip travel time. However, to accurately assess link travel times, it is important to have good real-time information from either in-road sensors such as loop detectors, microwave sensors, or roadside cameras, or mobile sensors (e.g. floating cars) or Global Positioning System (GPS) devices (e.g. cell phones). In most of these cases, only limited information is available related to speed or location, hence, one has to develop appropriate methodologies to accurately estimate the performance metric of interest at the link, path or network level. Taxis equipped with GPS units provide a significant amount of data over days and months thereby providing a rich source of data for estimating network wide performance metrics. However, currently there are limited methodologies making use of this new source of data to estimate link or path travel times in the urban network. Within this context, this study proposes a new method for estimating hourly urban link travel times using large-scale taxicab data with partial information. The taxicab data used in this research provides limited trip information, which only contains the origin and destination location coordinates, travel time and distance of a trip. However, the extensive amount of data records compensates for the incompleteness of the data and makes the link travel time estimation possible. A novel algorithm for estimating the link travel times is also proposed and tested in this research. KW - Activity choices KW - Algorithms KW - Cellular telephones KW - Data collection KW - Global Positioning System KW - New York (New York) KW - Origin and destination KW - Taxicabs KW - Travel patterns KW - Travel time KW - Trip length KW - Urban areas UR - http://www.utrc2.org/sites/default/files/pubs/Final-Report-Traffic-Network-State_0.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1299690 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516335 AU - Van Dongen, Hans P A AU - Mollicone, Daniel J AU - Washington State University, Spokane AU - Pulsar Informatics AU - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration TI - Field Study on the Efficacy of the New Restart Provision for Hours of Service PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 52p AB - The objective of this research project was to examine the efficacy of the new restart rule promulgated as part of the Hours of Service of Drivers Final Rule, published on December 27, 2011, with a compliance date of July 1, 2013. Under the new restart rule, if commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers choose to use a provision allowing “restart” of the 60- or 70-hour duty-cycle limit, they are required to include at least two nighttime periods (from 1 a.m. until 5 a.m.) in their restart breaks in order to have sufficient time for sleep recuperation before beginning another duty cycle. To investigate the efficacy of the new rule, a naturalistic field study was conducted (prior to the compliance date) to assess fatigue in drivers working their normal schedules and performing their normal duties. During this study, researchers performed a comparison of driver fatigue during duty cycles preceded by a restart break with only one nighttime period versus duty cycles preceded by a restart break with two or more nighttime periods. Findings included the following results, which constitute evidence in support of the efficacy of the new restart rule: (1) Drivers affected by the new rule were primarily nighttime drivers. The new rule thus targets those drivers who are at the greatest risk of fatigue. (2) Drivers affected by the new rule reverted to a predominantly nighttime sleep schedule during the restart break. Extending the restart break for drivers affected by the new rule to include an additional nighttime period thus provides them with greater opportunity for sleep recuperation. (3) Drivers who would have already been compliant with the new rule showed less fatigue than those affected by the new rule. This implies that having at least two nighttime periods (from 1 a.m. until 5 a.m.) in the restart break helps to mitigate fatigue. KW - Commercial drivers KW - Fatigue (Physiological condition) KW - Field studies KW - Hours of labor KW - Hours of Service Act KW - Night shifts KW - Sleep UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51400/51417/Efficacy-of-HOS-Restart-Rule-Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1291094 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516279 AU - Berman, Jeffrey W AU - Roeder, Charles W AU - Burgdorfer, Ryan AU - University of Washington, Seattle AU - University of Washington, Seattle AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Determining the Cost/Benefit of Routine Maintenance Cleaning on Steel Bridges to Prevent Structural Deterioration PY - 2013/09//Final Research Report SP - 48p AB - This study was conducted in cooperation with the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. The objective of this study is to identify the key variables necessary in estimating the impact of regular washing of steel bridges on the paint and service life, recommend methods for recording data in order to most effectively estimate the benefits of bridge washing, and to develop a framework for assessing the impact of bridge washing on paint life. A literature review was conducted to learn more about the mechanisms of corrosion. Then a nationwide survey was sent out to state transportation agencies. A follow-up survey was conducted in order to obtain more detailed information about certain washing programs. It was concluded that little information on the effects of bridge washing exists and it is only deemed beneficial based on anecdotal assumptions. An experiment is proposed for Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) that will provide hard data to make a decision. KW - Benefit cost analysis KW - Corrosion KW - Literature reviews KW - Paint KW - Service life KW - State departments of transportation KW - Steel bridges KW - Surveys KW - Washing UR - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/811.1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290609 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01506518 AU - Silver, Steven AU - Mineta Transportation Institute AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Assessing Importance and Satisfaction Judgments of Intermodal Work Commuters with Electronic Survey Methodology PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 38p AB - Recent advances in multivariate methodology provide an opportunity to further the assessment of service offerings in public transportation for work commuting. Methodologies are used that are alternative to direct rating scale and have advantages in the quality and precision of measurement. The alternative of methodology for adaptive conjoint analysis for the measurement of the importance of attributes in service offering is implemented. Rasch scaling methodology is used for the measurement of satisfaction with these attributes. Advantages that these methodologies introduce for assessment of the respective constructs and use of the assessment are discussed. In a first study, the conjoint derived weights were shown to have predictive capabilities in applications to respondent distributions of a fixed total budget to improve overall service offerings. Results with the Rasch model indicate that the attribute measures are reliable and can adequately constitute a composite measure of satisfaction. The Rasch items were also shown to provide a basis to discriminate between privately owned vehicles (POVs) and public transport commuters. Dissatisfaction with uncertainty in travel time and income level of respondents were the best predictors of POV commuting. KW - Assessments KW - Commuters KW - Consumer preferences KW - Data collection KW - Methodology KW - Multivariate analysis KW - Santa Clara County (California) KW - Surveys UR - http://transweb.sjsu.edu/PDFs/research/1127-intermodal-work-commuter-satisfaction-assessment-electronic-methodology.pdf UR - http://transweb.sjsu.edu/project/1127.html UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290315 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01506251 AU - Rakoczy, Anna M AU - Nowak, Andrzej S AU - Mid-America Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Development of a Guide for Prioritization of Railway Bridges for Repair and Replacement PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 169p AB - The objective of this study was to develop evaluation bases for the repair, rehabilitation, and replacement of existing railway bridges. Considering the importance of bridges to the railway network, the research involved the review and analysis of major factors that influence structural performance, e.g., degree of corrosion, loss of material (section loss, holes), fatigue problems, and loose connections. In particular, the research focused on connections, and their importance relative to the evaluation of bridge performance. The relationship between various conditions and the ability to perform the required function (i.e., carry a freight train) was established in the form of maximum capacity. Sensitivity analysis was performed to establish the relationship between load and resistance factors. Results were presented in the form of graphs and tables. The outcomes of this study served as a basis for the development of a decision-making spread sheet. This report provides research documentation and offers a tool for bridge owners for the prioritization of structures for repair/rehabilitation or replacement. The study involved the nonlinear finite element method (FEM) analysis of stringer-to-floorbeam connections, the development of the resistance capacity of typical bridge connections, and the calculation of reduced capacity based on deterioration and other conditions. The findings and final conclusions of this research could serve as a basis for the development of more accurate provisions for the evaluation of railway bridges. KW - Decision making KW - Evaluation and assessment KW - Finite element method KW - Maintenance KW - Railroad bridges KW - Rehabilitation (Maintenance) KW - Structural analysis KW - Structural connection UR - http://matc.unl.edu/assets/documents/matcfinal/Rakoczy_DevelopmentofaGuideforPrioritizationofRailwayBridgesforRepairandReplacement.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290390 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01506236 AU - Geyer, Michael AU - Federal Aviation Administration AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Geometric Analysis of an Observer on a Spherical Earth and an Aircraft or Satellite PY - 2013/09//Project Memorandum SP - 82p AB - This memorandum contains a large amount of technical detail. However, in significant contrast, it addresses an easily-understood and fundamental need in surveillance and navigation systems analysis — quantifying the geometry of two locations relative to each other and to a spherical earth. Here, geometry simply means distances and angles. Sometimes, distances are the lengths of straight lines; in other cases they are the lengths of arcs on the earth’s surface. Similarly, angles may be measured between lines on a plane or between lines on a spherical surface. Because the earth has an established latitude/longitude coordinate system, the approach that first comes to mind is to address this situation as a three-dimensional problem and use vector analysis. However, the approach preferred here is that, to simplify and clarify the analysis process, the three-dimensional problem should be re-cast as two separate two-dimensional problems: vertical plane formulation and spherical surface formulation. KW - Aircraft KW - Artificial satellites KW - Earth KW - Formulas KW - Geometry KW - Navigation systems KW - Surveillance UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/48000/48500/48549/Project_Memo_DOT-VNTSC-FAA-13-08.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290304 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01505750 AU - Sobolev, Konstantin AU - Tabatabai, Habib AU - Zhao, Jian AU - Flores-Vivian, Ismael AU - Muzenski, Scott AU - Oliva, Michael G AU - Rose, Jeffryd AU - University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee AU - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Superhydrophobic Engineered Cementitious Composites for Highway Bridge Applications: Technology Transfer and Implementation PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 74p AB - The strength and durability of highway bridges are two of the key components in maintaining a high level of freight transportation capacity on the nation's highways. Superhydrophobic engineered cementitious composite (SECC) is a new advanced concrete material with polyvinyl alcohol fibers and hydrophobic compounds. The improved mechanical performance and improved durability of the material was demonstrated in CFIRE projects 04-09 and 05-10. SECC is an effective substitute to conventional concrete than can improve the strength and durability demanded in key regions of highway bridges. This report discusses the technology transfer of the material through the use of technical publications, conference presentations, and the creation of a web-based platform dedicated to the material. The implementation of the material as a link slab on a ramp leading to a parking structure is also discussed. KW - Composite materials KW - Engineered materials KW - Fiber composites KW - Highway bridges KW - Implementation KW - Information dissemination KW - Technology transfer UR - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/FR_CFIRE0603.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1284802 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01505736 AU - Rinker, Dylan AU - Beyerlein, Steve AU - Odom, Edwin AU - Hess, Herb AU - National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Formula Hybrid SAE PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 69p AB - User-friendly tools are needed for undergraduates to learn about component sizing, powertrain integration, and control strategies for student competitions involving hybrid vehicles. A TK Solver tool was developed at the University of Idaho for this purpose. The model simulates each of the dynamic events in the Formula Hybrid Society of Automotive Engineers (FHSAE) competition, predicting average speed, acceleration, and fuel consumption for different track segments. Model inputs included manufacturer's data along with bench tests of electrical and internal combustion (IC) engine components and roll-down data. This vehicle performance model was used to design the 2014 vehicle’s hybrid architecture, determine the energy allocation, and to select the batteries. Model predictions have been validated in full vehicle tests under simulated race conditions. The TK Solver tool has proven effective in making decisions about sizing gasoline and electric power components, establishing an optimal coupling connection between the electric motor and the gasoline engine, selecting and configuring the battery pack, tuning the gasoline engine, and making recommendations for energy management under different driving conditions. The resulting vehicle is being readied to compete in the 2014 FHSAE competition. KW - Decision support systems KW - Electric batteries KW - Hybrid vehicles KW - Mathematical models KW - Power train components KW - Power trains KW - Society of Automotive Engineers KW - University of Idaho KW - Vehicle components KW - Vehicle design KW - Vehicle tests UR - http://tranliveutc.org/~/media/Files/orgs/ENGR/Research/NIATT/TranLIVE/Final%20Reports/KLK908_FinalReport_v4 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1285415 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01505730 AU - Sobolev, Konstantin AU - Nosonovsky, Michael AU - Krupenkin, Tom AU - Flores-Vivian, Ismael AU - Rao, Sunil AU - Kozhukhova, Marina AU - Hejazi, Vahid AU - Muzenski, Scott AU - Bosch, Brandon AU - Rivero, Rossana AU - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Anti-Icing and De-Icing Superhydrophobic Concrete to Improve the Safety on Critical Elements on Roadway Pavements PY - 2013/09 SP - 54p AB - Icy roads lead to treacherous driving conditions in regions of the United States resulting in over 450 fatalities per year. De-icing chemicals, such as rock salt help to reduce ice formation on roadways to an extent, however also result in detrimental effects to concrete and especially reinforced concrete. The creation of an icephobic concrete can provide a much extended lifespan for critical elements of bridges and other transportation infrastructure. Moreover, the use of icephobic materials in highway infrastructure can significantly reduce the need for maintenance. With increasing costs for de-icing and anti-icing materials currently used on highways, and considering new environmental regulations, the need for new icephobic cementitious composites which can provide the required durability and mechanical response for critical elements of transportation infrastructure is evident. In this research, superhydrophobic siloxane admixtures were applied to concrete surfaces rendering them icephobic. These superhydrophobic admixtures were developed and investigated to reduce the ice adhesion to concrete surfaces. In addition, the proposed method involves the engineering of the hierarchical structure for concrete wearing surface by optimization of aggregates and the use of fibers. The research demonstrated that the best water repellent materials (measured by the contact angle) were obtained using polymethyl-hydrogen-siloxane. The addition of fibers and the dilution of the emulsion were found to be the parameters that greatly enhance the hydrophobicity. Diluted emulsions (5% active material) allow the fiber to produce a hierarchical surface of fibers and aggregates so the material has superhydrophobic properties. KW - Admixtures KW - Aggregates KW - Anti-icing KW - Composite materials KW - Concrete pavements KW - Deicing KW - Fiber composites KW - Hydrophobic properties KW - Water repellents UR - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/FR_CFIRE0703.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1285413 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01505666 AU - Zhao, Jian AU - Tabatabai, Habib AU - University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee AU - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Water Absorption Tests for Measuring Permeability of Field Concrete PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 26p AB - The research results from the National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) Project 04-06 were communicated to engineers and researchers in this project. Specifically, the water absorption of concrete samples (i.e., 2-in. thick, 4-in. diameter discs cut from concrete cylinders) was found to be strongly related to the chloride permeability of the samples. A test procedure was proposed based on the comments from the engineers and researchers in the related areas, and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards. Tests are needed following this procedure to facilitate the acceptance of the generated data and the comparison with the related data in the literature. KW - Absorption KW - Chlorides KW - Concrete KW - Moisture content KW - Permeability KW - Test procedures UR - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/FR_0605.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1284803 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01505591 AU - Frost, Ethan AU - Meier, Paul AU - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - UW Inventory of Freight Emissions (WIFE3) Heavy Duty Diesel Vehicle Web Calculator Methodology PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 16p AB - This document serves as an overview and technical documentation for the University of Wisconsin Inventory of Freight Emissions (WIFE3) calculator. The WIFE3 web calculator rapidly estimates future heavy duty diesel vehicle (HDDV) roadway emissions for the lower 48 United States states. Truck emissions are estimated using two primary data sources: a set of regional speed-dependent emission factors and an inventory of road-way specific truck travel. Emission factors are from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES). KW - Calculation KW - Diesel engine exhaust gases KW - Diesel trucks KW - Freight traffic KW - Heavy duty trucks KW - Methodology KW - Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES) KW - United States KW - Websites (Information retrieval) UR - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/FR_CFIRE0606.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1285211 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01504052 AU - Bond, Alex AU - Grant, Michael AU - Bauer, Jocelyn AU - Miller, Sheryl AU - Bowen, Beverly AU - Martin, Lindsey AU - Giragosian, Anna AU - Science Applications International Corporation AU - ICF International AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Programming for Operations: MPO Examples of Prioritizing and Funding Transportation System Management & Operations Strategies PY - 2013/09 SP - 52p AB - This document discusses how MPOs have incorporated TSMO projects into the programming phase of transportation investment decisionmaking in metropolitan areas. Based on a sample of practices from MPOs that have emphasized operations strategies in the planning process, this document highlights findings on: 1) Sources of funding that are being used for TSMO strategies. 2) Methods for prioritizing strategies for funding. 3) Staff resources devoted to TSMO-related activities. 4) Initial lessons learned about effective practices. This report includes case studies of practices related to programming TSMO strategies from nine MPOs around the country. KW - Financing KW - Metropolitan planning organizations KW - Programming (Planning) KW - Strategic planning KW - Transportation operations KW - Transportation planning KW - Transportation system management UR - http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop13050/fhwahop13050.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1284795 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01502119 AU - Farr, Victoria AU - Regan, Terry AU - Morse, Lindsey AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - City of Fresno Peer Exchange on Bus Rapid Transit: A TPCB Peer Exchange PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 28p AB - This report highlights key recommendations and best practices identified at the peer exchange on Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), held on May 21 and May 22, 2013, in Fresno, California. This event was sponsored by the Transportation Planning Capacity Building (TPCB) Peer Program, which is jointly funded by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and developed with assistance from the National Bus Rapid Transit Institute (NBRTI). Topics include: planning and implementation; planning and project delivery; integrating planning and operations; integrating land use; and financial planning. KW - Best practices KW - Bus rapid transit KW - Economic impacts KW - Fresno (California) KW - Implementation KW - Land use KW - Peer exchange KW - Recommendations KW - Transportation planning UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/48000/48300/48310/DOT-VNTSC-FTA-13-01.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1280321 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01502087 AU - Biton, Anna AU - Kay, Michael AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - National Park Service TI - Denali National Park: Bus Shuttle System Analysis PY - 2013/09 SP - 24p AB - This is the first in a series of briefs exploring best practices in the various ways to provide transit service in national parks. While Denali operates in a unique environment, the Visitor Transportation Service experience offers many lessons related to managing natural resources, using performance measures, working effectively with concessioners, and operating shuttle systems. Lessons learned include: strong park leadership and visionary thinking is essential to the success of a shuttle system; flexibility to use franchise fees to fund comprehensive data gathering yields beneficial analysis; limited access for private vehicles to the majority of the park raises the profile of the shuttle system; flexibility of operating agreement leads to sustained improvement in service; and outcome-based approaches foster creativity in operational service planning. KW - Best practices KW - Denali National Park and Preserve KW - National parks KW - Performance measurement KW - Public transit KW - Shuttle buses KW - Shuttle service UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/50000/50700/50708/NPS_WASO_2013_DENA_Bus_Shuttle_Analysis.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1280320 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01502041 AU - Joint Planning and Development Office TI - Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Comprehensive Plan: A Report on the Nation’s UAS Path Forward PY - 2013/09 SP - 30p AB - The Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Comprehensive Plan details work that has been accomplished, along with future efforts needed to achieve safe integration of UAS into the National Airspace System (NAS). Throughout Fiscal Year 2012 (FY12), work was conducted to develop elements required to create a more complete picture of achieving safe UAS integration. Representatives from the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) partner agencies – the Departments of Transportation (DOT), Defense (DoD), Commerce (DOC), and Homeland Security (DHS), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) – as well as industry representatives, provided through the FAA’s UAS Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC), have actively participated in constructing this Plan. Six high-level strategic goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely were developed to reflect the principal objective of safe UAS integration into the NAS. The overarching approach for these goals is to allow public integration to lay the framework for civil integration. The first two goals apply to small UAS (under 55 pounds) within visual line-of-sight (VLOS), assuming the public realm would be accomplished first and civil would follow; the third and fourth goals apply to the other UAS, with the same process: public would occur first and civil would follow. Goal 5 was established to plan and manage growing automation capabilities through research, and Goal 6 provides the opportunity for the United States to remain leaders in the international forum. The sum of these goals shows a phased-in approach for UAS integration in the NAS. KW - Automation KW - Aviation safety KW - Drone aircraft KW - National Airspace System KW - Next Generation Air Transportation System KW - Strategic planning KW - United States UR - http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/agi/reports/media/UAS_Comprehensive_Plan.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1279711 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01502020 AU - Rambha, Tarun AU - Boyles, Stephen D AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Southwest Region University Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Game Theory and Traffic Assignment PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 46p AB - Traffic assignment is used to determine the number of users on roadway links in a network. While this problem has been widely studied in transportation literature, its use of the concept of equilibrium has attracted considerable interest in the field of game theory. The approaches used in both transportation and game theory disciplines are explored, and the similarities and dissimilarities between them are studied. In particular, treatment of multiple equilibrium solutions using equilibrium refinements and learning algorithms which converge to equilibria under incomplete information and/or bounded rationality of players are discussed in detail. KW - Algorithms KW - Game theory KW - Learning KW - Route choice KW - Traffic assignment KW - Traffic equilibrium KW - Traffic models KW - Transportation planning UR - http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/600451-00065-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1280287 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01501996 AU - MacDougal, M AU - Stephens, D AU - Powertech Labs Incorporated AU - Battelle Memorial Institute AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Cumulative Fuel System Life Cycle and Durability Testing of Hydrogen Containers PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 38p AB - The goal of this Task Order was to assess the proposed test conditions used for evaluating life cycle durability of high-pressure hydrogen fuel containers. The key test conditions evaluated were representative high and low cycling temperatures, static hold time at high pressure, and the number of pneumatic hydrogen cycles required to reveal poor durability performance of high-pressure hydrogen fuel containers. The results of this Task Order provide data for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA’s) assessment and consideration as it evaluates the safety performance of compressed hydrogen fuel systems and the need for enhancement of appropriate Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). In addition, the results of this Task Order provide data to assist in resolving several open issues and concerns in the pneumatic test sequence of the 2009 edition of the Expected-Service Performance Verification Test procedure in the SAE Technical Information Report (TIR) 2579 for Fuel Systems in Fuel Cell and Other Hydrogen Vehicles. KW - Containers KW - Durability KW - Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards KW - Fuel cell vehicles KW - Fuel systems KW - Hydrogen KW - Hydrogen fuels KW - Life cycle analysis KW - Testing UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Crashworthiness/Alternative%20Energy%20Vehicle%20Systems%20Safety%20Research/811832.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1279832 ER - TY - SER AN - 01500400 JO - TRAFFIC TECH PB - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - 2012 National Survey on Bicyclist and Pedestrian Attitudes and Behavior PY - 2013/09 SP - 2p AB - In 2012, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted a national telephone survey to obtain a status report on attitudes, knowledge, and behavior related to outdoor walking and bicycling. This study updates national telephone survey data collected by NHTSA in 2002. The survey addressed safety and mobility issues; obtained trip information; and explored perceptions and use of public facilities such as sidewalks, bicycle lanes, and bicycle paths. The survey was administered to a probability-based sample of randomly selected people 16 and older. The field interviewing began July 12, 2012, and concluded November 18, 2012. A total of 7,509 respondents completed the interview, 5,297 using a landline telephone when responding and 2,212 using a cell phone. The data were weighted to produce national estimates. KW - Attitudes KW - Behavior KW - Bicycling KW - Bikeways KW - Cyclists KW - Pedestrian safety KW - Pedestrians KW - Sidewalks KW - Surveys KW - United States KW - Walking UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811842.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1278454 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01500397 AU - Higgins-Biddle, John AU - Dilonardo, Joan AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Alcohol and Highway Safety: Screening and Brief Intervention for Alcohol Problems as a Community Approach to Improving Traffic Safety PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 48p AB - Only a small fraction of the impaired drivers who are at risk for alcohol-impaired-driving crashes are arrested. These include drivers who drink regularly or occasionally to intoxication before they drive. Researchers have estimated the probability of being arrested while driving while intoxicated (DWI) with a blood alcohol concentration at or above .10 g/dL to be about 1 in 200. A similar study reported that only 23% of alcohol-positive drivers admitted to trauma units and emergency departments following crashes are convicted of DWI. This report provides an overview of the use of Screening and Brief Intervention (SBI) as a countermeasure for those who have displayed, or could potentially display, harmful/hazardous drinking behaviors, including drinking and driving. This report endeavors to acquaint the highway safety community with an overview of the development of SBI, the context in which SBI is employed, the efficacy and limitations of this approach, and the policy implications for traffic safety. KW - Alcohol abuse KW - Alcohol use KW - Countermeasures KW - Drunk drivers KW - Drunk driving KW - High risk drivers KW - Risk assessment KW - Traffic safety UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811836.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1278696 ER - TY - SER AN - 01500357 JO - TRAFFIC TECH PB - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Alcohol and Highway Safety: Screening and Brief Intervention for Alcohol Problems as a Community Approach to Improve Traffic Safety PY - 2013/09 SP - 3p AB - Only a small fraction of the impaired drivers who are at a high risk for alcohol-involved crashes are arrested. These include drivers who drink regularly or occasionally to intoxication before they drive. Researchers have estimated the probability of being arrested while driving while intoxicated (DWI) with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) over .10 g/dL to be about 1 in 200. A similar study reported that only 23% of drivers admitted to trauma units and emergency departments following alcohol-involved crashes are convicted of DWI. Thus it is important to develop countermeasures that make these high-risk drivers aware of their crash risks and to provide assistance. The development of Screening and Brief Intervention (SBI) procedures allows trained personnel in varied contexts to identify and address drivers at risk of impaired driving, outside of the criminal justice system. This report reviews the current state of knowledge on SBI. It specifically addresses the rationale for addressing at-risk drinkers, defines SBI, provides examples of how it is implemented, and describes some of the outcomes and implications of using SBI, including its effects on traffic safety. KW - Alcohol abuse KW - Alcohol use KW - Countermeasures KW - Drunk drivers KW - Drunk driving KW - High risk drivers KW - Risk assessment KW - Traffic safety UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811811.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1278456 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499938 AU - Tisdale, Stacey M AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Southwest Region University Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - U in the Driver Seat – A Peer-to-Peer Pilot Program for Decreasing Car Crashes by College Students PY - 2013/09//Summary Report, Final Report SP - 55p AB - The goal of this project was to build a peer-to-peer (P2P) model, U in the Driver Seat, targeted toward the college-aged audience at two college campuses. Researchers performed the following tasks: conducted pre- and post-assessments of driving risk awareness and self-reported driving behavior, performed field observations of seat belt use and driver’s use of electronic devices, established a leadership team at each campus, provided safety messages and promotional items to the team, provided ideas for project/safety messaging activities to the team, and assisted the teams in establishing a student-run designated driver program. The objectives of the study included: gaining a better understanding of risk awareness and attitudes toward driving dangers, measuring success of P2P messaging and activities for a college-aged audience, increasing understanding of safety messaging and design elements effective with this age group, and improving the program model. This summary report describes the established work plan, development, deployment, and findings from the pilot program. KW - Attitudes KW - Behavior KW - College students KW - Designated drivers KW - Distraction KW - Messages (Communications) KW - Peer groups KW - Peer-to-peer communication KW - Safety programs KW - Seat belt use KW - Texas KW - Traffic safety UR - http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/600451-00015-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1278027 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499686 AU - Blake, Tagan AU - Isaac, Lauren AU - Rose, David AU - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor AU - Parsons Brinckerhoff AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - Managing Railcar Maintenance: A Primer on Practices and Improvement Opportunities for the U.S. Transit Industry PY - 2013/09//1/2012-9/2013 SP - 205p AB - This report surveys the state-of-practice of transit railcar maintenance management and fleet management practices. It emphasizes a lifecycle management approach to fleet management. It also emphasizes the role of performance improvement programs and introduces Reliability-Centered Maintenance and Total Productive Maintenance as key examples of performance improvement approaches. The report also covers planning and performance measurement for rail fleet maintenance, as well as the role of supporting business processes and systems in railcar maintenance, including new vehicle procurement, facility upgrades, maintenance information systems, and purchasing and materials management. KW - Fleet management KW - Information systems KW - Maintenance management KW - Materials management KW - Passenger cars KW - Performance measurement KW - Purchasing KW - Rail transit KW - State of the practice KW - United States KW - Vehicle maintenance UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Report_No._0043.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1267335 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499645 AU - Konduri, Karthik AU - Lownes, Nicholas AU - Angueira, Jamie AU - Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering AU - Connecticut Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Analyzing the Economic Impacts of Transportation Projects PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 162p AB - The main goal of the study is to explore methods, approaches and analytical software tools for analyzing economic activity that results from large-scale transportation investments in Connecticut. The primary conclusion is that the transportation system and users of transportation infrastructure interact with the economy in complex ways, causing economic impacts. Therefore, in order to effectively analyze the economic impact of transportation projects, Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) should consider: (1) establishing the role of economic impact analysis in the state’s strategic transportation planning process; (2) adopting an objective, independent and consistent process for conducting economic impact analyses that incorporates the state’s regional, economic and political considerations; (3) building capacity of ConnDOT staff including their understanding of economic impact analysis and the tools used to conduct such analyses for use in the strategic planning process and to support and manage analysts that conduct the analyses; (4) utilizing analysts well versed in the principles of transportation planning/engineering and economic theory, and knowledgeable about the interrelations between the two for the purpose of ensuring validity of the results; (5) establishing a partnership with an organization or consultant with the capacity to conduct economic analyses to achieve consistency in analyses over time; and (6) selecting an economic analysis software model to analyze the economic impact of transportation projects. Of the models considered in this study, currently REMI TranSight and TREDIS are recommended for ConnDOT’s consideration; and customizing and communicating the results of the analyses in meaningful terms for various audiences (e.g., decision makers, stakeholders and the public). KW - Connecticut KW - Economic analysis KW - Economic impacts KW - Investments KW - Software KW - Strategic planning KW - Transportation planning UR - http://www.ct.gov/dot/lib/dot/documents/dresearch/ct-2279-f-13-13.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1277861 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499613 AU - Chidester, Thomas AU - Milburn, Nelda AU - Peterson, L Sarah AU - Gildea, Kevin AU - Roberts, Carrie AU - Perry, Deborah AU - Federal Aviation Administration AU - Xyant Technology, Incorporated AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - Development, Validation, and Deployment of a Revised Air Traffic Control Color Vision Test: Incorporating Advanced Technologies and Oceanic Procedures and En Route Automation Modernization Systems PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 22p AB - Air traffic control specialists (ATCSs) are responsible for the safe, efficient, and orderly flow of traffic in the United States National Airspace System. Color is an integral element of the air traffic control environment. Color is used to communicate information to controllers about various modes or air traffic functions, including conflict alerts, aircraft control status, weather identification, and airspace identification. The Aerospace Human Factors Research Division (AAM-500) of the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute developed the Air Traffic Color Vision Test (ATCOV) to determine whether individuals with color vision deficiencies (CVDs) have adequate color vision to perform critical color-related tasks involved in air traffic control. New research was required to integrate Advanced Technologies and Oceanic Procedures (ATOP, or Ocean21) and En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) display systems into the ATCOV. The research team conducted a study to validate the addition of Ocean21 and ERAM items into ATCOV subtests. The results of this study provided evidence of the reliability and construct validity of the revised test. It also established performance norms for subjects with normal color vision on modified subtests, determined the cut scores to apply to the revised ATCOV (version 6.1), and examined the impact of testing upon a sample of CVD subjects. Color vision ability sufficient to perform duties safely remains critical to air traffic services in the National Airspace System. Evidence of content validity for ATCS duties is provided through direct sampling of form and content of critical display data. Evidence of construct validity is provided by correlation with the Colour Assessment and Diagnosis Test threshold scores, which precisely measure color vision ability. This resulted in a job sample test closely tied to critical task information communicated using color on air traffic displays. ATCOV 6.1 makes use of formats and color chromaticity deployed for critical information on air traffic displays, as defined by published analyses of ATCS tasks, including Ocean21 and ERAM. KW - Advanced Technologies and Oceanic Procedures KW - Air traffic control KW - Air traffic controllers KW - Color KW - Color blind persons KW - Color vision KW - En Route Automation Modernization KW - Information display systems KW - Selection and appointment KW - Validity KW - Vision tests UR - http://www.faa.gov/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/oamtechreports/2010s/media/201318.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1276929 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499600 AU - Winters, Philip L AU - Hendricks, Sara J AU - Concas, Sisinnio AU - Florida Department of Transportation AU - National Center for Transit Research AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Project UCARE: Uniform Commuter Assistance Reporting and Evaluation for Transportation Demand Management Programs PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 79p AB - Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) places emphasis upon results and better management of programs for effective and efficient service delivery. With an increased focus on measuring performance, the transportation demand management (TDM) industry lags other areas of transportation. Without consistent methods of evaluating performance and calculating those benefits, the TDM community is at a distinct disadvantage when transportation investments are being considered at the local, state, and federal levels. This project sought to develop an accurate and sustainable online system to record data and use a consistent and defensible method for calculating the impacts of TDM programs. A literature review and a survey of TDM professionals were used to identify the key outputs and outcomes used today by commuter assistance programs. The data collection tool was pilot tested. The data from the survey are inputs into the standardized societal benefit estimation procedures contained in Florida Department of Transportation's (FDOT’s) Trip Reduction Impacts of Mobility Management Strategies (TRIMMS™) model. To facilitate participation and ease of use, the final product, UCARE.TRIMMS, was made an online application. KW - Commuter Assistance Programs KW - Commuters KW - Data collection KW - Evaluation KW - Florida KW - Literature reviews KW - Performance measurement KW - Social benefits KW - Surveys KW - Transportation management associations KW - Travel demand management UR - http://www.nctr.usf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/NCTR-BDK85-977-22-UCARE-Final-Report-Sept-2013-Commuter-Assistance.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1276844 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499336 AU - Thomas, F Dennis AU - Blomberg, Richard D AU - Knodler, Michael AU - Romoser, Matthew R E AU - Dunlap and Associates, Incorporated AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Licensing Procedures for Older Drivers PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 135p AB - This study examined the driver licensing procedures in all 50 States as they apply to the older (65+) driver. A literature review examined reports of possible declines in older driver capabilities and the ability of a driver licensing agency to screen for them. The review also covered studies of licensing policies and procedures that had the potential ability to reduce older driver crash rates. Four special emphasis States (Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and New Hampshire) were selected for further study because their mix of policies and procedures could theoretically enhance safety. All 4 required shorter renewal periods, in-person renewal, and vision testing for older drivers. In addition, Illinois and New Hampshire were the only States to mandate a road test for every renewal. Six comparison States were identified (Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Vermont, and Wisconsin). Each of the 4 special emphasis and 6 comparison States were treated as a separate case study. A detailed process evaluation was conducted in the emphasis States, and discussions were held with licensing agency managers, license office staff, and older drivers. Managers and staff believed their procedures positively affected safety. Older drivers did not feel unfairly treated and recognized the need for additional screening and self-limitation. Crash measures showed stable or declining crash rates per population for older driver ages in all 10 States. Crashes per licensed driver showed a differential pattern for Illinois and New Hampshire, the 2 States that re-test all drivers 75 and older, as compared to the other 8 States, which could simply be the effect of removing people who do not drive from the license rolls in these 2 States. Additional research to attempt to describe more fully the data patterns uncovered and ways to overcome existing screening limitations, e.g., better vision testing equipment, appears warranted. KW - Aged drivers KW - Crash rates KW - Driver license renewal KW - Driver licensing KW - Highway safety KW - Procedures KW - States KW - Vision tests UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811833.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1266472 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01497432 AU - TyreeHageman, Jennifer AU - Kurani, Kenneth S AU - Caperello, Nicolette AU - University of California, Davis AU - ECOtality North America AU - California Energy Commission AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration AU - California Department of Transportation TI - Community and Social Media Use among Early PEV Drivers PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 21p AB - Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are now being offered for sale to consumers, many of whom use social media. This confluence may facilitate the formation of new interest-based communities among PEV buyers and promote PEVs. This paper presents the results of 28 in-depth interviews with household PEV drivers in San Diego, California. These PEV drivers show wide variation in their descriptions of who they believe PEV drivers to be, conceptualizations of a PEV, uses of social media to engage other members of the community, and socially mediated and face-to-face interactions with other PEV drivers. Responses indicate that social media facilitate but are not sufficient for the development of PEV driver communities with high levels of shared interest. KW - Communities KW - Drivers KW - Electric vehicles KW - Plug-in hybrid vehicles KW - Social media UR - http://www.its.ucdavis.edu/wp-content/themes/ucdavis/pubs/download_pdf.php?id=1949 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262943 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01497282 AU - Greenwell, Nathan K AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Evaluation of the Certified-Advanced Air Bags PY - 2013/09//Technical Report SP - 36p AB - The purpose of this report is to analyze the changes and redesigns of frontal air bags and their effect on occupant protection in frontal crashes. Frontal air bags have gone through a series of changes in response to amendments to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208, “Occupant crash protection.” In 1998-1999, vehicle manufacturers were permitted to sled test in lieu of a barrier impact to certify that the air bags would protect an unbelted occupant (“sled certification”), which allowed air bags to be redesigned by depowering and/or reducing the volume or rearward extent of air bags. Then in 2003-2006, air bags were required to not deploy at all for children or deploy only at a low level of force (“certified-advanced air bags”). Most manufacturers chose to not deploy air bags at all for children, using occupant detection sensors to suppress the air bags. Statistical analyses of crash data from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA’s) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and R.L. Polk’s National Vehicle Population Profile (NVPP) compare fatality risk with certified-advanced and sled-certified air bags. Fatality risk in frontal crashes was 4 percent lower for drivers with certified-advanced air bags than with sled-certified air bags; for right-front passengers, it was 2 percent higher; at neither position is the difference between certified-advanced and sled-certified air bags statistically significant. The fatality rate, in frontal crashes per billion vehicle registration years showed a 4 percent reduction overall, 5 percent reduction for drivers, and 5 percent reduction for child right-front passengers 12 and younger, after vehicles were equipped with certified-advanced air bags. None of these were statistically significant. Overall, the analysis found no evidence that certified-advanced air bags result in higher fatality risk to front-seat occupants in frontal crashes when compared to sled-certified air bags. KW - Air bags KW - Children KW - Crash rates KW - Evaluation and assessment KW - Fatalities KW - Fatality Analysis Reporting System KW - Front seat occupants KW - Frontal crashes KW - Occupant protection devices KW - Statistical analysis UR - http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811834.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1266305 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01497265 AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Transportation Planning for Operations: Quick Guide to Practitioner Resources PY - 2013/09 SP - 12p AB - Transportation professionals have important questions about the complex transportation challenges of planning for operations. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has developed a number of knowledge resources to help provide answers to planners, operators, public safety professionals, and transportation decisionmakers. This brochure lists the resources available including guidebooks, case studies, and workshops. They were created with the input of transportation professionals across the country to help improve planning for the management and operation of transportation facilities. All publications are available from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Planning for Operations website at: http://www.plan4operations.dot.gov. KW - Bibliographies KW - Metropolitan areas KW - Regional planning KW - Transportation operations KW - Transportation planning UR - http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop13049/fhwahop13049.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1266306 ER - TY - JOUR AN - 01497220 JO - Public Roads PB - Federal Highway Administration AU - Oliphant, Marc AU - Greenberg, Allen AU - Boenau, Ron AU - Raw, Jeremy TI - Fill Those Empty Seats! PY - 2013/09 VL - 77 IS - 2 AB - Vehicle occupancy across the United States is less than two persons per car, despite the fact that many car trips happen at the same time (peak hours) with similar destinations. An excessive number of vehicles on the road may cause heavy traffic and greenhouse gas emissions. The obvious solution is to carpool, which has been on the decline in the last few decades. The decrease in costs of driving for the individual as well as an increase in people with driver's licenses are among the possible causes. However, today's commuters are looking for flexible and affordable options. Some have turned to dynamic ridesharing. Dynamic ridesharing is more flexible than traditional carpooling. Drivers and passengers meet at designated or unofficial locations near transit routes, such as along highways with high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, often using smartphone apps that help users find rides. Casual carpooling developed organically in a number of cities over time, and local governments and other organizations are expending resources to extend dynamic ridesharing to their areas. There were several attempts to establish similar rideshare programs in the 1990s, though it has had more success in recent years due to the use of social networking. KW - Carpools KW - Casual carpooling KW - Commuting KW - High occupancy vehicle lanes KW - Ridesharing KW - Smartphones KW - United States KW - Vehicle occupancy UR - https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/13sepoct/03.cfm UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265568 ER - TY - JOUR AN - 01497219 JO - Public Roads PB - Federal Highway Administration AU - Warren, Davey AU - Xu, Guan AU - Srinivasan, Raghavan TI - Setting Speed Limits for Safety PY - 2013/09 VL - 77 IS - 2 AB - Speeding is a major factor in fatal crashes. In 2012, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released an updated USLIMITS2, the web-based software designed to help transportation agencies set appropriate speed limits. States establish speed limits based on standards from the FHWA's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). The MUTCD requires that speed limit signs are posted at intervals of 5 mi/h, and it lists risk factors to consider when engineering speed limits. The software uses a risk-based set of decision rules using relevant roadway, traffic, and crash data to set appropriate speed limits for specific segments of roadway, recommending speed limits based on site characteristics. This article presents case studies from Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin that illustrate the use of USLIMITS2 in the real world. KW - Case studies KW - Highway safety KW - Indiana KW - Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices KW - Michigan KW - Software KW - Speed limits KW - Speeding KW - Standards KW - U.S. Federal Highway Administration KW - Wisconsin UR - https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/13sepoct/02.cfm UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265554 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01497088 AU - Atchley, Paul AU - Geana, Mugur AU - University of Kansas, Lawrence AU - Kansas Department of Transportation AU - Kansas State University Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - The Texting and Driving Epidemic: Changing Norms to Change Behavior PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 118p AB - This campaign was created to reduce texting and driving and to increase awareness of the serious risks involved with texting and driving. The target audience of the campaign is University of Kansas students. This plan proposes an “Anti-Texting and Driving Week” that implements guerilla marketing strategies with support from traditional and social media outlets prior to, throughout and after the main event. The campaign is designed to be exportable to other campuses in Kansas and nationwide. The objective of the campaign is to: 1. Increase awareness about the dangers of texting and driving; 2. For those who are not driving, to speak up to the driver; and 3. Change the perception of the students to build a negative connotation of texting and driving. The campaign will utilize the captive audience of the campus environment to deliver messages to students in an unique way in order to create a stigma around texting and driving. The pervasiveness of cell phones and texting and driving provide a formidable challenge, as well as the opportunity to resonate with a larger audience. Strategies included in the campaign are: 1. Place advertisement with the University Daily Kansan focusing on the dangers of texting and driving; 2. Series of 2 advertisements in Jayplay (Campus Newspaper); 3. Create video PSAs and distribute them through social media; 4. Advertise on campus buses where students will frequently be exposed to it; 5. Run a public service announcement on the radio; 6. Create a “Txt L8r. Drive Safer.” Facebook Page; 7. Create a “Txt L8r. Drive Safer.” Twitter account to send campaign update tweets using the hashtag #thumbsonthewheel; 8. Use Facebook ads to direct student attention toward the campaign’s Facebook page; 9. Contact University of Kansas Athletic “celebrities” as well as local Lawrence businesses to promote the cause via Twitter and Facebook; 10. Create an Anti-Texting and Driving Week event on campus; 11. Create a scavenger hunt for students to participate in as part of the event week to raise awareness and increase interaction with the campaign, posting clues online and in the University Daily Kansan; and 12. Partner with Kansas University Student Union Activities (SUA) to put on a benefit concert at the end of the event week. KW - Awareness KW - Campuses KW - College students KW - Driving KW - Kansas KW - Safety campaigns KW - Strategic planning KW - Text messaging UR - http://idmweb.ksdot.org/PublicLib/publicDoc.asp?ID=003830364 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265232 ER - TY - JOUR AN - 01497006 JO - Public Roads PB - Federal Highway Administration AU - Villotti, Lew AU - Brethauer, W Kirk TI - Predicting the Future? PY - 2013/09 VL - 77 IS - 2 AB - Planning transport infrastructure takes a good deal of forecasting. It is necessary to estimate future growth of the area, which can be done with scenario planning. In the past, growth projections were based on carrying the most recent past trends from the current situation to some point in the future. This system was accurate for near-term projections, but less so for more distant ones. In recent years, modelers have compensated by developing more reactive policy models that allow for policy changes. Scenario planning, which integrates policy models with geographic information systems (GIS), shows alternative futures resulting from varying policy choices. Metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) are at the forefront of scenario planning. MPOs identify transportation issues and needs. Long-range planning includes analysis of alternatives to meet projected future demands, while maintaining a safe and efficient transportation system to ensure mobility without adverse effects on the environment. Transportation agencies can use scenario planning to conduct analyses for project evaluation in order to ensure that decisions are consistent with future of the region. KW - Forecasting KW - Geographic information systems KW - Infrastructure KW - Long range planning KW - Metropolitan planning organizations KW - Planning methods KW - Policy UR - https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/13sepoct/04.cfm UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265747 ER - TY - JOUR AN - 01497005 JO - Public Roads PB - Federal Highway Administration AU - Saadatmand, Nastaran AU - Visintine, Beth AU - Rada, Gonzalo R TI - Roadmap to the Future PY - 2013/09 VL - 77 IS - 2 AB - The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has introduced the Pavement Management Roadmap to guide the future of pavement in the United States. This is part of a plan to bring together pavement design and pavement management in order to improve performance. In the past, state transportation agencies rarely used data on pavement management in pavement design because they were two separate divisions in most Departments of Transportation (DOTs). The Pavement Management Roadmap is intended to improve the effectiveness of pavement management programs by addressing needs at all levels and to overcome the separation between pavement design and management. The Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG), which helps develop pavement design, began the new era of pavement management and design and is being adopted by more and more local DOTs. The MEPDG uses existing performance data from pavement management systems, thereby improving the next pavement design. The Pavement Management Roadmap is extending the work of the MEPDG by broadening the role of pavement management and bringing it together with pavement design to develop a more efficient system. KW - Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide KW - Optimization KW - Pavement design KW - Pavement management systems KW - Pavement performance KW - State departments of transportation KW - U.S. Federal Highway Administration UR - https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/13sepoct/01.cfm UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265552 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496804 AU - Grant, Michael AU - D'Ignazio, Janet AU - Bond, Alexander AU - McKeeman, Alanna AU - ICF International AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Performance Based Planning and Programming Guidebook PY - 2013/09 SP - 146p AB - Performance-based planning and programming (PBPP) refers to the application of performance management principles within the planning and programming processes of transportation agencies to achieve desired performance outcomes for the multimodal transportation system. This Guidebook has been designed to help State departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, regional transportation planning organizations, transit agencies, and other partner organizations understand the key elements of a PBPP process and the relationship of these elements within existing planning and programming processes. This Guidebook is designed to highlight effective practices to help transportation agencies in moving toward a performance-based approach to planning and programming. KW - Best practices KW - Metropolitan planning organizations KW - Multimodal transportation KW - Performance measurement KW - Programming (Planning) KW - Regional planning KW - Rural planning organizations KW - State departments of transportation KW - Transportation planning UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/performance_based_planning/pbpp_guidebook/pbppguidebook.