UNB Scholar Research Repository :: Browsing by Author "Hanson, Trevor"

Browsing by Author "Hanson, Trevor"

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Active transportation and vehicle traffic travel demand study for UNB
(University of New Brunswick, 2023-08) Debly, Habib Raymond; Hanson, Trevor
This report synthesizes the results of a travel demand study that was conducted for both Fredericton and Saint John UNB campuses. The need for this study derived from UNB’s “Toward 2030 Strategic Plan,” when UNB’s Transportation Task Force was tasked with developing principles for campus-specific transportation plans. This study aids this task by collecting travel demand data for UNB. For seventeen days, the study looked at key entry points at UNB’s campuses. The total two-way travel demand observed in terms of average daily traffic was 16276 vehicles, 2482 pedestrians, and 36 cyclists at the Fredericton campus, and 4305 vehicles, 45 pedestrians, and 8 cyclists at the Saint John campus. Trip rates were then generated that were compared to ITE’s Trip rates. This comparison found that since ITE’s trip rate models are based on a limited data set, trip estimates for smaller universities may fall outside the range of existing models.
Active transportation demand model for decision-making in Fredericton
(University of New Brunswick, 2023-01) Burns, Kristen; Hanson, Trevor
There has been an increase in demand for Active Transportation (AT) in urban areas, yet there is a lack of guidance incorporating AT in standard four-step travel demand modelling. This broad issue presented itself as an opportunity for this thesis: the development of a calibrated AT demand model to aid decision-making processes for a small city, followed by scenario testing to determine factors contributing to AT use. Fredericton, New Brunswick was used as a case study given the availability of multimodal bridge traffic counts and the ability to create a cordon area with the two bridges: one bridge with AT and road traffic, and the other with AT traffic only. These two bridges are very different when it comes to characteristics that might influence AT use including sounds levels, sidewalk width, and proximity to traffic. Once the model was completed in VISUM, then the calibration began and it was possible to calibrate AT volumes on the Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge to match existing demand; however, AT volumes on the Westmorland Street Bridge were consistently overestimated. This suggests that if AT users treated both bridges the same, there would be 1100 more users per day on the Westmorland Street Bridge. It was hypothesized that AT users were assigning a generalized cost penalty to the Westmorland Street Bridge, effectively making the route appear to be costlier than the actual physical distance. To reach all calibration target values, the AT link length was increased on the Westmorland Street Bridge 1.5km or four times the bridge link length to represent the penalty. Next steps consist of the inclusion of seasonal adjustment factors to better understand volumes crossing the bridges and different trends in different months.
An investigation of designated pedestrian grade crossings and flangeway fillers
(University of New Brunswick, 2024-04) Morrison, William Robert; Hanson, Trevor
There have been fatalities in Canada due to wheelchairs becoming immobilized in the "flangeway gap”, the gap between the road and the railway tracks that allows the train wheel to pass unimpeded. The Transportation Safety Board has identified the potential of flangeway fillers to eliminate the gap, but research on product suitability is needed, including deployment criteria. Crossings can be designated by road authorities for persons using assistive devices and Transport Canada’s Grade Crossing Standards outline the geometric requirements. Designated crossings may be candidates for flangeway fillers, however, the road authority designation process is not well understood at a national level. The following presents an inventory of practices for crossing designation among select road authorities across Canada. An analysis of designated crossings was conducted, and observations were generated. Finally, an economic evaluation of these products was conducted, and a discussion of potential next steps in this field is provided.
Assessing the potential of measuring IRI using smartphone technology in support of spring weight
(University of New Brunswick, 2016) Allaire, Florence Marie Josée; Hanson, Trevor
Spring weight restrictions (SWR) are imposed by transportation agencies to reduce heavy vehicle loads during spring thaw when road infrastructure is most susceptible to traffic damage. Smartphone devices can be used to monitor surface roughness by converting the accelerometer output into International Roughness Index (IRI) values. This research explored the potential of using these devices to monitor IRI as an indicator of thaw-weakening potential during spring thaw to contribute to an evidence-based framework to support real-time changes to SWR. Roughness was monitored on a 1 km section of two New Brunswick highways, Route 105 (collector) and Route 616 (local), over the SWR period employed by the New Brunswick Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (NBDTI) from March 15 to May 17, 2015. Data from both locations show a similar trend in the progression of roughness, with an IRI peak within the first 2 weeks of SWR, followed by a decrease in IRI that reached baseline values 2 weeks before the end of SWR. The maximum IRI for Route 105 was 2.54 m/km (baseline 1.35 m/km) and maximum IRI for Route 616 was 6.60 m/km (baseline 3.34 m/km). In both cases, maximum IRI was approximately double baseline values. Changes in roughness observed with these devices could be associated with trigger values to initiate a protocol to respond to drastic weather changes, including focusing strength testing efforts. The results suggest weekly monitoring would be sufficient during the spring thaw, with a doubling in frequency desirable when temperatures change drastically. A framework and monitoring guidelines were developed for the inclusion of mobile roughness in the SWR decision-making process.
