Transportation

Energy Systems CHEME6669 / CEE6055

Transportation Energy Systems CHEME 6669 / CEE 6055 Fall 2011

Instructor: Ricardo A Daziano Credits: 1 Time & Location: T-R 11:40 12:55 (OLH 255) Office hours: 305 Hollister Hall, T 2-4p or by appointment E-mail: daziano@cornell.edu

PROBLEM SET 1 Due date: Thursday October 13th Question 1. In class we discussed the notion of generalized costs and in this homework you will apply this concept to a simple example. (a) Using the data below, compare the generalized costs of a 20-mile commute for the transportation options given below over 1 year. The job pays an hourly wage of $25/hr. You can also assume that there are no vacations/weekends (or that activities on vacations/weekends result in the same travel behavior as going to work). Relevant information: Car Bus Price of bus pass Price of car $10,000 $1,000 per year Avg Speed Avg Speed 40 mph 20 mph Insurance/ Maintenance $1,000 per year Includes time to walk/wait for bus Fuel Economy 30 mpg Bike Price of gas $4.00 per gallon Price of Bike $0 (you own a bike from college) Avg Speed 10 mph Includes time to shower/change (b) What piece of data did you use for Willingness to Pay? Why did you choose this value? What can influence the Willingness to Pay? (c) Redo part (a) but over a 5 year timeframe. Explain the differences. (d) At (roughly) what distance would commuting by bike be the best option? (e) Considering the result from (d), what other circumstances would have to change to increase the likelihood of bicycle commuting? Even if the conditions changed, what factors might still give the car an advantage? (f) What additional considerations should be taken into account if we were to develop a more complex model?

Transportation Energy Systems CHEME6669 / CEE6055

Question 2. A survey of 10 employed individuals was taken to determine their travel behavior. Below are the questions and the responses: Survey questions 1 How many people are in your household? 2 How many cars are in your household? The remaining questions apply to just for the primary vehicle of the person responding. 3 How many miles do you drive each year? 4 How far is your commute to work? 5 Do you take long distance trips (>100 miles) by car? 6 If so, how many times per year? 7 How far are the trips (on average)? 8 How many non-commute related trips do you make during the week (on average)? Survey Results Participant Question A B C D E F G H I J 1 1 4 5 3 6 3 2 3 4 1 2 1 2 3 2 4 1 2 3 3 1 3 10000 12000 4000 30000 20000 6000 8000 9000 15000 12000 4 15 10 5 60 30 3 12 6 20 20 5 Y Y Y N N Y N Y Y N 6 2 4 1 N N 6 N 4 1 N 7 200 300 500 N N 100 N 500 200 N 8 5 10 8 3 10 15 9 12 6 10 (a) Using the survey results, calculate the mean and standard deviation for the responses to each survey question (except for question 5). (b) What is the average and standard deviation of non-commute and local trip related travel? State any assumptions made to determine your answer. (Local travel is travel excluding commutes and long distance trips). (c) What is the average local trip length and its standard deviation? (d) What other useful transportation information could you get from the survey results? (e) Provide an example of a piece of information that you cannot determine from the available data and a simple question that could be added to the survey to extract this information.

Transportation Energy Systems CHEME6669 / CEE6055

Question 3. Below are two graphs showing Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and Light Vehicle Sales in the US into 2011. As you can see, VMT has leveled off since the recession in 2008. Likewise vehicle sales have only slightly rebounded since 2008 from lows that were last seen in the early 1980s, when the US population was much lower than today. Using these graphs and other sources of data, explain what factors are keeping VMT growth from resuming and whether you expect previous trends to re-establish themselves. If previous growth trends do not take hold again, what does that say for projections of future VMT and vehicle population in the US? Can the VMT, vehicle sales, or similar data from the US be applied to other countries? And what about projections for these areas?