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265875 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496778 AU - Zhang, Ming AU - Zhang, Wenjia AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Southwest Region University Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Future Mobility Demand in Megaregions: A National Study with a Focus on the Gulf Coast PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 65p AB - About three fourth of national population and wealth are concentered in the 11 megaregional areas that occupy one fourth of the land areas in the United States. The National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) reveals that megaregions also concentrate current and future mobility demand. This report presents an approach that utilizes aggregate data for mobility study (for both passenger and freight) in a megaregional scale through a case study of the Gulf Coast megaregion (GCM). GCM exhibits unique travel characteristics relative to the national trend. A preliminary analysis on freight flow was also conducted for the GCM areas utilizing the 2002 and 2007 Commodity Flow Survey (CFS) data. The study shows that the GCM area would experience an enormous amount of mobility growth by year 2050. The per capita traffic volume generated by each traveler in 2050 would double the 2010 level. The total traffic volume in 2050 would grow much faster, four times higher than in 2010. Freight demand in the GCM area is also fast growing. The projected trends of future travel demand indicate a growing pressure on the transportation infrastructure in GCM. It is unlikely that the demand for high-speed travel can all be met by air travel. Accordingly, planning for megaregional transportation should seriously consider high-speed travel in the form of High Speed Rail (HSR) to accommodate the future travel demand in the GCM area KW - Case studies KW - Commodity flow KW - Freight transportation KW - Gulf Coast (United States) KW - High speed ground transportation KW - High speed rail KW - Megaregions KW - Mobility KW - Traffic volume KW - Travel demand UR - http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/600451-00074-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264805 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496744 AU - Dubey, Subodh K AU - Bhat, Chandra R AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Southwest Region University Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - New Spatial Multiple Discrete-Continuous Modeling Approach to Land Use Change Analysis PY - 2013/09 SP - 73p AB - This report formulates a multiple discrete-continuous probit (MDCP) land-use model within a spatially explicit economic structural framework for land-use change decisions. The spatial MDCP model is capable of predicting both the type and intensity of urban development patterns over large geographic areas, while also explicitly acknowledging geographic proximity-based spatial dependencies in these patterns. At a methodological level, the report focuses on specifying and estimating a spatial MDCP model that allows the dependent variable to exist in multiple discrete states with an intensity associated with each discrete state. The formulation also accommodates spatial dependencies, as well as spatial heterogeneity and heteroscedasticity, in the dependent variable, and should be applicable in a wide variety of fields where social and spatial dependencies between decision agents (or observation units) lead to spillover effects in multiple discrete-continuous choices (or states). A simulation exercise is undertaken to evaluate the ability of the proposed maximum approximate composite marginal likelihood (MACML) approach to recover parameters from a cross-sectional spatial MDCP model. The results show that the MACML approach does well in recovering parameters. An empirical demonstration of the approach is undertaken using the city of Austin parcel level land use data. KW - Austin (Texas) KW - Land use models KW - Land use planning KW - Maximum likelihood method KW - Probits KW - Spatial analysis KW - Urban development UR - http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/600451-00063-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265106 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496737 AU - Mudge, Richard AU - Mahmassani, Hani AU - Haas, Robert AU - Talebpour, Alireza AU - Carroll, Lindsey AU - SAIC AU - Delcan Corporation AU - Northwestern University, Evanston AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Work Zone Performance Measurement Using Probe Data PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 48p AB - This report assesses the potential for probe data to support work zone performance measurement programs. It includes an overview of probe data and the advantages and disadvantages of probe data sources relative to traditional fixed sensors. It identifies when and how probe data sources can be used to support work zone performance measures. It also characterizes the applicability of different types of probe data to help manage different types of work zones. The report then exemplifies this information by presenting summaries of projects that made use of probe data for work zone performance measures or examined the capabilities and limitations of probe vehicle data. A particular focus was on a recent Maryland State Highway Administration project that provided a comprehensive example of the use of probe data sources to compute the performance measures by developing a web-based work zone performance measure application. KW - Case studies KW - Maryland State Highway Administration KW - Performance measurement KW - Probe vehicles KW - Sensors KW - Work zone traffic control KW - Work zones UR - http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/wz/resources/publications/fhwahop13043/fhwahop13043.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265990 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496699 AU - Dubey, Subodh K AU - Bhat, Chandra R AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Southwest Region University Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - A New Spatial Multiple Discrete-Continuous Modeling Approach to Land Use Change Analysis PY - 2013/09 SP - 73p AB - This report formulates a multiple discrete-continuous probit (MDCP) land-use model within a spatially explicit economic structural framework for land-use change decisions. The spatial MDCP model is capable of predicting both the type and intensity of urban development patterns over large geographic areas, while also explicitly acknowledging geographic proximity-based spatial dependencies in these patterns. At a methodological level, the report focuses on specifying and estimating a spatial MDCP model that allows the dependent variable to exist in multiple discrete states with an intensity associated with each discrete state. The formulation also accommodates spatial dependencies, as well as spatial heterogeneity and heteroscedasticity, in the dependent variable, and should be applicable in a wide variety of fields where social and spatial dependencies between decision agents (or observation units) lead to spillover effects in multiple discrete-continuous choices (or states). A simulation exercise is undertaken to evaluate the ability of the proposed maximum approximate composite marginal likelihood (MACML) approach to recover parameters from a cross-sectional spatial MDCP model. The results show that the MACML approach does well in recovering parameters. An empirical demonstration of the approach is undertaken using the city of Austin parcel level land use data. KW - Austin (Texas) KW - Land use KW - Land use models KW - Maximum likelihood method KW - Probits KW - Spatial analysis KW - Urban development UR - http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/600451-00063-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265881 ER - TY - SER AN - 01496693 JO - TechBrief PB - Federal Highway Administration TI - Traffic Control Device Conspicuity PY - 2013/09 SP - 4p AB - The conspicuity of a traffic control device (TCD) is defined as the probability that the device will be noticed. However, there is no agreed-upon measure of what constitutes being noticed. Various measures such as eye fixations, recall, and other verbal reports have been suggested. In this TechBrief, four conspicuity studies are reported and recommendations for increasing the conspicuity of TCDs are provided. KW - Eye fixations KW - Measures of effectiveness KW - Recommendations KW - Traffic control devices KW - Visibility UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/13043/13043.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1266092 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496686 AU - Liu, Litao AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Southwest Region University Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - A Methodology for Developing Performance-related Specifications for Pavement Preservation Treatments PY - 2013/09 SP - 189p AB - Current materials and construction specifications for pavement preservation treatments are predominantly prescriptive and they have little or no methodical linkage between initial treatment quality and future performance. There is an imperative need for performance-related specifications (PRS) that link the initial quality of pavement preservation treatments to their long-term performance and life-cycle costs so that rational pay adjustment and acceptance decisions can be made. However, the current literature lacks a methodology for developing PRS for pavement preservation treatments. The aim of this research is to fill this gap in the literature, with focus on thin hot mix asphalt (HMA) overlays. In this dissertation, a novel approach was devised for developing performance prediction models for pavements that received preservation treatments. In this approach, the model consists of two tightly-coupled components: the first component is responsible for predicting the performance (e.g., International Roughness Index (IRI)) of the existing pavement if no treatment was applied. The second component is responsible for predicting the reduction in pavement deterioration due to the application of the treatment. Inputs to the first component include material and construction properties of the existing pavement layers, climatic conditions, and traffic factors. Inputs to the second component include the treatment’s acceptance quality characteristics (AQCs), climatic conditions, and traffic factors. The artificial neural networks (ANNs) and the Bayesian regression methods were used for developing the two model components. Using this approach, a model was developed for predicting the IRI of flexible pavement treated with thin HMA overlay. The data used for developing and testing this model was obtained from the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) database. A PRS methodology was developed for quantifying the difference between the initial quality levels of as-constructed and as-designed treatments. This methodology consists of a novel approach for determining the probability distributions of service life and present-worth value (PWV). This approach allows for transforming the probabilistic distribution of future IRI (predicted by the Bayesian model) into probability distributions for service life and PWV. Pay factors are then estimated based on the difference between the as-constructed and target PWVs. Finally, this dissertation provides insights into the relationships between initial quality (measured in terms of both mean and standard deviation of key acceptance quality characteristics) and expected pay factors through analysis of real world case studies of asphalt pavements treated with thin HMA overlays. KW - Bayes' theorem KW - Bituminous overlays KW - Hot mix asphalt KW - International Roughness Index KW - Life cycle costing KW - Long-Term Pavement Performance Program KW - Mathematical prediction KW - Neural networks KW - Pavement maintenance KW - Pavement performance KW - Performance based specifications KW - Preservation UR - http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/600451-00022-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265104 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496677 AU - Caldas, Carlos H AU - Stock, Tyler AU - Prozzi, Jolanda AU - Loftus-Otway, Lisa AU - Clower, Terry AU - Bomba, Michael AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Linking Long-Range Transportation Planning with Project Planning in Support of the Environmental Review Process PY - 2013/09//Technical Report SP - 184p AB - This report investigates potential methods of linking transportation planning in Texas, principally long-range planning, with the environmental clearance process required of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The purpose of the research is to achieve time and monetary savings by streamlining the NEPA process. These savings result principally by reducing duplicative efforts performed during the transportation planning and NEPA processes. To achieve this goal, the report reviews the effectiveness of practices and initiatives in Texas and around the county designed to encourage planning documentation that supports the NEPA process. The report then assesses the challenges involved with implementing these practices in Texas and makes a series of recommendations designed to be implemented by various agencies in Texas that would provide linkages between transportation planning and the NEPA process. KW - Environmental policy KW - Implementation KW - Long range planning KW - National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 KW - Programming (Planning) KW - Recommendations KW - Texas KW - Transportation planning UR - http://library.ctr.utexas.edu/ctr-publications/0-6701-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264263 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496652 AU - Ryu, Sungwoo AU - Choi, Pangil AU - Zhou, Wujun AU - Saraf, Sureel AU - Senadheera, Sanjaya AU - Hu, Jiong AU - Siddiqui, Sarwar AU - Fowler, David AU - Won, Moon C AU - Texas Tech University, Lubbock AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Optimizing Concrete Pavement Type Selection Based on Aggregate Availability PY - 2013/09//Technical Report SP - 124p AB - Design concept and structural responses of jointed plain concrete pavement (CPCD) and continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) are quite different. In CPCD, concrete volume changes are allowed to a full extent, and accommodations are made to ensure good load transfer at discontinuities, i.e., transverse contraction joints. On the other hand, concrete volume changes are restrained to a significant degree in CRCP by longitudinal reinforcement and base friction. Because of this vastly different behavior between the two pavement types, concrete with a high coefficient of thermal expansion (CoTE) is not an ideal material for CRCP. In other words, the performance of CRCP with a high CoTE concrete will be compromised, with resulting spalling. Concrete with a high CoTE should be used for CPCD if at all possible. This study investigated the correlation between spalling and concrete CoTE. CRCP sections with severe spalling were identified. Sections with no spalling and delamination distresses were also identified. A minimum of two cores were taken from those sections, and CoTE and modulus of elasticity were evaluated. There was an excellent correlation. Concrete material properties of selected coarse aggregates were extensively evaluated in the laboratory. Also, an in-depth analysis was made of the life-cycle cost of the pavement with coarse aggregates from different sources. Concrete with a CoTE larger than 5.5 microstrain per °F is quite prone to severe spalling. The findings from this study indicate that, if concrete with a CoTE greater than 5.5 microstrain/°F is used in CRCP, the risk of severe spalling increases substantially. Accordingly, if the only coarse aggregate type available locally produces concrete with a CoTE greater than 5.5 microstrain/°F, it is strongly recommended that this aggregate not be used in CRCP. Instead, the use of CPCD should be considered. Whether low CoTE aggregates need to be brought in for use in CRCP, or a locally available high CoTE aggregates is utilized in CPCD, should be based on the local experience with CPCD performance. KW - Coarse aggregates KW - Concrete pavements KW - Continuously reinforced concrete pavements KW - Delamination KW - Life cycle costing KW - Modulus of elasticity KW - Pavement distress KW - Spalling KW - Texas KW - Thermal expansion UR - http://www.depts.ttu.edu/techmrtweb/reports/complete_reports/0-6681-1-Final.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1266081 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496625 AU - Holloway, Bill AU - Spahr, Chris AU - University of Wisconsin, Madison AU - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Getting the Goods without the Bads: Freight Transportation Demand Management Strategies to Reduce Urban Impacts PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 86p AB - This project identifies and evaluates strategies to reduce the social costs associated with goods movement in urban areas by managing transportation demand. Information about various freight transportation demand management (TDM) strategies was gathered through a review of literature, an online survey, and interviews with implementers. Strategies are compared based on their costs, benefits, and implementation difficulty. Case studies of six cities in the United States using innovative freight TDM strategies are also provided. KW - Benefits KW - Case studies KW - Costs KW - Externalities KW - Freight traffic KW - Implementation KW - Travel demand management KW - United States KW - Urban goods movement UR - http://www.ssti.us/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Final-FreightReport.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265886 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496087 AU - Agrawal, Anil K AU - Washer, Glenn A AU - City College of New York of the City University of New York AU - New York State Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Consistency of the New York State Bridge Inspection Program PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 110p AB - The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) maintains an inventory of over 17,000 highway bridges across the state. As per New York State’s Uniform Code of Bridge Inspections, all bridges in New York State are inspected biennially, or more often as necessary. Bridge inspectors are required to assign a condition rating for up to 47 structural elements of each bridge, including 25 components of each span of a bridge, in addition to the general components common to all bridges based on visual inspection of these elements. The bridge condition rating scale ranges from 7 to 1, 7 being new and 1 being in failed condition. In addition to this, ratings 8 and 9 are assigned to cases “not applicable” and “condition and/or existence unknown”. The objectives of this research have been to (1) conduct a detailed evaluation of the consistency of inspection ratings, and (2) provide recommendations for improvements to bridge inspection procedures and training to improve consistency, whenever possible. A broader outcome of the research has been the development of knowledgebase on factors affecting consistency of bridge ratings. These research objectives have been achieved through a detailed and comprehensive literature review on inspection practices and the NYSDOT bridge inspection program and, development and evaluation of consistency of the bridge inspection ratings through the inspection of 4 selected bridges by 21 inspection teams. Numbers of bridges and inspection teams have been selected to generate statistically sufficient data for the evaluation of consistency of inspection of different bridge elements. A detailed and quantitative evaluation of consistency of inspection ratings of different bridge elements has been carried out through the analysis of inspection data. Results show that the overall consistency of ratings of different elements is more than 90%. KW - Bridges KW - Condition surveys KW - Inspection KW - New York (State) KW - Ratings UR - http://www.utrc2.org/sites/default/files/pubs/Bridge-Inspection-Program.pdf?utm_source=10-13-15+Final+Reports&utm_campaign=07-06-14+PR-Final+Reports&utm_medium=email UR - https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/trans-r-and-d-repository/C-07-17%20Final%20Report_9-30-13.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265798 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495819 AU - Veneziano, David AU - Ewan, Levi AU - Stephens, Jerry AU - Western Transportation Institute AU - Montana Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Information/Education Synthesis on Roundabouts PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 117p AB - Roundabouts have seen increased application across the United States as one of the Federal Highway Administration’s nine proven safety countermeasures. In Montana, however, there has been strong public opposition to some of the roundabout projects proposed by the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT). Montana’s experience regarding public apprehension of roundabouts is not unique. Other states have encountered the same lack of public support for roundabouts. The reasons for the lack of public acceptance vary, but typically include driver apprehension, safety and cost concerns. Consequently, it has been generally recognized that public acceptance and buy-in of roundabouts is essential to moving their use forward. Understanding what other states and locales have developed to facilitate roundabout education and outreach is crucial in refining MDT’s approach to the problem. Consequently, the research presented in this report was undertaken to identify strategies to use in public meetings and other venues to promote roundabouts as a preferred approach to intersection control and as an effective safety countermeasure. KW - Acceptance KW - Countermeasures KW - Highway safety KW - Highway traffic control KW - Montana KW - Promotion KW - Public information programs KW - Public participation KW - Roundabouts UR - http://www.mdt.mt.gov/other/research/external/docs/research_proj/roundabout_educ/FINAL_REPORT_SEP13.PDF UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265097 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495422 AU - Park, Hyun-A AU - Robert, William AU - Lawrence, Katherine AU - Spy Pond Partners, LLC AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - 2013 Transportation Asset Management Peer Exchange PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 52p AB - This report summarizes the proceedings of the 2013 Transportation Asset Management Peer Exchange hosted by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The peer exchange was held in Burlington, Vermont on July 24th and 25th, 2013. The purpose of this peer exchange was to provide participants from state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) an opportunity to share information on the best and current practices in asset management and maintenance and to discuss the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) Transportation Asset Management Plan (TAMP) requirements. A particular focus of this peer exchange was the role of asset preservation and maintenance within a DOT’s asset management program and in their TAMP. KW - Asset management KW - Maintenance KW - Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act KW - Peer exchange KW - Preservation UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/asset/pubs/hif13069.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264466 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495388 AU - Anderson, Keith W AU - Uhlmeyer, Jeff S AU - Sexton, Tim AU - Russell, Mark AU - Weston, Jim AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Summary Report on the Performance of Open Graded Friction Course Quieter Pavements: I-5 Lynnwood, SR-520 Medina, I-405 Bellevue PY - 2013/09//Summary Report SP - 37p AB - This document summarizes the acoustic properties and pavement performance of three asphalt quieter pavement projects. Each of the projects included open graded friction course pavement built with sections of crumb rubber and polymer modified asphalt binders. Performance was compared to control sections of hot mix asphalt (HMA) Class 1/2 inch. The open graded friction course sections were audibly quieter than the control sections between one and fourteen months after construction. The rutting/wear on the open graded friction course sections was higher than the control sections. On two of the projects the rutting/wear exceeded the depth of the overlay and reached a level that would require early replacement of the pavement. The increases in noise and rutting/wear occurred primarily during the time periods when studded tires are legal in the state and are believed to be the primary cause of these increases. Based on the results of the research, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has concluded that open graded friction course pavements are not a viable option as a noise mitigation strategy for the State of Washington. KW - Asphalt pavements KW - Crumb rubber KW - Friction course KW - Open graded aggregates KW - Polymer asphalt KW - Quiet pavements KW - Rutting KW - Tire/pavement noise KW - Washington (State) KW - Wear UR - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/817.1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264803 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495385 AU - D’Souza, Kelwyn A AU - Maheshwari, Sharad K AU - Eastern Seaboard Intermodal Transportation Applications Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - A Research Framework for Studying Transit Bus Driver Distraction PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 79p AB - The increase in transit bus ridership nationally during the past ten years, along with the proliferation of personal electronic control and communication gadgets is causing more distractions for the drivers. Earlier research studies have found driver distraction to be a significant cause of accidents on the highway. The transit bus driver distraction has received limited attention in the literature even though transit bus accidents may cause more injuries due to larger number of passengers. Unlike personal vehicles, where most of the distraction is within the control of the driver, for transit vehicles, some distractions are caused by factors beyond the driver’s control such as operating additional equipment, attending to passengers, and communicating with the operations center. Due to lack of reporting of distractions by transit drivers and very limited research studies, transit bus driver distraction is not clearly understood and no established research framework is available to conduct a detailed study of transit bus drivers’ distraction. Every study at a transit agency is conducted independently from start to finish at the cost of additional time and resources. The objective of this project was to develop a modular research framework for studying transit bus driver distractions. The framework would provide a transit agency with a set of standardized modular methodologies for studying distraction over a wide range of cost and time intervals. An agency could choose one or more modules to suit their study requirements. These modules for data collection, analysis, validation, and interpretation and usage of results are designed on the basis of in-depth studies and tests at transit agencies in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The results are reproduced in this report for purposes of illustrating the type of outputs obtainable from the framework and are not meant to reflect the accuracy of the data and model results. The major deliverables from this project are as follows: The research framework structure consisting of four modules; Standardized processes for data collection and analysis; Identifying sources, duration, and driver’s perception of distraction; Method of classifying distracting activities into risk zones; Appropriate statistical models to determine the significant factors that impact the levels of distraction; Methods to access model fit and validate the model results; Guidelines on interpreting and using the results; and Recommendations for improving the model results. KW - Bus drivers KW - Bus transit KW - Data collection KW - Data interpretation KW - Distraction KW - Mathematical models KW - Research methodology KW - Validation KW - Virginia UR - http://docs.hamptonu.edu/student/4907-framework_for_studying_bus_driver_distraction_2013_20131001122817.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264708 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495242 AU - Hallmark, Shauna AU - Turner, Jordan AU - Albrecht, Chris AU - Iowa State University, Ames AU - Iowa Department of Transportation AU - Mid-America Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Synthesis of Work-Zone Performance Measures PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 64p AB - The main objective of this synthesis was to identify and summarize how agencies collect, analyze, and report different work-zone traffic-performance measures, which include exposure, mobility, and safety measures. The researchers also examined communicating performance to the public. This toolbox provides knowledge to help state departments of transportation (DOTs), as well as counties and cities, to better address reporting of work-zone performance. KW - Cities KW - Counties KW - Mobility KW - Performance measurement KW - State departments of transportation KW - Syntheses KW - Work zone safety KW - Work zone traffic control UR - http://publications.iowa.gov/15061/1/IA_DOT_SWZDI_TPF-5%28081%29_work-zone_perf_msrsr.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264186 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495174 AU - Qin, Xiao AU - Chen, Zhi AU - Cutler, Chase AU - South Dakota State University, Brookings AU - Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluating Local and Tribal Rural Road Design with the Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (IHSDM) PY - 2013/09 SP - 54p AB - Establishing performance-based safety goals and objectives becomes more attainable with the Highway Safety Manual (HSM). However, the safety performance functions (SPFs) in the HSM may not be accurate as they are not calibrated to local conditions. In addition, each SPF and crash modification factor (CMF) assumes a set of base site conditions which may not be realistic for local roadways. Although calibration procedures are available in HSM Part C Appendix A, they should be refined or modified to accommodate local data availability and roadway, traffic, and crash characteristics. It is also necessary to determine a set of base conditions applicable to local highways. This document presents the application of the HSM for rural local two-lane two-way highway segments in South Dakota (SD). The calibration was based on three-year (2009-2011) crash data from 657 roadway segments constituting more than 750 miles of roadways. The calibration process includes establishing new base conditions, developing SPFs, converting CMFs to base conditions as well as substituting default values with state-specific values. Five models have been developed and compared based on statistical goodness-of-fit and calibration factors. The same procedures were also conducted for the tribal two-lane two-way highway segments in SD based on three-year (2009-2011) crash data from 56 roadway segments constituting 199.5 miles of roadway. Results show that the jurisdiction-specific crash type distribution for CMFs can be drastically different from what is presented in the HSM. For rural local two-lane two-way roadways, the HSM method without modification underestimates SD crashes by 35 percent. The method based on SPFs developed from a full model has the best performance. For tribal two-lane two-way roadways, the HSM method without modification overestimates SD crashes by 122 percent. The method using the exponential from of annual average daily traffic (AADT) performs the best. This documentation provides important guidance and empirical results regarding how to calibrate HSM models. KW - Highway design KW - Highway safety KW - Local roads KW - Rural highways KW - Safety performance functions KW - South Dakota KW - Traffic crashes KW - Tribal lands KW - Two lane highways KW - Types of roads by jurisdiction UR - http://www.ugpti.org/pubs/pdf/DP264.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263334 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01494780 AU - Strege, Nancy AU - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities AU - American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) AU - Federal Highway Administration AU - Transportation Research Board AU - National Cooperative Highway Research Program TI - 2013 CEO Leadership Forum: Leading the 21st Century DOT: A Summary Report PY - 2013/09 SP - 40p AB - The fifth CEO Leadership Forum, held April 7-9 2013, provided a venue for dialog about how state departments of transportation (DOTs) are responding to the forces changing their business. Over three days, transportation leaders from across the nation explored a range of issues and developed action plans to support chief executive officers (CEOs) and their staffs. The unique setting allowed CEOs to consider and discuss four main topics: current trends, leadership experiences, best practices, and research and other American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), Transportation Research Board, and Federal Highway Administration initiatives. To lay the groundwork for the forum, three former state CEOs—Pete Rahn, Tom Warne, and Debra Miller—presented their respective white papers on the state of the practice. Executive summaries of the white papers are in the appendix. The full white papers are available for download on the AASHTO website. KW - Best practices KW - Executives KW - Leadership KW - Research KW - State departments of transportation KW - State of the practice KW - Strategic planning UR - http://downloads.transportation.org/LeadershipForum/2013%20CEO%20Leadership%20Forum%20Summary.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263762 ER - TY - SER AN - 01494597 JO - Civil Engineering Studies, Illinois Center for Transportation Series PB - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - Brand, Alexander S AU - Roesler, Jeffery R AU - Chavan, Hemant L AU - Evangelista, Francisco AU - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - University of Brasilia AU - Iowa State University, Ames AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Effects of a Nonuniform Subgrade Support on the Responses of Concrete Pavement PY - 2013/09 SP - 148p AB - Intelligent compaction is gaining attention for its ability to spatially map the compaction effort of a pavement support layer, and it has also been shown to be able to detect areas of nonuniform compaction, which raises the issue of what the effects of a nonuniform support condition are on the stresses and deflections in a rigid pavement. This study considered multiple nonuniform support conditions, including theoretically generated and predetermined and randomly assigned from measured field data. The slabs and nonuniform support conditions were modeled using two-dimensional and three-dimensional finite element methods with input variables being axle type, curling, and lateral and longitudinal axle movements. Overall the study found that certain nonuniform support conditions and axle positions can significantly increase the peak tensile stress in the slab over even uniform soft support. In particular, a single slab with soft longitudinal edge support and a slab with “randomly” assigned nonuniformities were critical cases that increased the peak slab tensile stresses. When the slab was modeled with preexisting through-length surface cracks, it was found that the nonuniform soft edges support conditions would result in unstable crack growth based on the significant increase in the stress intensity factor. When modeling a set of concrete slabs over a nonuniform support based on field data, the peak tensile stresses were increased relative to a uniform support based on the location of the wheel load relative to the nonuniformity and also based on the adjacent differences in nonuniform soil stiffness. The field data was also statistically reassigned by normal and beta distributions to predefined area sizes, which demonstrated that with a normal distribution, the probability of low k-values along the pavement edge increased thereby raising the probability of higher peak tensile stresses. Overall, certain nonuniform support of concrete slabs can produce much higher tensile stresses than a uniform support condition, particularly when considering different loading positions and curling conditions, soft support along the pavement edge, and preexisting cracks. KW - Axle loads KW - Compaction KW - Concrete pavements KW - Cracking of concrete pavements KW - Finite element method KW - Pavement performance KW - Rigid pavements KW - Slabs KW - Subgrade (Pavements) KW - Tensile strength KW - Wheel loads UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45821 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263486 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01494591 AU - Pickrell, Timothy M AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Analysis of Passenger Vehicle Driver Restraint Use in Fatal Crashes PY - 2013/09//Technical Report SP - 12p AB - This report examines the relationship between passenger vehicle driver seat belt use status (restrained or unrestrained) and the following factors: blood alcohol concentration (BAC), age group, previous driving while intoxicated (DWI) conviction, driver license status, estimated vehicle speed, number of vehicle occupants, driver sex, day of week, season, geographic region, State seat belt law status, time of day and rural/urban status. Using National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA’s) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data from the years 2001 to 2010, the report estimates the relationship between driver seat belt use status and the above-listed factors with a logistic regression model. The factors most strongly associated with unrestrained driving are high BAC (greater than .15 g/dL), speeding, and the driver’s license status. High-BAC drivers’ odds of being unbelted were four times greater than drivers who had no alcohol. Speeding drivers had odds of unrestrained driving twice those of non-speeding drivers. Drivers with invalid licenses odds of unrestrained driving were 1.6 times those of drivers with valid licenses. KW - Age groups KW - Blood alcohol levels KW - Drivers KW - Fatalities KW - Fatality Analysis Reporting System KW - Logistic regression analysis KW - Passenger vehicles KW - Seat belt use KW - Speeding UR - http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811829.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263484 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01494589 AU - Burian, Barbara K AU - Pruchnicki, Shawn AU - Rogers, Jason AU - Christopher, Bonny AU - Williams, Kevin AU - Silverman, Evan AU - Drechsler, Gena AU - Mead, Andy AU - Hackworth, Carla AU - Runnels, Barry AU - Ames Research Center AU - San Jose State University AU - Federal Aviation Administration AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - Single-Pilot Workload Management in Entry-Level Jets PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 78p AB - Researchers from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Flight Cognition Lab and the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA’s) Flight Deck Human Factors Research Laboratory at the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) examined task and workload management by single pilots in Very Light Jets (VLJs), also called Entry-Level Jets (ELJs). Fourteen certificated Cessna Citation Mustang (C510-S) pilots flew an experimental flight with two legs involving high workload management under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) in a Cessna Citation Mustang ELJ level 5 flight training device at CAMI. Eight of the pilots were Mustang owner-operators, and the other six flew the Citation Mustang as part of their jobs as professional pilots. In addition to the Cessna Citation Mustang simulator, data collection included instantaneous self-assessment of perceived workload, NASA Task Load Index (TLX) workload measures, researcher observations, final debriefing interviews, and three questionnaires: Cockpit Set-up Preferences, Demographics, and Automation Experiences and Perceptions. To facilitate analysis, the major high workload tasks during the cruise portion of flight were grouped into four events. Approximately two-thirds of the tasks within the four events were accomplished by the participants with no difficulties. Though all participants committed a variety of errors during all four high workload events (e.g., readback error, airspeed violation), most errors were not directly related to overall task success. A significant effect on task performance success related to hours of experience was found only for the first event. Some type of error using the G1000 avionics was at the root of the problem for most participants who had difficulty accomplishing one or more of the tasks. Implications of the findings are discussed, and techniques demonstrated by the participants that are characterized as “best practices” have been identified. Recommended strategies for automation use and countermeasures to task overload and workload breakdowns have also been provided. KW - Air pilots KW - Automation KW - Best practices KW - Countermeasures KW - Human factors KW - Jet propelled aircraft KW - Very light jets KW - Workload UR - http://www.faa.gov/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/oamtechreports/2010s/media/201317.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263532 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01494582 AU - Straub, Timothy D AU - Over, Thomas M AU - Domanski, Marian M AU - Illinois Center for Transportation AU - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - Illinois Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Ultimate Pier and Contraction Scour Prediction in Cohesive Soils at Selected Bridges in Illinois PY - 2013/09 AB - The Scour Rate In COhesive Soils-Erosion Function Apparatus (SRICOS-EFA) method includes an ultimate scour prediction that is the equilibrium maximum pier and contraction scour of cohesive soils over time. The purpose of this report is to present the results of testing the ultimate pier and contraction scour methods for cohesive soils on 30 bridge sites in Illinois. Comparison of the ultimate cohesive and noncohesive methods, along with the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) cohesive soil reduction-factor method and measured scour are presented. Also, results of the comparison of historic IDOT laboratory and field values of unconfined compressive strength of soils (Qu) are presented. The unconfined compressive strength is used in both ultimate cohesive and reduction-factor methods, and knowing how the values from field methods compare to the laboratory methods is critical to the informed application of the methods. On average, the non-cohesive method results predict the highest amount of scour, followed by the reduction-factor method results; and the ultimate cohesive method results predict the lowest amount of scour. The 100-year scour predicted for the ultimate cohesive, noncohesive, and reduction-factor methods for each bridge site and soil are always larger than observed scour in this study, except 12% of predicted values that are all within 0.4 ft of the observed scour. The ultimate cohesive scour prediction is smaller than the non-cohesive scour prediction method for 78% of bridge sites and soils. Seventy-six percent of the ultimate cohesive predictions show a 45% or greater reduction from the non-cohesive predictions that are over 10 ft. Comparing the ultimate cohesive and reduction-factor 100-year scour predictions methods for each bridge site and soil, the scour predicted by the ultimate cohesive scour prediction method is less than the reduction-factor 100-year scour prediction method for 51% of bridge sites and soils. Critical shear stress remains a needed parameter in the ultimate scour prediction for cohesive soils. The unconfined soil compressive strength measured by IDOT in the laboratory was found to provide a good prediction of critical shear stress, as measured by using the erosion function apparatus in a previous study. Because laboratory Qu analyses are time-consuming and expensive, the ability of field-measured Rimac data to estimate unconfined soil strength in the critical shear–soil strength relation was tested. A regression analysis was completed using a historic IDOT dataset containing 366 data pairs of laboratory Qu and field Rimac measurements from common sites with cohesive soils. The resulting equations provide a point prediction of Qu, given any Rimac value with the 90% confidence interval. The prediction equations are not significantly different from the identity Qu = Rimac. The alternative predictions of ultimate cohesive scour presented in this study assume Qu will be estimated using Rimac measurements that include computed uncertainty. In particular, the ultimate cohesive predicted scour is greater than observed scour for the entire 90% confidence interval range for predicting Qu at the bridges and soils used in this study, with the exception of the six predicted values that are all within 0.6 ft of the observed scour. KW - Bridge piers KW - Bridges KW - Cohesive soils KW - Illinois KW - Mathematical prediction KW - Measuring methods KW - Scour KW - Scour Rate in Cohesive Soils (SRICOS) method UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45749 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263491 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01494421 AU - Goodin, Ginger AU - Benz, Robert AU - Burris, Mark AU - Brewer, Marcus AU - Wood, Nick AU - Geiselbrecht, Tina AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Katy Freeway: An Evaluation of a Second-Generation Managed Lanes Project PY - 2013/09//Technical Report SP - 240p AB - The Katy Freeway Managed Lanes (KML) represents the first operational, multilane managed facility in Texas and provides an opportunity to benefit from the lessons learned from the project. This study evaluated multiple aspects of KML and the critical areas of project development, design, and operation. One sample finding is that travel time savings are approximately 5 minutes in the morning and 14 minutes in the afternoon in the peak directions, and the travel time advantage over the general-purpose lanes has increased as volumes have grown. Continual monitoring and adjustment of operating aspects of new managed lanes is required post-opening, especially during the ramp-up period in which drivers make travel adjustments to use the facility. The operating partners for the KML have continuously monitored the performance of the lanes since opening and have made adjustments in toll rates, lane configuration at the tolling zones, and access operations at the western terminus. These adjustments are critical to ensuring that the performance standards for the lanes are maintained. KW - Access control (Transportation) KW - Evaluation KW - Freeway operations KW - Highway design KW - Katy Freeway (Houston, Texas) KW - Managed lanes KW - Monitoring KW - Texas KW - Tolls KW - Travel time UR - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6688-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263339 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01494418 AU - Goodin, Ginger AU - Bricka, Stacey AU - Pourteau, Chris AU - Benz, Robert AU - Burris, Mark AU - Brewer, Marcus AU - Wood, Nick AU - Geiselbrecht, Tina AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Briefing Paper: Toward a Best Practice Model for Managed Lanes in Texas PY - 2013/09 SP - 40p AB - Three of Texas’ four major metropolitan regions currently envision networks of managed lanes (ML) in their long-range regional transportation plans. Though lessons learned from existing ML facilities have advanced the practice of implementing new facilities, no one-size-fits-all strategy exists. Each region/corridor exhibits unique characteristics that require implementing agencies to adapt previous experiences to their own environments. Nevertheless, studying the development of the Katy Freeway Managed Lanes (KML) on I-10 in Houston, Texas, has yielded valuable insights that can benefit agencies implementing managed lanes in the future. The KML became fully operational in 2009. Also called the Katy Tollway, the KML is the first operational, multilane managed facility in Texas. Understanding how the KML was successfully implemented provides an opportunity for TxDOT and its partnering agencies across the state to facilitate developing other projects based on those lessons learned. KW - Best practices KW - Freeway operations KW - High occupancy vehicle lanes KW - Implementation KW - Katy Freeway (Houston, Texas) KW - Managed lanes KW - Texas UR - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6688-P1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263340 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01494417 AU - Gonzalez, Epigmenio AU - Liu, Jin AU - Liu, Wenxing AU - Zhang, Zhanmin AU - Murphy, Michael R AU - O'Connor, James T AU - Bhat, Chandra AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - An AHP-based Approach to Prioritizing Resources for Highway Routine Maintenance PY - 2013/09//Technical Report SP - 88p AB - The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has been experiencing maintenance budget fluctuations recently. The budget shortage has a negative impact on the agency’s maintenance strategies and results in the undesirable deterioration of highway conditions, increasing the risk for both road users and the agency. This project aims to develop a methodology to minimize the impact of budget fluctuation by quantifying the risk of not performing a maintenance activity and identifying the priority of maintenance activities based on the quantified risk. With the help of maintenance experts from TxDOT, four maintenance objectives and 16 maintenance function groups were identified and a hierarchy structure was developed based on the objectives and function groups. Four pilot districts were selected to represent the different demographic and climatic regions in Texas and maintenance experts were selected from the four districts to participate in the workshop. The overall relative weights of the 16 maintenance function groups were determined based on the individual evaluator’s judgments using the Analytical Hierarchy Process. To determine whether the four pilot districts varied in assigning relative importance to the four defined objectives and priority to the 16 maintenance groups, statistical analyses were conducted with the four sets of values, one for each of the four pilot districts, using Kruskal-Wallis test. Lastly, a web-based prototype system was developed to assist users in generating the list of maintenance projects under budget constraints. Exposure factors, average daily traffic (ADT), and truck volume were applied in the system to factor in the impact of traffic on the maintenance strategy. Users of this system can choose to use the weights and parameter values from the pilot district that they think is most comparable to their own district, or use the state average values that have proved to be applicable to all the districts in Texas. KW - Budgeting KW - Decision making KW - Highway maintenance KW - Maintenance management KW - Resource allocation KW - Risk management KW - Texas KW - Texas Department of Transportation KW - Workshops UR - http://library.ctr.utexas.edu/ctr-publications/0-6623-2.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263336 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01494407 AU - Miles, Jeffrey D AU - Ge, Hancheng AU - Carlson, Paul AU - Zhang, Yunlong AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Prototype Mobile Luminance Measurement System and Level of Service for Evaluating Rural High-Speed Nighttime Delineation PY - 2013/09//Technical Report SP - 64p AB - Transportation agencies routinely travel their extensive roadway networks conducting subjective roadway assessments of traffic control devices both day and night. Retroreflectivity is a good tool for product testing but can provide false positives for traffic control devices based on the approach geometry. This research project developed an objective nighttime assessment method for traffic devices that could be tied back to a form of level of service. The project also correlated luminance data with level of service. Researchers recommend the use of precise and approximate measurement methods in conjunction with nighttime inspections and retroreflectivity measurements to assess accuracy and repeatability versus time. KW - Highway delineators KW - Level of service KW - Luminance KW - Night visibility KW - Prototypes KW - Retroreflectivity KW - Rural highways KW - Texas KW - Traffic control devices UR - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6647-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262977 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493338 AU - Boot, Walter AU - Charness, Neil AU - Stothart, Cary AU - Fox, Mark AU - Mitchum, Ainsley AU - Lupton, Heather AU - Landbeck, Rebekah AU - Florida State University, Tallahassee AU - Florida Department of Transportation AU - Department of Transportation TI - Aging Road User, Bicyclist, and Pedestrian Safety: Effective Bicycling Signs and Preventing Left-Turn Crashes PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 68p AB - In task 1 of this report drivers' knowledge of various bicycle warning signs and pavement markings were assessed. In general knowledge was high. Share the Road and Three Foot Minimum signs were generally more quickly understood and recognized in versions of the sign depicting a sideways view of a bicycle rather than a rear view of a bicyclist/bicycle. Tests with blurred versions of these signs also suggested a legibility advantage for signs depicting a sideways view of a bicycle. In task 2, a simulator study was used to explore whether these differences in comprehension/recognition/legibility had an impact on driver behavior. Drivers navigated a simulated route in which they passed bicyclists riding singly or in groups. Sometimes bicyclists were located within a bike lane, and sometimes a bike lane was not present. The main findings were: (1) drivers generally passed bicyclists with care, allowing clearance much greater than three feet, (2) groups of bicyclists were given more clearance compared to single bicyclists, (3) passing distances were smaller in the presence of oncoming traffic, (4) passing distances were smaller when a bike lane was present, (5) the type of sign and the presence of a sign with the message to give bicyclists at least three feet of clearance did not impact passing distances, and (6) age did not have a significant impact on passing distances. Task 3 examined whether decreased negative offset (minimal offset) left-turn lanes provided a safety advantage to drivers of all ages. Drivers first completed a gap judgment task in the driving simulator. Participants also drove a simulated route and were asked to make turns at intersections featuring a minimal or large negative offset. Findings were: (1) no differences between minimal and negative offsets were observed in gap judgment task, (2) younger adults tolerated smaller gaps in traffic compared to older adults, and (3) the minimal offset resulted in a benefit in the turn execution task; turns were executed in such a way that the distance between the drivers' cars and oncoming traffic was larger compared to the negative offset condition. KW - Age groups KW - Aged drivers KW - Cyclists KW - Driving simulators KW - Florida KW - Highway safety KW - Left turns KW - Offset intersections KW - Pedestrian signs KW - Road markings KW - Traffic signs UR - http://www.fdot.gov/research/Completed_Proj/Summary_TE/FDOT-BDK83-977-15-rpt.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262938 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493300 AU - Hardman, Matt AU - Wilson, Thomas AU - Chen, Suren AU - Colorado State University, Fort Collins AU - Mountain-Plains Consortium AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Seismic Vulnerability Analysis of Bridges in Mountainous States PY - 2013/09 SP - 40p AB - Depending on the location, highway bridges can often support considerable amounts of traffic. Due to the limitations on current earthquake forecasting techniques, a normal amount of traffic will also typically remain on a bridge when an earthquake occurs. In addition to traffic, scour effects are also a potential hazard to bridge piers that may simultaneously impact the structural integrity of the bridge together with seismic loads. Although a few studies investigating the combined effect of extreme and service loads have been conducted on long-span bridges or in high-seismic zones, the studies on typical short- and medium-span bridges in low and moderate seismic zones are rare. A general dynamic simulation methodology is introduced to study the combined realistic service and extreme loads on short- and medium-span bridges. Following the introduction of the methodology, a numerical study investigating the seismic performance of a typical highway bridge in mountainous states is carried out. The bridge is subjected to different combinations of traffic, seismic, and scour and the effects on the structural performance of the bridge are investigated. The bridge, including both superstructure and substructure, is modeled in detail using SAP2000 to accommodate the goals of this study. The traffic load is considered through dynamic interaction analysis of vehicles in the simulated stochastic traffic flow. Through studying the bridge performance under various combined extreme and service loads, findings are made about controlling cases for different bridge responses and the validity of the traditional superposition approach with consideration to load combinations is also discussed. As the initial effort studied the bridge performance under multiple service and extreme loads, this study sheds some light on more comprehensive studies for the future. KW - Earthquake resistant design KW - Highway bridges KW - Mountains KW - Performance tests KW - Scour KW - Seismicity KW - Simulation KW - Structural analysis KW - Traffic loads UR - http://www.mountain-plains.org/pubs/pdf/MPC13-255.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262921 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493284 AU - White, David J AU - Vennapusa, Pavana K R AU - Miller, D Kelly AU - Iowa State University, Ames AU - Iowa Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Western Iowa Missouri River Flooding ― Geo-Infrastructure Damage Assessment, Repair and Mitigation Strategies PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 269p AB - The 2011 Missouri River flooding caused significant damage to many geo-infrastructure systems including levees, bridge abutments/foundations, paved and unpaved roadways, culverts, and embankment slopes in western Iowa. The flooding resulted in closures of several interchanges along Interstate 29 and of more than 100 miles of secondary roads in western Iowa, causing severe inconvenience to residents and losses to local businesses. The main goals of this research project were to assist county and city engineers by deploying and using advanced technologies to rapidly assess the damage to geo-infrastructure and develop effective repair and mitigation strategies and solutions for use during future flood events in Iowa. The research team visited selected sites in western Iowa to conduct field reconnaissance, in situ testing on bridge abutment backfills that were affected by floods, flooded and non-flooded secondary roadways, and culverts. In situ testing was conducted shortly after the flood waters receded, and several months after flooding to evaluate recovery and performance. Tests included falling weight deflectometer, dynamic cone penetrometer, three-dimensional (3D) laser scanning, ground penetrating radar, and hand auger soil sampling. Field results indicated significant differences in roadway support characteristics between flooded and non-flooded areas. Support characteristics in some flooded areas recovered over time, while others did not. Voids were detected in culvert and bridge abutment backfill materials shortly after flooding and several months after flooding. A catalog of field assessment techniques and 20 potential repair/mitigation solutions are provided in this report. A flow chart relating the damages observed, assessment techniques, and potential repair/mitigation solutions is provided. These options are discussed for paved/unpaved roads, culverts, and bridge abutments, and are applicable for both primary and secondary roadways. KW - Bridge abutments KW - Cone penetrometers KW - Culverts KW - Falling weight deflectometers KW - Field tests KW - Flood damage KW - Ground penetrating radar KW - Iowa KW - Maintenance KW - Secondary roads KW - Soil stabilization KW - Structural analysis UR - http://publications.iowa.gov/15059/1/IA_DOT_TR-638_InTrans_western_iowa_flood_damage.