Browsing by Author "Veneziano, David"

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Practical Guidelines for Estimation of Rest Area Use on Rural Interstates and Arterial Highways
(2012-01) Al-Kaisy, Ahmed; Veneziano, David; Kirkemo, Zachary S.; Dorrington, Christopher
Rest areas perform a critical role in the highway network. These areas provide passenger vehicle occupants and heavy vehicle operators with an opportunity to use a restroom, walk around, stop for a meal, sleep for a period of time, or even pause to use a cellular phone. These activities also have a direct impact on the various aspects of rest area planning and design. Existing guidance for rest area planning and design is largely based on national trends, which may not represent patterns of use in rural states. This paper presents a series of practical guidelines that may be used in the design and rehabilitation of rest area facilities, particularly those in rural areas. The guidance was developed by the use of empirical observations of rest area use at 44 study sites in the state of Montana. Given the amount of data collected and used in this research, it is reasonable to expect that the guidelines developed are representative of a significant proportion of existing and future rest area sites in rural locales. However, each rest area is different, and careful consideration should be given when the guidelines outlined in this paper are used.
Remote Sensing of Weather and Road Surface Conditions
(2013-01) Ewan, Levi A.; Al-Kaisy, Ahmed; Veneziano, David
Advances in road weather sensing technologies have made noninvasive road weather sensors a valuable component in many intelligent transportation systems (ITS) applications. This study investigates the reliability of using such a sensor for a proposed weather-responsive variable speed limit system. The Vaisala surface state and temperature sensors (DSC-111 and DST-111) were selected for the proposed application. The sensors' ability to provide accurate and reliable data was tested under various conditions in a controlled laboratory environment. Specifically, four outputs of interest from the sensors were tested in this investigation: surface state, snow and ice depth, water depth, and grip level. Testing results showed that the sensors determined the surface state (dry, moist, wet, snowy, and icy) accurately and reliably. The sensors' snow depth readings were found to be inaccurate, while the sensors' ice depth measurements were found to be relatively close to the actual depths. For water depth, only a limited number of readings were close to the actual depths, while other readings were highly inaccurate. In an effort to test the potential of the sensor in providing reliable inputs to the proposed ITS application, a calibration was conducted for the sensor water depth measurements at various water depths and sensor installation angles. Calibration results showed that the water depth could be accurately estimated with the calibrated sensor measurements, regardless of water depth or sensor installation angle. Sensor estimates of grip level were found to be highly correlated to the coefficient of static friction for the conditions considered in this study.
Safety Effects of Fixed Automated Spray Technology Systems
(2015) Veneziano, David; Muthumani, Anburaj; She, Xianming
Fixed automated spray technology (FAST) has emerged as a solution to provide quick, effective service delivery to high-risk locations prone to icy conditions or with high traffic volumes. The Colorado Department of Transportation has installed and used FAST on bridges since 1998, with 32 units currently installed on bridges around the state. There is some concern regarding the effectiveness of FAST in reducing accidents during winter weather. Previous studies of FAST have considered the changes to crash occurrence following deployment, but these studies were basic and compared seasonal figures or rates without accounting for site conditions. To address this shortcoming, an observational before–after study with the empirical Bayes technique was used to determine the effect of FAST systems on crash frequencies. The results revealed that at sites where crashes were reduced, FAST systems contributed to an annual reduction of 2% on multilane rural highways, 16% to 70% on urban Interstates, 31% to 57% on rural Interstates, and 19% to 40% on interchange ramps between Interstates. However, at some sites, safety deteriorated with an increase in crashes. Although the precise causes of such increases are not completely clear, they may have been the result of increased traffic, systems not being maintained properly, or systems applying fluids in improper amounts or at the wrong time. On the basis of the collective results, high-traffic, high-crash severity locations are most suitable for FAST deployment.
Traffic Safety Along Tourist Routes in Rural Areas
(2016-01) Wang, Yiyi; Veneziano, David; Russell, Sam; Al-Kaisy, Ahmed
Little is known about the safety of tourist drivers in the United States. Most domestic studies have focused on traffic deaths and injuries of U.S. citizens traveling abroad and cite factors such as driving on the left, lack of seat belt use, and alcohol consumption. U.S. states that have a number of tourist attractions and the roadways to reach them may be interested in whether traffic safety is problematic for drivers who are tourists. To that end, this research investigated the contributing factors for crash severity and crash likelihood of visiting drivers in or near three national parks in rural areas. Driver-level data from the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in California revealed risk factors for crash severity, including age, geometry, and seat belt use. The second data set offered a more microscopic view at the road level and was used to anticipate crash frequency of visiting drivers at the road link level. Moreover, the second data set contained road geometry, traffic volume, environment, and crash counts aggregated at the segment level along a 57.8-mi stretch of U.S. Hwy 89 (a primary route to the north gate of Yellowstone National Park) in Montana that is frequently used by tourists. Crash risk factors (e.g., geometry and traffic intensity) affected local and nonlocal (tourist) drivers in different ways. Further exploration of crash trends in specific parks would be valuable in understanding the overall trends and contributors to crashes in tourism areas and to determine effective improvement measures.