Priority treatment for high occupancy vehicles : project status report /

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I-82 Prosser Landslide Investigation Benton City, WA

The scope of this technical report is to establish the mechanisms by which the eastbound lanes of Interstate 82 at mile post (MP) 91.9 near Benton City continue to deform. Within the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), the area is known as the Prosser Landslide and has been an ongoing concern since the 1980s. Results from previous technical investigations have been conflicted or inconclusive as to whether landslide movement persists beneath or through the shear key-buttress or that pavement distress is related to swelling of a clay-rich unit that underlies the slope and interstate. For this report, the following steps were taken. First, I conducted a desk review of archived reports, memos, data, and drill logs from the original construction of I-82 and previous geotechnical investigations commissioned by WSDOT. Findings of this desk review are reported in Part III. Second, WSDOT drillers drilled two new boreholes at the Prosser Landslide site above the buttress and instrumentation was installed within the boreholes. Borehole logs produced from the 2013 drilling can be found in Appendix A of this report. Material retrieved from the suspected failure zone during drilling was tested at the WSDOT Materials Lab by WSDOT personnel for its mechanical properties including Atterberg limits, grain-size analysis, and residual shear strength (Appendix B). Samples were also analyzed for mineral content using X -ray powder diffraction (XRD). These data and observations are reported in Part III and Appendix C. Finally, using drill logs produced by WSDOT from the latest drilling and from historic drilling campaigns, I constructed a 2-D geologic model of the landslide site. This model is the basis for slope stability analysis reported in Part IV and Appendix D. This study concludes that the deformation observed in the eastbound lanes of I-82 could be the result of continued landslide movement, despite previous remediation efforts.

Development of operational performance models for truck-lane restrictions on freeway corridors

Highways are generally designed to serve a mixed traffic flow that consists of passenger cars, trucks, buses, recreational vehicles, etc. The fact that the impacts of these different vehicle types are not uniform creates problems in highway operations and safety. A common approach to reducing the impacts of truck traffic on freeways has been to restrict trucks to certain lane(s) to minimize the interaction between trucks and other vehicles and to compensate for their differences in operational characteristics. ^ The performance of different truck lane restriction alternatives differs under different traffic and geometric conditions. Thus, a good estimate of the operational performance of different truck lane restriction alternatives under prevailing conditions is needed to help make informed decisions on truck lane restriction alternatives. This study develops operational performance models that can be applied to help identify the most operationally efficient truck lane restriction alternative on a freeway under prevailing conditions. The operational performance measures examined in this study include average speed, throughput, speed difference, and lane changes. Prevailing conditions include number of lanes, interchange density, free-flow speeds, volumes, truck percentages, and ramp volumes. ^ Recognizing the difficulty of collecting sufficient data for an empirical modeling procedure that involves a high number of variables, the simulation approach was used to estimate the performance values for various truck lane restriction alternatives under various scenarios. Both the CORSIM and VISSIM simulation models were examined for their ability to model truck lane restrictions. Due to a major problem found in the CORSIM model for truck lane modeling, the VISSIM model was adopted as the simulator for this study. ^ The VISSIM model was calibrated mainly to replicate the capacity given in the 2000 Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) for various free-flow speeds under the ideal basic freeway section conditions. Non-linear regression models for average speed, throughput, average number of lane changes, and speed difference between the lane groups were developed. Based on the performance models developed, a simple decision procedure was recommended to select the desired truck lane restriction alternative for prevailing conditions. ^

Estimation of average annual daily traffic (AADT) using geographically weighted regression (GWR) method and geographic information system (GIS)

Annual average daily traffic (AADT) is important information for many transportation planning, design, operation, and maintenance activities, as well as for the allocation of highway funds. Many studies have attempted AADT estimation using factor approach, regression analysis, time series, and artificial neural networks. However, these methods are unable to account for spatially variable influence of independent variables on the dependent variable even though it is well known that to many transportation problems, including AADT estimation, spatial context is important. ^ In this study, applications of geographically weighted regression (GWR) methods to estimating AADT were investigated. The GWR based methods considered the influence of correlations among the variables over space and the spatially non-stationarity of the variables. A GWR model allows different relationships between the dependent and independent variables to exist at different points in space. In other words, model parameters vary from location to location and the locally linear regression parameters at a point are affected more by observations near that point than observations further away. ^ The study area was Broward County, Florida. Broward County lies on the Atlantic coast between Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. In this study, a total of 67 variables were considered as potential AADT predictors, and six variables (lanes, speed, regional accessibility, direct access, density of roadway length, and density of seasonal household) were selected to develop the models. ^ To investigate the predictive powers of various AADT predictors over the space, the statistics including local r-square, local parameter estimates, and local errors were examined and mapped. The local variations in relationships among parameters were investigated, measured, and mapped to assess the usefulness of GWR methods. ^ The results indicated that the GWR models were able to better explain the variation in the data and to predict AADT with smaller errors than the ordinary linear regression models for the same dataset. Additionally, GWR was able to model the spatial non-stationarity in the data, i.e., the spatially varying relationship between AADT and predictors, which cannot be modeled in ordinary linear regression. ^