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261618 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493283 AU - Wilson, Bryan T AU - Scullion, Tom AU - Estakhri, Cindy AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Design and Construction Recommendations for Thin Overlays in Texas PY - 2013/09//Technical Report SP - 230p AB - Thin hot mix asphalt (HMA) overlays, laid at 1.0 inch or thinner, are cost-effective surface maintenance options. The primary focus of this research was to develop specifications for three such mixes: fine dense-graded mix (fine DGM), fine-graded stone matrix asphalt (fine SMA), and fine-graded permeable friction course (fine PFC). A number of slurry overlay systems were also evaluated, but to a lesser extent. Draft specifications for the three mix types were first developed based on the results of a literature/information search and a field investigation of 11 existing projects. The specifications included minimum material quality levels, laboratory performance criteria, and construction recommendations. To evaluate the design recommendations, extensive laboratory testing was performed on each of the three thin overlay mixes with five different aggregates. Of the 15 mixes attempted, 12 had acceptable designs in terms of the specified performance tests. For the most part, the draft specifications appeared to function well with minor alterations recommended. Testing also included two supplementary studies on the effects of screening type in fine SMA and the effects of recycled materials on both the fine SMA and fine PFC. Compaction of the fine SMAs was highly influenced by packing characteristics of the coarse and fine aggregates. Screening quality did not affect fine SMA rutting resistance, but did affect cracking resistance. Using recycled aggregates reduced rutting problems but increased cracking susceptibility; however, most mixes performed well suggesting that quality, well-engineered mixes can still have good performance when recycled materials are used in limited amounts. Concerning laboratory testing of slurry overlays, the applicability of the overlay tester/procedures and the three-wheel polishing device in testing should be further studied. In particular, a tie-in with actual field performance should be identified, perhaps with the Accelerated Pavement Test program. Six thin overlay projects, comprising 10 unique mix designs, were constructed and evaluated. Most projects were constructed without problems, though some encountered issues with over- and under-compaction. Initial performance has been very good, although, since all the sections are less than two years old, the long-term performance is still undetermined. The researchers recommend adapting the specifications accompanying this report, which require using high quality materials and passing strict laboratory performance tests on both the lab design and trial batch materials. They do not recommend incorporating recycled materials in these mixes, though preliminary results are promising. Guidelines for pavement evaluation and mix selection were also prepared, which recommend the use of certain thin overlay or slurry overlay options given the pavement, traffic, and climate conditions. KW - Bituminous overlays KW - Cracking KW - Dense graded aggregates KW - Fine aggregates KW - Friction course KW - Hot mix asphalt KW - Laboratory tests KW - Mix design KW - Performance tests KW - Recycled materials KW - Rutting KW - Slurry seals KW - Specifications KW - Stone matrix asphalt KW - Texas UR - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6615-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262243 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493267 AU - Moudon, Anne Vernez AU - Sheikh, Amir AU - Kraus, Andy AU - Stewart, Orion AU - Hallenbeck, Mark E AU - University of Washington, Seattle AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Land Development Risks Along State Transportation Corridors PY - 2013/09//Final Research Report SP - 70p AB - Land development that is not coordinated with transportation planning can compromise the performance of Washington’s state routes. Identifying land at risk for development along state routes can provide opportunities for proactive, collaborative planning to improve access, mobility, and safety while supporting economic development. This project, described in two parts, provides tools to help turn adverse risks of land development into opportunities to make route improvements. In part one, systems for identifying land at risk for development were developed for the state and local levels from relevant literature and expert input. Risk factors for land development at the state level include historic population and job growth, population and job forecasts, and traffic conditions. Additional risk factors at the local level include regulatory constraints, critical areas, vacant and undeveloped lands, recent sales history, building permit history, and sewer and water utilities. The local level system was applied to three case study areas. Results generally agreed with local knowledge, yet the method offered an objective and systematic means for comparing corridors across the state fairly. In part two, a menu of strategies for responsibly developing state routes was developed from current Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) practices, literature on standard approaches, and reports of novel solutions. Strategies were classified as planning and coordination activities, non-engineering and engineering strategies, and funding/enforcement strategies. KW - Case studies KW - Development KW - Highway corridors KW - Land use planning KW - Risk analysis KW - Sustainable development KW - Transportation planning KW - Washington (State) UR - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/805.1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262718 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493136 AU - Thomas, Jeremiah AU - Rahman, Farhana AU - Hossain, Mustaque AU - Kansas State University Transportation Center AU - Kansas Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Investigation of Aged Hot-Mix Asphalt Pavements PY - 2013/09//Final Report SP - 105p AB - Over the lifetime of an asphalt concrete (AC) pavement, the roadway requires periodic resurfacing and rehabilitation to provide acceptable performance. The most popular resurfacing method is an asphalt overlay over the existing roadway. In the design of asphalt overlays, the thickness is related to the structural strength of the existing pavement. As the layers are overlaid their structural characteristics change due to aging of asphalt. However, currently there is no method to determine the effect of aging on the strength of existing pavement layers. This study examined structural characterization of six pavement test sections in Kansas using three different test methods: Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD), Portable Seismic Property Analyzer (PSPA), and Indirect Tensile (IDT) tests. The results were analyzed to determine how the modulus of an AC pavement layer changes over time. The results indicate that as the AC pavement ages, its modulus decreases due to pavement deterioration. The most prominent cause for AC pavement deterioration was observed to be stripping. Two of the test sections on US-169 and K-4 showed little signs of stripping and had a minimal reduction or even an increase in AC moduli. The analyzed results from different test methods for moduli were inconclusive as far as any correlation among the methods is concerned. While the correlation between various test methods studied was mostly consistent for a particular roadway, no universal correlation was found for all pavement sections tested. Fatigue test results show that older pavement layers have a higher propensity for fatigue failure than the newer layers. However, some older pavement layers showed excellent fatigue life. Fatigue results correlated well with the condition of the cores as assessed by visual observation. KW - Aging (Materials) KW - Asphalt concrete pavements KW - Falling weight deflectometers KW - Fatigue tests KW - Hot mix asphalt KW - Indirect tensile test KW - Kansas KW - Modulus of elasticity KW - Portable seismic property analyzer KW - Stripping (Pavements) KW - Test procedures KW - Test sections UR - http://idmweb.ksdot.org/PublicLib/publicDoc.asp?ID=003829561 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262482 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01587154 AU - Constantinescu, George AU - Bhatti, M Asghar AU - Wipf, Terry AU - Phares, Brent AU - University of Iowa, Iowa City AU - Iowa State University, Ames AU - Iowa Department of Transportation AU - Iowa Highway Research Board AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Wind Loads on Dynamic Message Cabinets and Behavior of Supporting Trusses PY - 2013/08/31/Final Report SP - 112p AB - Large Dynamic Message Signs (DMSs) have been increasingly used on freeways, expressways and major arterials to better manage the traffic flow by providing accurate and timely information to drivers. Overhead truss structures are typically employed to support those DMSs allowing them to provide wider display to more lanes. In recent years, there is increasing evidence that the truss structures supporting these large and heavy signs are subjected to much more complex loadings than are typically accounted for in the codified design procedures. Consequently, some of these structures have required frequent inspections, retrofitting, and even premature replacement. Two manufacturing processes are primarily utilized on truss structures - welding and bolting. Recently, cracks at welding toes were reported for the structures employed in some states. Extremely large loads (e.g., due to high winds) could cause brittle fractures, and cyclic vibration (e.g., due to diurnal variation in temperature or due to oscillations in the wind force induced by vortex shedding behind the DMS) may lead to fatigue damage, as these are two major failures for the metallic material. Wind and strain resulting from temperature changes are the main loads that affect the structures during their lifetime. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Specification defines the limit loads in dead load, wind load, ice load, and fatigue design for natural wind gust and truck-induced gust. The objectives of this study are to investigate wind and thermal effects in the bridge type overhead DMS truss structures and improve the current design specifications (e.g., for thermal design). In order to accomplish the objective, it is necessary to study structural behavior and detailed strain-stress of the truss structures caused by wind load on the DMS cabinet and thermal load on the truss supporting the DMS cabinet. The study is divided into two parts. The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) component and part of the structural analysis component of the study were conducted at the University of Iowa while the field study and related structural analysis computations were conducted at the Iowa State University. The CFD simulations were used to determine the air-induced forces (wind loads) on the DMS cabinets and the finite element analysis was used to determine the response of the supporting trusses to these pressure forces. The field observation portion consisted of short-term monitoring of several DMS Cabinet/Trusses and long-term monitoring of one DMS Cabinet/Truss. The short-term monitoring was a single (or two) day event in which several message sign panel/trusses were tested. The long-term monitoring field study extended over several months. Analysis of the data focused on trying to identify important behaviors under both ambient and truck induced winds and the effect of daily temperature changes. Results of the CFD investigation, field experiments and structural analysis of the wind induced forces on the DMS cabinets and their effect on the supporting trusses showed that the passage of trucks cannot be responsible for the problems observed to develop at trusses supporting DMS cabinets. Rather the data pointed toward the important effect of the thermal load induced by cyclic (diurnal) variations of the temperature. Thermal influence is not discussed in the specification, either in limit load or fatigue design. Although the frequency of the thermal load is low, results showed that when temperature range is large the restress range would be significant to the structure, especially near welding areas where stress concentrations may occur. Moreover stress amplitude and range are the primary parameters for brittle fracture and fatigue life estimation. Long-term field monitoring of one of the overhead truss structures in Iowa was used as the research baseline to estimate the effects of diurnal temperature changes to fatigue damage. The evaluation of the collected data is an important approach for understanding the structural behavior and for the advancement of future code provisions. Finite element modeling was developed to estimate the strain and stress magnitudes, which were compared with the field monitoring data. Fatigue life of the truss structures was also estimated based on AASHTO specifications and the numerical modeling. The main conclusion of the study is that thermal induced fatigue damage of the truss structures supporting DMS cabinets is likely a significant contributing cause for the cracks observed to develop at such structures. Other probable causes for fatigue damage not investigated in this study are the cyclic oscillations of the total wind load associated with the vortex shedding behind the DMS cabinet at high wind conditions and fabrication tolerances and induced stresses due to fitting of tube to tube connections. KW - Fatigue (Mechanics) KW - Fluid dynamics KW - Overhead traffic signs KW - Structural analysis KW - Thermal stresses KW - Trusses KW - Variable message signs KW - Wind UR - http://publications.iowa.gov/id/eprint/20080 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1395348 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516601 AU - Orton, Sarah AU - Loehr, Erik AU - Boeckmann, Andrew AU - Havens, Garrett AU - University of Missouri, Columbia AU - Missouri Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Live Load Effect in Reinforced Concrete Box Culverts Under Soil Fill PY - 2013/08/31/Final Report SP - 45p AB - Live load effects in box culverts generally diminish with soil fill thickness. In addition, the effect of the live load may be nearly negligible compared to the dead loads when significant fill is placed above the crown of the culvert. The objective of this study is to determine the effects of live load (truck loads) on bridge-size (spans greater than 20 ft) reinforced concrete box culverts under soil fills of different thickness. The study considered the field testing of 10 existing reinforced concrete box culverts with fill depths ranging from 2.5 ft to 13.5 ft. Instrumentation of the culvert consisted of 12 reusable strain transducers and 12 linear variable differential transformers (LVDTs). The instrumentation was designed to be applied, used, and removed in one day of testing. Loaded trucks were driven over the culvert to provide live load. The results of the testing show that live load effect does diminish with increasing fill depth. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) and Load Factor Design (LFD) Standard Specifications were both overly conservative in predicting strains and displacements compared to the field data for fill depths less than 8 ft. At above 6 ft of fill the measured effect of the live load was less than 10% of the dead load effect. This could be considered as a point at which to ignore the live load effect and therefore not load rate the culvert. KW - Box culverts KW - Field tests KW - Fills KW - Live loads KW - Load factor KW - Reinforced concrete culverts KW - Soils UR - http://library.modot.mo.gov/RDT/reports/TR201314/cmr14-009.pdf UR - http://library.modot.mo.gov/RDT/reports/TR201314/cmr14-009AppA.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1300189 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496716 AU - Fathy, Hosam K AU - Sandu, Corina AU - Unnikrishnan, Avinash AU - Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center AU - Pennsylvania State University, University Park AU - Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg AU - West Virginia University, Morgantown AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - A Stochastic Approach to Online Vehicle State and Parameter Estimation, with Application to Inertia Estimation for Rollover Prevention and Battery Charge/Health Estimation PY - 2013/08/31/Final Report SP - 82p AB - This report summarizes research conducted at Penn State, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia University on the development of algorithms based on the generalized polynomial chaos (gPC) expansion for the online estimation of automotive and transportation system parameters from experimental data. The authors used gPC estimation for determining the state of charge and state of health of a lithium-ion battery in real time, and also for the determination of road-vehicle inertial parameters in real time. The overarching goals in these two applications are to improve vehicle safety through better battery diagnostics and better inertia estimate-based rollover prevention. The authors performed experimental validation studies for both of these applications. Finally, the authors began exploring the application of gPC-based estimation for stochastic traffic flow models. KW - Algorithms KW - Battery charging KW - Inertia (Mechanics) KW - Lithium batteries KW - Polynomials KW - Rollover crashes KW - Stochastic processes KW - Vehicle safety UR - http://www.mautc.psu.edu/docs/mautc-2010-02.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265498 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01578102 TI - The Effect of Pressurized Hydrogen Gas on the Fatigue Properties of the Heat-Affected Zones in X52 and X70 Pipelines AB - The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) seek to address concerns over heat-affected zones voiced by American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) B31.12 committee on Hydrogen Piping and Pipelines. KW - American Society of Mechanical Engineers KW - Fatigue (Mechanics) KW - Gas pipelines KW - Heat affected zone (Metals) KW - Hydrogen fuels KW - National institute of Standards and Technology KW - Pressurization KW - U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration UR - http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/matrix/prjHome.rdm?prj=491 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1371558 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01577461 TI - Evaluation of Elongated Pavement Markings Signs AB - This project will conduct simulation and field evaluations using motorists to evaluate the effectiveness of adding a flashing elongated pavement markings complimentary to selected post mounted signs. KW - Drivers KW - Field studies KW - Flashing KW - Marking materials KW - Pavements KW - Signs KW - Simulation UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370723 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01560081 AU - Timcho, Thomas AU - Burns, Matthew AU - Mishra, Santosh AU - Schweiger, Carol AU - Rizek, Jodi AU - Zink, Gregory AU - Battelle AU - Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Report on Functional Requirements and Software Architecture for the IDTO Prototype – Phase I Demonstration Site (Columbus) PY - 2013/08/30/Final Report SP - 82p AB - This report documents the System Requirements and Architecture for the Phase I implementation of the Integrated Dynamic Transit Operations (IDTO) Prototype bundle within the Dynamic Mobility Applications (DMA) portion of the Connected Vehicle Program. It builds off of the previous system requirements report and adds site-specific requirements. KW - Bus transit operations KW - Columbus (Ohio) KW - Demonstration projects KW - Integrated Dynamic Transit Operations (IDTO) KW - Mobile communication systems KW - Prototypes KW - System architecture UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/54000/54400/54473/FHWA-JPO-14-166_Report_on_Functional_Requirements_and_Software_Architecture_for_the_IDTO_Prototype_-_Ph_I_.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1344667 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01506241 AU - Bennert, Thomas AU - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation AU - New York State Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Grade Determination of Crumb Rubber-Modified Performance Graded Asphalt Binder PY - 2013/08/29/Final Report SP - 76p AB - Due to particulates common in crumb rubber-modified asphalt binders, conventional performance grade (PG) grading using the Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR) with a gap height of 1.0 mm may not be valid and in accordance with current specifications. Asphalt binder testing and mixture testing was conducted on binders with and without crumb rubber modification to determine an asphalt binder test method which best matches the mixture performance. It was determined that the Multiple Stress Creep Recovery (MSCR) test, conducted with a gap height of 2.0 mm and at in-service temperatures, best correlated with Flow Number testing in the Asphalt Mixture Performance Tester (AMPT). This relationship was found to be better than that of the current DSR test procedure for high temperature PG grading. KW - Bituminous binders KW - Bituminous mixtures KW - Crumb rubber KW - High temperature KW - Mix design KW - Multiple Stress Creep Recovery KW - Shear modulus KW - Test procedures UR - http://www.utrc2.org/sites/default/files/pubs/final-graded-asphalt-binder.pdf UR - https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/trans-r-and-d-repository/C-08-20%20-%20PG%20Grading%20Crumb%20Rubber%20Modified%20Binders.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290264 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499621 AU - Marron, Daniel R AU - Corr, David AU - Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI) AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - The Research Engineering Group: Final Report PY - 2013/08/29/Final Report SP - 393p AB - The Infrastructure Technology Institute (ITI) is a National University Transportation Center (UTC), originally established at Northwestern University (NU) in 1993. ITI develops strategies and tools to protect and improve the condition, capacity and performance of the nation’s highway, railroad, and mass transit infrastructure systems. Within the Institute is a core group of full time professional engineering staff directly employed by ITI. This Research Engineering Group (REG) is dedicated to supporting the overall mission of ITI while also conducting its own applied research program. For the faculty researchers, the REG provides continuity of experience, expertise, and personnel. Northwestern undergraduate, graduate, and work study students collaborated closely with the REG staff and benefited from field experience on research projects. This final report encompasses the activities undertaken by the REG during the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) grant. The REG final report begins with introductory material covering the overall objectives, approach, and methods of the REG. This is followed by a summary the REG’s own applied research and education programs for each of the five years of the project. Lastly, are the individual technical task documents which contain a complete digest of all methodology, findings, and conclusions. KW - Education and training KW - Highway bridges KW - Infrastructure KW - Methodology KW - Nondestructive tests KW - Research KW - Research projects KW - Structural health monitoring KW - Transportation engineering UR - http://www.iti.northwestern.edu/research/completed/safetea-lu/REG_final_20131029_2105.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1266521 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01494588 AU - Bateman, Ryan J AU - Faller, Ronald K AU - Bielenberg, Robert W AU - Sicking, Dean L AU - Reid, John D AU - Stolle, Cody S AU - Lechtenberg, Karla A AU - Rosenbaugh, Scott K AU - University of Nebraska, Lincoln AU - Nebraska Department of Roads AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Design of Cable-to-Post Attachments for Use in a Non-Proprietary, High-Tension, Cable Median Barrier PY - 2013/08/29/Final Report SP - 593p AB - Cable median barriers are widely used across the country to prevent cross-median crashes. Several years ago, the Midwest States Pooled Fund Program contracted with the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility (MwRSF) to develop a new, non-proprietary, high-tension, 4-cable median barrier. In the Fall of 2011 and following two failed full-scale vehicle crash tests on prototype barrier systems, it was determined that design modifications were necessary to improve barrier performance. In addition, members of the Midwest States Pooled Fund Program desired to redirect the development effort. Both of the barrier system failures which prompted the re-design effort could be partially attributed to the manner in which the cables were attached to the posts. Therefore, the cable-to-post attachments at all four cable heights were to be re-designed. The first step in this effort was to determine the minimum design loads associated with horizontal and vertical curves as a function of post spacing. Once the design loads were known, target capacities for the lateral and vertical cable release out of the cable-to-post attachments were determined. The target vertical and lateral cable release capacities for the lower three cables were 225 lb (1.00 kN) and 6.00 kips (26.7 kN), respectively. The top cable-to-post attachment had a target range of 100 to 200 lb (445 to 890 N) for both the lateral and vertical cable release capacities. MwRSF performed seventy dynamic component tests, forty-five static component tests, and one bogie impact test on prototype cable-to-post attachments. Finally, a cable-to-post attachment, consisting of a bolted tabbed bracket, was recommended for use with the lower three cables and provided lateral and vertical cable release capacities of 6.10 kips (27.1 kN) and 346 lb (1.54 kN), respectively. Further, a top cable-to-post attachment, consisting of a straight brass rod with bent ends, was recommended for placement in a notch and provided a vertical and lateral cable release capacity of approximately 175 lb (778 N). KW - Cables KW - Design load KW - Highway safety KW - Impact tests KW - Median barriers KW - Posts UR - http://www.transportation.nebraska.gov/mat-n-tests/research/docs/DesignofCabletoPostAttachments.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263482 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01505592 AU - Shenton, Harry W AU - Seymour, Peter AU - Delaware Center for Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Resiliency of Bridges on the BOSFOLK Corridor PY - 2013/08/26/Final Report SP - 89p AB - Built with a design life of 50-years, many of the bridges on the Boston to Norfolk (BOSFOLK) corridor are nearing the end of their design life. As the bridges on the BOSFOLK corridor near the end of their design life, one might ask, how resilient were the bridges on the corridor? How did the bridges on I-95 perform compared to those not on the corridor? And what can be learned from the BOSFOLK corridor about the durability and long-term performance of bridges? The objective of this research was to investigate, assess, and document the historic resiliency of bridges on the BOSFOLK corridor through a systematic investigation of historic data from the National Bridge Inventory (NBI) database from the period 1992 through 2009. Two different perspectives were considered in this study – the “macroview” perspective and the “microview” perspective. The macroview approach used a very broad definition of the corridor that included more than 78,000 bridges. The microview approach used a much more narrowly defined view that included just under 38,000 bridges. KW - Bridges KW - Durability KW - Highway corridors KW - National Bridge Inventory KW - Northeast Corridor KW - Transportation corridors UR - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/downloads2013/UTC_Final_Report_Shenton_Seymour.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1285406 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499607 AU - Thomas, Libby AU - Srinivasan, Raghavan AU - Lan, Bo AU - Hunter, William AU - Martell, Carol AU - Rodgman, Eric AU - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill AU - North Carolina Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Speed and Safety in North Carolina PY - 2013/08/23/Final Report SP - 180p AB - With nearly 5000 people losing their lives and many more injured in North Carolina speeding-related crashes over the past decade, more concerted and cooperative action is needed to address speeding as a major safety problem in the State. The project team was tasked with conducting a literature review to identify best practices with regard to speed management, to characterize the problem of speeding in the State, and to come up with recommendations that the State might implement to significantly bring down the numbers of killed and seriously injured due to inappropriate speeds. In addition, a Symposium and workshop were organized to identify effective strategies and policies being used around the world that may help to reduce speeding-related safety problems if implemented in North Carolina. Ultimately, 21 different best practice and evidence-based countermeasure recommendations were developed with potential to reduce speeding and severe crashes. The background information and recommendations developed are described in this report, and the recommendations are summarized in a separate document, "North Carolina Speed Management: Recommendations for Action". Several promising innovative strategies were included among the recommendations. One of the recommendations was to develop approaches to prioritize routes for speed limit and safety review. This report also describes several methods developed, in a second phase of the project, to screen the network to identify and prioritize corridors that may have speeding-related crash problems that could benefit from further problem diagnosis and treatment. KW - Best practices KW - Countermeasures KW - Crashes KW - Literature reviews KW - North Carolina KW - Recommendations KW - Speed control KW - Speeding UR - http://www.ncdot.gov/doh/preconstruct/tpb/research/download/2011-08finalreport.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1277053 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01587403 AU - Chatterjee, Nirmalya AU - Flury, Markus AU - Hinman, Curtis AU - Cogger, Craig G AU - Washington State University, Puyallup AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Chemical and Physical Characteristics of Compost Leachates-A Review PY - 2013/08/22 SP - 57p AB - In this report, the authors review the existing literature on compost leachates, with special emphasis on the chemical and physical characteristics of the leachate constituents. The authors briefly summarize the biochemical processes occurring during composting and the use and applications of compost in the environment. They then review the chemical and physical characteristics of feedstock, compost, and compost leachate. They finally discuss environmental implications of the compost leachate. The compost source material, i.e., the feedstock, determines to a large degree the types of leachates. Well-cured compost has been found to eliminate phytotoxic effects of raw feedstock and promote nutrient availability when applied as soil amendment. Feedstock selection and waste-stream separation play an important role in keeping non-degradable contaminants, like heavy metals and plastics, out of the compost. Leachate from compost is yellow to dark-brown in color, mainly due to the presence of dissolved and particulate organic matter. Characterization of the amount and type of organic material (both dissolved and particulate) in compost leachate indicates that, in the early stages of composting, the leached organic matter contains oxidized functional groups, and in the later stages of composting, there is an increase of phenolic (a benzene ring with an OH group) functional groups. The increase of phenolic groups indicates degradation of lignin in the maturing compost. Together with the leaching of organic matter, there is evidence for leaching of various nutrients and contaminants present in the original feedstock. Contaminants can leach by direct dissolution out of the compost, as well as with the help of dissolved and particulate organic matter, both of which have a high sorption affinity for inorganic and organic constituents, and which can enhance contaminant leaching via the mechanism of colloid-facilitated transport. Organic matter, nutrient, and contaminant concentrations are highest in the initial leachate, and the concentrations decrease considerably with increasing amount of rain or runoff water leaching through the compost. KW - Biochemistry KW - Chemical composition by material content KW - Compost KW - Contaminants KW - Environmental impacts KW - Inorganic compounds KW - Leachate KW - Literature reviews KW - Nutrients KW - Organic compounds KW - Physical properties KW - Rain KW - Runoff UR - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/819.1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1395637 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01502085 AU - Marsh, M Lee AU - Stringer, Stuart J AU - Stanton, John F AU - Eberhard, Marc O AU - Haraldsson, Olafur S AU - Tran, Hung Viet AU - Khaleghi, Bijan AU - Schultz, Eric AU - Seguirant, Steve AU - BergerABAM Engineers, Incorporated AU - University of Washington, Seattle AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Concrete Technology Corporation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Precast Bent System for High Seismic Regions, Appendix B: Design Example No. 1 PY - 2013/08/22/Final Report SP - 101p AB - The final report that accompanies this appendix is a technical resource that provides background information on the use of a precast bent system for use in high seismic regions. The system is designed for, and intended to be used with, prestressed girder bridges that are built integrally with the supporting intermediate piers. This appendix (Appendix B) documents the first of two design examples prepared to guide engineers through the application of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Seismic Guide Specifications to the Highways for LIFE precast bridge bent system, along with the supplemental design provisions that have been proposed as an appendix to the Seismic Guide Specifications. Particular emphasis is given to the design and detailing of the connections between precast elements to ensure ductile energy dissipating behavior within the plastic hinge regions of the columns and capacity protection throughout the remainder of the structure. This design example uses an actual bridge recently designed by Washington State Department of Transportation, the US 12 Bridge over Interstate 5 at Grand Mound, which is also the demonstration project described in chapter 5 of the project report. KW - AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications KW - Bents KW - Bridge construction KW - Bridge design KW - Columns KW - Demonstration projects KW - Dissipation KW - Earthquake resistant design KW - Girder bridges KW - Hinges KW - Precast concrete pavements KW - Structural connection KW - Washington (State) UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/pubs/hif13037/hif13037b.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1280734 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01573311 TI - Western Road Usage Charging Consortium AB - The Consortium Members share the following goals: (1) explore the technical and operational feasibility of a multi-jurisdictional road usage charge system; (2) investigate public and key decision maker criteria for acceptance; share experience and lessons learned to foster positive outcomes; (3) develop standards and protocols for how road use charges could best be collected and remitted among the various jurisdictions; (4) develop preliminary operational concepts for how a multi-jurisdictional road usage charge system would be administered; (5) develop a model for regional cooperation and interoperability that can be used in the Western region and potentially across North America; (6) engage the automotive manufacturing and technology sector to encourage the ability for mileage reporting to occur in conjunction with other products and services the sector provides in the marketplace; and (7) share knowledge to maximize the preparedness for and efficiency of policy and program development for road usage charging among the members. KW - Cooperation KW - Decision making KW - Interoperability KW - Multijurisdictional KW - Policy analysis KW - Road user charging KW - Technological innovations KW - User charges KW - Western States UR - http://www.pooledfund.org/Details/Study/530 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1366535 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01566739 TI - Application Tool for Assessing Wildlife Passage AB - Recent research resulted in a new tool called the Passage Assessment System (PAS). This tool is designed for highway staff to use to assess how well existing highway structures are likely perform at passing a wide range of wildlife. The result will help direct investments to the highest priority projects and identify opportunities for making modifications to existing structures to facilitate wildlife movements. The PAS was field tested and showed promising results. This study seeks to develop a digital version of the PAS or application for use on a hand held device and a database structure for storing the data entered on hand held units. Accomplishing these objectives will make it easier to use PAS to evaluate existing transportation infrastructure and to store the information for easy access for multiple transportation planning purposes. Field verification of the PAS application would be completed in participating member states. KW - Capital investments KW - Field tests KW - Highway structures KW - Passage assessment system (Wildlife crossings) KW - Project management KW - Transportation planning KW - Wildlife crossings UR - http://www.pooledfund.org/Details/Study/529 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1358395 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516352 AU - Lewis, M Phil AU - Jeong, "David" Hyung Seok AU - Woldesenbet, Asregedew AU - Oklahoma State University, Stillwater AU - Oklahoma Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Data and Information Integration Framework for Highway Project Decision Making PY - 2013/08/21/Final Report SP - 126p AB - This report presents a three-tiered framework to integrate data, information, and decision-making in highway projects. The study uses the Juran’s Triple Role concept and context graph to illustrate the relationship between data, information, and decision-making. The study discusses the complexity of data and information flow through a conceptual 3-D data flow diagram. The evolution of data and information integration in highway agencies is also outlined in the report. Potential methodologies in extracting information from raw qualitative and quantitative data are summarized. The developed framework was applied to three case studies; a) construction daily work reports, b) preconstruction cost estimation, and c) pavement management. In each case study, the three-tiered framework was applied and the current and ideal level of data and information integration for key decisions were identified and areas for improvement were also identified. The developed framework will guide departments of transportation (DOTs) on how to generate and place right information and knowledge in the hands of decision-makers. The implementation of the framework will empower engineers to make informed and justifiable decisions, and lead to the improved accountability of project development and management. In addition, it will allow the active utilization of currently existing databases and justify the continuous and growing data collection efforts by DOTs. Furthermore, DOTs will be able to measure their performances and develop an advanced data collection and information/knowledge generation plan to support key decisions which historically were not well supported with information and data. KW - Case studies KW - Construction projects KW - Data collection KW - Decision making KW - Highways KW - Information organization KW - Project management KW - State departments of transportation UR - http://www.oktc.org/otc/files/finalReports/OTCREOS11.1-30-F.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1300095 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01576051 TI - Remote, Ultra-Low Power Wireless Sensing System for Multimetric Self-Powered Monitoring of Bridge Components AB - Development of a multimetric sensing system and data interpretation procedures for determining damage identification and quantification dramatically transform the economics of bridge preservation/management and improve the serviceability of bridges. The system will consist of a network of low-cost sensors attached to critical bridge components. Each sensor node is self-powered and capable of continuously monitoring and storing the dynamic strain, acceleration, and frequency response in the host structure. KW - Bridge management systems KW - Remote sensing KW - Sensors KW - Service life KW - Serviceability KW - Structural health monitoring KW - Wireless communication systems UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/tfhrc/projects/projectsdb/projectdetails.cfm?projectid=FHWA-PROJ-13-0088 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1369999 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493131 AU - Fraser, Janet L AU - Jovanis, Paul P AU - Pennsylvania State University, University Park AU - Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - SHRP2 Naturalistic Driving Study Phase I Summary – State College, PA Data Collection Site PY - 2013/08/16/Final Report SP - 21p AB - The Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP2) Naturalistic Driving Study is the largest naturalistic driving study undertaken, collecting data from six sites around the United States, including State College, PA. Recruitment and admission of human subjects into the study is described, emphasizing the efforts to protect the confidentiality of subjects. Assessments relating to the driving task that are conducted on subjects are explained in detail for procedure and purpose. The instrumentation of the vehicle is also explained in detail with illustrations. In the process of enrolling subjects in the study, several trends were noted, including a high prevalence of Toyota Priuses in those interested in participating. Finally, the eventual role the data set will have for transportation research is discussed. KW - Automatic data collection systems KW - Behavior KW - Drivers KW - Highway safety KW - Human factors KW - Naturalistic driving data KW - State College (Pennsylvania) KW - Strategic Highway Research Program 2 KW - Traffic crashes UR - http://www.mautc.psu.edu/docs/PSU-2010-04.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262434 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516604 AU - Frazier, Jonathan AU - Peckett, Haley AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service TI - Regional Alternative Transportation Evaluation Report – Region 4 PY - 2013/08/15/Final Report SP - 69p AB - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Volpe Center conducted a regional alternative transportation evaluation (RATE) in Region 4, which is comprised of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, as well as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The RATE helps to ensure effective consideration and integration of alternative transportation systems into the goals and recommendations of the Region 4 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP). The Region 4 RATE also serves as a pilot for the integration of ATS into the National FWS LRTP and provides lessons on how ATS may be instituted more broadly across Region 4. KW - Alternatives analysis KW - National Wildlife Refuge System KW - Nonmotorized transportation KW - Public transit KW - Puerto Rico KW - Southeastern United States KW - Transportation planning KW - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service KW - U.S. Virgin Islands KW - Water transportation UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/50000/50600/50660/DOT-VNTSC-FWS-13-01.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290549 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499273 AU - Jayawickrama, Priyantha W AU - Surles, James G AU - Wood, Timothy A AU - Lawson, William D AU - Texas Tech University, Lubbock AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Pullout Resistance of MSE Reinforcements in Backfills Typically Used in Texas: Volume 1 PY - 2013/08/15/Volume 1 SP - 278p AB - This report documents findings from a three-year research study that examined the pullout resistance of inextensible MSE reinforcements in backfills typically used in Texas. The study involved an extensive laboratory test program in which a total of 650 pullout tests were completed. These tests were conducted using a large scale pullout test system that consisted of a test box with dimensions of 12ft x 12ft x 4ft and capability to simulate overburden pressures equivalent to 40 feet of fill. Tests were conducted on ribbed strip reinforcements, welded steel grid reinforcements, and a limited number of smooth bars embedded in two types of backfill, designated as Type A (gravelly) and Type B (sandy) select backfill as per TxDOT specifications. A subset of strip and grid reinforcements in each backfill type was instrumented with strain gages to provide further insight into mechanisms that control pullout resistance. The research design evaluated pullout resistance factors for both strip and grid reinforcements for a variety of independent variables including overburden pressure, reinforcement length, skew or splay angle, grid wire size, and grid geometry including both transverse and longitudinal wire spacing. Appropriate statistical analyses were used to interpret the data within the context of published AASHTO design guidance for inextensible MSE reinforcements. This volume, Volume 1, summarizes the research findings. Volume 2 and Volume 3 present the test reports for MSE reinforcements in Type B and Type A backfill, respectively. KW - Backfill soils KW - Earth walls KW - Mechanically stabilized earth KW - Pullout tests KW - Resistance (Mechanics) KW - Texas UR - http://www.depts.ttu.edu/techmrtweb/reports/complete_reports/0-6493-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1267389 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496749 AU - Jayawickrama, Priyantha W AU - Surles, James G AU - Wood, Timothy A AU - Lawson, William D AU - Texas Tech University, Lubbock AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Pullout Resistance of Mechanically Stabilized Reinforcements in Backfills Typically Used in Texas: Volume 1 PY - 2013/08/15/Technical Report SP - 278p AB - This report documents findings from a three-year research study that examined the pullout resistance of inextensible Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) reinforcements in backfills typically used in Texas. The study involved an extensive laboratory test program in which a total of 650 pullout tests were completed. These tests were conducted using a large scale pullout test system that consisted of a test box with dimensions of 12ft x 12ft x 4ft and capability to simulate overburden pressures equivalent to 40ft of fill. Tests were conducted on ribbed strip reinforcements, welded steel grid reinforcements, and a limited number of smooth bars embedded in two types of backfill, designated as Type A (gravelly) and Type B (sandy) select backfill as per Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) specifications. A subset of strip and grid reinforcements in each backfill type was instrumented with strain gages to provide further insight into mechanisms that control pullout resistance. The research design evaluated pullout resistance factors for both strip and grid reinforcements for a variety of independent variables including overburden pressure, reinforcement length, skew or splay angle, grid wire size, and grid geometry including both transverse and longitudinal wire spacing. Appropriate statistical analyses were used to interpret the data within the context of published American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) design guidance for inextensible MSE reinforcements. This volume, Volume 1, summarizes the research findings. Volume 2 and Volume 3 present the test reports for MSE reinforcements in Type B and Type A backfill, respectively. KW - Backfill soils KW - Earth walls KW - Gravelly soils KW - Mechanically stabilized earth KW - Pull out test KW - Resistance tests KW - Sandy soils KW - Stabilized materials KW - Strain gages KW - Texas UR - http://www.depts.ttu.edu/techmrtweb/reports/complete_reports/0-6493-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264100 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01587306 TI - Heated Airport Pavements AB - Maintaining operational safety and status of airport runways during snowfall events is a challenging issue that many airports are grappling with. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Advisory Circular 150/5370-17 (dated 2011), most transport category aircraft are prohibited from operating on runways covered by untreated ice or by more than 1/2 inch of snow or slush, although the limits vary with aircraft types. The surface traction of pavement is dramatically influenced by frozen precipitation in the form of ice, snow, or slush. This can seriously hamper smooth air traffic management operations and cause traffic delays at other airports. Ice and snow on transportation infrastructure systems add significant costs to the American economy via snow removal, damaged pavement and bridge surfaces and lost man-hours due to travel delay. It is imperative that both small and large airports maintain operational status during snowfall events to support the existing operations as well as the FAA's NextGen concept as mentioned in the Airport Technology Research Plan for the NextGen Decade (dated January 2012). This project proposes a 3-pronged approach to investigate the efficacy and cost effectiveness of new heated pavement technologies. The project proposes to investigate: the relative energy and monetary needs to remove snow from a slab by conducting an energy and financial viability analyses under Task 1-A; a hybrid approach combining electrically conductive concrete with lotus-leaf-inspired super-hydrophobic surfaces under Task 1-B; and the application of nano-coatings of low temperature phase change materials with the intent of preventing ice and slush formation under Task 1-C. The project anticipates that these three tasks will run in parallel. KW - Airport facilities KW - Airport operations KW - Airport runways KW - Concrete KW - Heaters KW - Pavement components KW - Pavement design KW - Snow and ice control KW - Winter maintenance UR - https://www.pegasas.aero/projects.php?p=1 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1391997 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01587304 TI - Angle of Attack Equipment for General Aviation Operations AB - The ultimate aim of this research is to provide pilots and instructors with information that could provide additional assistance to interpret the flight path & aircraft attitude relationship. The current analysis of angle of attach (AOA) displays is anecdotal in nature and there needs to be a rigorous study accomplished which solidifies the touted benefits by various industry groups. The expected outcomes of the project are: (1) Analysis of Best Practices and Development of Educational Materials; (2) Evaluate best practices and develop materials for utilization of AOA displays during stabilized approaches; (3) Altitude awareness enhancement; (4) Evaluate the relationship between AOA and the potential for precision approach paths during the approach and landing phases; (5) Stabilized Approach Analysis; (6) Perform a comprehensive analysis of the differences in the degree of stabilization between individuals with varying access to AOA displays and AOA education; and (7) Cost/Benefit/Risks. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) does not require AOA displays and, therefore, individuals may choose whether to install and use them. The team will perform a detailed analysis of the return on investment for the enhancement of safety to help pilots and owners determine to invest in the equipment. KW - Altitude KW - Angle of attack KW - Approach control KW - Aviation safety KW - Benefit cost analysis KW - Best practices KW - Flight information services KW - Flight paths KW - General aviation UR - https://www.pegasas.aero/projects.php?p=3 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1392004 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01587305 TI - Rotorcraft ASIAS AB - This project seeks to examine the current state of the art in rotorcraft flight data monitoring (FDM) products and services, implement a system for data collection and analysis, and identify shortcoming with corresponding means of improvement as supported by data analysis and engagement with subject matter experts. More specifically, the research objectives of this project are to: (1) benchmark the current state of the art of rotorcraft FDM products and services as a voluntary mechanism for safety; (2) enable the procurement of an integrated rotorcraft FDM database and data analysis capability, secure the collection of FDM data for analysis, and establish connectivity and access to this resource for participating research parties and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); (3) review the current events, parameters, and corresponding exceedances and recording rates of rotorcraft FDM systems, identify additional ones whenever needed, and synthesize a recommended minimum standard FDM list vetted by stakeholders; and (4) disseminate results of this investigation and promote the adoption and utilization of FDM as a means for improving safety. Research Partners for this project include the Helicopter Association International and CAE Flightscape. KW - Aviation safety KW - Connectivity KW - Data analysis KW - Data collection KW - Helicopters KW - Information dissemination KW - Monitoring KW - State of the art UR - https://www.pegasas.aero/projects.php?p=2 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1392003 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01522380 AU - Ozbulut, Osman E AU - University of Virginia, Charlottesville AU - Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Feasibility of Using Shape Memory Alloys to Develop Self Post-Tensioned Concrete Bridge Girders PY - 2013/08/13/Final Report SP - 19p AB - Post-tensioned (PT) structural elements are used quite often in bridges due to their ability to span long widths economically while providing an aesthetically pleasing structure. PT systems are also preferred in bridge construction because they greatly increase structural capacities and are fairly easy to implement effectively. Although PT systems provide many advantages for designers and constructors, these systems have raised concerns regarding corrosion of the PT tendons. The degree of corrosion of PT tendons is critical to the structural performance of PT systems and the cost to replace tendons can exceed several hundred thousand dollars per tendon. Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are a class of smart materials that have unique properties such as excellent re-centering ability, good energy dissipation capacity, excellent fatigue resistance, and high corrosion resistance. This project investigated the feasibility of developing self post-tensioned (SPT) bridge girders by activating the shape memory effect of SMAs using the heat of hydration of grout. In particular, the project investigated the temperature increase due to the heat of hydration of grout. A typical plastic cylinder was filled with grout at room temperature to monitor the temperature inside the duct during the grout’s hydration. Three commercially available grouts were considered in the tests: Euclid, Sika Grout 300 PT, and Five Star Special Grout 400. The grouts were mixed in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendation. A single steel tendon was placed in the center. A thermocouple was attached at that tendon within the duct to measure the temperature. A data acquisition system was used to collect the temperature data for 48 hours. The variation of the temperature versus time was examined. KW - Concrete bridges KW - Girders KW - Grout KW - Heat of hydration KW - Laboratory tests KW - Posttensioning KW - Shape memory alloys KW - Smart materials KW - Temperature measurement KW - Tendons (Materials) UR - http://www.mautc.psu.edu/docs/UVA-2013-01.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1303874 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499610 AU - Coe, Joseph T AU - Nyquist, Jonathan E AU - Kermani, Behnoud AU - Sybrandy, Lorraine AU - Temple University, Philadelphia AU - Pennsylvania Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Application of Non-Destructive Testing to Evaluate Unknown Foundations for Pennsylvania Bridges PY - 2013/08/13/Final Report SP - 288p AB - Unknown bridge foundations present a unique challenge to Departments of Transportation (DOT) across the country since foundation characteristics are a necessary input to assess scour vulnerability and to develop appropriate scour countermeasures. A number of non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques have evolved over time to address this challenge and evaluate unknown foundation type and geometry. The most comprehensive study of NDT methods for unknown foundations was performed as part of National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) 21-05 in 2001. Since NCHRP 21-05, other case studies have expanded the literature and further advancements in computer software and hardware have improved NDT capabilities and reliability for unknown foundation evaluation. In particular, P-wave reflection imaging has the potential to provide higher resolution data and significantly more detail regarding the subsurface in both the laboratory and the field. An ultrasonic P-wave reflection imaging system was investigated in this study as a viable NDT method to assess unknown foundations. The P-wave system was originally developed to image large scale soil models in the laboratory and to image the profile of vertically embedded structural elements such as foundations. The P-wave system was utilized in a field testing program to image the vertical profile of foundations at two bridge sites in southeastern Pennsylvania. Site selection, characteristics of the foundations tested, and the site soil conditions are summarized. The final foundation depths were unknown to the research team at the sites, which resulted in a true blind study and simulated the unknown foundation problem. The ultrasound probe was lowered in a polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-cased borehole alongside the foundation to generate and record P-wave signals. The resulting data was plotted to construct an image and predict foundation characteristics. Multiple NDT techniques including Parallel Seismic, Borehole Magnetometer, and Borehole Radar were also performed at the sites in conjunction with the P-wave testing. The resulting data and interpretation of foundation characteristics are compared between all methods. KW - Alternatives analysis KW - Bridge foundations KW - Field tests KW - Imaging systems KW - Laboratory tests KW - Nondestructive tests KW - Pennsylvania KW - Scour KW - Ultrasonics UR - ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_PDF_FILES/Documents/Research/Complete%20Projects/Improving%20Pennsylvania%20Bridges/testing_to_evaluate_unknown_foundations_for_pa_bridges_final_report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1277052 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01494586 AU - Price, Craig W AU - Rosenbaugh, Scott K AU - Faller, Ronald K AU - Sicking, Dean L AU - Reid, John D AU - Bielenberg, Robert W AU - University of Nebraska, Lincoln AU - Nebraska Department of Roads AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Post Weld and Epoxy Anchorage Variations for W-Beam Guardrail Attached to Low-Fill Culverts PY - 2013/08/12/Final Report SP - 79p AB - The research effort consisted of two objectives for dealing with alterations to the W-beam guardrail system developed for attachment to the top of low-fill culverts. This effort included: (1) investigation of an alternative weld detail to simplify the three-pass fillet weld on the front flange of the post and (2) development of an epoxy anchorage option as opposed to through-bolting. These system modifications were evaluated through four dynamic, bogie tests conducted under the same impact conditions as the original system component testing. Based on a survey of the Pooled Fund member states, two different single-pass weld details were evaluated as a replacement for the 3-pass fillet weld used on the front flange of the post in the original system. However, both single-pass welds resulted in large tears in the base plate adjacent to the front flange. The 3-pass weld detail was successful with a post assembly fabricated from 50 ksi (345 MPa) steel materials. Thus, the 3-pass weld will continue to be recommended for use, while the post and base plate may be composed of ASTM A36 or Grade 50 steel parts. Anchor pullout was encountered for an embedment depth of 6 in. (152 mm), while an 8-in. (203-mm) embedment showed no signs of anchor failure. Thus, an 8-in. (203-mm) minimum embedment depth was recommended for the epoxied anchorage design. KW - Anchoring KW - Culverts KW - Epoxides KW - Guardrails KW - Posts KW - W-beam guardrail KW - Weld strength UR - http://www.transportation.nebraska.gov/mat-n-tests/research/docs/PostWeldandEpoxyAnchorage.