Transportation Engineering

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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11888/3187

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    Developing Trip Generation Models Using Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System: Salfit City as a Case Study
    (An-Najah National University, 2019-12-23) Irshaid, Mohammad
    In Palestine, few studies that are concerned with the development of trip generation models have been conducted. The lack of specialized studies for this purpose may be related to several challenges that encounter the Palestinian situation, such as the restricted financial support and the lack of reliable data, which makes it difficult to perform such studies. These limited studies were developed using mainly the Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) approach, which sometimes would not result in appropriate models when dealing with interrelated and complex relationships among several socioeconomic variables. Therefore, this study was devoted to investigating the feasibility of using a relatively new method for data analysis called the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), as an alternative for the traditional MLR, and explore its application within the Palestinian context for the development of the home-based trip generation models. Through this study, four types of trip generation models were developed for the Palestinian city of Salfit; the ALLTRIP model for estimating the total number of daily home-based trips generated, and the other three models for estimating the number of trips generated based on trip purpose, which are the Home-Based Work (HBW), the Home-Based Education (HBE), and the Home-Based Other (HBO) trips generation models. These models were estimated and validated using a sample of 309 households, that was thoroughly collected for Salfit City in 2017. Each of these models was developed using the two competing approaches; MLR and ANFIS. The better performing and more suitable approach was then determined based on several evaluation criteria, such as the higher value of R-Squared, the lower RMSE, and the much closer outputs to the actual values. In this study, the ANFIS was able to outperform and develop more accurate models than the MLR when dealing with the ALLTRIP and the HBO, which were considered to be more complex than others, as they include wider data range, and constitute more percentage of daily trips generated. Whereas for the HBW and the HBE, both modeling approaches were performed nearly at the same level, the R-Squared values were large enough to capture most of the variations, and the differences between the performance measures were very small which could be neglected. On the other hand, there was a little advantage for the MLR in the validation process. For these two cases, the use of the MLR was considered to be sufficient. The robust comparison through this study reveals that the ANFIS represents a promising technique, that could be a good competitor for MLR approach, especially, when dealing with interrelated and complex relationships among several socioeconomic variables. The ANFIS was found to be a useful tool for modeling home-based trip generation for Salfit City, and its further applications in transportation planning studies were recommended.
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    Heliport Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) in the West Bank: Transportation Perspective
    (An-Najah National University, 2019-11-28) Dirawi, Anas
    This thesis aims to locate and set principles to help engineers and city planners to ensure achieving the most effective Heliport Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) in the West Bank, and the effectiveness of new heliports. This thesis looks at the West Bank as an example of how a HEMS system could be built to assist the ambulance services and harness new technologies to serve the Palestinian society. In order to determine the current medical situation in Palestine, data were conducted from competent authorities. The current demand for ground EMS in the West Bank was analyzed. In addition, the most appropriate locations for HEMS were selected based on the general condition of Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) hospitals and the population coverage rate at the least possible response time. In this manner, the Maximal Covering Location Problem (MCLP) technique was used through ArcMap GIS software. Data collection on the current ground EMS demand showed that it has an average of 1.167 trips/veh/day (83,000 trips per year), and many rural communities have a response time of more than 25 minutes which is high. As for HEMS coverage rate and response time, several scenarios have been assumed and the most appropriate scenario was two helipads with one helicopter in each of Hebron (Halhul city) and Nablus governorates with a maximum response time of 25 minutes for a 100% coverage rate, and the expected demand for these helipads would be around 0.23 patients per hour, which means more than 2000 patients per year. Furthermore, the design for the main elements of the helipad was conducted, as well as the development of a special logistic system connecting HEMS and ground EMS. In addition, a ground-level helipad in the parking lot of the Red Crescent Hospital in Halhul and the compound of Nablus Governorate Building are recommended. Also, the main determinant of the mode of transport (GEMS or HEMS) should be clinical requirements, with cost considerations treated separately using policy and procedure guidelines. Using HEMS will save lots of lives and will improve the quality and efficiency of the health sector in the West Bank. Furthermore, HEMS will give the same opportunity and hope, to everyone, wherever they are. Finally, the International Human Rights Law (IHRL) affords special protection to medical property and personnel whose mission is to save lives and provide health care for civilians and combatants alike. However, the Palestinian air domain is under the control of Israeli occupation authorities, which do not allow the Palestinians to use it. Thus, the Palestinian authorities may not be able to operate the HEMS nowadays.
