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White Marl is the largest, most complexly organized pre-colonial site documented for Jamaica and it is increasingly at risk due to plans for highway improvements. The site is of fundamental importance to overlapping sets of stakeholders: local residents, descendant communities, professional and avocational archaeologists, and heritage managers. We consider concepts of memory and heritage, linking decades of archaeological research at White Marl to current conceptions of the place by descendants of the first Taíno settlers and by residents of Central Village, the modern community surrounding the site. We review White Marl's archaeological history and situate the site in its current social, cultural, political, and economic context of Central Village. White Marl has been the focus of varied archaeological interpretations since the nineteenth century. In addition to the archaeological community, this heritage resource is important to local community members and descendants of the original Indigenous occupants. The Taíno Museum adjacent to the site, established by the Institute of Jamaica in 1965, now serves as a church and school for local residents. Continuities are explored between the Indigenous pre-colonial occupants of White Marl, current occupants of Central Village, and the Indigenous descendant community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roads are among the most widespread signs of man's presence around the globe. From simple low traffic trails to wide and highly used highways, roads have a wide array of effects on wildlife. In the present study, we tested how habitat reduction by roads may affect the space use and movement patterns of the Cabrera vole (Microtus cabrerae), a near-threatened Iberian endemism, often living on road verges. A total of 16 voles were successfully radio-tracked in two habitat patches with different size and proximity to roads. Results showed that individuals from the smaller patch (Verge patch) had smaller and less complex homeranges than those from the larger patch (Meadow patch). Movement patterns were significantly influenced by the day period but only in individuals from the Verge patch. There was evidence of a barrier effect in both habitat patches, being this effect much more noticeable in the verge population. Overall, this study shows that space use and movement patterns of Cabrera voles near roads may be affected by the degree of habitat reduction imposed by these infrastructures. This suggests that species space use and movement patterns at fine-scale should be accounted for in road planning, even for species that may benefit from road verge habitats as refuges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crossing structures for large wildlife are increasingly being constructed at major roads and railways in many countries and current guidelines for wildlife mitigation at linear infrastructures tend to advocate for large crossing structures sited at major movement corridors for the target species. The concept of movement corridors has, however, been challenged and pinching animal movements into bottlenecks entails risks. In this paper, I address the SLOSS dilemma of road ecology, i.e. the discussion whether a Single Large Or Several Small crossing structures along a linear barrier would produce the most benefit for wildlife, using the case of crossing structures for large wildlife in Sweden. I point out risks, ecological as well as practical, with investing in one large crossing structure and list a number of situations where it may be more beneficial to distribute the conservation efforts in the landscape by constructing several smaller crossing structures; for example, when the ecological knowledge is insufficient, when animal interactions are expected to be significant, when the landscape changes over time or when future human development cannot be controlled. I argue that such situations are often what infrastructure planning faces and that the default strategy, therefore, should be to distribute, rather than to concentrate passage opportunities along major transport infrastructures. I suggest that distributing passage opportunities over several smaller crossing structures would convey a risk diversification and that this strategy could facilitate the planning of wildlife mitigation. What to choose would however depend on, inter alia, landscape composition and ecology and on relationships amongst target species. A single large structure should be selected where it is likely that it can serve a large proportion of target animals and where the long-term functionality of the crossing structure can be guaranteed. New research is needed to support trade-offs between size and number of crossing structures. Cost-effectiveness analyses of wildlife crossing structures are currently rare and need to be further explored. Camera trapping and video surveillance of crossing structures provide opportunities to analyse details concerning, for example, any individual biases according to sex, age, status and grouping and any antagonism between species and individuals. Wildlife ecology research needs to better address questions posed by road and railway planning regarding the importance of specific movement routes and movement distances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transit infrastructure development is a major necessity in Canada's largest city and the capital of Ontario, Toronto. As one of the busiest highways in North America and the backbone of Toronto's transportation and distribution system, provincial Highway 401, carries over 416 thousand annual average daily traffic (AADT) and plays an important role in the Ontario southern road network (You et al., 2017). With economic development and ongoing urbanization, the increasing regional population brings up traffic congestion in the system, especially during peak hours. The existing transportation condition has proved a bottleneck under the ongoing globalization & increasing population in the city. To mitigate the congestion, this paper proposed a new bypass route plan on Highway 401 by combining the least cost path analysis (LCPA) and multiple-criteria evaluation (MCE). