NJ Transportation Research Ideas Ideas

We often see plastic bags or other garbage hanging on trees, along the roadside, slipping down the storm drain, and floating in the ocean. There are over 51 billion pieces of litter on our nation’s roadways, 4.6 billion of which are larger than four inches in size. Plastics takes 19 % of 51.2 billion pieces of litter on roadways nationwide. 1.4 billion beverage containers on our nation’s roadways: Beer bottles: 30%; Soft ...more »

Environmental conditions have significant effects on performance of both flexible and rigid pavements. In the current AASHTO Pavement ME, an Enhanced Integrated Climatic Model (EICM) uses climatic data to simulate internal pavement temperature, moisture, and freeze-thaw conditions as a function of time. EICM requires historical records of five weather-related parameters reported on an hourly basis: air temperature, precipitation, ...more »

When facing large ocean waves such as storm surges or tsunamis, there is little that can protect against the damage they cause. I am proposing to study the construction of a channel to separate out a portion of the incoming waves, alter the timing of their arrival and recombine them to cause interference that will dampen the strength of the incoming waves. This concept is done in the study of light. Physicists use ...more »

The Portal Bridge, an important commuter rail bridge connecting New Jersey to the hub of New York City, is a vital component of our transportation system. When it gets stuck, commuters get delayed, complaints go up, and satisfaction with NJ TRANSIT services go down. Underfunding has delayed a bridge repair or replacement, and it may be worthwhile to look into ways of funding and creating a repair/replacement for the Portal ...more »

In the science of global warming, there is a term I have learned called, "Heat Island." It is where the large areas of dark surfaces, and heat generating facilities in cities creates a bubble of artificially high temperature; an island of heat. As reported in the article located at the link below, there is a viable solution coming out of Los Angeles. They are coating their streets in a light colored asphalt based sealant ...more »

The classic model of a train stopping at different stations along its track is no longer feasible in a state as densely populated as New Jersey. Technology is now at a point where we can adopt a model that has been suggested for decades in different forms, but until recently, it was not technologically feasible. The electric car model of having the batteries and motors built into the floor of the vehicle would allow ...more »

Renovation of local roads should depend primarily on the condition state of roads, and secondarily on traffic volume. However, those two important criteria are ignored by local governments while prioritizing roads for repairing upon receiving the state aid. State leverages local funds to renovate or resurface the roads with pedestrian paths and bike lanes. As a result, roads receiving state aid are only renovated or ...more »

Utilizing the existing rail infrastructure of the surrounding urban-suburban areas, connect the Newark Light rail with points north. Using a defunct section of the Erie R.R along the north section of Branch Brook Park to connect the existing Newark Light Rail to a portion of the Norfolk and Southern that runs along the Passaic River. Connecting to the Norfolk and Southern owned portion would further connect the system ...more »

SmartPath is an idea and concept to better and more efficiently and effective be productive and reduce road traffic and save resources. SmartPath makes it possible to allocate from 25% to up to 75% or higher, of the normal, in-office productivity, to be accomplished at alternative sites, including, but not limiting to, at home and at other business sites.

The universities of Binghamton and Rutgers are studying the use of a fungus to create a self-healing concrete. While the study still has to investigate the effect on key traits such as strength, I believe that the corrosion prevention aspect could be utilized in absence of the resolution of these issues. By coating a steel structure in a couple of inches of self-healing concrete that will continuously heal ...more »

Recent train wrecks and people getting killed by trains have been in the news, becoming a major headache for America's railways. The wrecks and rollovers might be mitigated if a way were found to make the railroad tracks "feel" the trespassers or blocking objects. The idea would work like this: 1) Person or object is stuck on the tracks or trespassing. 2) Sensors/ detectors lining the tracks, or cameras, detect the person ...more »

There are three Light Rail Transit (LRT) systems in New Jersey: Hudson Bergen, Riverline and Newark. During the past decades or so, various studies on ridership, economic and TOD issues have taken places along HBLRT and Riverline while the oldest LRT in New Jersey, Newark Subway, has been chugging along without much systematic evaluation. Given the newly reinvigorated interests and revitalization effort in the City of ...more »