Identification of emission hotspots in roundabouts corridors

This study describes a methodology to quantify and characterize the vehicular emissions of functionally interdependent roundabouts at a corridor level. Corridor segments include those upstream of each roundabout, the circulating area, downstream of the roundabout as well as midblock sub-segments between adjacent roundabouts. The main purpose of the study is to identify the locations along the corridors where emissions tend to be consistently high. These locations are termed “Emission Hotspots”. The methodology is applied to four existing roundabout corridors in San Diego (California) and Avon (Colorado) in the United States, and in Mealhada and Chaves (Portugal). An extensive sample of second-by-second speed traces is available for these four corridors with roundabouts.The analysis shows that when roundabouts are fairly spaced and have similar geometric design features, no significant differences are observed between emissions of roundabouts located in the corridor. In such cases, the downstream sub-segments are the emission hotspots both in absolute terms (overall contribution on total emissions is higher than 34%) and per unit distance (22% higher than the average corridor value). When roundabouts are unequally spaced the highest emissions hotspots (more than 9% above the average corridor value) are found at the circulating area sub-segments. The results also demonstrate that the entry deflection angle has a slight impact on the spatial distribution of emissions especially in the case of closely spaced roundabouts.     

The university workers’ willingness to pay for commuting

Using a dynamic approach, employing data on job mobility, we demonstrate that university workers?? marginal willingness to pay for reducing commuting distance is about ?0.25 per kilometre travelled. This corresponds to a marginal willingness to pay for reducing commuting time of about 75?% of the net average hourly wage. For females, the willingness to pay is substantially higher than for males. It is also substantially higher for workers that work few hours per day, as predicted by theory.     

An Evaluation of the Accessibility Benefits of Commuter Rail in Eastern Massachusetts using Spatial Hedonic Price Functions

We estimate spatial hedonic price functions to examine local and regional accessibility benefits of commuter rail service in Eastern Massachusetts, while controlling for proximity-related negative externalities and other confounding influences. The data include 1,860 single-family residential properties from four municipalities with commuter rail service, and three municipalities without commuter rail service. We find some evidence of the capitalization of accessibility to commuter rail stations. Two model specifications suggest that properties located in municipalities with commuter rail stations exhibit values that are between 9.6% and 10.1% higher than properties in municipalities without a commuter rail station. With a third model we detect weak evidence of the capitalization of auto access time or walking time to the stations, suggesting that properties located within a one-half mile buffer of a station have values that are 10.1% higher than properties located outside of this buffer area and that an additional minute of drive time from the station is related to a decrease of 1.6% in property values. Our results also indicate that proximity to commuter rail right-of-way has a significant negative effect on property values, which suggests that for every 1,000 ft. in distance from the commuter rail right-of-way, property values are between $732 and $2,897 higher, all else held equal. At the mean sample values, this result translates into an elasticity of between 0.03 and 0.13, depending on the functional form of the hedonic price equation.     

采用平导超前和无轨运输方式的长大瓦斯隧道施工六阶段通风技术

合理的通风设计是降低隧道长距离穿越煤系地层时所面临的严峻瓦斯灾害风险的重要措施。文章针对成贵高铁老房子隧道长距离穿越高瓦斯地层时的通风难题,设计出一套随施工进度变化可进行调整的先压入后巷道式的六阶段通风方案,并采用Fluent软件模拟分析,最后以实际监测结果进行验证。结果表明,第四阶段通风效果最差,为通风最不利工况,该阶段隧道内瓦斯浓度均未超过0.5%的限值,其它阶段隧道内风流中最大瓦斯浓度为0.08%,所有指标均满足规范的要求。由此可知,六阶段通风方案通风效果良好,可为类似工程设计和施工提供良好的借鉴作用。     

Spatio-temporal analysis of car distance,greenhouse gases and the effect of built environment: A latent class regression analysis

