NATIONAL CENTER FOR
METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH
ANNUAL REPORT
FISCAL YEAR ENDING
JUNE 30, 2000
August 7, 2000
Table of Contents
A. Center Theme................................................................................................. 3
B. Description
of Management Structure.............................................................. 6
C. Description
of Research Programs................................................................. 10
D. Description
of Education Accomplishments.................................................... 18
E. Description
of Technology Transfer Accomplishments.................................... 23
F. List of
Projects.............................................................................................. 29
G. Funding
Sources and Uses............................................................................ 32
H. Appendix...................................................................................................... 34
I. Financial
Status......................................................................... Financial
Section
J. Performance
Indicators............................................................. Financial
Section
A. CENTER
THEME
The theme of the National Center for
Metropolitan Transportation Research (METRANS) is transportation within large
metropolitan areas. METRANS works on
developing and examining solutions to the transportation problems of major
metropolitan areas using an integrated approach that blends engineering,
policy, planning, business administration, and public administration
expertise. Within the context of large
metropolitan areas, METRANS addresses national transportation issues such as
advanced transportation technologies, urban transportation research,
transportation infrastructure technologies, intermodal efficiency, and
transportation and the environment.
METRANS also has the goal to become a national resource for information
on solutions to metropolitan transportation problems.
The Center addresses problems related to
all five of DOT’s Strategic Science and Technology Goals, with focus on the
types of problems that occur within the Southern California region:
Provide a Safer
Transportation System
·
Enhanced safety for the transportation infrastructure, public
transit patrons, drivers and passengers, and pedestrians
Achieve a High Level
of Transportation System Security
·
Safety, security, productivity and survivability of the transportation
infrastructure under natural disasters, such as earthquakes and floods
Improve Environmental
Quality and Energy Efficiency
·
Reduced air pollution impacts of transportation
·
Upgrading United States Immigration and Naturalization Service
(INS) and United States Customs Service (Customs) border operations to enhance
and expedite passenger and cargo processing, thereby reducing air pollution
·
More energy efficient transportation systems
Foster
Economic Growth and Productivity
·
Reduced congestion on highways, rail, shipping and air transport
systems
·
Development of the infrastructure and processes to better support
international trade and transportation industries
Ensure Improved Access
and Increased Mobility
·
Mobility and accessibility for immigrant, disadvantaged, aged and
minority populations
·
Improved logistics through ports and the transportation corridors
serving them
METRANS also directs its work at several
of DOT’s Strategic Partnership Initiatives, with research focused in the
following areas:
·
Enhanced Goods and Freight Movement at Domestic and International
Gateways
·
Accessibility for Aging and Transportation-Disadvantaged
Populations
·
Monitoring, Maintenance and Rapid Renewal of the Physical
Infrastructure
·
Environmental Sustainability of Transportation Systems
·
Smart Vehicles and Operators
·
Physical Infrastructure
Our research directed at these
initiatives also crosses into several other DOT initiatives, such as National
Intelligent Transportation Infrastructure, and Next Generation Motor Vehicles. Research is conducted in these areas as a
means to solve problems in metropolitan areas.
METRANS also serves DOT’s needs in
International and Multidisciplinary Education, and in Mid-Career Training. USC and CSULB are uniquely positioned in
these areas because of their highly diverse and international student bodies,
diverse faculty, excellent facilities, location in the center of the nation’s
dominant region for international trade with Asia, and unique course offerings
and degree programs. For example, USC
has created an inter-disciplinary certificate program in transportation, and
CSULB has an established reputation for professional education in international
trade and port operations.
METRANS complements the two other
University Transportation Centers in California by placing special emphasis on
transportation issues in Southern California, an area encompassing more than 5%
of the nation’s population and the majority of California’s population. This includes study of Southern California’s
major investments in transportation (e.g., goods movement and transit) as well
as the prominent problems of congestion, air pollution, and limited mobility
for disadvantaged populations. In
addition, METRANS’ emphasis on blending technology and policy research, and on
technology transfer, is unique.
METRANS is committed to focusing on
high-priority topics and issues in metropolitan regions. In its first two calls for proposals,
METRANS requested research on methods for improving mass transit and methods
for improving goods movement and logistics.
In its third call for proposals, METRANS added the area of
infrastructure renewal to mass transit and goods movement. Using Southern California as our laboratory,
our goal is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of major transportation
projects, while simultaneously building the human resource capacity to improve
transportation in the United States.
This Annual Report covers the second
year of METRANS’ existence. During
this time, METRANS has made substantial progress in its research, technology
transfer and educational activities, and demonstrated its commitment to
cooperation with Southern California transportation agencies. METRANS has established itself as a truly
interdisciplinary center, operating as a partnership between public and private
universities. Highlights of the
1999/2000 year include:
·
Six research projects have been in progress since summer of 1999
and another seven since January of 2000.
These projects involve 16 faculty and 16 students, working in nine
academic departments
·
Two proposal selection rounds were completed to award funding from
the 99/00 and 00/01 fiscal years. A
total of 18 projects were awarded in these rounds, involving 22 faculty
investigators and more than 20 students.
·
METRANS has awarded five research initiation awards, which are
designed for assistant professors and faculty who are new to
transportation. Nearly half of the
investigators funded by METRANS are new to transportation, and would not be
working in transportation if it were not for UTC funding.
·
METRANS organized and supported several major technology transfer
and outreach events, including the ILWU Townhall workshop (attracting 2000
people), the “Transportation in the 21st Century” conference and exhibition
at the California Science Center, a One DOT Community Building Forum held on
the USC campus, and a center grand opening event.
·
USC student Cenk Caliskan received the outstanding doctoral
dissertation award, including a $5000 prize, from the Council of Logistics
Management, based on an international competition.
·
Nearly 100 Southern California high school students participated
in the “Transportation in the Next Millennium” art contest and exhibition.
·
METRANS has obtained dollar-for-dollar matching funds from
Caltrans. In addition, USC has
committed a cumulative total of $106,950 in matching funds, and an additional
match of $168,050 has been obtained from South Coast Air Quality Management
District, Southern California Association of Governments, Toyota, Boeing,
California Trucking Association, Pacific Maritime Association, Port of Long
Beach, Port of Los Angeles, ILWU, Gateway Cities Partnership, City of Long
Beach, and Long Beach City College.
·
Cooperative research and technology transfer projects have been
initiated with California Department of Transportation, South Coast Air Quality
Management District, Southern California Association of Governments,
Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles Department of
Transportation, Access Services, Los Angeles World Airports, and Los Angeles
Department of Transportation.
B. MANAGEMENT
STRUCTURE
University of Southern California holds the prime grants
that fund METRANS from the US DOT and CALTRANS. Center administration is the responsibility of the USC Principal
Investigator, but all policy matters are jointly decided by USC and CSULB
through the METRANS Executive Committee.
