Rajat Rajbhandari

Estimation of Bus Dwell Times with Automatic Passenger Counter Information

The average passenger boarding and alighting times and bus dwell times at stops are important information for estimating transit service capacities. Bus dwell time directly affects vehicle travel time, and thus the fleet size required to provide service based on scheduled headway is affected. Research focused on estimating bus dwell time and the impact of boarding and alighting passengers on dwell time. In addition, the effect of standees, time of day, and service type on bus dwell time was investigated. The data were recently collected from an archived database, within which automatic passenger counter information was recorded. The dwell times and passenger counts were recorded daily during 2001 and the first 6 months of 2002. The bus dwell time and average passenger boarding and alighting time at stops are explained using descriptive statistics.

Dashboard Tool to Communicate Delays and Economic Cost of Delays at International Border Crossings

The development of a dashboard tool to communicate key performance measures related to the cost of delay incurred by U.S.-bound commercial vehicles at international border crossings is discussed. Various framework and implementation aspects of such a dashboard are covered. These aspects include collection and processing of delay and economic cost data, design of the dashboard interface, calculations of performance measures, and finally its intended use for stakeholders. Two sets of metrics or key performance measures are discussed within the context of international land border crossings, the first pertaining to delay measures and the second to economic costs of delay. Definitions of “true delay” at border crossings and several delay measures are given, and the development of the same at varying temporal resolutions is reviewed. On the basis of a review of previously developed dashboards, the authors believe that the current effort is the first in which highly granular delay-related intelligent transportation system data have been integrated with economic components of delay in the arena of performance measurement. Nevertheless, the research focuses on delay incurred by the freight community at international land border crossings. Finally, data gaps and other theoretical issues that need addressing in the future to advance the discussion of a delay measure and its consequences at international land border crossings are treated. Regardless of challenges concerning data, the authors believe that a significant potential exists for dashboards to enhance the planning process among stakeholders and to optimize their decision-making processes.

State of the Practice on Use of Intelligent Transportation Systems at U.S.-Mexican Land Border Crossings

A research project was conducted to perform a borderwide assessment of the use of intelligent transportation system (ITS) technologies and operational concepts at and near U.S. international land border crossings. The work focused on tolling, traffic management and operations, and safety. The objectives of this project were to research, to assess, and to document how ITS technologies could be used in the following areas: (a) toll collection and management in border regions, including identification of technologies used, system components, and any special data-sharing arrangements between the United States and its two bordering neighbors; (b) transportation operations and traffic management in U.S.–Mexican border regions; (c) transportation safety policy and operations; (d) traffic management, traffic operation, and traffic enforcement on tolled roads and tolled border-crossing roads; and (e) archiving of toll and traffic management data. In the interest of brevity, this paper discusses the results of the study that pertained to the state of the practice on the use of ITS on the U.S.–Mexican border only.

Radio Frequency Identification System to Measure Crossing and Wait Times of Commercial Vehicles at U.S. Border Crossings

The design and deployment processes described in this study were used for deployment of a system based on radio frequency identification technology at the Pharr–Reynosa International Bridge in Pharr, Texas. The overall goal of this deployment was to implement a system that would automatically and reliably collect, archive, and disseminate wait times and crossing times of U.S.-bound commercial vehicles at international land border crossings and thereby monitor the performance of these crossings. Such performance measures provide stakeholder agencies and users with information to assist in various travel-related decisions, establish a common denominator to estimate the effect of improvements and modifications in operation, and establish indices that can be easily communicated to a nontechnical audience and still remain relevant. Results are also described from the initial analysis of wait and crossing times of U.S.-bound commercial vehicles at the border crossing. Researchers believe that the study will greatly benefit stakeholder agencies at the border that want to implement similar systems to measure border crossing performance. At the same time, the research community can benefit from the real-time and archived data, and it is expected that new research opportunities focused on performance measurement and monitoring of international border crossings will be generated.

Paso Del Norte Regional Mobility Information System: Creating Archived Transportation Data User Services and an Advanced Traveler Information System

The Paso Del Norte region includes El Paso County (Texas), Dona Ana County (New Mexico), and Ciudad Juarez (Mexico) along the southwest border region between the United States and Mexico. With a combined population of more than 2 million, the city of El Paso (Texas) and Ciudad Juarez have an intertwined transportation system with one of the nations busiest international borders. In response to growing transportation needs in this binational region, the Texas Transportation Institute established a new transportation research center in the city of El Paso. One of the many research initiatives identified at the early stages of the centers inception was to develop a mobility information system for the Paso Del Norte region. The goals of this regional mobility information system were to demonstrate the significance and benefits of archiving intelligent transportation system (ITS) data, build a centralized repository of transportation data, provide the ability to monitor regional and cross-border mobility, and provide a platform to adopt newer ITS technologies. The objectives of the regional mobility information system are to provide archived transportation data user services and an advanced traveler information system in the region. The regional mobility information system is the first of its kind in the region and has been well received by stakeholder agencies. The system has an extremely flexible and scalable database framework and uses the concept of data warehouse and database-centric architecture. As an advanced traveler information system, the system provides access to users’ information related to everyday travel through a single-window website.