TY - RPRT AN - 01501091 AU - Day, Christopher M AU - Hainen, Alexander M AU - Bullock, Darcy M AU - Purdue University AU - Indiana Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Best Practices for Roundabouts on State Highways PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 22p AB - This report presents a series of research findings from an investigation into roundabout operations. This includes a comparison of several analysis tools for estimating roundabout performance (the Highway Capacity Manual, SIDRA, ARCADY, VISSIM, and SimTraffic); a measurement of rejected headways for the purpose of analyzing critical headway; a review of roundabout lighting practices; and a review of considerations for roundabout site selection. It was found that VISSIM and SIDRA provided the most reliable predictions of roundabout performance for the test site analyzed herein. Additionally, the critical headways measured at this site were significantly lower (at a median value of 2.2 seconds) than other values published in the literature, with driving populations less acquainted with roundabouts. Additionally, a site selection procedure is developed based on a survey of peer agency practices and a checklist is provided for assisting in the determination of whether roundabout control is a feasible alternative for a location. Finally, based upon a review of the literature and practices commonly followed by peer states, the authors recommend that roundabouts be lighted. KW - Best practices KW - Headways KW - Lighting KW - Location KW - Operational performance KW - Roundabouts KW - SIDRA (Computer program) KW - State highways KW - VISSIM (Computer model) UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5703/1288284315216 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1279416 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01501089 AU - Everett, Stephanie R AU - Xiong, Yingge AU - Fricker, Jon D AU - Sinha, Kumares C AU - Purdue University AU - Indiana Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Measurement and Monitoring of the Performance of Highway Investment PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 78p AB - In response to the federal SAFETEA-LU requirements, nearly all state departments of transportation (DOTs) have started to use performance measurement at some point in the planning and/or programming process. Although these performance measures are routinely monitored, they are generally completed during the project development process on a project-by-project basis for anticipated future conditions. No state has a fully developed post-implementation tool to monitor and evaluate capital investment programs at a system (statewide) level. The primary objective of this study is to establish a systematic, comprehensive, and robust tool for the Indiana DOT (INDOT) to routinely perform an ex-post facto appraisal of its investment program at the system level. Using historical highway expenditure and performance data, the link between investment and performance was characterized in four asset areas—pavements, bridges, safety, and mobility. Linear regression models were developed to quantify the relationships. Additionally the short-term economic development impacts, in terms of jobs-created and earnings-added, were estimated for the total investment each year. The most recent surface transportation reauthorization, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), sets a precedent for performance-based management of the nation’s transportation network. The present study provides a monitoring methodology that can be used to demonstrate the effectiveness of INDOT’s investment of surface transportation funds and the improvement program to legislative bodies responsible for funding decisions. It also provides a mechanism to communicate the impacts of transportation investment to the general public. KW - Asset management KW - Economic impacts KW - Highways KW - Indiana Department of Transportation KW - Investments KW - Monitoring KW - Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act KW - Performance measurement KW - State departments of transportation UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5703/1288284315218 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1279417 ER - TY - SER AN - 01500364 JO - TRAFFIC TECH PB - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Evaluating Older Drivers’ Skills PY - 2013/07 SP - 2p AB - Research indicates that older adults’ crash risk is elevated as compared to that of middle-aged drivers. Crashes involving older drivers will likely increase as baby boomers age, particularly as this cohort is expected to delay retirement. Means of identifying older drivers whose risk is elevated due to the effects of normal aging or to an age-related medical condition would help licensing agencies such as Departments of Motor Vehicles (DMVs) act to reduce risk. Clinicians who work with older adults and their families could use such tools in their efforts to balance the older adult’s need for mobility with safety concerns. In 2003, the University of Florida held a meeting of experts in older adult mobility and older driver safety to discuss transportation issues specific to older people. The panel discussed the strengths and weaknesses of a variety of professionally administered driver screening and assessment methods as well as driver self-screening tools. The current effort aimed to update the findings from the University of Florida study, and to document strengths and weaknesses of various older drivers screening and assessment methods. KW - Aged drivers KW - Alternatives analysis KW - Driver performance KW - Evaluation and assessment KW - High risk drivers KW - Self evaluation UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811774.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1278458 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499685 AU - Chandler, Brian E AU - Myers, Matthew C AU - Atkinson, Jennifer E AU - Bryer, Thomas E AU - Retting, Richard AU - Smithline, Jeff AU - Trim, Jeff AU - Wojtkiewicz, Peter AU - Thomas, Gary B AU - Venglar, Steven P AU - Sunkari, Srinivasa AU - Malone, Brian J AU - Izadpanah, Pedram AU - SAIC AU - CIMA+ AU - Sam Schwartz Engineering AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Signalized Intersections Informational Guide PY - 2013/07//Second Edition SP - 323p AB - This is the Second Edition of a document that was originally published in 2004. This document serves as an introduction to and guide for evaluating the safety, design, and operations of signalized intersections. It also provides tools to deliver better balanced solutions for all users. It takes a holistic approach to signalized intersections and considers the safety and operational implications of a particular treatment on all system users (e.g., motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users). Readers will find the tools and information necessary to make insightful intersection assessments and to understand the impacts of potential improvement measures. The information in this guide is based on the latest research available and includes examples of novel treatments as well as best practices in use by jurisdictions across the United States and other countries. KW - Best practices KW - Evaluation and assessment KW - Geometric design KW - Handbooks KW - Highway operations KW - Highway traffic control KW - Intersection elements KW - Signalized intersections KW - Traffic safety KW - United States UR - http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/signalized/13027/fhwasa13027.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1267799 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499677 AU - American Traffic Safety Services Association AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Guidelines on Rolling Roadblocks for Work Zone Applications PY - 2013/07 SP - n.p. AB - This document includes information on when and where to use rolling roadblocks. Sections include: planning and coordinating, temporary traffic control details, communicating with the public, site preparations, initiating the operation and alternatives. A sample rolling roadblock checklist is included. Appendices include pacing distance calculations from Florida Department of Transportation's (FDOT) Traffic Pacing Guide, a sample press release, Colorado DOT specifications for rolling roadblocks, and West Virginia DOT's special provision for rolling roadblocks. KW - Highway operations KW - Lane closure KW - Roadblocks KW - Specifications KW - Traffic diversion KW - Work zone traffic control KW - Work zones UR - http://www.workzonesafety.org/fhwa_wz_grant/atssa/atssa_rolling_roadblocks UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1268143 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01497507 AU - Strathman, James G AU - Kwon, Sung-Moon AU - Callas, Steve AU - Portland State University AU - TriMet AU - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Bus Operator Perceptions of Safety Risks PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 34p AB - This paper presents the results of a survey of TriMet bus operators addressing safety risks in their assigned work. Surveyed risk factors were organized into five categories: vehicle design and condition; route layout; operating conditions; fatigue; and stress. Operators perceived fatigue and stress to be the greatest sources of safety risk, with split shifts, schedule pressures, passenger distractions, and negligence of other roadway users being the primary contributors to these conditions. Operators were also surveyed on the frequency and nature of “close calls,” with two-thirds of the operators indicating that such incidents occurred at least weekly and most often involved being cut off by other roadway users. Operators endorsed high visibility enforcement initiatives to improve safety, focusing primarily on negligent behavior. Other operator-recommended changes addressed scheduling practices and the need for more public information and outreach on safety risks. KW - Bus drivers KW - Bus routes KW - Fatigue (Physiological condition) KW - Near miss collisions (Ground transportation) KW - Operating conditions KW - Risk analysis KW - Stress (Psychology) KW - Surveys KW - Traffic law enforcement KW - Transit safety KW - Vehicle design UR - http://files.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/online/unrestricted/2013/OTREC-RR-13-09.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1266662 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496800 AU - Bauer, Jocelyn AU - Worth, Phillip AU - Bedsole, Lisa AU - Millsaps, Gary AU - Giragosian, Anna AU - Science Applications International Corporation AU - Kittelson and Associates, Incorporated AU - Delcan Corporation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Making the Connection: Advancing Traffic Incident Management in Transportation Planning: A Primer PY - 2013/07 SP - 72p AB - The intent of this primer is to inform and guide traffic incident management (TIM) professionals and transportation planners to initiate and develop collaborative relationships and advance TIM programs through the metropolitan planning process. The primer aims to inspire planners and TIM professionals to create transportation plans and programs that support regional TIM programs through TIM-focused objectives, performance measures, and TIM strategies and projects. The ultimate goal of this primer is to strengthen, support, and elevate regional TIM programs as a crucial, lower-cost strategy for reliability, safety, environmental improvements, and mobility. The primer explains the benefits for TIM professionals and planners of linking planning and TIM. It contains specific opportunities, supported by case studies, to integrate TIM considerations and stakeholders into the planning process. TIM planning sheets provide tangible examples of TIM objectives that can be drawn from, in whole or in part, to develop metropolitan transportation plans or related operations or TIM-focused plans. KW - Case studies KW - City planning KW - Incident management KW - Performance measurement KW - Regional planning KW - Traffic incidents KW - Transportation planning UR - http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop13044/fhwahop13044.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/50000/50800/50831/fhwahop13044.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265986 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496761 AU - McDaniel, Rebecca S AU - Levenberg, Eyal AU - Purdue University AU - Indiana Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Risk Management of Low Air Void Asphalt Concrete Mixtures PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 24p AB - Various forms of asphalt pavement distress, such as rutting, shoving and bleeding, can be attributed, in many cases, to low air voids in the mixtures during production and placement. The occurrence of low air void contents during plant production may originate as a result of an accidental increase in binder content or mix fines (or both). When low air voids are encountered during production, the specifying agency must decide whether to require the material that has already been placed to be removed and replaced or whether it can be left in place with a reduction in pay. Consequently, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) initiated this research project to develop a decision-support tool for dealing with such events that is based on projected rutting performance of the pavement system. The study was conducted along three paths. In the first, INDOT sponsored two pavement test sections at the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) Test Track. The second path involved testing mixes in the INDOT Accelerated Pavement Testing (APT) Facility. In both cases, mixtures were produced in local hot mix plants by either increasing the fines content or the binder content. The NCAT test sections included low void mixes in the surface course only and performance was measured by the progression of rutting. Significant rutting developed in the low void mixes. The results suggested that removal be considered for mixtures with air voids below 2.75% but that no pay adjustment was necessary for air voids above this level. However, the NCAT results were limited to one pavement structure, one set of materials, one climate and low voids in the surface mix only. In the APT, low air void mixtures were placed in either the surface or the intermediate course and different materials were used. The pavement response (permanent deformation of the top pavement layers) resulting from repetitive APT wheel passes was measured using a laser based system. Lastly, a simplified mechanistic analysis, using a software program called QRSS (Quality Related Specification Software) was used in an attempt to simulate the effects of low void mixtures on pavement performance and service life with different materials in different pavement layers and under different traffic loads. The results of these efforts were used along with engineering judgment to formulate the desired decision-support tool. KW - Air voids KW - Asphalt concrete KW - Asphalt pavements KW - Binder content KW - Decision support systems KW - Indiana Department of Transportation KW - Mix design KW - Pavement distress KW - Pavement performance KW - Risk management KW - Rutting KW - Service life KW - Test sections UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5703/1288284315217 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264101 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496708 AU - AMEC Environment & Infrastructure, Incorporated AU - Cambridge Systematics, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - New York State DOT Work Plan for Developing a TAMP PY - 2013/07 SP - 30p AB - In July 2012, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) established a performance-based highway program with the goal of improving how Federal transportation funds are allocated. The legislation requires each State department of transportation (DOT) to develop a risk-based Transportation Asset Management Plan (TAMP). This document presents a work plan for developing the New York State Department of Transportation’s (NYSDOT) TAMP. This work plan is based on the results from a NYSDOT TAMP workshop and a NYSDOT TAMP Working Group Meeting. Participants at the TAMP workshop included members of the NYSDOT’s TAMP Working Group, representatives from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and members of the consultant team. The objectives of the workshop were to: walk through elements of NYSDOT’s asset management process that had been identified previously as opportunities for improvement; discuss existing NYSDOT resources and data related to each area; discuss options for moving forward; and identify key activities required to develop an initial TAMP. KW - Asset management KW - Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act KW - New York State Department of Transportation KW - Resource allocation KW - Workshops UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/asset/tamp/ny_tamp.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265580 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01494416 AU - Burton, Maria AU - Smit, Andre AU - Trevino, Manuel AU - Prozzi, Jorge AU - Murphy, Mike AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Best Practices for Flexible Pavement Structure Widening: Workshops PY - 2013/07 SP - 337p AB - This document presents a summary of the two half-day workshops/webinars that took place at Center for Transportation Research (CTR) July 2, 2013. The workshops constitute Product 2 (P2) of the research project and correspond to Task 3. The purpose of the workshops was to obtain expert opinions from Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) personnel, contractors, and construction equipment and materials manufacturers with experience in pavement widening projects. For logistical and practical reasons both workshops were conducted on the same day. The workshop was conducted to facilitate face-to-face participation for those who could travel to Austin; the webinar component was added to increase the participation of those who could not attend due to limited travel budgets or time restrictions. The morning workshop focused on contractors and suppliers presenting their experience while the afternoon workshop focused on TxDOT experience. KW - Best practices KW - Construction and maintenance personnel KW - Construction equipment KW - Contractors KW - Flexible pavements KW - Materials KW - Pavement performance KW - Pavement widening KW - Texas KW - Texas Department of Transportation KW - Workshops UR - http://library.ctr.utexas.edu/ctr-publications/0-6748-P2.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263337 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493988 AU - Mohammad, Louay N AU - PE, Sharear Kabir AU - Cooper, Samuel AU - Raghavendra, Amar AU - Louisiana Transportation Research Center AU - Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation of Superpave Mixtures Containing Hydrated Lime PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 129p AB - The use of hydrated lime in Hot-Mix Asphalt (HMA) mixtures can reduce permanent deformation, long-term aging, and moisture susceptibility of mixtures. In addition, hydrated lime increases the stiffness and fatigue resistance of mixtures. This study evaluated (1) the fundamental engineering properties of HMA mixtures containing hydrated lime as compared to conventional mixtures designed to meet the current Louisiana Superpave specifications and (2) the influence of the method of addition of hydrated lime on the mechanical properties of HMA mixtures. A Louisiana Superpave 19.0 mm Level II HMA mixture design was utilized. Siliceous limestone aggregates and three asphalt binders, a neat PG 64-22 and two Styrene-Butadiene (SB) polymer modified binders meeting Louisiana specifications for PG 70-22M and PG 76-22M were included. Based on the same mixture design, three conventional and six hydrated lime treated HMA mixtures were developed. The conventional mixtures contained no hydrated lime and the three aforementioned asphalt binders respectively. The lime treated mixtures were produced by incorporating hydrated lime into the HMA mixture in two ways: “slurry” or “paste” method when hydrated lime was mixed with the aggregate as slurry and “dry” or “no-paste” method when dry hydrated lime was blended with the asphalt binders. For each lime treatment method, three HMA mixtures were produced using the three identical asphalt cements (PG 64-22, PG 70-22M, and PG 76-22M) utilized in the three conventional mixtures. The overall results from mechanistic tests on HMA mixtures and rheological tests on asphalt binders indicated that the addition of hydrated lime improved the permanent deformation characteristics of the HMA mixtures. This improvement was substantial particularly at higher testing temperatures for mixtures containing polymer modified asphalt binders. KW - Binders KW - Calcium hydroxide KW - Fatigue (Mechanics) KW - Hot mix asphalt KW - Louisiana KW - Mechanistic-empirical pavement design KW - Mix design KW - Superpave KW - Tensile strength UR - http://www.ltrc.lsu.edu/pdf/2013/FR_432.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261324 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493873 AU - Sneed, Lesley AU - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety/NUTC program AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Matrix (FRCM) Composites for Reinforced Concrete Strengthening PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 6p AB - Fiber-reinforced composite systems are widely used for strengthening, repairing, and rehabilitation of reinforced concrete structural members. A promising newly-developed type of composite, comprised of fibers and an inorganic cement-based matrix, provides several environmental, structural, and sustainability-related advantages over fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites traditionally used in structural applications, which potentially expands the strengthening applications beyond those currently utilized. Such advantages include: 1) high resistance to fire and high temperatures; 2) resistance to UV radiation; 3) ease of handling during the application because the inorganic binder is water-based; 4) easy cleanup and reuse of tools; 5) low odor and toxin emissions during application and curing; 6) permeability compatibility with the concrete substrate; and 7) unvarying workability time (between 40°F and 105°F). Stress-transfer mechanisms and interfacial fracture propagation of fiber-reinforced composites externally-bonded to a concrete substrate are complex phenomena that are highly dependent on the bond characteristics of the composite matrix material to the fibers. These phenomena have not yet been clearly defined and understood for FRCM composites. Experimental work will be carried out in this study to isolate the shear debonding phenomenon using single lap shear tests. KW - Bridge superstructures KW - Fiber composites KW - Rehabilitation (Maintenance) KW - Reinforced concrete KW - Repairing KW - Strengthening (Maintenance) UR - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/R308%20Final%20Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262552 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493866 AU - Sneed, Lesley AU - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety/NUTC program AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Repair of Earthquake Damaged Bridge Columns with Fractured Bars PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 6p AB - The objective of this study is to repair three, half-scale RC bridge columns that will be tested to failure under slow cyclic loading. These columns will have fractured longitudinal and transverse steel. The ultimate goal is to develop repair methods for these columns using different techniques. In the first two columns, different Caltrans approved ultimate splices will be used, and in the third column, an enlarged section will be built in the plastic hinge area. The target performance for the repaired columns is to restore the lateral load and ductility capacity to the level that is comparable to that of the original columns. KW - Bridge design KW - Columns KW - Defects KW - Deformation KW - Earthquake resistant design KW - Repairing UR - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/R310%20Final%20Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262550 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493385 AU - Cassatta, Stephen AU - Cuddihy, Mark AU - Huber, Mark AU - Struck, Matthias AU - Weerappuli, Para AU - Scavnicky, Mike AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration AU - Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership TI - Advanced Restraint Systems (ARS) Final Report PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 109p AB - This report presents a summary of the work performed during the Advanced Restraint Systems (ARS) project. The primary objective of this effort was to evaluate the potential benefit of using pre-crash information associated with two unique crash configurations (one vehicle-to-vehicle scenario and one vehicle-to-object scenario) to tailor an advanced restraint system to the occupant and crash type. The project work encompassed the Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) analysis of these two crash modes, as well as the identification, development, integration and physical evaluation of a prototype advanced restraints system within a targeted baseline vehicle environment. For each mode, injury assessments were made for the small, mid-size, and large driver and passenger occupants in either a combination of CAE and vehicle testing or with solely CAE analysis. With three different occupants and two crash modes at two different speeds, 24 different “load cases,” 12 for the driver and 12 for the passenger, were studied. This project was conducted by the Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership (CAMP) ARS Consortium (Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Mercedes-Benz). KW - Air bags KW - Computer aided design KW - Crash injury research KW - Crash types KW - Impact tests KW - Occupant protection devices KW - Restraint systems KW - Seat belts UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Crashworthiness/Small%20Overlap%20and%20Oblique%20Research/811794A.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262535 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493382 AU - Sun, Charlie AU - Graves, Clark AU - Kentucky Transportation Cabinet AU - University of Kentucky, Lexington AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation of Mechanically Stabilized Earth Walls for Bridge Ends in Kentucky; What Next? PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 74p AB - This report summarizes the nationwide survey results on Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) wall abutment status. Many of the handy features in MSE Wall Abutment Inspection/Rating In KY web application are highlighted, and various graphical user interfaces of the web application are illustrated and described. The inspection/rating for 56 existing MSE wall abutments are presented and discussed. KW - Bridge abutments KW - Earth walls KW - Evaluation KW - Graphical user interfaces KW - Inspection KW - Kentucky KW - Mechanically stabilized earth KW - Surveys KW - United States KW - Web applications KW - Websites (Information retrieval) UR - http://www.ktc.uky.edu/files/2013/08/KTC_13_11_SPR_443_12_1F.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262719 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493368 AU - Borden, Eric J AU - Boske, Leigh B AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Southwest Region University Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Electric Vehicles and Public Charging Infrastructure: Impediments and Opportunities for Success in the United States PY - 2013/07 SP - 53p AB - This report seeks to reach conclusions over the role that electric vehicles (EVs) and public charging infrastructure should play in the future United States transportation system As demonstrated in this report, electric vehicles are neither new nor technologically infeasible. Current circumstances have initiated what appears to be a revival of the EV – these circumstances include high oil prices, geopolitical instability, and growing awareness of environmental concerns resulting from conventional vehicles (CV) usage. Nevertheless, impediments remain. One of the most important is the prospect of building public charging infrastructure to allow drivers to use an EV like their conventional vehicle, for both long and short distances. Public charging infrastructure, however, cannot be built without some critical mass of EVs on the road to use them – otherwise they are not economically feasible. This report analyzes various facets of both EVs and public charging infrastructure to give the reader a clear understanding of the complex criteria that must be understood to assess EVs in the United States. Texas is given special consideration as a case study in this report, particularly the Austin area where public charging infrastructure for EVs is currently being implemented. KW - Austin (Texas) KW - Case studies KW - Electric utility facilities KW - Electric vehicle charging KW - Electric vehicles KW - United States UR - http://swutc.tamu.edu/publications/technicalreports/600451-00064-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261550 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493346 AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Digest of Impaired Driving And Selected Beverage Control Laws, Twenty-Seventh Edition, Current as of May 27, 2012 PY - 2013/07//27th Edition SP - 549p AB - This digest reports the status of State laws that are concerned with impaired driving offenses and alcoholic beverage control, current as of May 27, 2012. It is extensively footnoted and contains comprehensive information on critical impaired-driving laws for all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. It is designed to be an easily accessible reference to all States’ current laws on alcohol and other issues of impaired driving. The digest contains a selection of the most important laws pertaining to impaired driving for each State, compiled in a consistent format to make research simpler. Each State entry includes: Basis for a Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) Offense; Chemical Breath Tests for Alcohol Concentration; Adjudication of Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) charges; Sanctions; Administrative Licensing Actions; Ignition Interlock; Sobriety Checkpoints; Other Criminal Actions Related to DWI; DWI Offenses and Commercial Motor Vehicles; Driving While License Suspended or Revoked Where the Basis Was a DWI Offense; Minimum Age Alcohol Laws; Dram Shop Laws and Related Actions; Open Container Laws; and others. KW - Adjudication KW - Alcohol breath tests KW - Alcohol ignition interlock devices KW - Commercial drivers KW - Drunk drivers KW - Drunk driving KW - Legal drinking age KW - Per se laws KW - Sanctions KW - Sobriety checkpoints KW - State laws UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811796.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262532 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493335 AU - Sperley, Myra AU - Oregon Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - FY 2013 Oregon Transportation Needs and Issues Survey: Summary of Statewide Results PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 53p AB - The Oregon Transportation Needs and Issues Survey was first conducted in 1993 and has been done roughly every two years. The latest survey was completed in the summer of 2012 (State fiscal year (FY) 2013). This report summarizes the results of the FY 2013 survey. For some reoccurring questions, results are also compared to past surveys. KW - Customer satisfaction KW - Needs assessment KW - Oregon KW - Oregon Department of Transportation KW - Public opinion KW - Surveys KW - Transportation planning UR - http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TP_RES/ResearchReports/TNIS2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261152 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493291 AU - Cassatta, Stephen AU - Cuddihy, Mark AU - Huber, Mark AU - Struck, Matthias AU - Weerappuli, Para AU - Scavnicky, Mike AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration AU - Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership TI - Advanced Restraint Systems (ARS) Final Report - Appendices PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 64p AB - This report presents a summary of the work performed during the Advanced Restraint Systems (ARS) project. The primary objective of this effort was to evaluate the potential benefit of using pre-crash information associated with two unique crash configurations (one vehicle-to-vehicle scenario and one vehicle-to-object scenario) to tailor an advanced restraint system to the occupant and crash type. The project work encompassed the Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) analysis of these two crash modes, as well as the identification, development, integration and physical evaluation of a prototype advanced restraints system within a targeted baseline vehicle environment. For each mode, injury assessments were made for the small, mid-size and large driver and passenger occupants in either a combination of CAE and vehicle testing or with solely CAE analysis. With three different occupants and two crash modes at two different speeds, 24 different “load cases,” 12 for the driver and 12 for the passenger, were studied. This project was conducted by the Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership (CAMP) ARS Consortium (Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Mercedes-Benz). The Appendices - organized according to occupant size - provide the key data used to compare the performance of the advanced restraint system to that of the baseline Prototype Vehicle Platform (PVP) restraint system for each of the 24 load cases examined during the project. Appendix A pertains to the 5th percentile female, Appendix B to the 50th percentile male, and Appendix C to the 95th percentile male. KW - Air bags KW - Computer aided design KW - Crash injury research KW - Crash types KW - Dummies KW - Impact tests KW - Occupant protection devices KW - Restraint systems KW - Seat belts UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Crashworthiness/Crashworthiness%20Research/811794B.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262536 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493268 AU - Mothers Against Drunk Driving AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Ignition Interlock Institutes: Promoting the Use of Interlocks and Improvements to Interlock Programs PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 120p AB - Under a cooperative agreement with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) held a series of ignition interlock institutes across the United States between August 2009 and October 2012. The institutes were designed to bring together teams of people from different States representing various organizations and agencies who are involved with some component of their States’ ignition interlock program system. The purpose of the institutes was to promote increased use of ignition interlocks in each participating State and to identify improvements to strengthen its interlock programs. MADD’s report summarizes common barriers, State barriers, and potential solutions. KW - Alcohol ignition interlock devices KW - Drunk driving KW - Evaluation KW - Legislation KW - United States UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811815.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262530 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493220 AU - Harris, John R AU - Evans, Larry R AU - MacIsaac, James D AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Evaluation of Laboratory Tire Tread and Sidewall Strength (Plunger Energy) Test Methods PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 70p AB - Under the TREAD Act, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was assigned the task of revising and updating the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) for tires. This effort included research to support a possible update or replacement of the tire strength test contained in the FMVSS Nos. 109 and 119. The tire strength test was designed in the 1960s to evaluate the strength of the reinforcing materials in bias-ply tires and their resistance to road hazards. In this test, a steel plunger is forced perpendicular to the tread of a mounted and inflated tire until the tire ruptures (with the resulting air loss), or the plunger is stopped by reaching the rim. The plunger penetration distance and the force test points are then used to calculate an average breaking energy that must exceed the required “minimum breaking energy.” For modern radial tires, which have flexible sidewalls and high-strength steel belt packages, the vast majority of plunger strength tests “bottom-out” on the rim before rupturing the tire. One part of the research consisted of testing passenger and light truck tires to the strength test in FMVSS No. 109 or 119 at standard or low inflation pressures in order to evaluate instances of plunger bottom-out. All 12 tires tested to the standard FMVSS Strength Test conditions reached the required minimum breaking energy before either bottoming-out (67%), or rupturing (33%). Of eight additional tires tested at low pressure, the two lowest-aspect-ratio tires did not reach the required minimum breaking energy level before bottoming-out. Additional testing was conducted with the ASTM F414-06 standard, which allows for repeats of the FMVSS Strength Test at increasing increments of inflation pressure in order to generate more force per unit of penetration (i.e., more rapid accumulation of energy to avoid bottom-out). The six tires tested to ASTM F414-06 also reached the FMVSS minimum breaking energy before either bottoming-out (66.6%), or rupturing (16.6%). Four of those six tires transitioned from bottoming-out to rupturing when increasingly higher inflation pressures were used. Two of three additional tires tested at low starting pressures also transitioned from bottoming-out to rupturing when increasingly higher inflation pressures were used. One tire that had exceeded the FMVSS minimum breaking energy requirements at 30 psi test pressure, ruptured below the FMVSS requirement at 38 psi, indicating that extrapolations of energy levels at lower pressures may not always be predictive of a test at a higher pressure. Six passenger tire models were also tested using an experimental sidewall bruise/strength test and generated statistically different levels of bruise width, penetration, and rupture force between 1-, 2-, and 3-ply sidewall tires. KW - Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards KW - Performance tests KW - Strength of materials KW - Test procedures KW - Tire sidewalls KW - Tire treads KW - Tires KW - Vehicle safety UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Vehicle%20Research%20&%20Test%20Center%20(VRTC)/ca/Tires/811797.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1260429 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493219 AU - Snyder, Andrew AU - Martin, John AU - Forkenbrock, Garrick AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Evaluation of CIB System Susceptibility to Non-Threatening Driving Scenarios on the Test Track PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 78p AB - The objectives of the research described in this report were twofold: evaluate whether crash imminent braking (CIB) false positives can be consistently observed on the test track using maneuvers representative of real-world driving scenarios, and to assess the practicality of accurately and repeatably performing these maneuvers. To satisfy these objectives, five later model light vehicles were evaluated using eight test maneuvers performed at two test speeds. Six of the scenarios were identified during CIB research conducted by the Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership (CAMP) Crash-Imminent Braking Consortium. The remaining scenarios originated from an ISO 22839 draft that provides recommendations for test methods and requirements necessary for validating forward collision warning (FCW) and CIB system performance. Generally speaking, CIB false positives were not consistently observed on the test track. Of the eight maneuvers used in this study, only “Object in Roadway – Steel Trench Plate” tests produced CIB false positives, and only for one vehicle (although they were present during each test trial for this vehicle). Whether the corresponding reduction in vehicle speed would create a real-world safety problem is not known. FCW alerts always preceded the CIB activations for this vehicle. Three maneuvers produced FCW alerts but no CIB false activations: the Stationary Vehicle at Curve Entrance, Stationary Roadside Vehicles, and Decelerating Vehicle in an Adjacent Lane (Curve) scenarios. Alert frequency varied considerably by vehicle and maneuver; some vehicles consistently issued alerts while others did not respond at all. Four maneuvers failed to elicit either FCW or CIB activation: The Decelerating Vehicle in an Adjacent Lane (Straight), Driving Under an Overhead Bridge, Objects in Roadway – Botts’ Dots, and Stationary Vehicle at Curve Exit scenarios. With regards to practicality, the only maneuver found to produce CIB false positives, the Object in Roadway – Steel Trench Plate scenario, was very straightforward to perform. The large plate used for the tests was easily procured, and was simply positioned on the test surface. Maintaining vehicle speed during test conduct was performed consistently by the driver without issue. Test repeatability was excellent. Incorporating this maneuver into an objective procedure intended to evaluate CIB false positive activations on the test track would be feasible. KW - Active safety systems KW - Automatic braking KW - Crash avoidance systems KW - Performance KW - Rear end crashes KW - Reliability KW - Test tracks KW - Vehicle safety UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Vehicle%20Research%20&%20Test%20Center%20(VRTC)/ca/Crash%20Avoidance%20Publications/811795.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1260430 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493218 AU - Zagorski, Scott B AU - Hoover, Richard L AU - Dunn, Ashley L AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Class 8 Straight Truck and Class 7 School Bus, Brake Performance Improvement Study PY - 2013/07 SP - 72p AB - A Class 7 school bus and Class 8 straight truck were tested by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Vehicle Research and Test Center (VRTC) to evaluate relative braking performance and stability levels of various high-output foundation brake configurations. An abbreviated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 121 test sequence was conducted, with additional tests being performed for research purposes. Each vehicle was tested with three brake configurations: (1) standard S-cam drums (baseline) on all wheel positions; (2) hybrid – Air-disc brakes on the steer axle and S-cam drums on the drive axles; and 3) air disc brakes on all wheel positions. The vehicles were tested at two load conditions, a Lightly Loaded Vehicle Weight (LLVW) and Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR). Each vehicle-brake-load combination met the current FMVSS No. 121 standard service brake stops on a dry surface from 60 mph. At LLVW, both vehicles exhibited reductions in stopping distance when the S-cam brakes were replaced with either hybrid or all disc configuration brakes, but the difference between the two change types was negligible at this load. However at GVWR, the benefits of disc brakes at all wheel positions were clearly seen. The disc brake configuration showed shorter stopping distances of 20 and 22 percent for the straight truck and the bus, respectively, where the hybrid brake configurations only produced stopping distances that were 10 percent shorter than S-cam brakes for both trucks. For brake-in-a-curve tests, adding higher output brakes made little change in stability on the low-μ surface. After meeting the target speeds, each configuration was subjected to additional limit handling tests (for research) to identify the boundary of stability. Each brake performed well above 82 percent lateral acceleration performance quotient (LAPQ). These results are similar to those found in previous VRTC studies for tractors. Stability stops were performed on a laterally split friction coefficient surface from 30 mph. Higher output brakes improved stopping performance without any change in stability. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) revealed that, regardless of the vehicle-load-test direction combination, brake caused the primary differences in stopping distance. With same-size chambers, the discs produced higher output force for parking brake drawbar tests. The SAE J1729, "Parking Brake Drawbar Pull Test Procedure - Commercial Vehicle” produced higher margins of compliance than the NHTSA FMVSS No. 121 procedure. Failed systems tests confirmed stability was maintained in unbalanced brake tests. Experimental stops from increased entry speeds of 60, 70, and 75 mph showed no degradation in handling or stability. At GVWR, the S-cam configuration showed greater loss in stopping ability, as speed increased, than the hybrid or disc. KW - Brakes KW - Braking performance KW - Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards KW - Performance tests KW - School buses KW - Stopping distances KW - Truck tractors KW - Vehicle safety UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Vehicle%20Research%20&%20Test%20Center%20(VRTC)/ca/811790.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1260432 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493200 AU - Vavrik, William R AU - Evans, Lynn D AU - Stefanski, Joseph A AU - Sargand, Shad AU - Applied Research Associates, Incorporated AU - Ohio Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - PCR Evaluation – Considering Transition from Manual to Semi-Automated Pavement Distress Collection and Analysis PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 237p AB - This study is designed to assist the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) in determining whether transitioning from manual to state-of the-practice semi-automated pavement distress data collection is feasible and recommended. Statistical and numerical comparisons are detailed between the pavement distresses, severities, and extents determined for 44 representative test sites by ODOT raters and those provided by three participating vendors. In response to the moderate to low initial distress (72 percent), severity (33 percent) and overall (14 percent) correlations, detailed methods for correlation improvement are provided. These methods are based on extensive interactions with ODOT pavement condition raters and participating vendors. Evaluations of system implementation costs and productivity rates offer supplemental information critical to ODOTs implementation decisions. Surveys of six vendors and 18 State agencies reveal the systems, processes, and experiences of those who provide and use automated methods for pavement distress data collection. Based on this information, recommendations for implementation activities, pavement management adjustments, procurement specifications, and equipment specifications are included. KW - Condition surveys KW - Data collection KW - Data quality KW - Implementation KW - Measuring methods KW - Ohio Department of Transportation KW - Pavement condition rating KW - Pavement distress KW - State of the practice KW - Structural health monitoring UR - http://worldcat.org/arcviewer/7/OHI/2014/02/25/H1393345070680/viewer/file1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1260427 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493139 AU - Kamga, Camille AU - Miller, Benjamin AU - Spertus, Juliette AU - Douglass, Lisa AU - Ross, Brian AU - Eickemeyer, Penny AU - University Transportation Research Center AU - New York State Energy Research and Development Authority AU - New York State Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - A Study Of The Feasibility Of Pneumatic Transport Of Municipal Solid Waste And Recyclables In Manhattan Using Existing Transportation Infrastructure PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 121p AB - This study explored possibilities for using existing transportation infrastructure for the cost-effective installation of pneumatic waste-collection technology in Manhattan. If shown to be economically and operationally feasible, reducing the number of trucks used on the island’s densely encumbered streets could offer significant environmental, public-health, and quality-of-life benefits. Two cases were considered: 1) installing a pneumatic pipeline under the High Line Park (a retrofitted former elevated railroad) to collect waste from the Chelsea Market retail/office/hotel complex along with waste from the Park and adjacent buildings; and 2) installing pipelines in the space being excavated below Second Avenue for the construction of the Second Avenue Subway, in order to collect waste from residential, commercial, and hospital buildings, and from litter bins along a stretch of Second Avenue and in the subway station beneath it. Both design concepts were determined to be physically and operationally feasible and to offer significant quality-of-life benefits. Relative to conventional manual collection, the pneumatic systems would reduce energy use by 60% and greenhouse gas emissions by more than half. Direct operating costs for the proposed pneumatic installations, including the container dray from the pneumatic terminal to the transfer station, would be 30% less than those for conventional manual/truck collection in the two cases. But due to high initial capital costs, overall costs, including debt service, would be 55% higher in the High Line case and 30% higher in the Second Avenue Subway case. On a Net Present Value (NPV) basis, the cost of the pneumatic systems would be between 3.3 and 6.6 times greater than for conventional collection (for the Second Avenue Subway and High Line respectively). NPV costs would be equalized, however, if there were externality benefits on the order of $300,000 to $400,000 per year (respectively), using conservative assumptions. Given the space savings and other public-health and quality-of-life benefits associated with pneumatic systems--and the monetized value of decreased carbon emissions and energy use--externality benefits of this order of magnitude would appear to be likely. KW - Benefits KW - Cost effectiveness KW - Energy consumption KW - Feasibility analysis KW - Greenhouse gases KW - Manhattan (New York, New York) KW - Operating costs KW - Pipelines KW - Pneumatic capsule pipelines KW - Public health KW - Quality of life KW - Solid waste disposal UR - http://www.utrc2.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pneumatic-waste-manhattan-report-Final_0.pdf UR - https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/trans-r-and-d-repository/C-10-21%20Final%20Report%2007-11-13.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262825 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493138 AU - Kamga, Camille AU - Miller, Benjamin AU - Spertus, Juliette AU - Douglass, Lisa AU - Ross, Brian AU - Eickemeyer, Penny AU - University Transportation Research Center AU - New York State Energy Research and Development Authority AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Eliminating Trucks On Roosevelt Island For The Collection Of Wastes PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 146p AB - This study examined alternatives for improving the efficiency of the pneumatic system that has been used for collecting residential municipal solid waste on Roosevelt Island, New York since 1975. Alternatives included a basic equipment upgrade; expansion to include separate recyclables streams (metal/glass/plastic; paper); and a further expansion of the system to include commercial and litter-bin waste. These three scenarios (plus the No-Action alternative, representing a continuation of the status-quo system) were compared to conventional truck collection. The No-Action alternative produced the greatest adverse economic and environmental impacts. Compared to conventional collection, all of the pneumatic scenarios offered advantages in terms of service frequency and reliability, labor and space requirements, and quality-of-life benefits. Because containers of pneumatically collected waste need to be drayed from the terminal to a transfer station or processing facility, some truck miles are still required. The simple equipment upgrade would generate 15% more truck miles than the conventional alternative, but when recyclables are included, overall truck miles would be reduced by 10%, and when commercial and litter-bin waste is included, by 70%, while diesel fuel use for the three pneumatic scenarios would decline by 10 to 90%. Since reductions in diesel fuel require increased use of electricity, and since the pneumatic scenarios collect 8 times more often, overall energy demand for these expanded systems would increase by 25% to 70% relative to manual collection. Likewise, greenhouse gas emissions for pneumatic collection would be up to twice as high as for conventional collection. Since up to 90% of the energy demand for pneumatic systems may be supplied by electricity rather than diesel fuel, electricity generated by low-carbon sources could reduce these greenhouse gas emissions. These pneumatic scenarios cost 10 to 25% less to operate, including the truck dray of containers from the pneumatic terminal to the long-haul transfer station, but when debt service for capital investments is included, overall operating costs for the pneumatic alternatives are 40 to 90% higher than for conventional collection. On a Net Present Value basis, this difference could be equalized if annual externality benefits on the order of $255,000 to $1,140,000 were realized. Given the value of potential savings by waste-generators (in space and labor costs) and of potentially monetizable public benefits (public-health and quality-of-life improvements), the pneumatic alternatives may achieve these levels of benefits. KW - Benefits KW - Energy consumption KW - Greenhouse gases KW - Modernization KW - Operating costs KW - Pipelines KW - Pneumatic capsule pipelines KW - Public health KW - Quality of life KW - Roosevelt Island (New York, New York) KW - Solid waste disposal UR - http://www.utrc2.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pneumatic-waste-roosevelt-island-report-Final.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262826 ER - TY - JOUR AN - 01492373 JO - Public Roads PB - Federal Highway Administration AU - Thompson, Jen TI - North Carolina Steps Boldly Out of Its Comfort Zone PY - 2013/07 VL - 77 IS - 1 SP - 26-31 AB - Due to heavy congestion on the interstates around Charlotte, North Carolina, the city has designed three projects to alleviate the gridlock. The beltway, I-485, surrounding Charlotte needed to be completed to link I-85 and I-77, the interchange connecting the beltway and I-85 needed to be completed, and the lanes on I-85 from Charlotte to Cabarrus County needed to be expanded. The funds available were inadequate for the needed improvements, so planners developed as three-pronged, innovative effort. The North Carolina Department of Transportation planned to build all three projects concurrently, with an accelerated start date in 2010 instead of the initial planned start date of 2015. Among the improvements were a turbine interchange design, which was the first one built in North Carolina. Its construction offered cost savings, easier construction, easier maintenance, and better sight distance for drivers. More than six miles of I-85 were expanded from four lanes to eight. An addition of a superstreet intersection would reduce conflict points, minimize travel time, and increase safety. All three projects are set to finish around 2015, the time the projects were initially slated to begin. KW - Beltways KW - Charlotte (North Carolina) KW - Construction projects KW - Financing KW - Improvements KW - Interchanges KW - Interstate 77 KW - Interstate 85 KW - North Carolina Department of Transportation KW - Traffic congestion UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/13julaug/04.cfm UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1260531 ER - TY - JOUR AN - 01492372 JO - Public Roads PB - Federal Highway Administration AU - Bergeron, Kathleen TI - Implementing Innovations PY - 2013/07 VL - 77 IS - 1 SP - pp 10-15 AB - The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) introduced the Every Day Counts (EDC) initiative in 2010 as a new approach to developing transportation improvements. The FHWA now formally asks for suggestions from the transportation community and promotes a number of innovations. The FHWA runs summits to highlight these innovations to transportation agencies and other stakeholders, which helps agencies pick the innovations that will be beneficial to them. It is important to reach the right audience at state and local Departments of Transportation (DOTs). The State Transportation Innovation Councils (STICs) were formed to encourage innovation and cooperation at state and local levels and to bring together representatives from all levels of the highway transportation community to collaborate. Each STIC is co-chaired by a senior official from both the FHWA division office and the state DOT. Members include representatives from metropolitan planning organizations, county engineers, city public works departments, local transit and tollway authorities, state historical preservation offices, and departments of agriculture, among others. Each state runs its STIC based on its own needs. This article examines the operations and innovations of STICs in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Wisconsin, each of which shows that STICs have proven to be a useful tool in coordinating efforts toward innovations and new approaches in the transportation system at all levels. KW - Cooperation KW - Councils of government KW - Department of Transportation KW - Every Day Counts KW - Improvements KW - Innovation KW - New Mexico KW - Oklahoma KW - Operations KW - Pennsylvania KW - State government KW - U.S. Federal Highway Administration KW - Wisconsin UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/13julaug/02.cfm UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1260367 ER - TY - JOUR AN - 01492371 JO - Public Roads PB - Federal Highway Administration AU - McCarthy, James AU - Bared, Joe AU - Zhang, Wei AU - Doctor, Mark TI - Design at the Crossroads PY - 2013/07 VL - 77 IS - 1 SP - pp 2-9 AB - Congestion on the roads has increased dramatically over the years and is continuing to do so. Busy intersections slow down drivers and pedestrians. Today's traffic volume and travel demands lead to safety issues which standard intersections are unequipped to handle. In 2010, the Federal Highway Administration published a report on alternative designs for intersections and interchanges. Since then, the alternatives in the report have been used in building new intersections and interchanges across the country. Among the popular designs being implemented are diverging diamond interchanges, displaced left-turn intersections, and restricted crossing U-turn. The new designs are saving time for travelers and lowering the likelihood of crashes. This article examines several of the alternative intersection designs, with case studies from Henderson, NV; West Valley City, UT; Minnesota; and Fairfield, OH. KW - Case studies KW - Fairfield (Ohio) KW - Highway design KW - Highway safety KW - Interchanges and intersections KW - Minnesota KW - Nevada KW - Reports KW - Traffic congestion KW - U.S. Federal Highway Administration KW - West Valley City (Utah) UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/13julaug/01.cfm UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1260366 ER - TY - JOUR AN - 01492370 JO - Public Roads PB - Federal Highway Administration AU - Vásconez, Kimberly C TI - Successfully Managing Traffic Incidents is No Accident PY - 2013/07 VL - 77 IS - 1 SP - pp 32-39 AB - The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is improving multidisciplinary responses to traffic incidents. It is dangerous for public safety responders and support teams removing vehicles from highways after traffic collisions, and incidents cost billions each year due to congestion-related costs and impacts on local economies. The FHWA coordinates a national program to support the safe and quick clearance of incidents, known as traffic incident management (TIM). TIM involves the detection and verification of incidents, response and clearance, and restoration of traffic flow. Incident response requires a variety of disciplines, including law enforcement, firefighting, and emergency medical services, among others, which requires collaborative planning and operations to reduce the traffic incident's duration, as well as any safety risks and congestion the incident may cause. Using established best practices and a unified command structure can protect responders, victims, and other motorists. The FHWA aims to continue improving the management of traffic incidents, and its ten-year goals include reduced or eliminated injuries and fatalities among both responders and motorists, rapid clearance of incidents, and the adoption of TIM as a core mission for all state and local responders and departments of transportation. KW - Cooperation KW - Crashes KW - Emergency medical services KW - Firefighters KW - Highway traffic control KW - Incident management KW - Law enforcement personnel KW - Traffic congestion KW - Traffic incidents KW - U.S. Federal Highway Administration UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/13julaug/05.cfm UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1260535 ER - TY - JOUR AN - 01492368 JO - Public Roads PB - Federal Highway Administration AU - Weingroff, Richard F TI - Busting the Trust PY - 2013/07 VL - 77 IS - 1 SP - pp 16-25 AB - The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973 has reached its fortieth anniversary. The legislation, signed by President Richard Nixon on August 13, 1973, authorized three years of funds for highway and safety categories and increased funding for the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA). In honor of this anniversary, this article looks back at the social, economic, and environmental factors that made it possible. An earlier act, the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, had caused a great deal of controversy due to residents and businesses losing their homes, neighborhoods and stores to the development of the interstates. There were protests throughout the 1960s. Many transit supporters fought to divert funding to transit projects. In the 1960s, only minor aid was provided for transit. The first major Federal investment in mass transit was the Urban Mass Transportation Assistance Act of 1970. In the early 1970s, the country faced an energy crisis, with gas shortages, long lines at service stations, and a national dialogue on how to cut the country’s oil consumption. One of the methods was through increased public transit, which the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973 made happen. KW - Anniversaries KW - Energy consumption KW - Federal Aid Highway Act KW - Government funding KW - History KW - Interstate highways KW - Legislation KW - Public transit KW - U.S. Urban Mass Transportation Administration UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/13julaug/03.cfm UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1260460 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01492328 AU - Shuler, Scott AU - Colorado State University, Fort Collins AU - Colorado Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Performance of Chip Seals Using Local and Minimally Processed Aggregates for Preservation of Low Traffic Volume Roadways PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 96p AB - This report documents the performance of two low traffic volume experimental chip seals constructed using locally available, minimally processed sand and gravel aggregates after four winters of service. The projects were constructed by Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) maintenance personnel during the summer of 2009 using two sources of aggregate. These aggregates consisted of locally available products representing 1) materials routinely utilized and 2) materials that were marginal with respect to aggregate gradation and crushing requirements. An objective of this work was to evaluate the feasibility and cost/benefit of using aggregates in chip seals of lower quality than normally used with respect to gradation on low volume roadways. Because the cost of transporting high quality aggregates from front range sand and gravel and quarry locations to the eastern regions of Colorado is high and much of the pavement preservation activities in eastern Colorado are on low volume roadways, utilizing locally available aggregates would provide economic benefits if acceptable performance were demonstrated. After four winters and three summers service both experimental chip seals are performing well. Condition surveys of each pavement were conducted after each winter and summer to document pavement condition. Results indicate that pavement distress is in the form of longitudinal and transverse cracking and localized flushing due to non-uniform asphalt emulsion application during construction. Based on results from the last condition survey, both test pavements should perform acceptably for the next several years assuming no significant change in traffic levels. No significant differences were measured in performance for any of the evaluation sections. It appears that locally available, minimally processed aggregates can be successfully applied as chip seal aggregate on low volume roadways. KW - Aggregate gradation KW - Aggregates KW - Benefit cost analysis KW - Chip seals KW - Colorado KW - Condition surveys KW - Local materials KW - Low volume roads KW - Marginal aggregates KW - Pavement performance UR - http://www.coloradodot.info/programs/research/pdfs/2013/aggregates.pdf/at_download/file UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261354 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01492327 AU - Anderson, Keith W AU - Sexton, Tim AU - Uhlmeyer, Jeff S AU - Russell, Mark AU - Weston, Jim AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Concrete Pavement Noise PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 28p AB - On-Board Sound Intensity (OBSI) measurements are reported for various concrete pavement textures including transverse and longitudinal tining, carpet drag, conventional diamond grinding and Next Generation Concrete Surface. The noise levels increased on most of the textures to levels in the 104 to 108 dBA range. The cause of the increased noise levels was attributed to the wear on the pavements from studded tires. KW - Carpet drag KW - Concrete pavements KW - Diamond grinding KW - On Board Sound Intensity KW - Pavement grooving KW - Sound level KW - Studded tires KW - Texture KW - Tire/pavement noise UR - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/814.1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261353 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491539 AU - Edwards, Christopher AU - Morris, Nichole AU - Manser, Michael AU - University of Minnesota, Minneapolis AU - Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - A Pilot Study on Mitigating Run-Off-Road Crashes PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 69p AB - Run off the road crashes account for approximately 50% of motor vehicle related fatalities on a national and on a state level. To address this unacceptably high rate of fatalities this pilot project first sought to identify the primary factors associated with run off the road crashes and identify limitations and shortcomings of existing countermeasures. This was accomplished through the development of a taxonomy that summarized existing engineering related and human factors related literature according to infrastructure, environment, and driver related factors that have been found to be most associated with run off the road crash-related fatalities. Based on the taxonomy results a new potentially useful countermeasure was identified that consisted of a haptic and auditory feedback. The pilot project then sought to develop and then evaluate a series of prototype countermeasure systems based on haptic and auditory feedback presented either individually or in parallel. The primary results of the driving environment simulator study in which participants drove through a series of realistic worlds experiencing the countermeasures in response to lane departure events found that the presentation of multiple countermeasure systems can provide increased user satisfaction but can also increase driver response times to critical situations. Secondary results of the study suggest that the haptic countermeasures can provide additional information to drivers but that it may not be interpreted by drivers as expected by designers. KW - Countermeasures KW - Crash causes KW - Fatalities KW - Pilot studies KW - Ran off road crashes KW - Simulation KW - Tactile perception KW - Taxonomy KW - Warning systems UR - http://www.cts.umn.edu/Publications/ResearchReports/pdfdownload.pl?id=2312 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258812 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491526 AU - Zhang, Fan AU - Chen, Chou-Lin AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - NASS-CDS: Sample Design and Weights PY - 2013/07//Technical Report SP - 19p AB - The National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) is a nationwide motor vehicle crash data collection program operated by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA) at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The purpose of NASS is to produce statistics on national motor vehicle crashes and to provide a database for the development and the evaluation of motor vehicle and highway safety standards. See Web page www.nhtsa.gov/NASS for an overview of NASS. NASS consists of two subsystems: the General Estimates System (GES) and the Crashworthiness Data System (CDS) – both probability sample surveys of police-reported motor vehicle traffic crashes across the country providing national estimates on crash, vehicle, and occupant characteristics. The purpose of this document is to explain how CDS weights are developed from its sample design. Section II is about CDS target population, section III gives a description of CDS sample design, and section IV discusses the weight calculation procedure in CDS. KW - Crash data KW - Data collection KW - Methodology KW - National Automotive Sampling System - Crashworthiness Data System KW - Sampling KW - Statistics KW - Surveys KW - Traffic crashes KW - Weighting UR - http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811807.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258829 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491512 AU - Liu, Riu AU - University of Colorado, Denver AU - Colorado Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Recycled Tires as Coarse Aggregate in Concrete Pavement Mixtures PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 47p AB - The reuse potential of tire chips as coarse aggregates in pavement concrete was examined in this research by investigating the effects of low- and high-volume tire chips on fresh and hardened concrete properties. One concrete control mixture was designed, which well exceeds California Department of Transportation (CDOT) Class P concrete requirements. The coarse aggregate component of the mixture was replaced in 100%, 50%, 30%, 20%, and 10% by volume using tire chips. The fresh concrete properties, compressive strength, flexural strength, splitting strength, permeability, and freeze/thaw durability were tested in the lab to evaluate the potential of including tire chips in concrete paving mixes. The testing results indicate tire chips can be used to replace coarse aggregate in concrete pavement mixtures. Two mixtures with 10% coarse aggregate replaced by tire chips had the best performance. The workability was comparable to the control mixture, and the air content reached 6%. At 28 days of age, the average compressive strength of the two mixtures was significantly less than the control but still exceeded CDOT’s specification of 4200 psi; the averaged flexural and splitting tensile strengths were higher than 900 psi and 590 psi respectively. In addition, the two mixtures exhibited moderate resistance to chloride-ion penetration at 28 days of age and high freeze/thaw durability. The rubberized mixtures investigated in this study sustained a much higher deformation than the control mixture when subjected to compressive, flexural, and splitting loadings. KW - Admixtures KW - Coarse aggregates KW - Compressive strength KW - Concrete pavements KW - Flexural strength KW - Freeze thaw durability KW - Paving KW - Permeability KW - Recycled materials KW - Tire chips KW - Tires UR - http://www.coloradodot.info/programs/research/pdfs/2013/rubberconcrete.pdf/at_download/file UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258830 ER - TY - SER AN - 01491461 JO - TechBrief PB - Federal Highway Administration AU - Nicks, Jennifer AU - Adams, Mike AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Friction Angles of Open-Graded Aggregates From Large-Scale Direct Shear Testing PY - 2013/07 SP - 8p AB - State and local transportation agencies frequently use open-graded aggregates for wall, roadway, and bridge construction. The primary advantages of using this type of material in wall and abutment applications are ease of constructability, lighter in-place density than well-graded materials, very low fine content, free-draining characteristics, and simpler quality assurance testing, using a method specification for field density. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) classifies open-graded aggregates according to the M43 gradation based on standard sizes for processed aggregates. Despite common use of these aggregates, their strength characteristics have not been systematically measured or used in design. Instead, engineers frequently use a default friction angle of 34,º leading to potential conservatism in retaining wall and foundation design. The primary purpose of this TechBrief is to present research results on the strength properties of standard open aggregates tested in a large-scale direct shear (LSDS) device to improve the state of practice for the design of structures using these materials. KW - American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials KW - Dilation KW - Direct shear tests KW - Friction KW - Laboratory tests KW - Open graded aggregates UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/infrastructure/structures/bridge/13068/13068.