EVALUATION OF AN ONLINE INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM (ITS) ASSET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) enhances the performance of modern transportation systems by improving the reliability of travel times and reducing the risk of collisions and injuries. Recently, many public agencies have expressed a need for an ITS asset management system that will effectively and efficiently meet their requirements of managing associated resources, which often includes technologically sophisticated devices, computer hardware and software, and communications infrastructure. To address this need, the author evaluated different asset management systems for their potential efficacy to support public agencies requirements for an ITS asset management system. These requirements were identified through a nationwide survey of public agencies. This thesis included an evaluation of NexusWorx, a customized ITS asset management system along with the Enterprise Based GIS and Microsoft Access, based on a case study conducted on a selected site in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Multi-attribute utility analysis was performed to identify the relative utility of these three potential ITS asset management system. The capabilities of three systems were evaluated based on their performance and finally, a comprehensive evaluation was performed considering system capabilities and costs. The multi-attribute utility analysis revealed that Enterprise based GIS received the highest rating in terms of system capability. In the comprehensive evaluation, Nexusworx and Enterprise based GIS have received similar utility. This study concludes that if an agency has an Enterprise based GIS system, it would be effective to use ITS asset management on top of its existing system. If any agency does not have Enterprise based GIS system, they can either adopt a customized ITS asset management system or they might consider to develop an Enterprise based GIS supported asset management system for ITS, which will eventually be useful for managing other assets as well. House of Quality (HQ) analysis was performed as another evaluation method that visually demonstrated similar findings as the multi-attribute utility analysis

Parking-Related Crash Characteristics

Purpose: In-room entertainment technology continues to evolve in the hotel industry. However, given the multitude of entertainment products available in the market place today, hoteliers have little clarity of guests\u27 willingness to pay for those in-room entertainment technology amenities. In this highly competitive environment for travelers, lodging managers should better understand what in-room entertainment technology amenities their guests will purchase. The purpose of this study is to explore accepted pricing levels for in-room entertainment technology amenities by hotel guests. Design/methodology/approach: A sample of 2,500 US travelers was drawn randomly from a national database by rent-a-list.com for this study. An online survey was distributed. The response rate was 16.32 percent with 408 respondents. Findings: Findings showed that guests want most of the in-room entertainment technology amenities as complimentary. However, they are willing to pay for gaming consoles in their guest rooms. Originality/value: This is the first paper that investigates the phenomenon of in-room entertainment technology amenities. Implications are vital for hotel firms that aim to install the amenities. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited