CAREER: Mining Archived Intelligent Transportation Systems Data: A Validation Framework for Improved Performance Assessment and Modeling

Portland State University, Portland OR

Investigators

Abstract

ABSTRACT CAREER: Mining Archived Intelligent Transportation Systems Data: A Validation Framework For Improved Performance Assessment And Modeling Robert L. Bertini, Portland State University The performance of our transportation infrastructure critically affects our nation's economy, security, environment and quality of life. Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) are one means for improving the efficiency, safety and sustainability of our transportation system. The mission of this career proposal is to develop and evaluate methods to archive, mine and analyze real-time ITS data, using infrastructure-based sensors, video and dynamic floating probes. Using these resources, we will develop partnerships with local transportation agencies to develop a data archive; implement and test an improved performance measurement platform; expand our understanding of basic traffic flow principles underlying models of traffic flow through systematic assessment of freeway bottleneck behavior; and develop improved traffic flow models and model components. In turn, we will enhance these tools with a greater understanding of model uncertainty propagation. The research agenda will guide the enhancement of required and elective undergraduate transportation courses, incorporating information technology and projects using real transportation data. Further, we will develop new graduate courses focused on the use of real transportation data, involve undergraduates in multidisciplinary research teams and expand our undergraduate civil engineering profession seminar and campus-wide seminar series. These activities will support the proposed outreach program which includes a summer transportation academy for underrepresented high school students, partnership with the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry including construction of a bilingual transportation data exhibit in the new Technology Hall and outreach to attract more Portland/Oregon high school students to science and engineering. The results of these integrated activities will play a pivotal role in improving our capabilities for monitoring, modeling and evaluating our transportation system. This is significant because over the past decade, we have deployed traffic surveillance and management systems, but have not included systematic archiving or mining of the remotely sensed data that continuously stream into traffic management centers. In fact, some agencies discard these rich resources. This project aims to exploit the still-untapped data for accurate assessment of system operation by developing and testing performance measures. It is hoped that this will lead to a better understanding of fundamental traffic flow phenomena, leading to improved traffic flow modeling. This is necessary for forecasting the future system state so true control measures can be applied and evaluated. The research agenda will provide guidance and tools for enhancing existing courses, developing new courses and course modules to support the education and training of new and current members of the transportation workforce, both practitioners and researchers. This is significant given the current challenges in meeting workforce needs and developing engineers and planners who have multi-disciplinary backgrounds. The research and education activities will support and enhance the proposed outreach activities, which are aimed toward increasing enrollment, quality and diversity in the transportation program, and attracting and retaining students from diverse backgrounds and with diverse learning styles to science and engineering.