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259932 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491447 AU - Wu, Jonathan TH AU - Pham, Thang Q AU - Adams, Michael T AU - University of Colorado, Denver AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Composite Behavior of Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Mass PY - 2013/07 SP - 214p AB - This study investigated the composite behavior of a geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) mass. Many studies have been conducted on the behavior of GRS structures; however, the interactive behavior between the soil and geosynthetic reinforcement in a GRS mass has not been fully elucidated. Current design methods consider the reinforcement in a GRS structure as tiebacks and adopt a design concept that the reinforcement strength and reinforcement spacing produce the same effects on the performance of a GRS structure. This has encouraged designers to use stronger reinforcement at a larger spacing to reduce time and effort in construction. A series of large-size generic soil geosynthetic composite (GSGC) tests were designed and conducted to examine the behavior of a GRS mass under well-controlled conditions. The tests clearly demonstrated that reinforcement spacing has a much stronger impact than reinforcement strength on the performance of the GRS mass. An analytical model was established to describe the relative contribution of reinforcement strength and reinforcement spacing. Based on the analytical model, equations were developed to calculate the apparent cohesion of a GRS composite, the ultimate load-carrying capacity of a GRS mass, and the required tensile strength of reinforcement for a prescribed value of spacing. The equations were verified using measured data from the GSGC tests and measured data from large-size experiments by other researchers, as well as by results of the finite element (FE) method of analysis. Due to the popularity of GRS walls with modular block facing, an analytical procedure was developed for predicting the walls’ lateral movement. This procedure also allows the required tensile strength of the reinforcement to be determined by simple calculations. In addition, compaction-induced stresses, which have usually been ignored in design and analysis of GRS structures, were investigated. An analytical model for estimating compaction-induced stresses in a GRS mass was proposed. Preliminary verification of the model was made by using results from the GSGC tests and FE analysis. The dilative behavior of a GRS composite was also examined. The presence of geosynthetic reinforcement has a tendency to suppress dilation of the surrounding soil and reduce the angle of dilation of the soil mass. The dilative behavior offers a new explanation of the reinforcing mechanism, and the angle of dilation may be used to reflect the degree of reinforcing of a GRS mass. KW - Compaction KW - Composite structures KW - Design KW - Dilation KW - Geosynthetics KW - Reinforced soils KW - Reinforcing materials KW - Retaining walls KW - Soils UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/infrastructure/10077/10077.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259931 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491420 AU - Avendano, Alejandro AU - Hovell, Catherine AU - Moore, Andrew AU - Dunkman, David AU - Nakamura, Eisuke AU - Bayrak, Oguzhan AU - Jirsa, James AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Pretensioned Box Beams: Prestress Transfer and Shear Behavior PY - 2013/07//Technical Report SP - 278p AB - Pretensioned concrete box beams have been used in highway bridges for more than half a century. Due to their geometry, they have often been used as a viable alternative to the classic I-shaped girders. Box beams are highly effective in cases where speed of construction is a priority. However, the detailing and design of box beams are more complicated than that of I-shaped girders. The flow of forces at the beam’s end blocks must be understood in order to detail reinforcement adequately. The following were the objectives of this research study: (1) quantify the demands placed on box beam end blocks upon prestress transfer, (2) characterize the demands placed on box beam end blocks upon the application of superimposed loads, (3) evaluate the effects of alternative void geometries at skewed ends of box beams on curing temperatures, (4) based on the knowledge gained, improve the box beam end blocks, (5) test the improved end block under worst case scenario demands at prestress transfer and under extreme loading conditions, and (6) validate currently used shear strength design methodologies in their application to pretensioned box beams. In order to achieve these objectives, an experimental program was conducted. The experimental program included the load testing of ten 4B28 and five 5B40 box beams, for a total of twenty nine load tests. The influence of several factors that distinguish box beam behavior from the better-understood I-shaped girder behavior was studied. Additionally, the experimental program included the fabrication, instrumentation and early-age behavior study of five 5B40 box beams. The first three beams were used to assess the behavior of box beams fabricated with the current Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) standard details (from December 2006). The fourth beam incorporated modifications to the standard reinforcement details based on the observations made through the study of the first three 5B40 box beams. The last specimen corresponded to a new box beam cross section (5XB40) optimized to be used in a spread-box beams configuration. KW - Box beams KW - Bridge design KW - Load tests KW - Prestressed concrete KW - Shear strength KW - Structural analysis KW - Texas UR - http://library.ctr.utexas.edu/ctr-publications/0-5831-3.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257632 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491395 AU - Arrington, Dusty AU - Bligh, Roger P AU - Menges, Wanda L AU - Texas Transportation Institute AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - MASH Test 3-21 on TL-3 Thrie Beam Transition Without Curb PY - 2013/07 SP - 74p AB - This project evaluated the impact performance of a modified Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) thrie beam transition to rigid concrete barrier without a curb element below the transition rail. In a previous test described in TxDOT Research Report 0-4564, a thrie beam transition without curb failed to meet National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350 performance criteria. However, it could not be discerned whether the vehicle instability observed in that test was attributable to the missing curb or the rotation of the thrie beam transition rail into the sloped face of the concrete safety shape rail at the bridge end connection point. KW - AASHTO Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware KW - Guardrail transition sections KW - Guardrails KW - Highway safety KW - Impact tests KW - Median barriers KW - Texas KW - Thrie beams UR - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/9-1002-12-3.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258451 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491387 AU - Bradshaw, Aaron S AU - Davis, Sean AU - University of Rhode Island, Kingston AU - University of Rhode Island Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Assessment of Current AASHTO LRFD Methods for Static Pile Capacity Analysis in Rhode Island Soils PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 39p AB - This report presents an assessment of current American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) load and resistance factor design (LRFD) methods for static pile capacity analysis in Rhode Island soils. Current static capacity methods and associated resistance factors are based on pile load test data in sands and clays. Some regions of Rhode Island including Providence and Narragansett Bay are underlain by very silty soils. Therefore, the use of the AASHTO pile capacity methods is uncertain in these soils, which can have important safety or cost implications. To address this objective, static loading test data were compiled from recent bridge projects within the state. The capacity of the test piles were also predicted using the Nordlund method and SPT method as specified by AASHTO. The measured and predicted capacities were compared to assess both the accuracy and the precision of the methods as well as calibrate preliminary resistance factors. The results showed that capacities of high-displacement piles were overpredicted in the majority of the cases. Gross overpredictions were observed at the Jamestown bridge site. Preliminary resistance factors of 0.20 and 0.42 were calibrated for the Nordlund and SPT methods, respectively, for high-displacement piles driven to glacial till in Providence. KW - AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications KW - Bearing capacity KW - Bridge design KW - Load and resistance factor design KW - Load tests KW - Pile foundations KW - Piles (Supports) KW - Resistance (Mechanics) KW - Rhode Island KW - Silts KW - Silty soils UR - http://131.128.106.203/uritc-org/media/finalreportspdf/S000149.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259152 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491380 AU - Anderson, Keith AU - Uhlmeyer, Jeff S AU - Sexton, Tim AU - Russell, Mark AU - Weston, Jim AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation of Long-Term Pavement Performance and Noise Characteristics of Open-Graded Friction Courses – Project 3 – Final Report PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 76p AB - This report describes the third of three experimental installations of open-graded friction course (OGFC) “quieter pavements” designed to reduce the noise generated at the tire/pavement interface. Experimental sections of OGFC were built using asphalt rubber (AR) and styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) modified asphalt binders. A section of conventional hot mix asphalt (HMA) served as the control section for the two experimental sections. The noise level of the OGFC-AR test section was audibly quieter (3 dBA or greater quieter) than the HMA control section for only a period of ten months after construction. The OGFC-SBS section was audibly quieter than the HMA for one month after construction. The amount of wear/rutting on this project was less than on the other two quieter pavement projects. The reason was that this project was not subject to the same weather and traffic conditions as the other two projects. The other projects were subject to a severe winter storm that resulted in a higher use of studded tires and chains for an extended time period. Pavement condition data showed that the OGFC-AR pavement was less resistant to reflection cracking than the OGFC-SBS pavement. Open graded friction course quieter pavements are not recommended for use in Washington State due to the short duration of their noise mitigation properties. KW - Asphalt rubber KW - Bituminous binders KW - Friction course KW - Hot mix asphalt KW - Open graded aggregates KW - Pavement performance KW - Reflection cracking KW - Rutting KW - Styrene butadiene styrene KW - Test sections KW - Tire/pavement noise KW - Washington (State) UR - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/749.2.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258626 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491315 AU - Vijaykumar, Aishwarya AU - Arambula, Edith AU - Freeman, Thomas J AU - Martin, Amy Epps AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Revision and Further Validation of Surface-Performance Graded Specification for Surface Treatment Binders PY - 2013/07//Technical Report SP - 124p AB - The design and selection of surface treatment binders in service is currently based on specifications that include tests of emulsion residues or hot-applied asphalt cements at standard temperatures that do not cover the entire range of in service temperatures, measure properties that are not performance-related, and do not consider representative aging conditions for the critical first year. Current specifications for these binders consider properties of the material during both construction and in service, and a wide range of materials can be utilized to meet the current specified properties. A surface performance-graded (SPG) specification for the evaluation and selection of chip seal binders which addressed these shortcomings was developed as part of previous Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) research projects. In the current study, the SPG specification was revised and further validated.. This was accomplished by standardizing the emulsion residue recovery method through the evaluation of two warm oven methods, exploring the exclusive use of the dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) for determining performance-related properties, and further field validating the thresholds for these properties. The laboratory and field results were used to revise the SPG specification for surface treatment binders in service. Moreover, the results obtained from the multiple stress creep recovery and DSR frequency sweep tests were compared with field performance to evaluate additional criteria for the specification. This study is limited to producing a revised SPG specification for performance-related properties that address aggregate retention and bleeding in service. The effects of construction and quality control processes are beyond the scope of this study sponsored by TxDOT, and additional specifications are needed for use in conjunction with the SPG specification to address these issues and ensure adequate performance. KW - Bituminous binders KW - Chip seals KW - Field tests KW - Multiple Stress Creep Recovery KW - Oven tests KW - Pavement performance KW - Performance based specifications KW - Rheology KW - Surface treating KW - Texas KW - Validation UR - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6616-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259156 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491307 AU - Mattson, Jeremy AU - Small Urban and Rural Transit Center AU - National Center for Transit Research AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Rural Transit Fact Book 2013 PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 41p AB - The intent of the Rural Transit Fact Book is to serve as a national resource for statistics and information on rural transit in America. This publication includes rural demographic and travel behavior data as well as financial and operating statistics for agencies receiving section 5311 funding. In addition to national level data, statistics are presented by state, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) region, tribe, and mode, as well as other agency characteristics. KW - Demographics KW - Financing KW - Operating costs KW - Public transit KW - Rural transit KW - Statistics KW - Travel behavior KW - Trend (Statistics) KW - United States UR - http://www.surtc.org/transitfactbook/downloads/2013_rural_transit_fact_book.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259776 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491303 AU - Akar, Gulsah AU - Gordon, Steven I AU - Zhang, Yuan AU - Ohio State University, Columbus AU - Ohio Supercomputer Center AU - Ohio Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Linking Land Use, Transportation and Travel Behavior in Ohio PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 124p AB - This study developed a Regional Land Use Allocation Decision Analysis Tool, which enables decision makers to quantify the impacts of population and employment distribution in terms of the resulting vehicle miles traveled (VMT). The study addresses the need for improving our understanding of the links between land use and transportation and provides Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) a user-friendly modeling tool to develop forecasts based on different land use, transportation, and policy scenarios. The Regional Land Use Allocation Decision Analysis Tool developed through this study has two main components: a Land Allocation Component and a Transportation Component. This tool forecasts the impacts of future land use policies in Ohio, based on alternative assumptions of highway and mass transit corridor development, zoning and environmental constraints, regional growth or decline projections, and changes in travel associated with auto trip generation rates and trip distances. KW - Decision support systems KW - Employment KW - Forecasting KW - Land use KW - Ohio KW - Policy KW - Population KW - Travel behavior KW - Travel patterns KW - Trip generation KW - Trip length KW - Vehicle miles of travel UR - http://worldcat.org/oclc/870968264/viewonline UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258627 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491297 AU - Bleckley, M Kathryn AU - Federal Aviation Administration AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - The Self-Description Inventory+, Part 1: Factor Structure and Convergent Validity Analyses PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 22p AB - Each year the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hires approximately 900 new air traffic controller candidates, the majority of whom take the Air Traffic Selection and Training test battery, better known as AT-SAT. This test, developed in 1997, is based on a job/task analysis conducted by Nickels, Bobko, Blair, Sands, & Tartak (1995). The test was developed as separate modules with eight subtest modules included in the current version. One module, the Experience Questionnaire (EQ), measures 12 scales of personality. The current report examines the possibility of replacing the EQ with a Five Factor Model (FFM) measure of personality, the Self-Description Inventory+ (SDI+). This report examines the factor structure of the SDI+ and its convergent validity with the Goldberg Adjective Checklist. The results show that the SDI+ has scales that are intercorrelated in a manner consistent with the FFM (Experiment 1), a factor structure consistent with its design (Experiment 2), and high levels of convergent validity with the Goldberg adjective checklist (Experiment 3). Because it has met the criteria showing it to be an FFM instrument, concurrent validity research will be conducted to determine if the SDI+ has greater predictive utility than the EQ. KW - Air traffic controllers KW - Personality KW - Selection and appointment KW - U.S. Federal Aviation Administration KW - Validity UR - http://www.faa.gov/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/oamtechreports/2010s/media/201313.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257425 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491283 AU - Claassen, Vic AU - Colorado Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation of Soil Resources for Sustained Vegetative Cover of Cut-Slopes Along I-70 near Straight Creek PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 46p AB - Revegetation of high elevation decomposed granite cut-slopes often requires repeated applications of soil amendments to attain sustained vegetative cover. Plant transects from slopes west of the Eisenhower Tunnel from 2007 to 2012 showed that cover was generally stable during this period. Soil fertility tests indicated that nutrients are generally low but still comparable to disturbed-but-revegetated reference plots. Soil organic matter and slow-release forms of nitrogen (N) may be a potential limiting factor. The N release rates of several common Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) soil amendments were evaluated in a multi-year, field incubation experiment. Test results indicate a wide range of N release availability from nearly immediate to fairly slow release rates. Of the slow-release materials, about 74% of total N content was released the first growing season, another 7% in the following two years, while about 19% was still retained in a more stable organic matter form at the end of the experiment. The study suggests that after several applications of slow-release amendments, vegetative cover on these cut-slopes is stabilizing. Slopes that show signs of vegetation thinning should be re-amended promptly with modest amounts of slowly available N. Established stands or sites with more moderate growth conditions may be able to take up much of the available N from larger applications of these slow-release amendments. But on newly seeded sites in high elevation conditions with slow growth potential, the plants may not be large enough to capture N as it is released. An amendment with high carbon such as wood chips or shreds may immobilize excess N by incorporating it into microbial biomass as the mulch degrades. This mulch layer would also help retain organic duff to rebuild the soil. Combinations of existing organic amendments may provide slower, more long-lasting N release. Development of a soil test to specifically measure slowly releasing organic N would improve monitoring and management of erosive slopes. KW - Colorado KW - Embankments KW - Nitrogen KW - Revegetation KW - Soil components KW - Soil stabilization KW - Vegetation UR - http://www.coloradodot.info/programs/research/pdfs/2013/cutslopes.pdf/at_download/file UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257424 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01490552 AU - Wittwer, Ernie AU - Perry, Ernie AU - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) AU - Minnesota Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Northwest Passage Permitting—Phase 3 PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 34p AB - The efficient movement of freight is a key to the economic success of any state, region or nation. Rising transport costs will tend to make products from the region more expensive and less competitive in the national and global markets. This trend can be addressed by adding capacity, a very expensive and long-term solution; improving the management of the highway and rail systems; and by easing the regulatory burden on carriers. Some states have organized themselves into compacts or coalitions to issue permits for these routine loads on a regional basis. While permitting is one of the issues often raised by truckers as a costly and frustrating process, a number of concerns over exactly how individual state rules can be harmonized to facilitate regional permitting must be resolved before multi-state agreements can be put into place. To better understand the nature of regional permitting processes, existing compacts or agreements must be reviewed and their rules, processes and administrative procedures documented. In addition, members of those compacts must be interviewed to measure their perceptions of the costs and benefits entailed in regional agreements. KW - Freight transportation KW - Interstate compacts KW - Motor carriers KW - Northwest Passage KW - Oversize loads KW - Overweight loads KW - Permits KW - States UR - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/CFIRE-06-02-Final-Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258472 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01490320 AU - Bassett, Ellen AU - Tremoulet, Andree AU - Moe, Allison AU - Portland State University AU - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Relocation of Homeless People from ODOT Rights-of-Way PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 176p AB - This research project consists of an investigation of responses to homeless encampments on rights-of-way owned by Departments of Transportation (DOTs). While DOTs are not housing or social service agencies, their role as major public landowners involves them in dealing with the consequences of homelessness. The research goals included analyzing the prevalence of the problem, documenting how DOTs are responding, and culling from this data information that could be used as a basis for creating a best practices guide. The research included a single mixed-methods, in-depth case study, electronic surveys of practitioners and follow-up interviews. Products consist of two reports (included as appendices to this document): A Case Study of the Baldock Rest Area and Homeless Encampments on Public Right-of-Way: A Planning and Best Practices Guide. KW - Homeless persons KW - Households KW - Oregon KW - Relocation KW - Right of way (Land) KW - Roadside rest areas KW - Social welfare KW - State departments of transportation UR - http://otrec.us/main/document.php?doc_id=1307 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258450 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01490197 AU - Holian, Matthew J AU - Kahn, Matthew E AU - San Jose State University AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - California Voting and Suburbanization Patterns: Implications for Transit Policy PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 112p AB - Public transit is an environmentally friendly transportation mode that usually focuses on transporting people within and to the city center. However, over the last 60 years, population and employment has been suburbanizing. As the median voter lives further from the city center, and thus enjoys fewer benefits from accessing public transit, does this reduce such a voter’s propensity to support public investment in public transit improvements? We analyze voting patterns on 20 transit-related ballot propositions from state-wide elections in California between 1990 and 2010. Controlling for demographic, socioeconomic and political ideological factors, we focus on the role of suburbanization as a possible causal factor in determining public support for public transit investment. The results provide a rich picture of the attitudes towards transportation policy among California voters, and will help policy makers to better understand citizen preferences and to better predict how future trends will shift support towards or against transit. Finally, we suggest ways policy makers can use urban land markets to increase support for transit. KW - California KW - Demographics KW - Finance KW - Land use KW - Public opinion KW - Public transit KW - Socioeconomic factors KW - Statistical analysis KW - Suburbs KW - Urban transportation policy UR - http://transweb.sjsu.edu/PDFs/research/1105-California-Voting-Suburbanization-Patterns-Implications-for-Transit-Policy.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256971 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01490184 AU - Haas, Peter J AU - Fabish, Lisa AU - Mineta Transportation Institute AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Measuring the Performance of Livability Programs PY - 2013/07//Final Report AB - This report analyzes the performance measurement processes adopted by five large “livability” programs throughout the United States. The report entails a comprehensive literature review of the current research on performance measurement methods from the perspective of various stakeholders including the public and government agencies. Additionally, the results of this literature review are used to examine the actual performance measures of the target programs from the perspective of different stakeholders. The analysis revealed that programs commonly measure sources and uses of funds, volume of development activity, changes in land value, and jobs created. While some programs characterize the development activity based on livability criteria (e.g., percent affordable) most programs do not capture all of their customers’ livability goals in their development activity statistics. Beyond these commonalities, factors reported across programs are very diverse. KW - Best practices KW - Customer satisfaction KW - Literature reviews KW - Metrics (Quantitative assessment) KW - Metropolitan planning organizations KW - Performance measurement KW - Program management KW - Quality of life UR - http://transweb.sjsu.edu/PDFs/research/1126-livability-program-performance-measurement.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257348 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01490006 AU - Joslin, Ann AU - Morris, William P AU - National Center for Transit Research AU - Florida Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Ridership Impacts of South Florida’s EASY Smart Card PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 105p AB - Smart card-based Automated Fare Collection Systems (AFCS) are being increasingly deployed in transit systems across the US. Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) has recently deployed such a system branded as the EASY Card. The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) also deployed the same system for Tri-Rail. The technology provides a stored value electronic purse or the choice of various period passes, and in that respect is similar to smart card systems in other US cities. The EASY Card system will be used as a case study to document some of the issues related to the ridership and customer behavior aspects related to fare policy when smart card systems are introduced. Given the benefits of such AFCS in terms of reduced fare evasion, cash handling fraud, transfer abuse and increased customer convenience, it is likely that other transit systems in Florida will deploy such systems in future years. KW - Behavior KW - Fare collection KW - Public transit KW - Ridership KW - Smart cards KW - South Florida KW - South Florida Regional Transportation Authority KW - Transit riders UR - http://www.fdot.gov/research/Completed_Proj/Summary_PTO/FDOT-BDK85-977-42-rpt.pdf UR - http://www.nctr.usf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/77946.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259537 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01489994 AU - Chaunsali, Piyush AU - Lim, Seungmin AU - Mondal, Paramita AU - Foutch, Douglas AU - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - Illinois Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Bridge Decks: Mitigation of Cracking and Increased Durability PY - 2013/07//Research Report SP - 102p AB - This report discusses the application of expansive cements (Type K and Type G) and shrinkage-reducing admixtures (SRAs) in reducing the cracking due to drying shrinkage. The Type K expansive cement contained portland cement and calcium sulfoaluminate-based component whereas the Type G expansive system was made of portland cement and calcium oxide (CaO)-based component. The restrained expansion test in accordance with ASTM C 878 demonstrated that Type K and Type G concretes had minimal shrinkage at the end of 100 days. The Type K bridge deck model also exhibited a reduction in tensile strain on the order of 40-50 microstrains and reduction in excess shrinkage potential which showed its effectiveness in reducing the tensile stress due to drying shrinkage. The effect of mineral admixtures on expansion characteristics of Type K and Type G system is also discussed. The effectiveness of SRA was assessed using ASTM C 1581 that clearly showed the delay in cracking time due to addition of an SRA. The increase in SRA dosage reduced the drying shrinkage, but also resulted in reduction of compressive strength. KW - Admixtures KW - Bridge decks KW - Compressive strength KW - Cracking KW - Durability KW - Expansive cement KW - Shrinkage KW - Tension UR - https://apps.ict.illinois.edu/projects/getfile.asp?id=3099 UR - https://apps.ict.illinois.edu/projects/getfile.asp?id=4980 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257346 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01489971 AU - Levi, S AU - De Leonardis, D M AU - Antin, J AU - Angel, L AU - Westat AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Identifying Countermeasure Strategies to Increase Safety of Older Pedestrians PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 52p AB - The increase in the older population as well as its increased frailty has led the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to conduct research initiatives examining the safety and mobility of older adults. Although older adults are struck less frequently than children, they are more likely to die after being struck due to frailty or physical complications. With that in mind, NHTSA is interested in developing effective countermeasure strategies that can be strategically targeted towards the prevention and mitigation of crashes involving older pedestrians. The objective of this project was to identify appropriate countermeasures that will reduce older pedestrians’ exposure to injuries and fatal crashes. This involved exploring countermeasures within the area of transportation as well as in other fields such as public health and education with the intention of identifying strategies that can be implemented to increase older pedestrian safety. Additionally, experts in the fields of aging, occupational therapy, transportation safety, traffic engineering, aging and ophthalmology, gerontology, and older pedestrian safety were contacted. These individuals provided contextual information to help explain the dynamics behind older adults’ involvement in pedestrian crashes as well as insights into what strategies might be effective in communicating with older adults to effect change in their walking behavior. This background research was intended to identify strategies used in disseminating information to older populations as well as strategies used to effect change in the behavior of older adults. This report is a review of key literature from the public health, education, and transportation fields that may provide insights on how to develop future programs targeting older pedestrians. KW - Aged KW - Countermeasures KW - Fatalities KW - Mobility KW - Pedestrian safety KW - Pedestrian-vehicle crashes KW - Pedestrians KW - Traffic safety KW - Walking UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811798.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258456 ER - TY - SER AN - 01489966 JO - Traffic Safety Facts - Crash Stats PB - National Center for Statistics and Analysis TI - Seat Belt Use in 2012—Use Rates in the States and Territories PY - 2013/07 SP - 2p AB - In 2012, seat belt use in the United States ranged from 66.5% in South Dakota to 96.9% in Washington. These results are from probability-based observational surveys conducted by 50 States, the District of Columbia, and U.S. Territories. These surveys are conducted in accordance with criteria established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to ensure reliable results. Compliance with the criteria is verified annually by NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis.This report provides data on seat belt use in the states, U.S. territories, and nationwide from 2005 to 2012. KW - Seat belt usage KW - Seat belts KW - States KW - Surveys KW - Trend (Statistics) KW - United States KW - United States Territories UR - http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811809.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257344 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01489951 AU - Breck, Andrew AU - Daddio, David AU - Linthicum, Alex AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - National Park Service TI - NPS National Transit Inventory, 2012 PY - 2013/07//Final Report AB - This document summarizes key highlights from the National Park Service (NPS) 2012 National Transit Inventory, and presents data for NPS transit systems system-wide. The document discusses statistics related to ridership, business models, fleet characteristics, funding sources, and other categories. Key findings include: 36.3 million total passenger boardings in 2012; 66% of NPS transit systems operate under concession contracts; and, 12 NPS transit systems are operated by a local transit agency; 66% (175/264) of NPS-owned vehicles operate on alternative fuel. The inventory will be reported annually. KW - Business models KW - Financing KW - Inventory KW - National Park Service KW - Public transit KW - Ridership KW - Statistics KW - Vehicle fleets UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/47000/47800/47871/NPS_WASO_2013_Transit_Inventory.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257639 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01489513 AU - Qin, Xiao AU - Cutler, Chase E AU - South Dakota State University, Brookings AU - Mountain-Plains Consortium AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Review of Road User Costs and Methods PY - 2013/07 SP - 134p AB - The South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) uses road user costs (RUC) to calculate incentive or disincentive compensation for contractors, quantify project-specific liquidated damages, select the ideal sequencing of a project, and forecast the long-term effects new construction will have on the traveling public. The current RUC calculations were initially set in 1996 by research project SD1995-07 Criteria and Guidelines for Innovative Contracting; they have undergone little updating aside from unit cost values. Since the last research project, the two offices (Project Development and Operations Support) that depend on RUC have updated these values to keep up with inflation, but have done so independently. Currently, they use different worksheets with similar fields, but the values used to calculate RUC are substantially different. Maintaining the most up-to-date RUC is extremely important to SDDOT, as underestimation of RUC results in increased costs to the traveling public, while overestimation results in the SDDOT overpaying on incentives for early completion of construction projects. Obtaining proper RUC also helps to justify the deployment of new technologies that can accelerate the construction process for pavement and bridges and strengthen the economic competitiveness of SD in the region. Calculated RUC in South Dakota are currently much lower than those of surrounding states, in part due to infrequent updates. As a result, South Dakota construction projects may be given a lower priority compared with projects managed by the same contractor in surrounding states that have greater incentive/disincentive values. The subsequent impacts to South Dakota road users include extended construction periods, prolonged traveler delays, compromised safety, and inconvenience. The study covered in this report was undertaken to address the following two main objectives: Develop a methodology to calculate RUC specific to South Dakota; and Develop an RUC worksheet and instructions for updating it. In this study, the current RUC methodology and associated unit costs were evaluated and changes were implemented to the methodology to allow for a more complete analysis that aligns with the needs of each department and their use of RUC. The methodology was used to construct a worksheet that allows users to calculate the RUC for both stages of project construction for which it is currently being calculated. KW - Calculation KW - Costs KW - Disincentives KW - Externalities KW - Incentives KW - Road construction KW - South Dakota KW - Travelers KW - Unit costs UR - http://www.mountain-plains.org/pubs/pdf/MPC13-254.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258449 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01489508 AU - Stevanovic, Aleksandar AU - Martin, Peter T AU - Zlatkovic, Milan AU - University of Utah, Salt Lake City AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Evaluation of Transit Signal Priority Strategies for Bus Rapid Transit Project on 3500 South Street in Salt Lake County, UT PY - 2013/07 SP - 43p AB - Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is becoming one of the most popular transit services in the United States. BRT is a viable option for many cities and can offer commuters travel times comparable to those experienced in private cars. With about 100 miles of BRT service scheduled for deployment in future years, Utah Transit Authority (UTA) for the first time is facing questions related to BRT service. How will the service interact with private traffic? Will passengers accept unfamiliar features of the new service? The authors looked at the new BRT deployment in West Valley City, Salt Lake County, UT. Lacking BRT operational data from the field, but with a need to estimate operational challenges before the actual implementation, they used estimates generated from a microsimulation model. In addition, a series of surveys were conducted to gain feedback from the users of the BRT system. Results from the microsimulation runs show that the new BRT line leads to significant improvements of transit operations, with reductions of close to 20% in travel times and 40% in dwell times. An additional transit signal priority (TSP) feature is estimated to reduce travel times another 15%. The results showed that TSP has minor negative impact on side-street traffic and no impact or minor positive impact on main traffic. Results from the surveys show a high degree of acceptance of the new MAX buses among passengers and drivers. In short, the first BRT system in Utah can be qualified as another success story for the BRT systems in the United States. KW - Acceptance KW - Bus rapid transit KW - Customer satisfaction KW - Microsimulation KW - Salt Lake County (Utah) KW - Traffic signal priority KW - Travel time UR - http://www.mountain-plains.org/pubs/pdf/MPC09-213C.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258458 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01489296 AU - Chu, Xuehao AU - National Center for Transit Research AU - Florida Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - A Tool for Assessing the Economic Impact of Spending on Public Transit PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 82p AB - In this project, an Excel-based template tool was developed for transit agencies, local governments, and other stakeholders of public transit to estimate the economic impacts of spending on public transit. Features include the following: (1) Uses input-output multipliers from the Regional Input-Output Modeling System (RIMS II) (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis) to capture the direct, indirect, and induced effects of spending on public transit in terms of gross output (sales), value added (regional gross domestic product, GDP), labor earnings, and jobs (person-years of full- and parttime employment) for any study area consisting of one or more spatially-contiguous counties. (2) Explicitly considers whether spending originated from funds inside or outside the study area, whether spending was made inside or outside the study area, whether funds originated from borrowing, whether spending was for land acquisition, and the effect of full employment on estimated job impacts. (3) Is designed for estimating the economic impacts of spending on transit primarily on existing service or on service expansion in an area that already has transit service; is applicable, with caution, to new transit services for areas that do not already have transit service. (4) Use of the tool for any study area requires several type II final-demand multipliers from RIMS II and the following data specific to the study area: total spending for operations and maintenance, capital spending by project category, sources of funds for the spending, and geographic destinations of the spending; most of the required spending data for existing services can be derived from the National Transit Database. (5) Presents the results separately for capital projects, operations and maintenance, and total spending; also presents results in terms of total impacts and unit impacts per dollar spent. (6) Provides estimates of net economic impacts that may be considered as being created by the spending on transit and would not exist without the public transit service and related spending, and estimates of gross economic impacts that may be considered as being supported by the spending on transit. This report discusses methodological factors, describes the tool and its use, and presents applications of the tool to Central Florida counties with urban public transit service. KW - Capital expenditures KW - Central Florida KW - Economic impacts KW - Expenditures KW - National Transit Database KW - Public transit KW - Regional Input-Output Modeling System (RIMS II) UR - http://www.fdot.gov/research/Completed_Proj/Summary_PTO/FDOT-BDK85-977-36-rpt.pdf UR - http://www.nctr.usf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/77941.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257423 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01488476 AU - Punwani, S K AU - Sharma & Associates AU - Federal Railroad Administration TI - Market Analysis: Validation of a 70-Ton Higher Speed Freight Truck Design for Operations Up To 125 MPH PY - 2013/07 SP - 56p AB - A market analysis was conducted on behalf of Rederal Railroad Administration (FRA) to determine the viability for implementation of higher speed freight rail service in anticipation of high-speed passenger rail service on upgraded freight rail corridors. The analysis focused on the potential need for higher speed freight service in planned higher speed passenger rail corridors and other channels. The market analysis revealed additional unforeseen revenue potential for freight railroads in the form of dedicated train sets like refrigerator car trains, long distance produce shipments, and overnight city pairs, among others. The potential additional rail revenue from higher speed freight that has been identified for freight railroads could exceed $4.6 billion annually. It is projected that that amount would add approximately $460 million to the freight railroads’ annual profit stream. Additionally, there is at least some percentage of another potential $28 billion annual market in long distance road transportation that could be converted to rail, if it included higher speed freight service. KW - Economic analysis KW - Freight service KW - Freight trains KW - Heavy duty trucks KW - High speed rail KW - High speed vehicles KW - Revenues KW - Trucks UR - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/3274 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257081 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487886 AU - Figliozzi, Miguel AU - Monsere, Christopher AU - Slavin, Courtney AU - Albright, Eric AU - Feng, Wei AU - Moore, Adam AU - Portland State University AU - Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Evaluation of the Performance of the Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (SCATS) on Powell Boulevard in Portland, OR PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 84p AB - The Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (SCATS) is used to mitigate traffic congestion along urban arterial corridors. Although there has been research on SCATS’ performance, this report combines three different areas of research about SCATS that are not known to be represented in any research literature. These include: (a) the relationship between SCATS, traffic volumes, and Transit Signal Priority (TSP); (b) between TSP and traffic conditions; and (c) the correlation between signal timing and air quality; in particular, human exposure to the air pollutant PM2.5 at intersections. In addition, this research looked at the key factors affecting transit user exposure to traffic-related pollutants at bus shelters. All areas of study present the results of statistical tests and regressions to determine SCATS or traffic variables impacts. SCATS did show statistically significant improvements regarding traffic speeds at one minor intersection, even when traffic volumes showed a statistically significant improvement. At a major intersection, results were mixed and not conclusive. Overall, it was determined that the improvements available through SCATS vary depending on the time of day and the direction of travel. TSP was not negatively affected by SCATS. In controlling for both priority and traffic conditions, each were shown to have a distinguished and significant impact on bus travel time. Non-priority signals had a much greater impact on travel time than priority signals (11.0 and 0.6 seconds for the corridor model, respectively). In controlling for both priority and traffic conditions, each were shown to have a distinguished and significant impact on travel time. Utilizing a regression model, results in an intuitive ranking of the intersections’ delay was produced; major intersections with high traffic volumes on crossing streets are likely to not experience TSP benefits. To a high degree, this research has shown that pedestrian exposure can be considered as an outcome of traffic-signal timing decisions made by cities and counties. The statistical results have shown the high impact that signal timing and queuing have on pedestrian level exposure. Heavy vehicle volume was a significant variable as well as the presence of buses. The reduction of bus idling time through more efficient operations and transit-signal priority is likely to reduce pedestrian and transit users’ pollution exposure levels. Longer green times along the main corridor are able to significantly reduce particulate matter for transit users and pedestrians waiting at the sidewalk of the intersection, whereas time allocated to cross the street increases queuing and exposure along the main corridor. The impact of heavy-duty diesel engines is also clear. The reduction of bus idling time through more efficient operations and transit-signal priority is likely to reduce pedestrian and transit users’ pollution exposure levels. Transit agencies can also reduce pollution significantly by improving the efficiency and cleanliness of their engines. TriMet (the local transit agency) initiatives to improve fuel efficiency by installing EMP engine-cooling devices not only improve fuel efficiency, but also air quality. Finally, significant reductions in transit users’ exposure to traffic-related pollution can be made at bus stops by properly orienting the shelter and by reducing bus idling. KW - Air quality KW - Bus priority KW - Bus transit KW - Portland (Oregon) KW - Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System KW - Traffic flow KW - Traffic signal preemption KW - Traffic signal timing KW - Traffic volume KW - Travel time UR - http://otrec.us/main/document.php?doc_id=1297 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256676 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487846 AU - Walubita, Lubinda F AU - Hoeffner, Jacob AU - Scullion, Tom AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute, College Station AU - University of Texas, San Antonio AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - New Generation Mix-Designs: Laboratory-Field Testing and Modifications to Texas HMA Mix-Design Procedures PY - 2013/07//Technical Report SP - 126p AB - Recent changes to the Texas hot mix asphalt (HMA) mix-design procedures such as adaption of the higher-stiffer performance grade asphalt-binder grades and the Hamburg test have ensured that the mixes that are routinely used on the Texas highways are not prone to rutting. However, performance concerns have been raised with these HMA mixes that are now drier, more difficult to compact, and more susceptible to premature cracking. This is particularly problematic with the dense-graded mixes (Type C and D) that are widely used throughout the state of Texas. Therefore, there has been a great need to either: (1) modify the existing Texas HMA mix-design criteria and/or to include new simpler cracking test procedures; or (2) develop new mix-design methods that will optimize HMA field performance, particularly with respect to cracking. As a means toward addressing these issues, this report provides documentation of a 4-year research study that included the following major tasks: a) comparative evaluation of the Texas gyratory and balanced mix design (BMD) methods; b) development and evaluation of numerous HMA mix designs including reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) mixes, c) extensive laboratory test including Hamburg rutting and Overlay Tester crack evaluations; d) accelerated pavement testing and performance evaluation; e) field testing and performance monitoring of in-service highway test sections. Based on the study findings and as documented herein, recommendations for updates and modifications to the Texas HMA mix-design methods were made. Additionally, new guidelines and specifications were also developed for new generation HMA mix-design procedures. Overall, the BMD method that is rutting-cracking performance based exhibited superiority over the traditional Texas gyratory mix-design method, particularly in terms of HMA mix constructability and cracking performance. KW - Accelerated tests KW - Field tests KW - Hot mix asphalt KW - Laboratory tests KW - Mix design KW - Pavement cracking KW - Pavement performance KW - Recycled materials KW - Rutting KW - Test sections KW - Texas KW - Workability UR - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6132-3.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256672 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487843 AU - Mukhopadhyay, Anal K AU - Pitre, Brandon AU - Russell, Andrew AU - Arambula, Edith AU - Estakhri, Cindy AU - Deng, Youjun AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Treatments for Clays in Aggregates Used to Produce Cement Concrete, Bituminous Materials, and Chip Seals: Technical Report PY - 2013/07//Technical Report SP - 190p AB - The clay contamination of coarse and fine aggregates and its effects on pavement performance of portland cement concrete, bituminous mixes and chip seals is a major concern for Texas Department of Transportation. This research proposed (1) to determine what type and concentration of clay mineral will result in poor pavement performance, (2) to identify a quick field test method to detect the presence of deleterious clay minerals in the stockpile, and (3) to suggest remedial techniques to make the clay contaminated aggregates acceptable for use. The modified methylene blue (MMB) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) tests were identified as the most promising methods to identify and quantify clay mineral in aggregate fines. Nearly thirty aggregate sources have been tested using the MMB test. XRD was used to determine the content of different clay minerals present in these samples. A strong positive correlation between expansive clay content and methylene blue value (MBV) was evident which clearly indicates that the MMB test is the most reliable and rapid test method to detect clay minerals in aggregate fines. XRD is an advance research tool which was used to validate the MMB test. The correlation between MBV and concrete performance testing (both portland cement concrete (PCC) and hot mix asphalt (HMA)) became the basis to assign a threshold MBV (corresponds to the maximum permissible clay content within the aggregate fines) and categorize aggregates fines with different ranges of MBV. A high MBV indicate increased potential for diminished aggregate performance in asphalt, concrete, and other construction applications. The Methylene Blue Test is sensitive to clays which contribute to stripping in HMA and could be used to eliminate problematic field sand sources. It appears that HMA is more robust and can tolerate higher amounts of clay contamination than PCC, mainly because water is not present in HMA. Although the bar linear shrinkage and sand equivalent tests give good repeatability in the results, these tests fail to provide consistent and accurate indications of clay minerals present in aggregate fines. Based on MMB test, materials that are failed by the current specifications (e.g., aggregate fines with clay size non-clay mineral particles) can be allowed, which promotes sustainability and saves money. Therefore, type and concentration of clay minerals present in aggregate fines are very important aspects in relation to pavement performance. The guidelines for controlled use of aggregate fines with varying level of clay contamination have been developed and further research / implementation plan has been proposed. KW - Aggregates KW - Bituminous mixtures KW - Chip seals KW - Clay minerals KW - Field tests KW - Hot mix asphalt KW - Pavement performance KW - Portland cement concrete KW - Test procedures KW - Texas UR - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6444-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256673 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487832 AU - Walubita, Lubinda F AU - Scullion, Tom AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - University of Texas, San Antonio AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - New Generation HMA Mix Designs: Accelerated Pavement Testing of a Type C Mix with the ALF Machine PY - 2013/07//Technical Report SP - 70p AB - Recent changes to the Texas hot-mix asphalt (HMA) mix-design procedures,such as the adaption of the higher-stiffer performance-grade asphalt-binder grades and the Hamburg test, have ensured that the mixes that are routinely used on Texas highways are not prone to rutting. However, performance concerns have been raised with these HMA mixes, which are now drier, more difficult to compact, and more susceptible to premature cracking. This is particularly problematic with the dense-graded mixes (Type C and D) that are widely used throughout the state of Texas. Several new ideas have been under consideration to either: (a) modify the existing HMA mix-design criteria and/or include new and simpler cracking test procedures, or (b) develop new generation HMA mix-design methods that will optimize HMA field performance, particularly with respect to cracking. In this study, two HMA mix-design methods, namely the traditional Texas gyratory (TG) and the proposed balanced mix design (BMD) were comparatively evaluated in the laboratory and then validated in the field using accelerated pavement testing (APT) with the accelerated loading facility in Louisiana. A typical Texas dense-graded Type C mix, designed using both the TG (herein called the Control) and the BMD (herein called the Modified) methods, was utilized. This report provides a detailed documentation of the laboratory and field APT test results of the Type C mix, both the Control and Modified designs, respectively. Compared to the traditional TG method, the study findings indicated that the proposed BMD method yields a richer HMA mix design with higher asphalt-binder content and superior crack resistance and constructability (workability and compactability) properties, respectively. KW - Accelerated tests KW - Dense graded aggregates KW - Field tests KW - Hot mix asphalt KW - Laboratory tests KW - Louisiana Accelerated Loading Facility KW - Mix design KW - Pavement cracking KW - Pavement performance KW - Texas KW - Workability UR - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6132-2.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256658 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487831 AU - Newcomb, David AU - Lenz, Russel AU - Estakhri, Cindy AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation of the Texas Tier System for Seal Coat Binder Specification PY - 2013/07//Technical Report SP - 36p AB - The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) instituted a change in their seal coat binder specification in 2010 which allowed districts to select multiple binders within specified traffic levels or tiers for the purposes of allowing contractors to bid the work with the most economical binder available to them. Known as the tier system, it is estimated that this approach has saved TxDOT over $33 million in the 2.5 years that it has been used. While this savings is substantial, it was recognized that refinements to the tier system were needed to address specific performance problems. This research project was initiated to poll TxDOT district personnel, contractors, and chip seal binder suppliers to ascertain how the tier system was working, what modifications could be made to improve performance, and what other issues needed to be addressed. Although the tier system is generally working as intended, there are opportunities for improvement. These include an expanded education effort for all levels of TxDOT personnel involved in chip seal construction, changing traffic requirements to reflect cumulative and truck characteristics, keeping the tier system for district wide chip seal programs, updating the current chip seal manual, developing standards for pavement preparation ahead of sealing, allowing more flexibility for selecting binders for individual projects, developing generic chip seal binder specifications, removing aggregate requirements from the current tier system, initiate research into the development of a good winter binder, and initiate research into the development and application of seal coat test methods. KW - Bituminous binders KW - Chip seals KW - Contractors KW - Materials selection KW - Pavement maintenance KW - Seal coats KW - Specifications KW - Texas Department of Transportation UR - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6798-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256675 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487827 AU - Beaty, Curtis AU - Burris, Mark AU - Geiselbrecht, Tina AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Executive Report: Toll Roads, Toll Rates, and Driver Behavior PY - 2013/07//Technical Report SP - 14p AB - State and federal research has examined toll roads and attempted to identify methods to make toll roads a more attractive option for drivers. Researchers examined various views of toll road transactions and concluded: (1) Truckers and trucking companies view toll roads significantly differently than the average passenger car driver. Travel time savings and avoiding congestion are generally less important than the actual cost of the tolls and their inability to pass those costs to their customers. (2) Drivers require more information on toll roads: where they are located, how/where to access them, how to pay for the toll transaction, how much time they will save by taking a toll road versus a free alternative, who operates a given toll road, etc. (3) Raising toll rates actually increases revenue while lowering toll rates increases traffic volumes at the expense of toll revenues. KW - Automobile drivers KW - Behavior KW - Rates, fares and tolls KW - Revenues KW - Texas KW - Toll roads KW - Tolls KW - Truck drivers UR - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6737-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256674 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01486998 AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Congestion Pricing Experiments and the Effects on Driver Choices PY - 2013/07 SP - 2p AB - When and why drivers choose a tolled facility versus an untolled but congested parallel route is the subject of a 3-year project funded by the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Exploratory Advanced Research (EAR) Program, in partnership with the University of Central Florida (UCF) and Georgia State University (GSU). This study used experimental economics to observe choices with precise monetary incentives. The participant pool was drawn from drivers in Orlando, Florida, and Atlanta, Georgia. Participants received travel options with travel time and financial consequences. The overall objective of the study is to understand why drivers change their route choices when tolls change. A particular focus is the extent to which responses differ depending on varying preferences and perceptions of travel times and travel time reliability. Many of the instruments and procedures used in this study represent new methods of generating behavioral data on policy issues. KW - Atlanta (Georgia) KW - Automobile drivers KW - Congestion pricing KW - Orlando (Florida) KW - Route choice KW - Toll roads KW - Tolls KW - Travel behavior KW - Travel time UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/advancedresearch/pubs/congestion/white_congestion_pricing.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256541 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01486904 AU - Tischmak, Dale AU - Felsburg Holt & Ullevig AU - Colorado Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Investigation into Effective Traffic Noise Abatement Design Solutions for Mountain Corridors PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 118p AB - Traffic noise abatement in mountain corridors can be difficult because traditional roadside barriers may be ineffective due to topography or may not fit the setting. This study examined current best practices from around the world to gather concepts for mitigating traffic noise in mountain corridors in Colorado. A literature review of prospective noise abatement actions found that noise barriers are the most effective direct noise abatement measure, although quieter pavements could have an important supporting role. The literature review was followed by computerized traffic noise modeling of promising candidate barrier concepts. Several noise barriers were evaluated through modeling at two areas along the I-70 corridor using the Nord2000 Road prediction method. Each of the barriers was found to be effective in some or many situations; the largest, most imposing barrier (galleries) showed the most potential for reducing traffic noise at locations above the elevation of the highway. Continued use of noise barriers as a primary abatement mechanism was recommended. Consideration of quieter default pavement types was recommended to lower general traffic noise levels in support of environmental stewardship goals. Several implementation steps were suggested as potential future implementation steps. Update CDOT’s noise technical guidance to include these findings. Build off previous CDOT efforts with context-sensitive solutions by beginning to define what it will mean in terms of noise abatement. Additional analysis tools may be needed beyond TNM. Noise barrier concepts and materials that are new to CDOT may need to be implemented for future projects. Build off previous CDOT research to investigate potential benefits from quieter standard pavement types. CDOT should continue to monitor new developments for improved noise abatement solutions. KW - Colorado KW - Mountain roads KW - Noise KW - Noise barriers KW - Noise control KW - Pavement design KW - Traffic noise KW - Traffic Noise Model UR - http://www.coloradodot.info/programs/research/pdfs/2013/mountain.pdf/at_download/file UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256467 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01486894 AU - Mallela, Jagannath AU - Titus-Glover, Leslie AU - Sadasivam, Suri AU - Bhattacharya, Biplab AU - Darter, Michael AU - Von Quintus, Harold AU - Applied Research Associates, Incorporated AU - Colorado Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Implementation of the AASHTO Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide for Colorado PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 209p AB - The objective of this project was to integrate the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide, Interim Edition: A Manual of Practice and its accompanying software into the daily pavement design, evaluation, rehabilitation, management, and forensic analysis practices and operations of the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). The Pavement ME Design software (formerly DARWin-ME) is a state-of-the-practice analysis tool for evaluating new, reconstructed, and rehabilitated flexible, rigid, and semi-rigid pavement structures based on mechanistic-empirical principles. Using project specific traffic, climate, and materials data, Pavement ME Design estimates and accumulates pavement damage and other forms of deterioration over a specified design/analysis period and then applied transfer functions to transform damage/deterioration into distress and smoothness. The pavement designer then determines the adequacy of a desired pavement section by evaluating predicted distress and smoothness at a given reliability level at the end of the design period. As a forensic analysis tool, Pavement ME Design can be used to model a pavement structure, simulate the combined effect of application of traffic load and climate cycles, and determine the performance (or lack of) for a specified time period. The implementation of Pavement ME Design as a CDOT standard required modifications in some aspects of CDOT pavement design practices (materials testing, testing equipment, traffic data reporting, software/database integration, development of statewide defaults for key inputs, policy regarding design output interpretation, and others). Also, implementation required validation (and sometimes calibration) of the software’s “global” pavement distress and smoothness prediction models for Colorado conditions. This was accomplished using data from Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) projects located in Colorado and CDOT pavement management system sections. Default key data inputs were also developed, as was guidance for using the Pavement ME Design procedure for pavement design in Colorado. KW - Colorado KW - Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide KW - Pavement design KW - Pavement distress KW - Pavement performance KW - Rehabilitation (Maintenance) KW - Rigid pavements KW - Smoothness UR - http://www.coloradodot.info/programs/research/pdfs/2013/mepdg.pdf/at_download/file UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256466 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01486887 AU - Kiousis, Panos D AU - Whitcomb, Brent L AU - Colorado School of Mines AU - Colorado Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Self-Consolidating Concrete Repairs on Interstate 25 Bridge Abutments North of Mead PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 21p AB - In August of 2011 CDOT performed maintenance on Interstate 25 bridges D-17-DA and DB on I-25 north of Mead, CO. The maintenance was performed using self-consolidating concrete (SCC), and the methods were based on a study performed by the Colorado School of Mines under contract number 09 HTD 00027, and published in a CDOT 2007 report titled “Study on the Use of Self-Consolidating Concrete for the Repair of the Mead Bridges on I-25.” The concrete abutments at the Mead Bridges on I-25 deteriorated in recent years due to unexpected freeway embankment movements. In many places the concrete had spalled off and exposed the steel reinforcement. The north abutments were especially affected by the embankment progressive movement towards the bridge. This movement forced the abutment against the steel girders, and progressed to the point where the abutment cover was crushed and the girders came in direct contact with the abutment reinforcement. It also resulted in buckling of the concrete deck, which was lifted off of the girders, resulting in a gap between the deck and the girders. To mitigate the problems described above, CDOT decided to “lock” the girders to the abutments with the use of SCC. The intent to use SCC was based on the need to have a flowable, yet stable concrete that could encapsulate the ends of the steel girders and the space in between them, without leaving voids at the interface of the new concrete and the existing deck slab, and without the need to vibrate the new concrete during placement. To achieve these goals, a high flowability concrete was designed with the intent of placing it through a number of holes at the deck within the encased area. One year after completion of the repair, inspections of the abutments were made in order to verify the performance of the repair after a full cycle of seasonal temperature changes. The inspection found that the concrete placed around the girders is performing as intended. No significant cracking or other indications of concrete failure were seen. The long-term performance of the repair is yet to be determined, but the inspection after one year of seasonal thermal cycles has not revealed any detriments to the concrete or steel girders. It is recommended that the long-term behavior of the repair concrete, steel girders, deck, and abutment movements be monitored in order to ascertain that no problems arise. KW - Bridge abutments KW - Bridge decks KW - Colorado KW - Girders KW - Rehabilitation (Maintenance) KW - Reinforcing steel KW - Repairing KW - Self compacting concrete UR - http://www.coloradodot.info/programs/research/pdfs/2013/mead.pdf/at_download/file UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256468 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01486859 AU - Ballard, Zachoriah J AU - Durham, Stephan AU - Liu, Rui AU - University of Colorado, Denver AU - Colorado Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Developing Criteria for Performance-Based Concrete Specifications PY - 2013/07//Final Report SP - 75p AB - For more than 50 years now, concrete technology has advanced, but CDOT specifications for durability have remained mostly unchanged. The minimum cement content for a given strength is derived from mix design guidelines that were developed before water reducing admixtures were widely used and accepted. The minimum cement content generally controls the mix design process, with many mix designs exceeding the minimum strength requirements by 500 to 1,000 psi. Ready mix suppliers that supply to non-CDOT projects have developed mix designs that use less cement and more fly ash than CDOT mix designs and exceeded their strengths. They are able to accomplish this improvement through gradation optimization and admixture combinations. The proposed study tested current CDOT standard mix designs to determine minimum required performance criteria that will be used to develop performance-based concrete mix design criteria. The product of this research will provide the CDOT Materials and Geotechnical Branch with criteria that can be used in the development of performance-based concrete mix design specifications. The use of performance-based specifications would allow ready mixed concrete suppliers to optimize the materials used in creating mix designs. This materials optimization can lower cement content and increase fly ash content that would lead to reduction of costs and concrete carbon footprints in CDOT construction projects. KW - Admixtures KW - Cement content KW - Concrete KW - Fly ash KW - Mix design KW - Specifications UR - http://www.coloradodot.info/programs/research/pdfs/2013/performance.pdf/at_download/file UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256465 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01526368 AU - Macias, Thomas AU - Williams, Kristin AU - University of Vermont, Burlington AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - The Social Drivers of Conservation: Social Capital, Environmental Concern and Transportation PY - 2013/06/30 SP - 29p AB - What kinds of personal ties to organizations, community and family would be most strongly associated with pro-environmental behavior, especially within the realm of transportation? What role do participation in community activities and organizations play in motivating people to engage in carpooling, rideshare programs and other environmentally beneficial activities which might not themselves generate an immediate material payback or benefit for individuals? In this paper, the authors propose that the work on social capital provides novel insights into the constraints and opportunities shaping individual environmental and transportation behavior. Specifically, the interest is why – given their interactions with friends, family and neighbors – people opt to make changes in transportation and other environmental-friendly behavior. KW - Behavior KW - Conservation KW - Environment KW - Mode choice KW - Motivation KW - Social factors KW - Travel behavior UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51800/51813/13-006-04APR2014.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1309815 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516467 AU - Liu, Tieming AU - Collins, Terry AU - Hong, Yang (Eric) AU - Vogel, Jason AU - Yu, Hongbo AU - Zhu, Lan AU - Oklahoma State University, Stillwater AU - Oklahoma Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Decision Support System for Road Closures in Flash Flood Emergencies PY - 2013/06/30/Final Report SP - 41p AB - Among all the natural hazards, flash flood ranks as the number 1 weather-related killer in United States. More than half of the deaths in flash flood are due to drowning victims in a traffic environment. So road closure is critical to save lives from flash floods. Unfortunately, the current static roadside Turn Around Don’t Drown (TADD) signs simply could not draw enough attention from travelers. In this project, the authors develop a novel decision support system (DSS) to predict the roads in threats, remotely turn on TADD Red flash lights to close the roads to dangerous sections in flash flood emergencies. The DSS will help Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) and Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM) to make prompt and effective decisions to mitigate the risk of flash flood. KW - Decision support systems KW - Disaster preparedness KW - Flash floods KW - Floods KW - Oklahoma KW - Street closure KW - Warning signs UR - http://www.oktc.org/otc/files/finalReports/OTCREOS11.1-41-F.