John C. Falcocchio

Performance Assessment Of Intelligent Transportation Systems Using Data Envelopment Analysis

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a powerful, nonparametric technique that allows comparison of diverse decisionmaking units (DMUs) and provides a summary measure of performance for each agency. Due to special circumstances faced by public agencies, this mathematical programming technique is especially well suited for assessment of public sector performance. Public agencies have multiple and frequently conflicting goals, and difficult-to-price inputs and outputs. Also, public agencies operate in diverse environments with different service area characteristics and constraints. Other techniques used in the past include comparison of agency performance with an average agency. Distinguishing DEA is the fact that it creates a best practice frontier, evaluating the performance of each agency against that frontier. This paper discusses the potential for DEA to make significant contributions to evaluation of public sector investments in ITS technologies.

Performance measures for evaluating transportation systems: Stakeholder perspective

This study provides a conceptual discussion on the use of performance measures in transportation. Performance measures are needed to assist decision makers in setting priorities, generating financial resources, and allocating funds. They are also required for assessing needs, evaluating system performance, and simply communicating with customers and other stakeholders. To be effective in their purpose, performance measures need to be linked to the goals and objectives that guide transportation decisions. The goals and objectives of transportation systems are inherently an expression of the various stakeholders affected by the system. This includes not only the providers of transportation but also the customers and the communities that house the transportation infrastructure. Therefore, performance measures must include metrics that address the interests of all stakeholders. In response to federal mandates and guidelines of the last decade, much research has been done on this subject, and a lot of information has been disseminated through the various professional media. This study investigates the key aspects of performance measurement, recommends a framework for the application of performance measures, and highlights some of the major issues that need to be resolved in implementing performance measures for decision making.

Urban Development and Traffic Congestion

The objectives of this paper are to view contemporary traffic congestion as a phenomenon that has always existed within cities throughout history, and to recommend pragmatic modern day solutions to address/manage the congestion problem. This has been achieved by a review of the factors that create congestion, and of the roles that electric streetcars, rapid transit lines, suburban rail lines, and automobiles have played in the decongestion of cities. Examples of outcomes from past transportation improvements are illustrated to show that regional changes in transportation access create new development nodes of activities outside cities that reduce development pressures in the central city (hence reducing congestion growth there) and increase the attraction of peripheral areas to major land developments that lead to increased congestion in these areas. The paper proposes a mix of transportation and land development strategies to minimize the negative effects of urban traffic congestion in the future.

The Costs and Other Consequences of Traffic Congestion

In an increasingly fast paced and globally oriented economy, the efficient movement of persons and goods is a competitive necessity [1]. Traffic congestion adversely impacts quality of life and economic productivity in metropolitan areas. It increases fuel consumption, the cost of traveler and freight movement, the number of crashes, and tailpipe pollutants harmful to human health.

Measuring Traffic Congestion

Congestion in transportation occurs when the occupancy of spaces (roadways, sidewalks, transit lines and terminals) by vehicles or people reaches unacceptable levels of discomfort and delay.

Insufficient Capacity, Growth in Population, Employment, and Car Use

Traffic demand has spread in post-World War II metropolitan America as a result of changing patterns of where people live and work, and how they travel.

Managing Nonrecurring Congestion

Nonrecurring congestion accounts for over half of all traffic delays in the United States [1] and accounts for up to 2/3 of traffic delays in urban areas larger than one million population [2].

Overview of Mitigation Strategies that Reduce Traffic Demand

Managing travel demand is increasingly recognized as a means of addressing urban traffic congestion—especially in large metropolitan areas. Commonly called “transportation demand management” (TDM), the strategy focuses on reducing the demand for single occupant vehicles. Emphasis is typically placed on reducing vehicle-miles of travel (VMT).

George Bugliarello (1927–2011)

The creative vision of a civil engineer to turn universities into driving forces of innovation spawned new design concepts for inner-city renewal, industrial parks, and sustainable cities. George Bugliarello, a creative engineer, outstanding researcher, and dedicated educator, died on 18 February at age 83, in New York. His range of interests and expertise transcended many disciplines, including civil engineering, biomedical engineering, urban development, science policy, water resources, and environmental science. His vision of the role of science, innovation, and education, coupled with a passion for turning his vision into reality, is reflected in todays urban communities, forged through academic and industry interactions in ways that spur economic growth and societal well-being, while respecting the quality of human life and the environment.

ENERGY APPROACH TO ECOLOGICAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

This paper was prepared to educate the transportation planner/engineer in some of the rudiments of ecology and with the hope of systematizing current approaches to ecological assessment. Considerations of energy, or bio-energetics, have been found to be singularly applicable to transportation impact assessment. This method of evaluating the effects of environmental impacting factors on environmental elements is outlined herein. The method can be applied to the analysis of the ecological impact of all types of activities, and with particular pertinence to transportation. The energy theory is based on analysis of the amount of energy which is required by plants or animals or ecosystems or subsystems, to permit their growth or stability to continue. The numerical calculations involved permit quantification of impact effects of transportation facilities.