Sasanka Bhushan Pulipati

Bio: Sasanka Bhushan Pulipati is an academic researcher from University of Texas at Arlington. The author has contributed to research in topics: Fuel tax & Revenue. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 4 publications receiving 18 citations.

Evaluation of cell phone induced driver behavior at a type II dilemma zone

Abstract: Cell phone usage may impair a driver’s decision-making at a dilemma zone. This research seeks to identify the impact of cell phone usage on different dilemma zone driver behaviors. Participants wer...

Evaluating state level transportation revenue alternatives

Abstract: Numerous studies have investigated the state of transportation funding in US states and forecasted a significant funding deficiency. Reasons for this include the lack of political will to increase the rates of fuel taxes, the loss in purchasing power of the fuel tax due to inflation, and the reduction in revenue due to increased use of alternative fuel vehicles. Possible options to generate the additional revenue to fill this funding gap range from modifying existing taxes and fees to implementing new revenue sources. However, determining what to do and offering policy recommendations can be challenging and may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The authors’ critical review of the methods used by earlier studies that evaluate revenue generation strategies at the state level reveals a lack of systematic analysis. In response, the authors propose the use of a systematic multi-criteria analysis (MCA) as a better decision support tool. The MCA is argued to be an improvement over current methods because the best funding strategy depends not only on revenue generation but also on other parameters such as fairness and ease of implementation. To support the argument, the authors conduct a comprehensive multi-criteria evaluation of transportation revenue generation alternatives for the State of Texas. The authors’ criteria system provides a better platform for including the priorities of stakeholders and policy makers at different levels. Including an outranking method such as PROMETHEE and a scenario analysis, the evaluation becomes more objective and more transparent. This enables the decision makers to more effectively compare the competing objectives of different alternatives. The authors discuss the drawbacks of the recent transportation funding decisions made by the Texas Legislature and highlight how the systematic evaluation can improve decision making. The authors recommend that states follow the systematic evaluation of funding options described in this paper, which can provide policy makers and the public a better understanding of the pros and cons of the funding options thereby helping them to select the most suitable funding strategy.

Multi-Criteria Evaluation of Surface Transportation Funding Alternatives Based on a Delphi Survey of Experts

Abstract: The authors use a multi-criteria evaluation technique called PROMETHEE to evaluate different transportation funding options for state implementation; these include increasing the fuel tax, increasing the sales tax, increased use of tolling or replacing the fuel tax with a tax on vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This evaluation utilizes the authors’ previous research, which uses an expert panel of officials who participate in making state transportation funding policy decisions, to establish criteria and weights; in contrast, the panels in other studies have relied more on business leaders. The authors consider variations of the above mentioned alternatives and score them based on their relative performance on the criteria with the help of previous literature. Due to their stronger performance with respect to ease of implementation, equity and public acceptance, the authors recommend increasing the fuel tax steadily and tolling all new freeway capacity; while gradually moving towards congestion based tolls on all toll roads as the set of future funding options requiring further investigation. Contrary to previous research, this study shows that the replacement of the fuel tax with a tax on VMT is not preferred because one of its proposed main advantages, its ability to promote efficient transportation use, is given very low importance by the expert panel members in selecting a funding strategy. The authors also confirm that three criteria, the user-pay equity, the ease of explaining to the public and the acceptability to the public, which may be assessed through surveys or directly quantified, perform effectively as screening criteria.

A Risk Allocation Model for Construction Projects in Yemen

Abstract: Construction projects in Yemen always experience high levels of risk due to their complex and dynamic environments This, in turn, impacts projects in both time and cost Obviously, risk allocation is usually poorly assigned to project parties; leading to terrible disputes among them Moreover, there are no suitable risk allocation models that suit the nature of Yemen's construction industry This work endeavors to propose and apply a Risk Allocation Model (RAM), based on a simple mechanism for allocating critical risks to the responsible party in the project In addition, the RAM aims to compare among projects, which is more risky The construction of RAM is based on Delphi method by the expert's judgment of construction projects Fifty four risk factors, over ten groups, are identified and used in the model development All factors are analyzed and weighted by deploying Weighted Risk Factor (WRF) which combines the effect of a risk factor probability and its effect on time and cost The model results identified the most important risk factors to be allocated to owner, contractor or shared between them, as well as the suitable risk action for each factor The model is applied on a real case study through two construction projects in Yemen to test the validation A complete comparison between the two projects is presented and a decision is introduced for contractor based on projects time and cost overruns, WRF, and risk allocated to contractor The results emphasized that the model is easy to understand and use by the parties involved in construction projects Further, it is characterized by flexibility in the event of variables The RAM outcomes thus help decision-makers to come to the appropriate decision during the trade-off among different projects Keywords: Risk allocation, Delphi method, Construction projects, Decision-making, Yemen

Integrated AHP-TOPSIS Method for the Assessment of Health Management Information Systems Efficiency

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to analyse and estimate the efficiency of health information systems in the provision of health care services. The evaluation of health information systems is conducted in the case of three most widely used softwares in the electronic health care. This evaluation is based on multi-criteria analysis of the health information systems efficiency using the AHP-TOPSIS method. This method, based on common attributes and their respective values for all three software solutions, individually determines the best rated software solution. Top rated software solution of electronic health care is not necessarily the best for the implementation and development, given the fact that each health care organisation has its own characteristics. Functional and evolutionary-minded hardware and software applicative infrastructure contributes to the consistency of electronic health concept that all system users provides a comfortable software solutions, which ultimately leads to the timely and quick medical services in real time.