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1300098 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493366 AU - Sage, Jeremy AU - Casavant, Ken AU - Goodchild, Anne AU - McCormack, Ed AU - Wang, Zun AU - McMullen, B Starr AU - Holder, Daniel AU - Washington State University, Pullman AU - University of Washington, Seattle AU - Oregon State University, Corvallis AU - Washington State Transportation Center AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Development of a Freight Benefit/Cost Methodology for Project Planning PY - 2013/06/30/Research Report SP - 152p AB - Future reauthorizations of the federal transportation bill will require a comprehensive and quantitative analysis of the freight benefits of proposed freight system projects. To prioritize public investments in freight systems and to insure consideration of the contribution of freight to the overall system performance, states and regions need an improved method to analyze freight benefits associated with proposed highway and truck intermodal improvements that would lead to enhanced trade and sustainable economic growth, improved safety and environmental quality, and goods delivery in Washington State. This project develops a process to address this need by building on previous and ongoing research by some project team members with the goal of developing an agency-friendly, data-supported framework to prioritize public investments for freight systems in Washington and Oregon. The project integrates two ongoing Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) funded efforts: one to create methods to calculate the value of truck and truck-intermodal infrastructure projects and the other to collect truck probe data from commercial global positioning system (GPS) devices to create a statewide Freight Performance Measures (FPM) program. This integration informs the development of a framework that allows public agencies to quantify freight investment benefits in specific areas such as major freight corridors and across borders. KW - Benefit cost analysis KW - Economic impacts KW - Freight traffic KW - Freight transportation KW - Global Positioning System KW - Investments KW - Oregon KW - Performance measurement KW - Strategic planning KW - Travel time KW - Washington (State) UR - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/815.1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261615 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487083 AU - Eppstein, Margaret J AU - Rizzo, Donna M AU - Marshall, Jeffrey S AU - UVM Transportation Center AU - University of Vermont, Burlington AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Multi-Scale Model of the U.S. Transportation Energy Market for Policy Assessment PY - 2013/06/30 SP - 21p AB - While studies based on past data trends for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and other fuel-efficient vehicles provide relevant insight, they are of limited applicability for estimating consumer response to the very different conditions associated with current-day adoption of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) technology. The plug-in technology offers new challenges to market penetration, and environmental attitudes and awareness are also very different than in past decades. While awareness of the role of vehicle emissions in global climate change is high in many parts of the world, it is not clear how consumers will weigh a vehicle’s heuristically perceived benefits against rational financial considerations when making a vehicle purchasing decision. The research goals of this project were: to create a model to study potential PHEV market penetration in the personal transportation sector; to assemble data to properly inform the model; to develop methods for efficient up-scaling of model behavior; to use the model to assess the sensitivities of system behavior to various policies and market conditions; and to understand the regulatory regime necessary to support widespread adoption of PHEVs. Various complex systems modeling approaches were used to tackle these goals. To fill identified gaps in the data, the authors designed, conducted, and analyzed an extensive survey on consumer attitudes towards PHEVs using the Amazon Mechanical Turk crowd-sourcing platform. KW - Computer models KW - Consumer preferences KW - Electric vehicles KW - Market assessment KW - Market share KW - Market surveys KW - Plug-in hybrid vehicles KW - Policy KW - United States UR - http://www.uvm.edu/~transctr/research/trc_reports/UVM-TRC-13-004.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256473 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01486976 AU - Aboutaha, Riyad S AU - Jnaid, Fares AU - Sotoud, Sara AU - Tapan, Mucip AU - Syracuse University AU - University Transportation Research Center AU - Federal Highway Administration AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Deteriorated Concrete Bridge Components PY - 2013/06/30/Final Report SP - 194p AB - Corrosion of steel bars in reinforced concrete structures is a major durability problem for bridges constructed in New York State (NYS). The heavy use of deicing salt compounds this problem. Corrosion of steel bars results in loss of steel cross section, deterioration of bond between concrete and reinforcing bars, and more importantly, in most cases, it results in unsymmetrical concrete sections that are susceptible to shear stresses produced by torsion. Though earthquake frequency of occurrence and expected ground accelerations in NYS is less than in western states, the potential for earthquake damage in or around NYS is still very real. Given the level of deterioration in many reinforced concrete bridges in NYS, they are considered very vulnerable to major damage during a moderate seismic event. There is an urgent need for proper guidance for evaluation of deteriorated reinforced concrete bridge components that could assist structural engineers in estimating the reserved strength of deteriorated bridges and designing cost-effective methods for retrofit. Proper evaluation and retrofit of existing deteriorated reinforced concrete bridges will limit the collapse of bridges during moderate seismic events in NYS and the surrounding states, and consequently save people’s lives. The findings of this investigation suggest the need for seismic retrofit of deteriorated reinforced concrete bridge columns, particularly those with corroded lap splice in longitudinal reinforcement. The study also suggests the need for retrofit of corroded pedestals over piers and abutments, as they may cause sudden unseating of girders. KW - Bridge members KW - Columns KW - Corrosion KW - Earthquake resistant design KW - New York (State) KW - Reinforced concrete bridges KW - Retrofitting KW - Structural deterioration and defects UR - http://www.utrc2.org/sites/default/files/pubs/Seismic-Evaluation-Retrofit-of-Deteriorated-Bridges--Riyad-Aboutaha--Final-Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256477 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01605740 AU - Cempel, Erik AU - Hutson, Nathan AU - Ahem, Kelsey AU - Cambridge Systematics, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - How to Improve Performance on Corridors of National Significance PY - 2013/06/28/Final Report SP - 110p AB - The patterns of movement for intercity passenger and freight traffic are influenced not only by population centers and political boundaries but also by corridors. The goal of this project is to study how states can work together to use performance management elements to improve corridor performance in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) goal areas of safety, infrastructure condition, freight movement and economic vitality, and congestion reduction and system reliability. Corridor organizations in different parts of the country may be investigating similar issues and may benefit from cross population of data. A summary of noteworthy practices from among selected coalitions across the country is provided. A key goal of this project involves the incorporation of current information on performance management along with corridor-level planning, management, and operations. The development of a “maturity model” is intended to help agencies gauge how corridor-level planning and monitoring activities within their jurisdiction compare with current national standards as well as the future standards envisioned under MAP-21 for effective interstate corridor performance management. This maturity model is described and tested on two case study coalitions. Finally, an implementation plan contains practical recommendations for agencies on improving and enhancing corridor management activities within their jurisdictions while taking into account each corridor’s unique characteristics and priorities. KW - Best practices KW - Case studies KW - Coalitions KW - Implementation KW - Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) KW - Performance measurement KW - Recommendations KW - Standards KW - States KW - Transportation corridors KW - Transportation planning UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/tpm/resources/corridor/hif13058.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1415851 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01576052 TI - Computer Vision Measurements and Analysis to Support Naturalistic Driving Studies for Road Safety AB - The project is divided into five phases. In Phase 1, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will design a calibration procedure for instrumented vehicles, then acquire and process calibration data from the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2) 24-car study instruments. Phase 2 has two subphases consisting of the investigation of infield camera calibration methods (subphase 1) and the development of baseline Automated Identity Masking (AIM) and Automated Feature Extraction (AFE) modules (subphase 2). In Phase 3, ORNL will test the baseline AIM and AFE modules and create an AIM-effectiveness metric based on biometric and feature extraction similarity. In Phase 4, ORNL will conduct the initial evaluation of PT code with PT assistance. A larger data set from the full SHRP2 Naturalistic Driving Study (SNDS) will be created for blind evaluation of algorithms. In conjunction with this blind test set, ORNL will perform additional calibrations on SNDS vehicles as available and accessible. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory will also create computational load projections for PT algorithms of interest and begin design of a data-sharing architecture. Finally, in Phase 5, ORNL will perform final comparisons and evaluations of PT algorithms. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory will develop a plan for future SNDS feature extraction grand challenges and data analytics challenges in conjunction with a data-sharing architecture. KW - Algorithms KW - Calibration KW - Computer vision KW - Data sharing KW - Highway safety KW - Instrumented vehicles KW - Oak Ridge National Laboratory KW - Strategic Highway Research Program 2 UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/tfhrc/projects/projectsdb/projectdetails.cfm?projectid=FHWA-PROJ-13-0103 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370000 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01560092 AU - Jensen, Mark AU - Schiller, Roger AU - Fayez, Sam AU - Cambridge Systematics, Incorporated AU - Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Los Angeles-Gateway Freight Advanced Traveler Information System: Prototype Development and Small-Scale Demonstrations for FRATIS PY - 2013/06/28 SP - 42p AB - This Demonstration Plan has been prepared to provide guidance and a common definition to all parties of the testing program that will be conducted for the Los Angeles-Gateway Freight Advanced Traveler Information System (LA-Gateway FRATIS) Demonstration Project. More specifically, this document provides: (1) Planning information that identifies all demonstration elements and site information; (2) Experimental information to support the Impacts Assessment (IA) Team that includes demonstration hypotheses, testing protocols, and data elements collected; and (3) Methods for providing data outputs from this project to the IA Team, and to the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Research Data Exchange. KW - Advanced traveler information systems KW - Demonstration projects KW - Evaluation and assessment KW - Freight transportation KW - Gateways KW - Impacts KW - Los Angeles (California) KW - Prototypes UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/54000/54400/54478/Fratis_FHWA-JPO-14-180.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1344663 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01488055 AU - Department of Transportation AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - FAA's Civil Aviation Registry Lacks Information Needed for Aviation Safety and Security Measures PY - 2013/06/27 SP - 22p AB - As part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) safety mission, its Flight Standards Service (AFS) maintains the Civil Aviation Registry to ensure that unqualified aircraft owners and airmen do not receive aircraft registrations or licenses. FAA uses the Registry to process and maintain ownership registrations on 350,000 private and commercial aircraft and records on pilots’ licenses. The Registry, which contains personally identifiable information (PII), also serves as a source of information for other Government agencies, including those responsible for homeland security and investigations of aviation accidents and other incidents. The U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiated this audit because of congressional concerns over aviation safety and the security of the information that FAA maintains in the Registry. OIG's objectives were to determine whether (1) aircraft registrations and pilot certifications include the information needed for FAA to ensure aviation safety, (2) security controls keep the Registry secure from unauthorized access, and (3) contingency plans are sufficient to recover the Registry system in the event of an emergency. Briefly, FAA’s Civil Aviation Registry lacks accurate and complete information needed for aviation safety and security measures. The Registry lacks information on registered aircraft, owners—including non-U.S. citizens—and their compliance with FAA regulations. FAA’s regulations require owners to periodically update or correct the information in their Registry records, but the Agency does not check these re-registrations against the original records to ensure accuracy and regulatory compliance. FAA has not implemented needed security controls over the Registry’s configuration and account management to mitigate the risk of unauthorized access to PII. FAA maintains it is not responsible for information voluntarily submitted to the Registry. However, FAA’s practices are contrary to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requirements that require protection of PII and emphasize the importance of access controls, up-to-date operating systems, and continuous monitoring. FAA’s recovery plan for the Registry does not meet DOT’s information technology (IT) security policy requirements and is inadequate to ensure that the system is recoverable after a disaster or other event causing it to be shut-down. KW - Air pilots KW - Aviation safety KW - Certification KW - Contingency planning KW - Data access KW - Data quality KW - Information systems KW - Registrations KW - Security KW - U.S. Federal Aviation Administration UR - http://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/dot/files/FAA%20Civil%20Aviation%20Registry%20Report%5E06-27-2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257067 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01485060 AU - Srinivasan, Sivaramakrishnan AU - Dhakar, Nagendra Singh AU - University of Florida, Gainesville AU - Center for Multimodal Solutions for Congestion Mitigation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Route-choice Modeling using GPS-based Travel Surveys PY - 2013/06/25/Final Report SP - 88p AB - The advent of global positioning system (GPS)-based travel surveys offers an opportunity to develop empirically-rich route-choice models. However, the GPS traces must first be mapped to the roadway network, map-matching, to identify the network-links actually traversed. For this purpose, two enhanced map-matching algorithms are implemented and compared. Next, the choice set must also be constructed by identifying possible alternate routes between the origin and destination. This is accomplished using an enhanced version of the Breath First Search Link Elimination (BFS-LE) algorithm. The data assembled from the two steps, map matching and choice set generation, are then used for developing route choice using the path-size logit structure. The GPS data from the Chicago Travel Survey are used in this analysis. In addition to travel time, the number of intersections, turns, and the circuity of the route and the proportion of route by facility type were found to be statistically-significant predictors of route choice. In addition, the sensitivity to these factors also varied depending on trip purpose, time of the day of the trip, and traveler characteristics. KW - Algorithms KW - Global Positioning System KW - Logits KW - Mapping KW - Route choice KW - Travel surveys KW - Travel time UR - http://cms.ce.ufl.edu/research/srinivasan_final_report_2011-008.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1253779 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01551377 AU - Miller, Kevin AU - Bouattoura, Fariel AU - Seymour, Ed AU - Poe, Chris AU - Forgang, Marc AU - Macias, Roberto AU - Zingalli, Joe AU - Miller, Bryan AU - Dallas Area Rapid Transit AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration AU - Federal Highway Administration AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - US-75 ICM System Design Document: Dallas Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) Demonstration Project PY - 2013/06/21/Final Report SP - 231p AB - This System Design document for the US-75 Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) Program has been developed as part of the US Department of Transportation Integrated Corridor Management Initiative. The basic premise behind the ICM initiative is that independent, individual network-based transportation management systems, and their cross-network linkages, can be operated in a more coordinated and integrated manner, thereby increasing overall corridor throughput and enhancing the mobility of the corridor users. This document is intended as System Design for the US-75 Corridor in Dallas consisting of freeway, arterial, bus and rail networks, and serving a central business district. The System Design provides a detailed description of the three subsystems: the Decision Support Subsystem, the SmartNET Subsystem, and the SmartFusion Subsystem. KW - Arterial highways KW - Dallas (Texas) KW - Decision support systems KW - Freeways KW - Integrated corridor management KW - Public transit KW - System design KW - Transportation corridors UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/54000/54100/54137/US-75_ICMS_System_Design_Final_508.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1340047 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493320 AU - Findley, Daniel J AU - Chang, Jeffrey C AU - Vaughan, Christopher L AU - Schroeder, Bastian J AU - Foyle, Robert S AU - North Carolina State University, Raleigh AU - North Carolina Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - NCLOS Program 2010 Update PY - 2013/06/21/Final Report SP - 71p AB - The North Carolina Level of Service (NCLOS) program is a planning-level highway capacity analysis tool developed for North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) under a previous project. The program uses the operational methodologies in the 2010 Highway Capacity Manual (HCM), along with specific default parameters from North Carolina data, to determine level-of-service (LOS) threshold “capacities” for freeways, multilane highways, two-lane highways and arterial streets. The program is unique in that it provides a graphical display of the measure of effectiveness (MOE) plotted against annual average daily traffic (AADT) for each facility type. Users see best case, default case, and worst case curves, plus a highlighted curve for the LOS selected for the analysis. The focus of this effort was to provide technical support to NCDOT programmers who re-programed NCLOS and analyze NCDOT traffic data for the development of default values and input limitations. The appendix includes the NCLOS user guide. KW - Arterial highways KW - Computer program documentation KW - Freeways KW - Highway capacity KW - Highway Capacity Manual 2010 KW - Level of service KW - Multilane highways KW - North Carolina KW - Software KW - Two lane highways UR - http://www.ncdot.gov/doh/preconstruct/tpb/research/download/2012-05finalreport.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262280 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491337 AU - Baxter, Christopher D P AU - Trautman, Jan AU - Taylor, Oliver-Denzil S AU - University of Rhode Island, Narragansett AU - University of Rhode Island, Narragansett AU - University of Rhode Island Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Volume Change of Silts Following Cyclic Loading PY - 2013/06/21/Final Report SP - 49p AB - Estimating the settlement of adjacent structures during pile installation in silts is a challenging problem for practicing engineers. The current state-of-practice relies primarily on local case studies and monitoring efforts, such as inclinometers and site surveys, where adjacent structures are in relatively close proximity to pile driving activity. Few predictive models exist to aid engineers, and those that do exist are limited to relatively “clean” sands and are rarely used in practice. A very important aspect of pile driving are the shear waves that will be generated causing localized regions of increased pore pressures resulting in significant reduction of soil strength and stiffness. Unfortunately, current practice does not provide an engineer with any quantifiable means to estimate how these shear waves would affect the local soil behavior. The objective of this study was to perform a detailed review of the literature regarding pile driving-induced settlements and to develop a laboratory testing program to quantify the relationship between cyclic loading, generation of pore pressures, and the resulting volume changes in silts. In the first part of the present work a review of case studies and a summary of settlement prediction methods are presented and the most important facts concerning those are highlighted. The second part focuses on a series of cyclic triaxial tests carried out to evaluate volumetric change caused by pore pressure dissipation of silt samples following cyclic loading. It was found that the greater the pore pressure ratio generated during cyclic loading, the greater the volume changes of the silt sample resulting from pore pressure dissipation. Cyclic loading and drainage caused a maximum of 5% volumetric strain in the silt samples, compared to less than 1% for sands in comparable studies. The measured increase in volumetric strain was small up to a pore pressure ratio of 0.6. The results of this research work supply important information on the behavior of volume changes of silt cyclically loaded and provide a sound basis for future settlement predictions of silt due to dynamic loading. KW - Case studies KW - Laboratory tests KW - Literature reviews KW - Pile driving KW - Pore pressure KW - Repeated loads KW - Settlement (Structures) KW - Silts KW - Triaxial shear tests KW - Volume changes UR - http://131.128.106.203/uritc-org/media/finalreportspdf/0001851.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259151 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01485159 AU - Department of Transportation AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - FAA Lacks a Reliable Model for Determining the Number of Flight Standards Safety Inspectors It Needs PY - 2013/06/20 SP - 33p AB - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employs approximately 4,000 aviation safety inspectors and 40 analysts who play a key role in helping to maintain the United States’ remarkable air carrier safety record. However, the February 2009 Colgan Air crash highlighted potential weaknesses in FAA’s oversight of Part 121 air carriers, including concerns about whether FAA has enough inspectors. In October 2009, FAA introduced a new staffing model, known as the Aviation Safety Staffing Tool and Reporting System, to address concerns raised in a 2006 congressionally mandated National Research Council (NRC) study. The NRC concluded that FAA had an ineffective method for identifying how many safety inspectors it needs and where they are most needed. In the Airline Safety and FAA Extension Act of 2010, Congress directed the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (OIG) to evaluate how FAA assigns inspectors to Part 121 air carriers, including assessing the number and experience levels of inspectors and analysts, and how inspectors use surveillance methods to supplement their regular inspections. Accordingly, OIG's audit objectives were to (1) determine the status of FAA’s implementation of its new staffing model, (2) evaluate the process FAA uses to assess the number and level of experience of inspectors and analysts assigned to each Part 121 carrier, and (3) evaluate FAA’s use of other surveillance processes to supplement the inspections performed by assigned oversight offices. Briefly, FAA established its inspector staffing model over 3 years ago; however, the model is faulty—containing incomplete, inaccurate, and outdated data—and cannot be relied on to determine the number and placement of inspectors needed. For example, key data such as the number of hours worked per task by inspectors are still based on outdated surveys rather than actual data. Without a reliable inspector staffing model, FAA’s process for assessing the number of inspectors and analysts assigned to each Part 121 air carrier does not differ significantly from prior methods that the NRC deemed ineffective. FAA supplements its regular inspections through its reinstated geographic surveillance program. While the geographic surveillance program is a helpful oversight tool, OIG identified concerns that may undermine its success. For example, inspectors expressed reluctance to participate in certain aspects of the new geographic surveillance program because typically, inspectors in other offices are not trained on the specific operations of their assigned air carrier. KW - Airlines KW - Aviation safety KW - Implementation KW - Inspection KW - Inspectors KW - Oversight KW - Selection and appointment KW - U.S. Federal Aviation Administration UR - http://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/dot/files/FAA%20Inspector%20and%20Analyst%20Staffing%20Report%5E6-20-13.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1253611 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01573315 TI - Development of an Improved Design Procedure for Unbonded Concrete Overlays AB - The primary purpose of this project is to create a unified national design guide for unbonded concrete overlays of existing concrete and composite pavements. This consists of the following distinct objectives: (1) Study and understand the field performance history of unbonded concrete overlays of existing concrete or composite pavements (UCOCP) as demonstrated by various test sections and in-service pavements. (2) Determine suitable separator layer (interlayer) materials and properties to insure long term performance of UCOCP systems. (3) Develop a design procedure for unbonded concrete overlays of existing concrete and composite pavements utilizing existing validated performance models, as well as new analytical models derived to address deficient or missing design parameters in existing methods. The design guide will be based on mechanistic-empirical principles, including the effects of various concrete overlay materials, separator layer (interlayer) types, panel thickness (4" to 10") and panel size, joint load transfer mechanisms, traffic loads, and climates (nation-wide) in which they must perform. KW - Composite pavements KW - Concrete overlays KW - Concrete pavements KW - Load transfer KW - Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide KW - Pavement design KW - Test sections KW - Traffic loads UR - http://www.pooledfund.org/Details/Study/498 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1366539 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01613826 AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Local Road Safety Peer Exchange – Regions 3 & 5 PY - 2013/06/12 SP - 13p AB - This report provides a summary of the proceedings of the Local Road Safety Peer Exchange held in Columbus, Ohio on June 12 and 13, 2013. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) sponsored the Peer Exchange in coordination with the Region 3 & 5 Local Technical Assistance Programs. The purpose 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 Technical Assistance Program Centers (LTAPs) and local and regional officials and practitioners within the States in these two regions. The Peer Exchange covered four key topics: (1) Improving local road safety data collection and analysis; (2) Increasing local agency participation in the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP); (3) Encouraging local involvement in the development and implementation of the States’ Strategic Highway Safety Plans (SHSPs); and (4) Improving interagency collaboration. Representatives from the following LTAP Region 3 and 5 States participated in the event: Delaware, Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The format of the Peer Exchange consisted of expert and peer presentations on State practices, followed by facilitated discussions. At the end of the second day, participants met with colleagues in their respective States to develop action plans covering the key topics discussed. The action plans identified: Strategies to improve local road safety in their States; Resources needed to achieve those objectives; and Champions to lead implementation. A brief description of the peer exchange proceedings is provided in this report. KW - Coordination KW - Data analysis KW - Data collection KW - Highway safety KW - Highway Safety Improvement Program KW - Implementation KW - Ohio Department of Transportation KW - Peer exchange KW - State departments of transportation KW - Strategic Highway Safety Plan KW - Strategic planning UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/59000/59400/59454/peer_report_OH_Jun2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1425517 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01526397 AU - Fijalkowski, Jared AU - McCoy, Kevin AU - Lyons, William AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Developing a Regional Approach to Transportation Demand Management and Nonmotorized Transportation: Best Practice Case Studies PY - 2013/06/12/Final Report SP - 56p AB - This report highlights four metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) that embrace transportation demand management (TDM) and nonmotorized transportation in an ambitious, conscious, and holistic manner at both regional and local scales. These MPOs, which represent a diversity of sizes and geographic areas, can serve as models for other MPOs seeking to take a holistic approach to TDM and nonmotorized transportation to further advance their agencies' goals. The case studies in this report answer how and why regional scale approaches to TDM and nonmotorized transportation are embraced, and assesses how they contribute to meeting regional transportation goals. KW - Best practices KW - Case studies KW - Metropolitan planning organizations KW - Nonmotorized transportation KW - Regional planning KW - Transportation planning KW - Travel demand management UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51600/51621/regional_Approach_report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1310485 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491376 AU - Cho, J Y N AU - Frankel, R S AU - Donovan, M F AU - Veillette, M S AU - Heinselman, P L AU - Massachusetts Institute of Technology AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - Wind-Shear Detection Performance Study for Multifunction Phased Array Radar (MPAR) Risk Reduction PY - 2013/06/12/Project Report SP - 68p AB - Multifunction phased array radars (MPARs) of the future that may replace the current terminal wind-shear detection systems will need to meet the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) detection requirements. Detection performance issues related to on-airport siting of MPAR, its broader antenna beamwidth relative to the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR), and the change in operational frequency from C band to S band are analyzed. Results from the 2012 MPAR Wind-Shear Experiment (WSE) are presented, with microburst and gust-front detection statistics for the Oklahoma City TDWR and the National Weather Radar Testbed (NWRT) phased array radar, which are located 6 km apart. The NWRT has sensitivity and beamwidth similar to a conceptual terminal MPAR (TMPAR), which is a scaled-down version of a full-size MPAR. The microburst results show both the TDWR probability of detection (POD) and the estimated NWRT POD exceeding the 90% requirement. For gust fronts, however, the overall estimated NWRT POD was more than 10% lower than the TDWR POD. NWRT data is also used to demonstrate that rapid-scan phased array radar has the potential to enhance microburst prediction capability. KW - Airports KW - Gusts KW - Microbursts KW - Oklahoma City (Oklahoma) KW - Radar KW - Weather radar KW - Wind shear UR - http://www.ll.mit.edu/mission/aviation/publications/publication-files/atc-reports/Cho_2013_ATC-409_WW-27038.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257509 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495164 AU - Hu, Nan AU - Haider, Syed W AU - Burgueno, Rigoberto AU - Michigan State University, East Lansing AU - Michigan Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Development and Validation of Deterioration Models for Concrete Bridge Decks: Phase 2: Mechanics-based Degradation Models PY - 2013/06/11/Final Report SP - 143p AB - This report summarizes a research project aimed at developing degradation models for bridge decks in the state of Michigan based on durability mechanics. A probabilistic framework to implement local-level mechanistic-based models for predicting the chloride-induced corrosion of the RC deck was developed. The methodology is a two-level strategy: a three-phase corrosion process was modeled at a local (unit cell) level to predict the time of surface cracking while a Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) approach was implemented on a representative number of cells to predict global (bridge deck) level degradation by estimating cumulative damage of a complete deck. The predicted damage severity and extent over the deck domain was mapped to the structural condition rating scale prescribed by the National Bridge Inventory (NBI). The influence of multiple effects was investigated by implementing a carbonation induced corrosion deterministic model. By utilizing realistic and site-specific model inputs, the statistics-based framework is capable of estimating the service states of RC decks for comparison with field data at the project level. Predicted results showed that different surface cracking time can be identified by the local deterministic model due to the variation of material and environmental properties based on probability distributions. Bridges from different regions in Michigan were used to validate the prediction model and the results show a good match between observed and predicted bridge condition ratings. A parametric study was carried out to calibrate the influence of key material properties and environmental parameters on service life prediction and facilitate use of the model. A computer program with a user-friendly interface was developed for degradation modeling due to chloride induced corrosion. KW - Bridge decks KW - Corrosion KW - Deterioration KW - Highway bridges KW - Mathematical prediction KW - Michigan KW - Monte Carlo method KW - National Bridge Inventory KW - Service life UR - http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/RC-1587B_435818_7.pdf?20131004132217 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264339 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01488482 AU - Kansas City Southern Railway AU - Federal Railroad Administration TI - Kansas City Southern Railway FRA Grant Methodology, Activities and Lessons Learned Grant: FR-TEC-0008-11-01-00 PY - 2013/06/11 SP - 10p AB - The Kansas City Southern Railway (“KCSR”) endeavored to modernize their outdated legacy microwave system in preparation for its Positive Train Control (PTC) deployment. Their goal was to upgrade their microwave network preserving the function of their existing communications system, while migrating to a more robust internet protocol (IP) network based communications system. Disaster recovery and PTC interconnection were their primary considerations. These are the methods and activities that they followed to accomplish the successful implementation of the technology. Due to the number of locations needing the upgrade, they broke the effort into more than one phase. KW - Computer network protocols KW - Kansas City (Missouri) KW - Kansas City Southern Railway KW - Microwave communication systems KW - Modernization KW - Plan implementation KW - Positive train control UR - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/3254 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257082 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01486890 AU - Schmidt, Jennifer D AU - Meyer, Curt L AU - Lechtenberg, Karla A AU - Faller, Ronald K AU - Bielenberg, Robert W AU - Stolle, Cody S AU - Sicking, Dean L AU - Reid, John D AU - Midwest Roadside Safety Facility AU - New York State Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Energy Analysis of Vehicle-to-Cable Barrier Impacts PY - 2013/06/11/Final Report SP - 101p AB - An accident reconstruction technique was developed for estimating the energy absorbed during an impact with a cable barrier system as well as the initial impact velocity. The kinetic energy absorbed during a cable barrier system impact is comprised of several components: (1) plastic deformation/rotation of posts in a rigid foundation or soil foundation; (2) vehicle-ground interaction; (3) internal cable energy; and (4) frictional losses during vehicle-barrier interaction. The energy absorbed by deforming the J-bolt clips was analyzed and determined to be negligible for this study. Charts were developed that estimate the energy absorbed by deforming S3x5.7 (S76x8.5) cable line posts based on the soil condition, deformed post orientation, and deformed post height above the ground. Charts were also developed relating the cable tension to the cable energy absorbed versus the lateral deflection of the vehicle and the frictional energy versus the vehicle’s distance traveled for both a straight cable system and an exterior-curved cable system. However, without additional crash testing to verify the relationships, these charts are only applicable to the cable barrier systems for which the full-scale crash tests were conducted. In the straight system impact, the vehicle’s estimated initial velocity using the reconstruction technique was 55.1 mph ± 3.0 mph (88.7 km/h ± 4.9 km/h), and the actual velocity of the vehicle was 61.6 mph (99.1 km/h). In one curved system impact, the vehicle’s estimated initial velocity was 61.0 mph ± 0.3 mph (98.1 km/h ± 0.4 km/h), and the actual velocity of the vehicle was 61.6 mph (99.1 km/h). In another curved system impact, the vehicle’s estimated initial velocity was 63.2 mph ± 2.4 mph (101.6 km/h ± 3.7 km/h), and the actual velocity of the vehicle was 63.1 mph (101.6 km/h). Future improvements for the cable barrier system accident reconstruction procedure are discussed. KW - Barriers (Roads) KW - Cables KW - Crash reconstruction KW - Energy absorption KW - Highway safety KW - Impact tests KW - Kinetic energy KW - Velocity UR - https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/trans-r-and-d-repository/TRP-03-283-13-NYCC%20Energy%20Analysis%20Report%202013-6-11_FINAL.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256378 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01611964 AU - Holmes, Jonathan AU - Holcombe, Wiley AU - Georgia Tech Research Institute, Atlanta AU - Georgia Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Continuing Support for the Operation of the Automated Raised Pavement Marker Placement System PY - 2013/06/10/Final Report SP - 52p AB - During the funding provided in fiscal year 2013 (FY2013), the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) developed raised pavement marker (RPM) placement truck was reworked to prepare the truck for full-time service on Georgia roadways. During this effort, the RPM truck was configured for a certain type of lane striping – the single skip line. The single skip line configuration allows for laying down markers on multi-lane roads, which are the most challenging roadways from a safety standpoint. After conducting a successful training and demonstration exercise with Georgia Department of Transportation's (GDOT’s) District 3 personnel on May 28, 2013, the system is now in the hands of GDOT’s maintenance crews to use on a regular basis. With the successful transition from research to full-time use, the authors look forward to future developments for automated RPM technologies. KW - Automation KW - Georgia KW - Maintenance equipment KW - Road markings KW - Striping KW - Training KW - Trucks UR - http://g92018.eos-intl.net/eLibSQL14_G92018_Documents/12-06.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1423973 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01560098 AU - Veile, Al AU - Le, Steven AU - Newton, Diane AU - Leidos AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Freight Advanced Traveler Information System (FRATIS) – Dallas-Fort Worth Demonstration Plan PY - 2013/06/10 SP - 27p AB - This document describes the Demonstration Plan for the Freight Advanced Traveler Information System (FRATIS). The demonstration component of this task will serve to test the technical feasibility of the FRATIS prototype while also facilitating the collection of baseline and performance data related to the operation and impact of the system. The FRATIS prototype in Dallas will consist of three components: Optimization algorithm, Terminal wait time, and route specific navigation/traffic/weather. This document describes the experimental design plan for each FRATIS component. KW - Advanced traveler information systems KW - Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area KW - Demonstration projects KW - Freight transportation KW - Prototypes KW - Software architecture UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/54000/54400/54476/Fratis_FHWA-JPO-14-178.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1344658 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01530303 AU - Hayden, Larry AU - Galarus, Doug AU - Ward, Nicholas AU - Ye, Zhirui AU - Western Transportation Institute AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Final Report for the Western Transportation Institute's Augmented Speed Enforcement Project PY - 2013/06/06/Final Report SP - 118p AB - The augmented Speed Enforcement (aSE) project developed systems to detect speeding vehicles in a work zone and provide warnings to both the vehicle driver and work zone workers. The system consists of 28 orange traffic drums (smart drums or sDrums) positioned adjacent to orange cones marking the work zone lane closure. When the system detects a speeding vehicle, it synchronously flashes the orange lights on top of the drums, warning the driver to slow down and the workers of a speeding vehicle. If the vehicle speed is above a set trigger speed, the systems activates a pager system to warn the workers of the speeding vehicle. System effectiveness and deployability were evaluated for four weeks near Los Banos, CA. Daily deployment makes the system labor intensive and time consuming. KW - Drums (Containers) KW - Speed detectors KW - Vehicle detectors KW - Warning systems KW - Work zone safety KW - Work zone traffic control UR - http://www.dot.ca.gov/research/researchreports/reports/2013/final_report_task_2062b.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1302000 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01530302 AU - Hayden, Larry AU - Galarus, Douglas AU - Ward, Nicholas AU - Ye, Zhirui AU - Western Transportation Institute AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Executive Summary for the Western Transportation Institute’s Augmented Speed Enforcement Project PY - 2013/06/06/Final Report SP - 11p AB - The purpose of the augmented Speed Enforcement (aSE) project is to detect and warn speeding vehicles in a work zone and provide warnings to work zone workers. One system comprises traffic drums positioned adjacent to orange cones marking the work zone lane closure. When a speeding vehicle is detected, the driver and workers are warned. Daily deployment and retrieval of the system is labor intensive and time consuming. Evaluation of speed data appears to show that the system does have an impact in reducing overall average speed and percentage of vehicles traveling at high speeds. KW - Speed detectors KW - Vehicle detectors KW - Warning systems KW - Work zone safety UR - http://www.dot.ca.gov/research/researchreports/reports/2013/final_report_task_2062c.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1302002 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01485304 AU - Srinivasan, Raghavan AU - Hunter, William AU - Jones, Katy AU - Dickson, Caroline AU - Thomas, Libby AU - Martell, Carol AU - Harrison, Patty AU - Weisenfeld, Jonathon AU - Russell, Graham AU - Lytle, Richard AU - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill AU - North Carolina Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Comprehensive Safety Document/Product PY - 2013/06/05/Final Report SP - 70p AB - With 100 counties and more than 800 cities, towns, and township governments in North Carolina, there is a tremendous need to disseminate road safety information at the local level. For safety gains to be made in NC communities there needs to be both a “top-down” and “bottom-up” approach. In other words, agencies such as the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) routinely plan and provide for roadway improvements, but local government and safety leaders need to be informed about their safety problems and the full array of potential solutions so as to be participants in road safety decisions that impact their community. The lack of access and knowledge of the information needed to proactively address road safety issues is a key issue for improving road safety at the local level. One objective of this effort was to produce templates of comprehensive safety document (CSD) for NCDOT to enable the department to tailor solutions for a community’s specific highway safety issues. Templates were developed for Randolph county and Kinston. This project also developed a website to provide communities with guidance and a list of tools and resources for applicable education, enforcement, and engineering countermeasures that could be applied to address the community’s issues. Finally, the project also developed a marketing plan for the CSD that can be used by NCDOT. KW - Countermeasures KW - Documents KW - Highway safety KW - Information dissemination KW - Local government KW - Marketing KW - North Carolina KW - Websites (Information retrieval) UR - http://www.ncdot.gov/doh/preconstruct/tpb/research/download/2011-10finalreport.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/47000/47800/47810/2011-10finalreport.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1253984 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01486977 AU - Williams, Billy M AU - Chase, R Thomas AU - Xu, Yilun AU - Kim, Sangkey AU - Craft, David AU - Rouphail, Nagui M AU - Encarnacion, Anthony AU - North Carolina State University, Raleigh AU - North Carolina State University, Raleigh AU - North Carolina Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Mobility and Reliability Performance Measurement PY - 2013/06/03/Final Report SP - 256p AB - This project grew out of the fact that mobility was identified early on as one of the key performance focus areas of North Carolina Department of Transportation's (NCDOT’s) strategic transformation effort. The Transformation Management Team (TMT) established a TMT Mobility Workstream Team in 2007. This team began working on a mobility implementation plan in early 2008, completed the report in May 2008, and presented final recommendations to the Strategic Management Committee (SMC) in November 2008. The team recommended that NCDOT measure mobility of highway and other modes, naming the enabling tasks as 1) defining the performance measures, 2) assessing baseline performance, and 3) setting performance targets. The research presented in this final report included tasks designed to contribute to each of these enabling tasks. Key findings and conclusions are presented regarding data accuracy, signal system data availability and quality, route travel time estimation and performance metric calculation, estimation of volume and volume-based metrics in the absence of direct volume observation, temporal specification of the mobility performance metric analysis period, and mobility metric uses beyond operational monitoring and management. Primary deliverables were a robust and validated algorithm for estimating route travel times from segment travel times, a decision framework and accompany models for estimating volume, vehicle miles traveled (VMT), and system delay in the absence of direct volume observation, and a preliminary framework for project lifecycle mobility value estimation. KW - Algorithms KW - Mobility KW - North Carolina Department of Transportation KW - Performance measurement KW - Reliability KW - Traffic data KW - Travel time KW - Vehicle miles of travel UR - http://www.ncdot.gov/doh/preconstruct/tpb/research/download/2011-07finalreport.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1254238 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01577136 TI - Demonstration of Network Level Pavement Structural Evaluation with Traffic Speed Deflectometer AB - Assess the feasibility of and demonstrate the use of Traffic Speed Deflectometer (TSD) for network-level pavement structural evaluation for use in the participating agencies pavement management application and decisionmaking. KW - Decision making KW - Deflectometers KW - Pavement management systems KW - Structural analysis KW - Traffic speed UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370380 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01526389 AU - Kay, Michael AU - McCoy, Kevin AU - Lyons, William M AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Moving Together in the 21st Century: How Ridesharing Supports Livable Communities PY - 2013/06/01/Final Report SP - 38p AB - This white paper is a follow-up to the Volpe Center report for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), “Ridesharing Options Analysis and Practitioners’ Toolkit.” The white paper provides an update to current ridesharing options and further explores technology and policy developments that make new methods of ridesharing possible. In addition, the report assesses ridesharing as a key contributing factor to supporting livable communities, and in particular, how ridesharing can be part of a "tipping point" in reducing the need for vehicle ownership and demand for parking. KW - Automobile ownership KW - Carpools KW - Case studies KW - Communities KW - Development KW - Parking demand KW - Ridesharing KW - Transportation policy KW - Vehicle sharing UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51600/51602/ridesharing_report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1310513 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01608528 AU - Ram, Prashant V AU - Olek, Jan AU - Jain, Jitendra AU - Purdue University AU - Indiana Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Field Trials of Rapid-Setting Repair Materials PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 100p AB - The primary objective of the present study was to identify the critical properties (based on the laboratory tests) that could be correlated to the field performance of the rapid setting repair materials. The first phase of the project involved laboratory evaluation of six commercial rapid‐setting repair materials (RMs). When tested in the laboratory, all but two exhibited acceptable rates of strength gain and three RMs displayed relatively poor freeze‐thaw resistance. All the RMs exhibited acceptable values for free‐shrinkage, high resistance to cracking and good bond to substrate concrete. The resistance to chloride ion penetration of one of the RMs was very poor. The second phase of the project involved field installation and performance evaluation of the RMs. It was seen that while, in most cases, the controlled laboratory conditions yielded consistent mixes and acceptable performance, the properties of mixes produced on site were more variable. This variability was the result of somewhat uncontrolled changes in the amount of aggregate extension used, moisture content of the aggregates, amount water added and ambient temperature conditions. Follow‐up inspection of the repair patches indicated that all the patches except one underwent premature failures (primarily cracking and edge de‐bonding). The ambient temperature during the repairs was around 10°C and this led to an extended set‐time for all the materials. The 12‐hr compressive strengths values of the specimens from the field‐mixes were in some cases lower than the 4‐hr compressive strength values of laboratory mixes. Since the repairs were open to traffic after approximately 4 hours after placement, the low early age strengths could be a potential reason for premature failures of some of the patches. In general, several materials were found to be very sensitive to excess water added during mixing resulted in a significant impact on the durability properties – especially the freeze‐thaw resistance. In the field, for most of the materials, the consistency of the mixes varied from batch to batch – this can be attributed to the variations in the aggregate extension adopted, mix‐water added and also the moisture content of the aggregates used. Construction related issues (consolidation and finishing) also played an important role in the performance of the repair patches. KW - Compressive strength KW - Concrete pavements KW - Durability KW - Field tests KW - Freeze thaw durability KW - Indiana KW - Laboratory tests KW - Moisture content KW - Patching KW - Pavement maintenance KW - Performance based specifications UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5703/1288284315185 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1420030 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01598872 AU - Chandler, Kevin L AU - Sutherland, Pamela J AU - Battelle AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - Response and Recovery for Declared Emergencies and Disasters PY - 2013/06 SP - 74p AB - This resource document is part of the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA’s) technical assistance to transit agencies. It addresses response and recovery actions that transit agencies can take, including securing funding and reimbursement for restoring services following a declared emergency or disaster. It is written specifically for transit agencies that are either affected by a declared emergency or disaster or that offer services to an affected community or region. It applies to all modes of transit and to all types of declared emergencies and disasters. It includes information about the types of resources and waivers of regulation available to transit agencies under Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and FTA programs, including information about eligible reimbursements under the Stafford Act. KW - Disasters KW - Emergencies KW - Emergency response and recovery KW - Financing KW - Reimbursement KW - Service restoration KW - Stafford Act KW - Transit operating agencies KW - U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency KW - U.S. Federal Transit Administration UR - https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/docs/Response_and_Recovery_for_Declared_Emergencies_and_Disasters_062813.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1405293 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01596089 AU - Stromquist-Le Voir, Gannon AU - Christenson, Richard AU - DeWolf, John AU - Kim, Jeong-Ho AU - University of Connecticut, Storrs AU - Connecticut Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Validating and Assessing Integrity of Troubled Bridges in Connecticut: Monitoring Cable Tensions for the Arrigoni Bridge, Middletown, CT PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 104p AB - This report provides information on a study of the Arrigoni Bridge in Middletown, Connecticut, where vibration measurements are used to determine the tension among various suspender cables in the structure. Actual vibration data on 134 cables under ambient, traffic-induced excitation are used to determine the corresponding natural frequencies and, along with cable parameters, calculate the tension in each cable. KW - Arrigoni Bridge (Connecticut) KW - Bridge cables KW - Middletown (Connecticut) KW - Monitoring KW - Structural integrity KW - Tension KW - Vibration UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/54000/54200/54291/CT-2270-F-13-11__1_.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1401062 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01587395 AU - El-Anwar, Omar AU - Migliaccio, Giovanni AU - Lin, Ken-Yu AU - Gatti, Umberto AU - Medina, Yvonne AU - Washington State Transportation Center AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - WSDOT Building Asset Management An Exploratory Case Study Impact of Failures at the Corson Avenue TEF Shop on WSDOT Services PY - 2013/06//Research Report SP - 66p AB - The mission of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is to keep people and business moving by operating and improving the state’s transportation systems vital to its taxpayers and communities. Traditionally, the Department has focused its efforts on the transportation systems. However, a growing portfolio of transportation assets is burdening an old and often outdated portfolio of building assets that support WSDOT's core mission and house employees, who design, construct, maintain, and operate state highways. The capacity and condition of these building assets are critically challenged by the failure of various building systems, which, when they happen, can be very disruptive or even hazardous to WSDOT daily operations. Considering the long overdue preservation and replacement of these assets, there is an urgent need to (1) understand how the asset performance influences the various functions that support the Department’s core mission, (2) identify the impact of alternative funding levels upon building asset performance, and (3) prioritize the Department’s funding decisions in order to fulfill its core mission through a safe and sustainable working environment. This research project is the first step in a series of potential research projects designed to develop an in-depth understanding of building asset management processes, challenges, and opportunities for WSDOT. This project is an exploratory case study focusing on the Vehicle Repair Shop in the Northwest Region Maintenance Facility in South Seattle. This shop was built in 1954 and is located in a site complex with 33 separate structures, totaling 114,025 SF of space that houses staff and equipment for the maintenance and operation of state highways. The analysis outcomes show that failures occurring at the Transportation Equipment Fund (TEF) shop can significantly affect its ability to service the department’s vehicles and equipment. Given the importance of some of these vehicles and equipment in operating the state’s transportation system, failures at the TEF shop can also significantly affect WSDOT’s ability to fulfill its mission. KW - Asset management KW - Case studies KW - Facilities KW - Seattle (Washington) KW - Structures KW - Washington (State) KW - Washington State Department of Transportation UR - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/824.1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1395639 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01584285 AU - Rao, Shreenath AU - Sadasivam, Suri AU - Mallela, Jagannath AU - Applied Research Associates, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - California Demonstration Project: Safety Improvements on Mountain Ranch Road in Calaveras County PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 57p AB - As part of a national initiative sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration under the Highways for LIFE program, Calaveras County, CA, was awarded a $300,000 grant to conduct a road safety audit (RSA), develop plans and specifications, and perform safety improvements on Mountain Ranch Road east of San Andreas. The key innovation was the addition of a 2-inch hot-mix asphalt overlay with a Safety Edge to an approximately 2.1-mile segment of Mountain Ranch Road (Boo Street to Upper Michel Road) that needed it. The county had identified it as area with enough right-of-way and/or shoulder room to properly construct the Safety Edge (easterly segment). The second safety component was the installation of highly retroreflective striping on top of centerline rumble strips to help keep drivers from drifting into the adjacent lane and oncoming traffic (easterly, center, and westerly segments). The third safety component was backing and/or extending the aggregate base shoulders along segments of the overlaid section that required it for the addition of the Safety Edge and segments that did not get the Safety Edge treatment but would benefit from an improved or widened shoulder (easterly and westerly segments). The fourth safety component was the installation of new metal beam guardrail (MBGR) along a 1.60-mi segment of Mountain Ranch Road. The improvements include new MBGR beginning at the intersection of Rocky Road and terminating at the western intersection of Michel Road (westerly segment). In addition to the construction components, planning and evaluation procedures, including an RSA, and a project information campaign were implemented to maximize the effectiveness of this project. The project was a great success, and the safety improvements are expected to substantially reduce the crash and fatality rates on Mountain Ranch Road. A detailed economic analysis considering all costs associated with building the as-constructed section versus the baseline section and the economic benefits from improved safety over a 10-year period showed substantial cost benefits for the as-constructed project. The life cycle cost analysis showed a total savings of $7,889,157.73 for the as-constructed case compared to the baseline case. KW - Benefit cost analysis KW - Calaveras County (California) KW - Center lines KW - Demonstration projects KW - Guardrails KW - Highways for LIFE KW - Innovation KW - Life cycle costing KW - Retroreflectivity KW - Road safety audits KW - Safety edge (Pavement safety feature) KW - Safety improvement projects KW - Shoulder widening UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/summary/pdf_2/CA_CalaverasCnty_MountainRanch.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1377216 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01584272 AU - Bledsoe, Jay AU - Mallela, Jagannath AU - Applied Research Associates, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - New York Demonstration Project: Improvements to the Winton Road/I-590 Interchange in Rochester PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 38p AB - As part of a national initiative sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration under the Highways for LIFE program, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) was awarded a grant for a demonstration project that involved the construction of a diverging diamond interchange (DDI) at the intersection of Interstate 590 and Winton Road in Brighton. This DDI is the first of its kind in New York, allowing traffic to access the interstate using the concept of “free” or unopposed left turns, minimizing the risk of serious crashes and decreasing travel times. Additional benefits include improved access and safety for bicyclists and pedestrians, shorter construction time, and less real estate acquisition. Several innovative strategies were used on this project to speed construction, reduce congestion, and increase work zone safety. NYSDOT allowed complete closure of on and off ramps on weekends during periods of high construction activity, providing signed detours to motorists. The agency also required a complete shutdown of Winton Road while the final traffic patterns were developed to eliminate driver confusion. The construction costs for the Winton Road improvement totaled about $8 million, $4.9 million less than the traditional alternative. KW - Benefits KW - Costs KW - Demonstration projects KW - Diamond interchanges KW - Diverging diamond interchanges KW - Highways for LIFE KW - Innovation KW - Rochester (New York) UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/summary/pdf_2/NY%20590%20Winton%20Report%20-%20Final_06_18_2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1377218 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01580349 AU - Bhajandas, Amar AU - Mallela, Jagannath AU - Applied Research Associates, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Vermont Demonstration Project: Rehabilitation of Culverts in South Burlington and Colchester PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 37p AB - As part of a national initiative sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration under the Highways for LIFE (HfL) program, the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) was awarded a grant to demonstrate the use of trenchless technology in rehabilitating two structurally deficient culverts located along Interstate 89 in South Burlington and Colchester, VT. The scope of work included adding a new 60-inch diameter culvert alongside the existing culvert at each location using trenchless technology under 40 feet of fill. This report documents the entire work effort, including the use of the innovative trenchless technique of pipe ramming. The addition of a culvert will improve hydraulic capacity and make future maintenance safer and easier. The project included development of a geotechnical baseline report to minimize unexpected geotechnical conditions. After some early construction challenges, the project team successfully implemented the pipe ramming trenchless technology. The lessons learned on this project will be useful when addressing other projects of this type. VTrans was able to perform the work without closing any lanes or interfering with traffic flow. The benefits of using trenchless technology included the following: Eliminated traffic delays and lane closures; Provided a safer environment for the traveling public and workers by eliminating exposure to traffic and construction activities inherent in conventional open-cut construction; Eliminated costs associated with traffic control and roadway excavation; Completed work for about $1.2 million versus an estimated cost of $4 million for open-cut construction; and Completed the project in one construction season versus two for conventional construction. KW - Colchester (Vermont) KW - Cost effectiveness KW - Culverts KW - Demonstration projects KW - Geotechnical engineering KW - Highways for LIFE KW - Pipe ramming KW - Rehabilitation (Maintenance) KW - South Burlington (Vermont) KW - Technological innovations KW - Trenchless technology UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/summary/pdf_2/VT_Rehabilitation_of_Culverts_Final_06_18_2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1373004 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01580346 AU - Rao, Shreenath AU - Mallela, Jagannath AU - Littleton, Paul AU - Applied Research Associates, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Utah Demonstration Project: Precast Concrete Pavement System on I-215 PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 50p AB - As part of a national initiative sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration under the Highways for LIFE program, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) was awarded a $750,000 grant to demonstrate the use of proven, innovative precast concrete pavement system (PCPS) technology to deliver this project in less time and with less impact on motorists than conventional construction. This report details the PCPS innovations used to replace the existing deteriorated concrete pavement during 7- to 10-hour nighttime lane closures. Traditional construction practices of cast-in-place full-depth repairs would have required closures of 7 to 10 days, greatly impacting traffic during peak hours on this urban belt route. Traditional construction practices would have resulted in delays of 3,608 vehicle-hours with one-lane closure and 122,704 vehicle-hours with two-lane closures per day on Monday through Thursday and 1,255 vehicle-hours with one-lane closure and 106,820 vehicle-hours with two-lane closures on Friday. Using PCPS and nighttime construction reduced vehicle-hours of delay to zero. UDOT learned several valuable lessons on rehabilitation using PCPS. The project was completed with minimal disruption to the traveling public, improved worker and work zone safety, and substantial reduction in construction time that affected traffic. The experience gained on this successful project will help UDOT refine its accelerated pavement construction processes and use them in other situations where traffic impacts are a major concern. KW - Demonstration projects KW - Highways for LIFE KW - Lane closure KW - Nighttime construction KW - Precast concrete pavements KW - Rehabilitation (Maintenance) KW - Rigid pavements KW - Technological innovations KW - Utah UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/summary/pdf_2/UT_I-215_PCPS_Final%20_June_2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1373001 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01578165 AU - Rao, Shreenath AU - Mallela, Jagannath AU - Applied Research Associates, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Minnesota Demonstration Project: Accelerated Bridge Construction over Paleface River on TH53 using Prefabricated Elements PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 74p AB - As part of a national initiative sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration under the Highways for LIFE (HfL) program, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) was awarded a $150,000 grant to develop plans and specifications, and then construct Bridge 69071 over the Paleface River on TH53 near Cotton, MN. The key innovation included the use of accelerated bridge construction (ABC) techniques by precasting the deck panels off-site in the controlled environment of a fabrication facility, transporting the panels to the project site, and installing the panels onto prefabricated concrete girders. This report documents the entire work effort, including the innovative ABC techniques employed by MnDOT, with specific focus on the connection details including haunches, blockouts, keyway joints, and post-tensioning splices. Removal and replacement of the Paleface River bridge was a great success, and MnDOT was able to meet the HfL program requirement related to the project goals of safety, construction congestion, quality, and user satisfaction. MnDOT and the construction contractor learned some valuable lessons in the process. Since this was the first project of its kind undertaken in Minnesota, MnDOT’s goal was to use it as a learning and evaluation tool and chose a project site with low traffic volume and minimal anticipated impact to traffic. The overall costs for the construction of this bridge were higher than if the bridge had been constructed using traditional cast-in-place techniques; however, if the bridge had been constructed in a location with shorter haul distances for the precast panels, higher traffic impacts, near urban areas with morning and evening peaks, and longer detours, it could potentially result in cost savings to MnDOT and the traveling public. KW - Bridge construction KW - Costs KW - Demonstration projects KW - Highways for LIFE KW - Minnesota KW - Prefabricated bridges KW - Structural connection KW - Technological innovations UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/summary/pdf_2/MN_US53_Paleface_Bridge_Final_06_24_2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1371162 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01577855 AU - Littleton, Paul AU - Mallela, Jagannath AU - Applied Research Associates, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Iowa Demonstration Project: Accelerated Bridge Construction on US 6 over Keg Creek PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 64p AB - As part of a national initiative sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) under the Highways for LIFE program, the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) was awarded a $400,000 grant to demonstrate the use of proven, innovative accelerated bridge construction (ABC) technologies to deliver this $2.7 million project in less time than conventional construction. This project represents a cooperative effort among the FHWA, Iowa DOT, and the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) project R04 research team to demonstrate the latest advances in ABC methods. This report details the ABC innovations used to replace the US 6 bridge over Keg Creek featuring prefabricated superstructure and substructure systems, high- and ultra-high-performance concrete, self-consolidating concrete, and fully contained flooded backfill. The new bridge was completely prefabricated off-site and installed into place—a first in Iowa and in the United States. The ABC approach and innovations in this project increased safety, enhanced quality, and allowed the contractor to replace the bridge during a 16-day road closure instead of 6 months, as would have been required under traditional construction methods. Using prefabricated bridge systems and innovative materials nearly doubled the initial bridge construction cost compared to traditional construction. However, a comprehensive economic analysis including user cost savings shows that the project saved road users about $0.44 million (or about 29 percent less than conventional construction). The experience gained on this successful project will help the Iowa DOT implement these innovations more routinely on future projects. KW - Bridge construction KW - Bridge replacement KW - Demonstration projects KW - Economic analysis KW - High performance concrete KW - Highways for LIFE KW - Iowa KW - Prefabricated bridges KW - Self compacting concrete KW - Technological innovations KW - Ultra high performance concrete UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/summary/pdf_2/IA_KegCreekBridge_Final_Report_June_2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370474 