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    Profile of Pedestrian Crashes in Nablus Governorate
    (Ahmed Husam Ahmed Jaber, 2019-02-10) Jaber, Ahmed
    The safety of the pedestrians in Nablus City is one of the main concerns for the transportation engineers and decision makers. Nablus Governorate was chosen in this study since previous studies highlighted high pedestrian crash rates there. Therefore, this will be an essential direction for stakeholders to develop an action plan for pedestrian safety in Nablus. The aim of this research is to study, analyze, and evaluate the pedestrian crashes in Nablus Governorate for the period of 2012 – 2016. This is investigated in terms of geographical distribution of pedestrian crashes in Nablus Governorate and their characteristics, and by conducting detailed profiles of pedestrian crashes in the most critical localities in the governorate and the most hazardous zones in Nablus City. Furthermore, the study analyzed the crashes according to their severity, and temporally and spatially. The data was collected from different sources, which included time and date of crashes, locations, demographic parameters, severity, type of vehicles, zones, etc. Results indicated that Thursday had the highest number of crashes while Friday had the lowest. The period from noon to the late afternoon was the peak for pedestrian crashes, with 3:00-4:00 been the most dangerous hour for pedestrians. Young children of less than 10 years old were the most vulnerable group to be involved in pedestrian crashes (36%); the majority was males (68%). Private cars were involved in the majority of crashes with 64.5%. Although public transportation vehicles form only 6% of the total vehicles in Nablus Governorate, they were involved in 25% of these crashes. In general, pedestrian crash severity was low as compared to selected international statistics. Nablus City was the major locality in the Governorate with the highest number of people and vehicles; therefore, the results were generally similar to the Governorates’. Huwwara locality was ranked second after Nablus City in terms of pedestrian crashes frequency, and had the highest rate. Beita was third in terms of frequency and Biet Wazan was the second in terms of crash rate per capita. Huwwara was somehow different from the governorate status in terms of critical days, the highest age category, and KSI (Killed or Seriuosly Injured). Beita had pedestrian crashes all over the year with somehow steady weekly and monthly frequencies, and close to the Governorate results. The most hazardous zones where the roads of Faisal, Rafedia, Omar Khattab, Quds, Sufian, and Ras Alein. The rate of crashes (crash/100,000 people) was the highest in Nablus City. Approximately, 7% of pedestrian crashes resulted in serious injury or fatality. Although, the majority of pedestrian crashes occurred in urban areas, their severity was higher in rural areas and in off-peak traffic periods. Appropriate countermeasures, such as traffic calming, police enforcement, and upgrading of the pedestrian facilities should be implemented at the critical areas where pedestrian crashes are most frequent or severe. The responsible authorities should develop an action plan for the pedestrian safety program at the national level and provide for the appropriate regulatory environment. Comprehensive traffic safety awareness campaigns targeting drivers and pedestrians should be conducted. The traffic police could reallocate the limited human resources to the critical areas and times. Collaboration between traffic safety stakeholders, including community groups and public transport drivers, is needed to increase traffic safety awareness.
