Resiliency of
Transportation Corridors
published by the UD University Transportation Center
Summer 2009
Director’s Message
University
Transportation Center
Department of Civil &
Environmental Engineering
University of Delaware
355 DuPont Hall
Newark DE, 19716
www.ce.udel.edu/UTC
UTC Director and Managing Editor:
Sue McNeil
Copywriter and Technical Editor:
Diane Kukich
Layout and Design: UD Office of
Communications & Marketing
Printing: UD Graphic Communications
This summer
marks our first full
cycle of activities
as a University
Transportation
Center. Projects are
producing research
products, graduates
are going out into
the workplace,
we have awarded
our second round of graduate fellowships and
support for undergraduate summer research,
papers are being presented at conferences, and
UDUTC events such as brown bag seminars and
distinguished lectures are well attended.
In this newsletter, we report on three projects.
Two of these projects relate to understanding
corridor governance. The third project addresses
highway vegetation and sustainability. These
projects address our theme “resiliency of
transportation corridors” but from different
perspectives. Additional information is available
on the UTC website (www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/).
We also report on the involvement of the UDUTC in a new initiative to provide a Graduate
Certificate in Transportation Leadership.
The remainder of the newsletter summarizes
the recent awards (Graduate Fellowships,
Undergraduate Research participants, 2009-2010
Research Projects, speakers and brown bags.)
Of particular note is the project by Lynnette
Overby to introduce middle school students to
transportation concepts through dance.
Lynnette, a Professor in Theater is working with
students in Education on this exciting project.
In addition other events of note include:
Robert (Buz) Paaswell, Distinguished
Professor of Civil Engineering and
Director, University Transportation
Research Center, City College of
New York, presented a UTC/DCT
Distinguished Lecture (12/4/08) titled
“Transportation Mega-Projects in New
York; Behind the Scenes.”
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Michelle Oswald (UTC 2008 Student
of the Year and Fellowship recipient)
was awarded the Women’s Transportation
Seminar (WTS) Philadelphia ChapterSylvia Alston Graduate Scholarship,
and the American Council of Engineering
Companies/Maryland Scholarship.
She was also awarded a 2009 Eisenhower
Graduate Fellowship by the Federal
Highway Administration.
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Spring brown bag seminars were well
attended. Topics and presenters were:
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“On the Road to Sustainability:
Managing Highway Vegetation” 3/24/09, Susan Barton, Jules Bruck,
and Anne Lucey
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“The Planning and Policy-Making
Infrastructure for Transportation in
the Northeast Corridor” – 3/24/09,
Bob Warren and David Beauchamp.
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(Continued on page 2)
In this issue
Message from the Director......................... 1
UD-UTC Graduate Fellowships................ 4
Understanding Corridor Governance..... 2
Undergraduate Research............................. 4
The Transportation Leadership
Graduate Certificate Program.................. 2
2009-2010 Projects......................................... 4
On the Road to Sustainability:
Managing Highway Vegetation.................. 3
Contacts............................................................. 5
Upcoming Events and Opportunities........ 5
“Developing Delaware’s Agenda in
Transportation within the Northeast
Corridor” – 4/22/09, Ed O’Donnell,
Troy Mix, and Geoff Edwards
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Students and faculty participated
in the Delaware Center for
Transportation Research Showcase
(5/1/09)
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Twenty six UD students attended
the Transportation Research Board’s
Annual Meeting in Washington DC
in January.
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Kelly Ambrose, Lauren Lobo and
Chance Maulkin are participating
in summer undergraduate research.
Kelly is working with Rusty Lee on
freight issues. Lauren and Chance are
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Understanding
Corridor Governance
The northeast corridor
remains one of the most
complex transportation
and public policy
topics in the country.
A corridor of this
magnitude, with wideranging technical and
coordination challenges, demands coordinated
governance that can balance regional and local
transportation needs. State and local entities
are responsible for the bulk of transportation
policy decisions, while corridor-wide
policymakers are few and far between. With
public agencies along the corridor compelled to
respond to the demands of local stakeholders,
locally desirable solutions often prevail over
what may be more efficient and effective
corridor approaches. In an effort to bridge
the gap between corridor-wide planning and
existing forms of transportation management,
Institute for Public Administration faculty,
staff, and research assistants are working on
two UDUTC research projects focused on
corridor governance.
