Future advanced long-haul Evacuated Tube Transport (EET) system operated by TransRapid Maglev (TRM): a multidimensional examination of performance

This paper presents a multidimensional examination of the infrastructural, technical/technological, operational, economic, environmental, social, and policy performance of the future advanced Evacuated Tube Transport (ETT) system operated by TransRapid Maglev (TRM) (the ETT-TRM system). The examination implies analyzing, modeling, and estimating selected performance criteria using the case of the Trans-Atlantic passenger transport market currently served exclusively by the Air Passenger Transport (APT) system. The purpose is to assess the ETT-TRM system’s competitive capabilities compared to those of the current and future APT system and consequently its potential contribution to mitigating impacts of both systems on society and the environment – the sustainability of the transport sector - under given conditions.     

Analyzing transit service reliability using detailed data from automatic vehicular locator systems

The widespread adoption of automated vehicle location (AVL) systems and automatic passenger counters (APCs) in the transit industry has opened new venues in operations and system monitoring. In 2005, Metro Transit, Minnesota, implemented AVL system and partially implemented APC technologies. To date there has been little effort to employ the collected data in evaluating transit performance. This research uses such data to assess performance issues along a cross‐town route in the Metro Transit system. We generate a series of visual and analytical analyses to predict run time, schedule adherence and reliability of the transit route at two scales: the time point segment and the route level to demonstrate ways of identifying causes of decline in reliability levels. The analytical models show that while headways are maintained, schedule revisions are needed to improve run time and schedule adherence. Finally, the analysis suggests that many scheduled stops along this route are underutilized and recommends stop consolidation as a tool to decrease variability of service through concentrating passenger demand along a fewer number of stops. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The asymmetric effects of service quality on passengers' choice of carriers for international air travel

The asymmetric effects of service quality on international travelers' airline choice behavior were investigated in this paper. The linear structural equation modeling system was first applied to quantify passengers' perceptions of service quality provided by airlines, which were then used as the input variables of the asymmetric response model developed to capture international travelers' airline decision. Their asymmetric responses to various service quality of airlines were assumed to be either gains or losses with respect to their reference points. The results showed that the asymmetric response model performs better than the traditional logit models that capture only symmetrical effects.     

A Critical Analysis of DEA Applications to Seaport Economic Efficiency Measurement

Abstract

The significant increase in the adoption of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) for seaport efficiency measurement renders a literature synthesis and critical analysis of the application of the technique relevant and worthwhile. This paper provides a thorough review and critical analysis of the major studies undertaken to date, and highlights some problems and limitations in the application of the technique in the seaport context particularly in the specification of parameters, the sampling domain and the type of DEA to be applied. The paper informs the decision process as to the merits and limitations of DEA approaches for seaport efficiency measurement and makes a contribution towards methodological improvement by considering variations not yet applied to the port sector.     

Auction-Based Congestion Pricing

Abstract

Planners, engineers and economists have introduced various demand management methods in an attempt to reduce the fast growing traffic congestion. The basic idea behind various demand management strategies is to force drivers to travel and use transportation facilities more during off-peak hours and less during peak hours, as well as to increase the usage of underutilized routes. In this paper, a new demand management concept – Auction-based Congestion Pricing – is proposed and modeled.     

Crosswind‐based optimization of multiple runway orientations

The runway orientation must satisfy the operational requirements of aircraft for landing and takeoff. Actually, the runway orientation is the result of compromises between the airport usability (wind coverage) and additional factors, such as available land, existing obstructions, topographic difficulties, flight path interference among runways and airports, noise pollution, and other environmental impacts. Therefore, the solution of a combination of acceptable runway orientations, which avoids excessive crosswinds at least 95% of the time, as well as the optimal orientation solution, is essential to conduct those compromises in the runway orientation analysis. The objective of this paper is to develop a computer model, named the optimization of multiple runway orientations model, which is capable of simultaneously providing a combination of acceptable runway orientations, changing the allowable crosswind limit flexibly, and determining the optimal orientations of multiple runway configurations. Instead of visual estimation or geometric computation, this paper presents an analytical method for wind coverage analysis. The model is mainly running in spreadsheet and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). The numerical example and comparison show that the optimization of multiple runway orientations model is competitively accurate and convenient in comparison with previous ones. This paper presents an up‐to‐date model for the optimization of multiple runway orientations. By combining it with the geographic information system obstructions model, it can become an essential element of a future model for airport development cost minimization that combines airfield land use, earthwork volume, and cost estimation modules. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Revenue management in the parking industry: a multiple garage intelligent reservation model

