**Boban Djordjevic**

University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

**IV**

traffic safety.

law enforcement community.

Chapter 4 deals with infrastructure capacity research, and introduces and defines the processes of managing the capacity of the railway infrastructure on which the quality of operational traffic management is based. The objective is to investigate the impact of systematic train paths in periodic timetables on rail infrastructure capacity.

Chapter 5, 6, and 7 investigate some of the main environmental issues related to the transport sector from different points of view. These chapters cover the need for life cycle assessment approaches, the need for the management of air and rail cargo

Chapter 5 addresses the research development of life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) applied to transportation infrastructure. In particular, it introduces LCCA and LCA, then critically and systematically reviews the current research problems of LCCA and LCA and, finally, proposes and integrates evalua-

Chapter 6 reviews and summarizes the latest energy efficiency management strategies in air and rail cargo transportation. The political framework conditions of the EU as well as the associated European emissions trading system are also described. Moreover, the drive technologies, CO2 emissions, and fuel saving options are also

Chapter 7 argues that large-scale sewage plants in large cities are suitable for the production of large quantities of biogas, using economically viable biogas upgrading technologies and generally available public transport fleets of a sufficient number of local buses, as well as municipal vehicles. The authors discuss the opportunity of using biogas from wastewater treatment plants in local transport vehicles of (buses, taxis, public utility vehicles). An economic analysis is discussed and real

Chapter 8, 9, and 10 deal with transport safety issues. As for the previous chapters, different perspectives are deepened: road traffic safety, education strategies for traf-

Chapter 8 describes a methodological structure to support and improve the decisionmaking process for redesigning the geometric configurations of substandard sites, and thus for reducing the crash risk factors in two-lane rural road networks located in Southern Italy. Starting from an initial evaluation of the risk level at each investigated site, a more precise hierarchy of intersections with "black" rankings was developed and new geometric configurations for the most hazardous sites were suggested based on a statistical comparison in terms of safety and Level of Service (LoS).

Chapter 9 describes the main results of a multi-tiered holistic project for improving

It is proposed that a strategic prevention framework be used as an effective injury reduction model for reducing driver injury crashes on community roadways. The project involved Kean University and the New Jersey Division of Highway Safety, and consisted of crash prevention strategies involving education and enforcement outreach educating children. First, an effective K-12 traffic safety program was established for supporting driver education training, then crash investigation training and a statewide traffic safety specialist certification was promoted within the

and, finally, the possibility of using alternative fuels for local transport.

tion methodology that combines LCA and LCCA.

discussed.

case studies are introduced.

fic road safety, and railway safety.

**1**

**Chapter 1**

**Abstract**

population synthesis

**1. Introduction**

A Critical Review on Population

Based Transportation Models

*Ossama E. Ramadan and Virginia P. Sisiopiku*

Synthesis for Activity- and Agent-

Traditional four-step transportation planning models fail to capture novel transportation modes such as car/ridesharing. Hence, agent-based models are replacing those traditional models for their scalability, robustness, and capability of simulating nontraditional transportation modes. A crucial step in developing agent-based models is the definition of agents, e.g., household and persons. While model developers wish to capture typical workday travel patterns of the entire study population of travelers, such detailed data are unavailable due to privacy concerns and technical and financial feasibility issues. Hence, modelers opt for population syntheses based on travel diary surveys, land use data, and census data. The most prominent techniques are iterative proportional fitting (IPF), iterative proportional updating (IPU), combinatorial optimization, Markov-based and fitness-based syntheses, and other emerging approaches. Yet, at present, there is no clear guideline on using any of the available techniques. To bridge this gap, this chapter presents a comprehensive synthesis of practice and documents available successful studies.

**Keywords:** transportation planning, traffic simulation, agent-based models,

process has since been known as population synthesis.

Transportation simulation models are widely used for travel demand forecasting, testing design alternatives, or predicting travel behavior. In 1992, Axhausen and Gärling [1] developed a comprehensive review of conceptualizations and approaches of activity-based transportation models with special regard to the validity of behavioral assumptions of modeled population. In the course of their review, they concluded that individual travelers and households, rather than aggregates, should be identified and considered. Nevertheless, detailed travel records for individuals have never been easily accessible for several reasons, the most important being privacy issues and cost. Hence, individual travel diaries needed to be synthesized from travel surveys, census data, and publically available records. That

Population synthesizers initially were used as feeder data avenues to travel demand models [2]; however, recent shifts toward activity- and agent-based models brought population synthesizers to the spotlight, as they became determinants to the success or failure of any transportation model of that kind. Fitting is the core