Due to the modest size of the grant, METRANS presently has no full-time
staff members. Instead of full-time
positions, METRANS is organized to leverage available skills at both USC and
CSULB. The total staff commitment was
approximately 1.3 FTE in the 1999/2000 fiscal year, spread among all
administrative positions.
Executive
Committee
The Executive Committee is responsible for all METRANS
project selections (research, education and technology transfer) and for
setting METRANS policies. Membership,
which has not changed since the center’s inception, follows:
·
Dan Barber, Professor of
Public Administration, CSULB
·
Genevieve Giuliano, Professor
of Planning, Policy and Development, USC
·
Randolph Hall, Associate
Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, USC
·
Forrest Harding, Professor of
Business Administration, CSULB
·
Petros Ioannou, Professor of
Electrical Engineering-Systems, USC
·
James Moore, Associate
Professor of Civil Engineering, USC
·
Marianne Venieris, Director
of Center for International Trade and Transportation, CSULB
·
Richard Williams, Professor
of Mechanical Engineering, CSULB
By agreement between USC and CSULB, the executive committee
has four faculty members from each university.
An exception was granted in the case of Marianne Venieris, who is not a
faculty member, but serves in a key position at CSULB in coordinating its
transportation programs. Executive
committee membership is a voluntary (unpaid) service activity.
Director
Randolph Hall, Professor of Industrial
and Systems Engineering at USC, serves as director and principal
investigator. The center director is
responsible for the overall management of METRANS, including reporting,
matching fund solicitation, outreach, publications, education, supervision of
the METRANS Administrator, project management and development of the center
research agenda and requests for proposals/qualifications. The center director is responsible for
chairing meetings of the Executive Committee (joint CSULB/USC) and Advisory
Board. Dr. Hall is also Editor-in-Chief
for the Intelligent Transportation
Systems Journal, and recently edited the Handbook of Transportation Science. Dr. Hall’s other (non-METRANS) activities include teaching,
student advising, research and heading the undergraduate committee in
Industrial and Systems Engineering.
Deputy
Director
Rodman Grimm of CSULB Foundation serves
as Deputy Director. He is responsible
for collecting performance statistics related to CSULB activities, distributing
information to CSULB faculty and students and overseeing the METRANS technology
transfer program. The Deputy Director
works under the direction of the METRANS Director. Mr. Grimm’s other (non-METRANS) activities include marketing and
governmental outreach for the CSULB Foundation.
Associate
Director
To expand activities for CSULB and USC
students, Professor James Moore has been appointed to serve as Associate
Director for Education, beginning in July of 2000. Dr. Moore will be organizing curriculum proposals, internships,
teaching exchanges, field trips and student outreach events. The Associate Director works under the
direction of the METRANS Director. Dr.
Moore is also Associate Professor in Civil Engineering and Public Policy and
Management at USC. He is Director of
the Civil Engineering Department’s graduate program in Transportation
Engineering.
Center
Administrator
Christine Lavoie of USC serves as Center
Administrator. She is responsible for
the day-to-day administration of center activities, reporting to the Center
Director. This has included
coordination of outreach efforts, gathering information needed for annual
reporting, coordination of the proposal review process, operation of the
internship program and identification of matching fund sources. Ms. Lavoie’s other (non-METRANS) activities
include financial management for the Industrial and Systems Engineering
Department.
CSULB Administrator
The
position of CSULB administrator is currently vacant. The position is responsible for the collection of performance
data at CSULB, and for communicating METRANS information to CSULB faculty,
staff and students. The position will
also be responsible for organizing the fall METRANS conference, and for
developing center promotions. The CSULB
Administrator works under the guidance of the Deputy Director and the Center
Administrator. Until April of this year
Ms. Lily Vinh served as CSULB Administrator, at which time her employment in
this position was discontinued.
Promotion
Manager
Marianne Venieris, Director of the CITT (Center for International Trade and Transportation) at CSULB, serves as the Promotion Manager. She is responsible for developing outreach materials and managing the development of the website. She works under the guidance of the Center Administrator. Ms. Venieris’ other (non-METRANS) activities include leadership for CSULB’s certificate programs in global logistics and transportation. Ms. Venieris was not budgeted for the 99/00 fiscal year because the task of developing outreach activities was already finished. She may be involved in future years.
Webmaster
Greg Raitz of CSULB Foundation serves as
webmaster. He is responsible for
developing and maintaining the METRANS web page. The Webmaster initially worked under the direction of the
Promotion Manager. Currently, he is
taking direction from the Center Administrator and Center Director.
Advisory
Board
The Director is forming an Advisory Board (Table 1),
composed of representatives from agencies and companies that participate in
center activities. The advisory board
is used to solicit suggestions for research, to assist in student job
placements, and to assist in outreach and technology transfer activities.
Faculty
Members
METRANS has funded 22 faculty at USC and CSULB, who
are now members of the METRANS Center.
Keeping to METRANS’ interdisciplinary theme, the faculty come from four
branches of engineering (civil, electrical, industrial and mechanical), as well
as business, economics, public policy, planning, and public
administration. These faculty act as
principal investigators on METRANS funded projects, and have responsibility for
overseeing individual research projects.
They also come together periodically to share insights through
coordination meetings and conferences.
Tridib Bannerjee Policy,
Planning & Development USC
Daniel Barber Public
Administration CSULB
Satish Bukkapatnam Industrial
& Systems Engineering USC
Anastasios Chassiakos Engineering Technology CSULB
Maged Dessouky Industrial
& Systems Engineering USC
Michael Driver Business
Administration USC
Genevieve Giuliano Policy,
Planning & Development USC
Peter Gordon Policy,
Planning & Development USC
Lisa Grobar Economics CSULB
Randolph Hall Industrial
& Systems Engineering USC
Petros Ioannou Electrical
Engineering Systems USC
Ken James Electrical
Engineering CSULB
Tim Jordanides Electrical
Engineering CSULB
Behrokh Khoshnevis Industrial
& Systems Engineering USC
Ilias Kosmatopoulos Electrical
Engineering Systems USC
John Kuprenas Civil
Engineering USC
Naj Meshkati Civil
Engineering USC
Emily Parentela Civil
Engineering CSULB
Mansour Rahimi Industrial
& Systems Engineering USC
Paul Ronney Mechanical
Engineering USC
Reza Toossi Mechanical
Engineering CSULB
Richard Williams Mechanical
Engineering CSULB
Table 1. Invitees for METRANS Advisory Committee
|
Name |
Title |
Organization |
|
Richard
DeRock* |
Executive
Director |
Access
Services Incorporated |
|
Gill
Hicks* |
|
ACTA |
|
William
Millar |
President |
APTA |
|
Susan
Coughlin |
Director
& COO |
ATA
Foundation |
|
Lynn
Terry* |
Deputy
Executive Officer |
California
Air Resources Board |
|
Joel
Anderson* |
Executive
Director |
California
Trucking Association |
|
Roy Bushey |
|
Caltrans |
|
Mike
McManus |
District
Director |
Caltrans |
|
Robert
Sassaman* |
District
Director |
Caltrans |
|
Frances
Banerjee* |
General
Manager |
City of
Los Angeles |
|
Paul Teng* |
|
Federal
Highway Administration |
|
Randall
Bolger* |
Managing
Director, Planning & Administration |
Fedex |
|
Hollingsworth |
President/CEO |
Gateway
Cities Partnership, Inc. |
|
Lawrence
Jackson |
President
& General Manager |
Long Beach
Transit |
|
John
Graham |
Chief of
Airport Planning |
Los
Angeles World Airport |
|
David
Solow* |
Chief
Executive Officer |
Metrolink |
|
Julian
Burke |
CEO |
Metropolitan
Transit Authority |
|
Lisa Mills |
CEO |
Orange
County Transportation Authority |
|
Charles
Wallace |
Vice
President Southern California |
Pacific
Maritime Association |
|
Geraldine
Knatz* |
Director
of Planning |
Port of
Long Beach |
|
|
|
|
|
Sid
Robinson |
Director
of Planning and Research |
Port of
Los Angeles |
|
Norm King* |
Executive
Director |
San
Bernardino Association of Governments |
|
Eric
Pahlke* |
Director
of Transportation |
San Diego
Association of Governments |
|
Barry
Wallerstein |
Executive
Director |
South
Coast Air Quality Management District |
|
Mark
Pisano* |
Executive
Director |
Southern
California Association of Governments |
|
Bert
Arillaga* |
Chief,
Service Innovation Division |
U.S.
