April 22, 2020
Notes from the UFTI's Remote Work Series: Meetings
The University of Florida's move to remote work has forced all of us to rethink the way we meet and interact with our colleagues. During this time the UFTI has celebrated a retirement in March and held an External Advisory Board meeting April. Traditionally, these would have been in-person events; often involving food, discussion, and camaraderie.  

FDOT Final Report: Evaluation of techniques to remove defective grout from post-tensioning tendons (BDV31-977-58)
Concrete bridge girders in the U.S. are often built using multistrand post-tensioned (PT) tendons. The tendon is a tube (the duct) that carries a bundle of steel cables. The tube is backfilled with grout to exclude air and moisture and to provide an alkaline environment. The grout should harden completely, but segregated and unhardened grout with free moisture has been found in some tendons. This “soft grout” can cause corrosion of prestressing strands, which can require expensive repairs, especially for tendons internal to the concrete. Alternative repair methods can save time and expense. Dr. Trey Hamilton, professor emeritus with the Herbert Werthiem College of Engineering Department of Civil & Coastal Engineering recently completed research that offers promising new methods for remediating soft grout in bridge birders that avoid costlier repairs or replacements.
 
Dr. Ranka to present at the 6th International Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems (VEHITS 2020)
Dr. Sanjay Ranka, professor in the Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering, will be presenting six papers at the 6th International Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems (VEHITS 2020), streaming online May 2 - 4, 2020. Dr. Ranka is a member of the UFTI's Internal Steering Committee's Big Data Research Initiative and is involved in autonomous vehicle research. Dr. Ranka had the following papers accepted to VEHITS 2020:
  • D. Mahajan, Y. Karnati, T. Banerjee, A. Rangarajan, and S. Ranka, A Data Driven Approach to Derive Traffic Intersection Geography Using High Resolution Controller Logs, Proceedings of 2020 Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transportation System (VEHITS), 2020.
  • P. He, A. Wu, X. Huang, A. Rangarajan, and S. Ranka, Video-Based Machine Learning System for Commodity Classification, Proceedings of 2020 Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transportation System (VEHITS), 2020.
  • K. Chen, T. Banerjee, X. Huang, A. Rangarajan, and S. Ranka, A Visual Analytics System for Processed Videos from Traffic Intersections, Proceedings of 2020 Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transportation System (VEHITS), 2020.
  • T. Banerjee, X. Huang, K. Chen, A. Rangarajan, and S. Ranka, Clustering Object Trajectories for Intersection Traffic Analysis, Proceedings of 2020 Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transportation System (VEHITS), 2020.
  • X. Huang T. Banerjee, K. Chen, N. Varanasi, A. Rangarajan and S. Ranka, Machine Learning based Video Processing for Real-time Near-Miss Detection, Proceedings of 2020 Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transportation System (VEHITS), 2020.
  • Y. Karnati, D. Mahajan, A. Rangarajan, and S. Ranka, Data Mining Algorithms for Traffic Interruption Detection, Proceedings of 2020 Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transportation System (VEHITS), 2020.
Despite the changing landscape, faculty and staff continue to stay connected and on track with our research and other initiatives.

Upcoming Webinars
STRIDE Webinar: Performance Measurement and Management Using Connected and Automated Vehicle Data

April 22: 12:00 PM Eastern

The availability of connected vehicle (CV) data, even at lower market penetrations, can be sufficient to support critical transportation performance measurement and management functions. This webinar will discuss the use of CV data to estimate metrics that can be currently estimated using existing data sources including those related to mobility, reliability, and environmental impacts. In addition, the webinar will discuss the estimation and utilization of additional mobility and safety metrics that cannot be estimated based on existing sources of data. The utilization of machine learning techniques to predict these performance metrics is also discussed.

Webinar Presenter:
  • Dr. Mohammed Hadi, Florida International University

STRIDE Webinar: Technology Influence on Travel Demand and Behaviors

May 13: 12:00 PM Eastern

The rapid technological developments in the 21st century created new opportunities for shared-use economy applications in the US and around the globe. In recent years, many large- and medium-sized city markets have experienced increases in the availability and popularity of Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), for-hire vehicles, and on-demand services such as UberX and Lyft. However, it is still not clear how availability of smartphone-based traveler information services influence travel choices and what are the impacts from mode choice changes on transportation network operations. This seminar presents findings from a study that investigated the influence of ride-sourcing on transportation users’ choices and behaviors in the Birmingham, AL region. The study a) documented Birmingham metro transportation users’ attitudes, choices, and behavioral trends and b) examined the feasibility of using agent-based simulation modeling to quantify the impacts of mode choice shift due to ride-sourcing on local and regional congestion. The seminar introduces the study methodology, presents findings and conclusions, and discusses next steps.

Webinar Presenter:
  • Dr. Virginia Sisiopiku, University of Alabama at Birmingham


The Southeastern Transportation Research, Innovation, Development, and Education (STRIDE) Center is the 2016 USDOT Region 4 (Southeast) University Transportation Center (UTC) housed at the University of Florida Transportation Institute (UFTI). 

Mc Trans Highway Capacity Analysis Webinar Series

June 1 - 5: 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM Eastern

Mc Trans will be presenting a training course as a series of webinars on Highway Capacity Analysis covering the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM 6th Edition) methodologies including applications using the Highway Capacity Software (HCS7) organized as follows:

June 1 (1:00-2:30) – HCM 6th Edition with HCS7 Overview (included with all registrations) (1.5 PDH)

June 1 (2:30-4:00) & June 2 (1:00-2:30) – Freeway Segments (Basic, Weaving, Merge & Diverge) and Freeway Facilities (Reliability) (3.0 PDH)  

June 2 (2:30-4:00) – Highway Segments (Multilane Highways, Two-Lane Highways) (1.5 PDH)

June 3 (1:00-2:30) – Unsignalized Intersections (TWSC, AWSC, Roundabouts and Roundabout Corridors) (1.5 PDH)

June 3 (2:30-4:00) & June 4 (1:00-4:00) – Signalized Intersections (Multiple-Period Analysis, Phase Duration); Urban Streets (Flow Profile, Access Points, Reliability) and Interchanges (Ramp Terminals, Alternative Intersections) (4.5 PDH)

June 5 (1:00-2:30) – TransModeler SE Demonstration (HCS7 Streets Integration, 3D Animation, HCM-Compliant Simulation) (1.5 PDH)

Register for the entire series (13.5 PDH) at a discounted rate. Registrations will be limited to ensure questions and discussion can be managed appropriately. Individual registrations are required for all participants. Multiple registrations on the same order from the same company or agency are discounted.

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