Session Abstracts

Traffic Control in the Era of Connected Automated Vehicles

Ali Hajbabaie, NC State University

Connected automated vehicles (CAVs) are expected to bring significant changes to how we travel and how trafficS control devices operate. It is hypothesized that traffic lights may become obsolete and can be removed from intersections when all vehicles are both connected and automated. Some changes in traffic light systems may be necessary to accommodate the transition to a road system in which all vehicles are automated, and this means changing a technology that has been around for more than 100 years. In this talk, we introduce a new traffic control paradigm: using automated vehicles as mobile traffic controllers in cooperation with traffic signal controllers. In this concept, automated vehicles can create groups of human-driven vehicles, negotiate the right of way with each other, and navigate human-driven vehicles through the intersection during a new phase called the white phase. This happens only when enough automated vehicles are present in the intersection neighborhood, otherwise, typical green, yellow, and red phases are used. The simulation analysis has been very promising, and the new paradigm resulted in total delay reductions ranging from 7 percent to 96 percent when the automated vehicle market penetration rate increases from 10 percent up to 100 percent. This talk will also cover controlling CAVs in roundabouts and signal-free intersections.

Response Time of Real-World Mixed Platoons with Conventional and Autonomous Vehicles: Impact Assessment on Flow Stability and Safety

Tanmay Das, NC State University

The presence of adaptive cruise control (ACC) as a standard feature in many of the best-selling vehicles in the US and worldwide has resulted in a mixed traffic stream from a vehicular response perspective. Though much research was carried out on the effect of flow stability on longitudinal safety, mixed traffic stability impacts using real world data are still lacking. This study evaluates the impact of traffic flow stability of mixed traffic consisting of traditional human-driven vehicles (TVs) and ACC-equipped autonomous vehicles (AVs) on longitudinal safety using their estimated response time. We employ a real-world mixed traffic stream, open-source trajectory dataset named OpenACC. The study first estimates AV and TV response times on mixed traffic using cross-correlation and partial autocorrelation metrics. Next, response time estimates are used to assess flow stability and longitudinal safety. We use the non-linear Gazis, Herman, and Rothery's (GHR) car-following model principles to analyze traffic flow stability. The safety assessment is performed via a traffic conflict analysis using a modified time to collision (MTTC) surrogate. The results show that the response times for both TVs and AVs are independent of the lead vehicle type. Additionally, AV as a following vehicle yielded a longer response time than a following TV, and the longer response times resulted in a longer duration of traffic flow instability and traffic conflicts. The results also show that without a reduction in the AV response time, achieving some of the promised enhancements in mixed traffic safety may not be feasible.

Development of Autonomous Driving Shuttles for Rural Environments

Jose Matute, Daniel Tobias, Tesfamichael Getahun, Tienake Phuabaiboon, and Ali Karimoddini; North Carolina A&T State University

The transportation industry is undergoing major revolutionary changes that promise increased capacity, reliability, affordability, and sustainability. Major achievements have been made in automated vehicles and computing technologies. With current technological advancements, the community is getting ready to deploy autonomous vehicles as an emerging transportation technology. These changes will disrupt traditional transportation technologies while creating new opportunities benefiting society. Most of these technological efforts, however, are focusing on urban environments. In order to be better prepared for these transformative changes, it is essential to assess the deployment of autonomous vehicles to accommodate rural terrain and infrastructure, and conditions in North Carolina. Roads in rural areas are for long-distance travel, have rugged terrain, and alternate surface types. They may also lack pavement markings, often due to an existing backlog of maintenance, lack of funding resources, and personnel for new deployments. These create challenges for AV deployment in rural areas. In this presentation, we will review our recent effort in the development of autonomous driving shuttles considering crucial aspects, such as state estimation and localization, object detection, motion planning, and human-machine interface.  The developed vehicles are endowed with a modular and robust perception architecture, comprising a variety of sensors and embedded intelligence. Complex maneuvering in rural scenarios under narrow and hilly roads is assessed. We will specifically focus on addressing challenges such as low GPS coverage and low visible lane marking driving scenarios and will present the results from tests performed in a confined driving environment at NCA&T AV rural test track.

Case Study: How Does Highway Construction Effect Our Soil and Water Quality?

Christina Kranz, Joshua L. Heitman, and Richard A. McLaughlin; NC State University

Sediment basins are used to capture runoff with high loads of sediment to settle out the suspended sediments prior to discharging into adjoining waters. Current practices are effective at settling out larger particles, but finer particles remain a problem in construction site discharge. Polyacrylamide (PAM) is widely used as an effective flocculent to improve sediment capture. We monitored water quality in seven sediment basins during the construction of I-540 near Raleigh, North Carolina area over three years. Water quality was also monitored in the creek upstream and downstream of the construction site, which is home to an endangered species of mussel. Turbidity and total suspended solids (TSS) were the water quality parameters and were measured in samples taken by automatic samplers during storm events in the basins and periodically in the stream. The creek turbidity fluctuated over time and with rainfall events. Few differences were seen between water quality upstream and downstream of the construction site, and stream water quality was more related to stream level. Turbidity and TSS were reduced when PAM was used on channels leading to sediment basins. Water being discharged into the creek often exceeded the turbidity of the creek, but may have been diluted by the creek by the time it got to the automatic sampler. This study on an active construction site will provide valuable information for with direct implications management practices and the conservation of our streams and lakes.

Efficient Bathymetric Surveying with a Team of Unmanned Surface Vessels via Adaptive Sampling

Artur Wolek, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Adaptive sampling algorithms allow unmanned vehicles to efficiently collect spatial data by estimating a spatial process in real-time and using the resulting estimate to guide the collection of subsequent measurements. Waypoints are dynamically allocated during the mission to increase sampling effort in areas with greater variability or uncertainty. This capability allows for one or more unmanned vehicles to collaboratively map a large survey region in a shorter time in comparison to a traditional lawnmower survey pattern. The presentation will discuss implementation of an adaptive sampling algorithm to map the bathymetry in a section of Lake Norman, NC using two cooperating unmanned boats equipped with low-cost single-beam echosounders.

Minimizing the Water Quality Impacts of Construction

Richard McLaughlin, NC State University

In the 1990s, policy makers and scientists began to focus on non-point sources of pollution.  One of the most widespread pollutants is sediment, both coarser forms that clog streams and reduce habitat and finer fractions that contribute to the turbidity that reduces water quality in many ways.  One source of sediment is land disturbance associated with construction of roads and buildings.  Regulations were put in place to require construction site operators to install practices intended to reduce the off-site movement of sediment.  However, there was very little research to determine how effective these practices were and little effort to find more effective systems.  To address this situation, the Sediment and Erosion Control Research and Education Facility (SECREF) was constructed at North Carolina State University’s Lake Wheeler Field Laboratory in Raleigh.  Funding was initially from the NC Department of Environmental Quality but thereafter primarily from NC Department of Transportation.  SECREF has provided a platform to study various methods to improve sediment capture as well as erosion and turbidity control.  In addition, many research projects were undertaken on private development and NCDOT construction project to test many of the practice improvements under “real” conditions.  Many of these improvements have been incorporated into standard practices and have greatly reduced the impact of sediment from construction activities on waters in North Carolina and many other states.  This presentation will provide a review of research that led to current practices.

Assessment of Separated Bike Lanes in NC

Sarah O'Brien, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Dan Gelinne, UNC Highway Safety Research Center
Chris Vaughan, Institute for Transportation Research & Education, NC State University

In 2019, the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, NCSU Institute of Transportation Research and Education, and Toole Design began a research project for NCDOT intended to examine how North Carolina communities are integrating Separated Bicycle Lanes (SBLs) into their transportation networks. This project involved reviewing existing literature on the efficacy of SBLs, interviewing State and local agencies about their experience planning, designing, and implementing SBLs, and an evaluation of SBL projects in North Carolina. This presentation will share the findings of the project: the review of literature about the documented benefits of SBLs and the experience that North Carolina transportation agencies have had when integrating them into their transportation networks, and results from before-after assessments of conflict data from 8 different sites across 5 different SBLs in two cities. We will share the latest information about what research says regarding the safety, operational, and other impacts of SBLs. We will present the current landscape of SBLs within the State of North Carolina and feedback from various agencies about the potential benefits and drawbacks of these facilities. Finally, we will explain our research approach to the evaluation conducted and discuss conclusions drawn from the findings of our assessment.

Methods to Determine Crossing Treatments for Safer Shared Use Path Crossings

Waugh Wright, NC State University
Wesley Kumfer, UNC Highway Safety Research Center

This project analyzes videos from a variety of shared use path crossing at road midpoints that utilize different treatments, such as traffic control, supplemented yielding, refuge islands, pavement markings, and no pavement markings. Using a safe systems approach, this analysis is used to provide guidance to local planners and NCDOT staff on the appropriate treatment type in different situations.

