The Second Strategic Highway Research Program America's highway system is critical to meeting the... more The Second Strategic Highway Research Program America's highway system is critical to meeting the mobility and economic needs of local communities, regions, and the nation. Developments in research and technology-such as advanced materials, communications technology, new data collection technologies, and human factors science-offer a new opportunity to improve the safety and reliability of this important national resource. Breakthrough resolution of significant transportation problems, however, requires concentrated resources over a short time frame. Reflecting this need, the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) has an intense, large-scale focus, integrates multiple fields of research and technology, and is fundamentally different from the broad, mission-oriented, discipline-based research programs that have been the mainstay of the highway research industry for half a century. The need for SHRP 2 was identified in TRB Special Report 260: Strategic Highway Research: Saving Lives, Reducing Congestion, Improving Quality of Life, published in 2001 and based on a study sponsored by Congress through the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). SHRP 2, modeled after the first Strategic Highway Research Program, is a focused, timeconstrained, management-driven program designed to complement existing highway research programs. SHRP 2 focuses on applied research in four areas: Safety, to prevent or reduce the severity of highway crashes by understanding driver behavior; Renewal, to address the aging infrastructure through rapid design and construction methods that cause minimal disruptions and produce lasting facilities; Reliability, to reduce congestion through incident reduction, management, response, and mitigation; and Capacity, to integrate mobility, economic, environmental, and community needs in the planning and designing of new transportation capacity.
... Final Report Prepared by Carissa Schively Slotterback John Hourdos ... Thanks also to Frank D... more ... Final Report Prepared by Carissa Schively Slotterback John Hourdos ... Thanks also to Frank Douma, Assistant Director of SLPP, for his contributions to discussions about the research focus, focus group organization, and sub-group facilitation during the focus groups. ...
Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2002
As ATMS deployment progresses in freeway corridors justification of ramp control as well as selec... more As ATMS deployment progresses in freeway corridors justification of ramp control as well as selection of the appropriate strategy are necessary as part of the overall planning process. However, rigorous tools to assist in the decision making are lacking. Clearly there is a need to develop better procedures to determine the effectiveness and justify ramp control as well as for a platform to test any improvements in the strategy prior to field deployment. In this paper we present a systematic methodology which was implemented for producing tangible and well-substantiated evidence that ramp metering is in fact effective. This was prompted by public opposition that threatened to abandon ramp metering as a traffic management option in the Twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul which is one of the most extensive in the nation. Two freeway sections were selected for detailed testing and the results along with the methodology are presented here. The results confirm that ramp metering is effective on the ramp/freeway system (not just the freeway) but they also revealed excessive delays on certain ramps that seem to support the concerns raised by a significant portion of the users. Simulation is the most widely accepted technique for achieving the stated objectives without turning the metering system off. Real life issues related to the simulation implementation process (data collection and filtering, calibration, interpreting/summarizing results, etc.), are also presented here along with ways to deal with them. Through the course of this work simulation reliability was established by defining a successful calibration/validation methodology and by identifying, through the process, certain operational problems related to the surveillance and control system deployed which were unknown. Finally the methodology is general and can easily be adapted to any user specified control strategy or used to improve an already existing one without field disruptions. * Wait larger than 5 minutes. ** Max Wait larger that 10 minutes. *** Max queue larger than 50 vehicles.
ABSTRACT In this paper a practical methodology is presented for selecting, testing and calibratin... more ABSTRACT In this paper a practical methodology is presented for selecting, testing and calibrating the most suitable adaptive ramp control strategy for freeway corridors. This methodology is part of a Traffic Management Laboratory (TRAMLAB) and can also be used for improving or fine tuning existing control strategies or developing new ones. The simulation part TRAMLAB is based on automating the use of simulation to the extent possible through the integration with a user defined external traffic management system and simplifying data entry through computer aided design. A simple application of the use of TRAMLAB is presented by implementing afield proven real time ramp control strategy and comparing it with the no-control alternative. Plans for using TRAMLAB for developing the next generation of the control strategy and other applications or enhancements are also presented
Transit services are currently facing several challenges in the United States and around the worl... more Transit services are currently facing several challenges in the United States and around the world. For many reasons, among which the fluctuations in gas prices and the state of the economy are the major ones, transit demand has noticed a considerable increase. The challenge that transit agencies are facing is to make these increases permanent by maintaining transit's competitive edge over the private vehicle with more dense and reliable service. Current methodologies for scheduling new as well as improving existing transit routes should be able to respond to the dynamic nature of urban traffic as it is evolving through ITS and more comprehensive traffic management strategies. In this research paper, we correlate travel time obtained from buses to travel time obtained from floating vehicles in the Twin Cities metropolitan region. This research helps to introduce more reliable estimates of travel time for planning new and competitive transit services. Specifically, this work studied two bus routes over a variety of different roadway types and traffic conditions and produced statistical models that can estimate travel time based on measurements collected from buses and regular vehicle probes. The generated models revealed the characteristics causing bus service to be generally slower. Altering bus route characteristics can reduce overall travel time and minimize the travel time disparity between buses and private vehicles. In particular, the models presented in this paper lend support to
The Second Strategic Highway Research Program America's highway system is critical to meeting the... more The Second Strategic Highway Research Program America's highway system is critical to meeting the mobility and economic needs of local communities, regions, and the nation. Developments in research and technology-such as advanced materials, communications technology, new data collection technologies, and human factors science-offer a new opportunity to improve the safety and reliability of this important national resource. Breakthrough resolution of significant transportation problems, however, requires concentrated resources over a short time frame. Reflecting this need, the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) has an intense, large-scale focus, integrates multiple fields of research and technology, and is fundamentally different from the broad, mission-oriented, discipline-based research programs that have been the mainstay of the highway research industry for half a century. The need for SHRP 2 was identified in TRB Special Report 260: Strategic Highway Research: Saving Lives, Reducing Congestion, Improving Quality of Life, published in 2001 and based on a study sponsored by Congress through the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). SHRP 2, modeled after the first Strategic Highway Research Program, is a focused, timeconstrained, management-driven program designed to complement existing highway research programs. SHRP 2 focuses on applied research in four areas: Safety, to prevent or reduce the severity of highway crashes by understanding driver behavior; Renewal, to address the aging infrastructure through rapid design and construction methods that cause minimal disruptions and produce lasting facilities; Reliability, to reduce congestion through incident reduction, management, response, and mitigation; and Capacity, to integrate mobility, economic, environmental, and community needs in the planning and designing of new transportation capacity.
