6. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION CODE

This report has been prepared as the final deliverable for Phase II of a project for the California Department of Transportation to develop a combined quantitative and qualitative approach for planning for improved intermodal connectivity at California airports. The objectives of this phase were to further develop the Intermodal Airport Ground Access Planning Tool (IAPT) to improve its functionality, to estimate updated versions of mode choice models for use with the IAPT, to correct errors in the calculation of performance parameters by the IAPT, and to conduct a case study as a test of the IAPT. The objective of developing the IAPT is to provide a standard, transparent and scientific way for quantitative airport ground access project evaluation at the airport level. A user-friendly graphical interface makes it easy for a user to run the model in the following sequence of steps: (a) to define performance measures and the associated transportation service data variables for the different modes involved; (b) to select a

9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS

This research helped close a crucial data gap in land use – travel behavior studies. Current estimates of land use – travel behavior relationships are based on average effects for metropolitan areas or larger geographies. That gives little insight into the effect of small-area land use policies such as targeted infill development, transit-oriented land uses near stations, or similarly localized policies. In California, Senate Bill (SB) 375 requires that metropolitan planning organizations incorporate land use – transportation planning, but existing travel diary surveys have very few observations in areas of policy interest. This research pioneered methods to obtain travel data with sufficient spatial focus to inform current debates about how land use influences vehicle miles of travel. A target of 100 to 200 travel diary surveys were obtained in small neighborhoods within the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) region. Approximately four neighborhoods were targeted for inclusion in this study. The methods developed in this research advanced efforts toward low-cost, rapid trave

ARCHITECTURE (U)

Public reporting burden for thiscollection of infonnation is estimated to average I hour per response, including the time for reviewing instruction, searching existing ~ta sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection ofinfonnation. Send comments.regarding this.burden estimate PI " any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate fo

COVERED

The AHMCT Research Center, together with Caltrans, has been leading a multi-year research effort to develop innovative high production crack sealing equipment, which improves safety while reducing costs. The Sealzall Machine development project is the latest version of a line of successful longitudinal crack sealing machine prototypes developed and deployed with Caltrans on California highways. The program’s key technical element has been the application of automation technologies and custom engineering solutions to achieve increased sealing efficiencies and to eliminate the workers ’ exposure to highway traffic. The preceding Transfer Tank Longitudinal Sealer (TTLS) development project produced a prototype high production longitudinal sealing application vehicle and a large capacity transfer kettle trailer designed to efficiently resupply and support high production highway sealing operations. Defective commercial sealant melting equipment had rendered the TTLS equipment effectively unusable for general deployment. In addition to replacing deficient components, Caltrans requested inclusion of additional features to further enhance functionality. The most significant upgrade was to add in-lane sealing capabilities. An electrically heated sealant hose and application wand assembly was developed on the front of the application machine to support manual in-lane crack sealing capabilities. The rebuilt TTLS application vehicle was then renamed Sealzall to reflec

6. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION CODE

We report the results of several field and greenhouse projects designed to improve understanding of native plants and their association with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a restoration context. At a site near Los Olivos, California, we tested the erosion control benefits of two live mycorrhizal amendments and a sterile control on a filled embankment. We also evaluated whether the responses vary by the method of application. After three years of field data, we find that the native inoculum cultured from a nearby donor site outperformed a commercially available product in reducing soil erosion. We also tested the utility of applying of a commercial mycorrhizal inoculant as specified by the vendor for use in restoring a cut slope lacking topsoil. We find no evidence for such a benefit, and conclude that other soil amendments and restoration practices should be employed when a cut slope restoration is necessary. We used an area in San Mateo County, California to investigate some of the biophysical changes that occur when native topsoil is excavated and stockpiled, and to identify whether topsoil can be managed to maintain or improve its viability as a growth medium for native plants whil

COVERED

This project is aimed at improving the efficiency of Graffiti Abatement in the State of California. Initial efforts provided an assessment and classification of the graffiti problem and an evaluation of best practices. A comprehensive literature search was performed, along with interviews with several individuals working in the field of graffiti removal. It was determined that, with the exception of signs along the roadway, graffiti removal techniques are largely well developed and well established. However signs, especially retroreflective signs, continue to be a source of difficulty in areas that are hard-hit by graffiti. The goal of the project then focused on the initial development stages of a tool designed to allow a maintenance worker to clean roadway signs from the ground. This report thus presents a conceptual design of such a tool. Due to the sensitivity of the surface of the signs, it was determined that testing solely on the interface between the end effector and the sign needed to be performed. Thus the focus of the report shifted from overall development of the tool to specific design of the end effector in the form of experiments with different characteristics of the tool. The results of the experiments showed that, in order to avoid damaging the sign, the end effector must use a soft scouring pad type of removal medium. They also showed that it wa