BACKGROUND After the invasion of Iraq in April 2003, coalition forces have remained in the country in a bid to maintain stability and support the local security forces. The improvised explosive device (IED) has been widely used by the insurgents and is the leading cause of death and injury among Coalition troops in the region. METHOD From January 2006, data were prospectively collected on 100...

This paper establishes a new mobile electronic toll collection (m-ETC) by integrating mobile communication with radio frequency (RF) communication on microprocessor control with an e-commerce business model. A simple ETC system architecture and protocol for e-transactions from vehicles to toll stations is proposed to complete toll interaction on wireless environment. A software flow through Int...

This paper describes the first phase of a three year PhD research project which aims at extracting road and roadside information accurately and robustly from airborne sensor data and assessing its suitability for integration in a spatial analysis system. The context for this research is road safety and the requirements of the European noise directive for noise mapping. Phase 1 concentrated on u...

Diverse contaminants released into the environment through progress of urbanization and industrialization adversely affect human health. Among various sources of contaminants, especially, in big cities, automobiles play a significant role in aggravating the pollution. Various pollutants viz., heavy metals (Pb, Mn, Ni, Zn, As, Hg, Cd) and Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (Benzo-apyrene, fluoranthene, p...

This study investigates the potential hazard to vehicles of excessive roadside edge wedge (defined as a wide, deep edge treatment) and develops a safety design countermeasure. Using the Human Vehicle Environment (HVE) simulation tool, a typical driving scenario, road profile, and vehicle and driver behavior were selected to represent high risk situations. Wedge heights and slopes were modeled a...

Integrating fixed and mobile roadway data 2 ABSTRACT Fixed-site and mobile data sources have distinct strengths for representing roadway conditions, and unique insights can be generated by combining the two. Ongoing research on an urban arterial roadway corridor combines distinct data sources for multi-criteria transportation facility performance assessment. The roadway is instrumented with an ...

The use of newly emerging sensor technologies in traditional roadway systems can provide real-time traffic services to drivers through Telematics and Intelligent Transport Systems (ITSs). This paper introduces a smart roadside system that utilizes various sensors for driver assistance and traffic safety warnings. This paper shows two road application models for a smart roadside system and senso...

The EU directives on air quality force member states to inform the public on the status of the ambient air quality. The Internet is commonly used for this purpose and often air quality is being presented as an index ranging from good to bad. A review of existing websites and air quality indices shows that the way air quality is interpreted differs considerably. The paper presents a new air qual...

Three different drainage systems were built in a roadside car park located on the outskirts of Oviedo (Spain): two sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS), a swale and a filter drain; and one conventional drainage system, a concrete ditch, which is representative of the most frequently used roadside drainage system in Spain. The concentrations of pollutants were analyzed in the outflow of all...