A number of factors influence the efficiency, productivity, and welfare of transportation networks. Travel demand, user costs, and facility supply costs equilibrate on various time scales under a set of pricing (taxes and tolls), investment and ownership policies. The growth (and decline) of...

This study estimates Value of Time differences between people who arrived at their destination as planned and those that were delayed. The analysis is based on the I-394 MnPASS High Occupancy/Toll (HOT) lane project recently implemented in the Minneapolis/St. Paul region. Using a Stated...

Alternative transportation investment policies can lead to very different network forms in the future. The desirability of a transportation network should be assessed not only by its economic efficiency but also by its reliability and security, because the cost of an incidental capacity loss in...

Perceived waiting time at signalized intersections differs from the actual waiting time and varies with signal design. The onerousness of delay depends on the conditions under which it is experienced. Using weighted travel time may contribute to optimal signal control if it can improve on the...

This study aims to determine whether ramp meters increase the capacity of active freeway bottlenecks. The traffic flow characteristics at 27 active bottlenecks in the Twin Cities have been studied for seven weeks without ramp metering and seven weeks with ramp metering. A methodology for...

This research evaluates the accuracy of demand forecasts using a sample of recently-completed projects in Minnesota and identifies the factors influencing the inaccuracy in forecasts. Based on recent research on forecast accuracy, the inaccuracy of the traffic forecasts is estimated as the...

Problem: Limited literature suggests that gasoline prices have substantial effects on reducing fatal crashes. However, the literature focuses only on fatal crashes and does not examine the effects on all traffic crashes.Methods: Mississippi traffic crash data from April 2004-December 2008 from...

This research assesses the implications of existing trends on future network investment, comparing alternative scenarios concerning budgets and investment rules. The main scenarios compare "stated decision rules", processes encoded in flowcharts and weights developed from official documents or...

In order to maintain and improve road infrastructure in their respective jurisdictions, the state (the Minnesota DOT), region (the Metropolitan Council), and seven counties in the Twin Cities Metropolitan area develop their respective decision making (investment) processes in which federal or...

The expected benefits of varying combinations of intelligent transportation system applications, such as freeway service patrol, changeable message signs, and ramp metering, were examined. The research analyzed the simulated results of a stylized network in a microscopic traffic simulator. The...