KSTP-TV News
Researchers at the University of Minnesota are working to help drivers plan routes around traffic on side streets before they even leave the house. SMART Signal logs drivers’ actual wait times at dozens of intersections. The data is then compiled to show real-time traffic information online.
Distracted driving is dangerous for everyone—especially for teens and other new drivers. Under a grant from auto insurance provider State Farm, the Institute and the Center for Transportation Studies (CTS) are working with several partners to increase awareness about the risks of distracted driving with preteens, teens learning to drive, and newly licensed drivers. The goal is to change teen driver behavior and reduce serious and fatal crashes due to distractions.
Photo: MnDOT
Imagine driving down the road on a snowy day when a warning sign flashes—“Snowplow 0.8 Miles Ahead.” You gradually apply your brakes and sure enough, traffic slows down ahead of you just a minute later. By eliminating your need to brake quickly on a potentially slick roadway, it’s easy to see how this type of accurate, timely information could prevent crashes and save lives.
Thanks to research by the University of Minnesota, this vision is closer than ever to reality.
KSTP News, March 5, 2013
To help MnDOT more accurately and reliably estimate the performance of its snow management activities, researchers from the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) have developed a prototype process that uses traffic data to help determine the roadway recovery time.
The 2013 James Oberstar Forum—”21st Century Transportation Systems: Challenges and Opportunities for Academia” (197 KB PDF)—will address issues with the current U.S. transportation system and the challenges and opportunities for university faculty to contribute to the development of efficient and safe future transportation systems at the local and national level. Oberstar will be joined by panelists from the FHWA Minnesota Division, MnDOT, St. Louis County, and the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.
The forum will be held March 13, 2:00-4:30 p.m., on the U of M Duluth campus. It is sponsored by UMD, Chancellor’s Office, Northland Advanced Transportation System Research Laboratory (NATSRL), and the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute.
Business Insider
Congestion takes its toll of the planet as well: Most cars are at their least efficient in stop and go traffic, and the wasted fuel only makes their impact on the atmosphere worse. Fortunately for drivers tired of spending hours in the car, national economies that could use a few extra billion dollars, and everyone hoping for a healthier planet, gridlock can be eliminated. University of Minnesota experts Henry Liu, John Hourdos, and Kathleen Harder offer some solutions.
ITS America
Frank Douma and Thomas Garry of the University of Minnesota talked about privacy and ITS at this ITS America webinar. The recent spread of geolocation technology in intelligent transportation systems (ITS) raises difficult and important policy questions about locational privacy. However, much of the current public discussions on locational privacy and ITS appear at risk of becoming increasingly disconnected, and the net result is that the ITS privacy debate often involves two sides talking past each other, with too little energy spent on finding potential common ground. This session sheds new light on the ITS privacy debate by identifying who is involved in the ITS privacy problem and what their goals are with respect to privacy and ITS data. The analysis identifies the types of locational data and the methods for obtaining it that create privacy conflicts, and in turn recommends general approaches for both policymakers and industry practitioners to better manage these conflicts. Sponsored by the ITS America Connected Vehicle Task Force.
In the United States between 1999 and 2005, more than 40 percent of all pedestrian fatalities occurred as a result of collisions with transit buses. The risk of collision is highest for buses making left turns, which are four times more likely to collide with pedestrians than buses passing straight through an intersection.
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Laurie McGinnis, Saif Jabari, Henry Liu, and Max Donath
Recent University of Minnesota graduate Saif Jabari received the Milton Pikarsky Memorial Award from the Council of University Transportation Centers in January. Presented in Washington, D.C., the prestigious award recognizes students for their accomplishments in transportation research and education. Jabari, who was advised by civil engineering associate professor Henry Liu, was honored for his Ph.D. dissertation: “A Stochastic Model of Macroscopic Traffic Flow: Theoretical Foundations.”
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In a February 14 research seminar, Kathleen Harder discussed an ITS Institute-sponsored study on the effects of intelligent lane control signals on driver behavior.
