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ItemDevelopment of a hardware-in-the-loop analysis framework for advanced ITS applications(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009-04-08) Roe, Matthew StephenAs Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) become more prevalent, there is a need for a system capable of the rigorous evaluation of new ITS strategies for a wide variety of applications. Pre-deployment testing and fine-tuning of the system, performance evaluation, and alternatives analysis are all potential benefits that could be gained through the evaluation of ITS. Simulation, an increasingly popular tool for transportation analysis, would seem an ideal solution to this problem as it allows for the consideration of many scenarios that may be improbable or impossible to observe in the field. Also, simulation provides a framework that allows for the application of rigorous analysis techniques to the output data, providing an accurate and statistically significant conclusion. The difficulty is that many ITS strategies are difficult or impossible to implement in a simulated environment. The rapid nature of technology development and the complicated nature of many ITS solutions are difficult to emulate in simulation models. Furthermore, the emulation of a particular ITS solution is not guaranteed to provide the same result that the physical system would, were it subject to the same inputs. This study seeks to establish a framework for the analysis of advanced ITS applications through the use of Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation (HILS), which provides a procedure for interfacing simulation models with real-world hardware to conduct analysis. This solution provides the benefits of both advanced ITS evaluation and simulation for powerful and accurate analysis. A framework is established that includes all the steps of the modeling process including construction, validation, calibration, and output analysis. This ensures that the process surrounding the HILS implementation is valid so that the results of the evaluation are accurate and defendable. Finally, a case study of the application of the developed framework to the evaluation, a real-world implementation of an advanced ITS application (SCATS in this case) is considered. The effectiveness of the framework in creating and evaluating a corridor using a simulation model wed to real-world hardware is shown. The results of the analysis show the power of this method when correctly applied and demonstrate where further analysis could expand upon the proposed procedure.
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ItemEquity issues in HOV-to-HOT conversion on I-85 North in Atlanta(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009-04-08) Zuyeva, Lyubov I.This paper examines the issues of equity, as applicable to the HOV-to-HOT conversion project planned for the I-85 North corridor in the Metropolitan Atlanta Region. A review of literature is undertaken to describe the typology of transportation equity issues within the wider context of environmental justice, and to highlight socio-economic factors and local and national transportation funding factors that influence people's travel choices and their mobility and accessibility options. Demographic data on the I-85 corridor peak period commuters in Metropolitan Atlanta is analyzed, in addition to results of focus groups polling current Metropolitan Atlanta interstate commuters on the topic of managed lanes during 2008. The thesis makes a conclusion that a final decision about the equity impact of the I-85 HOV-to-HOT conversion is likely not possible without undertaking a Metropolitan area-wide analysis. Some of the equity findings that emerge indicate that there are no significant income differences between the the HOV lane users and general purpose lane I-85 commuters; that there are differences between median incomes of block groups represented by current I-85 commuters (both HOV lane users and general purpose lane users) and median incomes of block groups typical for the base geography; and that investing in Xpress bus service improvements would primarily serve those households with more vehicles than drivers, unless improvements to reverse commute options and feeder bus networks are made. The focus group findings suggest that current interstate highway users in Metropolitan Atlanta, originating in the suburbs, are generally accepting of the HOT concept and recognize the value of travel time savings.
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ItemImpact of the location of new schools on transportation infrastructure and finance(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009-02-19) Wagner, James BartleyPublic school planning and land use planning have become increasingly separated fields over the last 35 years. This results in misaligned goals when school districts do not plan facilities that support a community's land use planning goals. The result is a disjointed growth pattern where new schools are built on the urban fringe and act as a magnet for new development that often goes against desired development patterns. Previous research on school locations and development patterns has focused on institutional barriers to cooperation and strategies to help local governments cooperate better with local land use planners. To date, there has been no significant research that attempts to quantify the relationship between school location and development patterns and the transportation infrastructure necessary to serve new development. This research shows that there is a relationship between school location and new development. Four counties in Georgia were selected as case studies and analyzed with a Geographic Information System (GIS) to determine the significance of the link between these activities. Counties were selected based on their character (urban, suburban, exurban, rural) and analyzed separately. An elementary school and high school were analyzed for each county. In addition, interviews with school facility planners were conducted to further define what institutional barriers prevent cooperation among local land use planners and school planners. It was found that there is a wide range of levels of cooperation between school planners and local planners. Some school districts had a formalized communication process with local planners, some had an ad-hoc communication process, and others had no process at all. Recommendations are made on ways to improve the cooperation between these two professional fields. This thesis also examines the link between education and transportation capital funding. Georgia lawmakers are struggling to determine what type of capital funding mechanism would be appropriate for new transportation projects, but these new projects may negatively impact educational funding, which is currently based on a sales tax.