This work examines the temporal–spatial variations of daily automobile distance traveled and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and their association with built environment attributes and household socio-demographics. A GHGs household inventory is determined using link-level average speeds for a large and representative sample of households in three origin–destination surveys (1998, 2003 and 2008) in Montreal, Canada. For the emission inventories, different sources of data are combined including link-level average speeds in the network, vehicle occupancy levels and fuel consumption characteristics of the vehicle fleet. Urban form indicators over time such as population density, land use mix and transit accessibility are generated for each household in each of the three waves. A latent class (LC) regression modeling framework is then implemented to investigate the association of built environment and socio-demographics with GHGs and automobile distance traveled. Among other results, it is found that population density, transit accessibility and land-use mix have small but statistically significant negative impact on GHGs and car usage. Despite that this is in accordance with past studies, the estimated elasticities are greater than those reported in the literature for North American cities. Moreover, different household subpopulations are identified in which the effect of built environment varies significantly. Also, a reduction of the average GHGs at the household level is observed over time. According to our estimates, households produced 15% and 10% more GHGs in 1998 and 2003 respectively, compared to 2008. This reduction can be associated to the improvement of the fuel economy of vehicle fleet and the decrease of motor-vehicle usage – e.g., a decrease of 4% is observed for fuel efficiency rates and 12% for distance according to the raw average estimates from 1998 with respect to 2008. A strong link is also observed between socio-demographics and the two travel outcomes. While number of workers is positively associated with car distance and GHGs, low and medium income households pollute less than high-income households.     

Understanding the development of business travel policies: Reducing business travel,motivations and barriers

Business travel accounted in the UK in 2010 for 3% of trips and 10% of the UK’s domestic distance travelled (Department for Transport, 2011, p. 4). However, it is an under researched area, even though in major cities, where transport networks are most congested, it forms a higher proportion of trips. The paper presents the findings of a study of changing business travel practices and policies affecting the briefcase traveller. The findings are drawn from semi-structured interviews with key actors in stakeholder and private sector organisations based predominately in London and a survey of 150 business travellers. The study was designed to understand the motivations and attitudes towards reducing business travel and the compromises that needed to be made to balance reducing carbon emissions and cost, whilst maintaining or improving productivity and meeting the requirements of the business.The main findings show the approaches and implications of these approaches to reduce carbon emissions and costs, improve productivity and the impact of ICT. The findings show the importance of external reporting through the Carbon Reduction Commitment, the Carbon Disclosure Project and corporate responsibility reports as a motivator to develop new policies. The paper goes on to outline how some factors can be both barriers and motivations for change, such as customers insisting on meeting their suppliers face-to-face, but also requiring information on carbon emissions as part of the Carbon Disclosure Project. Individuals can also be both a barrier and a motivator to change. The role of existing travel and meeting habits and the view of some that travelling is a perk linked to status symbols have proved to be a hard barriers to overcome. However, a technically literate younger generation used to communicating virtually have challenged these practices.     

The changing accuracy of traffic forecasts

Researchers have improved travel demand forecasting methods in recent decades but invested relatively little to understand their accuracy. A major barrier has been the lack of necessary data. We compiled the largest known database of traffic forecast accuracy, composed of forecast traffic, post-opening counts and project attributes for 1291 road projects in the United States and Europe. We compared measured versus forecast traffic and identified the factors associated with accuracy. We found measured traffic is on average 6% lower than forecast volumes, with a mean absolute deviation of 17% from the forecast. Higher volume roads, higher functional classes, shorter time spans, and the use of travel models all improved accuracy. Unemployment rates also affected accuracy—traffic would be 1% greater than forecast on average, rather than 6% lower, if we adjust for higher unemployment during the post-recession years (2008 to 2014). Forecast accuracy was not consistent over time: more recent forecasts were more accurate, and the mean deviation changed direction. Traffic on projects that opened from the 1980s through early 2000s was higher on average than forecast, while traffic on more recent projects was lower on average than forecast. This research provides insight into the degree of confidence that planners and policy makers can expect from traffic forecasts and suggests that we should view forecasts as a range of possible outcomes rather than a single expected outcome.

     

Real world vehicle emissions: Their correlation with driving parameters

Vehicular population in developing countries is expected to proliferate in the coming decade, centred on Tier II and Tier III cities rather than large metropolis. WLTP is being introduced as a global instrument for emission regulation to reduce gap between standard test procedures and actual road conditions. This work aims at quantifying and discernment of the gap between WLTC and real-world conditions in an urban city in a developing country on the basis of driving cycle parameters and simulated emissions for gasoline fuelled light passenger cars. Real world driving patterns were recorded on different routes and varying traffic conditions using car-chasing technique integrated with GPS monitoring and speed sensors. Real-world driving patterns and ambient conditions were used to simulate emissions using International Vehicle Emissions model for average rate (g/km) and Comprehensive Modal Emissions Model for instantaneous emission (g/s) analysis. Cycle parameters were mathematically calculated to compare WLTC and road trips. The analyses revealed a large gap between WLTC and road conditions. CO emissions were predicted to be 155% higher than WLTC and HC and NOx emissions were estimated to be 63% and 64% higher respectively. These gaps were correlated to different driving cycle parameters. It was observed that road driving occurs at lower average speeds with higher frequency and magnitudes of accelerations. The positive kinetic energy required by road cycles, was 100% higher than WLTC and the Relative Positive Acceleration (RPA) demanded by road cycles, was found to be 60% higher in real-world driving patterns and thereby contribute to higher emissions.     

