Real-time Traveler Information Performance Measures for Work Zone Congestion Management

To mitigate the work zone impacts on freeways, an advanced traveler information system (ATIS) was designed to promote the utilization of alternative routes and improve local road network performance. The system evaluation was performed during a bridge reconstruction project on the four-lane divided I-39/90 near the interchange with WIS59 at Edgerton, Wisconsin. Field comparisons between ATIS presence and absence discovered different diversion patterns in northbound and southbound directions associated with traffic delay. Drivers remained on the freeway when the displayed delay was less than 15 minutes while more drivers chose to leave the freeway with displayed delay greater than or equal to 15 minutes. A linear regression analysis was further conducted to investigate the impact of several factors, such as displayed delay time, freeway volume, exiting volume during the normal days (without a work zone), and the number of days after system implementation, on driver’s diversion behavior. The results showed that freeway volume, ramp exiting volume during normal days, and delay time were significant variables in causing a high diversion rate.In addition, it was demonstrated that ATIS performed effectively in increasing the work zone operational capacity. Furthermore, the reduced operating speed associated with the advance speed warning (part of the system) suggested that drivers reacted to the warning messages responding to the real-time speed collected through detectors. This comprehensive evaluation enriched the knowledge of driver behavior and reaffirmed the effectiveness of ITS applications in congestion mitigation

Comparing Macroeconomic Performance of the Union for the Mediterranean Countries Using Grey Relational Analysis and Multi-Dimensional Scaling

The aim of this study is to evaluate the economic performance of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) countries during 2006-2016 periods. The Union for the Mediterranean comprises the 28 EU Member States, the European Commission and 15 Mediterranean countries namely Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Luxemburg, Mauritania, Montenegro, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Tunisia, United Kingdom, Algeria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, Morocco, Palestine, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey. Syria has suspended its membership to the UfM on December 1, 2011. Libya has an observer status in the UfM. Grey Relational Analysis is used for the outranking of countries using macroeconomic indicators including total investment, gross national savings, inflation, average consumer prices, volume of imports of goods and services, volume of exports of goods and services, unemployment rate, general government revenue, general government total expenditure, general government gross debt, current account balance, gross product domestic (constant). Also annual macroeconomic indicators are converted to single data set by using arithmetic mean and weighted arithmetic mean (to be focused on recent years). This combined data was also used for another economic performance evaluation and Multidimensional Scaling Analysis has been used for weighted arithmetic mean to show countries' positions relative to each other in a two-dimensional plane. The results of the empirical analyses show that Ireland ranked as first according to the weighted arithmetic mean among 36 UfM countries. Egypt and Tunisia have been found as the countries with the worst economic performance