A state of war: Florida from 1939 to 1945

World War II profoundly impacted Florida. The military geography of the State is essential to an understanding the war. The geostrategic concerns of place and space determined that Florida would become a statewide military base. Florida's attributes of place such as climate and topography determined its use as a military academy hosting over two million soldiers, nearly 15 percent of the GI Army, the largest force the US ever raised. One-in-eight Floridians went into uniform. Equally, Florida's space on the planet made it central for both defensive and offensive strategies. The Second World War was a war of movement, and Florida was a major jump off point for US force projection world-wide, especially of air power. Florida's demography facilitated its use as a base camp for the assembly and engagement of this military power. In 1940, less than two percent of the US population lived in Florida, a quiet, barely populated backwater of the United States. But owing to its critical place and space, over the next few years it became a 65,000 square mile training ground, supply dump, and embarkation site vital to the US war effort. Because of its place astride some of the most important sea lanes in the Atlantic World, Florida was the scene of one of the few Western Hemisphere battles of the war. The militarization of Florida began long before Pearl Harbor. The pre-war buildup conformed to the US strategy of the war. The strategy of theUS was then (and remains today) one of forward defense: harden the frontier, then take the battle to the enemy, rather than fight them in North America. The policy of "Europe First," focused the main US war effort on the defeat of Hitler's Germany, evaluated to be the most dangerous enemy. In Florida were established the military forces requiring the longest time to develop, and most needed to defeat the Axis. Those were a naval aviation force for sea-borne hostilities, a heavy bombing force for reducing enemy industrial states, and an aerial logistics train for overseas supply of expeditionary campaigns. The unique Florida coastline made possible the seaborne invasion training demanded for US victory. The civilian population was employed assembling mass-produced first-generation container ships, while Floridahosted casualties, Prisoners-of-War, and transient personnel moving between the Atlantic and Pacific. By the end of hostilities and the lifting of Unlimited Emergency, officially on December 31, 1946, Floridahad become a transportation nexus. Florida accommodated a return of demobilized soldiers, a migration of displaced persons, and evolved into a modern veterans' colonia. It was instrumental in fashioning the modern US military, while remaining a center of the active National Defense establishment. Those are the themes of this work.

Optimization of waiting time at toll plazas

Toll plazas have several toll payment types such as manual, automatic coin machines, electronic and mixed lanes. In places with high traffic flow, the presence of toll plaza causes a lot of traffic congestion; this creates a bottleneck for the traffic flow, unless the correct mix of payment types is in operation. The objective of this research is to determine the optimal lane configuration for the mix of the methods of payment so that the waiting time in the queue at the toll plaza is minimized. A queuing model representing the toll plaza system and a nonlinear integer program have been developed to determine the optimal mix. The numerical results show that the waiting time can be decreased at the toll plaza by changing the lane configuration. For the case study developed an improvement in the waiting time as high as 96.37 percent was noticed during the morning peak hour.

Understanding Immigrants' Travel Behavior in Florida: Neighborhood Effects and Behavioral Assimilation

The goal of this study was to develop Multinomial Logit models for the mode choice behavior of immigrants, with key focuses on neighborhood effects and behavioral assimilation. The first aspect shows the relationship between social network ties and immigrants’ chosen mode of transportation, while the second aspect explores the gradual changes toward alternative mode usage with regard to immigrants’ migrating period in the United States (US). Mode choice models were developed for work, shopping, social, recreational, and other trip purposes to evaluate the impacts of various land use patterns, neighborhood typology, socioeconomic-demographic and immigrant related attributes on individuals’ travel behavior. Estimated coefficients of mode choice determinants were compared between each alternative mode (i.e., high-occupancy vehicle, public transit, and non-motorized transport) with single-occupant vehicles. The model results revealed the significant influence of neighborhood and land use variables on the usage of alternative modes among immigrants. Incorporating these indicators into the demand forecasting process will provide a better understanding of the diverse travel patterns for the unique composition of population groups in Florida.

