Analysis of Florida Transit Bus Crashes

Author(s):  
Joel R. Rey ◽  
Dennis Hinebaugh ◽  
Jose Fernandez

Through its National Center for Transit Research, and under contract with the Florida Department of Transportation, the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) was tasked with reviewing a sample of data on transit bus crash occurrence from selected Florida transit systems. The purpose of this review is to analyze changes in crash occurrence over time in relation to the effectiveness of training programs and capital safety improvements in reducing bus crashes. To this end, CUTR conducted two case studies utilizing occurrence data from Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority in Tampa (which implemented a refresher training course for bus operators) and LYNX Transit in Orlando (which replaced standard rear-end brake lights and turn signal and emergency flasher lights with high-density LED lights). The case studies examined the effect that these two particular safety campaigns had on postimple-mentation bus crash occurrence for the two properties. In addition to the promotion of safety, it is anticipated that this effort will be a preliminary step in the process of establishing a general list of safety campaigns, along with related costs and “rule of thumb” occurrence prevention effectiveness levels for each. A list of this nature will aid transit systems in Florida, the United States, and elsewhere in the selection of safety campaigns that will meet financial and safety goals.

2011 ◽  
Vol 97-98 ◽  
pp. 1149-1153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lai Fang Sheng ◽  
Chao He Rong ◽  
Yan Song

The urban rail based Transit Joint Development (TJD) has become one of the most important financing channels for constructing urban rail transit systems in China. Compared to the extensive research and application in planning field, the implementation of TJD still faced some difficulties such as organizational model selection, distribution of benefits and so on. In the 1980s and 1990s, the United States, Japan and Hong Kong developed a series of TJD practices and they formed three kinds of TJD mode: Public-Private Partnership, Enterprise Oriented, and Franchise. Empirical evidences have shown that differences among three modes are mainly reflected in the selection of implementation agency, allocation of functions and distribution of benefits. Then these distinctions will cause various impacts on the scale, cycle, form and operational management of TJDs. The conclusions of this research could provide valuable experience to the ongoing work of TJD in Chinese mega cities.


Author(s):  
Ali Touran ◽  
Firooz Panah

The use of Alternative Technical Concepts (ATC) is becoming widespread in design-build transportation projects in the United States. According to Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) ATC is a request by a proposer (usually in design-build projects) to modify a contract requirement for gaining competitive advantage over competition. The owner, usually a state department of transportation, requires that the ATC provide a better or at least equal solution to the owner’s design requirements. In Design-Build (DB) projects, the ATC is usually proposed by a proposer during the Request for Proposal (RFP) process and is considered in the evaluation and selection of the proposers in conjunction with the Best Value (BV) method of selection. In this paper, the authors have focused on two case studies involving ATC implementation and negotiations with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) highlighting advantages and disadvantages of using ATC in DB contracts. In each case, the nature of ATC and the approval process is discussed. In the first case, the approved ATCs provided the proposer with a clear advantage in winning a contract with the agency despite not being the low bidder. In the second case, the proposed and approved ATCs did not result in winning a contract despite being the low bidder.


Author(s):  
Xuehao Chu ◽  
Michael R. Baltes

The Florida Department of Transportation is in the process of developing a statistically estimated model of pedestrian quality of service for midblock street crossings as part of its Multimodal Quality of Service Program. This model is to be used in evaluating the level of service of street segments for pedestrian street crossing. The actual development of the model, including methodological issues explored, data collection, and model calibration and validation, is reported separately. A process was used to select potential determinants of perceived pedestrian quality of service for midblock street crossings. This process is structured and involves two steps. The first step involves the selection of a set of potential determinants through a theoretical analysis of pedestrian behavior for street crossing. The theoretical consideration ensures that these potential determinants have a sound behavioral foundation. The second step involves narrowing down this theoretical set through a practical analysis of planning needs and data requirements by an advisory committee. This practical consideration ensures that the final set of potential determinants and the model both are practically relevant.


Author(s):  
Shad M. Sargand ◽  
Roger Green ◽  
Issam Khoury

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) constructed a test pavement on US-23 in Delaware County, Ohio. Of the nine Specific Pavement Studies (SPS) formulated by the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP), four (SPS-1, SPS-2, SPS-8, and SPS-9) were included at the OH-SHRP DEL-23 site. Sensors were carefully selected and installed to monitor structural response and seasonal parameters on the basis of prior field experiences accumulated in the United States and Canada. Criteria used to select the sensors were cost, accuracy, sensitivity, longevity, and level of success in previous pavement research projects, especially projects in Ohio. Described here is the development of the Ohio test pavement in terms of objectives, overall instrumentation plan, and selection of sensors as well as typical instrumentation plans for asphalt concrete and portland cement concrete sections.


2000 ◽  
Vol 1696 (1) ◽  
pp. 188-192
Author(s):  
Charles F. Duggar ◽  
John A. Corven

The Cross Florida Greenway is a multiuse trail that bisects the central region of Florida, an area that was originally set aside for the Cross Florida Barge Canal. After Congress deauthorized the barge canal, the Cross Florida Greenway State Recreational Area was created, and the canal property was turned over to the state. Interstate 75 interrupts the Cross Florida Greenway in Marion County in a north-to-south direction for a distance of about 1829 m (6,000 ft) along the I-75 centerline. No bridges or underpass structures currently exist that connect both sides of the Greenway. Through several years of study, the Florida Department of Transportation and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection developed a land bridge concept for traversing the I-75 right-of-way while continuing the Greenway characteristics across the bridge. The land bridge concept is used internationally and is conducive to wildlife usage. The structure will be 16 m (52.5 ft) wide. It will provide a stabilized section along the center portion of the bridge for bicyclists, pedestrians, and equestrians, as well as earthen berms to support plantings along the outside edges of the structure. The key unique structural elements of the bridge, which is the first precast U-beam superstructure to be constructed in the state, include use of open triangular-shaped median piers, integral abutments, and geosynthetic-reinforced, vegetated approach slopes. The project is expected to attract national and international attention because it may be the first of its kind in the United States and because of its location along the heavily traveled I-75.