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01577851 AU - Bhajandas, Amar AU - Mallela, Jagannath AU - Applied Research Associates, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Maryland Demonstration Project: Baltimore-Washington Parkway/West Nursery Road Bridge Superstructure Replacement Using SPMTs PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 76p AB - As part of a national initiative sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration under the Highways for LIFE program, the Maryland State Highway Administration was awarded a $600,000 grant to demonstrate the use of proven, innovative technologies for accelerated bridge superstructure removal and replacement. This report documents accelerated bridge construction techniques using self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs) to remove and replace the superstructures of two West Nursery Road bridges over northbound and southbound Baltimore-Washington Parkway (MD 295) over two consecutive weekends. This report includes construction details of the bridge superstructures built in the median of MD 295, just north of the existing bridges, on temporary support structures. Using conventional construction methods, the impact of this project on the traveling public was estimated at 7 months, during which four lanes of West Nursery Road traffic would have been reduced to two lanes, one in each direction. However, using SPMTs reduced the impact to 2 weekend nights for MD 295 northbound and southbound traffic and 2 weekends, from midnight on Friday to 8 a.m. on Sunday, for West Nursery Road users. The traditional approach would have included a temporary bridge to carry West Nursery Road traffic during construction. It would have also required reconfiguring ramps, acquiring right-of-way, and constructing temporary approach roadways to the temporary bridge. The estimated cost of the temporary bridge was about the same as the $865,700 cost for SPMT deployment, but the SPMT option reduced user costs by $324,000, about 7 percent of the project construction cost. Because of the success of this project, the Maryland State Highway Administration will consider SPMT use on future projects, where it is feasible and appropriate for conditions. KW - Baltimore-Washington Parkway KW - Bridge construction KW - Bridge superstructures KW - Cost effectiveness KW - Demonstration projects KW - Highways for LIFE KW - Maryland KW - Prefabricated bridges KW - Self-propelled modular transporters KW - Technological innovations UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/summary/pdf_2/MD_SPMT_West_Nursery_Rd_%20Final%20Report_06_27_2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370467 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01577849 AU - Mallela, Jagannath AU - Hausman, John AU - Littleton, Paul AU - Ullman, Jerry AU - Hoffman, Gary AU - Applied Research Associates, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Bridge Replacements on MD 28 and MD 450, Frederick County and Anne Arundel County, Maryland PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 45p AB - As part of a national initiative sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration under the Highways for LIFE program, the Maryland State Highway Administration (MDSHA) was awarded a grant totaling 20 percent of the total project construction cost (or $717,157), making this a 100 percent federally funded project. The grant was awarded because the project was intended to demonstrate the use of proven, innovative technologies to deliver two rural bridge replacement projects in an accelerated schedule so as not to impact school bus routes. This report documents the MD 28 over Washington Run and MD 450 over Bacon Ridge Branch bridge projects, both single span bridges carrying two-lane, two-way roadways. This report summarizes the practices employed for these projects, including the use of prefabricated bridge elements and structures (PBES), incentive contracting, and construction within full roadway closures and detours. The use of these technologies decreased estimated construction time from 15 months for similar typical bridge replacement projects to 3 months (only 2 months of roadway closure). While the full roadway closures and subsequent detours significantly increased user delays and fuel consumption on a daily basis, the drastically reduced construction time and great savings in maintenance of traffic (MOT) and construction phasing resulted in a project savings of approximately $1.49 million (or approximately 32 percent of the total project costs) of the MD 28 project alone. Because of the success of this project, MDSHA is applying lessons learned and has already taken steps on other projects to further utilize PBES construction practices to save time and money. KW - Anne Arundel County (Maryland) KW - Bridge construction KW - Bridge replacement KW - Cost effectiveness KW - Detours KW - Frederick County (Maryland) KW - Highways for LIFE KW - Incentives KW - Prefabricated bridges KW - Road closures KW - Single span bridges KW - Technological innovations UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/summary/pdf_2/MD_Replacements%20on%20MD%2028%20and%20MD%20450_Final_Report_June_2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370468 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01577104 AU - Rao, Chetana AU - Littleton, Paul AU - Sadasivam, Suri AU - Ullman, Gerry AU - Applied Research Associates, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - California Demonstration Project: Pavement Replacement Using a Precast Pavement System on I-15 in Ontario PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 72p AB - As part of a national initiative sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration under the Highways for LIFE (HfL) program, the California Department of Transportation was awarded a $5 million grant to showcase and demonstrate the use of precast concrete pavement system (PCPS) technology for the replacement of concrete slabs on Interstate 15 in Ontario, CA. The project involved the rehabilitation of 4.7 miles of roadway including 696 PCPS slab installations. The rehabilitation project provided the opportunity to evaluate PCPS alongside traditional cast-in-place slab replacement methods. In addition, the project involved the use of other innovative technologies. The design phase of this project utilized Construction Analysis for Pavement Rehabilitation Strategies (CA4PRS) analysis to optimize construction staging plans and Dynameq to characterize traffic flow during construction and rehabilitation activities. Also, a road safety audit was performed in the early stages of the construction to critically examine safety considerations in various design and planning elements. This report documents the details of this project, including a description of the applied PCPS technology and its design, construction staging techniques and maintenance of traffic, slab installation, and performance evaluations and economic analysis. This report also contains other items relevant to HfL projects, including a description of HfL goals, technology transfer activities on the project, and a detailed analysis of data to evaluate if the HfL goals were satisfied. This project serves as a great example of the successful use of multiple innovations on a large scale project. The project also demonstrates the key factors for success: vast breadth of knowledge and expertise required; the importance of planning and attention to details, and the significance of good communication across various divisions within an agency. Specifically, in the case of PCPS, this project achieved tremendously high production rates for slab installations in nighttime work windows. Besides the initial trial installations behind k-rails, all PCPS installations performed in nighttime work windows did not require closure of more than 2 lanes, which was compensated with the addition of two median lanes in the project. Given the construction staging plans and the lane closure patterns, the economic analysis shows no significant cost implications due to the use of PCPS technology for slab replacement. KW - Demonstration projects KW - Economic analysis KW - Highway safety KW - Ontario (California) KW - Pavement performance KW - Precast concrete pavements KW - Rehabilitation (Maintenance) KW - Slabs KW - Technological innovations UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/summary/pdf_2/CA_Pavement%20Replacement%20Using%20a%20PCPS%20on%20I-15_Final_Report_June_2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1370098 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01576095 AU - Von Quintus, Harold L AU - Mallela, Jagannath AU - Applied Research Associates, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Vermont Demonstration Project: Warm-Mix Asphalt Overlay and Rehabilitation of U.S.4A and VT 30 PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 80p AB - As part of a national initiative sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration under the Highways for LIFE program, the Vermont Agency of Transportation was awarded a $1 million grant to demonstrate the use of multiple innovative but proven strategies for rehabilitating segments of U.S. 4A and VT 30 near and through Castleton. The three strategies used on the project include warm mix-asphalt (WMA), the Safety EdgeSM, and intelligent compaction. Two other innovative strategies were also used during construction: an infrared bar for monitoring the mat temperature behind the paver and a longitudinal construction joint specification to improve joint performance. This report details the use of multiple strategies to rehabilitate these routes. Use of the Safety Edge increased safety by making it easier for vehicles that drift off the roadway to return. Use of WMA reduced the time needed for the mat temperature to drop below 140 °Fahrenheit, reducing queue length and the number of vehicles in the queue. More important, use of intelligent compaction increased the uniformity of the mat density and resulted in slightly higher mat densities, increasing the service life of the overlay. KW - Compaction KW - Demonstration projects KW - Overlays (Pavements) KW - Paving KW - Rehabilitation (Maintenance) KW - Vermont KW - Warm mix paving mixtures UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/summary/pdf_2/Vermont_Hfl_US4-VT30_June_2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1367848 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01574058 AU - Kanter, John AU - Mikula, Toni AU - DeLuca, Diane AU - Holman, Heidi AU - New Hampshire Fish and Game Department AU - New Hampshire Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Reducing Bird-Strike Risk at Portsmouth International Airport (PSM) Through Research on Breeding Upland Sandpiper Habitat PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 34p AB - This report summarizes the results of a study to identify the habitat use and behavior of the upland sandpiper, a state-endangered bird species, at Portsmouth International Airport (PSM), which is near the Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge (GBNWR). The study determined that PSM provides the nesting habitat for 10 to 15 pairs of upland sandpipers. Despite several surveys at other suitable grassland habitats, including sites within GBNWR, biologists have not recorded any breeding activity outside of PSM. The study identified wildlife hazards and attractants on the airfield and made recommendations to minimize said hazards thereby protecting the state-endangered bird species. The management plan at PSM was modified to fit USDA Wildlife Services guidelines and provide a mowing regime to minimize the risk to the upland sandpiper. Recommended best management practices include: modifications to the mower’s flushing bar, the cutting height and time of year for cutting, improve and create additional habitat areas at GBNWR, and continued monitoring of impact on the upland sandpiper at PSM. KW - Airports KW - Best practices KW - Bird strikes KW - Birds KW - Endangered species KW - Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge KW - Habitat (Ecology) KW - Mowing KW - Portsmouth International Airport KW - Recommendations KW - Risk management UR - http://www.nh.gov/dot/org/projectdevelopment/materials/research/projects/documents/14282U-FINALREPORT.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55300/55388/14282U-FINALREPORT.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1364785 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01571976 AU - Smadi, Omar AU - Hawkins, Neal AU - Hallmark, Shauna AU - Knickerbocker, Skylar AU - Iowa State University, Ames AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation of the TAPCO Sequential Dynamic Curve Warning System PY - 2013/06//Interim Report SP - 121p AB - Implementing safety countermeasures on rural horizontal curves to address speeding can improve the safety performance for those locations. State safety and traffic engineers are faced with making decisions on what type of technology to use and which sites to use the technology on in a fiscally constrained environment. The research conducted for this project will evaluate a Sequential Dynamic Curve Warning System (SDCWS) that could be an additional tool for these engineers to use either separately or in combination with other countermeasures to address horizontal curve locations with a history of safety concerns. KW - Countermeasures KW - Evaluation KW - Field studies KW - Highway curves KW - Rural highways KW - Traffic safety KW - Variable message signs KW - Warning signs UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/pubs/hif13040/hif13040.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363083 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01562611 AU - Grengs, Joe AU - Levine, Jonathan AU - Shen, Qingyun AU - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - Evaluating Transportation Equity: An Intermetropolitan Comparison of Regional Accessibility and Urban Form PY - 2013/06 SP - 47p AB - The concept of accessibility is used as the measurement tool to assess the link between social equity and the built environment because it simultaneously accounts for both land-use patterns and a transportation system. This study compares 25 metropolitan regions to identify those regions that best support high accessibility for transit-dependent populations, racial minorities, and low-income households. Comparing across metropolitan regions enables a better understanding of which regions offer greater geographic equity in accessibility, and what factors underpin these differences. The analysis demonstrates that accessibility can be evaluated across multiple dimensions. KW - Accessibility KW - Equity (Justice) KW - Evaluation KW - Land use KW - Low income groups KW - Metropolitan areas KW - Minorities KW - Public transit UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Report_No._0066.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55500/55549/FTA_Report_No._0066.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1352140 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01562609 AU - González, Martín AU - Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - Limited English Proficiency Accessibility Program: Demonstration Program PY - 2013/06 SP - 170p AB - In 2006, the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) secured grant funding from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) that enabled the agency to launch a creative and ambitious Limited English Proficiency (LEP) demonstration program. TriMet staff theorized that the combination of language-specific personal outreach and culturally-appropriate communication approaches would enhance the transit experience for individual LEP customers, LEP community groups, and front-line TriMet staff and result in clear, easy-to-understand communication pieces that would benefit all customers regardless of their language or literacy level. Spanish-speaking LEP persons were chosen as the primary audience for the demonstration project as they were the largest (65%) of the LEP populations in the TriMet district. The demonstration program activities included hiring an LEP Outreach Coordinator; developing standard operating policies and procedures for translating and interpreting vital documents; providing notice of second language services, and training staff; qualitative and quantitative methods to evaluate the effectiveness of the program before and after implementation. This evaluation included input from the general population, LEP community partners, LEP individuals, and TriMet personnel. KW - Accessibility KW - Before and after studies KW - Communication KW - Demonstration projects KW - Hispanics KW - Language KW - Limited English proficiency KW - Outreach KW - Persons by language backgrounds KW - Public transit KW - Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Report_No._0068.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55500/55551/FTA_Report_No._0068.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1352138 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01552157 AU - Taylor, Peter C AU - Iowa State University, Ames AU - Iowa Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Demonstration of Technologies for Concrete Pavement Quality Monitoring PY - 2013/06 SP - 40p AB - A field demonstration to showcase the available technologies that can be used to improve quality monitoring of concrete pavements as they are constructed was held as part of the Spring 2013 National Concrete Consortium meeting in Philadelphia on April 3, 2013. The technologies selected were those known to the group to be practical, useful and with some degree of maturity, meaning they were ready to be implemented in the field, if not already commercially available. It should be noted that many of them are likely more useful for Quality Control (QC) applications rather than acceptance. The devices demonstrated included: Air void analyzer, Coefficient of Thermal Expansion, Corrosion Sensors, Field Calorimeter, Ground Penetrating Radar, HIgh PERformance Concrete PAVing (HIPERPAV) III, Impulse response, MIRA Ultrasonic Pulse Echo, MIT Scan 2 (pulse-induction), MIT Scan T2, P-wave, Super air meter, Surface Resistivity, and Tensile Bond. The appendix includes technical data sheets for each device. KW - Air voids KW - Calorimeters KW - Concrete pavements KW - Corrosion KW - Durability KW - Electrical resistivity KW - Ground penetrating radar KW - HIPERPAV (Computer program) KW - Impulse response KW - Quality control KW - Tensile strength KW - Thermal expansion KW - Tomography UR - http://www.cptechcenter.org/technical-library/documents/Advance-Field-Rodeo-report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1341304 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01544702 AU - Tremblay, Jason AU - Colgrove, George W AU - Vermont Agency of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation of Corrosion Resistance of Various Concrete Reinforcing Materials PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 23p AB - The Vermont Agency of Transportation undertook a simple experiment to determine the corrosion resistance ability of various reinforcing steels (rebar) that may be used in bridges and other concrete structures. Eight types of rebar were used in the study, including: black, MMFX2, epoxy coated, Z-Bar, stainless clad, high nickel stainless steel, high manganese stainless steel, and a duplex stainless steel. Rebar samples were subjected to a 3% sodium chloride salt water solution bath three days a week for eight hours. When not submerged, samples were left to dry under standard temperature and pressures. Samples went through this procedure for a total of 260 cycles, which was equated to an approximately 10 year outdoor lifecycle under Vermont’s climatic conditions. Samples were measured for mass, diameter, and coating thicknesses prior to, periodically during, and at the completion of their exposure testing. Results prove that each type of rebar show varying degrees of corrosion resistance to sodium chloride. Black bar showed not only extensive corrosion, but it also began rapidly from the onset of the immersions, while epoxy coated bars (ECR) showed adequate resistance to corrosion. Some ECR bars were intentionally cut and not repaired for the study showed a considerable increase in corrosion over intact bars. Bars that are designed to further combat construction damage, Z-Bar, stainless-clad, and solid stainless steels, exhibited far greater corrosion resistance. KW - Corrosion resistance KW - Reinforced concrete KW - Reinforcing bars KW - Sodium chloride KW - Vermont UR - http://vtransplanning.vermont.gov/sites/aot_program_development/files/documents/materialsandresearch/completedprojects/2013-01%20Evaluation%20of%20Corrosion%20Resistance%205-29.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1331775 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01544671 AU - Nelson, David A AU - Miller, Michelle AU - Morales, Alfonso AU - Zietlow, Ben AU - Adams, Teresa M AU - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Achieving Scale Strategically: Understanding Freight Flows in Regional Food Supply Chains PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 70p AB - The past several years have seen a rising interest in all things sustainable, from energy efficient homes and vehicles, to alternative energy sources, to increasing focus on recyclable and renewable material usage. This trend has also been accompanied by an increased examination by consumers of where our foods come from and how it reaches us. Decades of globalization have drastically altered supply chains. Along with consumer goods, the distance in that food travels to reach its markets has grown exponentially, and stressed freight transportation systems. This research will identify how the local food supply and distribution systems function in the Upper Midwest States and suggests ways that regional food transportation movements can become more efficient and retain and enhance other values. KW - Commodity flow KW - Food KW - Freight transportation KW - Midwestern States KW - Physical distribution KW - Regional transportation KW - Supply chain management UR - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/FR_CFIRE0517.2.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1330897 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01538259 AU - ICF International AU - South Coast Engineers AU - Texas Tech University, Lubbock AU - U.S. Geological Survey AU - PB Americas, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration AU - Department of Transportation TI - Impacts of Climate Change and Variability on Transportation Systems and Infrastructure: The Gulf Coast Study, Phase 2, Task 2: Climate Variability and Change in Mobile, Alabama PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 228p AB - To better understand climate change impacts on transportation infrastructure and to identify potential adaptation strategies, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is conducting a comprehensive multiphase study of climate change impacts in the Central Gulf Coast region. The Gulf Coast Study has two distinct study periods: Phase 1 (2003 to 2008) examined the impacts of climate change on transportation infrastructure at a regional scale; and Phase 2 (underway) is focusing on a smaller region, enhancing regional decision makers’ ability to understand potential impacts on specific critical components of infrastructure, and to start evaluating adaptation options. This report, the Task 2 report, lays the climate data foundation upon which a vulnerability assessment will be conducted in the next task. This report explores potential changes in five primary climate variables: temperature, precipitation, streamflow, sea level rise, and storm surge in Mobile, Alabama. To do so, Task 2 characterizes the current climate conditions in Mobile, and then uses downscaled climate projection data, as well as sea level rise and storm surge modeling, to develop plausible climate futures. The climate information discussed in this report will be used to assess how the transportation system in Mobile might be affected by climate change. Although this report does focus on Mobile, AL, the processes developed under this Task can be replicated by other transportation organizations across the country. The ultimate goal of this report is to not just identify how climate could change in Mobile, but also to develop robust methodologies, and identify existing datasets and tools, for developing these plausible climate futures. KW - Climate change KW - Environmental impacts KW - Forecasting KW - Gulf Coast KW - Infrastructure KW - Methodology KW - Mobile (Alabama) KW - Precipitation (Meteorology) KW - Sea level KW - Storm surges KW - Streamflow KW - Temperature UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/climate_change/adaptation/ongoing_and_current_research/gulf_coast_study/phase2_task2/mobile_variability/task2_app_a_to_d.pdf UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/climate_change/adaptation/ongoing_and_current_research/gulf_coast_study/phase2_task2/mobile_variability/task2_app_e.pdf UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/climate_change/adaptation/ongoing_and_current_research/gulf_coast_study/phase2_task2/mobile_variability/task2_main.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1322517 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01534770 AU - Varner, Robert L AU - Burns Cooley Dennis, Incorporated AU - Mississippi Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Influences of Cement Source and Sample of Cement Source on Compressive Strength Variability of Gravel Aggregate Concrete PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 226p AB - The strength of concrete is influenced by each constituent material used in the concrete mixture and the proportions of each ingredient. Water-cementitious ratio, cementitious materials, air content, chemical admixtures, and type of coarse aggregate are important factors that influence strength. Experience shows that variability of concrete strength is inevitable even when these factors are held constant. All constituent materials change with each sample of the material and these changes have influence on concrete strength. This study provides the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) engineers with compressive strength data on gravel aggregate concrete using seven portland cements and three samples collected approximately one month apart from each source. Crushed limestone was used for control mixtures. Data were collected from eighty-four mixtures to show compressive strength variability of gravel aggregate concrete. KW - Compressive strength KW - Concrete KW - Material sources KW - Mississippi KW - Portland cement UR - http://mdot.ms.gov/documents/research/Reports/Interim%20and%20Final%20Reports/State%20Study%20239%20-%20%20Influences%20of%20Cement%20Source%20and%20Sample%20of%20Cement%20Source%20on%20Compressive%20Strength%20Variability%20of%20Gravel%20Aggregate%20Concrete.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1320053 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01532303 AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - NextGen Implementation Plan PY - 2013/06 SP - 98p AB - This Plan provides a roadmap of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA’s) ongoing transition to Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), which is improving the way we fly. NextGen integrates new and existing technologies, policies and procedures to reduce delays, save fuel and lower aircraft exhaust emissions to deliver a better travel experience. The NextGen Implementation Plan provides an overview of the benefits aircraft operators and passengers are receiving from recent NextGen improvements; it also highlights future benefits that will result from NextGen. While the thrust of this work focuses on U.S. airports, airspace and aircraft, the FAA actively engages with global aviation partners to ensure operators receive benefits anywhere in the world. KW - Air traffic control KW - Air transportation KW - Air transportation facilities KW - Aircraft KW - Airports KW - Implementation KW - Next Generation Air Transportation System KW - United States UR - https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/050-300-00005-6 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1317310 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01531149 AU - Qin, Xiao AU - Sultana, Most Afia AU - Chitturi, Madhav V AU - Noyce, David A AU - South Dakota State University, Brookings AU - University of Wisconsin, Madison AU - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Developing Safety Risk Index for Truck Preferred Arterial Corridor PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 82p AB - Truck safety has been of great interest to transportation officials, engineers and researchers for many years because of the amount of freight transported by trucks, the safety impact of trucks in traffic, and trucks’ invaluable contribution to the country’s economic growth. Connecting between traffic generators, arterial streets are key links for door-to-door deliveries. It is imperative to study and evaluate truck safety impact on arterial streets in response to the continued strong growth of truck traffic. This project provided a comprehensive analysis of truck-related crashes that occurred on arterial streets. By collecting extensive roadway geometries, pavement conditions, traffic data on selected arterial corridors heavily traveled by trucks, truck crash frequency and injury severity contributing factors have been identified. Statistical models have been tested with different combinations of datasets, with and without access parameters. Without the access related variables, truck miles traveled, annual average daily traffic (AADT), signal density, shoulder width, pavement service index (PSI) and its standard deviation are statistically significant factors for predicting the crash frequency. After incorporating access information, commercial driveway design related variables exhibit statistical significance while the previously significant variables such as AADT, PSI and its standard deviation are no longer statistically significant. This noticeable change of the statistical models warns that a spurious relationship may be formed if a causal relationship cannot be sufficiently supported via the data collected. For crash severity prediction, twelve contributing factors such as posted speed limit, lane width, number of lanes, pavement condition index, and undivided roadway portion were identified. Subsequently, the corridors safety performance measured by a truck crash severity index (CSI) as a function of crash frequency and injury severity has been established. It is anticipated that the findings in the study will not only benefit state and local agencies in planning, designing, and managing a safe arterial corridor for trucks and other motorists, but also help motor carriers to optimize their routes from a safety perspective. KW - Arterial highways KW - Crash causes KW - Crash data KW - Crash risk forecasting KW - Crash severity KW - Highway corridors KW - Highway factors in crashes KW - Truck crashes KW - Trucking safety KW - Wisconsin UR - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/FR_CFIRE0415.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1316831 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01530942 AU - Bagley, Steve AU - Stevens, David K AU - Utah Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Annual UDOT Workshop on Transportation Research Needs: 2013 Proceedings PY - 2013/06//Final Workshop Proceedings SP - 237p AB - An annual Research Workshop (also known as the UTRAC Workshop) was held on April 8, 2013 to discuss and prioritize the research needs of the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) in preparation for the 2014 fiscal year. Participants included UDOT managers and employees, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) staff, individuals from other government agencies, researchers from local universities, consultants, and other interested parties. Problem Statements, describing research needs of the Department, were submitted prior to the workshop and then evaluated, modified, and prioritized by working groups at the workshop. This document describes the UDOT research prioritization process, the Research Workshop, and the resultant list of prioritized Problem Statements. The Research Workshop included plenary sessions, with a keynote address by Carlos Braceras, Acting Director of UDOT; presentations on the UDOT Research program, past workshops, workshop instructions, and the project selection process; and presentation of the Trailblazer Award to Dr. Marvin Halling of Utah State University for his outstanding contributions to transportation research. Much of the workshop was devoted to the evaluation of Problem Statements by groups organized by subject area. The seven subject area groups were: Materials & Pavements, Maintenance, Traffic Management & Safety, Geotechnical, Preconstruction, Planning & Asset Management, and Transportation Innovation. Each group used a voting process to determine the most important research needs in their subject area, in ranked order. A total of 59 unique Problem Statements were considered. An additional 20 ideas were proposed and discussed in the Transportation Innovation breakout session. Of those statements and ideas, 27 have been listed for potential funding by the Research Division. The workshop was held at the Larry H. Miller Campus of the Salt Lake Community College. A total of 89 people participated. KW - Needs assessment KW - Research KW - Strategic planning KW - Utah Department of Transportation KW - Workshops UR - http://www.udot.utah.gov/main/uconowner.gf?n=13433514070566614 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1316035 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01526385 AU - Knoebel, Geri AU - Brogan, James D AU - Hall, Jerome W AU - University of New Mexico, Albuquerque AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - Mobility Enhancements on a Multi-Nodal Urban Campus PY - 2013/06 SP - 180p AB - This report documents a comprehensive needs analysis of the transportation options at the University of New Mexico, including an examination of administrative and operational alternatives to improve both the internal shuttle service provided by the University as well as transit service provided by the City of Albuquerque to university-area locations. This study also examines transit options for providing service from campus locations to connections for the NM Rail Runner Express commuter rail operation. KW - Albuquerque (New Mexico) KW - Alternatives analysis KW - Needs assessment KW - Public transit KW - Railroad commuter service KW - Shuttle service KW - Transportation planning KW - Universities and colleges KW - University of New Mexico UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Report_No._0041.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1308228 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01522340 AU - Eudy, Leslie AU - Chandler, Kevin AU - National Renewable Energy Laboratory AU - Battelle AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - American Fuel Cell Bus Project: First Analysis Report PY - 2013/06 SP - 50p AB - This report summarizes the experience and early results from the American Fuel Cell Bus Project, a fuel cell electric bus demonstration funded by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) under the National Fuel Cell Bus Program. A team led by CALSTART and SunLine Transit Agency developed a next-generation fuel cell electric bus for demonstration. The 40-foot ElDorado National transit bus features a BAE Systems series hybrid propulsion system powered by a Ballard Power Systems fuel cell and lithium iron phosphate batteries. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has been tasked by FTA to evaluate the buses in service. This report documents the early development and implementation of the buses and summarizes the performance results through February 2013. KW - Electric buses KW - Evaluation KW - Fuel cell vehicles KW - Hybrid vehicles KW - Implementation KW - Lithium batteries KW - National Fuel Cell Bus Program KW - Transit buses UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Report_No._0047.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55500/55535/FTA_Report_No._0047.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1306589 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516382 AU - Boving, Thomas AU - University of Rhode Island Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Installation of Stormwater Mangement and Treatment Demonstration Facility PY - 2013/06 SP - 6p AB - The Rhode Island Stormwater Technology Demonstration Facility (RI STD) was conceived as a demonstration facility for testing innovative stormwater treatment systems and best management practices (BMP). In the past, University of Rhode Island students and faculty were forced to conduct stormwater studies off-campus, along heavily traveled roads or in places unsafe to work during nighttime. Also, timing the field tests to storm events has been extremely difficult and logistically challenging. The field studies, therefore, were often plagued by incomplete coverage of storm events or data gaps between sampling campaigns because of difficulties mobilizing man power and field equipment in time for a rain storm. These logistical challenges can now be minimized with immediate access to the field equipment and the man power available near to where the field tests are conducted. Hence, having built the RI STD facility on the campus of University of Rhode Island (URI) in Kingston provides the stormwater research community with a safe and highly instrumented test ground for evaluating commercial or innovative in-situ BMP technologies. This report describes the goals and objectives achieved by constructing the RI STD and what can be expected from it in the future. KW - Best practices KW - Installation KW - Runoff KW - Test facilities KW - Water quality management UR - http://131.128.106.203/uritc-org/media/finalreportspdf/S000141.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1291112 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516308 AU - Kane, Douglas L AU - Stuefer, Svetlana AU - Alaska University Transportation Center AU - Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - New 2012 Precipitation Frequency Estimation Analysis for Alaska: Musings on Data Used and the Final Product PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 32p AB - The major product of this study was a precipitation frequency atlas for the entire state of Alaska; this atlas is available at http://dipper.nws.noaa.gov/hdsc/pfds/. The process of contributing to this study provided an opportunity to (1) evaluate the complete precipitation data-collection program for Alaska and (2) compare the new precipitation frequency estimates with those published in 1963. It has been known for some time that the precipitation data-collection program in Alaska has many limitations and challenges. This present report summarizes the limitations of the data collection program identified during the study and includes a comparison of the 1963 and 2012 results for selected stations at major population centers. The authors hope that this report will lead to improvements in data collection so that better precipitation frequency estimates can be made in the future. KW - Alaska KW - Data collection KW - Data quality KW - Estimating KW - Precipitation (Meteorology) KW - Statistical sampling UR - http://ine.uaf.edu/autc/files/2013/10/207119.Kane_.3.2013_fp_Doug_fp.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290650 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516291 AU - Cambridge Systematics AU - New Mexico Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Peer Exchange, Journey from Adequate to Vital: The Pathway to Excellence PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 118p AB - This report documents the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) Research Peer Exchange held April 10-11, 2013 in Albuquerque, New Mexico in accordance with the requirements of 23 CFR 420. It involved NMDOT staff and representatives from the state Departments of Transportation of Arizona, Ohio, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. The two key objectives of the peer exchange were to identify steps toward creating a Strategic Research Program that supports the Department’s Strategic Plan and to develop strategies for overcoming operation obstacles. It included a review of the NMDOT research program and presentations from the other peer states on their programs. The peer exchange found that the NMDOT research program had made significant progress since the last peer exchange in 2008. The peer exchange recommended that the NMDOT should develop a Strategic Research Plan to guide their research project selection process; expedite the overall research project development process by conducting some steps simultaneously; develop a “Quick-Response Program” to address high-priority research needs; strengthen the implementation process for completed projects and develop outcome performance measures; develop a communication and marketing plan to transmit the value of the research program; and build productive partnerships with senior managers, customers, and stakeholders. KW - New Mexico Department of Transportation KW - Peer exchange KW - Recommendations KW - Research management KW - Research projects KW - State departments of transportation KW - Strategic planning UR - http://dot.state.nm.us/content/dam/nmdot/Research/NM12SP-07-003_PeerExchange_FinalReport.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1299561 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01505937 AU - Mitchell, Gayle F AU - Sargand, Shad AU - Russ, Andrew AU - Ohio University, Athens AU - Ohio Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Exfiltration Trench for Post Construction Storm Water Management for Linear Transportation Projects: Volume 3 of 3, Athens Field Study PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 214p AB - Based on performance, construction, and maintenance data from the Reno, Ohio, trench, a revised design using an open grate with aggregate and sand media placed in a fully enclosed prefabricated concrete chamber was installed on SR 550 in Athens, Ohio, and monitored for about two months. Forensics on the trench identified operational problems, and the trench was reconstructed. The new innovative design included a plastic bubble plate (patent pending) over the aggregate media. Monitoring of this new design over a nine month period showed improved performance over the current design and ease of maintenance. Average removal of suspended material that entered the trench was about 86%. Removal of metals generally corresponded to the influent concentration, ranging from 9% to 75%. KW - Aggregates KW - Athens (Ohio) KW - Concrete KW - Design KW - Exfiltration KW - Filtration KW - Heavy metals KW - Runoff KW - Sand KW - Suspended sediments KW - Trenches KW - Water quality management UR - http://worldcat.org/oclc/872562622/viewonline UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290153 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01505935 AU - Mitchell, Gayle F AU - Sargand, Shad AU - Russ, Andrew AU - Ohio University, Athens AU - Ohio Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Exfiltration Trench for Post Construction Storm Water Management for Linear Transportation Projects: Volume 1 of 3, Laboratory Study of Pervious Concrete and Filter Media PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 217p AB - This report documents a laboratory study on the efficacy of the exfiltration trench, a Best Management Practice (BMP) utilized by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), to reduce pollutants in post construction stormwater runoff. Runoff flows through media layers of the trench, consisting of pervious concrete, aggregate and sand filter media. The ODOT specified media were first characterized and then pollutant removal tests were conducted. Also, an alternative pervious concrete mix (recommended by the Ohio Ready MixConcrete Association (ORMCA)) and filter media (greensand) were investigated. Porosity, hydraulic conductivity, strength and freeze/thaw characteristics of each pervious concrete mix were determined. No structural or durability issues were evident with either concrete mix. Removal of suspended material via the pervious concrete increased with larger size influent particles. For the ODOT pervious concrete mix, removal in terms of total suspended solids (TSS) of sand, A-6 soil and artificial runoff averaged 60.5%, 4.8% and 39%, respectively. The ORMCA mix achieved an average removal of 38.5% for sand particles, 9.3% for A-6 soil and 16.1% for artificial runoff. Both the sand and greensand achieved over 97% removal of A-6 soil as TSS and 75% and 90%, respectively, for artificial runoff. The composite system of ODOT mix and sand averaged 84% removal of TSS and the Ohio Ready Mix and greensand combination averaged 91% removal. The composite system provided 63% to 98% removal for seven heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, and Zn). Greensand was superior to sand in removing metals from solution. The intermediate aggregate layer was characterized for hydraulic conductivity, and the quantity of TSS emanating from washed and unwashed samples was estimated. Unwashed aggregate averaged 74% more TSS than washed aggregate in initial clean water tests. Maintenance of the pervious concrete was performed using simulated sweeping, vacuuming and jet washing. Recovery of permeability was related to the extent of clogging of the specimens, and for sand-clogged pores only 20% of the original hydraulic conductivity was recovered. KW - Aggregates KW - Best practices KW - Concrete KW - Design KW - Exfiltration KW - Filtration KW - Heavy metals KW - Ohio Department of Transportation KW - Runoff KW - Sand KW - Suspended sediments KW - Trenches KW - Water quality management UR - http://worldcat.org/oclc/872562622/viewonline UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1286023 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01505934 AU - Mitchell, Gayle F AU - Sargand, Shad AU - Russ, Andrew AU - Ohio University, Athens AU - Ohio Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Exfiltration Trench for Post Construction Storm Water Management for Linear Transportation Projects: Volume 2 of 3, Reno Field Study PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 185p AB - Field monitoring was conducted for about 10 months on an exfiltration trench located on SR 7 near Reno, Ohio, to determine its efficacy in treatment of highway stormwater runoff. Flow to and from the trench was sampled incrementally during each rainfall/snowmelt runoff event and analyzed for a variety of constituents. The trench, consisting of media layers of porous concrete, aggregate and sand, exhibited clogging of the concrete layer within about four months; maintenance operations consisting of pressure washing and vacuuming were conducted, providing operation for another 5-6 months. Prior to maintenance an average removal of about 57% of total suspended solids (TSS) and 45% for total metals was achieved, declining to an average of 38% removal of TSS and negligible metals removal after maintenance. The trench was excavated, forensics performed, problems were corrected and a new trench constructed. The reconstructed trench was monitored for about 4 months prior to clogging; TSS and total metals removals both averaged about 68%. Results provided information for redesign and construction of another trench for further field monitoring and validation. KW - Aggregates KW - Concrete KW - Exfiltration KW - Field studies KW - Filtration KW - Heavy metals KW - Maintenance KW - Reno (Ohio) KW - Runoff KW - Sand KW - Suspended sediments KW - Trenches KW - Water quality management UR - http://worldcat.org/oclc/872562622/viewonline UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290152 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01503980 AU - Subbotin, Nicholas AU - Gardner, Susan AU - Federal Aviation Administration AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - Takeoff and Landing Performance Assessment Validation Effort of the Runway Condition Assessment Matrix PY - 2013/06//Technical Note SP - 177p AB - In 2009, the Takeoff and Landing Performance Assessment (TALPA) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) conduct a trial program or validation effort to assess the use of a Runway Condition Assessment Matrix (RCAM), commonly referred to as the Matrix. The validation effort was intended to examine the RCAM’s processes to determine if they could be implemented at airports nationwide in order to disseminate runway surface condition information to pilots prior to landing. The objectives included validating the correlation between the Matrix surface condition descriptions and pilot braking action reports (PIREP) and determining the usability of the Matrix for airport operators and pilots. This technical note gives a general overview and background of the TALPA ARC and provides an overview of the two RCAM FAA validation efforts during consecutive winter airport operations seasons in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Recommendations for changes to the RCAM are also provided. This technical note discusses these two validation efforts along with the evaluation approach, analysis, results, and recommendations. Similarly, the revisions and changes that affected the RCAM and its processes during the course of this effort are also described. An Industry Team comprised of industry representatives instrumental in the development of the RCAM, along with the FAA, airport operators, and air carrier representatives who participated in the validation efforts, reviewed the evaluation approach, analysis, and results. Based on the results of the validation efforts, the Industry Team recommended that the FAA work to implement the RCAM and its processes into aviation operations. KW - Airport runways KW - Airstrips KW - Condition surveys KW - Landing KW - Runway Condition Assessment Matrix KW - Takeoff KW - Validation UR - http://www.airtech.tc.faa.gov/Safety/Downloads/TC-TN13-22.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1286164 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01502790 AU - Li, Kai Ming AU - Tong, Bao N AU - Liu, Sheng AU - Purdue University AU - Indiana Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Feasibility Study of In‐situ Characterization of Size Distribution of Air Voids in Concrete Pavements PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 40p AB - This report concerns a feasibility study on the use of a non-destructive and non-invasive method to determine the size distribution of air voids in fresh concrete, which will be used for laying concrete pavement. A preliminary review of different techniques suggested that the measurement of the p-wave velocity of ultrasound pulses transmitted through a fresh concrete specimen offers the most straightforward approach. This report describes an experimental study to address the design of an experimental test rig, the selection of appropriate equipment, and the determination of the p-wave velocity in fresh cementitious materials. The paper starts with the ultrasound characterization of fresh cement and mortars. Then, the feasibility of using the ultrasound method to determine the air-void content in a fresh concrete specimen with a minimum thickness of 4" is examined. In addition to the discussions of the ultrasound characterization of fresh cementitious materials, this paper also reports on the development of a suite of MATLAB programs to characterize the air-void systems of hardened cementitious materials. The approach is based on image processing techniques used to analyze digital images of polished specimens collected with a flatbed scanner. The results will provide pertinent information on the air-void systems in hardened cementitious materials. KW - Air voids KW - Concrete pavements KW - Feasibility analysis KW - Fresh concrete KW - Image processing KW - MATLAB (Computer program) KW - Nondestructive tests KW - Test procedures KW - Testing equipment KW - Ultrasonic tests KW - Ultrasonic waves UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5703/1288284315212 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1280993 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01502117 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 PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 84p AB - This report 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. Such piers are built in two stages, with the lower stage placed first to provide support to the girders and the upper stage constructed later to integrate the pier and superstructure. The precast bent system uses precast columns with cast-in-place foundations, precast pier cap beams, and a cast-in-place upper stage pier cap beam. This report provides information on the system concept, as well as the background physical testing for the upper level grouted duct connections and the lower socket type connections. Additionally, the report provides design and construction specifications, describes a demonstration project constructed in Washington State, and discusses lessons learned from the demonstration project. Finally, two design examples are presented to illustrate the design process for the precast bent system for spread footings and drilled shaft foundations. KW - Bents KW - Bridge construction KW - Bridge design KW - Bridge foundations KW - Bridge piers KW - Columns KW - Demonstration projects KW - Earthquake resistant design KW - Girder bridges KW - Precast concrete KW - Prestressed concrete bridges KW - Spread footings KW - Structural connection KW - Washington (State) UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/pubs/hif13037/hif13037.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1280731 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01502102 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 A: Design Provisions PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 22p 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 A) details design specifications which amend the provisions of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Guide Specifications for Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) Seismic Bridge Design. As such, it is formatted per AASHTO requirements as an additional appendix to the Seismic Guide Specifications, where it is proposed to be appendix C. The design provisions of the AASHTO Seismic Guide Specifications apply to the Highways for LIFE precast bent system for seismic regions except as modified according to the provisions herein. All cross-references in this appendix are in relation to the second edition (2011) of the AASHTO Seismic Guide Specifications. KW - AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications KW - Bents KW - Bridge design KW - Bridge foundations KW - Earthquake resistant design KW - Girder bridges KW - Precast concrete KW - Reinforcement (Engineering) KW - Spread footings KW - Structural connection UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/pubs/hif13037/hif13037a.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1280732 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01502074 AU - Haraldsson, Olafur S AU - Janes, Todd M AU - Eberhard, Marc O AU - Stanton, John F AU - BergerABAM Engineers, Incorporated AU - University of Washington, Seattle AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Precast Bent System for High Seismic Regions: Laboratory Tests of Column-to-Footing Socket Connections PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 186p AB - This report provides detailed information from the laboratory investigation of three precast column-to-spread footing large-scale tests, including descriptions of the specimen design, testing, data reduction, and conclusions regarding the use of the connection with the precast bent system. The tests provide data regarding the performance of the precast column-to-spread footing connection. The results indicate that the connection, when used with a precast column, is sufficiently strong to support the factored design gravity loads and to resist plastic hinging in the column above the footing. The behavior is emulative of cast-in-place performance. However, the precast column also provides an improved load path for lateral force transfer to the footing, owing to the elimination of outwardly hooked column longitudinal reinforcement. Additionally, the connection performance is adequate without reinforcement passing from the footing into the column, thus simplifying construction. KW - Bearing capacity KW - Bents KW - Bridge construction KW - Bridge design KW - Columns KW - Earthquake resistant design KW - Laboratory tests KW - Precast concrete KW - Spread footings KW - Structural connection UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/pubs/hif13039/hif13039.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1280738 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01502073 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 C: Design Example No. 2 PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 33p 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 C) is the second of two design examples that were 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 AASHTO 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 101 Bone River Bridge replacement near Raymond. The new bridge will be a three-span structure, with the two-column intermediate bents and the short-stem seat abutments each supported by two oversized pile shaft foundations. The superstructure will consist of four prestressed concrete wide flange girders that will be made continuous at the integral dropped cap beam at the intermediate piers. The precast concrete columns were connected to the pile shaft foundations using a socket connection similar to the large-scale laboratory tests described in the final project report. KW - AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications KW - Bents KW - Bridge construction KW - Bridge design KW - Bridge foundations KW - Columns KW - Demonstration projects KW - Dissipation KW - Earthquake resistant design KW - Girder bridges KW - Hinges KW - Precast concrete KW - Structural connection KW - Washington (State) UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/pubs/hif13037/hif13037c.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1280735 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01502030 AU - Tran, Hung Viet AU - Stanton, John F AU - Eberhard, Marc O AU - BergerABAM Engineers, Incorporated AU - University of Washington, Seattle AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Precast Bent System for High Seismic Regions: Laboratory Tests of Column-to-Drilled Shaft Socket Connections PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 127p AB - This report provides detailed information from the laboratory investigation of two precast column-to-drilled shaft large-scale tests, including descriptions of the specimen design, testing, data reduction, and conclusions regarding the use of the connection with the precast bent system. The tests provide data regarding the performance of the precast column-to-drilled shaft connection. The results indicate that the connection, when used with a precast column, is sufficiently strong to resist plastic hinging in the column above the drilled shaft splice zone. The column reinforcing bars were anchored with headed bar ends to facilitate column strength development. The behavior is emulative of cast-in-place performance. The specimens tested were based on the minimum practical difference in diameters of the shaft relative to the column. When adequate confinement in the reinforcing cage of the shaft is included in the splice zone, the column can form a plastic hinging mechanism above the shaft without incurring damage in the shaft splice zone. If sufficient confinement is not included, then the resulting behavior is undesirable because the splice zone strength rapidly deteriorates. Recommendations for transverse reinforcement are provided to ensure desirable performance, and these result in more reinforcement in the upper portion of the splice zone than in the lower portion. KW - Bents KW - Bridge construction KW - Bridge design KW - Bridge foundations KW - Columns KW - Earthquake resistant design KW - Laboratory tests KW - Precast concrete KW - Reinforcement (Engineering) KW - Structural connection UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/pubs/hif13038/hif13038.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1280736 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01501997 AU - Pessaro, Brian AU - Catala, Martin AU - University of South Florida, Tampa AU - Federal Transit Administration TI - LYMMO BRT: 15 Years Later PY - 2013/06 SP - 43p AB - LYMMO bus rapid transit (BRT) service began in August 1997 in Orlando, Florida, as one of the first bus-based premium downtown circulators in the United States. This report is a follow-up of the initial evaluation of LYMMO conducted in 2003. Average daily ridership on LYMMO has fallen three years in a row since 2010, and 2012 ridership was lower than the opening year ridership. The drop in ridership is partially attributable to a 15 percent loss in jobs located within ¼ mile of LYMMO between 2002 and 2010. LYMMO, nevertheless, continues to rank as one of LYNX Transit’s top five routes. It has also outperformed several rail streetcar systems in the U.S. in annual passenger trips and cost per trip. LYMMO continues to be rated highly by passengers, scoring a 4.5 out of 5 in overall customer satisfaction. Fifteen percent of downtown Orlando employers said in a survey that LYMMO was a factor in their decision to remain downtown. A majority agreed that LYMMO contributed to the economic development of downtown, made downtown a more attractive place to live and work, and improved mobility in downtown. KW - Bus rapid transit KW - Customer satisfaction KW - Lynx LYMMO KW - Orlando (Florida) KW - Public transit KW - Ridership KW - Surveys UR - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Report_No._0042.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1279639 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01501088 AU - Frosch, Robert J AU - Kreger, Michael E AU - Strandquist, Brad V AU - Purdue University AU - Indiana Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Implementation of Performance Based Bridge Deck Protective Systems PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 77p AB - When considering the durability of a bridge, the concrete deck is often the most vulnerable component and can be the limiting factor affecting service life. To enhance the durability of both new and existing bridge decks, a protective system is often provided to prevent or delay the ingress of chlorides and moisture to the reinforcing steel. In the state of Indiana, this protective system typically comes in the form of a concrete overlay or a thin polymer overlay. Another protective system widely used in the United States and in many countries internationally consists of a waterproofing membrane overlaid with asphaltic concrete. Due to a history of poor performance in the 1970’s and the 1980’s, a moratorium has been placed on the installation of waterproofing membranes in Indiana. This study reevaluates the state-of-the-practice of bridge deck protection in Indiana with the goal of enhancing the Indiana Department of Transportation’s toolbox of bridge deck protective systems. Consideration was given to the state-of-the-art and state-of-the-practice in bridge deck protective systems used by other state transportation agencies as well as by international transportation agencies. Research focused on the practice of installing waterproofing membranes and the latest technologies being used. Based on the information gathered, various protective systems were evaluated, and recommendations are provided on the selection of the most appropriate systems for various bridge conditions. Furthermore, a recommendation is provided to remove the moratorium on membrane systems so that the benefits of this system can be more fully explored and realized. KW - Bridge decks KW - Impervious membranes KW - Indiana KW - Installation KW - Materials and structures protection KW - Overlays (Pavements) KW - State of the practice UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5703/1288284315214 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1279419 ER - TY - SER AN - 01500366 JO - Civil Engineering Studies, Illinois Center for Transportation Series PB - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - Zhou, Huaguo AU - Jalayer, Mohammad AU - Gong, Jie AU - Hu, Shunfu AU - Grinter, Mark AU - Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville AU - Illinois Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Investigation of Methods and Approaches for Collecting and Recording Highway Inventory Data PY - 2013/06 AB - Many techniques for collecting highway inventory data have been used by state and local agencies in the United States. These techniques include field inventory, photo/video log, integrated global positioning system/geographic information system (GPS/GIS) mapping systems, aerial photography, satellite imagery, virtual photo tourism, terrestrial laser scanners, mobile mapping systems (i.e., vehicle-based light detection and ranging (LiDAR), and airborne LiDAR). These highway inventory data collection methods vary in terms of equipment used, time requirements, and costs. Each of these techniques has its specific advantages, disadvantages, and limitations. This research project sought to determine cost-effective methods to collect highway inventory data not currently stored in Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) databases for implementing the recently published Highway Safety Manual (HSM). The highway inventory data collected using the identified methods can also be used for other functions within the Bureau of Safety Engineering, other IDOT offices, or local agencies. A thorough literature review was conducted to summarize the available techniques, costs, benefits, logistics, and other issues associated with all relevant methods of collecting, analyzing, storing, retrieving, and viewing the relevant data. In addition, a web-based survey of 49 U.S. states and 7 Canadian provinces has been conducted to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various highway inventory data collection methods from different state departments of transportation. To better understand the importance of the data to be collected, sensitivity analyses of input variables for the HSM models of different roadway types were performed. The field experiments and data collection were conducted at four types of roadway segments (rural two-lane highway, rural multi-lane highway, urban and suburban arterial, and freeway). A comprehensive evaluation matrix was developed to compare various data collection techniques based on different criteria. Recommendations were developed for selecting data collection techniques for data requirements and roadway conditions. KW - Alternatives analysis KW - Canada KW - Cost effectiveness KW - Data collection KW - Highway Safety Manual KW - Highways KW - Illinois KW - Inventory KW - Literature reviews KW - Methodology KW - Recommendations KW - Sensitivity analysis KW - State departments of transportation KW - Surveys KW - United States UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45759 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1278486 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499672 AU - Li, Shuo AU - Du, Yingzi (Eliza) AU - Guan, Bowen AU - Zhou, Zhi AU - Beale, Mike P AU - Purdue University AU - Indiana Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation of Alternatives to Sound Barrier Walls PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 108p AB - The existing Indiana Department of Transportation's (INDOT’s) noise wall specification was developed primarily on the basis of knowledge of the conventional precast concrete panel systems. Currently, the constructed cost of conventional noise walls is approximately $2 million per linear mile. The noise wall is considered to be cost effective when a 5 dBA reduction can be achieved at a cost of no more than $25,000 per benefited receiver or $30,000 per benefited receiver in those cases where a majority of the receivers were in place prior to construction of the highway. In many areas, however, the above cost-effectiveness criteria are exceeded with the result that the areas are not eligible for federal-aid funding for noise abatement. Consequently, the residents in these areas are dissatisfied that no noise reduction measures are provided to them. Several alternative options may be considered by INDOT to address the above issues. The first option would be to raise the cost per receiver to make more areas eligible for noise walls. The second option would be to do nothing. The third option would be to adopt an optional line of sight (LOS) wall policy to improve customer satisfaction at a less expensive cost. Critical review was conducted on the current traffic noise policies by state departments of transportation (DOTs) nationwide, including Type II project participation, reasonableness of noise abatement, cost effectiveness of noise abatement, and third party funding. Four different types of noise barriers, including one conventional precast concrete wall and three LOS walls were installed in the study areas for field investigation. Evaluation was made on the issues relating to the construction, cost and structures of the installed noise walls, particularly the LOS walls. Pre- and post-installation noise measurements were made in the field to determine the noise reductions of the installed noise walls. Psychoacoustic-based approach was utilized to further evaluate compare the field acoustic performance of these four noise walls. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) traffic noise model (TNM) 2.5 was also employed to predict the noise level in the design year and address the sensitivity issues associated with traffic volume, vehicle speed, noise wall height, noise wall length, and noise reduction coefficient of noise wall. Furthermore, community noise surveys were conducted before and after the installation of noise walls to identify public perception of the LOS wall performance and public involvement in noise abatement. Main findings and recommendations were made to modify INDOT traffic noise policy and noise wall specifications. KW - Alternatives analysis KW - Costs KW - Field tests KW - Financing KW - Indiana Department of Transportation KW - Line of sight KW - Noise barriers KW - Noise control KW - Precast concrete KW - Sound level KW - State departments of transportation KW - Surveys KW - Traffic noise KW - Traffic Noise Model KW - Walls UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5703/1288284315209 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1266490 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01497505 AU - Long, James H AU - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - Wisconsin Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Improving Agreement Between Static Method and Dynamic Formula for Driven Cast-In-Place Piles in Wisconsin PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 114p AB - This study focuses on comparing the capacities and lengths of piling necessary as determined with a static method and with a dynamic formula. Pile capacities and their required lengths are determined two ways: 1) using a design and computed method, such as the static method (Nordlund/Thurman/Tomlinson) identified in the Wisconsin Bridge Manual, and 2) using as-driven information, such as the Wisconsin-modified Engineering News Formula, the modified-Gates method. A collection of 182 cases was used to compare predictions made with the static method with prediction made using the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)-modified Gates driving formula. The most effective factors influencing the agreement between predictions made by DRIVEN and FHWA-Gates were the effective stress at the tip of the pile, the friction angle for coarse-grained soils, and whether load was carried in side resistance or end bearing. Correction factors are developed to correct the static method for overburden stress at the tip of the pile. Furthermore, conditional limits are suggested for the friction angle for coarse-grained soils. Improvements were attained in the agreement for pile length required for many of the cases, however, in about 10 percent of the cases, the prediction of length of piling was not as accurate and the overall coefficient of variation increased. However, predictions of capacity at the depth driven in the field was significantly improved. Coefficients of variation for the agreement between methods improved to 0.28 from the original 0.98. KW - Bearing capacity KW - Cast in place structures KW - Driven piles KW - Dynamic models KW - Formulas KW - Length KW - Pile driving KW - Piles (Supports) KW - Static models KW - Wisconsin UR - http://wisdotresearch.wi.gov/wp-content/uploads/WisDOT-WHRP-project-0092-10-09-final-report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1266532 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01497500 AU - Davies, Jamie AU - Kurani, Kenneth S AU - University of California, Davis AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Variation in Charging of Privately-Held PEVs: Implications for Analysis, Markets, and Policy PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 16p AB - As the markets for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) and the deployment of electricity infrastructure to charge them are in an initial, dynamic launch phase, there is an absence of stable data on PEV purchase and charging behavior. How then are social, economic, and environmental effects of PEVs being estimated? How are plans for PEV and electric vehicle service equipment (EVSE) production made? How are the effective means to manage that behavior anticipated? In the absence of data, analysts make assumptions. These are often simple assumptions, or perhaps simplifying assumptions. PEV charging assumptions are compared to real world measures and the implications of changing these assumptions for analysis, markets and policy are assessed. KW - Battery chargers KW - Behavior KW - Electric vehicle charging KW - Electric vehicles KW - Plug-in hybrid vehicles UR - http://www.its.ucdavis.edu/wp-content/themes/ucdavis/pubs/download_pdf.php?id=1900 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263017 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01497438 AU - Mishra, Gouri Shankar AU - Kyle, Page AU - Teter, Jacob AU - Morrison, Geoffrey M AU - Kim, Sanling AU - Yeh, Sonia AU - University of California, Davis AU - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Transportation Module of Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM): Model Documentation PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 118p AB - The objective of this project was to update and refine the transportation module of the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM, formerly MiniCAM). The project broadly encompasses the following four refinements to the transportation sector of GCAM: 1. Increased resolution to include the full spectrum of sub-modes and technologies available in passenger and freight transport; 2. Refined estimates of input parameters so as to better represent real-world heterogeneity in a way consistent with the latest literature on transportation; 3. Refined estimates of base year (2005) estimates of transportation demand, and disaggregation of IEA energy estimates between modes and size classes; 4. Included the non-motorized modes of walking and biking. The purpose of this document is to describe the methodological approaches taken in this update; no results or forecasts from GCAM are given. KW - Demand KW - Energy KW - Global Change Assessment Model KW - Mathematical models KW - Mode choice KW - Transportation policy UR - http://www.its.ucdavis.edu/wp-content/themes/ucdavis/pubs/download_pdf.php?id=1884 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262949 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01497430 AU - El-Gamal, Mahmoud Admin AU - University of California, Davis AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Oil Demand, Supply, and Medium-Term Price Prospects: A Wavelets-Based Analysis PY - 2013/06 SP - 96p AB - The global “great recession” was precipitated in part by record high prices of oil and other commodities. Previous severe recessions have typically resulted in significantly lower energy prices, which in turn spurred growth and fueled a healthy recovery. In part due to expansionary monetary policies worldwide, oil prices have remained relatively high, making it difficult for the global economy to stage a strong recovery. The result is a short to medium term forecast of weak to modest growth, which – combined with continuously falling energy intensity of GDP – means that oil demand will remain stagnant or at best grow modestly. Under these circumstances, surging supply from U.S. shale and similar technologically driven unconventional oil sources is likely to create excess supply and put strong downward pressure on oil prices. Voluntary reduction in oil production to prevent falling prices is highly unlikely, because swing producer Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries need revenues at the level of current volumes and prices in order to meet core budgetary requirements and prevent regime change risk in the aftermath of “Arab Spring” revolts. Our wavelet analysis of all countries that have ever produced more than one million barrels of oil per day shows that regime change by itself would not result in significant reduction in oil production – although it may result in lower investment and therefore prevention of further increase in production capacity. However, war that destroys physical installations for the production and/or transport of oil can significantly disrupt oil supplies. In sum, if the outright war scenario is excluded, we expect prices to fall precipitously in the medium term (35 years). However, the continued threat of currently contained civil wars into larger confrontations can maintain the current prices, especially if unprecedented monetary easing continues. KW - Demand KW - Energy consumption KW - Petroleum KW - Politics KW - Prices KW - Supply KW - Wavelets UR - http://www.its.ucdavis.edu/wp-content/themes/ucdavis/pubs/download_pdf.php?id=1934 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262947 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496765 AU - Barbato, Michele AU - Hassan, Marwa AU - Gulf Coast Research Center for Evacuation and Transportation Resiliency AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Improving the Self-Healing Properties of Concrete Materials by Using Composite Action with Fiber Reinforced Polymers PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 42p AB - This research study is motivated by the need to reduce the costs of maintenance and repair of the aging transportation infrastructure in the United States. The proposed approach is to use self-healing concrete. The objectives of this study were: (1) to evaluate the effects of preparation parameters (namely, temperature, agitation rate, and pH) on the shell thickness and size (diameter) of healing agent microcapsules used in self-healing concrete; (2) to evaluate the effects of these microcapsules’ shell thicknesses and size diameters on the concrete self-healing mechanism; and (3) to test the hypothesis that composite action due to fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) confinement of cylindrical concrete specimens can improve the self-repairing properties of self-healing concrete materials. Two healing agents were evaluated for the first two objectives of this study, i.e., dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) and sodium silicate. The use of sodium silicate was considered for the third objective of this study. Based on the results of the experimental program, the following conclusions were made: (1) as the pH was reduced, the shell thickness increased for DCPD microcapsules and decreased for sodium silicate microcapsules; (2) the more uniform and coherent microcapsules were produced at a temperature of 55°C for both DCPD and sodium silicate healing agents; (3) an increase in agitation rate resulted in a decrease in the average diameter of the microcapsules for DCPD, while it minimally affected the diameter of sodium silicate microcapsules; (4) sodium silicate microcapsules were effective in repairing the concrete after cracking for contents equal to or higher than 1% of cement weight, with the best performance obtained for 5% sodium silicate content; and (5) FRP-confinement generally improved the strength and stiffness of the specimens. Additional research is needed to investigate the effects of FRP-confinement on stiffness recovery. KW - Admixtures KW - Cracking KW - Dicyclopentadiene KW - Encapsulation KW - Fiber reinforced polymers KW - Repairing KW - Self-healing concrete KW - Sodium silicate UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/47000/47900/47910/12-01.