Showing papers by "Mashrur Chowdhury published in 2015"

Potential of Intelligent Transportation Systems in Mitigating Adverse Weather Impacts on Road Mobility: A Review

Abstract: Adverse weather conditions for roads, which cause transportation systems to perform far below capacity, can severely affect society's economic output. As elimination of road weather events is not possible, transportation agencies perform proactive and reactive maintenance activities to minimize adverse impacts to keep roadways in optimum condition. While reactive maintenance activities are conducted to clear roadways after the occurrence of extreme weather events, proactive activities minimize these impacts beforehand. The success of proactive activities solely depends on the availability of accurate road weather information, however. Traditional road weather forecasting techniques rely on governmental weather services, which are not appropriate to predict route-specific road weather conditions. In this paper, the authors reviewed current intelligent transportation systems (ITS)-based solutions for minimizing road weather impacts and possible ITS innovations to incorporate diverse data sources to improve road weather management activities. ITS-based initiatives, such as road weather information system (RWIS), allow transportation agencies obtain accurate road weather assessments. Location-specific infrastructures such as RWIS are cost prohibitive for system-wide deployments. Connected vehicles equipped with weather sensors could enhance mobile road weather data collection. This strategy could improve proactive maintenance programs and reduce adverse effects of weather to the surface transportation system.

Improving the Efficacy of Car-Following Models With a New Stochastic Parameter Estimation and Calibration Method

Abstract: Microscopic roadway traffic simulators, which attempt to mimic real-world driver behaviors, are based on car-following models and have been widely used as a cost-effective tool for intelligent transportation system (ITS) evaluation. In addition to evaluation, ITSs can benefit from accurate car-following models that can provide current estimations and future predictions of various traffic situations to support real-time traffic management. The accuracy and reliability of these applications are greatly dependent on the appropriate calibration of car-following models. In this paper, the authors developed a process to apply a stochastic calibration method with appropriate regularization to estimate the distribution of parameters for car-following models. The calibration method is based on the Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation that uses the Bayesian estimation theory. An intelligent driver model and Helly's car-following model were utilized to evaluate this method. The Bayesian approach provided better results in terms of the cost function than the deterministic optimization algorithm. With the Bayesian approach, the mean square error per vehicle is decreased with the increased number of vehicles. Analysis also revealed that the Bayesian approach predicted drivers' speed and acceleration/deceleration profiles more closely to the real-world data compared with the deterministic approach evaluated in this paper. Positive validation outcomes suggest potential efficacy of the calibration approach presented in this paper for future applications.

Optimizing the performance of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) enabled battery electric vehicles through a smart charge scheduling model

Abstract: A smart charge scheduling model is presented for potential (1) vehicle-to-grid (V2G) enabled battery electric vehicle (BEV) owners who are willing to participate in the grid ancillary services, and (2) grid operators. Unlike most V2G implementations, which are considered from the perspective of power grid systems, this model includes a communication network architecture for connecting system components that supports both BEV owners and grid operators to efficiently monitor and manage the charging and ancillary service activities. This model maximizes the net profit to each BEV participant while simultaneously satisfying energy demands for his/her trips. The performance of BEVs using the scheduling model is validated by estimating optimal annual financial benefits under different scenarios. An analysis of popular BEV models revealed that one of the existing BEVs considered in the study can generate an annual regulation profit of $454, $394 and $318 when the average daily driving distance is 20 miles, 40 miles and 60 miles, respectively. All popular BEV models can completely compensate the energy cost and generate a positive net profit, through the application of the scheduling model presented in this paper, with an annual driving distance of approximately 15,000 miles. Simulation analysis indicated that the extra load distribution from the optimized BEV charging operations were well balanced compared to the unmanaged BEV operations.

Potentials of Online Media and Location-Based Big Data for Urban Transit Networks in Developing Countries:

Abstract: Big data, collected in the form of social media posts and mobile phone location tracking, have great potential to inform and manage the planning and operation of transit networks in developing countries. Data are widely available, but the challenge, as with developed countries, is figuring out how best to use it. A case study method was used to consider approaches in Nairobi, Kenya; Istanbul, Turkey; and Dhaka, Bangladesh. In Nairobi, GPS location data were collected to generate the first map of the complex Matatu transit network. In Istanbul, automated fare collection systems were processed to understand better the usage of a bus rapid transit system. In Dhaka, researchers were collecting GPS positioning data to manage the city bus networks. Residents of these developing cities were frequent users of online media, as in many cities in the developing countries. This study revealed that integration of online media with location-based data provided a big data scenario that had the potential for supporting t...

Infrastructure Damage-Cost-Recovery Fee for Overweight Trucks: Tradeoff Analysis Framework

Abstract: The rapid growth of freight traffic is now taxing a significant number of the U.S. national freight corridors. Additional demand accompanied by trucks over legal weight limits has been accelerating pavement and bridge deterioration at a faster rate than anticipated. States do not collect sufficient revenues to offset pavement and bridge damage caused by overweight trucks. As increase in overweight permit fee may affect different stakeholders positively and/or negatively, decision makers must develop policy options considering multiple conflicting objectives simultaneously. A multiobjective analysis approach [i.e., the e (epsilon)-constraint method] was applied to address conflicting objectives associated with overweight freight truck mobility and to identify rational overweight truck damage cost recovery fee options by generating detailed tradeoffs between these options. Bridge damage costs were estimated as fatigue damage using finite-element simulation models of bridge archetypes and pavement da...

