The Movingo integrated ticket: seamless connections across the mälardalen region of Sweden

ABSTRACT

The need for improved public transport (PT) ticketing in ever-growing deregulated PT markets has made well-designed integrated ticketing systems a priority area of intervention for PT service providers around the world. Yet, very little practical evidence of its impacts are reported in Sweden and in the world at large. The focus of this study was the impacts of the Movingo integrated ticketing scheme in terms of PT patronage, user satisfaction and the perceived quality of the ticketing set-up. Three travel surveys were conducted along the Stockholm-Uppsala route. Methods including logistic regression and correlated t-tests were used to analyse the samples. The findings suggest that the scheme made rail commuting more attractive resulting in an overall increase of about 24% in ticket sales with 3% – 15% car commuters reporting that they patronised PT services after the project. The scheme also resulted in increased rail commuter satisfaction. The overall perceived quality of the ticketing set-up did not however improve due to interoperability challenges. Service providers’ uncertainty about equitable distribution of revenue among the participating service providers, interoperability challenges and the lack of interest among most of the participating service providers to sell Movingo tickets are some issues to be addressed.     

Do supra-modal traveller types exist? A travel behaviour market segmentation using Goal framing theory

Travel behaviour market segmentations have become a popular method of identifying different types of car users, bicyclists or public transport users. However, while previous studies have looked at different types of users within single modes, such as the car, little research has explored the existence of traveller types transcending modes. The study presented here is an extension of an earlier segmentation study that distinguished travellers based on their individual preferences, yet did so independent of their current mode choice. The data came from a travel survey at a middle-sized UK university and were analysed using a combination of hierarchical and iterative partitioning methods. Crucially, however, the current study uses a different theoretical framework to previous segmentation research—goal framing theory—which may more adequately explain the findings than models used in the past such as the theory of planned behaviour. The findings supported earlier work, suggesting the presence of seemingly stable traveller types that cut across modes and can be distinguished based on gain, hedonic and normative goals. This has important implications for policies aimed at encouraging mode change which may have been too preoccupied with changing people’s attitudes rather than paying attention to people’s underlying travel preferences.

     

Numerical simulation on truncated oval-nosed projectile penetrating into stiffened plate北大核心CSCD

[Objectives]In this paper, the numerical simulation method is used to study the anti-penetration performance and energy absorption mode of a stiffened plate, as well as the influence of different stiffened bars on the flight attitude of the projectile body.[Methods] Finite element software LS-DYNA is used to simulate the process of a truncated oval-nosed projectile penetrating a stiffened plate, and the results of the numerical simulation are compared with an experiment to verify the reliability of the numerical simulation method. The momentum method and mass equivalence method are used to predict the residual velocity of the projectile, and the applicability of different theoretical methods within different velocity ranges is compared. The deformation energy of different regions of the stiffened plate is then extracted to analyze the influence of the initial velocity of the projectile body on the energy absorption mode of the target plate. Finally, the structure of the stiffeners is changed and the influence of the relative position of the stiffeners on the penetration attitude of the projectile body is analyzed.[Results]The results show that the mass equivalence method is more accurate than the momentum method in predicting the residual velocity of the stiffened plate when the initial velocity of the projectile body is in the range of 300–900 m/s. The ratio of the deformation energy of the stiffened plate to the energy loss of the projectile body decreases with the increase of the initial velocity of the projectile body. The effect of a T-stiffened plate on trajectory is greater than that of a rectangular-stiffened plate.[Conclusions]The related calculation method and research results have certain reference value for research and engineering application surrounding the anti-penetration of stiffened plates. © 2023 Chinese Journal of Ship Research. All rights reserved.     

Commodity flow estimation for a metropolitan scale freight modeling system: supplier selection considering distribution channel using an error component logit mixture model

Freight forecasting models have been significantly improved in recent years, especially in the field of goods vehicle behavior modeling. On the other hand, the improvements to commodity flow modeling, which provide inputs for goods vehicle simulations, were limited. Contributing to this component in urban freight modeling systems, we propose an error component logit mixture model for matching a receiver to a supplier that considers two-layers in supplier selection: distribution channels and specific suppliers. The distribution channel is an important element in freight modeling, as the type of distribution channel is relevant to various aspects of shipments and vehicle trips. The model is estimated using the data from the Tokyo Metropolitan Freight Survey. We demonstrate how typical establishment survey data (i.e. establishment and outbound shipment records) can be used to develop the model. The model captures the correlation structure of potential suppliers defined by business function and provides insights on the differences in the supplier choice by distribution channel. The reproducibility tests confirm the validity of the proposed approach, which is currently integrated into a metropolitan-scale agent-based freight modeling system, for practical use.