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of natural disasters has caused great loss of lives and properties that affected many people. To improve the efficiency of the emergency rescue efforts, the problem of road planning for emergency workers, vehicles, and other mobile objects should be overcome. Due to the characteristics of the emergency planning for rescue paths, timely, effective, and rapid efforts should be taken into effect based on geographical data in the road-free environment. This paper analyzes trafficability, researches both access ability and traffic efficiency, and uses traffic efficiency concerning the road-free environment as an influential weight and timeliness to improve the A∗ algorithm, which realizes the rapid planning of the mobile objects' emergency rescue paths in the road-free environment, providing decision-making services for the rescue path planning of disaster emergencies in the environment of no road network. Finally, the experiments were carried out using available data for Shuozhou City, Shanxi Province. The results show that the research can provide a reference for the rescue path planning of disaster emergencies and has contributed to theoretical and applicable aspects of the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional scenic route planning only considers the shortest path, which ignores the information of scenic road conditions. As the most effective direct search method to solve the shortest path in static road network, A* algorithm can plan the optimal scenic route by comprehensively evaluating the weights of each expanded node in the gridded scenic area. However, A* algorithm has the problem of traversing more nodes and ignoring the cost of road in the route planning. In order to bring better travel experience to the travelers, the above factors are taken into account. This paper presents a path planning method based on the improved A* algorithm. Firstly, the heuristic function of the A* algorithm is weighted by exponential decay to improve the calculation efficiency of the algorithm. Secondly, in order to increase the practicality of the A* algorithm, the impact factors that road conditions is introduced to the evaluation function. Finally, the feasibility of the improved A* algorithm is verified through simulation experiments. Experimental results show that the improved A* algorithm can effectively reduce the calculation time and road cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The highways allow the social and economic development of a population and its surroundings; however, they generate environmental and anthropic liabilities caused by their installation. For this reason, studies should be carried out to assess the environmental impacts in all phases of the road implantation and operation project, in order to mitigate the possible damage caused to the biotic, physical and environmental environment. Given the above, this work aims to identify the impacts that are generated on the environment due to the construction of highways and contemplate actions to recover degraded areas as a result of road works through extensive bibliographic research. With this, it is expected to present a contribution to the studies of the impact of environmental assessment on highways in order to ensure that human intervention is as little as possible for the environment, as well as to act as a debate for future discussions that may add to the improved planning of road works in favor of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluating the effects of pavement roughness on the travel time cost (TTC) and the discomfort cost (DCC) is essential for user cost estimation in road maintenance planning and for benefit assessment of investments on maintenance. However, existing related studies are quite limited. The main obstacles are the lack of well-defined mechanisms to (i) understand the riders' speed choice behaviour and (ii) quantify the riding discomfort cost. To narrow this gap, a new method is developed in this study to evaluate the incremental TTC and DCC caused by roughness increasing. By representing the ride quality and the roughness with 'jolt' and the international roughness index (IRI), respectively, a ride quality indifference curve (RQIC) is developed. Then, using the RQIC and the traffic flow fundamental diagrams before and after an IRI increase, the riders' speed choice behaviour is modelled. The selected speed after the IRI change is explained as the balancing result between efficiency and comfort that satisfies the proposed marginal principle. Applying this principle, the procedures to calculate the TTC and DCC increments are designed. Finally, a application example of the method is presented. The method proposed herein mainly contributes to the user cost estimation in the post-evaluation of the road maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: environmental pollution in urban areas is mainly due to greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fuel in the vehicle fleet, which increases in situations of vehicle congestion, which, in addition to being a source of noise pollution, affects the physical and mental health of citizens. Objective: to determine the perception of independent urban transport consultant experts on the causes of vehicle congestion and its relationship with environmental pollution and health. Materials and methods: an observational and descriptive study in the city of metropolitan Lima, through the identification of critical points of vehicular congestion and through structured interviews with independent consultants, on the causes of traffic, environmental pollution and health. Results: the main traffic generators observed were constructions, closed streets, ambulatory commerce, informal stops, unauthorized parking, and accidents. While the causes of congestion, identified by the consultants, were based on poor management and road planning, lack of road safety education for drivers and pedestrians, informal stops, and obsolete vehicles. Conclusions: the capital city still suffers from high levels of traffic congestion, which affects the health and economy of Peruvians. From the analysis based on the opinions of experts, it is recommended that strategies and policies be directed towards solutions that include institutional reforms that