Environmental and transport effects of warehouse relocationing: evidence from Norway

Reducing traffic volumes and CO2-emissions from freight transport has proven difficult in many countries. Although the increasing suburbanization of warehouses is seen as a relevant land use trend, comprehensive analyses of their impact remain scarce. This study uses real data in modeling transport, costs, environmental and modal effects from warehouse relocations around Oslo and Trondheim (Norway). Results indicate that for Oslo, traffic performance (ton-km), CO2-emissions, and transport costs increase following warehouse suburbanization. For Trondheim, transport performance and CO2-emissions increase less, while transport costs decrease marginally. We conclude that specific case characteristics (geography and trade patterns) are important in determining the strength and direction of effects, and expect that common concomitant developments (warehouse centralization and consolidation) would lead to more pronounced results. Our findings confirm some, but challenge other, findings from the relatively scarcely literature available. Finally, the study's more general insights and observations can help advance similar analyses beyond Norway.     

Safety of child passengers who ride to school on a motorcycle: An observational study in two Argentine cities

In low- and middle-income countries, the motorcycle has increasingly become a means of family transportation due to its low cost and the poor quality of public transportation. Consequently, many child motorcycle passengers are at an elevated risk of serious injury in the event of a traffic crash. The available research on child safety devices is scarce and focused mainly on helmet use, while other devices (e.g. high-visibility clothing) have received little attention. This observational study documented the safety conditions and related factors of primary schoolchildren who rode to school as motorcycle passengers in two cities of Argentina.Data was obtained in the vicinity of 27 public primary schools in two cities of Argentina (one mid-sized city and the other a small city by the country's standards) between May 2018 and September 2019. A total of 1440 motorcycle occupants (656 drivers and 784 child passengers) were observed.The use of an adequate helmet was lower among children (vs. drivers). Most of the children were unable to reach the motorcycle's footrests, did not use high-visibility clothing or a fastening device, carried a backpack, and mounted and dismounted the motorcycle in an unsafe place. Some children rode in front of the driver or in a motorcycle with three or four occupants. Use of helmet by drivers and driver sex (woman) were related with an increase in safety in children. The indicators were worse in the larger city.The results revealed a low level of adoption of safety measures in children as well as in adults in both cities. This suggests that motorcycle travel is unsafe. Greater effort is needed to improve motorcycle safety, especially for children. It is important to debate regulatory details such as a minimum age for passengers, a limit on the number of passengers, and other safety criteria. It is also important to conduct educational campaigns that include the distribution of safety devices.     

Trip generation of vulnerable populations in three Canadian cities: a spatial ordered probit approach

This paper provides an analysis of trip generation of three vulnerable groups: single-parent families, low income households, and the elderly. It compares the mobility of these groups to that of the general population in three Canadian urban areas of Hamilton, Montreal and Toronto, based on data from large-sample metropolitan transport surveys. An ordered probit model with spatially expanded coefficients is used for the analysis. Spatial expansion shows that there are spatial mobility trends for elderly populations and low-income populations even after socio-economic attributes are accounted for. Such spatial differences are not generally found for single parent families. This novel spatial analysis provides clues as to where vulnerable populations may experience greater degrees of social exclusion. It provides information to help prioritize transportation infrastructure projects or other social programs to take into account the needs of vulnerable populations with the lowest levels of mobility.     

A generic class of first order node models for dynamic macroscopic simulation of traffic flows

Node models for macroscopic simulation have attracted relatively little attention in the literature. Nevertheless, in dynamic network loading (DNL) models for congested road networks, node models are as important as the extensively studied link models. This paper provides an overview of macroscopic node models found in the literature, explaining both their contributions and shortcomings. A formulation defining a generic class of first order macroscopic node models is presented, satisfying a list of requirements necessary to produce node models with realistic, consistent results. Defining a specific node model instance of this class requires the specification of a supply constraint interaction rule and (optionally) node supply constraints. Following this theoretical discussion, specific macroscopic node model instances for unsignalized and signalized intersections are proposed. These models apply an oriented capacity proportional distribution of the available supply over the incoming links of a node. A computationally efficient algorithm to solve the node models exactly is included.     