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264192 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496758 AU - Anderson, Sheri AU - Iowa Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Backing Warning Sensors for Tow Plows PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 8p AB - Backup warning system devices were evaluated to determine if they would alert winter maintenance snow plow drivers to obstacles directly behind the trailer and out of view of the driver when a unit is backed up. When the sensors on the back of the tow plow were covered with snow during plowing operations, the sensor would go off in the cab and continue going off, which would result in drivers turning the volume of the unit way down. One shop stated that the wireless transmitted signal would be hit or miss depending on the winter weather that they were operating in. The sensors on the back of the tow plow trailer would come in contact with salt brine and in this situation one of the sensors did go bad. The weatherproof box that was designed to keep the system waterproof did not fully keep the moisture out. It was found that the system did alert drivers of items behind the unit and there were no backup accidents reported during the research period. KW - Audible warning devices in vehicles KW - Backing (Driving) KW - Sensors KW - Snowplows KW - Warning devices KW - Winter maintenance UR - http://publications.iowa.gov/15048/1/IA_DOT_RB07-012_Backing_Sensors_Tow_Plows_Final.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263928 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496736 AU - American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - AASHTO Transportation Asset Management Guide: A Focus on Implementation PY - 2013/06//Executive Summary SP - 48p AB - This Executive Summary serves as a companion to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Transportation Asset Management Guide—A Focus on Implementation, which takes as a starting point the Transportation Asset Management Guide published by AASHTO in November 2002. All three documents should be read and used together—they are complementary. The AASHTO Transportation Asset Management Guide provides considerable background information about Transportation Asset Management (TAM), the advantages of using TAM, and an approach that agencies can use to identify where they are now and where they should focus their asset management efforts. The Guide—A Focus on Implementation is presented in three key parts. Part 1 is focused on organizing and leading TAM. Part 1 is of most interest to executive management. Part 2 is focused on processes, tools, systems, and data. Part 2 is of most interest to practitioners. The appendices include examples of asset management plans and four in-depth case studies of local and international agencies’ experiences in implementing TAM. KW - Asset management KW - Case studies KW - Implementation KW - Resource allocation UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/asset/pubs/hif13047.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265593 ER - TY - SER AN - 01496729 JO - ACPT TechBrief PB - Federal Highway Administration TI - Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement: Design Using the AASHTO Pavement ME Design Program PY - 2013/06 SP - 11p AB - With the completion of the mechanistic–empirical (ME) pavement design guide (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) 2008) and the recent availability of the AASHTO-Ware® Pavement ME Design software (http://www.darwinme.org/MEDesign/Index.html), design of continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) has undergone significant changes. The primary purpose of this TechBrief, based on a more comprehensive Technical Summary (Roesler and Hiller 2013), is to provide engineers with the basic mechanistic–empirical design background and criteria utilized in the new ME Design software for CRCP. This document describes the main CRCP design inputs and identifies the most sensitive design inputs and features. Also, examples are included to demonstrate the use of the new software for the design of both new CRCP and CRCP overlays KW - Concrete overlays KW - Continuously reinforced concrete pavements KW - Mechanistic-empirical pavement design KW - Software UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/concrete/pubs/hif13027/hif13027.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265596 ER - TY - SER AN - 01496724 JO - TechBrief PB - Federal Highway Administration TI - Acceptance for Non-structural Precast Elements PY - 2013/06 SP - 11p AB - This Technical Brief provides information regarding processes used for acceptance of non-structural precast elements. The non-regulatory supplement of 23 CFR 637, which can be found at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/0637bsup.cfm, indicates in paragraph 2(n) that a risk analysis should be performed when developing an acceptance plan for manufactured products. A manufactured product acceptance plan should draw from a full range of activities including: initial evaluation of the product, submission of a quality control plan, plant inspections, manufacturer’s certification, periodic verification testing and visual inspection at the project site. The frequency as to when these activities should occur should also be included in the acceptance plan based on the risks associated with the specific product. For precast items a typical acceptance plan could include, initial evaluation of the product, review and approval of the manufacturer’s quality control plan, periodic plant visits, a material certificate, a combination of periodic breaking or coring of elements and nondestructive testing as well as visual inspection at the project. KW - Acceptance KW - Evaluation KW - Inspection KW - Precast concrete KW - Quality control KW - Risk analysis UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/materials/hif13045.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265599 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496721 AU - Sallman, Doug AU - Jeannotte, Krista AU - Margiotta, Rich AU - Strasser, Jennifer AU - Cambridge Systematics AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Operations Benefit/Cost Analysis TOPS-BC User’s Manual: Providing Guidance to Practitioners in the Analysis of Benefits and Costs of Management and Operations Projects PY - 2013/06 SP - 88p AB - This document provides guidance on the setup and application of the Tool for Operations Benefit/Cost (TOPS-BC), which was developed to provide key decision support capabilities including: (1) the ability for users to investigate the expected range of impacts associated with previous deployments and analyses of many Transportation System Management and Operations (TSM&O) strategies; (2) a screening mechanism to help users identify appropriate tools and methodologies for conducting a benefit/cost (B/C) analysis based on their analysis needs; (3) a framework and default cost data to estimate the life-cycle costs of various TSM&O strategies, including capital, replacement, and continuing operations and maintenance (O&M) costs; and (4) a framework and suggested impact values for conducting simple sketch planning level B/C analysis for selected TSM&O strategies. This User’s Manual provides instruction on the installation and setup of TOPS-BC Version 1.0, instruction for using the basic capabilities, and discussion of adapting the available capabilities to the unique needs of an individual analysis. The TOPS-BC tool was developed to support and complement the guidance developed as part of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Operations Benefit/Cost Desk Reference project. The Desk Reference provides more general discussion on the field of B/C analysis and methods for structuring analyses to overcome the many challenges often present when attempting to apply B/C analysis to Operations strategies. KW - Benefit cost analysis KW - Computer program documentation KW - Decision support systems KW - Highway operations KW - Life cycle costing KW - Sketch planning KW - Spreadsheets KW - Transportation system management UR - http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop13041/fhwahop13041.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265987 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496717 AU - Schulz, Noah AU - Lee, Cynthia AU - MacDonald, John AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - National Park Service AU - National Park Service TI - Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument: Acoustical Monitoring 2010 PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 52p AB - During the summer of 2010 (July - August), the Volpe Center collected baseline acoustical data at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument (SUCR) at a site deployed for approximately 30 days. The baseline data collected during this period will help park managers and planners estimate the effects of future noise impacts and will help to inform future park planning objectives such as creating soundscape management plans, as well as the development of an Air Tour Management Plan (ATMP), which provides for the regulation of commercial air tours. The sound sources of concern at SUCR include developments near park boundaries, air tours, commercial and private aircraft activities, and requests for special use permits for noisy activities. This document summarizes the results of the noise measurement study. KW - Aircraft noise KW - National parks KW - Noise KW - Noise sources KW - Sound level KW - Sound transmission KW - Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument UR - http://irmafiles.nps.gov/reference/holding/471091 UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51000/51027/SUCR_AcousticalMonitoringReport_FINAL_nrss.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265811 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496700 AU - Schulz, Noah AU - Lee, Cynthia AU - MacDonald, John AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - National Park Service AU - National Park Service TI - Walnut Canyon National Monument: Acoustical Monitoring 2010 PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 48p AB - During the summer of 2010 (July - August), the Volpe Center collected baseline acoustical data at Walnut Canyon National Monument (WACA) at a site deployed for approximately 30 days. The baseline data collected during this period will help park managers and planners estimate the effects of future noise impacts and will help to inform future park planning objectives such as creating soundscape management plans, as well as the development of an Air Tour Management Plan (ATMP), which provides for the regulation of commercial air tours. The sound sources of concern at WACA include developments near park boundaries, air tours, commercial and private aircraft activities, and requests for special use permits for noisy activities. This document summarizes the results of the noise measurement study. KW - Aircraft noise KW - National parks KW - Noise KW - Noise sources KW - Sound level KW - Sound transmission KW - Walnut Canyon National Monument UR - http://irmafiles.nps.gov/reference/holding/471086 UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51000/51028/WACA_AcousticalMonitoringReport_FINAL_nrss.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265619 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496681 AU - Schulz, Noah AU - Lee, Cynthia AU - MacDonald, John AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - National Park Service AU - National Park Service TI - Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River: Acoustical Monitoring 2010 PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 60p AB - During the summer of 2010 (September – October 2010), the Volpe Center collected baseline acoustical data at Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River (RIGR) at three sites deployed for approximately 30 days each. The baseline data collected during this period will help park managers and planners estimate the effects of future noise impacts and will help to inform future park planning objectives such as creating soundscape management plans, as well as the development of an Air Tour Management Plan (ATMP), which provides for the regulation of commercial air tours. The sound sources of concern at Big Bend (BIBE) include developments near park boundaries, air tours, commercial and private aircraft activities, and requests for special use permits for noisy activities. This document summarizes the results of the noise measurement study. KW - Aircraft noise KW - Big Bend National Park KW - National parks KW - Noise KW - Noise sources KW - Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River (RIGR) KW - Sound level KW - Sound transmission UR - http://irmafiles.nps.gov/reference/holding/471296 UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51000/51029/RIGR_AcousticalMonitoringReport_FINAL_nrss.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265863 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496664 AU - Schulz, Noah AU - Lee, Cynthia AU - MacDonald, John AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - National Park Service AU - National Park Service TI - Wupatki National Monument: Acoustical Monitoring 2010 PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 60p AB - During the summer of 2010 (July-August), the Volpe Center collected baseline acoustical data at Wupatki National Monument (WUPA) at two sites deployed for approximately 30 days at each site. The baseline data collected during this period will help park managers and planners estimate the effects of future noise impacts and will help to inform future park planning objectives such as creating soundscape management plans, as well as the development of an Air Tour Management Plan (ATMP), which provides for the regulation of commercial air tours. The sound sources of concern at WUPA include developments near park boundaries, air tours, commercial and private aircraft activities, and requests for special use permits for noisy activities. This document summarizes the results of the noise measurement study. KW - Aircraft noise KW - National parks KW - Noise KW - Noise sources KW - Sound level KW - Sound transmission KW - Wupatki National Monument UR - http://irmafiles.nps.gov/reference/holding/471084 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265618 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496643 AU - Schulz, Noah AU - Lee, Cynthia AU - MacDonald, John AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - National Park Service AU - National Park Service TI - Big Bend National Park: Acoustical Monitoring 2010 PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 64p AB - During the summer of 2010 (September – October 2010), the Volpe Center collected baseline acoustical data at Big Bend National Park (BIBE) at four sites deployed for approximately 30 days each. The baseline data collected during this period will help park managers and planners estimate the effects of future noise impacts and will help to inform future park planning objectives such as creating soundscape management plans, as well as the development of an Air Tour Management Plan (ATMP), which provides for the regulation of commercial air tours. The sound sources of concern at BIBE include developments near park boundaries, air tours, commercial and private aircraft activities, and requests for special use permits for noisy activities. This document summarizes the results of the noise measurement study. KW - Aircraft noise KW - Big Bend National Park KW - National parks KW - Noise KW - Noise sources KW - Sound level KW - Sound transmission UR - http://irmafiles.nps.gov/reference/holding/471290 UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51000/51031/BIBE_AcousticalMonitoringReport_FINAL_nrss.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265617 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496631 AU - Harris, Dwayne AU - Purdue University AU - Indiana Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Development of Methods and Specifications for the Use of Inertial Profilers and the International Roughness Index for Newly Constructed Pavement PY - 2013/06 SP - 63p AB - The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is currently utilizing a profilograph and the profile index for measuring smoothness assurance for newly constructed pavements. However, there are benefits to implementing a new IRI based smoothness specification utilizing road profiles measured using inertial profilers. Technological advancements have improved the quality of road profiles measured using inertial profilers; furthermore, utilizing inertial profilers allows smoothness data to be collected much more quickly and efficiently than the methodology currently utilized by INDOT. Pavement smoothness quantified using International Roughness Index (IRI) calculated using profiles provided by inertial profiles is better correlated to user response than what is currently being utilized by INDOT. Furthermore, INDOT currently utilizes IRI to monitor the pavement smoothness throughout the remaining life of the pavement. Consequently, Utilizing IRI for measuring the smoothness of newly constructed pavements allows seamless monitoring of pavement smoothness from cradle to grave. This study presents an IRI based draft smoothness specification for newly constructed pavements utilizing profiles provide by inertial profilers. The process developing a draft specification included developing pay factor tables, developing the methodology for calculating the smoothness bonus, developing methodology for locating areas of localized roughness, and developing inertial profiler certification procedures. KW - Indiana Department of Transportation KW - Instruments for measuring roughness KW - International Roughness Index KW - Methodology KW - Pavement performance KW - Profilographs KW - Smoothness KW - Specifications KW - Surface course (Pavements) UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5703/1288284315211 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264117 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496627 AU - Schulz, Noah AU - Lee, Cynthia AU - MacDonald, John AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - National Park Service AU - National Park Service TI - Tuzigoot National Monument: Acoustical Monitoring 2010 PY - 2013/06 SP - 54p AB - During the summer of 2010 (July-August), the Volpe Center collected baseline acoustical data at Tuzigoot National Monument (TUZI) at a site deployed for approximately 30 days. The baseline data collected during this period will help park managers and planners estimate the effects of future noise impacts and will help to inform future park planning objectives such as creating soundscape management plans, as well as the development of an Air Tour Management Plan (ATMP), which provides for the regulation of commercial air tours. The sound sources of concern at TUZI include developments near park boundaries, air tours, commercial and private aircraft activities, and requests for special use permits for noisy activities. This document summarizes the results of the noise measurement study. KW - Aircraft noise KW - National parks KW - Noise KW - Noise sources KW - Sound level KW - Sound transmission KW - Tuzigoot National Monument UR - http://irmafiles.nps.gov/reference/holding/471090 UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51000/51032/TUZI_AcousticalMonitoringReport_FINAL_nrss.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265810 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495435 AU - Dowling, Richard AU - Margiotta, Richard AU - Cohen, Harry AU - Skabardonis, Alexander AU - Cambridge Systematics, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Guide for Highway Capacity and Operations Analysis of Active Transportation and Demand Management Strategies PY - 2013/06 SP - 140p AB - This Guide provides a conceptual analysis framework, recommended measures of effectiveness, and an initial recommended methodology for evaluating the impacts of Active Transportation and Demand Management (ATDM) strategies on highway and street system demand, capacity, and performance. The Guide presents practitioners with methods to analyze the varying demand and capacity conditions that facilities operate under and methods to apply a limited but broad set of transportation management actions to respond to those conditions. Thus, the methodology represents, in a macroscopic sense, the effects of ATDM at a level suitable for planning and investment decision-making but not real-time operations. This Guide is designed to be used in conjunction with the Transportation Research Board’s Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) for the planning, programming, and design of ATDM measures. Although the Guide is intended to support ATDM analysis and provide content for Chapter 35 (Active Traffic Management) of the HCM, several aspects of the methodology, such as accounting for demand variability, incidents, and weather scenarios, can also be applied to analyzing capacity and other non-operations type strategies. KW - Active traffic management KW - Active Transportation and Demand Management KW - Decision making KW - Guidelines KW - Handbooks KW - Highway capacity KW - Highway operations KW - Strategic planning KW - Travel demand UR - http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop13042/fhwahop13042.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265065 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495424 AU - Bazzo, Jeffrey AU - Delatte, Norbert AU - Kalabon, Amy AU - Cleveland State University AU - Ohio Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Uncontrolled Concrete Bridge Parapet Cracking PY - 2013/06 SP - 124p AB - The Ohio Department of Transportation has recently identified the problem of wide-spread premature cracking of concrete bridge parapets throughout its District 12 region (Northeast Ohio). Many of the bridge decks that contain these prematurely cracked parapets are of relatively recent construction. In severe cases, replacement of the parapet may be required before replacement of the bridge deck itself. This incurs a sunk cost upon the bridge owner, as the parapets will again be replaced during the regularly scheduled replacement of the bridge deck. In a recent instance, the replacement of a cracked parapet (without replacing the deck) cost District 12 approximately $140,000. In addition, parapet walls are a crucial safety feature of roadway bridge construction, and severe deterioration of these barriers could introduce a significant safety hazard. Premature cracking of concrete bridge parapets is a potentially complex problem, with a number of possible causes. The objective of this study was to determine the reasons for uncontrolled concrete bridge parapet cracking, and to provide recommendations to ODOT to prevent such cracking in the future. Potential factors examined in this study included: properties of the concrete mixtures used, construction methods, joint details, composite structural action, and durability of the concrete and reinforcement. Identifying the cause of, and avoiding this problem in the future, has several benefits, including: a potential cost savings for the district, increasing the safety of these structures in future construction, and increasing the overall understanding of the durability of these structures. KW - Admixtures KW - Concrete bridges KW - Construction management KW - Cracking KW - Durability KW - Joints (Engineering) KW - Nondestructive tests KW - Ohio KW - Parapets KW - Properties of materials UR - http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Planning/SPR/Research/reportsandplans/Reports/2013/Structures/134602_FR.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264717 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495416 AU - Toth, Charles AU - Grejner-Brzezinska, Dorota A AU - Ohio State University, Columbus AU - Ohio Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Rapid Orthophoto Development System PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 104p AB - The DMC system procured in the project represented state-of-the-art, large-format digital aerial camera systems at the start of project. DMC is based on the frame camera model, and to achieve large ground coverage with high spatial resolution, the output image is formed from four independent images acquired by four cameras. DMC procured for OCMS was carefully tested to assess its performance level. From test flights by ODOT, three different blocks were selected, representing different flying condition and flight geometry. Five methods were used for the performance evaluation, including two methods where self-calibration was also introduced. The analysis of the results confirmed that the DMC meets the manufacturer’s specification. To maintain consistent performance in normal operations, periodical calibration flights and the use of ground controls as check points is highly recommended. In addition to further support QA/QC, the use of automated aerial triangulation is also suggested. The main product of the ODOT Office of Mapping and CADD Services is orthophoto, which is widely used in many applications at ODOT and other State offices. Since ODOT primarily acquires data over the transportation network, the orthophoto production has some specific needs, such as dealing with bridges and occlusions, besides the general tasks of the orthoimage workflow. In this project, an innovative method was developed to support the orthoimage generation at bridges. The concept is built around the development of a precise bridge model, which is formed from the DMC imagery and LiDAR data. In addition, a true orthophoto generation process was implemented. The initial versions of both software tools installed at Office of CADD and Mapping Services for testing provided valuable feedback for algorithmic refinements. KW - Aerial application KW - Aerial reconnaissance KW - Aerial surveying KW - Bridges KW - Digital cameras KW - Mapping KW - Modeling KW - Orthophotographs UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/50000/50900/50911/134414_FR.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264716 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495191 AU - Rochat, Judith L AU - National Park Service AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Motorcycle Noise in a Park Environment PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 68p AB - The Blue Ridge Parkway National Park provided an environment where sound level measurements could be made for numerous motorcycle pass-by events. Data were examined for five motorcycle categories: cruiser, sport, dual purpose, touring, and moped/scooter, in terms of broadband sound levels and on a spectral basis (one-third octave bands). Then the cruiser category was examined further since these motorcycles generated the loudest and some of the quietest measured sound levels. Initial investigations were made for the following: sound levels for groups of motorcycles, sound levels at sensitive receiver locations, and predictions of sound levels using five motorcycle categories in a special research version of the FHWA Traffic Noise Model® (TNM®). KW - Blue Ridge Mountains KW - Motorcycles KW - National parks KW - Sound level KW - Tire/pavement noise KW - Traffic noise UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/48000/48100/48196/NPS_Motorcycle_Noise_2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263006 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495181 AU - Cybulski, Jonathan D AU - Rochat, Judith L AU - Read, David R AU - National Park Service AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Roadway Departure Warning Indicators: Synthesis of Noise and Bicycle Research PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 50p AB - The United States National Park Service has voiced concern about roadway departure warning indicators (rumble strips) being installed in locations that affect the natural sound environment inside the park. Rumble strips can effectively alert errant drivers whose vehicles are leaving the travel lane. Some research has been conducted on rumble strips that perform effectively but result in lower noise levels in areas adjacent to a roadway. To date, however, the research is limited and scattered. The purpose of this study was to create a synthesis from collected information in order to have some guidance on how to install rumble strips near or in parks while minimizing disturbances in adjacent noise-sensitive areas. Included in this guidance document is a synthesis of literature on rumble strip noise based on the type of rumble strip, applications of rumble strips, the effects rumble strips have on various road users, including bicyclists, and also recommendations for rumble strip use and application in a park environment. KW - Bicycle safety KW - Bicycling KW - Cyclists KW - Highway safety KW - Ran off road crashes KW - Rumble strips KW - Tire/pavement noise KW - Traffic noise UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/48000/48100/48195/NPS_rumble_strip_synthesis_FINAL_NRTR_2013_05_16_nrss.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263009 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01495165 AU - Winn, Emily K AU - Burgueno, Rigoberto AU - Michigan State University, East Lansing AU - Michigan Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Development and Validation of Deterioration Models for Concrete Bridge Decks: Phase 1: Artificial Intelligence Models and Bridge Management System PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 184p AB - This research documents the development and evaluation of artificial neural network (ANN) models to predict the condition ratings of concrete highway bridge decks in Michigan. Historical condition assessments chronicled in the national bridge inventory (NBI) database were used to develop the ANN models. Two types of artificial neural networks, multi-layer perceptrons and ensembles of neural networks (ENNs), were developed and their performance was evaluated by comparing them against recorded field inspections and using statistical methods. The MLP and ENN models had an average predictive capability across all ratings of 83% and 85%, respectively, when allowed a variance equal to bridge inspectors. A method to extract the influence of parameters from the ANN models was implemented and the results are consistent with the expectations from engineering judgment. An approach for generalizing the neural networks for a population of bridges was developed and compared with Markov chain methods. Thus, the developed ANN models allow modeling of bridge deck deterioration at the project (i.e., a specific existing or new bridge) and system/network levels. Further, the generalized ANN degradation curves provided a more detailed degradation profile than what can be generated using Markov models. A bridge management system (BMS) that optimizes the allocation of repair and maintenance funds for a network of bridges is proposed. The BMS uses a genetic algorithm and the trained ENN models to predict bridge deck degradation. Employing the proposed BMS leads to the selection of optimal bridge repair strategies to protect valuable infrastructure assets while satisfying budgetary constraints. A program for deck degradation modeling based on trained ENN models was developed as part of this project. KW - Artificial intelligence KW - Bridge decks KW - Bridge management systems KW - Deterioration KW - Highway bridges KW - Mathematical prediction KW - Michigan KW - National Bridge Inventory KW - Neural networks KW - Ratings KW - Structural health monitoring UR - http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/RC-1587A_435817_7.pdf?20131004132217 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264338 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493942 AU - Volz, Jeffery S AU - Tabatabaei, Zahra AU - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety/NUTC program AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Evaluation of Long Carbon Fiber Reinforced Concrete to Mitigate Earthquake Damage of Infrastructure Components PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 28p AB - The proposed study involves investigating long carbon fiber reinforced concrete as a method of mitigating earthquake damage to bridges and other infrastructure components. Long carbon fiber reinforced concrete has demonstrated significant resistance to impact and blast loading. The carbon fibers will potentially reduce spalling and the degree of cracking during an earthquake event as well as increase the overall structural capacity. The scope of the research project includes testing of carbon fibers, development of a fiber-concrete composite material, and dynamic testing to evaluate the response of the material. KW - Blast loads KW - Composite materials KW - Dynamic tests KW - Earthquake resistant design KW - Fiber reinforced concrete KW - Infrastructure KW - Loss and damage KW - Reinforced concrete KW - Spalling UR - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/R288%20Final%20Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262558 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493931 AU - Volz, Jeffery S AU - Arezoumandi, Mahdi AU - Drury, Jonathan AU - Holman, Kyle AU - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety/NUTC program AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Bottom Ash as Aggregate Replacement In Concrete PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 8p AB - The objective of the proposed study is to evaluate bottom ash as a partial or total replacement of the fine and coarse aggregate in concrete. This program will characterize and evaluate available bottom ash sources as potential replacement of both the fine (sand) and coarse (stone) natural aggregates traditionally used in the construction of bridges, roadways, culverts, retaining walls, and other transportation-related infrastructure components. KW - Aggregate replacement KW - Bottom ash KW - Coarse aggregates KW - Concrete KW - Fine aggregates KW - Fly ash KW - Infrastructure UR - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/R284%20Final%20Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262555 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493874 AU - Kang, Xin AU - Bate, Bate AU - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety/NUTC program AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Beneficial Reuse of Fly Ashes in Geotechnical Engineering with Physicochemical and Electron Microscopic Methods PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 17p AB - The sedimentation behavior of fine grained soil is largely dependent on its pore fluid chemistry. Physicochemical properties of the pore fluid, such as ionic strength and pH, could greatly influence the micro structure of kaolinite which in turn influences the sedimentation behavior. Other than ionic effect, adding fly ash can also cause different sedimentation behaviors due to the change of gradation, increased ionic strength and pozzolanic reactions. There are several tests to characterize the kaolinite micro fabric, such as sedimentation test, grain size distribution test, viscosity test, zeta potential test, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The objective of this project was to investigate the influence of ionic concentration and fly ash on the sedimentation behavior of kaolinite. In addition, zeta potential and particle size distribution in supernatant and suspensions were measured and analyzed. The zeta potential of kaolinite was found closely related to the particle size, micro fabric and settling speed. It was found that an increase in the percentage of fly ash in the fly ash soil mixture could cause an increase in the settling speed. The addition of fly ash found more efficiency than the ionic concentration because the fly ash can not only interact with kaolinite particles, but also increase the ionic strength in the dissolution so that the kaolinite could flocculate and aggregate, which in turn increases the settling speed. KW - Electron microscopes KW - Fly ash KW - Geotechnical engineering KW - Kaolinite KW - Microstructure KW - Physicochemical properties KW - Sedimentation UR - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/R286%20Final%20Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262549 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493869 AU - Volz, Jeffery S AU - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety/NUTC program AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - High-Volume Fly Ash Concrete PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 8p AB - The objective of the proposed study is to design, test, and evaluate high-volume fly ash concrete mixtures. Traditional specifications limit the amount of fly ash to 40% or less cement replacement. This program attempts to increase the ash content to 75% while maintaining strength and durability characteristics. Various mixtures and chemical additives will be tested. The funding would allow calorimetry studies of potential admixtures and additives necessary to increase the percentage of fly ash in the various concrete mixes. The calorimetry would allow a more diverse and extensive set of variables to be studied, and would assist the researchers in developing mixes specific to each type of fly ash available. The funding would also allow testing for leachability of the HVFA concrete to existing FA concrete and non-FA concrete using TCLP, ASTM 3987, and the new LEAF methods, and to potentially evaluate the various products for radioactivity. KW - Admixtures KW - Concrete tests KW - Durability KW - Fly ash KW - Mix design KW - Properties of materials KW - Proportioning UR - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/R278%20Final%20Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262554 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493438 AU - Hallenbeck, Mark E AU - Stewart, Orion AU - Moudon, Anne Vernez AU - Washington State Transportation Center AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - A Framework for Monitoring the Performance of Travel Demand Management and Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Reduction Activities PY - 2013/06//Final Research Report SP - 96p AB - This report presents a framework to support performance monitoring for demand management related to vehicle miles of travel (VMT) reduction. The framework consists of performance monitoring measures and a system for their collection and dissemination. The report also provides the context within which the framework would exist, and describes how it will support a wide variety of other statewide and regional needs, thus providing additional incentive for its adoption. The intent of the Framework is to not only meet the requirements of Washington state’s legislative requirement to reduce VMT per capita (RCW 47.01.440), but to do so in a way that provides Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and its partner agencies with information that supports planning and programming. The report also provides an excellent framework for developing and reporting congestion-related performance measures in support of MAP-21. KW - Data collection KW - Performance measurement KW - Traffic congestion KW - Transportation planning KW - Travel demand KW - Vehicle miles of travel UR - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/806.1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261631 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493229 AU - Sommers, Norman M AU - McAvoy, Deborah S AU - Ohio University, Athens AU - Ohio Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Improving Work Zone Safety through Speed Management PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 78p AB - Safety hazards are increased in highway work zones as the dynamics of a work zone introduce a constantly changing environment with varying levels of risk. Excessive speeding through work and maintenance zones is a common occurrence which elevates the dangers to both drivers and motorists in the work zone. Although most work zones are controlled by reduced speed limits or state law enforcement, driver adherence to these regulations and laws in very minimal, especially in work zones. Several studies have shown a correlation between speeding in work zones and traffic crashes which lead most traffic safety professionals to conclude that excessive speeding and speed variance are the contributing factors in a large percentage of traffic crashes, injuries or fatalities. The most influential factor in achieving speed compliance in the work zone is the driver’s perception of heightened risk. The main objective of this study was to determine the safest and most effective countermeasure for the reduction of vehicular speeds within construction and maintenance work zones. The purpose of the simulator experiment was to determine the effectiveness of 20 countermeasures on the reduction of speed through work zones in a controlled laboratory setting. The literature review identified several past research studies utilizing speed reduction countermeasures in work zones and under normal traffic conditions. From this review, 20 countermeasures were selected for evaluation based upon discussions with ODOT personnel. The post hoc tests indicated that the presence of construction workers, presence of construction vehicles, law enforcement, speed photo enforcement and shifting lanes were most effective at reducing speeds in work zones. The least effective speed reduction countermeasures included 3 sets of 3 rumble strips, concrete barriers, other channelizing devices and changeable message signs with speed reductions less than 10 mph. KW - Countermeasures KW - Driving simulators KW - Ohio KW - Speed control KW - Speeding KW - Virtual reality KW - Work zone safety KW - Work zone traffic control KW - Work zones UR - http://worldcat.org/oclc/870899772/viewonline UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1260428 ER - TY - SER AN - 01492060 JO - ATDM Analysis Brief PB - Federal Highway Administration AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Example Application (Ramp Metering and Demand Management) of ATDM Capacity and Operations Analysis PY - 2013/06 IS - 4 SP - 4p AB - The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Operations sponsored a research project to develop new and updated methodologies, data sets, and content for the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) that will better reflect the demand and traffic flow behavior that results from the application of Active Transportation and Demand Management (ATDM) concepts and strategies. The project was completed in June 2013. This brief illustrates the application of the method to travel demand management (TDM) for incident management. KW - Active Transportation and Demand Management KW - Analysis KW - Before and after studies KW - Highway capacity KW - Highway Capacity Manual KW - Incident management KW - Measures of effectiveness KW - Nonrecurrent congestion KW - Performance measurement KW - Ramp metering KW - Travel demand management UR - http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop13037/fhwahop13037.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259933 ER - TY - SER AN - 01492047 JO - ATDM Analysis Brief PB - Federal Highway Administration AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Methodology for Capacity and Operations Analysis of ATDM PY - 2013/06 IS - 2 SP - 4p AB - The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Operations sponsored a research project to develop new and updated methodologies, data sets, and content for the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) that will better reflect the demand and traffic flow behavior that results from the application of Active Transportation and Demand Management (ATDM) concepts and strategies. The project was completed in June 2013. This brief describes the technical analysis and provides a flowchart and summary of the major steps of the analysis. KW - Active Transportation and Demand Management KW - Analysis KW - Before and after studies KW - Highway capacity KW - Highway Capacity Manual KW - Measures of effectiveness KW - Performance measurement KW - Planning methods KW - Travel demand management UR - http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop13035/fhwahop13035.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259935 ER - TY - SER AN - 01492045 JO - ATDM Analysis Brief PB - Federal Highway Administration AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Example Application (HOV to HOT) of ATDM Capacity and Operations Analysis PY - 2013/06 IS - 3 SP - 3p AB - The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Operations sponsored a research project to develop new and updated methodologies, data sets, and content for the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) that will better reflect the demand and traffic flow behavior that results from the application of Active Transportation and Demand Management (ATDM) concepts and strategies. The project was completed in June 2013. This brief provides an example application of the analysis method for converting a high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane to a high occupancy toll (HOT) lane with dynamic congestion pricing. KW - Active Transportation and Demand Management KW - Analysis KW - Before and after studies KW - Congestion pricing KW - High occupancy toll lanes KW - High occupancy vehicle lanes KW - Highway capacity KW - Highway Capacity Manual KW - Measures of effectiveness KW - Performance measurement KW - Travel demand management UR - http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop13036/fhwahop13036.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1259934 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491510 AU - Moudon, Anne Vernez AU - Stewart, Orion AU - Washington State Transportation Center AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Tools for Estimating VMT Reductions from Built Environment Changes PY - 2013/06//Research Report SP - 36p AB - Built environment characteristics are associated with walking, bicycling, transit use, and vehicle miles traveled (VMT). Developing built environments supportive of walking, bicycling, and transit use can help meet state VMT reduction goals. But tools are necessary to understand how changes to the built environment may translate into changes in travel. Such tools can help optimize land use and transportation investments for reduced VMT and communicate such changes to the public. This report reviews the built environment characteristics associated with travel and the tools available that utilize these built environment characteristics to estimate travel and related outcomes such as vehicle emissions and health co-benefits. Tools ranged from simple to complex, and a number of factors should be considered when applying a tool to a planning effort. KW - Bicycling KW - Built environment KW - Estimating KW - Modal shift KW - Mode choice KW - Public transit KW - Travel behavior KW - Vehicle miles of travel KW - Walking UR - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/806.3.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258832 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491490 AU - Moudon, Anne Vernez AU - Kang, Bumjoon AU - Scully, Jason AU - Stewart, Orion AU - Washington State Transportation Center AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Sidewalk Data in King County's Urban Growth Boundary PY - 2013/06//Research Report SP - 42p AB - This report describes the development of geospatial sidewalk data for the King County Urban Growth Area. Prior to the development of this data set, sidewalk data in King County were limited to select jurisdictions and existed in multiple, sometimes incompatible, formats. Existing sidewalk data were collected from 30 of 40 jurisdictions and standardized to a geographic information system (GIS) data format that stores sidewalk coverage as attributes of King County street network centerlines. For each street segment, each sides was coded as full, no, or partial sidewalk coverage. An automated coding method was developed to standardize existing data when possible. Sidewalk coverage for jurisdictions with no existing sidewalk data or with data formats incompatible with automated coding were coded manually with the aid of internet mapping resources. A total of 27 jurisdictions, including unincorporated King County, were manually coded. Overall rates of agreement between automated and manual coding were 0.95, with higher rates of agreement for street segments with full and no (0.94 to 0.97) compared to partial sidewalk coverage (0.70 to 0.72). KW - Data collection KW - Geographic information systems KW - Geospatial analysis KW - Geospatial data KW - King County (Washington) KW - Sidewalks KW - Urban growth KW - Walking UR - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/806.2.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258831 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491409 AU - Manser, Michael AU - Edwards, Christopher AU - Lerner, Neil AU - Jenness, James AU - Huey, Richard AU - Westat AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Evaluation of a Prototype Safer Teen Car PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 188p AB - This document describes the methods, findings, and recommendations by the University of Minnesota on the practicality and benefits of a system that can provide real-time driver feedback to teen drivers. A prototype Safer Teen Car (STC) system was developed and served as the basis for a field evaluation and as a demonstration unit for stakeholder groups. The STC designed for this project was comprised of a number of interrelated subsystems, including: teen driver identification subsystem; seat belt detection & enhanced reminder subsystem; passenger presence subsystem; speed monitoring & feedback subsystem; excessive maneuver & feedback subsystem; cell phone use detection & mitigation subsystem; and driving context subsystem. The findings generally showed improved safety behavior when the STC system provided feedback. For example, the reduction in the per-mile rate of excessive maneuvers was statistically significant at night, but not during the day. In general, the results indicated reductions in the rates of speeding, excessive maneuvers, and seat belt nonuse. Overall, the STC was viewed as useful and safety-enhancing, by both teens and parents. Both teens and parents agreed that the STC changed the teens’ driving behavior. Parents would generally recommend the STC to other parents. KW - Cellular telephones KW - Driver information systems KW - Driver monitoring KW - Driving KW - Field studies KW - In vehicle sensors KW - Passengers KW - Prototypes KW - Real time information KW - Seat belts KW - Speeding KW - Teenage drivers UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nvs/pdf/811784.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258385 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491377 AU - Fields, Billy AU - Cradock, Angie AU - Barrett, Jessica AU - Melley, Steve AU - Texas State University, San Marcos AU - Gulf Coast Research Center for Evacuation and Transportation Resiliency AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Active Transportation Measurement: Minneapolis Case Study PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 86p AB - This research examines longitudinal bicycle count data to better understand the impact of new bicycle facilities on use. The study site is Minneapolis which has invested close to $25 million over 8 years to improve active transportation facilities as part of the federal Nonmotorized Transportation Program. Geographic information system (GIS) buffering analysis, Ordinary Least Squares regression analysis, and individual growth models were used to analyze the bicycle count data. Longitudinal analysis through the individual growth models found that three key factors appear to be leading to the growth in cycling at study locations: the presence of bicycle facilities at the count location, the existing length of bicycle facilities in the adjacent areas, and the facilities added over time. Each of these factors contributes to the growth in the number of cyclists observed at count locations over the study period. KW - Bicycle counts KW - Bicycle facilities KW - Bicycle lanes KW - Bicycle travel KW - Case studies KW - Cyclists KW - Measurement KW - Minneapolis (Minnesota) KW - Regression analysis UR - http://www.evaccenter.lsu.edu/pub/11-08.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1260480 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491361 AU - Sobolev, Konstantin AU - Tabatabai, Habib AU - Zhao, Jian AU - Flores-Vivian, Ismael AU - Muzenski, Scott AU - Oliva, Michael G AU - Rauf, Rehan AU - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) AU - University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Development of an Engineered Cementitious Composite to Enhance Bridge Approach Slab Durability PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 94p 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. The National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education project 04-09 demonstrated the feasibility of a new hybrid engineered cementitious composite (superhydrophobic engineered cementitious composite (SECC)), engineered cement based concrete combined with polyvinyl alcohol fibers and hydrophobic compounds, to create a substitute concrete material which can provide the strength and durability demanded in key regions of highway bridges. The Phase II project investigated the durability of the developed SECCs. KW - Bridge approaches KW - Bridge decks KW - Composite materials KW - Durability tests KW - Fiber reinforced concrete KW - Highway bridges KW - Hydrophobic properties UR - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/FR_0510.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257328 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491343 AU - Meader, Jacob D AU - Janssen, Donald J AU - Eberhard, Marc O AU - University of Washington, Seattle AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Structural Design Parameters of Current WSDOT Mixtures PY - 2013/06//Final Research Report SP - 201p AB - The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD), as well as other design manuals, has specifications that estimate the structural performance of a concrete mixture with regard to compressive strength, tensile strength, and deformation-related properties such as the modulus of elasticity, drying shrinkage, and creep. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is evaluating the performance properties of approved concrete mixtures, and verifying the measured properties and comparing them to those expected from AASHTO specifications. Factors influencing the structural behavior of concrete mixtures include the coarse aggregate source and size, paste content, water-to-cementitious ratio, and age characteristics. These factors are not integrated within AASHTO LRFD models to predict the concrete mixture’s performance. Current specifications relate most of the structural performance properties to the compressive strength, with little regard to the mixture proportions. This research was directed toward assessing the performance of the approved WSDOT concrete mixture and the sensitivity of the properties based on aggregate source and paste content. The objectives of this research were to investigate whether modifications to AASHTO LRFD specifications were required, and if so, to recommend improvements using pertinent mixture proportions. KW - AASHTO LRFD Standard Specifications (1994) KW - Admixtures KW - Coarse aggregates KW - Compressive strength KW - Creep tests KW - Load and resistance factor design KW - Mix design KW - Performance measurement KW - Shrinkage KW - Structural analysis KW - Tensile strength KW - Washington State Department of Transportation UR - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/802.1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257345 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491330 AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Guidelines for Creating State Judicial Outreach Liaisons PY - 2013/06 SP - 20p AB - The criminal justice system plays a critical role in deterring unsafe driving behaviors and assigning appropriate consequences for impaired driving and other traffic offenses. From arrest to prosecution to adjudication, it is important that all facets of the criminal justice system are aware of the efforts being made to reduce traffic fatalities. To that end, peer-to-peer training, education, and outreach have been found to be most effective in promoting proven and promising practices. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has developed a network of criminal justice professionals who work peer-to-peer on traffic safety. Over time, States have created counterpart positions in order to meet the specific needs of their jurisdictions. The latest evolution of this trend is the State Judicial Outreach Liaison (SJOL). The purpose of this document is to provide guidance for the creation of such positions and the typical duties performed by SJOLs. In addition, NHTSA Judicial Fellows and Regional Judicial Outreach Liaisons are referenced throughout the document to provide an understanding of their roles and how they interact with SJOLs. KW - Criminal justice KW - Guidelines KW - Judges KW - Law enforcement and criminal justice personnel KW - Qualifications KW - Traffic safety UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811783.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1260483 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01491292 AU - Beck, Melissa R AU - Ericson, Justin M AU - Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge AU - Gulf Coast Research Center for Evacuation and Transportation Resiliency AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Minimizing Driver Errors: Examining Factors Leading to Failed Target Tracking and Detection PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 31p AB - Driving a motor vehicle is a common practice for many individuals. Although driving becomes repetitive and a very habitual task, errors can occur that lead to accidents. One factor that can be a cause for such errors is a lapse in attention or a failure to notice critical information. When driving, individuals must not only attend to the other moving vehicles, but they must also remain aware of and detect critical information that is in the surrounding environment. As the environment becomes more complex however, the ease of detecting these critical targets becomes hindered. Because of these failures in attention, this research focuses not only on the visual complexity of the environment but also on the dynamic relation of the moving vehicles on attention. By incorporating a dual task paradigm of vehicle tracking and target detection in a visually complex environment, a direct examination for the influence of outside vehicle factors on a driver’s ability to detect critical targets was measured. Furthermore, driver reactions such as brake onset, steering deviations, and changes in velocity were examined. This research found that overall improvements in driver reactions are observed when the environment has low clutter and there were fewer vehicles to be tracked. KW - Attention lapses KW - Behavior KW - Distraction KW - Driver errors KW - Reaction time KW - Visual perception UR - http://www.evaccenter.lsu.edu/pub/12-02.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257622 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01490319 AU - Conroy-Ben, Otakuye AU - Christensen, Travis AU - University of Utah, Salt Lake City AU - Utah Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Reducing Highway Litter PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 24p AB - The objective of this report is to evaluate the status of highway litter in the State of Utah. Under the direction of Russ Scovil, engineer with the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), researchers at the University of Utah performed a literature review on highway litter and interviewed essential members of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). The TAC consists of a project manager, UDOT personnel, and faculty and a graduate assistant from the University of Utah’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. UDOT provided data on litter types, problematic highway litter locations, litter clean-up costs, and accidents caused by road debris. The major findings of this study are summarized below. 1. Types of litter encountered include fast food waste, plastic bags, soda bottles and cans, tire shreds, and loose-leaf paper, among others. 2. The annual clean-up cost of highway litter to the state of Utah in the past 5 years ranged from $1.53 million to $1.83 million. 3. There are 6 stretches of highway designated as problem areas. 4. The number of accidents caused by highway debris range from 650 to 800 each year. KW - Costs KW - Highway maintenance KW - Highway safety KW - Highways KW - Litter KW - Traffic crashes KW - Utah UR - http://www.udot.utah.gov/main/uconowner.gf?n=7797702105926328 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258799 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01490195 AU - Masabumi, Furuhata AU - Cohen, Liron AU - Koenig, Sven AU - San Jose State University AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Using Auctions to Allocate Transportation Requests for Demand Responsive Transit Systems PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 33p AB - Demand responsive transit (DRT) systems provide flexible transportation services where passengers request door-to-door rides by specifying desired pick-up and drop-off locations and times. Multiple shuttles service these requests in shared-ride mode without fixed routes and schedules. In this report, we define the online cost-sharing problem in DRT systems and describe typical cost-sharing mechanisms, focusing on proportional and incremental cost sharing and some of their shortcomings in the online setting, where knowledge of future arrivals of passengers is missing. We then determine properties of cost-sharing mechanisms that we believe make DRT systems attractive to both providers and passengers, namely online fairness, immediate response, budget balance and ex-post incentive compatibility. We propose a novel cost-sharing mechanism, called Proportional Online Cost Sharing (POCS); it provides passengers with upper bounds on their fares immediately after their arrival, allowing the passengers to accept or decline, reducing uncertainty about whether they can be serviced or how high their fares will be at most, while the DRT systems reduce their uncertainty about passengers dropping out. Some flexibility to optimize the routes and schedules after future arrivals is retained. The sum of the fares equals the operating cost, with no profit being made and no subsidies required. KW - Auctions KW - Cost sharing KW - Demand responsive transportation KW - Optimization KW - Routing KW - Scheduling UR - http://www.metrans.org/research/09-19-using-auctions-allocate-transportation-requests-demand-responsive-transit UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256743 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01490000 AU - Zuschlag, Michael AU - Chandra, Divya C AU - Grayhem, Rebecca AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - The Usefulness of the Proximate Status Indication as Represented by Symbol Fill on Cockpit Displays of Traffic Information PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 106p AB - Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS) displays depict traffic advisories, resolution advisories, and information on other aircraft. Symbols for other aircraft include the proximate status indication where the symbols of “proximate” (close) aircraft are filled and the symbols of “non-proximate” (more distant) aircraft are not filled. This web-based study examined the value of the proximate status indication as represented by symbol fill to assess implications for Cockpit Displays of Traffic Information (CDTIs), and found no advantage for it, only a disadvantage. Pilots viewed videos of traffic displays. Analysis of the data failed to show a benefit of the proximate status indication for estimating threat and potential for visual acquisition of traffic. Analysis did find a decrement in performance for identifying the greatest traffic threat, when the proximate status indication was depicted. In contrast to their performance, most pilots say the proximate status indication is useful. However, results indicate that pilots overemphasize proximity and underemphasize closing speeds when assessing threat levels. This bias may account for the pilot preference for displaying proximate status. Results of this study are intended to be of use to the Federal Aviation Administration in developing guidance material for CDTIs. KW - Cockpit display of traffic information KW - Cockpits KW - Instrument displays KW - Proximity detectors KW - Symbols KW - Traffic alert and collision avoidance system UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/47000/47600/47675/DOT-VNTSC-FAA-13-03.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257641 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01489985 AU - Barami, Bahar AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center TI - Infrastructure Resiliency: A Risk-Based Framework PY - 2013/06 SP - 12p AB - This paper provides a framework for the analysis of factors influencing modern transportation systems' ability to anticipate, withstand and recover from disruptions. Such disruptions are becoming increasingly more common, whether caused by natural disasters, structural failures, or human-engineered terrorist events. The factors that contribute to this growing disruption risk include climate change impacts, accelerating growth in the scale of developments in coastal regions, exponential growth in the value of assets lost during catastrophic event, and risks of global connectivity. The author suggests that a risk-based and layered resiliency approach to designing, building, operating and protecting critical infrastructures allow risk factors to be addressed at the systemic level. KW - Infrastructure KW - Resilience (Adaptability) KW - Risk assessment KW - Risk management KW - Service disruption UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/47000/47800/47848/Infrastructure_Resiliency_Final_Revised_July_10.docx UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/47000/47800/47848/Infrastructure_Resiliency_Final_Revised_July_10.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257638 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01489976 AU - Chandra, Divya C AU - Grayhem, Rebecca J AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - Evaluation of a Technique to Simplify Area Navigation and Required Navigation Performance Charts PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 98p AB - Performance based navigation (PBN), an enabler for the Federal Aviation Administration's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), supports the design of more precise flight procedures. However, these new procedures can be visually complex, which may impact the usability of charts that depict the procedures. This study evaluated whether there are performance benefits from simplifying aeronautical charts by separating visually complex area navigation (RNAV) and required navigation performance (RNP) procedures onto different chart images. Forty-seven professional pilots who were qualified to operate with RNAV and RNP participated. They used high-fidelity current and modified charts to find a specific information from RNAV (RNP) approach and RNAV Standard Instrument Departure (SID) chart images that were shown one at a time on a computer monitor. Response time and accuracy were recorded. Results showed a consistent and significant reduction in the time to find information from the simplified chart images. Response time varied linearly with a simple clutter metric, the sum of visual elements in the depiction, indicating serial visual search. Most questions were answered with high accuracy, but some questions about altitude constraints yielded low accuracies. This experiment did not explore practical disadvantages of separating paths, such as the increase number of images to handle. KW - Aeronautical charts KW - Air traffic control KW - Aircraft pilotage KW - Human factors KW - Instrument flying KW - Next Generation Air Transportation System KW - Required navigation performance UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/47000/47900/47998/DOT-VNTSC-FAA-13-02.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257637 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01489515 AU - Salama, Talat AU - Greene, Randall Blake AU - Waldron, Christopher AU - University of Alabama, Birmingham AU - University Transportation Center for Alabama AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Improving Bridge Load Rating Accuracy PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 129p AB - Nearly one-quarter of Alabama’s bridges are deemed structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. An additional seven percent of Alabama’s bridges were posted bridges in 2010. (Federal Highway Administration, 2011). Accurate bridge load rating can potentially reduce, and even remove, bridge postings throughout the state. Analytical structural bridge models were used to define new load ratings for ALDOT Bridges 005248, 005318, and 012296. With past methodology, Engineers’ ratings tend to be inaccurate. This is due to the indefinite information in regards to actual traffic loading on bridges. This inaccuracy can lead to either over-estimates of bridge safety or excessive conservatism in repairs. Gaining further knowledge regarding the actual behavior of bridges with the help of analytical models can help reduce inaccuracy in calculations. The University Transportation Center for Alabama (UTCA) tasked The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to develop and verify analytical models from which accurate load rating could be obtained. ALDOT performed load testing and calculated ratings for bridges 005248 and 005318. The UAB team worked with ALDOT in gathering strain data for bridge 012296 via the Bridge Weigh-In-Motion (BWIM) technique. Bridge models for 005248 and 005318 proved capable of accurate load rating per data comparison as presented, and 012296 was load rated using Finite Element Modeling. KW - Accuracy KW - Alabama KW - Bridges KW - Finite element method KW - Load factor KW - Load tests KW - Structural analysis KW - Traffic loads UR - http://utca.eng.ua.edu/files/2013/08/12202-Final-Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258457 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01489419 AU - Reep, Amber AU - Staes, Lisa AU - Perk, Victoria AU - National Center for Transit Research AU - Florida Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - A Qualitative Analysis of Bus Simulator Training on Transit Incidents - A Case Study in Florida PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 59p AB - The purpose of this research was to track and observe three Florida public transit agencies as they incorporated and integrated computer-based transit bus simulators into their existing bus operator training programs. In addition to the three Florida case study agencies, four transit agencies outside Florida were contacted and interviewed on their experiences with the use of bus simulators in their operator training programs. The Research Team asked agencies to provide any relevant data they may have collected to track the performance of the simulator training to allow for a more robust discussion of safety improvements that may have resulted. The report also provides insight from the transit agencies’ perspectives on how their simulators are utilized, and offers important perspective on lessons learned and best and model practices. KW - Bus drivers KW - Bus transit operations KW - Florida KW - Incident detection KW - Incident management KW - Training simulators KW - Transit buses KW - Transit operating agencies UR - http://www.fdot.gov/research/Completed_Proj/Summary_PTO/FDOT-BDK85-977-07-rpt.pdf UR - http://www.nctr.usf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/77701.