Transportation Intelligence

Volume 2 Number 2

April 2004

Urban

Environment

Management

Maintenance

Safety

Design

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Pavements
Pothole Patching Playbook - Why potholes occur, how to patch them, and how to prevent them in the first place.
Potholes aren’t just a nuisance for drivers; they constitute a dangerous safety hazard that can produce substantial damage to vehicles, force drivers to veer suddenly in traffic, or even cause the driver to lose control of a vehicle after contact. Fortunately, a great deal of progress has been made in pothole patching, starting with materials. (Better Roads, February 2004, pp. 31-41.)

Safety
Using the Canadian ITS architecture for evaluating the safety benefits of intelligent transportation systems
The benefits of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) are indirectly represented by the annual world market for ITS, which according to ITS Canada (2002) will be $90 billion CAN by 2011. Despite the magnitude of these investments and their underlying goal to improve transportation safety, there are deficiencies in the quantity and quality of reported ITS safety benefits. Many of the benefits reported to date suffer from poor data, lack of an evaluation framework, and inconsistent terminology used to attribute benefits to ITS application areas. (Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, December 2003, pp. 970-980.)

Structures
Leonardo da Vinci Bridge - a Piece of Applied Art
In the Municipality of Ås, about 20 kilometres outside Oslo, a rather special structure is situated, being both a footbridge and a sculpture. It makes it possible for pedestrians and bikers to cross the main road E18 in a safe way, as well as it offers the car drivers a pleasant view of beautifully shaped arches. Leonardo da Vinci’s original concept was to build an enormous stone bridge across the Golden Horn. (Nordic Road and Transport Research, December 2003, pp. 18-20.)

Urban

Traffic Calming Schemes-Opportunities and Implementation Strategies
This paper, commissioned by the Swedish National Road Authority, aims to provide a concise overview of traffic calming schemes in urban areas, both on a technical level and and on a policy level. The report discusses various characteristics of the urban network that are relevant for meeting the objectives of traffic calming, such as the functional classification of the network, the network structure of residential areas, and the need for a safe and attractive network for pedestrians and cyclists. (Swedish SWOV Report R-2003-22, 2003, 59 p.)

Highways and Sprawl in North Carolina
This study reviews the growth of North Carolina’s 1551 Census tracts during the 1990s compared with the locations of major road improvements. Tract data on changes in population, demographics, prior density, and location are merged with detailed data on 312 major road projects completed during the 1990s, and the relationships between road investments and growth are determined for each of the 12 commuting regions. (John Locke Foundation Report, September 2003, 124 p.)

Nouvelles formes de mobilité: Le transport indivisualisé au secours du transport public (New forms of mobility: Individualized transport helping public transport)
Walking, cycling, taxis, car-sharing, and short-term car rentals, are today indispensible for providing maximum mobility to residents of large urban regions. (Transport Public, Février 2004, pp. 14-19.) (Request this item from TIS)

San Francisco City CarShare: Travel-Demand Trends and Second-Year Impacts
Two years into the introduction of carsharing in San Francisco, nearly 30 percent of CarShare members have gotten rid of one or more cars and two-thirds stated they opted not to purchase another car. By CarShare's second anniversary, 6.5 percent of members' trips and 10 percent of their vehicle miles traveled were in carshare vehicles. (University of California at Berkeley Institute of Urban and Regional Development Working Paper 2003-05, 2003, 76 p.) (Request this item from TIS)

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Environment

Canadian Guide to Promoting Sustainable Transportation Through Site Design - Interim Research Report - Needs Assessment and Best Practices
This report provides an overview of the rationale for increasing the use of sustainable transportation modes and how site design can influence the use of these modes. It also provides a summary of the investigations that were undertaken to establish the general directions for the Guidelines Document including telephone and internet surveys. Chapter 4 of the report includes a summary of findings from a literature search regarding best practices with respect to site design guidelines and practices to promote the use of sustainable transport modes, including case studies where available. Chapter 5 provides a summary and directions on the content for the Guidelines Document. (Report to the Canadian Institute of Transportation Engineers, July 2003, 46 p.)

Protection contre la pollution Des eaux, l'expérience practique de l'ASF (Water Pollution Protection - Practical Experience of ASF)
Since France's "Water Law" of 1992, motorway operators have actively developed their knowledge in water resource protection. Within the French association of motorway and toll facility operators, they have jointly conducted in-depth studies on the composition of roadway runoff water, based on measurements of the real impact of motorway discharges, and on the evaluation of the effectiveness of various protection structures. (Revue générale des routes et des aérodromes, décembre 2003, pp.28-34.)(Request this item from TIS)

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Management

Transportation Asset Management Guide
This initial version of the Guide is intended to assist transportation agencies to become familiar with the ideas and techniques by which asset management can influence resource allocation and utilization processes and decisions. The Guide is to provide individual agencies with the flexibility to tailor and customize their asset management efforts to their particular needs and situations. (NCHRP Report, November 2002, 146 p.)

