Potential Revenue Generation Through the Commercialization of Arizona Rest Areas

Summary: Since the 1950s, the commercialization of rest areas along the U.S. interstate highways emerged as a pivotal opportunity in transportation infrastructure planning. However, despite its focal importance, the opportunity remains simply unrealized to a large extent in Arizona due to legal constraints. Addressing such a complex and high-stakes opportunity demands a research design that is as multi-faceted as the challenge itself.

 

Spanning two prominent colleges of the University of Arizona (i.e., the College of Engineering and the Eller College of Management), the research team puts forward a multi-faceted approach to investigating the revenue generation potentials of commercializing Arizona’s interstate rest areas. Our approach seamlessly integrates two simulation modules: a System Dynamics model capturing system-level developments, and an Agent-Based Simulation to model the behavioral dynamics of individual travelers. The proposed work plan involves benchmarking national success stories and their regulatory landscapes, exploring Arizona’s rest areas to build a concrete foundation, developing strong commercialization strategies and programs tailored to Arizona’s specific requirements and needs, and analyzing ADOT’s expected costs and revenues.

 

Biography: Danial Chekani is a second-year PhD student and graduate research assistant at the University of Arizona's Center for Applied Transportation Science (CATS). With a background in computer science, his research focuses on developing data-driven methods for advancing smart and efficient transportation systems. His work combines machine learning and simulation technologies to develop innovative solutions in transportation planning and operations.