A Northeast Corridor Directory. Researchers
need an accurate picture of northeast corridor
management before they can begin to
address the issue of governance. IPA senior
management fellow Robert Warren, a Professor
in the School of Urban Affairs & Public Policy
(SUAPP), and research assistants, David
Beauchamp and Xuan Jiang, have compiled
a directory of public transportation agencies
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participating in the Research
Experience for Undergraduates
(REU) at the Disaster Research
Center. Lauren’s research with Chris
Meehan will look at landslides.
Chance’s research with Sue McNeil is
looking at the impact of sea level
rise on the Northeast rail corridor in
Maryland and Delaware.
Two brown bag seminars are scheduled for the
fall semester and we are planning more DCT/
UTC Distinguished Lectures. Specific dates,
times and locations will be posted on the UTC
website. In the meantime, browse through the
projects and explore the work done by the
students and researchers.
Sue McNeil
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Delaware
within the corridor. Defining the northeast
corridor as the area lying within 50 miles of
Interstate 95 between Boston and Washington,
D.C., the directory catalogues some 80 public
agencies and authorities involved in governing
some aspect of transportation in this region.
The directory provides contact information for
metropolitan planning organizations and entities
involved in managing aviation, marine ports, rail,
bridges, tolls, and tunnels along the corridor.
In addition to phonebook-style listings of
agencies and authorities, the directory offers
commentary on the size and scope of agencies
and authorities and details the patterns of
change in corridor governance. Transportation
entities run the gamut from relatively small,
single-mode focused operations, such as the
Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority,
to vast operations like the Port Authority of
New York & New Jersey (PANYNJ), which
manages air, rail, marine, bus, ferry, and bridge
and tunnel infrastructure. These agencies
operate as units within governments and as
authorities with independent legal standing.
Identified trends in corridor governance
include centralizing control of transportation
providers and shifting management from the
private to the public sector. For example, the
Delaware River and Bay Authority assumed
responsibility for several small, regional
airports in recent years and, as of 2007,
PANYNJ manages the formerly private Stewart
International Airport. Finally, the directory
identifies the economic development mission of
many public transportation agencies as an often
ignored, and potentially complicating, factor in
northeast corridor governance.
Resiliency of Transportation Corridors
(Continued on page 3)
The Transportation
Leadership Graduate
Certificate Program
UD UTC is pleased to participate in the
Transportation Leadership Graduate
Certificate (TLGC) Program. The Certificate
program has been developed under the
leadership of Tom Humphrey, a nationally
recognized transportation educator and
professional, and Professor Martin Pietrucha
at Penn State University with the assistance
of an executive committee of UTC directors.
The purpose of the Transportation
Leadership Graduate Certificate Program
(the “Certificate”) is to make a significant
contribution in helping to enhance the
transportation profession; establishing
an adequate reservoir of professionals to
compensate for anticipated retirements;
and to better prepare professionals from
several disciplines to assume 21’st Century
leadership roles at the executive levels in
the rapidly growing field of transportation.
The TLGC Program provides a unique
opportunity for practicing professionals
and post-baccalaureate students to gain
access to an exciting range of graduate-level,
transportation courses taught by leading
faculty at some of the nation’s premier
universities. To obtain the certificate,
participants take two courses from a list of
core courses and two electives. All courses
are taught through distance education.
This Fall, Civil Infrastructure Systems
(CIEG 655) taught by Professor McNeil and
Professor Attoh-Okine serves as an elective
course in the Certificate program. The
course will be taught as both a regularly
scheduled class and a distance-based class
so that students not physically on campus
are able to take the course.
To learn more about the Transportation
Leadership Graduate Certificate visit
www.transleader.org/
To learn more CIEG 655 Civil Infrastructure
Systems contact Professor McNeil at
[email protected]
To learn how to enroll in this course as a
non-degree student, contact Kathy Werrell
([email protected]; 302-831-4863) for
detailed admissions procedures.
Delaware’s Agenda in the Corridor. SUAPP
doctoral student Geoff Edwards is conducting
research on Delaware’s transportation
agenda within the northeast corridor. With
direction from IPA staff members Troy Mix
and Edward O’Donnell, this research seeks
to 1) frame broad corridor issues from the
perspective of regional stakeholders, 2) engage
these stakeholders in a process of articulating
transportation priorities, and 3) develop an
agenda to guide Delaware’s relationship with
the rest of the corridor. Work has focused
on identifying regional transportation issues
through stakeholder interviews and the
review of studies and plans impacting the
Philadelphia-Baltimore region. Future efforts
will develop a transportation policy agenda for
Delaware that reflects emerging trends and
addresses local concerns within the context of
broader corridor issues.