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263480 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01518892 AU - Gopalakrishna, Deepak AU - Cluett, Chris AU - Klein, Rachel AU - Khaleda, Kaniz AU - Battelle AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Road Weather Management Performance Measures – 2012 Update PY - 2013/08/06/Final Report SP - 125p AB - In 2007, the Road Weather Management Program (RWMP) conducted a study with stakeholders from the transportation and meteorological communities to define eleven performance measures that would enable the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to determine the extent to which its goals were being met. In 2010, FHWA led a task to quantify these performance measures. This report documents a follow-on task to update these performance measures using information which became available since 2012. The focus of this update includes: (1) reviewing existing measures for their continued suitability, strengths, and weaknesses for assessing performance, (2) determining changes to the baseline conditions for existing measures using updated and new data sources, (3) incorporating new performance measures around reliability, the operations efficiency index (OEI), Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), and Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient, Transportation Equity Act – A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU’s) Section 1201 rule, (4) identifying refinements necessary to the existing performance measurement framework and developing a plan to quantify the measures; and (5) quantifying all existing and new performance measures using current data to create a 2012 RWMP performance assessment report. The following document includes a discussion on the background for the development and update of RWMP performance measures, the evolution of the measures since 2007 including the approach and data sources used, a description of each RWMP objective and the quantification of each associated measure, and an overall assessment of the RMWP based on the performance measures tracked. KW - Data collection KW - Evaluation and assessment KW - Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act KW - Performance measurement KW - Road Weather Management Program KW - Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51000/51065/26615E33.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1302117 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01518811 AU - Cybulski, Jonathan D AU - Harvard University AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center TI - Transportation Infrastructure Resiliency: A Review of Transportation Infrastructure Resiliency in Light of Future Impacts of Climate Change PY - 2013/08/06 SP - 23p AB - The threat of global climate change and its impact on our world’s infrastructure is a rapidly growing reality. Particularly, as seen in recent storm events such as Hurricane Katrina and Sandy in the United States, transportation infrastructure is on the front lines of seeing damaging impacts that are costly to repair. Although the world is becoming increasingly aware that climate change is quickly changing the physical landscape, little has been done in preparation for the coming changes. Cities, states, and in some instances countries have put together in depth climate resiliency plans outlining steps that would help in preparation for the coming changes; these plans are not common enough, and are divided and unfunded. There needs to be more action towards the protection of our transportation infrastructure, an entity that impacts the lives of people on a daily basis. KW - Climate change KW - Infrastructure KW - Resilience (Adaptability) KW - Risk assessment KW - Strategic planning KW - United States UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51100/51162/CYBULSKI_Transportation_Infrastructure_Resiliency_2414.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1301942 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491322 AU - Department of Transportation TI - DOT Does Not Fully Comply with Revised Federal Acquisition Regulation on the Use and Management of Cost-Reimbursement Awards PY - 2013/08/05 SP - 26p AB - The Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 required that the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) be revised to provide additional guidance on the use and management of cost-reimbursement contracts. The Act also required that each Office of Inspector General review its agency’s compliance with these revisions within 1 year of the published FAR revisions and include the results in its next semiannual report. The FAR was revised in an interim rule effective March 16, 2011, and issued as a final rule on March 2, 2012. Accordingly, the audit objective was to assess whether U.S. Department of Transportation and its Operating Administrations comply with the revised FAR requirements on the use and management of cost-reimbursement contracts. This review was conducted between July 2012 and May 2013 in accordance with generally accepted Government auditing standards. A random sample of 31 out of 655 cost-reimbursement awards, including 11 contracts and 20 task orders, was reviewed. The review determined that the Operating Administrations’ practices for 15 of the 31 awards do not comply with a significant portion, at least 25 percent, of the revised FAR requirements. KW - Contract administration KW - Contractors KW - Contracts KW - Costs KW - Federal Acquisition Regulations KW - Oversight KW - U.S. Department of Transportation UR - http://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/dot/files/DOT%20Use%20of%20Cost-Reimbursement%20Contracts%5E08-05-13.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259772 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495187 AU - Department of Transportation AU - Maritime Administration TI - MARAD Has Taken Steps To Develop a Port Infrastructure Development Program But Is Challenged in Managing Its Current Port Projects PY - 2013/08/02 SP - 40p AB - In 2003, the Maritime Administration (MARAD) was authorized to administer funds for developing and modernizing the Port of Anchorage, the main seaport in Anchorage, AK. The Port of Anchorage Intermodal Expansion Project—a partnership with the Port and the Municipality of Anchorage—is ongoing, and there have been significant setbacks, including construction problems and schedule delays. MARAD has since been authorized to administer two other port projects: the multi-port Hawaii Harbors Infrastructure Expansion Program in 2005 and the Port of Guam Improvement Enterprise Program in 2008. The Port of Guam project, which is estimated to receive up to $117 million in Federal funding, is part of a critical construction program that will support the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps forces from Japan to Guam. In 2009, MARAD was mandated to establish a Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) for the improvement of port facilities. The setbacks with the Port of Anchorage project have raised concerns about MARAD’s ability to manage its port projects. Given MARAD’s central role, the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (OIG) evaluated the Agency’s execution of its port infrastructure development responsibilities. Specifically, OIG evaluated MARAD’s (1) oversight and risk management of port infrastructure development projects, and (2) oversight of port infrastructure projects’ contract planning and administration. MARAD did not establish effective oversight mechanisms when it initiated its port infrastructure development responsibilities. MARAD narrowly interpreted statutory requirements, which state that appropriated amounts for the Port of Anchorage and Hawaii Harbors projects shall be “transferred to and administered by” the Maritime Administrator. According to MARAD officials, in the absence of clear statutory guidance, MARAD delegated authority for project construction and management through Memorandums of Agreement (MOAs) with the local authorities in Anchorage, Hawaii, and Guam. In doing so, MARAD did not (1) adequately define its port project oversight responsibilities or provide guidance to contractors for developing Program Management Plans (PMPs); (2) establish a sound risk management process consistent with industry best practices; or (3) have a process to systematically store, maintain, and track project progress and funds. MARAD did not effectively manage its port project contracts. Between 2003 and 2011, the Port of Anchorage project’s cost estimate grew over four and a half times from $211 million to $1 billion, with scheduled completion slipping 8 years. According to MARAD officials, prior to 2011 the Agency’s leadership made a policy decision that abdicated programmatic and technical control to local port officials which contributed to problems with the project. KW - Anchorage (Alaska) KW - Contract administration KW - Development KW - Guam KW - Hawaii KW - Oversight KW - Port of Anchorage (Alaska) KW - Ports KW - Project management KW - U.S. Maritime Administration UR - http://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/dot/files/MARAD%20Oversight%20of%20Port%20Infrastructure%20Development%20Projects%5E8-2-13.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263332 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01625572 TI - Document the Implementation and Operation Processes of Interlock Systems AB - Some jurisdictions are interested in using interlocks, but there may be barriers to their use. Even where interlocks are in widely used, there are often issues. This study will document, step-by-step, the various ways interlock systems are currently initiated, implemented, and working in the United States, and how these processes could work better, easier and more efficiently. The study will examine the entire interlock process – from advocacy of a law or implementation of a program, to adding additional sanctions for offenders who fail their breath test or tamper with the interlock. This information will be of use to those entities interested in implementing and improving interlock programs across the country. The study objectives are to document the implementation and operational processes of interlock programs, identify loopholes and weaknesses of interlock programs, and identify possible fixes for these issues. KW - Alcohol breath tests KW - Alcohol ignition interlock devices KW - Guidelines KW - Impaired drivers KW - Implementation KW - Traffic safety KW - United States UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1453684 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01577989 TI - Bio-Oils from Oilseed Byproduct Feedstock AB - No summary provided. KW - Biomass fuels KW - Oils KW - Seeds KW - Waste products UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1371363 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01575936 TI - Oil Extraction from Non-Food Oilseeds for Renewable Fuel Production AB - No summary provided. KW - Fuels KW - Oils KW - Renewable energy sources KW - Resource extraction KW - Seeds UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1368944 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01497436 AU - Vij, Akshay AU - University of California Transportation Center (UCTC) AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Incorporating the Influence of Latent Modal Preferences in Travel Demand Models PY - 2013/08/01 SP - 155p AB - Latent modal preferences, or modality styles, are defined as behavioral predispositions towards a certain travel mode or set of travel modes that an individual habitually uses. They are reflective of higher-level orientations, or lifestyles, that are hypothesized to influence all dimensions of an individual’s travel and activity behavior. For example, in the context of travel mode choice different modality styles may be characterized by the set of travel modes that an individual might consider when deciding how to travel, her sensitivity, or lack thereof, to different level-of service attributes of the transportation (and land use) system when making that decision, and the socioeconomic characteristics that predispose her one way or another. Travel demand models currently in practice assume that individuals are aware of the full range of alternatives at their disposal, and that a conscious choice is made based on a tradeoff between perceived costs and benefits associated with alternative attributes. Though such a representation is convenient from the standpoint of model estimation, it overlooks the effects of inertia, incomplete information and indifference that are reflective of more profound individual variations in lifestyles built around the use of different travel modes and their concurrent influence on all dimensions of individual and household travel and activity behavior. The objectives of this dissertation are three-fold: (1) to develop a travel demand model framework that captures the influence of modality styles on multiple dimensions of individual and household travel and activity behavior; (2) to test that the framework is both methodologically flexible and empirically robust; and (3) to demonstrate the value of the framework to transportation policy and practice. KW - Activity choices KW - Automobile ownership KW - Choice models KW - Karlsruhe, Germany KW - Level of service KW - Mode choice KW - Passes (Transportation) KW - San Francisco Bay Area KW - Travel behavior KW - Travel demand UR - http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/7ng2z24q.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262806 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01497392 AU - Sanders, Rebecca L AU - University of California, Berkeley AU - University of California Transportation Center (UCTC) AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Examining the Cycle: How Perceived and Actual Bicycling Risk Influence Cycling Frequency, Roadway Design Preferences, and Support for Cycling Among Bay Area Residents PY - 2013/08/01 SP - 299p AB - This dissertation investigates the connection between perceived and actual bicycling risk, and how they both affect and are affected by one’s attitudes, knowledge, behavior, and experiences. Focus groups, an online survey, and an analysis of reported crash data from the San Francisco Bay Area are used to gain a deeper understanding of perceived risk and actual risk. First, cyclists experience pervasive risk in the form of near misses that occur frequently, and acute risk that occurs when a cyclist is struck. Both types—but particularly near misses— significantly affect perceived risk for cyclists and their family and friends. Second, drivers and cyclists both prefer roadway designs with separated space for bicyclists, particularly if barrier-separated, regardless of cycling frequency. Third, perceived cycling risk extends beyond fear of danger for oneself, and is significantly related to support for cycling in one’s community. A multi-pronged belief in cycling risk significantly negatively affects bicycling support, including support for new bicycle facilities and public funding to encourage cycling. A revised theoretical framework for conceptualizing cycling risk and its influences is proposed. Policy recommendations for addressing perceived risk are provided. KW - Bicycling KW - Bikeways KW - Cyclists KW - Design KW - Perception KW - Risk analysis KW - San Francisco Bay Area KW - Structural equation modeling UR - http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/6ct7x8hp.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262805 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01497390 AU - Mondschein, Andrew S AU - University of California, Los Angeles AU - University of California Transportation Center AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - The Personal City: The Experiential, Cognitive Nature of Travel and Activity and Implications for Accessibility PY - 2013/08/01 SP - 249p AB - One aspect of accessibility that has received relatively little attention from planners is its cognitive, experiential aspect. Individuals’ activity and travel choices require not just money and time but also information about opportunities in the city. This component of an individual’s accessibility is highly personal but also dependent on the terrain of land uses and transportation options shaped by planners and policymakers. Through a series of empirical analyses of activity patterns and cognitive maps of the Los Angeles region, the factors that shape individual accessibility are explored. The first analysis investigates the spatial nature of personal cities, using the activity spaces of respondents to explore the types of opportunities that different populations within a city can access. The second demonstrates the differences – depending on mode of travel – among individuals’ perceptions of the city, even when location is held constant. The third analysis continues an exploration of the personal city by considering its fundamental components. Overall, the analyses support the relevance of the personal city framework to accessibility research, highlighting in particular that planning interventions are filtered through experiential and cognitive processes. The findings highlight that the accessibility impacts of transportation and land use patterns are felt not just in the instantaneous calculations of a microeconomic choice framework, but also in the long-term, developmental processes of cognition and experience. For urban planners, the implications of this research include evidence of how the built environment can effectively reduce travel while maintaining accessibility and how different transportation modes afford varying levels of functional accessibility. Experience, information, and learning are elements of urban daily life traditionally neglected by planners but with potential to increase opportunity and accessibility for diverse urban populations. KW - Accessibility KW - Activity choices KW - Cities KW - Cognition KW - Gravity models KW - Los Angeles (California) KW - Mode choice KW - Spatial analysis KW - Transportation planning KW - Travel demand UR - http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/7014d9cg UR - http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/7014d9cg.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262795 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01612321 AU - Miller, Gerald A AU - Bounds, Tommy D AU - University of Oklahoma, Norman AU - Oklahoma Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Efficacy of Road Bond and Condor as Soil Stabilizers PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 128p AB - The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) uses lime-based stabilizers including quick lime, hydrated lime, Class C fly ash (CFA) and cement kiln dust (CKD) to increase bearing capacity of fine-grained subgrade soils within the state of Oklahoma. Lime, CFA, and CKD have been successfully used as soil stabilizers; however, lime-based stabilizers may react negatively when mixed with sulfate bearing soils which are prevalent in Oklahoma. In an effort to remedy the issues with sulfate bearing and non-sulfate bearing soils, multiple companies have developed alternative additives to the commonly used lime-based additives. Two companies, Earth Science Products and C.S.S Technology, Inc. have produced the acid based chemical additives Condor SS and Roadbond EN 1, respectively. The goal of this research was to determine how Condor SS and Roadbond EN 1 perform relative to lime and fly ash additives in sulfate and non-sulfate bearing clayey soils found within the state of Oklahoma. The approach for this project was to test the two aforementioned chemical additives against lime and fly ash additives according to the test methods outlined in ASTM D 4609 with three different soils from Oklahoma, one of which contained significant levels of soluble sulfate. The main test used to evaluate the two chemical stabilizers was the unconfined compression test (UCT) to evaluate strength gains from the stabilizer and free swell oedometer test to gauge whether chemical addition decreased swelling potential or swelling pressure. Roadbond EN1 and Condor SS did not substantially increase the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of any of the soils tested nor meet the requirements of ASTM D 4609 per OHD L-50. Roadbond EN1 and Condor SS did not appear to have a significant effect on the liquid limit, plastic limit, or plasticity index of any of the soils tested. The swelling potential of the soils tested were not reduced by the addition of Roadbond EN1 or Condor SS. While increases in UCS were not substantial, there was some noted improvement in the 28-day UCS in the sulfate bearing soil with Roadbond EN1 and Condor SS. In addition, these additives did not produce adverse swelling reactions as noted for fly ash and lime in this soil. KW - Additives KW - Clay soils KW - Compression tests KW - Evaluation KW - Fly ash KW - Oklahoma KW - Plasticity KW - Soil lime mixtures KW - Soil stabilization KW - Subgrade materials KW - Sulfates KW - Swelling UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/60000/60300/60311/FY12_2242_Miller_FinalReport.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1423505 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01611979 AU - Miller, Gerald A AU - Hatami, Kianoosh AU - Cerato, Amy B AU - Osborne, Colin AU - University of Oklahoma, Norman AU - Oklahoma Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Applied Approach Slab Settlement Research, Design/Construction PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 162p AB - Approach embankment settlement is a pervasive problem in Oklahoma and many other states. The bump and/or abrupt slope change poses a danger to traffic and can cause increased dynamic loads on the bridge. Frequent and costly maintenance may be needed or extensive repair and reconstruction may be required in extreme cases. Research critically investigated the design and construction methods in Oklahoma to reveal causes and solutions to the bridge approach settlement problem. The major objectives of the research were: (1) Investigate causes of, and solutions to the approach slab settlement problem in available literature. (2) By direct investigation, determine primary causes of approach slab settlement for selected bridges in Oklahoma. Bridge configurations studied included those commonly used by Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) and representing different embankment and foundation soil conditions typically encountered in Oklahoma. (3) Recommend solutions to minimize or eliminate approach slab settlement problems associated with Oklahoma bridges. (4) Recommend construction solutions to minimize potential for approach settlement problems. The major tasks completed included: (1) A review of available published literature related to the bridge approach settlement problem. (2) A survey of ODOT Field Divisions to solicit information about bridge sites experiencing settlement problems. In addition, potential sites were identified through discussions with key persons in the ODOT Materials Division. (3) Of the potential test sites, field reconnaissance investigations were conducted for 30 bridges at 22 separate locations in Oklahoma. These sites were identified as having moderate to severe problems and were representative of different bridge types, different geology, and different ages. To the extent possible, design, construction and maintenance records were obtained for these bridges. (4) At five of the test sites, subsurface investigation was conducted including: drilling and sampling, cone penetrometer testing, laboratory classification testing and oedometer testing to determine settlement parameters. (5) Statistically analyzed data to determine if there were relationships observed between bridge / embankment / foundation features and observed distresses. (6) Analyzed settlement of foundation soils and wetting-induced collapse settlement in embankment soils. (7) Developed recommendations for design and construction methods for addressing the approach slab settlement problem. The investigation revealed that erosion under the approach slab and under the abutment is a serious problem for many Oklahoma bridges. Consolidation of foundation soils was also found to be an important contributor to the approach slab settlement problem. KW - Bridge approaches KW - Bridge construction KW - Bridge design KW - Embankments KW - Foundation soils KW - Geological surveying KW - Literature reviews KW - Oklahoma KW - Recommendations KW - Settlement (Structures) KW - Statistical analysis UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/60000/60300/60308/FY12_2227_Miller_FinalReport.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1423503 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01611962 AU - Darwin, David AU - O'Reilly, Matthew AU - Somogie, Isaac AU - Sperry, Jayne AU - Lafikes, James AU - Storm, Scott AU - Browning, JoAnn AU - University of Kansas Center for Research, Incorporated AU - Oklahoma Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Stainless Steel Reinforcement as a Replacement for Epoxy Coated Steel in Bridge Decks PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 205p AB - The corrosion resistance of 2304 stainless steel reinforcement and stainless steel clad reinforcement was compared to conventional and epoxy-coated reinforcement (ECR). 2304 stainless steel was tested in both the as-received condition (dark mottled finish) and repickled to a bright finish. Specimens were evaluated using rapid macrocell, Southern Exposure, and cracked beam tests. ECR and stainless steel clad specimens were evaluated with the coating having no intentional damage and with the coating or cladding penetrated. ECR with the coating penetrated is used to represent ECR that has undergone damage during construction. Clad bars were also bent to evaluate the corrosion resistance of the cladding after fabrication. Bars were tested for corrosion loss and chloride content at corrosion initiation. The critical chloride corrosion threshold for each system was established, as was an average corrosion rate after initiation. Results obtained from the southern exposure and cracked beam tests are used to the estimate cost effectiveness for each system under a 75-year and 100-year service life. Epoxy-coated reinforcement and stainless steel clad bars with and without intentional penetrations in the coating, as well as 2304 stainless steel in the as-received and repickled conditions exhibit a significant increase in corrosion resistance and critical chloride corrosion threshold compared to conventional steel, with undamaged epoxy-coated specimens exhibiting the lowest corrosion rate. In the as-received condition, 2304 stainless steel did not satisfy the requirements of ASTM A955, while repickled 2304 did. The undamaged stainless steel clad bars satisfied the requirements of the rapid macrocell test in ASTM A955; however, some cracked beam specimens containing stainless steel clad bars exhibited corrosion rates greater than the maximum allowable value permitted by ASTM A955. Conventional reinforcing steel is the least cost-effective form of reinforcement, with 2304 stainless steel in the as-received condition, ECR with penetrations through the epoxy, correctly pickled 2304 stainless steel, and stainless steel clad reinforcement representing progressively more cost-effective materials. Stainless steel clad reinforcement, however, is not currently available, and its failure to pass ASTM A955 calls its long-term performance into question. Increasing the cover over the top mat of steel and considering partial-deck replacements, where applicable, are methods that should be considered to decrease life cycle costs. KW - Alternatives analysis KW - ASTM A955 KW - Bridge decks KW - Chloride content KW - Corrosion resistance KW - Cost effectiveness KW - Epoxy coatings KW - Reinforcing bars KW - Reinforcing steel KW - Stainless steel UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1423507 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01605791 AU - Chen, S S AU - Shirolé, A M AU - Research Foundation of SUNY AU - State University of New York, Buffalo AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Bridge Data File Protocols for Interoperability and Life Cycle Management Volume I: Implementation Roadmap for Bridge Information Modeling (BrIM) Data Exchange Protocols PY - 2013/08 SP - 50p AB - A national level, multi-year implementation roadmap for moving the industry towards bridge information modeling (BrIM) - based project delivery and life cycle management. This roadmap identifies and recommends steps and procedures deemed necessary to facilitate the adoption and use of the developed bridge data exchange protocols. The roadmap is intended to define a strategic plan for establishment and deployment of these protocols as a national standard for data exchange in the bridge industry, both during the execution of the current task and into the future. The objective of this roadmap is to identify specific steps and corresponding timetables for further developing, educating, implementing, and deploying bridge data exchange protocols. KW - Data files KW - Data sharing KW - Highway bridges KW - Implementation KW - Interoperability KW - Project management KW - Recommendations KW - Standards KW - Strategic planning UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/protocols/hif16003_v1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1416735 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01575100 AU - Snow, Michael AU - White, George AU - Katara, Si AU - Willoughby, Kim AU - Garcia, Roxana AU - Pavia Systems, Incorporated AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Project Inspection Using Mobile Technology–Phase I: An investigation into existing business processes and areas for improvement using mobile technology PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 44p AB - As mobile technology becomes widely available and affordable, transportation agencies can use this technology to streamline operations involved within project inspection. This research, conducted in two phases, identified opportunities for process improvement using mobile technologies and measured the outcomes from incorporating mobile tools as a part of project inspection work. The research also identified additional factors to characterize the use of mobile tools for project inspection. The research approach focused on measuring three main projected outcomes, which include productivity, data quality, and data availability. Additional characteristics were observed to evaluate other aspects of using mobile tools for project inspection, in particular as it relates to recommendations toward how an agency may approach deployment of mobile technology. A pilot program was established where a mobile technology solution was used via field trials to measure these outcomes. KW - Construction projects KW - Data collection KW - Data quality KW - Field studies KW - Inspection KW - Mobile applications KW - Productivity KW - Wireless communication systems UR - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/840.1.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55300/55311/840.1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1366890 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01562617 AU - Chicago Transit Authority AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - An Integrated Approach to Climate Adaptation at the Chicago Transit Authority PY - 2013/08//2/28/2013-8/31/2013 SP - 139p AB - Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) was selected as one of seven pilots funded by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to advance the state of practice for adapting transit systems to the impacts of climate change. This effort is in keeping with broader long-term goals to address state-of-good-repair needs and to enhance transit safety. The CTA pilot develops quantitative and qualitative tools that can be used by CTA and peer agencies to integrate consideration of climate impacts into operations, infrastructure planning, and standard business practices. KW - Chicago Transit Authority KW - Climate change KW - Public transit KW - State of the practice KW - Strategic planning KW - Transit safety UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Report_No._0070.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55500/55553/FTA_Report_No._0070.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1352136 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01562616 AU - Liban, Cris B AU - Egge, Matthew AU - Markovitz, Carley AU - Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Climate Change Adaptation Pilot Project PY - 2013/08//1/15/2012-8/31/2013 SP - 237p AB - This Climate Change Adaptation Pilot Project Report details the project background of the recently-completed Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Transit Climate Change Adaptation Pilot Project as well as the various work elements, the results and findings, and Metro’s next steps in fulfilling its ongoing commitment to climate adaptation. The project capitalizes and uses Metro’s existing Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP), Environmental Management System (EMS), and asset management system tools to integrate climate adaptation principles into ongoing conversations and implement best management practices in the areas of its operations and maintenance. The project also developed a comprehensive set of metrics that would enable Metro to gauge past progress while identifying new targets to guide the direction of future climate adaptation work. The project identified various messages and key points appropriate for targeted audiences, conducted a roundtable and a webinar, and produced a 100-second video to initiate a dialogue among stakeholders who are interested in and anticipated to work together with Metro in its climate adaptation efforts, with a special focus on the idea that Metro’s patrons are part of the overall strategy to prepare Los Angeles for the impacts of climate change. KW - Asset management KW - Climate change KW - Environmental policy KW - Implementation KW - Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority KW - Metrics (Quantitative assessment) KW - Outreach KW - Public transit KW - Stakeholders UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Report_No._0073.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55500/55556/FTA_Report_No._0073.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1352134 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01562615 AU - Brooks, Jonathan AU - Stevens, Roma AU - Sandidge, Stuart Matthew AU - Cherrington, Linda AU - Blessing, Russell AU - Stiles, Alexandra AU - Brody, Samuel AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - Gulf Coast Climate Change Adaptation Pilot Study PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 131p AB - Climate change-related issues place substantial operating and financial burdens on public transit agencies, particularly in coastal settings. Gulf of Mexico coastal transit agencies and their constituents are especially vulnerable to natural hazards resulting from extreme heat, flooding, and high winds. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has billions of dollars in assets across the U.S., many of which are threatened by the adverse impacts of climate change. Reducing the impacts of weather events and long-term climate change is a key goal for Gulf Coast transit agencies as well as FTA. The study was one of seven climate change adaptation pilot studies. The purpose of the Gulf Coast study was two-fold: to provide benefit to three specific project member transit agencies and to compile practical information for all Gulf Coast transit agencies. While a great deal has been written about the expected impacts of climate change, little work has focused specifically on the implications for transit agencies operating along the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf Coast pilot study report addresses the information and strategy gap by providing the following: background information about climate change, description of climate impacts along the Gulf Coast, a survey of agencies about past severity of various weather events, a conceptual framework for planning and adapting to climate change, vulnerability matrix planning tools, three case study examples of previous/ongoing adaptation strategies, and a detailed methodology using geographic information system (GIS) spatial data to assess climate change vulnerability of transit assets. As Gulf Coast transit agencies continue to plan for emergency weather events such as hurricanes and begin to proactively plan for the long-term effects of climate change, they will reduce risk and improve safety. Using the information in this report as a baseline guide, Gulf Coast transit agencies can renew and improve planning for the impacts of finite weather events and long-term climate change, thus increasing agency staff capabilities, protecting valuable assets, and improving rider safety. KW - Case studies KW - Climate change KW - Geographic information systems KW - Gulf of Mexico KW - Public transit KW - Risk assessment KW - Strategic planning KW - Surveys KW - Transit operating agencies UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Report_No._0072.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55500/55555/FTA_Report_No._0072.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1352135 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01562602 AU - Amekudzi, Adjo AU - Crane, Matthew AU - Springstead, David AU - Rose, David AU - Batac, Tiffany AU - Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - Transit Climate Change Adaptation Assessment/Asset Management Pilot for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 58p AB - Public transit agencies play an important role in the provision of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation for the communities they serve. With the growing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, such as hurricanes Irene and Sandy, several public transportation agencies have begun to adapt their systems to make them more resilient to the changing climate conditions. This report applies transit asset management principles to climate change adaptation using the Federal Transit Administration’s “Asset Management Guide.” Climate change adaptation generally involves understanding potential impacts of the changing climate on an agency’s services and assets and taking necessary actions to avoid, reduce, or manage anticipated impacts. For transit agencies, this involves identifying vulnerable assets and their associated risks and prioritizing improvements to develop more resilient systems while achieving other system performance objectives. Principles from the “Asset Management Guide” are applied to demonstrate how a public transit agency can adapt to extreme weather events or changes in climate using the Metropolitan Atlanta Regional Transit Authority (MARTA) as a case study. The report outlines procedures for identifying the climate hazards and vulnerable assets and their associated risks in a transit agency’s service area. It identifies opportunities to integrate climate adaptation strategies in a transit asset management system at the enterprise and asset levels and then link the resulting information to appropriate business units to manage risks while undertaking continual improvement and updates in the life cycle management of assets. Addressing climate change through asset management programs can help agencies achieve system resilience simultaneously with other system performance objectives such as safety, mobility and the state-of-good-repair. KW - Asset management KW - Case studies KW - Climate change KW - Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority KW - Public transit KW - Risk assessment KW - Risk management KW - Transit operating agencies UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Report_No._0076.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55500/55559/FTA_Report_No._0076.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1352131 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01561593 AU - Khan, Mubassira AU - Machemehl, Randy AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation of Potential Impacts of Alternative Vehicle Fuels on TxDOT Funding PY - 2013/08 SP - 60p AB - This study presents an evaluation of the potential impacts on Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) revenues of substituting liquefied natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas (CNG), and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for traditional diesel or gasoline vehicle fuels in Texas. Time series analyses are conducted for LNG, CNG, and LPG to estimate a model to forecast diesel and gasoline consumption for years 2012 to 2025. Taking into account the federal and state fuel taxes, the revenue generated from traditional fuel consumption is compared to three alternative fuel substitution scenarios. Overall, if the Federal and State excise tax rates remain at current levels the analysis suggests that substitution of LNG and LPG for traditional fuels will generate more revenue for the forecast years. However, substitution of CNG for gasoline consumption will reduce revenue if the Federal and State excise tax rates remain the same for the forecast years. KW - Alternate fuels KW - Alternatives analysis KW - Compressed natural gas KW - Economic impacts KW - Evaluation KW - Financing KW - Forecasting KW - Fuel consumption KW - Fuel taxes KW - Liquefied natural gas KW - Liquefied petroleum gas KW - Revenues KW - Texas Department of Transportation KW - Time series analysis UR - http://library.ctr.utexas.edu/ctr-publications/0-6581-CT-Task18.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1352015 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01561584 AU - Cleveland, Theodore G AU - Strom, Kyle B AU - Sharif, Hatim AU - Liu, Xiaofeng AU - Texas Tech University, Lubbock AU - Texas Tech University, Lubbock AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Empirical Flow Parameters - A Tool for Hydraulic Model Validity Assessment PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 171p AB - Data in Texas from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) physical stream flow and channel property measurements for gaging stations in the state of Texas were used to construct relations between observed stream flow, topographic slope, mean section velocity, and several other hydraulic factors, to produce three methods to assess "if hydraulic model results are way off." A generalized additive modeling technique was used to develop two equations, QGAM and VGAM, that estimate discharge and velocity at a location in Texas from a cross sectional flow area, topwidth, location (latitude and longitude), and mean annual precipitation. The data were also analyzed to develop conditional distributions of hydraulic parameters based on location related values to extend the utility of the QGAM and VGAM models. The data and ancillary properties developed in the research were used to develop dimensionless bankfull depth-discharge and similar charts as a way to evaluate anticipated behavior in streams in Texas. KW - Hydraulics KW - Hydrology KW - Mathematical models KW - Sediment discharge KW - Streamflow KW - Texas KW - Validation KW - Velocity UR - http://www.depts.ttu.edu/techmrtweb/reports/complete_reports/0-6654-1_Final.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1352018 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01557570 AU - Choate, Anne AU - Groth, Philip AU - Snow, Cassandra AU - Phung, Thuy AU - Casola, Joe AU - Johanson, Erik AU - Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority AU - ICF International AU - Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - A Vulnerability and Risk Assessment of SEPTA’s Regional Rail: A Transit Climate Change Adaptation Assessment Pilot PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 92p AB - This final report for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Transit Climate Change Adaptation Assessment Pilot describes the actions taken, information gathered, analyses performed, and lessons learned throughout the pilot project. This report describes the activities conducted for a vulnerability and risk assessment for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) Regional Rail system. The project focused on SEPTA’s Manayunk/Norristown Regional Rail line and began with an analysis of recent weather-related disruptions, tying them to observed weather conditions. The results of this analysis were combined with climate model projections for the area to project future delays, annulments, and costs that may be associated with climate changes. Next, the project team and SEPTA staff held a series of conversations to discuss SEPTA’s vulnerabilities to temperature, heavy precipitation, tropical storms, and snowfall to develop adaptation strategies to address these vulnerabilities. The report concludes with recommended adaptation strategies for SEPTA and lessons learned for other transit adaptation efforts nationwide. KW - Climate change KW - Costs KW - Forecasting KW - Pilot studies KW - Rail transit KW - Recommendations KW - Regional railroads KW - Risk assessment KW - South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Septa) KW - Traffic delays KW - Weather conditions UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Report_No._0071.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55500/55554/FTA_Report_No._0071.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1346332 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01557286 AU - McGrane, Ann AU - Mitman, Meghan AU - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - An Overview and Recommendations of High-Visibility Crosswalk Marking Styles PY - 2013/08//White Paper SP - 23p AB - The purpose of this paper is to examine the past and current research on crosswalk marking design and to come to conclusions about the best types of marking patterns under various traffic and roadway conditions. General crosswalk information is given in the paper, such as guidelines supplied by the Uniform Vehicle Code and the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which provides a background of current recommendations in the United States for crosswalk design and installation. This paper also includes a brief description of the decades-long debate about whether uncontrolled crosswalks are safest for pedestrians when they are marked or unmarked. The paper then examines the current research about effective marking patterns. Different patterns’ effects on pedestrian collisions and their relative visibility are discussed, as well as best practices from across the country and abroad. KW - Best practices KW - Countries KW - Crosswalks KW - Guidelines KW - Highway safety KW - Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices KW - Pedestrian safety KW - Recommendations KW - Road markings KW - United States KW - Visibility UR - http://www.pedbikeinfo.org/cms/downloads/PBIC_WhitePaper_Crosswalks.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1345919 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01548505 AU - Choi, Pangil AU - Ryu, Sungwoo AU - Zhou, Wujun AU - Saraf, Sureel AU - Yeon, Jungheum AU - Ha, Soojun AU - Won, Moon AU - Texas Tech University, Lubbock AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Project Level Performance Database for Rigid Pavements in Texas, II PY - 2013/08//Technical Report SP - 323p AB - The primary objectives of this project included the collection of information on continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) behavior and performance in Texas to calibrate the mechanistic-empirical pavement design procedure for CRCP developed under Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) research study 0-5832, and the overall evaluation of rigid pavement performance in Texas, including special and experimental sections. To achieve the objectives, extensive field evaluations were conducted to identify the mechanisms of structural distress in CRCP and to investigate CRCP behavior at transverse cracks using falling weight deflectometer (FWD). Calibration of the distress prediction model in the new CRCP design procedure was made with a development of a transfer function. It was also observed that the most of the distresses in CRCP were due to the quality control issue of materials and construction. Jointed concrete pavement (CPCD) performance is satisfactory, except that most of the distresses were at transverse contraction joints, indicating construction quality issues. In addition, field evaluations were conducted on various experimental sections where the effects of design (steel percentages), materials (coarse aggregate type), and construction (placement season, early-entry saw cuts) variables on CRCP structural responses and performance were investigated. Furthermore, research efforts were made to examine the performance and behavior of a number of special test sections TxDOT has built over the years. The special portland cement concrete (PCC) sections addressed in this project include post-tensioned concrete pavement (PTCP), precast PTCP, bonded (BCO) and unbonded (UBCO) concrete overlays, fast-track concrete pavement (FTCP), whitetopping sections, 100% recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) concrete pavement, and roller-compacted concrete (RCC) pavement sections. Lastly, this project developed an advanced and user-friendly database called the Texas Rigid Pavement Database (TxRPDB). This database is webbased, geographic information system (GIS)-oriented, and application-integrated. This database includes all the information obtained in this project in an organized manner, with a query function. KW - Calibration KW - Continuously reinforced concrete pavements KW - Databases KW - Falling weight deflectometers KW - Field studies KW - Mechanistic-empirical pavement design KW - Pavement distress KW - Pavement performance KW - Portland cement concrete KW - Rigid pavements KW - Test sections KW - Texas KW - Transverse cracking UR - http://www.depts.ttu.edu/techmrtweb/reports/complete_reports/0-6274-2_Final.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1335584 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01545296 AU - Dowds, Jonathan AU - Sullivan, Jim AU - Scott, Darren AU - Novak, David AU - University of Vermont, Burlington AU - Vermont Agency of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Optimization of Snow Removal in Vermont PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 51p AB - The purpose of this report is to document the research activities performed under project SPR-RAC-727 for the State of Vermont, Agency of Transportation (VTrans), Materials & Research Section entitled “Optimization of Snow Removal in Vermont”. The overall objective for this project was to develop, for VTrans roadway snow and ice control operations, storm-specific routes designed to maximize the efficiency of the service provided in terms of labor-hours and fuel. This report describes the set of processes implemented for optimizing roadway snow and ice control (RSIC) operations for the roadways that VTrans is responsible for. Three different approaches to establishing priority for certain roadways are implemented, including one that uses the Network Robustness Index developed previously by researchers at the University of Vermont (UVM) Transportation Research Center (TRC), and each is run for three storm levels – low-salt, medium-salt, and high-salt. Storm-intensity levels are important because they dictate the amount of salt application required - – 200 lbs/mile, 500 lbs/mile, and 800 lbs/mile, which is the primary constraint for the maximum length of a round-trip route for roadway snow and ice control. The first task was to optimize the service areas for each of the 61 VTrans maintenance garages based on the travel time between each garage and the surrounding road network. The second task was to develop alternative vehicle allocation methods and assign each of the vehicles in the VTrans RSIC fleet to the maintenance garages based on these methods. The third task was to optimally route each of these vehicle allocations according to the combined service time/fuel consumption metric. The fourth and final task was to evaluate the competing vehicle allocations based on the speed with which high priority road corridors are serviced. KW - Fuel consumption KW - Network Robustness Index KW - Optimization KW - Resource allocation KW - Routes and routing KW - Snow and ice control KW - Travel time KW - Vermont KW - Winter maintenance UR - http://vtransplanning.vermont.gov/sites/aot_program_development/files/documents/materialsandresearch/completedprojects/2013%20-%2012%20Optimization%20of%20Snow%20Removal%20in%20Vermont_0.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1331821 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01542844 AU - Chi, Guangqing AU - Mississippi State University, Mississippi State AU - National Center for Intermodal Transportation for Economic Competitiveness AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Passenger Usages of the Intermodal Transportation System: An Analysis of the 2009 National Household Travel Survey Data PY - 2013/08 SP - 38p AB - The research on intermodal transportation is vast, but most of the efforts have been on the freight side. The research on passenger intermodal transportation is much less comprehensive. It is essential to understand passenger usage of the intermodal transportation system because passengers are the biggest users of transportation systems. This research provides a first look at passenger intermodal transportation in the U.S. by using the 2009 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) data, which provide for the first time the intermodal usages by passengers. This research provides descriptive statistics on total trips, trips by different travel modes and trip purposes, and different travel modes by trip purposes. This research further investigates the association of these intermodal transportation measures to possible factors by using Poisson and negative binomial regression models. The findings suggest that the majority of trips were made by personal vehicles, but trip purposes varied greatly. Household income and urban residency positively shaped the numbers of total trips, travel modes, and trip purposes. Homeownership, household size, and the number of household drivers also shaped these intermodal transportation measures, although the direction of the effect varied. Future research could focus on demographic variations of passenger intermodal transportation. KW - Demographics KW - Income KW - Intermodal transportation KW - National Household Travel Survey KW - Negative binomial regression analysis KW - Passenger transportation KW - Poisson distributions KW - Residential location KW - Transportation modes KW - Trip purpose UR - http://www.ncitec.msstate.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012-03FR.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1328532 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01531886 AU - Saraf, Sureel AU - Choi, Pangil AU - Ryu, Sungwoo AU - Ha, Soojun AU - Ghebrab, Tewodros AU - Won, Moon C AU - Texas Tech University, Lubbock AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Minimize Premature Distresses in Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavements PY - 2013/08//Technical Report SP - 144p AB - The long-term performance of continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) has been quite satisfactory in Texas, providing an important network of highways with heavy truck traffic and minimal maintenance. Field evaluations of the performance of CRCP in Texas reveal that a substantial portion of distresses is not necessarily due to structural deficiencies of CRCP. Rather, many distresses appear to be due to construction and material related issues and to a lesser extent, imperfections in design details. Since these distresses occur long before structural distresses develop, they are considered premature distresses. The most effective way to prevent or minimize premature distresses is to identify the mechanisms of distresses, develop appropriate special provisions to existing specifications or special specifications, and modify existing design standards. Distresses at transverse construction joints (TCJs) were one of the most frequently observed and efforts were made to identify the mechanisms of those distresses and develop or improve design standards or specifications. Field evaluations of concrete and steel behavior near TCJs were made using various gages. The analysis of the data indicates that the current practice of placing additional tie bars at TCJs, along with poor construction practices, are the major causes of the distress. There is a large difference in the behavior of reinforcement between additional tie bars and longitudinal steel that is continuous through transverse construction joints. The premise that additional tie bars at TCJs will behave the same way as longitudinal steel, thus reducing steel stresses of longitudinal steel at TCJs, keeping the joint widths tight, and improving TCJ performance, is not necessarily correct. Also, the use of additional tie bars makes the consolidation of concrete at TCJs difficult due to the reduced spacing between longitudinal reinforcing steel. Not placing additional tie bars at TCJs, and the use of relief transverse saw cut joints near TCJs, along with improved construction practices at TCJs, will minimize the distresses. KW - Construction joints KW - Continuously reinforced concrete pavements KW - Design standards KW - Field studies KW - Pavement design KW - Pavement distress KW - Specifications KW - Texas KW - Tie bars KW - Transverse joints UR - http://www.depts.ttu.edu/techmrtweb/reports/complete_reports/0-6687-R1-Final.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1317113 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01531518 AU - Bullough, John D AU - Radetsky, Leora C AU - Transportation Research Board AU - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute AU - American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Analysis of New Highway Lighting Technologies PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 67p AB - This report documents and presents the results from a study of roadway lighting technologies including the use of light emitting diode (LED) sources and other light source types. A review of published research and case studies of new lighting technologies, as well as a comparison of roadway luminaire photometric performance, suggests that LED technologies, while still rapidly developing, are viable for specifying energy efficient and visually effective roadway lighting systems. New metrics such as luminaire system application efficacy can allow engineers to make informed decisions about the roadway lighting system configurations (including luminaire selection, spacing and mounting height) that will lead to the most economical system performance. Research also suggests that a number of other metrics such as mesopic photometry, brightness perception, and spectral sensitivity for discomfort glare could assist the designer in selecting among new lighting technologies, most of which have greater short-wavelength spectral output than conventional lighting mainly using high pressure sodium lamps. Evaluations of visual performance and visibility coverage areas from roadway lighting may also be of use in identifying appropriate adaptive control strategies for roadway lighting. KW - Alternatives analysis KW - Light emitting diodes KW - Luminaires KW - Metrics (Quantitative assessment) KW - Photometry KW - Street lighting UR - http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/docs/NCHRP20-07(305)_FR.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1315806 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01523321 AU - Ozbas, Birnur AU - Greenberg, Michael R AU - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation AU - Rutgers University, New Brunswick AU - Federal Highway Administration AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Correlation between Hurricane Sandy Damage along the New Jersey Coast with Land Use, Dunes and Other Local Attributes PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 61p AB - The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of sand dunes along New Jersey’s Coast in reducing damage during Sandy. The study area included eight selected zones with different damage levels from Ocean County. A model to independently predict the damage level was built from the literature and field observations. The authors used a classification of the damage developed by an independent group, which had classified the damage at 89 blocks by the beach in Ocean County, New Jersey into severe, moderate, low and none. LIDAR data and site visits were used to measure dune attributes, such as height and width, as well as type of land use beyond the beach (boardwalk, building). Statistical analyses, mainly ordered logistic regression and multiple linear regression, were used to estimate the relationships among damage and the predictors. The analysis shows that dunes reduced the likelihood of damage during Hurricane Sandy. Dune width, dune crest height, height of the structure, proximity to structure and type of the structure were the strongest predictors that appeared to have decreased the negative impacts of the storm. In contrast, tall structures on the land were more likely to be severely damaged. The pilot test accurately classified 81% of the sites that had severe to low damage into the category that had been chosen by the independent group. The results suggest a follow-up that would include a more robust measure of damage and a wider range of sites for evaluation. KW - Dune sands KW - Flood damage KW - Hurricane Sandy, 2012 KW - Hurricanes KW - Land use KW - Laser radar KW - New Jersey KW - Regression analysis KW - Statistical analysis KW - Structures UR - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/CAIT-UTC-019-final.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1307065 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01522295 AU - Wayne, W Scott AU - West Virginia University, Morgantown AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - Transit Vehicle Emissions Program PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 114p AB - The evaluation, selection, and implementation of fuel and powertrain technology choices are critically important to accomplishing the mission of providing safe, efficient, reliable, environmentally-conscious, and cost-effective public transportation. Vehicle procurement decisions evolve to be a difficult compromise between economic, environmental, and operability requirements. West Virginia University conducted a research program to provide the transit industry with resources to assist transit agency managers to evaluate a low-emissions, fuel-efficient option in vehicle procurement and planning activities to encourage the design, production, and use of environmentally-friendly transit buses. This report summarizes technical assistance provided to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Larsen Pennsylvania Transportation Institute to establish an emissions testing program as part of the Altoona Bus Testing Center. The report also summarizes the development of a searchable database of transit bus emissions data, a transit fleet emissions model, and a transit vehicle life cycle cost model. KW - Alternate fuels KW - Altoona (Pennsylvania) KW - Databases KW - Emissions testing KW - Life cycle costing KW - Pollutants KW - Transit buses UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA__Report_No._0048.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55400/55491/FTA__Report_No._0048.