Department of

Civil and Environmental Engineering


TRANSPORTATION

 

Research

Transportation research is conducted in laboratories, at field locations, and also at the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute (PTI) which includes a one-mile closed-loop test track. In addition to the broad transportation-based research opportunities at PTI, the Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center (MAUTC) provides a blended curriculum that allows students pursuing careers in transportation engineering to gain an appreciation of the business and managerial aspects affecting transportation. MAUTC's goal is to prepare its graduates to work effectively at the juncture of traffic, organization, and infrastructure management.

Transportation research projects recently completed or currently underway include:
  • Congestion management research
  • Delineation and markings for older drivers
  • Geometric and operational characteristics to accommodate large trucks
  • Intersection sight distance
  • Local Transportation Assistance Program (LTAP)
  • Median design on highways
  • Traffic signal systems
  • Transit finance and performance
  • Transportation demand management
  • Highway tort liability
  • Traffic signal control equipment
  • Cost allocation of geometric and operational characteristics
  • Development of PCE's for highway cost allocation
  • Highway capacity and traffic simulation
  • Travel demand and management
  • Activity-based travel forecasting
  • Travel demand analysis using GIS and economics
  • Access Management Impact Simulation (AM/IS)
  • ITS strategic planning
  • ITS operation test evaluation
  • Optimal location of service facilities
  • Mobile source air pollution control strategies
  • Safety, risk, and tort liability
  • Traffic engineering education program
  • Low speed urban streets
  • Typography for conventional road-signs
  • Freestanding sign visibility
  • Impact of factors on conspicuity and legibility of on-premise sign fonts
  • Low-speed urban street design
  • Highway cost allocation studies
  • Development of passenger car equivalents using simulation