abstract: Alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) have seen increased attention as a way to reduce reliance on petroleum for transportation, but adoption rates lag behind conventional vehicles. One crucial barrier to their proliferation is the lack of a convenient refueling infrastructure, and there is not a consensus on how to locate initial stations. Some approaches recommend placing stations near where early adopters live. An alternate group of methods places stations along busy travel routes that drivers from across the metropolitan area traverse each day. To assess which theoretical approach is most appropriate, drivers of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles in Southern California were surveyed at stations while they refueled. Through GIS analysis, results demonstrate that respondents refueled on the way between their origins and destinations ten times more often than they refueled near their home, when no station satisfied both criteria. Freeway interchanges, which carry high daily passing traffic volumes in metropolitan areas, can be appropriate locations for initial stations based on these results. Stations cannot actually be built directly at these interchange sites, so suitable locations on nearby street networks must be chosen. A network GIS method is developed to assess street network locations' ability to capture all traffic passing through 72 interchanges in greater Los Angeles, using deviation from a driver's shortest path as the metric to assess a candidate site's suitability. There is variation in the ability of these locations to capture passing traffic both within and across interchanges, but only 7% of sites near interchanges can conveniently capture all travel directions passing through the interchange, indicating that an ad hoc station location strategy is unlikely to succeed. Surveys were then conducted at CNG stations near freeway interchanges to assess how drivers perceive and access refueling stations in these environments. Through comparative analysis of drivers' perceptions of stations, consideration of their choice sets, and the observed frequency of the use of a freeway to both access and leave these stations, results indicate that initial AFV stations near freeway interchanges can play an important role in regional AFV infrastructure. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Geography 2015

abstract: Bicycle sharing systems (BSS) operate on five continents, and they change quickly with technological innovations. The newest “dockless” systems eliminate both docks and stations, and have become popular in China since their launch in 2016. The rapid increase in dockless system use has exposed its drawbacks. Without the order imposed by docks and stations, bike parking has become problematic. In the areas of densest use, the central business districts of large cities, dockless systems have resulted in chaotic piling of bikes and need for frequent rebalancing of bikes to other locations. In low-density zones, on the other hand, it may be difficult for customers to find a bike, and bikes may go unused for long periods. Using big data from the Mobike BSS in Beijing, I analyzed the relationship between building density and the efficiency of dockless BSS. Density is negatively correlated with bicycle idle time, and positively correlated with rebalancing. Understanding the effects of density on BSS efficiency can help BSS operators and municipalities improve the operating efficiency of BSS, increase regional cycling volume, and solve the bicycle rebalancing problem in dockless systems. It can also be useful to cities considering what kind of BSS to adopt. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Urban and Environmental Planning 2018

