MS Thesis
Study of the impacts of variable speed limits on travel time, fuel consumption and emissions in a lane drop scenario / by Alejandro Bayas Fernández.
Publication Date
January 1, 2009
Archives: Research Products
Phd Dissertation
An Empirical Study of Alternative Fuel Vehicle Choice by Commercial Fleets: Lessons in Transportation Choices, and Public Agencies' Organization
Publication Date
January 1, 1996
Associated Projects
Author(s)
Areas of Expertise
Abstract
The concern about air pollution has led government agencies to design and implement mandates to replace some commercial fleets’ gasoline vehicles with Alternative Fuel Vehicles (AFVs). In Part One of this dissertation, I investigate the diffusion of AFV’s in the commercial sector. Commercial fleets are frequently the first target of government regulation because policy agencies can target a large number of vehicles while regulating fewer establishments relative to the household sector. Using stated preference survey data from over 2000 commercial and local government fleets in California, I estimate multinomial logit and nested logit models of fuel choice that predict the probability of choosing each type of AFV. Given certain assumptions about vehicle technology, these models predict that starting in year 2010, almost 17% of new vehicle purchases by the commercial and local government fleets will be electric, about 20% will be compressed natural gas, and almost 21% will be methanol vehicles. I find that fuel choice probabilities differ depending on the market structure. Public agencies seem to be more AFV friendly than private firms. Important factors in fleet vehicle choice are the degree of familiarity of the firm’s staff with the AFV operation, the size of the establishment, government regulations, and the availability of the refueling infrastructure. In Part Two, I review hypotheses about the determinants of local government agencies’ efficiency and use the stated preference survey data to test these hypotheses. Public choice models predict systematic differences among government agencies regarding their cost considerations and sensitivity to environmental issues. The empirical evidence identifies two factors that affect government agencies’ performance. The first factor is jurisdiction: an agency that has a more rigid boundary, such as a city or a county, seems to operate more efficiently than an agency that has more flexible geographic boundaries, as is the case with the special districts. The second factor is direct citizen voting: an agency director who is subject to re-election seems to coordinate a more efficient agency operation than one that is appointed to the job as a career position.
Suggested Citation
Soheila Crane (1996) An Empirical Study of Alternative Fuel Vehicle Choice by Commercial Fleets: Lessons in Transportation Choices, and Public Agencies' Organization. PhD Dissertation. UC Irvine. Available at: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8pt2j499.Related Publications
Phd Dissertation |
Jun 1993
Commuting behavior of two-worker households in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
Phd Dissertation |
Jun 1995
Citizens near the path of least resistance: Travel behavior of Century Freeway corridor residents
Phd Dissertation |
Jun 1995
A microsimulation model for evaluating the environmental impact of alternative-fuel vehicles
Phd Dissertation |
Jun 1996
An Activity-Based Approach to Accessibility
conference paper
Freight transportation contracting under uncertainty
Proceedings of the 88th annual meeting of the transportation research board
Publication Date
January 1, 2009
Author(s)
Abstract
Uncertainties in transportation capacity and costs pose a significant challenge for both shippers and carriers in the trucking industry. One way to hedge these uncertainties is to use concepts from the theory of Real Options to craft derivative contracts, which the authors call truckload options in this paper. In its simplest form, a truckload call (put) option gives its holder the right to buy (sell) truckload services on a specific route, at a predetermined price on a predetermined date. The holder decides if a truckload option should be exercised depending on information available when the option expires. Truckload options are not yet available, however, so the purpose of this paper is to develop a truckload options pricing model and to show the usefulness of truckload options to both shippers and carriers. Since the price of a truckload option depends on the spot price of a truckload, the authors first model the dynamics of spot rates using a common stochastic process. Unlike financial markets where high frequency data are available, spot prices for trucking services are not public and the authors can only observe some monthly statistics. This complicates slightly the estimation of necessary parameters, which the authors obtain via two independent methods (variogram analysis and maximum likelihood), before developing a truckload options pricing formula. A numerical example based on real data shows that truckload options would be quite valuable to the trucking industry.
Suggested Citation
Mei-Ting Tsai, Jean-Daniel Saphores and Amelia Regan (2009) “Freight transportation contracting under uncertainty”, in Proceedings of the 88th annual meeting of the transportation research board, p. 14p.
