Prioritizing road extension projects with interdependent benefits under time constraint

Since transportation projects are costly and resources are limited, prioritizing or sequencing the projects is imperative. This study was inspired by a client who asked: “I have tens of approved road extension projects, but my financial resources are limited. I cannot construct all the projects simultaneously, so can you help me prioritize my projects?” To address this question, the benefits and costs of all the possible scenarios must be known. However, the impacts (or benefit) of road extension projects are highly interdependent, and in sizable cases cannot be specified thoroughly. We demonstrate that the problem is analogous to the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP). Dynamic change in travel demand during construction is another aspect of the complexity of the problem. The literature is yet to provide efficient methods for large cases. To this end, we developed a heuristic methodology in which the variation of travel demand during the construction period is considered. We introduce a geometrical objective function for which a solution-finding policy based on “gradient maximization” is developed. To address the projects’ interdependency, a special neural network (NN) model was devised. We developed a search engine hybridized of Ant Colony and Genetic Algorithm to seek a solution to the TSP-like problem on the NN based on gradient maximization. The algorithm was calibrated and applied to real data from the city of Winnipeg, Canada, as well as two cases based on Sioux-Falls. The results were reliable and identification of the optimum solution was achievable within acceptable computational time.     

液化天然气(LNG)汽车日常检查方法及维护技术综述

天然气是一种优质的替代燃料,具有污染小、安全系数高、运行费用低等优点。天然气已经成为城市公共交通领域应用最为成功和广泛的车辆替代燃料技术,为推动交通运输行业的节能减排做出了显著的贡献。液化天然气汽车,作为天然气汽车的一种类型,与传统汽柴油车相比,液化天然气汽车安装了包括液化天然气气瓶、气管路及各种控制阀门和仪表在内的专用装置,在对液化天然气汽车进行日常检查时需要针对液化天然气汽车的专用装置进行重点检查。本文则针对液化天然气汽车的特点,对液化天然气汽车的正确使用方法、日常检查方法及维护技术要求、以及相关注意事项三个方面进行了解读,为指导液化天然气汽车进行日常检查与定期维护提供了技术参考。     

Competitiveness of container terminal operating companies in South Korea and the industry–university–government network

Burgeoning container port facilities have fostered intensified competition among container terminal operating companies (CTOCs). However, despite research into their survival strategies which identified antecedents of competitiveness including hard factors such as facilities, available cargo and cargo processing ability, softer factors spanning human resource management, networks and strategic alliances with universities and government agencies in industry–university–government (I–U–G) networks have been overlooked. This study aims to examine both hard and softer antecedents of competitiveness as perceived by 152 professionals in South Korean CTOCs; empirical relationships among these antecedents, I–U–G networks, and competitiveness itself; and the significance of the I–U–G network in establishing and improving competitiveness. Posited antecedents of competitiveness included human resources, facilities, service quality, customer orientation, reputation, and government support policy as independent variables; the I–U–G network as a moderating variable; and competitiveness as a dependent variable. Empirical structural relationships revealed that excepting government support policy, each variable significantly affected CTOC competitiveness. Further, the I–U–G network moderated the relationships between the antecedents of competitiveness and competitiveness. Because an effective I–U–G network was pivotal in controlling CTOC competitiveness, improved competitiveness requires not only differentiation of human resources, facilities, service quality, customer orientation, and reputation factors but also I–U–G network developments.     

Equilibrium analysis and route guidance in large-scale networks with MFD dynamics

Recent studies have demonstrated that Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram (MFD), which provides an aggregated model of urban traffic dynamics linking network production and density, offers a new generation of real-time traffic management strategies to improve the network performance. However, the effect of route choice behavior on MFD modeling in case of heterogeneous urban networks is still unexplored. The paper advances in this direction by firstly extending two MFD-based traffic models with different granularity of vehicle accumulation state and route choice behavior aggregation. This configuration enables us to address limited traffic state observability and to scrutinize implications of drivers’ route choice in MFD modeling. We consider a city that is partitioned in a small number of large-size regions (aggregated model) where each region consists of medium-size sub-regions (more detailed model) exhibiting a well-defined MFD. This paper proposes a route guidance advisory control system based on the aggregated model as a large-scale traffic management strategy that utilizes aggregated traffic states while sub-regional information is partially known. In addition, we investigate the effect of equilibrium conditions (i.e. user equilibrium and system optimum) on the overall network performance, in particular MFD functions.     

The influences of past and present residential locations on vehicle ownership decisions

This study explores the relationship between historical exposure to the built environment and current vehicle ownership patterns. The influence of past exposure to the built environment on current vehicle ownership decisions may be causal, but there are alternative explanations. Households may primarily select to live in neighborhoods that facilitate their vehicle ownership preferences, or they may retain preferences that they have developed in the past, irrespective of their current situations. This study seeks to control for these alternative explanations by including the built environment attributes of households’ past residences as an influence on vehicle ownership choices. We use a dataset from a credit reporting firm that contains up to nine previous residential ZIP codes for households currently living in the 13-county Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan area. Results show that past location is significant, but of marginal influence relative to the attributes of the current location. From a practical perspective, our results suggest that models that include current but not past neighborhood attributes (also controlling for standard socioeconomic variables) can forecast vehicle ownership decisions reasonably well. However, models that include both current and past neighborhood attributes can provide a more nuanced understanding of the built environment’s potentially causal influences on vehicle ownership decisions. This better understanding may provide more realistic forecasts of responses to densification or other travel demand management strategies.     

