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Paper

Current State of Estimation of Multimodal Freight Project Impacts

 
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Publication: Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board
Volume: 2410
Pages: 141-149
Publication Date: 2014
Summary:

As available data have increased and as the national transportation funding bills have moved toward objective evaluation, departments of transportation (DOTs) throughout the United States have begun to develop tools to attempt to measure the effects of different projects. Increasingly, DOTs recognize that the freight transportation system is necessarily multimodal. However, no DOTs have clearly stated objective tools with which to evaluate multimodal freight project comparisons.

This paper fills that gap by summarizing the existing academic literature on the state of the science for the estimation of freight project impacts and by reviewing methods currently used by selected DOTs nationwide. These methods are analyzed to identify common themes to determine potential avenues for multimodal project evaluation.

Authors: Dr. Anne Goodchild, Erica Wygonik, Daniel Holder, B. McMullen
Recommended Citation:
Wygonik, Erica, Daniel Holder, B. Starr McMullen, and Anne Goodchild. "Current State of Estimation of Multimodal Freight Project Impacts." Transportation Research Record 2410, no. 1 (2014): 141-149. 
Paper

The Clean Trucks Program: Evaluation of Policy Impacts on Marine Terminal Operations

Publication: Journal of Maritime Economics and Logistics
Volume: 10(4)
Pages: 393-408
Publication Date: 2008
Summary:

The Clean Trucks Program is a Clean Air Action Plan initiative currently being adopted by the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. This paper examines each of the Clean Trucks Program’s current requirements and estimates the impact on terminal operations. Using terminal operations data supplied by three terminal operating companies, we conduct a simple queuing analysis and present a regression model which allow us to consider the potential impact of the policy changes. While the impact at a specific terminal is not estimated in this paper, we consider order of magnitude effects. While the programme itself does not require terminal operations changes, the programme will modestly increase incentives to improve operational efficiency outside the terminal and reduce terminal gate processing time. It will also require technology that could be used for further operational changes. We show, however, that unless gate time improvements are matched with these operational improvements in the terminal, they will only move the delay inside the terminal and not reduce total terminal time. Our research considers the impact of the Clean Trucks Program on the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, but similar concerns are driving changes at ports around the globe.

Authors: Dr. Anne Goodchild, Karthik Mohan
Recommended Citation:
Goodchild, Anne, and Karthik Mohan. “The Clean Trucks Program: Evaluation of Policy Impacts on Marine Terminal Operations.” Maritime Economics & Logistics, vol. 10, no. 4, 2008, pp. 393–408., doi:10.1057/mel.2008.13.
Paper

Do Parcel Lockers Reduce Delivery Times? Evidence from the Field

 
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Publication: Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review
Volume: 172 (2023)
Publication Date: 2023
Summary:

Common carrier parcel lockers have emerged as a secure, automated, self-service means of delivery consolidation in congested urban areas, which are believed to mitigate last-mile delivery challenges by reducing out-of-vehicle delivery times and consequently vehicle dwell times at the curb. However, little research exists to empirically demonstrate the environmental and efficiency gains from this technology. In this study, we designed a nonequivalent group pre-test/post-test control experiment to estimate the causal effects of a parcel locker on delivery times in a residential building in downtown Seattle. The causal effects are measured in terms of vehicle dwell time and the time delivery couriers spend inside the building, through the difference-in-difference method and using a similar nearby residential building as a control. The results showed a statistically significant decrease in time spent inside the building and a small yet insignificant reduction in delivery vehicle dwell time at the curb. The locker was also well received by the building managers and residents.

Recommended Citation:
Ranjbari, A., Diehl, C., Dalla Chiara, G., & Goodchild, A. (2023). Do Commercial Vehicles Cruise for Parking? Empirical Evidence from Seattle. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 172, 103070. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2023.103070 
Paper

The Isolated Community Evacuation Problem with Mixed Integer Programming

 
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Publication: Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review
Volume: 161
Pages: 102710
Publication Date: 2022
Summary:

As awareness of the vulnerability of isolated regions to natural disasters grows, the demand for efficient evacuation plans is increasing. However, isolated areas, such as islands, often have characteristics that make conventional methods, such as evacuation by private vehicle, impractical to infeasible. Mathematical models are conventional tools for evacuation planning. Most previous models have focused on densely populated areas, and are inapplicable to isolated communities that are dependent on marine vessels or aircraft to evacuate. This paper introduces the Isolated Community Evacuation Problem (ICEP) and a corresponding mixed integer programming formulation that aims to minimize the evacuation time of an isolated community through optimally routing a coordinated fleet of heterogeneous recovery resources. ICEP differs from previous models on resource-based evacuation in that it is highly asymmetric and incorporates compatibility issues between resources and access points. The formulation is expanded to a two-stage stochastic problem that allows scenario-based optimal resource planning while also ensuring minimal evacuation time. In addition, objective functions with a varying degree of risk are provided, and the sensitivity of the model to different objective functions and problem sizes is presented through numerical experiments. To increase efficiency, structure-based heuristics to solve the deterministic and stochastic problems are introduced and evaluated through computational experiments. The results give researchers and emergency planners in remote areas a tool to build optimal evacuation plans given the heterogeneous resource fleets available, which is something they have not been previously able to do and to take actions to improve the resilience of their communities accordingly.