Etude sur la « gratuité » des transports en commun à Paris

Abstract: L’objectif de cette etude est de realiser une revue de la litterature sur les effets qu’il faut attendre de la mise en oeuvre d’une mesure de gratuite generalisee des transports en commun sur la pression automobile dans l’agglomeration parisienne. Pour repondre a cette question, nous avons croise les regards que l’economie et la sociologie ont pu porter sur le sujet. Nous avons commence par revenir sur les raisons pour lesquelles il est important d’inciter a l’utilisation des transports en commun. Premierement, nous soulignons l’importance de reduire la pression automobile dans les villes en discutant les principales externalites qu’elle genere. Deuxiemement, nous presentons l’incidence de l’utilisation des transports en commun sur ces externalites. Nous mettons en evidence que l’utilisation des transports en commun reduit la congestion et la pollution de l’air, augmente l’activite economique et peut attenuer les decalages spatiaux. Nous avons ensuite realise une meta-analyse de la litterature traitant de la gratuite des transports en commun. Nous avons liste, de maniere systematique, les articles sur le sujet, ce qui nous a permis d’identifier quelques 478 articles. Parmi ces articles, seuls 10 articles scientifiques traitent de la gratuite totale et 17 de la gratuite partielle. Cette demarche nous a aussi permis d’identifier 23 rapports (non-scientifiques) sur les politiques de tarification des transports que nous avons classes comme de la litterature « grise ». Ces travaux sont essentiellement mobilises pour la derniere partie du rapport, afin rendre compte des effets observes des experiences de gratuite menees dans d’autres villes a travers le monde. Le principal enseignement de cette meta-analyse est l’absence de cadre de reflexion coherent et unifie sur cette question. Nous sommes donc revenus sur les enseignements qui decoulent des theories etablies de l’economie des transports. Cette litterature ne traite generalement pas directement de la question de la gratuite des transports, mais permet d’etudier les effets d’une telle politique dans un cadre d’analyse coherent et bien etabli.

Multi Criteria Decision Making in Selecting Stormwater Management Green Infrastructure for Industrial Areas Part 1: Stakeholder Preference Elicitation

Abstract: Green Infrastructure (GI) practices are well known strategies which are used for the source control of stormwater generated from urban land uses. However, unlike other urban land uses, industrial areas are land use types which need special attention in selecting the most suitable GI among several practices available for the stormwater management due to the certain environmental considerations. The decision making in selecting the stormwater management GI practices for an industrial area involves environmental, economic and social objectives which are represented by various performance measures. When identifying these performance measures, the opinions of stakeholders play a major role for the successful implementation of GI. This paper (part 1 of 2 part series of papers) presents the results of a stakeholder preference elicitation process carried out through a four rounded Delphi survey to identify the performance measures and obtain their weights for the decision making of GI for industrial areas. The SWING weighting method was embedded within the Delphi survey process to elicit the weights for various performance measures. The experts have identified the total runoff volume reduction as the most important performance measure in selecting a suitable GI for industrial areas. The results obtained from the Delphi survey series showed a good degree of consensus and has proven to be a valuable tool for the decision making in GI selection, for industrial areas. The stakeholder preference elicitation presented in this paper is a part of a Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) conducted to identify the most suitable stormwater management GI practices for an industrial area.

Developing a safer road user behaviour index

Abstract: Road user behaviour is an essential factor of increasing the rate of traffic accidents worldwide. Road safety experts and scientists consider aspects of road users' behaviour to be the main risk factors for road fatalities. These factors include drinking alcohol, speeding, not wearing seat belts, not wearing helmets when riding two-wheeled vehicles, not using child restraints, consuming illegal drugs, and being distracted by mobile phone use. This paper aims to investigate the role of these factors in assessing the road user behaviour through aggregating them and build a composite indicator that can be used in countries benchmarking and cross countries comparison, then identifying most successful practises. To achieve this aim, data related to the selected indicators, life-saving rate, and real crash data were collected. The indicators were weighted using simple and theoretical methods. The weighted indicators were aggregated using simple additive method. The developed index was applied to 12 European countries to test the validation of the index through investigation the correlation between index’ ranking of countries with the ranking according to the rate of fatalities. It is concluded that the developed composite indicator can be used to assess the role of using the protection system and speeding in the severity of the road crashes. However, the role of the remaining factors in the likelihood of crashes occurrence needs more investigation. It can be concluded also that the road users' behaviour is not the only factor of reducing the road fatalities in some countries. This enhances the multidimensional system approach of defining the road safety. Based on this, it is recommended to consider other factors in conducting research, developing indices of road safety, and in recommending solutions. The results show also that the UK, Sweden, Ireland and Ireland have the most successful strategies to improve the road user behaviour among the selected countries; therefore, it is recommended to take lessons from these practices.