A user‐resource planning framework for offshore recreational artificial reefs

Abstract

Artificial reefs have been used extensively in coastal waters to attract and enhance recreational fishery resources. In the United States, they have been traditionally built from “materials of opportunity”; using limited budgets. This paper explores some past planning philosophies and presents a recent artificial reef deployment case that demonstrates a lack of sensitivity to local and regional recreational demand. A systems framework is developed to guide future planning efforts in artificial reef development. The framework is intended to integrate previously fragmented knowledge and to demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of artificial reef planning. Emphasis is given to advance planning, user dimensions, and the integral issue of reef access.     

Fast passenger ferries and their future

This papers examines the different choices of High Speed Craft (HSC) hull design available and briefly looks at the advantages and disadvantages of each hull form. The trends in various design aspects of HSC such as speed, capacity and size are studied. An investigation on the HSC development is conducted and the future of HSC in the UK is studied. A study onboard an HSC with the aim of trying to determine what passengers think of HSC and why they travel by them is also conducted. Finally, an analysis of the possible market for HSC is carried out.     

Book review

Onshore Planning for Offshore Oil—Lessons from Scotland by Pamela L. Baldwin and Malcolm F. Baldwin The Conservation Foundation, Washington, D.C., 1975     

Protecting Rhode Island's coastal salt ponds: An economic assessment of downzoning

Abstract

In southern Rhode Island, there is growing concern that housing and recreational demands will soon overwhelm the capacity of the coastal salt ponds to absorb wastes, produce seafood, and maintain scenic qualities. As a result, coastal towns have been studying the feasibility of using land controls such as downzoning to protect these coastal amenities. The paper presents an economic analysis of the downzoning program proposed in the town of South Kingstown. Hedonic price and contingent valuation methods are used to value coastal amenities. The estimated net present value of “swimmable” water is shown to be $3.1 million.     

Out-of-home activities,daily travel,and subjective well-being

It is argued that utility theory that underpins current cost-benefit analyses of daily travel needs to be complemented. An alternative theoretical framework is to this end proposed which applies subjective well-being (SWB) to travel behaviour analysis. It is posited in this theoretical framework that participation in goal-directed activities, facilitated or hindered by travel, contributes to SWB, that the degree of travel-related stress in participating in these activities reduces SWB, and that positive affect associated with travel in itself has an impact on SWB.     

Evaluating the energy performance of a SUV hybrid electric vehicle

This paper analyzes the energetic performance of the hybrid Lexus RX 400h, through on-board measurements. Several speed profiles were analyzed, for three driving types, successive stop and go cycles, three speed profiles, crossing an electronic toll collection booth, and a roundabout. In stop and go situations the internal combustion engine did not work (the torque needed to impulse the vehicle in the stop and go situations was only supported by the electric engines), as well as in the situations of constant low speeds (50 or 60 km h^?1). The auxiliary support given by the electric engines in the accelerations, as well as the importance of the energy regeneration system on the batteries’ load recovery is also demonstrated. When compared with similar conventional vehicles, the Lexus RX 400h has lower combined energy consumption between 1.2% and 60%.     

Improving the efficiency of demand-responsive paratransit services

State agencies responsible for ADA-eligible paratransit services are increasingly under pressure to contain costs and maximize service quality. Many do not operate vehicles themselves; instead, they contract out the provision of services. Contractors are paid for each hour of service. They are responsible for hiring crew, forming routes, dispatching, and operating and maintaining agency-owned vehicles. In the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Metro Mobility, the agency responsible for providing paratransit services, requires contractors to use agency-approved software for booking trips dynamically and sets parameters that guide contractors’ practices. Customer trips booked in this fashion may not utilize capacity in the most efficient manner. Therefore, beginning with the daily trip schedules generated by the software, this paper proposes two approaches for improving the efficiency of paratransit operations and estimates the benefit of using these approaches via experiments that utilize Metro Mobility data. The first approach re-optimizes routes developed at the end of each day. The second approach evaluates the benefit to state agencies of selectively using non-dedicated service providers such as taxis. Both approaches are tested on actual data obtained from Metro Mobility. The study shows that a conservative estimate of savings from re-optimization would be approximately 5% of Metro Mobility’s operating costs. Savings from the use of taxis are smaller and in the range of hundreds of dollars per day.     

Route choice of cyclists in Zurich

This paper presents the first route choice model for bicyclists estimated from a large sample of GPS observations and overcomes the limitations inherent in the generally employed stated preference approach. It employs an improved mode detection algorithm for GPS post-processing to determine trips made by bicycle, which are map matched to an enriched street network. The alternatives are generated as a random sample from an exhaustive, but constrained search. Accounting for the similarity between the alternatives with the path-size factor the MNL estimates show that the elasticity with regards to trip length is nearly four times larger than that with respect to the share of bike paths. The elasticity with respect to the product of length and maximum gradient of the route is small. No other variable describing the routes had an impact. The heterogeneity of the cyclists is captured through interaction terms formulated on their average behaviour.     

Estimation of the effects of aircraft noise on residential satisfaction

This study assesses the effects of aircraft noise on residential satisfaction, an important indicator of subjective well-being. A structural equation model is specified that estimates the relationships between objective variables, noise annoyance variables and residential satisfaction. Secondary data-analysis is used to estimate the model. The survey was conducted in 1996/1997 among the population living within a 25-km radius of Amsterdam Schiphol, the largest airport in the Netherlands. The effect of aircraft noise annoyance is found to be relatively small. In addition, the objective level of aircraft noise exposure is found to be a better predictor of residential satisfaction than its subjective counterpart. The most important determinants of residential satisfaction are found to be road traffic noise annoyance, age and neighbor noise annoyance.