Author(s):  
Scott Gabree ◽  
Stephanie Chase ◽  
Marco daSilva

The United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center), under the direction of the USDOT Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Office of Research and Development (R&D), recently completed a study on the use of pavement markings to reduce instances of vehicles stopping on the tracks at grade crossings. Specifically, the study evaluated the effectiveness of pavement markings placed within the dynamic envelope, the region between and immediately adjacent to the tracks at a grade crossing, and new corresponding signage at the Commercial Boulevard grade crossing (ID# 628186E) in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The goal of this research study was to gain an understanding of the effect of dynamic envelope pavement markings and accompanying signage on driver’s not stopping while traversing the tracks. The addition of the dynamic envelope markings and signage is intended to make this area more pronounced, resulting in fewer motorists entering the dynamic envelope if they are unable to exit the other side. Researchers coded driver stopping behavior at this crossing before and after the surface treatments were installed. Vehicles were coded as having stopped in one of four zones: behind the stop line and gate arm (Zone 1), past the stop line but before the tracks (Zone 2), on the tracks (Zone 3), or immediately after the tracks (Zone 4). Stopping in Zone 3 is considered to be the most dangerous behavior that a driver could perform, while stopping in Zone 1 is the safest. The goal of the added markings and signage is to reduce the number of vehicles which come to a stop within the dynamic envelope, thus reducing the possibility that a vehicle is present on the tracks when a train approaches resulting in a collision. The addition of the dynamic envelope pavement markings and modified signage resulted in a statistically significant change in driver stopping behavior. Specifically, the pavement markings and signage reduced the proportion of vehicles that stopped in Zone 3, resulting in a 45% reduction in vehicles stopped in Zone 3 for eastbound vehicles and 14% for westbound vehicles. They also increased the proportion of vehicles stopping in Zone 1, which is the safest behavior a driver can perform (9% increase for eastbound and 6% increase for westbound). Additionally, fewer vehicles were found to stop in both Zone 2 and Zone 4, which are both moderately dangerous. Based on these results, the Florida Department of Transportation is exploring the use of this safety treatment at additional grade crossings with a high risk for unsafe vehicle stopping behavior.


Somatechnics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rae Rosenberg

This paper explores trans temporalities through the experiences of incarcerated trans feminine persons in the United States. The Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) has received increased attention for its disproportionate containment of trans feminine persons, notably trans women of colour. As a system of domination and control, the PIC uses disciplinary and heteronormative time to dominate the bodies and identities of transgender prisoners by limiting the ways in which they can express and experience their identified and embodied genders. By analyzing three case studies from my research with incarcerated trans feminine persons, this paper illustrates how temporality is complexly woven through trans feminine prisoners' experiences of transitioning in the PIC. For incarcerated trans feminine persons, the interruption, refusal, or permission of transitioning in the PIC invites several gendered pasts into a body's present and places these temporalities in conversation with varying futures as the body's potential. Analyzing trans temporalities reveals time as layered through gender, inviting multiple pasts and futures to circulate around and through the body's present in ways that can be both harmful to, and necessary for, the assertion and survival of trans feminine identities in the PIC.


2019 ◽  
pp. 123-130

The scientific research works concerning the field of mechanical engineering such as, manufacturing machine slate, soil tillage, sowing and harvesting based on the requirements for the implementation of agrotechnical measures for the cultivation of plants in its transportation, through the development of mastering new types of high-performance and energy-saving machines in manufacturing machine slate, creation of multifunctional machines, allowing simultaneous soil cultivation, by means of several planting operations, integration of agricultural machine designs are taken into account in manufacturing of the local universal tractor designed basing on high ergonomic indicators. For this reason, this article explores the use of case studies in teaching agricultural terminology by means analyzing the researches in machine building. Case study method was firstly used in 1870 in Harvard University of Law School in the United States. Also in the article, we give the examples of agricultural machine-building terms, teaching terminology and case methods, case study process and case studies method itself. The research works in the field of mechanical engineering and the use of case studies in teaching terminology have also been analyzed. In addition, the requirements for the development of case study tasks are given in their practical didactic nature. We also give case study models that allow us analyzing and evaluating students' activities.


1989 ◽  
Vol 21 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 685-698
Author(s):  
J. J. Convery ◽  
J. F. Kreissl ◽  
A. D. Venosa ◽  
J. H. Bender ◽  
D. J. Lussier

Technology transfer is an important activity within the ll.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Specific technology transfer programs such as the activities of the Center for Environmental Research Information, the Innovative and Alternative Technology Program, as well as the Small Community Outreach Program are used to encourage the utilization of cost-effective municipal pollution control technology. Case studies of three technologies including a plant operations diagnostic/remediation methodology, alternative sewer technologies and ultraviolet disinfection are presented. These case studies are presented retrospectively in the context of a generalized concept of how technology flows from science to utilization which was developed in a study by Allen (1977). Additional insights from this study are presented on the information gathering characteristics of engineers and scientists which may be useful in designing technology transfer programs. The recognition of the need for a technology or a deficiency in current practice are important stimuli other than technology transfer for accelerating the utilization of new technology.


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