Traffic modelling in system boundary expansion of road pavement life cycle assessment

This paper uses a case study of a UK inter-urban road, to explore the impact of extending the system boundary of road pavement life cycle assessment (LCA) to include increased traffic emissions due to delays during maintenance. Some previous studies have attempted this but have been limited to hypothetical scenarios or simplified traffic modelling, with no validation or sensitivity analysis. In this study, micro-simulation modelling of traffic was used to estimate emissions caused by delays at road works, for several traffic management options. The emissions were compared to those created by the maintenance operation, estimated using an LCA model. In this case study, the extra traffic emissions caused by delays at road works are relatively small, compared to those from the maintenance process, except for hydrocarbon emissions. However, they are generally close to, or above, the materiality threshold recommended in PAS2050 for estimating carbon footprints, and reach 5–10% when traffic flow levels are increased (hypothetically) or when traffic management is imposed outside times of lowest traffic flow. It is recommended, therefore, that emissions due to traffic disruption at road works should be included within the system boundary of road pavement LCA and carbon footprint studies and should be considered in developing guidelines for environmental product declarations of road pavement maintenance products and services.     

Controller design for gating traffic control in presence of time-delay in urban road networks

Recent studies demonstrated the efficiency of feedback-based gating control in mitigating congestion in urban networks by exploiting the notion of macroscopic or network fundamental diagram (MFD or NFD). The employed feedback regulator of proportional-integral (PI)-type targets an operating NFD point of maximum throughput to enhance the mobility in the urban road network during the peak period, under saturated traffic conditions. In previous studies, gating was applied directly at the border of the protected network (PN), i.e. the network part to be protected from over-saturation. In this work, the recently developed feedback-based gating concept is applied at junctions located further upstream of the PN. This induces a time-delay, which corresponds to the travel time needed for gated vehicles to approach the PN. The resulting extended feedback control problem can be also tackled by use of a PI-type regulator, albeit with different gain values compared to the case without time-delay. Detailed procedures regarding the appropriate design of related feedback regulators are provided. In addition, the developed feedback concept is shown to work properly with very long time-steps as well. A large part of the Chania, Greece, urban network, modelled in a microscopic simulation environment under realistic traffic conditions, is used as test-bed in this study. The reported results demonstrate a stable and efficient behaviour and improved mobility of the overall network in terms of mean speed and travel time.     

Optimal bus fleet management strategy for emissions reduction

Transportation is a major cause for environmental degradation via exhaust emissions. For many transit-oriented metropolitan areas, bus trips often constitute a sizeable mode share. Managing the bus fleet, in particular updating buses to comply with the newer emissions standards, therefore, can have a substantial impact on transportation-induced air quality. This paper presents the approach of remaining life additional benefit–cost (RLABC) analysis for maximising the total net benefit by either early-retiring or retrofitting the current bus fleet within their lifespans. By referring to the net benefits for different bus types estimated by RLABC analysis, the most beneficial management scheme for the current bus fleet can be identified. Optimal bus fleet management (BFM) models based on the RLABC analysis for the operator and the government are developed. Then a government subsidy plan is produced to achieve win–win solutions, which will offer efficient and flexible management schemes. To illustrate the approach, the largest bus company in Hong Kong, which carries more than 23% of the total trips in Hong Kong, is taken as a case study example. Instead of adopting a fixed retirement plan, such as replacing buses at the age of 17 as is currently practised, the proposed method develops an optimal BFM scheme that progressively phases out buses or retrofits them. This study produces promising results to demonstrate the large benefit of this approach for optimal bus fleet management.     

Analyzing passenger train arrival delays with support vector regression

We propose machine learning models that capture the relation between passenger train arrival delays and various characteristics of a railway system. Such models can be used at the tactical level to evaluate effects of various changes in a railway system on train delays. We present the first application of support vector regression in the analysis of train delays and compare its performance with the artificial neural networks which have been commonly used for such problems. Statistical comparison of the two models indicates that the support vector regression outperforms the artificial neural networks. Data for this analysis are collected from Serbian Railways and include expert opinions about the influence of infrastructure along different routes on train arrival delays.     

集成GIS/BIM的盾构隧道全寿命管理系统研究

为解决在盾构隧道工程中,地理信息系统（GIS）标准缺失和建筑信息模型（BIM）分析功能薄弱的问题,在分析GIS的数据管理和BIM的数据标准基础上,建立集成GIS/BIM的盾构隧道全寿命期管理系统。首先,概括总结系统采用的技术路线; 其次,基于IFC标准扩展统一的盾构隧道信息模型,涵盖盾构隧道地质、结构、线路、施工、监测和病害等数据; 然后,介绍系统信息的关联,包括隧道编码、GIS和BIM的集成方案; 最后,以上海地铁盾构隧道为依托,描述系统在工程全寿命期的应用,包括隧道地质勘察、结构设计、运营监测和养护维护等阶段。该系统制定了统一信息模型,方便数据交换和管理,在信息模型基础上实现了信息可视化与不同分析功能,提高了盾构隧道的全寿命数字化管理水平。