A Praxiologia Motriz e a Abordagem Crítico Emancipatória : Caminhos didáticos e metodológicos para o ensino dos Esportes Coletivos

O presente trabalho contextualiza-se no âmbito Escolar, na disciplina de Educaçao Física (EF) e na prática de Esportes Coletivos como ferramenta pedagógica. Como objetivo busca-se construir uma nova perspectiva para o Ensino de Esportes através da Praxiologia Motriz sustentada pela abordagem de ensino Crítico Emancipatória. Este estudo justifica-se através da necessidade pedagógica dada ao ensino dos esportes coletivos, fugindo dos valores negativos dados a sua prática. Caracterizando-se por uma revisao bibliográfica. Este estudo é baseado principalmente nas ideias de Elenor Kunz e Pierre Parlebas, e também Valter Bracht, Gomes Tubino, entre outros. Espera-se com este estudo aprofundar o processo de discussao da Praxiologia Motriz como base teórica para o ensino dos Esportes

Praxiologia motriz aliada ao treinamento de estudantes nos jogos esportivos coletivos

O treinamento é muito praticado na atualidade, principalmente quando é utilizado para os Jogos Esportivos Coletivos, porém é muito criticado pela forma como é proposto para os alunos em ambas as instituiçoes onde o treinamento existe, mas principalmente na escola. A Praxiologia Motriz é uma importante teoria que pode se aliar a essa prática, os estudos já mostram que essa teoria de Pierre Parlebas vem se difundindo cada vez mais, e já vem sendo muito estudada. Existem estudos que mostram que a Praxiologia Motriz aliada ao treinamento dos Jogos Esportivos Coletivos, auxilia muito na busca pelo objetivo, pois ela nao considera apenas a parte física, técnica e tática, e sim o pensamento cognitivo do aluno/atleta, através das relaçoes de interaçoes, das condutas e da forma como defende que o trabalho seja realizado no treinamento. Com isso queremos apresentar uma relaçao entre Praxiologia Motriz e Treinamento dos Jogos Esportivos Coletivos

A Praxiologia Motriz e a Abordagem Crítico Emancipatória : Caminhos didáticos e metodológicos para o ensino dos Esportes Coletivos

O presente trabalho contextualiza-se no âmbito Escolar, na disciplina de Educaçao Física (EF) e na prática de Esportes Coletivos como ferramenta pedagógica. Como objetivo busca-se construir uma nova perspectiva para o Ensino de Esportes através da Praxiologia Motriz sustentada pela abordagem de ensino Crítico Emancipatória. Este estudo justifica-se através da necessidade pedagógica dada ao ensino dos esportes coletivos, fugindo dos valores negativos dados a sua prática. Caracterizando-se por uma revisao bibliográfica. Este estudo é baseado principalmente nas ideias de Elenor Kunz e Pierre Parlebas, e também Valter Bracht, Gomes Tubino, entre outros. Espera-se com este estudo aprofundar o processo de discussao da Praxiologia Motriz como base teórica para o ensino dos Esportes

Praxiologia motriz aliada ao treinamento de estudantes nos jogos esportivos coletivos

O treinamento é muito praticado na atualidade, principalmente quando é utilizado para os Jogos Esportivos Coletivos, porém é muito criticado pela forma como é proposto para os alunos em ambas as instituiçoes onde o treinamento existe, mas principalmente na escola. A Praxiologia Motriz é uma importante teoria que pode se aliar a essa prática, os estudos já mostram que essa teoria de Pierre Parlebas vem se difundindo cada vez mais, e já vem sendo muito estudada. Existem estudos que mostram que a Praxiologia Motriz aliada ao treinamento dos Jogos Esportivos Coletivos, auxilia muito na busca pelo objetivo, pois ela nao considera apenas a parte física, técnica e tática, e sim o pensamento cognitivo do aluno/atleta, através das relaçoes de interaçoes, das condutas e da forma como defende que o trabalho seja realizado no treinamento. Com isso queremos apresentar uma relaçao entre Praxiologia Motriz e Treinamento dos Jogos Esportivos Coletivos

A Praxiologia Motriz e a Abordagem Crítico Emancipatória : Caminhos didáticos e metodológicos para o ensino dos Esportes Coletivos

O presente trabalho contextualiza-se no âmbito Escolar, na disciplina de Educaçao Física (EF) e na prática de Esportes Coletivos como ferramenta pedagógica. Como objetivo busca-se construir uma nova perspectiva para o Ensino de Esportes através da Praxiologia Motriz sustentada pela abordagem de ensino Crítico Emancipatória. Este estudo justifica-se através da necessidade pedagógica dada ao ensino dos esportes coletivos, fugindo dos valores negativos dados a sua prática. Caracterizando-se por uma revisao bibliográfica. Este estudo é baseado principalmente nas ideias de Elenor Kunz e Pierre Parlebas, e também Valter Bracht, Gomes Tubino, entre outros. Espera-se com este estudo aprofundar o processo de discussao da Praxiologia Motriz como base teórica para o ensino dos Esportes

