This is an Engineering Research Paper.
What is operations research? Operations research is the application of the methods of science to complex problems arising in the direction and management of large systems of men, machines material, and money in industry, business, government and defense. The distinctive approach is to develop a scientific model of the system, incorporating measurements of factors such as chance and risk, with which to predict and compare the outcomes of alternative decisions, strategies or controls. The purpose is to help management determine its policy and actions scientifically. (Ravindran, Phillips and Solberg 1987). How does operations research apply to highway systems inefficiency? Let’s find out!
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How is it possible to have a six lane major highway, miraculously turn or transform itself into a four-lane system? It is not possible for the quantity of cars traveling on the highways to get through this section of roadway without some delay. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this solution, which is sometimes unavoidable due to land constraints, is simply unacceptable in today’s fast paced economy.
Another issue that is at the forefront of this subject is aggressive driving leading to highway accidents. We’ve all been there: stuck behind the slow moving truck crawling up hill on a two lane road; cut off by a speeding car that zips in front of us; tailgated by a driver who wants to practice for the Indy 500 on the local highway. (William, Cassidy 1997). “ Road rage” and aggressive driving cause about one-third of highway accidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concludes that these drivers must be stopped because their driving is taking a toll on America’s highways. The top causes of aggressive driving are irresponsibility on the driver’s part, reduced traffic enforcement, and increased congestion and traffic in urban cities.
Forces of nature also play a significant part in this scenario. In bad weather like snow, rain and fog people have a natural tendency to be more cautious and deliberate when behind the wheel of a car with these conditions. Slower movement of traffic suggests that these cars are not
The town of Halton Hill’s population includes the areas of Georgetown and Acton and other communities such as Erin, Oakville, Burlington and Milton regions. This is what is considered to be my community because these are the many places that I am visiting most often and they are always referred to together as “Halton Hills Region” (p.5, 2011). With the substantial increase in population in the Halton Hills region, more specifically Georgetown, there should be a strong demand for a public transit system to counteract all of the environmental disturbances that are being caused due to this increase. One of the things that is happening is that there are so many trees they are cutting down in order to expand and grow the population with houses being built. Statistics are showing that the population of Halton Hill’s region will expand by 54% over the next 20 years (p.5, 2011). By the year 2031, employment rates will increase by 75%, leaving Halton with 42,100 jobs being offered (p.5, 2011). With this rapid influx of citizens, this will only increase the demands of travel to get to these work places as well as other destinations (p.5, 2011). Over the past couple of year’s the traffic congestion on the major roads in Halton Hills such as Trafalgar Road and Regional Road 25 with individuals trying to get to and from work. There used to be very little traffic in these areas, however since Halton Hill’s has continued to expand, the utilization of automobiles has significantly increased due to the fact there is no public transit system. The Transportation Demand Management in Halton Hill’s is noticing the increase in automobiles stating that there needs to be a major shift in more efficient ways of transportation, yet there still has been nothing improvised (p.7, 2011). The Transportation Demand
Britain’s first motorway , the 13 km Preston bypass was opened in 1958, and following this the Goverment planned to improve 6750km of road to at least dual carriageway standard to form strategic inter-urban network for England. This network was marked as a national commitment, which would enhance road safety, be easily connected to all major centres of population, promote economic growth and regional development.
According to a report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration titled “Aggressive Driving Enforcement” published in March 2004 and accessed on May 14th, 2016, “66% of traffic accidents are caused by aggressive driving… and 2% of drivers admit to attempting to run an aggressor off the
“In the hands of an impaired driver, a vehicle becomes a murderous weapon.” ( ) Everyone can think of someone who has driven impaired, or even maybe you have done it yourself. The fact that one can think of someone who has driven impaired is a problem. Too many people are getting behind the wheel after drinking, smoking; or are not paying attention while they drive. Impaired driving continues to a problem although strides have been made to make a difference. There are many different types of impaired driving, each that have their own consequences. These types, and consequences will be explored in this essay.
Many people have lost their lives on the road and caused other’s deaths because they were distracted with doing something while driving. In 2012, 3,328 people were killed in distraction-related crashes (“Statistics on Texting & Cell Phone Use While Driving” n.d.). Distractions while driving that result in these accidents include texting/making a call or becoming intoxicated and having high blood alcohol concentration. Many laws have been brought forth to help regulate the amount of people drinking while driving and using a cell phone while driving. Not only do people put their own lives in danger, they are also putting other’s lives in danger. People who take part in these distractions are not being responsible when making these rash decisions while driving and creating a hazardous environment for those around them.
Background and Audience Relevance: According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2015, about thirty-five hundred people were killed, and four hundred thousand were injured in car crashes.
There has always been a demand for roads in the United States as roads are essential in the development of a nation. The national interstate highway system was America’s solution for the need of a road system that would stretch from coast to coast. The United States Interstate Highway System is a landmark project and often considered one of the greatest public works projects in American history by making travel by automobile faster, cheaper, safer and more convenient. New roads have been a necessity on our country ever since Henry Ford began to produce the automobile back in in 1903.
