April Gray

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The National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) recently hosted its Seventh International Symposium on Naturalistic Driving Research. Transportation researchers, practitioners, and other experts from around the world gathered in Blacksburg, Va. in August to share advancements being made in international driving safety. “This year’s symposium brought together […]

Media contacts: Tanya Sheres 571-335-3511 tsheres@transurban.com Anne Deekens 540-231-1548 adeekens@vtti.vt.edu Vendors to submit technologies for a chance to undergo real-world testing Transurban has invested $400,000 in a partnership with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) to launch the Motorcycle Technology Evaluation Challenge (MotoTEC). Motorcyclist fatalities nationwide increased five percent from 2015 to 2016, accounting for […]

This press release in its original form was written and published by the National Institutes of Health. Read the original press release here. NIH study uses software and cameras to monitor teen driving behaviors. Teenage drivers are eight times more likely to be involved in a collision or near miss during the first three months […]

The National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) will host the Seventh International Symposium on Naturalistic Driving Research (NDRS 2018) at The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center in Blacksburg, Virginia on August 28-30, 2018. Naturalistic driving experts, faculty, students, and the public are invited to […]

About automated vehicles If designed well, automated vehicles have considerable potential for reducing congestion, increasing safety, and providing new transportation solutions for people who currently cannot drive. This study is one of many being conducted to determine how best to design automated vehicles. This study is investigating the potential need for additional exterior signals on […]

In addition to causing headaches, traffic congestion costs drivers and legislators time, money, and environmental resources. To address this issue, researchers at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute have developed an award-winning automatic congestion identification model that can map and calculate the impact of weather and road visibility on traffic.

Researchers in the institute’s Center for Sustainable Mobility recently received the best paper award for this model at the Second International Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems in Rome, Italy. The team included Mohammed Elhenawy, postdoctoral associate; Hesham Rakha, center director; and Hao Chen, research associate.

Their model will allow intelligent transportation systems to account for weather and visibility factors in automatic congestion identification. While most studies conducted to date typically rely on traffic speed, flow, and occupancy to predict and identify traffic issues, little research into the impact of weather on freeway traffic operations existed prior to the transportation institute study.

“The tool developed in this research is unique in a number of ways,” Rakha explained. “First, it uses statistical techniques to identify congested conditions as opposed to arbitrary cut-off speeds. Second, the algorithm is the first to account for weather and visibility conditions in computing the cut-off speed. Finally, the tool is being integrated with a bottleneck identification system to identify bottlenecks along freeways so that measures can be taken to mitigate the identified bottlenecks.”

The model created pinpoints the time and location of weather-related congestion, an important step towards better managing traffic problems in a cost-effective way.

With their algorithm, researchers at the institute used speed probe data along with weather and visibility conditions to build a transferable model for use on any road stretch. They analyzed data sets from major highways in Virginia, Texas, and California: Interstate 66 eastbound, U.S. 75 northbound, and Interstate 15 southbound, respectively. For each roadway segment, average speeds or travel times were collected every minute in real time and categorized by traffic flow.

Then, the team calculated speed distribution via a combination of components; the mean of each component was defined using different weather conditions and visibility levels as predictors. For instance, a vehicle’s cut-off speed was found to increase as the level of visibility on the road increased.

The research was funded by the Federal Highway Administration and the Mid-Atlantic University Transportation Center.

In addition to causing headaches, traffic congestion costs drivers and legislators time, money, and environmental resources. To address this issue, researchers at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute have developed an award-winning automatic congestion identification model that can map and calculate the impact of weather and road visibility on traffic.

Researchers in the institute’s Center for Sustainable Mobility recently received the best paper award for this model at the Second International Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems in Rome, Italy. The team included Mohammed Elhenawy, postdoctoral associate; Hesham Rakha, center director; and Hao Chen, research associate.

Their model will allow intelligent transportation systems to account for weather and visibility factors in automatic congestion identification. While most studies conducted to date typically rely on traffic speed, flow, and occupancy to predict and identify traffic issues, little research into the impact of weather on freeway traffic operations existed prior to the transportation institute study.

“The tool developed in this research is unique in a number of ways,” Rakha explained. “First, it uses statistical techniques to identify congested conditions as opposed to arbitrary cut-off speeds. Second, the algorithm is the first to account for weather and visibility conditions in computing the cut-off speed. Finally, the tool is being integrated with a bottleneck identification system to identify bottlenecks along freeways so that measures can be taken to mitigate the identified bottlenecks.”

