Date of Completion
Spring 4-20-2018
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Construction Engineering
Department
Construction Engineering
Concentration
Transportation and Pavement Engineering
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Jidong Yang P.E., Ph.D.
Abstract
As metropolitan Atlanta area is the one of the fastest growing regions in the nation, its demand for transportation infrastructure has grown. The region between Cobb County and Fulton County experiences the heaviest congestion in Metro-Atlanta. CobbLinc Route 10 is the only form of public transportation serving this area. To relieve the congestion and provide more effective public transportation system, Connect Cobb Corridor project has been proposed with the possible implementation of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. Although BRT has gained popularity for its operational flexibility and efficiency, efforts have been put into developing a new concept vehicle that is better functioning and more cost-effective. Slim Modular Flexible Electric Bus Rapid Transit (SMFe-BRT) has characteristics that are expected to reduce the initial construction and operation and maintenance costs. Also, it is expected to have higher operational flexibility. The thesis evaluates these two public transit vehicle alternatives using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method. Three categories of evaluation criteria—transit, emissions, and finances—are generated for AHP model. The traffic software Vissim is used to obtain evaluation results from Cobb Corridor for A.M., P.M., and off-peak conditions. Based on Vissim results and AHP, it is suggested that the implementation of SMFe-BRT is more beneficial than the traditional BRT.