Rural school transportation in emerging countries: The Brazilian case

The lack of proper policies for the rural environment, in contrast to the situation in the urban environment in Brazil, has prevented the rural population from benefiting from basic infrastructure and access to their rights as citizens. The poor school transportation conditions are large barriers to access and retention of pupils in schools. These poor conditions, with lack of comfort and high accident risks, result in long travelling hours to reach the school and lessen learning performance because the children arrive in the school tired and sleepy. The Brazilian Federal Government has adopted different programs and actions in order to overcome these difficulties and to improve school conditions in general. A new standard vehicle has been adopted, which will be fit for the harsh road conditions in the rural areas, and handbooks have been introduced to help the municipalities and their officials to plan and to contract school transport services. This paper provides an overview of the outlook for rural school transportation in Brazil, describing the operational conditions (including trip and vehicle conditions) and their users, as well as analysis on the effects on school performance, and also the role of the local and Federal governments.     

Integrated Coastal Management in Philippine Local Governance: Evolution and Benefits

In 1991 the Philippine government shifted many coastal management responsibilities to local governments and fostered increased local participation in the management of coastal resources. In their delivery of integrated coastal management (ICM) as a basic service, many local governments have achieved increasing public awareness of coastal resource management (CRM) issues. Continuing challenges are financial sustainability, inadequate capacities, weak law enforcement, and lack of integrated and collaborative efforts. To address these challenges, a CRM certification system was developed to improve strategies and promote incentives for local governments to support ICM. This system is being applied by an increasing number of local governments to guide the development and implementation of ICM in their jurisdiction. The CRM benchmarks required for a local government to achieve the first level of certification are: budget allocated, CRM related organizations formed and active, CRM plan developed and adopted, shoreline management initiated and two or more best practices implemented. Implementation is providing tangible benefits to communities through enhanced fisheries production associated with MPAs, revenues from user fees and enhanced community pride through learning exchanges and involvement in decisions, among others.     

Flexible transport services: A new market opportunity for public transport

The term Demand-Responsive Transport (DRT) has been increasingly applied in the last 10 years to a niche market that replaces or feeds (usually via small low floor buses or taxis) conventional transport where demand is low and often spread over a large area. More recently, the concept of DRT as a niche market has been broadened to include a wider range of flexible, demand-responsive transport services and is increasingly referred to as Flexible Transport Services (FTSs). The contention of this paper is that well-implemented FTS has the potential to revitalise bus-based public transport services which are traditionally based on fixed networks with variable geographical coverage and levels of service.     

Web服务的替换分析

Web服务合成是Web服务研究领域的热点问题,Web服务的替换与Web服务合成密切相关。Web服务的替换对于Web服务合成系统的健壮性是非常重要的。文章使用进程代数作为形式化的分析工具描述Web服务,为Web服务建模,并提出为保证替换后服务合成仍然是正确的所要满足的约束条件。     

Lessons in ownership, regulation and management from 100 years of bus transport in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka observes 100 years of bus passenger transport in 2007. During this period the country has seen different forms of service providers ranging from private sector monopolies to state sector monopolies. It also has seen several changes in state policy ranging from welfare orientated service provision to entire market determined without any regulation. The existing regulated mixed competition is also characterized by poorly equipped regulators. In conclusion, the paper traces the different stages of failure that have led to the poor quality of bus transport services existing at present.     

Port reform in Australia: issues in the ownership debate

Australia port reform initiatives have taken on a variety of forms — from out-right sale and transfer of ownership, to the sale of particular assets of infrastructure or services, or to long-term lease arrangements; or in some cases state governments, unable to relinquish control, have opted for corporatization or commercialization strategies. Reform is driven by the belief that ownership impacts on efficiency and efficiency is perceived to suffer if governments either retain ownership or direct control. As a result a major aim of reform is to either remove or distance governments from day to day port operations. The sale of ports removes government control outright and privatized ports are subject to identical regulatory constraints as any company in the private sector. But corporatization strategies are such that government ownership is retained and ports have been transformed into statutory state owned corporations. Effectiveness of this strategy requires legislation to be such that port corporations are free to operate like their private sector counterparts. To date this has not occurred and some serious impediments are emerging which are embedded in legislation and which, rather than reduce, have indeed, increased government control.     

Optimal container ship size: a global cost minimization approach

ABSTRACT

Currently, the best container ship size in a service is determined mainly by the liner operator, considering only the economies of scale of ships. Its external diseconomies to the ports and shippers are usually not considered in the decision-making process, which may reduce the overall efficiency and lead to global nonoptimality. This study incorporates the cost to the shipping companies at the main lines, ports, and feeder services, as well as the external costs to shippers and ports in a hub-and-spoke network, and determines the best ship size and the number of weekly services to minimize the overall costs. The external cost to the shippers in the feeder ports is assumed to be proportional to the feeder cost, and a sensitivity analysis is provided. The maximum container ship size is estimated according to different levels of freight demand. A numerical analysis shows that the optimal size should be smaller than the current biggest container ships in service.     