favor improvements in efficiency and effectiveness in the management of urban transportation, facilitate the renewal of the vehicle fleet and implement awareness campaigns to create a citizen culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Productivity has a significant impact on the success of a highway con- struction project. Furthermore, time and cost predictions are primarily based on previous productivity. Thus, reasonably accurate productivity forecasting is required to plan highway construction projects successfully. Predicting the productivity of construction operations, on the other hand, is difficult. Due to dynamic variations in productivity throughout construction, frequent and consistent time basis produc- tivity forecasting is crucial for effective highway construction management. This study aimed to identify and examine the impact of critical factors on the produc- tivity rate of highway construction earthwork activities. Given the dynamic and context-dependent nature of productivity, the study analyzed extensive literature and employed multiple embedded case studies to address the study’s stated aims. Based on cross-case and statistical analysis, it was found that the critical factors influencing soft excavation productivity rate were allowable working space or clearance width, working hours, and weather conditions (temperature, atmospheric pressure, and rainfall). In the case of hard excavation, the critical factors influencing productivity rate were terrain type, clearance width, working hours, and weather conditions (temperature and cloud cover). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining the optimal path between two points in a 3D point cloud is a problem that have been addressed in many different situations: from road planning and escape routes determination, to network routing and facility layout. This problem is addressed using different input information, being 3D point clouds one of the most valuables. Its main utility is to save costs, whatever the field of application is. In this paper, we present a fast algorithm to determine the least cost path in an Airborne Laser Scanning point cloud. In some situations, like finding escape routes for instance, computing the solution in a very short time is crucial, and there are not many works developed in this theme. State of the art methods are mainly based on a digital terrain model (DTM) for calculating these routes, and these methods do not reflect well the topography along the edges of the graph. Also, the use of a DTM leads to a significant loss of both information and precision when calculating the characteristics of possible routes between two points. In this paper, a new method that does not require the use of a DTM and is suitable for airborne point clouds, whether they are classified or not, is proposed. The problem is modeled by defining a graph using the information given by a segmentation and a Voronoi Tessellation of the point cloud. The performance tests show that the algorithm is able to compute the optimal path between two points by processing up to 678,820 points per second in a point cloud of 40,000,000 points and 16 km 2 of extension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ege Üniversitesi Ziraat Fakültesi Dergisi is the property of Ege Universitesi, Ziraat Fakultesi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The study focuses on the generalization of the methodology of transport planning with the use of the LOGFAS IT system. The main activities that must be performed in order to plan the transport correctly in the IT software were presented. This process requires a lot of experience and work in many program modules and the implementation of a lot of different information without which planning is impossible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dense traffic on the roadway often causes traffic bottlenecks, particularly at intersections, such as the unsignalized junction of Tukad Yeh Aya Street and Pemuda Street. The study goals are three analyses: existing performance analysis, alternative selection, and forecast analysis. The study of the performance of the Tukad Yeh Aya Street -- Pemuda Street junction in the current situation yields a value of C, which is represented by the duration of intersection delay, which is 24.53 seconds / cur. This result is 1,09 more than PKJI, 2014 limit of 0.85. As a result, various options must be implemented or planned in order to decrease the value of the degree of saturation to a specified limit. To enhance the performance of the Tukad Yeh Aya Street -- Pemuda Street junction, two options were based on the current circumstances, designing a one-way and adding APILL lights for four stages led by 2014 PKJI. After calculating, the alternative finds that the one-way road planning alternative has an intersection delay of 10.06 second / cur or the service level is good with a value of B. Therefore, the one-way road planning alternative is chosen as the one that will be used in planning the next five years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents an analysis of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based forecasting models for vehicular traffic flow. The forecasting was performed for three periods of time: 1 week, 1 month and 1 year. The vehicular traffic flow data analysed were collected from Interstate 87, a highway located within the U.S. state of New York. Temporal and climate information, such as weekday, time of day, precipitation, visibility and temperature, were provided to the ANNs. Two different architectures were implemented to forecast vehicular traffic flow: Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM). The performance was evaluated using the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and comparing the predicted flow with the real data in the evaluated period. The MLP resulted in RMSE of 113.96, 185.98 and 201.19, and MAP of 9.56%, 15.49% and 16.95% for a forecasting interval of 1 week, 1 month and 1 year, respectively. Similarly, the LSTM network resulted in RMSE of 122.20, 179.55 and 203.63 and MAPE of 14.66%, 17.89% and 24.10% for the same time periods. Additionally, the two developed ANNs were evaluated to perform a forecasting vehicular traffic flow for another