Stakeholder Perspectives on the Value of Marine Spatial Planning Towards Advancing Offshore Wind in the U.S.

The United States contributes only 0.2% of the 18,814?MW of global installed offshore wind capacity. Lack of development has been attributed in part to a cumbersome regulatory process that includes the evaluation of environmental impacts. Assessments are based on biological, social, and technical data that are often incomplete. Marine spatial planning (MSP) may help fill data gaps. We conducted semi-structured interviews with key informants to understand (1) whether a lack of biological data impedes offshore wind environmental assessments, (2) whether MSP could mitigate these impediments, and (3) whether MSP could advance offshore wind development in the U.S. in other ways. Most informants stated that a lack of biological data in offshore wind environmental assessments was problematic due to incomplete data, uncertainty of data, and mismatched scales. Data issues may be mitigated by creation of data products and increased communication, outcomes of MSP that may benefit the regulatory process by increasing data availability, resolving conflicts among users, and providing a common operating picture. Challenges remain in integrating MSP into the processes of siting and permitting offshore wind, but it provides a strategic framework for the systematic identification, collection, collation, analyses, application, and management of data in the offshore wind environmental regulatory process.     

A technical note on evaluating the effectiveness of bus rapid transit with transit signal priority

Transit Signal Priority (TSP) and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) are innovative Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) tools that can reduce travel times for buses. Combining TSP and BRT can significantly improve bus travel, but can negatively impact network traffic operations. Although TSP has been implemented worldwide, few previous studies holistically examined the effects of using various conditional and unconditional TSP strategies with or without a BRT system. This research simulates multiple TSP and BRT combination scenarios to understand their impact on traffic operations, including crossing street traffic. A test bed along International Drive (I-Drive) in Orlando, Florida, was chosen as the simulation area. Field data collected for this test bed, which included traffic volumes, bus travel times, and traffic signal control data, were used to develop, calibrate, and validate the simulation model. Results showed that BRT with Conditional TSP 3 minutes behind significantly improved travel times, average speed, and average total delay per vehicle for the main through movements compared with no BRT or TSP, with only minor effects on crossing street delays. BRT with Unconditional TSP resulted in significant crossing street delays, especially at major intersections with high traffic demand, indicating that this scenario is impractical for implementation. The simulation suggests that BRT and TSP will be most effective when used in areas where crossing street volumes are low. However, it is unknown how these ITS tools affect pedestrian traffic. Using optimization methods can determine the best strategy to balance transit and pedestrian traffic.     

The role of VMT reduction in meeting climate change policy goals

This article evaluates the case for vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reduction as a core policy goal for reducing greenhouse gases (GHGs), concluding the economic impacts and social consequences would be too severe given the modest potential environmental benefits. Attempts to reduce VMT typically rely on very blunt policy instruments, such as increasing urban densities, and run the risk of reducing mobility, reducing access to jobs, and narrowing the range of housing choice. VMT reduction, in fact, is an inherently blunt policy instrument because it relies almost exclusively on changing human behavior and settlement patterns to increase transit use and reduce automobile travel rather than directly target GHGs. It also uses long-term strategies with highly uncertain effects on GHGs based on current research. Not surprisingly, VMT reduction strategies often rank among the most costly and least efficient options. In contrast, less intrusive policy approaches such as improved fuel efficiency and traffic signal optimization are more likely to directly reduce GHGs than behavioral approaches such as increasing urban densities to promote higher public transit usage. As a general principle, policymakers should begin addressing policy concerns using the least intrusive and costly approaches first. Climate change policy should focus on directly targeting greenhouse gas emissions (e.g., through a carbon tax) rather than using the blunt instrument of VMT reduction to preserve the economic and social benefits of mobility in modern, service-based economies. Targeted responses are also more cost effective, implying that the social welfare costs of climate change policy will be smaller than using broad-brushed approaches that directly attempt to influence living patterns and travel behavior.     

Comparison of different structural stress approaches for fatigue assessment of welded ship structures

The structural stress approach, which considers the stress increase due to the structural configuration, allows the fatigue strength assessment of welded ship structures with various geometries on the basis of an S–N curve depending only on the type of weld. However, a unique definition and the numerical calculation of the structural stresses are problematic, which has resulted in the development of different variants of the approach. These are discussed and compared with each other in the present paper. The application to three examples shows the variation and differences in the analysed stresses and predicted fatigue lives, which are compared with those derived from fatigue tests.     

Transportation mode detection – an in-depth review of applicability and reliability

The wide adoption of location-enabled devices, together with the acceptance of services that leverage (personal) data as payment, allows scientists to push through some of the previous barriers imposed by data insufficiency, ethics and privacy skepticism. The research problems whose study require hard-to-obtain data (e.g. transportation mode detection, service contextualisation, etc.) have now become more accessible to scientists because of the availability of data collecting outlets. One such problem is the detection of a user's transportation mode. Different fields have approached the problem of transportation mode detection with different aims: Location-Based Services (LBS) is a field that focuses on understanding the transportation mode in real-time, Transportation Science is a field that focuses on measuring the daily travel patterns of individuals or groups of individuals, and Human Geography is a field that focuses on enriching a trajectory by adding domain-specific semantics. While different fields providing solutions to the same problem could be viewed as a positive outcome, it is difficult to compare these solutions because the reported performance indicators depend on the type of approach and its aim (e.g. the real-time availability of LBS requires the performance to be computed on each classified location). The contributions of this paper are three fold. First, the paper reviews the critical aspects desired by each research field when providing solutions to the transportation mode detection problem. Second, it proposes three dimensions that separate three branches of science based on their main interest. Finally, it identifies important gaps in research and future directions, that is, proposing: widely accepted error measures meaningful for all disciplines, methods robust to new data sets and a benchmark data set for performance validation.     