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257351 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01489412 AU - Bickford, Erica AU - Holloway, Tracey AU - University of Wisconsin, Madison AU - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Freight from Space: Evaluating Freight Activity and Emissions from Satellite Data PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 55p AB - In this report, the authors investigate the current state of knowledge of freight transport emissions, the importance of freight emissions relative to other sources, and what tools are available, or can be developed to answer these questions and improve the state of knowledge in freight transportation and air quality. The authors build an updated version of a bottom-up roadway-by-roadway freight truck inventory (WIFE2.0) appropriate for conducting detailed, policy-relevant emissions and air quality analysis. They also employ a new freight rail inventory developed by the Eastern Regional Technical Advisory Committee. They evaluate the spatial and seasonal performance of the WIFE2.0 inventory modeled in a regional photochemical model (CMAQ) against an existing on-road diesel emissions inventory from the Lake Michigan Air Directors Consortium (LADCO), against surface observations of nitrogen dioxide concentrations, and against satellite retrievals of tropospheric column nitrogen dioxide from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). Evaluation of the modeled WIFE2.0 inventory against satellite retrievals of nitrogen dioxide from OMI compared to performance of LADCO's diesel inventory showed better spatial agreement between WIFE and OMI, however with larger bias and error, especially in urban areas. Further analysis also examined the relative contribution of freight trucks and trains to modeled surface concentrations of nitrogen dioxide in a western U.S. case study. This preliminary analysis highlights the utility of satellite data for both model validation and constraining emission sources, especially in concert with ground-based monitors, with which surface and atmospheric column model performance can be compared. The wealth of data available from models, satellites, and monitors opens up a wide range of possible analysis directions for future work. KW - Air pollution KW - Air quality KW - Artificial satellites KW - Diesel engine exhaust gases KW - Environmental protection KW - Freight transportation KW - Modal shift KW - Nitrogen dioxide KW - Railroads KW - Trucking UR - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/FR_CFIRE0420.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257314 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01488658 AU - North American Management AU - Federal Railroad Administration TI - Rail Trespasser Fatalities: Demographic and Behavioral Profiles PY - 2013/06 SP - 64p AB - In an effort to more accurately identify the types of persons who trespass on railroad rights-of-way, and ultimately reduce the number of trespassing events, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (U.S. DOT) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) contracted with North American Management Company (NAM) to conduct a demographic and market analysis of decedents in railroad-trespasser incidents. Following is a detailed report of this project. The major objective of this study is to provide policymakers and other groups with information that will enable them to more directly target individuals who are most at risk of being struck by trains while trespassing on rail rights-of-way. This is accomplished by generating demographic profiles of decedents and generalizing them to the national population. The differences between the decedents and the U.S. population suggest ways in which those who are most at risk of being involved in railroad-trespasser incidents may be effectively targeted by outreach efforts. This study is a followup to prior research that used data from 2002 through 2004 and was presented to FRA in 2008 by Cadle Creek Consulting titled, “Rail Trespasser Fatalities, Developing Demographic Profiles” (2008 Report). Results from the current study are largely consistent with results from the 2008 Report, with some key differences. KW - Behavior KW - Demographics KW - Fatalities KW - Policy making KW - Railroads KW - Risk taking KW - Trespassers UR - http://www.fra.dot.gov/Elib/Document/3315 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257422 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01488652 AU - Moore, James E AU - Ioannou, Petros AU - Bardet, Jean-Pierre AU - Park, Jiyoung AU - Cho, Sungbin AU - Abadi, Afshin AU - METRANS Transportation Center AU - University of Southern California AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Risks and Recoveries from Extreme Disruptions in Freight Transportation System in a Megacity: Case Study for the Greater Los Angeles Area PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 59p AB - This research examines the risks imposed on and recoveries of transportation systems in megacities as the result of extreme events such as earthquakes. It also addresses the economic impact due to earthquake scenarios locally as well as nationwide. REDARS software is used to estimate disruption level of earthquake on roadways and bridges. The integrated model consisting of a macroscopic terminal simulator, microscopic traffic simulator, and terminal cost model is developed to estimate the changes in traffic flows due to earthquake and to evaluate the economic impact at the local level. Macroscopic terminal simulator is used to model movement inside container terminals. Road network adjacent to the container terminal are constructed by microscopic traffic flow simulator (VISSIM) and is connected to sea-ports. Also, terminal operational cost model is developed to evaluate additional terminal costs due to disruptions to traffic flows. All three models are integrated with each other, so that various disruption scenarios can be evaluated using the integrated model. NIEMO software is used to evaluate the economic impact of extreme events globally. Southern California is regarded as the region of study and results demonstrate the efficiency of the integrated model. The model can be used to evaluate any other disruptions to sea-ports such as terrorist attack or tsunami. KW - Disaster preparedness KW - Economic impacts KW - Freight transportation KW - Infrastructure KW - Large cities KW - Mathematical models KW - Microsimulation KW - Southern California UR - http://www.metrans.org/sites/default/files/research-project/09-29_Moore_final_0_0.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1254309 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01488502 AU - Agrawal, Asha Weinstein AU - Nixon, Hilary AU - San Jose State University AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - What Do Americans Think About Federal Tax Options to Support Public Transit, Highways, and Local Streets and Roads? Results From Year Four of a National Survey PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 94p AB - This report summarizes the results of a national public opinion poll asking respondents if they would support various tax options for raising federal transportation revenues, with a special focus on understanding support for increasing revenues for public transit. Eleven specific tax options tested were variations on raising the federal gas tax rate, creating a new mileage tax, and creating a new federal sales tax. Other questions probed various perceptions related to public transit, including knowledge and opinions about federal taxes to support transit. Results show that a majority of Americans would support higher taxes for transportation—under certain conditions. For example, a gas tax increase of 10¢ per gallon to improve road maintenance was supported by 67 percent of respondents, whereas support levels dropped to just 23 percent if the revenues were to be used more generally to maintain and improve the transportation system. Survey results show that most people want good public transit service in their state and two-thirds of respondents support spending gas tax revenues on transit. However, questions exploring different methods to raise new revenues found relatively low levels of support for raising gas tax or transit fare rates. KW - Fares KW - Fuel taxes KW - Highway user taxation KW - Mileage-based user fees KW - Public opinion KW - Public transit KW - Streets UR - http://transweb.sjsu.edu/PDFs/research/1228-American-tax-poll-2013-public-transit-highways-streets-roads.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256195 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01488500 AU - Lou, Yingyan AU - Green, Frances AU - Lindly, Jay AU - Jones, Steven AU - University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa AU - University Transportation Center for Alabama AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Role of Transit Service Providers in Land Development PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 69p AB - While various transit development initiatives, such as integrated transit and land development and transit-oriented development, have been proposed in the past, many transit agencies in the United States are experiencing declining ridership and increasing dependence on government subsidies for operating costs. Compared to the U.S., several foreign countries have been very successful in transit development. One particular strategy is to encourage (and subsidize) transit service providers to compete and invest in land development. This study is helpful in identifying barriers that need to be overcome in order for transit agencies to reap the benefits from investing and participating in land development. This study also conducted a cost-benefit analysis on data from the financial reports of two agencies praised in the literature for their involvement and investment in land development. These agencies are the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority and the Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC). The analysis showed that participation yields significant profits, but participation coupled with investment is extremely profitable, with a calculated internal rate of return for the MTRC‘s property development activities being 571%. KW - Barriers (Challenges) KW - Benefit cost analysis KW - Case studies KW - Investments KW - Mass Transit Railway Corporation (Hong Kong, China) KW - Real estate development KW - Transit operating agencies KW - Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority UR - http://utca.eng.ua.edu/files/2013/07/11103-Final-Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257247 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01488495 AU - Toutanji, Houssam A AU - Anderson, Michael AU - Leonard, Kathleen M AU - University of Alabama, Huntsville AU - University Transportation Center for Alabama AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Developing Sustainable Transportation Performance Measures for ALDOT PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 52p AB - Sustainable transportation is generally used to refer to transportation that contributes to the sustainable development of the community that owns and uses the system. The Transportation Research Board defines sustainability as: “Sustainability is not about threat analysis; sustainability is about systems analysis. Specifically, it is about how environmental, economic and social systems interact to their mutual advantage or disadvantage at various space-based scales of operation.” Sustainability involves improving energy efficiency, reducing dependence on oil, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and benefiting the environment. The research project was designed to establish a baseline understanding of the potential for using sustainability performance measures in the Alabama Department of Transportation. Quite a number of sustainability initiatives have discussed various definitions and performance measures of sustainable transportation systems, but very few regional agencies have developed planning tools that successfully incorporate sustainability in the transportation sector. This study develops a working definition of sustainability from various proposed definitions, and demonstrates a feasible methodology for evaluating and quantifying sustainability performance measures, thus incorporating sustainability considerations into the regional transportation decision-making process. KW - Alabama Department of Transportation KW - Decision making KW - Definitions KW - Energy efficiency KW - Environmental impacts KW - Greenhouse gases KW - Methodology KW - Performance measurement KW - Regional planning KW - Regional transportation KW - Sustainable transportation UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/48000/48000/48078/12302-Final-Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257305 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01488308 AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Prioritized Recommendations of the National Agenda for Motorcycle Safety PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 154p AB - The National Agenda for Motorcycle Safety (NAMS) is a comprehensive plan to improve United States motorcycle safety in the 21st century. The NAMS was developed by a technical working group of experts representing all constituencies involved in motorcycle safety, led by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF), and published in November 2000. On September 11, 2007, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) held a public meeting on motorcycle safety. Following the meeting, NTSB issued a recommendation to reprioritize the NAMS recommendations based on objective criteria, including known safety outcomes. This document addresses that reprioritization. It contains two sections. The Methods section defines three important characteristics of each recommendation, describes how the recommendations are classified according to each of these characteristics, and outlines the overall method used in establishing priorities. The Priorities section lists the highest priority recommendations. KW - Highway safety KW - Motorcycles KW - National Agenda for Motorcycle Safety KW - Recommendations KW - Strategic planning KW - United States UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811789.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257240 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01488186 AU - Lowe, Kate AU - Marmol, Mariana AU - University of New Orleans AU - Gulf Coast Research Center for Evacuation and Transportation Resiliency AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Worker Experiences of Accessibility in Post-Katrina New Orleans PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 61p AB - Existing research has identified transportation challenges that low-income workers face, including a spatial mismatch between suburban entry level-jobs and urban low-income workers. These studies rely on travel models and secondary data and thus may not capture the temporal or other constraints that low-income workers experience. To better understand mobility patterns and accessibility as experienced, this analysis considers commute choices and perceptions of accessibility. Findings are based on open-ended surveys with 50 low-income workers in New Orleans and its inner suburbs. According to a sizable share of respondents (40%), transportation problems do not preclude applying to jobs. Black and centrally located respondents most commonly did not perceive transportation as a limitation to job opportunities. On the other hand, many respondents did describe an inability to get to suburban job opportunities. Even when missed job opportunities were not reported, almost all respondents cited transportation problems for some locations or activities, especially shopping. Losing a functional automobile was a common reason to change commute mode after Hurricane Katrina, indicating that low-income workers may shift in and out of car ownership, as well change home and job locations. A few respondents— mostly active mode users—were highly satisfied with their journey to work. Interviewees most commonly desired increased frequency and reliability as critical transit improvements. The mixed findings on perceived job accessibility demonstrate the need to better integrate transportation and workforce research and policy. In addition, more transportation research work on perceptions and actual challenges is needed, including the role of time in workplace demands and physical accessibility. Finally, given dynamic auto ownership status, jobs, and residential patterns, longitudinal study is needed. KW - Accessibility KW - Commuting KW - Job opportunities KW - Low income groups KW - Mobility KW - Mode choice KW - New Orleans (Louisiana) KW - Suburbs KW - Surveys KW - Urban areas KW - Work trips UR - http://www.evaccenter.lsu.edu/pub/12-05.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256735 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01488177 AU - Hallenbeck, Mark E AU - Stewart, Orion AU - Moudon, Anne Vernez AU - University of Washington, Seattle AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - A Framework for Monitoring the Performance of Demand Management and Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Reduction Activities PY - 2013/06//Final Research Report SP - 96p AB - This report presents a framework to support performance monitoring for demand management related to vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reduction. The framework consists of performance monitoring measures and a system for their collection and dissemination. The report also provides the context within which the framework would exist, and describes how it will support a wide variety of other statewide and regional needs, thus providing additional incentive for its adoption. The intent of the Framework is to not only meet the requirements of Washington state’s legislative requirement to reduce VMT per capita (RCW 47.01.440), but to do so in a way that provides Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and its partner agencies with information that supports planning and programming. The report also provides an excellent framework for developing and reporting congestion-related performance measures in support of MAP-21 (“Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century” federal legislation). KW - Legislation KW - Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act KW - Performance measurement KW - Sustainable transportation KW - Travel demand management KW - Vehicle miles of travel KW - Washington (State) UR - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/806.1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256970 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01488176 AU - Solomon, Mark G AU - Tison, Julie AU - Cosgrove, Linda AU - Preusser Research Group, Incorporated AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Click It or Ticket Evaluation, 2008 – 2009 PY - 2013/06 SP - 95p AB - Click It or Ticket (CIOT) mobilizations are intense, short-duration, widely publicized enforcement efforts used to improve seat belt use. Annual national mobilizations have been conducted in May every year since 2003. National and State expenditures for publicizing the 2008 and 2009 CIOT mobilizations were at their lowest level since 2003 ($23.7 million in 2008 and $20.9 million in 2009) and the number of seat belt citations decreased each of the last three years. Telephone surveys administered before and after each CIOT campaign indicated increased awareness of police efforts to enforce the seat belt law and increased perceived risk of receiving a ticket if not wearing a seat belt, especially among males 18 to 34 years old. Statewide usage rates increased in 33 States (District of Columbia and Puerto Rico included) in 2008 and increased in 29 in 2009. The number of States increasing statewide belt use has decreased over time and the amount of annual increase was less than 1 percentage point for three of the last four years. It seems likely that more needs to be done to keep or extend gains made in seat belt awareness and belt use. KW - Click It or Ticket KW - Safety programs KW - Seat belt usage KW - Seat belts KW - States KW - Surveys KW - Traffic law enforcement KW - Trend (Statistics) UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811536.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257158 ER - TY - SER AN - 01488173 JO - TRAFFIC TECH PB - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Click it or Ticket Evaluation, 2008-2009 PY - 2013/06 SP - 2p AB - Click It or Ticket (CIOT) is a high-visibility enforcement program to increase seat belt use. Click It or Ticket was adopted as a national program in 2003 and is credited with steady increases in seat belt use across the Nation. In 2009, seat belt use rates exceeded 90% in 14 States; Michigan had the highest rate of 98%. Not every driver buckled up on every trip, however, and some States lagged significantly behind the national belt rate of 84% in 2009. Seat belt use was below 80% in 14 States including two States that were below 70%. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration coordinated the 2008 and 2009 CIOT campaigns to encourage more improvements in all 50 States and the District of Columbia. KW - Click It or Ticket KW - Evaluation KW - Safety programs KW - Seat belt usage KW - Seat belts KW - States UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811537.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256277 ER - TY - SER AN - 01488057 JO - Civil Engineering Studies, Illinois Center for Transportation Series PB - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - LaFave, James AU - Fahnestock, Larry AU - Foutch, Douglas AU - Steelman, Joshua AU - Revell, Jessica AU - Filipov, Evgueni AU - Hajjar, Jerome AU - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - Illinois Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Seismic Performance of Quasi-Isolated Highway Bridges in Illinois PY - 2013/06 IS - 13-015 SP - 229p AB - The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) commonly uses elastomeric bearings to accommodate thermal deformations in bridges, and these bearings have potential utility in seismic events. IDOT has developed an Earthquake Resisting System (ERS) using the displacement capacity of typical bearings to achieve a structural response similar to isolation. Project R27-70 was conducted to validate and calibrate the quasi-isolated ERS based on full-scale laboratory tests of bearings and computational models capturing full-bridge seismic response. The overall report is divided into two volumes. Volume 1 discussed the experimental program. This second volume focuses on the analytical program but also contains retainer design recommendations. Results from the experimental testing program were used to develop constitutive bearing models, which were incorporated into the finite element model of a three-span bridge with simply supported abutments and fixed bearings at one pier. A suite of 48 bridges was created to represent the most common highway bridge configurations in Illinois. Variables included superstructure type, pier type, pier height, elastomeric bearing type, and foundation flexibility. Two sets of ten synthetic ground motions from the New Madrid Seismic Zone were scaled to match the AASHTO seismic design spectra for Cairo, Illinois, and applied in the longitudinal and transverse directions. A total of 12,000 nonlinear dynamic analyses were conducted in OpenSees at six scale factors from 0.5 to 1.75 and used to create coarse incremental dynamic analyses. On the basis of the findings of the parametric study, most bridges in Illinois would not experience severe damage during a 75-year design life, and bearing unseating or span loss are not likely to occur in regions with moderate seismic hazard. Piers with fixed bearings commonly yielded for small earthquakes, but future calibration of fuse capacities may improve this behavior. KW - Base isolation KW - Bearing capacity KW - Bridge design KW - Constitutive models KW - Dislocation (Geology) KW - Earthquake engineering KW - Earthquakes KW - Highway bridges UR - https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/45755/FHWA-ICT-13-015.pdf?sequence=2 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256972 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487941 AU - Aaleti, Sriram AU - Petersen, Bradley AU - Sritharan, Sri AU - Iowa State University, Ames AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Design Guide for Precast UHPC Waffle Deck Panel System, including Connections PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 127p AB - As a part of an innovation project funded by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Highways for LIFE program, a full-depth precast, ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) waffle deck panel and appropriate connections suitable for field implementation of waffle decks were developed. Following a successful full-scale validation test on a unit consisting of two panels with various types of connections under laboratory conditions, the waffle deck was installed successfully on a replacement bridge in Wapello County, Iowa. The subsequent load testing confirmed the desirable performance of the UHPC waffle deck bridge. Using the lessons from the completed project and outcomes from a series of simple and detailed finite element analyses of waffle decks, this report was developed to serve as a guide for broadening the design and installation of the UHPC waffle deck panel in new and existing bridges. Following an introduction to UHPC and waffle deck panels and a summary of completed work, this document presents information on waffle deck design, design of connections, redecking using waffle deck panels, and guidance on precast fabrication, construction, and installation of UHPC waffle deck panels. KW - Bridge deck connections KW - Bridge decks KW - Design KW - Finite element method KW - Guidelines KW - Installation KW - Load tests KW - Precast concrete KW - Structural connection KW - Ultra high performance concrete KW - Waffle slabs KW - Wapello County (Iowa) UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/pubs/hif13032/hif13032.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256734 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487937 AU - Sprinkel, Michael M AU - Apeagyei, Alex K AU - Virginia Center for Transportation Innovation and Research AU - Virginia Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation of the Installation and Initial Condition of Rosphalt Overlays on Bridge Decks PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 55p AB - Protection systems are placed on bridge decks to retard the intrusion of chlorides and moisture that can eventually cause corrosion deterioration. The Virginia Department of Transportation typically uses hydraulic cement concrete (HCC) overlays of latex-modified concrete (LMC); LMC with very early hardening cement (LMC-VE); and silica fume concrete (SFC) and epoxy overlays for deck protection. Occasionally, a conventional asphalt overlay and waterproof membrane system is used. Rosphalt is an asphalt that is considered to be impermeable and has been used on decks without placement of a membrane. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the construction, initial condition, and cost of the Rosphalt overlays placed on two bridges in Virginia: (1) the northbound lanes of I-85 over Route 629 and the eastbound and westbound lanes of Span 22 of the Norris Bridge on State Route 3 over the Rappahannock River. As a comparison to Rosphalt, a conventional asphalt overlay and waterproof membrane system was placed on the adjacent bridge on the southbound lanes of I-85 over Route 629. Emphasis was placed on comparing the wearing and protection systems with respect to speed and ease of construction (including lane closure time), initial condition as indicated by physical properties, protection and skid resistance, and cost. An objective was also to compare these asphalt protection systems to HCC overlays of LMC-VE, LMC, and SFC and epoxy overlays. Costs varied greatly depending on the estimates used and the bid prices. Although estimates for the Norris Bridge indicated Rosphalt as the lowest cost option, bid prices showed it was likely the most expensive option. Three overlay options, Rosphalt, SM-9.5 mixture and membrane, and LMC-VE, are rapid and can provide major reductions in traffic control and user costs. Based on laboratory tests, Rosphalt is more fatigue and rut resistant than the SM-9.5 mixture and should last longer, but based on the cost of the first two installations in Virginia, Rosphalt is too expensive to be considered as a competitive overlay system. KW - Bituminous overlays KW - Bridge decks KW - Construction KW - Costs KW - Fatigue (Mechanics) KW - Performance tests KW - Permeability KW - Rutting KW - Skid resistance UR - http://www.virginiadot.org/vtrc/main/online_reports/pdf/13-R5.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/51000/51900/51991/13-R5.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256736 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487887 AU - Agent, Kenneth R AU - Pigman, Jerry G AU - University of Kentucky, Lexington AU - Kentucky Transportation Cabinet AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation of Alternative Snowplowable Markers and Snowplowing Procedures PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 27p AB - The objectives of this study were to investigate viable alternatives to the currently approved snowplowable raised pavement marker and alternative methods and equipment used to snowplow roadways. The study included evaluating any potential durable and effective pavement marker that is not disruptive to snowplowing operations and alternative snowplowing procedures and equipment that do not damage pavement delineation and pavements. Implementation possibilities resulting from the research project include a recessed snowplowable marker and improved/alternative snowplowing procedures and equipment. The alternative snowplowable markers included in the evaluation were the current steel casting marker and a recessed marker. The evaluations confirmed past research that the steel casting marker can be used on new pavement if the casting and lenses are properly installed and maintained. Also, the pavement surrounding the casting must be maintained. The limited experience with the recessed marker has shown it to be an effective alternative to the current steel casting marker. The durability and effectiveness of the recessed marker should continue to be monitored. There are alternatives to the current snowplowing procedure of using steel blades with full weight on the pavement. Several types of blades were evaluated with varying levels of success. Evaluation of alternative snowplowing procedures should continue using information found from these initial trial tests. Contractors should be allowed the flexibility to use alternatives to steel blades with their performance monitored. KW - Raised road markings KW - Recessed road markings KW - Road markings KW - Snowplowable markers KW - Snowplows KW - Winter maintenance UR - http://www.ktc.uky.edu/files/2013/07/KTC_13_07_SPR_441_12_1F.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256740 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487884 AU - Agent, Kenneth R AU - University of Kentucky, Lexington AU - Kentucky Transportation Cabinet AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation of Wet-Nighttime Delineation PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 22p AB - The objective of the research was to evaluate the alternative methods which could potentially provide effective and durable delineation of roadways during wet-nighttime conditions. Following is a summary of conclusions for future procedures and materials which should be considered as a method to provide effective lane delineation during wet-nighttime conditions. 1. Snowplowable raised pavement markers should continue to be used on interstates and parkways. The installation process must ensure the markers are not placed on or adjacent to the pavement joint. 2. Lenses in the steel casting raised pavement markers should be replaced on a three-year cycle. The condition of the castings should be inspected as part of this process. 3. The pavement condition adjacent to the raised pavement marker castings should be monitored to ensure there is no failure adjacent to the casting. 4. Evaluation of the use of a recessed pavement marker should continue. 5. Rumble stripes (painting edge line and centerline markings across a milled rumble strip) should be routinely used on resurfacing projects on rural, two-lane roads. Guidelines have been developed for the use of an edge line and/or centerline rumble stripe related to the pavement width. 6. Evaluation of the grooved and inlay installations of the wet-reflective paint, tape and thermoplastic material should continue. 7. Current research for an alternative to the current “bare pavement” policy (which involves use of steel snowplow blades with full weight) should be continued. Alternatives to the current policy include use of an alternative snowplow blade or a method of reducing the weight of the plow blade applied to the pavement. KW - Night visibility KW - Raised road markings KW - Recessed road markings KW - Reflectorized road markings KW - Road marking materials KW - Road stripes KW - Rumble strips KW - Snowplowable markers KW - Wet weather KW - Wet-weather tape KW - Winter maintenance UR - http://www.ktc.uky.edu/files/2013/07/KTC_13_05_SPR_417_11_1F.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256741 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487873 AU - Schattler, Kerrie L AU - Lund, Jessica A AU - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - Illinois Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - State-of-the-Art Literature Review on Permissive/Protected Left-Turn Control PY - 2013/06 SP - 83p AB - In spring 2010, the Illinois Department of Transportation initiated an areawide implementation to integrate the flashing yellow arrow (FYA) as the display for the left-turn permissive interval at more than 100 intersections operating with protected/permissive left-turn (PPLT) control. Bradley University was retained to perform an effectiveness evaluation of the FYA at these locations. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effect on safety and operations of upgrading the circular green permissive indication to FYA indications at intersections operating with PPLT phasing. The research tasks included performing comprehensive, areawide traffic crash analyses; conducting field studies of traffic operations and traffic conflicts; and assessing driver comprehension of the new traffic control through a survey instrument. To fulfill the research objectives, a comprehensive state-of-the-art literature review was conducted; the findings are documented in this report. The purpose of the literature review was to document the current knowledge and research findings involving PPLT control, and specifically, studies involving FYA indications. More than 30 journal papers, reports and other published documents were reviewed. These sources reported findings from driver comprehension studies, driving simulator studies, crash-based evaluations, and operational effects of various PPLT control strategies, including the flashing yellow arrow. This report provides a synthesis of the state-of-the-art on various left-turn traffic control strategies. KW - Arrows (Signals) KW - Exclusive phasing KW - Flashing traffic signals KW - Left turns KW - Literature reviews KW - Permissive phasing KW - Simulation KW - Traffic conflicts KW - Traffic control KW - Traffic crashes KW - Traffic safety KW - Yellow interval (Traffic signal cycle) UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45751 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256742 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487869 AU - Hall, James P AU - Buttlar, William G AU - Burke, Kevin AU - University of Illinois, Springfield AU - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - Illinois Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Distance Technology Transfer Course Content Development PY - 2013/06 SP - 34p AB - The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) offers multiple technology transfer courses for engineering, project design, and safety training for state and local agency personnel. These courses are often essential to the agency mission. Because of resource constraints, IDOT has been limited in its ability to deliver courses to statewide participants in a timely, standardized, and cost-effective manner. With telecommunications advances and electronic course delivery technologies, universities have developed and implemented multiple methods to effectively deliver highly technical content online to a diverse population of students. Distance course delivery allows individuals to complete courses from almost any geographic location, enabling cost efficiencies and flexible scheduling. The objective of this research was to investigate the efficacy of the development and implementation of online course content for several high-benefit IDOT technology transfer training courses and short courses. This research project assessed learning management system (LMS) options and investigated multiple online methods to deliver course content incorporating Department knowledge and expertise. In addition, this research produced a summary of findings with recommendations for future electronic technology transfer course development efforts at IDOT. KW - Distance learning KW - Online training KW - Technology transfer KW - Training courses UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45754 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256739 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487857 AU - Peters, Scott AU - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - Illinois Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Carbon Monoxide Screen for Signalized Intersections: COSIM, Version 4.0—Technical Documentation PY - 2013/06 SP - 20p AB - Illinois Carbon Monoxide Screen for Intersection Modeling (COSIM) Version 3.0 is a Windows-based computer program currently used by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to estimate worst-case carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations near signalized intersections in Illinois. Modeled results from COSIM are based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) mobile source emission model, MOBILE6.2, and roadway dispersion model, CAL3QHC v 2.0. Emission factor (EF) tables derived from MOBILE6.2 are incorporated directly into COSIM’s program coding. Recent regulatory changes in mobile source emissions modeling have prompted IDOT to update the EFs used in COSIM with EFs estimated using EPA's Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES) mobile source emission model. This report documents the changes made to COSIM, Version 3.0, that allow IDOT to continue to use COSIM (Version 4.0) to estimate worst-case CO concentrations for proposed roadway projects with signalized intersections in 2013 and beyond. KW - Air quality KW - Carbon monoxide KW - Computer program documentation KW - COSIM (Computer Model) KW - Exhaust gases KW - Signalized intersections UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45757 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256737 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487558 AU - Wilmot, Chester G AU - Gudishala, Ravindra AU - Deis, Donald AU - Mokkapati, Aditya AU - Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge AU - Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Investigation into the Impact of Privatizing Civil Engineering Operations in Louisiana DOTD PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 83p AB - The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of privatizing all civil engineering operations in the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD). It was investigated by conducting a national and international literature review and a cost analysis. Privatization of all civil engineering operations in a state department of transportation (DOT) has not been attempted in the U.S. but several other countries have privatized their entire state transport agencies. Most foreign privatization efforts report cost savings and improved delivery of service. However, not all applications have succeeded and all express concern with one or more aspects of their application, resulting in the privatization process remaining a “work in progress” in most applications. In this study, the cost comparison of conducting all civil engineering operations in-house versus by the private sector resulted in an estimate of no cost savings from privatizing the civil engineering operations in DOTD. The privatization of the civil engineering operations of DOTD is not recommended, although it is recommended that opportunities to outsource more individual tasks in DOTD be investigated. KW - Benefit cost analysis KW - Civil engineering KW - Contracting out KW - Literature reviews KW - Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development KW - Operations KW - Privatization UR - http://www.ltrc.lsu.edu/pdf/2013/FR_504.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1254110 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487389 AU - Schattler, Kerrie L AU - Rietgraf, Ashley AU - Burdett, Beau AU - Lorton, William AU - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - Illinois Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Driver Comprehension and Operations Evaluation of Flashing Yellow Arrows PY - 2013/06 SP - 57 p AB - In spring 2010, the Illinois Department of Transportation initiated an areawide implementation of the flashing yellow arrow (FYA) as the display for the left-turn permissive interval at more than 100 intersections operating with protected/permissive left-turn (PPLT) control in the Peoria, Illinois, area. Bradley University researchers evaluated the effectiveness of FYAs on driver comprehension and traffic operations. A total of 363 drivers completed an online static survey that included seven left-turn scenarios that portrayed the protected and permissive indications of PPLT phasing, with the flashing modes being animated. The results of the survey indicated that drivers had a high comprehension of both the circular green (CG) and FYA permissive left-turn indications. However, the survey results provided evidence of some drivers’ misinterpreting the meaning of a permissive left-turn with CG display and incorrectly and unsafely interpreting the meaning as “go” under some circumstances. With supplemental traffic signs present, drivers’ understanding of the correct action to take when confronted with a FYA significantly increased, and the percentage of fail-critical, incorrect “go” responses significantly decreased. Before and after field observations, including 128 hours of data collected at 16 study approaches, were collected; and the following variables were investigated: critical gap, left-turn red-light running and yellow-light running, and traffic conflicts. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that drivers in the Peoria, Illinois, area had high comprehension and acceptance of the FYA message. Additionally, the FYA did not appear to have any negative impacts on traffic operations. KW - Arrows (Signals) KW - Comprehension KW - Critical gaps (Traffic) KW - Drivers KW - Flashing traffic signals KW - Highway operations KW - Left turns KW - Peoria (Illinois) KW - Permissive phasing KW - Red light running KW - Signalized intersections KW - Traffic conflicts KW - Yellow interval (Traffic signal cycle) UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45758 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1255618 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487360 AU - El-Rayes, Khaled AU - Liu, Liang AU - Abdallah, Moatassem AU - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - Illinois Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - “Green-Friendly” Best Management Practices (BMPs) for Interstate Rest Areas—Phase II PY - 2013/06 SP - 305 p AB - Interstate rest area buildings in Illinois range in age from 10 to nearly 50 years old and are on display and used 365 days a year by nearly 40 million people annually. The rest area sites comprise 53 buildings that provide restroom facilities, vending machines, and 11 welcome centers. These facilities are presently being maintained within the allowable budgets; however, they are in need of upgrades to improve their environmental and economic performance in supporting recent sustainability initiatives in Illinois. The main goal of this project was to investigate, determine, and recommend a list of green-friendly best management practices (BMPs) for the six interstate rest areas that have the highest energy consumption in Illinois. These six rest areas are Willow Creek, Coalfield, Great Sauk Trail, Mackinaw Dells, Cumberland Road, and Turtle Creek, which account for 32% of Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT)’s rest area energy bills. The main results and findings of this study include (1) an online survey of state departments of transportation (DOTs) conducted to gather information on their experiences in implementing green-friendly measures in rest areas, welcome centers, office buildings, and related buildings; (2) an investigation of installing temporary or permanent sub-metering systems to measure, monitor, and analyze the actual energy consumption of devices and fixtures in the six rest areas; (3) on-site assessments and field measurements of the six rest areas; (4) an identification of energy and water-saving alternatives that can be implemented in the six rest areas, including: Light-emitting doide (LED) and induction lighting; motion sensors for interior lighting, vending machines, and exhaust fans; grid-connected photovoltaic systems; solar water heaters; solar tube lighting; double-pane glass, vestibule entrances; Energy Star–rated HVAC systems; geothermal heat pumps; and watersaving plumbing fixtures; (5) an energy audit analysis for the six selected rest areas, using eQuest energy simulation software to analyze the impact of implementing various energy-saving alternatives; (6) an economic analysis of the identified energy saving alternatives for the selected rest areas in terms of their required upgrade costs, life-cycle cost, and payback periods; and (7) a practical and user-friendly decision support tool that is capable of identifying optimal upgrade measures for public buildings in Illinois to achieve a specified Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ( LEED) certification with the minimum upgrade costs or achieve the highest LEED points within a given upgrade budget. KW - Best practices KW - Energy conservation KW - Energy consumption KW - Illinois KW - Interstate highways KW - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) KW - Management KW - Roadside rest areas KW - Sustainable development KW - Transportation facility operations UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45752 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1255620 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487082 AU - Larson, Nancy AU - Gomez, Eulalio Fernandez AU - Garber, David AU - Bayrak, Oguzhan AU - Ghannoum, Wassim AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Strength and Serviceability Design of Reinforced Concrete Inverted-T Beams PY - 2013/06//Technical Report SP - 234p AB - Significant diagonal cracking in reinforced concrete inverted-T straddle bent caps has been reported throughout the State of Texas. Many of the distressed structures were recently constructed and have generally been in service for less than two decades. The unique nature of the problem prompted a closer look into the design and behavior of such structural components. An experimental study was conducted in which 33 reinforced concrete inverted-T beam specimens were tested. The effects of the following variables were evaluated: ledge depth and length, quantity of web reinforcement, number of point loads, member depth, and a/d ratio. A strut-and-tie design method proposed by Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Project 0-5253, initially calibrated for compression-chord loaded deep beams, was investigated. It was concluded that the strut-and-tie method was a simpler and accurate design method and was recommended for use in inverted-T beam design. A recommendation was also made on the amount of minimum web reinforcement needed for strength and serviceability considerations. A simple service-load check was proposed for the purpose of limiting diagonal cracking under service loads. Lastly, a chart was created to aid in the distress evaluation of a diagonally-cracked inverted-T bent cap in the field. KW - Bents KW - Bridge design KW - Cracking KW - Design load KW - Reinforced concrete KW - Shear strength KW - Structural supports KW - Strut and tie method KW - T beams KW - Texas KW - Web stiffened structures UR - http://library.ctr.utexas.edu/ctr-publications/0-6416-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1255037 ER - TY - SER AN - 01487062 JO - Civil Engineering Studies, Illinois Center for Transportation Series PB - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - Benekohal, Rahim AU - Ramezani, Hani AU - Avrenli, Kivanc A AU - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - Illinois Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - WorkZoneQ User Guide for Two-Lane Freeway Work Zones PY - 2013/06 SP - 140p AB - WorkZoneQ was developed in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to implement the results of the previous study, “Queue and Users’ Costs in Highway Work Zones.” This report contains the WorkZoneQ user guide. WorkZoneQ consists of eight Excel worksheets and input data are traffic information, geometric characteristics, traffic control plan, and value of time figures. Then WorkZoneQ determines the capacity and computes queue length, delay, users’ costs, and congestion duration. It also determines the intervals that do not satisfy Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) mobility standards. Eight example problems were solved. The first one is a basic example to obtain the above output data. The successive examples show the capability of the program to handle different time interval lengths, variation of volume within the interval, flagger presence, police presence, change in work intensity, temporary roadway blockage, and different speed limits. Three workshops were conducted for IDOT engineers and their feedback was used to further improve the program. The current version of the program was developed using field data collected from 2-to-1 freeway work zones and it is recommended that a future project expand the program for other lane configurations. KW - Computer program documentation KW - Costs KW - Highway capacity KW - Illinois KW - Queuing KW - Software KW - Traffic congestion KW - Two lane highways KW - Work zones UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45756 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1254310 ER - TY - SER AN - 01487033 JO - TechBrief PB - Federal Highway Administration AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - FHWA LTBP Workshop to Identify Bridge Substructure Performance Issues PY - 2013/06 SP - 6p AB - This TechBrief provides an overview of the proceedings and findings of the “FHWA Workshop to Identify Bridge Substructure Performance Issues” held in Orlando, Florida, from March  4  to  6, 2010. The purpose of the workshop was to consider overall bridge performance and identify geotechnical performance metrics that may correspond to good and poor performance. The issues identified and the recommendations made at the workshop are being used in the design and implementation of the Federal Highway Administration's Long-Term Bridge Performance (LTBP) program. KW - Bridge substructures KW - Bridges KW - Geotechnical engineering KW - Performance measurement KW - Workshops UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/infrastructure/bridge/13049/13049.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256540 ER - TY - SER AN - 01487021 JO - TechBrief PB - Federal Highway Administration AU - Graybeal, Ben AU - Greene, Gary AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Lightweight Concrete: Mechanical Properties PY - 2013/06 SP - 12p AB - There is a limited amount of test data on the mechanical properties of high-strength lightweight concrete (LWC) with a concrete unit weight (wc) between that of traditional LWC and normal weight concrete (NWC). Concrete with a wc in this range is also not covered in the American Association of State Highway and Traffic Officials (AASHTO) Load-and-Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) Bridge Design Specifications. This research program includes a significant number of mechanical property tests on this type of concrete. The results from this research project are included into a LWC database that covers a range of wc to determine trends for LWC as a function of wc. New design expressions for mechanical properties are proposed for LWC as a function of wc as opposed to the more common method of using concrete constituent materials. The design expressions represent potential revisions to the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications relating to the mechanical properties of LWC. KW - AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications KW - Bridge design KW - Lightweight concrete KW - Load and resistance factor design KW - Mechanical properties KW - Mechanical tests KW - Properties of materials UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/infrastructure/bridge/13061/13061.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256542 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01487019 AU - Hamilton, H R AU - McCall, James AU - Tsai, Yen-Chih AU - Szyniszewski, Stefan AU - Roske, Edward AU - Ferraro, Chris AU - University of Florida, Gainesville AU - Florida Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Key Royale Bridge Five Year Evaluation PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 309p AB - This report describes the design, construction, instrumentation, and five-year evaluation of the Key Royale Bridge substructure. The primary focus was the evaluation of the implementation of highly reactive supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) into the construction of the bridge piles. Four different SCM were used to create six different concrete mixtures; these were then used to construct the bridge and fender piles. This allowed monitoring under realistic exposure conditions in real time rather than performing accelerated corrosion testing in laboratory conditions. Corrosion sensors were embedded in the bridge piles for periodic monitoring; five years after placement, none of the remaining operable sensors indicated the presence of corrosion. Removable fender piles were also installed with the same mixtures as were used on the bridge piles and will be removed after 15-20 years of seawater exposure to be examined for ingress of chlorides and corrosion damage. Coring was performed on the fender piles to evaluate chloride ingress after 5 years of exposure. In addition, durability segments were constructed using the same concrete and prestressing strand as the fender piles. These segments were hung from the fender piles for consistent exposure conditions and instrumented with corrosion sensors and temperature sensors for long-term corrosion monitoring, although none of the remaining operable sensors indicate the presence of corrosion. These segments will be cored in the future for evaluating the chloride ion penetration and concrete hydration over time. Data gathered during the five years since the bridge was erected indicated that corrosion has not yet initiated in either bridge or fender piles. Electrical measurements were taken at selected intervals to assess the condition of the prestressing steel in the piles. Half-cell potential measurements of the pile prestressing steel were taken using a copper copper-sulfate reference electrode and indicated a very low probability that corrosion was occurring in the prestressing steel. As noted previously, embedded sensors in the bridge and fender piles provided no indication of corrosion activity. KW - Admixtures KW - Bridge piers KW - Bridge substructures KW - Chloride content KW - Corrosion KW - Key Royale Bridge (Florida) KW - Seawater KW - Sensors KW - Service life KW - Supplementary cementing materials UR - http://www.fdot.gov/research/Completed_Proj/Summary_SMO/FDOT-BDK75-977-52-rpt.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1256389 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01486999 AU - Russell, Henry G. AU - Graybeal, Benjamin A AU - Henry G. Russell, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Ultra-High Performance Concrete: A State-of-the-Art Report for the Bridge Community PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 176p AB - The term Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) refers to a relatively new class of advanced cementitious composite materials whose mechanical and durability properties far surpass those of conventional concrete. This class of concrete has been demonstrated to facilitate solutions that address specific problems in the United States highway bridge infrastructure. Initial material development research on UHPC began more than two decades ago. First structural deployments began in the late 1990s. First field deployments in the U.S. highway transportation infrastructure began in 2006. For this study, UHPC-class materials are defined as cementitious-based composite materials with discontinuous fiber reinforcement that exhibit compressive strength above 21.7 ksi (150 MPa), pre- and post-cracking tensile strength above 0.72 ksi (5 MPa), and enhanced durability via a discontinuous pore structure. This report documents the state of the art with regard to the research, development, and deployment of UHPC components within the U.S. highway transportation infrastructure. More than 600 technical articles and reports covering research and applications using UHPC have been published in English in the last 20 years, with many more published in other languages. The report includes information about materials and production, mechanical properties, structural design and structural testing, durability and durability testing, and actual and potential applications. The report concludes with recommendations for the future direction for UHPC applications in the United States. KW - Durability KW - Fiber reinforced concrete KW - High performance concrete KW - Highway bridges KW - State of the practice KW - Structural analysis KW - Structural design KW - Ultra high performance concrete UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/infrastructure/structures/hpc/13060/13060.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1254303 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01486961 AU - Polzin, Steven AU - Bunner, Rodney AU - Chu, Xuehao AU - National Center for Transit Research AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration AU - Florida Department of Transportation TI - Transit Boardings Estimation and Simulation Tool (TBEST) Calibration for Guideway and BRT Modes PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 52p AB - This research initiative was motivated by a desire of the Florida Department of Transportation and the Transit Boardings Estimation and Simulation Tool (TBEST) project team to enhance the value of TBEST to the planning community by improving its capability to provide forecasts for light rail transit (LRT) and bus rapid transit (BRT) technologies. Specific strategies for calibration were explored and developed for BRT and LRT calibration. The BRT methodology relied on a scoring system to determine the scope of BRT features and scaling the ridership impact accordingly, based on the best available empirical data. The BRT adjustment factor would be a maximum of 30 percent for a very highly specified BRT with exclusive travelway along the full length. The LRT strategy relied on comparison of TBEST results with both sketch planning LRT forecasts and regional model forecasts for Hillsborough County. These results suggested that the scope of system changes and competitiveness of rail was such that large adjustments in TBEST forecasts would be necessary to replicate LRT forecasts. In light of these results, the project team suggests recalibration with a forthcoming Federal Transit Administration sketch planning model and, in the interim, restricting technology adjustments to no more than 50 percent. KW - Boarding KW - Bus rapid transit KW - Florida KW - Forecasting KW - Light rail transit KW - Ridership UR - http://www.fdot.gov/research/Completed_Proj/Summary_PTO/FDOT-BDK85-977-40-rpt.pdf UR - http://www.nctr.usf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/77945.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1254565 ER - TY - SER AN - 01486925 JO - Civil Engineering Studies, Illinois Center for Transportation Series PB - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign AU - Eriksson, Jakob AU - University of Illinois, Chicago AU - Illinois Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Evaluation of Traffic-Flow Monitoring Technologies: Cicero–Midway Smart Corridor Case Study PY - 2013/06 IS - 13-007 SP - 17p AB - The original goal of this project was to (1) collect probe-vehicle and sensor data in the region of interest, and perform cleaning and map matching of the data; and (2) evaluate the accuracy of multiple technologies, either through direct comparison with ground truth (probe vehicles) when data are available or through simulation where direct measurement data were unavailable. Due to a substantial and unexpected lack of spatiotemporally coinciding measurement and ground-truth data, the project changed direction midway, to quickly capitalize on technology developed in the earlier stages and to attempt to remedy the underlying problem that led to the present difficulty: the unavailability of substantial and low-cost travel-time measurements. Under this new direction, the project was successful. A prototype system for low-cost traffic-flow measurement using Wi-Fi transmission monitoring has been developed and successfully demonstrated, A survey of efficient vehicle-tracking methods was performed, comparing over 100 alternative methods, leading to the development of a significantly more accurate and cost-effective method. Finally, technology developed in the early stages of the project were repurposed to facilitate the creation of the UIC Shuttle Tracker. KW - Global Positioning System KW - IEEE 802.11 (Standard) KW - Measurement KW - Monitoring KW - Probe vehicles KW - Traffic flow UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45753 UR - https://apps.ict.illinois.edu/projects/getfile.asp?id=3089 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1254307 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01485999 AU - McEnroe, Bruce M AU - Young, C Bryan AU - Williams, Aaron R AU - Hinshaw, Matt AU - University of Kansas, Lawrence AU - Kansas Department of Transportation AU - Kansas State University Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Estimating Design Discharges for Drainage Structures in Western Kansas PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 84p AB - Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) engineers have expressed concern that the hydrologic methods in the current KDOT Design Manual (Volume I, Part C, 2011) may lead to over-sizing of drainage structures in Western Kansas. Some new structures designed by the current methods are much larger than the previous structures at these locations or existing structures directly upstream or downstream, where the older structures had no known history of overtopping. There are reasons to suspect that current methods may not be well suited to small watersheds in Western Kansas, particularly for areas with high soil permeability. This report examines the applicability of KDOT’s current hydrologic methods to Western Kansas and develops new Rational C values and flood-frequency regression equations for this region. In addition, KDOT’s current hydrologic methods are compared with those of nearby state DOTs. In order to develop new flood-frequency regression equations and recommendations for Rational C values for Western Kansas, the authors assembled a data set of all U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) gaging stations that met the following criteria: (1) at least 10 years of peak flow records, (2) watershed area less than 100 mi², (3) unregulated watersheds (no major lakes or reservoirs), and (4) watersheds within 100 miles of the Kansas border and west of 97.5° longitude. The resulting data set contains 156 stations, 62 of which are in Kansas. Regional flood frequency analyses were performed on this data set using Generalize Least Squares regression in WREG 1.0. Soil permeability was found not to be a significant predictor variable. Regression equations were developed for Western Kansas, but comparisons show that these equations are not a substantial improvement over existing regression equations. Based on an evaluation of available methods, the authors recommend the Extended Rational method for watershed areas > 640 ac and < 30 mi² and the USGS four-parameter regression equation for watersheds ≥ 30 mi² in both Western and Eastern Kansas. An analysis of Rational C values indicates that C values currently used for design in Western Kansas are too high for recurrence intervals below 100 years. New Rational C values for Western Kansas were developed and checked against regression methods for consistency. The proposed C values for Western Kansas are lower than the current values for all recurrence intervals below 100 years. The authors also propose certain adjustments to the Rational C values for Eastern Kansas. They recommend that urban open spaces and pervious surfaces within the right-of-way be considered equivalent to pasture/range rather than cropland in both Western and Eastern Kansas. KW - Data files KW - Design KW - Design discharge KW - Drainage structures KW - Flood frequency analysis KW - Floods KW - Hydrology KW - Kansas KW - Recurrence intervals KW - Regression analysis KW - Runoff KW - Watersheds UR - http://idmweb.ksdot.org/PublicLib/publicDoc.asp?ID=003828227 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1255039 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01485998 AU - Reich, Stephen L AU - Davis, Janet L AU - University of South Florida, Tampa AU - Florida Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Integrating Transit with Road Pricing Projects PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 69p AB - This study examined various levels of the treatment of public transportation in conjunction with the implementation of managed lane highway projects. It details the ranges of transit investments identified in and associated with managed lanes that are in operation and those being planned, summarizes the range of those investments, and makes policy recommendations for the inclusion of public transportation elements into managed lane projects. The study includes a framework for deciding the appropriate extent to which transit should be incorporated into managed lane projects. KW - Bus rapid transit KW - High occupancy toll lanes KW - High occupancy vehicle lanes KW - Investments KW - Managed lanes KW - Public transit KW - Recommendations KW - Transportation policy UR - http://www.fdot.gov/research/Completed_Proj/Summary_PTO/FDOT-BDK85-977-43-rpt.pdf UR - http://www.nctr.usf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/77948.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1255042 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01485850 AU - Tidd, Leo AU - Sliker, Laura AU - Braitman, Dara AU - Lee-Roark, Carol AU - Ballard, Lisa AU - Louis Berger Group, Incorporated AU - Montana Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Assessing the Extent and Determinates of Induced Growth PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 176p AB - Transportation improvements affect the accessibility of places, which in turn can result in changes in land use in combination with factors that support or discourage development (such as land prices, market demand, local land use regulations, and environmental constraints). Due to the uncertainty involved in forecasting the indirect effects of transportation projects on land use, transportation agencies nationally have struggled in identifying the appropriate level of analysis for this issue, in some cases resulting in litigation and project delays. The objective of this research was to identify a Montana-specific, consistent, legally defensible, and efficient process for assessing the indirect land use and environmental effects of transportation projects for the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT). Case law, guidance documents in other states, surveys, interviews, and reviews of existing MDT environmental documents were used to develop an Indirect Effects Desk Reference. The Desk Reference provides an overview of key definitions and regulatory requirements, and provides practitioners with a step-by-step screening process to determine if further analysis is warranted. The screening process relies on information of the characteristics and location of the project readily available early in the project development process. Where detailed analysis is necessary, a detailed analysis framework process is provided in the Desk Reference that includes recommendations on the analysis methodologies most applicable to the data available in different portions of Montana. Finally, recommendations for updating the Desk Reference materials over time are presented, including a recommendation to incorporate the screening and detailed analysis frameworks in MDT’s Environmental Manual. The results of this research should be useful not only to Montana, but to other western states in the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains regions of the U.S. that share similar land use, environmental, and growth trends. KW - Economic growth KW - Economic impacts KW - Environmental impacts KW - Handbooks KW - Indirect effects KW - Land use KW - Legal documents KW - Montana KW - Transportation planning KW - Transportation projects UR - http://www.mdt.mt.gov/other/research/external/docs/research_proj/growth/final_report_jun13.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1254304 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01485402 AU - Sobanjo, John O AU - Thompson, Paul D AU - Florida State University, Tallahassee AU - Paul D Thompson AU - Florida Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Development of Risk Models for Florida's Bridge Management System PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 298p AB - Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has been actively implementing the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Pontis Bridge Management System (BMS), recently renamed AASHTOWare Bridge Management (BrM), to support network-level and project-level decision making in the headquarters and district offices. This system is an integral part of a Department-wide effort to improve the quality of asset management information provided to decision makers. With the success of FDOT‟s previous research efforts, it was necessary to extend bridge management tools and processes to an area that is receiving increasing attention nationally: risk management. The state of Florida is exposed to risk on its bridges from many natural and man-made hazards, including hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding and scour, and wildfires, as well as advanced deterioration, fatigue, collisions, and overloads. This study developed a comprehensive framework and components of a risk model for these listed hazards. For each hazard, historical data were utilized to develop risk assessment models which predicted the likelihood of such events and also quantified the consequences of the hazard event. Sources of data with several years of recorded events included the following: the Department‟s databases on bridge inventory and inspection; District‟s records of damage after hazards; NOAA‟s climatic data; FEMA; and the Florida Department of Forestry. The research identified the types of bridges (design type and material type) and specific bridge elements that are most vulnerable to damage under the hazard events. The overall risk model was used to identify the top 20 bridges that are most vulnerable under each of the hazard types. Finally, recommendations are presented as well as modifications to the Project Level Analysis Tool (PLAT). KW - Asset management KW - Bridge management systems KW - Decision making KW - Fires KW - Florida KW - Hurricanes KW - Risk management KW - Tornadoes UR - http://www.fdot.gov/research/Completed_Proj/Summary_MNT/FDOT-BDK83-977-11-rpt.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1254052 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01485305 AU - Wood, Timothy A AU - Jayawickrama, Priyantha AU - Surles, James G 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 3, Test Reports for MSE Reinforcements in Type A (Gravelly) Backfill PY - 2013/06//Technical Report SP - 681p 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 687 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 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 AASHTO design guidance for inextensible MSE reinforcements. This volume, Volume 3, presents pullout test reports from a total of 320 pullout tests completed on MSE reinforcements embedded in TxDOT Type A backfill, and accompanying strain gage test reports. Volume 1 summarizes the research findings, and Volume 2 presents test reports for reinforcements in Type B backfill. KW - Backfill soils KW - Earth walls KW - Gravelly soils KW - Mechanically stabilized earth KW - Pull out test KW - Resistance tests KW - Stabilized materials KW - Strain gages KW - Texas UR - http://www.depts.ttu.edu/techmrtweb/reports/complete_reports/0-6493-1_Vol3.