The Mack-Blackwell Rural Transportation Center

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The Mack-Blackwell Rural Transportation Center

• Presented by
• Jack Buffington
• to the
• Transportation Logistics Institute
• October 2001

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MBTC Focus

• Theme - Rural Transportation
• Focus - Improving the quality of rural life
  through transportation
• MBTC Attributes
• National
• Intermodal
• Interdisciplinary

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MBTC History
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.gov
.com
Regulation, Taxation
Competitive advantage, profitability
Public Transportation, Highways
SCMRC, TLI, MBTC
Continuing Education, Research
Support, Direction
Teaching, Research, Service
.edu
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Positive Impact Through...

• Research
• Education
• Technology Transfer

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Research

• Engineering
• civil
• industrial
• mechanical
• electrical
• Business
• Social Sciences

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Pavement Research

• Paved the way for alternative asphalt design
  method that saves the state 1,000,000 per year
• Estimating Subgrade Resilient Modulus for
  Pavement Design
• Development of Comprehensive Low-Volume Pavement
  Design Procedures

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Pavement Research Contd

• Developed a way to test pavements BEFORE they are
  constructed to reduce repairs and maintenance
  AFTER construction
• Development of ERSA

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Multimedia Based Highway Information System

• digital video or hi-def images
• Remote accessibility
• Pavement Distress Survey
• Positioning through GPS
• Can manage other types of data

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Investigation of the Long-Term Stability of
Highway Slopes

• Gather slope failure data
• Create GIS database
• Evaluate data
• Develop reliability- based design guidelines

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Other GIS Projects

• Geographic Information Systems for Water Resource
  Risk Management
• A GIS-Enhanced Cultural Management System

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Roadway Design for Full-Size (C D) School Buses

• Field turning maneuvers
• developed new procedure to measure swept-path in
  a turn
• produced turning templates
• Acceleration studies in field
• intersection sight distance
• time to cross a RR track

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MBTC Environmental

• Stormwater Pollution Prevention Best Management
  Practices for Transportation Facilities
• Geographic Information Systems for Water Resource
  Risk Management

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Development and Analysis of Efficient Delivery
Lanes

• Analysis of Alternative Dispatching Methods for
  Truckload Trucking
• Consideration of Regular Delivery Routes and
• Zones to Replace Random Point- to-Point
  Dispatching
• Implemented in the Field by JB Hunt Transport,
  Inc.

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Finding Synergy in Intermodal Operations with
Truck and Rail

• Impact of large-scale intermodal operations on
  truckload trucking companies
• better to run truck and intermodal fleets
  concurrently or as separate entities
• Supported by case data supplied by JB Hunt

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Rural River Economic Impact Kit

• A PC-based tool to assess the economic impact of
  a rural inland waterway
• For an existing, new or expansion of a rural
  inland port

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The Northwest Arkansas Transit Assessment Study

• Inventory of existing transit services
• Satisfaction levels from riders
• Satisfaction levels from agencies and
  municipalities

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Presenting A Potpourri of Projects...

• The Impacts of Welfare-to-Work Programs on Rural
  Public Transportation
• The Role of Transportation Service Access for
  Rural Elderly
• An Examination of the Effect of Transportation
  Costs on Grain Basis Levels in Arkansas
• The Effect of Railroad Abandonments on Rural
  Communities

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Research Summary

• 12 Departments on the U of A campus
• 7 Universities
• How to conduct research through MBTC?

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Positive Impact Through...

• Research
• Education
• Technology Transfer

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MBTC Education and Training

• Students and Faculty
• New programs
• New courses
• Teleconferences
• Continuing Education
• PDH courses
• Conferences
• Videos
• CTTP

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Center for Training Transportation Professionals

• Training and Certification
• Agency and Contractor
• Laboratory and Classroom performance required
• Areas
• Basic Aggregates
• Hot-Mix Asphalt Concrete
• Soils
• Portland Cement Concrete
• Laboratory Certification

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Positive Impact Through...

• Research
• Education
• Technology Transfer
• Getting research to users
• Getting the word out about MBTC
• Annual Report
• conference presentations
• Distinguished Lecture Series

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Conference Sponsorships

• 7th National Conference on Transportation
  Planning for Small and Medium-Sized Communities
  (Little Rock, Sept. 28-30, 2000)
• The Impact of Emerging Transportation Patterns
  Upon Communities of the 4-State Heartland Region
  (Fayetteville, Nov. 2-3, 2000)
• National Conference on Rural Public Transit and
  Welfare Reform (Oklahoma City, May 2-4, 2001)
• Summer Transportation Institute (UAPB, Summer
  2001)

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In Summary

• MBTC has made a positive difference in rural
  transportation!
• For more information go to
• http//www.mackbackwell.org

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• QUESTIONS?