On the Road to
Sustainability:
Managing Highway
Vegetation
Transportation has an opportunity to steward
its land resources and improve the regional
aesthetics of travel throughout the state.
Sustainable practices include an evaluation of
soil conditions prior to planting; managing
water through bioinfiltration rather than
collection and removal; selection of welladapted plants for individual sites; increasing
biodiversity through reduced mowing; use
of local materials; and the recognition of the
importance of community involvement in the
planning process. The roadside beautification
strategy of the 90’s that focused on large
masses of a non-native annual flower, cosmos,
has been replaced by purposeful reduced
mowing, warm-season grass meadows,
native shrub masses and tactical plantings of
flowering perennials at high visibility locations.
Enhancing
Delaware
Highways was
established as a
project in 1998
with funding from
the National Urban
and Community
Forestry Advisory
Program and the Delaware Department of
Transportation to explore roadside vegetation
management practices along Delaware
roadways. Project goals were to incorporate
ecologically sound practices, utilize uniquely
regional plantings and improve the efficiency
of roadside maintenance. During the past 10
years, over 70 pilot plots have been established
along Delaware roadways to test establishment
and management techniques. A theme of
the project has been the replacement of the
traditional management style of repetitive
maintenance routines (such as regular
mowing) with progressive management
that accommodates unique conditions at
each roadside site (such as editing existing
vegetation to promote desirable native plants
and remove undesirable invasives).
Why focus on roadside vegetation? In fact,
roadside rights-of-way make up a significant
quantity of highly visible land. By managing
this land sustainably, the Department of
Several trends are likely to impact future
transportation conditions in Delaware and the
region. The planned expansion of the Panama
Canal could result in significant increases
in port usage at Jacksonville, Florida, and
attendant increases in freight traffic through
Delaware. By 2035, the Wilmington Area
Planning Council estimates a 150 percent
increase in truck volume along the Delaware
portion of the I-95 corridor. Significant
The EDH team--Susan Barton (UD researcher
and extension specialist), Valann Budischak
(UD extension associate and project
administrator), Rick Darke (private consultant),
and Gary Schwetz (Delaware Center for
Horticulture program manager)--have written
and produced two manuals: Enhancing
Delaware Highways Concept and Planning
Manual and Enhancing Delaware Highways
Establishment and Management Manual.
These policy manuals are designed to be used
by DelDOT planners, designers and vegetation
management staff as well as by consultants and
communities working with DelDOT to design
and manage roadside vegetation. Procedures
for evaluating sites and selecting appropriate
design approaches are included. Specific
guidelines for seed and plant establishment
as well as mowing procedures and weed
control are outlined.
increases in rail traffic are also anticipated.
How this traffic is ultimately accommodated
will depend, at least in part, on the status
of infrastructure improvements called for
in documents like the 2002 Mid-Atlantic
Rail Operations Study. This study identified
numerous impediments to competitive
freight rail in the PHL-BAL region. Finally,
Base Realignment and Closure activities in
Aberdeen, Maryland will likely spur regional
employment growth. The addition of new
employees and residents to the region will
heighten the need to enhance regional
commuter options.
– Troy Mix
As part of the EDH project, a major survey
of Delaware drivers was conducted in 2004.
A significant finding was that unmowed grass
with a mowed edge was as attractive as a
completely mowed cloverleaf. For several years,
DelDOT has been allowing highway medians
and roadsides along Route 1 to grow tall and
has maintained a mowed edge adjacent to the
road surface for safety and aesthetics. This
practice has saved money and enhanced
the biodiversity of Delaware roadsides.
Current research projects include an evaluation
of vegetation management strategies under
guardrail and roadside signs; warm-season grass
establishment using sawdust and mushroom
compost as a seed carrier; and a mowing height
study comparing 2-inch and 6-inch mow heights.
Anne Lucey, a graduate student
funded by a UDUTC grant,
is working on a project to
determine whether an awareness
of environmental benefits
positively influences public perception of sustainable
roadside vegetation management strategies.
This study will provide DelDOT with accurate
information regarding public perception of roadside
vegetation. The data will assist DelDOT in making
more informed decisions about environmentally
and economically responsible roadside vegetation
management. It will also further our knowledge of
how people perceive sustainable landscape practices
and determine whether an understanding of the
associated environmental benefits affects their
acceptance of a different landscape aesthetic.
– Sue Barton
Resiliency of Transportation Corridors
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UD-UTC Graduate
Fellowships
Trevor Booz, Geoff Edwards and Charles
W.W. Mitchell III have been selected to
receive the 2009-2010 UD-UTC Graduate
Fellowships. The fellowships are awarded to
students pursuing master’s and PhD degrees
in areas of relevance to the theme of the
UD-UTC; selection is based on academic
qualifications and relevance to the UDUTC
theme and goals. UTC Fellowships cover
graduate school tuition, pay a stipend of
$1800 per month for 12 months, beginning
September 1, and include a $1000 allowance
for travel and supplies and a $1500 allowance
for computing.
Trevor Booz will be entering University
of Delaware as an MS student in the
Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering. Trevor recently completed a
BS in Architectural Engineering at Drexel
University. He is particular interested in
design, specifically improving mass transit,
bicycling and pedestrian facility design.
Trevor says “I have a strong passion for
making the US less car centric with more
opportunities for mass transit and pedestrian
accommodations in design.”
Geoff Edwards will be a second year PhD
student in the School of Urban Affairs and
Public Policy. Geoff has a Master of Science
degree in Public Policy Analysis from
Georgia State University. He served as a
medical logistics and evacuation officer for
four years with the United State Army. Geoff
is interested in studying the dynamics and
behavior of transportation organizations
along the Northeast Corridor. His experience
with the projects on corridor governance
serves as a strong foundation for his research.
He is also interested in exploring the role of
GIS and Geovisualization.
Charlie Mitchell has been involved in UDUTC
projects as an undergraduate research
assistant. Having completed his Bachelor’s
degree in Civil Engineering he will begin as
an MS student in the Department of Civil
and Environmental Engineering specializing
in Civil Infrastructure Systems. Charlie is
particularly interested in disaster prevention
and protection of civil infrastructure systems.
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Undergraduate
Research
Cory Castellucio, a junior in Civil and
Environmental Engineering worked with
Sue McNeil and Michelle Oswald to apply
the Sustainable Corridor Rating System
(SCRS) to additional corridors.
Cory: “The SCRS (Sustainable Corridor
Rating System) is an effort to assess the
eco-efficiency and effect upon the public of
2-5 mile long segments of local roadways.
SCRS can be applied to corridors under
development or construction stages to identify
the need for greener practices. The rating
system was applied to a rural corridor and
a corridor currently under development
to understand the strengths and limitations
of the method. “
Sarah Dalton, a junior in Civil and
Environmental Engineering, and Charlie
Mitchell, a senior in Civil and Environmental
Engineering, worked with Professors
Davidson, McNeil and Lee continuing their
research from summer 2008.
Sarah: “I continued my research on an
emergency evacuation of Delaware in the
event of a hurricane. The main goal of this
part of my research was to quantify how an
evacuation of Delaware (and the Delmarva
Peninsula) would affect the transportation
network of Delaware. To do this an
examination of the Army Corp of engineers’
2009-2010 Projects
Five projects were selected for funding
as part of the 2009-2010 UTC research
projects. These projects involve four different
colleges and engage both graduate and
undergraduate students.
Understanding the Impacts of Climate
Change on the I-95 Corridor in Maryland
and Delaware
Principal Investigators: David Ames, School of
Urban Affairs and Public Policy, and Sue McNeil,
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
The BOSFOLK corridor is vulnerable to climate
change. MPOs and states in the corridor need
to integrate mitigation of and adaptation to
climate change into their planning, design and
construction practices as the infrastructure of
today will be impacted by climate change in
the future.
Resiliency of Transportation Corridors
evacuation model was completed and queuing
diagrams for critical interchanges throughout
the peninsula were developed.”
Charlie: “I have been reviewing the
recommended practices for bridge security
by the FHWA and looked at the requirements
for rail and ferry security. All of these relate
to transportation issues faced by the State of
Delaware in mitigation against emergencies. “
Melissa Stewart, a junior
in Civil and Environmental
Engineering, worked with
Professor Attoh Okine over
winter session.
Melissa: “I spent the majority of winter
session creating a database of references
that can be used for future research in the
area of resiliency of critical infrastructure.
A majority of the literature I found concerning
resiliency had to do with interdependency of
critical national infrastructure and how
interdependency affects the vulnerability
and resiliency of a system. While some of
the research I found only discussed the idea
of more resilient systems, there were many
papers that attempted to use mathematical
modeling to quantify interdependency,
resiliency and vulnerability of infrastructure.”
Our objective is to develop an outline of
guidelines for states and MPOs in the corridor
to recognize the impacts of global climate change
in the planning, design and construction of the
corridor. This includes:
1.Reviewing ongoing relevant research related
to climate change in the corridor
2.Developing a catalog of expected
impacts and actions
3.Developing a process for exploring
the impacts of climate change
4.Understanding how the impacts of
climate change can be factored into the
planning process.
