Oscar Franzese

Traffic simulation application to plan real-time distribution routes

This paper studies the effect of real-time information on optimal routes employed by distribution vehicles that supply goods from distribution centers to the stores in any retail environment. This methodology uses simulation models to mimic actual traffic conditions as functions of times of the day along the distribution routes to suggest meta-optimal routes over the ones provided by the routing algorithms. This yields optimized routes based on the times of the day in addition to aiding the planner in sequencing the routes to increase driver productivity and decrease operating costs.

Effect of Weight and Roadway Grade on the Fuel Economy of Class-8 Frieght Trucks

In 2006-08, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in collaboration with several industry partners, collected real-world performance and situational data for long-haul operations of Class-8 trucks from a fleet engaged in normal freight operations. Such data and information are useful to support Class-8 modeling of combination truck performance, technology evaluation efforts for energy efficiency, and to provide a means of accounting for real-world driving performance within combination truck research and analyses. The present study used the real-world information collected in that project to analyze the effects that vehicle speed and vehicle weight have on the fuel efficiency of Class-8 trucks. The analysis focused on two type of terrains, flat (roadway grades ranging from -1% to 1%) and mild uphill terrains (roadway grades ranging from 1% to 3%), which together covered more than 70% of the miles logged in the 2006-08 project (note: almost 2/3 of the distance traveled on mild uphill terrains was on terrains with 1% to 2% grades). In the flat-terrain case, the results of the study showed that for light and medium loads, fuel efficiency decreases considerably as speed increases. For medium-heavy and heavy loads (total vehicle weight larger than 65,000 lb), fuel efficiency tends to increase asmorexa0» the vehicle speed increases from 55 mph up to about 58-60 mph. For speeds higher than 60 mph, fuel efficiency decreases at an almost constant rate with increasing speed. At any given speed, fuel efficiency decreases and vehicle weight increases, although the relationship between fuel efficiency and vehicle weight is not linear, especially for vehicle weights above 65,000 lb. The analysis of the information collected while the vehicles were traveling on mild upslope terrains showed that the fuel efficiency of Class-8 trucks decreases abruptly with vehicle weight ranging from light loads up to medium-heavy loads. After that, increases in the vehicle weight only decrease fuel efficiency slightly. Fuel efficiency also decreases significantly with speed, but only for light and medium loads. For medium-heavy and heavy, FE is almost constant for speeds ranging from 57 to about 66 mph. For speeds higher than 66 mph, the FE decreases with speed, but at a lower rate than for light and medium loads. Statistical analyses that compared the fuel efficiencies obtained when the vehicles were traveling at 59 mph vs. those achieved when they were traveling at 65 mph or 70 mph indicated that the former were, on average, higher than the latter. This result was statistically significant at the 99.9% confidence level (note: the Type II error i.e., the probability of failing to reject the null hypothesis when the alternative hypothesis is true was 18% and 6%, respectively).«xa0less

Simulations of the Fuel Economy and Emissions of Hybrid Transit Buses over Planned Local Routes

We present simulated fuel economy and emissions city transit buses powered by conventional diesel engines and diesel-hybrid electric powertrains of varying size. Six representative city drive cycles were included in the study. In addition, we included previously published aftertreatment device models for control of CO, HC, NOx, and particulate matter (PM) emissions. Our results reveal that bus hybridization can significantly enhance fuel economy by reducing engine idling time, reducing demands for accessory loads, exploiting regenerative braking, and shifting engine operation to speeds and loads with higher fuel efficiency. Increased hybridization also tends to monotonically reduce engine-out emissions, but trends in the tailpipe (post-aftertreatment) emissions involve more complex interactions that significantly depend on motor size and drive cycle details.

Truck rollover characterization for class-8 tractor-trailers utilizing standard dual tires and new-generation single tires

OVERVIEW The Heavy Truck Rollover Characterization Project is a USDOT-sponsored research effort conducted through its University Transportation Centers (UTCs) Program through the National Transportation Research Center, Inc. (NTRCI), located in Knoxville, Tennessee. The research is being conducted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in partnership with Michelin Americas Research and Development Corporation (Michelin), Western Michigan University, Battelle, Volvo Trucks North America, Clemson University and Dana Corporation. The long term fivephase project will: (1) contribute to the understanding of the dynamics of heavy truck rollover; (2) contribute to the development of advanced models of heavy truck vehicle dynamics that reflect project experiences, and (3) develop recommendations for improvement of the roll stability of heavy vehicles and testing such realizations in an integrated tractortrailer concept. The five phases include: Phase 1 Tractor-Box-Trailer Characterization with Standard Dual Tires; Phase 2 Tractor-Box-Trailer Characterization with New Generation Single Wide-Based Tires (NGSWBTs) and a wider-slider trailer suspension; Phase A Tractor-Flat-Bed Trailer with standard dual tires, NGSWBTs, and Electronic Stability Control; Phase B Tractor-Tanker with technologies yet to be determined; and Phase C Development of an Integrated Tractor-Trailer Concept building on the lessons learned from the previous four phases – the SafeTruck Concept.