Department of Transportation |
|
Sandra
Balmir |
|
U.S.
Department of Transportation |
|
M.J.
Fiocco |
Transportation
Specialist |
U.S.
Department of Transportation |
|
Ronald
Knipling |
Chief,
Research Division |
U.S.
Department of Transportation |
|
Michael
Onder* |
|
U.S.
Department of Transportation |
|
Richard
Walker* |
Director |
U.S.
Department of Transportation |
|
Charles
Holland* |
Portfolio
Project Manager |
United
Parcel Service |
|
Greg
Hulsizer |
General
Manager |
California
Private Transportation Company, LP |
·
Confirmed Members
C.
DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH PROGRAMS
METRANS
has now completed three rounds of proposal selection timed as follows:
Timing of METRANS Requests for Proposals
Fiscal Year RFP
Issued Due Date Selections Start
Date
98/99 3/19/1999 4/28/1999 6/1/1999 7/1999 to 9/1999
99/00 7/7/1999 8/11/1999 9/27/199 1/1/00
00/01 2/11/2000 3/17/2000 5/8/2000 8/2000 (expected)
The
second and third RFPs were executed within METRANS’ second fiscal year, with
the funding under the third RFP available at the start of the 2000/2001 fiscal
year. Projects funded in the first two
rounds were underway by January of 2000.
METRANS’ goal has been to make selections within three months after the
RFP is issued. This allows about 5
weeks for proposal preparation, 4 weeks for peer review, and 3 weeks for
compilation of results and communication with the METRANS Executive
Committee. Subsequent delay from
selection to award is largely due to requirements of proposal revision,
assemblage of a complete proposal package for Caltrans, and processing the
awards at Caltrans.
The
first two RFPs restricted proposals to the two focus areas of goods movement
and transit. For the third RFP,
infrastructure renewal was added as a third focus area. A summary of the submitted proposals is
provided below
Summary of Proposals Submitted to METRANS
Number of Proposals by Area
Fiscal Year Proposals $s Requested Goods Transit Infrastructure Multiple
98/99 15 $
808,497 6 8 0 1
99/00 12 $
451,335 6 5 0 1
00/01 17 $
906,370 10 6 1 0
Total 44 $2,166,202 22 19 1 2
The
response to the infrastructure topic was disappointing. Both USC and CSULB have considerable
expertise in this area, especially in seismic analysis of structures and
infrastructure systems. It seems that
investigators were too busy with already funded projects to respond to the METRANS
RFP.
The
selection process is competitive.
Though the success rate has been fairly high (a little more than 50%),
we have been unable to fund all proposals that were recommended for funding by
referees. Nevertheless, in an effort to
fund only the highest quality work, we will expand advertising for the RFP in
the next round, especially on the CSULB campus where the number of responses
has been disappointing. The newly
appointed CSULB METRANS administrator will be given the task of soliciting proposals,
especially among people who have not previously submitted.
As
summarized in the following table, the program remains evenly balanced between
the goods movement and mass transit areas.
Summary of Proposals Awarded by METRANS
Number of Proposals by Area
Fiscal Year Proposals $s Awarded Goods Transit Infrastructure Multiple
98/99 6 $ 294,299 3 2 0 1
99/00 7 $ 324,898 4 3 0 0
00/01 11 $
580,882 5 6 0 0
Total 24 $ 1,200,079 12 11 0 1
In
reference to DOT subject areas, are biggest emphases in the two most recent
selection rounds were in fleet operational management (four projects and
$224,146), intermodal facilities (four projects and $147,280), and
transportation and logistics systems operation and management (three projects
and $108,348). With respect to subject
categories, our biggest emphasis was in transportation system performance (six
projects and more than $300,000). These
subjects are quite consistent with our goods movement and transit focus areas.
With
respect to goals, our largest emphasis has been on economic growth and trade
(four projects and $321,363) and human and natural environment. These are consistent with the goals for
large metropolitan regions, such as Southern California. In terms of enabling research, our largest
emphasis has been on tools for modeling and design (ten projects and
$428,825). Also consistent with our
objectives, our largest modal emphasis has been on transit. Our goods movement projects are split among
the highway, maritime and rail modes, as our effort in this area is highly
intermodal.