Os shopping centers, inicialmente dirigidos às classes alta e média-alta, adaptaram-se a um público diversificado, incluindo o de baixa renda. Diversos fatores explicam tal fenômeno, dentre eles o desejo do consumidor de fugir da violência nas ruas, do trânsito congestionado, das dificuldades para estacionar e para caminhar nas calçadas mal mantidas. Esta tese pretende investigar se, pelo fato de possibilitar aos indivíduos executar um maior número de tarefas em um mesmo local, os shopping centers podem funcionar como agentes redutores de viagens. Ou, ao contrário, por representar alternativa a áreas públicas de lazer e socialização, apresentam-se como provocadores de mais deslocamentos pela cidade. O estudo investiga também se o shopping center substitui a frequência ao estabelecimento de rua ou se estes são complementares. A principal fonte de dados para análise é uma survey realizada com mil respondentes, cuja elaboração foi subsidiada por análise dos dados da Pesquisa OD 2007 e a realização de entrevistas em profundidade. Os indivíduos foram descritos pelo seu perfil socioeconômico, características de viagens e atividades realizadas em shopping e em estabelecimentos de rua, e atitudes manifestas. O estudo revelou que os diversos estabelecimentos comerciais e de serviços são utilizados pelos indivíduos de forma semelhante, estando eles dentro ou fora do shopping, e reafirma a capacidade de atração dos shopping centers nas atividades de lazer. Há o reconhecimento da economia de tempo e, em menor escala, da redução do número de deslocamentos que o shopping potencialmente proporciona. Os resultados mostram que o conjunto de clientes de shopping center pode ser agrupado e descrito em uma quantidade limitada de conglomerados. A amostra foi segmentada em quatro conglomerados distintos segundo o modo de transporte utilizado transporte coletivo ou automóvel e o dia da visita aos estabelecimentos durante a semana ou fim de semana, permitindo caracterizar os grupos de indivíduos segundo comportamentos de visita ao shopping que podem ser classificados segundo seus impactos mais ou menos favoráveis ao desempenho do sistema de transportes. / The development of shopping centers in Brazil aimed initially at a higher income public, but have gradually adapted to catering to a diversity of clients, including segments of lower income. This trend can be explained by many factors, such as the need to avoid violent streets, congested traffic, parking scarcity and walking on poorly maintained sidewalks. The main objective of this thesis is to investigate if, due to the possibility of performing many activities in the same place, shopping centers can lead to a reduction in the number of trips taken by individuals. Or, else, as an alternative to public spaces for leisure and socialization, they can stimulate more trips. The study also investigates if shopping centers are replacing visits to street shops or if these alternatives are complementing each other. The main data source for analysis is an internet survey of 1000 individuals; preparation of the questionnaire was based on information provided by the analysis of the 2007 household origin-destination survey for the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo and a number of in-depth semi-structured interviews. Individuals were characterized by their socioeconomic profile, travel and activity patterns related to shopping and other activities, and responses to a set of attitudinal questions. The results indicate that shopping and services are conducted in equal proportion in shopping centers and in street locations; they also reinforce the hypothesis that shopping centers function as an important alternative for leisure activities. Individuals acknowledge the potential of shopping centers in saving time spent on conducting a set of activities and, to a lesser degree, reducing the number of trips taken for this purpose. Respondents to the survey could be grouped and described by a limited number of clusters. The sample was segmented into four clusters, according to the transport mode used car or public transport and the day of the week in which shopping activities are conducted weekday or weekend. Each cluster of individuals could be characterized according to their behavior (when visiting shopping centers) having a less or more favorable impact on the performance of the transportation system.

