Bios - Brian

Research Interests
Dr. Wolshon's research areas lie within the broad area of traffic and transportation engineering. Recent research projects have included work in car following experimentation; testing and evaluation of intelligent transportation systems (ITS); and traffic flow analysis with particular emphasis in the application of this knowledge to the field of hurricane evacuation. As part of his activities in the area of evacuation, Dr. Wolshon recently founded (and now chairs) the Transportation Research Board Subcommittee on Emergency Evacuation A3B01(4).

Education
1997     Ph.D. Civil Engineering, with an emphasis in transportation engineering. Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
1990     M.S. Civil Engineering, with an emphasis in transportation engineering. Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
1988     B.S. Physics. Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan.

Professional Registration

Registered Professional Engineer, State of Michigan (#40627) and State of Louisiana (#28085)
Professional Traffic Operations Engineer (#081)

Academic/Professional Experience
1997 - present - Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.
1991-1997 - Project Engineer, JCK & Associates, Inc., Novi, MI.
1990 -1991 - Associate Engineer, Barton-Aschman & Associates, Inc., Southfield, MI. (now part of The Parsons Corporation)
1990 - Graduate Researcher, Safety Design Research Division Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, FHWA, McLean, VA.
1989 - Engineering Intern, Linscott, Law, and Greenspan Engineers, Inc. Pasadena, CA.
1988-1990 - Research Assistant, Department of Civil Engineering, Michigan State University. East Lansing, MI.

Courses
CE 3600 - Principles of Highway and Traffic Engineering: Basic traffic characteristics; highway capacity analysis; geometric design of highways; route location, traffic operations; signalized intersection design; transportation planning principles, and pavement design.
CE 4600 - Geometric Design of Highways and Airports: Principles of design and practice for rural and urban highway facilities and airport installations; design criteria and controls; cross-section selection, design of horizontal and vertical alignment, intersections, interchanges and computer applications to design problems.
CE 4760 - Civil Engineering Design (Transportation): Feasibility analysis and design of highway facilities including roadway geometric design, traffic capacity and planning analyses, storm water facilities design, pavement design, and geotechnical design and analysis.
CE 7612 - Traffic Operations and Analysis: Analysis of traffic speed, flow, density, and headway relationships and models as well as turbulent flow areas; Principles of interrupted, uninterrupted traffic flow; Driver and vehicle characteristics affecting traffic flow; Application of highway capacity analysis techniques.
CE 7615 - Advanced Highway Design and Safety Analysis: Advanced design principles of highways and streets affecting traffic safety; identification of hazardous locations and highway risk management; Selection and evaluation of accident countermeasures; Design of roadside safety features including guardrail and clear zones; Redesign of existing systems with evaluation of geometric alternatives.
CE 7750 - Graduate Seminar: Graduate seminar course featuring guest speakers from government, industry, and academia addressing timely and relevant issues in transportation engineering and planning.

List of Selected Publications
1. Wolshon B., A. Catarella-Michel, and L. Lambert, “Louisiana Highway Evacuation Plan for Hurricane Katrina: Proactive Management of Regional Evacuations,” ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering, Volume 132, Issue 1, pp. 1-10.
2. Lim, Y.Y. and B. Wolshon, “Modeling and Performance Assessment of Contraflow Evacuation Termination Points,” Transportation Research Record 1922 - The Journal of Transportation Research Board, 2005, pp. 118-127
3. Wolshon, B., E. Urbina, C. Wilmot, and M. Levitan, “National Review of Hurricane Evacuation Plans and Policies, Part I: Planning and Preparedness,” ASCE Natural Hazards Review, August 2005, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 129 – 142.
4. Wolshon, B., E. Urbina, M. Levitan, and C. Wilmot, “National Review of Hurricane Evacuation Plans and Policies, Part II: Transportation Management and Operations,” ASCE Natural Hazards Review, August 2005, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 142 – 161.
5. Theodoulou, G. and B. Wolshon, “Alternative Methods to Increase the Effectiveness of Freeway Contraflow Evacuation,” Transportation Research Board, Transportation Research Record 1865 - The Journal of Transportation Research Board, 2004, pp. 48-56.
6. Urbina, E. and B. Wolshon. “National Review of Hurricane Evacuation Plans and Policies: A Comparison and Contrast of State Practices.” Transportation Research, Part A: Policy and Practice, March 2003, Vol. 37, No. 3, pp. 257-275.
9. Wolshon, B. “Planning for the Evacuation of New Orleans,” ITE Journal, Institute of Transportation Engineers, February 2002, Vol. 72, No. 2, pp. 44-49.

Recent Trade Journal Articles
1. Wolshon, B., “Results and Lessons Learned from the Katrina Evacuation.” to appear in Roads and Bridges, February 2006, Vol. 44, No. 2.
2. Wolshon, B., “Planning and Engineering for the Katrina Evacuation.” to appear in The Bridge, National Academy of Sciences and Engineering, Spring 2006, Vol. 36, No. 1.
3. Wolshon, B., “A Way Out: The Emergence of Homeland Security Stresses the Importance of Evacuation Management.” Transportation Management and Engineering, April 2004, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 16-21.

Links of Interest
Transportation Research Board (TRB) Subcommittee on Emergency Evacuation ANB10(3)
LSU Hurricane Center

Brian Wolshon

Biography