Transport in large cities: a Brazilian point of view

Abstract

Following the historical evolution of urban transport in South America, the authors show the economic, technological and cultural facts that have governed its development until today.

The paper, mainly based on experience in large Brazilian cities, gives facts and figures about some of the most important towns where different approaches to urban transport were tried. Information about other South American countries is also given and discussed.

The article details the evolution, current situation and new plans in Sao Paulo city, describing concession criteria, modal split and the economics of the different modes in operation today and planned for future use, ending with the general influence of Sao Paulo experience of urban transport systems in many other Brazilian cities.     

公交车里的经济学

两类乘客与始发站的座位配置 是不是"经济人"假设失效了呢?其实不然,此举恰恰是这一类乘客理性算计的结果 由于每天上班要乘坐此车,作为教经济学的老师,我在乘车之余,发现了一个很有意思的现象:在座位足够的情况下,一类乘客(即所谓的老、弱、病、残、孕等)上车就坐在靠前面的位子,而另一类乘客(即不在上述五种情形之内的人)上车往往坐在靠后面的位子,很多人甚至一上车就径直向最后一排走.     

Transport Demand Management in Turkey: A Genetic Algorithm Approach

Abstract

This article proposes new models for estimating transport demand using a genetic algorithm (GA) approach. Based on population, gross national product and number of vehicles, four forms of the genetic algorithm transport planning (GATP) model are developed – one exponential and the others taking quadratic forms – and applied to Turkey. The best fit models in terms of minimum total average relative errors in the test period are selected for future estimation. Demand management strategies are proposed based on three scenarios: restricting private car use, restricting truck use and the simultaneous management of private car use and goods movement. Results show that the GATP model may be used to estimate transport demand in terms of passenger-kilometers traveled (pass-km), vehicle-kilometers traveled (veh-km) and ton-kilometers completed (ton-km). Results also show that the third scenario – simultaneous restrictions on private car use and goods movement – could reduce total veh-km by about 35% by 2025 in this study of Turkish rural roads.     

Passenger conveyor economics

Operating and capital costs for a high speed conveyor are estimated from cost data for low speed conveyors and from estimates for high speed designs. Unit costs are developed with reference to theoretical and practical conveyor capacities, and to the effect of traffic peaking on average utilization. User benefits are modelled as the change in consumers surplus arising from the introduction of a conveyor on a linear street as an alternative to walking. Cost and benefits vary widely depending on system design and location and on characteristics of travellers. Benefit measurements should reflect the effects on travel demand of a proposed installation, changes in value of time with changes in mode, and the effects of benefit “dilution” associated with limitations on access to the conveyor.     

Interpreting employee telecommuting adoption: An economics perspective

Travel demand is derived from activities at the trip destination; therefore, media that have the potential to provide services previously only supported by transportation will have a chance to be chosen by passengers. The idea of telecommuting is considered the most promising substitute of work trips and thus a good strategy of transportation demand management. From a microeconomics perspective, demand for goods or services can be interpreted as a function of prices and generalized income. Therefore, telecommuting adoption is viewed as a trade-off among the prices of telecommuting itself, substitutes, and complements, as well as generalized income and situational constrains incurred by the employee. The underlying rationale is interpreted by elasticity analysis of aggregate telecommuting demand, based on an adoption model, with respect to various decision variable. The results indicate that the elasticity with respect to the price that the employee may incur in order to telecommute is the largest one, and the elasticity with respect to the living space at home is the second one. Additionally, all of the elasticities found in the group of employees currently commuting by private transportation are greater than the corresponding ones found in the group of transit riders. These findings are expected to have significant implications of transportation policies. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Transport planning for urban areas: A retrospective look and future prospects

This paper examines the evolution of urban transport planning since the 1960′s, identifies the key trends that have influenced such planning, describes the current state of urban transport planning, and speculates on the important characteristics that will influence urban transport planning over the next several decades. Fifteen planning conferences since 1957 are reviewed to show the changing perspectives on planning from the professional community. Ten areas are identified that will provide special challenge to future transport planners—demographic changes, the importance of economic production and market forces for transport system performance, multimodal perspectives for transport planning, adopting an operations focus, an important role for technology, developing a sense of community, laying the groundwork for pricing, integrating transport decision making with growth management, transport planning within a sustainability framework, and providing greater accountability of the decision making and planning processes.     

A note on fare policy in personal rapid transit

The choice of fare policy is more flexible in personal rapid transit than in conventional transit and has some unique aspects. The implementation of fare policies as a function of distance are discussed, and, following a discussion of how the fare would be collected in a PRT system, consideration is given to whether the fare should be per person or per vehicle.     

The drinking driver: a medical view

Accidents are the third main cause of death in Europe with 40% of them due to road traffic accidents (RTAs). These victims are mainly young male drivers/riders and elderly pedestrians. One quarter of the deaths and 10% of the injuries are associated with alcohol. Consumption of alcohol is generally increasing. Ignorance of the effects of alcohol on the body and on the performance of skilled mental and physical tasks contributes to the number of road users who are impaired by alcohol. Alcohol is a depressant drug which impairs information processing in the brain. The risk of being involved in a RTA increases very rapidly with increasing concentration of alcohol in the body. There are probably two groups of drivers, the majority who do not drink, or who drink very little, before driving and those who regularly drink whether or not they are going to drive. The former (the social drinker) can do without his drink, the latter (the problem drinker) cannot. Various legislative measures have been introduced in different countries with varying success. Most developed countries now make it illegal to drive with more than a stipulated concentration of alcohol in the body. Much discussion centres round what further legal steps should be taken to reduce drinking and driving, especially the more widespread use of random roadside breath testing of drivers. Doctors are much concerned in this public health problem which causes such misery and waste of resources and are involved in research on the physical and psychological effects of alcohol, the best methods of educating drivers on these effects and, where necessary, identifying those who are misusing alcohol to the extent that they should be kept off the road.     

