A key indicator of traffic activity patterns is commuting distance. Shorter commuting distances yield less traffic, fewer emissions, and lower energy consumption. This study develops a spatial error seemingly unrelated regression model to investigate commuting distance, and how various influential factors affect commuting distances in ten counties across the U.S. By integrating datasets from the Census Transportation Planning Product (CTPP) and Smart Location Database (SLD), this study acquires rich employment and residence information at the census block group (CBG) level.

Kriging method is a frequently used interpolation methodology in geography, which enables estimations of unknown values at certain places with the considerations of distances among locations. When it is used in transportation field, network distance is a better measurement of distance as traffic follows the network. This report presents the development of the Network Kriging method and demonstrates its application on predicting transit ridership.

In the last several years there has been a surge of interest in fostering more sustainable logistical operations in urban areas. Under the umbrella of the generic term City Logistics, these initiatives try to take advantage of the coordinating power of a municipal government to convince urban delivery companies to participate in collaborative schemes that by reducing truck trips, increasing the utilization of trucks, or both, may reduce the negative externalities associated with urban truck traffic.

In this report, the results of a study on developing a damage detection methodology based on Statistical Pattern Recognition are presented. This methodology uses a new damage sensitive feature developed in this study that relies entirely on modal characteristics, i.e. natural frequencies and mode shapes, directly identified from measurements of the structural response. A procedure for training the damage detection methodology to account for variability induced by operational conditions, i.e.

Since March 1, 2008 there has been a ban on wireless telephone and electronic communication devices in New Jersey while operating a motor vehicle. But from general observation on any roadway, it appears that there are still drivers who are talking on their phones or texting while driving. From 2006 to 2009, NJ crashes, injuries, and deaths for handheld devices have averaged 1837, 769, and 6, respectively, while hands‐free averaged 1570 crashes, 659 injuries, and 3 deaths.

The goal of this proposal is to develop novel modeling techniques to infer individual activity patterns from the large scale cell phone datasets and taxi data from NYC. As such this research offers a paradigm shift from traditional transportation modeling by using large scale, disaggregate data and provides an unique perspective to understand the complex interactions among human behavior, urban environments and traffic patterns.

In accordance with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) “Interim Guidance Update on Mobile Source Air Toxic Analysis in NEPA Documents (September 30, 2009),” transportation projects subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) must include an analysis of mobile source air toxics (MSATs). MSATs are air pollutants emitted by mobile sources that can cause serious health effects. Of a group of 93 MSAT compounds, the U.S.

Speeding is the leading contributing factor in fatal accidents in NY state, according to NY State Department of Motor Vehicle Accidents Statistical Summary (2009). Understanding and modeling speeding and speed control is one of major challenges in human performance modeling which involves: a) the modeling of several aspects of human cognitive system: perception, decision making and motor control as well as their interaction with the vehicle model; b) individual differences in speed control and prediction of speeding in real time.

This study examined alternatives for improving the efficiency of the pneumatic system that has been used for collecting residential municipal solid waste on Roosevelt Island, New York since 1975. Alternatives included a basic equipment upgrade; expansion to include separate recyclables streams (metal/glass/plastic; paper); and a further expansion of the system to include commercial and litter-bin waste. These three scenarios (plus the No-Action alternative, representing a continuation of the status-quo system) were compared to conventional truck collection.

This study explored possibilities for using existing transportation infrastructure for the cost-effective installation of pneumatic waste-collection technology in Manhattan. If shown to be economically and operationally feasible, reducing the number of trucks used on the island’s densely encumbered streets could offer significant environmental, public-health, and quality-of-life benefits.