As
intended, all projects selected by METRANS are directed toward DOT’s strategic
initiatives:
Enhanced Goods and Freight Movement at
Domestic and International Gateways
·
Grobar and Barber:
An Integrated Approach to Managing Local Container Traffic Growth in the
Long Beach/Los Angeles Port Complex Phase II
·
Hall: Alternative Access and Locations for Air Cargo (00/01)
·
Ioannou and Chassiakos: Dynamic Optimization of Cargo Movements by Trucks in
Metropolitan Areas with Adjacent Ports. (00/01)
·
Kosmatopoulos: Design and Optimization of a Conceptual Automated Yard
Using Overhead Rail Systems. (00/01)
·
Parentela: Developing Risk Model for Commercial Goods Transport
(00/01)
·
Bukkapatnam: Dynamic Coordination Framework for Resource Allocation in
Trucking Operations (99/00)
·
Gordon: Assembling and Processing Freight Shipment Data:
Developing a GIS-Based Origin-Destination Matrix for Southern California
Freight Flows (99/00)
·
James: Non-Invasive Means of Investigating Container Contents for
Customs Agents at Ports (99/00)
·
Jordanides: Use of Robotics and Expert Systems in Improving the
Handling of Containers at the Port Terminals (99/00)
·
Grobar and Barber: Implementing a Statewide Goods Movement Strategy and
Performance Measurement of Goods Movement in California (98/99)
·
Ioannou and Chassiakos: Modeling and Route Guidance of Trucks in Metropolitan
Areas (98/99)
·
Khoshnevis: 3D Virtual and Physical Simulation of Automated Container
Terminal Facilities and Analysis of Impact on In-land Transportation (98/99)
Accessibility for Aging and
Transportation-Disadvantaged Populations
·
Giuliano: Travel Patterns of the Elderly (00/01)
·
Dessouky and Rahimi: A Task Decomposition Model for Dispatchers in Dynamic
Scheduling of Demand Responsive Transit Systems (98/99)
·
Giuliano: The Role of Public Transit in Mobility of Low Income
Households (98/99)
Environmental Sustainability of
Transportation Systems
·
Toossi: Assessment of Hybrid Vehicle Control Strategies in Planning
Future Metropolitan/Urban Transit Systems (00/01)
·
Williams: Solid State Sorption Air Conditioner System for
Containerships and Vehicles. (99/00)
(Phase 2, 00/01)
·
Ronney: Improving Fuel Economy and Emissions Performance of
Commercial Goods Transportation and Mass Transit Vehicles Using Throttleless
Engines (98/99)
Physical
Infrastructure
·
Bannerjee: Freeway Bus Station Area Development: Critical Evaluation
and Design Guidelines. (00/01)
·
Bannerjee: Highway Oriented Transit System (HOTS): A Comprehensive
Land Use-Transportation Strategy to Improve Transit Service Delivery. (99/00)
·
Kuprenas: Identification and Analysis of Local Agency Transit
Project Performance Criteria. (99/00)
Smart
Vehicles and Operators
·
Bukkapatnam and Dessouky: Distributed Architecture for Real-time Coordination in
Transit Networks. (00/01)
·
Meshkati, Rahimi and
Driver: Investigating the Role of Driver
Decision Styles in Highway-Rail Crossing Accidents. (00/01)
Performance
Indicators, Tables 4b and 4c, shows that funding is distributed broadly across
subjects and focus areas.
METRANS
has the goal of supporting cooperative research that involves transportation
agencies and meets the transportation needs of metropolitan agencies. Nearly all projects have received financial
support from Caltrans, and many others have cooperated with local and regional
agencies. Cooperating agencies are
shown below by project:
Bukkapatnam
and Dessouky
Distributed
Architecture for Real-time Coordination in Transit Networks.
Access
Services
Dessouky
and Rahimi
A
Task Decomposition Model for Dispatchers in Dynamic Scheduling
Access
Services
Gordon
Assembling
and Processing Freight Shipment Data: Developing a GIS-Based OD Matrix
Southern
California Association of Governments
Grobar
and Barber
Implementing
a Statewide Goods Movement Strategy and Performance Measurement Southern
California Association of Governments
Hall
Alternative
Access and Locations for Air Cargo (00/01)
Los
Angeles World Airports
Ioannou
and Chassiakos
Dynamic
Optimization of Cargo Movements by Trucks in Metropolitan Areas with Adjacent
Ports.
Los
Angeles Department of Transportation
Ioannou
and Chassiakos
Modeling
and Route Guidance of Trucks in Metropolitan Areas
Los
Angeles Department of Transportation
Kuprenas
Identification
and Analysis of Local Agency Transit Project Performance Criteria.
Caltrans
Division of Mass Transportation
Meshkati,
Rahimi and Driver
Investigating
the Role of Driver Decision Styles in Highway-Rail Crossing Accidents.
Metropolitan
Transportation Authority
Ronney
Improving
Fuel Economy and Emissions Performance of Vehicles
South
Coast Air Quality Management District
Selection Process
METRANS
follows a peer reviewed proposal selection process in which each proposal is
submitted to a minimum of five people for review, drawn from the following
groups:
·
University expert (usually
two people in category)
·
Local transportation agency
expert
·
Caltrans expert
·
US DOT expert
In
the most recent RFP, the following DOT employees (or their designated representatives)
reviewed proposals.
·
Michael Onder, ITS Commercial
Vehicle Operations Program
·
Bert Arillaga, FTA
·
Richard Walker, MARAD
·
FJ Fiocco, Office of
Intermodalism
·
Paul Teng, FHWA
These
DOT representatives were selected because of their expertise and leadership in
goods movement, transit or infrastructure.
A
minimum of three reviews have been returned for each proposal. (For our last
funding round, we are happy to report that we received Caltrans and DOT reviews
for every proposal that was submitted.)
Summarized results of the evaluations are presented to the METRANS
Executive Committee, which makes final selections.
The
RFP for the 2000/2001 fiscal year will follow a similar schedule and format as
the RFP for the 1999/2000 fiscal year.
We expect to issue the RFP in February of 2001, with a March 2001 due
date. Projects will commence in July or
August of 2001.
Research Results
As of
this writing, we have received draft research reports on two of the initial six
projects. These are currently in peer
review. Four more projects from the
initial group of six will be completed at the end of this summer. Results from the two completed projects are
summarized below.
Identification and Analysis of Local Agency Transit Project Performance Criteria
As the public agency responsible for the annual
delivery of over three billion dollars in transportation projects, the
California Department of Transportation has a tremendous responsibility to
effectively manage design and construction.
Unfortunately, just 40% of transit projects have been completed within
the year funding is available. This
METRANS project has accomplished major steps toward the objective of improving
project delivery:
·
A
formal data collection process was created, including identification of data
items to be collected, types of funding, and types of projects.
·
A
data analysis methodology and presentation formats were created, including a
Microsoft Access database file for analysis.
·
Success/hindrance
factors were found from applying the methodology to Caltrans funded
projects. Primary success factors were
“Caltrans Staff Assistance” and “Established Funding Procedure”. Primary hindrances were excessive “bureaucracy”
and poor “local staff assistance”
A process for ongoing data collection and analysis
was provided to the Caltrans Local Project Transit Delivery taskforce.
A Task Decomposition Model
for Dispatchers in Dynamic Scheduling of Demand Responsive Transit Systems
Paratransit service providers are facing challenges to serve increased demand while meeting improved performance expectations. Today, the paratransit market is about a $1 billion industry. In Los Angeles County alone more than 5000 vans and 4200 cabs provide service, generating about 8 million trips per year. Working in cooperation with Access Services, Inc., of Los Angeles County, this research organized, modeled and analyzed a complete paratransit dispatching system, including interaction between human dispatchers with dispatching hardware and software. A Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) model was created to represent the process. This model could be of tremendous benefit to transit operators as a training tool, as it provides a structured mechanism for gradually introducing dispatchers to a full set of duties. The model also has great value for evaluation of software interfaces, as well as for structuring system simulation.
