Environmental impacts of high-speed rail links in cost–benefit analyses: a case study of the Dutch Zuider Zee line

Since 2000 it has been formally required in the Netherlands to evaluate major infrastructure projects according to a standard manual. Here the focus is on its application to the Zuider Zee line, a possible rail link to run from the west to the north of the country, starting at Schiphol Airport and ending at the northern towns in the province of Groningen. We put a major emphasis on environmental impacts of the line, including the methods used to estimate impacts and the results. Ways to improve current practice are discussed. A major advantage has been that the environment has been put on the research and policy agenda at an early stage, although insights into the effects of rail infrastructure on the landscape and nature are limited.     

“Bottom line” business standards versus public service obligations: The case of the German federal railway

The publicly-owned German Federal Railway Corporation (DB) is technically very proficient but economically very inefficient. The financial burden that is revenue shortfall has imposed on the State has become nearly intolerable. There are external and internal reasons for the DB's financial problems. External factors include: competition from other modes, changes in demand for bulk goods, and a shift in national traffic flows from east-west to north-south. Internal causes are: low productivity growth, confused regulations about reimbursing costs for public service burdens and lack of freedom for management to pursue cost-lowering measures. The article describes four different periods of policy aimed at consolidating and modernizing the German Rail System. The latest set of proposals for a financial cure involve a transfer of the track and infrastructure to direct government responsibility and putting transport operations into a for-profit corporation. The debate still continues over precise details of a proposed remedy but the political interests involved will likely prevent a novel or clear-cut solution.     

Use of combinatorial auctions in the railway industry: Can the “invisible hand” draw the railway timetable?

Rail capacity is currently administratively allocated in Europe, whereas the economic literature has often contemplated the opportunity of introducing market mechanisms, auctions in particular, into this industry. This article tries to fill the gap between practice and theory. It first describes the properties of rail capacity (rigidity and non-homogeneity) and shows that because of its very nature, this capacity must be allocated through combinatorial auctions. As identified by the economic literature, using combinatorial auctions introduces a lot of complexity (winner determination and information burden) into the allocation process. To deal with this complexity, some form of centralized planning is necessary to design the right market mechanisms and to allocate capacity. This could have strong consequences on the current deregulation process.     

Spatial analysis of the competitiveness of the high-speed train and air transport: The role of access to terminals in the Madrid–Barcelona corridor

This paper analyzes the effect of access and egress time to transport terminals over the spatial competiveness of the high-speed train (HST) in the Madrid–Barcelona (Spain) corridor, one of the densest airline domestic markets in the world. Applying spatial data from 2010 provided by a geographical information system (GIS) to a mode choice model estimated with sample travelers in this corridor, the present study examines whether and how the level-of-service of transport terminals spatially affects the competitiveness or modal distribution of HST and air transport in the provinces of Madrid and Barcelona; and, in particular, the degree of competitiveness that can be accrued by the access time provided by private car and transit in different market segments, especially mandatory and leisure trips. In a number of urban zones near train stations and airports, terminal accessibility clearly favors one transport mode in comparison to the other. Improving terminal accessibility via private car or public transit not only affects the relative access to terminals, but also represents a key strategy for readjusting the market shares of the competing modes in the corridor.     

Computer aided design of the operation and the track layout of the passenger railway stations: interactive—graphic model AFAIG

This paper presents a software model for the planning of passenger railway stations. The aim of this model is the elaboration of operation programs within stations, and the evaluation of projects for the track layout.

This model allows the planner to elaborate interactively an operation program, through a man‐computer dialogue, in a way similar to the manual procedure with which he is familiar. On the other hand, the model includes an optimization algorithm which can be used to automatically set routes to the trains, through the station.     

Policies towards suburban rail services in Britain and the federal republic of Germany — a comparison

This paper compares the major role played by suburban rail (S‐Bahn) systems in West German cities with the much more limited role of rail in the British conurbations. Clearly, the difference owes much to the institutional and financial arrangements in the two countries. In West Germany, large amounts of earmarked funds have been available for rail investment, whilst the Federal government has been willing to shoulder much of the burden of operating subsidies. The Verkehrsverbund has emerged as a highly effective way of coordinating fares and services without direct ownership of any mode of transport. By contrast in Britain funds for rail investment have been much more limited. Progress with integration has been far slower, and is threatened by current government policies regarding both bus deregulation and the abolition of the Metropolitan county councils. Whilst rail is firmly established in German cities, its future in Britain looks bleak.     