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    PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION CRASHES IN PALESTINE: THE CASE OF NABLUS GOVERNORATE
    (جامعة النجاح الوطنية, 2022-02-21) Hassoun, Reham
    Public Transportation (PT) safety studies in Palestine are limited. Most of the collected data do not provide sufficient information of the single crash record to fully understand the circumstances. This thesis aims to draw a comprehensive profile of road crashes involving PT vehicles in Nablus Governorate for the period 2015-2019. This was done by conducting analyses of the obtained crash data, analyzing their patterns, evaluating the leading causes of traffic crashes, and studying the distribution of traffic crashes, fatalities, and injuries on several levels; the entire Nablus Governorate level, the urban (Nablus City) versus the rural level, and the third for Nablus City zones. Wednesday and afternoon period (12:00-18:00) had the highest PT crashes. Summer recorded the highest number of PT crashes for Nablus Governorate and at the rural level, while the spring was the highest at the urban level. Slight injuries recorded the highest percentage at all levels. Male injures were higher than that of females at all levels. "Failure to maintain safe/proper distance" was the highest cause in all crashes. The number of PT crashes resulting in pedestrian injury formed 11.89% at Nablus Governorate level, 12.80% at the urban level, and 8.24% at the rural level. In terms of the vehicle responsible for the crash, PT vehicles formed the highest percentage at all levels. Most injuries were for the ages between one and thirty years. Crash recording system should be fully computerized from recording to data archiving including using the GPS for location identification. It is necessary to encourage safety studies and improve the general road safety conditions and launch awareness campaigns on traffic laws targeting all road users. Police should impose strict and deterrent laws for violators of traffic laws. Competent authorities should improve pedestrian facilities and conduct periodic training and awareness programs for PT drivers including refresher courses with the aim to developing the knowledge and skills to avoid crashes. It is also recommended to exert tighter control on the issuance of PT drivers' licenses. The traffic police should benefit from this study and intensify their presence and control in places where PT crashes are frequent.
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    Towards More Resilient Transportation Network against Natural Hazards in Nablus City, Palestine
    (جامعة النجاح الوطنية, 2019-09-03) Aqel, Ethar
    The resilience of transportation networks as part of any community’s critical infrastructure has been a topic of interest and an important field representing a new way of understanding and managing the safety of these networks when exposing to any disruption event in the past few decades. The major objective of this thesis is to qualitatively assess the resilience of Nablus City transportation network at a macro-scale level against the potential natural hazards that the city would be exposed to, through developing an assessment framework. This ranges from the most severe hazard, which is the earthquake, the least probable hazard, which is the snowing hazard, and reaching to the most probable hazard, which is the intensive rainfalls that could lead to flooding events, in addition to the probable land sliding triggered events as natural hazards have a cascading nature. Surface transportation networks in Palestine are considered as substantial and crucial part of Palestinian integrated critical infrastructures system as these networks are the only way for traveling between and within Palestinian cities for providing emergency and relief services. The geographical location of Nablus City made certain peculiarity for the city in terms of location. This peculiarity reflected on the transportation network of Nablus City, as in most cases have narrow roads running a long side the mountains. Because of the steep grades on the mountainous areas, most of the roads in these areas have no access to other parallel roads, which means that the closure of one link during disruption events may cause other links to be inaccessible in the same area. Therefore, the process of evacuation and emergency response through these events will encounter serious difficulties. The process of assessing the resilience for Nablus City transport networks was divided into three main phases: conceptualization, risk assessment, which forms a major part of the resilience assessment, and resilience assessment. Through these phases, the desired level of resilience for each identified hazard was measured, then spreadsheets including a range of specific measures related to each resilience dimension were developed to assess the current level of resilience for the transportation network. Based on the results, Nablus City transportation infrastructure has a moderate level of resilience against natural hazards. While the desired level of resilience against seismic hazard for it must be very high resilience, and a high to moderate level of resilience must exist against flooding and snowing hazards. This means interventions and improvements are needed to increase the level of resilience against these hazards to reach the desired level. The weaknesses that resulted in decreasing the existing level of resilience were explored through the assessment spreadsheets. This helps the decision makers to start mobilizing the efforts to set priorities on which aspects they would start working on to improve the current situation of the network. Finally, methods on how to increase the level of resilience against each hazard were also proposed through prevention, mitigation, and adaptation measures. This includes establishing disaster preparedness, coping, and management plans, building a national platform database for every natural hazard, and increasing and promoting knowledge, risk wise behavior, and awareness towards such events