Masters Theses

Date of Award

12-1993

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Civil Engineering

Major Professor

Frederick J. Wegmann

Committee Members

Stephen H. Richards, Arun Chatterjee

Abstract

This research attempts to assess the potential for the application of Advanced Public Transportation Systems (APTS) technologies to transit and ridesharing operations in small-medium sized urban and rural areas in the Southeastern region of the United States. This objective has been achieved by conducting "consensus-building" group discussions with public transportation managers representing various public transportation services in Tennessee. The fixed-route bus group determined that the APTS technology having the greatest impact on increasing demand was providing pre-trip information for choice and occasional riders, followed by in-terminal information and high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. For lowering operational costs the two most highly rated APTS technologies were electronic ticketing and HOV lanes. The specialized paratransit group viewed automatic dispatching, in conjunction with automatic vehicle location technologies, as a technology to reduce waiting time and improve on-time performance which would show the greatest promise to increase demand, lower operating costs, and increase comfort and convenience. Ridesharing professionals put the greatest emphasis on HOV lanes and, where appropriate, auto guided buses to increase demand, lower operating costs, and increase comfort and convenience. Rural public transportation providers saw limited opportunities to increase demand, but thought automatic vehicle location technology would help improve scheduling, thereby increasing productivity and reducing wait times. The second objective of this research was to identify the APTS technology which has the potential for future applications in medium sized urban ares such as Knoxville, Tennessee. The results of the "consensus-building" group discussions shows that HOV treatments when combined with Intelligent Vehicle Highway System (IVHS) technologies would offer numerous benefits. As a starting point to realize the benefits of HOV IVHS program, the feasibility study for implementing priority treatments in the 1-40/75 corridor in Knoxville urban area, Tennessee, was conducted. The "sketch planning" procedure, which is the pivot point analysis, was used to predict the revised modal shares based on existing modal shares and proposed changes in transportation level of service. The results of feasibility study shows that travel time savings of 8 minutes could be achieved for through HOVs in the 1-40/75 corridor during peak period. It can be recommended that 2+ occupancy HOV policy could be adopted for better usage level of HOV lanes in 1-40/75 corridor. It can be recommended that HOV lanes could be assigned for truck traffic during off-peak period. The safety issue has to be addressed when only trucks are allowed to travel on HOV facility during off-peak period. Improved surveillance and control systems on HOV facilities could lead to faster detection and response to incidents that results in enhancing operating levels.

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