Comparison of “Advanced” biofuel cost estimates: Trends during rollout of low carbon fuel policies

Costs of producing “advanced” biofuels (those with the lowest GHG and land use impacts) have not decreased in recent years as envisioned by analysts. Despite aggressive policy incentives, no transition to a lower cost mature industry has occurred. Information about the cost dynamics and slow industry emergence is of major interest to policymakers and others seeking to understand the likely success – and cost – of incentive programs. This paper reviews literature on production cost at the plantgate – without considering taxes or delivery costs – for selected biofuel technology pathways using a levelized cost of fuel approach, applying common financing assumptions for capital amortization and converting all values to year 2016 dollars, and examines results in the current low carbon fuel policy context. The average production cost estimate for cellulosic ethanol was $4 per gallon-gasoline equivalent (gge). For drop-in fuels, the pyrolysis-biocrude-hydro treatment pathway had the lowest average production cost estimate at about $3.25/gge. Biomass to liquid (BTL) production cost estimates averaged $3.80/gge, while hydrotreated esters and fatty acids (HEFA) – the sole fuel studied gaining commercial traction – averaged about $3.70/gge. Estimate ranges did not allow any definitive rank ordering of the fuels by production cost. Production cost estimates are higher in later than in earlier publications for non-HEFA fuels due primarily to higher costs for feedstock and capital expenditure components. This may reflect learning from early but largely unsuccessful commercialization efforts that yielded more realistic (and higher cost) information and detail on feedstock provision and conversion processes.     

The effect of slow zones on ridership: An analysis of the Chicago Transit Authority “El” Blue Line

Transit agencies frequently upgrade rail tracks to bring the system to a state of good repair (SGR) and to improve the speed and reliability of urban rail transit service. For safety during construction, agencies establish slow zones in which trains must reduce speed. Slow zones create delays and schedule disruptions that result in customer dissatisfaction and discontinued use of transit, either temporarily or permanently. While transit agencies are understandably concerned about the possible negative effects of slow zones, empirical research has not specifically examined the relationship between slow zones and ridership. This paper partially fills that gap. Using data collected from the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Customer Experience Survey, CTA Slow Zone Maps, and, the Automatic Fare Collection System (AFC), it examines whether recurring service delays due to slow zones affect transit rider behavior and if the transit loyalty programs, such as smart card systems, increase or decrease rider defections. Findings suggest that slow zones increase headway deviation which reduces ridership. Smart card customers are more sensitive to slow zones as they are more likely to stop using transit as a result of delay. The findings of this paper have two major policy implications for transit agencies: (1) loyalty card users, often the most reliable source of revenue, are most at risk for defection during construction and (2) it is critical to minimize construction disruptions and delays in the long run by maintaining state of good repair. The results of this paper can likely be used as the basis for supporting immediate funding requests to bring the system to an acceptable state of good repair as well as stimulating ideas about funding reform for transit.     

“Turn on the radio,bust out a song”: the experience of driving to work

Though driving to and from work has become a prevalent experience in the lives of individuals in every metropolitan region in the US, much remains to be learned about the activity from the perspective of the drivers. To increase our understanding of the motivation for certain travel behaviors, we must first know something about what those drivers experience. The existing literature explains much, but the application of new methodologies could improve our ability to explain the willingness of individuals to choose to drive through increasingly congested road networks. The results of this study of oral histories of 12 women commuters underscore the idea that commute should be seen as a set of subjective behaviors that contradict some existing assumptions about why individuals commute.     

The key principles of optimal train control—Part 1: Formulation of the model,strategies of optimal type,evolutionary lines,location of optimal switching points

