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Description
Public Private Partnerships (PPP) have been in use for years in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and for a shorter time here in the United States. Typical PPP infrastructure projects include a multi-year term of operation in addition to constructing the structural features to be used. Early studies are proving PPP delivery methods to be effective at construction cost containment. An examination of the key elements that constitute the early stage negotiation reveal that there is room for negotiation created by the governing documentation while maintaining a competitive environment that brings the best value available to the Public entity. This paper will examine why PPP's are effective during this critical construction period of the facilities life cycle. It is the intent of this study to examine why the features and outcomes of more or less negotiation and the degree of rigor associated with it.
ContributorsMaddex, William E (Author) / Chasey, Allan (Thesis advisor) / El Asmar, Mounir (Committee member) / Pendyala, Ram (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Public-Private Partnerships (P3) in North America have become a trend in the past two decades and are gaining attention in the transportation industry with some large scale projects being delivered by this approach. This is due to the need for alternative funding sources for public projects and for improved efficiency of these projects in order to save time and money. Several research studies have been done, including mature markets in Europe and Australia, on the cost and schedule performance of transportation projects but no similar study has been conducted in North America. This study focuses on cost and schedule performance of twelve P3 transportation projects during their construction phase, costing over $100 million each, consisting of roads and bridges only with no signature tunnels. The P3 approach applied in this study is the Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain (DBFOM) model and the results obtained are compared with similar research studies on North American Design-Build (DB) and Design-Bid-Build (DBB) projects. The schedule performance for P3 projects in this study was found to be -0.23 percent versus estimated as compared to the 4.34 percent for the DBB projects and 11.04 percent for the DB projects in the Shrestha study, indicating P3 projects are completed in less time than other methods. The cost performance in this study was 0.81 percent for the P3 projects while in the Shrestha study the average cost increase for the four DB projects was found to be 1.49 percent while for the DBB projects it was 12.71 percent, again indicating P3 projects reduce cost compared to other delivery approaches. The limited number of projects available for this study does not allow us to draw an explicit conclusion on the performance of P3s in North America but paves the way for future studies to explore more data as it becomes available. However, the results in this study show that P3 projects have good cost and schedule adherence to the contract requirements. This study gives us an initial comparison of P3 performance with the more traditional approach and shows us the empirical benefits and limitations of the P3 approach in the highway construction industry.
ContributorsBansal, Ankita (Author) / Chasey, Allan (Thesis advisor) / Gibson, Edd (Committee member) / Pendyala, Ram (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The Phoenix-Metro area currently has problems with its transportation systems. Over-crowded and congested freeways have slowed travel times within the area. Express bus transportation and the existence of "High Occupancy" lanes have failed to solve the congestion problem. The light rail system is limited to those within a certain distance from the line, and even the light rail is either too slow or too infrequent for a commuter to utilize it effectively. To add to the issue, Phoenix is continuing to expand outward instead of increasing population density within the city, therefore increasing the time it takes to travel to downtown Phoenix, which is the center of economic activity. The people of Phoenix and its surrounding areas are finding that driving themselves to work is just as cost-effective and less time consuming than taking public transportation. Phoenix needs a cost-effective solution to work in co- existence with improvements in local public transportation that will allow citizens to travel to their destination in just as much time, or less time, than travelling by personal vehicle.
ContributorsSerfilippi, Jon (Author) / Ariaratnam, Samuel (Thesis director) / Pendyala, Ram (Committee member) / Pembroke, Jim (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering (Contributor)
Created2012-12
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
Approximately 1% of the total working population within the United States bikes as their primary mode of commute. Due to recent increased in bicycle facilities as well as a focus on alternative modes of transport, understanding the motivations and type of people who bike to work is important in order to encourage new users.
In this project, a literature review was completed as well as data analysis of the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) in order to find specific populations to target. Using these target populations, it is suggested that advertising and workplace encouragement occur to persuade more people to bike to work. Through data analysis it was found that the most impactful variables were the region of the country, gender, population density, and commute distance. Bicycle commuters statistically had fewer vehicles in their households and drove less miles annually.