Factors affecting the use of bus and rail services in a deregulated environment

In 1987, the NSW Government commenced deregulation of the long-distance bus industry in NSW. This immediately led to greater inter-modal competition and contestability within the context of changing passenger markets.This study utilises categorical data analysis methods to examine the emerging passenger markets of inter-modal competitors (bus and rail) and to assess the relative importance of socioeconomic and travel related variables which affect the use of bus and rail services along the high volume Sydney-Canberra and Sydney-North Coast corridors.Conclusions from the study indicate varied passenger markets within a relatively new contestable environment which are mode and corridor specific. Results are indicative of the need for competitors to develop marketing strategies conducive to the demands of the travelling public in order to enhance viability and commercial opportunities.     

Office location — city or suburbs?

Suburban offices constitute a growing proportion of the metropolitan office stock in Melbourne. The relocation of around 1700 Coles Myer employees from the Central Business District to Tooronga, 8.5 km south east from the GPO, is an example of office decentralisation. A study of the resultant impacts arising from the relocation has been conducted utilising a before-the-move and after-the-move survey of Coles Myer employees. Both surveys generated response rates in excess of 60%. Office relocation can have various short and long term impacts on employees and will influence decisions relating to residential location, car ownership and the resultant travel and activity patterns. It is not until these impacts are quantified that planners can gain acceptance for strategies designed to minimise the negative impacts associated with dispersed employment opportunities.This paper discuses the suburbanisation of office employment in Melbourne and studies the travel related effect on the employees, whose headoffice is relocated from the CAD to a suburban location. One of the great challenges for transport in the 90's will be the successful management of office location and the resultant impacts on travel.Abbreviations CAD Central Activities District; the CAD is defined as a slightly larger area than that previously referred to as the Central Business District (CBD)     

选择铁路方式出行的阻碍因素综述

研究表明,即使铁路出行是最具有成本效益的出行方式,许多出行者仍然会选择其他出行方式。这表明选择铁路出行方式存在一些与费用无关的阻碍因素。本文对有关这些阻碍因素重要性的文献进行了综述,这些研究主要来自英国,但也有一部分来自于其他国家。共确认了37种不同的阻碍因素,它们可以被划分为＂刚性因素＂、＂柔性因素＂与＂互补性因素＂。出行者通常不会只考虑其中的单一阻碍因素,而是将这些阻碍因素看成一个整体,由此使得对最重要阻碍因素的确认十分困难。很多情况下,对于某一出行者来说,所有存在的阻碍因素都需要在出行方式转移之前解决。在思考不同阻碍因素的相对重要性后,对克服它们并实现其他出行方式向铁路转移的最有效措施提出了建议。这涉及主要的交通政策,因为它能够为有限的可利用资金确定目标市场,从而影响出行行为并提高出行方式的可持续性。     

Uncertain benefits: Application of Bayesian melding to the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle

Uncertainty is inherent in major infrastructure projects, but public decision-making for such projects ignores it. We investigate the uncertainty about the future effects of tearing down the Alaskan Way Viaduct in downtown Seattle, using an integrated model of housing, jobs, land use and transportation, on outcomes including average commute times. Our methodology combines the urban simulation model UrbanSim with the regional transportation model. We assess uncertainty using Bayesian melding, yielding a full predictive distribution of average commute times on 22 different routes in 2020. Of these routes, 14 do not include the viaduct and eight do. For the 14 base routes that do not include the viaduct, the predictive distributions overlap substantially, and so there is no indication that removing the viaduct would increase commute times for these routes. For each of the eight routes that do include the viaduct, the 95% predictive interval for the difference in average travel times between the two scenarios includes zero, so there is not strong statistical support for the conclusion that removing the viaduct would lead to any increase in travel times. However, the median predicted increase is positive for each of these routes, with an average of 6 min, suggesting that there may be some measurable increase in travel time for drivers that use the viaduct as a core component of their commute.     

Barriers to Passenger Rail Use: A Review of the Evidence

Research has shown that even when rail travel is the most cost-effective mode of transport for a particular journey, many travellers will still choose other modes. This indicates the existence of non-financial barriers to rail use, and this paper reviews the evidence on the importance of such barriers, focusing particularly on the UK but also considering research from other countries. A total of 37 distinct barriers were identified, and these can be divided into “hard”, “soft” and “complementary” factors. Travellers are unlikely to consider these barriers individually, viewing them instead as a package, which can make it difficult to identify which barriers are most significant. In many cases, all barriers which exist for a particular traveller will need to be addressed before mode shift occurs. After considering the relative importance of the different barriers, the paper concludes by making some suggestions as to the most effective ways in which these barriers can be overcome and mode shift to rail achieved. This has key implications for transport policy, as it can inform the targeting of the limited funds available to influence travel behaviour and increase the sustainability of travel patterns.