Energy-harvesting potential of automobile suspension

This study is aimed quantify dissipated power in a damper of automobile suspension to predict energy harvesting potential of a passenger car more accurately. Field measurements of power dissipation in a regenerative damper are still rare. The novelty is in using the broad database of real road profiles, a 9 degrees-of-freedom full-car model with real parameters, and a tyre-enveloping contact model. Results were presented as a function of road surface type, velocity and road roughness characterised by International Roughness Index. Results were calculated for 1600 test sections of a total length about 253.5?km. Root mean square of a dissipated power was calculated from 19 to 46?W for all four suspension dampers and velocity 60?km/h and from 24 to 58?W for velocity 90?km/h. Results were compared for a full-car model with a tyre-enveloping road contact, full-car and quarter-car models with a tyre–road point contact. Mean difference among three models in calculated power was a few per cent.     

Estimating performance of traffic signals based on link travel times

Recent advances in communication and computing technology have made travel time measurements more available than ever before. In urban signalized arterials, travel times are strongly influenced by traffic signals. This study presents a novel method based on well‐known principles to estimate traffic signal performance (or more precisely their major “through” movements) based on travel time measurements. The travel times were collected between signals in the field by using point‐to‐point travel time measurement technologies. Closed‐circuit television cameras and signal databases were used to collect traffic demand and signal timings, respectively. Then, the volume/capacity ratio of major downstream signal movements was computed based on demand and signal timings. This volume/capacity ratio was then correlated with travel times on the relevant intersection approach. The best volume‐delay function was found, along with many other functions, to fit the field data. This volume‐delay function was then used to estimate volume/capacity ratios and, indirectly, a few other signal performance metrics. The method, called travel time‐based signal performance measurements, was automated and displayed on a Google Map. The findings show that the proposed method is accurate and robust enough to provide necessary information about signal performance. A newly developed volume‐delay function was found to work just slightly better than the Bureau of Public Roads curve. Several issues, which may reduce the accuracy of the proposed method, are identified, and their solutions are proposed for future research. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Allocation of funds to public transport investment and operating support

This paper reviews the present levels of operating support to, and public investment in, public transport systems in Western Europe. All internal bus, tram and rail services are included, and estimates made for total support in Britain, Sweden, West Germany, the Netherlands and France. To make comparison meaningful, these are shown in relation to GDP and traffic carried. Support levels in Britain are below average, but by no means the lowest as sometimes assumed. Reasons for providing support are considered, including existence of financial burdens arising historically, assistance to particular groups of users, problems in price discrimination and inability of other modes' charges to reflect costs. The extent to which support payments may merely subsidise inefficiency is outlined. A distinction is drawn between productive efficiency, i.e. the resources used to provide a specified level of service and fare, and allocative efficiency, i.e. the extent to which resources are allocated so as to maximise traffic, etc. The extent for reducing support yet retaining the present general level of service and fare is considered.Means of raising finance for support are outlined, including relative roles of central and local government. The scope of local taxes being raised to meet local objectives is considered, notably in the French versement transport: In conclusion, it is suggested that trunk inter-city services should cover all costs from fares, by a discriminatory pricing policy, but central government provide a basic support level for rural areas. In urban areas, practical limits exist to price discrimination, and the best policy may be collective purchase of facilities through a local tax.     

The effect of complex models of externalities on estimated optimal tolls

Transport externalities such as costs of emissions and accidents are increasingly being used within appraisal and optimisation frameworks alongside the more traditional congestion analysis to set optimal transport policies. Models of externalities and costs of externalities may be implemented by a simple constant cost per vehicle-km approach or by more complex flow and speed dependent approaches. This paper investigates the impact of using both simple and more complex models of CO₂ emissions and cost of accidents on the optimal toll for car use and upon resulting welfare levels. The approach adopted is to use a single link model with a technical approach to the representation of the speed-flow relationship as this reflects common modelling practice. It is shown that using a more complex model of CO₂ emitted increases the optimal toll significantly compared to using a fixed cost approach while reducing CO₂ emitted only marginally. A number of accident models are used and the impact on tolls is shown to depend upon the assumptions made. Where speed effects are included in the accident model, accident costs can increase compared to the no toll equilibrium and so tolls should in this case be reduced compared to the congestion optimal toll. Finally it is shown that the effect of adding variable CO₂ emission models along with a fixed cost per vehicle-km for accidents can increase the optimal toll by 44% while increasing the true welfare gained by only 8%. The results clearly demonstrate that model assumptions for externalities can have a significant impact on the resulting policies and in the case of accidents the policies can be reversed.

