Esta dissertação de mestrado apresenta um estudo do processo de formação de pelotões em rodovias de pista simples brasileiras e a dispersão desses pelotões nas faixas adicionais de subida. Este estudo foi realizado usando-se dados empíricos coletados na SP 255, uma rodovia de pista simples do estado de São Paulo. Um dos trechos estudados possuía faixas adicionais nos aclives e o outro era sem faixas adicionais. Para caracterizar a formação de pelotões, três aspectos foram estudados: a porcentagem de veículos em pelotões, o tamanho médio dos pelotões e a recomposição dos pelotões após o término de uma faixa adicional. Modelos matemáticos foram adaptados para representar o processo de formação de pelotões em rodovias brasileiras. Visando fornecer subsídios para futuros projetos de faixas adicionais, a dispersão dos pelotões nas faixas adicionais de subida foi analisada considerando-se as seguintes medidas de desempenho: taxa de ultrapassagem, velocidade média da corrente, porcentagem de veículos em pelotões e comprimento de faixa para a dispersão dos pelotões. Os resultados do estudo da dispersão dos pelotões mostram que as faixas adicionais melhoram o nível de serviço não apenas na direção onde são implantadas, mas também na direção do tráfego oposto uma vez que cerca de 70 a 75% do fluxo no sentido analisado divergem para as faixas adicionais, proporcionando uma porcentagem maior de gaps adequados para a dispersão dos pelotões do fluxo oposto. / This master thesis presents a study of the platoon formation process in the Brazilian two-lane roads and the dispersion of these platoons in the passing lanes. This study was developed using empirical data collected in the SP 255, a two-lane road of the state of São Paulo. One of the segments studied had passing lanes on upgrades and another was without passing lanes. In order to characterize the platoon formation, three aspects were studied: the percent of vehicle in platoon, the mean platoon size and the platoon recomposition after the end of a passing lane. Mathematical models were adapted to represent the platoon formation in the Brazilian roads. Aiming to aid future auxiliary lanes projects, the platoon dispersion in the climbing lanes was analyzed considering the following service measures: overtaking rate, mean speed, percent of vehicle traveling in platoons and lane length used to disperse the platoons. The results of the platoons dispersion study show that the auxiliary lanes improve the level of service not only in the direction of they are constructed, but also in the opposing flow. It\'s verified that around 70 to 75% of the flow in the analyzed direction diverge to auxiliary lanes, providing a greater percentage of gaps suitable to platoon dispersion in the opposing flow.

Two-way left-turn lane (TWLTL) is one of the common median treatments on the roadway. It is found that a number of crashes reported in Florida State are related to TWLTLs. This research focused on evaluating the effect of TWLTLs on these crashes by using the statistical crash prediction model that can estimate the expected number of crashes on TWLTLs. The crash database for analysis was extracted from the Florida Traffic Crash Database based on the TWLTL section list provided by FDOT and combined with some traffic characteristics. It consisted of totally 1688 sample sections within a three-year period from 1996 to 1998. Based on the crash database, distribution fittings for Poisson, Negative Binomial and Lognormal regression were conducted for average number of crashes. According to the results, statistical crash predictive model was developed to estimate the average number of crashes. Negative Binomial regression was applied with four variables, ADT, access density, posted speed and number of lanes for the TWLTL sections. The regression parameters were estimated by using maximum likelihood method with statistical software. The findings of the analysis indicated that all of the variables adopted in the predictive model significantly affect the occurrence of crashes. And the average number of crashes increases with the increase of ADT, access density and number of lanes, while with the decrease of posted speed. After that, the goodness-of-fit of developed model was performed in term of Pearson's R-square and likelihood ratio index. The results showed that the Negative Binomial regression model could explain the relationship between the variables and the crash occurrence In the third part, an approach was developed to identify the TWLTL sections with safety concern. For an undivided roadway, the approach can be carried out to judge if the TWLTL is appropriate to be selected as the median treatment. During the process, the whole database was divided into six categories according to the posted speed and number of lanes. By adopting the selected percentile value from the distribution of average number of crashes for each category in the predictive model, the critical ADT values according to specific access density, number of lane and posted speed level for each category were calculated and tabulated. With the comparison of the actual ADT value and the critical ADT value, if the actual ADT is higher than the critical value, the TWLTL section is determined as the critical section, which means the TWLTL is not appropriate to be selected as the median treatment in this roadway section.

