A random heaping model of annual vehicle kilometres travelled considering heterogeneous approximation in reporting

Transportation - Annual vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT) is a long used index of car use. Usually, the annual VKT, as reported by respondents, is used for the analysis. But the reported values...     

Long-term impact of the Shinkansen on rail and air demand: analysis with data from Northeast Japan

This paper analyses how the high-speed rail construction in Northeast Japan (Tohoku) has affected total demand and interregional travel patterns. We use annual interregional passenger data from 1989 to 2012 and apply regression analysis with the demand between Tokyo and the Tohoku prefectures as the dependent variable. We distinguish particularly between the ‘Full-’ and the ‘Mini-’ Shinkansen, where the latter are branch services running with reduced speed. We find that the ‘Full-Shinkansen’ quickly increases rail and total public transport trips and generates additional rail demand year on year. The ‘Mini-Shinkansen’ impacts are less pronounced. Furthermore, our analysis shows that the Shinkansen has shifted some demand from air to rail once it started operation and increased rail share gradually. We therefore suggest that predictions of demand impacts should carefully distinguish immediate from gradual impacts. We also discuss differences in regional demand in that not all prefectures have gained equally from Shinkansen construction.     

Extensive study on the design loads used for strength assessment of tanker and bulk carrier structures

ClassNK has undertaken wide-ranging basic research covering many aspects related to the safety of ship structures, including design loads, structural analysis, strength assessment of buckling, collapse, and fatigue, and rational corrosion margins to develop new design standards which have transparency and consistency. Among the wide-ranging basic research, this article summarizes the results of extensive work on the design loads used for strength assessments of tanker and bulk carrier structures. The main aim of the research was to develop practical estimation methods of design loads with rational technical backgrounds relating to the actual loads acting on the primary structural members of tankers and bulk carriers. During this study, we proposed the following methodology. Design sea states that closely resemble the actual sea states which are considered to be the most severe for hull structures. Find practical estimation methods for the design sea states by parametric studies using the results of series calculations on representative tankers and bulk carriers. Find practical estimation methods for design regular waves which will result in the same level of stresses as those induced in irregular waves under the design sea states. We also briefly introduced some practical estimation methods for the design loads, such as ship motions, accelerations, hull-girder bending moments, and hydrodynamic pressures that are induced under design regular waves. The findings in this study have been summarized and implemented in the new design standards for tanker and bulk carrier structures.Updated from the Japanese original which won the 2003 SNAJ prize (J Soc Nav Archit Jpn 2002; 191:195–207; 2002; 191:208–220; and 2002; 192:723–733)     

Comparative analysis of household car,motorcycle and bicycle ownership between Osaka metropolitan area,Japan and Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia

The interactions among different types of vehicle ownership including car, motorcycle and bicycle are examined by developing simultaneous vehicle ownership models in this study. Large scale person trip survey data for Osaka metropolitan area, Japan and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are used for empirical analysis. The results suggest that population density at residential area significantly and negatively affects car ownership for both areas, and that the effects are larger for Osaka metropolitan area than for Kuala Lumpur. Also, bicycle ownership becomes higher at higher population density area for Osaka area, while higher at lower population density area for Kuala Lumpur, which represents the different usage patterns of bicycle between the two areas.

An analysis of time allocation to in-home and out-of-home discretionary activities across working days and non- working days

The behavior of time allocation to two types of discretionary activities is formulated as a doubly-censored Tobit model. The model is capable of incorporating cases where the entire amount of time available for discretionary activity is allocated to one type of activity and the other type of activity is not engaged at all. The model is applied to examine individuals' allocation of time to in-home and out-of-home discretionary activities on working days and non-working days, using a weekly time-use data set from the Netherlands. Workers' daily activity patterns vary significantly between working days and non-working days, while it can be expected that patterns of time allocation are correlated between working days and non-working days. A set of error components is introduced into the model to represent this correlation, adopting a mass point approach which requires no assumption about the distribution of the error components. The validity of the model is examined statistically.