Insights into vehicle trajectories at the handling limits: analysing open data from race car drivers

Race car drivers can offer insights into vehicle control during extreme manoeuvres; however, little data from race teams is publicly available for analysis. The Revs Program at Stanford has built a collection of vehicle dynamics data acquired from vintage race cars during live racing events with the intent of making this database publicly available for future analysis. This paper discusses the data acquisition, post-processing, and storage methods used to generate the database. An analysis of available data quantifies the repeatability of professional race car driver performance by examining the statistical dispersion of their driven paths. Certain map features, such as sections with high path curvature, consistently corresponded to local minima in path dispersion, quantifying the qualitative concept that drivers anchor their racing lines at specific locations around the track. A case study explores how two professional drivers employ distinct driving styles to achieve similar lap times, supporting the idea that driving at the limits allows a family of solutions in terms of paths and speed that can be adapted based on specific spatial, temporal, or other constraints and objectives.     

User perspectives in public transport timetable optimisation

The present paper deals with timetable optimisation from the perspective of minimising the waiting time experienced by passengers when transferring either to or from a bus. Due to its inherent complexity, this bi-level minimisation problem is extremely difficult to solve mathematically, since timetable optimisation is a non-linear non-convex mixed integer problem, with passenger flows defined by the route choice model, whereas the route choice model is a non-linear non-continuous mapping of the timetable. Therefore, a heuristic solution approach is developed in this paper, based on the idea of varying and optimising the offset of the bus lines. Varying the offset for a bus line impacts the waiting time passengers experience at any transfer stop on the bus line.In the bi-level timetable optimisation problem, the lower level is a transit assignment calculation yielding passengers’ route choice. This is used as weight when minimising waiting time by applying a Tabu Search algorithm to adapt the offset values for bus lines. The updated timetable then serves as input in the following transit assignment calculation. The process continues until convergence.The heuristic solution approach was applied on the large-scale public transport network in Denmark. The timetable optimisation approach yielded a yearly reduction in weighted waiting time equivalent to approximately 45 million Danish kroner (9 million USD).     

Using SenseCam to pursue “ground truth” for global positioning system travel surveys

Global Positioning System (GPS) surveys have been conducted for the past decade. Although GPS records were initially regarded as providing “ground truth” of travel, it has been found subsequently that they have some errors. SenseCam, a small passive digital camera, provides a chance to pursue ground truth by capturing images every 20 s on average. This paper discusses how SenseCam could help GPS data collection and shows potential benefits for both SenseCam and GPS research. This paper also investigates the performance of GPS devices in detail in terms of recording data by comparisons between GPS results and SenseCam images. The specific issue of missing GPS data is discussed and examined in this paper.     

The “field of safe travel” revisited: interpreting driving behaviour performance through a holistic approach

The present paper proposes a conceptual framework for the driver’s visual–spatial perceptual processes. Based on a theoretical analysis of driving proposed by Gibson and Crooks [(1938). A theoretical field-analysis of automobile-driving. The American Journal of Psychology, 51, 453–471. doi:10.2307/1416145], the developed field of safe travel (FoST) framework suggests that at any moment the driver constructs a “field” by integrating two perceptual entities: (i) the possible available spatial fields for locomotion and (ii) the driver’s mental image of ego-vehicle outer-line and motion dynamics. This framework is used to reinterpret in a unified way a number of disparate research findings reported in the literature concerning specific driving sub-tasks (e.g. lane keeping and car following). It is argued that the FoST framework may be used to predict drivers’ behaviour in various traffic/situation environments based on their prioritisation between the above two perceptual entities. Implications of the proposed framework at a theoretical and practical level, in view of the future of driving with multiple levels of automation, are also discussed.     

