Thesis (M.S.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2008. / Description based on contents viewed May 30, 2008; title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references (p. 74-79).

Report (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. M.S. 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Bibliographical references included. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--George Mason University, 2008. / Vita: p. 199. Thesis director: Roger Stough. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Mar. 16. 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 182-198). Also issued in print.

Thesis (M. S.)--Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Guensler, Randall; Committee Member: Rodgers, Michael; Committee Member: Ross, Catherine. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Texas at Arlington, 2009.

Thesis (M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering)--University of California, Davis, 2007. / Text document in PDF format. Title from PDF title page (viewed on August 28, 2009). "Received by ITS-Davis: November 2007"--Publication detail webpage. Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-115).

Thesis (M. S.)--City and Regional Planning, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Member: Amekudzi, Adjo; Committee Member: Guensler, Randall; Committee Member: Ross, Catherine.

A before and after comparison of vehicle occupancy distributions for the Atlanta, GA I-85 HOV to High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lane conversion scheduled for summer 2011, will assess the changes in vehicle and passenger throughput associated with lane conversion. The field deployment plans and data collection methodologies developed for the HOT evaluation were the result of a comprehensive literature review, an examination of previous data collection methods, an evaluation of the physical characteristics of the I-85 corridor, and the testing of a variety of equipment/manpower strategies. The case study in this thesis evaluates the established vehicle occupancy methodology for consistency across multiple observers during parallel data collection efforts. The differences noted in exact matches and consistency across the use of the "uncertain" values developed for field implementation is specifically assessed. Results from this study are the first step in assessing the validity of the data collection methods used on the HOT corridor and will yield recommendations for improving the methodology for future occupancy studies. A separate assessment of the accuracy of the methodology is also being conducted by the research team and will be published under a separate cover.

The conversion of high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes is currently being implemented in metro Atlanta on a demonstration basis and is under consideration for more widespread adoption throughout the metro region. Further conversion of HOV lanes to HOT lanes is a major policy decision that depends on knowledge of the likely impacts, including the equity of the new HOT lane. Rather than estimating these impacts using modeling or surveys, this study collects revealed preference data in the form of observed vehicle license plate data and vehicle occupancy data from users of the HOV corridor. Building on a methodology created in Spring 2011, researchers created a new methodology for matching license plate data to vehicle occupancy data that required extensive post-processing of the data. The new methodology also presented an opportunity to take an in-depth look at errors in both occupancy and license plate data (in terms of data collection efforts, processing, and the vehicle registration database). Characteristics of individual vehicles were determined from vehicle registration records associated with the license plate data collected during AM and PM peak periods immediately prior to the HOV lanes conversion to HOT lanes. More than 70,000 individual vehicle license plates were collected for analysis, and over 3,500 records are matched to occupancy values. Analysis of these data have shown that government and commercial vehicle were more prevalent in the HOV lane, while hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles were much less common in either lane than expected. Vehicle occupancy data from the first four quarters of data collection were used to create the distribution of occupancy on the HOV and general purpose lane, and then the matched occupancy and license plate data were examined. A sensitivity analysis of the occupancy data established that the current use of uncertain occupancy values is acceptable and that bus and vanpool occupancy should be considered when determining the average occupancy of all vehicles on the HOV lane. Using a bootstrap analysis, vehicle values were compared to vehicle occupancy values and the results found that there is no correlation between vehicle value and vehicle occupancy. A conclusions section suggests possible impacts of the findings on policy decisions as Georgia considers expanding the HOT network. Further research using these data, and additional data that will be collected after the HOT lane opens, will include emissions modeling and a study of changes in vehicle characteristics associated with the HOT lane conversion.

This thesis presents a statistical analysis of weaving in a managed lane system which is evolving from a High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) system to a High-Occupancy Toll system (HOT). Weaving was, assessed along the I-85 corridor in Atlanta, during three different phases in the conversion from HOV to HOT: 1) the existing HOV managed lane system prior to conversion to HOT lanes, 2) after restriping of some weaving zones but prior to conversion of the HOV lanes to HOT lanes and, 3) after the HOT managed lane system opened. Each phase was analyzed to see how weaving behavior into and out of the managed lane system was affected by changes in the system. To accomplish the analysis, video was collected using Georgia Department of Transportation cameras along the corridor. The videos were transferred to an Android Tablet, in which an App developed by the research team was used to record data from the videos. Using the processed weaving data, a comparison of weaving activity during each phase was performed. Data were also analyzed across time of day, speed differentials, and whether the weaves in question were performed legally (within established weaving zones) or illegally (across double-solid striped lane markings). After a comparison of weaving behavior along different variables, a regression tree analysis was completed. The analysis showed that weaving intensity increased as the system was converted from HOV to HOT. However, illegal weaving decreased significantly once the HOT system was in place, perhaps due to stricter enforcement or perhaps due to driver response to illegally entering and leaving tolled lanes. The regression tree analyses indicated that weaving intensity was highly dependent upon whether it was legal or illegal to weave and upon the phase of conversion during which the weave occurred.