5.Exploring how design and construction
practices may have to change to mitigate
climate change and adapt to the impacts
of climate change.
We will build on past work in other states and
areas, explore the impacts of one aspect of climate
change, sea level rise, on the I-95 and Northeast
rail corridor in Maryland and Delaware, and then
develop guidelines for states and MPOs along the
corridor.
The Impact of Disruptions along the I-95
Corridor on Congestion and Air Quality
Principal Investigators: Earl (Rusty) Lee, Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and James
Corbett, College of Marine and Earth Studies
The resilience of a corridor can be defined as its
ability to maintain its full functionality during an
incident. While transportation corridors may be
viewed as highly resilient due to the number of
alternative paths that generally exist, the principal
path and the alternatives may not have similar
capacity. This research will evaluate resilience
of the Interstate 95 corridor in Delaware and
the impact of disruptions on congestion and air
quality.
The Effects of Learning through the Arts
on Transportation Knowledge and Skills
of Elementary School Students, University
Students
and Classroom Teachers
Principal Investigator: Lynnette Overby,
Department of Theater
The purpose of this study is to enhance
knowledge of geographic concepts, particularly
transportation, through the lens of dance and
theatre. Students and their teachers will gain
knowledge through an interdisciplinary approach
that combines the teaching of geography with the
arts. This project will benefit current and future
educators, artists, and geography researchers.
The participants will include 4th and 5th grade
students attending elementary school in Newark,
Delaware, their teachers, and University of
Delaware students with expertise in the arts and
geography.
Historic Resiliency of Bridges
on the BOSFOLK Corridor
Principal Investigator: Harry (Tripp) Shenton,
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
The Boston-Norfolk (BOSFOLK) corridor is a
major transportation corridor in the northeast, the
main artery of which is Interstate-95 (I-95). With
construction initiating in the 1960’s, many of the
bridges on I-95 and in the corridor are nearing
the end of their design life. This presents a unique
opportunity to study the long-term performance
of bridge on a major heavily traveled corridor. The
questions can be asked – How resilient were the
bridges in the BOSFOLK corridor? And - How did
the bridges on I-95 perform compared to those not
on the I-95 corridor? The study will specifically
examine the historic resiliency of bridges in the
corridor. It will be done through a systematic
investigation of historic data from the National
Bridge Inventory database.
Upcoming Events and Opportunities
Resiliency of Transportation Corridors during
Disaster: An examination of cross-border
networks
Principal Investigator: Tricia Wachtendorf,
Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice
Transportation corridors are vital in allowing
for public and commercial mobility. When these
corridors are compromised during a disaster,
the way in which emergency response networks
function is critical to ensuring continuity or
resumption of the transportation flow. This project
expands upon ongoing research that examines how
multi-organizational actors/agencies expect and
are expected to interact during a transportation
corridor disaster. The initial study concentrated
on organizational networks within the state of
Delaware, while also collecting information on
their potential interaction with organizations in
other states. This proposed research concentrates
on those connections with organizations from
outside Delaware. Using social network analysis,
researchers will examine the codified and
actor-anticipated interaction between states in
maintaining the continuity of transportation flows
along the I-95 corridor in Delaware.
Contact Us
Brown bags for Spring 2009
Wednesday September 16, 12:15-1:15 pm
Want to learn more
about the UTC?
Infrastructure Security and Emergency Preparedness, Sue McNeil, Rusty Lee,
Joe Trainor, Rachel Davidson Tricia Wachtendorf Laura Black Gabriella Wasileski
Charlie Mitchell Sarah Dalton
See our website:
www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/
Friday November 6, 12:15-1:15 pm
Want to be notified by email
when UDUTC is sponsoring
transportation related events
or about UDUTC funding
opportunities or graduate
fellowships?
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Resiliency of Transportation Corridors During Disasters,
Tricia Wachtendorf and Ben Johnson
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Other Events
“Transportation Infrastructure Preservation and Management: Developing
a Problem-Driven Research Agenda” Washington DC, November 12-13, 2009.
www.TRB.org/conference/2009/Infrastructure
Contact Marikka Beach
([email protected]) to be added
to the email distribution list.
Deadlines
November 1, 2009 - Winter undergraduate research applications
www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/Undergraduate.html
September 15, 2009, Student of the Year nominations
www.ce.udel.edu/UTC/SOY.html
Resiliency of Transportation Corridors
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