Collaborative Research: Regulating Hazardous Materials Transportation by Multi-Objective Dual Toll Pricing

这项合作研究的目的是调查多目标双重通行费定价作为降低危险物质(危险物质)运输风险的操作工具的潜力。通行费收费已被用作拥堵道路网络上车辆的一种高效和有效的控制方法，最近，又成为一种灵活的危险源卡车控制方法。在这项研究中，一种多目标双重收费方法引导自私用户的网络流量朝着更安全、更有效的交通流量方向发展，从而增加社会福利。这项研究的结果将提高我们在不同场景下控制和监管危险物品运输的操作能力，从而使道路网络变得更加高效和安全。这项研究将揭示双重收费收费框架在保护人类社区免受危险交通不确定性和风险方面的强健和有效程度。结合先进的资讯科技和地理信息系统，双程收费系统将为控制车辆交通网络提供一个实用而有力的工具，以保障公众安全和效率。这一点将通过基于奥尔巴尼、墨西哥城和蒙特利尔现实环境的案例研究加以验证和演示。研究成果还将把通行费定价的范围扩大到更一般的环境，从而有助于通行费定价理论的文献研究。此外，本研究开发的算法工具和基于代理的模拟方法将促进计算科学的发展，这是理解当今复杂的社会、经济世界的关键。本研究将为交通运输和基础设施工程界提供危险品运输动态双重收费定价的建模、算法和仿真基础。它将导致新的教育模块和软件，用于教授高级本科生和研究生如何设计、分析和实施危险物质运输系统，以减少基础设施中的拥堵和风险。它还将为政策制定者、普通公众和危险物质携带者之间的沟通提供基础。此外，由于这项研究将在现实环境中得到验证和测试，因此其结果将具有很高的翻译实践潜力。本研究成果在实际应用中，将对其他二手领域如RFID、移动支付系统、先进的地理信息系统、智能出行信息系统等带来较大的经济影响。此外，这项研究有可能在研究海港、机场和铁路产生的危险物质风险控制方法时调用类似的研究，同时考虑到一般货运/客运和危险物质运输的拥堵。开发的系统将在夏季工程学院展示，吸引顶尖高中生，特别是女性和少数族裔，进入理工科。

The objective of this collaborative research is to investigate the potential of multi-objective dual toll pricing as an operational tool to reduce risk from hazardous material (hazmat) transportation. Toll pricing has been used as an efficient and effective control method of vehicles on congested road networks, and, more recently, has emerged as a flexible control method for hazmat trucks. In this research, a multi-objective dual toll pricing approach guides a network flow of selfish users towards a safer and more efficient traffic flow that increases social welfare. The results of this research will advance our operational ability to control and regulate hazmat transportation under various scenarios; in consequence, road networks will become more efficient and safer. This research will reveal how robust and how effective the dual toll pricing framework is in safeguarding the human community from uncertainty and risk of hazmat transportation. When combined with advanced information technology and geographic information systems, the dual toll pricing system will provide a practically powerful tool to control vehicular traffic networks for public safety and efficiency. This will be verified and demonstrated by case studies based on realistic settings in Albany, Mexico City and Montreal. The research outcome will also contribute to the literature of toll pricing theory by broadening the scope of toll pricing to more general settings. In addition, the algorithmic tools and agent-based simulation methods developed in this research will promote computational science, which is a key to understand today's complex social, economical world. This research will provide the transportation and infrastructure engineering communities with the modeling, algorithmic and simulation foundations of dynamic dual toll pricing for hazmat transportation. It will lead to new educational modules and software useful for teaching advanced undergraduate and graduate students how to design, analyze and implement a hazmat transportation system for less congestion and less risk in the infrastructure. It will also provide a basis for communication among policy makers, the general public and hazmat carriers. In addition, since this research will be verified and tested in realistic settings, the results will have high potential for translation to practice. When implemented in practice, the results of this research will bring large economical impacts to other second-hand fields such as RFID, mobile payment systems, advanced geographic information systems and intelligent travelers' information systems. Furthermore, this research has the potential to invoke similar research in studying control methods of hazmat risk arising in seaports, airports and railways, considering both congestion of generic freight/passenger transport and hazmat transport. The developed system will be presented in the summer engineering academy attracting top high school students, especially women and minority, to science and engineering.