Analyzing Pedestrian Injuries in Pedestrian-Vehicle Crashes using Emerging Hotspots Analysis and XGBoost: A Case Study of North Carolina

Wei Fan, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Yang Li, Ph.D., Institute for Physical Infrastructure & Transportation (IPIT), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

As one of the most vulnerable entities within the transportation system, pedestrians might face more dangers and sustain severer injuries in traffic crashes than others. However, the inherent heterogeneity of the traffic crash data can cause incorrect conclusions in many ways. Also, the crash data has inherent patterns related to both space and time. Crashes that happened in locations with highly aggregated uptrend patterns should be worth exploring to examine the most recently deteriorative factors affecting the pedestrian-injury severities in crashes. Therefore, developments and applications of proper modeling approaches are needed to identify causes of pedestrian-vehicle crashes to better ensure the safety of pedestrians. In this study, an emerging hotspot analysis is firstly utilized to identify the most targeted hotspots, followed by a proposed XGBoost model that analyzes the most recently deteriorative factors affecting the pedestrian- injury severities. Variable importance and partial dependence of the top 15 contributing factors are identified and discussed to interpret the models and evaluate the significance of each independent variable. The overall accuracy of the best model on the hotspot dataset is 94.49%, which shows a relatively high performance compared to conventional models. Results of recent hotspots with the uptrend of crash occurrences in this research could give a solid reference for the identifications of contributing factors affecting the pedestrian-injury severities to policymakers and researchers.

The Interactive Mapping of the NCDOT Research Project Program Using Story Maps

Mike Wallace and Tim Mulrooney; North Carolina Central University

Since its inception, the NCDOT Research Project program, has supported more than 500 research projects. While information about each is accessible through the NCDOT Research Project database portal (https://connect.ncdot.gov/projects/research/Pages/ProjectSearch.aspx), these projects have not been mapped to display the spatial distribution of the recipients of the awards, along with a summary of the awards by organization.  Interactive maps through a portal such as ArcGIS Online (http://www.arcgis.com) and Esri StoryMaps (https://storymaps.arcgis.com/) which utilize AGOL’s cloud-based maps provide a means by which NCDOT research projects can be mapped as point features and these real-world point locations can serve as links to additional information about the projects to include the PI(s), committee chairpersons and managers, year of project, project number, images and link to final reports.  These user-friendly and interactive mapping tools developed by the Department of Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences (DEEGS) at North Carolina Central University complement the existing NCDOT Research Project database by providing another means to market, query and search this valuable information.  These tools furthermore provide maps, documents and images related to field sites related linked to NCDOT projects that can be stored and accessed using cloud services.

Developing a Construction Domain-Specific Artificial Intelligence Language Model for NCDOT’s CLEAR Program to Preserve Institutional Knowledge

Arnav Jhala, Dr. Edward Jaselskis, and Dr. Colin Potts; NC State University

Transportation agency personnel gain valuable knowledge through their work but such knowledge is lost if it is not documented properly after they leave the organization. The risk of losing institutional knowledge is a current problem at state departments of transportation, including the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), due to high personnel turnover. NCDOT's Value Management Office has implemented knowledge repositories in the form of a lessons learned/best practices database to address this problem. This project addresses the challenge of curating and monitoring the development of this database with a language model that is trained on construction vocabulary. This model is deployed as part of the NCDOT’s new knowledge management program, CLEAR (Communicate Lessons, Exchange Advice, Record), as a semantic search module for the CLEAR web interface.

CLEAR Program (Communicate Lessons, Exchange Advice, and Record)

Janaki Patel, N.C. Department of Transportation

The CLEAR Program at NCDOT manages the knowledge management for the department. Part of its many facets include Post Construction Assessments, Lunch and Learn presentations, Technical Advisory Groups, Innovation Coordinators Meetings and department wide Innovation Challenge competitions, and research projects which help promote ideas, innovation, and efficiency within the department.  This presentation will showcase some of the research and ideas the program has been working on this year.

Experimental Evaluation of the Bonner Bridge Girders: Assessing Residual Capacity, Prestressing Losses and Degradation of the 56 Year Old Members

Giorgio Proestos, NC State University

The 56 year old Bonner Bridge, which connected several Outer Banks communities in North Carolina, was recently deconstructed. The deconstruction of the bridge provided an opportunity to evaluate the condition of the aged prestressed concrete bridge girders and to compare their performance with load rating calculations. This presentation summarizes the performance evaluation of four recovered Bonner Bridge girders including full-scale load testing of the 61 ft. by 45 in. deep AASHTO Type III girders. The tests were conducted in the Constructed Facilities Lab (CFL) located at North Carolina State University as a part of a research project sponsored by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). This presentation also discusses the performance of the concrete girders in the context of prestress losses and behavior under extreme loading.

Behavior of Deep Beams in the Context of Strut-and-Tie Design of Bridge Pier Caps

Giorgio Proestos, NC State University

Reinforced concrete pier caps are common structural components that are classified as deep beams. Reinforced concrete deep beams are defined by their small shear span-to-depth ratios and are also referred to as disturbed regions or “D-Regions”. The response of deep beams is governed by strut action, rather than beam action. This strut action is characterized by direct compression fields that connect the loading and supporting elements. If these members are designed using traditional sectional analysis methods, it can result in the structure being overly conservative. AASHTO LRFD allows the use of strut-and-tie procedures for the design of these members. Strut-and-tie methods take advantage of the direct strut action that occurs in deep beams and is not accounted for in sectional methods. This means that designs can be more efficient, require smaller depths or require less longitudinal or transverse reinforcement. This presentation summarizes ongoing research being conducted by North Carolina State University for the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) related to the development of strut-and-tie procedures for typical bridge pier caps in North Carolina. The presentation will summarize the behavior of deep beams in the context of typical bridge pier cap typologies and will discuss strut-and-tie models in the context of member behavior.

Plastic Hinge Relocation of Hollow Steel Columns

Dylan Downes, NC State University

The Anchorage Port Access Bridge (APAB) connects the main district of Anchorage, Alaska to its port and is located in a high seismic zone. The APAB has 32 spans, with 21 of those spans consisting of circular 2-column bents of various diameter to thickness (D/t) ratios. These bents feature hollow column sections welded to Grade 50 steel cap beams. The first phase of this project was focused on characterizing the seismic behavior of the APAB, identify potential brittle modes of failure, and to determine potential areas requiring retrofitting. It was determined that 61% of the piers yield in the cap beam before the column will reach its plastic moment. The D/t ratios of the bridge columns vary from 44 to 80. Two physical (half scale) tests were performed with D/t ratios of 44 and 80, at the Constructed Facilities Laboratories (CFL) at NC State. These tests featured knee joint setups to identify the potential modes of failure under reverse, cyclic loading. The maximum reliable ductility was 1.5 for both physical tests, with failure occurring around the joint connection between the column and cap beam. It was determined that this welded connection needed to be protected to improve the ductility capacity of the system. The ongoing phase of this project features a setup to reflect the needed retrofitting techniques of the bridge bents. These retrofitting techniques include a drop cap below the cap beam of the bent and grouted collars along the circular steel column to delay buckling.

Detecting and Characterizing Demand and Incident-Induced Congestion

Ishtiak Ahmed, Institute for Transportation Research & Education, NC State University
Ahmad Abdallah, Kimley-Horn
George List, NC State University

This study proposes a tool that highway system managers can use to detect demand-induced congestion (DIC) and incident-induced congestion (IIC) on freeways. The distribution of travel rates for probe vehicles (travel time per unit distance traversed) is employed. We find that for groups of consecutive probes, the faster vehicles tend to slow down sooner than the rest as traffic density gradually increases before DIC arises. Moreover, at the beginning of IICs, the spread in the travel rates increases abruptly. If the 5th percentile travel rate (representing the faster probes) exceeds a specific threshold, a DIC is imminent or has occurred; and if the spread between the 5th and the 95th percentile travel rate exceeds a second threshold, even during DIC, IIC has occurred. A survey of transportation system professionals was conducted to assess the tool’s accuracy in terms of detecting congestion early and identifying its cause. For 90% of the DIC events that were assessed, the survey results matched the tool’s outputs. 62% of the IIC events that were identified by the tool were not identified by the respondents, but the spread in travel rates spotted by the tool might still be an incident precursor. Of the  56 DICs that were surveyed, the tool detected the onset of DIC earlier in 45 instances. Ongoing research includes conducting sensitivity analyses for the arbitrary thresholds, assessing the detection time for IICs, and testing the applicability of the tool to different locations and facility types.

Speed and Capacity Analysis Framework for Complex Freeway Weaving Segments

Ishtiak Ahmed, Institute for Transportation Research & Education, NC State University
Nagui M Rouphail, Kittelson & Associates, Inc.
Lily Elefteriadou, University of Florida Transportation Institute
Ehsan Amini, University of Florida

In an earlier study (Phase I of the project) the research team developed a new speed and capacity estimation method for ramp weaves. In this phase of the study, the team extends that work to major weaves, develops a speed model for all weaving types, and proposes an alternate capacity estimation process. Two lane-configuration parameters were introduced in the speed model the team developed earlier, in order to make it applicable to all types of weaves. The model was calibrated separately for ramp and major weaves. The resultant root-mean-squared error (RMSE) was 3.46 and 2.36 mi/h, respectively, for major and ramp weaves. The application of the models to the corresponding test/ validation dataset not used in the model development also yielded satisfactory RMSE values—4.7 mi/h for major and 2.56 mi/h for ramp weaves. The team proposed a new capacity model which eliminated the limitation of the previous capacity model for low-volume conditions. However, the difference in the capacity estimates from these two approaches diminishes as the observed flow rate approaches capacity. Both approaches showed remarkably higher sensitivity to segment length than the HCM model, whereas the HCM model exhibited a slightly higher sensitivity to weaving ratio. Overall, the proposed models demonstrated consistency across all types of weaves and with the fundamental speed–flow–capacity relationship. They require fewer inputs than the HCM models, have fewer sub-models, use inputs that are more likely to be available to practitioners, and are sensitive to most of the inputs included in the model.

