Browsing by Subject "Evaluation and assessment"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Accessibility and Behavior Impacts of Bus-Highway System Interactions
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2019-04) Carlson, Kristin; Owen, Andrew
    This research presents a series of accessibility methodologies developed for bus-highway system interactions. Accessibility is defined as the collective number of jobs that can be reached by a particular mode of transportation within a given travel time period. The effects of managed lanes (ML), park-and-ride (PNR), and travel costs on walk-up transit accessibility are measured for the Minneapolis–Saint Paul (Twin Cities) region. Each methodology is introduced, supported by a literature review, and described in detail before scenario results are presented. The final analysis uses the ML and PNR methodologies to establish a comprehensive transit accessibility profile for the Twin Cities, which accounts for the dual impact of auxiliary transportation facilities.
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    Development and Integration of Advanced Timber Bridge Inspection Techniques for NBIS
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2015-01) Brashaw, Brian; Dahlberg, Justin; Hosteng, Travis; Wacker, James
    Minnesota has over 2,000 bridges that contain structural timber in the superstructure or the substructure. Historically, inspections for timber bridges have been mostly limited to visual inspection, hammer sounding and probing. These techniques have proven appropriate for advanced decay detection, but are inadequate for early stage or internal deterioration. During this project, new advanced inspection techniques and equipment were identified that were capable of improving the quality of timber bridge inspection. This equipment and technologies were introduced into routine bridge inspections through the development of standard inspection protocols, integration of the results into bridge data management software, development of a customized inspection manual, outreach training for MnDOT districts and state counties, recommendation of equipment purchases, and completion of an economic assessment on the use of advanced inspection techniques. Implementation of these inspection techniques will support the long-term service life of Minnesota’s timber bridges and will improve the safety and reliability of Minnesota’s bridges.
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    Development of a Sensor Platform for Roadway Mapping: Part A - Road Centerline and Asset Management
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2014-06) Davis, Brian; Donath, Max
    Collecting information about the roadway infrastructure is a task that DOTs at all governmental levels need to accomplish. One way to increase the operational efficiency of these efforts is to use a relatively inexpensive mobile data collection platform that acquires information that is general enough to serve multiple purposes. The design and evaluation of one such platform that costs roughly $40,000 is described. It primarily consists of a differential GPS receiver providing vehicle location, and a LIDAR scanner that generates geometric profiles of the area between the vehicle and just beyond the road’s edge. The vehicle collects data along the road by driving it in both directions. The system post-processes the data to automate feature extraction. For roads with simple geometry such as two-lane, undivided highways, the road’s centerline can be calculated by finding the midline between the vehicle’s paths from each direction of travel. Algorithms process the LIDAR scans to automatically detect the presence of curbs and guardrails, which is then combined with location information to yield the position of these features in world coordinates. The centerline calculation was determined to be accurate to within 6 cm in areas where its use was applicable. Curbs and guardrails were generally detected with an accuracy of better than 10 cm. The results demonstrate that it is feasible to use a relatively inexpensive mobile data collection system to acquire road centerline and roadside features such as curbs and guardrails.
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    Implementation of a V2I Highway Safety System and Connected Vehicle Testbed
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2019-04) Hourdos, John; Parikh, Gordon; Dirks, Peter; Lehrke, Derek
    To better prepare for the Connected Vehicle (CV) roadway, RSI has established a CV testbed along a highly crashed section of I-94, building on the Minnesota Traffic Observatory’s existing field lab infrastructure. This real- world testbed was designed to implement and evaluate the next generation of vehicle-based freeway safety applications. The priority of this project was to establish the backbone of the sensor communication network and data collection system along the testbed length.
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    Minnesota Department of Transportation Rural Intersection Conflict Warning System (RICWS) Reliability Evaluation
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2014-06) Menon, Arvind; Donath, Max
    The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) developed the Rural Intersection Conflict Warning System (RICWS) Deployment project to reduce crashes at stop-controlled intersections. It is a statewide, Intelligent Transportation Systems project that will deploy intersection conflict warning systems at up to 50 rural, stop-controlled intersections. These systems will address crashes at stop-controlled intersections by providing drivers - on both the major and minor road - with a dynamic warning of other vehicles approaching the intersection. The first RICWS site, Trunk Highway 7 and Carver County CSAH 33, was evaluated for a period of 34 days to demonstrate the reliability of the system. During this period, the RICWS signs, beacons, and any other displays were covered and unavailable for driver interaction. The University of Minnesota installed a portable Intersection Surveillance System (ISS) and collected data from the RICWS as well as from the ISS. The data collected from the RICWS was validated against data recorded by the ISS in order to determine the accuracy and reliability of the RICWS. The RICWS was determined to have an activation rate of 99.98%, and meets the MnDOT specification of 99.95% sign activation rate. Sign activations were also validated using video captured at the site and a sample of times for valid activations and valid periods when the sign was inactive were recorded.