Deterioration of pavement marking retroreflectivity in the province of New Brunswick
(University of New Brunswick, 2016) MacEacheron, Carly; Hildebrand, Eric; Hanson, Trevor
Pavement markings with retroreflective properties provide delineation and safety benefits for drivers during nighttime conditions. The New Brunswick Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (NBDTI) do not have a history of retroreflectivity performance for pavement markings throughout their life-cycles. This makes it difficult to assess the impacts of a potential minimum retroreflectivity standard such as that proposed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) or to adopt performance-based specifications. A year-long study of pavement markings on 24 sampled road sections was performed to understand the state of pavement markings in New Brunswick and the causes/rates of their deterioration. Analyses found the factors that have a statistically significant effect on pavement marking retroreflectivity include age, traffic volume, road class, season in which the marking was applied, and paint colour. Graphical analyses of the sampled retroreflectivity values over time found that they generally deteriorate over time, and that white markings consistently produce higher readings than yellow markings through their life-cycle even though white markings deteriorate more quickly. Overall only 27% of the markings sampled complied with the FHWA-proposed retroreflectivity standard at the time of their replacement; nearly half failed between six months and one year. The analysis suggested that the current pavement marking maintenance schedule would be inadequate if FHWA’s minimum retroreflectivity standards were to be adopted in New Brunswick. It is recommended that NBDTI govern a pavement marking policy that will improve compliance with any proposed minimum standards.
Evaluation of audit tools for age-friendly active transportation planning in New Brunswick
(University of New Brunswick, 2023-04) Sedaghat, Zahra; Hanson, Trevor
This thesis aimed to evaluate audit tools for age-friendly Active Transportation (AT) planning in New Brunswick. The research objectives were to identify and compare age-friendly audit tools for AT infrastructure, assess the age-friendliness of AT in two NB cities, evaluate the outcome of audits for potential engineering decision-making on a micro and macro level, and identify opportunities for tool improvements. The research methodology involved selecting the most relevant tools, pilot testing, and choosing the best tool (SWEAT-R) to evaluate 62 road network segments. The GIS-based tool developed allowed for an objective assessment of age-friendliness. Key findings include the evaluation of Fredericton and Saint John, and the ratio of older adults to the level of age-friendliness in each dissemination area (DA) of these two cities. The study's contribution to transportation engineering lies in its ability to improve engineering decision-making regarding age-friendly AT planning.
Exploring agent-based modelling for car-based volunteer driver program planning
(University of New Brunswick, 2021) Morrison, Romaine Edward Hugh; Hanson, Trevor
Volunteer Driver Programs (VDPs) utilize the service of volunteers to replicate car-based on-demand door-to-door services in rural areas, but little is understood about how external factors (e.g., changes in demand) impact VDP sustainability. Agent-Based Modelling (ABM) simulates operational behaviour of individual agents (e.g., drivers, users) to evaluate their interaction under specified scenarios, and while it has been used in transportation research, has never been applied to VDP analysis. Netlogo was used to develop a simplified VDP ABM, calibrated and validated with one year of program data from the New Brunswick Volunteer Driving Database. Two model scenarios were tested: increased health trip distance and increased service area. Doubling health trip distance resulted in 46% fewer drives, 20% mileage reduction and 30% less driver utilization. Doubling of service area resulted in 47% fewer drives while keeping mileage and driver utilization virtually the same. ABM demonstrated intuitive results and established connection among changing operational scenarios.
Improving travel demand modelling for seniors by using administrative health care data
(University of New Brunswick, 2021) Morehouse, Brianna J.; Hanson, Trevor
Understanding travel mobility of rural older adults (aged 65+) is essential to adequately plan for their future travel demands and needs given that driving one’s own vehicle may be difficult or impossible for many in the long term. Historically, Canadian data sets have not been able to provide detailed information regarding travel behaviour beyond “Journey to Work”, yet for some older adults, finding transportation to healthcare remains a major challenge. The literature identifies a need for understanding travel burden for healthcare related travel and measuring inequalities related to geographic location as there is currently no standard approach for defining and measuring travel impacts. The measure of travel impacts is complicated by a lack of data to conduct analyses. Administrative health data has considerable potential to permit the estimation of health travel demand, but its use for this purpose in Canada has not been widespread. This research presents a novel methodology to analyze and use administrative health data from the New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data and Training (NB-IRDT) for transportation planning purposes. Datasets from the NB-IRDT were analyzed with statistical and spatial analysis tools to estimate the travel demands and distances of rural older adults associated with accessing health care facilities within New Brunswick. Data were organized in cross-classification tables and explored through regression models and the gravity model.
