Evaluation of Truck Lane Restriction on Non-Limited Access Urban Arterials

ABSTRACTThe strategy of managing truck traffic through truck lane restriction is very prevalent on limited access highways in Florida and other States. The perceived and real success of truck lane restriction on freeways have led to increasing demands from the public for highway agencies to institute similar measures on non-limited access highways. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of various geometric, traffic, and signalization factors that might affect safety and operational effectiveness of truck lane restriction on non-limited access highways, primarily on urban arterial roadways with significant amount of truck traffic. Because of lack of sufficient sites with truck lane restriction on which to conduct a longitudinal field study, VISSIM simulation software was used to evaluate operational and safety effects of truck lane restriction by varying various parameters related to the restriction.The results of various simulation scenarios showed that restricting trucks to the right lane don't have deleterious effects on both safety and operational roadway performance compared to no restriction at all. In fact, it could improve travel speed on the highway corridor, although not much. However, restricting trucks to the left or center lanes would cause excessive lane changing, reduced travel speed, increased queue length, and delay. The imposition of truck lane restriction of either kind increases speed difference between cars and trucks within lanes. This phenomenon is likely to increase vehicular conflicts in real life but the exact extent of its operational and safety implications need to be studied further in the field

Attribution Theory and Collisions at Intersections

69A3551747117Attribution theory refers to the psychological phenomenon where one person tries to perceive others' cognitive behavior by ascribing their own emotions, opinions, and desires. For instance, while passing at an intersection, a driver expects that the maneuver of other drivers coming from the opposite direction or conflicting movements would be like their own. When expected behaviors do not match the opposite or conflicting movement driver's future behaviors, a collision is likely to occur. This research investigated the application of attribution theory to assume the opposing drivers\u2019 cognitive behavior and performance at a highway intersection. This phenomenon was evaluated by utilizing the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP-2) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data sources. From the data analysis, it was observed that drivers aged 25-34 years were involved in the highest number of fatal accidents from 2009- 2018 in the USA. Besides, it was found that younger drivers (aged 20-years old or less) contributed fewer fatal collisions (44,404 crashes) than elderly drivers (aged 65-years old or more, 62,572 crashes). The impact of the attribution theory and driver age in highway intersection-related collisions were examined from simulation models. From simulations, it was observed that there was a high possibility of collisions when an elderly driver was turning left. In this research, the combination of an elderly driver turning left, and the younger driver going straight resulted in the highest number of collisions compared to other groups. The key findings confirm elderly and younger drivers have different driving behavior that could be ascribed to their attribution. These results can assist transportation agencies to develop training and design strategies to better accommodate elderly drivers due to their declined physical and cognitive abilities and improve drivers\u2019 education programs for younger drivers.The supplemental file attached to this record includes links to the datasets analyzed for the report

Evaluation of before and after Measures to Curb Distracted Walking

69A3551747117Walking is one of the most common non-motorized modes of transportation. It is a convenient way to move from one place to another if other modes of transport are limited, and it is healthy. However, distracted pedestrians have become an increasing problem, and the main culprit is cellular devices. Cellphones have taken over many people's lives, and an average person cannot go without the usage of their cell phone in a day. Cellphones are used everywhere, like workplaces, homes, driving, and walkways. Every year pedestrians are endangered from texting, talking, or listening to music on their cellphones while walking. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that pedestrian fatalities range from approximately 4,110 to 6,080 from 2008 through 2017. In this study, the countermeasures to distracted pedestrian walking behavior are investigated. These research findings will help transportation and enforcement officials to enforce adequate safety measures when curbing distracted walking problem. The outcomes of this study are expected to provide essential information for the public on the effects attributed to distracted walking and the safety of pedestrians

Monitoring of Illegal Removal of Road Barricades Using Intelligent Transportation Systems in Connected and Non-Connected Environments

69A3551747117Illegal removal of road barricades without notice of road emergency officials and road users has resulted in fatalities, injuries, and property damages. It is only after an incident has occurred or someone noticed the removal and alerted the authorities for the barricade to be placed back at its intended location. Due to this event, traditional barricades must be equipped with mechanisms to alert emergency officials and warn road users of impending danger. This research utilized the Global Positioning System (GPS) module, and Radio Frequency (RF) modules to detect barricade movements, and alert emergency officials and road users. The barricade movements were estimated from the haversine distance formula, corrected for errors, and then compared with the distance threshold value for the road users within a geofenced area to be alerted. The geofenced area radius was estimated to be 1.04 miles from the barricade location using the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), National Safety Council (NSC), and TransGuide ITS manuals. The non-parametric bootstrapping method was used to estimate the GPS position error to 10.5 feet and corrected the measured distances. Experimental data of the system from a clear sunny day shows that low-cost GPS modules have the best response to barricade movements compared to a cloudy day where movements can\u2019t be explained easily. This system can communicate with Road-Side Units (RSUs) and On-Board Units (OBUs) and is expected to warn road users and alert emergency officials

The Analysis of Telecommunication Services in Contribution of Small Business Development: a Case of Zain Tanzania Ltd

