The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) manages and maintains a complex state-wide network of highways. Recent incidents such as the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Min- neapolis, Minnesota, and the I-85/Piedmont Road fire and subsequent bridge collapse in Atlanta, Georgia, have brought identification of transportation network vulnerabilities to the forefront of UDOT’s planning efforts. Traditional estimates of transportation network impacts have focused on increases to user travel time or the volume of affected traffic, but studies of these disasters have revealed that when facing a degraded transportation network, people adjust their trip making in terms of destination, mode, and route choice. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate the relative systemic criticality of highway links on Utah’s highway network using a logit-based model sensitive to changes in destination choice, mode choice, and route path. The current Utah Statewide Travel Model (USTM) does not incorporate user mode or destination choice, making it unsuitable for this task in its present condition. Consequently, this thesis develops a logit-based model structure that evaluates the cost of impaired destination choices and mode choices for home-based and non-home-based personal trips resulting from a damaged highway network. The choice model logsums capture the total value of user choices and can be readily converted to monetary values, making them ideal for this purpose. The logit-based model is then applied to 40 highway links located at strategic locations on Utah’s network. When compared with a more traditional travel time increase estimation, the logsum and travel time models provide categorically different cost estimates, where the logsum results are typically lower than travel time estimates, with implications for policy making and UDOT’s planning strategy. The results further suggest that freight trips are likely more important considerations than passenger trips, and should be considered in future research.

Bakgrund & Problem: Transport och distribution utgör grundläggande aktiviteter i ett transportföretag, såsom en 3PL-aktörs, verksamhet. I denna verksamhet är tunga transporter vanligt förekommande vilket utgör en betydande del av världens totala koldioxidutsläpp. Samtidigt som bränsleförbrukning står för en stor del av ett åkeris totala kostnader driver det även CO2-utsläpp i en redan, sett ur ett miljömässigt perspektiv, ansträngd värld. Att på sikt reducera dem globala CO2-utsläppen kommer kräva en omställning av transportsektorn och en övergång från fossila bränslen till mer förnyelsebara. För det enskilda åkeriet kan minskad bränsleförbrukning sänka kostnaderna samtidigt som det är fördelaktigt för miljön då det leder till minskade CO2-utsläpp. Vad driver då bränsleförbrukningen i ett åkeri? I denna studie ligger fokus främst på sparsam körning, transportplanering och teknologi som de faktorer som påverkar bränsleförbrukningen. I sammanhanget är även val av bränsle relevant men denna faktor har analyserats separat då det snarare är en faktor som driver CO2-utsläpp än bränsleförbrukningen i sig. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att studera ett urval av transportföretaget GDL:s åkerier och dess verksamhet med primärt fokus på bränsleförbrukning och CO2-utsläpp. Ambitionen vid arbetets slut är att kunna betygsätta åkeriernas verksamhet med utgångspunkt i deras bränsleförbrukning och de faktorer som driver den. Studien syftar även till att klargöra maktförhållandet mellan uppdragsgivare, som GDL, och åkerier. Metod: Studien tillämpar ett positivistiskt vetenskapligt synsätt med abduktion som angreppssätt. Baserat på de frågeställningar som studeras i detta arbete har en kvalitativ forskningsmetod applicerats överlag med små inslag av kvantitativa aspekter. Slutsats: De faktorer som huvudsakligen driver bränsleförbrukning är sparsam körning, transportplanering och teknologi. Sparsam körning är den faktor som denna studie bedömer ha störst påverkan och en fullständig implementering kan resultera i en bränslereduktion på 10-30 5(95) procent. Förutom mängden bränsle som förbrukas har även val av bränsle möjligheten att påverka företag positivt, främst miljömässigt men även ekonomiskt, där alternativa bränslen är huvudsakligt fokus. I denna studie hanteras bränslen som är förekommande inom studiens åkerier och bland dessa har HVO klart lägst CO2-utsläpp. Inflytandet från större aktörer, som GDL, är i nuläget svårt att precisera och varierar mellan åkerier. GDL:s position på marknaden borde, om så önskas, möjliggöra att ett större inflytande utövas gentemot de mindre aktörer som till stor del kör åt GDL. / Background & Problem: Transportation and distribution, such as 3PL, pose an essential part of a logistics company’s scope of duties; especially heavy transports, which account for a big part of the worldwide CO2-emissions, are an essential part of the business. Whilst fuel consumption makes up the majority of a company’s total consecutive expenses, it also augments carbon dioxide emission in our already flawed world. Therefore, the aim in the long run is a readjustment in the transport sector which includes the transition from fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources as well as the reduction of fuel consumption in general. This is also in the interest of the distribution companies, as they thereby can save expenses and reduce their ecological footprint at the same time. Yet, what determines the fuel consumption of a distribution company? To decry that, this study will primarily focus on eco-driving, route planning as well as technology as the main drivers of fuel consumption. It hereby is necessary to consider the chosen kind of fuel as an important factor regarding the CO2-emissions; this, however, will be analyzed separately. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study a selection distribution companies that primarily work on behalf of GDL, to examine which factors drive fuel consumption and CO2 emissions 6(95) within these companies. This papers ambition is to fairly evaluate the distribution companies and grade them accordingly, based on factors that drive fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Additionally, this paper also aims to clarify the power structure between outsourcers, such as GDL, and their distributors. Method: This paper applies a positivistic scientific view with abduction as an approach. Based on this papers research questions it was determined that a qualitative research method should be applied throughout the study, with minor quantitative elements. Conclusions: The main factors for fuel consumption are parsimonious driving, route planning as well as technology. Hereby, frugal driving was ranked as the most important one as it can lead to a saving of 10-30 percent. Furthermore, the amount of used fuel can be positively influenced through the choice of certain fuel types. This has economical as well as ecological effects; the study focusses on renewable fuels, such as HVO, which has by far the lowest CO2- emissions amongst the fuels that were drawn into consideration. Influence by bigger actors, such as GDL, makes it hard to determine between different companies’ standings, as GDL’s position directly influences their smaller distributers.

Health impact assessment (HIA) has emerged in the U.S. as one promising process to increase social and environmental justice through addressing health equity issues within planning. HIA practice is guided by values such as democracy and equity and grounded in broad social determinants of health. The most readily applied definition of democracy is problematic because it implies an element of direct, participatory engagement with the public. This is at odds with HIA practice that largely relies on stakeholder engagement strategies. This dissertation critically examines the engagement strategies of three transportation planning HIA cases to more fully understand how the HIA process may or may not promote democratic values and protect community health interests. It employs a multi-case study design that uses qualitative content analysis to trace community health interests through the HIA process, HIA document, and target plan. It finds that while the field is overstating the participatory nature of HIA, commitments to health equity and broad determinants of health protect community health interests with and without robust engagement of community stakeholders.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis implements an automated system that counts pedestrians with 85% accuracy. Two approaches have been considered and evaluated in terms of count accuracy, cost and ease of deployment. The first approach employs the Autoscope Solo Terra, a traffic camera which is widely used to monitor vehicular traffic. The Solo Terra supports an image processing-based detector that counts the number of objects crossing user-defined areas in the captured image. The count is updated based on the amount of movement across the selected regions. Therefore, a second approach has been considered that uses a histogram of oriented gradients (HoG), an advanced vision based algorithm proposed by Dalal et al. which distinguishes a pedestrian from a non-pedestrian based on an omega shape formed by the head and shoulders of a human being. The implemented detection software processes video frames that are streamed from a low-cost digital camera. The frames are divided into sub-regions which are scanned for an omega shape whenever movement is detected in those regions. It has been found that the HoG-based approach degrades in performance due to occlusion under dense pedestrian traffic conditions whereas the Solo Terra approach appears to be more robust. Undercounts and overcounts were encountered using the Solo Terra approach. To combat the disadvantages of both the approaches, they were integrated to form a single system where count is incremented predominantly using the Solo Terra. The HoG-based approach corrects the obtained count under certain conditions. A preliminary prototype of the integrated system has been verified.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.