Automated driving and autonomous functions on road vehicles

In recent years, road vehicle automation has become an important and popular topic for research and development in both academic and industrial spheres. New developments have received extensive coverage in the popular press, and it may be said that the topic has captured the public imagination. Indeed, the topic has generated interest across a wide range of academic, industry and governmental communities, well beyond vehicle engineering; these include computer science, transportation, urban planning, legal, social science and psychology. While this follows a similar surge of interest – and subsequent hiatus – of Automated Highway Systems in the 1990s, the current level of interest is substantially greater, and current expectations are high. It is common to frame the new technologies under the banner of ‘self-driving cars’ – robotic systems potentially taking over the entire role of the human driver, a capability that does not fully exist at present. However, this single vision leads one to ignore the existing range of automated systems that are both feasible and useful. Recent developments are underpinned by substantial and long-term trends in ‘computerisation’ of the automobile, with developments in sensors, actuators and control technologies to spur the new developments in both industry and academia. In this paper, we review the evolution of the intelligent vehicle and the supporting technologies with a focus on the progress and key challenges for vehicle system dynamics. A number of relevant themes around driving automation are explored in this article, with special focus on those most relevant to the underlying vehicle system dynamics. One conclusion is that increased precision is needed in sensing and controlling vehicle motions, a trend that can mimic that of the aerospace industry, and similarly benefit from increased use of redundant by-wire actuators.     

印度对中国的畏惧蔓延至港口

印度对于与中国合作的重重顾虑——最初出于安全考虑，印度政府对中国公司在该国电信行业的影响倍感忧虑——如今这种安全忧虑已经蔓延到了港口运输业。Gordon Feller为您报道。[编按]     

Governance for Sustainable Coastal Futures

The mobile nature of soft coasts means that coastal communities face uncertainty in their property values and peace of mind when the existing coastal defense is lowered or removed. The acceptance by the U.K. government that coastal realignment in areas of low population density and limited ecological value is unavoidable means that the current state of affairs, where coastal residents have broadly come to assume that they will be defended if they make enough fuss, cannot continue. The government is currently unwilling to confront this consternation and continues to refuse to pay compensation for lost property value. This is creating an outcry over loss of fairness of treatment. This dispute raises important questions of governance for coastal change. This participatory research project worked closely with English Nature, North Norfolk District Council, local residents associations, the Environment Agency, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. What emerged in the analysis were unresolved tensions between national strategic frameworks, emerging planning arrangements, changing economic assessments, and the desirability of delivering, through a number of public and voluntary agencies, local flexibility in participation and in coastal design. This article reports on the research process, the challenges for coastal governance, and the scope for creative partnerships between science, planning, policy delivery, and public acceptance.     

Short-sea shipping potentials in Central America to bridge infrastructural gaps

This paper addresses the situation of transport infrastructure in Central America, which poses issues of insufficiency, high-costs and lack of an integrated vision in a geographic region that is exposed to vulnerabilities due to its geological, geomorphologic and climatic conditions. The major efforts for regional integration with joint infrastructure in place seem to meet the criteria of high prioritization on ground transport and non-diversification of risk. This paper features the characteristics of the area and the potentiality of short-sea shipping to cover infrastructure deficits and the need for a more integrated planning of transport infrastructure services with better conditions to improve the regional economy competitiveness and the economic growth.     

IAME 2011 – contemporary studies on maritime transport in Latin America

Latin America and the Caribbean have evolved as a region of increased interest for the maritime and port industry as well as for academic research. Maritime transport activity in the region has experienced sustained growth rates over the last decades, resulting in ever-increasing demand for maritime services and port infrastructure. At the 2011 Annual Conference of the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), Latin America received significant attention. This editorial responds to growing research by giving a brief overview of the current situation and contemporary issues in maritime transport within the region. It also introduces the six selected papers for this Special Issue.     

The ‘safety in density’ effect for cyclists and motor vehicles in Scandinavia: An observational study

Safety in density (SID) potentially explains the safety in numbers (SIN) phenomenon by positing that ‘the SIN effect can be reproduced simply through encouraging behaviour that leads to the formation of higher-density cyclist groups’. The study further explores this hypothesis using event-based exposure, queues and groups of road users. Using three different definitions of encounters between road users, these were manually counted at signalized intersections, and their relationship to traffic volume was assessed. Based only on the frontmost motor vehicle in a queue and one cyclist among the several passing in front of that vehicle, the results show a less than linear relationship between meetings and traffic volume. An increase in the number of cyclists entails a general increase in cyclists passing in front of each motor vehicle, and an increase in motor vehicles increases queue lengths. However, crash data from the Swedish accident database (STRADA) show that it is exceedingly rare for multiple cyclists to be injured in the same crash. Together with results from a crash-encounter model, this suggests that the SID hypothesis may help to explain SIN     

Urban Space Distribution and Sustainable Transport

In many cities of the world, road space is increasingly contested. Growing vehicle numbers, traffic calming and the development of new infrastructure for more sustainable transport modes such as bicycles have all contributed to pressure on available space and conflicts over the allocation of space. This paper provides the first assessment of urban transport infrastructure space distribution, distinguishing motorized individual transport, public transport, cycling and walking. To calculate area allocation, an assessment methodology was developed using high-resolution digital satellite images in combination with a geographical information system to derive area measurements. This methodology was applied to four distinctly different city quarters in Freiburg, Germany. Results indicate that space is unevenly distributed, with motorized individual transport being the favoured transport mode. Findings also show that if trip number to space allocation ratios are calculated, one of the most sustainable transport modes, the bicycle, is the most disadvantaged. This suggests that area allocation deserves greater attention in the planning and implementation of more sustainable urban transport designs.