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1306588 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516613 AU - Brown, Nicole King AU - Kowalsky, Mervyn AU - Nau, James AU - Alaska University Transportation Center AU - Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Strain Limits for Concrete Filled Steel Tubes in AASHTO Seismic Provisions PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 389p AB - Reinforced concrete filled steel tubes (RCFSTs) are commonly used as bridge pipe piles in high seismic regions. The pipe-piles consist of reinforced concrete encased in a steel tube. The steel tube is used as a permanent casing which eases construction. The concrete is confined by the steel tube, increasing the compressive strength, and the concrete core prevents the steel tube from buckling inward. This research program presents experimental tests performed on twelve large scale RCFSTs. The pipe-piles were subjected to reversed cyclic four-point bending with a constant moment region centered in the pile. The tests focused on two variables: (1) diameter to thickness ratio and (2) internal reinforcement ratio. The large scale specimens consisted of outer diameters of 20-24 inches and diameter-to-thickness ratios between 33 and 192. The thin walled piles were tested with varying internal reinforcement ratios ranging from 0.78% to 2.43%. The effect of ratio of tube diameter to tube thickness (D/t ratio) and internal reinforcement ratio on the initiation of buckling and rupture, ductility, damping, and strain compatibility were determined. Analyses were performed to compare the curvature distribution and plastic hinge length of RCFSTs and conventional reinforced concrete columns. A finite element model was created to capture the monotonic response of the specimens. KW - Bridge design KW - Concrete filled steel tubes KW - Earthquake resistant design KW - Finite element method KW - Piles (Supports) KW - Reinforced concrete KW - Reinforcement (Engineering) KW - Steel pipe KW - Strain measurement KW - Tubing UR - http://ine.uaf.edu/autc/files/2013/10/510001.RCFST-Final-Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290653 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516584 AU - Redd, Larry AU - Redd, Kim AU - Redd Engineering AU - Wyoming Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Managing Risks in the Project Pipeline PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 121p AB - This research focuses on how to manage the risks of project costs and revenue uncertainties over the long-term, and identifies significant process improvements to ensure projects are delivered on time and as intended, thus maximizing the miles paved and minimizing financial risks to the organization. A dynamic simulation model is validated and tested by researching 50 historical projects, collecting data about these projects, and validating the key inputs for the simulation. A variety of parametric studies, including simulating the effects of various revenue scenarios, are performed and conclusive results are reached. Both Core Strategies, focusing on how to load and manage the project pipeline, and System and Organizational Improvement Strategies are identified. By implementing these strategies and minimizing the amount of projects held “on the shelf” and employing practices that minimize the risks of incurring Holding Costs due to revenue shortfalls, savings can be maximized. Applying new strategies and improving processes will allow the department to better manage the risks facing transportation projects in the project pipeline. Estimated cost savings are between 2 and 4 percent of the total budget; this would amount to a total savings of 90 million dollars, for a budget of 3 billion dollars over a ten-year period. The results of the research are enabling Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) to maximize the performance benefits from their asset management efforts. KW - Construction projects KW - Cost control KW - Project management KW - Risk management KW - Simulation KW - Wyoming Department of Transportation UR - http://www.dot.state.wy.us/files/live/sites/wydot/files/shared/Planning/Research/RS02212_1306F.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51800/51852/FHWA_1306F_RS02212.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1300201 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516448 AU - Emerson, Robert N AU - Pretorius, David AU - Sparks, Jared AU - Oklahoma State University, Stillwater AU - Oklahoma Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Developing County Bridge Repair and Retrofit Techniques PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 126p AB - Oklahoma rated first in the Nation in the percentage of bridges that are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. According to Federal Highway Administration data, Oklahoma uses approximately 23,250 bridges maintained by state, County, City, and Tribal governments. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) estimated that it would cost $3.4 billion to replace these bridges. The research team worked with engineers and bridge maintenance personnel from the Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma (ACCO), ODOT, and Oklahoma Circuit Engineering Districts (CEDs) to identify, evaluate, and develop two repair techniques for deteriorating off system bridges. The project focused on repairing decayed timber piles and corroded H-piles. To repair decayed timber piles, the decayed pile was removed from the pile cap to sound wood below grade and then replaced with steel members that are commonly available to bridge maintenance personnel. These included steel pipe and steel H-pile sections. The corroded H-piles were repaired by welding steel plates to the flanges of H-piles containing corroded webs. The repair techniques were evaluated in the field through load testing strain gauge instrumented bridges. The steel H-pile repair was also investigated under controlled laboratory testing. The repairs were found to adequately restore strength and stiffness and transfer loads from the super structure to the foundation. Straight forward design guidelines and design tables were developed for each of the repair techniques. The recommended repairs are useful for extending the life of a bridge that contains decayed timber piles or steel H-piles with corroded webs. The repairs allow for adequate safety to be maintained while a deteriorating bridge is waiting to be replaced. This allows for county, tribal, and local government officials to prioritize and wisely spend their bridge and road maintenance resources. KW - Bridges KW - Corrosion KW - Laboratory tests KW - Load tests KW - Maintenance KW - Oklahoma KW - Reinforcement (Engineering) KW - Retrofitting KW - Structural deterioration and defects UR - http://www.oktc.org/otc/files/finalReports/OTCREOS11.1-24-F.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1300092 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516359 AU - Wu, Changxu AU - State University of New York, Buffalo AU - University Transportation Research Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Computational Modeling of Driver Speed Control with its Applications in Developing Intelligent Transportation System to Prevent Speeding‐related Accidents in Region II PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 6p AB - Speeding is the leading contributing factor in fatal accidents in New York state, according to New York State Department of Motor Vehicle Accidents Statistical Summary (2009). Understanding and modeling speeding and speed control is one of the major challenges in human performance modeling which involves: a) the modeling of several aspects of human cognitive system: perception, decision making and motor control as well as their interaction with the vehicle model; and b) individual differences in speed control and prediction of speeding in real time. However, few of existing computational models are able to cover all of these important aspects together. To address this problem, the main objective of this project is to build a new mathematical driver speed control model and apply it to develop an intelligent speeding control system. Multi‐disciplinary approaches are used to build the mathematical model of driver speed control, integrating methods in operations research (Queuing Network-Model Human Processor, QN-MHP) and theories in psychology (Rule-Based Decision Field Theory, RDFT) to predict driving speed, pedal angle, acceleration, the time when drivers exceed the speed limit and the magnitude of speeding. The model not only quantifies an average driver's speed control behavior, but also models individual drivers' decision making references and impulsiveness. A human driver experimental study has been conducted to validate the prediction of the model. The model is implemented in a real-time intelligent speeding control system, which provides warnings to drivers to prevent speeding proactively. The intelligent system online monitors the pedal behavior of a driver, calculates the probability of speeding for that driver in the next few seconds, and proactively provides necessary warnings to that driver to prevent his or her speeding behavior in real-time. KW - Behavior KW - Decision making KW - Driver support systems KW - Intelligent transportation systems KW - Mathematical models KW - Mathematical prediction KW - New York (State) KW - Real time information KW - Speed control KW - Speeding KW - Warning devices UR - http://www.utrc2.org/sites/default/files/pubs/Final-Report-Computational-Modeling.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51400/51444/Final-Report-Computational-Modeling.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1299689 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01506240 AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration TI - Carrier Safety Measurement System (CSMS) Methodology PY - 2013/08//Version 3.0.1 SP - 130p AB - The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has developed its Operational Model through its Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program. The goal of CSA is to implement more effective and efficient ways for FMCSA, its State Partners, and the trucking industry to prevent commercial motor vehicle (CMV) crashes, fatalities, and injuries. Within the CSA Operational Model, the Safety Measurement System (SMS) quantifies the on-road safety performance of individual entities to: 1) Identify entities for interventions. The SMS is a key component in determining the inclusion of entities with significant safety problems into the Intervention Process. 2) Determine the specific safety problems an entity exhibits. The SMS allows enforcement officers to identify the specific safety problems that the system highlights and to surgically address them through a tailored set of interventions. 3) Monitor safety problems throughout the Intervention Process. The SMS will continuously monitor on-road performance to assess whether an entity’s safety performance has improved enough for it to exit the Intervention Process, or if further intervention is warranted. 4) Support FMCSA’s proposed Safety Fitness Determination (SFD) process. The SMS results can be an important factor in determining the safety fitness of carriers. The SMS identifies the carriers demonstrating the worst safety performance so that they can be considered for an “Unfit” safety determination. Details on the proposed process will be available for public comment as part of the upcoming Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. KW - Commercial vehicles KW - Driver performance KW - Methodology KW - Motor carriers KW - Performance measurement KW - Truck crashes KW - Trucking safety KW - U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/49000/49300/49316/smsmethodology.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290267 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01505639 AU - Laybourne, Mindy Joy AU - Lee, Earl (Rusty) AU - Delaware Center for Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Developing Hybrid Measures of Performance for Signalized Intersections PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 183p AB - There are two methods for evaluating performance of signalized intersections – a volume based measure using the Critical Movement Summation (CMS) method and a delay based method, such as using simulation software like Synchro or the Highway Capacity Manual. Each method provides different indicators of the intersections performance. In general the two methods are used separately, which does not provide consistency in measuring intersection performance. This research highlights the differences between accepted methods and examines if there is a way to make the outputs from CMS sheets and Synchro models more comparable and preferably, interchangeable. KW - Alternatives analysis KW - Measuring methods KW - Performance measurement KW - Signalized intersections KW - Software KW - Traffic simulation KW - Traffic volume UR - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/downloads2013/Lee_Laybourne_FinalReport.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1285407 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01505624 AU - Verian, Kho Pin AU - Whiting, Nancy M AU - Olek, Jan AU - Jain, Jitendra AU - Snyder, Mark B AU - Purdue University AU - Indiana Department of Transportation TI - Using Recycled Concrete as Aggregate in Concrete Pavements to Reduce Materials Cost PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 67p AB - The main objective of this project was to evaluate the effects of using aggregate produced from crushed concrete pavement as a replacement for natural (virgin) coarse aggregate in pavement mixtures. A total of ten different concrete mixtures containing recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) were designed to meet the requirements of Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) specifications. These included three different RCA replacement levels (30%, 50% and 100% by weight of the natural coarse aggregate) and two different cementitious systems (plain system – Type I portland cement only and fly ash system – 80% of Type I portland cement and 20% of ASTM C 618 Class C fly ash). The scope of the project included the evaluation and comparison of several properties of RCA and natural aggregates, evaluation and analysis of the effects of RCA on concrete properties, and modification of aggregate gradations and mixture composition in an attempt to improve the properties of RCA concrete. All ten mixtures were first produced in the laboratory (trial batches) and were subsequently reproduced in the commercial ready-mixed concrete plant. Each mixture produced in the ready-mixed plant was used to prepare several types of specimens for laboratory testing. The tests performed on fresh concrete included determination of slump and entrained air content. The mechanical properties of the hardened concrete were assessed by conducting compressive strength, flexural strength, modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio tests. Concrete durability was assessed using a wide array of measurements, including: rapid chloride permeability (RCP), rapid chloride migration (RCM), electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), surface resistivity, free shrinkage, water absorption test, freeze-thaw resistance and scaling resistance. The test results indicated that the properties of plain (no fly ash) concrete mixtures with 30% RCA as coarse aggregate were very comparable to (in some cases even better than) those of the control concrete (0% RCA). Although mixtures with 50% RCA showed a reduction in durability and mechanical properties of up to 36%, the test results still met INDOT’s specifications requirements. The mechanical properties of plain concretes made with 100% RCA were measurably lower (16%-25%) than those of the control concrete. It should be pointed out, however, that these properties were still above the minimums required by INDOT’s specifications except for one mixture in which the w/c was increased to 0.47 to achieve workability. The use of fly ash improved the strength and durability of RCA concrete, especially at later ages. In particular, the properties of concrete with 50% RCA coarse aggregate were similar to the properties of control concrete. Similarly, the mechanical and durability properties of the mixture with 100% RCA coarse aggregate and 20% fly ash were better than those of a similar mixture prepared without fly ash. Even though, when compared to the fly ash concrete with 100% virgin aggregate the mechanical and durability properties of the 100% RCA concrete were up to 19% and 35% lower, it still met minimum requirements imposed by INDOT’s specifications. KW - Admixtures KW - Coarse aggregates KW - Compressive strength KW - Concrete aggregates KW - Concrete pavements KW - Durability tests KW - Fly ash KW - Indiana Department of Transportation KW - Laboratory tests KW - Recycled materials KW - Slump test UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5703/1288284315220 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1286024 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01503977 AU - Torres, Jonathan AU - Kreckie, Jack AU - SRA International, Incorporated AU - ARFF Professional Services, LLC AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - Full-Scale Evaluation of ARFF Tactics for Cargo Fires on Freighter Aircraft PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 97p AB - On February 7, 2006, the United Parcel Service Flight 1307 was involved in a cargo fire incident at the Philadelphia International Airport. The official investigation of the incident identified deficiencies in training that Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) personnel had in fighting cargo fires inside freighter aircraft. The National Transportation Safety Board made several recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) related to ARFF training, tactics, strategy, and performance, to provide cargo firefighting training methods to ARFF personnel. As part of a response to these recommendations, the FAA launched a series of full-scale research tests to evaluate different tactics to combat cargo fires. A series of 11 test scenarios evaluated the effectiveness of certain firefighting tactics on specific cargo scenarios with various types of unit load devices (ULD), also referred to as cargo containers. The tests were performed at the Southern California Logistics Airport inside an Airbus A310. An oxygen deprivation tactic was used to seal all ventilation in the aircraft to determine if it could create an oxygen-deprived environment (i.e., oxygen levels drop below 12%) that would cause the fire to self-extinguish. Two high-reach extendable turrets with aircraft skin-penetrating nozzle (ASPN) technologies were used to evaluate penetration tactics on different-sized containers placed right next to the interior walls of the fuselage and their effectiveness in extinguishing or controlling a container fire. These penetrations were known as direct attacks. Two Snozzle® ASPN configurations and one Stinger® ASPN configuration were evaluated for this part of the research. For the next test scenarios, a Snozzle® ASPN, a Stinger® ASPN, and one prototype ASPN were used to evaluate tactics that involved indirectly attacking containers that were placed at an unreachable distance away from the interior wall of the fuselage. This meant water was discharged into the container from a distance and not from penetrating the container. In addition to container fires, pallet fires were produced to test the indirect attack tactic effectiveness using the standard Snozzle® ASPN. Data from the oxygen deprivation tests were inconclusive in determining the effectiveness of the tactic. Results from the direct attack tactics indicated that successful control and/or extinguishment of the fire can be achieved if the ASPN is able to penetrate into the container. Longer penetration into the fuselage proved to be more effective in controlling the fire. Data indicated that the prototype ASPN proved to be more effective than the current designs when indirectly attacking a burning ULD container. The data also showed the current standard ASPN design effectively controlled the open pallet fire in the tests. KW - Airbus A310 KW - Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting KW - Cargo aircraft KW - Containers KW - Fire fighting KW - Nozzles KW - Oxygen deprivation KW - Pallets KW - Strategic planning UR - http://www.tc.faa.gov/its/worldpac/techrpt/tc13-30.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1286160 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01503976 AU - Menchini, Christopher P AU - Air Force Research Laboratory AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - Computational Flame Characterization of New Large Aircraft Immersed in Hydrocarbon Pool Fires PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 57p AB - New Large Aircraft (NLA) pose unique firefighting challenges unique for traditional aircraft. Specifically, questions have arisen regarding the applicability of current firefighting protection standards to nonconventional design changes, such as fuselage shape modifications, enhanced material compositions, new fuel storage locations, and unique passenger loading configurations. To address fuselage shape concerns, a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling strategy was developed to quantify heat transfer to the aircraft for a given aircraft geometry and hydrocarbon pool fire condition. The CFD predictions supported experimental validation data conclusions showing increased crosswinds amplify heat transfer to the aircraft surface due to enhanced turbulent fuel-air mixing. Based upon the predicted CFD fire plume structure and aircraft surface heat transfer magnitudes, nominal changes in aircraft geometry exposed to similar scale flame and atmospheric conditions pose no extraordinary firefighting challenge. All thermal attributes stayed within the same order of magnitude and, in the majority of instances, varied less than 15%. KW - Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting KW - Fire fighting KW - Fluid dynamics KW - Fuselages KW - Geometry KW - Heat transfer KW - New large aircraft KW - Shape UR - http://www.airporttech.tc.faa.gov/DesktopModules/FlexNews/DownloadHandler.ashx?id=7b133c1d-a915-4325-b4e1-e80b6172c900&f=TC-13-31.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1286161 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01502120 AU - Jiang, Yi AU - Zhao, Guangyuan AU - Li, Shuo AU - Purdue University AU - Indiana Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - An Economic Analysis Methodology for Project Evaluation and Programming PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 45p AB - Economic analysis is a critical component of a comprehensive project or program evaluation methodology that considers all key quantitative and qualitative impacts of highway investments. It allows highway agencies to identify, quantify, and value the economic benefits and costs of highway projects and programs over a multiyear timeframe. This research was conducted to provide the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) with a uniform economic analysis methodology. The developed economic evaluation model applies the methodology of life-cycle benefit cost analysis to perform economic analysis for proposed highway projects. As a result of this research, an Excel based computer program, the Indiana Highway Economic Evaluation Model (IHEEM), was developed to provide a convenient tool for INDOT personnel to implement the method. The main costs and benefits contained in the model are agency costs and user benefits. Agency costs include initial costs, routine maintenance costs, rehabilitation costs, and remaining value of the facility. User benefits contain travel time savings, vehicle operating cost savings, and crash reduction savings. In addition to the deterministic method for cost and benefit analysis, an alternative probabilistic approach was also developed and incorporated into IHEEM so that the outputs can be expressed as ranges of values with likelihoods of occurrence. KW - Benefit cost analysis KW - Computer models KW - Computer programs KW - Costs KW - Economic analysis KW - Highways KW - Indiana Department of Transportation KW - Life cycle costing KW - Programming (Planning) KW - Project management KW - User benefits UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5703/1288284315219 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1280153 ER - TY - SER AN - 01500406 JO - TRAFFIC TECH PB - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Case Studies Suggest Practical Ways to Increase the Visibility of High-Visibility Enforcement Programs PY - 2013/08 SP - 2p AB - High-visibility enforcement (HVE) models are an effective strategy to reduce impaired driving. They work by increasing drivers’ perceived risk of being stopped and arrested by law enforcement if they choose to drive while impaired by alcohol or drugs. Two common enforcement strategies are sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gathered information from HVE programs currently operating in the United States and documented six case studies that demonstrate different strategies. There are three counties (Anoka County, Minnesota; Charles County, Maryland; and Pasco County, Florida), one city (Escondido, California), one region of a State (Southeast Wisconsin), and one multiple-jurisdiction program (Delaware, Kentucky, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia). Each case study describes the HVE program’s history, enforcement strategies, visibility elements, operation, resources, use of media, educational components, funding, support from political leaders and the community, barriers encountered, strengths of the program, and statistics (such as number of checkpoints, number of officers per saturation patrol, impaired-driving crashes, arrests, or convictions before and after the program began), as available. KW - Case studies KW - Drugged drivers KW - Drunk driving KW - Highway safety KW - Police patrol KW - Sobriety checkpoints KW - Traffic law enforcement KW - United States UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811826.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1278455 ER - TY - SER AN - 01500391 JO - TRAFFIC TECH PB - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Gainesville, Florida Increases Pedestrian Safety by Implementing Year-Long Program PY - 2013/08 SP - 2p AB - Gainesville, Florida conducted four waves of high-visibility enforcement of pedestrian yield right-of-way laws over the course of 1 year. The waves were conducted in February, May, July, and November, and were supported by paid radio ads, earned media, public outreach to schools and communities, street signage, and feedback signs. Before the enforcement began, Gainesville refreshed, as needed, pedestrian advance crossing markings at 12 test and comparison sites. The Pedestrian Safety Program was a joint enforcement effort by the Gainesville Police Department, the University of Florida Police Department, and the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, whose officers issued 182, 153, and 66 failure-to-yield citations to drivers during waves 2, 3, and 4, respectively. High-visibility enforcement led to a slow and steady increase in the percentage of drivers yielding right-of-way to pedestrians over the course of the year. Yielding began to increase during the first wave when officers issued mainly warnings and handed out flyers announcing upcoming enforcement efforts. Yielding increased more when officers issued citations. Yielding increased again when Gainesville added paid ads, in-street signs, and feedback signs. Yielding also increased steadily at comparison sites, showing that the program generalized to other crosswalks. There was more yielding at comparison sites that were closer to the treated crosswalks. The steady increase in yielding behavior across treated and untreated sites suggests a sustained change in driving culture. KW - Crosswalks KW - Gainesville (Florida) KW - Pedestrian safety KW - Right of way (Traffic) KW - Traffic citations KW - Traffic law enforcement KW - Yielding UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811787.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1278457 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499956 AU - Mooney, Michael A AU - Bearce, Richard G AU - Colorado School of Mines AU - Colorado Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation of Seismic Testing for Quality Assurance of Lime-Stabilized Soil PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 108p AB - This study sought to determine the technical feasibility of using seismic techniques to measure the laboratory and field seismic modulus of lime-stabilized soils (LSS), and to compare/correlate test results from bench-top (free-free resonance) seismic testing on LSS cylinders to in-situ (surface seismic) testing performed on field-constructed LSS. In addition, this research sought to develop a pilot specification for quality assurance (QA) of LSS using seismic test methods. The growth of modulus was found to vary as a non-linear function of both temperature and curing time. Differences in modulus growth between free-free resonance (LSS cylinders) and surface wave (field-constructed LSS) data can be attributed to construction-related issues, and are not the result of testing equipment/practice. The study supports the recommendations of the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) specification for LSS (Section 307) in that grading should be performed immediately after construction as grading conducted on later days (i.e., days 4-8) resulted in significant seismic modulus loss on field-constructed LSS. This study recommends the use of seismic testing for QA of LSS via the pilot specification developed in Chapter 5 of this report. The specification allows for the use of either cylinder or surface wave testing to determine the seismic modulus of field-constructed LSS. It is written in a manner that allows CDOT personnel to implement the proposed approach KW - Colorado KW - Elastic waves KW - Feasibility analysis KW - Field tests KW - Laboratory tests KW - Modulus of elasticity KW - Quality assurance KW - Seismicity KW - Soil lime mixtures KW - Soil stabilization KW - Test procedures UR - http://www.coloradodot.info/programs/research/pdfs/2013/lss.pdf/at_download/file UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1278035 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499931 AU - Seedah, Dan AU - Harrison, Rob AU - Boske, Leigh AU - Kruse, Jim AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Container Terminal and Cargo-Handling Cost Analysis Toolkit PY - 2013/08 SP - 16p AB - For this task, the study team sought to determine the costs associated with container terminal operations and their influence on overall container shipping cost. Commercial ports publish prices (tariffs) for a wide variety of services and the study proposal included the development of a spreadsheet that would allow freight planners to build policy-based strategies to capture the impacts of current and new maritime services on Texas Gulf ports. This approach allows a technical dialog to be developed between Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)/metropolitan planning organization (MPO) staff and the port/shipping sectors. Published port terminal activity costs (tariffs) should, however, be regarded as nominal—they may not reflect actual prices charged to a steamship company or major shipper. Negotiated prices reflect a range of factors, such as customer size, that are confidential. Fortunately, nominal prices do work for strategic planning because they show the cost differentials between ports that drive port selection on supply chains. Accordingly, the study team developed a basic model or toolkit that could be evaluated by TxDOT planners. The Container Terminal and Cargo-Handling Cost Analysis model was developed using tariffs from select Texas ports and the results are presented here. KW - Cargo handling KW - Container terminals KW - Costs KW - Mathematical models KW - Metropolitan planning organizations KW - Ports KW - Strategic planning KW - Tariffs KW - Texas KW - Texas Department of Transportation UR - http://library.ctr.utexas.edu/ctr-publications/0-6690-p1p2.zip UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1278037 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499635 AU - Gaines, Danena AU - Waldheim, Nicole AU - Herbel, Susan AU - Cambridge Systematics, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Assessment of Local Road Safety Funding, Training, and Technical Assistance PY - 2013/08//Technical Report SP - 80p AB - The purpose of this report is to summarize State Department of Transportation (DOT) practices for delivering safety funding and resources to local entities for road safety improvement projects. These practices were identified in large part through a questionnaire administered to State DOTs during this assessment. This report identifies model local road safety practices that can be implemented by State DOTs, local practitioners (i.e., public works directors, transportation directors, county engineers, transportation planners, and elected officials), Local Technical Assistance Programs (LTAP), and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) in any State. KW - Assessments KW - Financing KW - Highway safety KW - Local Technical Assistance Program KW - Metropolitan planning organizations KW - State departments of transportation KW - Technical assistance KW - Training UR - http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/local_rural/training/fhwasa13029/lclrdsfy.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1268014 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499324 AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - New and Small Starts Evaluation and Rating Process Final Policy Guidance PY - 2013/08 SP - 39p AB - This document is a companion piece to the final rule published on January 9, 2013 and effective April 9, 2013, which governs how the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) evaluates and rates major new transit capital investments seeking funding under the discretionary “New Starts” and “Small Starts” programs authorized by Section 5309 of Title 49, U.S. Code. This policy guidance replaces all previous policy guidance documents published by FTA relating to the New and Small Starts programs. This document describes the measures and methods for calculating the project justification and local financial commitment criteria required by law for New and Small Starts projects and included in the final rule published January 9, 2013. The final rule and its appendix act as a framework for the New and Small Starts project evaluation process, and this policy guidance fills in the details. The mechanics of what project sponsors submit to FTA for evaluation and rating and the forms that must be completed are found in FTA’s Reporting Instructions, New and Small Starts templates, and Standard Cost Category worksheets. The final rule and this accompanying policy guidance cover the New and Small Starts evaluation criteria and rating process and the before and after study requirements for New Starts projects defined in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). Proposed New and Small Starts projects are evaluated and rated according to criteria set forth in law. The statutory project justification criteria include: mobility improvements, environmental benefits, congestion relief, economic development effects, land use, and cost-effectiveness. The law also requires FTA to examine the following when evaluating and rating local financial commitment: availability of reasonable contingency amounts, availability of stable and dependable capital and operating funding sources, and availability of local resources to recapitalize, maintain, and operate the overall existing and proposed public transportation system without requiring a reduction in existing services. Each criterion is to be rated on a five point scale, from low to high. Summary project justification and local financial commitment ratings are prepared and combined to arrive at an overall project rating. KW - Cost effectiveness KW - Economic development KW - Environmental protection KW - Evaluation and assessment KW - Land use KW - Mobility KW - New Starts Program KW - Policy KW - Ratings KW - Small Starts Program KW - Traffic congestion KW - U.S. Federal Transit Administration UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/NS-SS_Final_PolicyGuidance_August_2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1267353 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01497428 AU - Nicholas, Michael A AU - Tal, Gil AU - University of California, Davis AU - California Department of Transportation TI - Charging for Charging: The Paradox of Free Charging and Its Detrimental Effect on the Use of Electric Vehicles PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 19p AB - A survey of plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) owners was conducted focusing on workplace charging suggesting that pricing and a mix of high and low power level 2 chargers could efficiently meet the needs of workplace charging and increase electric vehicle miles traveled (eVMT). Respondents reported that in California, 38% of drivers who have chargers at work are unable to charge at least once per week due to congestion at chargers. When asked about price, answers indicated that four chargers would be needed for every 10 vehicles if free, versus one charger for every 10 PEVs if the price were double (assuming one charger serves two cars/day). Since a price of double that of home electricity is still likely to save money, the implication is that people are using free workplace infrastructure four times more than they need to. This usage pattern suggests that that simply charging a small fee could encourage more efficient use of infrastructure. If charging is given away for free to spur the market, low power level 2 (similar in power to level 1) could be used to install the maximum number of chargers on an existing electricity panel. Level 2 at work could be priced higher to discourage those who don’t need it. More dependability for PEVs could encourage their sale and use. In the case of PHEVs, they would only use level 2 when needed or default to a lower power alternative. KW - Electric vehicle charging KW - Electric vehicles KW - Plug-in hybrid vehicles KW - Pricing UR - http://www.its.ucdavis.edu/wp-content/themes/ucdavis/pubs/download_pdf.php?id=1919 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262945 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01497264 AU - Zhang, Yuqing AU - Luo, Rong AU - Lytton, Robert L. AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Southwest Region University Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - A Comprehensive Characterization of Asphalt Mixtures in Compression PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 79p AB - Permanent deformation (i.e., rutting) is one of the major distresses in asphalt pavements, and it consists of irrecoverable deformation due to viscoplastic flow and viscofracture fatigue damage. The mechanisms of rutting have not been well addressed due to the complexities of asphalt mixture including (a) distinctions between compression, extension, and tension; (b) rate and temperature dependence; (c) dilative volumetric change; (d) frictional material with cohesion; (e) inherent anisotropy due to preferential aggregates’ orientation; (f) crack-induced anisotropy due to crack growth; (g) strain hardening during viscoplastic accumulation; and (h) strain softening during viscofracture evolution. In this project, all of the aforementioned fundamentals of asphalt mixtures were simultaneously characterized by a comprehensive viscoplastic-fracture mechanistic model, which was incorporated with (a) a modified effective stress to consider the inherent anisotropy and the crack-induced anisotropy due to viscofracture cracking in compression; (b) a smooth and convex Generalized Drucker-Prager (GD-P) yield surface; (c) a non-associated viscoplastic flow rule; (d) a rate- and temperature-dependent strain hardening rule; and (e) a viscofracture evolution that was modeled by an anisotropic damage density-based pseudo J-integral Paris’ law. The model parameters were related to fundamental material properties that were measurable and understandable for civil engineers. A systemic testing protocol including five individual test methods were proposed to determine the model parameters and material properties. The test protocol was demonstrated to be efficient, as one asphalt mixture could be completely characterized within 1 day. The GD-P yield surface model was validated by octahedral shear strength tests at different normal and confining stresses. The GD-P model was able to characterize the full range of the internal friction angles from 0 to 90 degrees. In contrast, the widely used Extended Drucker-Prager (ED-P) model can only be used for a material that has an internal friction angle less than 22 degrees due to the convexity criterion of the yield surface. KW - Anisotropy (Physics) KW - Asphalt mixtures KW - Compressive strength KW - Cracking KW - Deformation KW - Laboratory tests KW - Mathematical models KW - Pavement distress KW - Properties of materials KW - Rutting KW - Viscoplasticity UR - http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/600451-00006-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1266245 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496787 AU - Consensus Systems Technologies AU - Cambridge Systematics, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Real-Time System Management Information Program Data Exchange Format Specification: Implementation Guidance PY - 2013/08 SP - 80p AB - Section 1201 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), published in August 2005, instructed the Secretary of Transportation to establish a real-time system management information program to provide, in all states, the capability to monitor, in real-time, the traffic and travel conditions of the major highways of the United States and to share that information to improve the security of the surface transportation system, to address congestion problems, to support improved response to weather events and surface transportation incidents, and facilitate national and regional highway traveler information. In response to these requirements, U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 23 Part 511 was developed. Title 23 CFR Part 511 requires each state to establish and operate a Real-Time System Management Information Program (RTSMIP) capable of gathering and making available the data for traffic and travel conditions. However, Title 23 CFR 511 does not require the dissemination of real-time information in any particular manner, only that the states make the information available. It also does not require states to apply any particular technology, technology-dependent application, or business model for collecting, processing and disseminating information. As a result, development of a Data Exchange Format Specification (DXFS) and implementation guidance was initiated to support the need of states for a specification that satisfies the essential elements of the rule. In 2011, U.S. Department of Transportation began development of the Data Exchange Format Specification (DXFS) to facilitate the development of interoperable real-time traffic and travel information between public agencies, with other public agencies, and with private entities. The DXFS has been developed to assist users to specify and then develop an RTSMIP implementation. KW - Data sharing KW - Driver information systems KW - Implementation KW - Information dissemination KW - Real time information KW - Specifications KW - Traffic surveillance KW - Transportation system management KW - United States UR - http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop13046/fhwahop13046.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265991 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496782 AU - Irizarry, Javier AU - Castro, Daniel AU - Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta AU - Georgia Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation of Data Requirements for Computerized Constructability Analysis of Pavement Rehabilitation Projects PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 103p AB - This research aimed to evaluate the data requirements for computer assisted construction planning and staging methods that can be implemented in pavement rehabilitation projects in the state of Georgia. Results showed that two main issues for the use of the Construction Analysis for Pavement Rehabilitation Strategies (CA4PRS) in the state of Georgia were (1) the need for modifications to Georgia Department of Transportation's (GDOT’s) operating procedures and (2) lack of data required for performing the CA4PRS analysis. Several unavailable data for CA4PRS-based analysis were also identified through this research, such as efficiency for the material delivery trucks, number of batch plants, and lift cooling time for asphalt pavement. The steps involved in running the CA4PRS software for supporting decision making in rehabilitation projects are also described through this research. KW - Construction Analysis for Pavement Rehabilitation Strategies software KW - Data collection KW - Decision making KW - Georgia KW - Pavement maintenance KW - Rehabilitation (Maintenance) KW - Software UR - http://www.dot.ga.gov/BuildSmart/research/Documents/11-16.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265115 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496772 AU - Consensus Systems Technologies AU - Cambridge Systematics, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Real-Time System Management Information Program Data Exchange Format Specification PY - 2013/08 SP - 132p AB - Section 1201 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), published in August 2005, instructed the Secretary of Transportation to establish a real-time system management information program to provide, in all states, the capability to monitor, in real-time, the traffic and travel conditions of the major highways of the United States and to share that information to improve the security of the surface transportation system, to address congestion problems, to support improved response to weather events and surface transportation incidents, and facilitate national and regional highway traveler information. In response to these requirements, U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 23 Part 511 was developed. Title 23 CFR Part 511 requires each state to establish and operate a Real-Time System Management Information Program (RTSMIP) capable of gathering and making available the data for traffic and travel conditions. However, Title 23 CFR 511 does not require the dissemination of real-time information in any particular manner, only that the states make the information available. It also does not require states to apply any particular technology, technology-dependent application, or business model for collecting, processing and disseminating information. As a result, development of a Data Exchange Format Specification (DXFS) and implementation guidance was initiated to support the need of states for a specification that satisfies the essential elements of the rule. In 2011, U.S. Department of Transportation began development of the Data Exchange Format Specification (DXFS) to facilitate the development of interoperable real-time traffic and travel information between public agencies, with other public agencies, and with private entities. The DXFS has been developed to assist users to specify and then develop an RTSMIP implementation. KW - Data sharing KW - Driver information systems KW - Implementation KW - Information dissemination KW - Real time information KW - Specifications KW - Traffic surveillance KW - Transportation system management KW - United States UR - http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop13047/fhwahop13047.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265988 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496753 AU - Nichols, Brice G AU - Kockelman, Kara M AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Southwest Region University Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Life-cycle Energy Implications of Different Residential Settings : Recognizing Buildings, Travel, and Public Infrastructure PY - 2013/08 SP - 37p AB - The built environment can be used to influence travel demand, but very few studies consider the relative energy savings of such policies in context of a complex urban system. This analysis quantifies the day-to-day and embodied energy consumption of four different neighborhoods in Austin, Texas, to examine how built environment variations influence various sources of urban energy consumption. A microsimulation combines models for petroleum use (from driving) and residential and commercial power and natural gas use with rigorously measured building stock and infrastructure materials quantities (to arrive at embodied energy). Results indicate that the more suburban neighborhoods, with mostly detached single-family homes, consume up to 320% more embodied energy, 150% more operational energy, and about 160% more total life-cycle energy (per capita) than a densely developed neighborhood with mostly low-rise-apartments and duplexes. Across all neighborhoods, operational energy use comprised 83 to 92% of total energy use, and transportation sources (including personal vehicles and transit, plus street, parking structure, and sidewalk infrastructure) made up 44 to 47% of the life-cycle energy demands tallied. Energy elasticity calculations across the neighborhoods suggest that increased population density and reduced residential unit size offer greatest life-cycle energy savings per capita, by reducing both operational demands from driving and home energy use, and from less embodied energy from construction. The results support the notion that transportation and the built environment are strongly linked, and improving urban energy efficiency must come from policies and designs targeting embodied sources, not just a household’s travel and daily energy consumption. KW - Austin, Texas, USA KW - Building materials KW - Built environment KW - Energy consumption KW - Infrastructure KW - Land use KW - Life cycle costing KW - Microsimulation KW - Neighborhoods KW - Population density UR - http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/600451-00067-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265100 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496624 AU - McCray, Talia AU - Durden, Teri AU - Schaubert, Eileen AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Southwest Region University Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Cycling in the African American Community : Safety Training Guidelines and Findings PY - 2013/08 SP - 32p AB - This report is a program user’s manual for the Cycling in the African American Community (CAAC) safety training intervention. The CAAC safety training intervention was designed to “nudge” more African Americans, who are often beginning cyclists or non-cyclists, to participate in a physical activity that promotes health and builds community. One of the most cited reasons for not riding is that cycling is perceived as being unsafe. The CAAC intervention attempts to address this issue through a carefully designed safety intervention that encompasses a pre and post survey, used in conjunction with an on-road cycling curriculum. The report includes best practices for staging the intervention and analyzing outcomes. Preliminary findings show that the safety training is significantly improving perceptions of cycling. KW - African Americans KW - Austin (Texas) KW - Best practices KW - Bicycle safety KW - Bicycling KW - Cyclists KW - Manuals KW - Safety programs KW - Surveys KW - Training UR - http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/600451-00070-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265099 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495828 AU - Scott, Marcia AU - Collins, Eileen AU - Wicks, Arthur AU - University of Delaware, Newark AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Curbside Intercity Bus Industry: Research of Transportation Policy Opportunities and Challenges PY - 2013/08 SP - 188p AB - Once a declining industry, popularity of the curbside intercity bus services has been spurred by competitive prices; convenient online ticketing; the rise in “transit lifestyles;” and access to free, onboard Wi-Fi technology that caters to a younger demographic. The curbside intercity bus industry now represents the fastest growing mode of intercity travel in the United States—outpacing air and rail transportation. The Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development at DePaul University reports that intercity bus service grew by 7.5 percent between December 2011 and December 2012—the highest rate of growth in four years. Both so-called “Chinatown” buses and corporate intercity bus carriers have contributed to industry growth in the Northeast Corridor and nationwide. BoltBus and Megabus alone experienced a 32 percent growth in departures between 2010 and 2011. Yet rogue bus companies that put passengers at risk by operating unethically and unlawfully have marred the industry. The July 2012 adoption of the two-year transportation reauthorization bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (particularly the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2012), establishes a strategic framework to improve the regulatory environment, provide a program of continuous improvement, and authorize greater rulemaking and enforcement authority of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). In addition, state and local governments are addressing impacts of industry growth by initiating innovative approaches to manage curbside operations. To meet growing demand for service, these approaches include permitting systems, idling laws, regulating curbside conditions, leasing or privatizing curb rights, and consolidating and/or centralizing bus operations in intermodal facilities. This report highlights the issues stemming from deregulation of the industry, its unprecedented growth, and the fragmented regulatory environment. The University of Delaware University Transportation Center (UD-UTC)—that, as a Tier II center, focuses on resiliency of transportation corridors—supported this research project from the Institute for Public Administration (IPA). IPA’s research team conducted a literature review and field assessment of curbside operations, which involved photographing curbside conditions, surveying passengers, and riding various intercity buses between New York City and Washington, D.C. in 2011 and 2012. IPA also conducted a case study on a Chinatown bus that was based in Wilmington, Del., which was cited as an “imminent hazard” and shut down by the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) during the course of this research. Finally, IPA hosted the June 13, 2012 Curbside Intercity Bus Transportation Policy Forum to facilitate discussion on transportation policies related to the industry. KW - Bus transportation KW - Curbside operators KW - Deregulation KW - Intercity bus lines KW - Intercity travel KW - Regulation KW - Transportation policy KW - Transportation safety UR - http://www.ipa.udel.edu/publications/intercity-bus-report-2013_08-26.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265098 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495420 AU - Gambatese, John A AU - Tymvios, Nicholas AU - Oregon State University, Corvallis AU - Oregon Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation Of A Mobile Work Zone Barrier System PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 420p AB - A high percentage of highway maintenance activities and some construction activities are performed in a travel lane, median, or shoulder while the public travels by at relatively high speeds in very close proximity to the workers. Work zone traffic control efforts include safety measures for the workers, but current capabilities for short duration work zones can be improved in order to increase the protection of the workers. A recent advancement in work zone safety is a mobile barrier system that consists of a motorized tractor/trailer combination, and can provide complete isolation of the work area for a distance of up to 100 feet. The research presented in this report involved evaluating a mobile barrier in a variety of work zone environments, leading to a determination of its benefits and limitations to guide ODOT in future work zone safety strategies/investments. A benefit of using a mobile barrier system is the added safety provided by the isolation of workers from errant vehicles. Anticipated benefits also include: improved efficiency of work zone setup and removal; improved efficiency of the work activity as the mobile barrier can be equipped with lights, generators, variable message signs, and TMAs; and improved mobility of the work zone where multiple finite work areas are involved. KW - Evaluation and assessment KW - Highway maintenance KW - Road construction KW - Temporary barriers KW - Work zone safety KW - Work zone traffic control UR - http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TP_RES/ResearchReports/SPR746_MobileBarriers.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264720 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495391 AU - Wolcott, Michael P AU - Poor, Cara AU - Haselbach, Liv AU - Washington State University, Pullman AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Sustainable Design Guidelines to Support the Washington State Ferries Terminal Design Manual: Design Guideline Application and Refinement PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 237p AB - The Sustainable Design Guidelines were developed in Phase I of this research program (WA-RD 816.1). Here the authors are reporting on the Phase II effort that “beta-tested” the Phase I Guidelines on example ferry terminal designs and refinements made to the tool. The specific objectives of this project are to: 1. Cite example Washington State Ferries (WSF) terminal projects that would serve as candidates for assessing the Sustainable Design Guidelines; 2. Compile and analyze site and resource attributes influencing the design needs; 3. Develop a “20% design” for each of the example terminals; 4. Refine the Draft Sustainable Design Guideline; 5. Develop preliminary data on the efficacy of sample stormwater design solutions; and 6. Develop a database tool for GRIP, the proposed Green Rating Integration Platform for WSF. This project represents the second phase in a three-part effort. The final component will develop and potentially demonstrate specific solutions that present unique opportunities will be deployed in Phase III. KW - Beta tests KW - Design KW - Ferry terminals KW - Guidelines KW - Sustainable transportation KW - Washington (State) KW - Washington State Ferries UR - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/816.2.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264804 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495179 AU - Geyer, Michael AU - Soares, Melanie AU - Hoff, Ashley AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - RNAV (GPS) Total System Error Models for Use in Wake Encounter Risk Analysis of Candidate CSPR Pairs for Inclusion in FAA Order 7110.308 PY - 2013/08 SP - 17p AB - FAA Order 7110.65 (Ref.1), Section 5-9-6, authorizes simultaneous dependent approaches for aircraft pairs with a minimum of 1.5 nautical mile (NM) radar separation to parallel runways whose centerlines are at least 2,500 feet but no more than 4,300 feet apart, with Instrument Landing System (ILS) or Area Navigation (RNAV) Global Positioning System (GPS) guidance permitted for aircraft approaching either runway. FAA Order 7110.308 (Ref.2) authorizes simultaneous dependent approaches for aircraft pairs with a minimum of 1.5 NM radar separation to specific/named parallel runways separated by less than 2,500 feet that have ILS guidance to both runways, with Heavy and B757 aircraft excluded from the lead position. The purpose of this memorandum is to provide recommended Total System Error (TSE) models for aircraft using RNAV (GPS) guidance when analyzing the wake encounter risk of proposed simultaneous dependent (“paired”) approaches, with 1.5 Nautical Mile (NM) minimum radar separation, to Closely Spaced Parallel Runways (CSPR). CSPR are defined as having centerline spacing less than 2,500 feet. RNAV (GPS) is being evaluated as a source of guidance to aircraft approaching one or both runways of specific pairs, in lieu of or in addition to ILS guidance. KW - Approach control KW - Aviation safety KW - Global Positioning System KW - Instrument landing systems KW - Risk analysis KW - Wakes UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/48000/48200/48213/DOT-VNTSC-FAA-13-06_RNAV_GPS_Error.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263013 ER - TY - SER AN - 01494726 JO - Exploratory Advanced Research Program Fact Sheet PB - Federal Highway Administration AU - Lan, Bo AU - Srinivasan, Raghavan TI - Safety Evaluation of Discontinuing Late-Night Flash Operations at Signalized Intersections PY - 2013/08 SP - 4p AB - Late-night flash (LNF) mode at signalized intersections consists of traffic signals that flash yellow for one road (requiring drivers to show caution but not stop) and flash red for the other road (requiring drivers to stop, then proceed after yielding to the main road). Although the intent of this mode has been to reduce energy consumption and delay during periods of low traffic demand, safety concerns have caused agencies to begin replacing LNF with normal phasing operations. Studies of the safety impacts of replacing LNF with normal phasing operations have indicated that doing so will reduce night crashes; however, a limitation of many studies is a potential bias due to regression to the mean (RTM). In this article, the authors examine the effect of eliminating LNF operations at signalized intersections using state-of-the-art methods and to address the noted limitations. The authors aimed to include an adequate sample of locations for which traffic volume data were available. KW - Flashing traffic signals KW - Signalized intersections KW - Traffic crashes KW - Traffic safety KW - Traffic signal phases UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/hsis/13069/13069.