The external cost of speed at sea: An analysis based on selected short sea shipping routes

According to the mid-term review of the EU White Paper on Transport, Short Sea Shipping (SSS) is expected to grow at a rate of 59% (metric tonnes) between 2000 and 2020. If we consider that the overall expected increase in both freight exchanges and volume is 50%, sea transport is one of the most feasible alternatives to reduce traffic congestion on European roads. Maritime transportation may compete with road transport as far as certain traffics are concerned, but only when assuming external costs. This paper analyzes several intermodal transport chains involving a sea leg by comparing the effect of pollutant emissions from different ship types and road transport in terms of potential external cost savings. The translation of these emissions into environmental costs shows, for certain conditions, savings in the case of sea transport that would justify the use of an environmental bonus to promote the sea option.     

Large oil tankers and the Baltic marine environment: A statistical survey

The short Baltic export route for Russian oil is an attractive source of supply for the European energy market. The article examines the Russian oil export trade in the Baltic based on Automatic Identification System (AIS) data from 2005 matched with supplementary data. The first part of the article gives a survey of activities and characteristics of 261 large crude oil tankers, their flag states and owner countries. The second part views the data in the context of accidental oil spill risk. Greek and Russian owners are leading carriers in this trade. Russia plays a double leading role as oil exporter and shipowning country, securing major cargo shares for nationally owned vessels, while also giving a preferential spot in the trade to Greek owners. Where environmental aspects are concerned, previous research has linked vessel characteristics with the risk of casualty. Knowledge of flag, age, ownership and activity levels adds useful information about environmental risk. The data show that flags associated with very high casualty or detention probabilities were represented by 18% of the activity in this trade. Older vessels have a similar share, and at this particular time probably represent the more serious threat of accidental oil spills.     

Urban walkability considering pedestrians’ perceptions of the built environment: a 10-year review and a case study in a medium-sized city in Latin America

ABSTRACT

Numerous methodologies measuring walkability have been developed over the last years. This paper reviews the Walkability Index (WI) literature of the last decade (2009–2018) and highlights some limitations in the current approaches. Only a few studies have evaluated walkability in Latin America, mainly in big cities but not in medium and small-sized cities in the region, which present their own urbanisation dynamics, security issues, sidewalk invasion problems, and poor planning. Furthermore, most WIs in the literature use objective mesoscale variables to assess walkability in a given area. This paper contributes to filling these gaps by generating new evidence from a medium-sized city in Latin America to question if characteristics of the built environment encourage walking trips, as found in the literature, are transferable among regions. The study also proposes a novel index comprised of microscale and mesoscale built environment variables to assess walkability using virtual tools and considering users’ perceptions. The WI estimation relies on ranking probability models. The results of the case study suggest that subjective Security and Traffic Safety are the most crucial factors influencing walkability in these kind of cities, which is different from what is found in the literature from cities in developed countries where Sidewalk Condition and Attractiveness are the most important factors. Security appeared to be strongly associated with a subjective dimension, represented by the fear of crime or perceived risk for crime, instead of the actual occurrence of crimes. This result evidences the importance of the physical attributes of the real world and how they are captured, judged, and processed by pedestrians. Then, regional transferability of WIs needs to be done carefully. Finally, results in this paper highlight the importance of microscale built environment characteristics in the WI formulation in these cities. Results are in line with other research in some cities of the region, which found that microscale variables such as pavement quality and presence of obstacles on the sidewalks are relevant components to promote walkability.     

Damper Models for Heavy Vehicle Ride Dynamics

A laboratory rig for testing hydraulic dampers using the 'hardware-in-the-loop' method is described, and the accuracy of the test method is investigated. A mathematical model of a hydraulic shock absorber is then developed. The model is suitable for vehicle simulations and has seven parameters which can be determined by simple dynamic measurements on a test damper. The shock absorber model is validated under realistic operating conditions using the test rig, and the relative importance of various features of the model on the accuracy of vehicle simulations is investigated.     

Methodology for bus structure torsion stiffness and natural vibration frequency prediction based on a dimensional analysis approach

Engineering bus design requires testing of bus structures prototypes in order to guarantee a certain level of strength and an appropriate static and dynamic behavior of the bus superstructure when exposed to road loads. However, experimental testing of real bus structures is very expensive as it requires expensive resources and space. If testing is done on a scale bus model the previous required expenses are considerably reduced. Therefore, a novel methodology based on dimensional analysis applied to bus structure prediction to evaluate the bus structure static and dynamic performance is proposed. The static performance is evaluated attending to torsion stiffness and the dynamic in terms of the natural vibration frequencies and rollover threshold. A scale bus has been manufactured and dimensionless parameters have been defined in order to project the results obtained in the scale bus model to a larger model. Validation of the proposed methodology has been carried out under experimental and finite element analysis.     