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ItemEffect of high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes on mass vehicle emissions: an application to I-85 in Atlanta(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-07-10) Kall, DavidHigh Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes were recently proposed for I-85 in Atlanta as a way to relieve congestion and provide a reliable commute time for single occupant drivers that are willing to pay a toll. It is important to evaluate the air quality impacts of such a proposal to meet environmental regulations, such as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Transportation Conformity Regulations. The goal of this study is to understand how vehicle mass emissions change as a result of implementing HOT lanes on I-85 in Atlanta . This is done by considering a number of factors affect mass vehicle emissions, such as vehicle activity, vehicle speeds, vehicle age distributions, and vehicle class distributions. These factors are incorporated into a base scenario, which models the current condition on I-85 with HOV lanes, and a future scenario, which models the implementation of HOT lanes on this corridor. The base scenario mainly uses data from a data collection effort by Georgia Tech during the summer of 2007 on the I-85 corridor, while the future scenario makes alterations to these data using information from other cities that have already implemented HOT lanes. The MOBILE-Matrix modeling tool, which was recently developed by Georgia Tech [16], was used to run the emissions analysis using the input factors from these data sources. This tool calculated mass emissions for five pollutants: HC, NOx, CO, PM2.5, and PM10. The results show very small increases in mass emissions for NOx, CO, PM2.5, and PM10, and very small decreases in mass emissions for HC. Therefore, the implementation of HOT lanes on I-85 in Atlanta is unlikely to violate the Transportation Conformity Rule. For NEPA purposes, this analysis could be used to make the case that air quality impacts are not significant, and therefore further detailed analyses are not required.
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ItemImpossibility of Transit in Atlanta: GPS-Enabled Revealed-Drive Preferences and Modeled Transit Alternatives for Commute Atlanta Participants(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007-11-15) Zuehlke, Kai M.This thesis compared revealed-preference automobile morning work commute trip data from GPS-equipped instrumented vehicles of Commute Atlanta participants with transit commute alternatives identified in the regional planning model transit network. The Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual (TCQSM) travel time level of service (LOS) measure for transit was applied to these GPS automobile and modeled transit data. To quantify system-level transit availability, the TCQSM service coverage LOS was applied to the Atlanta region and Atlanta s transit service area LOS was calculated as C. Most of the commuters in this study would experience transit-auto travel time LOS of F. The analyses revealed that revealed automobile travel times were 45% shorter than the model-reported automobile travel time skims for the same origin and destination zones. Transit traces, calculated by manually tracing the trips from origin to destination via the most preferable transit mode, were about 24% longer than the minimum travel-demand-modeled transit skims. Only about 9% of commuters drove directly to work more than 95% of the time and only 6% of commuters left home within five minutes of their median departure time more than 95% of the time, indicating that the convenience and flexibility of the automobile is likely to be a significant element in these commute mode decisions. Commuters perceive the total transit trip time as between being 1.25 and 2.5 as long as the actual (modeled) time, and only about 25% of commuters could take transit without having to transfer. The calculated total cost of driving to work exceeded the cost of transit, but automobile operating costs alone did not exceed transit costs for about half the sample.
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ItemSafe Streets, Livable Streets: A Positive Approach to Urban Roadside Design(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2005-08-08) Dumbaugh, EricTransportation safety is a highly contentious issue in the design of cities and communities. To enhance community livability, urban designers, architects and city planners often encourage the placement of street trees, aesthetic street lights, and other roadside features in a buffer zone between the pedestrian realm and the vehicle travelway. While such designs clearly enhance the aesthetic quality of a roadway, conventional geometric design practice regards roadside features located in the clear zone as fixed-object hazards, and strongly discourages their use. This study examines roadside safety in urban environments to better understand the nature of urban fixed-object crashes, as well as the safety impacts of livable streetscape treatments. While the prevailing assumption is that livable street treatments have a negative impact on a roadways safety performance, the existing empirical evidence indicates that such designs are much safer than more conventional roadside designs. Current safety objections to the use of livable street treatments are not based on empirical evidence, but are instead the result of a design philosophy that systematically overlooks the real-world operating behavior of road users. This study details the origin and evolution of this philosophy, termed passive safety, and subjects it to an empirical test to evaluate its applicability to urban arterial roadways. It finds that passive safety assumptions do not meaningfully explain empirical observations of crash frequency and severity. To enhance contemporary geometric design practice, this study then proceeds to more thoroughly examine the nature and characteristics of urban roadside crashes, and proposes a new design approach, termed positive design that better addresses the twin goals of safety and livability.
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ItemTransit for National Parks and Gateway Communities: Impacts and Guidance(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2005-01-19) Dunning, Anne Elizabeth