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What Happens When a Freeway is Closed for Repairs? (Results from Fix I-5, 2008)
This page updated December 2, 2009
Chair’s Air Pollution Seminar |
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Tuesday, December 8,
2009
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What Happens When a
Freeway
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Michael Zhang, Ph.D
and Patricia L. Mokhtarian,
Ph.D.
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A section of
Interstate 5 (I-5) from Richards Blvd. to the U.S. Highway 50/Capitol City
Freeway Interchange in downtown Sacramento, California, also known as
the "boat section", was shut off from May 30 to July 28 last summer
(2008) to replace pavement and improve drainage. The boat section is on
a major commuting route in the area and carries about 190,000 vehicles
on a typical weekday. It is also a major truck route in the central
valley. The public were advised to take transit, telecommute,
carpool, use alternative routes and alternative work schedules, and
reduce the number of trips to the affected area to relive traffic
congestion and reduce air pollution during the I-5 closures. In this talk we will present our findings of our Fix I-5 study funded by the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), through which various kinds of traffic, transit and travel behavior data were collected before, during and after the I-5 closures. we'll show where and how we collected the data, and what the data on the ground reveal about changes in vehicular traffic flow patterns and transit ridership in the region, as well as data from three internet based surveys (two are analyzed to-date) reveal about commuters' travel choices and behavioral changes during the Fix I-5 project.
Michael Zhang, Ph.D., is
currently a Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering
Department at University of California Davis. He is also affiliated
with the Institute of Transportation Studies, and a faculty
member in the Graduate Program of Transportation Technology and
Policy and the Graduate Program of Applied Mathematics at UC Davis. Dr.
Zhang's current research focuses on applications of systems theory to
transportation systems analysis and operations. Specific topics include
traffic flow modeling, adaptive ramp metering, estimation of
Origin-Destination demands, work zone and corridor traffic management,
congestion pricing, and intelligent transportation systems such as the
application of wireless communications and grid computing technology to
distributed, on-demand traffic management. Professor Zhang is an
Area Editor of the Journal of Networks and Spatial Economics and
Associate Editor of Transportation Research, Part B: Methodological.
Dr. Zhang received his BS degree in Civil Engineering from Tongji
University (Shanghai, China), and his MS and PhD degrees in Engineering
from University of California Irvine. Prior to his UC Davis
appointment, he has taught at the University of Iowa from 1995 to 1998. Patricia L. Mokhtarian,
Ph.D., is
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Associate Director
for Education of the Institute of Transportation Studies, and Chair of
the interdisciplinary graduate program in Transportation Technology and
Policy at the University of California, Davis. Dr. Mokhtarian
joined UC Davis in 1990, after nine years in regional planning and
consulting in Southern California. Dr. Mokhtarian has
specialized in the study of travel behavior for more than 30
years. A key research interest has been the impacts of land
use on travel behavior, with additional interests in the impact of
telecommunications technology on travel, congestion-response
behavior, attitudes toward mobility, adoption of new transportation
technologies, and the transportation/air quality impacts of
transportation demand management measures. Dr.
Mokhtarian has authored or co-authored more than 160 refereed journal
articles, technical reports, and other publications
(http://www.its.ucdavis.edu/telecom/publist.html). Dr.
Mokhtarian teaches undergraduate probability and statistics, and
graduate courses in transportation survey methods and discrete choice
modeling. Her PhD is from Northwestern University.
For information
on this Series please contact: For
a complete listing of the ARB Chairman's Series and the related
documentation for |