Separately
from METRANS funded research, both USC and CSULB continue to have active
research programs in transportation, as evidenced by our publications,
presentations in conferences and funded research (Section I). Highlights include the recent publication of
the Handbook of Transportation Science,
edited by the METRANS Director. The
handbook provides a compendium of major findings and methods in the science of
transportation design and operation, including chapters written by faculty at
the leading university programs in transportation (e.g., Georgia Institute of
Technology, MIT, Northwestern, University of California at Berkeley, University
of Maryland, University of Montreal, University of Southern California, and
University of Texas). This is a first
of its kind book, documenting scientific aspects of transportation research.
METRANS
faculty have also published in a variety of journals, including ITS Journal, Journal of Transport Geography,
Journal of Urban Design, Public Works Management and Policy, Transit Policy,
Transportation Research, Transportation Research Record and Urban Studies.
The
Center Director has also been appointed as editor-in-chief for the Intelligent Transportation Systems Journal. Many of the projects funded by METRANS have
an ITS element, and the journal will provide an outlet for publication of their
peer-reviewed research. We have also
solicited papers from other UTC Centers on ITS related topics. Lastly, the association between METRANS and
ITS Journal will provide a mechanism for promoting the UTC program among the
broader research community.
Other
Research Activities
The
following provides the status of other research activities identified in the
METRANS Strategic Plan:
·
Metrans has held three research coordination meetings at which
100% of research projects were represented.
These meetings have allowed investigators to share their research plans
and to coordinate their work with other investigators working in similar areas.
·
The first annual METRANS research conference was held in November
of 1999, and was attended by more the 80 people, including most of the METRANS
investigators as well as students, representatives from local transportation
agencies, and the media. The conference
included a full day of presentations by faculty and industry professionals, and
was accompanied by exhibits from 15 organizations. A second annual conference will be held in November of 2000.
·
The METRANS Administrator continues to identify transportation
funding sources, and has advertised these to faculty at CSULB and USC. In addition, the METRANS web page has been
designed to link to 24 agencies that fund transportation research.
D.
DESCRIPTION OF EDUCATION ACCOMPLISHMENTS
METRANS has initiated a range of
educational activities, with particular emphasis on student involvement in
research projects. We have also
organized events to reach-out to pre-college students, including a very
successful competition among Los Angeles County high school students.
As a reflection of the quality
of students involved in METRANS, this year, Cenk Caliskan (a Ph.D. graduate in
Industrial and Systems Engineering at USC) was honored to receive the Council
of Logistics Management outstanding doctoral dissertation award. The award is based on an international
competition for the most important contribution to logistics and related fields
through doctoral research, and includes a cash prize of $5,000. Dr. Caliskan will receive the award at a
special ceremony during the Council of Logistics Management’s annual meeting
this September in New Orleans.
METRANS
participated in the UTC “outstanding student award” program in 2000, as it did
in 1999. Jennifer Bailey, a masters
student in the CSULB Department of Economics, was selected by a joint CSULB/USC
committee. She has served as a research
assistant in a project led by Lisa Grobar, a faculty member in economics at
CSULB. She was also recipient of the Wallace Atherton Award for outstanding
graduating senior in economics from CSULB.
In
addition, METRANS made student involvement an explicit criterion in making
research awards in our RFP. As a
result, all projects have had significant student participation (some
undergraduate, some graduate and some both).
Investigators have furthermore been encouraged to budget for student
presentations at conferences, such as the Transportation Research Board annual
meeting.
Pre-College Events
One
of the exciting activities in the 1999/2000 year was the “Transportation in the
Next Millennium” art competition.
METRANS solicited funding from Toyota, Southern California Association
of Governments, California Trucking Association and Boeing to fund a special 3-day
exposition at the California Science Center, an awards ceremony and $2400 in
prize money. UTC funding provided
administrative support for the competition, including mailing announcements to
all LA County high schools, processing nearly 100 entries, judging the entries,
notifying contestants of the outcome and organizing the ceremony and
exposition. The Art Center College of
Design (the leading college for transportation design in the United States)
assisted in judging, and also contributed scholarships for the winners.
The
award ceremony attracted nearly 100 people, including winners and their
families, teachers, general public and representatives from sponsoring
organizations. Students were exposed to
careers in transportation, as well as educational opportunities from high
school to college through presentations from Honda, Congressman Dixon’s office,
Art Center College of Design, PATH, Cypress Junior College and the
transportation academy at Locke High School.
Photographs of prizewinners are posted on the METRANS web site.
In
addition, as mentioned under Technology Transfer, a variety of transportation
exhibits were provided for visitors to the California Science Center, whose
primary audience is pre-college students.
These exhibits were open over a 3-day period in November of 1999.
Continuing Education Programs
These are described
in the technology transfer section under technical training.
Field Experiences
Field experiences are a routine part of
transportation engineering courses offered at USC and CSULB. There are many opportunities for unique site
visits in Southern California, including technology facilities, such as
Caltrans District 7's Transportation Management Center (TMC) and the Caltrans
District 12 TMC; the Los Angeles County Department of Transportation (LADoT)
Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control (ATSAC) Center; the California
Private Transportation Company's (CPTC) fully electronic State Route 91 Express
lanes and the Transportation Corridor Agencies' (TCA) system of Orange County
toll roads; and the Partnership for Advanced Transit and Highways' (PATH)
technology test bed facility at UC Irvine, the City of Irvine, the City of
Anaheim, and Santa Ana. Southern
California also includes specialized transportation facilities such as
commuter, heavy, and light rail systems; the El Monte busway and the Harbor
transitway, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and the Alameda
corridor.
Opportunities to visit these facilities
and discuss problems and objectives with associated professionals and officials
contribute considerable depth to transportation education and research. METRANS will serve as a clearinghouse for
field experiences associated with USC and CSULB classes and research, ensuring
that faculty and students participating in METRANS sponsored research have
maximum access to these facilities.
Further, METRANS will alert funded and other teaching faculty to
opportunities for site visits, and will provide assistance in organizing site
visits. Recognizing the need for more
effort in organizing these trips, James Moore II has been appointed Associate
Director for Education, and will be greatly expanding these efforts in the
coming year.
USC transportation engineering and
transportation planning undergraduates consistently participate in the
California Transportation Foundation's (CTF) annual Transportation Education
Symposium. The Fall, 1999 Symposium was
held at the UCLA conference facility at Lake Arrowhead. The 1999 USC attendees were Rohit Gupta
(Civil Engineering and Industrial and Systems Engineering) and David Dammeirer
(Civil Engineering). USC's Fall, 2000
attendees will likely include one engineering student and one urban planning
student. USC has requested that the CTF
include CSULB in its annual solicitation of participants.
Institute
for Transportation Engineers Student Chapter:
The Institute for Transportation
Engineers (ITE) has agreed to the formation of a student chapter at the
University of Southern California.
Prof. Moore will serve as the faculty advisor. External groups such as the Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS)
have requested a point of contact for USC students involved in
transportation. Students have indicated
a desire to see a student transportation organization formed. ITE focuses on traffic problems relevant to
transportation planning and transportation engineering. The ITE student chapter will help meet the
objectives of students from multiple schools within USC, and the objectives of
professional organizations interested in encouraging students to enter the
transportation professions.
