Private tollroads in urban areas

Governments of all persuasions are increasingly seeking the participation of the private sector in the supply of transport facilities and services. Private sector participation in the financing, construction, operation and maintenance of infrastructure is considered a serious option in a number of countries in the search for ways of providing much needed investment which would otherwise be deferred. This paper considers some economic and financial problems in the private sector provision of major road infrastructure within urban areas. The main issues are attaching prices (i.e. tolls) to the provision of the service, the value of government rights which are being given up either permanently or temporarily, and the identification required by the promoters of the cost of capital which is essential information in establishing the risk. Broader environmental and equity issues are not addressed. If the approach to establishing a private presence in a previously public supply context is handled properly from the outset, the benefits can be significant. Contrarily however, the prospects could be quite undesirable if badly managed, despite the presence of an extended public purse.requests for offprints     

Computer-based support for the evaluation of ship handling exercise results

One of the most important parts of the simulator exercise is the evaluation of the students’ results by the instructor both during and after the training session. This should be performed in two ways: first, during the exercise run to ensure that the training objective can be achieved and second after exercise completion in order to give the students an indication of their performance during the simulation run. For these purposes software tools have been created and implemented at the Maritime Simulation Centre in Warnemünde: the “Surveillance Tool”, allows for a monitoring during the run and the “Evaluation Tool” will enable a detailed evaluation by the instructor after the run. It allows for in-depth search within the replay data and at the same time facilitates the calculation of the final score for the student’s performance based on measurement factors as penalties for exceeding quality limits. Within this paper a brief overview of the principles of these methods is high-lighted and selected examples of applications are described.     

Influence of Governance Context on the Management Performance of Marine Protected Area Networks

In the Philippines, networks of marine protected areas (MPAs) are more complex than individual MPAs, primarily due to involvement of multiple governance units. Hence, there is a need to understand the influence of governance context of networks on management performance. We addressed this need indirectly by evaluating the participation of network members and the governance capacity of three MPA networks with varying sizes, histories, and compositions of local governments and constituencies. We defined participation as the involvement of local governments and other stakeholders in decision-making processes. We defined governance capacity as the ability to govern interactions of social, economic, and political processes and dynamics in a political unit. We used qualitative, semi-structured key informant interviews and focus group discussions to ascertain whether participation and governance capacity are influenced by network size, institutional arrangements, and social and political contexts. We found that the sizes of the MPA networks did not affect participation and governance capacity. Instead, participation and capacity were influenced by institutional arrangements and the socioeconomic and political contexts of the local governments involved. We found that less complicated network objectives and systems for engagement, more inclusive membership, better communication, incentive systems, and strong leadership enhanced participation and governance capacity.     

A probabilistic framework for weather-based rerouting and delay estimations within an Airspace Planning model

In this paper, we develop a novel severe weather-modeling paradigm to be applied within the context of a large-scale Airspace Planning and collaborative decision-making model in order to reroute flights with respect to a specified probability threshold of encountering severe weather, subject to collision safety, airline equity, and sector workload considerations. This approach serves as an alternative to the current practice adopted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of adjusting flight routes in accordance with the guidelines specified in the National Playbook. Our innovative contributions in this paper include (a) the concept of “Probability-Nets” and the development of discretized representations of various weather phenomena that affect aviation operations; (b) the integration of readily accessible severe weather probabilities from existing weather forecast data provided by the National Weather Service; (c) the generation of flight plans that circumvent severe weather phenomena with specified probability threshold levels, and (d) a probabilistic delay assessment methodology for evaluating planned flight routes that might encounter potentially disruptive weather along its trajectory. Additionally, we conduct an economic benefit analysis using a k-means clustering mechanism in concert with our delay assessment methodology in order to evaluate delay costs and system disruptions associated with variations in probability-net refinement-based information. Computational results and insights are presented based on flight test cases derived from the Enhanced Traffic Management System data provided by the FAA and using weather scenarios derived from the Model Output Statistics forecast data provided by the National Weather Service.     

Metadata-based Needs Assessment for Emergency Transportation Operations with a Focus on an Aging Population: A Case Study in Florida

In the aftermath of disasters, evacuating aging victims and maintaining an optimal flow of critical resources in order to serve their needs becomes problematic, especially for Gulf Coast states in the USA such as Florida, where more than 6.9 million (36.9%) of the population are over age 50. Scanning the literature, there is no substantial prior work that has synthesized the requirements for a multi-modal emergency needs assessment that could facilitate the safe and accessible evacuation of aging people, and optimize the flow of resources into the affected region to satisfy the needs of those who remain. This paper presents a review of the aging population-focused emergency literature utilizing a knowledge base development methodology supported with a geographic information system-based case study application set in Florida. Importance is given to both ensuring the resiliency of the transportation infrastructure and meeting the needs of aging populations. As a result of this metadata-based analysis, critical research needs and challenges are presented with planning recommendations and future research directions. Results clearly indicate that transportation agencies should focus on clear and fast dissemination of disaster-related information to the aging populations. The use of paratransit services for evacuating aging people, especially those living independently and/or in rural areas, is also found to be of paramount importance.     

