The accident rate at an intersection is one attribute used to evaluate the hazard associated with the intersection. Two techniques traditionally used to make such evaluations are the rate-quality technique and a technique based on the confidence interval of classical statistics. Both of these techniques label intersections as hazardous if their accident rate is greater than some critical accident rate determined by the technique. An alternative technique is one based on a Bayesian analysis of available accident number and traffic volume data. In contrast to the two classic techniques, the Bayesian technique identifies an intersection as hazardous based on a probabilistic assessment of accident rates. The goal of this thesis is to test and compare the ability of the three techniques to accurately identify traffic intersections known to be hazardous. Test data is generated from an empirical distribution of accident rates. The techniques are then applied to the generated data and compared based on the simulation results.

Flood estimation can be classified into two categories, i.e. flood prediction and flood forecasting. Flood prediction is used for the estimation of design floods, which are floods associated with a degree of risk of being equalled or exceeded. Predictions are needed for the design and construction of infrastructure that are at risk to flowing water. Flood forecasting is used for the estimation of flood flows from an impending and/or occurring rainfall event (i.e. the estimation of the magnitude of future flood flows with reference to a specific time in the future). These are needed by catchment and disaster managers for the mitigation of flood damage. The estimation of flood magnitudes for flood forecasting requires the specific knowledge of prevailing surface conditions which are associated with the processes of rainfall conversion into flood runoff. In order to best achieve this, a distributed model (in order to exploit remotely sensed data and capture the spatial scale of the phenomenon) is used to continuously update the surface conditions that are important in this conversion process. This dissertation focuses on both flood estimation categories. In the first part of the dissertation, attention is given to the improvement of two simple event-based design flood prediction methods currently in use by design practitioners, namely the regional maximum flood (RMF) and the rational formula (RF) by comparison with statistically modelled historical flood data. The second part of the dissertation lays the theoretical and practical foundation for the implementation of a fully distributed physically-based rainfall-runoff model for real-time flood forecasting in South Africa. The TOPKAPI model was chosen for this purpose. This aspect of the research involved assimilating the literature on the model, testing the model and gathering and preparing of the input data required by the model for its eventual application in the Liebenbergsvlei catchment. The practical application of the model is left for a follow-up study. / Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007. / Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007

The South African government has decided to introduce an extensive toll road system in the Gauteng Province, to fund the road upgrades in the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP). This research report assesses the effectiveness of this funding strategy by analysing the social, economic and environmental impact of the GFIP toll road. The user pay principle is also interrogated to assess the fairness of the toll tariffs to be levied on different user groups. This study has found that the GFIP investment was an unstrategic investment in transport infrastructure. It is proposed that an integrated multi-modal transport strategy is developed, that prioritises the development of the railway system for freight cargo and public transport. As freight vehicles cause more than 99% of roads damage, it is proposed that toll tariffs are only applied to freight vehicles, to lessen the negative social impact of tolling. It is proposed that an independent transport regulator and a consumer council are established, to protect consumer interests, to ensure the independent review of toll tariffs, and to review future public-funded transport investments.

För att nå utsatta klimatmål i Sverige och på EU-nivå är begränsningen av fossil fordonstrafik en hörnsten. Lösningen kan vara eldrift, men dilemmat vid långa transporter är påfyllnad av drivmedel. Utmaningen blir att tillgodose den ökade efterfrågan på energi – både gällande distribution och produktion – på ett miljömässigt försvarbart sätt. En litteraturstudie samt en intervju utförs för att undersöka om vägar kan göras smartare för att främja en grönare, eldriven fordonstrafik och ge möjlighet för energiutvinning i vägområdet samt elektrisk energidistribution till fordon under färd. Teknologin till energidistribution och energiutvinningssystem finns, men den kan alltid utvecklas för billigare tillverkning och effektivare produkter. Studerade energidistribueringssystem är induktion och konduktion. Energiutvinningssystemen som har behandlats är solenergi, piezoelektricitet och vindkraft. Pilotprojekt inom de bägge områdena existerar och fler projekt är under utveckling. / Sweden and the EU has a lot of climate goals, to achieve these goals the use of fossil fuels must be reduced. One solution can be electric powered vehicles, when travelling long distances there is a problem to replenish fuel. The challenge is to meet the increased demand for energy - both in terms of production and distribution - in an environmentally sound manner. A literature study as well as an interview is carried out to investigate whether roads can be made smarter to promote a greener, electric vehicle traffic and the possibility of energy harvesting systems and energy distribution in the road area. The technology for energy harvesting systems and energy distribution is available, but it can always be further developed for cheaper manufacturing and more efficient products. Energy distribution systems studied are induction and conduction. The energy harvesting systems in this report are solar energy, piezoelectricity and wind power. Pilot projects in both areas exists and more projects are under development.