基于AnyLogic的地铁三线换乘站仿真研究

本文以"节点+同台+站厅"为换乘方式的"F"型三线换乘站、以"节点+通道+站厅"为换乘方式的"H"型三线换乘站、以"站厅+通道"为换乘方式的"H"型三线换乘站为研究对象,应用AnyLogic软件进行动态仿真,以空间服务水平、平均换乘距离、平均换乘时间等指标,分析不同站型、不同换乘方式的三线换乘效果。结果表明,"F"型空间服务水平优于"H"型车站,但后者的平均换乘时间、平均换乘距离普遍优于前者。对于"H"型车站,以"节点+通道+站厅"的组合,乘客的换乘时间、换乘距离均优于"站厅+通道"的组合。但因后者客流较为分散,中部站厅用于换乘的楼扶梯端部或换乘通道出入口不易发生拥堵,空间服务水平优于前者。     

Equilibrium properties of taxi markets with search frictions

The equilibrium properties of an aggregate taxi market are investigated using a general bilateral searching and meeting function which characterizes the search frictions between vacant taxis and unserved customers. Three specific issues are analyzed for meeting functions that exhibit increasing, constant and decreasing returns to scale. Firstly, service quality in terms of customer wait/search time and average profit per taxi are examined jointly in relation to taxi fleet size, and a Pareto-improving win-win situation is identified, where an increase in taxi fleet size leads to improvements in both service quality and market profitability. Such a Pareto-improving situation is found to emerge if and only if the meeting functions show increasing returns to scale. Secondly, the properties of the socially optimal solution are examined. It is found that the taxi fleet size should be chosen such that the total cost of operating vacant taxis equals the total cost of customer waiting time multiplied by an asymmetric factor of the meeting function, and that taxi services should be subsidized at social optimum only when the meeting functions show increasing returns to scale. Thirdly, the Pareto-efficient services are examined for trade-offs between social welfare and profits in the light of partially conflicting objectives of the public sector and the private taxi firms using a bi-objective maximization approach. The taxi utilization rate and the customer wait/search time or service quality are proved to be constant along the Pareto frontier and equal to those at social optimum if the meeting functions show constant returns to scale. Extensions are made to the cases with increasing and decreasing returns to scale.     

Is telecommuting cheaper than travel? An examination of interaction costs in a business setting

This paper presents an analysis of telecommunications and travel costs for typical business meetings. It is contribution to the debate on the substitutability of telecommunications for travel. An underlying assumption which supports the substitution hypothesis is that the cost of traversing distance through the use of telecommunication is lower than the cost of travelling.This paper addresses the relative cost of telecommunications and travel in conducting interactions. Three factors are assumed to determine these costs: distance, duration of interaction and number of participants. The analysis assumes that cost alone affects choice, and ignores other communication qualities.The relationship between telecommunication and travel costs was tested quantitatively through a case study of typical business meetings in the U.S., based on data from 1988. The results show that travel costs are lower than telecommunication costs for shorter distances, and that the relationship between telecommunications and travel costs differs substantially as a function of number of participants and meeting duration. Because of ongoing rapid changes in the costs of both of these interaction modes, the complex competition between them will continue. The implications of the findings for location decisions and policy-making are discussed.     

Passing sight distance on two-lane highways: Review and revision

Several models have been developed to determine the minimum passing sight distance required for safe and efficient operation on two-lane highways. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has developed a model assuming that once the driver begins a pass, he/she has no opportunity but to complete it. This assumption is believed to result in exaggerated passing sight distance requirements. Considerably shorter passing sight distance values are presented in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices and are used as the marking standards in Canada and the U.S.A. More appropriate models have been developed considering the driver's opportunity to abort the pass, and are based on a critical sight distance which produces the same factor of safety whether the pass is completed or aborted. However, these models need to be revised to determine the passing sight distance requirements more accurately and to closely match field observations. In this paper, a revised model for determining the minimum required passing sight distance was developed, based on the concept of critical sight distance and considering the kinematic interaction between the passing, passed, and opposing vehicles. The results of the revised model were compared with field data and showed that the revised model simulates the passing manoeuvre better than the currently-available models which are either too conservative or too liberal. The results showed that the passing sight distance requirements recommended in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices are sufficient at low design speeds (50–60 k.p.h.) and for manoeuvres involving passenger cars only. For higher design speeds, the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices standards are less than the passing sight distance required for safe and comfortable passes. The deficiency was found to increase with the increase in design speed, and reaches about 36% at a 120-k.p.h. design speed. Based on these results, major revisions to the current Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices marking standards are recommended.     