Recommended Citation:
Krutein, K. F., & Goodchild, A. (2022). The isolated community evacuation problem with mixed integer programming. In Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review (Vol. 161, p. 102710). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2022.10271
Paper

Testing Curbside Management Strategies to Mitigate the Impacts of Ridesourcing Services on Traffic

 
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Publication:  Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board
Publication Date: 2020
Summary:

Increased use of ridehailing leads to increased pick-up and drop-off activity. This may slow traffic or cause delays as vehicles increase curb use, conduct pick-up and drop-off activity directly in the travel lane, or slow to find and connect with passengers. How should cities respond to this change in an effort to keep travel lanes operating smoothly and efficiently? This research evaluates two strategies in Seattle, WA, in an area where large numbers of workers commute using ridesourcing services: (i) a change of curb allocation from paid parking to passenger load zone (PLZ), and (ii) a geofencing approach by transportation network companies (TNCs) which directs their drivers and passengers to designated pick-up and drop-off locations on a block. An array of data on street and curb activity along three study blockfaces was collected, using video and sensor technology as well as in-person observations. Data were collected in three phases: (i) the baseline, (ii) after the new PLZs were added, expanding total PLZ curb length from 20 ft to 274 ft, and (iii) after geofencing was added to the expanded PLZs. The added PLZs were open to any passenger vehicle (not just TNC vehicles), weekdays 7:00–10:00 a.m. and 2:00–7:00 p.m. The results showed that the increased PLZ allocation and geofencing strategy reduced the number of pick-ups/drop-offs in the travel lane, reduced dwell times, increased curb use compliance, and increased TNC passenger satisfaction. The two strategies, however, had no observable effect on travel speeds or traffic safety in the selected study area.

Recommended Citation:
Ranjbari, Andisheh, Jose Luis Machado-León, Giacomo Dalla Chiara, Don MacKenzie, and Anne Goodchild. “Testing Curbside Management Strategies to Mitigate the Impacts of Ridesourcing Services on Traffic.” Transportation Research Record, (October 2020). https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198120957314.
Paper

Bike-Share Planning in Cities with Varied Terrain

 
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Publication: Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Journal
Volume: 84:07:00
Pages: 31-35
Publication Date: 2014
Summary:
Decisions to install public bike-share programs are increasingly based on ridership estimations, but the topography’s influence on ridership is rarely quantified. This research evaluated a geographic information system-based approach for estimating ridership that accounted for hills. Double-weighting a slope relative to other measures produces a realistic representation of the bicycling experience. Because of their benefits, bike-share programs are increasingly of interest in cities and universities across the country. A bike-share program provides short-term use bicycles to the public through a system of unattended stations for their checkout and return. This research enhanced methodology developed in Philadelphia by developing and evaluating an additional indicator that accounts for hills. Several scenarios were tested, using Seattle as a case study, to find the best method to account for the notable impact of hills on bike riders’ choices and to evaluate the addition of slope to the calculation of bike-share demand.
Authors: Dr. Ed McCormack, Erica Wygonik, Daniel H. Rowe
Recommended Citation:
McCormack, E., & Rowe, D. H. (2014). Bike-share planning in cities with varied terrain. Institute of Transportation Engineers. ITE Journal, 84(7), 31.
Paper

Evaluating The Efficacy Of Shared-Use Vehicles For Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A U.S. Case Study Of Grocery Delivery

 
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Publication: Transportation Research Forum
Volume: 51 (2)
Pages: 111-126
Publication Date: 2012
Summary:

This paper compares the CO2 emissions from the use of personal vehicles to shared-use vehicles for grocery shopping in Seattle, Washington. The research builds on existing literature by considering the importance of modeling the logistical details of routing and scheduling, and by comparing the results of an American case study to existing European case studies. We find the US and European case studies to provide consistent results, that low customer density provides greater opportunities for emissions reductions, and that logistical efficiencies can account for approximately 50% of CO2 reductions.