We discuss the problem of finding an energy-efficient driving strategy for a train journey on an undulating track with steep grades subject to a maximum prescribed journey time. We review the state-of-the-art and establish the key principles of optimal train control for a general model with continuous control. The model with discrete control is not considered. We assume only that the tractive and braking control forces are bounded by non-increasing speed-dependent magnitude constraints and that the rate of energy dissipation from frictional resistance is given by a non-negative strictly convex function of speed. Partial cost recovery from regenerative braking is allowed. The cost of the strategy is the mechanical energy required to drive the train. Minimising the mechanical energy is an effective way of reducing the fuel or electrical energy used by the traction system. The paper is presented in two parts. In Part 1 we discuss formulation of the model, determine the characteristic optimal control modes, study allowable control transitions, establish the existence of optimal switching points and consider optimal strategies with speed limits. We find algebraic formulae for the adjoint variables in terms of speed on track with piecewise-constant gradient and draw phase plots of the associated optimal evolutionary lines for the state and adjoint variables. In Part 2 we will establish important integral forms of the necessary conditions for optimal switching, find general bounds on the positions of the optimal switching points, justify the local energy minimization principle and show how these ideas are used to calculate optimal switching points. We will prove that an optimal strategy always exists and use a perturbation analysis to show the strategy is unique. Finally we will discuss computational techniques in realistic examples with steep gradients and describe typical optimal strategies for a complete journey.     

The “Ubernomics” of ridesourcing: the myths and the reality

ABSTRACT

This paper looks at the economics of ridesourcing (or app-based ride-hailing) with a particular focus on the US. It brings together the rather dispersed literature on the subject focusing on the economic characteristics of the underlying industry and sets this within the broader context of transportation economics. In particular, it sorts out the realities of ridesourcing from some of myths that were perpetrated in its early days and, in many cases, still persist. It considers some of the empirical evidence that has emerged regarding the key parameters that determine the way Uber and the like operate, and the welfare implications of this, together with comments on some of the regulatory reactions to the new transportation platform. It concludes by suggesting some ways in which recent developments in economic could move forward our understanding of the industry as technologies and markets change.     

Evaluating the multi-scale patterns of jobs-residence balance and commuting time–cost using cellular signaling data: a case study in Shanghai

Transportation - Assessing jobs-housing balance (JHB) and commuting efficiency is crucial to urban and transport planning. However, the scale dependency problem, meaning that metrics may be biased...     

CO2 emissions and expansion of railway,road, airline and in-land waterway networks over the 1985–2013 period in China: A time series analysis

China, the world’s largest CO₂ emitter, is continuing its long-term strategy to use transportation investments as a tool for development. With the expectation that transportation will contribute 30–40% of the total CO₂ emissions in China in the near future, there is an imminent need to identify how the development of different transportation modes may have different long-term effects on CO₂ emissions. Using time series data over the period of 1985–2013, this paper applies the combined autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) and vector error correction model (VECM) approach to identify short- and long-run causal relationships between CO₂ emissions and mode-specific transportation development, including railway, road, airline, and inland waterway. We find that China’s domestic expansions of road, airline, and waterway infrastructure lead to long-run increases in CO₂ emissions. Among them, waterway has the strongest positive impact on CO₂ emissions, followed by road. Despite a short-run, positive impact on CO₂ emissions, railway expansion leads to long-run decreases in CO₂ emissions. The results are especially encouraging for the central government of China given its long-standing and on-going efforts to expand railway infrastructure at the national level. Looking forward, it is recommended that China continues its national investments in railway infrastructure to achieve both environment and economy goals.     

The key principles of optimal train control—Part 2: Existence of an optimal strategy,the local energy minimization principle,uniqueness, computational techniques

We discuss the problem of finding an energy-efficient driving strategy for a train journey on an undulating track with steep grades subject to a maximum prescribed journey time. In Part 1 of this paper we reviewed the state-of-the-art and established the key principles of optimal train control for a general model with continuous control. We assumed only that the tractive and braking control forces were bounded by non-increasing speed-dependent magnitude constraints and that the rate of energy dissipation from frictional resistance was given by a non-negative strictly convex function of speed. Partial cost recovery from regenerative braking was allowed. Our aim was to minimize the mechanical energy required to drive the train. We examined the characteristic optimal control modes, studied allowable control transitions and established the existence of optimal switching points. We found algebraic formulae for the adjoint variables in terms of speed on track with piecewise-constant gradient and drew phase plots of the associated optimal evolutionary lines for the state and adjoint variables. In Part 2 we will establish integral forms of the necessary conditions for optimal switching, find general bounds on the positions of the optimal switching points, justify an extended local energy minimization principle and show how these ideas can be used to calculate the optimal strategy. We prove that an optimal strategy always exists and use a perturbation analysis to show that the optimal strategy is unique. Finally we discuss computation of optimal switching points in two realistic examples with steep grades and describe the optimal control strategies and corresponding speed profiles for a complete journey with several different allowed journey times. In practice the strategies described here have been shown to reduce the costs of energy used by as much as 20%.     