Real-Time Traffic Information for Emergency Evacuation Operations: Phase A Final Report

There are many instances in which it is possible to plan ahead for an emergency evacuation (e.g., an explosion at a chemical processing facility). For those cases, if an accident (or an attack) were to happen, then the best evacuation plan for the prevailing network and weather conditions would be deployed. In other cases (e.g., the derailment of a train transporting hazardous materials), there may not be any previously developed plan to be implemented and decisions must be made ad-hoc on how to proceed with an emergency evacuation. In both situations, the availability of real-time traffic information plays a critical role in the management of the evacuation operations. To improve public safety during a vehicular emergency evacuation it is necessary to detect losses of road capacity (due to incidents, for example) as early as possible. Once these bottlenecks are identified, re-routing strategies must be determined in real-time and deployed in the field to help dissipate the congestion and increase the efficiency of the evacuation. Due to cost constraints, only large urban areas have traffic sensor deployments that permit access to some sort of real-time traffic information; any evacuation taking place in any other areas of the country would have to morexa0» proceed without real-time traffic information. The latter was the focus of this SERRI/DHS (Southeast Region Research Initiative/Department of Homeland Security) sponsored project. That is, the main objective on the project was to improve the operations during a vehicular emergency evacuation anywhere by using newly developed real-time traffic-information-gathering technologies to assess traffic conditions and therefore to potentially detect incidents on the main evacuation routes. Phase A of the project consisted in the development and testing of a prototype system composed of sensors that are engineered in such a way that they can be rapidly deployed in the field where and when they are needed. Each one of these sensors is also equipped with their own power supply and a GPS (Global Positioning System) device to auto-determine its spatial location on the transportation network under surveillance. The system is capable of assessing traffic parameters by identifying and re-identifying vehicles in the traffic stream as those vehicles pass over the sensors. The system of sensors transmits, through wireless communication, real-time traffic information (travel time and other parameters) to a command and control center via an NTCIP (National Transportation Communication for ITS Protocol) -compatible interface. As an alternative, an existing NTCIP-compatible system accepts the real-time traffic information mentioned and broadcasts the traffic information to emergency managers, the media and the public via the existing channels. A series of tests, both in a controlled environment and on the field, were conducted to study the feasibility of rapidly deploying the system of traffic sensors and to assess its ability to provide real-time traffic information during an emergency evacuation. The results of these tests indicated that the prototype sensors are reliable and accurate for the type of application that is the focus of this project. «xa0less

Supply Chain Based Solution to Prevent Fuel Tax Evasion: Proof of Concept Final Report

The goal of this research was to provide a proof-of-concept (POC) system for preventing non-taxable (non-highway diesel use) or low-taxable (jet fuel) petrochemical products from being blended with taxable fuel products and preventing taxable fuel products from cross-jurisdiction evasion. The research worked to fill the need to validate the legitimacy of individual loads, offloads, and movements by integrating and validating, on a near-real-time basis, information from global positioning system (GPS), valve sensors, level sensors, and fuel-marker sensors.

Smart Infrared Inspection System Field Operational Test Final Report

The Smart InfraRed Inspection System (SIRIS) is a tool designed to assist inspectors in determining which vehicles passing through the SIRIS system are in need of further inspection by measuring the thermal data from the wheel components. As a vehicle enters the system, infrared cameras on the road measure temperatures of the brakes, tires, and wheel bearings on both wheel ends of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in motion. This thermal data is then presented to enforcement personal inside of the inspection station on a user friendly interface. Vehicles that are suspected to have a violation are automatically alerted to the enforcement staff. The main goal of the SIRIS field operational test (FOT) was to collect data to evaluate the performance of the prototype system and determine the viability of such a system being used for commercial motor vehicle enforcement. From March 2010 to September 2010, ORNL facilitated the SIRIS FOT at the Greene County Inspection Station (IS) in Greeneville, Tennessee. During the course of the FOT, 413 CMVs were given a North American Standard (NAS) Level-1 inspection. Of those 413 CMVs, 384 were subjected to a SIRIS screening. A total of 36 (9.38%) of the vehicles were flagged by SIRIS morexa0» as having one or more thermal issues; with brakes issues making up 33 (91.67%) of those. Of the 36 vehicles flagged as having thermal issues, 31 (86.11%) were found to have a violation and 30 (83.33%) of those vehicles were placed out-of-service (OOS). Overall the enforcement personnel who have used SIRIS for screening purposes have had positive feedback on the potential of SIRIS. With improvements in detection algorithms and stability, the system will be beneficial to the CMV enforcement community and increase overall trooper productivity by accurately identifying a higher percentage of CMVs to be placed OOS with minimal error. No future evaluation of SIRIS has been deemed necessary and specifications for a production system will soon be drafted. «xa0less