Authors: Dr. Anne Goodchild, Erica Wygonik
Recommended Citation:
Wygonik, Erica, and Anne Goodchild. "Evaluating the efficacy of shared-use vehicles for reducing greenhouse gas emissions: a US case study of grocery delivery." In Journal of the Transportation Research Forum, vol. 51, no. 2. 2012.
Paper

Assessing the Safety Effects of Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems: A Bowtie Analysis Approach

Publication: Accident Analysis and Prevention
Volume: 99 (A)
Pages: 125-141
Publication Date: 2017
Summary:

The safety effects of cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS) are mostly unknown and associated with uncertainties, because these systems represent emerging technology. This study proposes a bowtie analysis as a conceptual framework for evaluating the safety effect of cooperative intelligent transport systems. These seek to prevent road traffic accidents or mitigate their consequences. Under the assumption of the potential occurrence of a particular single-vehicle accident, three case studies demonstrate the application of the bowtie analysis approach in road traffic safety. The approach utilizes exemplary expert estimates and knowledge from literature on the probability of the occurrence of accident risk factors and of the success of safety measures. Fuzzy set theory is applied to handle uncertainty in expert knowledge. Based on this approach, a useful tool is developed to estimate the effects of safety-related cooperative intelligent transport systems in terms of the expected change in accident occurrence and consequence probability.

Authors: Dr. Ed McCormack, Ute Christine Ehlers, Eirin Olaussen Ryeng, Faisal Khan, Sören Ehlers
Recommended Citation:
Ehlers, Ute Christine, Eirin Olaussen Ryeng, Edward McCormack, Faisal Khan, and Sören Ehlers. "Assessing the safety effects of cooperative intelligent transport systems: A bowtie analysis approach." Accident Analysis & Prevention 99 (2017): 125-141.
Paper

Double Girder Bridge Crane with Double Cycling: Scheduling Strategy and Performance Evaluation

 
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Publication: Journal of Applied Mathematics
Volume: 2014 (3)
Pages: 12-Jan
Publication Date: 2014
Summary:

This paper introduces a novel quay crane design, a double girder bridge crane (DGBC). DGBC is capable of handling containers of two adjacent bays simultaneously, avoiding crane collisions, saving traveling and repositioning costs, and eventually improving terminal efficiency.

This problem is formulated as a resource-constrained project scheduling to minimize the maximum completion time. A two-stage heuristic algorithm is proposed in which an operating sequence on each bay is obtained by double cycling, and the integrated timetable for both bays is constructed by solving resource conflicts using the proposed minimum cost strategy. We examine effectiveness and performance of applying DGBC with double cycling.

A case study is presented to illustrate how DGBC works with the two-stage method. Three extreme cases with respective conflict types are investigated to develop the performance bounds of DGBC with double cycling.

The results show that DGBC can significantly improve terminal productivity, and outperforms single girder crane in both makespan and the lift operation percentage. The highest DGBC efficiency does not require maximum double cycles in two bay schedules; rather the integrated timetable for two bays is the main contribution to the DGBC performance as it yields better cooperation between two spreaders and the driver.

Authors: Dr. Anne Goodchild, Dandan Wang, Xiaoping Li, and Zun Wang
Recommended Citation:
Wang, Dandan, Anne Goodchild, Xiaoping Li, and Zun Wang. "Double girder bridge crane with double cycling: Scheduling strategy and performance evaluation." Journal of Applied Mathematics 2014 (2014). 
Paper

A Container Terminal at the Port of Prince Rupert: Considerations from a Transportation Perspective

 
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Publication: Canadian Political Science Review
Volume: 2(4)
Pages: 60-75
Publication Date: 2008
Summary:

This paper discusses the transport of containers between the Port of Prince Rupert and the hinterland. The result of several data collection and analysis efforts, we present a set of findings regarding the role Prince Rupert might play in North American transportation, and the particular strengths or weaknesses of this facility. In the short term, there will be no facilities for container rehandling in Prince Rupert. This activity may take place in Prince George, or more likely these importers may continue to use the facilities surrounding Vancouver. Given the current rail network, Prince George will be required to handle as much cargo as Prince Rupert. This will have negative impacts on air quality in Prince George, yet potentially positive impacts on employment and economic activity through rehandling and transloading opportunities. Due to sizeable resources in Western Canada, this Port may offer a better ratio of exports to imports than other West Coast terminals which will attract steamship lines looking for west-bound fares. Unfortunately, on multi-stop routes, this may also mean Prince Rupert is visited after other West Coast destinations, thereby reducing the benefit of being closer to Asia. Despite these uncertainties, we conclude that, because of its unique features, this Port has strong potential to impact logistics practices in a continental transportation system.

Authors: Dr. Anne Goodchild, Susan Albrecht, Tsit Lam, Kasey Faust
Recommended Citation:
Anne Goodchild, Susan Albrecht, Tsit Lam, Kasey Faust. "A Container Terminal at the Port of Prince Rupert: Considerations from a Transportation Perspective." Canadian Political Science Review 2, no. 4 (December 2008): 60-75.