Choosing the Accelerated Construction Route in New Jersey
When the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) began planning improvements to the westbound structure of the Rt. 46 Bridge spanning Overpeck Creek in Bergen County, it evaluated several construction alternatives, ranging from partial replacement of the bridge deck and bascule span to total replacement of the westbound superstructure. Looking to reduce the construction time, NJDOT decided to consult with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ Technology Implementation Group (TIG) and the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Accelerated Construction Technology Transfer (ACTT) team. (SHRP Focus Newsletter, January/February 2004, pp 4, 8.)

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Maintenance

Pavement Forensics: Investigating Failures
Even with the many advancements in pavement technology, premature failures sometime occur during, or shortly after, construction. To investigate these failures, the Texas Department of Transportation has implemented a pavement forensic team — a panel of experts appointed to identify the cause of the problem, make recommendations on what immediate actions should be taken, and identify how these problems can be avoided in the future. (Better Roads, January 2004, pp. 36-40.)

Comparison of Various Types of Bearing Capacity Equipment
The Danish Road Institute has compared results of bearing capacity measurements on granular base material by three different tests: static plate loading test, Falling Weight Deflectometer and the portable FWD. The experiment shows very good correlation between the results from static plate loading tests and the Falling Weight Deflectometer. Three different portable FWDs show promising results, but this type of equipment has its greatest potential when measuring soil and granular subbase and using it in places where it is not possible to use a Falling Weight Deflectometer. (Nordic Road and Transport Research, December 2003, p. 12-14.)

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Safety

Roadway Safety Tools for Local Agencies
Local governments face significant challenges in implementing road and street safety improvements. They are responsible for local roadway networks, which can vary from a few city blocks to thousands of miles of paved, dirt, or gravel roads. Most local governments have substantial resource limitations in terms of financial support and personnel. As a result, many local agencies have not developed safety programs. This synthesis focuses on identifying safety tools that can be used by these agencies in formulating safety programs. It recognizes the wide variation in the parameters of operation and responsibilities of local agencies. Also, it acknowledges that expertise in transportation safety analysis varies widely among local agencies. (NCHRP Synthesis of Practice 321, 2003, 180 p.)

Avalanche Detection and Alert System for Roads
To accomplish the objective of obtaining an automatic detection and alerting system it was decided to focus on avalanche-induced ground vibrations as the main indicator of falling avalanche. A measurement system similar to that used to measure seismic signals was considered appropriate for this purpose. Seismic signals can originate from different sources. It can be from traffic, rock-fall, debris-flow, and avalanches and even from earthquakes. The main task is therefore to develop a processing method to detect and analyze a recorded event. . (Nordic Road and Transport Research, December 2003, p. 4-5.)

Mobile Phone Use while Driving - Conclusions from four investigations
The study shows that 73 % of all drivers in Sweden had access to a mobile phone in 2001. The use of mobile phones affected driving in different ways. Drivers missed exits, failed to observe traffic signals, and forgot to adjust the speed according to the limit. According to theoretical estimates, approximately 10–20 people die in traffic accidents in Sweden each year as a consequence of drivers’ use of mobile phones while driving.(Swedish VTI Report 490A, 2004, 36 p.)

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Design

Rural Transit ITS Best Practices
The overall objective of this Best Practices in Rural Transit ITS project was to identify operational best practices and related technology for applying ITS to rural transit. Considerations were developed in the following areas: (1) use of ITS at rural transit agencies, (2) institutional and organizational issues, (3) ITS applications and technology, (4) funding and other financial considerations, (5) rural ITS project benefits, and (6) deployment process. These recommendations are presented as guidance for other agencies considering the implementation of Rural ITS solutions. (FHWA ITS Joint Program Office Report FHWA-OP-03-77, March 2003, 168 p.)

Prepare Now for Your New Design Driver — A Senior
Roadway improvements that make driving easier and safer for older drivers need to be fast-tracked to prepare for a U.S. seniors population that will double over the next 30 years. (Better Roads, February 2004, p. 18-29.)

Design radius requirements for simple horizontal curves on three-dimensional alignments
Current North American design guides have established mathematical relationships to calculate the minimum radius required for horizontal curves as a function of design speed, maximum superelevation, and maximum side friction. For three-dimensional (3-D) alignments, the design guides consider the alignment as two separate horizontal and vertical alignments and consequently ignore the effect of vertical alignment. This paper evaluates the effect of vertical alignment on minimum radius requirements using computer simulation, with a focus on trucks. (Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering ,December 2003, pp. 1022-1033.)

San Francisco’s Shared Lane Pavement Markings
The San Francisco Department of Parking and Traffic (SF DPT) undertook this study to determine the effectiveness of shared lane pavement markings in encouraging safe bicyclist and motorist coexistence. The process ideally will lead the California Traffic Control Device Committee (CTCDC) to formally approve an effective shared lane marking for use throughout the state. (Report prepared for the San Francisco Department of Parking and Traffic, February 2004, 26 p.)

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