MERIT Research Program
Every year, a select group of promising
incoming freshmen are invited by USC School of Engineering faculty to work on
projects in their research laboratories or in the field. These student researchers actively
participate in the development of new technology throughout their undergraduate
years. In addition to giving students
excellent first-hand research experience, this program can help offset the cost
of education. Each participant earns an
annual stipend for their work. The
School of Engineering currently provides a stipend of $2000; $1500 as wages and
$500 for research expenditures. This renewable award is separate from other financial
assistance offered by the University.
These undergraduate Merit Research Scholars are
brought to the attention of USC faculty based on the student's interests and
the faculty member's willingness to participate in the Merit research
program. USC engineering faculty funded
by METRANS are encouraged to participate in the Merit Research Program. Funded METRANS projects and lists of
investigators are forwarded to the Office Student Affairs in the School of
Engineering to ensure that prospective students know these research projects
are available to them. In the coming year, James Moore II will act as a liaison to encourage
placement of MERIT Scholars in transportation projects.
Administrative Support for Faculty:
In an
effort to leverage DOT funding, the METRANS Administrator provides support to
faculty as needed with budgets and processing of information for proposals
within the university systems. Also,
she assists with proposal preparation in the NSF Fastlane system. And she has collected and distributed
information on funding opportunities.
These activities are enabled in part through funding by USC, which pays
40% of the Administrator’s salary.
Student Competition Support
The
METRANS Administrator has compiled opportunities and will continue advertising
them, both by email to identified students and by advertisement on the METRANS
web site. The outstanding doctoral
dissertation award for Cenk Caliskan is in part a result of this effort.
Three
USC graduate students received scholarships from the Los Angeles Chapter of the
Women's Transportation Seminar in November of 1999:
·
Stephanie (Tess) Roberts,
Master of Planning (MPl) candidate, School of Policy, Planning and Development;
Graduate Certificate in Transportation Systems
·
Yueyue Fan, PhD Student,
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
·
Falan Guan, PhD Candidate,
School of Policy, Planning, and Development
USC
is eligible to participate in the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research
(PEER) Center's Undergraduate Earthquake Engineering Scholars Course. This a competitive program in which a small
number of senior undergraduate students from PEER's core and associate member
institutions visit four PEER universities for lectures on various aspects of
earthquake engineering problems.
Students receive directed research credit at their home institutions for
this experience. As the 1999 host
institution for the public policy lecture in this series, USC elected to focus
on the earthquake risks incident to transportation systems and how these risks
might be better managed. Students
received their lectures from faculty members sponsored by METRANS and
others. USC's student participants in
the Fall, 1999 PEER course were Rohit Gupta (Civil and Industrial and Systems
Engineering), Kirsten McKay (Civil Engineering) and Pat Wilson (Civil
Engineering).
Doctoral Student
Lecture Positions at CSULB
USC
is a research institution with multiple missions. One important mission for the University of Southern California
is training and education of doctoral students intending to become faculty
members. The School of Policy,
Planning, and Development and the Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering at USC have previously teamed with the School of Social Ecology and
the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of
California at Irvine to provide lectureship opportunities for each other's
senior graduate students.
The
USC/CSULB METRANS partnership provides an excellent opportunity to extend this
approach. METRANS will enhance
opportunities for advanced doctoral candidates at USC working in areas related
to transportation policy and transportation engineering to acquire collegiate
and graduate teaching experience as lecturers in CSULB's Department of Civil
Engineering, in the Graduate Center for Public Policy and Administration, and
the University College's Center for International Trade and
Transportation. Students selected for
this experience must have passed their PhD qualifying examination, be making
satisfactory progress on their doctoral dissertations, and have a professed
interest in a faculty career. James Moore II
will be coordinating placement of students in the coming year.
Degree Programs and Courses
Both
USC and CSULB experienced growth in most measures of student involvement in
transportation, including courses taken, degrees offered and students involved
in transportation projects. In the last
year, 172 students were involved in transportation projects, either as an
employed research assistant or as a directed research project. This represents a 15% growth over the prior
year. Although the number of course
offerings in transportation declined somewhat, student interest has increased,
as reflect in a 41% growth in students completing transportation courses. More importantly, the number of students
enrolled in transportation degree programs grew by 111%, and the number of
graduates grew by 16%. Next year, an
even larger growth should be experienced in graduates, as the new enrollees
receive their diplomas.
Graduates
from the degree programs are highly diverse.
47% of domestic graduates were non-Hispanic white, 38% were
Asian/pacific islander, 16% were Hispanic and 4% were African American.
E.
DESCRIPTION OF TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER ACCOMPLISHMENTS
CSULB
is in the process of preparing a detailed technology transfer plan. In the meantime, some of METRANS technology
transfer activities have been placed on hold.
The following provides a status report:
Technical Training:
CSULB offers a series of industry driven training programs through the University College and Extension Services/ CITT. The Global Logistics Specialist (GLS â) professional designation is the foundation of a spectrum of programs to cover the industry's training/education needs. It is designed to set a professional standard for the international trade logistics industry and, as such, is aimed at foreign traders and all stakeholders involved in the movement of cargo around the world. This includes both asset-based companies (ocean carriers, rail, trucking and warehousing) and non-asset based companies (freight forwarders, customs house broker, consolidators, etc.). In an industry/university partnership, the curriculum is designed to provide broad based, hands-on training for individuals involved in, or entering any part of the logistics chain. Carefully selected topics have been grouped into five core modules that will be offered within a one year time frame one night per week from 6:30 - 9:30 PM at CSULB's World Trade Center offices in Long Beach. Each module contains up-to-date, practical information delivered through innovative hands-on instruction making the program a unique training concept in this industry. After successfully completing all five modules, the participant will earn a professional designation and be a Global Logistics Specialist.
Additionally the CITT offers a Logistics Update
seminar series and HazMat training programs at the CSULB's World Trade Center
offices in Long Beach and at company workplaces.
Workshops
For the second year in a row, USC has co-sponsored a transportation workshop in cooperation with the local roundtable of Council for Logistics Management (CLM). The theme of our 2000 workshop was “Keeping Score: Measuring the Business Value of Logistics in the Supply Chain”, and included presentations from a team of researchers from University of Tennessee and Computer Science Corporation.
USC also hosed the Earthquake Engineering Scholars Course on Public Policy, in association with the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center and CALTRANS. The theme of the workshop was effects of earthquakes on transportation infrastructure
ILWU Town Hall Meeting
With sponsorship from METRANS, CITT and the
International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) staged the second annual “ILWU State of the Trade and
Transportation Industry Town Hall Meeting,” titled “Mechanization & Modernization:
A Tradition in Partnerships”, at the Long Beach Performing Arts
Center in Long Beach California. The audience consisted of about 85% rank
and file ILWU members and 15% other trade and transportation stakeholders,
including management personnel from the Ports of Long Beach and Los
Angeles. Total attendance was about
2,000, with approximately 1,700 permanent and casual rank and file members of
the three ILWU locals. This event had
the full commitment and support of the local union leadership.
