The effects of information bias and riding frequency on noise annoyance to a new railway extension in Hong Kong

We investigate how two non-acoustic factors, information bias and riding frequency, can affect the annoyance response of an urban population to noise created by a new railway line. The study shows that information bias is asymmetrical. Respondents receiving only information on positive measures taken by the authority to reduce noise emission are more tolerant of the noise impact, but those receiving only critical views tend to be more annoyed because they feel that not all measures to reduce noise have been employed. Additionally people who use the line frequently are more tolerant to the noise impact than those who do not. Information bias seems to have a temporary masking effect over riding frequency lasting for a few weeks after railway opening. This suggest that whilst free flow of information provided by the authority can help alleviate annoyance response, encouraging the people affected to make use of the new infrastructure may be useful to reduce public resistance and noise annoyance.     

A review of the road safety strategy in hong kong

Since the mid-1990s, the effectiveness of road safety measures in Hong Kong has been weakening. Six administrations in Australia, California, Great Britain (GB), Japan, New Zealand and Sweden are selected to help review the road safety activities in Hong Kong. Nine main components of the road safety strategy, including vision, objectives, targets, action plan, evaluation and monitoring, research and development, quantitative modeling, institutional framework and funding are summarized from the road safety strategies of these overseas administrations and compared to that of Hong Kong. It is found that Hong Kong's road safety activities have to be restructured to make significant improvement. In the future, a new approach structured by the nine different road safety components is recommended. The lessons learnt can be generalized to smooth the progress of other administrations at the Intermediate Stage towards the Advanced Stage of road safety development by using the short-, medium- and long-term approaches.     

The limits of partial life cycle assessment studies in road construction practices: A case study on the use of hydrated lime in Hot Mix Asphalt

Extensive published literature shows that hydrated lime improves Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) durability. Its impact on the environmental impact of HMA has not been investigated. This paper presents a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for the use of HMA without hydrated lime (classical HMA) and with hydrated lime (modified HMA) for the lifetime of a highway. System boundaries cover the life cycle from cradle-to-grave, meaning extraction of raw materials to end of life of the road. The main assumptions were: 1. Lifetime of the road 50 years; 2. Classical HMA with a life span of 10 years, maintenance operations every 10 years; 3. Modified HMA with an increase in the life span by 25%, maintenance operations every 12.5 years. For the lifetime of the road, modified HMA has the lowest environmental footprint compared to classical HMA with the following benefits: 43% less primary total energy consumption resulting in 23% lower emissions of greenhouse gases. Partial LCAs focusing only on the construction and/or maintenance phase should be used with caution since they could lead to wrong decisions if the durability and the maintenance scenarios differ. Sustainable construction technologies should not only consider environmental impact as quantified by LCA, but also economic and social impacts as well. Avoiding maintenance steps means less road works, fewer traffic jams and hence less CO₂ emissions.     

The influence of the road network on private productivity measures using Data Envelopment Analysis: A case study from Spain

We evaluate the economic effects of investment in the road network on private regional activity. We employ provincial Spanish panel data from 1980 to 2007 to perform non-parametric frontier techniques based on Data Envelopment Analysis and to obtain the Malmquist productivity indexes, thus enabling us to examine the evaluation of the productivity growth via technological changes or efficiency gains. Additionally, we analyze the role of transport infrastructure on the evolution of Total Factor Productivity and its components through econometric techniques. Our results show important spillover effects. Moreover, our findings have significant implications for policy makers if we take into account the fact that the use of the road network in economic activity or in commercial relations greatly influences productivity growth.