Applications of Alternative Intersection Designs to Improve Urban Traffic Operations

Guangchuan Yang and Christopher M. Cunningham; Institute for Transportation Research & Education, NC State University
Michael R. Brown, Urban Innovators, PLLC

In North Carolina, the rapid urbanization processes have posed challenges in accommodating the induced traffic demands. This is particularly significant at urban or suburban downtown areas where land uses adjacent to many state highways. The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has expressed in confidence that many Alternative Intersections (AIs) can be adapted to fit well with urban environments. Nevertheless, there lacks a quantitative assessment of the operational benefits of AIs in an urban setting with a mixed-used and low speed roadway system. Therefore, this research established a “Conventional vs Alternative” Comparison Framework for operational analysis. Three conventional intersection designs were selected to represent typical urban environments: historic town center, and locations with and without right-of-way constraints. Three AI designs were proposed accordingly: one-way couplets, quadrant roadways, and Bowtie/RCI U-turn intersection configurations. For each of the selected sites, this research developed Synchro and TransModeler models for lanes and geometry for both current intersection configurations and planned designs. Microsimulation modeling results show that the quadrant roadway intersection design can accommodate additional 38% traffic to reach the same average travel time as the conventional intersection design; with max number of lanes, it can accommodate additional 58% traffic. For the one-way couplet design, it can accommodate additional 65% traffic to reach the same average travel time as the conventional intersection design; with max number of lanes, it can accommodate additional 91% traffic. Bowtie/RCI U-turn design can accommodate approximately 40% traffic to reach the same average travel time as the conventional intersection design.

Biochar – A Multi-Beneficial and Cost-Effective Amendment to North Carolina Clay Soil

Mohammad Khalid, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Highways are considered a major source of pollution to stormwater and its runoff can introduce various contaminants including nutrients, Indicator bacteria, heavy metals, chloride, and phosphorus compounds, which can have negative impacts on receiving waters. This study assessed the ability of biochar to contaminants removal and improve water retention. Ten commercially available biochar has been strategically selected. Lab scale batch testing was done at 3% and 6% by the weight of the soil to find the preliminary estimate of contaminants removal along with hydraulic conductivities, and water retention capacity. Furthermore, from the above-conducted studies, six best-performing candidates with an application rate of 6% has been selected for the column studies.  The soil biochar mixture was filled in 3in assembled columns up to a fixed height of 30in based on hydraulic conductivity. Total of eight column experiments have been conducted for nutrient, heavy metal, and indicator bacteria analysis over a period of one year, which includes a drying as well as a deicing period. The saturated hydraulic conductivity was greatly improved which is attributed to the high porosity of the biochar soil mixture. The column effluents were examined and the data demonstrate that most of the biochar successfully removed up to three logs for the indicator bacteria and up to 90% nutrients removal efficiency has been found with three biochar. These results demonstrate that biochar could be efficiently applied with clay soil to improve the soil’s hydraulic characteristics as well as remove the pollutants from stormwater runoff.

Effects of Compost Incorporation on Soil Compaction, Stormwater Infiltration and Vegetation Cover Establishment and Use of ArcGIS-UAVs for Vegetation Health Assessment

Md Mahfuz Islam and Rich McLaughlin; NC State University

The construction of roads, buildings, and other structures can result in highly disturbed and compacted soils causing substantial surface runoff, soil erosion, reduced hydraulic conductivity and watershed pollution. Compost tilled into these soils may alleviate soil compaction, facilitate stormwater infiltration, and support rapid vegetation growth. To assess the benefits of compost incorporation, soils tilled with/without 30% compost in upper 15 cm soil (10 % slope) and plots were planted with grass, wildflowers, and grass-wildflowers mixture. We also assessed whether compost incorporation could be an alternative to chemical fertilizer in vegetation establishment. UAVs images analysis in ArcGIS showed wildflower and grass-wildflowers treatments had a higher vegetation cover (84±4 % and 80±1 %, respectively) than grass (63±7 %). The results indicated that these treatments can be alternatives to grass cover in soil erosion control and can potentially provide added benefits as pollinator habitats. However, vegetation covers in these plots became almost similar after 12 months. Moreover, compost addition significantly reduced soil bulk density (20-30%), increased infiltration (3-10 times), organic carbon (4-5 times) and moisture content (10-30 %) of the soils. The similar average vegetation cover in compost-no fertilizer (73±3 %) and no compost-fertilizer plots (71±4 %) suggested that compost application can eliminate the need for fertilizer application. Therefore, a 30 % compost incorporation and wildflower introduction can be an alternative to current practices. This experiment will continue for two years to assess the long-term effects of compost incorporation on stormwater infiltration, erosion control, carbon storage and vegetation establishment.

Durability of Pipe Materials in Soils

Hyunjun Choi, NC State University

Numerous culvert pipes are installed every year along North Carolina roads and highways as new construction or as replacements for deteriorated pipes. While structural requirements are considered, current selection criteria for pipe materials are limited with regards to the expected service life within the constraints of the in situ corrosion potential and rate. In this on-going study, relevant culvert exposure conditions across the state, including pH, resistivity, and chloride, are collated and cataloged in a GIS database. The data are obtained from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP). In addition, backfill material data provided by NCDOT also cataloged within the GIS database. Exposure conditions are then determined through triangulation of a given project location, and an algorithm is established for assessing the pipe materials most appropriate for the site exposure conditions. Moreover, structural requirements that are currently utilized by NCDOT personnel have been incorporated into the algorithm. The pipe selection algorithm is programmed into the MS-Excel platform and is referred to as “Pipe Assessment and Selection Software (PASS).” The software is developed with a readily accessible user interface. The use of PASS assists the users with the rapid and informed implementation of the most suitable culvert material type(s) for a successful project outcome in terms of ensuring continued pipe functionality over the service life. This presentation discusses the development of PASS and illustrates its application through several examples.

To maximize available time for poster presentations, they will begin during this breakout session period. If you are planning to attend one of the other sessions at this time, please visit the general Poster Session from 2:45 - 3:30 pm.

Using Drones to Protect Infrastructure for Safer and More Resilient Communities from Disasters

Kevin Kupietz, Elizabeth City State University

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports increases in frequency and damages from major climate disasters on the rise at significant rates. This past year, 2022, saw 15 different events costing more than a billion dollars each with a Combined estimated damage of more than 250 Billion dollars.  Since NOAA began tracking these Billion-dollar events the US averages 7.7 a year, while in the past five years there has been 90 of these events.  Meanwhile the American Society of Civil Engineer’s (ASCE) who annually gives grades to America’s infrastructure, gave an overall grade of a C- for 2021.  Transportation systems used to evacuate people from, and supplies and responders into disaster areas received some of the lowest grades. The use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) with key Emergency Management (EM) systems can be utilized to help protect America’s infrastructure before, during, and after a disaster making communities more resilient and safer. This presentation will discuss lessons learned from the Elizabeth City State University’s collaboration of their UAS and EM undergraduate degree programs on how these two disciplines can work together to help communities and their vulnerable populations by protecting infrastructure features. The discussion will include drone response capabilities the university has established through its FEMA/NCEM Campus – Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) as well as research of using drones in public safety.

University Campus Wi-Fi Log Data Processing Methodology for Human Mobility Modeling

Lei Zhu and Rachael Yuan; University of North Carolina at Charlotte

The prevalence of Wi-Fi networks in large organizations, such as universities and hospitals, brings a new opportunity to understand human mobility and travel patterns for campus-sized areas. Wi-Fi log data on campus is passively generated, with a high sampling rate, a large-scale, long-period data collection, and a relatively high resolution. Wi-Fi communication activities of mobile devices (i.e., smartphones, laptops, pads), including scanning, checking (authentication request and response), and connection (association request and response), imply a high sampling rate for passive collecting device users’ daily activities, movement, and trajectories without additional devices or apps. This study proposed a 4-step process method that can convert the raw Wi-Fi log data files to the AP-level sessions, then construct the building-level sessions, and finally, generate user travel activities and solve various problems such as “ping-pong” effect smoothing. The extracted individual and aggregated travel patterns and insights can be identified for various transportation applications, such as transit or micro-mobility demand modeling, and campus travel demand surveys. The study processed the Wi-Fi log data of September 2021 in UNC Charlotte to obtain the information, including basic statistics regarding user activity, building travel flows, and user travel routes at individual and aggregated levels. In addition, hours, buildings, and areas on campus with busy user activities are identified. Finally, future work and potential research topics regarding human mobility patterns are discussed.

Web-based Geospatial Analysis Toolset for Demographic and FLUSA Analyses

Okan Pala and Adem Kurtipek; NC State University

We have developed a set of web-based geospatial analysis tools to  help accelerate the NCDOT processes for CIA, ICE and other report generation while making it more consistent across various units and contracting companies. Using these tools, analysts can perform specific tasks required for various assessments. Demographic application provides functionality to query/visualize demographic data at various census levels such as block group, track, county and state. Moreover it provides affordances to compare demographic details for a select area to different census geography levels overlapping that area (i.e. compare block group data to county data). The EJ data visualization dashboard is set up specifically for NCDOT community studies. It provides fast and accurate data visualizations to provide NCDOT with task specific answers. It also provides detailed trends in select demographic sub categories for user selected boundaries. The functionality of this dashboard is akin to EPA’s EJ tools but specifically developed for NC. In addition to the Demographic Analysis Webapp and (EJ) dashboard, our team developed an application for Future Land Use Study Area (FLUSA) analysis. FLUSA tool displays developable, underutilized and undevelopable land areas. It also calculates index values that represent the “ease of future development” along with the amount of available land for development within the user-defined area. The water and sewer proximity toolset calculates the distances to nearby water and sewer service areas. It displays and lists the distances and service provider details for each of these polygons within 5 miles distance.

