Real-Time Work Zone Traffic Management via Unmanned Air Vehicles

Highway work zones are prone to traffic accidents when congestion and queues develop. Vehicle queues expand at a rate of 1 mile every 2 minutes. Back-of-queue, rear-end crashes are the most common work zone crash, endangering the safety of motorists, passengers, and construction workers. The dynamic nature of queuing in the proximity of highway work zones necessitates traffic management solutions that can monitor and intervene in real time. Fortunately, recent progress in sensor technology, embedded systems, and wireless communication coupled to lower costs are now enabling the development of real-time, automated, “intelligent” traffic management systems that address this problem. The goal of this project was to perform preliminary research and proof of concept development work for the use of UAS in realtime traffic monitoring of highway construction zones in order to create real-time alerts for motorists, construction workers, and first responders. The main tasks of the proposed system was to collect traffic data via the UAV camera, analyze that a UAV based highway construction zone monitoring systems would be capable of detecting congestion and back-of-queue information, and alerting motorists of stopped traffic conditions, delay times, and alternate route options. Experiments were conducted using UAS to monitor traffic and collect traffic videos for processing. Prototype software was created to analyze this data. The software was successful in detecting vehicle speed from zero mph to highway speeds. Review of available mobile traffic apps were conducted for future integration with advanced iterations of the UAV and software system that has been created by this research. This project has proven that UAS monitoring of highway construction zones and real-time alerts to motorists, construction crews, and first responders is possible in the near term and future research is needed to further development and implement the innovative UAS traffic monitoring system developed by this research

Exploring traffic safety problems and challenges of older roads’ users in Louisiana: Causes and countermeasures

It is well established that older pedestrians and drivers with 65 years and above are among the most vulnerable road users. As the number and proportion of older road users (as drivers and pedestrians) grows in many countries, as well as their share in pedestrians’ and drivers’ crashes and injuries, it behooves transportation researchers to further investigate the safety and mobility challenges of older road users. This study aims mainly to provide a comprehensive investigation of older pedestrians’ and drivers’ safety challenges. To this end, a three-fold research approach is designed to thoroughly examine older road users’ safety challenges as pedestrians and drivers. First, crash data analysis identified significant risk factors causing/leading older drivers’ to be involved in vehicle crashes. Second, a driving simulator experiment was performed to further investigate the identified risky conditions from the crash data analysis and literature review. Third, a self-reported survey was conducted across the country to address pedestrians’ safety challenges, needs, and attitudes toward different pedestrian crossing facilities (i.e., signalized intersections, unsignalized intersections, midblock cross walks with and without flashing lights, and roundabouts). The results of this study provide a better understanding regarding older drivers’ and pedestrian’ needs and challenges that should be accommodated to improve their safety and mobility

Investigating the Impacts of Truck Platooning on Transportation Infrastructure in the South-Central Region

Truck platooning is an essential application of connected and autonomous vehicles, where several trucks are connected to each other forming a platoon. It is envisioned that truck platooning can assist in minimizing transportation challenges related to freight movements in the US by improving traffic operation, safety and reducing fuel consumption and emission. One of the most valuable truck corridors in the US is in the South-central region. This study investigates the impacts of truck platooning on US highways in that region using both corridor and network-level simulation analysis. Also, the impact of truck platooning on the pavement was quantified using finite element modeling. A microsimulation model was developed in Vissim to model the operational, environmental (fuel savings, and emission), and safety impacts of various truck platooning scenarios at the corridor level. An economic feasibility study was also performed to quantify the impacts of truck platoons in monetary terms. The results of the analysis were compared with a base scenario with human-driven trucks. The microsimulation results suggest that truck platooning improved traffic operation, traffic safety, minimize vehicular emissions and fuel consumptions during off-peak hours. However, it deteriorates the traffic performance in the peak period if the truck platoon contains more than two trucks. Recommendations for the best truck platooning configurations during peak and off-peak hours were also provided based on the economic analysis. In addition to the microscopic analysis, a large-scale analysis of the impacts of truck platooning on congestion and traffic flow dynamics is conducted. Accordingly, a simulation model of I-35 is developed and the impacts of various market penetration rates of truck platooning as well as the size of the platoon on traffic flow dynamics were explored. The findings show that smaller platoons and higher market penetration rates results in less scatter in flow-density diagram and smoother traffic flow. Finally, the impact of truck platooning on pavement were also addressed using the elastic and dynamic-viscoelastic finite element method (FEM) models. The mechanical response obtained from the simulations are implemented to predict the effects of platooning due to limited wandering (lateral movement of truck tires). Based on the results, it can be concluded that wandering pattern can have influential effect on the fatigue life and permanent deformation damage. Economic analysis shows that the fixed-path platooning can significantly increase the construction-maintenance cost of the pavement