Innovative means of collecting international roughness index using smartphone technology
(University of New Brunswick, 2014) Cameron, Coady A.; Hanson, Trevor; Hildebrand, Eric
International Roughness Index (IRI) is a widely used pavement performance measure collected with specially equipped vehicles; however, the cost of data collection may limit the ability of some road authorities to procure the data. Recent advances in smartphone technology have created interest in their potential to be low-cost mobile data collection platforms. This study compared IRI from an inertial profiler to IRI calculated from a smartphone' s accelerometer over a 1 km test section of road in New Brunswick, Canada. The study also included four scenario tests to evaluate the effects of varying the following experimental factors: vehicle type, device manufacturer, mounting arrangement and speed. The correlation between the smartphone' s results and those collected using the inertial profiler was found to be 88.9% for 100m increments along the section. The scenarios returned average IRI values ranging from 0.8% to 85% different than the average IRI of 2.60 m/km collected using the inertial profiler, though the smartphone configurations had higher coefficient of variations ranging from 2.05 to 9.11 compared to the inertial profiler's 1.12.
Link prediction with local and global consistency preservation in spatio-temporal networks
(University of New Brunswick, 2022-11) Forouzandeh Jonaghani, Rouzbeh; Hanson, Trevor; Wachowicz, Monica; Church, Ian
With the increasing deployment of connected positioning devices, we are witnessing the proliferation of connected data sets in the form of spatio-temporal networks such as Location-Based Social Networks (LBSNs), the Internet of Things (IoT), and smart transportation networks. Link prediction is a key research field in studying spatiotemporal networks as it improves our understanding of the underlying dynamics of the connected data sets by predicting missing or future links that represent the relations in a system. However, current research on link predictions in spatio-temporal networks has been mostly limited to friendship prediction in Location-Based Social Networks (LBSN), and even though local and global consistency have been regarded as important factors in predictive analytics, they have not yet been studied in spatio-temporal networks. One of the main research challenges is mainly related to addressing local consistency due to the substantial difference between the sense of locality in spatio-temporal networks in comparison to non-spatial networks. Moreover, incorporating the role of communities in link prediction in spatio-temporal networks specifically under the concepts of global consistency is another challenge that has not been addressed yet. These challenges have been addressed by proposing methods for carrying out link prediction with local and global consistency which are tested using data from two different shared-mobility systems namely bike-sharing and taxi systems from Chicago and New York City. Different prediction scenarios including the presence of periodic variations in the data and multi-step prediction have been considered. The comparison of the results from the proposed and baseline methods indicates that the proposed methods accurately predict the flow and other related variables (e.g., check-ins) in shared-mobility systems in different scenarios. For example, The proposed MFLOG model improves the bike-flow and check-in/out prediction error by 4.5% and 7.5% respectively, w.r.t baseline models. This can be associated with the successful design of the methods and consideration of local and global consistency in the model.
Operational planning for health transport of older adults in New Brunswick
(University of New Brunswick, 2023-04) Riordon, Barry E.; Hanson, Trevor
Transportation to healthcare facilities can be challenging for older drivers (aged 65+) due to aging-related health issues. Volunteer Driver Programs (VDP) have emerged as an alternative for some older adults, but their capacity to meet the needs of an aging population is uncertain, given little is known about existing demand. This thesis utilized administrative health data to develop metrics for trip rates, distances, and health purposes for older adults. 368,525 hospital records and 7,048,025 physician billing records from 2005-2011 were analyzed, revealing one-way travel distances ranging from 11-63 km (hospitals) and 11-44 km (physician visits). 78% of admissions and 92% of discharges occurred between 6 AM-6 PM for hospital visits, daily and monthly factors were also determined. In New Brunswick, average daily admissions were 11.2 (hospitals) and 214.5 (physician visits). Transportation service delivery models were also explored based upon health record observations, and a non-profit non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) program was recommended for further investigation.