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1253846 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01485160 AU - Hallenbeck, Mark E AU - Briglia, Peter M AU - Howard, Zachary N AU - St Martin, Anna AU - Washington State Transportation Center AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - In-Service Evaluation of Major Urban Arterials with Landscaped Medians—Phase III PY - 2013/06//Research Report SP - 50p AB - Several cities have implemented redevelopment plans that include the re-design of major regional arterials in order to raise the quality of life of those living, working, and shopping along, or near the arterial. Many of these redevelopment efforts include landscaped medians with trees placed close to the roadway including in the median. WSDOT’s clear zone width criterion may not always be met when trees are placed within medians. To address this potential conflict, an in-service evaluation process was adopted to study collision, environmental, operational, and maintenance experiences in the field. This report updates earlier work published in 2007 and 2009. It examines before and after periods for all 13 roadway sections identified by WSDOT for review. Some of these 13 sections contain trees in medians with no protection, others are sections that contain raised medians but no trees, and others are control sections. The study finds that the presence of small trees in the median did not significantly increase crash rates, crash severity, or injury crash rates. Crash rates decreased at statistically significant levels for both types of median treatment locations. No significant difference was found when comparing median treatments with and without trees. At test sites, crash rates remain stable six years after the treatments were completed, indicating that the safety benefits first observed remain in place over time. It appears that adding small trees to landscaped medians does not have a detrimental effect on safety. Installation of medians and access control as part of a more general increase in access control generally result in a decrease in midblock crashes, but an increase in crashes occurring at intersections where turning movements are allowed in large part because turns are concentrated at those locations. These increases are a fraction of the midblock gains, resulting in improved safety overall. KW - Arterial highways KW - Context sensitive design KW - Crash rates KW - Highway safety KW - Injury severity KW - Landscaping KW - Medians KW - Trees KW - Urban design KW - Washington (State) UR - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/636.3.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1253590 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01484931 AU - Turner, Patricia AU - Higgins, Laura AU - Geedipally, Srinivas AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Development of a Statewide Motorcycle Safety Plan for Texas: Technical Report PY - 2013/06//Technical Report SP - 136p AB - The objective of this research project was to develop a statewide plan to reduce motorcycle crashes and injuries in the state of Texas. The project included a review of published literature on current and proposed countermeasures for reducing the incidence and/or severity of motorcycle-involved crashes and related injuries, a review of existing and emerging Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) and other advanced technologies for motorcycles and other vehicles, an analysis of Texas motorcycle crash and injury data, and a statewide survey of Texas motorcycle riders that explored the demographics, riding histories, training and licensing status, use of protective gear, crash involvement, and attitudes toward various motorcycle safety countermeasures. These data collection activities culminated in a list of potential motorcycle crash and injury countermeasures; these countermeasures were then evaluated and prioritized in a workshop attended by motorcycle safety experts and advocates. KW - Countermeasures KW - Crash analysis KW - Crash data KW - Crash injuries KW - Highway safety KW - Intelligent transportation systems KW - Literature reviews KW - Motorcycle crashes KW - Motorcyclists KW - Surveys KW - Texas UR - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6712-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1253546 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01484930 AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Texas Strategic Action Plan for Motorcycles 2013 - 2018 PY - 2013/06 SP - 24p AB - This five-year plan includes detailed strategies and action steps to reduce the number of motorcycle fatalities, injuries, and crashes on Texas roadways. It provides guidance to Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and key stakeholders involved with improving motorcycle safety, including the Texas Department of Public Safety - Motorcycle/ATV Safety Unit (DPS-MSU), the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), the Texas Motorcycle Safety Coalition (TMSC), law enforcement, local agencies, motorcycle clubs/groups, motorcyclists, and dealers. The plan is dynamic –as strategies are implemented, other strategies can be added as identified. The goal of the plan is to focus limited funding and resources on the areas with the greatest opportunity to reduce motorcycle fatalities, serious injuries, and crashes in Texas. KW - Countermeasures KW - Highway safety KW - Motorcycle crashes KW - Motorcycles KW - Motorcyclists KW - Strategic planning KW - Texas UR - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6712-P2.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1253548 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01484926 AU - Zhou, Fujie AU - Hu, Sheng AU - Scullion, Tom AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Balanced RAP/RAS Mix Design and Performance Evaluation System for Project-Specific Service Conditions PY - 2013/06//Technical Report SP - 74p AB - The use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) can significantly reduce the increasing cost of hot-mix asphalt paving, conserve energy, and protect the environment. However, the premature cracking problem has been a serious concern. This report presents the latest work on RAP/RAS mix design and performance analysis including field performance of a variety of RAP/RAS test sections around Texas, and the proposed RAP/RAS mix design and performance evaluation system for project-specific service conditions. RAP/RAS mixes can have better or similar performance than virgin mixes if they are well designed with balancing both rutting/moisture damage and cracking requirements. Cracking performance of RAP/RAS mixes is influenced by many factors, such as traffic, climate, existing pavement conditions for asphalt overlays, and pavement structure and layer thickness. It is obvious that a single cracking requirement does not apply to all asphalt overlay applications. Instead, a project-specific service conditions based mix design system should be developed. Based on the relationship between Overlay Test (OT) cycles and fracture properties (A and n) established under this study, a balanced RAP/RAS mix design and performance evaluation system for project-specific service conditions is proposed, and it includes a balanced mix design procedure and a performance evaluation system in which the Hamburg wheel tracking test and associated criteria are used to control rutting/moisture damage and the OT, and the required OT cycles determined from S-TxACOL cracking prediction with consideration of climate, traffic, pavement structure and existing pavement conditions. Additionally, the impacts of soft binder on engineering properties of RAP/RAS mixes in terms of dynamic modulus, HWTT rut depth, and OT cycles are investigated. The test results clearly indicated that the use of soft and modified asphalt binder (i.e., PG xx-28, PG xx-34) can effectively improve cracking resistance of RAP/RAS mixes without sacrificing much rutting/moisture damage resistance. Dynamic modulus is not a good indicator as cracking resistance of RAP/RAS mixes. Researchers highly recommend that the proposed RAP/RAS mix design and performance evaluation system for project-specific service conditions be implemented statewide. KW - Asphalt pavements KW - Cracking KW - Mix design KW - Moisture damage KW - Overlays (Pavements) KW - Pavement performance KW - Reclaimed asphalt pavements KW - Recycled materials KW - Rutting KW - Texas UR - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6092-3.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1253544 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01484717 AU - Goodwill, Jay A AU - Joslin, Ann AU - National Center for Transit Research AU - Florida Department of Transportation AU - Florida Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Forecasting Paratransit Services Demand – Review and Recommendations PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 55p AB - Travel demand forecasting tools for Florida’s paratransit services are outdated, utilizing old national trip generation rate generalities and simple linear regression models. In its guidance for the development of mandated Transportation Disadvantaged Service Plans (TDSP), the Florida Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged (CTD) refers transit planners to the May 1993 “Methodology Guidelines for Forecasting TD Transportation Demand at the County Level” to develop forecasts of transportation disadvantaged populations. This report examines the current demand forecasting procedure, examines samples of other forecasting methods, and details critical factors that should be considered in addressing the development of a new paratransit demand forecasting model. The report concludes with the development of an updated paratransit service demand model and details its application. A dynamic model spreadsheet was developed which requires relatively simple and minimal data inputs by the end user. KW - Florida KW - Forecasting KW - Methodology KW - Paratransit services KW - Transportation disadvantaged persons KW - Travel demand UR - http://www.fdot.gov/research/Completed_Proj/Summary_PTO/FDOT-BDK85-977-34-rpt.pdf UR - http://www.nctr.usf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/77938.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1253224 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01484440 AU - Newcomb, David E AU - Lenz, Russel AU - Epps, Jon AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Price Adjustment Clauses: Report PY - 2013/06//Technical Report SP - 86p AB - Price adjustment mechanisms exist to account for fluctuations in commodity or labor prices and have been used for highway construction in 47 states. They are useful in stabilizing bid prices in times of economic uncertainty and preventing defaults on contracts. This study examined the feasibility of establishing price adjustment practices on highway construction contracts in Texas. Researchers found that there is not a consensus among Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) districts or contractors about using price adjustment clauses (PACs), but those who favor such would use them for longer term, higher value projects if they were to be instituted. Because there is not a clear agreement at this time among contractors and among TxDOT personnel interviewed, implementation of PACs on construction projects cannot be recommended. KW - Competitive bidding KW - Construction projects KW - Contract administration KW - Contractors KW - Contracts KW - Costs KW - Prices KW - Texas UR - http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6799-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1253059 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01484414 AU - Wenzel, Brenda M AU - Avers, Katrina B AU - Banks, Joy O AU - Federal Aviation Administration AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - Aviation Medical Examiner 2012 Feedback Survey: Content Analysis of Recommendations PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 48p AB - The Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI), as a component of the Office of Aerospace Medicine (OAM), surveyed the population of aviation medical examiners (AMEs), as federal designees, in 2012 to assess their satisfaction with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airman medical certification services and to gather their feedback on how to improve those services. Reported here are results from an indepth content analysis of AME recommendations for improving medical certification services, systems/tools, processes, and policies. One in five AMEs (438 of 2,118: 392 domestic and 46 MFI—military, federal, international) that met the survey selection criteria responded to at least one of the open text items. Of those, most reported being a senior AME (75% domestic, 81% MFI). All domestic and international regions were represented by the respondents. Of note, the majority of those providing recommendations who reported use of a medical certification service in the past 12 months also reported satisfaction with the service. AME feedback regarding development of organizational services identified needs for: training, real time/anytime access to FAA physicians, specific information, timely communication and specific content in correspondence, speedier FAA decisions, reduced costs, quality interactions with FAA personnel, and an increase in FAA staff. Feedback regarding enhancements to systems/tools included need for: new capabilities, ready and stable access, end user support in effective and efficient task performance, easier to use and read interfaces and printouts, and adjustment to existing capabilities. Feedback regarding changes to medical certification processes and policies addressed requirements for: transmission of reports, records, and documents to the FAA; airmen applications; exam appointments; issuance decisions; printed certificates; and AME rules. Some of the recommended improvements may not be feasible due to operational, financial, or regulatory constraints. Results provide a programmatic view of AME-recommended improvements and can be used to inform future OAM decisions regarding medical certification services. KW - Aviation medicine KW - Improvements KW - Medical certification KW - Medical examinations and tests KW - Program evaluation KW - Quality of service KW - Recommendations KW - Surveys UR - http://www.faa.gov/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/oamtechreports/2010s/media/201312.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1252956 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01484413 AU - Pierce, Linda G AU - Bleckley, M Kathryn AU - Crayton, Lynn AU - Federal Aviation Administration AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - The Utility of the Air Traffic Selection and Training Test Battery in Hiring Graduates of an Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative Program PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 24p AB - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recruits applicants for Air Traffic Control Specialist (ATCS) training positions from multiple hiring sources. Each hiring source has requirements that applicants must meet for eligibility. These hiring sources include the Air Traffic – Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI) for applicants with specialized education in air traffic control (ATC) and general public (GP) applicants with no prior ATC education or experience. CTI and GP applicants must pass the Air Traffic Selection and Training (AT-SAT) test battery, a computerized preemployment test battery designed to assess a candidate’s aptitude for performing the duties of an ATCS. Applicants must score as Qualified with a score of 70 – 84.9 or Well-Qualified with a score of 85 or above for further consideration. The current research provides an initial assessment of AT-SAT as part of the hiring process for CTI graduates. To consider the utility of AT-SAT in hiring CTI graduates, the authors compared the selection and training performance of CTI graduates and GP applicants taking AT-SAT between April 2007 and December 2009. In this sample, only 6.2% of CTI graduates and GP applicants failed to pass AT-SAT with a score of 70 or higher (2.3% CTI graduates, 6.9% GP applicants). There was variation in the scores of those who passed AT-SAT, but most were categorized as Well-Qualified (58.8%). Also, while most CTI graduates and GP applicants selected for training had scored as Well-Qualified on AT-SAT, more Qualified CTI graduates (24.2%) than GP applicants (5.8%) were selected. There was little difference between CTI and GP trainees in assignment to terminal or en route facilities (less than 2 percentage points). The majority of the trainees (63.4%) had completed training (successfully or unsuccessfully). CTI trainees were successful slightly more often (55.3%) than GP trainees (51.9%) and unsuccessful slightly less often (16.2% vs. 22.6%, respectively). Also, while Well-Qualified CTI trainees were successful at approximately the same level as Qualified CTI trainees (55.7% vs. 54.2%, respectively), they were unsuccessful less often (14.0% vs. 23.5%, respectively). The authors' recommendations are to continue to use AT-SAT in the hiring process of CTI graduates and to select primarily those who score in the Well-Qualified score category KW - Air traffic controllers KW - Aptitude KW - Aptitude tests KW - Hiring policies KW - Selection and appointment KW - U.S. Federal Aviation Administration UR - http://www.faa.gov/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/oamtechreports/2010s/media/201311.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1252955 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01483668 AU - Atadero, Rebecca A AU - Allen, Douglas G AU - Mata, Oscar R AU - Colorado State University, Fort Collins AU - Mountain-Plains Consortium AU - Colorado Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Long Term Monitoring of Mechanical Properties of FRP Repair Materials PY - 2013/06 SP - 150p AB - Over the years, Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites have gained popularity in transportation infrastructure as a material able to restore and increase the capacity of existing concrete elements. Properties such as a high strength to weight ratio, non-corrosive nature, durability, and high malleability make FRP materials an appealing alternative in the reinforcement of these structural elements. However, there are still concerns regarding the long-term performance of these repairs. Numerous studies have been completed by means of accelerated aging in the lab. However, behavior of these materials under realistic field conditions has yet to be thoroughly researched. As a result, this project was created to assess the durability of an FRP repair in the Castlewood Canyon Bridge in Colorado. In addition, a laboratory study was conducted to determine the long-term behavior of concrete reinforced with FRP when exposed to various environmental conditions. The specific tasks in this project include data collection and testing plans for field assessment, on-site testing and sample collection, laboratory testing and data analysis, and testing program with a focus on the effects of deicers on FRP. Finally, a literature review was developed to consider other concerns that the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) engineers may have on the subject. KW - Bond strength (Materials) KW - Colorado KW - Deicing chemicals KW - Durability tests KW - Fiber reinforced polymers KW - Field studies KW - Laboratory tests KW - Mechanical properties KW - Reinforced concrete bridges UR - http://www.coloradodot.info/programs/research/pdfs/2013/frp.pdf/at_download/file UR - http://www.mountain-plains.org/pubs/pdf/MPC13-253.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1252387 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01483659 AU - Boske, Leigh B AU - Harrison, Robert AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - The Dynamics of U.S.-Asian-South American Waterborne Trade and the Panama Canal Expansion: Their Anticipated Impacts on Texas Ports and the State’s Economy PY - 2013/06//Technical Report SP - 144p AB - This report examines noteworthy aspects of U.S.-Asian and U.S.-Latin American trade, particularly the present and likely future roles of Texas ports and the Panama Canal. The purpose is to identify opportunities and challenges faced by the State of Texas and its ports in competing for international trade. The role of Texas ports within the larger U.S. economy is examined, and developments in the Texas energy sector noted. The research team collected information from and conducted selected interviews with Texas port officials and individuals involved with various modes of transportation, such as ocean carriers, the Panama Canal Authority, shippers, consultants, international organizations, research institutes, and the like. The report addresses the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) role in maintaining functional, economically healthy ports and responding to the canal’s expansion. KW - Asia KW - Caribbean Area KW - Containerships KW - Economic impacts KW - International trade KW - Latin America KW - Panama Canal KW - Ports KW - Texas KW - Trade routes UR - http://library.ctr.utexas.edu/ctr-publications/0-6690-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1252324 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01483482 AU - Duthie, Jennifer C AU - Nezamuddin, N AU - Juri, Natalia Ruiz AU - Rambha, Tarun AU - Melson, Chris AU - Pool, C Matt AU - Boyles, Stephen AU - Waller, S Travis AU - Kumar, Roshan AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Investigating Regional Dynamic Traffic Assignment Modeling for Improved Bottleneck Analysis: Final Report PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 93p AB - This research employed dynamic traffic assignment (DTA) modeling to study the network-wide impact of bottleneck alleviation measures taken by Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) on MoPac Expressway in downtown Austin. The measures led to a small improvement in MoPac travel conditions and no major route-switching behaviors were found due to the new geometric reconfiguration on MoPac. The study discussed the benefits and challenges of incorporating DTA into the traditional four-step planning process and provided guidelines to move forward in this direction. A decision-making framework to choose from potential future improvements projects was also developed. KW - Austin (Texas) KW - Bottlenecks KW - Decision making KW - Dynamic traffic assignment KW - Expressways KW - Performance measurement KW - Traffic congestion KW - Traffic flow KW - Traffic mitigation UR - http://library.ctr.utexas.edu/ctr-publications/0-6657-1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1252214 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01483476 AU - Stokoe, Kenneth H AU - Lee, Jung-Su AU - Lewis, Mike AU - Hayes, Richard AU - Scullion, Thomas AU - Liu, Wenting AU - University of Texas, Austin AU - Texas A&M Transportation Institute AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Developing a Testing Device for Total Pavements Acceptance—Final Report PY - 2013/06//Final Report SP - 93p AB - During the fourth year of Project 0-6005, construction of the Total Pavement Acceptance Device (TPAD) was completed. The TPAD is a multi-function pavement evaluation device used to profile continuously along pavements at speeds in the range of 2 to 5 mph. The test functions include those associated with a Rolling Dynamic Deflectometer (RDD), ground penetrating radar (GPR), Distance Measurement Instrument (DMI), high-precision differential Global Positioning System (GPS), surface temperature and digital video imaging of the pavement, and right-of-way conditions. The towing frame system used to position and pull the RDD rolling sensors was developed and installed on the TPAD. The towing frame system minimizes the transmission of vibrations from the TPAD mobile platform and loading system to the rolling sensors, and allows for the incorporation of three rolling sensors (front, center, and rear) on the TPAD. The front and rear rolling sensors have 12.5-in. diameter wheels and a 90-lb hold-down weight while the center rolling sensor has 9.5-in. diameter wheels and a 40-lb hold-down weight. Initial deflection measurements using the new towing frame/sensor cart arrangement were performed at the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Flight Services Facility (FSF). Based on these tests, it is recommended that most deflection profiling be done with the center and rear rolling sensors at a testing speed of 2 mph. Three case studies with the TPAD were performed at a testing speed of 2 mph: on US 297 near Wichita Falls, at TxDOT FSF, on US 290 near Houston. The pavements at the three sites are continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP), jointed concrete pavement (JCP), and full-depth, hot-mix asphalt (HMA), respectively. The TPAD proved durable during the testing period and provided valuable information for all three types of pavements. KW - Acceptance tests KW - Case studies KW - Deflection tests KW - Distance measuring equipment KW - Ground penetrating radar KW - Pavement performance KW - Sensors KW - Surface temperature KW - Texas KW - Total Pavement Acceptance Devices KW - Video imaging detectors UR - http://library.ctr.utexas.edu/ctr-publications/0-6005-3.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1252213 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01524744 AU - Grembek, Offer AU - Zhang, Yuanyuan AU - Yavari, Afsaneh AU - Yang, Zhao AU - Ragland, David AU - University of California, Berkeley AU - California Department of Transportation TI - Strategies for Reducing Pedestrian and Bicyclist Injury at the Corridor Level PY - 2013/05/31/Final Report SP - 68p AB - A systemic approach for identifying potential safety countermeasures and implementing them across groups of locations sharing the same risk characteristics has been developed for pedestrian-vehicle collisions. Data were collected between 1998 and 2007 from a 16.5-mile section of San Pablo Avenue (SR 123) in San Francisco's East Bay and a 4.9 mile-section of Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles County. A crash information database was developed and applied to study the spatial patterns, crash types, and location types of pedestrian-related collision. Several data stratifications were investigated to determine appropriate data aggregations for pedestrian safety analysis. Bicycle-related collisions were also included in the analysis to show the differences between pedestrian and bicycle collisions. Systemic hot spots were identified and countermeasures recommended for implementation across a targeted type of facility. KW - Arterial highways KW - Bicycle crashes KW - Countermeasures KW - Databases KW - High risk locations KW - Pedestrian safety KW - Pedestrian vehicle interface KW - San Pablo Avenue (Alameda and Contra Costa County, California) KW - Santa Monica (California) UR - http://www.dot.ca.gov/research/researchreports/reports/2013/final_report_65A0407.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264862 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01518880 AU - Hill, Christopher J AU - Booz Allen Hamilton AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Concept of Operations for Road Weather Connected Vehicle Applications PY - 2013/05/31/Final Report SP - 95p AB - Weather has a significant impact on the operations of the nation’s roadway system year round. These weather events translate into changes in traffic conditions, roadway safety, travel reliability, operational effectiveness, and productivity. It is, therefore, an important responsibility of traffic managers and maintenance personnel to implement operational strategies that optimize system performance by mitigating the effects of weather on the roadways. Accurate, timely, route-specific weather information allows traffic and maintenance managers to better operate and maintain roads under adverse conditions. Connected vehicle technologies hold the promise to transform road-weather management. Road weather connected vehicle applications will dramatically expand the amount of data that can be used to assess, forecast, and address the impacts that weather has on roads, vehicles, and travelers; fundamentally changing the manner in which weather-sensitive transportation system management and operations are conducted. The US Department of Transportation’s Road Weather Management Program has developed this Concept of Operations (ConOps) to define the priorities for connected vehicle-enabled road-weather applications. KW - Highway traffic control KW - Maintenance management KW - Mobile communication systems KW - Road weather information systems KW - Transportation system management KW - Weather conditions UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/47000/47300/47330/74CD2020.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1300408 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01497508 AU - Foley, Christopher M AU - Diekfuss, Joseph A AU - Wan, Baolin AU - Marquette University AU - Wisconsin Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Fatigue Risks in the Connections of Sign Support Structures PY - 2013/05/31/Final Report SP - 204p AB - This research effort develops a reliability-based approach for prescribing inspection intervals for mast-arm sign support structures corresponding to user-specified levels of fatigue-induced fracture risk. The resulting level of risk for a particular structure is dependent upon its geographical location, the type of connection it contains, the orientation of its mast-arm relative to north and the number of years it has been in service. The results of this research effort indicate that implementation of state-of-the-art reliability-based assessment procedures can contribute very valuable procedures for assigning inspection protocols (i.e. inspection intervals) that are based upon probabilities of finding fatigue-induced cracking in these structures. The engineering community can use the results of this research effort to design inspection intervals based upon risk and thereby better align inspection needs with limited fiscal and human resources. KW - Fatigue (Mechanics) KW - Fatigue cracking KW - Inspection KW - Mast arm connections KW - Reliability based evaluation KW - Risk analysis KW - Sign supports KW - Structural connection KW - Wisconsin UR - http://wisdotresearch.wi.gov/wp-content/uploads/WisDOT-WHRP-project-0092-09-07-final-report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1266530 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01490551 AU - Liu, Yue AU - Mao, Jing AU - Wehner, Kevin AU - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) AU - Wisconsin Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - New Framework and Decision Support Tool to Warrant Detour Operations during Freeway Corridor Incident Management PY - 2013/05/31/Final Report SP - 126p AB - Up to 60% of freeway delays are due to non-recurrent congestion caused by reduced capacity on a freeway section coupled with long incident durations. In such conditions, if proper detour strategies could be implemented in time, traffic could circumvent the congested segments by diverting to parallel arterials. Nevertheless, prior to implementation of any detour strategy, traffic managers need a set of warrants, as detour operations usually demand a substantial amount of resources and manpower. This research will develop an effective decision-support tool to assist traffic managers to warrant appropriate detour operations under various incident scenarios and corridor network configurations. Well-justified detour decisions can result in substantial economic savings (e.g., reduced fuel wastage and emissions) and safety benefits for the freight industry and society due to the less delay and fewer stops of trucks and all other vehicles. Such benefits will increase significantly in the future with the expected increase in freight traffic on the traffic network. The proposed tool also has the flexibility to be further integrated with other incident management modules to better assist traffic managers in making critical decisions during their daily operations. KW - Decision support systems KW - Detours KW - Freeways KW - Freight traffic KW - Incident management UR - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/FR_CFIRE0515.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258471 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01587713 AU - Chapman, Michael AU - Drobot, Sheldon AU - Anderson, Amanda AU - Burghardt, Crystal AU - National Center for Atmospheric Research AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Concept of Operations for the Use of Connected Vehicle Data in Road Weather Applications PY - 2013/05/30/Final Report SP - 157p AB - With funding and support from the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) and direction from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Road Weather Management Program, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is developing a Vehicle Data Translator (VDT) software system that incorporates vehicle-based measurements of the road and surrounding atmosphere with other weather data sources. The purpose of this document is to provide a short overview of the VDT software, a description of several possible applications for key potential end-users of the VDT, and a description of the data standards that are required in order for the mobile weather data to be useful for various road weather impact applications. KW - Data analysis KW - Data collection KW - Minnesota KW - Mobile communication systems KW - Nevada KW - Road weather information systems KW - Software KW - Vehicle Data Translator KW - Weather conditions UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/48000/48300/48314/Final_Report_Task_5b_5-31-131.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1386605 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01538179 AU - Maritime Administration TI - The Economic Importance of the U.S. Shipbuilding and Repairing Industry PY - 2013/05/30 SP - 33p AB - The U.S. shipbuilding and repairing industry is comprised of establishments that are primarily engaged in operating shipyards, which are fixed facilities with drydocks and fabrication equipment. Shipyard activities include ship construction, repair, conversion and alteration, as well as the production of prefabricated ship and barge sections and other specialized services. The industry also includes manfacturing and other facilities outside of the shipyard, which provide parts or services for shipbuilding activities within a shipyard, including routine maintenance and repair services from floating drydocks not connected with a shipyard. The purpose of this report is to quantify the economic importance of the U.S. private shipbuilding and repairing industry in 2011, in terms of employment, labor income, and gross domestic product (GDP). The study quantifies the industry's operational impact (due to its purchases of intermediate inputs) at the national and state levels and capital investment impact (due to its investment in new structures and equipment) at the national level. These economic impacts represent all of the backward linkages of the U.S. shipbuilding and repairing industry to its suppliers. They do not capture any forward linkages (i.e., the economic impact on production in sectors that use ships as an input). It is important to note that the term “economic impact” as used in this report reflects the employment, labor income, and GDP associated with the shipbuilding and repairing industry, but does not imply that some of this economic activity would not otherwise exist without the industry. KW - Capital investments KW - Economic impacts KW - Employment KW - Gross domestic product KW - Income KW - Input output models KW - Repairing KW - Shipbuilding KW - Shipyards KW - United States UR - http://www.marad.dot.gov/documents/MARAD_Econ_Study_Final_Report_2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1323102 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516487 AU - Runolfsson, Thordur AU - Madhavaram, Asish AU - University of Oklahoma, Norman AU - Oklahoma Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Real Time Assessment of Dynamic Loads on Bridges PY - 2013/05/30/Final Report SP - 59p AB - Highway bridges are an important class of civil structures that are subject to continuously acting and varying dynamic loads due to traffic. A large number of highway bridges in the United States (bridges on interstate highways or state highways which have high speed limits) were built about 50 years ago and are approaching critical age in terms of deterioration and may be in need of maintenance and/or replacement. Consequently, the need for advanced methods of highway bridge health monitoring, damage detection and estimation of load patterns has reached a critical stage. With recent advances in sensor and network technologies, it has become possible to instrument structures with embedded sensors that continuously measure the dynamic response of the structure, which is the combined response of the bridge and vehicle loads. In this project, the authors developed a technique for data driven real time estimation of the dynamic loads generated by vehicles passing on bridge structures. The approach is based on robust optimal feedback control ideas and uses a simplified gray box model for the bridge that has been identified using multiple sets of sensor data. Robustness of the developed approach against modeling uncertainties is demonstrated. KW - Dynamic loads KW - Highway bridges KW - Mathematical models KW - Real time information KW - Sensors KW - Structural health monitoring UR - http://www.oktc.org/otc/files/finalReports/OTCREOS11.1-54-F.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1300102 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01533060 AU - Galarus, Douglas AU - Hayden, Larry AU - Western Transportation Institute AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - aSE Speed Data Evaluation for the Western Transportation Institute System PY - 2013/05/29 SP - 69p 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. This report presents an evaluation of speed data collected during the Los Banos pilot test to assess the performance of the system. Improvement was shown, demonstrated by reduced percentages of speeds 60 mph or greater over the baseline. There are statistically significant differences, however, which indicate that other factors should be considered and engineering judgment should be applied. KW - Data analysis KW - Drums (Containers) KW - Speeding KW - Traffic cones KW - Work zone safety UR - http://www.dot.ca.gov/research/researchreports/reports/2013/final_report_task_2062d.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1302003 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01530289 AU - Hayden, Larry AU - Western Transportation Institute AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Radio Communications for the Western Transportation Institute’s Augmented Speed Enforcement Project PY - 2013/05/29/Final Report SP - 31p AB - The purpose of the augmented Speed Enforcement (aSE) project was to detect and warn speeding vehicles in a work zone and provide warnings to work zone workers. One system, developed by the Western Transportation Institute, comprises 28 orange traffic drums positioned adjacent to the orange cones marking the work zone lane closure. When the system detects a speeding vehicle, it synchronously flashes orange lights on top of the drums, warning the driver to slow down and the workers of a speeding vehicle. If the vehicle speed is above a set trigger speed, the system activates a pager system that warns the workers of the speeding vehicle. A Digi XBee adaptor mesh radio is used for communications and is the focus of this report. Basic antenna pattern and range measurement were performed to validate the published range. The outdoor range was measured as 200 feet, much less than the one mile outdoor range published by the manufacturer and even less than the 300 feet indoor published range. This report contains the full results of the radio tests performed. KW - Automated enforcement KW - Radio signals KW - Specifications KW - Speeding KW - Warning systems KW - Work zone safety UR - http://www.dot.ca.gov/research/researchreports/reports/2013/final_report_task_2062a.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1302001 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01560084 AU - Fayez, Sam AU - Zavagnini, Fabio AU - Jensen, Mark AU - Cambridge Systematics, Incorporated AU - Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Los Angeles-Gateway Freight Advanced Traveler Information System: Final System Design and Architecture for FRATIS Prototype PY - 2013/05/23/Final Report SP - 20p AB - This Final Architecture and Design report has been prepared to describe the structure and design of all the system components for the Los Angeles-Gateway Freight Advanced Traveler Information System (LA-Gateway FRATIS) Demonstration Project. More specifically, this document provides: (1) Detailed descriptions of the selected architecture implemented in the LA-Gateway 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 LA-Gateway FRATIS prototype. KW - Advanced traveler information systems KW - Demonstration projects KW - Freight transportation KW - Gateways KW - Los Angeles (California) KW - Prototypes KW - System architecture KW - System design UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/54000/54400/54477/Fratis_FHWA-JPO-14-179.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1344662 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01485382 AU - Asmar, D M AU - Kochenderfer, M J AU - Massachusetts Institute of Technology AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - Optimized Airborne Collision Avoidance in Mixed Equipage Environments PY - 2013/05/22/Project Report SP - 60p AB - Developing robust collision avoidance logic that reliably prevents collision without excessive alerting is challenging due to sensor error and uncertainty in the future paths of the aircraft. Over the past few years, research has focused on the use of a computational method known as dynamic programming for producing an optimized decision logic for airborne collision avoidance. This report focuses on recent research on coordination, interoperability, and multiple-threat encounters. The methodology presented in this report results in logic that is safer and performs better than legacy Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS). Modeling and simulation indicate that the proposed methodology can bring significant benefit to the current airspace and can support the need for safe, non-disruptive collision protection as the airspace continues to evolve. KW - Aircraft operations KW - Aircraft pilotage KW - Airspace (Aeronautics) KW - Aviation safety KW - Coordination KW - Crash avoidance systems KW - Dynamic programming KW - Interoperability KW - Optimization KW - Simulation UR - http://www.ll.mit.edu/mission/aviation/publications/publication-files/atc-reports/Asmar_2013_ATC-408_WW-26778.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1253644 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01483684 AU - Kluger, Robert AU - Smith, Brian L AU - University of Virginia, Charlottesville AU - Virginia Center for Transportation Innovation and Research AU - Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Next Generation Traffic Management Centers PY - 2013/05/22/Final Report SP - 22p AB - Traffic management centers (TMCs) are critical to providing mobility to millions of people travelling on high-volume roadways. In Virginia, as with most regions of the United States, TMCs were aggressively deployed in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Thus, most TMCs use technology of this time period. Recent advances in technology may provide improvements for TMCs in terms of function and cost. The purpose of this project was to assess the current state of the traffic management center as well as to look at what TMCs may be able to implement to further improve operations and accomplish their goals. The primary focus is on new technology as well as an evaluation of business philosophy and the decision-making process used by TMCs. The report concludes with recommendations for potential areas of improvement and the feasibility of implementation of those recommendations. KW - Decision making KW - Highway traffic control KW - Improvements KW - Recommendations KW - State of the practice KW - Technological innovations KW - Traffic control centers UR - http://www.mautc.psu.edu/docs/UVA-2012-02.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1252432 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01530002 AU - Mehta, V AU - Reynolds, T G AU - Ishutkina, M A AU - Joachim, D AU - Glina, Y AU - Troxel, S W AU - Taylor, B J AU - Evans, J E AU - Massachusetts Institute of Technology AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - Airport Surface Traffic Management Decision Support: Perspectives Based on Tower Flight Data Manager Prototype PY - 2013/05/20/Project Report SP - 98p AB - This report describes accomplishments and insights gathered during the development of decision support tools as part of the Terminal Flight Data Manager (TFDM) program. This work was performed by MIT Lincoln Laboratory and sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The TFDM program integrated flight data, aircraft surveillance, information on weather and traffic flow constraints, and other data required to optimize airport configuration and arrival/departure management functions. The prototype has been evaluated in both human-in-the-loop simulations, and during operational tests at Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport. In parallel, the Laboratory estimated future national operational benefits for TFDM decision support functions, using analysis and performance data gathered from major airports in the US. This analysis indicates that the greatest potential operational benefits would come from decision support tools that facilitate: i) managing runway queues and sequences, ii) tactical management of flight routes and times, impacted by weather and traffic constraints, and iii) managing airport configuration changes. Evaluation of TFDM prototype decision support functions in each of these areas provided valuable insights relative to the maturity of current capabilities and research needed to close performance gaps. KW - Air traffic controllers KW - Airport surface traffic control KW - Decision support systems KW - Prototype tests UR - http://www.ll.mit.edu/mission/aviation/publications/publication-files/atc-reports/Mehta_2013_ATC-398_RP-4168.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1314264 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01485057 AU - Sheng, Y Peter AU - Davis, Justin R AU - Figueiredo, Renato J AU - Pardalos, Panos M AU - Center for Multimodal Solutions for Congestion Mitigation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Strengthening the resiliency of the coastal transportation system through integrated simulation of storm surge, inundation, and non-recurrent congestion in Northeast Florida PY - 2013/05/17/Final Report SP - 54p AB - In this study, the Multimodal Transportation Educational Virtual Appliance (MTEVA) (developed as part of CMS #2009-010) has been advanced to apply storm surge and evacuation models to the greater Jacksonville area of Northeast Florida. Heuristic and time dynamic algorithms have been enhanced to work with the significantly larger network. Like the existing MTEVA, users are presented with graphical user interfaces to a modeling system which couples a storm surge and inundation model with congestion models for emergency situations. However, in the enhanced MTEVA, these interfaces are built with standards-compliant web services and hosted using a THREDDS Data Server (TDS). The Northeast Florida domain is developed using high resolution State of Florida LiDar data and the transportation network is based on the Northeast Florida Regionally Planning Model (NERPM). KW - Algorithms KW - Coasts KW - Computer models KW - Disasters and emergency operations KW - Education and training methods KW - Evacuation KW - Graphical user interfaces KW - Nonrecurrent congestion KW - Northeast Florida KW - Simulation KW - Storm surges UR - http://cms.ce.ufl.edu/research/sheng_cms-2011-017-final.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1253782 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01481538 AU - U.S. Government Accountability Office TI - Oil and Gas Management: Continued Attention to Interior's Revenue Collection and Human Capital Challenge Is Needed PY - 2013/05/16 SP - 12p AB - Interior issues permits for the development of new oil and gas wells on federal lands and waters; inspects wells to ensure compliance with environmental, safety, and other regulations; and collects royalties from companies that sell the oil and gas produced from those wells. In recent years, onshore and offshore federal leases produced a substantial portion of the oil and gas produced in the United States. In fiscal year 2012, Interior collected almost $12 billion in mineral revenues including those from oil and gas development, making it one of the largest nontax sources of federal government funds. Previous U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) work has raised concerns about Interior’s management and oversight of federal oil and gas resources. This testimony focuses on (1) Interior’s oversight of offshore oil and gas resources, (2) Interior’s collection of oil and gas revenues, and (3) Interior’s progress to address concerns that resulted in its inclusion on GAO’s High Risk List in 2011. This statement is based on prior GAO reports issued from September 2008 through February 2013. GAO found the following: Interior’s oversight of offshore resources - In July 2012, GAO reported on changes to the Department of the Interior’s oversight of offshore oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon incident. Specifically, GAO reported that Interior had established two new bureaus, separating resource management oversight activities from safety and environmental oversight activities. GAO also reported that new requirements and policy changes designed to mitigate risk of a well blowout or spill had initially required additional resources and increased permit approval times, but that approval times decreased as Interior staff and oil and gas companies became more familiar with the new requirements. GAO also found that Interior’s inspections of offshore Gulf of Mexico drilling rigs and production platforms routinely identified violations, but that Interior’s database was missing data on when violations were identified and corrected. GAO made 11 recommendations aimed at improving Interior’s oversight activities. Interior generally agreed with the recommendations and plans to implement them. Interior’s collection of oil and gas revenues - In September 2008, GAO reported that Interior collected lower levels of revenues for oil and gas production in the deep water of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico than all but 11 of 104 oil and gas resource owners in other countries and some states. In July 2009, GAO reported on problems with Interior’s efforts to collect data on oil and gas produced on federal lands, including missing and erroneous data. In March 2010, GAO reported that Interior was not taking needed steps to ensure that oil and gas produced from federal lands was accurately measured and was not consistently meeting its goals for oil and gas production verification inspections. GAO made numerous recommendations aimed at improving Interior’s revenue collection policies, including oversight of production verification activities and controls on the accuracy and reliability of royalty data. Interior generally agreed with these recommendations and has implemented many of them. Interior’s oil and gas management on GAO’s high risk list - In February 2011, GAO added Interior’s management of federal oil and gas resources to its list of federal programs and operations at high risk for waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement or needing broad-based transformation. GAO added this high risk area because Interior (1) did not have reasonable assurance that it was collecting its share of revenues; (2) continued to experience problems hiring, training, and retaining sufficient staff to provide oversight and management of oil and gas operations; and (3) was engaged in a broad agency reorganization that could adversely impact its ability to effectively manage oil and gas during the crisis following the Deepwater Horizon incident. In February 2013, after Interior completed its reorganization, GAO narrowed the oil and gas high-risk area to focus on revenue collection and human capital challenges and is currently examining these issues. While Interior has begun to implement many of GAO’s recommendations, it has yet to fully implement a number of others, including recommendations intended to (1) provide reasonable assurance that oil and gas is accurately measured, and that the public is getting an appropriate share of revenues, and (2) address its long-standing human capital issues. KW - Gas industry KW - Labor force KW - Offshore oil industry KW - Oil wells KW - Oversight KW - Resource development KW - Resource extraction KW - Resource utilization KW - Revenues KW - Risk management KW - U.S. Department of the Interior KW - Underwater pipelines KW - Yield management UR - http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654667.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1250618 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01494596 AU - Lawson, William D AU - Wood, Timothy A AU - Morse, Stephen M AU - Jayawickrama, Priyantha W AU - Newhouse, Charles D AU - Texas Tech University, Lubbock AU - Texas Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Software Development to Implement the TxDOT Culvert Rating Guide PY - 2013/05/15/Final Report SP - 28p AB - This implementation project created CULVLR: Culvert Load Rating, Version 1.0.0, a Windows®-based desktop application software package that automates the process by which Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) engineers and their consultants perform load rating calculations for reinforced concrete box culverts. Based on TxDOT’s Culvert Rating Guide, the tasks associated with this project included programming the culvert rating process, software testing, creation of Help files, creation of the Install program, and beta testing. CULVLR is structured to accept reinforced box culvert input parameters in a manner typical of TxDOT design standards. The program uses these inputs to generate capacities for each critical section of the culvert structure. The load rater can select either Level 1 (CULV5) or Level 3 (RISA-3D) structural analysis software to generate demand loads, and CULVLR calculates load rating factors based on the calculated capacities and demands. Reporting functions allow the load rater to print summary, standard, or comprehensive reports. KW - Box culverts KW - Implementation KW - Load factor KW - Ratings KW - Reinforced concrete culverts KW - Software KW - Texas Department of Transportation UR - http://www.depts.ttu.edu/techmrtweb/reports/complete_reports/5-5849-01_1_online.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1263478 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01490306 AU - Kauffmann, Paul AU - Hildreth, John AU - Williams, Richard AU - East Carolina University, Greenville AU - University of North Carolina, Charlotte AU - North Carolina Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Fleet Management Performance Monitoring PY - 2013/05/15/Final Report SP - 204p AB - The principle goal of this project was to enhance and expand the analytical modeling methodology previously developed as part of the “Fleet Management Criteria: Disposal Points and Utilization Rates” project completed in 2010. The enhanced and expanded methods were focused on the management and analysis of equipment, usage, costs, and optimal life cycle for equipment in the NCDOT equipment fleet. Most important, a strategic goal was to develop, test, and refine a flexible and capable analytical model which can serve the long term management needs of the Fleet and Material Management Unit. A second approach to economic life modeling, based on dividing the present value of the life-to-date cost by usage (cost/mile or cost/hour) was integrated into the analytical capability, in addition to the equipment analysis model employing equivalent uniform annual cost. This rate model provides a second economic measure which presents an alternative perspective for the optimal life of some classes with high data variability in the fleet. The sum of years’ digits method of depreciation was selected to model the decline in equipment value as the machine ages. Equipment which have no measured usage data (odometer or hour meter), such as various equipment attachments, were analyzed on an annual cost basis. The developed modeling application automates basic steps such as development of utilization and fleet age histograms and also automates calculations of economic life based on both the EUAC and rate models. Most importantly, it provides management with the capability to examine “what if” scenarios based on various levels of fleet reduction. Utilization, while an important metric, is limited in ability to reflect the actual wear and tear experienced by equipment. Consequently, model options were provided which reflect both utilization and equipment usage (hours or miles per year) since this parameter more directly reflects operating costs (fuel, maintenance and repairs) and cost related trends. In the long term, it is likely utilization will become a less important measurement tool and more emphasis will be given to actual equipment usage. KW - Analytical modeling KW - Economic analysis KW - Equipment KW - Fleet management KW - Life cycle costing KW - North Carolina KW - Performance KW - State departments of transportation UR - http://www.ncdot.gov/doh/preconstruct/tpb/research/download/2012-07FinalReport.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1258667 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01483483 AU - Pulugurtha, Srinivas S AU - Narayanan, Ravishankar Potty AU - University of North Carolina, Charlotte AU - North Carolina Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - NC Roadway Lighting Needs Assessment, Maintenance Prioritization Tool and Performance Measures PY - 2013/05/15/Final Report SP - 119p AB - The objectives of this project are to 1) develop an assessment report and summary of accumulated modernization and/or replacement needs; 2) assess current lighting needs and develop a method to allocate funds at North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Division level; 3) research and document if installation of Light Emitting Diode (LED) luminaires instead of High Pressure Sodium (HPS) luminaires will yield benefits; 4) research privatization / outsourcing options; 5) research and develop an improved mechanism to prioritize interchange locations that require lighting; and 6) recommend an improved warranting criteria with operational and performance measures. KW - Cost allocation KW - Light emitting diodes KW - Luminaires KW - Maintenance KW - Needs assessment KW - North Carolina KW - Performance measurement KW - Privatization KW - Street lighting UR - http://www.ncdot.gov/doh/preconstruct/tpb/research/download/2012-14finalreport.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1252241 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01613792 AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Horizontal Curves Virtual Peer Exchange PY - 2013/05/14 SP - 15p AB - This report provides a summary of a peer-to-peer videoconference sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Safety held May 14, 2013. The videoconference was the third in a series of roadway departure-focused peer exchanges sponsored by the Office of Safety as a follow-up to face-to-face peer exchanges held with roadway departure Focus States in 2008 and 2009. The Office of Safety invited nine States — Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, and Wisconsin— to participate in this virtual peer exchange. The selected States were chosen based on the number and percentage of fatal crashes on horizontal curves, as well as geographic location. The event allowed States to learn from peers who demonstrated innovative approaches to safety on horizontal curves, including high friction surface treatments (HFST) and pavement marking and signage programs. Peer presentations were made by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), and Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT). Eighty-one participants representing Departments of Transportation (DOTs), Local Technical Assistance Programs (LTAPs), and FHWA Division Offices attended the virtual peer exchange. KW - Friction course KW - Highway curves KW - Highway safety KW - Iowa Department of Transportation KW - Kentucky Transportation Cabinet KW - Michigan Department of Transportation KW - Minnesota Department of Transportation KW - Peer exchange KW - Ran off road crashes KW - Road markings KW - State departments of transportation KW - Traffic signs KW - Wisconsin Department of Transportation UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/59000/59400/59449/horizcurves_May2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1425509 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01482574 AU - Durango, Pablo L AU - Chen, Yikai AU - Fitzpatrick, Madison AU - Luo, Yidan AU - Center for the Commercialization of Innovative Transportation Technology AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - A Framework for Estimating Emissions of Freight Transportation Operations PY - 2013/05/13/Final Report SP - 33p AB - The goal of this project was to develop a rigorous, flexible, and practical framework for estimating the emissions of freight transport operations. To meet this goal, the authors developed a software tool based on simple, yet defensible and reliable economic models of marginal emissions contributions from individual shipments. The initial focus is on trucking, but extensions for other freight modes are possible. The tool provides several practical advantages over currently available methods. In particular, it: is based on data that are commonly available from freight carriers; uses models of marginal emissions contributions instead of aggregate models; performs detailed analysis, by route, carrier, and business sector; provides error bounds, describing the precision of emissions estimates; and provides quantitative support for strategic shipping and supply-chain decisions. The tool is intended to be deployed as an online tool, and consulting services could be offered to users in order to support their use of the tool for emissions management. KW - Air quality management KW - Economic models KW - Estimating KW - Freight transportation KW - Pollutants KW - Software KW - Trucking UR - http://www.ccitt.northwestern.edu/documents/CCITT_Final_Report_Y505.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/47000/47900/47906/CCITT_Final_Report_Y505.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1251362 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01567112 TI - Center for the Aging Infrastructure: Steel Bridge Research, Inspection, Training and Education Engineering Center - SBRITE AB - The objective is to develop the Steel Bridge Research, Inspection, Training, and Education Engineering Center (S-BRITE) focused on existing steel highway bridges. This National Center will be the first of its kind and will become the leading education, training, research, and engineering center related to all aspects affecting the existing aging steel bridge and structure inventory. Although the Center will be focused on highway bridges, it will also support stakeholders of steel railroad bridges as well as steel ancillary structures, such as lighting towers and sign supports. The Center will contribute to improved asset management decisions for Departments of Transportation's (DOTs,) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and other partners relative to existing steel bridge inventory. This impact will be realized by ensuring existence of the following: (1) High quality inspection data; (2) Advanced predictive models; (3) Improved management decisions; and (4) Timely and effective execution. This will be accomplished by providing solutions to the following: (a) inspection reliability issues; (b) inadequate technical expertise; (c) training and education opportunities for students and professionals; and (d) short-term and long-term research needs. Once the center is successfully operational, other materials and systems, such as concrete, prestressed, and post-tensioned structures may be added. KW - Aging (Materials) KW - Aging infrastructure KW - Asset management KW - Education and training KW - Highway bridges KW - Inspection KW - Steel bridges KW - Structural analysis UR - http://www.pooledfund.org/Details/Study/517 UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1358896 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01482540 AU - Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Lessons Learned From ARRA Could Improve the Federal Highway Administration's Use of Full Oversight PY - 2013/05/07 SP - 23p AB - With the infusion of $27.5 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds for highway projects, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) had to meet Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requirements for enhanced oversight and increased accountability for recovery funds. To address these requirements, FHWA expanded its existing oversight process by performing ARRA programmatic and project reviews of States’ management of Federal funds, such as those performed by National Review Teams. Additionally, FHWA conducted full oversight reviews of about 1,200 of nearly 15,000 ARRA projects to ensure they received a comprehensive assessment and that States met all relevant Federal requirements. Under full oversight, FHWA retains review and approval responsibilities for project design, plans, specifications, estimates, right-of-way certification statements, contract awards, inspections and final acceptance. When projects are not designated for full oversight, these responsibilities are typically delegated to the States through Stewardship and Oversight Agreements. Given FHWA’s responsibility to provide effective stewardship and oversight of ARRA funds, the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiated this audit to (1) determine whether FHWA’s full oversight inspections detected instances of noncompliance with select Federal requirements and (2) assess whether FHWA’s oversight guidance adequately defines full oversight procedures needed to ensure a comprehensive review of projects during construction. Briefly, while Florida, Michigan, and Pennsylvania generally complied with Federal requirements for quality control and quality assurance, FHWA full oversight inspections did not always detect instances of States’ noncompliance with other Federal requirements. Specifically, FHWA Division Offices did not routinely verify whether these States complied with some Federal requirements. FHWA guidance does not adequately define full oversight. Rather, FHWA allows each of its Division Offices to determine the type, scope, and consistency of project inspections and the extent of supervision needed. As a result, FHWA Division Offices rarely prepared written plans to identify which construction activities would be inspected, did not fully document oversight procedures performed or justify why they excluded some Federal requirements and the related risk areas from their review, and—contrary to FHWA guidance—had limited evidence of supervisory review of inspection reports. KW - American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 KW - Compliance KW - Construction projects KW - Inspection KW - Oversight KW - Quality assurance KW - Quality control KW - States KW - U.S. Federal Highway Administration UR - http://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/dot/files/FHWA%20Use%20of%20Full%20Oversight%5E5-7-13.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1250941 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01560083 AU - Le, Steven AU - Veile, Al AU - Black, Chuckerin AU - Leidos AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Freight Advanced Traveler Information System (FRATIS) Dallas-Fort Worth - Software Architecture Design and Implementation Options PY - 2013/05/06 SP - 21p AB - This document describes the Software Architecture Design and Implementation Options for the Freight Advanced Traveler Information System (FRATIS). The demonstration component of this task will serve to test the technical feasibility of the FRATIS prototype while also facilitating the collection of baseline and performance data related to the operation and impact of the system. The FRATIS prototype in Dallas will consist of three components: Optimization algorithm, Terminal wait time, and route specific navigation/traffic/weather. This document describes the technical options that were considered for each component. An analysis of the options is followed by a recommendation for each component. The high level architecture is described for each of the recommended component options. KW - Advanced traveler information systems KW - Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area KW - Demonstration projects KW - Freight transportation KW - Prototypes KW - Recommendations KW - Software architecture UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/54000/54400/54475/Fratis_FHWA-JPO-14-177.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1344659 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01488375 AU - Rizzo, Matthew AU - Tippin, Jon AU - Aksan, Nazan AU - University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics AU - Iowa Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Diagnostic Tools for Identifying Sleepy Drivers in the Field PY - 2013/05/06/Final Report SP - 28p AB - The overarching goal of this project was to identify and evaluate cognitive and behavioral indices that are sensitive to sleep deprivation and may help identify commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers who are at-risk for driving in a sleep deprived state and may prove useful in field tests administered by officers. To that end, the authors evaluated indices of driver physiognomy (e.g., yawning, droopy eyelids, etc.) and driver behavioral/cognitive state (e.g., distracted driving) and the sensitivity of these indices to objective measures of sleep deprivation. The measures of sleep deprivation were sampled on repeated occasions over a period of 3.5-months in each of 44 drivers diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and 22 controls (matched for gender, age within 5 years, education within 2 years, and county of residence for rural vs. urban driving). Comprehensive analyses showed that specific dimensions of driver physiognomy associated with sleepiness in previous research and face-valid composite scores of sleepiness did not: 1) distinguish participants with OSA from matched controls; 2) distinguish participants before and after PAP treatment including those who were compliant with their treatment; 3) predict levels of sleep deprivation acquired objectively from actigraphy watches, not even among those chronically sleep deprived. Those findings are consistent with large individual differences in driver physiognomy. In other words, when individuals were sleep deprived as confirmed by actigraphy watch output they did not show consistently reliable behavioral markers of being sleep deprived. This finding held whether each driver was compared to him/herself with adequate and inadequate sleep, and even among chronically sleep deprived drivers. The scientific evidence from this research study does not support the use of driver physiognomy as a valid measure of sleep deprivation or as a basis to judge whether a CMV driver is too fatigued to drive, as on the current Fatigued Driving Evaluation Checklist. Fair and accurate determinations of CMV driver sleepiness in the field will likely require further research on alternative strategies that make use of a combination of information sources besides driver physiognomy, including work logs, actigraphy, in vehicle data recordings, GPS data on vehicle use, and performance tests KW - Apnea KW - Behavior KW - Cognition KW - Commercial drivers KW - Diagnostic tests KW - Fatigue (Physiological condition) KW - Field tests KW - Physiognomy KW - Sleep deprivation KW - Traffic law enforcement KW - Truck drivers UR - http://www.iowadot.gov/research/reports/Year/2013/fullreports/diagnostictoolssleepydriversFinalreport_2013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257085 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01483836 AU - Wiebelhaus, Mitch J AU - Lechtenberg, Karla A AU - Sicking, Dean L AU - Faller, Ronald K AU - Rosenbaugh, Scott K AU - University of Nebraska, Lincoln AU - Nebraska Department of Roads AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Cost-Effective Treatment of Existing Guardrail Systems PY - 2013/05/05/Final Report SP - 227p AB - A cost-effective means for upgrading existing guardrail systems with deviations from current practice (i.e., low-rail heights, antiquated end treatments, and improper installation) does not exist. As a result these systems remain on U.S. highways. Guardrail systems with deviations from current practice may not perform as intended, thus potentially resulting in fatalities and serious injuries from impacts with these safety devices. It is not plausible to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries from all guardrail system impacts. However, these risks could be reduced with the proper design, testing, installation, and maintenance of guardrail systems. This report offers recommendations for upgrading W-beam guardrail systems based on a benefit-to-cost analysis using the Roadside Safety Analysis Program (RSAP). This analysis was developed to simulate the most frequent and possible scenarios of existing W-beam guardrail systems with deviations from current practice. Before the analysis could be run, the field conditions and common deviations from current practice were reviewed and documented during a field investigation. This field investigation was conducted on rural arterial highways in the state of Kansas to determine the nature of existing guardrail systems with deviations from current practice. The most prominent barrier was the strong-post, W-beam guardrail. Deviations of the existing W-beam were low top-rail mounting-height, antiquated end treatments (i.e. turned-down and blunt-end terminals), rail damage, damaged and missing posts and blockouts, and insufficient length of need. The W-beam guardrail with low rail heights and turned-down and blunt-end terminals were the focus of the RSAP analysis. The varying guardrail system heights were modeled in RSAP by changing the level of containment of the W-beam guardrail system, and the antiquated end treatments were predefined features. The roadway and roadside features including obstacles (culverts and slopes) were modeled after those found in the field investigation. Finally, cost-effective safety treatments were recommended for existing W-beam guardrail system with low rail height and turned-down or blunt-end terminals which shielded culverts and slopes. KW - Benefit cost analysis KW - Cost effectiveness KW - End treatments KW - Guardrail terminals KW - Guardrails KW - Height KW - Highway safety KW - Kansas KW - Maintenance KW - W beams UR - http://ne-ltap.unl.edu/Documents/NDOR/cost_treatment_guardrail.