highway, the Interstate 88. The results from the two ANNs are similar, the MLP network resulted in MAPE of 17.15%, 25.65% and 19.76% for a forecasting interval of 1 week, 1 month and 1 year, respectively. On the other hand, the LSTM network presented RMSE of 19.14%, 31.87% and 22.97%. The results obtained come close to the similar work results when considered shorter prediction periods. The results for longer prediction time could not be compared to the literature due to the lack of work in this area, being a novelty of the current work. Moreover, the models implemented in this paper were precise and stable and can be used as strategy information to help road and cities planning. In addition, results have shown that the model can be replicated for other roads in the same region or either from other states or countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disasters are likely to cause disruptions on transportation networks. Such disruptions have the potential of obstructing the performance of post-disaster relief operations, whose objective is to serve the affected population promptly. Therefore, it is important to develop strategic plans for restoring the transportation networks in the aftermath of a disaster. In this study, we address the problem of coordinating road network restoration and relief activities under the presence of heterogeneous types of roads disruptions. In this regard, we present a mathematical model for scheduling and routing restoration machines as well as relief vehicles. The approach seeks a restoration plan that is devoted to providing support to the relief operations. This implies prioritizing road rehabilitations taking into consideration their impact on the efficiency of relief activities. Additionally, we provide a heuristic algorithm to solve large instances of our problem for which commercial optimizers are insufficient. The approach is applied on a realistic case study based on the flooding which occurred in the Mojana region of northern Colombia in 2010–2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Motivated by the high cost of material movements in road construction projects, past studies have used analytical methods to optimize materials logistics plans. A key shortcoming of these methods is their inability to capture the uncertain, dynamic and complex characteristics of the road construction material logistics. Failure to incorporate these characteristics can lead to sub-optimal results. The purpose of this study is to propose the use of discrete event simulation (DES) to address the existing shortfall. Design/methodology/approach: Despite the powerful capabilities of DES models in capturing the operational complexities of construction projects, they have not been previously utilized to optimize the material logistics of road construction projects. The proposed DES-based method in this research captures the operational details of material logistics and uses a heuristic approach to overcome the combinatorial problem of numerous choices. The method was applied to a 63.5 km real-world road construction project case to demonstrate its capabilities. Findings: Six different material types from 28 material sources were used in the case. Approximately 1.5% of the material logistics costs were saved by following the proposed method and choosing appropriate material sources. Originality/value: This research contributes to the body of knowledge by leveraging the capabilities of DES and presenting a novel method for improving the materials logistics plan of road construction projects. The proposed method provides practitioners with the basis for capturing the key operational details that were overlooked in the past. The proposed method can be adopted in road construction projects to reduce the overall material procurement cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to provide a conceptual definition and description of forms of pressure in planning, as explained by Friend and Hickling, to identify other possible types of pressure in the context of provincial development planning and budgeting in Indonesia. As a case study, this paper discusses the dilemmas in provincial development planning involving the development of road infrastructure in a rural area in Indonesia. More specifically, it looks at the role the provincial government plays in building rural road with limited authority and how the legislature fights for the aspirations of their voters in rural areas according to their obligations as stated in the law stipulating the regional political system. The needs, obligations, and authority of these two parties can be in conflict with one another, which ultimately has implications for the development planning process. As a conclusion, it can be said that the existing regulations are not fully in line with the development planning practice, and the current political system leads to disharmony within development planning institutions, especially at the provincial level, related to the development plan of rural roads in Indonesia. In these conditions, the planning process is under a type of pressure experienced by the executive and the legislative branches and cannot be categorized into the six forms of pressure as conceived by Friend and Hickling. The name proposed here for this type of pressure is "conflegs." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flooding and landslides have been a significant hazard in Thailand, especially in steep areas. This study aimed to find suitable evacuation routes for future disaster prevention planning and management by the local authority appropriate to the needs of affected people living in steep areas of Uttaradit province. Evacuation routes were analyzed using the trip assignment model with the optimization technique according to the shortest path and 20 vehicles (pickup trucks) used for organizational planning. The results showed evacuation with the group would take more time than for ungrouped people by almost half an hour, but the number of vehicles could be reduced by one. In addition, for both ungrouped and grouped types, increasing the number and speed of the vehicles decreased the evacuation time by about 20 minutes if the local authorities increased the number of existing vehicles from 20 to 30 and