Spatial variations in attitudes toward expanded public transit service

Although recent budgetary considerations by the Federal govenment do not portend well for urban public transit, some transit systems are considering expansion into less densely-settled areas further from the Central Business District. Of some concern to planners has been their belief that suburban and rural dwellers may be much less inclined than urban dwellers to support expansion of transit service. This paper presents an analysis of a random-digit dialing/mail-out, mail-back survey conducted in Washtenaw County, Michigan which was designed specifically to examine differences in attitudes between urban and rural residents. Six mutually-exclusive spatial strata were established based upon population density. This paper tests for expected spatial differences in socioeconomic and demographic variables and then examines spatial variations in attitudes toward public transportation. The major conclusion is that the expected spatial variations in attitudes about transit service provision between the spatial strata do not arise. Most of the significant differences found are with respect to questions which relate to where transit is provided. Residents in rural (urban) areas support more strongly the provision of services to rural (urban) areas. Many residents, however, will support transit service that may not benefit them directly.     

The valuation and demand impacts of the worthwhile use of travel time with specific reference to the digital revolution and endogeneity

Transportation - The research reported here is concerned with how the worthwhile use of travel time might impact on the value of travel time savings (VTTS) and on demand set in the context of the...     

The impact of planned disruptions on rail passenger demand

Transportation - Disruptions to rail journeys are experienced by rail passengers on a daily basis throughout the world, with the impacts on passengers ranging from minimal to major. Such...     

Blue growth and ocean governance—how to balance the use and the protection of the seas

The economic value of the oceans and maritime industry is strongly gaining in importance. As the oceans are very large and particularly sensitive ecosystems, which need to be preserved, a balance between the use and the protection of the seas has to be found. On this issue, the paper presents some thoughts starting with a brief analysis of what to understand by maritime industry which is labeled as blue economy, and a recapitulation of the main threats for the marine environment, caused by blue economy. After that, some noteworthy prerequisites and criteria for finding a sound balance between the use and the protection of the seas will be highlighted, especially the need for sustainable ocean governance is put to discussion.     

Integrated analysis of land-use and transport policy interventions

Analysing the impact of urban policy interventions on urban growth, land use and transport (LUT) is crucial for urban planners, transport planners and policy-makers, especially in rapidly growing cities. This paper presents a cellular automata-based land-use/transport interaction model – Metronamica-LUTI – for Jeddah that is used to analyse the impact of different proposed policy interventions under two urban growth scenarios for the period 2011–2031. Used as an integrated policy impact assessment tool, the model demonstrates a strong reciprocal relationship between LUT in Jeddah. This study shows that relevant spatial information and integrated policy impact assessment can provide rich insights into the interaction between LUT, the appropriate policy to consider in place and time which traditional planning practice and typical static urban models cannot do.     

The digital revolution and worthwhile use of travel time: implications for appraisal and forecasting

Savings in travel time and more specifically their monetary value typically constitute the main benefit to justify major investment in transport schemes. However, worthwhile use of travel time is an increasingly prominent phenomenon of the digital age. Accordingly, questions are increasingly being asked regarding whether values of time used by countries around the world based on their appraisal approaches are too high. This paper offers the most comprehensive examination of our theoretical and empirical understandings of international appraisal approaches and how they account for worthwhile use of travel time. It combines the economics perspective with wider social science insight and reaches the conclusion that past revolutions in transport that have made longer and quicker journeys possible are now joined by a digital revolution that is reducing the disutility of travel time. This revolution offers potential economic benefit that comes at a fraction of the cost of major investments in transport that are predicated on saving travel time. The paper highlights the challenges faced in both current and indeed potential alternative future appraisal approaches. Such challenges are rooted in the difficulty of measuring time use and productivity with sufficient accuracy and over time to credibly account for how travel time factors into the economic outcomes from social and working practices in the knowledge economy. There is a need for further research to: establish how improvements in the opportunities for and the quality of worthwhile use of travel time impact on the valuation of travel time savings for non-business travel; improve our understanding of how productive use of time impacts on the valuation of time savings for business travellers; and estimate how these factors have impacted on the demand for different modes of travel.     

Bottom slamming on heaving point absorber wave energy devices

Oscillating point absorber buoys may rise out of the water and be subjected to bottom slamming upon re-entering the water. Numerical simulations are performed to estimate the power absorption, the impact velocities and the corresponding slamming forces for various slamming constraints. Three buoy shapes are considered: a hemisphere and two conical shapes with deadrise angles of 30° and 45°, with a waterline diameter of 5 m. The simulations indicate that the risk of rising out of the water is largely dependent on the buoy draft and sea state. Although associated with power losses, emergence occurrence probabilities can be significantly reduced by adapting the control parameters. The magnitude of the slamming load is severely influenced by the buoy shape. The ratio between the peak impact load on the hemisphere and that on the 45° cone is approximately 2, whereas the power absorption is only 4–8% higher for the 45° cone. This work illustrates the need to include slamming considerations aside from power absorption criteria in the buoy shape design process and the control strategy.     

铁路隧道内安全的新UIC规程

关于铁路隧道内安全的新UIC规程适用于新建和既有隧道。该规程制定了可靠的基础设施、车辆和运输调度措施来提高隧道内的安全性,尤其注意了隧道内的防火问题。     

我在，故我赢红牛车手维特尔

“如果2009年的开局并不是我们现在所看到的,我认为我们已经驾驶着RB5赢得了世界冠军,因为我们有F1里最的底盘”。克里斯蒂安·霍纳如是说。