Driving Coverage of Charging Stations for Battery Electric Trucks Located at Truck Stop Facilities

Battery-powered electric trucks could soon be deployed on a large scale along long-haul routes on the U.S. trunk highway system. These vehicles have numerous advantages, including zero emissions, fuel savings, and lower maintenance costs, that make them attractive for motor carrier companies. However, the deployment of this technology depends on the development of a convenient network of fast-charging stations that can provide sufficient driving coverage along the Interstate highway system. The majority of existing fast-charging stations in rural areas currently are not adequate for the movement of large trucks. A potential solution is to install fast-charging stations at the vast network of rural truck stops. Truck stops are specifically designed for the movement of trucks and are already located on the routes with the highest truck demand. The main objective of this study was to develop a methodology for identifying the driving coverage provided if fast-charging stations were located at truck stop facilities along the U.S. Interstate highway system. The contiguous U.S.A. was taken as the study area. The study approach was based on a geographic information system network analysis with a specific focus on the service area. It was found that truck stop facilities could potentially provide 99.5% driving coverage for electric trucks on the Interstate highway system. This makes them opportune locations for future fast-charging stations. These findings may assist transportation planners and operators in defining strategies required for planning the deployment of long-haul electric trucks on the U.S. highway system.

Upstate and Downstate Avant-Gardes

This chapter talks about the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, which connected Buffalo and New York City although they are almost four hundred miles apart. It explains how the canal, which was built to create a navigable east–west waterway from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, transformed New York into what became known as the Empire State during the nineteenth century. It also mentions cities of the East Coast and Great Lakes, midwestern farmlands, and Canadian, British, and European port cities where industries soon settled along the thriving waterfronts of Buffalo and New York, making them prosperous centers for manufacturing and trade. The chapter recounts the construction of the interstate highway system, the Saint Lawrence Seaway, that rendered the Erie Canal completely obsolete by the 1950s. It illustrates how Buffalo and New York City struggled to rebuild in the post-industrial era.

Structural Evaluation of Corten Steel Ancillary Highway Structures

This paper investigates an assessment method for Corten steel (CS) ancillary structures on the Charleston interstate highway system (I-64, I-77, and I-79). Nineteen CS bridge-mounted ancillary support (CS-BMAS) structures (i.e., ancillary structures are attached to bridge superstructure) were examined by non-destructive testing techniques. Ultrasonic testing (UT) was used to inspect key components of the ancillary sign structures (e.g., anchor bolts, connection brackets, etc.) while the other components were assessed by a conventional visual inspection method. The CS-BMAS structures were rated at both the overall and element levels (each ancillary structure includes more than ten elements/components such as foundations/concrete in the vicinity of connections, mounting plates, anchor bolts, vertical tubular members and their connections, truss members and connections). The element level ratings were based on the proposed rating criteria and score. The overall condition of each ancillary structure was then obtained by the normalized S/S_max ratio (where S is the total score of each structure and S_max is maximum possible total score). The results revealed that most of the CS-BMAS structures performed satisfactorily after more than four decades of service and exposure to harsh environmental conditions. Specifically, two ancillary sign structures (11%) were rated as good condition, 16 structures (84%) were rated as fair condition, and one structure (5%) was found to be in poor condition.

Structural Evaluation of Corten Steel Ancillary Highway Structures

This paper investigates an assessment method for Corten steel (CS) ancillary structures on the Charleston interstate highway system (I-64, I-77, and I-79). Nineteen CS bridge-mounted ancillary support (CS-BMAS) structures (i.e., ancillary structures are attached to bridge superstructure) were examined by non-destructive testing techniques. Ultrasonic testing (UT) was used to inspect key components of the ancillary sign structures (e.g., anchor bolts, connection brackets, etc.) while the other components were assessed by a conventional visual inspection method. The CS-BMAS structures were rated at both the overall and element levels (each ancillary structure includes more than ten elements/components such as foundations/concrete in the vicinity of connections, mounting plates, anchor bolts, vertical tubular members and their connections, truss members and connections). The element level ratings were based on the proposed rating criteria and score. The overall condition of each ancillary structure was then obtained by the normalized S/S_max ratio (where S is the total score of each structure and S_max is maximum possible total score). The results revealed that most of the CS-BMAS structures performed satisfactorily after more than four decades of service and exposure to harsh environmental conditions. Specifically, two ancillary sign structures (11%) were rated as good condition, 16 structures (84%) were rated as fair condition, and one structure (5%) was found to be in poor condition.

The Dangerous Stranger

This chapter investigates the discourse surrounding hitchhiking in the post-World War II era to understand the ways in which rising prosperity, exponential growth in car ownership, and the Cold War political atmosphere affected American notions of community, masculine individualism, and personal safety. Many motorists greeted hitchhikers on the road with increased suspicion. Likewise, media and law-enforcement officials began to predominantly frame the practice in terms of risk and danger. Regardless, this did little to dampen the spirits of a new generation of middle-class white youths who began to associate hitchhiking with thrifty adventure and a ticket to authentic experience on the nation’s expanding interstate highway system. At the same time, African Americans began to aggressively push for equal rights and the end of segregation. Notably, automobility, bus boycotts, and hitchhiking were a key front in this struggle.

Investigation of Design Speed Characteristics on Freeway Ramps using SHRP2 Naturalistic Driving Data

Freeway ramp design guidance has existed in the United States for many decades, coinciding with the advent of the nation’s freeway network and the Interstate Highway system. Some principles associated with ramp design are largely unchanged since their inception, and a review of those principles in the context of today’s drivers and vehicles is beneficial for identifying potential updates to existing guidance. The process of collecting the necessary data may consist of a variety of methods, each with limitations on the number of ramps, vehicles, and trips that can be studied. A current research project is exploring the feasibility of using data from the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP2) Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS) to identify relationships between ramp design speed characteristics and drivers’ choices of operating speeds on those ramps. The NDS data provides a dataset that is unprecedented in its size and detail, but its suitability for this type of analysis is largely unknown. This paper summarizes the activities and findings of the current research project, including basic models for estimating vehicle speeds on freeway ramps based on the NDS data; these models may be used in conjunction with other ongoing related research efforts to suggest material for potential updates to existing ramp design guidance.

The Growing Separation Between Markets and Government

The nation's surface transportation infrastructure represents a key component to economic growth in the United States for the 21st century. The establishment of the Interstate Highway System in 1956 represents one of the country's greatest public works achievements. The funding mechanism has been the Highway Trust Fund that collects fuel taxes to finance transportation projects. The rationale for this structure was to create a self-financed program. Over the last couple of decades, fuel taxes have not kept pace with highway needs. This chapter will examine the widening funding gap and options for making the program a true pay-as-you-go system once again.