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263346 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493966 AU - Boske, Leigh B AU - Gamkhar, Shama AU - Harrison, Robert AU - Diamond-Ortiz, Andres D AU - Harwin, Alexandra L AU - Lazarus, Dana R AU - Martin, John Anthony AU - Martinez, Sergio AU - Neuhausen, Alissa AU - Payne, Will AU - Somerville, Courtney AU - Udwin, Trevor C AU - Zhang, Weihui AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Texas Highway Funding Options PY - 2013/08//Technical Report SP - 107p AB - This study was designed to provide strategic information on highway funding options and alternatives in preparation for the 2013 Texas Legislative Session. The contents evolved during the research team’s two-semester interaction with senior Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) staff, led by Mr. Phil Wilson, Executive Director. Three workshops narrowed the scope to the four finance issue briefs on the following subjects: energy sector infrastructure financing in selected U.S states, weight distance charges, electric vehicle fees, and toll road availability payments. Each brief follows this structure: executive summary, purpose, key points, lessons learned, relevance to Texas, and appendices. KW - Case studies KW - Electric vehicles KW - Fees KW - Financing KW - Government funding KW - Heavy duty trucks KW - Texas KW - Toll roads KW - United States KW - User charges UR - http://library.ctr.utexas.edu/ctr-publications/0-6802-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262978 ER - TY - SER AN - 01493947 JO - Traffic Safety Facts - Research Note PB - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - How Vehicle Age and Model Year Relate to Driver Injury Severity in Fatal Crashes PY - 2013/08 SP - 7p AB - This analysis examines how the age of the vehicle at the time of the crash and the vehicle’s model year are correlated with the injury outcome of the driver of a passenger vehicle involved in a fatal crash. A multivariate logistic regression model was constructed to model the relationship between injury outcome (fatally injured versus survived) of the driver and the independent variables vehicle age (0–3 years, 4–7, 8–11, 12–14, 15–17, and 18+) and vehicle model year (MY 2008–2012, MY 2003–2007, MY 1998–2002, MY 1993–1997, and MY 1985–1992) while accounting for many other crash factors. Based on criteria described in the Data and Methodology section, 117,957 fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers and 133,869 surviving passenger vehicle drivers are examined using data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) for 2005 to 2011. The model in this report shows that, after adjusting for other crash factors, the probability that a driver was fatally injured increased (1) as the age of the vehicle being driven increased, and (2) in vehicles of earlier model year. The report also shows that driver restraint use plays a large role in the relationship between vehicle age and the percentage of drivers fatally injured. KW - Fatalities KW - Fatality Analysis Reporting System KW - Injury severity KW - Model year (Motor vehicles) KW - Traffic crashes KW - Traffic safety KW - Vehicle age KW - Vehicle characteristics UR - http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811825.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262716 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493922 AU - Myers, John J AU - Bloch, Kurt E AU - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety/NUTC program AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Innovative Concrete Bridging System for Pedestrian Bridges: Implementation and Monitoring PY - 2013/08 SP - 294p AB - Two precast, prestressed pedestrian bridges were designed for rapid construction in Rolla, MO, utilizing high-strength concrete (HSC) and high-strength self-consolidating concrete (HS-SCC) with a target 28 day compressive strength of 68.9 MPa (10,000 psi) and release compressive strength of 24.1 MPa (3,500 psi). In addition, a glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) bar reinforced deck panel system was utilized in one of the two deck panels on each bridge. Material properties were tested for compression, elastic modulus, modulus of rupture, splitting tensile strength, creep, and shrinkage following ASTM standards. instrumentation systems within the spandrel beams and precast deck panels were implemented to monitor early and later-age temperature and strain variations between the concrete mixtures and reinforcing types. In addition, the sensors were utilized to calculate the prestress losses for HSC and HSSCC in the spandrel beams. A live load test was completed one year after spandrel beam fabrication to investigate the differences in deflection of HSC, HS-SCC, and reinforcement types. All material and mechanical results were compared between HSC and HSSCC. Furthermore, the results were compared to standard empirical models presented by AASHTO, ACI, and PCI. KW - Bridge decks KW - Compressive strength KW - Fiber reinforced polymers KW - Footbridges KW - High strength concrete KW - Load tests KW - Precast concrete KW - Prestressed concrete bridges KW - Rolla (Missouri) KW - Tensile strength UR - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/Myers%20Bloch%20NUTC%20Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262560 ER - TY - SER AN - 01493921 JO - Traffic Safety Facts - Crash Stats PB - National Center for Statistics and Analysis TI - Early Estimate of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities for the First Quarter of 2013 PY - 2013/08 SP - 2p AB - A statistical projection of traffic fatalities for the first quarter of 2013 shows that an estimated 7,200 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes. This represents a decrease of about 4.4% as compared to the 7,530 fatalities that were projected to have occurred in 2012. Preliminary data reported by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) shows that vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the first three months of 2013 decreased by about 5.6 billion miles, or about a 0.8% decrease. Also shown in Table 1 are the fatality rates per 100 million VMT, by quarter. The fatality rate for the first three months of 2013 decreased to 1.04 fatalities per 100 million VMT down from 1.08 fatalities per 100 million VMT in the first quarter of 2012. The percentage change in fatalities has been steadily decreasing since the significant 12.3% increase projected for the first quarter of 2012. The actual counts for 2012 and the ensuing percentage change from 2011 to 2012 will be further revised as finalized Fatality Analysis Reporting System files for 2011 are available later this year as well as when the annual reporting file for 2012 is available later this year and the final file for 2012 is available next year. These estimates will be further refined when the projections for the first 6 months of 2013 will be released in late September. KW - Fatalities KW - Fatality Analysis Reporting System KW - Traffic crashes KW - Trend (Statistics) KW - Vehicle miles of travel UR - http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811808.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262715 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493870 AU - Cheng, Maggie X AU - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety/NUTC program AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - A Pilot Study on Diagnostic Sensor Networks for Structure Health Monitoring PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 4p AB - The proposal was submitted in an effort to obtain some preliminary results on using sensor networks for real-time structure health monitoring. The proposed work has twofold: to develop and validate an elective algorithm for the diagnosis of coupled cyber-physical systems in the event of faults, and to monitor and assess the structural condition of bridges in real-time with sensor networks. Through the first year's investigation, the authors have learned that the second part of the proposed work actually requires new measuring methodology. As a result, research in this direction has extended to the following year, and a new project entitled “Data Acquisition, Detection and Estimation for Structural Health Monitoring" has started. KW - Bridges KW - Data collection KW - Measuring methods KW - Pilot studies KW - Real time information KW - Sensors KW - Structural health monitoring UR - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/R303%20Final%20Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262545 ER - TY - CONF AN - 01493867 AU - Prakash, Shamsher AU - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety/NUTC program AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - 7th International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 4p AB - Funding was used to enhance the objectives of the conference and to present successful case histories of various projects, orally, in posters and in proceedings. This will become a storehouse of knowledge for future reference. U1 - 7th International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical EngineeringCenter for Transportation Infrastructure and SafetyChicago,Illinois StartDate:20130501 EndDate:20130504 Sponsors:Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety KW - Case studies KW - Dams KW - Earthquake resistant structures KW - Footings KW - Geotechnical engineering KW - Landslides KW - Liquefaction UR - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/ETT314%20Final%20Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262547 ER - TY - SER AN - 01493660 JO - Research Results PB - Federal Railroad Administration AU - Federal Railroad Administration TI - Demographic Profile of Intentional Fatalities on Railroad Rights-of-Way in the United States PY - 2013/08 SP - 4p AB - One of the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) primary safety concerns is trespassing on railway rights-of-way. Some trespasser events end as fatalities which can be intentional or unintentional. This project reviews available trespasser data to establish a baseline estimate of intentional trespasser fatalities that occur on railroad rights-of-way and to obtain a basic demographic profile of the individuals involved. This project was especially valuable since at the time of data collection, railroads were not required to report trespasser fatalities and FRA did not collect trespasser incidents on railway rights-of-way that resulted in an intentional death. Two studies were conducted. Study 1 (June 1, 2006, to May 31, 2007) concluded that 268 trespasser fatality incidents were identified as intentional acts based on a review of railroad trespasser fatality records (RTFRs), state mortality systems, and media reports. During this 1-year time frame, 497 trespasser fatalities were reported by FRA. If no intentional fatalities are included in this FRA number (reporting guidelines do not require intentional incidents to be reported), then 35 percent of all trespasser fatalities during this time should be considered intentional. Study 2 (June 1, 2007, to May 31, 2010) concluded that 428 trespasser fatalities were determined to be intentional through an active analysis of RTFRs and state mortality systems from the period in question. Those intentional fatalities account for 24 percent of all trespasser fatalities reported during that time frame (1,341 FRA reported fatalities). For Study 2’s 3-year period, inconsistencies in data reported by railroads did not permit a precise baseline estimate of intentional trespasser fatality. It can be assumed that those estimates (although not precise) represent the minimum number of intentional deaths that occurred during the studies’ time frames, and thus provide an estimate of the overall percentage of railroad right-of-way fatalities. Results from both studies found that approximately three-quarters of the individuals involved in intentional fatalities were male, which closely mirrored the national gender distribution of suicides by other means. The age of the individuals who completed suicide on railroad rights-of-way tended to be younger than those who completed suicide by other means. No significant patterns were noted for time of day or monthly variation. Incidents were also examined by State of the participating railroads. The studies showed that Minnesota and Illinois consistently ranked among the States with the highest number of intentional trespass fatalities when adjusted by State population. When adjusted by miles of track within each State, New Jersey, California, and Florida consistently ranked among the highest. KW - Demographics KW - Fatalities KW - Railroad safety KW - Right of way (Land) KW - Suicide KW - Trespassers UR - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/3351 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1260588 ER - TY - SER AN - 01493659 JO - Research Results PB - Federal Railroad Administration AU - Federal Railroad Administration TI - Public Education and Enforcement Research Study (PEERS) PY - 2013/08 SP - 4p AB - In 2001, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) established the Public Education and Enforcement Research Study (PEERS) to test the effectiveness of various education and enforcement (E&E) techniques to improve compliance with traffic safety laws at highway-rail grade crossings. In Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2010, the seventh and final phase of PEERS began. Over the course of the PEERS project, $2.88 million was distributed through 174 grants to 68 grantees. In addition, FRA provided matching funds worth an estimated $500,000 to allow the project to conduct an effective analysis of compliance with traffic laws. The ICC also provided an in-kind match of $495,000 to supplement the E&E programs of grantees in Phase 4. ICC was responsible for project management and documentation while FRA conducted the before and after data collection and analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of PEERS in modifying highway user behavior. Staff from FRA and ICC provided extensive technical support to all grantees. The majority (86 percent) of grants were awarded to police departments in Illinois. Between July 1, 2003, and June 30, 2012, more than 18,000 traffic law citations or warnings were issued by 58 local police departments and special agents of the Union Pacific Railroad and the Canadian National Railway. Police conducted more than 18,000 hours of enforcement activity yielding an approximately one-to-one ratio of hours of effort to number of citations or warnings issued. The average cost for 1 hour of law enforcement labor was $57.08. KW - Illinois KW - Law enforcement KW - Railroad grade crossings KW - Studies KW - Traffic safety education UR - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/3352 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1260589 ER - TY - SER AN - 01493603 JO - Research Results PB - Federal Railroad Administration AU - Federal Railroad Administration TI - Testing of Wide-Gap Welds at Eastern Mega Site PY - 2013/08 SP - 4p AB - In 2005, Transportation Technology Center, Incorporated (TTCI) and Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) began a test of wide-gap welds (WGWs) at the eastern mega site near Bluefield, West Virginia. WGWs enable the repair of weld or railhead defects with a single weld, instead of the typical rail plug-and-weld procedure that requires two welds. A defect limited to less than 2.75 inches in the longitudinal direction can be replaced with a single WGW. Two types of WGWs were installed adjacent to a high strength rail test: 16 Orgo-Termit welds in 2005 and 16 Railtech Boutet welds in 2006 (see Figure 1). The WGWs have accumulated 355 and 300 million gross tons (MGT) of traffic, respectively. The followings are the main findings from this test: WGW is a viable rail-joining practice for heavy axle load operating environments. Even without the benefits of regular preventative grinding, these welds have shown a minimum fatigue life of 265 MGT, with an estimated average life of 490 MGT. With preventative grinding to remove minor spalling and plastic flow, life expectancy under these conditions is expected to be longer. WGWs exhibited running surface degradation consistent with that observed in standard gap thermite welds, but the degree of degradation was greater and occurred faster for WGWs compared with standard gap welds. Two Railtech Boutet WGWs were removed because of internal porosity defects detected by ultrasonic inspection. The first defect was found upon installation, and the weld was replaced. The second defect was found after 209 MGT, and the weld was removed from the test. Two Orgo-Thermit WGWs were removed. One weld experienced a fatigue fracture that initiated at flashing under the base. The fracture occurred shortly after the weld developed a shell on the gage corner. The second weld was removed when inspection revealed a similar gage corner shell. KW - Defects KW - Degradation failures KW - Fracture mechanics KW - Heavy axle load conditions KW - Maintenance of way KW - Testing KW - Welded rail KW - Welds KW - Wide gap thermite welds (rail) UR - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/3350 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1260587 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493495 AU - Hourdos, John AU - Zitzow, Stephen AU - Abou, Seraphin Chally AU - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities AU - University of Minnesota, Duluth AU - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Effectiveness of Urban Partnership Agreement Traffic Operations Measures in the I-35W Corridor PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 142p AB - One of the leading transportation project initiatives of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is to reduce transportation system congestion. The Minneapolis Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA) project is one of the five major projects funded by the U.S. DOT’s Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America's Transportation Network. Minnesota’s UPA is concerned with Active Traffic Management (ATM) systems along I-35W from the southern junction with I-35 to downtown Minneapolis (which will be referred to as the UPA corridor). Three separate but related evaluations are included in this UPA related project: the effects of the variable speed limit (VSL) system on congestion and driver behavior, the impact of severe weather conditions on road safety, and the behavior of bus rapid transit (BRT) vehicles and their impacts on traffic conditions between 46th Street and Lake Street. KW - Active traffic management KW - Bus rapid transit KW - Highway safety KW - Highway traffic KW - Highway traffic control KW - Minnesota KW - Partnerships KW - Urban areas KW - Variable speed limits KW - Weather conditions UR - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=2318 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261331 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493415 AU - Nicks, J E AU - Adams, M T AU - Ooi, P S K AU - Stabile, T AU - Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Performance Testing—Axial Load Deformation Relationships PY - 2013/08//Technical Report SP - 172p AB - The geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) performance test (PT), also called a mini-pier experiment, consists of constructing alternating layers of compacted granular fill and geosynthetic reinforcement with a facing element that is frictionally connected, then axially loading the GRS mass while measuring deformation to monitor performance. This large element load test provides material strength properties of a particular GRS composite built with unique combinations of reinforcement, compacted fill, and facing elements. This report describes the procedure and provides axial load- deformation results for a series of PTs conducted in both Defiance County, OH, as part of the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Every Day Counts (EDC) GRS Validation Sessions and in McLean, VA, at the FHWA’s Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center as part of a parametric study. The primary objectives of this research report are to: (1) build a database of GRS material properties that can be used by designers for GRS abutments and integrated bridge systems; (2) evaluate the relationship between reinforcement strength and spacing; (3) quantify the contribution of the frictionally connected facing elements at the service limit and strength limit states; (4) assess the new internal stability design method proposed by Adams et al. 2011 for GRS; and (5) perform a reliability analysis of the proposed soil-geosynthetic capacity equation for LRFD calibration. KW - Axial loads KW - Deformation KW - Geosynthetics KW - Mechanically stabilized earth KW - Performance tests KW - Strength of materials UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/infrastructure/structures/13066/13066.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261174 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493410 AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Safety Evaluation of Converting Traffic Signals from Incandescent to Light-Emitting Diodes PY - 2013/08 SP - 6p AB - This article focuses on the increasing use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in traffic signals in place of incandescent bulbs in order to reduce energy consumption and decrease maintenance. The study used data from Charlotte, NC to evaluate the impact of converting signals to LEDs from incandescent bulbs has on safety. The authors used an empirical Bayes before and after evaluation of traffic crashes at signalized intersections over a five-year period. The results showed significant differences among the many sites studied in terms of safety effects of LEDS. KW - Before and after studies KW - Charlotte (North Carolina) KW - Crash data KW - Incandescent lamps KW - Light emitting diodes KW - Signalized intersections KW - Traffic crashes KW - Traffic safety KW - Traffic signals UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/13070/13070.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261173 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493394 AU - Rister, Brad W AU - Whelan, Joe AU - University of Kentucky, Lexington AU - Kentucky Transportation Cabinet AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Utilization of Mobile LiDAR to Verify Bridge Clearance Height on the Western Kentucky Parkway PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 52p AB - Bridge clearances can vary from lane-to-lane beneath overpasses, and can often be difficult to measure due to high traffic volumes. Therefore, a mobile LiDAR unit was utilized in this project to obtain the bridge clearance heights on the Western Kentucky Parkway. The LiDAR information was collected at 400,000 points-per-second at a driving speed of 30 mph. Hand measurements were also taken on each bridge to assist in quantifying the potential error between field measurements and LiDAR measurements. The results of the collected LiDAR data appear to be less than 1.2 inches, which appears to be in line with both manufacturer and industry standards. KW - Bridges KW - Clearances (Navigation) KW - Height KW - Kentucky KW - Laser radar KW - Parkways KW - Scanners UR - http://www.ktc.uky.edu/files/2013/08/KTC_13_09_FRT_199_13_1F.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261368 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493383 AU - Buller, William AU - Wilson, Brian AU - Ebling, James AU - van Nieuwstadt, Line AU - Hart, Benjamin AU - Forkenbrock, Garrick AU - Michigan Tech Research Institute AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Radar Measurements of NHTSA’s Surrogate Vehicle SS_V PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 115p AB - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) seeks to objectively quantify the performance of forward-looking advanced technologies such as Crash Imminent Braking (CIB) and Dynamic Brake Support (DBS) on the test track. Since these evaluations are expected to result in collisions between the subject vehicle (SV) and a principal other vehicle (POV) positioned directly in front of it, safety necessitates that the POV be a surrogate. However, to insure the tests will provide an accurate assessment of the SV’s CIB and/or DBS capabilities, the surrogate must present as realistic. One way “realism” must be quantified involves a surrogate’s radar return characteristics. The tests described in this report were performed to assess the radar return characteristics of NHTSA’s Strikeable Surrogate Vehicle (SS_V), a test target visually similar to a small hatchback. This work was performed by Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI) and the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) on August 5, 2012 and October 11, 2012 under U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT)/NHTSA contracts DTNH22-12-P-0158 and DTNH22-12-P-01638, respectively. The tests performed indicate the SS_V is a viable surrogate for automotive safety tests where the SV approaches a POV from the tail-aspect. KW - Dynamic braking KW - Impact tests KW - Radar cross section KW - Rear end crashes KW - Test tracks KW - Test vehicles UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Crash%20Avoidance/Technical%20Publications/2013/811817.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261509 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493375 AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Interstate Brief: Summary of the extent, usage, and condition of the U.S. Interstate System: By State and Interstate Route Number PY - 2013/08 SP - 19p AB - This report attempts to explore the diversity of the Interstate system by State and route, by focusing on a few data attributes that reflect its extent, usage, and condition. The data contained in this report were submitted to the Office of Highway Policy Information, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in 2011 by each State. The data were submitted through, and are maintained in, a FHWA data system known as the Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS). States are required to submit HPMS data annually to FHWA. Data includes: route number, length, lane miles, annual average daily traffic, annual vehicle miles traveled, and pavement roughness. KW - Annual average daily traffic KW - Highway Performance Monitoring System KW - Interstate highways KW - Length KW - Roughness KW - States KW - United States KW - Vehicle miles of travel UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstatebrief2011/2011interstatebrief.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261361 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493374 AU - Goodwill, Jay A AU - Staes, Lisa AU - National Center for Transit Research AU - Florida Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Flexible Public Transportation Services in Florida PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 57p AB - This synthesis research provides an overview of the current use of flexible transportation services in Florida through administration of a survey and subsequent identification and examination of case study locations. The research included a literature review to determine the prevalence of these service delivery methods, the way in which these services are being provided throughout the United States, and the experience of the areas implementing these services, as well as any lessons learned that may be identified through this effort. Based on the information collected during the literature review, the survey of the Florida transit agencies, and the subsequent follow-up and website searches, six Florida transit agencies were identified that provided specific unique flexible service routes. In-depth case studies, comprising interviews and site visits, were presented to document how each of the six agencies have designed their flexible transit service approaches. KW - Case studies KW - Florida KW - Literature reviews KW - Public transit KW - Routes KW - Surveys KW - Transit operating agencies UR - http://www.fdot.gov/research/Completed_Proj/Summary_PTO/FDOT-BDK85-977-37-rpt.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262875 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493371 AU - Ellis, David AU - Baker, Trey AU - Weatherby, Cinde AU - Vadali, Sharada AU - Aldrete, Rafael AU - Damnjanovic, Ivan AU - Mander, John AU - Glover, Brianne AU - Norboge, Nicolas AU - Wagner, Jason AU - Rocha, Jose M AU - Sandefur, Elizabeth AU - Hardy, Michael AU - Caldwell, Chandra AU - Weldon, Allison AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Innovative Finance: Strategic Research Project PY - 2013/08 SP - 40p AB - This executive summary not only provides a list of possible out-of-the-box transportation revenue strategies, it also provides an overall framework in which to understand them. The authors intend to provide a holistic approach to examine how Texas approaches how it funds and finances transportation infrastructure. These processes are part of an overall system with inputs, outputs, and institutional processes that ultimately govern how revenue is collected and allocated. This framework provides a guide to understanding the implications of current and innovative funding and financing strategies and will help Texas identify the preferred path for funding and financing the transportation network in the 21st century. KW - Financing KW - Highways KW - Infrastructure KW - Return on investment KW - Revenues KW - Texas UR - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/6-0700-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261561 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493365 AU - Evans, John F AU - University of Minnesota, Duluth AU - University of Minnesota, Duluth AU - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Detection of Water and Ice on Bridge Structures by AC Impedance and Dielectric Relaxation Spectroscopy Phase II PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 38p AB - During Phase I of this project, a preliminary evaluation of a novel approach to low-cost sensing systems for monitoring ice, water and deicing solutions on road bridge deck surfaces was carried out. The initial approaches included the techniques of alternating current impedance and dielectric relaxation spectroscopy of responses from simple passive metal sensors. These preliminary results indicated that the second approach of dielectric relaxation spectroscopy was far more promising. Furthermore, likely implementations would be significantly more economical using lower-cost electronics modules connected to passive sensors. The choice for implementation of dielectric relaxation spectroscopy is based on the measurement of high-frequency components of pulse waveforms reflected from the sensor and using time domain reflectometry (TDR). The information content of these waveforms is strongly influenced by the dielectric properties of the media of interest (ice, water or aqueous solutions of deicing chemicals) in contact with or in close proximity (microns) with passive metal conductors, which comprise the sensor. These high-frequency dielectric relaxation measurements using TDR probe the physical state of precipitation and deicing chemicals on the deck or road surface by the detailed examination of the frequency response waveforms returned after the application of a fast rise-time excitation pulse. Signal processing of the acquired waveforms involves taking the derivative of the response followed by digital filtering and subsequent wavelet analysis to emphasize and distinguished low vs high frequency components of the waveforms reflected from the sensors. Determination of the state and nature of the precipitation, solutions or air in contact with a given sensor is made on a statistical basis via correlation of responses to calibration waveforms collected under known conditions for a given sensor. The software to carry out these signal processing tasks in implemented using LabVIEW. KW - Bridge decks KW - Deicing KW - Electrical impedance KW - Ice KW - Monitoring KW - Sensors KW - Snow KW - Snow and ice control KW - Spectroscopic analysis KW - Surface course (Pavements) KW - Time domain reflectometers KW - Water UR - http://www.its.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=2320 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262525 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493355 AU - Pike, Adam M AU - Carlson, Paul J AU - Borchardt, Darrell W AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation of Traffic Control Devices, Year 4 PY - 2013/08//Technical Report SP - 40p AB - This project was established to provide a means of conducting small scale research activities on an as-needed basis so that the results could be available within months of starting the specific research. This report summarizes the research activities that were conducted between September 2011 and August 2012. The research included two primary activities and two secondary activities. The two primary activities were: (1) Rural Intersection Sign Reduction Evaluation, and (2) Update on Sequential Dynamic Curve Warning System Research. The two secondary activities were: (1) Development of Hurricane Evacuation Animation Maps for the Corpus Christi District, and (2) Mobile Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity Data Training. KW - Digital maps KW - Evacuation KW - Highway curves KW - Intersections KW - Retroreflectivity KW - Rural areas KW - Texas KW - Traffic control devices KW - Traffic signs KW - Training KW - Warning systems UR - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/9-1001-3.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262245 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493351 AU - Eisele, William L AU - Schrank, David L AU - Kang, Dong Hun (Don) AU - Polzin, Steven E AU - Chu, Xuehao AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Southwest Region University Transportation Center AU - National Center for Transit Research AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Investigation of Improvements to Truck Volume Assignments and Public Transportation Benefits Methodologies in TTI’s Urban Mobility Report PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 65p AB - The Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s (TTI’s) often-cited Urban Mobility Report (UMR) provides transportation decision-makers with urban-area congestion statistics and trends. Data and their availability have continued to evolve rapidly over the years that this report has been produced, and TTI researchers have updated the UMR methodology as new data sources and information become available. The objectives of this project were to (a) investigate the UMR methodology assumptions related to the daily volume distributions for trucks and possible methodology improvements, and (b) investigate the UMR methodology related to the benefits of transit ridership and transit delay reduction calculations and possible methodology improvements. To satisfy the first objective, TTI researchers collected vehicle classification data from Georgia, Texas, Washington, and Colorado. While there were only 36 sites used to investigate potentially new truck distribution graphs, the results indicate that trucks have a different time-of-day distribution than a distribution created from all vehicles together. Because the sample size of these findings is relatively low, researchers hope to investigate these findings on larger samples prior to making methodological changes in the UMR. To satisfy the second objective, TTI researchers collaborated with public transit experts at the University of South Florida, Center for Urban Transportation Research. Chapter 4 provides several proposed methodological improvements to the transit benefits methodology for the 2013 UMR, including (a) explicitly accounting for the miles traveled by roadway-based transit vehicles operating in mixed traffic conditions, and (b) more accurately accounting for the potential shift to private passenger vehicles in a post-transit environment by transit riders for the passenger miles they have actually traveled by transit. Researchers plan to incorporate these proposed changes into the 2013 UMR. Chapter 4 also documents future improvement opportunities for the short term and long term. KW - Benefits KW - Methodology KW - Public transit KW - Ridership KW - Traffic congestion KW - Traffic volume KW - Travel patterns KW - Truck traffic KW - Urban Mobility Report UR - http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/600451-00013-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262541 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493350 AU - Godazi, Khosro AU - Miller, Alexandra AU - Texas Southern University AU - Southwest Region University Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Transportation Security Institute: Recruiting Next Generation Professionals PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 30p AB - The Center for Transportation Training and Research (CTTR), as part of Texas Southern University (TSU), served as host for the 2013 Transportation Security Institute (TSI) in Houston and surrounding area. The 2013 Houston TSI focuses on the mission and objectives of transportation security professionals and introduces a pre-selected group of high school students to the various career opportunities within the profession. TSI provides a curriculum framework that exposes high school students to the transportation security industry via hands-on technical activities, field trips to transportation facilities, lectures by transportation professionals, and on-site seminars. Furthermore, the primary goal of TSI is to introduce exemplary secondary school students to various career opportunities in transportation security. Secondly, industry professionals will reinforce the importance of mathematics, science, and technology skills in the twenty-first century. Lastly, students will observe how public/private partnerships work to strengthen the link between today’s students and future transportation security professionals. KW - Education and training KW - High school students KW - Lectures KW - Public private partnerships KW - Transportation careers UR - http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/161340-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262543 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493345 AU - Walubita, Lubinda F AU - Faruk, Abu N AU - Koohi, Yasser AU - Luo, Rong AU - Scullion, Tom AU - Lytton, Robert L. AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - The Overlay Tester (OT): Comparison with Other Crack Test Methods and Recommendation for Surrogate Crack Tests PY - 2013/08//Technical Report SP - 180p AB - Presently, one of the principal performance concerns of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) pavements is premature cracking, particularly of HMA surfacing mixes. Regrettably, however, while many U.S. transportation agencies have implemented design-level tests to measure the rutting potential of HMA mixes; there is hardly any standardized national design-level test for measuring and characterizing the HMA cracking resistance potential. Currently, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) uses the Overlay Tester (OT) to routinely evaluate the cracking susceptibility of HMA mixes in the laboratory. While the OT effectively simulates the reflective cracking mechanism of opening and closing of joints and/or cracks, repeatability and variability in the test results have been major areas of concern. As an effort towards addressing these repeatability/variability issues, this laboratory study was undertaken, namely to: 1) conduct a comprehensive sensitivity evaluation of the OT test procedure so as to improve its repeatability and minimize variability in the OT test results; 2) recommend updates and modifications to the Tex-248-F specification including development of OT calibration and service maintenance manuals; 3) explore other alternative OT data analysis methods; 4) comparatively evaluate and explore other crack test methods (both in monotonic and dynamic loading modes) that could serve as supplementary and/or surrogate tests to the OT test method; and 5) develop new crack test procedures, specifications, and technical implementation recommendations. As documented in this report, the scope of work to accomplish these objectives included evaluating the following crack test methods: 1) the standard OT repeated (OTR, Tex-248-F) and monotonic loading OT test (OTM); 2) the monotonic indirect-tension (IDT) and repeated loading IDT (R-IDT) test; 3) the monotonic semi-circular bending (SCB) and repeated loading SCB (R-SCB) test; 4) the disk-shaped compaction tension test (DSCTT); and 5) the monotonic direct-tension (DT) and repeated loading DT (R-DT) tests. KW - Bituminous overlays KW - Hot mix asphalt KW - Laboratory studies KW - Load tests KW - Pavement cracking KW - Pavement performance KW - Tension tests KW - Test procedures KW - Texas UR - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6607-2.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261150 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493337 AU - Evans, John F AU - University of Minnesota, Duluth AU - University of Minnesota, Duluth AU - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Detection of Water and Ice on Bridge Structures by AC Impedance and Dielectric Relaxation Spectroscopy, Phase III and IV: Continued Field Testing and Refinement of Novel Water and Ice Sensor Systems on Bridge Decks PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 30p AB - During Phases III and IV of this project it was determined that the physical attributes of the prototypes developed during the earlier work was inappropriate for bridge deck installations. Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) engineers required that they be planar and not require drainage through the deck. As road weather information system (RWIS) platforms had been widely deployed on decks throughout the state, it was decided to adhere to the RWIS geometric format. This necessitated a significant re-engineering of the sensor hardware before installation and testing at remote bridge sites could proceed. To that end extensive development of a robust sensor meeting these requirements was developed and tested without compromise to the earlier performance results. In large part the maintenance of performance was achieved through a significant modification of the software to include Wavelet analysis of the raw data in the determination of surface state of the sensor platform (ice vs air vs water vs electrolyte present on the sensing electrode structure). The combined regression results for raw time domain reflectometry (TDR) responses treated by three analysis procedures are shown to give rise to very reliable results. Unfortunately, remote field testing of sensors installed on bridge decks was not accomplished. KW - Bridge decks KW - Icing KW - Road weather information systems KW - Sensors KW - Snow KW - Snow and ice control KW - Software UR - http://www.its.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=2330 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261879 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493330 AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - 2013 Vehicle Theft Prevention Quick Reference Guide for the Law Enforcement Community PY - 2013/08 SP - 21p AB - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is responsible for establishing and enforcing vehicle antitheft regulations. Motor vehicle theft is a growing problem that results in billions of dollars in losses every year. NHTSA has developed this annual guide to provide the law enforcement community with a concise reference tool to help identify passenger motor vehicles that have been exempted from the parts-marking requirements through model year 2013 and also to assist law enforcement in their prosecution and motor vehicle theft prevention efforts. This new guide provides a quick-reference, comprehensive summary of the vehicles that have been installed with antitheft devices as standard equipment, identifying which vehicles are exempted from the parts-marking requirements, the type of exemption granted (partial or full), and the production year(s) for which the exemption applies. KW - Antitheft devices KW - Law enforcement KW - Prevention KW - Vehicle design KW - Vehicle theft KW - Vehicles UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nvs/pdf/811828.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262878 ER - TY - SER AN - 01493328 JO - Civil Engineering Studies, Illinois Center for Transportation Series PB - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - Mohammadian, Kouros AU - Karimi, Behzad AU - Pourabdollahi, Zahra AU - Frignani, Martina AU - University of Illinois, Chicago AU - Illinois Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Modeling Seniors’ Activity-Travel Data PY - 2013/08 IS - 13-026 SP - 79p AB - The United States is experiencing an increase in its elderly population. According to Census Bureau estimates, this population should increase by 104.2% from 2000 to 2030, which translates into 72.1 million elders by 2030. This demographic change will affect the transportation system, like any other socioeconomic system. Thus, this study seeks to understand the dynamics of elderly activity-travel behavior and its potential effects on the transportation system to better identify and meet seniors’ transportation needs. The Urban Travel Route and Activity Choice Survey (UTRACS), an automated, Internet- and global positioning system (GPS)-based prompted-recall survey that was coupled with learning algorithms, was employed for that purpose. In this report, the study team analyzes elderly tour formation, activity-trip planning, mode-choice selection, and activity timing. KW - Activity choices KW - Aged KW - Mathematical models KW - Mode choice KW - Time duration KW - Travel behavior KW - Travel surveys KW - United States KW - Urban areas UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45748 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261616 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493326 AU - Wilson, James H AU - Mullen, Maureen AU - Matos, Patrick AU - Schreiber, Jackson AU - SC&A, Incorporated AU - Montana Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Re-evaluation of Montana’s Air Quality Program PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 108p AB - This project examined the Montana Department of Transportation's (MDT's) current methods for determining projects for the Montana Air and Congestion Initiative (MACI) program, and made recommendations to improve and implement this program. A major project objective was to keep the program oriented towards high-value investments for Montana communities. Key project tasks included: (1) Determine the best use of Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funds for each of Montana’s transportation-related pollutants; (2) Determine project recommendations that use highest cost to air quality benefit for long-term attainment; (3) Determine needed funding and program policy changes; (4) Identify areas prone to future transportation-related issues; and (5) Determine need for education in Montana communities on best practices to prevent nonattainment of transportation related pollutants. One of the primary products of this research is a set of methods descriptions and Microsoft Excel-based tools that are designed for MDT staff and other Montana agencies to use to estimate the air pollution emission reduction benefit and the cost effectiveness of the new measures and projects that are being considered in the state. KW - Air quality KW - Air quality management KW - Best practices KW - Congestion management systems KW - Evaluation and assessment KW - Financing KW - Montana KW - Nonattainment areas KW - Pollutants UR - http://www.mdt.mt.gov/other/research/external/docs/research_proj/cmaq/FINAL_REPORT_13.PDF UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262910 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493303 AU - Milburn, Nelda J AU - Roberts, Carrie A AU - Perry, Deborah L AU - Federal Aviation Administration AU - Xyant Technology, Incorporated AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - Evaluation of the Stereo Optical OPTEC®5000 for Aeromedical Color Vision Screening PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 21p AB - Screening tests are valued for their ability to detect the presence (test sensitivity) and the absence (test specificity) of a disease or a specific condition such as color vision deficiencies (CVDs). From an aviation safety standpoint, it is important to identify those with CVDs because of their potential for accidents if they misinterpret vital color-coded information; whereas, failing an airman with normal color vision has other consequences to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) such as the expense of secondary screening. If a screening test has low specificity, it can have a high false positive rate—meaning that individuals are falsely noted as having the condition being screened. So, from the airman’s standpoint, especially if the airman has normal color vision (NCV), specificity is very important. The FAA has a color vision standard for airmen and air traffic controllers because of the occupations’ high reliance on color-coded information. Stereo Optical Company, Inc. requested a review of their model 5000 multifunction screener for aeromedical use, and the FAA found that instrument failed 50% of those with NCV. The manufacturer made some modifications and requested a re-evaluation. The validity of the original and modified versions of the OPTEC®5000 (called V1 and V2, respectively in this paper) was examined in two experiments. Experiment 1 involved 29 NCV and 31 CVD subjects that were administered the OPTEC®2000 and the V1. Experiment 2 examined the validity of the original and modified instruments by comparing test outcome on both versions to a diagnostic test using 50 NCV and 51 CVD subjects. In Experiment 1, the V1 failed 41.3% of the NCV participants. In Experiment 2, V1 failed 28%, and V2 failed 32% of the NCV subjects. V1 passed 16% of the subjects diagnosed with CVDs and V2 erroneously passed 12%. It is possible that the light-emitting diode strip, used in the OPTEC®5000, altered the color perception of the pseudo-isochromatic test plates and that substituting that light source for one with better color rendering could restore the test’s sensitivity and specificity rates. The specificity of the OPTEC®5000, in its original and modified states, are unacceptably low; and neither should be used for aeromedical color vision screening because of their low agreement with a diagnostic test (K(101)=.564 and .563, respectively). KW - Aviation KW - Color vision KW - Diagnostic tests KW - Personnel KW - Testing equipment KW - Vision tests UR - http://www.faa.gov/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/oamtechreports/2010s/media/201316.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261875 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493297 AU - Bringardner, Jack W AU - Gemar, Mason D AU - Machemehl, Randy B AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Southwest Region University Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Development of an Interactive GIS Based Work Zone Traffic Control Tool PY - 2013/08 SP - 90p AB - The purpose of this study was to include consideration for intersections into the previously created geographic information system (GIS) traffic control planning tool. Available data for making intersection control calculations were collected and integrated into the design of the tool. The limitations created by required assumptions were addressed, as well as more advanced techniques for overcoming these problems. The tool can be used to estimate capacity calculations at any signalized intersection within the North Central Texas Council of Government’s (NCTCOG) modeling region. These calculations can be used to inform users about the effects of a construction plan. Inputs for using dynamic traffic assignment to further understand these effects is then addressed, focusing on the development of a subnetwork to reduce computation time for multiple temporary traffic control plans. KW - Dynamic traffic assignment KW - Geographic information systems KW - Signalized intersections KW - Software KW - Texas KW - Traffic control KW - Traffic models KW - Work zone traffic control UR - http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/600451-00069-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261880 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493294 AU - National Center for Statistics and Analysis TI - Traffic Safety Facts 2011 Data: Passenger Vehicles PY - 2013/08 SP - 12p AB - A passenger vehicle is a motor vehicle weighing less than 10,000 pounds and includes passenger cars and light trucks (pickup trucks, vans, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), and other light trucks). Passenger vehicles make up over 90 percent of registered vehicles, and account for nearly 90 percent of total vehicle miles traveled (VMT). In 2011 there were an estimated 9,291,000 vehicles involved in police-reported crashes, 96 percent (8,953,000) of which were passenger vehicles. There were 43,917 vehicles involved in fatal crashes, of which 78 percent (34,182) were passenger vehicles. More than 21,000 passenger vehicle occupants lost their lives in traffic crashes in 2011, and an estimated 1.97 million were injured. From 2002 to 2011, passenger vehicle registrations increased 12 percent. Light trucks (LTVs) experienced a 27-percent increase in registrations, while passenger cars had an increase of 3 percent. Among the light-truck categories, pickup truck registrations increased 14 percent and van registrations decreased 6 percent; however, SUV registrations increased by 72 percent. KW - Crash injuries KW - Crash rates KW - Fatalities KW - Passenger vehicles KW - Registrations KW - Statistics KW - Traffic crashes KW - Trend (Statistics) KW - Vehicle miles of travel UR - http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811827.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261612 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493292 AU - Morris, Ted AU - Li, Xinyan AU - Morellas, Vassilios AU - Papanikolopoulos, Nikos AU - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities AU - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Video Detection and Classification of Pedestrian Events at Roundabouts and Crosswalks PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 37p AB - A well-established technique for studying pedestrian safety is based on reducing data from video-based in-situ observation. The extraction and cataloging from recorded video of pedestrian crossing events has largely been achieved manually. Although the manual methods are generally reliable, they are extremely time-consuming. As a result, more detailed, encompassing site studies are not practical unless the mining for these events can be automated. The study investigated such a tool based on utilizing a novel image processing algorithm recently developed for the extraction of human activities in complex scenes. No human intervention other than defining regions of interest for approaching vehicles and the pedestrian crossing areas was required. The output quantified general event indicators—such as pedestrian wait time, and crossing time and vehicle-pedestrian yield behaviors. Such data can then be used to guide more detailed analyses of the events to study potential vehicle-pedestrian conflicts and their causal effects. The evaluation was done using an extensive set of multi-camera video recordings collected at roundabouts. The tool can be used to support other pedestrian safety research where extracting potential pedestrian-vehicle conflicts from video are required, for example at crosswalks at urban signalized and uncontrolled intersections. KW - Algorithms KW - Computer vision KW - Crosswalks KW - Detection and identification technologies KW - Pedestrian movement KW - Pedestrian safety KW - Roundabouts KW - Video cameras UR - http://www.its.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=2328 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262477 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493290 AU - Whitney, David AU - Fowler, David W AU - Rached, Marc AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Use of Manufactured Sands for Concrete Pavement PY - 2013/08//Technical Report SP - 204p AB - Manufactured fine aggregates are a product created when rocks are crushed using a mechanical crusher. With the depletion of sources of natural sands, the usage of manufactured fine aggregates has increased. Manufactured fine aggregates have properties that differ from natural sands; for this reason, the plastic and hardened properties of concrete produced using manufactured fine aggregates differ from the properties of concrete made with natural sands. The main concrete properties affected by the usage of manufactured fine aggregates are skid resistance, workability, and finishability. The aim of this research project was to investigate how manufactured fine aggregates could be used in concrete pavements without causing workability or skid related issues. To improve the workability of concrete made with manufactured fine aggregates, the use of the optimized mixture proportioning method developed by the International Center for Aggregate Research (ICAR) was investigated. Results obtained from this testing were used to make recommendations on how to optimize class P concrete mixtures made with any type and combination of aggregates. KW - Artificial aggregates KW - Concrete pavements KW - Fine aggregates KW - Laboratory tests KW - Mix design KW - Proportioning KW - Sand KW - Skid resistance tests KW - Texas KW - Workability UR - http://library.ctr.utexas.edu/ctr-publications/0-6255-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261146 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493285 AU - Abbas, Ala R AU - Ali, Ayman AU - Alhasan, Ahmad AU - Nazzal, Munir AU - Sargand, Shad AU - Roy, Arjun AU - University of Akron AU - Ohio University, Athens AU - Ohio Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Determining the Limitations of Warm Mix Asphalt by Water Injection in Mix Design, Quality Control and Placement PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 137p AB - In this project, a comprehensive study was conducted to evaluate the laboratory performance of foamed warm mix asphalt (WMA) mixtures with regard to permanent deformation, moisture-induced damage, fatigue cracking, and low-temperature (thermal) cracking; and compare it to traditional hot mix asphalt (HMA). In addition, the workability of foamed WMA and HMA mixtures was evaluated using a new device that was designed and fabricated at the University of Akron, and the compactability of both mixtures was examined by analyzing compaction data collected using the Superpave gyratory compactor. The effect of the temperature reduction, foaming water content, and aggregate moisture content on the performance of foamed WMA was also investigated. Furthermore, the rutting performance of plant-produced foamed WMA and HMA mixtures was evaluated in the Ohio University (OU) Accelerated Pavement Load Facility (APLF), and the long-term performance of pavement structures constructed using foamed WMA and HMA surface and intermediate courses was analyzed using the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG). The laboratory test results revealed comparable resistance to permanent deformation, moisture-induced damage, and fatigue cracking for foamed WMA and HMA mixtures. However, the HMA mixtures had significantly higher indirect tensile strength (ITS) values at 14 degrees F (-10 degrees C) and comparable failure strains to the foamed WMA mixtures, which indicates that the traditional HMA mixtures have better resistance to low-temperature (thermal) cracking. The laboratory tests conducted to evaluate the effect of the temperature reduction, foaming water content, and aggregate moisture content revealed that the performance of foamed WMA mixtures prepared using 30 degrees F (16.7 degrees C) temperature reduction, 1.8% foaming water content, and fully dried aggregates was comparable to that of the HMA mixtures. However, reducing the production temperature of foamed WMA resulted in increased susceptibility to permanent deformation and moisture-induced damage. In addition, producing foamed WMA using moist aggregates resulted in inadequate aggregate coating leading to concerns with regard to long-term durability. Increasing the foaming water content (up to 2.6% of the weight of the asphalt binder) did not seem to have a negative effect on the rutting performance or moisture sensitivity of the foamed WMA. The rut depth measurements obtained at the OU APLF confirmed the laboratory asphalt pavement analyzer (APA) test results. It was found through these tests that the foamed WMA mixtures have comparable rutting resistance to the HMA mixtures. Finally, the long-term pavement performance predictions obtained using the MEPDG showed comparable service lives for pavement structures constructed using foamed WMA and HMA surface and intermediate mixtures. KW - Deformation KW - Durability tests KW - Fatigue cracking KW - Foamed asphalt KW - Hot mix asphalt KW - Laboratory tests KW - Low temperature tests KW - Mix design KW - Moisture damage KW - Ohio KW - Pavement performance KW - Quality control KW - Rutting KW - Warm mix paving mixtures UR - http://worldcat.org/arcviewer/7/OHI/2014/02/26/H1393430390187/viewer/file1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261614 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493277 AU - Yuwen, Weiyuan AU - Zhang, Zhanmin AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Southwest Region University Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Simulation of Investment Returns of Toll Projects PY - 2013/08//Final Technical Report SP - 54p AB - This research develops a methodological framework to illustrate key stages in applying the simulation of investment returns of toll projects, acting as an example process of helping agencies conduct numerical risk analysis by taking certain uncertainties associated with toll projects into consideration. The numerical financial model provides a deterministic financial evaluation for the project. Next, there are four risk sources identified in this research, including project-based risks, cost-based risks, toll-based risks and finance-based risks. For each risk source, critical variables are recognized and probability distributions are suggested. The deterministic financial evaluation result is obtained through the projected single-value estimates of these variables. By considering the variability associated with the components of a project, the Monte Carlo simulation technique is used to estimate the overall project risks. Risk simulation results are interpreted through various numerical measures of project’s risks, which further provide agencies with quantitative information to set investment decision criteria. For risk optimization, exploration of optimal value-combination of variables and utilization of single-variable control method are discussed, which could assist agencies in setting threshold toll prices in order to achieve the goal revenue and maximize potential returns on the investment. The risk analysis, consisting of risk simulation and risk optimization, can give the statistical distribution of investment returns for a project under analysis, providing decision makers with a direct approach to the evaluation of the projects’ financial risks and the development of recommendations for risk control measures. KW - Financing KW - Monte Carlo method KW - Public private partnerships KW - Return on investment KW - Risk analysis KW - Toll facilities UR - http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/600451-00075-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262542 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493273 AU - Zornberg, J G AU - Ferreira, J A Z AU - Roodi, G H AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Geosynthetic-Reinforced Unbound Base Courses: Quantification of the Reinforcement Benefits PY - 2013/08 SP - 757p AB - As part of Research Project 0-4829, a new testing device was developed and a field monitoring program was initiated to evaluate the performance of geosynthetics used as reinforcement for unbound base courses. This implementation includes the use of the new testing device and procedures developed by the 0-4829 research project, which involves characterization of the confined stiffness in geosynthetic reinforcements. The project also provides continued monitoring of 32 experimental test sections constructed in Farm-to-Market Road (FM) 2 and 6 test sections constructed in FM1644 for the purpose of correlating field performance with material characterization. The experimental component of this implementation project was accomplished by testing 11 different geosynthetic reinforcement products in the small pullout test. The field component of this implementation project involved conducting continued condition surveys, subsurface exploration, and weather data gathering in order to establish the threshold of the proposed confined stiffness parameter in the new specification based on the field performance. KW - Base course (Pavements) KW - Geosynthetics KW - Monitoring KW - Pull out test KW - Reinforcement (Engineering) KW - Stiffness KW - Test procedures KW - Test sections UR - http://library.ctr.utexas.edu/ctr-publications/5-4829-01-2.