Road networks have significant impacts on ecosystems through deforestation, rapid land conversion and wildlife-vehicle collisions. Road ecology seeks to analyze the spatial and biological patterns of collisions to understand the effect of roadways and best inform transportation planning in mitigating these threats. 215 km of roadway BR-262, that bisects critical habitat of the Brazilian Cerrado and Pantanal in southwest Brazil, was analyzed between April 2011 and June 2012 to assess how biological, physical and landscape characteristics affect clustering of collisions. 518 collisions, representing 40 species, were found to be seasonally clustered between the unimodal rain and flood pulse in a February-March-April window and were spatially clustered over the study area in relation to cash crop and cattle ranching land-use and the rural low-lying Pantanal floodplain. Mitigation seeks to work with local communities and transportation agencies to facilitate fauna safe crossing through the roadway that do not conflict with drivers. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

För att nå utsatta klimatmål i Sverige och på EU-nivå är begränsningen av fossil fordonstrafik en hörnsten. Lösningen kan vara eldrift, men dilemmat vid långa transporter är påfyllnad av drivmedel. Utmaningen blir att tillgodose den ökade efterfrågan på energi – både gällande distribution och produktion – på ett miljömässigt försvarbart sätt. En litteraturstudie samt en intervju utförs för att undersöka om vägar kan göras smartare för att främja en grönare, eldriven fordonstrafik och ge möjlighet för energiutvinning i vägområdet samt elektrisk energidistribution till fordon under färd. Teknologin till energidistribution och energiutvinningssystem finns, men den kan alltid utvecklas för billigare tillverkning och effektivare produkter. Studerade energidistribueringssystem är induktion och konduktion. Energiutvinningssystemen som har behandlats är solenergi, piezoelektricitet och vindkraft. Pilotprojekt inom de bägge områdena existerar och fler projekt är under utveckling. / Sweden and the EU has a lot of climate goals, to achieve these goals the use of fossil fuels must be reduced. One solution can be electric powered vehicles, when travelling long distances there is a problem to replenish fuel. The challenge is to meet the increased demand for energy - both in terms of production and distribution - in an environmentally sound manner. A literature study as well as an interview is carried out to investigate whether roads can be made smarter to promote a greener, electric vehicle traffic and the possibility of energy harvesting systems and energy distribution in the road area. The technology for energy harvesting systems and energy distribution is available, but it can always be further developed for cheaper manufacturing and more efficient products. Energy distribution systems studied are induction and conduction. The energy harvesting systems in this report are solar energy, piezoelectricity and wind power. Pilot projects in both areas exists and more projects are under development.

The rapidly and significantly growth of the population in the United States has caused expansion of the urban areas to accommodate more residential facilities.. Thus, the demand for more efficient intersection designs is a high priority, as wasted fuel and travel time increases each year. A new method to solve the congestion issue is the creation of unconventional arterial intersection designs (UAID). The objective of this study is to compare the operational and environmental performance of three UAIDs called Left-turn Bypass, Diverging Flow, and Displaced Left-turn intersections. This study will evaluate the UAIDs in the isolated manner and then compare the intersections in a network using an existing corridor in the state of Florida. The microscopic simulation platform VISSIM v. 5.10 will be used to test different scenarios. The results indicated that the Displaced Left-turn consistently reports better results for average delay of less than 20 seconds per vehicle. / by Claudia Olarte. / Thesis (M.S.C.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

The purpose of this project was to investigate the safety of urban arterial non-access controlled roads in Worcester, Massachusetts. An investigation into the dependent variable proved inconclusive and the historical accident rate was used. The best functional form for these roads was unclear so both linear and log-linear models were developed. A linear model was developed that predicted the total accident crash rate and log-linear model was developed to predict the same thing. A second linear model was developed to predict the total injury accident crash rate. The models were validated using independent data where the linear total accident crash rate model was found to be the most robust of the three in that both state primary roads and other arterial roads could have crash rates predicted to a better than fifty percent error.

Thesis. 1976. M.S. cn--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Civil Engineering. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Includes bibliographical references. / M.S.cn

This dissertation examines “post-agrarian” transformations in Kenyan rural areas. But where rural transformation is usually written as a story about land, Black Spots is a story about roads. Kenya’s massive investment in roads infrastructure over the last decade has intersected with the decline in smallholder agriculture in such a way that, for many rural residents, fortunes are now imagined on the road rather than on the land. Roadside trade, transport, and even salvage from crashes provide supplementary livings for rural populations facing declining agricultural opportunities. The dissertation argues that in the context of austerity policies and rural abandonment, road work and its “fast money” not only expose roadside residents to physical danger, but also entrench entrepreneurial risk ideology into local imaginaries. With the road accident as a lens illuminating a wider landscape of rural hazard, the dissertation shows how rural residents refashion relationships to land, work, technology, and loss in high-risk environments. At the same time, it demonstrates the limits of “risk”—that is, a calculated engagement with potential loss, conducted in the interest of profit—as a framework for managing contingency. In this sense, Black Spots is both an ethnography of risk and of what risk fails to capture. It tracks how rural residents learn to engage bodily and economic hazard and to understand it as risk; how they coordinate the disparate temporalities and technologies of life on the road and life on the land; and how they withstand loss when these attempts do not go as planned. The dissertation thus advances two parallel concerns: on the one hand, it demonstrates how economic practice is at once bodily and reasoned. On the other, it considers how experiences of and ideas about contingency are shaped in relation to shifting economic, social, and infrastructural possibilities.