This research examined if travelers are paying for travel on managed lanes (MLs) as they indicated that they would in a 2008 survey. The other objectives of this research included estimating travelers’ value of travel time savings (VTTS) and their value of travel time reliability (VOR), and examining the multiple survey designs used in a 2008 survey to identify which survey design better predicted ML traveler behavior. To achieve the objectives, an Internet-based follow-up stated preference (SP) survey of Houston’s Katy Freeway travelers was conducted in 2010. Three survey design methodologies—Db-efficient, random level generation, and adaptive random—were tested in this survey. A total of 3,325 responses were gathered from the survey, and of those, 869 responses were from those who likely also responded to the previous 2008 survey. Mixed logit models were developed for those 869 previous survey respondents to estimate and compare the VTTS to the 2008 survey estimates. It was found that the 2008 survey estimates of the VTTS were very close to the 2010 survey estimates. In addition, separate mixed logit models were developed from the responses obtained from the three different design strategies in the 2010 survey. The implied mean VTTS varied across the design-specific models. Only the Db-efficient design was able to estimate a VOR. Based on this and several other metrics, the Db-efficient design outperformed the other designs. A mixed logit model including all the responses from all three designs was also developed; the implied mean VTTS was estimated as 65 percent ($22/hr) of the mean hourly wage rate, and the implied mean VOR was estimated as 108 percent ($37/hr) of the mean hourly wage rate. Data on actual usage of the MLs were also collected. Based on actual usage, the average VTTS was calculated as $51/hr. However, the $51/hr travelers are paying likely also includes the value travelers place on travel time reliability of the MLs. The total (VTTS+VOR) amount estimated from the all-inclusive model from the survey was $59/hr, which is close to the value estimated from the actual usage. The Db-efficient design estimated this total as $50/hr. This research also shows that travelers have a difficulty in estimating the time they save while using a ML. They greatly overestimate the amount of time saved. It may well be that even though travelers are saving a small amount of time they value that time savings (and avoiding congestion) much higher – possibly similar to their amount of perceived travel time savings. The initial findings from this study, reported here, are consistent with the hypothesis that travelers are paying for their travel on MLs, much as they said that they would in our previous survey. This supports the use of data on intended behavior in policy analysis.