Explaining the “immigrant effect” on auto use: the influences of neighborhoods and preferences

Since immigrants will account for most urban growth in the United States for the foreseeable future, better understanding their travel patterns is a critical task for transportation and land use planners. Immigrants initially travel in personal vehicles far less than the US-born, even when controlling for demographics, but their reliance on autos increases the longer they live in the US. Cultural or habitual differences, followed by assimilation to auto use, could partly explain this pattern; and it may also be partly due to changes in locations and characteristics of home and work neighborhoods. Previous studies have rarely investigated non-work travel, and have not tested workplace land use measures, compared the relative influences of enclave and home neighborhood measures, or looked at the role of culturally-bound residential preferences or motivations for migration. This study relies on a unique and rich dataset consisting of a survey of US residents born in South Asia, Latin America, and the US, joined to spatial information in a GIS. I find that the home built environment is the most consistently influential factor in explaining the lower auto use of both recent and settled Latin American immigrants. Indian immigrants use autos less than would be expected given their home and work neighborhoods. There is little evidence that either ethnic enclaves, or cultural differences, play a role in lower auto use by immigrants. These results suggest there may be a role for neighborhood built environment policies in delaying immigrant assimilation to auto use in the US.     

What is responsible for the response lag of a significant change in discretionary time use: the built environment,family and social obligations,temporal constraints,or a psychological delay factor?

In this paper, we used the 10-wave Puget Sound Panel Dataset to investigate the response lag of a significant change in discretionary time use. In particular, we want to quantify the relative magnitude of the following factors: the built environment, family and social obligations, temporal constraints, or a psychological delay factor (people delay a behavioral change until the next life shock). To answer this question, we developed a survival model to treat (1) left-censoring, (2) partial observation, and (3) multi-type exits. The results suggest that family and social obligations, as well as temporal constraints, appear to play a more important role than the built environment. Support for the psychological delay factor is not evident. We also found that the probability of having a significant change in discretionary time use is negatively related to time progression, supporting the human adaptivity hypothesis.

Reprint of “Modelling the resilience,friability and costs of an air transport network affected by a large-scale disruptive event”

This paper deals with developing a methodology for estimating the resilience, friability, and costs of an air transport network affected by a large-scale disruptive event. The network consists of airports and airspace/air routes between them where airlines operate their flights. Resilience is considered as the ability of the network to neutralize the impacts of disruptive event(s). Friability implies reducing the network’s existing resilience due to removing particular nodes/airports and/or links/air routes, and consequently cancelling the affected airline flights. The costs imply additional expenses imposed on airports, airlines, and air passengers as the potentially most affected actors/stakeholders due to mitigating actions such as delaying, cancelling and rerouting particular affected flights. These actions aim at maintaining both the network’s resilience and safety at the acceptable level under given conditions.Large scale disruptive events, which can compromise the resilience and friability of a given air transport network, include bad weather, failures of particular (crucial) network components, the industrial actions of the air transport staff, natural disasters, terrorist threats/attacks and traffic incidents/accidents.The methodology is applied to the selected real-life case under given conditions. In addition, this methodology could be used for pre-selecting the location of airline hub airport(s), assessing the resilience of planned airline schedules and the prospective consequences, and designing mitigating measures before, during, and in the aftermath of a disruptive event. As such, it could, with slight modifications, be applied to transport networks operated by other transport modes.     

The “field of safe travel” revisited: interpreting driving behaviour performance through a holistic approach

The present paper proposes a conceptual framework for the driver’s visual–spatial perceptual processes. Based on a theoretical analysis of driving proposed by Gibson and Crooks [(1938). A theoretical field-analysis of automobile-driving. The American Journal of Psychology, 51, 453–471. doi:10.2307/1416145], the developed field of safe travel (FoST) framework suggests that at any moment the driver constructs a “field” by integrating two perceptual entities: (i) the possible available spatial fields for locomotion and (ii) the driver’s mental image of ego-vehicle outer-line and motion dynamics. This framework is used to reinterpret in a unified way a number of disparate research findings reported in the literature concerning specific driving sub-tasks (e.g. lane keeping and car following). It is argued that the FoST framework may be used to predict drivers’ behaviour in various traffic/situation environments based on their prioritisation between the above two perceptual entities. Implications of the proposed framework at a theoretical and practical level, in view of the future of driving with multiple levels of automation, are also discussed.