... Final Report Prepared by Carissa Schively Slotterback John Hourdos ... Thanks also to Frank D... more ... Final Report Prepared by Carissa Schively Slotterback John Hourdos ... Thanks also to Frank Douma, Assistant Director of SLPP, for his contributions to discussions about the research focus, focus group organization, and sub-group facilitation during the focus groups. ...
Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2002
As ATMS deployment progresses in freeway corridors justification of ramp control as well as selec... more As ATMS deployment progresses in freeway corridors justification of ramp control as well as selection of the appropriate strategy are necessary as part of the overall planning process. However, rigorous tools to assist in the decision making are lacking. Clearly there is a need to develop better procedures to determine the effectiveness and justify ramp control as well as for a platform to test any improvements in the strategy prior to field deployment. In this paper we present a systematic methodology which was implemented for producing tangible and well-substantiated evidence that ramp metering is in fact effective. This was prompted by public opposition that threatened to abandon ramp metering as a traffic management option in the Twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul which is one of the most extensive in the nation. Two freeway sections were selected for detailed testing and the results along with the methodology are presented here. The results confirm that ramp metering is effective on the ramp/freeway system (not just the freeway) but they also revealed excessive delays on certain ramps that seem to support the concerns raised by a significant portion of the users. Simulation is the most widely accepted technique for achieving the stated objectives without turning the metering system off. Real life issues related to the simulation implementation process (data collection and filtering, calibration, interpreting/summarizing results, etc.), are also presented here along with ways to deal with them. Through the course of this work simulation reliability was established by defining a successful calibration/validation methodology and by identifying, through the process, certain operational problems related to the surveillance and control system deployed which were unknown. Finally the methodology is general and can easily be adapted to any user specified control strategy or used to improve an already existing one without field disruptions. * Wait larger than 5 minutes. ** Max Wait larger that 10 minutes. *** Max queue larger than 50 vehicles.
ABSTRACT In this paper a practical methodology is presented for selecting, testing and calibratin... more ABSTRACT In this paper a practical methodology is presented for selecting, testing and calibrating the most suitable adaptive ramp control strategy for freeway corridors. This methodology is part of a Traffic Management Laboratory (TRAMLAB) and can also be used for improving or fine tuning existing control strategies or developing new ones. The simulation part TRAMLAB is based on automating the use of simulation to the extent possible through the integration with a user defined external traffic management system and simplifying data entry through computer aided design. A simple application of the use of TRAMLAB is presented by implementing afield proven real time ramp control strategy and comparing it with the no-control alternative. Plans for using TRAMLAB for developing the next generation of the control strategy and other applications or enhancements are also presented
Transit services are currently facing several challenges in the United States and around the worl... more Transit services are currently facing several challenges in the United States and around the world. For many reasons, among which the fluctuations in gas prices and the state of the economy are the major ones, transit demand has noticed a considerable increase. The challenge that transit agencies are facing is to make these increases permanent by maintaining transit's competitive edge over the private vehicle with more dense and reliable service. Current methodologies for scheduling new as well as improving existing transit routes should be able to respond to the dynamic nature of urban traffic as it is evolving through ITS and more comprehensive traffic management strategies. In this research paper, we correlate travel time obtained from buses to travel time obtained from floating vehicles in the Twin Cities metropolitan region. This research helps to introduce more reliable estimates of travel time for planning new and competitive transit services. Specifically, this work studied two bus routes over a variety of different roadway types and traffic conditions and produced statistical models that can estimate travel time based on measurements collected from buses and regular vehicle probes. The generated models revealed the characteristics causing bus service to be generally slower. Altering bus route characteristics can reduce overall travel time and minimize the travel time disparity between buses and private vehicles. In particular, the models presented in this paper lend support to
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