Submitted by Automa??o e Estat?stica (sst@bczm.ufrn.br) on 2017-06-02T19:19:17Z No. of bitstreams: 1 RanmsesEmanuelMartinsBastos_DISSERT.pdf: 3544164 bytes, checksum: 0be0a21709a7526cbbea13cf73f55d8e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Arlan Eloi Leite Silva (eloihistoriador@yahoo.com.br) on 2017-06-05T19:52:50Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 RanmsesEmanuelMartinsBastos_DISSERT.pdf: 3544164 bytes, checksum: 0be0a21709a7526cbbea13cf73f55d8e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-05T19:52:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RanmsesEmanuelMartinsBastos_DISSERT.pdf: 3544164 bytes, checksum: 0be0a21709a7526cbbea13cf73f55d8e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-17 / O Problema do Caixeiro Viajante com Passageiros e Lota??o ? uma vers?o do PCV cl?ssico onde o caixeiro ? o motorista de um ve?culo que compartilha os custos de viagem com passageiros. Al?m de dividir os custos do percurso, o caixeiro pode se valer, tamb?m, dos descontos das high-occupancy vehicle lanes, que s?o faixas de tr?nsito que isentam ve?culos lotados do pagamento de ped?gio. A adi??o de passageiros ao PCV, um problema restrito ao roteamento, cria um vi?s colaborativo que ? intensificado pela considera??o das faixas especiais. Tal cen?rio confere ao problema estudado um aspecto ecol?gico, uma vez que seu estudo tem consequ?ncias diretas sobre o uso eficiente do espa?o urbano e a diminui??o da emiss?o de gases poluentes, contribuindo sobremaneira para o incremento da qualidade de vida. A pesquisa compreendeu desde a correla??o entre esse novo problema e outros constantes na literatura at? a concep??o de um conjunto de seiscentas inst?ncias artificiais e a cria??o de diversos m?todos de solu??o. Para a determina??o de ?timos, ? proposto um modelo matem?tico que suportou as solu??es por Programa??o Matem?tica e por Restri??es. Adicionalmente, ? apresentado um algoritmo branch-and-bound especificamente desenvolvido para o problema. Visando a busca por solu??es de qualidade em curto espa?o de tempo, s?o expostos cinco algoritmos experimentais com base nas abordagens heur?sticas Simulated Annealing, Variable Neighborhood Search, Coloniza??o de Abelhas e Algoritmos Gen?ticos. Diversos procedimentos auxiliares para constru??o de solu??es e execu??o de buscas locais s?o tamb?m expostos. Um experimento computacional ? realizado para compara??o entre os m?todos de solu??o. Uma amostra de cem casos teste ? utilizada para o processo estat?stico de ajuste de par?metros dos algoritmos heur?sticos, enquanto o restante das inst?ncias ? extensivamente abordado pelos m?todos. S?o determinados os ?timos para cento e cinquenta e cinco casos com tamanhos 10 e 20 cidades. Dentre os m?todos experimentais, cabe destacar a superioridade do algoritmo heur?stico que une as meta-heur?sticas Simulated Annealing e Variable Neighborhood Search. / The Traveling Salesman with Passengers and High Occupancy Problem is a version of the classic TSP where the salesman is the driver of a vehicle who shares travels? expenses with passengers. Besides shared expenses, the driver also benefits from discounts of the highoccupancy vehicle lanes, i.e. traffic lanes in which high occupancy vehicles are exempted from tolls. The addition of passengers to the TSP, a routing-only problem, creates a sharing view which is intensified by the consideration of special lanes. This scenario grants to the problem an ecological feature, since its study have direct consequences for the efficient use of urban space and the greenhouse gas emissions reduction, greatly contributing for quality of life improvement. This work addresses the study of this novel combinatorial optimization problem, going from the relationship it draws with other ones in the literature until the conception of a six hundred set of artificial test cases and the creation of many solution methods. To find optimal solutions, a mathematical model is proposed. This model supported the search for exact solutions by Mathematical and Constraint Programming. Additionally, is presented a branchand- bound algorithm specifically developed for the problem. Aiming the search for good quality solutions in short time period, five experimental algorithms based on the heuristics approaches Simulated Annealing, Variable Neighborhood Search, Bees Colony and Genetic Algorithms are introduced. Several auxiliary procedures for solutions generations and local search execution are revealed as well. A computational experiment is fulfilled to comparison between the solution methods. A sample of a hundred test cases is used for the heuristics algorithms? parameter tuning statistical process, while the rest of them are extensively addressed by the methods. The optimal solution for a hundred and fifty five test cases with sizes of 10 and 20 cities are determined. Among the experimental methods, one has to highlight the advantage of the heuristic algorithm that unites the metaheuristics Simulated Annealing and Variable Neighborhood Search.

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are a disruptive technology that is expected to vastly change the current transportation system. AV potential benefits in terms of safety, mobility, efficiency and other impacts types have been documented in the literature. AVs are expected to increase travel demand due to the enhanced ease of making trips and provision of mobility to people currently with travel-limiting disabilities. The potential increase in travel demand, with its attendant congestion, may probably be offset by the transportation network capacity increase due to the reduced operational headways between AVs. However, such capacity benefits can be fully realized only when AVs fully saturate the market, because operating at low headways may be unsafe for Human Driven Vehicles (HDVs). Thus, to promote AV ownership while capturing the capacity benefits of an AV-only traffic stream, the conversion of traditional lanes to AV-exclusive use is prescribed often. In the AV-exclusive lanes, the vehicles can operate at reduced headways and at higher speeds, sharply increasing throughput. However, the metric used frequently by researchers for AV-exclusive lane evaluation is the total system travel time. AV-exclusive lanes may appear to be beneficial in terms of total system travel time but may come at a cost of environmental protection and social equity, the other two elements of sustainable development. Appropriating HDV lanes for AV-exclusive use will cause congestion on HDV lanes thereby increasing their emissions. Further, the AVs benefits may be accompanied by increased cost of HDV travel, which raises questions about equity. This thesis therefore presents a sustainable AV-exclusive lane deployment strategy by formulating and solving a multicriteria bi-level optimization problem with equity-related constraints. Mathematically, the problem is described as a discrete network design problem. Recognizing the difficulty of solving this NIP hard problem, the thesis combines the active set method with heuristic conditionalities to improve computational efficiency. The thesis’s framework can be used by agencies for evaluation and decision support regarding AV-exclusive lane deployment in a manner that fosters long-term sustainability.

