Livelihoods,daily mobility and poverty in sub-saharan Africa

Based on research funded by the UK Department for International Development, this paper investigates the utility of a livelihoods approach in identifying the mobility and accessibility needs of the poor. Mobility patterns and livelihoods of stratified samples of households in urban-to-rural corridors originating in the national capital cities of Zimbabwe and Uganda are compared, with emphasis on the poor's position relative to higher income groups. It is found that livelihood work was the most frequent purpose of short-distance travel for all income groups and localities, amounting to 38% of trip purposes in Uganda and 46% in Zimbabwe. On average, Zimbabweans were more mobile making more daily trips over longer distances reflective of greater reliance on motorized transport in the country. Nonetheless, walking dominates modal journeys in both countries. Ugandans display heavier dependence on bicycle and motorcycle transport primarily through taxi hire compared with Zimbabweans' private care and public kombi bus transport. Survey evidence suggests that Uganda's poor and middle-incomed urban and rural residents benefit from more widely available multimodal public transport.     

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.     

Competition for the German regional rail passenger market 5 years after regionalization

The paper investigates the competition for regional passenger rail services in Germany from 1996 to 2000 by using data mainly provided by regional authorities. It analyses data on the level of network characteristics, contract life, the Länder (i.e. regions), competitive placing procedures, and their winners as well as achieved cost and services improvements. It finds that with competition being rare, the amount of competitively placed services declined until recently. Only about half of the regional authorities gained experience with competitive placings, which points at the expertise deficit of these bodies. A diverse picture on competitive placings' characteristics such as network size and contract life appears. State-owned carrier DB AG remains the dominant player as it could win the majority of the competitively procured services. Private companies have played a minor role in the game up to now. Accomplished reduction of subsidies and improved service quality respectively provide an indication of the potential for enhancing efficiency in this market.     

Harmonizing heavy goods vehicle taxes in Europe: a British view

One of the biggest unresolved problems regarding the completion of the free internal transport market within the European community is the problem of harmonization of taxation on the road haulage industry. As the highest tax country, Britain might be expected to have to reduce its level of taxes as part of any harmonization.

This paper considers the current methodology of the British Department of Transport regarding the allocation of the track and external costs of road transport, in the light of developments in methodology and experience elsewhere in Western Europe and North America. We find a number of reasons for believing that, far from overstating the marginal social cost of use of roads by the road haulage industry, the current British approach actually understates it. Thus any move towards harmonizing tax levels may reduce taxes in Britain at a time when they should be increasing.     

A study of the bi-directional pedestrian flow characteristics at Hong Kong signalized crosswalk facilities

This paper investigates the bi-directional flow characteristics at signalized crosswalk facilities in Hong Kong. Pedestrian flow measurements were conducted at selected signalized crosswalks in Hong Kong urban area with and without the Light Rail Transit (LRT) railway tracks in the median of the carriageway. The pedestrian speed-flow functions for these crosswalk facilities were calibrated. The relationships between the walking speed at capacity and directional distribution of pedestrian flow (or flow ratio) are determined. The effects of different flow ratio on the effective capacity are also investigated. The bi-directional pedestrian flow effects on signalized crosswalk facilities with LRT tracks are found more significant than those without LRT tracks. The result could be used as a basis to improve the assessment of the crosswalk's capacity and to determine the design walking speeds under different flow ratios at signalized crosswalks in Hong Kong and in other Asian cities with similar environments.     

A proposed quantitative methodology for the evaluation of the effectiveness of Human Element,Leadership and Management (HELM) training in the UK

In 2006, a review of maritime accidents found that non-technical skills (NTSs) are the single largest contributing factor towards such incidents. NTSs are composed of both interpersonal and cognitive elements. These include things such as situational awareness, teamwork, decision making, leadership, management and communication skills. In a crisis situation, good NTSs allow a deck officer to quickly recognise that a problem exists and then harness the resources that are at their disposal to safely and efficiently bring the situation back under control. This paper has two aims. The first is to develop a methodology which will enable educators to quantitatively assess the impact of Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA)-approved Human Element, Leadership and Management (HELM) training on deck officer’s NTSs with a view to identifying further training requirements. The second is to determine whether the HELM training provided to develop the NTSs of trainee deck officers is fit for purpose. To achieve these aims, a three-phase approach was adopted. Initially, a taxonomy for deck officer’s NTSs is established, behavioural markers are identified and the relative importance of each attribute is calculated using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Subsequently, a set of scenarios were identified for the assessment of deck officer’s NTSs in a ship bridge simulator environment. A random selection of students that have completed the Chief Mate (CM) programme was performed, and data regarding their NTS-related performance in the scenarios was collected. Finally, the collected data was fed into the evidential reasoning (ER) algorithm, utility values were produced and, having established these values, the effectiveness of the HELM training that the students have received was then evaluated.     