Wireless Roadside Inspection Phase II Tennessee Commercial Mobile Radio Services Pilot Test Final Report

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Wireless Roadside Inspection (WRI) Program is researching the feasibility and value of electronically assessing truck and bus driver and vehicle safety at least 25 times more often than is possible using only roadside physical inspections. The WRI program is evaluating the potential benefits to both the motor carrier industry and to government. These potential benefits include reduction in accidents, fatalities and injuries on our highways and keeping safe and legal drivers and vehicles moving on the highways. WRI Pilot tests were conducted to prototype, test and demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of electronically collecting safety data message sets from in-service commercial vehicles and performing wireless roadside inspections using three different communication methods. This report summarizes the design, conduct and results of the Tennessee CMRS WRI Pilot Test. The purpose of this Pilot test was to demonstrate the implementation of commercial mobile radio services to electronically request and collect safety data message sets from a limited number of commercial vehicles operating in Tennessee. The results of this test have been used in conjunction with the results of the complimentary pilot tests to support an overall assessment of the feasibility and benefits of WRI in enhancing motor carrier safety (reduction in accidents) due to increased compliance (change in motor carrier and driver behavior) caused by conducting frequent safety inspections electronically, at highway speeds, without delay or need to divert into a weigh station

Wireless Roadside Inspection Proof of Concept Test Final Report

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) FMCSA commissioned the Wireless Roadside Inspection (WRI) Program to validate technologies and methodologies that can improve safety through inspections using wireless technologies that convey real-time identification of commercial vehicles, drivers, and carriers, as well as information about the condition of the vehicles and their drivers. It is hypothesized that these inspections will: -- Increase safety -- Decrease the number of unsafe commercial vehicles on the road; -- Increase efficiency -- Speed up the inspection process, enabling more inspections to occur, at least on par with the number of weight inspections; -- Improve effectiveness -- Reduce the probability of drivers bypassing CMV inspection stations and increase the likelihood that fleets will attempt to meet the safety regulations; and -- Benefit industry -- Reduce fleet costs, provide good return-on-investment, minimize wait times, and level the playing field. The WRI Program is defined in three phases which are: Phase 1: Proof of Concept Test (POC) Testing of commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) or near-COTS technology to validate the wireless inspection concept. Phase 2: Pilot Test Safety technology maturation and back office system integration Phase 3: Field Operational Test Multi-vehicle testing over a multi-state instrumented corridor This report focusesmorexa0» on Phase 1 efforts that were initiated in March, 2006. Technical efforts dealt with the ability of a Universal Wireless Inspection System (UWIS) to collect driver, vehicle, and carrier information; format a Safety Data Message Set from this information; and wirelessly transmit a Safety Data Message Set to a roadside receiver unit or mobile enforcement vehicle.«xa0less

Transportation Networks for Emergency Evacuations

Evacuation modeling systems (EMS) have been developed to facilitate the planning, analysis, and deployment of emergency evacuation of populations at risk. For any EMS, data such as road network maps, traffic control characteristics, and population distribution play critical roles in delineating emergency zones, estimating population at risk, and determining evacuation routes. There are situations in which it is possible to plan in advance for an emergency evacuation including, for example, an explosion at a chemical processing facility or a radiological accident at a nuclear plant. In these cases, if an accident or a terrorist attack were to happen, then the best evacuation plan for the prevailing network and weather conditions would be deployed. In other instances -for example, the derailment of a train transporting hazardous materials-, there may not be any previously developed plan to be implemented and decisions must be made ad-hoc on if and how to identify and proceed with the best course of action to minimize losses. Although both cases require as a starting point the development of a transportation network model of the area at risk, which must include road capacity and topology, in the latter the available time to generate this network is extremely limited.morexa0» This time constraint precludes the use of any traditional data gathering methodology and the network generation process has to rely on the use of GIS and stochastic modeling techniques. The generation of these transportation networks in real time is the focus of this entry.«xa0less