Potential for a video-based system to monitor the transport of dangerous goods by rail to support emergency planning and preparedness
(University of New Brunswick, 2017) McPhee, Brendan L.; Hanson, Trevor
The use of video monitoring equipment was explored to determine its effectiveness at collecting open source data from passing rail cars, to provide emergency organizations with an enhanced resolution of data on the movement of dangerous goods (DG) by rail. A camera was installed at a former train station in Sussex, New Brunswick, where it collected video data 24 hours a day from July 2016 until January 2017. The first 3 months of video data were manually transcribed to capture detailed rail car information, obtaining important attributes such as the container code, weight limits, and dangerous good placard. A total of 17,864 rail cars were identified; 94% of container codes and 87% of weight limits were legible from the video data, and only 3 of the 10,339 DG placards were unidentifiable. National accident rates were used due to the absence of local data to obtain estimates of the probability of a rail-related accident occurring anywhere along the Sussex subdivision line. The use of a video camera was determined to be an effective method of collecting rail cargo data to supplement emergency organizations with detailed historic data in addition to the current data sources provided through railway companies. The manual transcription process has potential to become automated, which could allow real-time rail data to be provided to communities. This study highlighted the lack of rail metrics, such as gross tone miles and number of DG carloads, available at local rail subdivision levels, which are ultimately obtainable through the use of open source data.
Retrospective evaluation of the socio-economic impacts of the Trans Canada Highway bypass on businesses : Long's Creek to Fredericton, NB
(University of New Brunswick, 2002) Hanson, Trevor; J., Christie
Studying volunteer driver programs to inform transportation planning for autonomous vehicles in rural areas
(University of New Brunswick, 2019) Copp, David K.; Hanson, Trevor
Rural areas and non-driving older adults are a target location and clientele for Autonomous Vehicles (AVs), yet there is a lack of information regarding the operational environments, demand for service, and the physical needs of the older adults with respect to AV operation in rural areas. Car-based Volunteer Driver Programs (VDPs) in New Brunswick already serve a rural, primarily older adult membership; therefore a study of aspects of these programs could provide insight into the necessary considerations for AV adoption. Surveys from 37 VDP volunteer drivers in New Brunswick identified tasks beyond driving provided to clients (of any age) on their most recent drive, as well the purpose for each stop during the drives. Origin and destinations from one year’s worth of one VDP’s travel data were used to assess the roadway-operating environment. Finally, a stated choice experiment was developed that could be used to better understand the mode choices of rural older adults. Clients depended on additional services for the majority (68%) of reported stops. The road classification estimated to have the highest percentage of travel (41% of kilometres) was “divided multi-lane” highways, though “collector” and “local” highways accounted for 40% of kilometres. These results suggest that if AVs were deployed, they would only be useful in situations where tasks could be automated and would need to be effective in several different road classification environments, which may require changes to roadway maintenance practices (e.g. line painting). Future work includes: better understanding of the individual needs of the users by age, as well as to finalize and deploy the stated choice experiment.
Understanding the Operational Attributes of Volunteer Driver Programs to Support Incorporation into Transportation Planning
(University of New Brunswick, 2019) Goudreau, Matthieu; Hanson, Trevor
Volunteer Driver Programs (VDP) have been identified as a potential solution to the lack of available alternatives in rural communities by providing a low-cost transportation system where volunteers offer to drive community members (Hanson 2013). This study collected annual travel data and organisational attributes from 8 VDPs operating in New Brunswick. The organizational analysis of VDPs, using a developed Maturity Model, showed a connection between levels of maturity for particular processes and certain group size. Some Key Practices show to be transitional in nature as groups transition from Small to in Large size, while others did not show consensus suggesting that the surveyed VDPs have yet to determine the optimal level of management that they warrant. The descriptive statistics show that 7 groups served 5,769 drives in a year moving 8,367 riders a total distance over 350,000 kilometres. The primary purpose of these trips was for “Health” purposes with a second large portion being for “Work and Education”. There was a strong positive linear correlation (R2=0.82) between number of riders and overall budget, suggesting that even though groups were independently organized and can operate in different geographic areas, the rate of budget increase per increase in number of riders appears to be fairly constant. These results are aimed to assist VDP operators in managing their organisational practices and service records using a methodology similar to transit agencies, while providing resources for transportation planners to assess VDP implementation as a tool for meeting rural transportation needs.
Understanding transportation needs in Minto, Chipman and surrounding areas
(University of New Brunswick, 2018) Davis, Craig; Hanson, Trevor
This report is intended to support transportation decision making in the Villages of Chipman and Minto and their surrounding communities, which have become vulnerable to dependence on the automobile while dealing with a shrinking and aging population and centralized urban services. Community profiles were developed to fully understand the demographic, socioeconomic and commuter characteristics. An inventory of transportation assets and programs was compiled through research and a telephone survey of community groups, churches and businesses. The survey demonstrated the lack of transportation options available to residents. Three alternative transportation options were examined in greater detail: A commuter bus service; volunteer driver program; and a park-and-ride service. A 37 passenger bus at capacity could cover its operating costs at $10 per ride; coarse estimates suggest a volunteer driver program may be able to solicit 38 members and 8 drivers; and existing parking lots should provide sufficient space for realistic park-and-ride usage.

Browsing by Author "Hanson, Trevor"

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