Brazilian Highways Research Articles

Monitoring the condition of roads pavement surfaces: proposal of methodology using hyperspectral images

With the current system of concession roads in Brazil, both concessionaires and regulatory agents have been charged with improving the quality of the pavement on Brazilian highways. This situation requires the search for new tools that can facilitate the survey of pavement conditions in less time and at a lower cost than traditional methods. Recently, an increasing number of high-resolution spatial images have become available on the world market following the development of new remote sensing satellites and airborne sensors. Similarly, multispectral images and even hyperspectral images are now available commercially and for scientific research. The paper presents a new methodology for the identification of asphalted pavement surfaces condition and the classification of the main types of asphalt defects using hyperspectral images from airborne digital sensors. The objective of this study was to generate indexes of pavement conditions from images that can be compared with the indicators of pavement surface conditions already used by national regulatory agencies.

Road wanderers in Brazil: A study on modern psychosocial human mobility

Human mobility patterns are quite diverse nowadays and a very singular, extreme pattern is seen in the Brazilian scene: road wandering. Road wanderers are individuals who leave their home, family, work and other territories of a settled life and throw themselves into a life of solitary wandering along Brazilian highways. This study aimed to describe the lifestyle of road wanderers, investigate the reasons that led them choose this way of living and understand it against a background of modern human mobility patterns. A total of 63 interviews were conducted with individuals wandering on road shoulders. We found road wandering is associated with the following determinants: poverty; unemployment; marital conflicts; emotional suffering following the loss of loved ones; desires for adventure and freedom; and cultural symbols related to journey, migration, exodus and other modes of displacement. Despite its particularities, road wandering can be understood as a way of human mobility in the modern world. Key words: Wandering, road wanderer, mobility, migration.

Brazilian highways from slime mold's point of view

Purpose – This paper seeks to develop experimental laboratory biological techniques for approximation of existing road networks, optimizing transport links, and designing alternative optimal solutions to current transport problems. It studies how slime mould of Physarum polycephalum approximate highway networks of Brazil.Design/methodology/approach – The 21 most populous urban areas in Brazil are considered and represented with source of nutrients placed in the positions of slime mould growing substrate corresponding to the areas. At the beginning of each experiment slime mould is inoculated in Sao Paulo area. Slime mould exhibits foraging behavior and spans sources of nutrients (which represent urban areas) with a network of protoplasmic tubes (which approximate vehicular transport networks). The structure of transport networks developed by slime mould are analyzed and compared with families of known proximity graphs. The paper also imitates slime‐mould response to simulated disaster.Findings – It was fo...

Sequelas invisíveis dos acidentes de trânsito: o transtorno de estresse pós-traumático como problema de saúde pública

This document consolidates the results of the Seminar 'Invisible Squeals of Traffic Accidents' carried out as part of the Project 'Social and Economic Impacts of Traffic Accidents in Brazilian Highways'. To begin with, the characteristics of post-traumatic stress disorder related to traffic accidents are identified, as well as its potential victims, symptoms, diagnosis, as well as risk and protection factors for the development of the disease. Next, follows a brief description of projects and research developed in Brazil and abroad in the field. Finally, post-traumatic stress disorder is analyzed as a matter of Public Health and policy recommendations are presented as a suggestion to reduce the sociopsychological consequences of traffic accidents violence.

An optimization approach for ambulance location and the districting of the response segments on highways

In this paper we present a method to optimize the configuration and operation of emergency medical systems on highways. Different from the approaches studied in the previous papers, the present method can support two combined configuration decisions: the location of ambulance bases along the highway and the districting of the response segments. For example, this method can be used to make decisions regarding the optimal location and coverage areas of ambulances in order to minimize mean user response time or remedy an imbalance in ambulance workloads within the system. The approach is based on embedding a well-known spatially distributed queueing model (hypercube model) into a hybrid genetic algorithm to optimize the decisions involved. To illustrate the application of the proposed method, we utilize two case studies on Brazilian highways and validate the findings via a discrete event simulation model.

