Matching Items (7)
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- All Subjects: Transportation
- Creators: Chester, Mikhail
Description
A methodology is developed that integrates institutional analysis with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to identify and overcome barriers to sustainability transitions and to bridge the gap between environmental practitioners and decisionmakers. LCA results are rarely joined with analyses of the social systems that control or influence decisionmaking and policies. As a result, LCA conclusions generally lack information about who or what controls different parts of the system, where and when the processes' environmental decisionmaking happens, and what aspects of the system (i.e. a policy or regulatory requirement) would have to change to enable lower environmental impact futures. The value of the combined institutional analysis and LCA (the IA-LCA) is demonstrated using a case study of passenger transportation in the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area. A retrospective LCA is developed to estimate how roadway investment has enabled personal vehicle travel and its associated energy, environmental, and economic effects. Using regional travel forecasts, a prospective life cycle inventory is developed. Alternative trajectories are modeled to reveal future "savings" from reduced roadway construction and vehicle travel. An institutional analysis matches the LCA results with the specific institutions, players, and policies that should be targeted to enable transitions to these alternative futures. The results show that energy, economic, and environmental benefits from changes in passenger transportation systems are possible, but vary significantly depending on the timing of the interventions. Transition strategies aimed at the most optimistic benefits should include 1) significant land-use planning initiatives at the local and regional level to incentivize transit-oriented development infill and urban densification, 2) changes to state or federal gasoline taxes, 3) enacting a price on carbon, and 4) nearly doubling vehicle fuel efficiency together with greater market penetration of alternative fuel vehicles. This aggressive trajectory could decrease the 2050 energy consumption to 1995 levels, greenhouse gas emissions to 1995, particulate emissions to 2006, and smog-forming emissions to 1972. The potential benefits and costs are both private and public, and the results vary when transition strategies are applied in different spatial and temporal patterns.
ContributorsKimball, Mindy (Author) / Chester, Mikhail (Thesis advisor) / Allenby, Braden (Committee member) / Golub, Aaron (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Transit-oriented developments (TODs) are a promising strategy to increase public transit use and, as a result, reduce personal car travel. By using TOD infill to increase urban population density and encourage transportation mode-shifting, the potential exists to reduce life-cycle per capita energy use and environmental impacts of the interdependent infrastructure systems. This project specifically examined the Gold Line of light rail and Orange Line of bus rapid transit in Los Angeles, CA.
ContributorsNahlik, Matthew John (Author) / Chester, Mikhail (Thesis director) / Pendyala, Ram (Committee member) / Pincetl, Stephanie (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
Productivity in the construction industry is an essential measure of production efficiency and economic progress, quantified by craft laborers' time spent directly adding value to a project. In order to better understand craft labor productivity as an aspect of lean construction, an activity analysis was conducted at the Arizona State University Palo Verde Main engineering dormitory construction site in December of 2016. The objective of this analysis on craft labor productivity in construction projects was to gather data regarding the efficiency of craft labor workers, make conclusions about the effects of time of day and other site-specific factors on labor productivity, as well as suggest improvements to implement in the construction process. Analysis suggests that supporting tasks, such as traveling or materials handling, constitute the majority of craft labors' efforts on the job site with the highest percentages occurring at the beginning and end of the work day. Direct work and delays were approximately equal at about 20% each hour with the highest peak occurring at lunchtime between 10:00 am and 11:00 am. The top suggestion to improve construction productivity would be to perform an extensive site utilization analysis due to the confined nature of this job site. Despite the limitations of an activity analysis to provide a complete prospective of all the factors that can affect craft labor productivity as well as the small number of days of data acquisition, this analysis provides a basic overview of the productivity at the Palo Verde Main construction site. Through this research, construction managers can more effectively generate site plans and schedules to increase labor productivity.
ContributorsFord, Emily Lucile (Author) / Grau, David (Thesis director) / Chong, Oswald (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Programs (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Given that more and more planned special events are hosted in urban areas, during which travel demand is considerably higher than usual, it is one of the most effective strategies opening public rapid transit lines and building park-and-ride facilities to allow visitors to park their cars and take buses to the event sites. In the meantime, special event workforce often needs to make balances among the limitations of construction budget, land use and targeted travel time budgets for visitors. As such, optimizing the park-and-ride locations and capacities is critical in this process of transportation management during planned special event. It is also known as park-and-ride facility design problem.
This thesis formulates and solves the park-and-ride facility design problem for special events based on space-time network models. The general network design process with park-and-ride facilities location design is first elaborated and then mathematical programming formulation is established for special events. Meanwhile with the purpose of relax some certain hard constraints in this problem, a transformed network model which the hard park-and-ride constraints are pre-built into the new network is constructed and solved with the similar solution algorithm. In doing so, the number of hard constraints and level of complexity of the studied problem can be considerable reduced in some cases. Through two case studies, it is proven that the proposed formulation and solution algorithms can provide effective decision supports in selecting the locations and capabilities of park-and-ride facilities for special events.
This thesis formulates and solves the park-and-ride facility design problem for special events based on space-time network models. The general network design process with park-and-ride facilities location design is first elaborated and then mathematical programming formulation is established for special events. Meanwhile with the purpose of relax some certain hard constraints in this problem, a transformed network model which the hard park-and-ride constraints are pre-built into the new network is constructed and solved with the similar solution algorithm. In doing so, the number of hard constraints and level of complexity of the studied problem can be considerable reduced in some cases. Through two case studies, it is proven that the proposed formulation and solution algorithms can provide effective decision supports in selecting the locations and capabilities of park-and-ride facilities for special events.
