This paper discusses the development of geographical information systems (GIS) based tools for use in the trucking industry. The primary goals are to link the GIS with appropriate database information to support both operational and strategic decision making in both truckload (TL) and less-than-truckload (LTL) operations. The GIS-based tools support three primary deliverables. In the LTL industry, we have developed tools to support the determination of near-optimal locations for breakbulk terminals. In the TL industry, we have developed tools to aid in the development of regularly scheduled capacity in the form of driving "lanes" in an effort to regularize the driving job and to improve service in that industry. For both industries, we have made use of regression analysis to determine the level to which we can make use of demographic information to predict freight density. For all three deliverables, the GIS software system supports the key prerequisite of freight density analysis. Also, the GIS platform provides excellent graphics capabilities for visualizing the various analyses and solutions. The result is an integrated solution platform that enables the trucking industry to better utilize delivery capacity and to proactively seek solutions to problems of strategic importance
The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/view/10.1201/9781315146638, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license. GIS is used today to better understand and solve urban problems. GIS in Sustainable Urban Planning and Management: A Global Perspective, explores and illustrates the capacity that geo-information and GIS have to inform practitioners and other participants in the processes of the planning and management of urban regions. The first part of the book addresses the concept of sustainable urban development, its different frameworks, the many ways of measuring sustainability, and its value in the urban policy arena. The second part discusses how urban planning can shape our cities, examines various spatial configurations of cities, the spread of activities, and the demands placed on different functions to achieve strategic objective. It further focuses on the recognition that urban dwellers are increasingly under threat from natural hazards and climate change. Written by authors with expertise on the applications of geo-information in urban management, this book showcases the importance of GIS in better understanding current urban challenges and provides new insights on how to apply GIS in urban planning. It illustrates through real world cases the use of GIS in analyzing and evaluating the position of disadvantaged groups and areas in cities and provides clear examples of applied GIS in urban sustainability and urban resilience. The idea of sustainable development is still very much central in the new development agenda of the United Nations, and in that sense, it is of particular importance for students from both the Global South and Global North. Professionals, researchers, and students alike will find this book to be an invaluable resource for understanding and solving problems relating to sustainable urban planning and management.
The changing focus and approach of geomorphic research suggests that the time is opportune for a summary of the state of discipline. The number of peer-reviewed papers published in geomorphic journals has grown steadily for more than two decades and, more importantly, the diversity of authors with respect to geographic location and disciplinary background (geography, geology, ecology, civil engineering, computer science, geographic information science, and others) has expanded dramatically. As more good minds are drawn to geomorphology, and the breadth of the peer-reviewed literature grows, an effective summary of contemporary geomorphic knowledge becomes increasingly difficult. The fourteen volumes of this Treatise on Geomorphology will provide an important reference for users from undergraduate students looking for term paper topics, to graduate students starting a literature review for their thesis work, and professionals seeking a concise summary of a particular topic. Information on the historical development of diverse topics within geomorphology provides context for ongoing research; discussion of research strategies, equipment, and field methods, laboratory experiments, and numerical simulations reflect the multiple approaches to understanding Earth’s surfaces; and summaries of outstanding research questions highlight future challenges and suggest productive new avenues for research. Our future ability to adapt to geomorphic changes in the critical zone very much hinges upon how well landform scientists comprehend the dynamics of Earth’s diverse surfaces. This Treatise on Geomorphology provides a useful synthesis of the state of the discipline, as well as highlighting productive research directions, that Educators and students/researchers will find useful. Geomorphology has advanced greatly in the last 10 years to become a very interdisciplinary field. Undergraduate students looking for term paper topics, to graduate students starting a literature review for their thesis work, and professionals seeking a concise summary of a particular topic will find the answers they need in this broad reference work which has been designed and written to accommodate their diverse backgrounds and levels of understanding Editor-in-Chief, Prof. J. F. Shroder of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, is past president of the QG&G section of the Geological Society of America and present Trustee of the GSA Foundation, while being well respected in the geomorphology research community and having won numerous awards in the field. A host of noted international geomorphologists have contributed state-of-the-art chapters to the work. Readers can be guaranteed that every chapter in this extensive work has been critically reviewed for consistency and accuracy by the World expert Volume Editors and by the Editor-in-Chief himself No other reference work exists in the area of Geomorphology that offers the breadth and depth of information contained in this 14-volume masterpiece. From the foundations and history of geomorphology through to geomorphological innovations and computer modelling, and the past and future states of landform science, no "stone" has been left unturned!