Economic Contribution of Rail in North Carolina

Tim Brock, Institute for Transportation Research & Education, NC State University
Jason Orthner, NCDOT Rail Division

This research captures the statewide economic contribution of North Carolina’s rail system.  The study examines the economic and jobs related contributions to the entire statewide rail system, including freight rail, passenger rail and tourism rail.  The research team used geospatial analysis, statewide business data, passenger rail data and an input/output model to capture the economic impact and quantify jobs supported by rail. An ArcGIS online mapping tool that highlights rail supported businesses and multimodal rail hubs that was developed for this study will also be presented.  The tool allows for crowd-sourced updates on rail supported businesses. This ITRE study was funded by a North Carolina Department of Transportation research grant (RP2022-19).

The Comprehensive Cost of Rail Incidents in North Carolina

Steve Bert, Institute for Transportation Research & Education, NC State University
Roger Smock, N.C. Department of Transportation

Unlike highway crashes and incidents, rail related incidents incur a host of industry-specific impacts can be exponentially more costly.  There has been a growing need for an accurate measure of rail incident costs that reflects the broad spectrum of events that occur on the railway, including highway-rail grade crossing crashes, rail trespassing crashes, and non-crash delay incidents. The Institute for Transportation Research and Education, under the leadership of the North Carolina Rail Division, has developed a user-friendly cost tool that is capable of estimating the comprehensive set of costs that result from a rail incident. The tool evaluates costs stemming from property damage, injuries and fatalities, delay, rerouting, and supply chain events, as well as emergency responder costs. The NCDOT Research and Innovation Summit is the perfect venue to demonstrate and distribute the cost tool.  For this presentation, Roger Smock will discuss the importance of rail safety and countermeasures. Steve Bert will show how the Comprehensive Cost of Rail Incidents Cost Tool can be used to illuminate the economic and social impacts resulting from rail incidents and give examples of how the tool can be used to generate support for countermeasures and expanded safety training.

The S-Line Corridor: Utilizing Mobility Hubs For a Stronger Multimodal Transportation System

Ryan Brumfield, N.C. Department of Transportation

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is working with a variety of urban and rural communities to develop a vision for transit-oriented development (TOD) along the S-Line corridor. This transformative project will have substantial impacts on growth in NC, particularly to communities along the corridor. Improving the S-Line corridor into a passenger rail asset that provides and promotes regional connections between rural and urban communities requires a comprehensive, multimodal vision collectively as a corridor, focusing on livability, equity, and mobility. To enhance the multimodal connectivity, NCDOT and seven communities were awarded a FY 2022 RAISE grant for planning and preliminary engineering of mobility hubs in each community. The mobility hubs will serve as a transportation catalyst in each community, serving as the central location for transit service (bus, rail), micromobility, and pedestrian connectivity. The mobility hubs are another important initiative in NCDOT’s statewide mission for Mobility as a Service (MaaS).  MaaS uses a range of tools (e.g., mobility applications and payments, mobility analytics) to simplify using and operating transit service.  Participants of this session will learn about the following:

• Program-level planning for statewide multimodal transportation development

• Interdepartmental coordination and communication – best practices and why it is a critical component of success

• Planning for TOD and mobility hubs in the midst of development and growth – innovative approaches to serve all users

• The importance of integrating multiple transportation options in the community fabric.

No Longer Number One:  The Evolution of a Traffic Safety Task Force in Greenville, NC

Ellen Walston, ECU Health Medical Center

Strategies and lessons learned from the Greenville, NC Traffic Safety Task Force to combat high crash rates.  The Greenville Police Department formed a task-based team to tackle the challenge of continuous high crash rates.  With a strict timeline for project completion, data and improvements are reported to the City Manager on a quarterly basis. Crash analysis, roadway design, and environmental modifications contributed to the successes of this task force.  A Vision Zero and Safe Systems approach was utilized. The collaboration between law enforcement, ECU Health (formerly Vidant Medical Center), NCDOT, and ECU will be highlighted with lessons learned. The successes of the task force have been published in the International Association of Chiefs of Police Journal and the Perspectives on Patient Care ECU Health Medical Center Journal.

Advancing a Safe Systems Approach to Assessing the Traffic Impacts of Land Development

Tabitha Combs, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Seth LaJeunesse and Wesley Kumfer; UNC Highway Safety Research Center

Traffic impact analysis (TIA) is an important piece of transportation planning, design, and construction. The practice is conventionally deployed to minimize and mitigate the traffic congestion impacts of new development by tying roadway capacity improvements to land development permits. Many transportation agencies view the TIA process as a critical means of generating needed infrastructure improvements, and its use has become ubiquitous among DOTs across the US. However, there is a paucity of research into the relationship between land development and road safety outcomes. Prior work in the US southeast also suggest that current TIA practices in that region do not consider TIA’s direct impacts on road safety or its potential role in shaping safe systems. 

This project addresses these gaps by:

1. evaluating whether, how, and the extent to which current TIA practices in the US southeast incorporate road user safety into assessments of impacts of land development or into strategies to mitigate those impacts, and

2. identifying opportunities to integrate safe systems concepts and metrics into the development review process, and

3. advancing a new, safe systems-approach to estimating and minimizing the safety impacts of new land development

Through a multi-stage qualitative analysis of interviews and focus groups with public and private sector TIA practitioners, we uncover and unpack self-defeating narratives about the complex relationship between safety and congestion. We also identify potential entry points within TIA practice for integrating safety-centered outcome metrics, and develop practical guidance for bringing TIA practice in closer alignment with safe systems concepts.

Systemic Safety Analysis for Vision Zero: Lessons from Montgomery County

Wesley Kumfer, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Bo Lan and Mike Vann; UNC Highway Safety Research Center

Historically, traffic safety management efforts have been largely reactive, focusing on crash hot spots rather than proactively addressing risks within the built environment. However, there are a variety of tools and methods available to agencies to proactively identify risks across a network and then to treat those risks systemically. As part of its Vision Zero efforts, the Montgomery County Planning Department contracted the UNC Highway Safety Research Center to adapt systemic safety tools that could help County staff in preventing deaths and serious injuries on roads across the county. As part of this project, UNC staff compiled hundreds of transportation, land use, and demographic data elements to develop intersection and segment crash databases. To address a lack of exposure data, the team used these databases to first develop volume estimation models for vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic. The team then developed crash prediction models for six common crash types in Montgomery County: pedestrian crashes after dark at intersections, pedestrian crashes along segments with vehicles going straight, bicycle crashes at intersections, left-turn crashes at intersections, motor vehicle straight/angle crashes intersections, and single vehicle crashes along segments. This presentation will discuss the volume estimation models, the crash prediction models, and the tools county staff adapted from these models to prioritize countermeasures across the roadway network. This presentation will also discuss the benefits and challenges this approach to systemic safety presents to traffic safety practitioners.

Using Pavement Management System Data to Detect Accelerated Pavement Deterioration due to Flooding

Gnana Deepika Karanam, NC State University

Environmental changes have a significant impact on the design, delivery, and management of asphalt pavements. Depending on the directionality of the shift in environmental conditions, pavements may deteriorate faster or slower than original intended design. It is imperative that pavement management systems account for this type of uncertainty so that the long-term performance of the pavement network is not negatively impacted. However, in light of changing climate patterns and the increasing frequency and severity of extreme events, it is extremely critical to incorporate these dynamic changes into pavement performance models. This study aims to understand these issues by evaluating the viability of using pavement management data to identify and quantify damage on pavement sections that were impacted by extreme events, given the uncertainty associated with pavement performance. To identify variations in pavement deterioration caused by extreme events, a Bayesian beta regression model was developed and sections of I-40 that were affected by Hurricane Florence in 2018 were examined. The Pavement condition rating (PCR) values of the pavement sections are plotted on a probability family curve. Plotting these PCR values against a family curve reveals that there are typically three distinct patterns of PCR degradation. With its PCR value exceeding the uncertainty band, the eastbound pavements have experienced rapid deterioration, while westbound pavements have experienced a change in PCR value from an overperforming 96th percentile value to an underperforming 40th percentile value. 85% of the time, the Bayesian beta regression model was successful in identifying sections affected by extreme events.