ContributorsZhu, Nana (Author) / Zhou, Xuesong (Thesis advisor) / Lou, Yingyan (Committee member) / Chester, Mikhail (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
In the American Southwest, an area which already experiences a significant number of cooling degree days, anthropogenic climate change is expected to result in higher average temperatures and the increasing frequency, duration, and severity of heat waves. Climatological forecasts predict heat waves will increase by 150-840% in Los Angeles County, California and 340-1800% in Maricopa County, Arizona. Heat exposure is known to increase both morbidity and mortality and rising temperatures represent a threat to public health. As a result there has been a significant amount of research into understanding existing socio-economic vulnerabilities to extreme heat which has identified population subgroups at greater risk of adverse health outcomes. Additionally, research has shown that man-made infrastructure can mitigate or exacerbate these health risks. However, while recent socio-economic heat vulnerability research has developed geospatially explicit results, research which links it directly with infrastructure characteristics is limited. Understanding how socio-economic vulnerabilities interact with infrastructure systems is a critical component to developing climate adaptation policies and programs which efficiently and effectively mitigate health risks associated with rising temperatures.
The availability of cooled space, whether public or private, has been shown to greatly reduce health risks associated with extreme heat. However, a lack of fine-scale knowledge of which households have access to this infrastructure results in an incomplete understanding of the health risks associated with heat. This knowledge gap could result in the misallocation of resources intended to mitigate negative health impacts associated with heat exposure. Additionally, when discussing accessibility to public cooled space there are underlying questions of mobility and mode choice. In addition to captive riders, a growing emphasis on walking, biking and public transit will likely expose additional choice riders to extreme temperatures and compound existing vulnerabilities to heat.
The availability of cooled space, whether public or private, has been shown to greatly reduce health risks associated with extreme heat. However, a lack of fine-scale knowledge of which households have access to this infrastructure results in an incomplete understanding of the health risks associated with heat. This knowledge gap could result in the misallocation of resources intended to mitigate negative health impacts associated with heat exposure. Additionally, when discussing accessibility to public cooled space there are underlying questions of mobility and mode choice. In addition to captive riders, a growing emphasis on walking, biking and public transit will likely expose additional choice riders to extreme temperatures and compound existing vulnerabilities to heat.
ContributorsFraser, Andrew Michael (Author) / Chester, Mikhail (Thesis advisor) / Seager, Thomas (Committee member) / Zhou, Xuesong (Committee member) / Kuby, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Bicyclist and pedestrian safety is a growing concern in San Francisco, CA,
especially given the increasing numbers of residents choosing to bike and walk. Sharing
the roads with automobiles, these alternative road users are particularly vulnerable to
sustain serious injuries. With this in mind, it is important to identify the factors that
influence the severity of bicyclist and pedestrian injuries in automobile collisions. This
study uses traffic collision data gathered from California Highway Patrol’s Statewide
Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS) to predict the most important
determinants of injury severity, given that a collision has occurred. Multivariate binomial
logistic regression models were created for both pedestrian and bicyclist collisions, with
bicyclist/pedestrian/driver characteristics and built environment characteristics used as
the independent variables. Results suggest that bicycle infrastructure is not an important
predictor of bicyclist injury severity, but instead bicyclist age, race, sobriety, and speed
played significant roles. Pedestrian injuries were influenced by pedestrian and driver age
and sobriety, crosswalk use, speed limit, and the type of vehicle at fault in the collision.
Understanding these key determinants that lead to severe and fatal injuries can help
local communities implement appropriate safety measures for their most susceptible
road users.
especially given the increasing numbers of residents choosing to bike and walk. Sharing
the roads with automobiles, these alternative road users are particularly vulnerable to
sustain serious injuries. With this in mind, it is important to identify the factors that
influence the severity of bicyclist and pedestrian injuries in automobile collisions. This
study uses traffic collision data gathered from California Highway Patrol’s Statewide
Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS) to predict the most important
determinants of injury severity, given that a collision has occurred. Multivariate binomial
logistic regression models were created for both pedestrian and bicyclist collisions, with
bicyclist/pedestrian/driver characteristics and built environment characteristics used as
the independent variables. Results suggest that bicycle infrastructure is not an important
predictor of bicyclist injury severity, but instead bicyclist age, race, sobriety, and speed
played significant roles. Pedestrian injuries were influenced by pedestrian and driver age
and sobriety, crosswalk use, speed limit, and the type of vehicle at fault in the collision.
Understanding these key determinants that lead to severe and fatal injuries can help
local communities implement appropriate safety measures for their most susceptible
road users.
ContributorsMcIntyre, Andrew (Author) / Salon, Deborah (Thesis advisor) / Kuby, Mike (Committee member) / Chester, Mikhail (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Recurring incidents between pedestrians, bicycles, and vehicles at the intersection of Rural Road and Spence Avenue led to a team of students conducting their own investigation into the current conditions and analyzing a handful of alternatives. An extension of an industry-standard technique was used to build a control case which alternatives would be compared to. Four alternatives were identified, and the two that could be modeled in simulation software were both found to be technically feasible in the preliminary analysis.
ContributorsFellows, Christopher Lee (Author) / Lou, Yingyan (Thesis director) / Zhou, Xuesong (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05