allowed a vehicle speed of 30 kilometers per hour. The information for evacuation management and period obtained in each simulation from this research would be beneficial for determining evacuation notification periods. The results could be used as guidelines for other local authority plans in steep or similar risk areas where efficient evacuation is necessary due to flooding and landslides. Important requirements can be added to facilitate evacuation, such as the road capacity during the evacuation, an alternative route during flooding even and a plan for clearing roads affected by landslides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, computational intelligence has been used to solve optimisation problems. An innovative direction in the development of artificial intelligence methods is multiagent methods of intellectual optimisation, which simulate the collective behaviour of insects, animals and other living beings. It indicates the effectiveness of their behaviour, and hence the effectiveness of these methods, and the ability to be involved in solving applied problems. This article is devoted to the study of the development of road transport networks using the metaheuristic ant method of optimisation based on a number of data. The initial data were geospatial layers of information on slope steepness, engineering structures, forests, perennials, land development and hydrographic objects. The parameters of the behaviour of the studied method under different conditions and volumes of input geospatial data are experimentally established. The Max–Min method of multiagent optimisation is modified. The proposed modification takes into account the functional distance – the coefficient of the complexity of the route, which affects its length. This modification had an effective influence on the behaviour of ants and the choice of optimal routes, taking into account the terrain as one of the factors. The result of the advancement is an informational system, which is capable of formulating flexible options for passing optimal alternative routes between specified settlements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to achieve the purpose of improving the travel efficiency of commuters in the periphery of the city, expanding the beneficiary groups of urban rail transit, and alleviating urban road traffic congestion, when planning and setting up HOV in the periphery of the city, it is necessary to analyze the feasibility of HOV lane setting from both the demand conditions and the setting conditions. This paper combines machine learning to construct a decision-making evaluation model for HOV lane setting and studies the optimal layout model and algorithm of HOV lanes in service rail transit commuter chain. The setting, planning, and layout of HOV lanes are a two-way interactive process of traveler's path selection and designer's road planning. Finally, after the model is constructed, the performance of the system model is verified. The results show that the system studied in this paper can be used for traffic data and lane planning analysis. Therefore, in the process of urban operation, the HOV model constructed in this paper is mainly used to alleviate urban traffic and improve urban operation efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both the intensities of individual extreme rainfall events and the frequency of such events are important for infrastructure planning. We develop a new statistical extreme value model, the PGEV model, which makes it possible to use high-quality annual maximum series data instead of less well-checked daily data to estimate trends in intensity and frequency separately. The method is applied to annual maximum data from Vol. 10 of NOAA Atlas 14, dating from approximately 1900 to 2014, showing that in the majority of 333 rain gauge stations in the northeastern United States the frequency of extreme rainfall events increases as mean temperature increases, but that there is little evidence of trends in the distribution of the intensities of individual extreme rainfall events. The median of the frequency trends corresponds to extreme rainfall becoming 83% more frequent for each 1°C of temperature increase. Naturally, increasing trends in frequency also increase the yearly or decadal risks of very extreme rainfall events. Three other large areas in the contiguous United States, the Midwest, the Southeast, and Texas, are also studied, and show similar but weaker trends than those in the Northeast. Significance Statement: Climate change can increase extreme daily rainfall by making individual extreme rainfall events more frequent, more intense, or both. We develop new methods based on extreme value statistics to predict to what extent these three scenarios will occur. Our aim is to inform infrastructure planning, both for protection against high-impact catastrophes and for local planning of roads and sewers. The new methods allow using high-quality annual maximum series for prediction of frequency, instead of partial duration series. In the northeastern United States, extreme daily rainfall events are becoming more frequent with little evidence of increasing trends in the distribution of intensities of individual extreme daily rainfall events. For many stations the frequency increase exceeds 150% for each 1°C of temperature increase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a traffic volume prediction method for global vehicle path planning at freeway entrances and exits. Firstly, a "point-line" vehicle path planning model was established, and the vehicle driving data was obtained by combining CCD sensor camera. Secondly, the weight of holidays in traffic volume prediction is analyzed from time Angle. The weight and speed in traffic volume prediction are analyzed from the perspective of space, and the weight of vehicle state index is calculated by using adaptive weighted data fusion algorithm. Finally, the traffic volume prediction algorithm is designed to realize the traffic volume prediction of vehicle global path planning. The results show that in the long-term traffic volume forecast results through this method, the Japanese and RMSE are stable at 5.44 and 9.06 respectively and the difference between the daily traffic volume forecast results and the actual results is in 10, which is obviously higher than the comparison method with high accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes how Interstate Highways were used in Montgomery, Alabama, to maintain racial hierarchies during the civil rights movement, how the routing of Interstate Highways through Montgomery changed over time, and the connections between Interstate Highway routing and the racially volatile political environment after the Montgomery Bus Boycott. To address these issues, the article analyzes the planning of the Interstate Highways and the Urban Renewal areas in the city. The article concludes that highway engineering in Montgomery took a more racially motivated turn after the Bus Boycott with the rise of a racially charged political environment in 1959. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low construction cost and flexible traffic control merits have made the plane separation an important means to solve traffic congestion at intersections. In the operation mechanism of plane separation, no leftturn is an important control measure to achieve plane separation. This study employed simulation software VISSIM to model and simulate target road sections, explored the essential traffic control ideas of plane separation, and discussed the actual impact of banning left turns on the traffic at intersections. Then, this study used experimental data to quantitatively verify the core operation mechanism and application conditions of plane separation and compared it with other traffic control measures. At last, this paper summarized a few design and implementation criteria for plane separation, aiming to provide a useful reference for improving the traffic planning of similar road sections in modem cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abandoned coal mine subsidence areas not only result in land resources wastage and ecological destruction but also disturb the order of space within the urban and rural areas, making it crucial to rehabilitate them. How to identify the best procedures for subsidence areas, which are scattered on a variety of lands rather than a single location? Our research proposes a new 'evaluation + clustering' methodology and took 95 subsidence areas in Jixi as an example. LANDSAT‐8 images and modified normalized difference water index (MNDWI) were used to identify the status of collapsed area water bodies. Reuse suitability evaluations were done in terms of ecological protection, urban construction, and agricultural production using a multi‐criteria evaluation (MCE) based on a geographic information system (GIS). Then k‐means clustering was used to classify the areas to identify their reuse pattern and model. The results show that the degree of subsidence is low with 78.25% of land scarcely wet. The suitability assessment values for rehabilitation as construction and agriculture are high, indicating the lands are suitable for reuse. 619.12 hm2 of subsidence areas located in a convenient place and surrounded by different kinds of lands are suitable for multiple uses, 1000.48 hm2 of those are appropriate for ecological reuse, namely water, land or forestry, their subsidence being severe and most of them located on mountains or near to the edge of built‐up areas. An estimated 630.18 hm2 located near the main road and inside the planning land boundary are suitable for parks, industrial land, and other construction lands. A further 11,176.94 hm2 could be used for farmland and other agricultural lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-lane rural highways represent the absolute majority of road networks globally, but there is a noticeable lack of research on this type of road for traffic planning purposes. This paper presents the relationship between average flow speed on two-lane rural highways and traffic volume and composition, and roadway horizontal and vertical geometric characteristics, expressed in the form of a volume-delay function. A new volume-delay function was developed through a combination of field research and traffic microsimulation. Field research was conducted on the main road network in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In total, more than 1 million simulations of different traffic situations were performed in an automated process. The results showed that a combination of traffic composition and geometric features (bendiness and longitudinal grade) has a crucial impact on average flow speed. The new proposed model predicts average flow speed in various traffic situations with high reliability (R² = 0.77), compared with R² = 0.26 for the widely used Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) volume-delay function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Journal of Beijing University of Technology is the property of Journal of Beijing University of Technology, Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

• We formally state the vehicle routing problem with steep roads (VRP-SR). • We formulate the VRP-SR as an integer linear programming model (MIP). • In our experiments including road grades in route planning can result in significant savings. • We obtain valuable managerial insights for routing planning on steep roads: • (1) Try to cluster customers with small altitudes differences to avoid abrupt changes. • (2) Could be cost-efficient to split a route, even if a single route can visit all customers. Most routing decisions assume that routing costs are modelled as a weighted sum of total distance and time traveled by delivery vehicles. However, this assumption does not apply for logistics operations in cities with significant road grades. We study an extension to the VRP model that plans vehicle routes considering the combined impact of detailed road grade information and vehicle load-weight in fuel consumption cost. We refer to this model as the VRP with Steep Roads (VRP-SR), which is formulated as an integer linear program and solved heuristically. In simulated experiments performed for a mountainous metropolitan region in Chile, we estimate operating cost reductions up to 12.4 % when compared to the real cost of a plan disregarding road grade information. In addition, we obtain valuable managerial insights from our routing plans; our planned routes tend