published journal article
A response to comments on “What planners know: Using surveys about local land use regulation to understand housing development”
Journal of The American Planning Association
Publication Date
March 1, 2020
Author(s)
Paul G. Lewis, Nicholas Marantz
Suggested Citation
Paul G. Lewis and Nicholas J. Marantz (2020) “A response to comments on “What planners know: Using surveys about local land use regulation to understand housing development””, Journal of The American Planning Association, 86(2), pp. 270–271. Available at: 10.1080/01944363.2020.1725257. conference paper
Bluetooth OD estimation study: Using Bluetooth technology to determine travel patterns for university setting
Proceedings of the university of california transportation center student conference, UC davis
Publication Date
April 1, 2012
Author(s)
J. Kuo, J. Bui, J. Tong, Sarah Hernandez, Stephen Ritchie
Suggested Citation
J. Kuo, J. Bui, J. Tong, S. Hernandez and S.G. Ritchie (2012) “Bluetooth OD estimation study: Using Bluetooth technology to determine travel patterns for university setting”, in Proceedings of the university of california transportation center student conference, UC davis. published journal article
A method for relating type of crash to traffic flow characteristics on urban freeways
Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
Publication Date
January 1, 2004
Author(s)
Abstract
(A) method is developed to determine how crash characteristics are related to, traffic flow conditions at the time of occurrence. Crashes are described in terms of the type and location of the collision, the number of vehicles involved, movements of these vehicles prior to collision, and severity. Traffic flow is characterized by central tendencies and variations of traffic flow and flow/occupancy for three different lanes at the time and place of the crash. The method involves nonlinear canonical correlation applied together with cluster analyses to identify traffic flow regimes with distinctly different crash taxonomies. A case study using data for more than 1000 crashes in Southern California identified twenty-one traffic flow regimes for three different ambient conditions: dry roads during daylight (eight regimes), dry roads at night (six regimes), and wet conditions (seven regimes). Each of these regimes has a unique profile in terms of the type of crashes that are most likely to occur, and a matching of traffic flow parameters and crash characteristics reveals ways in which congestion affects highway safety. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Suggested Citation
Thomas F Golob and Wilfred W Recker (2004) “A method for relating type of crash to traffic flow characteristics on urban freeways”, Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 38(1), pp. 53–80. Available at: 10.1016/j.tra.2003.08.002. MS Thesis
Data Analysis of the 2000 SCAG Post-Census Regional Travel Survey and the 2010-2012 California Household Travel Survey
Publication Date
January 1, 2015
Author(s)
Abstract
Results from the 2000 SCAG Post-Census Regional Travel Survey and the 2010-2012 California Household Travel Survey are used to study the demographics and characteristics of Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties. Graphs for each county are created to show pertinent data to transportation applications, such as the average number of vehicles a household owns or how many trips certain individuals make in one day. Studying both sets of data gives perspective on how the SCAG region has evolved over 12 years. The overwhelming majority of trips are still traveled by personal vehicle, despite walking trips seeing an increase over 2000, and trips are more frequent overall.
Suggested Citation
Andrew Kimble Timothy (2015) Data Analysis of the 2000 SCAG Post-Census Regional Travel Survey and the 2010-2012 California Household Travel Survey. MS Thesis. University of California, Irvine. Available at: https://uci.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CDL_IRV_INST/17uq3m8/alma991023228619704701. working paper
Towards Distributed Data Collection and Peer-to-Peer Data Sharing
Publication Date
August 1, 2002
Author(s)
Working Paper
UCI-ITS-WP-02-15, UCI-ITS-AS-WP-02-15
Abstract
Two recent technological events should be examined more closely for their applicability to ATMIS and other ITS systems. First, the recent rise of wireless LAN protocols such as 802.11b should be studied for use in a vehicle context. Second, the rise and fall of Napster, followed by increased development on more decentralized protocols such as Gnutella and Freenet are leading to an increasingly robust peer-to-peer platforms. This paper argues that peer-to-peer communication and local area wireless networks should play a central role in any system to distribute traveler information services. Instead, the National ITS Architecture makes no mention of peer-to-peer information exchange, relegating local area wireless connections to vehicle control.
Suggested Citation
James E. Marca, Craig R. Rindt and Michael G. McNally (2002) Towards Distributed Data Collection and Peer-to-Peer Data Sharing. Working Paper UCI-ITS-WP-02-15, UCI-ITS-AS-WP-02-15. Institute of Transportation Studies, Irvine. Available at: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6kt6q702. working paper
Structural Equation Modeling of Travel Choice Dynamics
Publication Date
June 1, 1988
Author(s)
Working Paper
UCI-ITS-WP-88-13, UCI-ITS-AS-WP-88-1
Abstract
This research has two objectives. The first objective is to explore the use of the modeling tool called “latent structural equations” (structural equations with latent variables) in the general field of travel behavior analysis and the more specific field of dynamic analysis of travel behavior. The second objective is to apply a latent structural equation model in order to determine the causal relationships between income, car ownership, and mobility. Many transportation researchers might be unfamiliar with latent structural equation modeling, which is also known as “latent structural analysis,” “causal analysis,” and “soft modeling.” However, most researchers will be quite familiar with techniques that are special cases of latent structural equations: e.g., conventional multiple regression and simultaneous equations, path analysis, and (confirmatory) factor analysis. Furthermore, recent advances in estimation techniques have made it possible to incorporate discrete choice variables and other non-normal variables in structural equations models. Thus, probit choice models (binomial, ordered, and multinomial) can be incorporated within the general model framework. The empirical analysis reported here involves dynamic travel demand data from the Dutch National Mobility Panel for the three years 1984 through 1986. All variables in the model, with the exception of income level in the first year, are endogenous: income is treated as an ordinal (four category) variable; car ownership is treated as either an ordinal (ordered probit) or a categorical (multinomial probit) choice variable; and mobility, in terms of car trips and public transport trips, is treated as two censored (tobit) continuous variables. The model fits the data well, but only scratches the surface of the potential of latent structural equation modeling with panel data. Some possible extensions are outlined.
Suggested Citation
Thomas F. Golob (1988) Structural Equation Modeling of Travel Choice Dynamics. Working Paper UCI-ITS-WP-88-13, UCI-ITS-AS-WP-88-1. Institute of Transportation Studies, Irvine. Available at: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8kg9s6zb. research report
Academic Advisory Panel: Peer Review and Validation of the Five Big Moves
Publication Date
November 24, 2020
Associated Project
Author(s)
Final Report
Contract 5005881
Areas of Expertise
Abstract
This report documents the work conducted by the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Irvine (ITS-Irvine) for the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) under contract 5005881 between February 20th, 2020 and November 30th, 2020. This project focused on providing SANDAG with the latest research, data, and tools that can be used to support the development of the SANDAG 2021 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), with a focus on identifying how the advances in technology, coupled with public policy can enable the region to rethink and to maximize the coordination between land use and transportation planning and, in particular, operationalizing off-model methodologies for use in SANDAG’s submission of the Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) methodology to the California Air Resources Board (CARB).