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The Grand Iron Range CAV Initiative: History, Partnerships, and Community Engagement
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2024-07) Douma, Frank; Weiner, Evelyn
In fall 2022, a first-of-its-kind connected and automated vehicle (CAV) pilot program called goMARTI (Minnesota's Autonomous Rural Transit Initiative) was launched as a collaborative effort between numerous partners. The 18-month pilot offers free, on-demand rides to area residents and visitors using five autonomous shuttle vans (including three wheelchair-accessible vans) at 70 drop-off and pick-up points within a 17-square-mile area. In this project, researchers documented lessons learned from the pilot, which included exploring the recent history of institutional and community engagement efforts regarding transportation in Itasca County and Grand Rapids, as well as the innovations and collaborations that took place to make the pilot's implementation possible.
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Stormwater BMP Inspection and Maintenance Resource Guide
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2024-06) Erickson, Andrew J.; Gulliver, John S.; Weiss, Peter T.
Stormwater treatment practices, often referred to as stormwater best management practices (BMPs), require a substantial commitment to maintenance, including regular inspections and assessments. Existing regulations require governmental units to develop a systematic approach for ongoing inspection and maintenance to ensure that they are achieving their desired treatment goals. A lack of maintenance will lead to a decrease in BMP performance and will often result in expensive rehabilitation or rebuild. In 2009, SRF Consulting produced a maintenance guide for the Local Road Research Board (LRRB) (Marti, et al. 2009). In 2023, the LRRB commissioned the University of Minnesota St. Anthony Falls Laboratory to update this guide to reflect new best practices. The Stormwater BMP Inspection and Maintenance Resource Guide (the Guide) is a supplement to the Minnesota Stormwater Manual (MPCA 2023) and will help the reader plan for recommended long-term maintenance activities through guidance on visual inspection, testing, and monitoring methods for identifying what maintenance is needed, and when it is needed. The Guide describes inspection and maintenance for constructed stormwater ponds (both dry and wet) and wetlands, underground sedimentation practices, infiltration practices, filtration practices, bioretention practices, permeable pavements, and stormwater harvesting. In addition, the Guide includes a section on Meeting Stormwater Management Objectives, which provides information on achieving reductions for sediment, phosphorus, nitrogen, metals, chloride, pathogens, and organic chemicals. The Guide also includes Field Inspections Resources, which contains inspection checklists and maintenance activity recommendations for all of the practices listed above.
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Toward the development of pavement-specific structural synthetic fibers
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2024-06) Barman, Manik; Sabu, Rohith; Sharma, Pranav; Janson, Austin
Thin fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) pavements and overlays can be economical for low- and moderate-traffic volume roads. Due to insufficient concrete cover thickness, thin concrete pavements or overlays cannot accommodate dowel bars that are typically used in conventional thick concrete pavements. The critical distress for such applications is the transverse joint faulting because of the lack of joint load transfer between the concrete slabs. The currently available synthetic structural fibers can contribute to joint performance to a certain extent. However, as pavements experience significant slab contraction and expansion and carry both wheel and environmental loads, there is a need to design and develop fibers that will provide high joint performance and help mitigate transverse joint faulting when used at an affordable dosage. The overall goal of this study is to develop pavement-specific fibers that will yield the needed joint performance benefits to achieve the intended design life. The study is being conducted in two phases. This report is written for Phase 1 of the study. The study started with a literature review, followed by a finite element analysis, falling weight deflectometer (FWD) data analysis, and laboratory testing of fiber reinforced concrete and individual fibers embedded in concrete. The finite element results and FWD data were amalgamated to quantify the possible joint load transfer of the base layer and foundation, aggregate interlocking, and the needed contribution from the structural fibers. A procedure was established to account for the contribution of the fibers. A new parameter, namely, modulus of fiber support, was introduced to evaluate the stiffness of the fibers that participate in joint load transfer. Notably, a laboratory approach is identified to determine the modulus of fiber support, which can help determine the optimum fiber dosages as well as design and test the pavement-specific fibers in the future phase of the study.
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Mobile-device data, non-motorized traffic monitoring, and estimation of annual average daily bicyclist and pedestrian flows
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2024-06) Barman, Simanta; Levin, Michael W.; Lindsey, Greg; Petesch, Michael; Scotty, Suzy; Stern, Raphael
People who walk and bike are the most vulnerable road users. However, understanding where they walk and bike requires continual data monitoring. Traditional methods rely on physical sensors in the infrastructure to detect the presence of pedestrians and bicyclists. However, these are expensive to deploy and only detect road users at the specific locations they are deployed. Instead, this study develops methods to use mobile phone based GPS data to estimate the number of bicyclists and pedestrians, and applies this methodology to the Twin Cities Metro area in Minnesota. The developed methodology is able to estimate average pedestrian and bicyclist volumes with relatively high accuracy.
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ICI Staff Newsletter "FYI" November 2024
(University of Minnesota, Institute on Community Integration, 2024-11-18) Institute on Community Integration
The Institute's monthly staff newsletter features news of recent activities, accomplishments, and resources. This month's first two feature stories are about new publications highlighting how people with disabilities use technology to improve their lives. Another story covers a U.S. delegation to Cuba, led by an ICI staff member, who went to learn more about the country’s special education system. Another story is a remembrance of David R. Johnson, ICI's former director. The last story covers the retirement of Sheryl Lazarus, director of ICI's National Center on Educational Outcomes. This month's Update is about a MNLEND fellow who recently opened an Applied Behavior Analysis services practice to serve children with autism and their families.