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Sponsor: USDOT/UTC

Assessing the Impacts of Truck Traffic on Residential Property Values: A Southern California Case Study. Dissertation Grant for PhD Candidate Wei Li

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

August 1, 2009 - December 31, 2010

Principal Investigator

Jean-Daniel Saphores

Project Team

Wei Li

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

USDOT/UTC // UCTC Dissertation Fellowship: 7070
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Areas of Expertise

Freight, Logistics, & Supply Chain Travel Behavior, Land Use, & the Built Environment

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Related Publications

Phd Dissertation | Jan 2011

Assessing Benefits and Costs of Urban Environmental Attributes in a Hedonic Framework: Three Southern California Case Studies

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Research Grant – Inchul Yang

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

August 1, 2009 - March 31, 2011

Principal Investigator

R. (Jay) Jayakrishnan

Project Team

Inchul Yang

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

USDOT/UTC // UCTC Dissertation Fellowship: 7084
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Areas of Expertise

Intelligent Transportation Systems, Emerging Technologies, & Big Data

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Project Summary

A multi-agent Advanced Traffic Management and Information Systems (ATMIS) framework is proposed. Multiple private traffic information service providers cooperate or compete with each other in the ATIS market which most existing studies look at as a one-supplier system, mostly run by a public agency. Subscribers to private information services become probe vehicles and report traffic data as well as travel diaries (individual path-based data) to the private vendors. A Traffic Management Center (TMC), i.e., public agency optimizes network-wide traffic signal controls, for which a dynamic traffic optimization model (or algorithm) is developed in an integrated fashion at the network level on the basis of path- based data with traffic information supply and route guidance. In the framework, the private companies provide the path-based data used in the traffic signal optimization model to the public agency and in return get the optimized traffic signal control plans which are essential in predicting future traffic conditions. The study is simulation-based, as the path-based data collection systems are only expected in the near-future. The study results are expected to develop insights on the benefits from such cooperative public-private operations and provide the impetus for private and public investment in the necessary data collection infrastructure. 

Related Publications

Phd Dissertation | Jan 2011

The Interplay of Urban Traffic Route Guidance, Network Control and Driver Response: A Convergent Algorithmic and Model-based Framework

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Spring 2010 Dissertation Award – Lima Koptich

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

August 1, 2010 - July 31, 2011

Principal Investigator

Jean-Daniel Saphores

Project Team

Lima Kopitch

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

USDOT/UTC // UCTC Dissertation Fellowship: 7484
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Areas of Expertise

Infrastructure Delivery, Operations, & Resilience

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Project Summary

Accidents are the largest source of external costs related to transportation with an estimated annual cost that exceeds $200 billion in the United States alone. Accidents lead to traffic backups that can result in secondary accidents.  The purpose of this project is to investigate empirically whether the implementation of Changeable Message Signs (CMS), which belong to Intelligent Transportation System tools, can reduce secondary collisions by providing motorists with real-time traffic information. I will first review previously published methods of estimating secondary accidents to clarify the definition of secondary accidents and offer improvements. I will then study a 74-mile portion of Interstate 5 from the Mexico-US border to Orange County, CA that has 12 CMS, 3 of which are in southbound direction.  This freeway has 4 to 6 lanes in each direction, and a maximum AADT volume of 230,000 vehicles. For this study area, I put together a unique dataset that includes accident data for year 2008 combined with detailed weather data.  I will rely on counting and regression models to estimate the number of secondary incidents based on the number of primary accidents, weather conditions, time of day, traffic conditions and the availability of information.

Related Publications

Phd Dissertation | Jan 2011

An Analysis of the Impact of an Incident Management System on Secondary Incidents on Freeways - An Application to the I-5 in California

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Gender Differences in Non-Work Travel Behavior: Interaction between Land Use and Sociodemographic Characteristics

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

April 1, 2011 - March 31, 2012

Principal Investigator

Marlon Boarnet

Project Team

Hsin Hsu

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

USDOT/UTC // UCTC Dissertation Fellowship: 7567
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Areas of Expertise

Travel Behavior, Land Use, & the Built Environment

Related Publications

Phd Dissertation | Jan 2013

Choices and Constraints: Gender Differences in Travel Behavior

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An Activity-Based Assessment of Bounds of Alternative Fuel Vehicles & Infrastructure

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

April 1, 2011 - June 30, 2012

Principal Investigator

Will Recker

Project Team

Jee Eun (Jamie) Kang

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

USDOT/UTC // UCTC Dissertation Fellowship: 7568
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Areas of Expertise

Travel Behavior, Land Use, & the Built Environment Zero-Emission Vehicles & Low-Carbon Fuels

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Related Publications

Phd Dissertation | Jan 2013

Integration of Locational Decisions with the Household Activity Pattern Problem and Its Applications in Transportation Sustainability

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published journal article | Dec 2009

An activity-based assessment of the potential impacts of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on energy and emissions using 1-day travel data
Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment

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UCTC Fellowships (SAFETEA-LU)

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

September 1, 2005 - July 1, 2012

Principal Investigator

Will Recker

Project Team

Joseph Chow, Kent Hymel, Lima Kopitch, Mark Kutzbach, Lawrence Liu, Joseph Molinaro, Vivek Pai, J Paul Townley, Mei-Ting (May) Tsai, Daji Yuan, Janie Dullard, Sarah Hernandez, Ali Yavari, David Kim, Paul Harer

Sponsor, Program

USDOT/UTC // UCTC Dissertation Fellowship
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Project Summary