Design and power flow analysis for multi-speed automatic transmission with hybrid gear trains

A design approach for multi-speed automatic transmission with hybrid gear trains is proposed. The approach can be used to design automatic transmissions composed of planetary gear trains, fixed-axis gear trains or hybrid gear trains and the shifts follow the “one controlled part changing rule”. This approach consists of four parts: determining graphical configuration of the system using hypergraphs, analyzing power flow formulation, obtaining shifts configurations by shift searching algorithm, and determining physical configuration. A nine forward speed automatic transmission is analyzed to highlight the capacities of the proposed approach. The results have shown that the suggested approach is much clearer and less time consuming than the methods currently used.     

Network representation,continuum approximations and a solution to the spatial aggregation problem of traffic assignment

This paper complements the preceding one, which showed how one could modify equilibrium traffic assignment algorithms for networks with many centroids. In this one it is shown how one can substitute centroids by zones with continuous population densities. The technique, which is mathematically guaranteed to approximate a flow pattern in accordance with Wardrop's user equilibrium criterion, requires some geometrical calculations which can be handled off-line. With the suggested approach, it is possible to represent the spatial distribution of trip ends more realistically and this allows traffic assignment models to capture the effects of short and intrazonal trips in a way previously impossible. The method is shown to be computationally feasible.     

Transportation agencies experiences with decision support systems for airport ground access planning

This article reports on a field investigation into the ways that transportation agencies use quantitative and qualitative information for making strategic decisions regarding airport ground access. The study analyzes the value of this information for planning airport ground access improvements at seven major international airport sites.The major finding of the research is that quantitative modeling for strategic decision support is very difficult, costly and time consuming. Modelers are confident that the models are accurate and reliable but executives generally lack confidence in the results. Transportation officials believe that the information supplied is flawed by a number of defects that minimize its value for strategic decision makers. The information defects described in this article provide an analysis of the structural difficulty of using quantitative modeling for transportation problems of strategic importance. To date, qualitative information is not frequently used, but some transportation agencies are considering its application to designing transportation services. Although this study is limited to airport ground access, the authors feel that this evidence, in conjunction with the evidence from other studies in the transportation area, dictates a need for wariness in the development of decision support systems for transportation planners. Developers of decision support systems for transportation planners must be aware of modeling costs and defects and consider how to improve the timeliness, relevance and credibility of information quantitative models provide transportation executives. Fundamentally it is important to recognize that decision makers tend, either singularly or in concert with other individuals or groups, to be the champions of a long-term vision for the community. When modeling produces inconsistent or wide ranging results that contradict their position, decision makers may not only discard modeling activities, but lose confidence in the models altogether. As a consequence, transportation planners are faced with the challenge of how to improve quantitative modeling. The most reliable and effective means for improvement is incorporation of qualitative techniques which provide greater understanding of customer perceptions and human behavior.     

New lead-acid battery management system based on generator regulation

A novel regulation system for a vehicle generator and lead-acid battery is proposed in this paper. By integrating the regulation method, the output voltage of the generator is determined and controlled by the algorithm to save electrical energy and protect the lead-acid battery. The regulation algorithm is implemented in Matlab/Simulink, and the logic function of the system is verified using the dSPACE/AutoBox workbench. The experimental results show that the new algorithm improves the performance of the fuel economy of the vehicle and the battery state-of-health compared to the traditional control method.     

The public administrator: Regulating for maritime transport efficiency

One role often fulfilled by public administrators is to regulate private enterprise in the public interest. The academic literature has not developed this area fully because public administration is not always tasked with this function. Nevertheless, when regulation forms a part of the responsibilities of the public administrator, it is among the most important. An essential foundation for effective regulation is a complete understanding of the implications and impact of regulatory action. In the absence of regulation, entrepreneurial awareness is applied in the private sector exclusively to satisfying consumer wants. In a regulated market, the entrepreneur’s focus is shifted toward regulatory imperatives. Regulation offers non-market opportunities for entrepreneurial innovation, as well as imposing new market constraints. This paper examines regulation of the maritime industry by the US federal government as an example.