Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways
Encyclopedia
California Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH) is a collaboration between the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans), UC Berkeley
, other public and private academic institutions, and private industry. PATH's mission: applying advanced technology to increase highway capacity and safety, and to reduce traffic congestion
, air pollution
, and energy consumption
. The organization recently celebrated its twentieth year.
Caltrans provides a portion of PATH funding; the remaining funding comes from the United States Department of Transportation
, other state and local agencies, and private industry. PATH supports the research of nearly 50 faculty members and 90 graduate students.
Alexander Skabardonis, Adjunct Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley, is the PATH Director.
As a collaborative organization, PATH has had many partners, including public agencies, universities, and private companies. Partners include the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans); the Federal Highway Administration
; the Federal Transit Administration; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
; the Metropolitan Transportation Commission; the California Highway Patrol
; the University of California
, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, and Riverside; Claremont Graduate University
; University of Southern California
; George Mason University
; Virginia Tech; Massachusetts Institute of Technology
; Honda
; Toyota; SRI International Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Honeywell
; General Motors
; DaimlerChrysler
; and the Ford Motor Company
. It is administered by the Institute of Transportation Studies
at UC Berkeley, and housed at UC Berkeley's Richmond Field Station.
California Department of Transportation
The California Department of Transportation is a government department in the U.S. state of California. Its mission is to improve mobility across the state. It manages the state highway system and is actively involved with public transportation systems throughout the state...
(Caltrans), UC Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, other public and private academic institutions, and private industry. PATH's mission: applying advanced technology to increase highway capacity and safety, and to reduce traffic congestion
Traffic congestion
Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. The most common example is the physical use of roads by vehicles. When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction...
, air pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
, and energy consumption
Fuel efficiency in transportation
The fuel efficiency in transportation ranges from some hundred kilojoule per kilometre for a bicycle to several megajoule for a helicopter.Efficiency can be expressed in terms of consumption per unit distance per vehicle, consumption per unit distance per passenger or consumption per unit distance...
. The organization recently celebrated its twentieth year.
Caltrans provides a portion of PATH funding; the remaining funding comes from the United States Department of Transportation
United States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...
, other state and local agencies, and private industry. PATH supports the research of nearly 50 faculty members and 90 graduate students.
Alexander Skabardonis, Adjunct Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley, is the PATH Director.
As a collaborative organization, PATH has had many partners, including public agencies, universities, and private companies. Partners include the California Department of Transportation
California Department of Transportation
The California Department of Transportation is a government department in the U.S. state of California. Its mission is to improve mobility across the state. It manages the state highway system and is actively involved with public transportation systems throughout the state...
(Caltrans); the Federal Highway Administration
Federal Highway Administration
The Federal Highway Administration is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two "programs," the Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway Program...
; the Federal Transit Administration; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the Executive Branch of the U.S. government, part of the Department of Transportation...
; the Metropolitan Transportation Commission; the California Highway Patrol
California Highway Patrol
The California Highway Patrol is a law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and also acts as the state police....
; the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, and Riverside; Claremont Graduate University
Claremont Graduate University
Claremont Graduate University is a private, all-graduate research university located in Claremont, California, a city east of downtown Los Angeles...
; University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
; George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...
; Virginia Tech; Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
; Honda
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
; Toyota; SRI International Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Honeywell
Honeywell
Honeywell International, Inc. is a major conglomerate company that produces a variety of consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems for a wide variety of customers, from private consumers to major corporations and governments....
; General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
; DaimlerChrysler
DaimlerChrysler
Daimler AG is a German car corporation. By unit sales, it is the thirteenth-largest car manufacturer and second-largest truck manufacturer in the world. In addition to automobiles, Daimler manufactures buses and provides financial services through its Daimler Financial Services arm...
; and the Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
. It is administered by the Institute of Transportation Studies
Institute of Transportation Studies
The Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Irvine, and University of California, Davis is a center for research, education, and scholarship in the field of transportation...
at UC Berkeley, and housed at UC Berkeley's Richmond Field Station.
Research
PATH's main mission is to conduct research. Primary areas of study are traffic operations, transit operations, traffic safety, and policy and behaviorial research. A few examples of this work include:- The PeMS projects collects and computes free performance data.
- VII California, a public-private partnership led by Caltrans and the Metropolitan Transit CommissionMetropolitan Transportation Commission (San Francisco Bay Area)The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is a regional planning, financing, and funding government agency in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was created in 1970 to coordinate the transit systems in the area's nine counties...
, aims to develop the vehicle infrastructure by integrating it with current and innovative technologies. - Magnetic guidance systems improve the performance of snow plows.
External links
- California PATH
- Intelligent Transportation Society of America
- California Department of Transportation, Division of Research and Innovation
- Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley
Sources
- Alexander Skabardonis, Ph.D., Director, California PATH
- Michael Cassidy, Ph.D., Acting Director, UC Berkeley Institute of Transportation Studies
- Steven Campbell, Assistant Director, UC Berkeley Institute of Transportation Studies