As pesquisas de origem e destino (Pesquisas O/D) são tradicionalmente realizadas a partir do relato dos participantes de todas as viagens ocorridas nos últimos dias. No entanto, uma série de estudos realizados recentemente aponta que existem equívocos nos relatos dos participantes nas pesquisas O/D tradicionais, principalmente em relação à distância e ao tempo dos percursos relatados. Esses estudos apontam a utilização da tecnologia GPS (Global Positioning System) como uma forma confiável para a obtenção de informações sobre cada etapa de viagem. A tecnologia GPS, apesar de suas limitações, está disponível popularmente nos últimos anos e apresenta resultados significativos de registros em tempo real, inclusive de viagens curtas. Dessa forma, foram levantadas as experiências internacionais de estudos de pesquisas O/D segmentadas por etapa de viagem, utilizando a tecnologia GPS. Com base nisso, foi aplicada uma pesquisa de origem e destino na Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre com GPS e com Entrevistas posteriores. Os estudos estrangeiros apontam que essa é a melhor forma para obtenção dos dados e minimização dos erros. Os dados coletados na pesquisa O/D foram tabulados em um banco de dados e as informações registradas foram tratadas em softwares gráficos gratuítos. Sendo assim, foi possível cruzar os dados relatados pelos participantes na entrevista com os dados registrados pelo aparelho GPS. As análises apontam que todos os indivíduos apresentaram discrepâncias no relato da duração e da distância, em comparação aos dados efetivamente registrados. Essas discrepâncias foram tanto positivas quanto negativas. As implicações dessas diferenças entre os dados relatados e registrados no GPS para fins de modelagem foram vistas nos modelos de escolha modal Logit Multinomial elaborados. O modelo elaborado a partir de dados registrados pelo GPS aponta ajustes apropriados e resultado significativo de variáveis. O modelo elaborado com base nos dados relatados não se comporta como o esperado, conforme as hipóteses previamente estabelecidas, e apresenta variáveis não significativas. / Origin and destination surveys are traditionally made from the participants' reports of all trips occurring in the last days, known as Diary Trip. However, a number of recent studies show that there are mistakes in the accounts of participants in traditional origin and destinations surveys, especially in relation to distance and time. These studies point the use of GPS (Global Positioning System) technology as a reliable way to obtain information about each trip leg. GPS technology, despite its limitations, is popularly available in recent years and presents significant results of real-time records, including short trips. Therefore, we surveyed the experiences of international origin and destination studies segmented by leg trip, using GPS technology. Based on this, a origin and destination survey was applied in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre with GPS and Diary Trip. Foreign studies indicate that this is the best way to obtain the data and minimizing errors. The data collected in the origin and destination survey were tabulated in a database and the information recorded was treated in free graphics software. Therefore, it was possible to cross the data reported by the participants in the Diary Trips with the data recorded by the GPS. The analyzes suggest that all subjects had discrepancies in reporting the duration and distance, compared to the data actually reported. These discrepancies have been both positive and negative. The implications of these differences, between reported and recorded on the GPS data, for modeling, can be seeing in the modal choice model Multinomial Logit elaborate. The model developed from data recorded by the GPS indicates appropriate adjustments and significant outcome variables. The model developed based on reported data does not behave as expected, as previously established hypotheses, and presents no significant variables.

abstract: Cordon pricing strategies attempt to charge motorists for the marginal social costs of driving in heavily congested areas, lure them out of their vehicles and into other modes, and thereby reduce vehicle miles traveled and congestion-related externalities. These strategies are gaining policy-makers` attention worldwide. The benefits and costs of such strategies can potentially lead to a disproportionate and inequitable burden on lower income commuters, particularly those commuters with poor accessibility to alternative modes of transportation. Strategies designed to mitigate the impacts of cordon pricing for disadvantaged travelers, such as discount and exemptions, can reduce the effectiveness of the pricing strategy. Transit improvements using pricing fee revenues are another mitigation strategy, but can be wasteful and inefficient if not properly targeted toward those most disadvantaged and in need. This research examines these considerations and explores the implications for transportation planners working to balance goals of system effectiveness, efficiency, and equity. First, a theoretical conceptual model for analyzing the justice implications of cordon pricing is presented. Next, the Mobility Access and Pricing Study, a cordon pricing strategy examined by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority is analyzed utilizing a neighborhood-level accessibility-based approach. The fee-payment impacts for low-income transportation-disadvantaged commuters within the San Francisco Bay area are examined, utilizing Geographic Information Systems coupled with data from the Longitudinal Employment and Household Dynamics program of the US Census Bureau. This research questions whether the recommended blanket 50% discount for low-income travelers would unnecessarily reduce the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the cordon pricing system. It is proposed that reinvestment of revenue in transportation-improvement projects targeted at those most disproportionately impacted by tolling fees, low-income automobile-dependent peak-period commuters in areas with poor access to alternative modes, would be a more suitable mitigation strategy. This would not only help maintain the efficiency and effectiveness of the cordon pricing system, but would better address income, modal and spatial equity issues. The results of this study demonstrate how the spatial distribution of the toll-payment impacts may burden low-income residents in quite different ways, thereby warranting the inclusion of such analysis in transportation planning and practice. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Environmental Design and Planning 2013

