Skip to main content

Complete

A Probability-Based Approach for Assessment of Roadway Safety Hardware

The proposed exploratory research aims to investigate a novel probability-based analysis method for understanding and assessing the performance of roadway safety hardware (RSH) and roadway facilities under vehicle crashes. The failures of RSH systems such as median barriers, guardrails, bridge rails, terminals, and crash cushions subjected to vehicle crashes will be investigated, and the focus of this study is on concrete barriers.

Self-Heated Pavements

Lose of vehicle's control in NY State during winter time increases transportation-related fatalities and injuries. In fact, fatalities and injuries due to icy roads are more than four times those from natural disasters at the national level. In addition to their high safety hazards, icy roads limit the growth of the economy in New York State - and other northern states - since they reduce the capacity of major highways due to slow traffic, accidents, or road closures.

Public Transit and Mandatory Evacuations Prior to Extreme Weather Events in New York City

New York City has been affected by extreme weather events in the last few years. In New York City access to public transit is critical to individuals making decisions about whether to evacuate and go to a shelter or somewhere further away, or to stay in place. The goal of the proposed research is to evaluate public transit services in areas considered to be at high risk for flooding in New York City and to provide a tool that can help transportation planners and city officials improve these services during evacuations.

Innovative Techniques for Maintenance, Repair and Reconstruction (MRR) of Asphalt Roadways

The users of the roadway systems in the United States have been suffering from the poor condition levels of these systems for approximately the last two decades. When the Infrastructure Report Cards published by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) are examined, it can be seen that the overall condition of the roads has been fluctuating between a grade of "D-" and a "D+" since 1998 (ASCE 1998, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013). In fact, according to the latest report card, approximately one-third (32%) of the major roads in the U.S. are in poor or mediocre conditions (ASCE 2013).

Heterogeneous Regional Traffic Signal Control

One critical task in regional traffic signal operations is how to establish different objectives and policies for varying arterial or subnetwork types. A typical urban network usually consists of different subnetwork types, such as central business district (CBD), suburban areas, and rural areas. The heterogeneous objective naturally arises for traffic signal operations on such different subnetworks. Very few literatures can be found to explicitly address the signal control problem in heterogeneous subnetworks.

Secure and Private Sensing for Driver Authentication and Transportation Safety

Recent technology trends have allowed affordable and efficient collection of driver data. This has enabled a variety of potential applications, including more accurate pricing determinations for insurance and finer grained traffic planning for improved public safety. Although this technological growth provides for a wealth of new opportunities, given the safety implications of driving, there are many security and privacy issues that must be considered for their deployment.

Full-Scale Investigation of Wind-Induced Vibrations of Mast-Arm Traffic Signal

Because of their inherent flexibility and low damping ratios, cantilevered mast-arm traffic signal structures are susceptible to wind-induced vibrations. These vibrations cause structural stresses and strains to develop in a cyclical fashion which can lead to reduced service life due to fatigue and, in extreme cases, full collapse.

Full-Scale Investigation of Wind-Induced Vibrations of Mast-Arm Traffic Signal

Because of their inherent flexibility and low damping ratios, cantilevered mast-arm traffic signal structures are susceptible to wind-induced vibrations. These vibrations cause structural stresses and strains to develop in a cyclical fashion which can lead to reduced service life due to fatigue and, in extreme cases, full collapse.

Analysis of Energy Efficient Highway Lighting Retrofits

The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) wishes to identify commercially available cost-effective retrofits for existing highway lighting that reduce energy consumption while meeting AASHTO Lighting Design Guide and NYSDOT standards. To do so it is necessary to analyze existing highway lighting and identify retrofit technology that provides reduced energy use, lowers maintenance costs, and a cost/benefit ratio greater than 1 within a reasonable payback period.

Nondestructive Evaluation of Pavement Structural Condition for Rehabilitation Design

The Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) is most commonly used to evaluate highway pavement structural condition for estimation of pavement remaining service life and overlay design. Recently, the need to accurately characterize layer material properties of the existing pavement has increased with the implementation of the new AASHTO Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG). Although a number of studies have been conducted for using FWD data in rehabilitation design, several challenges still exist due to the complex nature of pavement system.

Subscribe to Complete