Comparison of Beach Nourishment along the U.S. Atlantic,Great Lakes,Gulf of Mexico,and New England Shorelines

The U.S. national beach nourishment experience is summarized for the East Coast barrier islands, the Gulf of Mexico, New England, and the Great Lakes. A total of 1,305 nourishment episodes on 382 beaches are recorded at a total estimated cost of approximately $1.4 billion ($2.5 billion in 1996 dollars). In terms of both volume and costs, nourishment has been the most extensive by far on the East Coast barrier islands. Depending on the region, between 65% and 85% of all nourishment projects have a federal funding component. Annual expenditures and sand volumes for beach nourishment are increasing, especially on East Coast barriers. At present, total annual national beach nourishment costs (excluding the Pacific Coast) are on the order of $100 million per year. The cost per cubic yard of nourishment sand as expressed in 1996 dollars has remained more or less constant over time. Additionally, the volumes of sand needed for subsequent nourishment episodes on individual beaches do not decrease, despite contrary assumptions in the shoreface-profile-ofequilibrium concept that subsequent nourishment volumes should diminish. In light of the historical experience of beach nourishment identified in this study, individual state and local coastal communities should reevaluate their plans for future beach nourishment programs. The complete listing of all the data on nourished beaches from this survey is available at www.geo.duke.edu/Research/psds/psds.htm     

Optimal Design for the Rear-Glass Joint of an Automobile for Squeak and Rattle Noise Reduction

Ever since vehicle noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) reduction technology made dramatic improvements, vehicle interior noises represented by Squeak and Rattle (S/R) becomes an ever more important factor to improve the emotional quality of vehicles. Generally, people detect S/R noises on automotive interior parts, brake system, suspension, Body in White (BIW), etc. Among them, the rear-glass joint is a major source for vehicle interior noise, and can cause S/R noises under a variety of environmental and driving conditions. This study uses, two approaches, experimental and numerical approaches, to define the cause of S/R noise at the rear-glass section. Based on these two approaches, this study confirms that S/R noises generate through the contact between bottom side of molding and BIW. The sealant penetration length, panelmolding distance, and sealant width are the parameters affecting noise generation. In addition, this study created an optimal design with Design of Experiments (DOE) of the rear-glass joint. The design maximized the sealant penetration length, which is a parameter that majorly affects noise. The optimal design comprises of two steps: sealant injections shape optimization and rear-glass joint parameter optimization. Each step is carried out with FEA and validated by sealant penetration experiments. Through these optimizations, this study obtained an optimum combination of design parameters and fignificantly reduced the noise generated by rear-glass section.     

Small ports in Northern Ireland: A method of study

This paper discusses the strategies which might be adopted by port authorities, given that modern port technologies have considerably limited the scope for competition. It therefore analyses the several forms of competition relevant to ports, any or all of which may apply in any given instance.

It describes the 'minimalist strategy, which consists of recognizing that public sector bodies have many faults, may make many mistakes and that well-intentioned attempts to rectify faults in the private sector may make matters worse. Second, it describes the ‘pragmatic’ strategy, which involves establishing committees to examine problems and to recommend actions, if they can reach a consensus. Third, it describes the ‘public sector’ strategy, which involves the port authority taking over all port functions. Finally, it describes the ‘competitive’ strategy, which involves a careful reproduction of the circumstances of competition, even though there may be room for only one efficiently-sized operator at a time. Franchising, or short-term leasing on any of a variety of competitive bases, so as to produce serial competition is described. Each of these strategies is presented as having its own advantages and disadvantages, and each may be suitable to particular circumstances.