Transportation Systems Engineering

Projects

Overview

Traffic Optimization Software for Multiple Hazards

Recent events, such as the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, clearly demonstrate the vital role that transportation plays in the response to and recovery from natural and man-made disasters. They also highlight the need for planning and for developing transportation systems that exhibit robustness and resilience in face of multiple hazards. This project will work closely with the New York State Department of Transportation to select regions around the state that can serve as test-beds for the methods and procedures to be developed. For those regions, several combinations of extreme events that would disrupt the performance of the transportation network will be considered, their impact on the network will be quantified and emergency management plans will be developed. Management plans will be based on a dynamic, on-line approach to transportation system management, which uses real-time information about the status of the system, and could include such strategies as dynamic route guidance, adaptive signal timing, reversible lane management, dynamic speed adaptation, real-time information provision, bus route deviation, and dynamic demand-responsive transit. The project is envisioned to use a combination of computer simulation, optimization techniques, probability theory, agent-based modeling and computational intelligence. The use of real-world test beds from New York State will provide invaluable insight into the complexity of the problems and how to best address them.

FACULTY & STAFF

• Adel W. Sadek, Ph.D.
• Qian Wang, Ph.D.

 

FUNDING SOURCE

• Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)