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CTS Research Seminars — Spring 2009
For more information, contact Joe Barbeau, 612-626-2862 or barb0092@umn.edu.
February 11
In conjunction with the CTS Transportation Planning and the Environment Research Council meeting, which begins at 10:45 a.m.
Responding to the Unexpected: Understanding Travelers' Behavioral Choices in the Wake of the I-35W Bridge Collapse
Speaker: Henry Liu
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota
9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. CST, Room 1130, Mechanical Engineering Building
This seminar will summarize a research project that aimed to collect perishable traffic data in the wake of the collapse of the Interstate Highway 35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. The goal is to understand travelers' behavioral choices and how traffic evolves from a disequilibrium state to potential equilibria.
The bridge collapse resulted in immediate loss of life and also in serious consequences for mobility and accessibility in the Twin Cities metropolitan region. Under such a severe network disruption, the traffic equilibrium was disturbed and travelers needed to learn new traffic patterns. Eventually network traffic may evolve into a new equilibrium, or may remain in a disordered state. Understanding the transition and learning processes of travelers' behavioral responses are essential to effective traffic management after network disruption and for long-term transportation planning.
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