This paper explores how advanced reservations, coupled with dynamic pricing (based on booking limits) can be used to maximize parking revenue. An integer programing formulation that maximizes parking revenue over a system of garages is presented. Furthermore, an intelligent parking reservation model is developed that uses an artificial neural network procedure for online reservation decision-making. Finally, the paper provides some strategic and managerial implications of multi-garage revenue management systems, and discusses techniques for identifying and implementing micro-market segmentation in the parking industry.     

A method for measuring accurate traffic density by aerial photography

Traffic density can be accurately measured by counting the number of vehicles within 1 km; however, it is often calculated between macroscopic traffic parameters using the fundamental equation because of difficulty of observing traffic density directly in the field. Measuring density in this way may be inaccurate and may bias the analysis because the relationship between these traffic parameters can vary across the study sites. The purpose of this study is to find a method for measuring traffic density from aerial photography that is easy and accurate, and for this purpose, we investigated whether the measuring length (i.e., the length of a section of roadway from which observations of traffic are simultaneously collected) can be shorter than 1 km and yet retain the same measured traffic density. We divided an aerial photograph into several 20‐m unit sections, counted the number of vehicles manually, and examined measured traffic density according to central limit theory. According to the results of this study, with the number of 20‐m unit sections for observing traffic density at 15 (the measuring length is 300 m), the measured traffic density was almost the same as the density of a representative section of 1 km. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling the resilience of rail passenger transport networks affected by large-scale disruptive events: the case of HSR (high speed rail)

This paper deals with modelling the dynamic resilience of rail passenger transport networks affected by large-scale disruptive events whose impacts deteriorate the networks’ planned infrastructural, operational, economic, and social-economic performances represented by the selected indicators. The indicators of infrastructural performances refer to the physical and operational conditions of the networks’ lines and stations, and supportive facilities and equipment. Those of the operational performances include transport services scheduled along particular routes, their seating capacity, and corresponding transport work/capacity. The indicators of economic performances include the costs of cancelled and long-delayed transport services imposed on the main actors/stakeholder involved—the rail operator(s) and users/passengers. The indicators of social-economic performances reflect the compromised accessibility and consequent prevention of the user/passenger trips and their contribution to the local/regional/national Gross Domestic Product. Modeling resulted in developing a methodology including two sets of analytical models for: (1) assessing the dynamic resilience of a given rail network, i.e., before, during, and after the impacts of disruptive event(s); and (2) estimation of the indicators of particular performances as the figures-of-merit for assessing the network’s resilience under the given conditions. As such, the methodology could be used for estimating the resilience of different topologies of rail passenger networks affected by past, current, and future disruptive events, the latest according to the “what-if” scenario approach and after introducing the appropriate assumptions. The methodology has been applied to a past case—the Japanese Shinkansen HSR network affected by a large-scale disruptive event—the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011.     

Determining the number and location of winter road maintenance depots – a case study of the district road network in Serbia

Determining the number and location of depots for winter road maintenance (WRM) represents one of the important strategic decisions while planning WRM activities. However, most organizations dealing with WRM make empirically based decisions. Optimizing the number and location of WRM depots has the potential to achieve considerable cost savings, improve mobility and efficiency, as well as reduce environmental impacts. This paper presents two optimization models. The first model determines the location of WRM depots by minimizing the total distance travelled by maintenance vehicles. The second model determines the optimum number and location of WRM depots by minimizing total transportation costs and capital expenditure and operational expenditure of the depots. The models are then applied to the district road network in Serbia. Results show that their application could lead to significant reductions in WRM costs.