Hinterland strategies of port authorities: A case study of the port of Barcelona

Port authorities generally focus on the development of the local port area and play a minor role in the development of port hinterlands, whereas shippers, forwarders, barge and rail operators have always been involved in the port-hinterland connection. The increasing importance of intermodal hinterland networks for the competitive position of ports has urged port authorities to become active in the hinterland. This new role has already been suggested by different academics. However, limited empirical evidence exists of port authorities taking stakes in inland terminals or developing transport services. Barcelona, as one of the leading port authorities in this respect, is used as a case study in this paper. The case study provides insight in the components and execution of the hinterland strategy of Barcelona. It shows that the strategy of the port authority of Barcelona and the consequent active involvement in the hinterland has had a significant impact on attracting container volumes from distant hinterlands and improving the accessibility of the port.     

与“波子王”面对面

为什么欧阳若曦被很多人称为波子王呢?这个和他那位富有传奇色彩的父亲有关。想走进这位首位出战FIA世界超级跑车锦标赛的中国人的内心世界吗?请跟我来。汽车生活:最近你的表现非常的良好,在上海会延续这股势头吗?欧阳:说实话,我在上赛场的运气一直不怎么样,我在这里7年跑了12场     

当车遇上X射线

"谁会在里面呢?"15年来,每当尼克维阿瑟对人体或者实物进行X线照相时,这个"亘古不变"的问题都会浮现在他的脑海里。令人不解的是,这个对X光射线近乎痴狂的英国人,既不是医生,也不是科学家。人们不禁要问,究竟是什么在他的体内激发出了如此冷门的关趣?事实上,尼克在16岁时就早早辍学,之后为了生计,也只是做了几份     

当车遇上X射线

"谁会在里面呢?"15年来,每当尼克维阿瑟对人体或者实物进行X线照相时,这个"亘古不变"的问题都会浮现在他的脑海里。令人不解的是,这个对X光射线近乎痴狂的英国人,既不是医生,也不是科学家。人们不禁要问,究竟是什么在他的体内激发出了如此冷门的关趣?事实上,尼克在16岁时就早早辍学,之后为了生计,也只是做了几份无关痛痒的兼职。也就在那时候,他买了自己的第一个相机,正式开始自己的职业生涯。他起初也只是接一些小打小闹的活。虽然做起来很酷,但是收入也很有限。直到他33岁那年,他才终于找到属于自己的"地盘":X射线。直到现在,尼克仍会把当时看做自己的"命运时刻"。     

Behavior of the cell transmission model and effectiveness of ramp metering

The paper characterizes the behavior of the cell transmission model of a freeway, divided into N sections or cells, each with one on-ramp and one off-ramp. The state of the dynamical system is the N-dimensional vector n of vehicle densities in the N sections. A feasible stationary demand pattern induces a unique equilibrium flow in each section. However, there is an infinite set—in fact a continuum—of equilibrium states, including a unique uncongested equilibrium n^u in which free flow speed prevails in all sections, and a unique most congested equilibrium n^con. In every other equilibrium n^e one or more sections are congested, and n^u  n^e  n^con. Every equilibrium is stable and every trajectory converges to some equilibrium state.Two implications for ramp metering are explored. First, if the demand exceeds capacity and the ramps are not metered, every trajectory converges to the most congested equilibrium. Moreover, there is a ramp metering strategy that increases discharge flows and reduces total travel time compared with the no-metering strategy. Second, even when the demand is feasible but the freeway is initially congested, there is a ramp metering strategy that moves the system to the uncongested equilibrium and reduces total travel time. The two conclusions show that congestion invariably indicates wastefulness of freeway resources that ramp metering can eliminate.     

Hydrodynamics study of a BCF mode bioinspired robotic-fish underwater vehicle using Lighthill’s slender body model

This paper investigates the hydrodynamic characteristics of the rectilinear motion of a robotic fish underwater vehicle. This 2-joint, 3-link multibody vehicle model is biologically inspired by a body caudal fin carangiform fish propulsion mechanism. Navier–Stokes equations are used to compute the unsteady flow fields generated due to the interaction between the vehicle and the surrounding incompressible and Newtonian fluid (water) environment. The NACA 0014 airfoil aerodynamic profile has been designed to boost the swimming efficiency by reducing drag as the vehicle undergoes an undulatory/oscillatory motion. Using the Lighthill slender body model, a traveling wave mathematical function is defined to undulate the robotic fish posterior (caudal) region while the motion tracking is carried out by dynamic meshing technique. The results obtained show that though the net lift force approaches to zero, the net thrust or negative drag coefficient maintains a finite value dependent on kinematic parameters like tail beat frequency (TBF) and amplitude span (AS) at a given propulsive wavelength and the forward velocity of the vehicle. The results reveal the effects of TBF and AS on the coefficient of drag friction and the thrust force. Drag coefficients obtained from the simulations are compared and validated with the experimental results. The hydrodynamic results are found to be similar to the kinematic study results and suggest that TBF and AS play the most effective roles in the bioinspired propulsion technique. Relation of these parameters with propelling thrust force and forward velocity is also in conjunction over a given range of TBF and AS values.     

Forecasting bus ridership using a “Blended Approach”

Transportation - As sources of “Big Data” continue to grow, transportation planners and researchers seek to utilize these new resources. Given the current dependency on traditional...     

The simple,efficient, elegant,and effective model (SE3M) of land use and transportation

Integrated land use/transportation forecasting models add significant policy and infrastructure alternatives analysis capabilities to the urban planning process. Historically, the financial, time, and staff requirements to develop one of these models has put them beyond the reach of most small- to medium-sized urban areas. The purpose of this paper is to present the large zone economic submodel of SE³M, an integrated model – founded upon economic base theory and bid-rent theory – that is reasonably accurate, yet simpler in form, function, and implementation than competing models. The US territory of Guam is used as the case study/proof of concept implementation for this model framework. The submodel presented here was validated against a horizon year with known data for zonal level population and employment totals together with control totals for the island as a whole. The model was able – across two base years and one validation, horizon year – to locate all jobs and a high percentage of the population on each zone on the island.     

Revisiting port pricing; a proposal for seven port pricing principles

A review of seven large landlord port authorities around the world reveals a notable diversity of pricing structures. While port authorities increasingly act as commercial undertakings, port pricing often seems to be not driven by commercial considerations. In this paper, we argue that ports can be regarded as “business ecosystems” with multiple users. This provides a valuable perspective on pricing and raises the question of whether ports can be regarded as two-sided markets. We argue this is not the case. The business ecosystem perspective provides a basis for deducing seven pricing principles for port authorities that are detailed in the paper and illustrated with cases these principles. These pricing principles are broadly follow a direct user pays approach; capture value from “non-core” tenants; price aggressively for activities with a high strategic value; differentiate pricing based on price elasticity and connectivity improvements; maximize revenue from long-term lease agreements, price port dues competitively; critically consider differentiation of charges based on environmental performance; and finally use incentives to align interests of terminal operators and shipping lines. We conclude that the ecosystem perspective is central to the understanding of pricing decisions of port authorities and that various pricing issues deserve more attention.     

重载货车径向转向架的经济效益及其性能

介绍了Resco Engineering公司研发的货车用构架式径向转向架.经AAR试验表明,与常规转向架及性能良好的转向架相比,Resco径向转向架的曲线通过能力非常优越,动力学稳定性极好.从经济效益角度,概述了采用Resco径向转向架所能产生的一系列节约效果.