Beyond “Peak Car”: A reflection on the evolution of public sentiment about the role of cars in cities

In this volume, Jones has made a persuasive case for considering recently observed reductions in car use (and sometimes car ownership) in a number of major northern cities as part of an evolutionary process, rather than the consequence of transient conditions such as the economic downturn of 2008 and its relatively slow recovery. In an era bringing new service models for mobility and communications that have important implications for safety, security, the environment and well-being, he points to the role of public attitudes and sentiments that may underlie changing policy priorities and an associated culture change with respect to transport in cities and the reclamation of street space. This paper briefly explores the role of public sentiments and reflects on the apparent emergence of a popular subculture that favors living, if possible, without owning or using cars, in contrast to older subcultures embracing more extreme sentiments that are either Car-centered or emphatically anti-car.     

New level of vehicle comfort and vehicle stability via utilisation of the suspensions anti-dive and anti-squat geometry

In this article a novel vehicle dynamics control concept is designed for a vehicle equipped with wheel individual electric traction machines, electronically controlled brakes and semi-active suspensions. The suspension's cross-couplings between traction forces and vertical forces via anti-dive and anti-squat geometry is utilised in the control concept to improve driving comfort and driving stability. The control concept is divided into one main and two cascaded branches. The main controller consists of a multivariable vehicle dynamics controller and a control allocation scheme to improve the vehicle's driving comfort. The cascaded feedback loops maintain the vehicle's stability according to wheel slip and vehicle sideslip. The performance of the combined vehicle dynamics controller is compared to a standard approach in simulation. It can be stated that the controller piloting semi-active suspensions together with brake and traction devices enables a superior performance regarding comfort and stability.     

Evidence of convective instability in congested traffic flow: A systematic empirical and theoretical investigation

An extended open system such as traffic flow is said to be convectively unstable if perturbations of the stationary state grow but propagate in only one direction, so they eventually leave the system. By means of data analysis, simulations, and analytical calculations, we give evidence that this concept is relevant for instabilities of congested traffic flow. We analyze detector data from several hundred traffic jams and propose estimates for the linear growth rate, the wavelength, the propagation velocity, and the severity of the associated bottleneck that can be evaluated semi-automatically. Scatter plots of these quantities reveal systematic dependencies. On the theoretical side, we derive, for a wide class of microscopic and macroscopic traffic models, analytical criteria for convective and absolute linear instabilities. Based on the relative positions of the stability limits in the fundamental diagram, we divide these models into five stability classes which uniquely determine the set of possible elementary spatiotemporal patterns in open systems with a bottleneck. Only two classes, both dominated by convective instabilities, are compatible with observations. By means of approximate solutions of convectively unstable systems with sustained localized noise, we show that the observed spatiotemporal phenomena can also be described analytically. The parameters of the analytical expressions can be inferred from observations, and also (analytically) derived from the model equations.     

Geodemographic analysis and the identification of potential business partnerships enabled by transit smart cards

Smart card automated fare payment systems are being adopted by transit agencies around the world. The data-storage characteristics of smart cards present novel opportunities to enhance transit services. On the one hand, there are fare policies, where smart card holders are given specific rebates on the use of the service based on usage patterns or levels. On the other, there are non-fare policies, for instance if holders receive advantages, such as rebates and offers, from commercial partners. The purpose of this paper is to present a geodemographic framework to identify potential commercial partnerships that could exploit the characteristics of smart cards. The framework is demonstrated using data from Montreal, Canada. Household survey data, specifically trip ends, and business data points are jointly used to determine the exposure of various types of establishments to users of the Montreal Metro network. Spatial analysis of business establishments in the neighborhood of metro stations helps to identify potential commercial partners. The results illustrate the potential of geodemographic analysis to generate intelligence of commercial interest.     

The environmental effects of airline carbon emissions taxation in the US

This study investigates how air traffic emissions taxes may impact carbon emissions in the US. The magnitude of emissions savings in the US domestic airline industry that would result from lower demand for air travel as taxes are levied and air fares increase is estimated. At the same time, the air-automobile substitution effect is considered and it is argued that some air travelers may divert to automobiles, thus increasing automobile carbon emissions. Both the analysis of the aggregate US domestic airline industry and the study of a sample of US domestic route markets indicate that potentially sizeable increases in automobile traffic and related emissions may substantially reduce the environmental benefits of air travel carbon emissions taxes. In some instances, carbon emissions may even increase in short-haul markets. Sensitivity analyses are performed to demonstrate the robustness of these findings.     

A test of inter-modal performance measures for transit investment decisions

Choices among alternative transit capital investments are often complex and politically controversial. There is renewed interest in the use of performance indicators to assist in making rational and defensible choices for the investment of public funds. To improve the evaluation of rail and bus performance and provide more useful information for transit investment decision-makers, it is important to use performance indicators that fairly and efficiently compare different transit modes. This paper proposes a set of inter-modal performance indicators in which service input, service output, and service consumption are measured by total cost, revenue capacity miles/hours, and unlinked passenger trips/miles respectively based on economic principles and evaluation objectives. The proposed improvements involve the inclusion of capital as well as operating costs in such comparisons, and the recognition of the widely varying capacities of transit vehicles for seated and standing passengers. Two California cases, the Los Angeles – Long Beach Corridor and the Market/Judah Corridor in San Francisco, are used for testing their usefulness in the evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of rail and bus services. The results show substantial differences between performance indicators in current use and those proposed in this study. The enhanced inter-modal performance indicators are more appropriate for comparing the efficiency and effectiveness of different modes or a combination of transit modes at the corridor and system levels where most major investment decisions are made. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

中国经济与全球海运经济

在2007～2009年间的两年中,航运市场的供需发生了巨大变化。受全球金融危机的影响,需求减少,给全球经济带来重创。决策者不知道需求何时才能回暖。航运业的供应面临船厂造船能力扩张和订单量减少的压力。因此,航运业在未来很长一段时间将处于萧条状态。但是,有一点是可以避免的。     

Climate change and the future Maritime Policy for the EU

A cross-cutting Maritime Policy can ensure that climate change threats and challenges in regards to seas and oceans are dealt with in a wide policy framework that takes into account the impacts that climate change may have on other sectors and vice versa.     

Disaggregate simultaneous urban travel demand models: A brief introduction

This paper is intended to provide a general background to the two following papers, A Simultaneous Destination and Mode Choice Model for Shopping Trips and Some Estimation Results of a Simultaneous Model of Auto Ownership and Mode Choice to Work. Some of the deficiences of the conventional urban transport modelling system are reviewed and a case is made for the use of simultaneous models estimated with disaggregate data.