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262398 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493269 AU - Boyle, L N AU - Lee, J D AU - Peng, Y AU - Ghazizadeh, M AU - Wu, Y AU - Miller, E AU - Jenness, J AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration AU - Westat TI - Text Reading and Text Input Assessment in Support of the NHTSA Visual-Manual Driver Distraction Guidelines PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 73p AB - The aim of this project was to provide data supporting the development of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA’s) proposed Visual-Manual Driver Distraction Guidelines’ text entry and text reading specification. The purpose of the study was to examine the two test protocols recommended in the proposed NHTSA Guidelines: the driving simulator and occlusion goggle protocols, under different conditions of text type, text length, and ambient text conditions. In the driving simulator, the total eyes off road time (TSOT) measures the number of seconds drivers eyes left the road to complete the text entry and text reading tasks. Similarly, the total shutter open time (TSOT) measures the total time the participants could view the display through the occlusion goggles. The results of the study indicated that the use of a TSOT of 12 seconds was more appropriate than 9 seconds. In addition, the mean ratio between TSOT and TEORT for the Text Entry task, across all text length and ambient text conditions, was 1.03. The corresponding mean ratio for the Text Reading task was 1.09. NHTSA concluded that these ratios suggest there is no need for a field or inflation factor when comparing TSOT values to TEORT. In summary, the driving simulator and occlusion goggle protocols produce consistent indicators regarding the distraction potential of text entry and text reading tasks. KW - Distraction KW - Driving KW - Driving simulators KW - Eye movements KW - Guidelines KW - Highway safety KW - Specifications KW - Text messaging KW - U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Crash%20Avoidance/Technical%20Publications/2013/811820.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261507 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493228 AU - Hosteng, Travis AU - Phares, Brent AU - Iowa State University, Ames AU - Iowa Department of Transportation AU - Soy Transportation Coalition AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Demonstration of Load Rating Capabilities through Physical Load Testing: Ida County Bridge Case Study PY - 2013/08//Final Report 2 of 3 SP - 27p AB - The objective of this work, Pilot Project - Demonstration of Capabilities and Benefits of Bridge Load Rating through Physical Testing, was to demonstrate the capabilities for load testing and rating bridges in Iowa, study the economic benefit of performing such testing, and perform outreach to local, state, and national engineers on the topic of bridge load testing and rating. This report documents one of three bridges inspected, load tested, and load rated as part of the project, the Ida County Bridge (FHWA #186070), including testing procedures and performance of the bridge under static loading along with the calculated load rating from the field-calibrated analytical model. Two parallel reports document the testing and load rating of the Sioux County Bridge (FHWA #308730) and the Johnson County Bridge (FHWA #205750). A tech brief provides overall information about the project. KW - Bearing capacity KW - Case studies KW - Demonstration projects KW - Highway bridges KW - Ida County (Iowa) KW - Load factor KW - Load tests KW - Overweight loads KW - Test procedures UR - http://publications.iowa.gov/14917/1/IA_DOT_RB32-013_InTrans_ida_county_bridge_rating.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261164 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493223 AU - Hosteng, Travis AU - Phares, Brent AU - Iowa State University, Ames AU - Iowa Department of Transportation AU - Soy Transportation Coalition AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Demonstration of Load Rating Capabilities through Physical Load Testing: Johnson County Bridge Case Study PY - 2013/08//Final Report 3 of 3 SP - 29p AB - The objective of this work, Pilot Project - Demonstration of Capabilities and Benefits of Bridge Load Rating through Physical Testing, was to demonstrate the capabilities for load testing and rating bridges in Iowa, study the economic benefit of performing such testing, and perform outreach to local, state, and national engineers on the topic of bridge load testing and rating. This report documents one of three bridges inspected, load tested, and load rated as part of the project, the Johnson County Bridge (FHWA #205750), including testing procedures and performance of the bridge under static loading along with the calculated load rating from the field-calibrated analytical model. Two parallel reports document the testing and load rating of the Sioux County Bridge (FHWA #308730) and the Ida County Bridge (FHWA #186070). A tech brief provides overall information about the project. KW - Bearing capacity KW - Case studies KW - Demonstration projects KW - Highway bridges KW - Johnson County (Iowa) KW - Load factor KW - Load tests KW - Overweight loads KW - Test procedures UR - http://publications.iowa.gov/14918/1/IA_DOT_RB32-013_InTrans_johnson_county_bridge_rating.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261165 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493162 AU - Phares, Brent AU - Hosteng, Travis AU - Iowa State University, Ames AU - Iowa Department of Transportation AU - Soy Transportation Coalition AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Demonstration of Load Rating Capabilities through Physical Load Testing: Sioux County Bridge Case Study PY - 2013/08//Final Report 1 of 3 SP - 27p AB - The objective of this work, Pilot Project - Demonstration of Capabilities and Benefits of Bridge Load Rating through Physical Testing, was to demonstrate the capabilities for load testing and rating bridges in Iowa, study the economic benefit of performing such testing, and perform outreach to local, state, and national engineers on the topic of bridge load testing and rating. This report documents one of three bridges inspected, load tested, and load rated as part of the project, the Sioux County Bridge (FHWA #308730), including testing procedures and performance of the bridge under static loading along with the calculated load rating from the field-calibrated analytical model. Two parallel reports document the testing and load rating of the Ida County Bridge (FHWA #186070) and the Johnson County Bridge (FHWA #205750). A tech brief provides overall information about the project. KW - Bearing capacity KW - Case studies KW - Demonstration projects KW - Highway bridges KW - Load factor KW - Load tests KW - Overweight loads KW - Sioux County (Iowa) KW - Test procedures UR - http://publications.iowa.gov/14916/1/IA_DOT_RB32-013_InTrans_sioux_county_bridge_rating.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261163 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01492993 AU - Van Houten, Ron AU - Malenfant, J E Louis AU - Blomberg, Richard D AU - Huitema, Bradley E AU - Casella, Sarah AU - Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - High-Visibility Enforcement on Driver Compliance With Pedestrian Right-of-Way Laws PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 78p AB - This study developed and evaluated strategies to increase driver yielding to pedestrians on a citywide basis using high-visibility pedestrian right-of-way enforcement. After a site recruitment process, Gainesville, Florida, participated in the project. The Gainesville Police Department (GPD) took the lead for the city and became a full partner in the project development and research. Six pedestrian sites received enforcement and 6 more sites that did not receive enforcement were comparison sites to test for generalization effects. The program evaluation consisted of weekly measurement of driver yielding behavior at treated and comparison sites and crash analyses. The GPD conducted high-visibility crosswalk operations using decoy pedestrian crossings, inexpensive engineering (advance yield markings, in-street STATE LAW YIELD TO PEDESTRIAN signs), education (earned media, outreach efforts to elements within the community), and road signs that provided feedback on the percentage of drivers yielding right-of-way to pedestrians during the preceding week. The introduction of high-visibility enforcement over the course of a year led to a marked increase in yielding to pedestrians from a baseline level of 32% to 62% at enforcement crosswalk sites for staged crossings, and an increase from 54% to 83% for regular crosswalk users (unstaged crossings). At comparison crosswalk sites, yielding to pedestrians increased from 37% to 59% for staged crossings and from 50% to 73% for regular crosswalk users. A time-series regression model showed that all treatment sites (with the exception of one site with very high yield rates at the beginning of the study) showed a significant increase in yielding behavior. At the generalization sites, the change was approximately half that produced at the enforcement sites. A comparison of staged and unstaged pedestrian crossing results showed that, after adjustments for the difference in baseline levels, there was no difference in drivers who responded to a staged versus unstaged procedure. KW - Compliance KW - Crash analysis KW - Crosswalks KW - Gainesville (Florida) KW - Pedestrian safety KW - Right of way (Traffic) KW - Traffic law enforcement KW - Yielding UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811786.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262156 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01492990 AU - MacKenzie, Ellen J AU - Carlini, Anthony R AU - Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Characterizing Local EMS Systems PY - 2013/08 SP - 104p AB - Emergency medical services (EMS) systems are configured differently depending on several factors, including the size, demographics, geography, and politics of the local communities they serve. Although some information exists about the organization, financing, and delivery of EMS in the Nation's 200 largest cities, there is less information available about how services are organized outside large urban areas, in which 75 percent of the nation's population resides. There is little evidence to support alternative system designs and configurations in terms of their impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery. To this end, there is a need to document the variation in system configurations so they may be evaluated on a common basis. KW - Emergency medical services KW - Management and organization KW - Operations KW - Rural areas KW - Service delivery KW - Small cities KW - Small towns KW - System design UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811824.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262155 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01492700 AU - Seekins, Tom AU - Blatt, Alan AU - Flanigan, Marie AU - University of Montana, Missoula AU - CUBRC, Incorporated AU - Montana Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Automatic Crash Notification Project: Assessing Montana’s Motor Vehicle Crash and Related Injury Data Infrastructure PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 207p AB - Highway crashes exact an enormous human and financial cost. The problem is proportionately more acute in rural states. Points of intervention include immediate response to crashes and community supports to individuals injured in crashes. Two studies were conducted. The first examined the context of routing advanced automatic crash notification (AACN) messages into the emergency response system and demonstrating the feasibility of doing so. The second examined the referral process from medical treatment to community return. The effort to integrate AACN data into the existing emergency response system culminated in the demonstration of the receipt of simulated AACN information by the Missoula Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and the subsequent real-time sharing of this information with Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and hospital-based stakeholders. The project also included the development of a computerized database infrastructure, which was designed to capture OnStar AACN crash data starting in July 2012. The effort to develop and expand models for providing community supports to individuals injured in car crashes culminated in the development of new strategies for marketing the Resource Referral System – now the Brain Injury Help Line – and an assessment of the effectiveness of various strategies for recruiting hospital emergency department participation. Since the beginning of the project, overall referrals to the Help Line increased from 148 to 222. Finally, these data were used to estimate the budget needed to expand the service to meet the potential need. That estimate suggests either the Brain Injury Association of Montana (BIAMT) Hot Line is underfunded or it is overstretched. KW - Automatic crash notification KW - Community support KW - Crash victims KW - Data sharing KW - Emergency communication systems KW - Emergency management KW - Emergency medical services KW - Financing KW - Missoula (Montana) KW - Montana KW - OnStar (Motorist aid system) KW - Real time information KW - Traumatic brain injuries UR - http://www.mdt.mt.gov/other/research/external/docs/research_proj/crash_notification/FINAL_REPORT_AUG13.PDF UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261620 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01492448 AU - Bell, Katherine E AU - Figliozzi, Miguel A AU - Portland State University AU - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - The Application of Smart Phone, Weight-Mile Truck Data to Support Freight-Modeling, Performance Measures and Planning PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 102p AB - Oregon is one of the few states that currently charge a commercial truck weight-mile tax (WMT). The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has developed a data-collection system - Truck and Road Use Electronics (TRUE) - to simplify WMT collection. The TRUE system includes a smart phone application that collects and records Global Positioning System (GPS) data. The TRUE data have enormous advantages over GPS data used in previous research due to the level of geographic detail and the potential to also integrate trip origin and destination, vehicle class, and commodity-type data. This research evaluates the accuracy of the TRUE data and demonstrates its use for significant ODOT ancillary applications. Specifically, ancillary applications that address ODOT freight modeling, performance measures, and planning needs are explored. The use of the data for highly accurate trip-generation rates and mobility performance measures is demonstrated. In addition, it is shown that the TRUE data have strong potential to be used for safety, accessibility and connectivity, system condition and environmental stewardship performance measures. The potential use of the TRUE data for emissions estimates that take into account truck-type details, truck weight and detailed speed profiles is considered. Results indicate that TRUE data, integrated with ODOT weigh-in-motion (WIM) data, will greatly improve the accuracy of emission estimates at the project and regional level. This research confirms the potential use of the TRUE data for significant ancillary applications and demonstrates the regional value of the TRUE data to enhance existing freight modeling, performance measures and planning. KW - Commercial vehicle operations KW - Data collection KW - Freight transportation KW - Global Positioning System KW - Oregon KW - Performance measurement KW - Planning KW - Smartphones KW - Weigh in motion UR - http://otrec.us/project/504 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261552 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01492447 AU - Larco, Nico AU - University of Oregon, Eugene AU - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Overlooked Destinations: Suburban Nodes, Centers, and Trips to Strips PY - 2013/08//Final Report AB - This study looks at travel to typical suburban commercial strips by residents living within one-third of a mile of the strip by focusing on six sites - four in the Portland, OR, metro area and two in the Atlanta, GA, metro area. The study mapped pedsheds around the commercial strips in these sites and found significant increases in network extents when formal and informal pedestrian paths were added to street centerline data. Informal networks such as goat paths through vacant land and cuts in fences were widespread and suggest a pent-up demand for route directness. Travel surveys of residents found significant amounts of walking and biking in these areas - just over one-third of all trips to the commercial strip - with travel distance and walking along or across arterials affecting mode choice. This suggests network extent and connectivity to be critical factor in increasing walking and biking in these suburban areas. Resident motivations behind mode choice included convenience (which mode is easiest); cost (active travel is less expensive than auto travel); and culture (a pattern of driving or active travel, regardless of ease or cost). There was little variation across sites, suggesting that this level of active travel and the motivations behind it are fairly consistent, with a few variations, across income and geography. KW - Atlanta (Georgia) KW - Bicycling KW - Commercial strips KW - Connectivity KW - Land use planning KW - Mode choice KW - Portland (Oregon) KW - Suburbs KW - Travel surveys KW - Trip length KW - Urban design KW - Walking UR - http://otrec.us/project/440 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261551 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01492444 AU - Williams, R Christopher AU - Cascione, Andrew AU - Yu, Jianhua AU - Haugen, Debra AU - Marasteanu, Mihai AU - McGraw, Jim AU - Iowa State University, Ames AU - Iowa Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Performance of Recycled Asphalt Shingles in Hot Mix Asphalt PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 227p AB - State highway agencies are increasingly intersted in using recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) in hot mix asphalt (HMA) applications, yet many agencies share common questions about the effect of RAS on the performance of HMA. Previous research has allowed for only limited laboratory testing and field surveys. The complexity of RAS materials and lack of past experiences led to the creation of Transportation Pooled Fund (TPF) Program TPF-5(213). The primary goal of this study is to address research needs of state department of transportation (DOT) and environmental officials to determine the best practices for the use of recycled asphalt shingles in HMA applications. Agencies participating in the study include Missouri (lead state), California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Federal Highway Administration. The agencies conducted demonstration projects that focused on evaluating different aspects (factors) of RAS that include RAS grind size, RAS percentage, RAS source (post-consumer versus post-manufactured), RAS in combination with warm mix asphalt (WMA) technology, RAS as a fiber replacement for stone matrix asphalt (SMA), and RAS in combination with ground tire rubber (GTR). Field mixes from each demonstration project were sampled for conducting the following tests: dynamic modulus, flow number, four-point beam fatigue, semi-circular bending, and binder extraction and recovery with subsequent binder characterization. Pavement condition surveys were then conducted for each project after completion. The demonstration projects showed that pavements using RAS alone or in combination with other cost saving technologies (e.g., WMA, RAP, GTR, SMA) can be successfully produced and meet state agency quality assurance requirements. The RAS mixes have very promising prospects since laboratory test results indicate good rutting and fatigue cracking resistance with low temperature cracking resistance similar to the mixes without RAS. The pavement condition of the mixes in the field after two years corroborated the laboratory test results. No signs of rutting, wheel path fatigue cracking, or thermal cracking were exhibited in the pavements. However, transverse reflective cracking from the underlying jointed concrete pavement was measured in the Missouri, Colorado, Iowa, Indiana, and Minnesota projects. KW - Demonstration projects KW - Fatigue cracking KW - Hot mix asphalt KW - Laboratory tests KW - Pavement performance KW - Recycled materials KW - Reflection cracking KW - Rutting KW - Shingles KW - State departments of transportation KW - Transverse cracking UR - http://www.intrans.iastate.edu/research/documents/research-reports/ras_pooled_fund_w_cvr.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261355 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01492442 AU - Cummings, Laura AU - Pyles, Marvin R AU - Oregon State University, Corvallis AU - Oregon Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Effect of the Implementation of the Fluvial Performance Standard on Maintenance of Bridges and Culverts PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 83p AB - The objective of this project was to determine what factors influence maintenance cost of Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) stream-crossing structures. Data acquired for the project included structure characteristics, stream characteristics, peak flows, and 1996-2010 maintenance costs for five maintenance activities. Nine factors were selected to investigate: active channel width, ratio of valley width to active channel width, number of hardwoods, number of conifers, ratio of bridge length to active channel width, ratio of longest bridge span to active channel width, and the ratio of peak flow to average flow both the year of maintenance and the year prior to maintenance. Possible relationships were investigated through the use of scatter-plots and bar-charts. Potential problems with the datasets may have prevented the discovery of relationships. The average maintenance interval and the average annual cost of maintenance over the fifteen-year period were both found to be very low. KW - Bridges KW - Channels (Waterways) KW - Costs KW - Culverts KW - Maintenance KW - Oregon KW - Peak flows KW - Stream crossings KW - Width UR - http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TP_RES/ResearchReports/SPR715_Fluvial_Final.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261621 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01492326 AU - Edara, Praveen AU - Sun, Carlos AU - Hou, Yi AU - University of Missouri, Columbia AU - Iowa Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation of Variable Advisory Speed Limits in Work Zones PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 79p AB - Variable advisory speed limit (VASL) systems could be effective at both urban and rural work zones, at both uncongested and congested sites. At uncongested urban work zones, the average speeds with VASL were lower than without VASL. But the standard deviation of speeds with VASL was higher. The increase in standard deviation may be due to the advisory nature of VASL. The speed limit compliance with VASL was about eight times greater than without VASL. At the congested sites, the VASL was effective in making drivers slow down gradually as they approached the work zone, reducing any sudden changes in speeds. Mobility-wise the use of VASL resulted in a decrease in average queue length, throughput, number of stops, and an increase in travel time. Several surrogate safety measures also demonstrated the benefits of VASL in congested work zones. VASL deployments in rural work zones resulted in reductions in mean speed, speed variance, and 85th percentile speeds downstream of the VASL sign. The study makes the following recommendations based on the case studies investigated: 1. The use of VASL is recommended for uncongested work zones to achieve better speed compliance and lower speeds. Greater enforcement of regulatory speed limits could help to decrease the standard deviation in speeds. 2. The use of VASL to complement the static speed limits in rural work zones is beneficial even if the VASL is only used to display the static speed limits. It leads to safer traffic conditions by encouraging traffic to slow down gradually and by reminding traffic of the reduced speed limit. A well-designed VASL algorithm, like the P5 algorithm developed in this study, can significantly improve the mobility and safety conditions in congested work zones. The use of simulation is recommended for optimizing the VASL algorithms before field deployment KW - Advisory speeds KW - Algorithms KW - Compliance KW - Speed limits KW - Variable message signs KW - Variable speed limits KW - Work zone safety KW - Work zone traffic control UR - http://publications.iowa.gov/14932/1/IA_DOT_TPF-5-081_InTrans_variable_advisory_speeds.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261141 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01492051 AU - Adams, Teresa AU - Perry, Ernie AU - Schwartz, Andrew AU - Gollnik, Bob AU - Kang, Myungook AU - Bittner, Jason AU - Wagner, Steve AU - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) AU - Wisconsin Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Aligning Oversize/Overweight Permit Fees with Agency Costs: Critical Issues PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 106p AB - This project provides an elementary analysis of issues and a proposed framework for the state to evaluate cost recovery options due to oversized and overweight (OSOW) operations. The authors provide a review of current permitting practices, provide a sampling of fee structures, and outline preliminary trends for OSOW demand in the foreseeable future. The basis for the project is the Midwest States, but the findings incorporate national trends and data as appropriate. The research team surveyed state DOTs for information on permit fee structures and the respective distribution and allocation of permit revenue. The research team did not attempt to determine roadway, infrastructure, and other impacts of OSOW loads, but rather document studies that attempt to monetize these values and provide observations. A methodology is proposed to generate said costs, but the validation of such methodology was outside the scope of this study. Finally the project report details other considerations, including truck-to-rail diversion potential if permit fees are increased. A series of best practices is provided to help guide the operations of a permitting process. The research team concludes that permit fees likely cannot recover the costs of issuance, however, in many agencies the permit fee is not designed to be a cost recovery mechanism. This is magnified in the multitrip permitting processes available in most states. The authors do not make a specific recommendation for agencies with respect to permit fee determination. The research team does recommend additional and site specific research to determine the impact and associated cost of pavement damage due to single trip, oversize and overweight movements. KW - Best practices KW - Cost recovery KW - Fees KW - Midwestern States KW - Motor carriers KW - Oversize loads KW - Overweight loads KW - Permits KW - Policy analysis KW - State departments of transportation KW - Surveys UR - http://wisdotresearch.wi.gov/wp-content/uploads/WisDOT-CFIRE-project-0092-10-21-final-report.pdf UR - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/FR_CFIRE0317.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259973 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491745 AU - Brosseau, Joe AU - Ede, Bill Moore AU - Pate, Shad AU - Wiley, R B AU - Drapa, Joe AU - Transportation Technology Center, Incorporated AU - Federal Railroad Administration TI - Development of an Operationally Efficient PTC Braking Enforcement Algorithm for Freight Trains PY - 2013/08 SP - 314p AB - Software algorithms used in positive train control (PTC) systems designed to predict freight train stopping distance and enforce a penalty brake application have been shown to be overly conservative, which can lead to operational inefficiencies by interfering with normal train operations. Federal Railroad Administration contracted Transportation Technology Center, Inc. to investigate approaches to improve these algorithms and to reduce the associated operational inefficiencies. As part of this program, several new approaches to PTC enforcement were introduced and were shown, through simulations and field testing, to improve the operational efficiency of the algorithm. An appropriate safety objective for these algorithms was established from a fault-tree analysis of the accidents PTC was conceived to prevent. A standard methodology was also established by which any PTC enforcement algorithm can be evaluated against design safety and performance measures. This methodology involves a statistical evaluation of the algorithm by means of a Monte Carlo simulation process, as well as limited, focused field testing, which provides more confidence in the safety and performance of the software at less cost than traditional field testing methods. This methodology was then used to evaluate PTC supplier algorithms that incorporate concepts introduced in this project. KW - Adaptive control KW - Algorithms KW - Braking KW - Emergency brakes KW - Freight trains KW - Monte Carlo method KW - Positive train control KW - Simulation UR - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/3327 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259844 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491454 AU - Fitzpatrick, Kay AU - Chrysler, Susan T AU - Brewer, Marcus A AU - Nelson, Alicia AU - Iragavarapu, Vichika AU - Texas Transportation Institute AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Simulator Study of Signs for a Complex Interchange and Complex Interchange Spreadsheet Tool PY - 2013/08//September 2010–September 2012 SP - 228p AB - This report documents a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) project to identify potential improvements to current signing practices for complex interchanges. Based on the initial literature review task along with discussions on other ongoing work, FHWA and the research team divided the project into the following two studies: (1) conduct a driving simulator study and (2) develop a metric or tool that can score, rate, or otherwise categorize interchange complexity. In the first study, test signs were introduced as six topics in a simulation along freeway roadways to evaluate drivers’ real-time response to the signs. Topic 1 tested the understanding and use of different methods to sign for an option lane. Almost all participants made the correct decision to exit or stay on the freeway; however, many unnecessary lane changes were made with each of the three sign sets (SSs). Topic 2 studied sign methods when two interstate exits were within close proximity and a need existed to sign for three destinations (two interchanges/exits and the through lanes). For the SS that had an arrow-per-lane design, all participants made correct lane change decisions. Topic 3 evaluated signing for an upcoming exit that had a Y-split into two directions. While several incorrect lane changes were made for each SS, the SS that used split exit signs at all three sign bridge (SB) locations had the fewest incorrect lane changes and was judged superior in comparison to the other two arrangements. Topic 4 evaluated whether it was better to fill an advance single sign with supplemental way-finding information or to spread the information among multiple signs. An observation from this topic was that spreading information about the next exit across multiple signs on a single bridge may have unintended consequences if the SB also includes a sign for another exit that is located to the left of the preferred lane. Topic 5 evaluated the effectiveness of sign spreading when there were many pieces of information on one SB. Similar to topic 4, it was determined that the lateral position of a sign on the SB is important. Topic 6 evaluated driver understanding of left exit signs. The difference between the two SSs that were tested was minimal. In study 2, the complexity rating tool focused on geometric design factors and related effects on driver expectancy and driver workload. After several revisions, researchers settled on a spreadsheet tool that considered the effects of 32 weighted factors that were based on site characteristics. To determine how well the spreadsheet tool would evaluate interchanges, the research team used the spreadsheet to review 28 existing sites in 11 States. The sites were submitted by State transportation departments based on their perceived complexity. For the characteristics included in the spreadsheet, the results provided a general sense of the relative complexity of the interchanges studied. KW - Complexity KW - Driver expectancy KW - Driving simulators KW - Geometric design KW - Interchanges KW - Spreadsheets KW - Traffic signs UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/13047/13047.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259874 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491442 AU - Mahmassani, Hani S AU - Koppelman, Frank AU - Frei, Charlotte AU - Frei, Andreas AU - Haas, Robert AU - Science Applications International Corporation AU - Northwestern University, Evanston AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Synthesis of Traveler Choice Research: Improving Modeling Accuracy for Better Transportation Decisionmaking PY - 2013/08 SP - 60p AB - Over the last 50 years, advances in the fields of travel behavior research and travel demand forecasting have been immense, driven by the increasing costs of infrastructure and spatial limitations in areas of high population density together with externalities in these areas. The field has changed from supply-oriented planning to incorporating and managing demand. As such, methods from a variety of disciplines have been borrowed and extended to explain human behavior and interaction. Many experts have called for better data collection and methods of analysis across a number of time horizons, that is, integrated supply and demand models that capture travel behavior over time and space. A new paradigm may be called for to address the present challenges of model integration; user preferences, heterogeneity, and endogeneity; habitual behavior; and human socializing. This report provides a synthesis of the state of knowledge in travel behavior research and identifies gaps in existing data, methods, and practices that must be filled to meet the analysis needs of an emerging class of supply- and demand-side interventions that seek to leverage the opportunities of real-time information. KW - Decision making KW - Mode choice KW - Real time information KW - Travel behavior KW - Travel demand KW - Travel demand management UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/operations/13022/13022.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51000/51070/13022.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259875 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491439 AU - Inman, Vaughan W AU - Balk, Stacy A AU - Perez, William A AU - Science Applications International Corporation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Traffic Control Device Conspicuity PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 70p AB - The conspicuity of a traffic control device (TCD) is defined as the probability that the device will be noticed. However, there is no agreed-upon measure of what constitutes being noticed. Various measures have been suggested, including eye fixations, recall, and verbal reports. Four conspicuity studies are discussed in this report. It has been observed that conspicuity is not solely a property of a TCD but must include consideration of the surrounding environment. The first of the studies described in this report used multidimensional scaling (MDS) to identify factors that characterize drivers’ perceptions of TCD environments. The MDS study revealed that two dimensions, clutter and predictability, characterized the roadway environments included in the study. In the second study, drivers’ eye glances to TCDs were recorded on a 34-mi (55-km) drive. After passing selected TCDs, drivers’ recall of the TCD was assessed by asking them to identify it. That study showed that warning signs are seldom glanced at and only about half of them are recalled just 2 s after they are passed. About 20 percent of speed limit signs received glances, but drivers were aware of the posted speed limit about 80 percent of the time. The third study examined drivers’ ability to detect speed limit and warning signs. The ability to detect speed limit signs, as measured by conspicuity angle, was degraded by cluttered backgrounds. However, the detectability of fluorescent yellow-green warning signs was not affected by background clutter. The fourth study examined the effect of background environment on drivers’ ability to read TCDs. Background had no effect on speed limit sign readability and had a small effect on warning sign readability. Recommendations for enhancing the conspicuity of regulatory signs are proposed. KW - Detection (Recognition) time KW - Eye fixations KW - Speed signs KW - Traffic control devices KW - Visibility KW - Warning signs UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/13044/13044.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259873 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491438 AU - Nevers, Brandon L AU - Nguyen, Khang M AU - Quayle, Shaun M AU - Zhou, Xuesong AU - Taylor, Jeffrey AU - Science Applications International Corporation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - The Effective Integration of Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation Tools PY - 2013/08 SP - 132p AB - The need for model integration arises from the recognition that both transportation decisionmaking and the tools supporting it continue to increase in complexity. Many strategies that agencies evaluate require using tools that are sensitive to supply and demand at local and regional levels. This in turn requires the use and integration of analysis tools across multiple resolutions. Despite this need, many integrated modeling practices remain ad hoc and inefficient. A concept for an open-source data hub was developed to better enable the exchange of model information across multiple resolutions. All modeling and field data are fed and stored using a unified data schema. Tools within the data hub aid users in modifying modeling network, control, and demand data to match an objective, such as calibrating to field data. Visualization tools were built into the data hub’s core visualization program, NeXTA, along with powerful links to common Web-based tools such as Google Earth®, Google Maps®, and Google Fusion Tables®. The data hub reduces barriers to interfacing models across multiple resolutions and software platforms, which ultimately saves time and reduces costs. KW - Data analysis KW - Dynamic traffic assignment KW - Integrated modeling KW - Microsimulation KW - Simulation KW - Traffic forecasting KW - Travel demand KW - Visualization UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/operations/13036/13036.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259872 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491393 AU - Kruse, Karla AU - Jasso, Andres AU - Folliard, Kevin AU - Ferron, Raissa AU - Juenger, Maria AU - Drimalas, Thano AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Characterizing Fly Ash PY - 2013/08//Technical Report SP - 172p AB - Although fly ash can and typically does impart benefits to concrete, several technical and practical issues must still be addressed. First, all fly ashes are not created equally. The chemical/mineralogical/ physical properties can vary significantly from one source to another, based on differences in fuel sources (coal), combustion conditions, and cooling regimes. Furthermore, the fly ash industry is quite dynamic and is rapidly changing due to recently imposed environmental regulations. As such, fly ash produced from a given power plant may be considerably different than fly ash produced from the same plant just a few years ago. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important to be able to characterize fly ash in a way that best predicts how it will perform in concrete. This is the primary focus of this project. KW - Alkali silica reactions KW - Classification KW - Concrete KW - Durability tests KW - Fly ash KW - Laboratory studies KW - Performance tests KW - Sulfates KW - Texas UR - http://library.ctr.utexas.edu/ctr-publications/0-6648-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259154 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491365 AU - National Center for Statistics and Analysis TI - Traffic Safety Facts 2011 Data: Rural/Urban Comparison PY - 2013/08 SP - 6p AB - This fact sheet contains statistics on motor vehicle fatal crashes based on data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). In 2011, there were 29,757 fatal crashes resulting in 32,367 fatalities. Rural areas accounted for 54 percent (16,053) of the fatal crashes and 55 percent (17,762) of the fatalities as compared to urban areas that accounted for 46 percent (13,578) of the fatal crashes and 45 percent (14,464) of the fatalities. Additionally, 126 fatal crashes resulting in 141 fatalities occurred in areas where land use was unknown. According to the latest rural and urban population data from the Census Bureau, 19 percent of the United States population lived in rural areas, however, rural fatalities accounted for 55 percent of all traffic fatalities in 2011. Additional statistics on fatal crashes in 2011 are provided in this traffic safety fact sheet. KW - Fatalities KW - Fatality Analysis Reporting System KW - Rural areas KW - Statistics KW - Trend (Statistics) KW - United States KW - Urban areas UR - http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811821.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259771 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491300 AU - Garber, David AU - Gallardo, Jose AU - Deschenes, Dean AU - Dunkman, David AU - Bayrak, Oguzhan AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Effect of New Prestress Loss Estimates on Pretensioned Concrete Bridge Girder Design PY - 2013/08//Technical Report SP - 300p AB - In 2008, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) initiated Project 0-6374 to investigate prestress losses in pretensioned concrete girders. The prestress loss estimates in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) Bridge Design Specifications had been recalibrated in 2005 to be more accurate for “high-strength [conventional] concrete.” Greater accuracy implies less conservatism, the result of which may be flexural cracking of beams under service loads. Project 0-6374 was therefore funded to provide an experimental evaluation and an engineering recommendation of whether implementation of the new prestress loss estimates (currently outlined in AASHTO LRFD 2012) is appropriate for TxDOT. The primary objectives were: (1) to assess the conservatism and accuracy of the current prestress loss provisions; (2) to identify the benefits and weaknesses of using the AASHTO LRFD 2004 and 2012 prestress loss provisions; and (3) to make recommendations to simplify the prestress loss provisions of AASHTO LRFD 2012. These objectives were accomplished through: (1) the fabrication, conditioning, and testing of 30 field-representative girders; (2) the assembly and analysis of a prestress loss database; and (3) a parametric study of the design implications of the various prestress loss provisions. The database evaluation, coupled with the experimental results, revealed that use of the AASHTO LRFD 2012 prestress loss provisions resulted in underestimation of the prestress loss in nearly half of all cases. With this in mind, new prestress loss provisions were developed through simplification and recalibration of the method outlined in AASHTO LRFD 2012. The TxDOT Project 0-6374 prestress loss provisions were found to be simpler, more conservative, and more precise than the current methods outlined within the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications. KW - AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications KW - Bridge design KW - Field tests KW - Girders KW - High strength concrete KW - Load and resistance factor design KW - Prestressed concrete bridges KW - Prestressing KW - Texas UR - http://library.ctr.utexas.edu/ctr-publications/0-6374-2.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259155 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01490315 AU - Barr, Paul J AU - Halling, Marv W AU - Huffaker, Conner AU - Boyle, Hugh AU - Utah State University, Logan AU - Utah Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Behavior and Analysis of an Integral Abutment Bridge PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 124p AB - As a result of abutment spalling on the integral abutment bridge over 400 South Street in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) instigated research measures to better understand the behavior of integral abutment bridges. The bridge was instrumented with survey targets and monitored each month for one year. The monthly surveys were also supplemented by a day-long survey. Measurements of temperature change and span length were obtained and used to show general trends in the movement of the 400 South Street Bridge. A detailed finite-element model was created and results from the model confirmed locations of stress concentrations at the bottom of the bridge girders. A simplified model was then created and used to show the same trends as observed in the survey data. The simplified model was then modified to conduct a parametric study on the effects of skew, span length, and temperature gradient. The results from this research were used to make conclusions and recommendations regarding the implementation of integral abutment bridges in the state of Utah. KW - Bridge abutments KW - Jointless bridges KW - Spalling KW - Structural analysis KW - Utah UR - http://www.mountain-plains.org/pubs/pdf/MPC13-256.pdf UR - http://www.udot.utah.gov/main/uconowner.gf?n=7778830403284671 UR - http://www.ugpti.org/resources/reports/details.php?id=752 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258798 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01490005 AU - Canfield, Dennis V AU - Berry, Michael AU - Whinnery, James E AU - Lewis, Russell J AU - Dubowski, Kurt M AU - Federal Aviation Administration AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - Evaluation of a New Equation for Calculating the Maximum Wait Time for Pilots That Have Used an Impairing Medication PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 12p AB - Pilots that use an impairing medication to treat a medical condition are required to wait an appropriate amount of time after completing the treatment before returning to duty. However, toxicology findings for pilots involved in fatal aviation accidents have proven that not all pilots wait a sufficient period of time before returning to duty. Those pilots were found to have impairing concentrations of the drug in the blood at the time of the accident. In the past, somewhat arbitrary wait times were used based on medication half-lives, dosage intervals, class of drug, and other subjective methods to estimate a return-to-duty time. These methods do not take into consideration the time required for the drug to decrease from therapeutic concentrations to a safe sub-therapeutic concentration. An equation was developed based on the therapeutic range and the maximum expected half-life of the medication to objectively calculate a safe return-to-duty time for pilots.The equation developed assumes the treating physician will not dose the patient beyond the upper therapeutic range of the medication and the person taking the medication has the maximum half-life reported in the literature. The equation n = ln(0.5*Cmin/Cmax)/ln(0.5) was developed to determine the number of half-lives (n) required to reach one half of Cmin, where Cmin = lower therapeutic concentration, and Cmax = upper therapeutic concentration.This equation was evaluated for use in determining a safe return-to-duty time for pilots. Anonymous subjects were recruited according to an approved IRB protocol. All subjects had a preexisting medical condition treated with some type of medication. Blood and plasma were collected at approximately Cmax (2-3hrs) and again after waiting approximately 5 more hours. Subjects were asked to provide information on the drug name, dose, dosing interval, age, height, weight, and gender. Toxicological analysis was performed on the specimens collected to determine the concentration of the medication at the first and the second collection times. The new equation was evaluated to determine if the wait times calculated by the equation and other methods were sufficient to eliminate the medication to a concentration below the lower therapeutic concentration of the medication. KW - Air pilots KW - Aviation safety KW - Dosage KW - Equations KW - Half-life (Medication) KW - Impairments KW - Medication KW - Time intervals UR - http://www.faa.gov/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/oamtechreports/2010s/media/201314.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259158 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01490004 AU - Yakopcic, Chris AU - Puttmann, John AU - Kunz, Benjamin AU - Ang, Clara AU - McPherson, Ashley AU - Santez, David AU - Donovan, Matt AU - Skarzynski, John AU - Trick, Joshua AU - Mead, Andrew AU - Milburn, Nelda AU - Khaouly, Nazih AU - University of Dayton AU - Federal Aviation Administration AU - Federal Aviation Administration AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - Experimental Effective Intensity of Steady and Flashing Light-Emitting Diodes for Aircraft Anti-Collision Lighting PY - 2013/08//Final Report SP - 14p AB - Research was conducted to determine the effective intensity of flashing lights that incorporate light-emitting diodes (LEDs). LEDs require less power and have the ability to flash without the addition of moving parts. Compared with incandescent bulbs, however, LEDs yield a different spectral output and a different intensity profile when flashing. To determine the effect of these differences on a viewer’s ability to detect the light, the authors examined LEDs to determine if they can successfully replace legacy technologies/assemblies on aircraft. The LED was displayed to naive subjects to establish visibility thresholds using an automated system to drive the LED with variable intensity and duration. Experimental data were examined to determine which model for effective intensity (Allard, Modified Allard, or Blondel-Rey) is most appropriate for LEDs. Each of the methods was found to be applicable dependent upon the system being considered. Use of the Blondel-Rey method produced acceptable but conservative results. KW - Aircraft KW - Aviation safety KW - Light emitting diodes KW - Luminous intensity KW - Vehicle lighting KW - Visibility UR - http://www.faa.gov/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/oamtechreports/2010s/media/201315.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259159 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01489746 AU - National Center for Statistics and Analysis TI - Traffic Safety Facts 2011 Data: Pedestrians PY - 2013/08 SP - 8p AB - In 2011, 4,432 pedestrians were killed and an estimated 69,000 were injured in traffic crashes in the United States. On average, a pedestrian was killed every two hours and injured every eight minutes in traffic crashes. A pedestrian, as defined for the purpose of this Traffic Safety Fact Sheet, is any person on foot, walking, running, jogging, hiking, sitting or lying down who is involved in a motor vehicle traffic crash. Also, a traffic crash is defined as an incident that involves one or more vehicles where at least one vehicle is in transport and the crash originates on a public trafficway. Crashes that occurred exclusively on private property, including parking lots and driveways, were excluded. The 4,432 pedestrian fatalities in 2011 were an increase of 3 percent from 2010, but a decrease of 7 percent from 2002. In 2011, pedestrian deaths accounted for 14 percent of all traffic fatalities, and made up 3 percent of all the people injured in traffic crashes. Additional statistics on pedestrian fatalities and injuries in traffic accidents in 2011 are provided in this traffic safety fact sheet. KW - Crash injuries KW - Fatalities KW - Pedestrian-vehicle crashes KW - Statistics KW - Traffic crashes KW - Trend (Statistics) UR - http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811748.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258470 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01488180 AU - Zornberg, Jorge G AU - Plaisted, Michael D AU - Armstrong, Christian P AU - Walker, Trevor M AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Implementation of Centrifuge Testing for Swelling Properties of Highly Plastic Clays PY - 2013/08//Technical Report SP - 89p AB - A novel centrifuge-testing device was developed for characterization of expansive soils, which are the source of major pavement design and maintenance problems across the state. Specifically, testing protocols were developed for use of a small centrifuge device to provide direct measurement of the vertical swelling of clays. In this test, soil samples are subjected to water infiltration during a comparatively short testing period. The centrifuge approach is well suited for pavement design because it provides not only one data point for a single normal stress but the entire relationship between vertical strains and vertical stresses. This feature represents a significant advantage over conventional swelling tests, which are prohibitively long; in addition, each conventional test provides the vertical strain for one vertical stress. Consequently, this approach is particularly well suited for use with the Potential Vertical Raise (PVR) approach. The objective of this project is to quantify the benefits and implement the new centrifuge technology for characterization of expansive clays in Texas. This research team will achieve this objective by implementing the laboratory procedure developed as part of Research Project 0-6048 using multiple clay sources, developing a spreadsheet with swelling curves (vertical strain versus normal stress) for relevant high-plasticity clays in Texas, incorporating the use of swelling curves obtained using centrifuge technology into the PVR methodology, and developing training material that includes examples of practical problems for calculation of the PVR using actual swelling curves and actual subgrade profiles. KW - Centrifuges KW - Clay soils KW - Expansive clays KW - Plasticity KW - Soil tests KW - Swelling KW - Test procedures KW - Texas UR - http://library.ctr.utexas.edu/ctr-publications/5-6048-01-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257083 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516390 AU - Lewis, M Phil AU - Jeong, David H AU - Khaleghian, Hossein AU - Oklahoma State University, Stillwater AU - Oklahoma Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Calibration of Controlling Input Models for Pavement Management System PY - 2013/07/31/Final Report SP - 61p AB - The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) is currently using the Deighton Total Infrastructure Management System (dTIMS™) software for pavement management. This system is based on several input models which are computational backbones to develop maintenance and rehabilitation plans for pavements. Some of the major input models include the classification of pavement families, deterioration curves, and effectiveness of various treatment options. These major input models are currently in active use without any thorough validation using actual pavement condition assessment data. Validation and calibration of existing input models for pavement management systems (PMS) has been one of the major technical goals by the pavement management unit of ODOT for many years. ODOT now has about 16 years of pavement condition assessment data, which provides a rich time series dataset. This research project will use the proven Knowledge Discovery in Database (KDD) approach to investigate pavement condition assessment data in a structured manner in order to evaluate the performance of current input models and if necessary, develop new models or calibrate the existing models for more accurate and reliable planning for pavement maintenance and rehabilitation activities. The performance of newly developed or calibrated input models will be compared with the performance of current input models. The successful completion of this research project meets the immediate technical need of the pavement management unit. The data driven models developed in this project provides confidence to the pavement management team in developing short-term and long-term pavement management strategies and realistic pavement budget estimation and allocation. One of the primary outputs of this research project is a spreadsheet-based tool that assists pavement management engineers in updating the input models in the current PMS; thus, the output of this project will be immediately available to ODOT. The results of this project will also be able to answer skeptical questions about the returns on continuous pavement data collection investments of ODOT. KW - Computer models KW - Databases KW - Oklahoma Department of Transportation KW - Pavement maintenance KW - Pavement management systems KW - Performance measurement KW - Validation UR - http://www.oktc.org/otc/files/finalReports/OTCREOS11.1-31-F.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1300096 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516386 AU - Collins, Rodney W AU - Miller, Gerald A AU - University of Oklahoma, Norman AU - Oklahoma Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Interpretation of In Situ Tests as Affected by Soil Suction PY - 2013/07/31/Final Report SP - 38p AB - Soil moisture conditions are subject to change depending on the season in which they are tested. In unsaturated soils the moisture at which a soil is tested can directly affect strength and stiffness of the material. In situ testing is commonly used for geotechnical investigations; however, the analysis methods assume the soil is either completely dry or saturated. For near surface soils, these conditions are often the exception to the rule rather than the standard. Currently there are no well established methods for interpretation of in situ tests in unsaturated soils. Research is being conducted to investigate the influence of changing moisture conditions on the response of in situ tests in unsaturated soil. Two sites were instrumented with weather monitoring stations and moisture sensors were placed at depths of 1, 3 and 6 feet. At two month intervals a suite of in situ tests including; cone penetration (CPT), standard penetration (SPT), and pre-bored pressuremeter (PMT), were performed. In addition, in situ tensiometers were installed at one site and samples were obtained for water content and suction measurements when in situ tests were conducted. Other laboratory tests were conducted on undisturbed samples to establish baseline saturated and unsaturated soil properties as well as soil water characteristic curves. This report presents results of field tests demonstrating the importance of moisture content and matric suction on the in situ test results. The ultimate goal of the research is to better predict changes in soil moisture based on weather data and develop a framework to interpret in situ test results in unsaturated soils. This report represents a summary of progress during the first half of the project that was partly supported by Oklahoma Transportation Center funding. KW - Field tests KW - Laboratory tests KW - Moisture content KW - Soil penetration test KW - Soil suction KW - Unsaturated soils KW - Weather conditions UR - http://www.oktc.org/otc/files/finalReports/OTCREOS11.1-45-F.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1300099 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516274 AU - Varsei, Maryam AU - Bourasset, Céline M AU - Miller, Gerald A AU - University of Oklahoma, Norman AU - Oklahoma Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - The Effects of Soil Suction on Shallow Slope Stability PY - 2013/07/31/Final Report SP - 37p AB - This study investigates the slope failures associated with clayey soils so engineers can better understand the problem and better predict shallow slope stability, and implement preventive measures if necessary. This research also examines the mechanics of the soil as related to matric suction changes, soil type, desiccation crack formation and expected degree of wetting. Research involves studying at least two field cases where shallow slope instability has been a problem; one case involves a cut slope section and one case involves an embankment slope. There are three primary objectives of the proposed research: 1) To provide geotechnical engineers with a method for predicting stability of cut slopes and embankment slopes composed of unsaturated soil, incorporating soil moisture condition and suction into the analysis. 