Innovative Frost Heave Mitigation Technique for Road Pavements

Emmanuel Adeyanju, Mike Uduebor, and Yunesh Saulick; University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Heaving and thawing results in pavement crack, deflection, and potholes. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), this leads to recurrent annual maintenance costs estimated at over 2 billion dollars. Studies identify three basic requirements for frost action; freezing temperatures, availability of water, and frost susceptible soils. While advances have been made in the design for freezing temperatures and providing for groundwater separation, very little progress has been made in terms of in-situ soil improvement. This study proposes an innovative approach for mitigating frost action through Engineered Water Repellency (EWR). A frost-susceptible soil was collected from a test plot at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport and treated with a commercially available organosilane using a treatment mix ratio of 1:40 (OS to Soil), batched by weight. Two identical test setups were constructed within the university premises for performance testing of both untreated and treated samples. Both setups were subjected to occurring extreme weather conditions with snow cover, freezing, and thawing. Teros 12 and 21 sensors were placed in both setups at midways of the sample setup to obtain data on water content, soil temperature, suction, and electrical conductivity. Data showed that EWR was effective in limiting the infiltration and migration of water into the soil matrix when compared with the untreated soil. As such, engineered water repellency may be a viable solution for Airports and Departments of Transportation seeking methods to mitigate frost action.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Microtransit Software Deployments in North Carolina

Matthew Bhagat-Conway and Luke Pullo; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Many transit agencies in North Carolina provide essential transportation services for residents of rural and small urban areas through door-to-door, demand response service. Most agencies create their schedules manually each day, but some have recently adopted microtransit software that allows automated scheduling of trips. Microtransit software implementations are new to North Carolina, and additional agencies are likely to acquire such software in the future. This presentation will share results from a research project that evaluated how well automated scheduling software meets the needs of two transit agencies. The two agencies are in different geographic areas and use different software packages. The research team performed their evaluation by shadowing schedulers and conducting debriefing interviews with managers at the agencies. Findings indicate that: 1) it is critical to match software capabilities with an agency’s service model, and 2) the automated scheduling software should fill an identified need. Results from the evaluation offer a valuable guide to agencies considering acquiring microtransit software and may also provide suggestions for software companies to improve their product offerings.

Lessons Learned from Public Microtransit Pilots in North Carolina

Eleni Bardaka, Subid Ghimire, and Juan Wang; NC State University
Kai Monast, Waugh Wright, and Jeremy Scott; Institute for Transportation Research & Education, NC State University

With the objective of informing the planning and policy making process regarding the implementation of microtransit systems, this study presents the experience of six microtransit projects in North Carolina. We aim to understand the challenges faced by the planning agencies while implementing microtransit service and the lessons they learned over time. We conduct semi-structured interviews with the representatives of transit agencies, review the contracts between transit agencies and the service providers, and examine the operational statistics related to the service to muster adequate information about the planning as well as operational challenges faced by each microtransit system. We systematically present the planning and operational information of each microtransit site and highlight some common challenges faced by them. All the transit agencies we study operate the microtransit services in some form of partnership with private entities, collaborating either for software, vehicles, or for the overall operation of the service itself. We identify three different models of microtransit service delivery and four different purposes for which microtransit projects are implemented. Further, we find nine major issues as challenges faced by the planning and implementing agencies ranging from compliance with federal and state requirements to the availability of sustained funding sources. We then present the lessons learned from the microtransit projects. The findings of this study and the lessons learned from the NC experience will assist planning and transportation agencies to plan and design successful microtransit systems.

Spatial Variation in the Impact of Medicaid Transformation on Non-Emergency Medical Transportation in North Carolina

Youngseob Eum, Manuel Santana Palacios, and Noreen McDonald; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Medicaid Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) has played a vital role in enabling access to healthcare for Medicaid beneficiaries. With North Carolina’s Medicaid program beginning its transition of healthcare delivery from fee-for-service to managed care on July 1, 2021, it is important to understand the potential impact this shift may have on the use of NEMT across the state. This study aims to investigate the state-wide effects of Medicaid Transformation on community transit systems that have been providing NEMT services for decades and, by extension, the low-income and minority populations that depend on NEMT for medical access. We examine the changes in NEMT service and expenditures under the transition to Medicaid-managed care, using data visualization. We compiled a comprehensive data set from multiple sources to develop a web-mapping application that displays Medicaid claims for NEMT service, Medicaid enrollment, and other relevant variables. Our preliminary findings suggest that the Medicaid Transformation may have led to an overall increase in NEMT delivery, but with significant regional variations. For instance, our exploratory analysis suggests that the usage of NEMT among Medicaid enrollees has decreased in historically high-demand counties in mountains and coastal regions, while increasing in central Piedmont areas. This research will also uncover potential factors that may have contributed to the geographical heterogeneity in outcomes. This research could provide insights into the impact of Medicaid Transformation on NEMT and highlights the importance of monitoring and understanding the spatial variation in the effects of healthcare policy changes on vulnerable populations.

Use of UAS in Planning and Execution of Efficient Mass Evacuation During an Emergency

Etavian Stokes, Elizabeth City State University

This project is aimed at carrying out study to evaluate the use of drones to support mass evacuation during disaster management. Mass evacuation during an emergency imposes many challenges ranging from accurate planning to its efficient execution. This study is focused on operational and tactical drone application in disaster management using a time-scaled separation of the application between pre-disaster activity and the activity during the occurrence of a disaster. The project will be completed in three stages.

Experimental Determination of UAS Sound Levels and Implementation of Abatement Techniques

Jonathon Huber, Elizabeth City State University

Drones are becoming a growing new source of environmental noise pollution. The objective of this study is to experimentally determine the sound levels from various drones and propellor designs in common use today. The study will benefit the community and researchers in categorizing the acceptability limits in terms of types and height of their operation and also to devise new techniques for noise abatement. The study will be completed in three stages. In the first stage, a comprehensive literature survey will be carried out to gather relevant information. The second stage of study will be focused on establishing an experimental method of measuring the sound level emitted from flying UAS. Data will be collected,  processed, and analyzed with aims to categorize drone noise characteristics based on various parameters; these include height of operation, weight, number of motors, propeller type, blade count, etc. The result will provide recommendations of which parameters most greatly impact noise levels. In the third stage, study will focus on both passive and active noise abatement techniques and a new passive technique will be suggested. Two approaches will be taken. The first approach will use noise absorbing liner material applied at appropriate locations on aircraft to reduce noise traveling to the ground underneath the drone. The second approach will explore active noise-cancellation methods. The study will be carried out both theoretically and experimentally. While a quieter drone will be very useful in almost all applications, this study will be most beneficial to UAS users in sound-critical applications.

Presented by the Institute for Transportation Research & Education at NC State University

Billy M. Williams, Ph.D., P.E.

The NC State / ITRE-led Center of Excellence on Mobility and Congestion marshaled the complementary expertise of Duke University, Fayetteville State University, NC A&T, and UNC Chapel Hill to conduct transformative research under three collaborative research themes. The center consortium recently completed the project research activities, and the final project reports are currently under review. The center leadership team will summarize the significant findings under each of the project themes, namely:

• Theme #1 Project: Deep Learning Software for Traffic State Prediction

• Theme #2 Project: Smart Connected and Automated Vehicle Fleet Management: Developing Regional Dispatch Decision Support for Congestion Mitigation

• Theme #3 Project: First Mile to Health: Improving Healthcare Access in North Carolina

Planning for Changes and Uncertainty

Nastasha Earle-Young, N.C. Department of Transportation

States and other planning agencies are facing unprecedented uncertainties as they update and implement long range transportation and resilience plans. Many states are using scenario planning to explore the impact of changing trends and potential disruptions, assess alternative strategies for accomplishing their vision and goals, and test potential investment ideas. This session will focus on the purpose of scenario planning and showcase as example of how ncdot has used scenario planning.

Construction Inhibitors of Alternative Intersections and Interchanges

Minerva Bonilla, NC State University

The use of Alternative Intersections and Interchanges (AIIs) is crucial for the sustainability of transportation infrastructure because AII enhances traffic flow, increase capacity and safety, and account for future traffic demands.  One challenging problem is that AII designs are negatively perceived in the construction industry.  There is a perception that AIIs result in additional construction time and cost compared to projects with conventional designs. To assess this perception, the identification of construction inhibitors affecting AII projects was investigated.  A thorough analysis of cost, schedule, claims, and supplemental agreement data related to completed or ongoing AII and conventional design projects in NC was made using statistical analysis to quantify the impact of inhibitors in AII projects. Overall findings indicate that AII designs perform (concerning cost and schedule impact) similarly to conventional designs.  The primary inhibitors identified as most affecting AII project performance were utilities, additional work, work delays, safety for workers, weather impact, contract change, scope change, and signal and signage these impact most AII projects, both before and during construction.  By understanding the potentially negative impact of these inhibitors, the constructability of AII projects can be enhanced and transportation agencies can opt for more sustainable solutions.

Complete Streets is a Process, Not a Product

Mike Rutkowski, Marie-France Laurin, and Ashley Thompson; Stantec

What does it mean for a street to be complete? Is it a roadway with a sidewalk or bike lane? Or is it more than the final product? The complete streets process recognizes that to create safe, connected, equitable, and resilient communities, we must appreciate that the definition of complete is not just different for each roadway and community, it's also always changing. A complete street is one that is constantly evolving to integrate emerging technologies like autonomous vehicles (AVs) and micromobility, addresses new challenges like a global pandemic, and encourages us to try new ways to get around. In this workshop, we’ll examine a local corridor and explore the process of achieving sustainable connectivity, with an emphasis on how emerging and innovative technologies are shifting the approach. Participants will complete an interactive roadmap and work in groups to develop their complete streets process, considering various components and how to incorporate them. Together, we’ll explore the challenges and opportunities our communities face and, through consideration of AVs, micromobility, electric mobility, and other technologies, discuss how communities can prepare and plan for constant change, building in resilience and ensuring “completeness” on their journey to an integrated, inclusive, and sustainable transportation environment.