abstract: Vehicle type choice is a significant determinant of fuel consumption and energy sustainability; larger, heavier vehicles consume more fuel, and expel twice as many pollutants, than their smaller, lighter counterparts. Over the course of the past few decades, vehicle type choice has seen a vast shift, due to many households making more trips in larger vehicles with lower fuel economy. During the 1990s, SUVs were the fastest growing segment of the automotive industry, comprising 7% of the total light vehicle market in 1990, and 25% in 2005. More recently, due to rising oil prices, greater awareness to environmental sensitivity, the desire to reduce dependence on foreign oil, and the availability of new vehicle technologies, many households are considering the use of newer vehicles with better fuel economy, such as hybrids and electric vehicles, over the use of the SUV or low fuel economy vehicles they may already own. The goal of this research is to examine how vehicle miles traveled, fuel consumption and emissions may be reduced through shifts in vehicle type choice behavior. Using the 2009 National Household Travel Survey data it is possible to develop a model to estimate household travel demand and total fuel consumption. If given a vehicle choice shift scenario, using the model it would be possible to calculate the potential fuel consumption savings that would result from such a shift. In this way, it is possible to estimate fuel consumption reductions that would take place under a wide variety of scenarios. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Civil Engineering 2013

abstract: A methodology is developed that integrates institutional analysis with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to identify and overcome barriers to sustainability transitions and to bridge the gap between environmental practitioners and decisionmakers. LCA results are rarely joined with analyses of the social systems that control or influence decisionmaking and policies. As a result, LCA conclusions generally lack information about who or what controls different parts of the system, where and when the processes' environmental decisionmaking happens, and what aspects of the system (i.e. a policy or regulatory requirement) would have to change to enable lower environmental impact futures. The value of the combined institutional analysis and LCA (the IA-LCA) is demonstrated using a case study of passenger transportation in the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area. A retrospective LCA is developed to estimate how roadway investment has enabled personal vehicle travel and its associated energy, environmental, and economic effects. Using regional travel forecasts, a prospective life cycle inventory is developed. Alternative trajectories are modeled to reveal future "savings" from reduced roadway construction and vehicle travel. An institutional analysis matches the LCA results with the specific institutions, players, and policies that should be targeted to enable transitions to these alternative futures. The results show that energy, economic, and environmental benefits from changes in passenger transportation systems are possible, but vary significantly depending on the timing of the interventions. Transition strategies aimed at the most optimistic benefits should include 1) significant land-use planning initiatives at the local and regional level to incentivize transit-oriented development infill and urban densification, 2) changes to state or federal gasoline taxes, 3) enacting a price on carbon, and 4) nearly doubling vehicle fuel efficiency together with greater market penetration of alternative fuel vehicles. This aggressive trajectory could decrease the 2050 energy consumption to 1995 levels, greenhouse gas emissions to 1995, particulate emissions to 2006, and smog-forming emissions to 1972. The potential benefits and costs are both private and public, and the results vary when transition strategies are applied in different spatial and temporal patterns. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Sustainability 2014

abstract: The activity-based approach to travel demand analysis and modeling, which has been developed over the past 30 years, has received tremendous success in transportation planning and policy analysis issues, capturing the multi-way joint relationships among socio-demographic, economic, land use characteristics, activity participation, and travel behavior. The development of synthesizing population with an array of socio-demographic and socio-economic attributes has drawn remarkable attention due to privacy and cost constraints in collecting and disclosing full scale data. Although, there has been enormous progress in producing synthetic population, there has been less progress in the development of population evolution modeling arena to forecast future year population. The objective of this dissertation is to develop a well-structured full-fledged demographic evolution modeling system, capturing migration dynamics and evolution of person level attributes, introducing the concept of new household formations and apprehending the dynamics of household level long-term choices over time. A comprehensive study has been conducted on demography, sociology, anthropology, economics and transportation engineering area to better understand the dynamics of evolutionary activities over time and their impacts in travel behavior. This dissertation describes the methodology and the conceptual framework, and the development of model components. Demographic, socio-economic, and land use data from American Community Survey, National Household Travel Survey, Census PUMS, United States Time Series Economic Dynamic data and United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention have been used in this research. The entire modeling system has been implemented and coded using programming language to develop the population evolution module named `PopEvol' into a computer simulation environment. The module then has been demonstrated for a portion of Maricopa County area in Arizona to predict the milestone year population to check the accuracy of forecasting. The module has also been used to evolve the base year population for next 15 years and the evolutionary trend has been investigated. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Civil and Environmental Engineering 2014