2) To provide geotechnical engineers with methods for predicting changes in soil moisture conditions and suction in slopes as a function of climate changes so that a proper “design moisture condition” can be selected. This will also allow for predicting the slope stability over time based on predicted moisture content changes. 3) To provide recommendations to minimize the climate impacts on slope stability including, as necessary, reducing adverse impacts of desiccation cracking in clayey materials. Successful completion of this research will provide engineers with tools for improved analysis of shallow slope stability and recommendations for preventing landslides. The research involves field testing and monitoring of suction and moisture content, laboratory testing of unsaturated and saturated strength and flow properties, moisture diffusion modeling based on climate data, investigation of desiccation cracking and its impact on slope stability, and stability analyses. Completed research will have a positive impact on geotechnical practice related to transportation corridors. This report represents a summary of progress during the first half of the project that was partly supported by Oklahoma Transportation Center funding. KW - Clay soils KW - Cracking KW - Desiccation KW - Embankments KW - Field tests KW - Laboratory tests KW - Recommendations KW - Slope stability KW - Soil suction KW - Soil water KW - Unsaturated soils UR - http://www.oktc.org/otc/files/finalReports/OTCREOS11.1-46-F.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1300101 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495387 AU - Akyurtlu, Ates AU - Akyurtlu, Jale AU - Eastern Seaboard Intermodal Transportation Applications Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Investigation of Fine Particulate Matter, NOx and Tropospheric Ozone Transport Around a Major Roadway PY - 2013/07/31/Final Report SP - 18p AB - In the Eastern Seaboard Intermodal Transportation Applications Center at Hampton University, the authors started an investigation of the air pollutants around heavily-travelled roadways, shipping channels, airports, and railroads with the purpose of obtaining real time measurements of pollutant concentrations and relating them to real-time weather and traffic information. In the first two cycles of their research program, the authors built a mobile unit containing a NOx and an ozone analyzer, and a weather station to provide simultaneous measurements of wind speed, wind direction, temperature, and solar intensity with the concentration measurements. The measured NO2 concentrations were compared to the predictions of CALINE4. Considering the effects of PM2.5 on public health and the 2008 US Census Bureau report, which showed that around 16% of American households live within 100 m of a highway having four or more lanes, an instrument for the measurements of PM10 and PM2.5 were added to the measurement capabilities for the current research cycle. KW - Airports KW - Channels (Waterways) KW - Highways KW - Measurement KW - Nitrogen oxides KW - Ozone KW - Particulates KW - Pollutants KW - Portable equipment KW - Railroads KW - Real time information KW - Traffic KW - Weather UR - http://docs.hamptonu.edu/student/4973-environmental-final_13_20131008141039.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264707 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493278 AU - Blaesing-Thompson, Shawn AU - Haubrich, Matthew AU - Schuman, William AU - Iowa Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Maintenance Asset Management Project - Phase II PY - 2013/07/31/Final Report SP - 22p AB - Iowa Department of Transportation (IA DOT) is finalizing research to streamline field inventory/inspection of culverts by Maintenance and Construction staff while maximizing the use of tablet technologies. The project began in 2011 to develop some new best practices for field staff to assist in the inventory, inspection and maintenance of assets along the roadway. The team has spent the past year working through the complexities of identifying the most appropriate tablet hardware for field data collection. A small scale deployment of tablets occurred in spring of 2013 to collect several safety related assets (culverts, signs, guardrail, and incidents). Data can be collected in disconnected or connected modes and there is an associated desktop environment where data can be viewed and queried after being synced into the master database. The development of a deployment plan and related workflow processes are underway; which will eventually feed information into IA DOTs larger asset management system and make the information available for decision making. The team is also working with the IA DOT Design Office on Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) data processing and the IA DOT Construction office with a new digital As-Built plan process to leverage the complete data life-cycle so information can be developed once and leveraged by the Maintenance staff farther along in the process. KW - Asset management KW - Best practices KW - Culverts KW - Data collection KW - Implementation KW - Inspection KW - Inventory KW - Iowa Department of Transportation KW - Maintenance management KW - Mobile computing KW - Tablet computers UR - http://publications.iowa.gov/14875/1/IA_DOT_RB10-012_MaintenanceManagement_Phase_II_2013.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/48000/48200/48209/IA_DOT_RB10-012_MaintenanceManagement_Phase_II_2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261367 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01489993 AU - Scheetz, Barry E AU - Linzell, Daniel G AU - Murtha, Timothy AU - Donnell, Eric T AU - Jovanis, Paul P AU - Pietrucha, Martin T AU - Pennsylvania State University, University Park AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - The Impact of Marcellus Gas Development on the Rural Transportation Infrastructure PY - 2013/07/31/Final Report SP - 79p AB - Deterioration was observed to occur in the wearing surfaces, decks, and parapets for all seven of the structures inspected. To date, little to no deck condition change was observed compared to the reviewed inspection reports. However, the oldest bridge in this study was noted to be carrying the highest volume of Gas Play truck traffic and manifested some structural deterioration that was not included in the most recent Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) inspection survey. This involved the bridge’s superstructure and substructure showing sagging bridge beams. For all other bridges, an increase in traffic as a result of the Gas Play was not shown to significantly change the condition of the superstructure or substructure in the bridges. Bridge 4 received extensive rehabilitation in 2009. After the one-year interval that followed, this study found deterioration to the wearing surface, parapets, and approach slab. All roadways had varying amounts of cracking regardless of Gas Play traffic activity, which generally increased with increased truck traffic. Rutting significantly increased as Gas Play activity increased and was the most common form of deterioration encountered. Secondary and municipal roads have experienced significant deterioration due to the enhanced heavy truck traffic. Full-depth reclamation is being employed as a cost-effective rehabilitation methodology by the gas companies. Reconstruction of dirt and gravel municipal roads has commonly been undertaken without the benefit of good design guidelines. To address this shortcoming, the authors developed and presented a simplified design methodology for the reconstruction of this class of roads. The enhanced heavy truck traffic has a weak correlation to increased severity of traffic accidents. Limited data and lack of a good baseline for comparison limit the strength of associated observations. Focus on the direct impact of drilling (e.g., archaeological survey) on cultural resources, while important, doesn’t address important down-the-line impacts. As roads are rebuilt and improved, historic and prehistoric survey is critical but there are not specific resources and staff available for these issues. Local heritage leaders are currently bearing the full weight of the new issues associated with Marcellus development. Creating resources for local and regional leaders is important, so that they can develop long-term planning strategies for cultural resource management and preservation. KW - Bridges KW - Deterioration KW - Heavy duty trucks KW - Infrastructure KW - Marcellus Shale KW - Preservation KW - Reconstruction KW - Road construction KW - Traffic crashes KW - Truck traffic UR - http://www.mautc.psu.edu/docs/PSU-2010-05.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258473 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493165 AU - Wallischeck, Eric York AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - Maritime Administration TI - ICS Security in Maritime Transportation: A White Paper Examining the Security and Resiliency of Critical Transportation Infrastructure PY - 2013/07/29/White Paper SP - 48p AB - The John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center was asked by the Office of Security of the Maritime Administration to examine the issue of industrial control systems (ICS) security in the Maritime Transportation System (MTS), and to develop a white paper based upon its findings for circulation amongst MTS stakeholders. In evaluating the issue, this paper first discusses the role of the MTS as part of the domestic and international transportation system and global supply chain, and provides examples of the economic impact of past natural and manmade disruptions to the MTS. It next explores the uses and applications of ICS throughout the MTS, identifies potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities of ICS, and provides examples of possible ICS failures and the potential impact on the MTS. Finally, the paper explores the issue in the context of Federal policy governing critical infrastructure, cybersecurity and supply chain resilience, and makes a number of recommendations that government agencies and the private sector might consider in order to mitigate the ICS security risks. KW - Computer security KW - Control systems KW - Data protection KW - Maritime industry KW - National security KW - Risk assessment KW - Security UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/48000/48000/48074/DOT-VNTSC-MARAD-13-01.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261170 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493180 AU - Rasmussen, Benjamin AU - Machek, Elizabeth AU - Curtis, Erik AU - Choros, John AU - Baron, William AU - Muhlanger, Michelle AU - Coltman, Michael AU - Mickela, Barry AU - Linthicum, Alex AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - National Park Service TI - Cuyahoga Valley National Park Comprehensive Rail Study PY - 2013/07/25/Final Report SP - 114p AB - Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad (CVSR) has been operating in partnership with Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) since 1989 under a cooperative agreement. The railroad has been successfully developing and expanding services and ridership for the past 20 years along with the National Park Service (NPS), which has been developing and expanding railroad infrastructure and facilities to meet the growing needs of CVSR. This report details a comprehensive rail study for CVNP and CVSR. It articulates coordinated, prioritized transportation investments and short/long term management actions over the next twenty years, consistent with the park's general management plan, CVSR's recently completed strategic plan, and other park and stakeholder guidance. Coordinated improvements and management actions will accommodate more future riders; improve the passenger experience; allow more park visitors to explore CVNP without the use of a personal automobile; reduce operations, maintenance, and administrative costs; and position CVNP and CVSR to take advantage of highly sought-after funding opportunities. KW - Cuyahoga Valley National Park KW - Improvements KW - National parks KW - Passenger service KW - Passenger trains KW - Ridership KW - Scenic railroads KW - Strategic planning UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/48000/48000/48065/DOT-VNTSC-NPS-13-20.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261168 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01490189 AU - Southern California Regional Rail Authority AU - Federal Railroad Administration TI - Methodology for Cost Apportionment for a Shared 220MHz RF Network in a Multi-railroad, Dense Traffic Area PY - 2013/07/25/Final Report SP - 15p AB - This report will provide a methodology for determining an equitable distribution of costs for the development and long term maintenance of a 220MHz RF network for the handling of Positive Train Control (PTC) messaging in a multi-railroad, dense traffic area. The type of costs incurred by a typical host railroad in developing and maintaining its systems as a part of the regional radio frequency (RF) network is examined as are alternate methods available to apportion costs among each of the host and tenant railroads that will operate under a common RF umbrella. Though communications, and more specifically the 220MHz radio network, is the primary operationally shared asset related to PTC, there are other railroad owned assets that will need to be shared by the host railroad with all tenant users of the PTC system. These include, but are not limited to, back-office systems, back-haul networks, and wayside signaling and communications systems. KW - Cost allocation KW - Methodology KW - Metrics (Quantitative assessment) KW - Positive train control KW - Radio frequency KW - Railroads UR - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/3320 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257418 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01573312 TI - Near Road Air Quality Research AB - The following are initial objectives of this pooled fund effort: (1) Create a "roadmap" that clarifies current state of the practice and outlines and prioritizes research needs. (2) Provide expertise and research that supports states with near-road and related air quality issues. (3) Provide a forum for states to collaborate on issues and develop strategies and research priorities for addressing critical near-roadway air quality issues. This forum will promote technology transfer between states and prevent duplication of research efforts. Conduct priority near-road air quality research that benefits the state of knowledge and shares new information and technologies. Augments limited resources to help state departments of transportation (DOTs) meet the new air quality regulations and promote project delivery. KW - Air quality KW - Regulations KW - State departments of transportation KW - State of the practice KW - Technology transfer UR - http://www.pooledfund.org/Details/Study/526 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1366536 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01612162 AU - Morgan State University AU - Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Morgan State University Teacher Transportation Institute PY - 2013/07/22/Summary Report SP - 50p AB - This is a summary report of the final reports of the following three Morgan State University projects: 2013 Teacher Transportation Institute (July 22, 2013 – August 2, 2013 & November 2, 2013 – December 14, 2013); 2014 Fall Teacher Transportation Institute (October 4, 2014 – November 22, 2014); and 2015 Summer Teacher Transportation Institute (May 15, 2013 – July 29, 2015). KW - Continuing education KW - Teachers KW - Transportation careers UR - http://www.mautc.psu.edu/docs/MSU-2013-04.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1424173 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01577889 TI - SI-12-05.02: P3s Model Contracts & Best Practices (BAH) AB - To assist the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in the development of standard highway P3 transaction model contracts of an educational nature for use by States and local governments as an aid or template in developing their own P3 transaction contracts and to assist FHWA in incorporating public and stakeholder input during the development of the model contracts KW - Contracts KW - Education KW - Public private partnerships KW - Stakeholders KW - State departments of transportation KW - U.S. Federal Highway Administration UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1371196 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01560090 AU - Fayez, Sam AU - Zavagnini, Fabio AU - Jensen, Mark AU - Schiller, Roger AU - Williamson, Michael AU - Cambridge Systematics, Incorporated AU - Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - South Florida Freight Advanced Traveler Information System: Architecture and Implementation Options Summary Report PY - 2013/07/19/Final Report SP - 26p AB - This Final Architecture and Design report has been prepared to describe the structure and design of all the system components for the South Florida Freight Advanced Traveler Information System (FRATIS) Demonstration Project. More specifically, this document provides: (1) Detailed descriptions of the selected architecture implemented in the South Florida Region; (2) A summary of the Agile development process; and (3) Software development testing procedures, technologies selected for system development, and open-source development protocols for the South Florida FRATIS prototype. KW - Advanced traveler information systems KW - Demonstration projects KW - Freight transportation KW - Implementation KW - Prototypes KW - South Florida KW - System architecture KW - System design UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/54000/54400/54479/Fratis_FHWA-JPO-14-181.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1344670 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01488679 AU - Raslear, Thomas AU - Federal Railroad Administration TI - Criteria and Procedures for Validating Biomathematical Models of Human Performance and Fatigue: Procedures for Analysis of Work Schedules PY - 2013/07/19 SP - 19p AB - Each railroad covered by 49 CFR 228.407 must perform an analysis of the work schedules of its train employees who are engaged in commuter or intercity rail passenger transportation and identify those schedules that, if worked by such a train employee, may be at risk for a level of fatigue at which safety may be compromised. A level of fatigue at which safety may be compromised, the fatigue threshold, shall be determined by procedures that use a scientifically valid, biomathematical model of human performance and fatigue. This document describes the criteria and procedures that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will use for certifying the scientific validity of a biomathematical model and for determining a fatigue threshold in a biomathematical model. This document also identifies specific such models that are acceptable. Furthermore, it describes the procedures that must be used both to analyze work schedules and to report FRA those schedules that are at risk for exceeding the fatigue threshold. KW - Biology KW - Fatigue (Physiological condition) KW - Hours of labor KW - Mathematical models KW - Occupational safety KW - Personnel performance KW - U.S. Federal Railroad Administration KW - Validation UR - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/3316 UR - http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FRA-2009-0043-0003 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257420 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01598931 AU - Von Quintus, Harold L AU - Mallela, Jagannath AU - Sadasivam, Suri AU - Darter, Michael I AU - Applied Research Associates, Incorporated AU - Georgia Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Literature Search and Synthesis – Verification and Local Calibration/Validation of the MEPDG Performance Models for Use in Georgia PY - 2013/07/16/Interim Report SP - 76p AB - The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is transitioning from empirical design procedures to the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) procedure for designing new and rehabilitated highway pavements. GDOT currently uses the 1972 AASHTO Interim Guide for Design of Pavement Structures as the standard pavement design procedure. As a part of the implementation process, GDOT has undertaken a project to verify the MEPDG global distress models and locally calibrate these models for local field conditions of Georgia, if determined to be necessary by the verification process, using the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) and non-LTPP sections in Georgia. A comprehensive literature search was conducted at the beginning of the project to collect, review, and summarize available information on both completed and ongoing MEPDG implementation activities by various federal and state agencies. The literature search covered a full spectrum of the implementation process from material characterization research to local calibration and full-scale deployment. This report synthesizes the current and completed implementation activities by the State DOTs and identifies outcomes from those implementation studies that will be of benefit to GDOT in their implementation activities. More importantly, the interim report summarizes the lessons learned from various calibration studies that are directly applicable to Georgia for use in determining appropriate design inputs, setting up a sampling matrix to verify, locally calibrate, and validate the MEPDG transfer functions, and selecting design reliability and performance criteria. KW - Calibration KW - Georgia KW - Implementation KW - Lessons learned KW - Literature reviews KW - Mathematical models KW - Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide KW - Pavement distress KW - Syntheses KW - Transfer functions KW - Validation UR - http://g92018.eos-intl.net/eLibSQL14_G92018_Documents/11-17%20Task%20Order%201%20IR%20Task%201.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1405571 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01598927 AU - Von Quintus, Harold L AU - Mallela, Jagannath AU - Sadasivam, Suri AU - Darter, Michael I AU - Applied Research Associates, Incorporated AU - Georgia Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Validation of the MEPDG Transfer Functions Using the LTPP Test Sections in Georgia PY - 2013/07/16/Interim Report SP - 142p AB - The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is transitioning from empirical design procedures to the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) procedure for designing new and rehabilitated highway pavements. GDOT currently uses the 1972 AASHTO Interim Guide for Design of Pavement Structures as the standard pavement design procedure. As a part of the implementation process, GDOT has undertaken a project to verify the MEPDG global distress models and locally calibrate these models for local field conditions of Georgia, if determined to be necessary by the verification process, using the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) and non-LTPP sections in Georgia. One objective of this project is to verify or confirm that the MEPDG transfer functions and global calibration factors derived from NCHRP project 1-40D reasonably predict distresses and smoothness for the LTPP sites located in Georgia using proper design inputs. This report includes a comparison of the predicted and measured distress and International Roughness Index (IRI) values measured over time and between different projects, pavement design features, and/or site condition features. The confirmation process follows the procedure presented in the AASHTO MEPDG Local Calibration Guide (AASHTO, 2010). Specifically, this report documents use of the LTPP sites in Georgia to determine the bias and accuracy of the MEPDG transfer functions in predicting the distress and performance of those LTPP test sections. In summary, the number of Georgia LTPP sites and levels of distress exhibited on the test sections are considered inadequate for the validation or confirmation process of the global calibration coefficients from a statistical perspective. More importantly, bias between the measured and predicted distress for some of the transfer functions of both flexible and rigid pavements were found. Thus, it is recommended that GDOT proceed with the next phase of the study and select projects to fill in the many key gaps so that the calibration process can be used to adjust the calibration coefficients for each distress. KW - Calibration KW - Georgia KW - International Roughness Index KW - Long-Term Pavement Performance Program KW - Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide KW - Pavement distress KW - Test sections KW - Transfer functions KW - Validation UR - http://g92018.eos-intl.net/eLibSQL14_G92018_Documents/11-17%20Task%20Order%201%20IR%20Task%202.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1405572 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01494598 AU - Schmidt, Jennifer D AU - Faller, Ronald K AU - Sicking, Dean L AU - Reid, John D AU - Lechtenberg, Karla A AU - Bielenberg, Robert W AU - Rosenbaugh, Scott K AU - Holloway, Jim C AU - University of Nebraska, Lincoln AU - Nebraska Department of Roads AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Development of a New Energy-Absorbing Roadside/Median Barrier System with Restorable Elastomer Cartridges PY - 2013/07/16/Final Report SP - 248p AB - A Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) Test Level 4 (TL-4) energy-absorbing, urban roadside/median barrier was developed to reduce lateral vehicle accelerations below those observed during similar crashes into permanent concrete barriers. Several types of energy absorbers were evaluated for use in this barrier. Elastic polymers, or elastomers, have superior restorability, reusability, compressibility, and resistance to environmental effects. Finite element analysis simulations were used to further study the energy absorption and deflection of conical-shaped, cylindrical-shaped, and shear fender elastomer shapes. Component tests were conducted on rubber cylinders and marine shear fenders. The proposed design consisted of an open concrete rail with shear fender rubber posts that are anchored to a concrete foundation. The precast concrete beams measured 22 in. (559 mm) wide, 20 in. (508 mm) tall, and 20 ft (6.1 m) long and were spliced on top of 16-in. (406-mm) high, 14-in. (356-mm) wide, and 22-in. (559-mm) long shear fender posts, which were spaced at 10 ft (3 m) on center. Finite element analysis simulations also demonstrated that lateral vehicle accelerations were reduced by up to 33 percent for a MASH TL-4 small car impact into the new barrier as compared to a rigid concrete barrier. Simulations also demonstrated that the new barrier had adequate capacity to contain the MASH TL-4 single-unit truck. The cost of the barrier was estimated to be $175/ft ($574/m). The barrier should be further evaluated using finite element simulations and full-scale crash testing. KW - AASHTO Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware KW - Deflection tests KW - Elastomers KW - Energy absorption KW - Finite element method KW - Highway safety KW - Median barriers KW - Rubber KW - Simulation UR - http://www.transportation.nebraska.gov/mat-n-tests/research/docs/DevelopmentofaNewEnergy-Absorbing.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263479 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01489299 AU - Lawson, Catherine T AU - Ravi, Sekharipuram S AU - Hwang, Jeong-Hyon AU - State University of New York, Albany AU - University Transportation Research Center AU - Federal Highway Administration AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Compressing and Querying Multiple GPS Traces for Transportation Planning PY - 2013/07/14/Final Report SP - 17p AB - In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of vehicles which have been equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS) devices. These devices generate huge volumes of trace data, and information extracted from these traces could significantly help transportation planners with routine tasks and special studies. However, extracting information from trace data is a challenging problem because of the proliferation of GPS devices and the rate at which trace data is generated. One approach for handling this problem is to compress the GPS data in such a way that the amount of information lost due to compression is as small as possible. During the period of this project, the focus was on the design, implementation and evaluation of GPS trajectory compression algorithms that can achieve specified compression rates while minimizing the information loss due to compression. This work has led to new algorithms for compressing single and multiple GPS traces. KW - Algorithms KW - Data compression KW - Global Positioning System KW - Transportation planning UR - http://www.utrc2.org/sites/default/files/pubs/GPS-Tracec-for-transportation-planning-final.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257426 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01530270 AU - Hayden, Larry AU - Western Transportation Institute AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Pager Performance for the Western Transportation Institute’s Augmented Speed Enforcement Project PY - 2013/07/06/Final Report SP - 35p AB - The purpose of the augmented Speed Enforcement (aSE) project is to detect speeding vehicles in a work zone and provide alerts to drivers and warnings to work zone workers. When the system detects a vehicle approaching above a trigger speed, the system activates a pager system that warns the workers of the speeding vehicle. Basic range measurements were performed for the transmitter and a repeater; the range is about 600 feet. The transmitter to repeater range measures over 1700 feet. Transmitter and repeater power consumption were also measured. This report contains the full results of the pager system tests. KW - Pagers KW - Radio transmitters KW - Speeding KW - Vibration KW - Work zone safety KW - Work zone traffic control UR - http://www.dot.ca.gov/research/researchreports/reports/2013/final_report_task_2062e.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1302004 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01502010 AU - Grant, Michael AU - Hartley, William Seth AU - Milam, Ron AU - Walters, Jerry AU - O'Rourke, Laurence AU - Brickett, Jennifer AU - Suter, Sonya AU - ICF International AU - Fehr & Peers Transportation Consultants AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Handbook for Estimating Transportation Greenhouse Gases for Integration into the Planning Process PY - 2013/07/02/6/2011-12/2012 SP - 137p AB - This publication is a handbook designed to provide information on how to analyze on-road greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the state and regional level, and how to incorporate those analyses into transportation planning efforts. The handbook is intended to help state departments of transportation (DOTs) and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) understand the possible approaches, data sources, and step-by-step procedures for analyzing GHG emissions. It provides an overview of estimating GHG emissions in the planning process, and identifies and describes several key methodologies used to estimate emissions. It also provides a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of each methodology, and includes a section designed to help users identify which methodology is best for their situation. KW - Analysis KW - Estimating KW - Greenhouse gases KW - Handbooks KW - Methodology KW - Metropolitan planning organizations KW - Pollutants KW - State departments of transportation KW - Transportation planning UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/climate_change/mitigation/resources_and_publications/ghg_handbook/ghghandbook.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1280724 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491565 AU - Nie, Yu (Marco) AU - Li, Qianfei AU - Chen, Peng (Will) AU - Center for the Commercialization of Innovative Transportation Technology AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Reliable Routing in Transit Networks PY - 2013/07/02/Final Report SP - 92p AB - In this paper, the authors seek to use newly emerging transit data sources for evaluating variations in transit services and to assist passengers with finding optimal routing strategies when faced with these service variations. A data analysis tool (Transit Data Viewer) is developed that uses space-time trajectories of transit vehicles to build and visualize empirical distributions of key transit operational parameters such as headway, segment running time, dwell time and deviation from schedule. Based on the best fitted headway distribution (as determined by statistical analysis), a transit routing tool is developed, built on the notion of hyperpath (Transit Router). Variations in road traffic conditions and demand patterns can impact transit systems, as can major disruptions caused by extreme weather conditions, serious traffic accidents, unforeseen mechanical failures and human error. The authors' proposed routing tool seeks to find an optimal hyperpath to minimize expected travel time. A large-scale case study with data from the Chicago Transit Authority is used to evaluate the proposed tools. KW - Chicago (Illinois) KW - Data collection KW - Dwell time KW - Headways KW - Hyperpaths KW - Networks KW - On time performance KW - Public transit KW - Routes and routing KW - Service disruption KW - Statistical analysis KW - Transit vehicle operations UR - http://www.ccitt.northwestern.edu/documents/CCITT_Final_Report_Y5-03.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258834 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01577152 TI - TO-14020: Lane Change/Merge Fundamental Research: Phase 1 AB - Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is developing concepts for using automated longitudinal control in several projects that explore the potential to improve mobility and safety. But while most research has explored automated longitudinal control in simple highway driving scenarios only, deployment will necessarily require that other traffic movements, such as lane changes, weaves, merges, and demerges, will be enabled. In addition, new operational concepts and technologies, e.g. driver lateral control while longitudinal control is automated, are necessary in order for mobility and safety benefits to be realized. The purpose of this project is to initiate foundational experimental research, based upon enabling technologies for automated operation and vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, in the area of Lane Change and Merging. KW - Highway safety KW - Lane changing KW - Longitudinal control KW - Merging traffic KW - Mobility KW - Vehicle to infrastructure communications KW - Vehicle to vehicle communications KW - Weaving traffic UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370428 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496645 AU - Minnesota Department of Transportation AU - Applied Pavement Technology, Inc AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Minnesota DOT Work Plan for Developing a Transportation Asset Management Plan PY - 2013/07/01 SP - 18p AB - On July 6, 2012, President Obama signed into law new highway legislation, the first long-term highway authorization enacted since 2005. That legislation, commonly known as the “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act” (or MAP-21), funds transportation programs for fiscal years 2013 and 2014. In addition to providing funding, the legislation establishes a performance-based Federal highway program that focuses on national transportation goals, increases the accountability and transparency of the Federal highway programs, and supports the use of performance data to drive investment decision making. It also includes a requirement for States to develop “a risk-based asset management plan for the National Highway System to improve or preserve the condition of the assets and the performance of the system.” To provide guidance to State departments of transportation (DOTs) in meeting the MAP-21 requirements, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) initiated a pilot project to assist three state agencies with the development of their TAMP. The Minnesota DOT (MnDOT) is one of the three participating agencies, along with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LA DOTD) and the New York State DOT (NYSDOT). This document outlines a plan for conducting the work required to develop the Department’s first formal TAMP. It is based on input from MnDOT’s Asset Management Steering Committee and Project Management Team (PMT), which include members from a broad cross-section of the Department and the FHWA. KW - Asset management KW - Minnesota Department of Transportation KW - Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act KW - Resource allocation UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/asset/tamp/mn_tamp.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265579 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01485437 TI - Advanced Research on the Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) Algorithm AB - This project is designed to further refine this advanced mathematical concept and explore its potential applications in highway safety, infrastructure, and environment. The research consists of two broad fronts of studies: to improve the presently available Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) algorithms and to establish a rigorous mathematical foundation for the generalized adaptive data analysis methodology. The success of the first will enhance immediate improvement of information management in a complex or significantly rich signal data system, such as the Integrated Safety System (ISS) being considered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) or for full scale traffic control systems. The success of the second research area would enable drastic improvement of robustness and reliability of the algorithm and guarantees its further applications. The project is managed by the Office of Safety Research & Development (R&D). KW - Algorithms KW - Empirical methods KW - Empirical Mode Decomposition KW - Highway traffic control KW - Mathematical methods KW - Traffic signals UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/advancedresearch/pubs/10029/index.cfm UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1254155 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01563294 AU - Giuliano, Genevieve AU - Blanco, Hilda J AU - Bahl, Deepak AU - University of Southern California AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - Promoting Employment In Transit Construction Projects by Members of Minority and Low-Income Communities PY - 2013/07 SP - 262p AB - This project had a dual aim: understanding the extent to which local low-income and minorities participate in employment generated by transit projects and identifying practices to increase their participation. The authors developed four in-depth case studies of recent light rail projects: Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s Vasona Project, Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s Green Line, St. Louis Metro’s St. Clair Extension, and Los Angeles Metro’s Gold Line Eastside Extension. They determined that in three out of the four cases, local minority and low-income workers obtained a fair proportion of construction jobs generated. They conclude that a complex interplay of a transit agency’s size and construction activity, demographic profiles and trends within metropolitan areas, contracting methods and the relative integration of regional construction markets, and/or unions influences who gets the jobs in transit construction. The authors identified areas of concern and opportunity for best practices in minority and local hiring in transit projects: contracting mechanisms, outreach to ensure isadvantaged business enterprises (DBE) participation in transit projects, financial assistance for DBE firms, ensuring contractor compliance with DBE programs, and agency leadership. Under these categories, they identified 14 best management practices (BMPs) and prepared a manual for transit agencies. For each of the BMPs, the authors discuss the background for the practice, followed by the rationale for the practice and examples. They also document the research support for the practices. KW - Capital investments KW - Case studies KW - Construction projects KW - Contracting KW - Dallas (Texas) KW - Dallas Area Rapid Transit KW - Employment KW - Jobs KW - Light rail transit KW - Los Angeles (California) KW - Low income groups KW - Saint Louis (Missouri) KW - San Jose (California) KW - Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Report_No._0080.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55500/55562/FTA_Report_No._0080.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1352226 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01562669 AU - Randolph, Shapell AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - 2011 Statistical Summaries – FTA Grant Assistance Programs PY - 2013/07 SP - 112p AB - The 2011 Statistical Summaries provides information about the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) major financial aid programs for Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2011. The report covers the following programs: Urbanized Area Formula, Non-urbanized Area Formula, Rural Transit Assistance Program, Special Needs for Elderly Individuals and Individuals with Disabilities, Capital, Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks Program, Alternative Analysis, Interstate Substitution, Job Access and Reverse Commute, New Freedom, Over-the-Road Bus, Clean Fuels, Metropolitan Transportation Planning, Statewide Transportation Planning, Consolidated Planning Grants, Emergency Supplemental funding, and State Infrastructure Banks. The data used in this report are compiled from the capital, operating, and planning assistance grants to transit authorities, states, planning agencies, and other units of local government and eligible recipients. KW - Appropriations KW - Federal assistance programs KW - Grant aid KW - Public transit KW - States KW - Statistics KW - U.S. Federal Transit Administration UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Report_No._0039.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1352145 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01562665 AU - Randolph, Shapell AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - 2010 Statistical Summaries – FTA Grant Assistance Programs PY - 2013/07 SP - 112p AB - The 2010 Statistical Summaries provides information about the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) major financial aid programs for Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2010. The report covers the following programs: Urbanized Area Formula, Non-urbanized Area Formula, Rural Transit Assistance Program, Special Needs for Elderly Individuals and Individuals with Disabilities, Capital, Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks Program, Alternative Analysis, Interstate Substitution, Job Access and Reverse Commute, New Freedom, Over-the-Road Bus, Clean Fuels, Metropolitan Transportation Planning, Statewide Transportation Planning, Consolidated Planning Grants, Emergency Supplemental funding, and State Infrastructure Banks. The data used in this report are compiled from the capital, operating, and planning assistance grants to transit authorities, states, planning agencies, and other units of local government and eligible recipients. KW - Appropriations KW - Federal assistance programs KW - Grant aid KW - Public transit KW - States KW - Statistics KW - U.S. Federal Transit Administration UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Report_No._0038.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1352146 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01549333 AU - Weiss, Alexander AU - International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS): An Historical Overview PY - 2013/07//Technical Report SP - 30p AB - Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS) is a law enforcement operational model which integrates location-based traffic crash and crime data to establish effective and efficient methods for deploying law enforcement and other resources. Using geo-mapping to identify areas through temporal and spatial analysis that have high incidences of crime and crashes, DDACTS employs targeted traffic enforcement strategies. By saturating locations with high crash and crime incidences with highly-visible traffic enforcement, DDACTS communities play a simultaneous dual role of reducing traffic crashes and traffic violations, and fighting crime. Drawing on the deterrent value of highly-visible traffic enforcement and the knowledge that crimes often involve the use of motor vehicles, the goal of DDACTS is to reduce the incidence of traffic violations, crashes and crime in communities across the country. DDACTS: An Historical Overview examines the history and development of enforcement theories upon which the DDACTS operational model is grounded. The document explores the relationship between traffic enforcement and crime, a growing trend to direct law enforcement strategy towards places rather than individuals, describes how law enforcement organizations have learned to use data as a basis for strategy, describes efforts to integrate traffic enforcement with the broader law enforcement mission, and offers views about the success of DDACTS. KW - Crash locations KW - Crimes KW - Data banks KW - DDACTS (Operational model) KW - Deployment KW - History KW - Police patrol KW - Strategic planning KW - Traffic law enforcement KW - Traffic safety KW - Traffic violations UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/809689.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1336384 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01542158 AU - Chatman, Daniel G AU - Broaddus, Andrea AU - Young, Cheryl AU - Brill, Matthew AU - University of California, Berkeley AU - University of California Transportation Center (UCTC) AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - The Role of Behavioral Economics in Residential Choice: A Pilot Study Of Travel Patterns, Housing Characteristics, Social Connections, and Subjective Well-Being PY - 2013/07 SP - 48p AB - Do people make imperfect decisions about where to live and how to travel? There is some evidence that people may overvalue privacy and material goods like housing and undervalue time for activities and social connections. The authors surveyed 84 individuals, almost all of them university students, before and after a planned move between homes. Respondents answered questions at two points in time about six months apart, before and after moving. They reported ratings of subjective well-being, information on travel patterns, characteristics of homes and neighborhoods, the number and type of social connections, demographics, and significant life events. This working paper describes the survey design and data collection process, and reports on survey results. KW - Behavior KW - Commuting KW - Economics KW - Housing KW - Mode choice KW - Multiple criteria decision making KW - Residential location KW - Time UR - http://uctc.net/research/papers/UCTC-FR-2013-05.pdf UR - https://merritt.cdlib.org/d/ark%3A%2F13030%2Fm55t50p2/1/producer%2F890328854.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1323135 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01539924 AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Consumer Guide to Uniform Tire Quality Grading PY - 2013/07 SP - 176p AB - This report contains comparative grade designations for treadwear, traction and temperature for all passenger car tires, except deep tread, winter-type snow tires; space-saver or temporary use spares; or tires with normal rim diameters of 12 in. or less. All passenger car tires must conform to federal safety requirements in addition to these grades. KW - Automobiles KW - Grading (Tires) KW - Passenger vehicles KW - Quality control KW - Temperature KW - Tire treads KW - Tires KW - Traction KW - Wear UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/safercar/pdf/2013UniformTireQualityGrading.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1326330 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01538204 AU - Zhou, Xuesong AU - Martin, Peter T AU - Zlatkovic, Milan AU - Tasic, Ivana AU - Mountain-Plains Consortium AU - University of Utah, Salt Lake City AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Traffic Modeling of Transit Oriented Development: Evaluation of Transit Friendly Strategies and Innovative Intersection Designs in West Valley City, UT PY - 2013/07 SP - 161p AB - Street networks designed to support Transit Oriented Development (TOD) increase accessibility for non-motorized traffic. However, the implications of TOD supportive networks for still dominant vehicular traffic are rarely addressed. Due to this lack of research, decision making in favor of TOD supportive street networks is often a difficult process. The goal of this project is to quantify the traffic impacts of TOD using a study network in West Valley City, Utah. In the methodology, the test network is modified using not only designs typical for TODs, but also some network designs that enhance traffic operations. Proposed network designs represent the alternatives to traditional street widening approaches that should increase traffic efficiency while not discouraging non-motorized modes. This approach would increase the potential of the test network to become a TOD in the future, with two Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines already in place. The results indicate that network designs that could be beneficial for TOD, such as enhanced street connectivity, innovative intersection designs, traffic calming measures and Transit Friendly Designs (TFD), do not necessarily decrease the efficiency of vehicular traffic for the most critical travel demand conditions. The major contributions of this study are the indications that TOD-supportive network designs are not necessarily associated with negative effects for vehicular traffic, even in conditions where mode shift does not occur and auto-mode travel demand remains the same. This is a significant finding that could be useful for metropolitan regions looking to retrofit the suburban neighborhoods into multimodal developments. KW - Highway design KW - Highway operations KW - Intersections KW - Public transit KW - Traffic calming KW - Traffic models KW - Transit oriented development KW - Travel demand KW - West Valley City (Utah) UR - http://www.mountain-plains.org/pubs/pdf/MPC14-270.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1322302 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01529330 AU - Rogge, David F AU - Zhang, Fan AU - Oregon State University, Corvallis AU - Oregon Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Delivering Better Value for Money: Determining Outsourcing Feasibility and Standard Pricing Methods PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 135p AB - Two databases of engineering hours were developed to aid contract administrators in negotiating consultant hours for contracts for preliminary engineering (PE) and/or construction engineering (CE) services. The local agency projects database includes 181 projects. The OTIA III bridge projects database includes 124 bridge repair and replacement projects. Databases include estimated consultant hours by task for the projects, and descriptive information for the projects. The databases were analyzed to identify relationships between project characteristics and consultant contract hours required. Results of these analyses are presented. A procedure for use of the databases in the negotiation process is presented. In addition, general information relating to procurement of personal services contracts is presented. This information was obtained from a literature review, the Oregon Department of Transportation, and other transportation agency personnel. KW - Construction engineering KW - Construction projects KW - Consultants KW - Contract administration KW - Contracting out KW - Cost estimating KW - Databases KW - Oregon Department of Transportation KW - Pricing KW - State departments of transportation UR - http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TP_RES/ResearchReports/SPR738_OutsourcingFeasibility1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1313468 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01528607 AU - Wang, Jianmin AU - Shi, Honglan AU - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety/NUTC program AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Effect of Trona on the Leaching of Trace Elements from Coal Fly Ash PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 65p AB - Fly ashes were sampled from the ESPs by on-site contractors during air emission control tests. The injection tests were short-term, lasting approximately three hours per test condition. EPRI received three batches of samples since November 2011, representing baseline conditions and selected injection conditions. The sample information are listed in respective tables. EPRI analyzed the samples for total composition and leaching characteristics. KW - Fly ash KW - Heavy metals KW - Leaching KW - Sodium carbonate UR - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/R285%20Final%20Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1313137 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01522370 AU - Gettman, Douglas AU - Folk, Edward AU - Curtis, Eddie AU - Kacir, Kent AU - Ormand, Dan AU - Mayer, Matthew AU - Flanigan, Erin AU - Kimley-Horn and Associates, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Measures of Effectiveness and Validation Guidance for Adaptive Signal Control Technologies PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 170p AB - As part of the Every Day Counts initiative, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is promoting the implementation of Adaptive Signal Control Technology (ASCT) to improve traffic signal system operations in the United States. Among the other “low hanging fruit” technologies in the Every Day Counts program (e.g., rumble strips, safety edge), ASCT technology has been in existence for many years but has not seen widespread acceptance. ASCTs have not historically been implemented widely due to their cost and complexity (perceived or real) compounded by a lack of clear documentation of benefits. One reason for the uncertainty about benefits of ASCT is due to the wide variation in cost, complexity, and performance reporting methodologies of evaluation studies for ASCT. In this project, generic measures of effectiveness and validation tools were developed for agencies to validate that selected ASCT meet their performance objectives. In addition, the process and tools can be applied to traditional coordinated-actuated signal timing as well. The report identifies how each of the measures and processes can be used for validation of ASCT. Guidance on improving the state of the practice is provided. This approach was tested at a field site in Mesa, Arizona where an ASCT system has been deployed for over one year. The City of Mesa allowed the test phase to include approximately 30 days during which the ASCT was turned off and background coordination patterns were used instead. Detailed findings for the validation approach are provided in Appendices to the main report. KW - Adaptive control KW - Evaluation and assessment KW - Field tests KW - Mesa (Arizona) KW - Performance measurement KW - Traffic signal control systems KW - Validation UR - http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop13031/fhwahop13031.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1304846 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01520483 AU - Lottes, S A AU - Bojanowski, C AU - Shen, J AU - Xie, Z C AU - Argonne National Laboratory AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Computational Mechanics Research and Support for Aerodynamics and Hydraulics at TFHRC, Year 3 Quarter 2 Progress Report PY - 2013/07 SP - 59p AB - The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational structural mechanics (CSM) focus areas at Argonne’s Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center (TRACC) initiated a project to support and compliment the experimental programs at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) with high performance computing based analysis capabilities in August 2010. The project was established with a new interagency agreement between the Department of Energy and the Department of Transportation to provide collaborative research, development, and benchmarking of advanced three-dimensional computational mechanics analysis methods to the aerodynamics and hydraulics laboratories at TFHRC for a period of five years, beginning in October 2010. The analysis methods employ well benchmarked and supported commercial computational mechanics software. Computational mechanics encompasses the areas of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Computational Wind Engineering (CWE), Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM), and Computational Multiphysics Mechanics (CMM) applied in Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) problems. The major areas of focus of the project are wind and water effects on bridges — superstructure, deck, cables, and substructure (including soil), primarily during storms and flood events — and the risks that these loads pose to structural failure. For flood events at bridges, another major focus of the work is assessment of the risk to bridges caused by scour of stream and riverbed material away from the foundations of a bridge. Other areas of current research include modeling of the salt spray transport into bridge girders to address suitability of using weathering steel in bridges, CFD analysis of the operation of the wind tunnel in the TFHRC wind engineering laboratory, and coupling of CFD and CSM software to solve fluid structure interaction problems, primarily analysis of bridge cables in wind. This quarterly report documents technical progress on the project tasks for the period of January through March 2013. KW - Aerodynamics KW - Bridge members KW - Fluid dynamics KW - Hydraulics KW - Research projects KW - Scour KW - Structural mechanics KW - Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center KW - Weathering steel KW - Wind KW - Wind tunnels UR - http://www.ipd.anl.gov/anlpubs/2013/10/77205.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1302469 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01518995 AU - Preston, Howard AU - Storm, Richard AU - Bennett, Jacqueline Dowds AU - Wemple, Beth AU - CH2M HILL AU - Cambridge Systematics, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Systemic Safety Project Selection Tool PY - 2013/07 SP - 100p AB - The Systemic Safety Project Selection Tool presents a process for incorporating systemic safety planning into traditional safety management processes. The Systemic Tool provides a step-by-step process for conducting systemic safety analysis; considerations for determining a reasonable distribution between the implementation of spot safety improvements and systemic safety improvements; and a mechanism for quantifying the benefits of safety improvements implemented through a systemic approach. The tool is intended for use by transportation safety practitioners in state, county, and local government agencies to plan, implement, and evaluate systemic safety improvement programs and projects that best meet their capabilities and needs. KW - Evaluation KW - Implementation KW - Improvements KW - Local government agencies KW - Safety management KW - State government agencies KW - Traffic safety KW - Transportation planning UR - http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/systemic/fhwasa13019/sspst.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1300311 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516420 AU - Cook, Daniel AU - Ghaeezadah, Ashkan AU - Ley, Tyler AU - Oklahoma State University, Stillwater AU - Oklahoma Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Investigation of Optimized Graded Concrete for Oklahoma PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 73p AB - This report presents the results of several novel test methods to investigate concrete for slip formed paving. These tests include the Box Test, a novel test to evaluate the response of concrete to vibration, the Aggregate Imaging Measurement System 2 (AIMS2), an automated test for aggregate shape and texture, and the use of a pan mixer to serve as a concrete rheometer. The results show that both the Box Test and AIMS2 tests seem to be useful and provide reliable data. The pan mixer results do not appear to be reliable. The establishment of these test procedures provides a basis for future investigations of materials and mixtures from the state of Oklahoma. KW - Admixtures KW - Aggregate tests KW - Oklahoma KW - Rheology KW - Slip form paving KW - Test procedures KW - Vibration tests UR - http://www.oktc.org/otc/files/finalReports/OTCREOS11.1-39-F.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1300097 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01506247 AU - Senzig, David A AU - Cumper, Jordan AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - Fuel Consumption of ADS-B and non-ADS-B Helicopter Operations in the Gulf of Mexico PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 31p AB - Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS‐B) is a key enabling technology for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) in the United States. The NextGen system replaces the current ground based command‐and‐control system with a Global Positioning System (GPS)‐based autonomous system where both controllers and fully equipped aircraft will be able to detect all nearby aircraft and their important state data in real time. This report examines the potential improvements in helicopter operations in the Gulf of Mexico due to the implementation of ADS‐B. While there may be other benefits to ADS‐B operations, such as reduced noise exposure, this report looks exclusively at potential fuel consumption reductions due to improved routing. Examination of the ADS‐B operations and (Enhanced Traffic Management System) ETMS flight plans shows a small but measurable improvement in the efficiency of the helicopter flights under ADS‐B due to more direct routing. KW - Air traffic control KW - Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast KW - Flight plans KW - Fuel consumption KW - Global Positioning System KW - Gulf of Mexico KW - Helicopters KW - Next Generation Air Transportation System KW - Routing UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/50000/50900/50906/DOT-VNTSC-FAA-13-05.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290393 ER -