To ensure strong ILWU
attendance, the Town Hall Meeting was set for Thursday, April 6, 2000 as
a full stop-work meeting for the second shift. The ILWU requested one of the contractually agreed stop-work
provisions for the second shift and the membership forfeited their pay for the
April 6th second shift. The CITT received full
support of and financial sponsorships from the ILWU Locals #13, #63, and #94 leadership, the Pacific Maritime
Association (PMA), and the executive directors of the Ports of Los Angeles and
Long Beach. Furthermore, the event was
endorsed by the board of directors of thirteen trade associations and was open
and free of charge to anyone in the trade and transportation industry.
The theme of the event was the
commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of the landmark Mechanization and
Modernization (M&M) Agreement of 1960 between the ILWU and the Pacific
Maritime Association that paved the way for the introduction of
containerization and intermodalism.
This agreement fueled geometric growth in throughput in the combined
Ports of Los Angeles-Long Beach. The
emphasis was on the importance of implementing new technology to coordinate and
effectively improve the logistics pipeline of seaport-bound intermodal goods
movement. Specifically, it explored how
longshore labor will react to the new age of technology.
A key component of the program was a
video production that combined a historical retrospective of the events
culminating in the adoption of the (M&M) Agreement with a prospective look
at the second wave of information technology sweeping the waterfront, driven by
shipper requirements and consumer demand. The title of the video is, “A Legacy of Partnerships: The Challenge of
the Waterfront in the New Century.”
To complement the message and images of the video, an exhibit of
historical photos was displayed in the theatre’s foyer.
The event had a town hall orientation designed to
both provide information and an opportunity for an open-microphone experience
to a membership. The emphasis was on
the importance of implementing new technology to coordinate and effectively
improve the logistics pipeline of seaport-bound intermodal goods movement. This increased individual ILWU members’
awareness of their importance as stakeholders with critical responsibilities
for intermodal freight movement in the global supply chain. It also provided ILWU members with an
understanding of the impact of their job performance and productivity upon the
flow of trade and its increasing interdependence with the well-being of the
regional economy.
The outcome of the event was a full success by any
measure. It brought together a
cross-section of the ILWU rank and file and industry professionals to educate
them on the need for collaboration between the stakeholders and the need for
devising a plan to deal with the projected exponential growth volumes in
containerized goods. There were 618
valid responses to the event survey, the result of which was very positive in
terms of perceived value to the audience and support for continuation of the
Annual Town Hall series.
The ILWU State of the Trade and Transportation
Industry Town Hall Meetings have been praised by union members, management and
Long Beach and Los Angeles Port officials.
In addition these Town Hall Meetings have had the effect of leveraging
other important transportation projects.
The first annual ILWU State of the Trade and Transportation Industry
Town Hall Meeting occurred in
February 1999. The message and theme of
the town hall meeting was, “Global connectivity and collective responsibility
for future growth, economic well-being, and job security in the ports of Los
Angeles and Long Beach”. It was a history-making
event that attracted more that 1,500 participants in the spirit of education.
As a direct follow-up activity, California State University, Long Beach ("CSULB") has assembled a university/community/industry team to develop a national demonstration project known as the CSULB, INS and Customs Inspection Technology Infrastructure Project. This project will significantly enhance the inspection operations of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the United States Customs Service (Customs) at ports throughout the United States. It will demonstrate an unobtrusive modular approach to the improvement of the INS and Customs information infrastructure that is integral to the operations of ports throughout the United States. The project will utilize advanced sensing technologies for automated container inspection that will enable Customs and INS to more accurately assess container location and content and improve targeting of selected containers for manual inspection. The project will select and deploy appropriate sensors as part of an integrated, automated system for inspection that will permit effective detection of human beings attempting to illegally enter or leave the United States via containers. The project is intended to have a force multiplying effect to maximize the use of current personnel. Once these prototype systems are deployed and proven, they can be installed throughout the United States.
When the project was in its formulative stages, the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles were extremely reluctant to participate, due to fears of ILWU opposition due to potential loss of jobs. However, because the Town Hall Meetings indicated that the ILWU might be receptive to new technologies, port management decided to consider participation in the project. Port management determined that the project not only had merit, but that it would not harm labor – management relations. Both the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles subsequently decided not only to host and participate in the project, but also to assist in requesting funding from the California Congressional Delegation. This would not have happened without the METRANS Town Hall Meetings.
As
presently envisioned, the Project will be led by CSULB and conducted at the
Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. The Port of Los Angeles, the
Port of Long Beach and the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority are strong
supporters of the proposed Project.
Other key state and local officials have expressed interest and
support. INS, Customs and the
Department of Transportation Maritime Administration ("MARAD") are
also supportive and will be active Project participants.
The Congress is currently seriously considering the possibility of providing funding for the CSULB, INS and Customs Inspection Technology Infrastructure Project in the fiscal year 2001 appropriations process. There is an opportunity at this critical time and place in our nation’s history to speed the commerce of the world, drastically reduce illegal immigration and significantly reduce the smuggling of illegal commodities. None of these opportunities would have been created without METRANS UTC and the participation of the Port of Long Beach, the Port of Los Angeles, and ILWU in the Town Hall Meetings.
Outreach
Events
METRANS held a major 3-day outreach
event at the California Science Center in November of 1999 to provide a vision
for transportation in the next millennium.
In addition to the professional conference (attended by 80 people on the
first day of the event), transportation exhibits were provided by 15
organizations, on topics such as alternative fueled vehicles, truck safety,
transportation design, and automated highways.
The event was also the venue for the student art exhibition, awards
ceremony and presentations on transportation career opportunities (described
under education). All activities
(other than the conference) were open free-of-charge to the general public
attending the California Science Center.
The event, along with the art competition, were made possible by UTC
support (for event administration), and donations of $18,000 from USC, Toyota,
Southern California Association of Governments, Boeing and California Trucking
Association.
In spring of 2000, METRANS supported DOT
by hosting the Southern California “One DOT Community Building Forum” on the
USC campus. The METRANS Administrator,
as well as students, provided logistical support, including registrations and coordination
of meeting activities. The METRANS
Director provided introductory remarks as well as a presentation on goods
movement activities in Southern California.
In spring of 2000, METRANS also
participated in the TRB National Conference on Global Intermodal Freight, held
in Long Beach. METRANS mounted a booth
to exhibit research activities in the area of goods movement and international
trade. Marianne Venieris, METRANS
Executive Committee member, also acted a co-organizer for the labor and
technology plenary panel.
Finally, METRANS held a grand opening
event in September of 1999 to celebrate the initiation of METRANS. A reception was provided for 100 people,
along with presentations from US DOT, Caltrans, Southern California Association
of Governments, USC and CSULB.
Research
Project Selection
Three of the selected research projects
have clear commercialization potential.