The aim of the thesis is to develop a method to identify driving lanes based on aerial images and existing spatial data. The proposed method uses up to date available data in which it identifies road surface marking (RSM). Polygons classified as RSM are further processed to obtain their vector line representation as the first partial result. While processing RSM vectors further, borders of driving lanes are modelled as the second partial result. Furthermore, attempts were done to be able to automatically distinguish between solid and broken lines for a higher amount of information contained in the resulting dataset. Proposed algorithms were tested in 20 case study areas and results are presented further in this thesis. The overall correctness as well as the positional accuracy proves effectivity of the method. However, several shortcomings were identified and are discussed as well as possible solutions for them are suggested. The text is accompanied by more than 70 figures to offer a clear perspective on the topic. The thesis is organised as follows: First, Introduction and Literature review are presented including the problem background, author's motivation, state of the art and contribution of the thesis. Secondly, technical and legal requirements of RSM are presented as well as theoretical concepts and...

This thesis proposes a planning framework for Autonomous Electric Vehicle (AEV) charging. The framework is intended to help transportation decision-makers determine Electric Vehicle (EV) charging facility locations and capacities for the mixed fleet of Autonomous Vehicle (AV) and Human-driven Vehicle (HDV). The bi-level nature of the framework captures the decision-making processes of the transportation agency decision-makers and travelers, thereby providing solid theoretical and practical foundations for the EV charging network design. At the upper level, the decision-makers seek to determine the locations and operating capacities of the EV charging facilities, in a manner that minimizes total travel time and construction costs subject to budgetary limitations. In addition, the transportation decision-makers provide AV-exclusive lanes to encourage AV users to reduce travel time, particularly at wireless-charging lanes, as well as other reasons, including safety. At the lower level, the travelers seek to minimize their travel time by selecting their preferred vehicle type (AV vs. HDV) and route. In measuring the users delay costs, the thesis considered network user equilibrium because the framework is designed for urban networks where travelers route choice affects their travel time. The bi-level model is solved using the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) algorithm.

Bicycling as an alternate mode of transportation has been on the rise. It is environmentally friendly in nature and the associated health benefits have made it a popular choice for many types of trips. The purpose of this research is to increase understanding of the impacts of implementing bicycle corridors (as part of the Utah Department of Transportation's (UDOT) Inclusion of Active Transportation policy) on bicycle rate as a function of roadway characteristics. The results of this research will be used in determining when and where bicycle corridors will enhance the transportation system and an estimate of the overall impact of bicycle corridors on travel demand in Utah. Data collection was fundamental in this research project in determining the impacts of bicycle corridors on travel demands in the state of Utah. With limited amount of commuting bicycle data available throughout the state, it was necessary to gather bicycle volume data on corridors with and without bicycle infrastructure. In order to accomplish this data collection effort, two primary methods were used to collect bicycle volume data. The first method was to use automatic bicycle counters on roadways that had bicycle infrastructure. The second method was to gather bicycle volume data through manual counts on roads with and without bicycle infrastructure. After the bicycle volume data were collected the data were analyzed to identify trends. The first step in the analysis was to convert the bicycle volumes into rates to provide a more uniform comparison. Several analyses were run including an analysis of bicycle rate compared to Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT), bicycle rate compared to posted speed limit, bicycle rate compared to number of vehicle lanes, and bicycle rate compared to roadway classification. A comparison of sites with bicycle infrastructure to sites without bicycle infrastructure (non-bicycle infrastructure) was also conducted to identify relationships. Comparison of bicycle rates to AADT resulted in no correlation or statistical relationship in the data but the data do suggest trends. Statistically significant results did occur when comparing bicycle rates to posted speed limits. No statistically significant relationships occurred when comparing bicycle rates to the number of lanes or roadway classification. It was determined that roadways with bicycle infrastructure tend to yield higher bicycle rates than roadways that do not have bicycle infrastructure. Lastly, using shared use path data it is determined that bicycle rates on shared use paths have increased between 1.7 to 7.5 percent from 2013 to 2014 and it is assumed that a similar trend would exist on bicycle infrastructure in the communities.