The model created pinpoints the time and location of weather-related congestion, an important step towards better managing traffic problems in a cost-effective way.

With their algorithm, researchers at the institute used speed probe data along with weather and visibility conditions to build a transferable model for use on any road stretch. They analyzed data sets from major highways in Virginia, Texas, and California: Interstate 66 eastbound, U.S. 75 northbound, and Interstate 15 southbound, respectively. For each roadway segment, average speeds or travel times were collected every minute in real time and categorized by traffic flow.

Then, the team calculated speed distribution via a combination of components; the mean of each component was defined using different weather conditions and visibility levels as predictors. For instance, a vehicle’s cut-off speed was found to increase as the level of visibility on the road increased.

The research was funded by the Federal Highway Administration and the Mid-Atlantic University Transportation Center.

Blacksburg, Va., June 1, 2016 – Students interested in the field of transportation will have a unique opportunity to interact first-hand with industry researchers and professionals during the inaugural Women in Transportation Seminar – The Future of Transportation, Aug. 31 – Sept. 1 at the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center, Blacksburg, Va.

The seminar will be hosted by the recently ratified Virginia Tech student chapter of the Women’s Transportation Seminar and will feature a poster dash workshop and presentations, panel discussions, speaker seminars, and a speed mentoring session. Keynote presentations will be made by Deborah Hersman, president and chief executive officer of the National Safety Council; and Ann Brach, director of the Technical Activities Division of the Transportation Research Board, a division of the National Academy of Sciences.

“This seminar is a down payment on the future of transportation safety,” Hersman said. “I look forward to engaging with the next generation of champions whose work will save lives and prevent injuries on our roads and rails, in our skies and throughout our waterways.”

Hersman’s keynote address will focus on “Five Leadership Lessons – How You Learn from Crashes, Collapses and Chaos.” She is a recognized leader in safety and helps further the National Safety Council goal of “making our world safer” to improve every workplace, home, and community, as well as the way citizens travel every day. Prior to joining the council, Hersman served as chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

“Our goal during this seminar is to inspire the next generation of transportation researchers and leaders,” said Brach. “The ability to come together in this type of collaborative setting and to really see how these students can help shape the future of transportation is energizing.”

Brach will be discussing “Doing Great Things: Myths, Partial Truths, and What It Really Takes” during the seminar. In her current role, she has overall responsibility for the Technical Activities Division in support of an array of federal, state, local, and private-sector sponsors. These activities include the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, conferences and workshops, a peer-reviewed journal, and other products and services that advance the knowledge and practice of transportation. Brach previously served as director of the Second Strategic Highway Research Program at the Transportation Research Board.

During the seminar, a poster dash workshop will be held during which selected student posters will be presented briefly in a roundtable setting. Student presenters will then be able to initiate a discussion about their topic of interest with attendees, including the keynote speakers and expert panelists. The workshop is designed to help foster creative discussion among participants and allows for a deeper dialogue. Following the workshop, a poster presentation session will be held.

Students will have another opportunity to engage with seminar panelists and keynote speakers during a mentoring session on Sept. 1. The session is designed to be an engaging, fast-paced event, wherein students have the opportunity to have brief, directed, mentoring sessions with keynote speakers, panelists, and industry professionals.

Student poster abstracts may be submitted until June 17. Examples of abstract topics can include transportation safety, infrastructure sustainability, advanced vehicle systems, human factors, and urban planning and policy. As an inclusive organization, the Women’s Transportation Seminar welcomes all students—both Virginia Tech and non-Virginia Tech students of all genders—to attend the seminar and submit poster abstracts. More information about abstract submission, as well as student and professional registration, may be found on the Women in Transportation Seminar website.

The seminar is being held as part of the Fifth International Symposium on Naturalistic Driving Research, which will be held Aug. 30 – 31 at the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center. The naturalistic driving symposium will provide researchers and practitioners with an overview of international naturalistic driving studies and insight into the future of such research. Attendees will also have the opportunity to interact with panelists to discuss naturalistic driving in their respective countries. Symposium keynote speakers are Ron Medford, safety director for the Google Self-Driving Car team; and Bruce Simons-Morton, associate director for prevention and senior investigator in the Division of Intramural Population Health Research at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Registration and event information for the Fifth International Symposium on Naturalistic Driving Research may be found on the event website; a limited number of student registrations are available, though students do not have to attend the symposium to participate in the Women in Transportation Seminar.

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