Mixed manual/semi-automated traffic: a macroscopic analysis

The use of advanced technologies and intelligence in vehicles and infrastructure could make the current highway transportation system much more efficient. Semi-automated vehicles with the capability of automatically following a vehicle in front as long as it is in the same lane and in the vicinity of the forward looking ranging sensor are expected to be deployed in the near future. Their penetration into the current manual traffic will give rise to mixed manual/semi-automated traffic. In this paper, we analyze the fundamental flow–density curve for mixed traffic using flow–density curves for 100% manual and 100% semi-automated traffic. Assuming that semi-automated vehicles use a time headway smaller than today’s manual traffic average due to the use of sensors and actuators, we have shown using the flow–density diagram that the traffic flow rate will increase in mixed traffic. We have also shown that the flow–density curve for mixed traffic is restricted between the flow–density curves for 100% manual and 100% semi-automated traffic. We have presented in a graphical way that the presence of semi-automated vehicles in mixed traffic propagates a shock wave faster than in manual traffic. We have demonstrated that the presence of semi-automated vehicles does not change the total travel time of vehicles in mixed traffic. Though we observed that with 50% semi-automated vehicles a vehicle travels 10.6% more distance than a vehicle in manual traffic for the same time horizon and starting at approximately the same position, this increase is marginal and is within the modeling error. Lastly, we have shown that when shock waves on the highway produce stop-and-go traffic, the average delay experienced by vehicles at standstill is lower in mixed traffic than in manual traffic, while the average number of vehicles at standstill remains unchanged.     

Measuring transport related CO2 emissions induced by online and brick-and-mortar retailing

We develop a method for empirically measuring the difference in transport related carbon footprint between traditional and online retailing (“e-tailing”) from entry point to a geographical area to consumer residence. The method only requires data on the locations of brick-and-mortar stores, online delivery points, and residences of the region’s population, and on the goods transportation networks in the studied region. Such data are readily available in most countries. The method has been evaluated using data from the Dalecarlia region in Sweden, and is shown to be robust to all assumptions made. In our empirical example, the results indicate that the average distance from consumer residence to a brick-and-mortar retailer is 48.54 km in the studied region, while the average distance to an online delivery point is 6.7 km. The results also indicate that e-tailing increases the average distance traveled from the regional entry point to the delivery point from 47.15 km for a brick-and-mortar store to 122.75 km for the online delivery points. However, as professional carriers transport the products in bulk to stores or online delivery points, which is more efficient than consumers’ transporting the products to their residences, the results indicate that consumers switching from traditional to e-tailing on average reduce their transport CO₂ footprints by 84% when buying standard consumer electronics products.     

Fully autonomous vehicles: analyzing transportation network performance and operating scenarios in the Greater Toronto Area,Canada

Fully autonomous vehicles (AVs) have the potential to considerably change urban mobility in the future. This study simulates potential AV operating scenarios in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Canada, and assesses transportation system performance on a regional level. For each scenario, the base capacities of certain types of road links are modified to simulate the theoretical increase in throughput enabled by AV driving behavior. Another scenario examines driverless parking operations in downtown Toronto. Simulation results indicate that the increased attractiveness of freeways relative to other routes leads to slightly increased average travel distance as vehicles divert to access higher capacity road links. Average travel time is found to decrease by up to one-fifth at the 90% AV market penetration level. Concurrently, localized increases in congestion suggest that proactive transportation planning will be needed to mitigate negative consequences of AV adoption, especially in relation to induced demand for personal automobile travel.     

The relationship between property values and railroad proximity: a study based on hedonic prices and real estate brokers' appraisals

We study the relationship between the price of residential property value and proximity to railroads in Oslo, by two different methods, namely a) through a hedonic price study where the statistical relationship between property prices and railroad proximity is estimated, and b) through a multi-attribute utility investigation of real estate agents' evaluation of such a relationship. We find in both cases that there are strong effects of proximity to railroad lines on property prices, at distances less than 100 meters from the lines. In the statistical study log-linear relationships fit the data best, and our estimates indicate that a doubling of the distance from the railroad line, within a 100 meter bound, increases the property price by about 10%. With real estate agents only a linear relationship is probed. This yields an increase in the price of an average relevant housing unit by about 182,000 NOK, due to a increase in the distance to a railroad track from 20 to 100 meters. The equivalent figure from the statistical study is in the range 120–150,000 NOK. The two figures are thus of the same magnitude.     