to initially use roads with relatively small grades to avoid abrupt altitude changes with a loaded vehicle. Higher altitude changes are planned after the vehicle unloads a significant fraction of its cargo. Also, we identify instances in which it is cheaper to insert an intermediate depot visit to drop off weight and split a feasible route in two subroutes to travel over mountainous areas with a lighter vehicle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to soil losses on hillslopes, unpaved rural roads, especially when poorly designed and maintained, can be a significant contributor to the erosive processes seen at the catchment scale. In areas with deep soils, the solutions primarily focus on channeling excess surface runoff into settling ponds or terraces. However, few studies have addressed runoff control from roads on steep slopes in areas of shallow soil. Modeling hydrological processes at the catchment scale is a useful strategy for choosing the most effective and least costly conservation practices to control surface runoff. This study applies a mathematical model to a monitored catchment in southern Brazil to better understand the effects of conservation practices on unpaved roads and their impact on the hydrological and erosive dynamics of a small rural catchment. We calibrated the LISEM model using data from eight stormwater events and evaluated how three different road conservation scenarios—low (LI), medium (MI), and high intensity (HI)—contributed to sediment yield (SY), surface runoff volume (Qe), and peak flow (Qp) reduction. The LI and MI scenarios involved installation of hydraulic structures to control the road surface runoff (i.e. road ditch graveling, diversion weirs and grass waterways) while the HI scenario added surface runoff control practices (grass strips) to surrounding crop fields, in addition to the practices included in the MI scenario. Based on these scenarios, the results showed a Qe reduction at the catchment outlet from − 3.5% (LI) to − 22.5% (HI). The Qp and SY varied from + 6.0% (LI) to − 292.5% (HI) and from + 20.0% (LI) to − 963.9% (HI), respectively. These results show that the low- and medium-intensity practices were not effective in controlling surface runoff from roads, based on the Qe, Qb, and SY observed at the catchment's outlet. On the other hand, when MI scenarios were complemented with practices to control surface runoff in the cultivated areas, a significant reduction in surface runoff (Qe and Qp) and SY was verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliability is one of the main metrics of transport system efficiency and quality of service. For both travelers and transport management organizations, the high variance of road travel times has become a problem. Reliability has been identified as one of the main areas of interest of the Strategic Highway Research Plan II. In order to evaluate congestion and unexpected changes in travel time, reliability metrics are increasingly used. GPS devices provide for exact assessment of travel time for each connection along the routes used for this research. (14 Ramadan arterial street, Al-Karada arterial street and Damascus arterial street). A GPS-equipped instrumented car was used to gather 50 test runs at peak and off peak times. At peak and off peak hours, 50 test runs were obtained using a GPS-equipped instrumented car. Raising the buffer time index results in inferior conditions for reliability. A buffer index of AL-Karada street was created about 53% and 30% for Damascus street and finally for 14 Ramadan street which present a 29% buffer index for north direction. As for its southern direction 14 Ramadan street created a buffer index of about 65% and 33% for AL-Karada street and finally for Damascus street which present a 29% buffer index. In addition, travel time index for (14 Ramadan street, ALKarada street and Damascus street) respectively is about 2.8 %, 3.3% and 2.6% for north direction, as for its southern direction the travel time index is obtained for (14 Ramadan street, AL- Karada street and Damascus street) respectively were a 3%,3.7%, and 2.5%. Finally, the 95% percentile travel time for observed three selected routes in this study, the extra delay was felt on each route (1627, 2212, and 1192) sec. for (14 Ramadan street, AL- Karada street and Damascus street) for north direction, as for its southern direction the extra delay that perceived on each route (2221, 2132, and 975) sec. for (14 Ramadan street, AL- Karada street and Damascus street) respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Determine the loss of years of healthy life due to road incidents of motorcyclists in the city of Medellin from 2012 to 2015. Methods: Descriptive study with data on health care of injured motorcyclists and deaths adjusted with the Preston and Coale method, and OPS proportional distribution for the period 2012–2015. The years of life lost due to premature death (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were calculated according to the new methodology designed for that purpose. Results: The loss of years of healthy life due to road incidents of motorcyclists in the four-year period was 80,046 DALYs (823.8 per 100,000 inhabitants), with a higher proportion in men (81.3% and a ratio of 5 to 1 compared to women); the YLDs was 66.6% with marked differences in favor of men. There was nearly a 38% difference in the ages of 15 to 19 as well as a 19% difference from 30 to 49, compared to women. Premature death (YLLs) contributed to 33.4% of DALYs, with significant presentation in the above-mentioned age groups. Conclusions: The greatest loss of years of healthy life due to road incidents of motorcyclists in Medellin was due to non-fatal injuries and was concentrated in young men. If the trend of motorcycle road incidents continues, both local and national road safety plans will fail to accomplish the expected results, especially among motorcycle users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Road surface conditions have a direct effect on the quality of driving, which in turn affects overall traffic flow. Many studies have been conducted to accurately identify road surface conditions using diverse technologies. However, these previously proposed methods may still be