TechPlan Cycle Three Projects

Benefit-Cost Analysis of Value Pricing: Case Study for MnPass
Principal Investigator: Jason Cao
Co-Investigator: Lee Munnich
Research Support: Kirti Das
Peer Reviewer:  Mark Burris Ph.D, P.E., Associate Research Engineer, Texas A&M University
Research Objectives:

• Explore the cost-effectiveness of the HOT lane by examining the net incremental societal benefits and costs of MnPASS
• Compute time-dependent values of time and values of reliability when estimating travel time savings
• Estimate safety benefits through the empirical Bayes approach (more accurate than a simple before-after approach)
• Provide Mn/DOT and legislators a summary of benefits and costs associated with MnPASS

ITS and Transportation Safety: EMS System Data Integration to Improve Traffic Crash Emergency Response and Treatment – Phase III
Principal Investigator: Tom Horan  
Co-Investigator: Ben Schooley
Research Support: N/A
Peer Reviewer: Joseph Sussman, Ph.D, Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Objectives:

• Examine comparative case study for use in CrashHelp system in another state (i.e. Idaho), focusing on use of socio-demographic variables in system use.
• Identify and develop aggregate performance metrics for end-to-end EMS responses to automobile crashes for inclusion in a GIS based CrashHelp tool.
• Expand the CrashHelp prototype to include aggregate level clinical and operational performance metrics that would provide valuable decision level information for planners and practitioners.
• Obtain feedback on CrashHelp prototype from experts in the emergency response field including technicians and physicians.
• Explore policy decision maker perspectives on the ability to generalize the CrashHelp system across other states for improving traffic safety and related planning efforts.

Implementing distance-based user fees as a replacement for the gas tax
Principal Investigator: Lee Munnich
Co-Investigator: Ferrol Robinson
Research Support: David Coyle
Peer Reviewer: Paul Sorensen, Ph.D, Operations Researcher, RAND Corporation
Research Objectives:

• Help develop rationale and options for implementing VMT fees to replace gas tax
• Propose implementation strategies that could be initiated in the near-term leading to an eventual distance-based user fee system in the U.S.

From Start To Finish:  Cross-Sector Collaboration and the Urban Partnership Agreement
Principal Investigator: John Bryson
Co-Investigator: Melissa Stone, Barbara Crosby, and Emily Saunoi-Sandgren
Research Support: Anders Imboden and Anna Plumb
Peer Reviewer: Stephen Page, Ph.D, Professor, University of Washington
Research Objectives:

• Complete start to finish examination of the Minnesota Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA)
• Obtain data from other UPA sites to compare with the Twin Cities UPA results
• Produce a conceptual framework with direct implications for practice
• Understand the roles played by organizational structures, governance, leadership, and technology in the success (or failure) of the UPA collaboration

ITS and Locational Privacy: Suggestions for Peaceful Coexistence
Principal Investigator: Frank Douma
Co-Investigator: N/A
Research Support: Sarah Aue
Peer Reviewer: Dorothy Glancy, J.D., Professor, Santa Clara University
Research Objectives:

• Identify transportation technologies that faced civil liberties challenges to determine commonalities in the challenges, and how the issues were resolved
• Identify 3-5 ITS applications that may raise privacy issues and conduct a full legal analysis of the legal issues raised.
• Recommend methods of deploying the technology that either avoid raising privacy concerns, or meet appropriate legal tests.

Understanding Use of Non-motorized Transportation Facilities Through Application of Infrared and Radio-Frequency Technologies
Principal Investigator: Greg Lindsey
Co-Investigator: N/A  
Research Support: Spencer Agnew
Peer Reviewer: Jennifer Dill, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Portland State University
Research Objectives:

• Assemble, analyze, and describe existing cycling and pedestrian counts in the Twin Cities metropolitan region, including the extent of use of automated counters
• Develop a web-based, archival database that planners and managers can use to understand  spatial and temporal variation in patterns of use of different types of non-motorized facilities
• Describe and evaluate use and operations of the new University of Minnesota bicycle center, focusing on evaluation of its Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tracking system
• Design a system for using infrared monitors and RFID technologies to count traffic on urban multiuse trails in the metropolitan region that will enable validation of models for forecasting urban trail traffic

TechPlan Program Administrators
Principal Investigator:  Frank Douma
Research Assistant:  Lyssa Leitner  
CTS Research Manager:  Linda Preisen
CTS Program Coordinator:  Jan Lucke

TechPlan Peer Reviewers
Joseph Sussman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Noreen McDonald, University of North Carolina
Carissa Schively Slotterback, University of Minnesota
Stephen Page, University of Washington
Susan Moe, Federal Highway Administration
Barbara Rohde, University of Minnesota
Max Donath, University of Minnesota
Mark Nelson, Minnesota Department of Transportation