Real-Time Information Dissemination Requirements for Illinois per New Federal Rule

Abstract: Travelers on U.S. freeways could now be better-informed than ever before, because of a new federal legislation. The Final Rule 23 CFR 511 has mandated that after November 8, 2014, states provide real-time traveler data along all limited-access roadways, and that traveler information must also be provided along routes of significance in all metropolitan areas (with populations exceeding one million) two years after that. Furthermore, this law requires information be available 90% of the time, with an 85% rate of accuracy. This study was conducted, with the collaboration from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), to provide guidance on meeting the new rule effectively and quantifiably. To amass the necessary data, the authors reviewed published documents on the topic and conducted interviews and conference calls with stakeholders throughout the rural and urban transportation districts of Illinois to identify the routes that require real-time information, information sharing needs and possible changes and updates to intelligent transportation systems (ITS) architectures. Moreover, an online survey was conducted to gather information on different practices addressing the requirements of 23 CFR 511 in other state departments of transportation (DOTs). After gathering information from these sources, researchers recommended best strategies to satisfy the real-time traveler information dissemination requirements in Illinois. Accordingly, the routes requiring real-time information and the measures of effectiveness were identified, including methods to quantify accuracy and availability. Revisions to the ITS architectures relating to Illinois were proposed along with new interfaces that need to be added. The outcome of this study includes methods by which the quality of travel information for Illinois roadways can be measured by IDOT. In addition, this study proposed recommendations for archiving data, revising policy documents, updating ITS architectures, reviewing compliance with 23 CFR 511, and deploying infrastructure, all of which provide guidance towards complying with the 23 CFR 511 requirements.

Incident Command System Strategies for Incident Management on Freeways: A Simulation Analysis

Abstract: Incident Command System (ICS) has become a primary tool used to reduce the impact of non- recurrent traffic congestion due to traffic incidents on major roadways such as interstates. Longer incident clearance time comes with notable delay to motorists and an increase in the likelihood of a secondary incident that is often more severe than the initial congestion-causing incident. Incident management and clearance involve multi-agency emergency response including representatives from the state department of transportation, highway patrol, fire service, emergency medical service, towing, and hazardous-spill cleanup services. The traditional incident management approach is a step-by-step approach, largely performed independently with limited coordination among involved agencies. To minimize the incident response time, it is essential that every agency involved in the response operation work effectively and efficiently. In this study, an inter-agency communication framework was developed to improve the coordination among involved agencies in South Carolina. This research investigates the effectiveness of these multi-agency coordinated ICS strategies for managing traffic incidents in South Carolina by considering their potential impacts in reducing incident duration. Traffic micro-simulation models were developed to analyze the impact of three ICS strategies on total incident duration. A benefit cost analysis revealed that the benefits of each ICS strategy far outweigh the cost of implementation.

Quantification of Accelerated Pavement Serviceability Reduction Due to Overweight Truck Traffic

Abstract: Dwindling revenue sources force transportation engineers to implement less durable solutions to distribute limited resources to the most critical and competing maintenance and development projects. However, implementing less durable solutions often increases the infrastructure life cycle costs. Several recent studies have found that a significant portion of truck traffic operates with weights above legal weight limits, which are not considered in current pavement design practices. These overweight trucks cause accelerated pavement deterioration. In this study, authors investigated the deterioration of pavements to quantify relative pavement damage attributed to overweight trucks compared to trucks within legal weight limits. In South Carolina, weigh-in-motion data revealed that 8.3% trucks were either axle overweight or gross vehicle overweight. To accommodate these 8.3% overweight trucks, which are not considered in the current equivalent single axle load (ESAL) based design method, the hot-mix asphalt (HMA) base layer thickness should be increased by 1% to 6% depending on the roadway functional class. The mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide (MEPDG)-based analysis showed that all types of pavement distress increase with increasing truck gross vehicle weight. Among all distress types, fatigue cracking (top-down and bottom-up) was more sensitive to overweight trucks (up to the typical overweight permit limit) compared to rutting and international roughness index (IRI). Similarly, cracking was more sensitive to trucks loaded above typical overweight permit limit (i.e., superload) compared to rutting or IRI. To maximize the infrastructure service life and minimize life cycle costs, transportation agencies should consider accelerated pavement deterioration due to overweight trucks in pavement design.

State Efforts Towards the Real-Time Systems Management Information Program Requirements for Travel Time

Abstract: Federal Regulation 23 CFR 511 promises to improve the traveler information that assists motorists to make better travel decisions. In accordance with this regulation, all state departments of transportation (DOTs) are required to provide real-time traveler information including construction activity, lane blocking incidents, adverse weather conditions, and travel times on certain facilities, by November 8, 2014. In this study, the researchers used an online survey to collect information from State DOTs and their associated representatives from the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). A survey was distributed electronically to FHWA representatives, State DOT Operations Engineers, and State DOT Intelligent Transportation Systems Coordinators who were active in the implementation in their agency’s real-time systems management information program. The survey results illustrated that, processing of field data into travel times is most frequently done with software from vendors, and the majority of the agencies currently meet the accuracy thresholds required by the new law. The findings also revealed some practices that require improvement, including methods for identifying inaccurate travel times and the use of statistics for data sampling purposes. Overall the findings of this study are relevant to both practitioners and researchers because they detail current reported practices of how DOTs are collecting, processing, and disseminating travel time data, and how DOTs are measuring the quality of the data.