Two way left turn lanes (TWLTL) and raised medians are common median treatments on roadways. This research focused on evaluating the safety effectiveness of conversion of TWLTLs into raised medians using Before-After and Cross Sectional Studies. In the Before-After Studies, we evaluated the effect of this treatment using the Naive, Before-After with Comparison Group (CG), and Before-After with Empirical Bayes (EB) Methods. In order to apply these methods, a total of 33 segments of a treated group and 109 segments of a comparison group have been collected. Also, safety performance functions (SPFs) have been developed using the negative binomial model in order to calibrate crash modification factors (CMF) using the Before-After with Empirical Bayes Method. This research also evaluated the safety effectiveness of this treatment on four and six lane roads using Before-After with CG and Before-After with EB. The type of raised medians was further evaluated using Before-After with CG and EB. In sum, the results from this study show that applying the before-After and Cross Sectional studies have proved that the conversion from a TWLTL to a raised median helped to reduce total, fatal and injury, head on, angle, and left turn crashes. It significantly reduces crashes for head-on and left turn crashes, by restricting turning maneuvers. Also, this study has proved that the treatment is more effective on four rather than six lane roads. Furthermore, two types of raised medians, concrete and lawn curb, were evaluated after the conversion from TWLTLs. It was found that both medians have similar effects due to the conversion, and both median types helped in reducing the number of crashes.

This thesis comprises two studies that investigated bike infrastructure safety in North America. The first study conducted a corridor-level analysis to quantify the safety of different bike infrastructure types and assess the influence of corridor-specific characteristics on their performance. Using a Poisson-lognormal Full Bayesian model, the study analyzed fatal and injury bike-vehicle collisions on over 7800 corridors in Toronto, Canada. The findings revealed that bike infrastructure effectively reduces bike collisions, with cycle tracks demonstrating superior safety benefits due to the physical separation of cyclists from vehicular traffic. Cycle tracks were found to be particularly effective on long corridors with fewer intersections as bike-vehicle interactions along the corridor are minimized. Signed routes were safe on low-volume and low-speed roads, while bike lanes are more suited for a short section of high-volume corridors with a high intersection density. The second study assessed the safety of parking-protected bike lanes (PPBL), a new concept that is rapidly growing in North America. Utilizing data from nineteen street sections in Vancouver and Ottawa, the study developed a Full Bayesian Before-and-after model to evaluate the safety impacts of converting traditional painted bike lanes to PPBLs. The results indicated a significant reduction of 31.2% in total collisions after PPBL implementation. However, the effects of PPBLs on cyclist safety were found to be sensitive to factors such as bike path opening density, intersection density, and intersection treatments. In roads where proper intersection treatments and minimal protection of PPBL openings can be provided, painted bike lanes can be converted into PPBLs, and significant safety benefits can be expected. The findings of this thesis offer practical guidance for city planners and policymakers regarding the safety implications of different bike infrastructure types and the most appropriate conditions to implement them, which supports bike safety enhancement initiatives and attracts more people to bike. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc) / This thesis presents two studies that offer valuable insights to improve bike safety. The first study examined the safety of various bike infrastructure types along with the impact of corridor characteristics on their performance. The findings emphasized the effectiveness of cycle tracks in reducing collisions on long corridors with fewer intersections. Signed routes were found to be effective on low-volume and low-speed roads, while bike lanes were ideal on short sections of high-volume roads with a high intersection density. The second study assessed the impacts of new designed concept, known as the parking-protected bike lanes (PPBLs). The study showed that converting painted bike lanes to PPBLs significantly reduced total collisions. However, proper treatment of intersection and bikeway openings is crucial for enhancing cyclist safety and reducing multi-vehicle rear-end collisions. Where proper intersection treatment and minimal protection of bikeway openings can be provided, bike lanes can be safely converted into PPBLs.