     

A critical appraisal of the use of simple time-money trade-offs for appraisal value of travel time measures

Transportation - Stated choice surveys have established themselves as the preferred approach for value of travel time elicitation with the help of choice models. However, major differences exist in...     

A new approach for improving the performance of freight train timetabling of a single-track railway system

A new approach for improving the performance of freight train timetabling for single-track railways is proposed. Using the idea of a fixed-block signaling system, we develop a matrix representation to express the occupation of inter- and intra-station tracks by trains illustrating the train blocking time diagram in its entirety. Train departure times, dwell times, and unnecessary stopping are adjusted to reduce average train travel time and single train travel time. Conflicts between successive stations and within stations are identified and solved. A fuzzy logic system is further used to adjust the range of train departure times and checks are made to determine whether dwell times and time intervals can be adjusted for passenger and freight trains at congested stations to minimize train waiting times. By combining manual scheduling expertise with the fuzzy inference method, timetable efficiency is significantly improved and becomes more flexible.     

Distributed support modelling for vertical track dynamic analysis

The finite length nature of rail-pad supports is characterised by a Timoshenko beam element formulation over an elastic foundation, giving rise to the distributed support element. The new element is integrated into a vertical track model, which is solved in frequency and time domain. The developed formulation is obtained by solving the governing equations of a Timoshenko beam for this particular case. The interaction between sleeper and rail via the elastic connection is considered in an analytical, compact and efficient way. The modelling technique results in realistic amplitudes of the ‘pinned–pinned’ vibration mode and, additionally, it leads to a smooth evolution of the contact force temporal response and to reduced amplitudes of the rail vertical oscillation, as compared to the results from concentrated support models. Simulations are performed for both parametric and sinusoidal roughness excitation. The model of support proposed here is compared with a previous finite length model developed by other authors, coming to the conclusion that the proposed model gives accurate results at a reduced computational cost.     

Visualisation of uncertainty in probabilistic traffic models for policy and operations

This study investigates different methods to visualise uncertainty in static representations of probabilistic traffic models predictions on road-networks. Although various graphical cues may be used to represent uncertainty it is not a priori clear which of them are most suited for this purpose, since their legibility, intelligibility and the degree to which they interfere with other graphical elements in a representation differ widely. Several graphical uncertainty representations were therefore developed and analysed in expert sessions. A selection of the initial set of uncertainty visualisations was further evaluated in a cognitive alternative task-switching experiment. The results show that graphical representations are able to convey uncertainty information relatively accurately, while some uncertainty visualisations outperform others. It depends on the model and scenario which representation is most suited for a given application. This paper presents an overview of possible graphic uncertainty representations and the considerations involved when applying them to uncertainty in traffic model visualisations.     

The Gothenburg congestion charges: cost–benefit analysis and distribution effects

This paper performs an ex-post cost–benefit and distribution analysis of the Gothenburg congestion charges introduced in 2013, based on observed effects and an ex-post evaluated transport model. Although Gothenburg is a small city with congestion limited to the highway junctions, the congestion charge scheme is socially beneficial, generating a net surplus of €20 million per year. From a financial perspective, the investment cost was repaid in slightly more than a year and, from a social surplus perspective, is repaid in < 4 years. Still, the sums that are redistributed in Gothenburg are substantially larger than the net benefit. In the distribution analysis we develop an alternative welfare rule, where the utility is translated to money by dividing the utility by the average marginal utility of money, thereby avoiding putting a higher weight on high-income people. The alternative welfare rule shows larger re-distribution effects, because paying charges is more painful for low-income classes due to the higher marginal utility of money. Low-income citizens pay a larger share of their income because all income classes are highly car dependent in Gothenburg and workers in the highest income class have considerably higher access to company cars for private trips. No correlation was found between voting pattern and gains, losses or net gain.

     

Predicting queue variability to enable analysis of overload risk

ABSTRACT

Predicting the risk of traffic demands and delays exceeding critical limits at road junctions, airports, hospitals, etc., requires knowing how both mean and variance of queue size vary over time. Microscopic simulation can explore variability but is computationally demanding and gives only sample results. A computationally efficient approximation to the mean is used in many modelling tools, but only empirical extensions for variance in particular situations have been available. The paper derives theoretical formulae for time-dependent and equilibrium variance, believed to be novel and to apply generally to queues covered by the Pollaczek–Khinchin mean formula, and offering possible structural insights. These are applied in an extended approximation giving mutually consistent mean and variance estimates with improved accuracy. Tests on oversaturated peak demand cases are compared with Markov probabilistic simulation, demonstrating accuracy (R^2?>?0.99) for typical random, priority-like (M/M/1) and traffic-signal-like (M/D/1) queues. Implications for risk analysis, planning and policy are considered.