Praxiologia motriz aliada ao treinamento de estudantes nos jogos esportivos coletivos

O treinamento é muito praticado na atualidade, principalmente quando é utilizado para os Jogos Esportivos Coletivos, porém é muito criticado pela forma como é proposto para os alunos em ambas as instituiçoes onde o treinamento existe, mas principalmente na escola. A Praxiologia Motriz é uma importante teoria que pode se aliar a essa prática, os estudos já mostram que essa teoria de Pierre Parlebas vem se difundindo cada vez mais, e já vem sendo muito estudada. Existem estudos que mostram que a Praxiologia Motriz aliada ao treinamento dos Jogos Esportivos Coletivos, auxilia muito na busca pelo objetivo, pois ela nao considera apenas a parte física, técnica e tática, e sim o pensamento cognitivo do aluno/atleta, através das relaçoes de interaçoes, das condutas e da forma como defende que o trabalho seja realizado no treinamento. Com isso queremos apresentar uma relaçao entre Praxiologia Motriz e Treinamento dos Jogos Esportivos Coletivos

The effect of changing the built environment on physical activity: a quantitative review of the risk of bias in natural experiments.

BACKGROUND:
Evidence regarding the association of the built environment with physical activity is influencing policy recommendations that advocate changing the built environment to increase population-level physical activity. However, to date there has been no rigorous appraisal of the quality of the evidence on the effects of changing the built environment. The aim of this review was to conduct a thorough quantitative appraisal of the risk of bias present in those natural experiments with the strongest experimental designs for assessing the causal effects of the built environment on physical activity.

METHODS:
Eligible studies had to evaluate the effects of changing the built environment on physical activity, include at least one measurement before and one measurement of physical activity after changes in the environment, and have at least one intervention site and non-intervention comparison site. Given the large number of systematic reviews in this area, studies were identified from three exemplar systematic reviews; these were published in the past five years and were selected to provide a range of different built environment interventions. The risk of bias in these studies was analysed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool: for Non-Randomized Studies of Interventions (ACROBAT-NRSI).

RESULTS:
Twelve eligible natural experiments were identified. Risk of bias assessments were conducted for each physical activity outcome from all studies, resulting in a total of fifteen outcomes being analysed. Intervention sites included parks, urban greenways/trails, bicycle lanes, paths, vacant lots, and a senior citizen's centre. All outcomes had an overall critical (n = 12) or serious (n = 3) risk of bias. Domains with the highest risk of bias were confounding (due to inadequate control sites and poor control of confounding variables), measurement of outcomes, and selection of the reported result.

CONCLUSIONS:
The present review focused on the strongest natural experiments conducted to date. Given this, the failure of existing studies to adequately control for potential sources of bias highlights the need for more rigorous research to underpin policy recommendations for changing the built environment to increase physical activity. Suggestions are proposed for how future natural experiments in this area can be improved.

Konceptet mobilitet som tjänst : Viktiga kompetenser och möjliga utmaningar vid vidareutvecklingen av MaaS i Sverige.

Transport and travel is necessary for our society to function. Today, the privately owned car stands for more than half of all personal trips in Sweden. In the last couple of years researchers have highlighted the idea that personal transport is facing a paradigm shift, which means a reduction in the use and dependent of the privately owned car and an increased focus on individuals buying their Mobility as a Service (MaaS). MaaS is described as an integrated mix of different mobility services which are arranged in the form of customized mobility packages to the customer. These mobility packages can be compared to a mobile phone subscription, which includes various mobility services, such as train, bus, subway, taxi, carpool, etc. in various amounts depending on the individual's changing needs. The individual can take care of their own travel planning, booking and payment via an app in their smartphone. What distinguish MaaS from other mobility services is that the customer can travel from door-to-door instead of a predefine station to another. There have been various Maas projects around the world in order to increase understanding of the concept of MaaS, there is still a lot of unanswered questions and researchers would like to see more studies in the field, in order to find factors that are important and vital to the concept MaaS. The aim of the thesis is to: Discuss some competences that may be significant for the further development of the concept Maas in Sweden and discuss potential challenges that may arise at further development of the concept MaaS in Sweden. This study is based on previous research and experiences and thoughts on the concept MaaS from various stakeholders with knowledge and experience of the concept. This study has an abductive approach. Primary data were obtained through qualitative semistructured interviews with eight people who have knowledge and experience of the Maas. The main conclusions in this study is that the competences that are most important in the development of MaaS is collaborative skills and competences required to create an attractive mobility package based on customer needs. One challenge identified in this study is the challenge of creating individualized mobility package in which different types of mobility services are integrated. Another challenge can arise when public and private organizations collaborate and when new organizations enter the transport network and try to cooperate with the established organizations