Laboratory Performance Evaluation of Alternative Approaches to Incorporate Recycled Binder Availability into Mixture Design Procedures

Cassie Castorena, NC State University

There is currently uncertainty in how to properly account for partial recycled binder availability within asphalt mixture design procedures so that content of recycled asphalt materials (RAM) can be maximized while still achieving good performance. This presentation evaluates and compares two alternative approaches to consider partial availability in mixture design, Availability Adjusted Mix Design (AAMD) and Corrected Optimum Asphalt Content (COAC). The AAMD method revises the calcualtion of volumetric properties by considering unavailable binder as part of the bulk aggregate volume and uses the RAM gradation to design the aggregate structure. In the COAC method, a mixture is first designed following the conventional Superpave procedures and then a specified increase to the virgin asphalt content is made. ‘Control’ mixtures containing RAM are evaluated that were originally designed according to the standard Superpave method. Alternative designs were prepared according to the COAC and AAMD methods while maintaining the RAM content in the respective control mixture. Baseline virgin mixtures and one mixture designed following the AAMD method with higher RAP content were also prepared. The cracking and rutting performance of the resultant mixtures was evaluated. The results show that the AAMD and COAC approaches lead to an improved cracking performance compared to the control mixtures even for the mixture designed with AAMD at a higher RAP content. However, the mixture designs prepared according to the COAC method presented increased rutting whereas the AAMD mixtures remained at the same level as their respective control mixture.

Quantifying RAP Binder Availability Using Sieve Analysis

Rafaella Costa, NC State University
Maria Aparicio Alvis
Douglas Mocelin
Mayzan Isied

The vast majority of asphalt mixtures produced in North Carolina contain reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) due to the associated environmental and economic benefits. Recycled binder availability refers to the proportion of total recycled binder that is available to blend with virgin asphalt and is considered an inherent property of a given RAP source. Binder that is inside agglomerated particles that do not separate during the mixing process is ‘unavailable’. Only available recycled binder should be given credit when designing and evaluating mixtures as unavailable binder acts as ‘black rock’. Inaccurately giving full credit to recycled binder leads to a lower effective binder content, and therefore, lower Voids in Mineral Aggregate (VMA) than what may be calculated. Consequently, mixtures designed under current procedures may have insufficient virgin asphalt and lack durability. This poster will present a practical method to quantify RAP binder availability using comparative sieve analysis of RAP and recovered RAP aggregate has been developed through NCDOT RP 2019-21 and NCHRP IDEA Project 236. The method is implementable by adding a washed sieve analysis of RAP to current practices for characterizing RAP materials. The method is validated by quantifying the recycled binder contribution in asphalt mixtures using tracer-based microscopy using a diverse set of surface asphalt mixtures from four states.

Evolution of Friction and Texture after an Asphalt Overlay

Shane Underwood, Boris Goenaga, and Cassie Castorena; NC State University
Paul Rogers, KPR Engineering, PLLC

A recent study involving North Carolina roadways concluded that both friction and macrotexture should be characterized as part of a pavement friction measurement and management plan. The current studies identified the potential for issues in recently overlaid projects, but did not identify whether these effects are temporary, and if so, how long they may last. In this research, thirty-six sites have been selected for friction and texture measurement after an overlay. In a subset of these sites, a set of field cores were extracted. A correlation was found between the friction and the surface parameters measured in the lab. The models developed suggest there is a potential for using field cores, such as the ones collected during construction for control of the in-place density, to monitor the friction and texture characteristics of the as-constructed surfaces. It was observed that the binder content and the aggregate fraction smaller than 0.075 mm are mixture compositional factors that affect the initial friction and texture of overlays. There is evidence that friction first decreases and then increases after construction, and the increase can be as high as 50% of the initial value, the data in this study suggest it takes on average 15.5 million traffic repetitions for this increment to occur. In addition, the friction and macrotexture models developed in this project can be used by the NCDOT to preliminarily screen or evaluate their mix designs for potential issues and/or to leverage quality assurance field cores to do similar screening.

The Economic Impact of Completing Six Key Links of the Carolina Thread Trail

Steve Bert, Institute for Transportation Research & Education, NC State University
Jane Love, Catawba Lands Conservancy

The Carolina Thread Trail’s regional network currently encompasses more than 300 miles of trails and 170 miles of blueway that is open to the public. With plans to become a connected network with more than 1,250 additional miles, the Carolina Thread Trail would become the largest connected trail network in the United States. As the Carolina Thread Trail continues to evolve, it becomes an increasingly essential venue for social and environmental wellness, physical activity, and economic impact. Though many people are aware of the Carolina Thread Trail, the economic, health, and environmental impacts facilitated by the trail are often undervalued or misunderstood. To help quantify the value of the Carolina Thread Trail, ITRE recently completed a first-of-its kind study evaluating the economic, health, and environmental impacts of completing six segments of the trail network.  The study’s results spotlight the importance of the Carolina Thread Trail for economic development, with trails supporting an average of 15 jobs, $2.1 million in business sales, $770 thousand in employee earnings, $260 thousand in tax revenue, $310 thousand in health care savings, and $122 thousand in emissions reduction benefits per trail-mile. The NCDOT Research and Innovation Summit is the perfect venue to share the research findings and innovative methodologies deployed in this research, including the state-of-the-art geospatial methodology used to evaluate carbon storage and sequestration benefits the Carolina Thread Trail facilitates. 

A Planning Tool for Intersection Control Evaluation (ICE)

Nagui Rouphail and Dr. Bastian Schroeder; Kittelson and Associates, Inc.

The presentation will focus on the development of an integrated computational tool for Phase II implementation in a State ICE (Intersection Control Evaluation) process. Particular emphasis is  given into the incorporation of both conventional and alternative intersection types for side-by-side evaluation purposes. In the current state of practice, one needs to develop individual models and templates in each of the more widely used intersection evaluation models such as Synchro, Sidra or Vistro. The proposed method is designed to be at the planning level, requiring few inputs and using default parameter values as much as possible. Nevertheless, it is able to produce a sufficient set of operational performance measures at the turning movement, lane group and facility levels. We summarize the results in a manner that highlights the key control delay impacts across multiple intersection control types. The scope of intersection coverage in the tool is extensive. It begins by including currently available HCM planning tools for signalized intersections, single lane roundabouts and two-way STOP controlled intersections. To this list, we have added multilane roundabouts and all-way STOP controlled. By far, however, the largest group are alternative intersections, which include: RCUT/RCI, MUT, PMUT, DDI, CFI/DLT, four Quadrant Roadways, Forward and Reverse Jug handles, Bowtie and Continuous Green T’s. The design of the templates is flexible enough to accommodate newer hybrid designs of the above types. The presentation will highlight the structure of the computational tool, how it can executed, its required inputs and both detailed and summary results.

Property Prices, Gentrification, and Population Movement Patterns near Charlotte’s Light Rail

Adam Schmidt and Eleni Bardaka; NC State University

Cities and transit agencies know the investments they make in their public transit infrastructure can impact nearby neighborhoods, but the nature, timing, and scale of those impacts are not well understood. Focusing on Charlotte, NC, we build a comprehensive picture of how new light rail systems can impact the communities they serve. We study the effect of light rail on property prices over space and time, the relationship between the arrival of light rail and neighborhood socioeconomic changes like gentrification, and the relationship between light rail and population movement patterns into and out of nearby neighborhoods. Using real estate sales records and an econometric difference-in-differences model, we find that single-family home prices increased between 8% and 20% for homes between ¼ and ¾ of a mile from light rail stations in Charlotte. We use a similar model and Census data to observe significant socioeconomic changes in the neighborhoods near light rail stations, especially lower socioeconomic status neighborhoods. Finally, we use a household-level dataset to study the population migration patterns in the areas around light rail stations, examining how light rail may affect the rate at which people may move, as well as the characteristics of the households that relocate. We provide several policy recommendations for municipalities and agencies interested in capturing the value that transit can provide, as well as those that are interested in mitigating the effects of gentrification and avoiding population displacement.

Inspector-In-The-Loop System to Support UAV-Assisted Bridge Inspections

Mubbashar Khan, Emmanuel A. Morfo, and Ali Karimoddini; North Carolina A&T State University
Tau Wu and Tara Cavalline; University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are being used by agencies to support and enhance bridge inspections. However, bridge inspectors generally have little to no UAV-piloting skill. On the other hand, expert UAV pilots are typically not qualified to conduct bridge inspections, and hence, there exists a communication challenge between the inspectors and pilot due to unavailability of a shared view of UAV’s real time feed and surrounding environmental noises. In this research study, a novel inspector-in-the-loop system was developed, allowing bridge inspector(s) and UAV-pilot to jointly conduct the UAV-assisted bridge inspections while seamlessly perform their respective roles. It provides view of UAV’s live feed to both pilot and bridge inspector(s), that can be enabled through both wired media and wireless media with observation of minimal latency. It also facilitates communication using a particular headset, allowing pilot to communicate with inspection team through a dedicated channel while maintaining the Line-of-Sight with UAV and observing piloting environment. It improves safety of UAV platform, quality of data collected, and communications among inspecting team. It also increases efficiency of UAV-assisted bridge inspections by making efficient use of flight time and battery life, reducing chances of repeating onsite visits, and reducing post-inspection processing time. Outcomes of testing of this system have already been incorporated in a bridge inspection report. Through implementation of this inspector-in-the-loop system, the process of data labeling, data archiving and generating bridge-health reports could be automated. Additionally, even a moderately skilled UAV-pilot could assist bridge inspector(s) in conducting quality bridge inspections using UAVs.