abstract: To guide the timetabling and vehicle assignment of urban bus systems, a group of optimization models were developed for scenarios from simple to complex. The model took the interaction of prospective passengers and bus companies into consideration to achieve the maximum financial benefit as well as social satisfaction. The model was verified by a series of case studies and simulation from which some interesting conclusions were drawn. / Dissertation/Thesis / Simulation File, including CSV data file / Masters Thesis Industrial Engineering 2014

As pesquisas de origem e destino (Pesquisas O/D) são tradicionalmente realizadas a partir do relato dos participantes de todas as viagens ocorridas nos últimos dias. No entanto, uma série de estudos realizados recentemente aponta que existem equívocos nos relatos dos participantes nas pesquisas O/D tradicionais, principalmente em relação à distância e ao tempo dos percursos relatados. Esses estudos apontam a utilização da tecnologia GPS (Global Positioning System) como uma forma confiável para a obtenção de informações sobre cada etapa de viagem. A tecnologia GPS, apesar de suas limitações, está disponível popularmente nos últimos anos e apresenta resultados significativos de registros em tempo real, inclusive de viagens curtas. Dessa forma, foram levantadas as experiências internacionais de estudos de pesquisas O/D segmentadas por etapa de viagem, utilizando a tecnologia GPS. Com base nisso, foi aplicada uma pesquisa de origem e destino na Região Metropolitana de Porto Alegre com GPS e com Entrevistas posteriores. Os estudos estrangeiros apontam que essa é a melhor forma para obtenção dos dados e minimização dos erros. Os dados coletados na pesquisa O/D foram tabulados em um banco de dados e as informações registradas foram tratadas em softwares gráficos gratuítos. Sendo assim, foi possível cruzar os dados relatados pelos participantes na entrevista com os dados registrados pelo aparelho GPS. As análises apontam que todos os indivíduos apresentaram discrepâncias no relato da duração e da distância, em comparação aos dados efetivamente registrados. Essas discrepâncias foram tanto positivas quanto negativas. As implicações dessas diferenças entre os dados relatados e registrados no GPS para fins de modelagem foram vistas nos modelos de escolha modal Logit Multinomial elaborados. O modelo elaborado a partir de dados registrados pelo GPS aponta ajustes apropriados e resultado significativo de variáveis. O modelo elaborado com base nos dados relatados não se comporta como o esperado, conforme as hipóteses previamente estabelecidas, e apresenta variáveis não significativas. / Origin and destination surveys are traditionally made from the participants' reports of all trips occurring in the last days, known as Diary Trip. However, a number of recent studies show that there are mistakes in the accounts of participants in traditional origin and destinations surveys, especially in relation to distance and time. These studies point the use of GPS (Global Positioning System) technology as a reliable way to obtain information about each trip leg. GPS technology, despite its limitations, is popularly available in recent years and presents significant results of real-time records, including short trips. Therefore, we surveyed the experiences of international origin and destination studies segmented by leg trip, using GPS technology. Based on this, a origin and destination survey was applied in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre with GPS and Diary Trip. Foreign studies indicate that this is the best way to obtain the data and minimizing errors. The data collected in the origin and destination survey were tabulated in a database and the information recorded was treated in free graphics software. Therefore, it was possible to cross the data reported by the participants in the Diary Trips with the data recorded by the GPS. The analyzes suggest that all subjects had discrepancies in reporting the duration and distance, compared to the data actually reported. These discrepancies have been both positive and negative. The implications of these differences, between reported and recorded on the GPS data, for modeling, can be seeing in the modal choice model Multinomial Logit elaborate. The model developed from data recorded by the GPS indicates appropriate adjustments and significant outcome variables. The model developed based on reported data does not behave as expected, as previously established hypotheses, and presents no significant variables.