拥挤收费的政治策略

通过收费缓解交通拥堵的政治可行性取决于谁获得通行费收入。指出如果收益被分配给城市,特别是高速公路经过的城市,拥挤收费取得政治成功的可能性最大。与已有的很多建议不同,指出城市是比个体驾驶人和区域政府更有力的收益申索人。基于行为经济学和政治科学理论并结合几个大都市区的数据,对提议进行解析和阐述。在洛杉矶,潜在的拥挤收费收入估计每年接近50亿美元,将这些收入分配至高速公路经过的城市对拥挤收费的实施是有政治影响力和促进作用的。     

Linking ocean container carrier capabilities to shipper–carrier relationships: a case study

ABSTRACT

As outsourcing and offshoring continue to expand, the ocean container industry serves a critical and still increasing role in supporting global trade. Yet, perceived commoditization and intense price competition among ocean container carriers limit opportunities for competitive advantage and formation of long-term shipper–carrier relationships. This environment ultimately yields an unhealthy industry that threatens the stability of global supply chains. Extant literature provides limited insight into how carriers can build strong relationships with shippers to overcome the short-term, transactional-orientation of the industry. Examining a case study of a major ocean container carrier, we apply structural equation modeling to shipper survey data to explore how carrier operational, service, and pricing capabilities influence the strength of the long-term shipper–carrier relationship. Furthermore, we identify unique clusters of shipper needs, helping the carrier understand when and how to promote a particular portfolio of capabilities to customers.     

Mature hub ports in the free trade environment,the way forward from a global supply chain perspective: an Asian case

Asia-Pacific countries with divergent economic and political backgrounds developed a regime of bilateral free trade agreements in response to globalization. Challenged by the 1997 and 2008 financial crises, this Asian trade regime has remained intact, although the most powerful stakeholders have changed positions, as indicated by the strong emergence of China in the past decade. Efforts of key trading partners to tackle non-tariff barriers (e.g., rule of origin and customs formalities) in the region have yielded little progress thus far. Instead of aiming at a regional consensus on non-tariff barriers by all member states, a global supply chain (GSC) approach is recommended. Mature hub ports at strategic locations with advanced institutional measures could set up international trade facilitation centers co-locating multinational customs formalities. This GSC approach may also be adopted to construct a GSC hub development model that explains the transformation of hub ports.     

Towards a meta-analysis and toolkit for port-related socio-economic impacts: a review of socio-economic impact studies conducted for seaports

Port authorities increasingly need to communicate with a variety of external stakeholders in order to maintain and strengthen the societal acceptance of seaport activities. The availability of socio-economic impact studies on port authority and regional development agency websites has often made this information accessible to the public at large. However, the differences in methodologies adopted, in terms of selecting, defining and measuring various types of socio-economic impacts, sometimes lead to misconceptions as well as misleading comparisons across ports within and between regions. In this paper, we suggest guidelines for the design and application of a potential best practice from an interregional perspective (UK, France and Belgium), based on research in the framework of a European Commission co-funded project, ‘IMPACTE’. The paper also aims to develop guidelines for comparing the socio-economic impacts of ports across regional and national borders and discusses the development of a European port economic impact measurement toolkit. We analyse a sample of 33 recent socio-economic impact assessment reports in terms of methodologies adopted and types of impacts measured. The review shows a great diversity among these studies, leading to important differences between the impacts of port activity communicated to stakeholders.     

Biogeochemistry of sulfur in a sediment core from the west-central Baltic Sea: Evidence from stable isotopes and pyrite textures

The biogeochemistry of the sulfur cycle in a ca. 5-m-long sediment core from the eastern slope (221 m water depth) of the Landsort Deep in the west-central Baltic Sea was investigated by analyzing the solid phase records of sulfur isotopes and pyrite textures, besides selected main and minor elements. The sediments were deposited during post-glacial history of the Baltic Sea when the basin experienced alteration of brackish (Yoldia Sea, Littorina Sea) and freshwater (Baltic Ice Lake, Ancylus Lake) conditions. The stable isotopic composition of total sulfur was analyzed as a function of depth. In selected samples pyrite (FeS₂), greigite (Fe₃S₄), and barite (BaSO₄) fractions were separated for isotope analyses. Pyrite textures were analyzed by SEM and optical microscopy.Microbial reactions associated with the oxidation of organic matter resulted in assemblages of authigenic sulfide minerals which for the post-Ancylus Lake brackish water environment are dominated by pyrite and for freshwater environments by Fe-monosulfides. The sulfur isotopic composition of the brackish water Littorina Sea sediments (δ³⁴S between −40 and −27‰ vs. V-CDT) is believed to be determined by cellular sulfate reduction rates and reactions involving intermediate sulfur species. The availability of reactive iron and decomposable organic matter as well as sedimentation rate and the chemocline position are important variables upon the δ³⁴S values of sulfides in brackish water environment. The syn-depositional abundance of sulfur and organic matter, and transport of dissolved sulfur species vs. rates of microbial reactions determine δ³⁴S in the freshwater sediments. The upper part of the Ancylus Lake sediments is sulfidized by downward diffusing H₂S and/or sulfate from overlying brackish water sediments. Minor concretionary barite formation in the freshwater sediments is most likely due to the reaction of pore water sulfate diffusing downward from brackish water sediments with barium desorbed from freshwater sediments. The size distribution of pyrite framboids in the brackish sediments indicates that the formation mainly occurred from anoxic pore waters, although some pyrite formation in an anoxic water column cannot be excluded.