Skateboarding for transportation: exploring the factors behind an unconventional mode choice among university skateboard commuters

Transportation - Efforts to promote non-motorized, active transportation modes typically focus on walking and bicycling. However, other self-propelled devices such as skateboards, roller skates,...     

Outlier mining based abnormal machine detection in intelligent maintenance

Assessing machine’s performance through comparing the same or similar machines is important to implement intelligent maintenance for swarm machine. In this paper, an outlier mining based abnormal machine detection algorithm is proposed for this purpose. Firstly, the outlier mining based on clustering is introduced and the definition of cluster-based global outlier factor (CBGOF) is presented. Then the modified swarm intelligence clustering(MSIC) algorithm is suggested and the outlier mining algorithm based on MSIC is proposed. The algorithm can not only cluster machines according to their performance but also detect possible abnormal machines. Finally, a comparison of mobile soccer robots’ performance proves the algorithm is feasible and effective.     

My way or the highway? Framing transportation planners’ attitudes in negotiating professional expertise and public insight

Transportation planning continues to expand beyond traditional engineering and economic performance measures toward a broader scope of impacts across space and society. However, the attitudes of transportation planners as they balance their expert knowledge against public insights are not well-understood. We test a two-dimensional attitudinal framework using survey data from 311 U.S. and Canadian transportation planners. We reveal four attitudinal categories using principal component analysis, and hypothesis testing shows significant differences in personal and institutional attributes across these categories. We discuss what our results mean for training and regulatory measures striving to influence planner attitudes before proposing future directions for research.

     

Training Needs of Coastal Resources Decision Makers in Ohio's Lake Erie Basin

This article describes results from a study focused on informational and knowledge needs of local coastal resources decision makers in the Ohio Lake Erie basin. New information was obtained through a series of focus groups of local decision makers and key training providers in the basin. The results suggest that training providers and local coastal resources decision makers have differing perceptions of knowledge and information needs and training venues. The results suggest a role for state and federal agency training providers as coordinators and facilitators of an enhanced learning network among decision makers, including support of an information clearinghouse, adoption of appropriate e-based learning modalities, and regionally based learning and practice networks to improve the function of the training market to meet local decision maker needs.     

汽油喷射检查——空气充量是关键

译者序：＂老葛聊修车＂栏目已好久没有和大家说修车的事了。近期看了本刊登出的几篇有关排除发动机汽油喷射故障的文章,其中在故障诊断上走了一些弯路。究其原因可能是对汽油喷射的工作原理不够了解。     

Enforcement of law by the Port State Control (PSC)

Since the International Maritime Organization (IMO) introduced the Port State Control (PSC) programme in 1982, it has been playing a vital role in the enforcement of safety law at sea worldwide. This paper addresses the effectiveness of PSC and the effectiveness of the methods for selecting ships to be inspected adopted by regional PSC. Data on ship total loss (from 1973-2003) and on the PSC records (from 1994-2005) have been collected. The study reveals that the enforcement of PSC is effective in improving the safety level of maritime transport. The methods adopted by regional PSC are compared on their effectiveness, efficiency and stability in identifying substandard ships. Suggestions are made on the improvement of the enforcement of PSC.     

Wakes from Large High-Speed Ferries in Confined Coastal Waters: Management Approaches with Examples from New Zealand and Denmark

Large high-speed craft carrying passengers and vehicles produce wake waves that are different from both conventional vessels and smaller fast vessels. Wakes from these high-speed craft can cause environmental problems (such as beach change, ecological disturbance, and damage to structures and archaeological sites) and safety problems (for navigation and for users of the beach and nearshore) in confined waters. As a consequence of the higher speed, the vessel wakes also have a longer period than wakes caused by conventional ships and may lead to substantial wave action in shallow water environments. In both New Zealand and Denmark, issues relating to high-speed craft wakes were not addressed until after the vessels had begun operation, and complex coastal management issues with possibly broader application have had to be addressed. Emerging management strategies have involved regulation using speed and wave height criteria.     

Exposure of Fauna to Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) Traffic on Sandy Beaches

Driving of off-road vehicles (ORVs) on sandy beaches is common and widespread, but is not universally embraced due to putative environmental impacts on beach biota. For ORVs to impact the beach fauna, traffic areas must overlap with faunal habitat: a fundamental pre-requisite for impact assessments but as yet un-quantified for sandy beaches. Thus, this study quantified the spatial and temporal patterns of ORV traffic on five Australian beaches, and measured the degree to which the distribution of intertidal macro-invertebrates overlaps with traffic zones. Traffic volumes on beaches can be considerable (up to 500 vehicles per day). The position of beach traffic across the beach-face is principally governed by tides and driver behavior. Despite driver education campaigns to the contrary, a considerable fraction of vehicles (16–67%) traverses the soft, upper shore near the foredunes. The majority (65%) of burrowing invertebrate species of the intertidal zone is directly exposed to traffic, save for species inhabiting the swash zone. Because beach traffic presents a formidable management challenge, a fundamental first step in identifying whether ecological impacts are indeed likely, is to assess the potential for spatial and temporal conflict between human pressures (e.g., ORVs) and biological resources (e.g., beach fauna). Although this potential is certainly substantial for sandy shores used by ORVs, the actual ecological impacts on the intertidal fauna can only be predicted in situations where the responses (e.g., direct mortality, behavioral changes) of individual species to beach traffic are known.     

Factors underlying the connections between active transportation and public transit at commuter rail in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area

Transportation - Encouraging the integration of active transportation with transit is increasingly being pursued as a strategy by transit agencies to boost alternative means to access transit...