G Scott Rutherford

Length-based vehicle classification using images from uncalibrated video cameras

Due to the marked difference in many characteristics between trucks and smaller vehicles, accurate and timely truck data are of significant importance. Unfortunately, few frequent and wide-area truck data are collected with the systems currently in place. Furthermore, the systems that are capable of truck data collection are typically expensive and limited in application. For this reason, wide-area truck data are typically collected every few years, although more timely truck data are desired. There is no doubt that continuous collection of truck data is beneficial to a variety of purposes. This work presents an image processing algorithm for length-based vehicle classification using an image stream captured by an uncalibrated video camera. Although the current implementation separates vehicles based only upon length, the ultimate goal is to develop a system based upon the highway performance monitoring system guidelines. The basis of the algorithm is to relatively compare vehicle lengths to each other to estimate truck volumes and eliminate the need for complicated system calibration. The algorithm was implemented in C#, a new programming language platform developed by the Microsoft Corporation. The system test revealed that the vehicle length classifications estimated by the algorithm do indeed satisfactorily resemble the actual observations. The proposed algorithm may enable the widely installed surveillance video cameras to count classified vehicles including trucks.

Travel Impacts of Mixed Land Use Neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington

In response to suburban transportation problems, developers and planners have suggested that mixing land uses can reduce automobile dependency by making more goods and services available within walking, biking, and short driving distances. This view has resulted in a neotraditional planning movement that promotes neighborhoods designed with traditional characteristics including a mix of land uses. However, few studies have empirically explored the transportation implications for these neighborhoods. This issue is addressed by using a travel diary collected in three greater Seattle area neighborhoods characterized by neotraditional neighborhood elements including mixed land use. These data were compared with those collected in an identical diary from individuals throughout the region. It was found that residents of the mixed land use study neighborhoods in Seattle traveled 28 percent fewer kilometers (miles) than residents in adjacent areas and up to 120 percent fewer kilometers than residents in suburban areas. This trend of lower travel distances held across different socioeconomic characteristics. However, the differences in travel distances among the areas were not seen when travel time was considered. The daily travel time was about 90 min/person (including walking), regardless of where that person lived and that person’s socioeconomic status. One implication of this finding is that if a neotraditional neighborhood development does make shopping and other chores less time-consuming, there may simply be more time in the travel budget for additional regional travel. This suggests that travel from the neotraditional neighborhoods needs to be examined in a regional context.

A model for public involvement in transportation improvement programming using participatory Geographic Information Systems

Abstract Public involvement in transportation improvement programming is becoming increasingly important as well as being a recommendation of federal legislation in the United States. Although most transportation planning agencies have not actively involved the public during this stage of the planning process, there are many benefits to doing so, such as, gaining support from the public for the funded project list, increasing the credibility of agencies, reducing project costs, and avoiding construction delays. Effective public involvement during the programming step incorporates inclusive participation, two-way communications, transparent processes, and serious treatment of the public’s input. This paper presents a model for public involvement in the programming process with all these features using a web-based portal application with a Public Participation Geographic Information System (PPGIS). The process is composed of the following five steps: describing values and concerns, determining criteria, reviewing projects, evaluating scenarios, and creating reports. Challenges agencies may encounter in implementing such a system are also covered in this paper.

Internet Portal for Participation of Large Groups in Transportation Programming Decisions

An Internet portal for public participation in transportation programming decisions is described. The Internet portal supports participation of large groups (e.g., 100 or more people) through cutting-edge online deliberation tools and a strategic process that fosters meaningful public involvement. The portal is described in the context of a five-step process that has been designed for a particular programming decision situation called a local option transportation tax. A transportation agency could develop a similar process for other programming decisions, such as the creation of a transportation improvement program. The portal can be used by an agency to create a program or merely as a focus-group activity or polling exercise. Various tools used by the portal and the five-step process are described with the help of selected screenshots of the user interface.

Explore: An Attraction Search Tool for Transit Trip Planning

Publishing information about a transit agency’s stops, routes, schedules, and status in a variety of formats and delivery methods is an essential part of improving the usability of a transit system and the satisfaction of a system’s riders. A key staple of most transit traveler information systems is the trip planner, a tool that serves travelers well if the both origin and destination are known. However, sometimes the availability of transit at a location is more important than the actual destination. Given this premise, the authors developed an Attractions Search Tool to make use of an underlying trip planner to search online databases of local restaurants, shopping, parks and other amenities based on transit availability from the user’s origin. The ability to perform such a search by attraction type rather than specific destination can be a powerful aid to a traveler with a need or desire to use public transportation.

Web portal implementation to support public participation in transportation decision making

In this paper we describe the start of system implementation in the participatory geographic information system for transportation (PGIST) project. The PGIST web portal is being developed to support public participation in transportation improvement decision making in the central Puget Sound region of Washington State. Implementation has followed design considerations. A web services architecture forms the basis of the implementation.

Multimodal Investment Choice Analysis for Washington State transportation projects: Phase I results

Launched in 1999, the Multimodal Investment Choice Analysis (MICA) project is a computer-based tool being developed to assist the Washington State Department of Transportation, the Washington State Transportation Commission, and the Washington State legislature in making state transportation funding decisions. The function of MICA is to summarize the multimodal budgetary trade-offs that will result from varying funding allocation and priority scenarios. MICA’s methodology is based on benefit-cost and goal achievement analyses. The project recently completed the first phase of research. The analysis methodology for the MICA project is outlined, and key findings from the first phase of this effort are highlighted. Tasks for the second phase of the research project are also discussed. Although challenges remain, the results of the Phase I research effort indicate that development of a multimodal analysis tool appears feasible.