There were five main target groups found through this analysis; people who bike for other reasons besides work and live in a city with more than 4,000 people per square mile, young professionals between 19-39, women in regions with separated bicycle facilities, those with low vehicle availability, and environmentally conscious individuals. Working to target these groups through advertising campaigns to encourage new users, as well as increasing and improving bicycle facilities, will help create more new bicyclists.
In this project, a literature review was completed as well as data analysis of the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) in order to find specific populations to target. Using these target populations, it is suggested that advertising and workplace encouragement occur to persuade more people to bike to work. Through data analysis it was found that the most impactful variables were the region of the country, gender, population density, and commute distance. Bicycle commuters statistically had fewer vehicles in their households and drove less miles annually.
There were five main target groups found through this analysis; people who bike for other reasons besides work and live in a city with more than 4,000 people per square mile, young professionals between 19-39, women in regions with separated bicycle facilities, those with low vehicle availability, and environmentally conscious individuals. Working to target these groups through advertising campaigns to encourage new users, as well as increasing and improving bicycle facilities, will help create more new bicyclists.
ContributorsImbus, Eileen Elizabeth (Author) / Khoeini, Sara (Thesis director) / Pendyala, Ram (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Eng Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The objective of this research paper is to analyze and determine the relationships between childhood and adulthood transit behavior. The study investigates gender differences for each generation regarding childhood transit experiences. Childhood travel socialization was studied to understand its effects on childhood transit experience and perception. Lastly, childhood transit experience and perception were analyzed to determine their effect on adult transit usage. The variables the study analyzed were childhood peer impression of public transit, parental opinion of the safety of public transit, and the respondents’ childhood public transit experience. These variables were investigated to determine if they had an effect on adult use of public transit. The survey Transit Center’s Who’s On Board: 2014 Mobility Attitudes Survey (WOBMAS) was used to perform these analyses. The results showed that gender equality appears to be increasing in younger generations with respect to their ability to travel alone on public transit. In addition, men were more likely to travel by themselves on public transit when compared to women. There is a direct correlation between childhood travel socialization and childhood transit experience and opinion. However, there appears to be no correlation between childhood travel socialization and a child’s likeliness to travel on public transit alone. Childhood travel socialization had a counterintuitive effect on adult transit usage. On the contrary, it appears that childhood experience is significantly linked to adult transit usage. The data suggests that the earlier a person travels on public transit alone, the more likely they are to ride it as an adult.
ContributorsCharles, Allison (Author) / Pendyala, Ram (Thesis director) / Thompson, Marilyn (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Eng Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Motorcycle fatalities have been increasing at a faster rate than the number of motorcycles being registered in the United States. There is limited analysis on the causes of fatal motorcycle crashes, specifically regarding different demographics, certain driver behavior, and various crash characteristics. It is important to be aware of how these factors relate to each other during a fatal motorcycle crash. This analysis focuses on these factors and explores potential steps to decrease motorcycle fatality rates using research and data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and data from the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS). Based on this data, there are noticeable trends between different genders and age groups. According to the analysis, males have a higher fatality rate than females, and their fatal crashes tend to involve multiple driver infractions such as drinking, speeding, not wearing a helmet, and driving without a license. Similarly, younger drivers have a higher fatality rate than older drivers, and their fatal crashes tend to involve multiple driver infractions. Although older drivers involved in fatal crashes usually drive more cautiously, they tend to be involved in single-vehicle crashes more often than younger drivers. Moving forward, implementing certain training programs directed towards particular demographics has the potential to decrease motorcycle rider fatalities.
ContributorsMoran, Sarah Elizabeth (Co-author) / Santilli, Amy (Co-author) / Pendyala, Ram (Thesis director) / Khoeini, Sara (Committee member) / Industrial, Systems & Operations Engineering Prgm (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Arizona's transportation infrastructure is in need of an update. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) State Infrastructure 2017 Report Card scores Arizona's roads at a D+ and Arizona's bridges at a B. These grades are indicative that the serviceability levels of the roads and bridges are less than adequate. These grades may seem tolerable in light of a national bridge C+ grade and a national road D grade, but the real problem lies in Arizona's existing funding gap that is in danger of exponentially increasing in the future. With an influx of vehicles on Arizona's roads and bridges, the cost of building, repairing, and maintaining them will grow and cause a problematic funding shortage. This report explores the current state of Arizona's roads and bridges as well as the policy and funding sources behind them, using statistics from the ASCE infrastructure report card and the Federal Highway Administration. Additionally, it discusses how regular, preventative maintenance for transportation infrastructure is the economically responsible choice for the state because it decreases delays and fuel expenses, prevents possible catastrophes, and increases human safety. To prioritize preventative transportation infrastructure maintenance, the common mentality that allows it to be sidelined for more newsworthy projects needs to be changed. Along with gaining preventative maintenance revenues through increasing vehicular taxes and fees, encouraging transportation policymakers and politicians to make economic decisions in favor of maintenance rather than waiting until failure is a reliable way to encourage regular, preventative maintenance.
ContributorsBurdett, Courtney (Author) / Hjelmstad, Keith (Thesis director) / Pendyala, Ram (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Improving the quality of Origin-Destination (OD) demand estimates increases the effectiveness of design, evaluation and implementation of traffic planning and management systems. The associated bilevel Sensor Location Flow-Estimation problem considers two important research questions: (1) how to compute the best estimates of the flows of interest by using anticipated data from given candidate sensors location; and (2) how to decide on the optimum subset of links where sensors should be located. In this dissertation, a decision framework is developed to optimally locate and obtain high quality OD volume estimates in vehicular traffic networks. The framework includes a traffic assignment model to load the OD traffic volumes on routes in a known choice set, a sensor location model to decide on which subset of links to locate counting sensors to observe traffic volumes, and an estimation model to obtain best estimates of OD or route flow volumes. The dissertation first addresses the deterministic route flow estimation problem given apriori knowledge of route flows and their uncertainties. Two procedures are developed to locate "perfect" and "noisy" sensors respectively. Next, it addresses a stochastic route flow estimation problem. A hierarchical linear Bayesian model is developed, where the real route flows are assumed to be generated from a Multivariate Normal distribution with two parameters: "mean" and "variance-covariance matrix". The prior knowledge for the "mean" parameter is described by a probability distribution. When assuming the "variance-covariance matrix" parameter is known, a Bayesian A-optimal design is developed. When the "variance-covariance matrix" parameter is unknown, Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach is used to estimate the aposteriori quantities. In all the sensor location model the objective is the maximization of the reduction in the variances of the distribution of the estimates of the OD volume. Developed models are compared with other available models in the literature. The comparison showed that the models developed performed better than available models.
ContributorsWang, Ning (Author) / Mirchandani, Pitu (Thesis advisor) / Murray, Alan (Committee member) / Pendyala, Ram (Committee member) / Runger, George C. (Committee member) / Zhang, Muhong (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Infrastructure systems are facing non-stationary challenges that stem from climate change and the increasingly complex interactions between the social, ecological, and technological systems (SETSs). It is crucial for transportation infrastructures—which enable residents to access opportunities and foster prosperity, quality of life, and social connections—to be resilient under these non-stationary challenges. Vulnerability assessment (VA) examines the potential consequences a system is likely to experience due to exposure to perturbation or stressors and lack of the capacity to adapt. Post-fire debris flow and heat represent particularly challenging problems for infrastructure and users in the arid U.S. West. Post-fire debris flow, which is manifested with heat and drought, produces powerful runoff threatening physical transportation infrastructures. And heat waves have devastating health effects on transportation infrastructure users, including increased mortality rates. VA anticipates the potential consequences of these perturbations and enables infrastructure stakeholders to improve the system's resilience. The current transportation climate VA—which only considers a single direct climate stressor on the infrastructure—falls short of addressing the wildfire and heat challenges. This work proposes advanced transportation climate VA methods to address the complex and multiple climate stressors and the vulnerability of infrastructure users. Two specific regions were chosen to carry out the progressive transportation climate VA: 1) the California transportation networks’ vulnerability to post-fire debris flows, and 2) the transportation infrastructure user’s vulnerability to heat exposure in Phoenix.
ContributorsLi, Rui (Author) / Chester, Mikhail V. (Thesis advisor) / Middel, Ariane (Committee member) / Hondula, David M. (Committee member) / Pendyala, Ram (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022