insufficient to estimate actual risks along the roads because the exact road risk levels cannot be determined from only road surface damage data. The actual risk level of the road must be derived by considering both the road surface damage data as well as other factors such as speed. In this study, the road hazard index is proposed using smartphone-obtained pothole and traffic data to represent the level of risk due to road surface conditions. The relevant algorithm and its operating system are developed to produce the estimated index values that are classified into four levels of road risk. This road hazard index can assist road agencies in establishing road maintenance plans and budgets and will allow drivers to minimize the risk of accidents by adjusting their driving speeds in advance of dangerous road conditions. To demonstrate the proposed risk hazard assessment methodology, road hazards were assessed along specific test road sections based on observed pothole and historical travel speed data. It was found that the proposed methodology provides a rational method for improving traffic safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A double-decision optimization model based on the road grade optimization strategy and considered comprehensive traffic environment benefit is proposed to control the traffic noise. The upper-level model maximizes the comprehensive traffic environment benefit, including network noise emission and traffic efficiency. Adjusting the emphasis on noise optimization benefits and traffic efficiency in road network planning through setting weights. The lower-level resolves the question of network traffic flow assignment using a stochastic user-equilibrium model. The increase of traffic environment demand, network noise emissions decrease and travel time rises. In the case, with a low environmental requirement (weighting with 1.1), the sound pressure emission of the network decreases by 9.23% with only a 4.01% increase in travel time. Under the high environmental requirement (weighting with 0.2), the sound pressure decreases by 26.8%, but the travel time rises by as high as 30.9%. The network is optimized towards road grade degradation and is the first to optimize the arterial roads. In addition, it is found that the influence of speed on traffic noise is greater than that of traffic volume through case validation. This method proposing traffic noise optimization strategies at the road network planning level provides technical support for the proactive governance of traffic noise pollution and the improvement of traffic sound environment quality. • Double-decision optimization model considering comprehensive traffic environment benefit. • Weight λ is set to balance noise emission and traffic efficiency. • Network is optimized towards road grade degradation. • Noise emissions decrease and travel time rises as environment requirement increase. • Impact of speed on traffic noise is greater than traffic volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As car ownership and urbanization continue to rise worldwide, traffic crashes have become growing concerns globally. Measuring crash risk provides insight into understanding crash patterns, which can eventually support proactive transport planning and improve road safety. However, traditional spatial analysis methods for crash risk assessment, such as the hotspot detection method, are mainly focused on identifying areas with higher crash frequency. These methods are subject to critical issues in risk analysis due to ignoring crash impacts and background traffic volume information. Aside from the two issues, current crash risk assessment methods, especially those aiming for cluster detection, are subject to the modified temporal unit problem, referring to the temporal effects (i.e., aggregation, segmentation, and boundary) in cluster detection. To alleviate these issues, this paper applies an emerging hot spot detection method, called the prospective space-time scan statistic (STSS) method, for assessing the crash risk at a refined network scale and over multiple years in a case study of Hartford, Connecticut. By identifying the spatial and temporal clusters of the crash risk, the study can provide evidence for tailoring road safety management strategies in neighborhoods characterized by high crash risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the design of a decision making and motion planning system for lane change maneuvers considering energy efficiency. A novel decision making algorithm is proposed to check the desirability of performing the lane change. The algorithm is based on a utility function that consists of different performance criteria, including energy consumption. The execution of the decided maneuver involves a lower-level motion planning and control system for the longitudinal and lateral directions. For the longitudinal direction, an energy-efficient Model Predictive Controller (MPC) is designed, which considers the safety boundaries as well as other constraints, such as comfort, traffic laws, and physical limitations of the system. For the lateral direction, the desired trajectory is planned based on a parameterized sigmoid function. The lateral tracking is then realized by a PID controller. Finally, to evaluate the performance of the designed algorithms, a fuel consumption map of an internal combustion engine (ICE) is approximated by a second-order multivariate polynomial. Simulation results demonstrate the capability of the proposed algorithm to safely perform the lane change maneuver in different scenarios and for two vehicle models, including a simplified vehicle dynamic model and a high-fidelity IPG CarMaker model. [Display omitted] • A new lane change decision making is proposed considering energy consumption. • An integrated energy-efficient planning and control framework is designed using MPC. • The framework considers safety, comfort, energy consumption, and actuator limitation. • The fuel map of an internal combustion engine is fitted to second-order polynomial. • The obtained polynomial is used in the optimization problem of energy-efficient MPC. • Simulation study for a simple mathematical model and a high-fidelity CarMaker model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]