Tuesday, April 14, 2015

URSP Student Javier Revilla Conducts Traffic Mapping at GMU


Starting in December 2014 I was honored with the opportunity to intern with the Facilities Department of George Mason University. This was my introduction into the complex world of transportation engineering. One of my first tasks was to perform a traffic count of the campus, covering all entrances and exits. During this task I became immersed in everything transportation, including traffic patterns and analysis. While completing my task I determined that the next logical step would be to create a traffic pattern for the campus. Part of this process is to determine an origin destination estimate. When researching this process I learned that the process of estimation is relatively primitive and boils down to two different options. Neither of which is both accurate and/or simple. This motivated me to develop my own method of estimation.

My long-term goal is to focus my career in mass transit structures. My URSP project plays a fundamental role in my education of transit, how it works and most importantly how to predict its future pattern. This project is my first step in achieving my future goals in transit.

I am currently in the process of developing a traffic pattern for the campus. I have completed the data collection portion. Which is simply taking traffic counts at different locations. The process of creating a traffic pattern is completed using software. This week I spent all my time designating the campus roadways and determining all intersections and parking locations. Once complete this will allow me to develop a traffic pattern that I can then use as my sample. I discovered additional functionality of the software I am using allowing me to get more accurate models.