Guidelines for Ground Control Points Placement and 3D Sloped Surface Trajectory Development for UAS-based Photogrammetric Surveying

Yajie Liu, NC State University

Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) are increasingly being used for data acquisition and measurement in civil engineering applications with various sensors to produce high-precision results.  The accuracy of results obtained by UAS-based photogrammetric surveying can be improved by increasing the number and proper distribution of ground control points (GCPs).  However, placing GCPs can be time-consuming and costly.  Also, Autopilot modes in mobile apps like Pix4DCapture and DJI Go Pro can assist in controlling the flight path of the UAS thereby reducing operator workload and operational errors.  These autopilot modes offer various flight paths, but they do not allow for variation in flight height, which is a limitation in surveying complex and vertically varied terrain.  Thus, this research focuses on (i) investigating a technique for calculating the optimal number and separation distance of GCPs needed for different levels of accuracy, (ii) providing the guidelines and recommendations on GCP spacing and distribution on a site, and (iii) proposing a feasible autopilot path for UASs surveying sloped or vertical sites.  To achieve these objectives, a roadway construction site with open space in High Point, NC, and a sloped rock surface were used as study sites for GCP spacing and vertical trajectory guideline development.  This research and its applications can assist surveyors in determining the optimal number and distribution of GCPs to obtain a desired level of accuracy when automatically flying UAS for vertical or sloped surface data collection.

NC-CAV Center of Excellence in Advanced Transportation Technology

Ali Karimoddini, North Carolina A&T State University

The NC Transportation Center of Excellence on Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Technology (NC-CAV) was initially funded by the North Carolina Department of Transportation in 2020. The NC-CAV Center has brought together a strong and diverse team of researchers from North Carolina A&T State University (NCAT), North Carolina State University (NCSU), and University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) with the goal of  “....establishing a multidisciplinary Center of Excellence in Advanced Transportation Technologies to investigate the adoption, utilization, and deployment of CAVs and their impacts on the transportation system in North Carolina and the nation.” The center incorporates three interwoven research thrusts that will progress synergistically:

• Thrust 1 (CAV Impacts ) investigates the impact of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) on North Carolina's transportation system and associated revenue.

• Thrust 2 (CAV Infrastructure) assesses North Carolina’s readiness for CAVs in traditional and emerging transportation infrastructure.

• Thrust 3 (CAV Infrastructure) explores emerging applications of CAVs to develop and deploy CAVs and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for advancing transportation systems.

This talk will provide a brief review of the achievements under NC-CAV Center in terms of research, education, and testbed development, followed by three individual talks highlighting some of the projects under NC-CAV Center.

Intersection capacity adjustments considering different market penetration rates of connected and automated vehicles

Wei Fan, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

To better prepare and guide both intersection planning and operations under different market penetration rates (MPRs) of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) and traffic demands, this research estimates both the lane-level and intersection-level capacity. On the lane-level, adjustment factors for saturation headway and saturation traffic flow rate for each lane under different MPRs of CAVs are investigated. On the intersection-level, the maximum throughput function for different MPRs of CAVs is calibrated. With 100% CAVs, the saturation headways for the exclusive through lane, exclusive left-turn lane, and shared-right-and-through lane decrease by 55.8%, 48.9%, and 42.4%, respectively. The maximum throughput of the intersection with 100% CAVs increases by 70% compared to the scenario with only human driving vehicles (HDVs). Moreover, the maximum throughput increases rapidly after 60% MPRs of CAVs. The research could provide a solid reference for traffic engineers and planners in calculating the intersection capacity under different MPRs of CAVs.

Assessing Public Agency Readiness for CAVs in Traditional and Emerging Infrastructure Needs

Shoaib Samandar, Institute for Transportation Research & Education, NC State University

Shih-Chun Lin, NC State University

This study examines the impact of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) on transportation infrastructure and the preparedness of public agencies to accommodate them. We conducted an expert survey to identify public agency programs that may be affected by the changes necessary to safely deploy CAVs statewide. Our findings indicate that the current infrastructure is not yet equipped to accommodate CAVs for all public agency units, and that there is a shortage of resources and training available to assist these units in preparing for the integration of CAVs. In addition to discussing these survey results, the speakers will also present next-generation low-latency vehicular networking architectures that are essential for the safe operation of connected and autonomous vehicles. The presentation will cover current developments and validations in vehicular infrastructure, as well as our novel software-defined vehicular edge computing designs. Finally, we will discuss the potential research impacts of these designs and outline future research directions.

An Efficient Profit-Aware Large-Scale Vehicle Dispatch Framework for Ridesharing

Benjamin Lartey,  North Carolina A&T State University

On-demand ridesharing is a promising avenue to transform urban mobility by providing effective, low-cost transportation services to passengers in real-time, while increasing the profit made by transit companies. Most existing works suffer from the lack of balance between the overall system profit and the response time. The main focus is generally on optimizing the profit and service rate (i.e., number of passengers served) to the neglect of response time. Therefore, in this work, we propose a computationally efficient (i.e., improved response time), dynamic vehicle dispatch framework while also optimizing the overall system’s profit. Our approach considers assigning vehicles to requests in a one-to-one manner. This assignment strategy improves the efficiency of the proposed algorithm. Extensive experiments conducted on the New York City taxicab open-source data demonstrates that the proposed framework is up to ten times faster than the state-of-the-art method and achieves comparable profit. Moreover, the proposed approach proved to be scalable and efficient when a large number of vehicles and requests are considered.

Simulation-Based Optimization of Autonomous Vehicle Model for Mixed Traffic Scenarios

Jinkun Lee, East Carolina University

As advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) such as smart cruise control and lane keeping have become common technologies and self-driving technology above SAE level 3 is being competitively developed by major automobile manufacturers, autonomous vehicles (AVs) will prevail in the near future traffic network. In particular, evasive action algorithms with collision detection by sensors and faster braking response will enable AVs to drive with a shorter gap at higher speeds which has not been possible with human drivers. Such technologies will be able to improve current traffic performance as long as raising concerns on safety could be addressed. Therefore there has been efforts to improve understanding between stake holders such as regulatory authorities and developers and draw a consensus about autonomous driving standard and regulations. Meanwhile, a mixed traffic network with human driving vehicles and AVs will show transient system behavior based on penetration rate of AVs thereby requiring different optimal AV settings. We are interested in understanding this system behavior over transitional period to achieve an optimal traffic performance with safety as a hard constraint. We investigate the system behavior with agent-based simulation with different penetration rate by mix of human-driving and AV vehicle models, identify the key parameters of ADAS algorithms for traffic flow, and find optimal parameter set per penetration rate by using genetic algorithm (GA). Simulation results with optimal parameter values reveal improvement in average traffic performance measures such as flow (5.6% increase), speed (4.9% increase), density (15.9% decrease), and waiting time (48.2% decrease).

Incorporating E-commerce Related Trips in an Urban Travel Demand Model

Soumya Sharma, NC State University

Advances in technology and the increasing availability of the internet has facilitated the growth of online shopping. E-commerce has increased online shopping and added a variety of new items and service options. According to the US Census Bureau, there was a 10.3% growth in e-commerce from 2020 TO 2021. E-commerce has also impacted freight transportation; the American Trucking Research Institute’s (ATRI) 2019 report indicated that the use of single-unit trucks increased by 7.8 % from 2007 to 2016 and combination truck registrations grew by 4.4 %.  Individuals are making fewer shopping trips, with about 700 annual one-way in-person shopping trips in 2001 versus 580 in 2017, a 17% reduction. Many studies focused on how e-commerce impacted in-store shopping, but the focus in this study is on how e-commerce can be incorporated in urban planning models.This study describes a methodology for modeling the changes in trip making due to e-commerce. It uses the Triangle Regional Model, Generation 2 (TRMG2) as a case study. The findings from this study show that truck flows might increase on arterials as a result of e-commerce induced home deliveries carries out by trucks. Whereas, passenger car flow might decrease on interstates and freeways as a result of reduced in-store shopping. This study proovides a starting point for assessing e-commerce impacts using the TRMG2.

Multi-Sensor Data Fusion for Signalized Arterial Performance Measurement

Shoaib Samandar, Institute for Transportation Research & Education, NC State University

There are over 330,000 traffic signals in the US, with over 75% of them having potential for improvement through updated equipment or timing plans. Poor signal timing leads to 300 million vehicle hours of delay on major roadways. With multiple real-time data sources for performance measurement, it's essential to evaluate their cost, availability, and accuracy. This study developed and applied a data fusion framework to assess traffic operations on signalized arterials. It tests the utility of data fusion in predicting travel times on signalized arterials. Five fusion approaches were tried: simple averaging, K nearest neighbor (KNN), linear regression, random forest, and artificial neural networks (ANN). Data sources included probe vehicles, Bluetooth (BT) sensors, loop detectors, and signal timing plans. The implementation was done on the Peachtree signalized arterial in Atlanta, using detailed trajectories from the NGSIM program. BT data had the lowest error rate of 17.1% compared to the ground truth. Probe data had an error rate of over 30% and virtual loop sensors had errors over 60%. The fusion of multiple data sources improved travel time predictions, with the ANN showing the greatest improvement with a 10.6% error rate by combining BT, probe, and signal timing data. A fusion model of signal plans and detector data showed promise as a tool for improving travel time estimates.