Should we abandon activity type analysis? Redefining activities by their salient attributes

This paper poses a challenge and begins a search. The challenge is to reconsider the usefulness of traditional activity types (“work”, “shopping”, etc.) in the understanding and modelling of travel behaviour. The search is for the more salient attributes of activities that may serve to better explain complex travel behaviours—such as activity scheduling and tour formation. In particular, this paper focuses on explicit measures of the spatial, temporal and interpersonal flexibility of activities, along with several traditional attributes (frequency, duration, involved persons, travel time, and location). Data from a recent in-depth week-long activity scheduling survey was used to define and compare these attributes. Results show that considerable variability in the attributes between and within traditional activity groups is evident. This casts considerable uncertainty on assumptions that statically assign levels of spatial, temporal, and interpersonal flexibility to any given activity type. A Principal Components Analysis further revealed eight new distinct clusters of activities that share like attributes. The relative role of each attribute in each component is examined, and subjective interpretations emerged (e.g., “Long and frequent”, “Space and time flexible” “Social networking”). The implications of these results for future model development and research are discussed. Future research should continue to expand the search for salient attributes and link them more directly to decision processes.     

Daily rhythms of suburban commuters’ movements in the Tallinn metropolitan area: Case study with mobile positioning data

The objective of this study is to analyse the diurnal rhythms of city life and its spatial differences in Tallinn, using mobile telephone positioning data. The positioning experiment was carried out in April 2006 over an 8-day period and 15-min intervals, with a random sample of 277 respondents living in new residential areas outside the city of Tallinn.The investigation of the space–time movements and daily distances of respondents showed that the majority of respondents had a similar temporal rhythm related to work, school, services and leisure in the city. Because of the different timing of those activities, the mobile positioning data made it possible to map functional differences in the city. The advantages and disadvantages of mobile positioning data in mapping urban life are discussed in the final section of the study.     

Activity patterns,time use,and travel of millennials: a generation in transition?

Millennials, defined in this study as those born between 1979 and 2000, became the largest population segment in the United States in 2015. Compared to recent previous generations, they have been found to travel less, own fewer cars, have lower driver’s licensure rates, and use alternative modes more. But to what extent will these differences in behaviour persist as millennials move through various phases of the lifecycle? To address this question, this paper presents the results of a longitudinal analysis of the 2003–2013 American Time Use Survey data series. In early adulthood, younger millennials (born 1988–1994) are found to spend significantly more time in-home than older millennials (born 1979–1985), which indicates that there are substantial differences in activity-time use patterns across generations in early adulthood. Older millennials are, however, showing activity-time use patterns similar to their prior generation counterparts as they age, although some differences – particularly in time spent as a car driver – persist. Millennials appear to exhibit a lag in adopting the activity patterns of predecessor generations due to delayed lifecycle milestones (e.g. completing their education, getting jobs, marrying, and having children) and lingering effects of the economic recession, suggesting that travel demand will resume growth in the future.     

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Study on the derailment behaviour of a railway wheelset with solid axles in a railway turnout

ABSTRACT

Dynamic wheel–rail interaction in railway turnouts is more complicated than on ordinary track. In order to evaluate the derailment behaviour of railway wheelsets in railway turnouts, this paper presents a study of dynamic wheel–rail interaction during a wheel flange climbs on the turnout rails, by applying the elasticity positioning wheelset model. A numerical model is established based on a coupled finite element method and multi-body dynamics, and applied to study the derailment behaviour of a railway wheelset in both the facing and trailing directions in a railway turnout, as well as dynamic wheel–turnout rail interaction during the wheel flange climbing on the turnout rails. The influence of the wheel–rail attack angle and the friction coefficient on the dynamic derailment behaviour is investigated through the proposed model. The results show that the derailment safety for a wheelset passing the railway turnout in facing direction is significantly lower than that for the trailing direction and the ordinary track. The possibility of derailment for the wheelset passing the railway turnout in facing and trailing directions at positive wheel–rail attack angles will increase with an increase in the attack angles, and the possibility of derailment can be reduced by decreasing the friction coefficient.