城乡客运一体化枢纽场站选址研究综述

随着城乡客运一体化的发展,客运场站基础设施的研究已成为城乡客运一体化领域中的一个重要课题。本文对比分析了国内外研究成果,对不同形式的枢纽选址、运输枢纽场站选址算法、运输枢纽场站评价指标和客运枢纽场站布局方案评价方法的研究现状进行系统的梳理和述评;综述了客运枢纽场站选址研究的发展及该领域的一些主要研究成果,指出了该领域现有研究存在的问题和局限性,并提出了进一步深入研究的方向。     

Transport state enterprises: the Canadian experience

Abstract

In most economies, the ownership and control of state enterprises has been an important government policy instrument. This has been particularly true in the transportation sector in which governments have intervened extensively through the acquisition and creation of state enterprises. While the genesis of and rationale for transportation state enterprises have varied from country to country and even from time to time within each country, at present, most governments do exercise a significant degree of ownership and control in transportation. Some of these enterprises enjoy monopoly status and others are in competition with and behave similarly to their private sector counterparts.

Consequently, and in recent years, questions have been raised about government intervention in the market‐place as it relates to effective management control and accountability of state enterprises. Questions have also been raised about the continuing need for transportation state enterprises and some governments have promoted some form of divestiture (privatization).

This paper addresses the accountability and control of transportation state enterprises based on the Canadian experience. It discusses their role and policies related to diversification, financing and divestiture, and the need for development of a performance framework.     

Transport Innovation: Coping with the Future

An efficient transport system is a crucial precondition for economic development and an asset in international mobility. Mobility of passengers and transport of goods are considered key elements for a modern society. The transport sector is also a sector of continuous technological innovation. However, there is considerable uncertainty surrounding future transport technology and policy, as well as a large variation in ways to deal with this uncertainty. With regard to the latter it may be helpful to use more than one foresight method, e.g. a combination of methods each with a different emphasis on expertise, creativity and interaction with actors. Such a multiple method approach allows for the identification of those futures or future developments that are robust. This paper provides an introduction to the topic of transport innovation as well as providing a context for the four papers which follow in this special issue, illustrating the importance of taking such a multiple method approach.     

The Impact of Urban Freight Transport: A Definition of Sustainability from an Actor's Perspective

Abstract

This paper presents a definition of sustainable urban freight transport (SUFT), based on the existing theories and concepts, and develops an indicator set that describes SUFT. The definition of SUFT makes a categorisation of actions possible which enables actors to select effective strategies towards SUFT. The indicator set consists of two levels: impact indicators – which describe how the urban freight transport violates the principles of sustainability; and performance indicators – which describe different categories determining the characteristics and performance of the urban transport system. A literature study analyses the characteristics determining the performance of actors in the urban freight transport chain. Knowing the current state and improvement potential of the urban freight transport system are prerequisites for defining successful strategies and implementing effective actions.     

The time dimension of parking economics

A model of demand for parking, evolving over time, is proposed. The model features both extensive (whether to park) and intensive (for how long to park) margins of parking demand, allows multidimensional heterogeneity of parkers, and evolution of demand throughout the day. I show that the optimal price for parking is proportional to the rate of arrival of new parkers and is inversely related to the square of the occupancy rate, which is different from previously discussed pricing methods. I show that the primary purpose of pricing is to regulate departures, rather than arrivals, of parkers. I also find that asymmetric information about parkers’ characteristics does not prevent the parking authority from achieving the social optimum. A numerical example compares the optimal policy against the alternatives.     

A vehicle manufacturer's view of the potential for electric automobiles

In the search for low pollution, low noise, multi‐fuel vehicles capable of adapting to almost any source of energy available, the electric vehicle continues to be suggested in a variety of forms. In the long‐term view, working on the hypothesis that either solar or nuclear energy can provide the only inexhaustible energy supplies, electric propulsion will undoubtedly have a significant role to perform, and it could provide a useful means of transport in the transition period out of the current dependency on crude oil.

There are, however, some grave question marks hanging over the viability of electric vehicles on a large scale both in terms of their energy efficiency and practicality. This paper describes the state of development and discusses the future prospects.     

影像运输

、~口~一影像运输@陈和琦!本刊记者~~     

Land Transport Policy and Public Transport in Singapore

Singapore has a sophisticated and efficient system of land transport to serve a growing demand for transportation. Constrained by limited space, a comprehensive set of land transport policies has been in place to balance the growth in transport demand and the effectiveness and efficiency of the land transport system. A multi-pronged approach has been used to achieve the objective of a world-class transportation system. These include integration of urban and transport planning, expansion of the road network and improvement of the transport infrastructure, harnessing the latest technology in network and traffic management, managing vehicle ownership and usage, and improvement and regulations of public transport (Ministry of Transport (MOT) (2003) Policy and Regulations, Land Transport, Available: www.mot.gov.sg, Date of Access: 15 September 2003). Singapore was the first country in the world to introduce various new techniques, notably the Area License Scheme (ALS) in 1975 and the Vehicle Quota System (VQS) in 1990. An Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system replaced the ALS in 1998 to take the role of congestion management, the experience of which has also drawn particular attention from many large cities in the world. In 2003, the world’s first and only fully automatic heavy rail Mass Rapid Transit system was opened to the public, marking a new chapter in Singapore’s innovative approach to solving its land transport problem. This paper reviews the land transport policy implemented in Singapore and pays special emphasis to its public transportation systems.