Fellowships provided under UCTC (SAFETEA-LU)

Related Publications

Phd Dissertation | Jan 2010

Flexible management of transportation networks under uncertainty

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Performance Analysis and Control Design for On-Ramp Metering of Active Merging Bottlenecks

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

April 20, 2015 - March 31, 2016

Principal Investigator

Wenlong Jin

Project Team

Anupam Srivastava, Marc Carrillo, Felipe De Souza, Shizhe Shen, Yue Zhou, Xuting Wang, Qinglong (Louis) Yan

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

USDOT/UTC // UCCONNECT Caltrans Match: 8799
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Areas of Expertise

Infrastructure Delivery, Operations, & Resilience Intelligent Transportation Systems, Emerging Technologies, & Big Data

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Project Summary

The complex interplay among merging, lane-changing, and accelerating behaviors plays an important role in determining the performance of a congested merging area. Especially, once a merging bottleneck is activated, the discharging flow-rate can drop by 10% (about 800 vph on a four-lane freeway); such a capacity drop can lead to excessive traffic queues and stop-and-go traffic patterns and increase fuel consumption and GHG emissions. The objective of this research is to analyze the performance and design the control parameters for both pretimed and traffic-responsive on-ramp metering of congested merging bottlenecks. In this research we will (1) quantify the congestion mitigation effects of different ramp metering algorithms at an active merging bottleneck, (2) design control parameters for efficient and robust traffic responsive ramp metering algorithms, (3) identify demand patterns when ramp metering algorithms are effective, and (4) develop a set of simple decision-support tools for ramp metering with both kinematic wave models and microscopic simulations. The research will help Caltrans to make decisions on the necessity, priority, algorithm, and parameter tuning related to ramp metering.

Related Publications

policy brief | Oct 2016

Performance Analysis and Control Design for On-ramp Metering of Active Merging Bottlenecks

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The Effectiveness of State and Local Incentives on Household Ownership of Alternative Fuel Vehicles – A SEM Analysis

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

April 20, 2015 - March 31, 2016

Principal Investigator

Jean-Daniel Saphores

Project Team

Harya Dillon, Ke Wang

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

USDOT/UTC // UCCONNECT Caltrans Match: 65A0529 TO 024
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Areas of Expertise

Transportation Economics, Funding, & Finance Zero-Emission Vehicles & Low-Carbon Fuels

Team Departmental Affiliation

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Project Summary

The purpose of this project is to analyze the impact of state and local incentives on household ownership of alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) using generalized path analysis and structural equation models (SEM) while accounting for residential self-selection and demographic characteristics. Incentives include parking privileges, HOV access exemption, income tax credit, sales tax, and rebates. Two public datasets will be analyzed: the 2009 NHTS and the 2012 CHTS. They will be supplemented with household location information already available to the PI (via request to FHWA for the NHTS and thanks to a Caltrans contract for the CHTS), land use data, and information about incentive programs. To correctly account for incentive impacts, we will restrict our analysis to households who purchased a vehicle during the year when either survey was conducted. Understanding the effectiveness of various government policies is important at a time when there is increased interest in promoting AFVs/HEVs to address our dependence on foreign oil, air pollution and global warming.

Related Publications

research report | Mar 2017

The effectiveness of state and local incentives on household ownership of alternative fuel vehicles - a SEM analysis

Read more

Experimental Studies for Traffic Incident Management

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

May 1, 2015 - March 31, 2016

Principal Investigator

David Brownstone

Project Team

Michael McBride, Si-Yuan Kong, Amine Mahmassani

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

USDOT/UTC // UCCONNECT Caltrans Match: 8817
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Areas of Expertise

Infrastructure Delivery, Operations, & Resilience Intelligent Transportation Systems, Emerging Technologies, & Big Data

Team Departmental Affiliation

Economics

Project Summary

Traffic incidents and other unexpected disruptions on roadways lead to extensive delays that diminish the quality of life for those that live and/or work in major cities nationwide. The effective management of these incidents is hindered by an incomplete understanding about how drivers respond toinformation provided by network operators. We propose using economic experiments involving human subjects and a networked, realistic driving simulation to directly study driver behavior in response to information dissemination and pricing schemes designed to manage congestion in traffic networks. Specifically, our study will focus on two mechanisms of management: the use of variable message systems (VMS) and the use of roadway pricing to induce diversion to alternate routes. Our pilot study demonstrates the ability of our platform to elicit reasonable driving behavior from subjects and will guide the implementation and refinement of our ful experiment. Messaging scheme improvements for use with extant VMS infrastructure could provide a low-cost tool for general incident management, while insights into messaging/pricing synergies could provide new strategies for the management of tolled facilities.

Rail and the California Economy

Status

Complete

Project Timeline

May 1, 2015 - September 1, 2016

Principal Investigator

David Brownstone

Project Team

Yue (Ethan) Sun, Paul Stroik

Sponsor, Program & Award Number

USDOT/UTC // UCCONNECT Caltrans Match: 8942
(Subcontract to UC Berkeley)

Areas of Expertise

Public Transit, Shared Mobility, & Active Transportation Transportation Economics, Funding, & Finance

Team Departmental Affiliation

Economics

Project Summary

To inform decisions on the above matters, and more generally to support development of the new California State Rail Plan, in this task order, we will document, analyze, and quantify the contribution of the California rail system to the state’s economy.

Related Publications

research report | Jan 2017

Rail and the California economy

Read more

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