This study made an assessment on the role of the use of telecommunication services by micro entrepreneurs in Tanzania. The assessment was guided by the effectiveness of the services and the aim was to see whether there would be a value addition, a benefit or a burden to the entrepreneurs on the use of telecommunication services in their daily business undertakings. The study was conducted in Dar es Salaam City area and a total of eighty micro entrepreneurs were sampled. The study managed to establish the relationship in terms of the cost incurred and the total net income for respective micro entrepreneurs. A general idea rising from the measures proposed from the study is the need to look at innovative business with a view to finding unique solutions to conditions in Tanzania. Tanzanian micro entrepreneurs have already seized the opportunities presented to them by the introduction of telecommunication services. The research findings shows that there is an opportunity of extending the benefit of telecommunication services to the most marginalized micro entrepreneurs within Tanzania to improve their economic status. Information and Communications Technology (lCT) is very important to development and growth. Mobile phones which are part and parcel of it can make an immediate and direct impact both on the daily lives of the micro entrepreneurs and just as important, on the business economies. It is therefore against this reality that the study tangible ways of making the use of mobile phones by entrepreneurs a cost effective endeavo

Livestock-based risk management and coping mechanism to drought among pastoralists: a case study of Handeni District, Tanga

A case study on Livestock-based risk management and coping mechanism to drought among pastoralists in Handeni District was conducted to determine how pastoralist cope with drought in the study area. Drought is a major problem and threat to pastoral livelihoods globally. This study aimed at assessing and documenting information on Livestock based risk management and coping mechanims in reducing drought effects. Despite the assumption that livelihood of pastoralists depends on livestock, knowledge on how to improve the resilience of pastoral communities to manage drought and reduce risks is still limited but is crucial for sustainable management system. Drought still persists regardless of many effort made to cope with it. A cross - sectional reseach design was adopted to generate information on risk management in livestock and coping mechanisms. Socio-economic data were collected through questionaire to 160 pastoralists, focus group discussion and key informant interview. Data were analysed using statistical package for social science software to obtain frequencies and percentages while inferential statistics using regression model was carried out to determine the relationship between socio-economies of pastoral household and the selected variable. Results indicates that age influenced the socio-economies of pastoral house negatively (β= -0.451; p = 0.808), while education level positively but not significant (β= 43.821; p = 0.497), family of household positively and not significant (β= 3.379; p= 0.50), marital status negatively (β=-53.979; p = 0.847),and size of the land, positively (β= 58.898; p= 0.004). The findings noted that herd mobility influence the socio-economies of pastoral household positively (β=91.749; p = 0.01), early warning system positively (β=; 316.537; p = 0.00), and availability of timely market, (β= 11.516; p = 0.021) were significant to the socio-economies of pastoral household .Total number of animal died from drought effects was 3 666 out of 57 785 owned . Mortality was 6.34%

Factors to be Considered in Planning High Speed Rails: Time, Population, Economic Markets, and Track Mileage

In the last ten years, the United States has focused on the investment in high speed rails. With existing high speed rails (HSRs) and plans on reinvesting in high speed rail infrastructure, accurate planning and assessments are critical to make sure that these investments are spent wisely. Traditionally the investment in high speed rails is characterized by the infrastructure cost, operation and maintenance cost, and the overall revenue from ridership and savings. Studies have shown, that though these cost are accurate in determining the financial feasibility of high speed rails, the identified factors do not indicate the entire scope or potential of high speed rails. Additional factors should be utilized in determining whether HSRs are successful or not. The point of this research is to investigate additional factors of HSRs including time, population, the connection to economic markets, and the overall presence of HSR lines in a specific area in order to understand the significance of HSRs and to provide a platform on whether potential HSRs will be successful predicated off historical data. The net income or profit will be the determining factor on whether HSRs are successful or not being that this is the major concern on justifying the initial investment in HSRs. A regression model is utilized in order to determine whether investing in HSRs will be successful, by utilizing historical data of existing HSRs. This data shows the correlation between the noted factors (time, population, economic markets and track miles) and the profitability of existing HSRs

Opportunities and challenges of smart mobile applications in transportation

Smart mobile applications are software applications that are designed to run on smart phones, tablets, and other mobile electronic devices. In this era of rapid technological advances, these applications have become one of the primary tools we use daily both in our personal and professional lives. The applications play key roles in facilitating many applications that are pivotal in our today's society including communication, education, business, entertainment, medical, finance, travel, utilities, social, and transportation. This paper reviewed the opportunities and challenges of the applications related to transportation. The opportunities revealed include route planning, ridesharing/carpooling, traffic safety, parking information, transportation data collection, fuel emissions and consumption, and travel information. The potential users of these applications in the field of transportation include (1) transportation agencies for travel data collection, travel information, ridesharing/carpooling, and traffic safety, (2) engineering students for field data collection such as travel speed, travel time, and vehicle count, and (3) general traveling public for route planning, ridesharing/carpooling, parking, traffic safety, and travel information. Significant usage of smart mobile applications can be potentially very beneficial, particularly in automobile travel mode to reduce travel time, cost, and vehicle emissions. In the end this would make travel safer and living environments greener and healthier. However, road users' interactions with these applications could manually, visually, and cognitively divert their attention from the primary task of driving or walking. Distracted road users expose themselves and others to unsafe behavior than undistracted. Road safety education and awareness programs are vital to discourage the use of applications that stimulate unsafe driving/walking behaviors. Educating the traveling public about the dangers of unsafe driving/walking behavior could have significant safety benefits to all road users. Future research needs to compare accuracies of the applications and provide guidelines for selecting them for certain transportation related applications