This report from the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2), which is administered by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, presents the process used to develop a strategic plan aimed at improving the state of the practice in freight demand modeling and freight data. The need for this plan is identified through the increasing number of freight bottlenecks found throughout the U.S. highway network, demonstrating that more information is needed on freight flows and their relation to highway capacity planning. The report documents the research approach and findings during the development of the C20 Strategic Plan, which is available on the TRB website. The report also includes documentation of the Innovations in Freight Demand Modeling and Data Symposium, a pilot effort initiated in September 2010.
This research focuses on establishing a systematic non-survey-based method for developing an origin-destination (OD) matrix of freight flows based on secondary data sources. The estimated freight flows and concurrent passenger volumes are loaded onto the regional highway network in the greater Los Angeles area of Southern California. Economic analyses, modeling, and GIS technologies are integrated into building a GIS-based OD matrix for freight flow. In order to load the freight flows onto the regional highway network, a three-step feedback transportation model is developed. It includes trip generation, trip distribution, and traffic assignment. A doubly-constrained gravity model is used to co-distribute and calibrate personal trips and freight trips in the trip distribution step. A version of User-Optimal-Strict On Network Assignment (UO-S-NA) is used to assign all of the vehicle trips to the regional highway network.
Increased urbanization, population growth, and economic development within the U.S. have led to an increased demand for freight travel to meet the needs of individuals and businesses. Consequently, freight transportation has grown significantly over time and has expanded beyond the capacity of infrastructure, which has caused new challenges in many regions. To maintain quality of life and enhance public safety, more effort must be dedicated to investigating and planning in the area of traffic management and to assessing the impact of trucks on highway systems. Traffic diversion is an effective strategy to reduce the impact of incident-induced congestion, but alternative routes for truck traffic must be carefully selected based on a route’s restrictions on the size and weight of commercial vehicles, route’s operational characteristics, and safety considerations.
Federal planning legislation and regulations now mandate that state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations consider the needs of freight when planning and programming transportation investments. While there are standard techniques used to forecast the movement of people, less attention has been paid to forecasting freight movements, and there are consequently fewer standardized techniques that state and local agencies can adapt to their local situation. This Toolkit is designed to provide transportation planners with the information they need to prepare forecasts of freight transportation by highlighting techniques successfully developed by state agencies across the country.
Spatial models have been in existence in the environmental and social sciences for a long time. More recently, specialised software for the capture, manipulation and presentation of spatial data, which can be referred to as `Geographical Information Systems' (GIS), have vastly increased the range of possibilities of organising spatial data by new and efficient ways of spatial integration and spatial interpolation. Coupled with the improvements in data availability and increases in computer memory and speed, these novel techniques give rise to new types of spatial models which exploit the technological potential now available, make better use of existing data, stimulate the collection of new data and open up new ways of working with geographic information. This book explores the potential and impact of GIS on spatial modelling.
Anticipating the need for Virginia to comply with the new freight planning requirements mandated by ISTEA and TEA-21, the Virginia Transportation Research Council in 1998 developed a Statewide Intermodal Freight Transportation Planning Methodology, which provided a standard framework for identifying problems and evaluating alternative improvements to Virginia's freight transportation infrastructure. The first step in the methodology was to inventory the system. This study completed that step. In this study, a freight advisory committee, consisting of public and private freight stakeholders, was formed. Next, county-level commodity flow data were commercially procured. Using these data, Virginia's "key" commodities were identified, and the flows of these commodities were assigned to county-level O-D tables. A geographic information system (GIS) database was developed that showed freight flows, county-level population and employment information, and Virginia's freight transportation network. With the use of various statistical analysis techniques, freight generation and attraction relationships were defined, and predictive equations were developed for each of Virginia's key commodities. Future freight flows were predicted, and various models with which to distribute these future flows were evaluated. The freight transportation GIS database, along with the analytical tools to predict and display future freight flows within Virginia, provides the Virginia Department of Transportation and its Freight Advisory Committee the means by which to identify problems, establish performance measures, and develop and evaluate alternatives to improve the flow of freight into, out of, and within Virginia