Performance Engineered Concrete Mixtures for Durable, Sustainable Concrete Infrastructure:  Update on Research and Pilot Projects

Tara Cavalline, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Brett Q. Tempest, PhD, PE
Peter Thielgard
David Alex Dillworth
Joseph OCampo

Recently, NCDOT RP 2020-13, Continuing Toward Implementation of Performance Engineered Concrete Mixtures (PEM) for Durable and Sustainable Concrete was completed.  Work included in this project leveraged progress from the initial efforts of NCDOT to move towards a specification for PEM initiated as part of NCDOT RP 2018-14 and RP 2019-41, to support specifications for and use of more durable, sustainable concrete mixtures in North Carolina highway infrastructure.  This project included laboratory evaluation to expand the catalog of data available to refine specifications and targets for several PEM tests, including surface resistivity, shrinkage, Super Air Meter (SAM), and strength.  Emphasis was placed on evaluating the potential benefits that could be achieved through use of optimized aggregate gradation mixtures and lower paste contents.  Resources and tools to support quality assurance QA and QC of structural and pavement concrete were developed, and the surface resistivity meter was also evaluated for use in evaluating the quality of overlay concrete.  Shadow specifications and performance targets developed as part of the PEM research projects were deployed on two pilot project studies in order to gain NCDOT and contractor insight on these PEM specification provisions and to increase stakeholder experience with the PEM technologies.  The first pilot project study focused on use of PEM technologies during construction of a rigid pavement.  The second pilot project study, completed as part of RP 2020-13, included use of PEM technologies on several bridge structures included the in I-485 widening in south Charlotte.

Strategies and Potentials to Reduce Emissions from Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) Pavements

Sharareh Shirzad, Appalachian State University

Concrete is the most used construction material in the world. During the past 50 years, the population growth in the urban areas caused rapid growth in the scale of infrastructure and therefore, an increase in the construction materials used. Consequently, the increase in the demand for concrete construction resulted in an increase in this industry's energy consumption and CO2 emissions. As a result, researchers started developing new technologies to mitigate the CO2 emissions of the concrete industry. During the last decades, the use of sustainable and alternative materials with zero or low CO2 emissions for cement and concrete has gained a lot of attention. This work provides a comprehensive review of the research carried out so far on concrete with minimum to zero carbon emissions with the objective to present a research direction for future work on sustainable concrete.

Differential Design of Mileage-Based User Fees for Equitable Benefits

Venktesh Pandey, North Carolina A&T State University
Melissa Petit-Jean, RK&K

Mileage-based user fee (MBUF), also referred to as vehicle miles traveled tax, charges a traveler a fixed or a variable rate per mile traveled on the road. MBUFs are actively being considered as an alternative to fuel tax across several states in the United States. Ongoing pilot programs and surveys have identified that MBUFs pose transportation fairness concerns. They are considered fair because all vehicles pay for their usage of highway infrastructure and the cost burdens on poor travelers is lower who pay more fuel taxes due to more fuel-inefficient vehicles. However, MBUFs are also claimed as unfair for travelers who drive long distances for work and for travelers with fuel-efficient vehicles who are doing their part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this research, long-term equity impacts of MBUF rates are investigated accounting for traveler’s route choices. Travelers are group using two criteria: type of vehicle ownership (fuel-efficient or inefficient vehicle) and the value of travel time (correlated with traveler’s income level). A multicriteria static traffic equilibrium model is used to quantify the delay differences across different groups. Using the maximin fairness principle, the research optimizes the MBUF rates to obtain fair distributions of delays across groups as a function of driver behavior and vehicle parameters. The model is then extended to design differential MBUF rates to create fair delay distributions without compromising system optimality.

The State of Aviation: NC's Aviation Economy in 2021 and Beyond

Ryan Hassett, Institute for Transportation Research & Education, NC State University

2021 saw the return of many passengers to the skies for the first time since the start of the pandemic, while flying never truly stopped for cargo operators and in general aviation. Based on data from the NCDOT Division of Aviation's biennial State of Aviation report, this presentation will discuss new findings and nascent trends in North Carolina's aviation sector as it began to emerge from the pandemic in 2021.

Assessment of Economic Impact of COVID-19 on the Aviation Manufacturing Jobs in the US and Related Government Responses

Rongfang (Rachel) Liu, North Carolina A&T State University

Making up more than 5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the civil aviation industry contributes $1.8 trillion in total economic activities and supports 11 million jobs in the US (FRA, 2020). Anticipating critical civil aviation needs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act and established the Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection (AMJP). This research provided USDOT with an evaluation of their outreach efforts, the distribution of AMJP funding, and any potential improvements by analyzing the AMJP process and interviewing stakeholders. Working with the AMJP program staff, contractors, and stakeholders, the NCAT team conducted qualitative interviews to examine AMJP outreach efficacy, identify significant barriers to applying, and propose future improvements to similar government relief programs. The application of this study in NC relates to the timing, planning, and execution of government assistance programs. Essential financial analyses in the research include how each company experienced the AMJP program with consideration for fiscal/business versus pandemic/government response timelines, corporation status, and businesses’ decision-making processes. Additional consideration made for the interaction and impact of AMJP and other government aid programs, such as PSP, PPP and ERTC. Another potential implication of this study involves workforce development. With deeper understanding and greater insight into economic and financial conditions of AMJP candidates, such as composition of applicants, geographical distribution of candidates, changes in operating revenues and workforce in the aftermath of COVID-19, and organizational structures, the research team may bring positive contributions to workforce development, economic stimulation, and community revitalization outlooks.

A Tool for Assessing Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Resilience Across Emergency Evacuation Scenarios

Alexander Yoshizumi, NC State University

Electric vehicles can play an important role in reducing diffuse greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the energy security of the United States. However, as the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events increases over time with climate change, so too does the need to think strategically about the future of fueling infrastructure for battery electric vehicles (BEVs). BEVs take much longer to refuel than conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, and thus they represent a unique challenge when thinking about resilience and evacuation planning. To address this planning challenge, we created the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Resilience Model (AFIRM), an agent-based, traffic flow model that accounts for electric vehicle charging along routes and implemented the model along a critical evacuation corridor - Interstate-40 from coastal Wilmington, NC to the Interstate-95 inland highway interchange. The model returns a count of vehicles that are waiting for a charger at each interstate exit in each time step, which serves as a useful metric for understanding how robust a given infrastructure configuration is to varying evacuation scenarios. The model also reports back energy demand profiles at each exit, which could be of use to electrical grid system operators tasked with ensuring grid reliability. Given the model’s capacity to explore different infrastructure configurations under varying evacuation scenarios, it is well equipped to compare the reliability-contributions of varying candidate infrastructure sites, and future sensitivity analyses with the tool could provide data-driven guidance on best practices for building out future electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Development and Assessment of Ferry Vessel Electrification Options

John Hildreth, Western Carolina University
Catherine Peele, Ferry Division, NC Department of Transportation

Ferry electrification is a growing global trend driven by an interest in reducing operational and maintenance costs and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Ferries are particularly well suited for electrification due to their relatively short travel distances over fixed routes, relatively long dwell periods at dock, and their ample onboard space for energy storage system infrastructure. This presentation reports on the technical and economic feasibility assessment of options for ferries operating on short river crossing routes. The traditional diesel powered and mechanically driven vessel configuration was compared to electric propulsion configurations. The first configuration is a diesel powered and electrically driven with on-board energy storage for peak load shaving. The second configuration is a plug-in hybrid vessel that is primarily electrically powered from on-board energy storage charged through connection to the shoreside grid, but with on-board generation for backup power, emergency operation, and range extension. The primary technical challenge is developing a vessel strategy that can be integrated with the electric grid to provide the power necessary for vessel charging. The strategy must strike a balance between grid infrastructure improvements and the use of shoreside energy storage to manage electric demand requirements and costs. Economic feasibility is based on life-cycle cost analysis that considers both capital costs and operating and maintenance costs over a 40-year vessel life-cycle. Electric propulsion vessels have an increased capital cost, require shoreside infrastructure development, and may require electric grid improvements. However, these increased capital costs are offset by decreased operation and maintenance costs over the life-cycle.

Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer for Railway Application

Tiefu Zhao, Shenen Chen, and Nicole Braxtan; University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte have been developing wireless charging technology for potential train applications for the past four years. This one of the kind research project may potentially represent a paradigm shift in rail propulsion technology from traditional diesel-electric engines to battery engines (without the overhead power lines or the third rail).  The project has developed and demonstrated the Inductive Power Transfer (IPT) technology to allow the switcher trains be charged overnight and minimize the heavy labor involved in the current plug-in charging system – thus minimize exposing rail yard personnel to working hazards due to heavy loading.  The proposed IPT charging system will provide substantial support for the rapid and reliable charging of the electric power supply of the switcher trains, which will greatly facilitate the asset management in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and safety.

Presented by the North Carolina Department of Transportation

Curtis T. Bradley, Ph.D.

The NCDOT Research & Development Unit will be presenting on NCDOT’s Research Program and Process.  Included in this presentation will be our timeline, funding, as well as information on what makes a good research and proposal.  The participants can expect to engage in a working session where they will have an opportunity to learn about the Research Program and ask questions to the Research & Development unit as well as NCDOT subject matter experts.

Exploring the Future of Mobility with Shared Autonomous Vehicles: NCDOT’s Connected Autonomous Shuttle Supporting Innovation (CASSI) Program

Sarah Searcy

The future of transportation includes shared mobility options that are as convenient, reliable, affordable, clean, and safe as driving and allow every person equal access to opportunities and services. This future includes shared, autonomous, electric, connected, and accessible vehicles in a multimodal transportation system that works for everyone. NCDOT’s Connected Autonomous Shuttle Supporting Innovation (CASSI) program demonstrates how this future is possible. This session will showcase the origin, current projects, and future directions of the CASSI program.