NJ Transportation Research Ideas Browse Trending ideas

Pilot study should be undertaken to look at the impacts of climate change on NJDOT's bridge assets in a watershed that includes riverine and tidal influences, and varying topography. The analysis should look at rainfall increases, based on the NJDEP's referenced Cornell model, and give NJDOT insight on the impacts to future flow increases anticipated in the context of studied FEMA streams. The precipitation increases... more »

PROBLEM:

Plowing snow from NJDOT roadway travel lanes during storms is the agency's highest priority to maintain mobility and access for emergency services. However, emergency plowing creates snow banks piled into corners of intersections, onto sidewalks and into bus stops and bus priority / shoulder lanes. Without post-snow-event clearance actions, these locations become impassable barriers that increase the risk of... more »

The state of New Jersey has a complex and interwoven roadway network that creates many areas needing maintenance. Although large swathes of areas are regularly maintained, often times there are small parcels or areas that are often forgotten or neglected for long periods. These areas wedged between ramps, under bridges, behind fences, or on a slope become breeding grounds for invasive plant species where the plant growth... more »

New Jersey's airport system is one of the most unique and complex in the U.S. The State's diverse airports range in size from small general aviation airports with turf runways to Newark Liberty International Airport, one of the nation's busiest commercial airports. From Newark Liberty International Airport to the state's smallest public use turf strips, New Jersey's airport system must support all aspects of the State's... more »

Problem:

Many factors prevent around the clock shared uses for privately constructed and owned parking areas that otherwise could meet demand for a variety of trip purposes with a lower overall demand for total square footage committed to asphalt. These include land use driven-parking policy requirements, market-driven development practices, single-point insurance and indemnification requirements, lack of community-level... more »

Construct an interactive off road learning facility designed to mimic real road conditions in order to teach young students and first time drivers about pedestrian and bicycle safety, including traffic signals, jughandles, road signs, sidewalks, bike paths, virtual hazards and computerized monitoring of participants.

Transportation models are used for predicting future traffic, especially in urban areas. Their traffic forecasts are applied to plan new infrastructures such as highways, bridges, new transit lines, and/or enhancing current public transportation modes. They use the specific areas' socio-economic data together with sample travel survey data to build a transportation model. The initially developed model usually is calibrated... more »

In order to fit the ever increasing population into the same size areas, we have been growing our cities vertically for decades. However, we are still doing so based on the same old two dimensional zoning structure. We should modify the zoning laws to allow for vertical cities. Construct city high-rise buildings with multiple zones inside. So people can move from residential to commercial, to park, to school zones... more »

Due to work zone safety being compromised by speeding drivers, I would like to see a temporary Speed Bump that is able to be laid in the roadway to further alert drivers that they are approaching a work zone. It would be ideal to have reflective text to be seen at night and during daytime with hash lines for visibility. A spring loaded flag on either end would be good.

As a part of the ongoing Pulaski Skyway Rehabilitation project, one of the tasks include the rehabilitation of a traditional railroad style truss expansion device similar in function to the more commonly known pin and hanger mechanism, referred to in the original plans as 'Rocker Bents'. However, a key difference being that these members act in compression as opposed to tension. The original detail proved unsustainable,... more »

Using geographic information systems, artificial intelligence, and computer-aid-design to infer safety choices for heavy vehicle routing and scheduling methods. We are at the early edge of developing an information system for generating/assigning heavy vehicle trips in terms of time and space.

Heavy-vehicle routing choices could be managed aligned with job site schedule planning. It would thus be able to prevent neighborhoods... more »

Curing is a critical step in concrete pavement construction. Due to the large surface area to be covered, external curing methods normally do not provide concrete with necessary moisture conditions for long-term hydration. Insufficient curing often causes internal cracks or shrinkage cracks on the surface of the pavement. These early-age cracks not only hurt the strength, but also increase the permeability so that chlorides... more »

In an effort to minimize/eliminate vehicle/overhead structure conflicts, construct advance monitoring and warning systems regarding vehicle height. There has to be something in addition to signage.

The State of New Jersey has independently joined the Paris Climate Accords and uphold the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Per this agreement, an overall carbon reduction of 14% needs to be achieved within the United States. Concrete is responsible for around 8% of the world's CO2 production, mainly due to the production of portland cement. Therefore, finding methods to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete can... more »

With most of the State's infrastructure in need of maintenance and repair, a main cause particularly on steel structures is corrosion. Corrosion which acts in several different forms results in section loss, which reduces capacity of the affected member. To better service the transportation industry, samples should be taken from bridges near or at the end of its useful service life and compare its as-inspected measurements... more »