Making Landfall: Linkages between Fishing Communities and Support Services

The relationship between the fishing industry and the fisheries-related support service sector creates economic benefits for communities through the strong linkages between fishermen and their land-based suppliers and the induced or multiplier effects from fisheries revenue. The support service sector is embedded within fishing communities where the impacts of fisheries management changes are perpetuated. This article examines the potential for such impacts by evaluating the diversity of fishing gear use, ex-vessel revenue, presence of processing plants, public moorage, and haul-out or tidal grids, and the number of vessels in a community, in relation to the availability of support services in communities in Alaska. The results show that the presence of a processor and haul-out facilities in a community significantly affects the number of support service businesses; however, there is not a strong association with the number of vessels or ex-vessel revenue. One hypothesis is that fishermen often travel to other communities to obtain services. We evaluate this hypothesis using social network analysis to evaluate transfers of revenue for fishery-related goods and services. Ultimately, this informs the exploration of the importance of support service businesses and fishery-support infrastructure to the continued well-being of fishing communities.     

Market role and regulation of extensive urban minibus services as large bus service capacity is restored - Case studies from Ghana, Georgia and Kazakhstan

In some cities, the degeneration and collapse of formal bus services has allowed large-scale minibus operations to become established but, over time, city authorities and municipal bus operators regain at least part of their operating capacity and seek to regain their market share. This paper examines and compares three case studies: Accra, Tbilisi, and cities of Kazakhstan. It examines the development of the urban minibus services market as conventional bus services went into decline, the gradual re-emergence of large buses, how the authorities have viewed the minibuses as circumstances change, and market and regulatory strategies followed by city authorities.     

Competition in Brazilian bus and coach services - The results of recent competitive tendering processes

This paper analyses the terms and the results of a sample of some recent Brazilian bidding processes for the concession of public passenger transport services: namely, urban and metropolitan bus or regional coach services. The analysis is based on selected issues relating to competitiveness and upon the legal framework that applies in this sector. It was concluded that, given the lack of bidding processes for concessions in the bus and coach sector in Brazil, the fact that some bidding processes have been carried out should be considered a sign of progress. However, these auctions have not necessarily prioritised competitiveness, since many barriers to entry into the systems were imposed by the bidding terms. Future competitive tendering processes should seek to abide by stricter principles of competitiveness, if they wish to avoid the entire effort expended on conducting such processes serving only to mask nothing more than formal obedience to the law and to discredit the bidding process in the eyes of Brazilian citizens.     

生态学视角下长三角地区船舶产业集群发展策略

产业集群现象在国际船舶工业中表现明显,促进产业集群也成为各地区发展船舶产业的政策工具。但人们对船舶产业集群形成、发展机制的有效认识不足。本文借助生态学的视角分析船舶产业集群特点,拟揭示船舶产业集群的演化规律,研究区域船舶产业集群的有效战略举措。     

水运港口TD-SCDMA无线专网解决方案

随着水运港口信息数字化的逐步发展,现有传统的通信方式在一定程度上制约着水运港口的信息交互。分析港口通信业务的需求和相应特点后,结合TD-SCDMA通信系统的技术优势和在公网中的应用,提出一种无线专网系统解决方案,并分析了港口无线专网系统的业务性能。专网通信系统可提供高质量的语音、高速率的数据传输、远程视频监控等服务,可有效提高水运码头的生产效率与通信能力。     

U.S. public transit earnings, employment and privatization

This paper uses individual worker and municipal information to examine privatization's influence on public transit workers' earnings and employment. OLS findings on labor earnings reveal that privatization is associated with an erosion of the public transit union premium. These labor earning findings do not change when correcting for privatization heterogeneity, as unobserved worker characteristics do not differ with differing levels of municipal privatization of public transit services. The employment findings reveal that union public transit workers are more likely to be employed in the public sector and this union-nonunion employment probability differential, declines with increasing levels of privatization. This employment result is interpreted as suggesting that labor cost savings from privatization can be derived from the enhanced employment of relatively low wage nonunion workers in the public sector of public transit services.     