Otimização da localização das bases de ambulâncias e do dimensionamento das suas regiões de cobertura em rodovias

Neste artigo combinamos extensões do modelo hipercubo de filas com algoritmos genéticos para otimizar a configuração e operação de sistemas médicos emergenciais em rodovias. Inicialmente apresentamos um método para localizar as bases de ambulâncias ao longo da rodovia, de forma a otimizar as principais medidas de desempenho do sistema. Em seguida estendemos a abordagem para apoiar duas decisões combinadas: a localização das bases de ambulâncias e o dimensionamento das regiões de cobertura de cada base na rodovia. Por exemplo, a abordagem permite determinar os locais para posicionar as bases de ambulâncias e dimensionar os tamanhos das suas áreas de atuação, tais que minimizem o tempo médio de resposta aos usuários e/ou o desbalanceamento das cargas de trabalho das ambulâncias do sistema. Para ilustrar a aplicação dos métodos propostos, analisamos os resultados de dois estudos de caso em rodovias brasileiras.

A hypercube queueing model embedded into a genetic algorithm for ambulance deployment on highways

The hypercube is a well-known descriptive model for planning server-to-customer systems. In the present study we adapt this model to analyze Emergency Medical Systems on highways involving partial backup and multiple dispatching of ambulances. The modified model is then embedded into a genetic algorithm to optimize the configuration and operation of the system. By embedding the hypercube into a genetic algorithm, we can support decisions, such as, determining the optimal districts for the system in order to optimize the mean performance measures. Computational results are analyzed applying the approach to the case study of an EMS operating on Brazilian highways.

A multiple dispatch and partial backup hypercube queuing model to analyze emergency medical systems on highways

The hypercube is a spatially distributed queuing model based on Markovian analysis approximations, used to analyze the configuration and operation of server-to-customer emergency systems. In the present study we adapted the model to analyze emergency medical systems (EMS) on highways, which operate within particular dispatching policies. The study takes into consideration that: the emergency calls are of different types; the servers are distinct (e.g., rescue ambulances, medical vehicles); only certain servers in the system can service calls in a given region (partial backup); and, depending on the type of call, one or more identical or distinct servers are immediately dispatched to service such calls (multiple dispatch). We also consider that the arriving calls take place either along the highway or at the home location of a server – in which case the server does not need to travel to the call location. Finally, we analyzed the computational results of applying such an approach to the case study of an EMS operating on Brazilian highways.

Análise do processo decisório para seleção de rodovias a serem pedagiadas no Brasil

O presente artigo procura apresentar o processo de decisão para seleção das rodovias integrantes da malha viária brasileira, que estão sendo submetidas ao regime de concessão à iniciativa privada, por meio de sua exploração pela cobrança de pedágio. A análise do processo mostra que o instrumento básico para seleção dos trechos considerados viáveis tem sido a avaliação dos empreendimentos sob o enfoque de project financing, cujo indicador de viabilidade é o grau de cobertura do serviço da dívida a ser contraída para realização dos investimentos programados. Na medida em que o project financing é um instrumento parcial de indicação de viabilidade e prioridade econômica, o artigo, no final, propõe um modelo mais abrangente para as tomadas futuras de decisão, em especial porque o programa nacional de concessões de rodovias está ainda em boa parte por se realizar.

Increases in fines and driver licence withdrawal have effectively reduced immediate deaths from trauma on Brazilian roads: first-year report on the new traffic code

Road accidents are a major cause of death in Brazil, with rates increasing steadily for years. Our objective here is to report the impact of the new Brazilian Traffic Code, introduced in 1998. Its main new features include a large increase in fines and a rigid penalty scoring system that leads to driver license withdrawal. Speed limits have actually been raised on many roads, but adherence to the rules has been monitored more closely. We compare the incidence of injured patients and immediate deaths in road accidents and emergency room admissions to a level I trauma centre in downtown São Paulo between January and December 1998 with corresponding data from between January and December 1997. There was an overall 21.3% reduction in the number of accidents and a 24.7% reduction in immediate deaths, saving 5962 lives on Brazilian highways. Tickets issued fell by 49.5% (601 977 during 1997 to 304 785 during 1998). Motor vehicle accident-related emergency room admissions decreased by 33.2%. We conclude that very costly tickets and threatened driver licences have proved very effective in decreasing immediate deaths from trauma. Further advances in educational programmes associated with road and vehicle safety measures are likely to provide the much needed further reduction in the still high trauma mortality on Brazilian roads and streets.