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1251111 ER - TY - ABST AN - 01620659 TI - Physical Fitness and Driving Performance AB - A number of studies have explored the association between older adults’ physical fitness and performance of everyday tasks and on measures of cognition. Improved aerobic fitness has been shown to improve motor and cognitive task performance. Further, older adults have shown functional benefits from other kinds of physical training, including tai chi and strength and flexibility training. Cognitive skills allow a driver navigate effectively toward a destination and identify and avoid potential hazards. Strength, flexibility and coordination support the driver’s ability to make accurate, and when necessary, rapid and forceful steering and braking responses. Flexibility of the neck and spine facilitate turning of the head to check blind spots. This project explores relationships between older adults’ physical fitness and their driving performance, and evaluates the effects of fitness training on driving performance. Findings will inform recommendations to families, medical professionals and others who provide guidance to older adults as they seek to continue to drive safely. KW - Aged KW - Aged drivers KW - Cognition KW - Driver performance KW - Hazards KW - Highway safety KW - Physical fitness KW - Reaction time UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1441966 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01494936 AU - Guerra, Erick Strom AU - University of California, Berkeley AU - University of California Transportation Center (UCTC) AU - California Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - The New Suburbs: Evolving Travel Behavior, the Built Environment, and Subway Investments in Mexico City PY - 2013/05/01 SP - 131p AB - Dense and transit dependent suburbs have emerged as the fastest-growing form of human settlement in cities throughout Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Wealthier and at a later stage in its economic development than other developing-world metropolises, Mexico City is a compelling place to investigate the effects of rising incomes, increased car ownership, and transit investments in the dense, peripheral areas that have grown rapidly around informal transit in the past decades. This research considers: 1) how has the influence of the built environment on travel behavior changed as more households have moved into the suburbs and aggregate car use has increased?; 2) how much are the recent trends of increased suburbanization, rising car-ownership, and the proliferation of massive commercially built peripheral housing developments interrelated?; and, 3) how has the Metro’s Line B, one of the first and only suburban high-capacity transit investments, influenced local and regional travel behavior and land use? Findings indicate that the connection between land use and transportation in Mexico City is different from the connection in US and other rich-world cities. In particular, there is a physical disconnect between the generally suburban homes of transit users and the generally central location of high capacity public transit. Policies to reduce car use or increase accessibility for the poor in the short and medium term would do well to focus on improving the flexible, medium capacity informal transit around which the city’s dense and transit-dependent suburbs have grown and continue to grow. KW - Advanced public transportation systems KW - Automobile ownership KW - Land use KW - Mexico City, Mexico KW - Public transit KW - Socioeconomic factors KW - Suburbs KW - Subways KW - Transportation policy KW - Travel behavior UR - http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/88t7k9p5.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262772 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493236 AU - Filosa, Gina AU - Fisher, Frances AU - Laube, Melissa AU - Linthicum, Alex AU - Mejias, Luis AU - Duffy, Catherine AU - Volpe National Transportation Systems Center AU - National Park Service TI - Gateway National Recreation Area, Jamaica Bay Unit Alternative Transportation Feasibility Study PY - 2013/05/01/Final Report SP - 102p AB - The National Park Service Gateway National Recreation Area (GATE) was created to provide convenient access to outdoor recreation in the National Park System for residents and visitors to the New York City (NYC) area. The Volpe Center completed a number of tasks to analyze the feasibility of transit service at the Jamaica Bay Unit of GATE. Planning efforts have been undertaken over the last 10 years to improve access to the Jamaica Bay Unit. The current study builds on these earlier efforts and the experience of a pilot ferry service to determine the feasibility of providing greater access to the Jamaica Bay Unit by alternative modes. This report discusses: 1) Consolidation and review of existing conditions, data, and documents relevant to the project; 2) Evaluation of the 2009 pilot shuttle bus service, based on field observation and data collection by project staff; 3) Analysis of demand for a new shuttle bus service based on needs and patterns of movement throughout the local area; 4) Planning and analysis for one or more shuttle services to provide access to Jamaica Bay Unit resource areas and amenities; and 5) Recommendations and conclusions regarding the viability of improving transit linkages between the Jamaica Bay Unit and the NYC transit system. KW - Accessibility KW - Feasibility analysis KW - Ferry service KW - Gateway National Recreation Area KW - National parks KW - Outdoor recreation KW - Passenger service KW - Public transit KW - Shuttle buses UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/48000/48100/48106/DOT-VNTSC-NPS-13-22.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1261169 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01489413 AU - Mohammadian, Kouros AU - Kawamura, Kazuya AU - Sturm, Karl AU - Pourabdollahi, Zahra AU - University of Illinois, Chicago AU - National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (CFIRE) AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - GPS Based Pilot Survey of Freight Movements in the Midwest Region PY - 2013/05/01/Final Report SP - 40p AB - This report explains the methodology and results surrounding a recently completed study of a major grocery trucking firm’s travel patterns. The research group used Global Positioning System (GPS) logging devices to trace the temporal and spatial movements of grocery trucks throughout the study period in the spring and summer of 2012. At the end of this survey, the research team successfully recorded 108 logs that represented a full truck-days’ worth of GPS data. GPS data collection is passive and only requires participants to ensure that the GPS devices have sufficient battery power and satellite visibility. In this study, the research team did not require the participant’s truck drivers to do anything. Even without driver logs or written surveys, the GPS devices collected a great deal of information that the research team used to make behavioral inferences. Logistical decisions and behavior gleaned from this collected GPS data included destination choice, route choice, time-of-day choice, and trip length. The variables reflecting these behaviors, as well as those of speed and time management, are denoted to illustrate the practicality of modeling freight travel via this methodology. The information presented here has been collected through the cooperation of a major Illinois based grocery chain with their headquarters and distribution center located in the Chicago region. The research team used the digital log files extracted from GPS tracking devices and the driver logs filled out during distribution tours as part of the analysis. The research team cleaned, processed, analyzed, and summarized this data. KW - Chicago (Illinois) KW - Freight traffic KW - Freight transportation KW - Global Positioning System KW - Travel patterns KW - Travel surveys KW - Trucking UR - http://www.wistrans.org/cfire/documents/FR_CFIRE0413.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1257312 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01482110 AU - Department of Transportation AU - Federal Aviation Administration TI - FAA Continues to Face Challenges in Implementing a Risk-Based Approach for Repair Station Oversight PY - 2013/05/01 SP - 33p AB - Over the past 15 years, major U.S. air carriers increased spending for contract maintenance by nearly $2.7 billion. Industry experts expect this trend to continue as airlines increasingly attempt to cut maintenance costs and maximize profitability. Currently, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is responsible for overseeing nearly 4,800 aircraft repair stations used worldwide by U.S air carriers. In July 2003 and September 2008, the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (OIG) reported that FAA’s oversight did not ensure that work completed at repair stations met FAA standards, and OIG made recommendations aimed at improving this oversight. In response to OIG's 2003 report, FAA implemented a new process intended to provide comprehensive, standardized, and risk-based oversight of repair stations. At the request of the former Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Aviation, OIG evaluated the Agency’s progress since its last review. Specifically, OIG (1) determined whether FAA’s oversight includes accurate and timely risk assessments of repair stations, and (2) evaluated the effectiveness of FAA’s oversight of foreign and domestic repair stations. Briefly, FAA developed a risk assessment process to aid repair station inspectors in identifying areas of greatest concern. Despite FAA’s efforts, its oversight emphasizes completing mandatory inspections instead of targeting resources to where they are needed based on risk. FAA’s oversight of foreign and domestic repair stations lacks the rigor needed to identify deficiencies and verify that they have been addressed. This is because FAA inspectors typically do not use comprehensive and standardized procedures for conducting inspections and reporting inspection findings, resulting in inadequate and inconsistent inspection practices. KW - Aircraft operations KW - Domestic transportation KW - Implementation KW - Inspection KW - International transportation KW - Maintenance facilities KW - Oversight KW - Risk assessment KW - U.S. Federal Aviation Administration UR - http://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/dot/files/FAA%20Repair%20Station%20Oversight%5E5-1-13.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1250626 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01603581 AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Moving Healthy: Linking FHWA Programs and Health PY - 2013/05 SP - 17p AB - This document provides information on Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) programs, initiatives, tools, and resources that influence or are influenced by health. Although FHWA does not have a single, specific program that focuses solely on health, it is implicit in a broad range of existing programs. This brochure describes FHWA programs, funding sources, and tools that can support health-related issues in communities across the country. As part of its responsibility to administer the Federal-aid Highway Program (FAHP), a federally assisted but State-administered program, FHWA and its partners work within several vital laws designed to protect human and environmental health, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These laws ensure that transportation projects do not severely or inequitably impact human or natural environments. KW - Air quality KW - Civil Rights Act Title VI KW - Clean Air Act KW - Clean Water Act KW - Climate change KW - Financing KW - Health KW - National Environmental Policy Act KW - Nonmotorized transportation KW - Public health KW - Transportation planning KW - U.S. Federal Highway Administration KW - Water quality UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/health_in_transportation/resources/movinghealthy.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1411079 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01571963 AU - Cunningham, C M AU - Hummer, J E AU - Chang, J AU - Katz, D AU - Vaughan, C L AU - Findley, D J AU - Schroeder, B J AU - McAvoy, D AU - North Carolina State University, Raleigh AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Temporary Wet-Weather Pavement Markings for Work Zones, Phase II: All-Weather Pavement Marking for Work Zones, Field Evaluation in North Carolina and Ohio PY - 2013/05//Final Report SP - 65p AB - To address the problem of seemingly invisible pavement markings under nighttime, rainy conditions, 3M developed “All-Weather Paint” (AWP), which uses highly retroreflective elements in combination with latex-based pavement marking installed by highway agencies. Whereas standard pavement markings using waterborne pavement marking and glass beads become harder to see in the rain, the AWP performed well during closed-circuit field tests. Researchers at North Carolina State University and Ohio University teamed up to conduct tests in active highway work zones. The team defined four measures of effectiveness (MOE) in an attempt to quantify safety performance when comparing the AWP to standard pavement marking materials under real-world driving conditions: retroreflectivity, vehicle travel speed, rate of lane encroachments, and linear lane displacement. Data collection procedures for each MOE are systematically outlined throughout the report. From the results, the study concluded the following: (1) Retroreflectivity values were confirmed to be higher for AWP when compared to standard pavement markings. However, the AWP retroreflectivity values were inconsistent, likely because of the variation of application methods by pavement marking contractors. (2) Speed was used as a surrogate MOE to evaluate safety performance. It was not clear if an increase or decrease in speed has a positive effect on safety. Results showed that speed generally increased as drivers exited work zone lane shifts for all marking types; however, no consistent finding was noted between the two marking systems in similar curves. (3) The findings for lane encroachments varied throughout the sites. While the first site studied indicated that more lane encroachments occurred at standard pavement marking crossovers, a more robust study at a second site found the results to be statistically insignificant. (4) When assessing lateral lane placement, researchers found statistically significant but varied results. More often than not, motorists maintain safer lane placements when traveling along the AWP delineated lanes. This report documents Phase II of this project. The Phase I report is available on the FHWA website at: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/partnerships/3m/phase1/index.cfm. KW - Field tests KW - Lane distribution KW - North Carolina KW - Ohio KW - Retroreflectivity KW - Road markings KW - Traffic speed KW - Wet weather KW - Work zone safety KW - Work zone traffic control UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/pubs/hif13004/hif13004.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1363080 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01570253 AU - Schonfeld, Paul M AU - Kim, Myungseob (Edward) AU - University of Maryland, College Park AU - Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Integration of Multi-modal Public Transportation Systems PY - 2013/05//Final Report SP - 40p AB - Transit ridership may be sensitive to fares, travel times, waiting times, and access times, among other factors. Thus, elastic demands are considered in formulations for maximizing the system welfare for conventional and flexible bus services. Two constrained nonlinear mixed integer optimization problems are solved with a genetic algorithm: (1) welfare maximization (for conventional and flexible services) with service capacity constraints and (2) welfare maximizations with the service capacity and subsidy constraints. Numerical examples find that with the input parameters assumed here, conventional services produce greater system welfare (consumer surplus + producer surplus) than flexible services. Numerical analysis also finds that if the operating cost is fully subsidized, flexible services generate more actual trips than conventional services. For comparing actual trips between the zero subsidy and the fully subsidized cases, the actual trips for conventional services is increased 10.5% while the actual trips for flexible services is increased 15.6%. KW - Bus transit KW - Consumers surplus KW - Demand responsive transportation KW - Fixed routes KW - Genetic algorithms KW - Multimodal transportation KW - Optimization KW - Producers surplus KW - Subsidies UR - http://www.mautc.psu.edu/docs/UMD-2012-04.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/55000/55200/55265/UMD-2012-04.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1360047 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01557578 AU - Sicotte, Richard AU - Kosmopoulou, Georgia AU - Lamarche, Carlos AU - Jung, Hojin AU - University of Vermont, Burlington AU - Vermont Agency of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Renegotiation of Highway Construction Contracts: An Economic Analysis of Change Orders Issued by the Vermont Agency of Transportation, 2004-2009 PY - 2013/05 SP - 87p AB - The authors provide a complete report of our research on change orders and strategic bidding in Vermont over the period 2004-2009. The investigation provides the Vermont Agency of Transportation with a quantitative view of the scope of change orders, and their statistical determinants during this period. In part one of the report the authors provide descriptive statistics and figures on the pattern of change orders on Vermont transportation projects. In part two of the report the authors provide econometric analysis of change orders and bidding behavior. The econometric model focuses on three groups of factors: (1) the characteristics of the project (type of construction and items required), (2) the characteristics of the economic environment (e.g., fuel price volatility, macroeconomic conditions), and (3) bidding environment (the number of characteristics of bidding firms) and strategic interactions. The analysis lends support to the hypothesis that bidders act strategically to take into account the possibility of renegotiation when they submit bids. The authors model several important strategic considerations in the analysis of number and size of change orders. In part three the authors perform simulation exercises to evaluate whether alternative policies can reduce costs to the public. Finally, the authors link specific behavior to strategic manipulation of bids in the face of renegotiation and propose ways to avoid higher costs. KW - Bids KW - Construction projects KW - Contracts KW - Economic analysis KW - Road construction KW - Simulation KW - Vermont KW - Vermont Agency of Transportation UR - http://vtransplanning.vermont.gov/sites/aot_program_development/files/documents/materialsandresearch/completedprojects/2013%20-%2001%20%20%20Renegotiation%20of%20Highway%20Construction%20Contracts%20An%20Economic%20Analysis%20of%20Change%20Orders%20Issued%20by%20the%20Vermont%20Agency%20of%20Transportation%2C%202004-2009.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1346954 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01557289 AU - Thomas, Libby AU - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Road Diet Conversions: A Synthesis of Safety Research PY - 2013/05//White Paper SP - 17p AB - The primary purpose of this review is to assess the available evidence regarding the safety effectiveness of road diet conversions. Although road diets have been implemented since at least the 1970s, earlier reviews and a search of the literature identified no controlled safety evaluation studies conducted prior to the year 2002. A systematic search of literature dating from 2002 was conducted. Six studies in total were initially identified, with four serving as the basis for most conclusions in this review. Several of the studies have used overlapping data from many of the same implementation sites, with the more recent studies employing the more robust study methodologies. As a result, the strongest evidence comes from relatively few studies building on earlier ones. However, a sizeable number of sites have been encompassed in the studies. Studies using data from sites in California, Iowa, and Washington provide the strongest evidence of safety effects, with additional reports providing corroborating, but somewhat weaker evidence. Based on these studies, road diet treatments seem to be one of the success stories with regard to crash and speed reductions. KW - California KW - Highway design KW - Highway safety KW - Iowa KW - Literature reviews KW - Research projects KW - Road diets KW - Traffic crashes KW - Traffic lanes KW - Washington (State) UR - http://www.pedbikeinfo.org/cms/downloads/WhitePaper_RoadDiets_PBIC.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1345918 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01552161 AU - Simpson, Amy AU - Rada, Gonzalo AU - Visintine, Beth AU - Groeger, Jonathan AU - Guerre, Joseph AU - AMEC Environment & Infrastructure, Incorporated AU - Cambridge Systematics, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Improving FHWA’s Ability to Assess Highway Infrastructure Health: Development of Next Generation Pavement Performance Measures PY - 2013/05//Final Report SP - 194p AB - This study was conducted as part of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Task Order “Improving FHWA’s Ability to Assess Highway Infrastructure Health.” This portion of the study had the objective of developing a next generation pavement performance measure that provides an accurate and repeatable assessment of the functional condition of the roadway. The measure is to combine ride quality, cracking, and rutting or faulting and rely entirely upon data from the Highway Performance Management System (HPMS) database. Over the course of the study, the effort shifted away from a single composite index of ride quality, cracking, and rutting or faulting to using these distresses individually. This report provides recommendations for collecting, processing, reviewing, and storing each of these distresses. Further recommendations are made with regard to assessing pavement condition based upon the stored values. KW - Condition surveys KW - Cracking KW - Data collection KW - Highway Performance Monitoring System KW - Pavement distress KW - Pavement performance KW - Recommendations KW - Rutting KW - Structural health monitoring KW - U.S. Federal Highway Administration UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/asset/pubs/hif13042.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1341309 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01552136 AU - Hazaree, Chetan V AU - Ceylan, Halil AU - Taylor, Peter AU - Gopalakrishnan, Kasthurirangan AU - Wang, Kejin AU - Bektas, Fatih AU - Iowa State University, Ames AU - Portland Cement Association AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Use of Chemical Admixtures in Roller-Compacted Concrete for Pavements PY - 2013/05//Final Report SP - 55p AB - Use of roller compacted concrete (RCC) for pavement applications is growing in the United States. This material offers great technical and economic benefits, however there is insufficient research done to understand it better. The drier consistency and lack of adequate paste in RCC makes its fresh behavior very different from other types of concretes. This also leads to challenges in characterizing its properties adequately to be translated to practice. The use of chemical admixture in RCC has not been studied in detail before and hence there is an apprehension in using them. What further aggravates the problem is the use of multiple mixing technologies used in producing RCC. This research attempts to resolve some of these problems. The workability of concrete is considered to be constituted by the cohesion, compactibility, and segregation resistance, retention of workability, water reduction and consistency. Each of these properties was characterized using a test method. These include the use of vibrated slump test, direct shear test as used in soils, and gyratory compaction test as used in asphalt industry. Furthermore, ten most widely used chemical admixtures were tested in a typical RCC mixture. These include water reducers, retarders, air entraining agents and dry cast industry products. For each of these product types, different chemical formulations were selected to evaluate the comparative performances. It is observed that individually each admixture offers distinct benefits and improves different properties of fresh RCC including changing the setting behavior and finishibility. Moreover, for a given mixture, the improvement in workability is a composite function of its components viz. cohesion, compactibility, consistency, water reduction, admixture type and dosage. Finally, a set of recommendations are offered along with some precautions to be taken in using these admixtures individually. It is anticipated that this work will lead to the better characterization of different properties of RCC and use of chemical admixtures with greater confidence. KW - Admixtures KW - Cohesion KW - Compactibility KW - Compressive strength KW - Roller compacted concrete KW - Shear tests KW - Slump test KW - United States KW - Workability UR - http://www.intrans.iastate.edu/research/documents/research-reports/rcc_admixture_w_cvr1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1341306 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01548513 AU - Crowson, Ginny AU - Jackels, Jon AU - Athey Creek Consultants AU - Michigan Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - System Requirements for Intersection Conflict Warning Systems (ICWS) PY - 2013/05//Final Report SP - 27p AB - In a previous ICWS ENTERPRISE effort, preliminary design guidance and an evaluation framework for intersection conflict warning system (ICWS) deployments were developed. The project engaged several national standards groups and industry associations including the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Subcommittee on Traffic Engineering, and the Traffic Control Devices and Evaluation of Low Cost Safety Improvements pooled funds. This project further supported the standardization of ICWS by developing a model concept of operations and model system requirements for ICWS. KW - Crash avoidance systems KW - Design standards KW - Intelligent transportation systems KW - Intersections KW - Real time information KW - System design KW - Traffic conflicts UR - http://enterprise.prog.org/Projects/2010_Present/icwssyseng/ICWS%20System%20Requirements%20FINAL%20051713.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1333224 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01546185 AU - Tremblay, Jason P AU - Vermont Agency of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Alternative Pavement Designs - Randolph Park and Ride PY - 2013/05//Final Report SP - 25p AB - Previous research on alternative pavement type bidding has proven that various treatments are unique in terms of constructability, material characteristics, and associated performance. While some treatments may have higher initial costs, it is important to consider future maintenance needs as well as life cycle. Other considerations may include construction sequencing, user delays, or potential benefits to the environment. Evaluation of these variables should occur during the bid selection process to ensure the construction of the most cost effective treatment for a given location. For this investigation, three alternative pavement treatments were proposed for the construction of a park and ride located in Randolph at the intersection of Vermont (VT) Route 66 and Town Highway 46. The options included a conventional bituminous pavement, a porous bituminous pavement, and a porous concrete pavement. The purpose of this study is to perform a cost analysis of the bids and compare the annualized costs of each alternative over their expected service life. The study will also examine constructability performance in association with some preliminary monitoring, and will summarize operations practices during an initial service period. KW - Alternatives analysis KW - Benefit cost analysis KW - Park and ride KW - Pavement design KW - Porous pavements KW - Randolph (Vermont) KW - Service life UR - http://vtransplanning.vermont.gov/sites/aot_program_development/files/documents/materialsandresearch/completedprojects/2013%20-%2004%20Alternative%20Pavement%20Designs%20%E2%80%93%20Randolph%20Park%20and%20Ride.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1331984 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01545295 AU - Kipp, Wendy M E AU - Sanborn, Devon AU - Vermont Agency of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Identifying Performance Based Measures for Winter Maintenance Practices PY - 2013/05 SP - 15p AB - One of the Vermont Agency of Transportation’s (VTrans) primary missions is to keep Vermont state highways open and safe for the transportation network users, while managing the system in a cost-effective and environmentally sensitive manner. Several states have initiated performance measures to ensure public safety, and improve efficiency. VTrans’ Operations Division has developed levels of service for winter maintenance in its 2012 Snow and Ice Control Plan. Monitoring and evaluating the material usage during the winter months can lead to a substantial increase in cost-effectiveness. Unfortunately, VTrans does not currently have a standard method for rating its maintenance performance during winter maintenance activities. An in depth literature search was conducted to determine what winter maintenance performance measure guidelines have been established in state highway departments. In addition, state departments of transportation (DOTs) were contacted and surveyed regarding the use of Winter Maintenance Performance Measures. The survey was conducted to ensure that newly adopted measures and measures used informally would be discovered even if they had not appeared in any official plans or publications yet. According to the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) 6-17, three factors are commonly incorporated into determining maintenance performance. These factors are resources spent (Inputs), accomplishments of work performed (Outputs) and effectiveness of maintenance activities (Outcomes). A number of states have also created a Winter Severity Index of 0 to 100 to relate performance targets that are based on public safety and driver expectations better. A recommendation from this effort is that VTrans incorporate a performance metric that measures the “time to bare pavement conditions.” This method includes recording the time it takes maintenance personnel to achieve bare pavement conditions in the wheel paths of the roadway from the time the storm event ends. The use of Global Positioning Systems, and other computerized data collection and analysis technology is a means that could promote in effectiveness both in costs and in effort over time. The use of these technologies will become more feasible as the automatic vehicle location (AVL) systems are implemented fleet-wide in Vermont’s snow and ice control vehicles. Further research should focus on the relationships between performance metrics and safety. Establishing performance measures is the first step in helping to improve and target roadway safety during winter months. KW - Highway safety KW - Literature reviews KW - Performance measurement KW - Recommendations KW - Snow and ice control KW - State departments of transportation KW - Surveys KW - Vermont KW - Winter maintenance UR - http://vtransplanning.vermont.gov/sites/aot_program_development/files/documents/materialsandresearch/completedprojects/2013%20-%2002%20Winter%20Performance%20Measures.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1331823 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01544590 AU - Tremblay, Jason P AU - Colgrove, George W AU - Sanborn, Devon AU - Vermont Agency of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - An Evaluation of TYFO S Fibrwrap PY - 2013/05//Final Report SP - 18p AB - State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) are continually looking for cost effective products and processes to extend the life of any number of transportation related products. Salt splash and leakage from bridge joints are the cause of a significant amount of spalling, cracking, and deterioration affecting the structural integrity of bridges around the state. This damage applied to bridge columns for example, deteriorates the confining effects necessary to counter compressive forces. A common approach in addressing this problem is encasing the column in an outer diameter of new concrete, usually approximately twelve inches thick. The solution has been effective, but expensive. Rather than employ a standard concrete encasement, in June of 1994 the Vermont Agency of Transportation applied TYFO S Fibrwrap to columns of the first pier of Bridge #60 in Williston while rehabilitating the bridge. Based on performance observations conducted by the Agency, TYFO S Fibrwrap appears to be a viable alternative to concrete encasement as a rehabilitative method for concrete bridge columns. KW - Bridge piers KW - Columns KW - Concrete bridges KW - Costs KW - Fiber reinforced polymers KW - Rehabilitation (Maintenance) KW - Vermont UR - http://vtransplanning.vermont.gov/sites/aot_program_development/files/2013%20-%2005%20An%20Evaluation%20of%20TYFO%20S%20Fibrwrap%20Final%20Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1331776 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01543896 AU - Prince, Theodore AU - National Center for Intermodal Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Intermodal Terminals PY - 2013/05 SP - 24p AB - The location and development of an intermodal terminal is an important decision for a railroad; however, such decisions are increasingly interrelated to private and/or public initiatives. Not only are these projects significant for the railroad, but they are increasingly viewed as drivers of regional supply chain efficiency, quality of life and infrastructure utilization to other stakeholders. While public sector policy makers recognize that the private sector has a different decision making process, this is other viewed through a policy lens, rather than recognizing the railroads' technical business requirements. This white paper synthesizes railroad perspectives on intermodal terminal development. A more intensive analysis, complete with qualitative and illustrative case studies that classify the considerations and interests of various stakeholders is available online. KW - Case studies KW - Decision making KW - Development KW - Intermodal terminals KW - Location KW - Railroads KW - Stakeholders UR - http://www.ncit.msstate.edu/NCIT%20Reports/2008_12_Whit%20-%20Prince%205-20-2013_Intermodal%20Terminals%20%282ps%29.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1332051 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01539719 AU - Kimbrough, Sue AU - Shores, Richard C AU - Whitaker, Donald A AU - Vallero, Daniel A AU - Environmental Protection Agency AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - FHWA and EPA National Near-Road Study, Detroit, MI PY - 2013/05 SP - 152p AB - This report provides a summary of a field study conducted in Detroit, Michigan from September 2010 through mid-June 2011. The objective of this research study has been to determine Mobile Source Air Toxic (MSAT) concentrations and variations in concentrations as a function of distance from the highway and to establish relationships between MSAT concentrations as related to highway traffic flows including traffic count, vehicle types and speeds, meteorological conditions such as wind speed and wind direction; and other pollutants primarily emitted from motor vehicles. KW - Air pollution KW - Detroit (Michigan) KW - Field studies KW - Highways KW - Mobile Source Air Toxics KW - Motor vehicles KW - Pollutants KW - Speed data KW - Traffic counts KW - Traffic flow KW - Weather conditions UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/air_quality/air_toxics/research_and_analysis/near_road_study/detroit_michigan/detroit06112013.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1324875 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01522378 AU - Bennert, Thomas AU - Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation AU - New Jersey Department of Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Laboratory Evaluation of Honeywell Polymer vs SBS Polymer Modified Asphalt Mixtures PY - 2013/05//Final Report SP - 28p AB - The scope of the study is to evaluate the laboratory performance of two asphalt mixtures; one modified with Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene (SBS) polymer and the second modified with a polymer from Honeywell. Both asphalt binder and mixture properties are proposed to be evaluated in the study. Laboratory asphalt mixture tests are proposed to evaluate the overall performance of the asphalt mixtures developed using the two asphalt binders modified with the Honeywell polymer and the SBS polymer. KW - Asphalt mixtures KW - Bituminous binders KW - Evaluation KW - Laboratory tests KW - Polymer asphalt KW - Styrene butadiene styrene UR - http://cait.rutgers.edu/files/Hnywll-RU3086-final_2.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1306841 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516259 AU - D'Artagnan Consulting LLP AU - Washington State Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Road Usage Charge Pilot Project Final Evaluation Report for Washington State Participants PY - 2013/05//Final Report SP - 55p AB - This report provides a summary of evaluation results of Washington’s participation in the Road Usage Charge Pilot Program (RUCPP). The RUCPP was a trial of various approaches and technologies for motorists in the States of Washington, Oregon, and Nevada to measure and report mileage as the basis for a per-mile road usage charge (RUC). Beginning in November 2012, selected participants signed agreements, selected plans, and adopted in-vehicle devices to measure their road usage for the succeeding months. Washington participants received monthly invoices indicating their road usage and associated charges, less taxes paid on fuel as estimated by the system; however, they did not actually make any payments. The pilot formally completed on January 31, 2013. This report represents the findings of the pilot test by the evaluation team under the direction of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). KW - Mileage-based user fees KW - Pilot studies KW - User charges KW - Washington (State) UR - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/807.1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1290614 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516194 AU - Tran, Nam H AU - Rodezno, Carolina AU - National Center for Asphalt Technology AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Use of AMPT for Characterizing Asphalt Material Inputs for AASHTOWare® Pavement Me Design Implementation PY - 2013/05//Final Report SP - 21p AB - The focus of this synthesis is on the use of the Asphalt Mixture Performance Tester (AMPT) for determining the dynamic modulus inputs to support the implementation of AASHTOware® Pavement ME Design. The information provided in this synthesis can be useful for material and pavement design engineers and other users in the process of implementing AMPT and Pavement ME Design for designing flexible pavements. This synthesis includes four parts. The first part presents an overview of Pavement ME Design and sensitive material inputs. The second part summarizes activities transportation agencies have conducted to implement the AMPT and Pavement ME Design. The third part provides guidelines for developing an experimental plan for characterizing E* and other material inputs to support the Pavement ME Design implementation. The last part discusses other tests that can be conducted in the AMPT and will be potentially implemented in the future for determining the resistance of asphalt mixtures to rutting and cracking. KW - Asphalt Mixture Performance Tester KW - Asphalt mixtures KW - Asphalt pavements KW - Flexible pavements KW - Mechanistic-empirical pavement design KW - Pavement design KW - Pavement performance UR - http://www.ncat.us/files/reports/2013/rep13-04.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1299887 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01516177 AU - Hatami, Kianoosh AU - Miller, Gerald A AU - Esmaili, Danial AU - Chan, Edmund AU - University of Oklahoma, Norman AU - Oklahoma Transportation Center AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - Prototype reinforced soil embankment for reconstruction of US 62 slope failure in Chickasha, OK PY - 2013/05//Final Report SP - 74p AB - One of the main concerns in internal stability of reinforced soil structures constructed with fine-grained or marginal quality soils is the change in shear strength of the soil-reinforcement interface when the soil gravimetric water content (GWC) increases. This increase can occur during construction or service life of the structure, e.g. due to prolonged precipitation. The resulting loss in the soil matric suction could reduce the interface shear strength leading to serviceability problems or even failure of the reinforced soil structure. In this study, several 3.2 ft-high embankment models were constructed in the laboratory, which were subjected to strip footing loading in plane-strain condition. The embankment models were constructed using a lean clay at the GWC values ranging between OMC-2% and OMC+2% (OMC: Optimum Moisture Content). Each embankment model included a single reinforcement layer which was placed 7 inches below the embankment surface. The location of the reinforcement layer was selected based on preliminary embankment tests and numerical simulations to ensure that it would intercept the failure surface that developed underneath the strip footing near the embankment slope. The reinforcement was a woven geotextile material that had been used earlier by the authors in a series of pullout and interface shear tests on the same soil. The embankments were instrumented to measure the footing load, earth pressure, reinforcement strains and the soil GWC and matric suction values during the tests. A primary objective of the embankment tests was to investigate the influence of the soil as-compacted GWC value on the performance of the model embankments and thereby, validate or make necessary adjustments in the values of the moisture reduction factors (MRF) for reinforced embankment design that the authors had developed based on their prior pullout and interface shear tests. KW - Embankments KW - Geotextiles KW - Gravimetric analysis KW - Mechanically stabilized earth KW - Shear strength KW - Slope failure KW - Slope stability KW - Soil water KW - Unsaturated soils UR - http://www.oktc.org/otc/files/finalReports/OTCREOS11.1-26-F.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1300093 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01505681 AU - Kropat, Elisa C AU - Lee, Earl (Rusty) AU - Delaware Center for Transportation AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - The Impact of Disruptions along the I-95 Corridor on Congestion and Air Quality, Phase 2 PY - 2013/05//Final Report SP - 128p AB - Although the National Highway System provides an efficient network to move people and goods across the country, disruptions in the system can quickly bring the flow to a halt. The freeway-arterial corridors of the highway system are crucial nodes allowing users to enter and exit yet are vulnerable to considerable disruptions in the flow of traffic due to the frequency of closely spaced grade separated roadways and high traffic volumes surrounding interchanges. By analyzing the closure of the interchanges and assessing the subsequent traffic conditions throughout the network using travel demand modeling software, it is possible to determine the effects, adverse or not, of major closures. Such an assessment is purposeful, ensuring the resiliency of the freeway by understanding the resulting congestion to relieving or preventing its occurrence. Through a detailed understanding of the effects, transportation authorizes may be better able to maintain an efficient flow of people and goods. This research analyzes the prevailing traffic conditions along the Interstate-95 corridor in New Castle County, Delaware due to the closure of three separately analyzed freeway-arterial interchanges along I-95: SR 896, SR 1, and US 202. It examines the change in volume, change in speed, and change in volume to capacity ratio on the network from before to after conditions. Each interchange closure produced distinctive network traffic conditions. While SR 896 primarily induces local effects SR 1 and US 202 results in a wider expanse of effects along the I-95 corridor. Significant disruptions in the flow of the network were contained to a few major arterials particularly during morning and afternoon peak periods. KW - Air quality KW - Arterial highways KW - Delaware KW - Highway capacity KW - Highway corridors KW - Incident management KW - Interstate 95 KW - Lane closure KW - Ramps (Interchanges) KW - Traffic congestion KW - Traffic diversion KW - Traffic volume KW - Travel demand UR - http://www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/downloads2013/Lee_Kropat_FinalReport.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1285405 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01501993 AU - Heimann, John AU - Coreslab Structures, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - The Implementation of Full Depth UHPC Waffle Bridge Deck Panels: Final Report PY - 2013/05//Final Report SP - 67p AB - In the United States today, there are over 160,000 bridges that are structurally deficient or obsolete, and more than 3,000 new bridges are added each year. Federal, State, and municipal bridge engineers are seeking new ways to build better bridges, reduce travel times, and improve repair techniques, thereby reducing maintenance. Additionally, owners are challenged with replacing critical bridge components, particularly bridge decks, during limited or overnight road closure periods. State and Federal agencies are gaining significant interest in using full depth ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) waffle deck panels as a possible solution to these challenges. The first implementation of UHPC deck panels on a U.S. roadway was made possible through a grant from the Federal Highway Administration’s Highways for LIFE program. The objective of this research is to confirm that this system is a viable solution to the problems encountered by design engineers. It is hoped that the full depth UHPC bridge deck system will revolutionize the way bridges are designed in North America. This project was divided into two phases. Phase 1 included the design and testing of a mock-up bridge section for verifying design assumptions, as well as for evaluating the feasibility of manufacturing and installing the deck elements. Phase 2 consisted of the construction of a full scale two-lane bridge on a secondary road in Wapello County, Iowa, using prestressed concrete girders and 14 UHPC deck panels. KW - Bridge construction KW - Bridge decks KW - Bridge design KW - Durability KW - Field tests KW - High performance concrete KW - Iowa KW - Rehabilitation (Maintenance) KW - Ultra high performance concrete UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/partnerships/hif13031/hif13031.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1280740 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01501090 AU - Perez, Miguel AU - Owens, Justin AU - Viita, Derek AU - Angell, Linda AU - Ranney, Thomas A AU - Baldwin, G H Scott AU - Parmer, Ed AU - Martin, John AU - Garrott, W Riley AU - Mazzae, Elizabeth N AU - Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Radio Tuning Effects on Visual Test Track and Driving Performance Measures – Simulator and Test Track Studies PY - 2013/05//Final Report SP - 109p AB - Existing driver distraction guidelines for visual-manual device interface operation specify traditional manual radio tuning as a reference task. This project evaluated the radio tuning reference task through two activities. The first activity consisted of a static evaluation of the features and layouts of 12 original equipment vehicle radios. The second activity consisted of an experiment in which naive participants drove five models of vehicles on a test track while performing manual radio tuning tasks. Driving performance measures and eye glance behavior were examined during radio tuning and baseline (no secondary task) periods. Results showed differences between task and baseline periods in most measures as a function of radio design. Results of the test track radio running experiment were evaluated along with experimental data for radio tuning obtained in a driving simulator by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Similar results were found for most eye glance measures. The data suggest the following visual demand acceptability criteria based upon driver 85th percentile radio tuning performance: (1) Individual eye glances away from the forward road scene should not exceed 1.3 seconds; and (2) Total eyes-off-road time to perform an entire task should not exceed 12.1 seconds. For compatibility with occlusion testing, these time values should be rounded off to multiples of 2.0 seconds. This gives task acceptability criteria of individual eye glances away from the forward road scene not exceeding 2.0 seconds and total eyes-off-road time to perform an entire task not exceeding 12.0 seconds. KW - Distraction KW - Driver vehicle interfaces KW - Drivers KW - Driving simulators KW - Glance duration KW - Radio KW - Test tracks KW - Visual demand UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Vehicle Research & Test Center (VRTC)/ca/capubs/811781.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1279459 ER - TY - SER AN - 01500354 JO - TRAFFIC TECH PB - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Training for Healthy Older Drivers PY - 2013/05 SP - 2p AB - This research examined the effectiveness of four types of training techniques designed to improve the driving performance of normally aging adults. Each technique is suitable for a broad cross-section of the healthy older driver population. The research team measured training effectiveness by comparing the on-road performance of drivers 65 and older in each treatment group with that of a control group (that received a neutral intervention) before and immediately after training, and again after a 3-month delay. Thus, study results reflected planned comparisons between each treatment group and the control group, but did not compare treatment groups to one another. The training activities examined in this study included: (1) classroom driver education delivered in a group setting, supplemented by an hour of one-on-one, behind-the-wheel instruction; (2) computer-based exercises designed to improve speed of visual information processing and divided attention; (3) occupational therapy (OT)-based exercises to improve visual skills and attention; and (4) physical conditioning to improve strength, flexibility, and movement. KW - Aged drivers KW - Driver education KW - Driver improvement programs KW - Driver performance KW - Driver rehabilitation KW - Driver training KW - Driving simulators KW - Visual perception UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811771.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1278459 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499734 AU - Brock, Timothy J AU - Souleyrette, Reginald R AU - University of Kentucky, Lexington AU - National University Rail Center (NURail) AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - An Overview of U.S. Commuter Rail PY - 2013/05//Final Report SP - 56p AB - Planners view commuter rail as a means of managing urban sprawl, stimulating economic development and reducing the environmental impacts of transportation. Commuter rail systems, which use shared rights-of-way to connect suburban hubs with downtown urban centers, are beginning to have a large impact on the way people and freight move through United States cities. Currently, there are 26 commuter rail systems operating in 29 major U.S. metropolitan areas. However, there is confusion among the general public and disagreement among transportation organizations as to what constitutes a commuter rail system and how to classify some rail systems. This research establishes a complete and definitive list of U.S. commuter rail systems, situates commuter rail in the context of U.S. rail systems at-large and establishes a 'new start' and 'legacy' classification for commuter rail. Included in this report are profiles of all U.S. commuter rail systems, highlighting governance, financing, ridership and service area demographics. This research also traces the historical development of commuter rail and the best practices employed by 'new start' commuter rail systems. This includes highlighting shared-corridor acquisition practices and highlighting policy mobility practices. KW - Best practices KW - Classification KW - Demographics KW - Financing KW - History KW - Railroad commuter service KW - Ridership KW - United States UR - http://www.ktc.uky.edu/files/2013/10/KTC_13_18_UTCNURAIL1_12_1F.pdf UR - http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/59000/59200/59298/NURail2012-UKY-R02_Final_Report_Commuter_Rail_with_appendices1.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1267304 ER - TY - SER AN - 01499706 JO - TRAFFIC TECH PB - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Seat Belt, DWI, and Other Traffic Violations Among Recent Immigrants in Florida and Tennessee PY - 2013/05 SP - 2p AB - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration examined all 50 States to identify those whose traffic safety databases contain residency status. Of the four States identified, driver history databases in Florida and Tennessee were analyzed for four traffic safety violations—seat belt non-use, driving while intoxicated (DWI), speeding, and failure to obey traffic signals or signs—for drivers of different immigrant status. This analysis provides objective information about certain traffic safety behaviors and violations among recent and long-time immigrants. Overall, drivers who were citizens were more likely to be cited for one of the four traffic violations than those who were not citizens or who had arrived in the country more recently. Of the four violations, there were substantially more speeding violations in both States than the other three violations. DWI violations were the lowest of the four violations in both States. Males in each State had significantly higher violation rates than females, and young drivers under the age of 21 were cited more often for traffic violations than older drivers regardless of residency status. KW - Age KW - Drivers KW - Drunk driving KW - Florida KW - Gender KW - Immigrants KW - Persons by race and ethnicity KW - Seat belt use KW - Speeding KW - Tennessee KW - Traffic citations KW - Traffic violations UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811762.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1266484 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499690 AU - Romano, Eduardo AU - Tippetts, A S AU - Fell, James C AU - Wiliszowski, Connie AU - Auld-Owens, Amy AU - Bedford Research AU - Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Seat Belt, DWI, and Other Traffic Violations Among Recent Immigrants in Florida and Tennessee PY - 2013/05//Final Report SP - 88p AB - Phase I of this project identified two States, Florida and Tennessee, that maintain information on drivers’ traffic violations and residency status. Phase II analyzed State databases to examine seat belt non-use, driving while intoxicated (DWI), and other traffic safety violations among drivers of different immigrant status. The Florida Division of Motor Vehicles provided a stratified random sample of 286,746 drivers’ records in its database, for the years 2003 to 2009. The Tennessee Department of Safety provided records for 5,680,728 people for 10 years, 2000 to 2010. The analyses suggest that those who have come recently to the country are less likely to be cited for seat belt, speeding, and failure-to-obey violations than more established drivers; but as time goes by and immigrant drivers become more established, they begin to resemble established citizens in terms of the likelihood of being ticketed for these traffic violations. Factors such as age or gender seem to contribute to their likelihood of being cited for seat belt, speeding, or failure-to-obey violations, more than residency status. Of the four traffic citations examined, speeding was the most prevalent in both States, while DWI was the least-often violation listed in the driver records. In both Florida and Tennessee, 1% of all drivers were cited for a speeding violation within 3 months of licensure, independent of residency status. Male drivers and drivers under 21 were more likely to be cited for traffic violations than older drivers (21 and older). The race and ethnic distribution of violation rates varied across the different violations. Compared to other groups, Asians/Pacific Islanders (PIs) were significantly less involved than other racial and ethnic groups in seat belt or DWI violations, but more involved in speeding and failure-to-obey traffic signs and signals violations. White and American Indian drivers were significantly less involved in failure-to-obey citations than drivers of any other group. Recent Hispanic immigrants to Florida were more likely to be arrested for DWI than the more established immigrants. For Asian/PI drivers in Florida, residency status was not a factor in DWI arrests and their DWI rates were substantially lower than the other racial and ethnic groups. The findings from this study are specific to two States and suggest that the role of residency status on traffic violations varied depending on the violation, the racial and ethnic group, and the State. KW - Age KW - Drivers KW - Drunk driving KW - Florida KW - Gender KW - Immigrants KW - Persons by race and ethnicity KW - Seat belt use KW - Speeding KW - Tennessee KW - Traffic citations KW - Traffic violations UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811761.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1266667 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499638 AU - Hoover, Richard L AU - Van Buskirk, Timothy R AU - Garrott, W Riley AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration AU - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration TI - Class 8 Mack Straight Truck Emulating a Refuse Hauler – Braking Improvement Study PY - 2013/05 SP - 76p AB - The effect of higher output foundation brakes were determined for a Class 8, Mack 6x4 MR-688-S straight truck which emulated a McNeilus refuse hauler. Four brake types studied included: original hybrid S-cam drums, big S-cam drums, hybrid disc, and all-disc. In order to simulate the completed refuse hauler, the mock-up truck was loaded in three configurations: fully laden at gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), at lightly loaded vehicle weight (LLVW) simulating an unloaded refuse hauler, and empty (MT) for comparison to other chassis-cab test trucks. The results show that the chassis-cab mock-up truck with hybrid S-cam brakes produced performance data similar to that obtained from the McNeilus refuse hauler for most tests, which indicated that the mock-up was realistic in loading configuration and in braking capability. At GVWR, the test truck stopped in 298 ft, which correlated to the 302 ft obtained by the refuse hauler. By installing higher output brakes, the service brake stopping distances shortened dramatically. The all-disc brakes performed the best (228 ft), followed closely by the hybrid disc brakes (245 ft) and the big S-cam drum brakes (248 ft). For baseline brake-in-a-curve (BIC) tests, all four brake configurations met the minimum stability and control test requirement; therefore, increasing the brake output made little change in stability on the low-coefficient-of-friction surface. Additional loads of GVWR and MT produced similar results at the 75-percent of drive-through “target speed” for four-of-four tests. For limit-speed tests, the highest lateral acceleration performance quotient (LAPQ) values were achieved by the hybrid S-cam and big S-cam brake configurations. Each load and brake configuration applied to the chassis-cab mock-up truck met the 5-minute parking brake holding requirement of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 121 on the 20-percent grade, which was also found previously for the refuse hauler. This pass/fail test could not distinguish any differences in brake type installed on this vehicle. However, the drawbar parking brake force test showed large differences in parking brake holding ability. The 2005 test results showed that the refuse hauler failed the drawbar test for the rearward pull direction on the rear axle by over one percent. However, the mock-up vehicle met the minimum required drawbar force. The higher output all-disc and big S-cam brakes produced drawbar margins of compliance ranging from 35 to 105 percent, with the big S-cam brakes producing the largest margins in the rearward pull direction. Split-mu tests showed little difference in stopping distances or decelerations between the four brake types tested. The decelerations did indicate a side-to-side bias in total vehicle response to the stops on this surface, which were substantiated by driver comments and handwheel angle data. When loaded to GVWR and LLVW, the big S-cam brakes required the biggest driver handwheel inputs of the four brake types indicating that wider S-cam brakes are more sensitive to side-to-side brake imbalance issues. KW - Brakes KW - Braking performance KW - Disc brakes KW - Dump trucks KW - Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards KW - Gross vehicle weight KW - Heavy duty trucks KW - Stability (Mechanics) KW - Stopping distances KW - Trucks UR - http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Vehicle%20Research%20&%20Test%20Center%20(VRTC)/ca/811747.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1266480 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499601 AU - McLellan, Jeffrey W AU - Arizona Department of Transportation AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Quantifying the Impact of New Freeway Segments PY - 2013/05//Final Report SP - 46p AB - Many freeway users complain that new freeway segments immediately fill up with traffic after they are constructed. This diminishes the advantages of reduced costs and reduced driving time that would make freeways theoretically superior to arterial streets. According to previous literature, however, this phenomenon is to be expected and is not an indicator of the efficiency or inefficiency of having new freeways. Due to Downs’s Law of Peak-hour Traffic Congestion, we expect freeways to immediately fill upon construction, simply because they do offer superior benefits to roadway users compared to the alternative arterial streets. Rational drivers choose to enjoy these benefits. Another phenomenon cited in the literature review is that of induced travel, which states that with the reduction in travel time posed by using freeway segments, it can also be expected that more commuters will choose to travel on them than otherwise would. When Downs’s Law works synergistically with the phenomenon of induced travel, more vehicles can be accommodated in a given geographical area, thus increasing the total number of trips taken. This adds to the overall value of our transportation system, since after all, the value of that system is predicated on its ability to facilitate increased volume of travel. This report is based on data acquired from the State of Arizona, the City of Phoenix and Maricopa County, Arizona, and other sources. Through the analysis of Maricopa County traffic count data, a significant increase in traffic volume is shown due to the addition of new freeways. This increase in traffic volume accounts for a net benefit of over $18 million dollars per year for a given mile-long stretch of roadway. Over a freeway design-life of 20 years this is far in excess of the average of $72 million needed to construct that mile of freeway. Ultimately, any evaluation of the freeway system must take into consideration the explicit and implicit benefits of the system. Congestion is going to be present whether new freeways are constructed or not. Before freeway segments are constructed, the existing arterial streets are congested. After the completion of freeway segments, some drivers shift from arterial streets to the new freeway. This lessens traffic on the arterials, leading to more drivers taking trips they previously avoided (i.e. induced travel). Even though congestion is an inevitable condition, even on freeway segments post-construction, freeways still offer a clear net benefit. KW - Arterial highways KW - Benefit cost analysis KW - Freeways KW - Literature reviews KW - Maricopa County (Arizona) KW - Peak hour traffic KW - Phoenix (Arizona) KW - Traffic congestion KW - Traffic counts KW - Traffic volume KW - Travel time KW - Trip generation UR - http://apps.azdot.gov/ADOTLibrary/publications/project_reports/PDF/AZ613.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1276927 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01499297 AU - Lottes, S A AU - Bojanowski, Cezary AU - Argonne National Laboratory AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Computer Modeling and Analysis of Truck Generated Salt Spray Transport at Bridges PY - 2013/05 SP - 84p AB - Bridge painting is very expensive. Over the lifetime of a bridge, painting to protect the steel from the elements can cost a large fraction of the original construction cost. In addition to monetary costs, maintenance workers face health risks if strict procedures are not in place to avoid exposure to hazardous dust when old paint is removed and the fumes of hazardous chemicals when new paint is applied. Use of weathering steel in bridge construction avoids the large cost of periodic painting and the hazards of paint removal and repainting because this type of steel is never painted. When exposed to weather, the initial corrosion of weathering steel forms a natural corrosion resistant layer that prevents further corrosion under a wide variety of conditions. Given the advantages of using weathering steel, the choice might appear to be obvious. However, the large potential savings in bridge maintenance costs in using weathering steel are not always realized because the protective patina layer fails to adhere when the steel is exposed to excessively salt-laden and moisture-laden environments. A multi-year study is underway by the FHWA to better quantify the conditions that lead to excessive corrosion in weathering steel bridges. This report documents work using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis to study the conditions and mechanisms that lead from the salt spray thrown from truck tires to salt water droplets reaching bridge girders. Computer simulations use the advanced motion modeling capability called a “sliding mesh” in the CFD software to move one or more large trucks under bridges at 60 mph. The computations include multiphase spray droplet tracking of salt-laden water droplets coming off the tires. The objectives of the study were to build a model with a truck moving relative to a bridge in which the flow field could be solved by existing CFD software and available computational resources. Although this requirement entailed one of the major challenges of the study, it was accomplished using the sliding mesh capabilities of STAR-CCM+. The study included the goals of modeling three things that are related to the physics of droplet transport that were considered to be potentially significantly related to the amount of salt laden droplet spray that could reach the girder level of bridges when thrown from approaching truck tires when the trucks passed underneath the bridge. These three conditions were geometry effects, the effects of traffic, and the effect of the wind. Given the potential complexity of the multiphase flow field and interacting physics, a major objective of the study was to use the visualization capabilities of analysis software to show what is happening visually in the test cases that are significantly different in the amount of salt spray transported to bridge girder level in addition to the usual data processing that yields graphs to show relations between parameters. This report documents the results of the test cases that could be completed within the budget and time available for this study and also to document the model for future use. The goals for the test cases were to identify the primary mechanisms that contribute to de-icing salt transport from road surfaces up to weathering steel bridge girders that span over roads, and to test to the extent possible the relative importance of the mechanisms. KW - Computer models KW - Deicing chemicals KW - Flow fields KW - Fluid mechanics KW - Geometry KW - Salt fog tests KW - Salt spray KW - Salt trucks KW - Steel bridges KW - Truck traffic KW - Trucks KW - Weathering steel KW - Wind UR - http://www.ipd.anl.gov/anlpubs/2013/07/76754.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1266473 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496788 AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Louisiana DOTD Work Plan for Developing a TAMP PY - 2013/05 SP - 26p AB - In July 2012, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) established a performance-based highway program with the goal of improving how Federal transportation funds are allocated. The legislation requires each state department of transportation (DOT) to develop a risk-based Transportation Asset Management Plan (TAMP). This document presents a work plan for developing the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development’s (LA DOTD) TAMP. This work plan is based on the results from a LA DOTD TAMP workshop. Participants at this workshop included members of the LA DOTD’s TAMP Steering Committee, LA DOTD Executive Staff, representatives from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and members of the consultant team. The objectives of the workshop were to: walk through each section of the TAMP document; discuss existing LA DOTD resources and data related to each section; identify gaps between LA DOTD’s existing processes and resources and those required to develop the TAMP; and determine an approach for addressing the gaps and developing the required materials. KW - Asset management KW - Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development KW - Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act KW - Resource allocation KW - Workshops UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/asset/tamp/la_tamp.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265578 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01496655 AU - Corven, John AU - Moreton, Alan AU - Ideation, Incorporated AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Post-Tensioning Tendon Installation and Grouting Manual PY - 2013/05//Version 2.0, Final Document SP - 184p AB - This Manual includes state-of-the-art information relative to materials, post-tensioning systems, construction practices and grouting of post-tensioning tendons for bridges. The Manual is targeted at Federal, State and local transportation departments and private company personnel that may be involved in the design, inspection, construction, or maintenance of bridges that contain post-tensioning tendons. This Manual will serve as a reference and guide to designers, inspectors and construction personnel for post-tensioning materials, installation and a grouting of bridge tendons. The document is part of the Federal Highway Administration’s national technology deployment program and may serve as a training manual. KW - Bridges KW - Construction management KW - Grouting KW - Inspection KW - Installation KW - Maintenance KW - Manuals KW - Posttensioning KW - State of the art KW - Tendons (Materials) UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/construction/pubs/hif13026.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1265594 ER - TY - SER AN - 01495415 JO - ACPT TechBrief PB - Federal Highway Administration AU - Tyson, Sam AU - Tayabji, Shiraz AU - Federal Highway Administration TI - Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement: Improved Transition Designs PY - 2013/05 SP - 12p AB - A transition between a continuously reinforced concrete (CRC) pavement and any other type of pavement or structure needs to accommodate a gradual change in either the configuration or the structural capacity of the pavement cross section to maintain rideability, minimize or facilitate slab end movements, and minimize the potential for drainage-related issues to be a factor in performance. In CRC pavements, transitions are design measures to accommodate a uniform or gradual change in slab thickness, width, restraint, or movement (either vertically or horizontally) at a specific location with the intent of preventing early deterioration and minimizing the need for maintenance over the design life. The junction between a CRC pavement and any other type of pavement such as jointed concrete (JC) or asphalt concrete (AC) pavement or a bridge structure all require a reconfiguration of the pavement typical section to provide an acceptable transition (particularly in light of the magnitude of movements that potentially can take place). A variety of joint configurations and movements can be included in transitions, but those such as jointing details, tie bars, and dowels, along with other details of each transition type, are discussed in this document, which addresses the important factors that must be considered for transition design. KW - Continuously reinforced concrete pavements KW - Dowels (Fasteners) KW - Pavement design KW - Pavement joints KW - Pavement transition areas KW - Paving KW - Tie bars UR - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/concrete/pubs/hif13026.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1264835 ER - TY - RPRT AN - 01493950 AU - Pickerill, Heath AU - Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety/NUTC program AU - Research and Innovative Technology Administration TI - 2012 Missouri Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) at Missouri S&T PY - 2013/05//Final Report SP - 33p AB - This annual report is a summary of the activities during 2012 for the Missouri Local Technical Assistance Program (Missouri LTAP), which is located at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T). The report highlights Missouri LTAP’s performance and activities over the past year. It gives detailed information on how the four focus areas of the National LTAP Strategic Plan were met through training and various activities and projects. It also includes information on how Missouri LTAP accomplished the six tasks that support the four focus areas. Performance indicators for each of the tasks are included. The four focus areas and six tasks are covered in detail under the 2013 Work Plan. Further, this report contains information on the training provided, training summaries for 2012; summaries of Missouri LTAP’s advisory and ambassadors’ meetings; the 2013 Work Plan and the 2013 budget. KW - Local Technical Assistance Program KW - Missouri University of Science and Technology KW - Strategic planning KW - Technical assistance KW - Technology transfer KW - Training UR - http://transportation.mst.edu/media/research/transportation/documents/ETT291%20Final%20Report.pdf UR - https://trid.trb.org/view/1262559 ER -