Analysis of the economic and social parameters of the Three-Wheeler Taxi service in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has an extensive Three-Wheeler Taxi service comprised of around 300,000 vehicles. These vehicles, which first made an entry to Sri Lanka’s roads in the early 1980s, account for around 15% of the active motor vehicle fleet at present. Three-Wheelers Taxis also account for around 6% of the passenger kilometres. These vehicles are mostly individually operated with some owned by the operator and others hired on a monthly or daily basis. The industry is unregulated with vehicle registration and driving licenses being the only instruments of regulation. Fares are unregulated. However, most operators belong to associations which are loose collections of operators found in a given locality. These associations impose a degree of self regulation with respect to fares. They also tend to demonstrate oligapolistic behaviour.The paper is based on a survey of 200 operators and 100 passengers from a Divisional Secretariat area in Colombo District. The survey covered a number of details pertaining to ownership, management and fare structures, as well as opinions on the service attributes by users. The survey also covered perceptions of operators to determine the social, economic and transport implications of the services provided. Details were also obtained on the profiles of the operators and their expectations.The paper provides the results of the analysis of this data and draws a number of conclusions on the economics of the industry as well as the social aspects associated with it. It also discusses the characteristics of the users of these three wheelers as well as their typical use. The analysis also investigates complementarily of service provision between three wheelers as an access mode to buses and railways. This analysis has been used to develop an understanding of the manner in which the industry has grown over the last two decades and how it is being operated today. It also identifies areas wherein the industry has become inefficient and assesses the degree of over pricing that exists due to this. The data also helps to determine the relationship between unemployment and provision of self-employed transport services.The paper concludes with a synopsis of the profile of the industry and its role within the wider transport sector and with respect to ownership. It also discusses the positive and negative impacts of the lack of regulation on the industry.     

Operator changes through competitive tendering: Empirical evidence from German local bus transport

In this paper, we empirically investigate operator changes and the structural conditions in competitive tendering of bus services in Germany. We show that the focus has been on regional services, which has led to a loss in market share for the incumbent DB Stadtverkehr companies and gains for private companies, whereas municipal services have rarely been tendered out. The high average number of bidders (5.1) and the high probability of an operator change (58.2%) are positively influenced by tendering in larger volumes and longer contractual lengths. Tenders in early years have been more likely subject to an operator change. By contrast, complexity drivers such as the number of lines and mixed urban and regional transports exhibit a negative influence on competition.     

武汉港阳逻港区多式联运发展思路

多式联运能够充分发挥各种运输方式的综合优势,对于推动物流业降本增效、完善现代综合交通运输体系具有积极意义。武汉港阳逻港区具备发展多式联运的各项要素,但缺乏对多式联运发展的系统性规划,港区多式联运发展相对滞后,综合交通优势尚未有效发挥。通过总结典型案例的发展经验,结合港区内外部综合因素,思考港区多式联运发展思路,探讨港区多式联运的布局规划以及综合服务的提升,并提出相关建议。     

Opportunities for increased profit and reduced cost and emissions by service differentiation within container liner shipping

This paper investigates opportunities for increased profit and reduced emissions and cost by service differentiation within container shipping. Traditionally the strategy among the container lines has been profit maximization by utilizing economies of scale through the building of larger and faster vessels. In 2008, the financial crisis in combination with higher fuel prices put an end to this progress and in today’s market operators are basically trying to survive by providing standardized services at the lowest possible cost. This study investigates alternative strategies and the results indicate that container lines should provide two different services instead of one standardized service. A fast service to be more competitive versus air freight for fast-moving goods and a slow service to be more competitive versus traditional shipping types for transport of minor bulk, break bulk, liquid bulk and project cargo.     

面向服务的信息栅格组件框架技术研究

在分析几个代表性网格系统的基础上,通过对信息栅格应用流程建模,抽取信息服务模型,设计了一种基于主流信息服务的栅格组件框架,实现了服务管理、注册、消息映射和服务同步等技术,支持栅格信息服务的快速和标准化开发与部署.     

Strategic alliances in container liner shipping

The economic crisis in the years between 2008 and 2010 has demonstrated the necessity for substantial adjustments on behalf of container lines. Capacities were shifted quickly to emerging and less affected markets allowing a faster recovery of globally organized companies. This paper illustrates the dynamics in the container shipping market. Alongside the main characteristics of the Top 20 ocean shipping companies, liner services are described. These services are classified by geographic coverage and vessel deployment. In addition, this paper provides a better understanding of the collaboration among service providers. Starting from a general framework of co-operative liner services, in-depth analyses of the global alliances in liner shipping are obtained. These formations - Grand Alliance, New World Alliance and CKYH Alliance - are compared with alternative forms of collaboration in the liner shipping industry. The analysis of alliance announcements which are related to operational and strategic changes indicates that the “global alliances” cannot be regarded as closed corporate-like entities. In effect, service agreements are not only negotiated with the focal members of the specific alliance. Instead, every service is arranged individually and under specific conditions. By understanding the dynamics within alliances, we are able to develop an assessment relating to the stability of collaborations. Ultimately, these insights direct us to several paths for future research.     

远洋船舶在线监控系统的研究

由于船舶与公司岸基在地域上的分离,目前公司岸基尚不能对远洋船舶的安全营运进行实时、有效的监控。应用先进的计算机信息技术、通信技术和网络技术等,将船-岸安全监控管理有机地结合在一起,船-岸随时交互数据,协作管理业务,确保远洋船舶运输的安全高效。形成一个开放的集船舶监控、管理、决策于一体的远洋船舶在线监控系统,从而实现和提高远洋船舶的安全管理水平。以中远集团所辖船舶为实施对象开发成功了远洋船舶在线监控系统。