A dynamic CSTT model for the effects of added nutrients in Loch Creran, a shallow fjord

Despite a tendency for the complexity of physical–biological models to increase, simple coupled models remain useful for some applications and can provide insights into crucial links between physical and biological processes. This argument is illustrated with an account of a simple 3-box model intended to help assess the capacity of fjords to assimilate nutrients from fish farms. The model, a dynamic version of the UK “Comprehensive Studies Task Team” (CSTT) steady-state model for eutrophication, was applied to Loch Creran (Scottish Western Highlands) and was implemented using Stella 8 and tested using historical data from 1975 (before the installation of a salmon farm) and field data collected in 2003, during the period of operation of the farm. The model's biological state variables are chlorophyll, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP), and it includes a simple run-off model to convert rainfall into river discharge. The physical processes involved in exchange between the loch and the adjacent waters of the Firth of Lorne were parameterised as a constant daily exchange rate.Between 1975 and 2003, local inputs of nutrient increased but, despite this, there was little apparent increase in nutrient concentrations in the loch, and observed chlorophyll concentrations decreased substantially. Model simulations of chlorophyll and DIN agreed well with observations in 1975, as did DIN simulations in 2003. However, simulated chlorophyll was overestimated in 2003.Some of the agreement between observations and simulations come from the use of observed boundary conditions to force the model. However, even when boundary conditions are subtracted from simulations and observations, the simulations in most cases retain a significant correlation with observations, demonstrating that the model's ‘interior’ processes do add to its ability to replicate conditions in the loch.     

A fuzzy stochastic approach to the multicriteria selection of an aircraft for regional chartering

This article deals with the problem of decision support for the selection of an aircraft. This is a problem faced by an airline company that is investing in regional charter flights in Brazil. The company belongs to an economic group whose core business is logistics. The problem has eight alternatives to be evaluated under 11 different criteria, whose measurements can be exact, stochastic, or fuzzy. The technique chosen for analyzing and then finding a solution to the problem is the multicriteria decision aiding method named NAIADE (Novel Approach to Imprecise Assessment and Decision Environments). The method used allows tackling the problems by working with quantitative as well as qualitative criteria under uncertainty and imprecision. Another considerable advantage of NAIADE over other multicriteria methods relies in its characteristics of not requiring a prior definition of the weights by the decision maker. As a conclusion, it can be said that the use of NAIADE provided for consistent results to that aircraft selection problem. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The causal relationship between GDP and domestic air passenger traffic in Brazil

Abstract

This paper examines the causal relationship between economic growth and domestic air passenger transport in Brazil, using Granger's causality test. Total domestic passenger-kilometres are used as a proxy for air transport demand and gross domestic product as a proxy for economic growth. The test spans the period from 1966 to 2006. The results lead to the acceptance of the hypothesis that there is a unidirectional Granger causal relationship from economic growth to domestic air transport demand in Brazil, having a high elasticity in the short term.     

Numerical modelling of fish eggs dispersion at the Patos Lagoon estuary — Brazil

The Patos Lagoon estuary is the most important nursery ground for commercially relevant species of fish and crustaceans in the South of Brazil, maintaining fisheries that sustain 3500 fisher families throughout the Rio Grande do Sul State coastline. Around 80% of the interior estuarine area is very shallow (< 2 m), and recruitment of fish eggs and larvae to the inner parts of the Patos Lagoon estuary is directly related to the circulation pattern in the area, which is controlled by local and non-local wind effects and freshwater discharge. The objective of this study is to investigate the processes controlling the transport of estuarine dependent fish eggs between the Atlantic Ocean and the Patos Lagoon estuary.An integrated numerical system based on a bi-dimensional hydrodynamic model and a Lagrangean transport model of passive particles is applied to a selection of scenarios representing the passage of weather fronts over the area. At this stage, fish eggs are represented as buoyant passive particles. Modelling results are compared against field data for the period under investigation (September/October 1999) and historical records. Short term results are analysed in terms of the meteorological conditions (wind direction, intensity and duration) controlling the transport of eggs to the inner parts of the estuary and the extension of their excursion. This experiment is the first attempt to couple biological and physical information to study fish eggs transport, and to enhance the current knowledge about recruitment of important fisheries resources in southern Brazil.     

Urban public transport in Europe: Technology diffusion and market organisation

Technological change and incremental technology, at various levels, are believed to have played an important role in the success of urban public transport in Europe. In this paper, a historical overview of the evolution of different transport modes across different European cities is presented. Our major concern is with the processes of diffusion of urban transport modes in European cities and, in particular, with the factors, mainly of an economic nature, that may explain their rates of adoption across Europe. Among these factors, special attention is given to the role played by the dimension and organisation of public transport markets in the rates of adoption of different public transport modes. The main conclusion of the paper is that the success of the introduction of a new transport mode appeared to be mainly related to its ability to provide cheaper and more reliable transport services compared with previous transport modes, and that, in the case of the electric tram, this was achieved by transforming of the structure of the market relating to this urban transport mode into monopolies.     

Evaluating goals and impacts of two metro alternatives by the AHP

The transport planning and its decision making involve a large number of goals and more than one alternative to be evaluated. This analysis comprises technical and financial features up to social and environmental impacts. We show how the AHP is a useful tool in this procedure, and evaluate several objectives and impacts of the implantation of the third metro line in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, where there were two alternative outlines and one of them to be selected.