Greenhouse gas emissions associated with electric vehicle charging: The impact of electricity generation mix in a developing country

Since 2012, the government has been promoting the electric vehicles and the development of related infrastructure to encourage local automakers to explore into the alternatively powered vehicles. However, the benefits of grid-dependent EVs can only be harvested under the condition that their use is coupled with a low carbon electricity grid. Thus, it is an additional challenge for Malaysia's that are largely dependent on fossil fuels for electricity generation. The object of this paper is to perform a well-to-wheel life cycle assessment for calculating the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the usage of ICEVs, HEVs and EVs in Malaysian scenario. These emission calculations will provide the best information for policymakers, researchers, and investors to make appropriate and effective decisions on policies, research and investments in future transport energy. The results show that running EVs with national grid will produce an average of 7% more GHG emissions than HEVs at the same distance. However, they will produce an average of 19% less GHG emissions than the ICEVs. Overall the GHG emissions produced through the usage of EVs are substantial based on the well-to-wheel analysis, as the environmental profile of EVs is linked with the national grid. Therefore, in order to harvest the benefit of EVs towards climate change and global warming mitigation, massive modernization and transformation should be taken for the development of the national grid towards greener sources.     

Green transportation taxes and fees: A survey of public preferences in California

This paper presents the results of a survey testing whether California residents would support the concept of “green” transportation taxes and fees. Green taxes and fees would be set at variable rates, with higher rates for more polluting vehicles and lower rates for those that pollute less. The results show that the concept of green transportation taxes and fees strongly appeals to Californians. The survey data were also analyzed to identify if sub-groups within the state were particularly likely to support or oppose green transportation taxes and fees. Support for the green taxes and fees held at 50% or higher across most population sub-groups. Bivariate analysis showed that demographic factors were generally poor predictors of support, but that some attitudinal and knowledge variables did correlate with increased support for the green taxes and fees. Multivariate analysis confirmed that pro-environment and pro-government attitudes are significant and strong predictors of support for increasing transportation revenues.     

A cellular automata (CA) model for motorized vehicle flows influenced by bicycles along the roadside

On many urban low‐grade or branch roads, especially in medium or small cities in China, bicyclists and motorists commonly share the non‐barrier road surface. Because bicycles are unpredictable and unstable when moving, motorized vehicles must reduce their speed to safely approach and overtake them. In this study, the gradual deceleration process a motorized vehicle undergoes before it passes a bicycle was analyzed. The motorist was assumed to prefer a comfortable deceleration and to select a higher deceleration rate only when the distance to the bicycle was insufficient to reduce the car's speed to the expected value at a comfortable deceleration rate. Cellular automata (CA) simulations were used to reveal the flow characteristics of motorized vehicles reacting to bicycles traveling along the roadside, and the results show that for the general velocities of motorized vehicles and bicycles traveling on urban branch roads, the road capacity for motorized vehicles is not related to the number of bicycles present. However, the average travel time of motorized vehicles is significantly affected by the presence of bicycles when the number of motorized vehicles on the road is small. In addition, motorized vehicles' average travel time is more influenced by disturbances in the flow of motorized vehicles than by bicycles when the number of motorized vehicles on the road is large. Field observations and surveys were used to validate the traffic behaviors and simulation results. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of alternative road pricing systems on network performance

Four road pricing systems, with charges based on cordons crossed, distance travelled, time spent travelling and time spent in congestion, have been tested using the congested assignment network model SATURN and its elastic assignment demand response routine, SATEASY. All tests have been based on a SATURN application of the city of Cambridge, with charges imposed inside an appropriate ring of bypasses. While initial results showed that congestion pricing achieved the greatest increase in average speed in the charged area, later analysis cast doubt on its superiority. Congestion pricing is able to distinguish more effectively the extent to which different types of journey contribute to congestion and achieves given reductions in travel at lower levels of charge. However, it is much less effective in reducing distance travelled and, by encouraging use of minor roads, may achieve far smaller environmental benefits. Time-based pricing performs better than the other systems on most indicators. Generally, the results suggest that when rerouting effects are included in the predictive modelling process the benefits of road pricing may be significantly smaller than previously expected.