When traffic is beyond ridiculous, there’s no surprise when Houston motorists lose approximately $1,090 every year due to the high volumes of vehicles on the road. The congestion is hurting more than just individual drivers; businesses requiring trucking receive an astonishing $646M hit from time lost during these hold ups, which is up from $490M in 2007 (Begley). As Houston grows and seeing as road development is already behind, we can only expect such expenses to increase throughout the decade. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said it best, “(the challenge) is just trying to stay where we are” (Begley).
In 2013, 10,076 people were killed in drunk driving incidents. Out of those people, 65% (6,515) were drivers, 27% (2,724) were passengers, and 8% (837) were non-passengers (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). Over half of those fatalities (67.1%) involved blood alcohol levels over .15% (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). The legal blood-alcohol content is .08%. Drunk driving caused 31% of deaths in car crashes in 2013 (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). In 2012, 402 people were killed by alcohol impairment in North Carolina (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). These numbers, though they seem astonishing, have been cut in half since 1991 (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). Even though the number of fatalities has been lowered, that number is not low enough. Most drunk drivers are repeat offenders. Lives are being taken because of the careless attitude of the drunk drivers. Drunk driving is selfish; those who commit this crime do not think about the extreme consequences of their actions. In North America it is estimated that 1-5 drivers has been drinking and 1 in 10 is legally impaired on any Friday or Saturday night (Root). Many groups, including MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), are fighting to stop drunk driving. Unfortunately, drunk driving cannot be stopped. People will always commit this heinous crime. The numbers may go down, but unfortunately there will always be a number. The only way to continually decrease the amount of lives lost is to increase punishments for drunk driving.
Distracted driving has been the most recent cause of accidents on the road presently. Of course there are many other reasons why drivers get into accidents, but it is mainly because they get distracted. Police in El Cerrito, California even gave more than 600 citations in April to drivers for distracted driving violations (“El Cerrito”).Also,“nearly 6,000 people were killed and a half-million injured last year in the U.S. due to drivers being distracted”(“Distracted”).Distracted driving today causes many accidents through the use of technology, eating and drinking, and children in the backseat.
It is interesting to see that more attention is placed on violent deaths from shooting than other accidental deaths. On the contrary, traffic mortalities continue to be one of the most important causes of death in the United States, for example, in 2010, there was an estimation of 32,788 deaths (Ferdinand et al., 2014). Death from motor accidents is therefore a serious public safety issue that should be addressed. Recently, in the city of Laredo, two people lost their lives and one was left in critical condition after being hit by someone who was texting and driving (Gallardo, 2015). Texting while driving is increasing at an alarming rate and the devastating effect on public health and safety warrants a thorough study. Policy makers and all interested parties must come together to do a thorough study that will lead to laws designed to curb such preventable
We all have either witnessed, fell victim, or have engaged in road rage behavior. The definition of road rage is, “aggressive or violent behavior stemming from a driver's uncontrolled anger at the actions of another motorist” (DMV, 1999). I know all too well the frustrations of sitting in traffic for hours. An even I myself am guilty of having some road rage tendencies. There is nothing more frustrating, to me, than to have somebody race to get in front of me, and then stopping. Rather than getting behind me and then stopping. It makes me wonder what is so important, that they had to cut me off. Honestly, some days I question if people really do get their licenses from Cracker Jack Boxes. There are all sorts of horror stories of people becoming physically violent, and even at times fatal, all because of road rage. A majority of road rage cases is caused by; distracted drivers, drivers who have anger issues and drivers with an underlying medical issue.
There are three types of drivers in this world: competent, overcautious, and reckless. After driving for many years in frustrating rush hour traffic, one might find there are three types of drivers, competent drivers who keep the flow going, over cautious drivers who cause slow and backed up traffic, and reckless drivers who weave in and out of traffic causing one near death experience after another. Trying to sort out what type of driver a person might be is an extremely challenging task. In a person's own mind, they think they are the aggressive type of driver, or the cautious type, but no one will ever admit that they are reckless kind. In most cases they’re too oblivious to these classifications and all other
Today in our world, technology is running our generation. People are using their phones in the wrong areas, they were not made to be distractions and cause wrecks to be taken. A lot of people today do not realize is about 40 percent of the wrecks that occur in the world have to do with taking their eyes off of the road for too long. Measures need to be taken to decrease the number of wrecks per year. Although people believe texting and driving should not be finable, people do not realize the injuries/ deaths involved, what the distraction on the road can cause, and enforcement also includes a behavior change.
The question that should be asked is why are so many people are compelled to be dangerous drivers? It could be that there is a sense of invincibility when they are in control of a big powerful machine. This is often the case with younger male drivers, who enjoy the thrill of dangerous driving. In other instances normally calm, law abiding drivers snap in a fit of rage. This road rage can turn a driver from calm to instantly a monster behind the wheel,