Development of and prospects for cruising in Europe

This paper evaluates the development of prospects for cruising in Europe. It examines this within the broad framework of economic theory and maritime economics. Initially, the market structures and relationships applicable to cruising are considered with particular attention being paid to the linkages between the shipping markets and tourism and leisure. This conceptual analysis suggests that whilst cruising has a strong shipping element it does not fall exclusively within the classic framework of maritime economics but draws from both shipping and tourism and leisure. For reasons of clarity, a number of definitions are also provided covering maritime tourism and leisure, cruising, and supply and demand, as it relates to cruising. Following this, an overview of the cruise industry is included. This focuses primarily on the growth in the demand both world wide and at regional level. In particular, the analysis places the development of cruising in Europe in market perspective. Subsequently, the development of cruising in the UK is examined as a case study. Initially, UK market growth is analysed and it can be seen that the UK is now the second largest cruise market in the world after North America. Projections of the growth in UK demand to 2003 are also provided. The growth in supply is also studied and the UK targeted fleet is identified. In addition, the question of ownership is addressed. The prospects of employment for UK seafarers within the cruise industry are also considered and results obtained from the analysis suggest that it should be possible to increase the participation of UK and other European seafarers within the cruise industry at all levels and in all departments. In the final section of the paper, the position of UK ports as terminals and destinations is evaluated. It is concluded that the fundamentals of the cruise business remain strong, and continued growth by the industry should be possible for the foreseeable future.     

购买音响器材有如购买小提琴

据国内权威市场调查机构“水清木华”发布的（2009年中国车载导航市场研究报告》显示：2009年中国后装车载导航产品（专指改装）出货量达220多万套。     

唱片中的万千世界

2007年的“正版大联盟”活动,是国内导航业界第一次向盗版、裸机以及山寨GPS产品的正面宣战,很可惜的是效果维持不久,“山寨”很快又变本加厉!然而,在刚进入虎年新春之际,笔者在各大IT卖场发现了第二波的“正版大促销”。经了解,这次的正版活动得到了渠道商热烈响应。     

作秀

据统计,在众多的汽车信息中,动态交通信息、道路救援是目前车主最为迫切的需求。而作为汽车信息最重要的载体——导航电子地图,将成为各种汽车信息沟通的桥梁。购买群体基数小、二次购买能力差是中国导航仪市场的两个软肋,主要原因是导航产品的附加值低。     

Moving towards more eco-efficient tourist transportation to a resort destination: The case of Whistler, British Columbia

Transportation is not only a key component of the tourism value chain, but it is also a critical management consideration in shaping tourism's environmental footprint. Transportation consumes the greatest portion of the energy used in the tourism system. Most of this consumption is associated with travel to and from the destination. Despite this situation, scant research has addressed ways in which destinations can play a role in reducing this energy use challenge. Strategies such as shifting visitors to more energy-efficient modes have the potential to improve the eco-efficiency of tourist transportation. Using a case study of transportation management options and visitor responses in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, this paper examines visitor reactions to a range of transportation strategies designed to shift skiers from private to public modes of transport. Respondents completed an online survey employing both traditional and stated choice questioning methods to examine tourists' transportation choice behaviour. Long-haul tourists were the most likely to shift transport modes based on the management options offered to them. Destination management strategies for moving this target group to public modes of transportation are described.     

Resilience and accessibility of Swedish and Dutch municipalities

Recent years have shown a rising popularity of the concept of resilience—both theoretically and empirically—in complex systems analysis. There is also a rising literature on resilience in the transport and spatial-economic field. The pluriform interpretation of resilience (e.g., engineering vs. ecological resilience) is related to methodological differences (e.g., stability in dynamics vs. evolutionary adaptivity). But in all cases the fundamental question is whether a complex system that is subjected to an external shock is able to recover, and if so, to which extent. The present paper [Based on presentation from cluster 6 (Accessibility) of the Nectar 2015 conference in Ann Arbour, USA.] aims to add a new dimension to resilience analysis in spatial systems, by addressing in particular the relationship between spatial accessibility at a municipality level and the resilience outcomes of the spatial system concerned. It does so by investigating to which extent accessibility of Swedish and Dutch municipalities has mitigated the local shock absorption from the recent economic recession. In our study the shock absorption capacity of municipal accessibility is estimated by analysing the relevant resilience indicators for the period concerned. In this context, conventional resilience indicators based on either multivariate complex data (in particular, the Foster Resilience Capacity Index) or employment data (in particular, the Martin Resilience-Employment Index) are confronted with spatial connectivity data based on local accessibility measures, so that geographical mobility may be regarded as one of the shock-mitigating factors. The empirical analysis is carried out for two countries which have both proven to be rather shock-resistant during the recent economic crisis, viz. Sweden and The Netherlands. Clearly, the geographical structure of these countries forms a sharp mutual contrast, viz. a spatially dispersed economy with a few distinct urban concentrations versus a spatially dense economy with one major metropolitan centre (the Randstad), respectively. Our experiments are carried out for the 290 municipalities in Sweden and 40 COROPs in The Netherlands. Our research findings show relevant and new insights into differences in the local recovery potential in Sweden and The Netherlands.