·
Williams: Solid State Sorption Air Conditioner System for
Containerships and Vehicles. (99/00)
(Phase 2, 00/01)
·
Ronney: Improving Fuel Economy and Emissions Performance of
Commercial Goods Transportation and Mass Transit Vehicles Using Throttleless
Engines (98/99)
·
Khoshnevis: 3D Virtual and Physical Simulation of Automated Container
Terminal Facilities and Analysis of Impact on In-land Transportation (98/99)
One project is developing a new air
conditioning technology, another is creating a new engine technology and a
third is creating a method storing and processing containers in terminals. All projects are creating prototypes that we
hope to see used in actual transportation in the future.
Website
The METRANS website is fully
operational. In addition to required
listings of projects and center personnel, users can download the METRANS
strategic plan and annual report, obtain information on recent events, identify
educational programs in transportation and link to 120 sources of
transportation information. In
particular, we have sought out organizations that find funding for
transportation research, student internships, student awards and professional
organizations, and provided links to their webpages. In the coming year, the website will be enhanced in a variety of
ways, including project report downloads, a bulletin board for discussion on
transportation topics, and directories of faculty, students and courses.
Commercialization
Project
METRANS has funded one technology
commercialization projects, which is just getting underway. The project falls in our goods movement
focus area. The objective of the project
is to design and develop a system of staggered guide vanes, placed on the top
and sides of trucks and trailers near their rear ends for reducing their
overall drag. Previous investigation on
placing a top spoiler on a passenger van has shown that it increases the base
pressure of the van and reduces its overall drag. The present proposal implements this concept by applying the
guide vanes near the rear ends of trucks and trailers to direct the flow toward
the back of these vehicles and thus reduces the area of flow separation.
Reduction in the drag will result in reduction in fuel consumption, which is
beneficial both economically and environmentally. Experimental and numerical
investigations of the effects of optimized top and side guide vanes placed near
the rear end of the trailer of a truck are underway.
Project
Reports
Two draft project reports have been
submitted and others are in preparation.
When completed, these will be posted on the METRANS website and
distributed to US DOT, Caltrans and interested parties.
Research
Summaries
In the coming year, we will develop
integrated summaries of research findings by topic area, post these on the
METRANS website and distribute these to interested parties.
F. LIST
OF PROJECTS
The following lists new and ongoing
research projects in METRANS. Complete
project descriptions can be found on the METRANS web site at www.metrans.org.
New Projects:
Research
Project
Number: 99-18
Research Project: Identification and Analysis
of Local Agency Transit Project Performance Criteria
Project
Number: 99-19
Research Project: Solid State Sorption Air Condition System for Containerships and Vehicles
Project
Number: 99-20
Research
Project: Use of Robotics and Expert Systems in Improving the
Handling Containers at the Port Terminals
Project
Number: 99-22
Research Project: Highway Oriented Transit System
(HOTS): A Comprehensive Land Use-Transportation Strategy to Improve Transit
Service Delivery
Project
Number: 99-23
Research Project: Non-Invasive Means of
Investigating Container Contents for Customs Agents at Port
Project
Number: 99-25
Research
Project: Assembling and Processing Freight Shipment Data: Developing a GIS-Based Origin-Destination
Matrix for Southern California Freight Flows
Project
Number: 99-27
Research Project: Dynamic Coordination Framework for Resource Allocation
in Trucking Operations
Project
Number: 00-3
Research Project: Alternative Access and Locations for Air Cargo
Project
Number: 00-5
Research
Project: Developing
Risk Model for Commercial Goods Transport
Project
Number: 00-6
Research Project: Assessment of Hybrid Vehicle
Control Strategies in Planning Future Metropolitan/Urban Transit Systems
Project
Number: 00-7
Research Project: Solid
State Sorption Air Conditioner System for Containerships and Vehicles
Phase II
Project
Number: 00-8
Research
Project: Travel
Patterns of the Elderly
Project
Number: 00-11
Research
Project: Investigating the Role of Driver Decision Styles in
Highway-Rail Crossing Accidents
Project
Number: 00-12
Research Project: Freeway Bus Station Area Development: Critical Evaluation and Design Guidelines
Project
Number: 00-13
Research Project: Distributed Architecture for Real-Time Coordination in Transit Networks
Project
Number: 00-15
Research
Project: Dynamic Optimization of Cargo Movement by Trucks in
Metropolitan Area with Adjacent Ports
Project
Number: 00-16
Research
Project: Design and Optimization of a Conceptual Automated Yard
Using Overhead Grid Rail System
Project
Number: 00-17
Research
Project: An
Integrated Approach to Managing Local Container Traffic Growth in the Long
Beach/Los Angeles Port Complex Phase II
Technology Transfer
Project
Number: 07-221300
Research Project: Reducing Drag of Road Vehicles
by Installing Staggered Guide Vanes
Ongoing Projects:
Project
Number: 99-3
Research
Project: A Task Decomposition Model for Dispatchers in Dynamic
Scheduling of Demand Responsive Transit Systems
Project
Number: 99-5
Research
Project: Improving Fuel Economy and Emissions Performance of
Commercial Goods Transportation and Mass Transit Vehicles Using Throttleless
Engines
Project
Number: 99-7
Research Project: Modeling and Route Guidance of Trucks in Metropolitan
Area
Project Number: 99-10
Research
Project: Implementing a Statewide Goods Movement Strategy and
Performance Measurement of Good Movement in California
Project
Number: 99-11
Research Project: The Role of Public Transit in Mobility of Low Income
Households
Project
Number: 99-14
Research
Project: 3D Virtual and Physical Simulation of Automated Container
Terminal Facilities and Analysis of Impact on In-Land Transportation
Completed Projects:
None
G. FUNDING
SOURCES AND USES
This
section reports on cumulative budgeted expenses and income for the first two
years of METRANS’ existence (1998 – 2000).
METRANS received $1,348,200 in total funding during this period. 40% of funds have come from U.S. Department
of Transportation, and an equal match amount has come from California
Department of Transportation. METRANS has
obtained additional funding from a variety of state/local government, industry
and other (organized labor) sources in support of research projects and
technology transfer events. 8% of
funding has come via cost-share from the University of Southern California. $1.50 in matching funds has been obtained
for each dollar of federal funding.
Funding Uses
The
primary use of METRANS funds has been for research, accounting for 56% of total
expenditures. METRANS administrative
expenses have amounted to 26% of the total.
This percentage includes administrative expenses associated with
mounting events and contests, administrative support for educational and
technology transfer activities, preparation of the strategic plan and
maintenance of the METRANS web site.
Administrative expenses will decline as a percentage of the total in
future years, likely to below 20%. The
third largest expenditure category has been technology transfer. Although educational expenses have been a
modest 2%, student salaries account for the largest expense category in
research projects. METRANS is meeting
educational needs through student involvement in projects.
Please
refer to Section I of the financial section of the report for additional detail
on expenditures and income.
H. APPENDIX