Physical environments influencing bicyclists’ perception of comfort on separated and on-street bicycle facilities

This study investigates the impacts of physical environments on bicyclists’ perceptions of comfort on separated and on-street bicycle facilities. Based on a field investigation conducted in Nanjing, China, we find that physical environmental factors significantly influencing bicyclists’ perception of comfort on the two types of facility. Cyclists’ comfort is mainly influenced by the road geometry and surrounding conditions on physically separated paths while they pay attention to the effective riding space and traffic situations on on-street bicycle lanes.     

Modelling the impact of weather conditions on active transportation travel behaviour

Three weather sensitive models are used to explore the relationship between weather and home-based work trips within the City of Toronto, focusing on active modes of transportation. The data are restricted to non-captive commuters who have the option of selecting among five basic modes of auto driver, auto passenger, transit, bike and walk. Daily trip rates in various weather conditions are assessed. Overall, the results confirm that impact of weather on active modes of transportation is significant enough to deserve attention at the research, data collection and planning levels.     

船用控制台电磁兼容结构设计探讨

随着现代计算机网络技术和智能控制技术的不断进步,对电气控制设备箱体电磁兼容的要求越来越高。本文结合某电磁兼容控制台提出了一种电磁兼容的台体结构设计与同行探讨:设计横截面呈"U"字形及平面矩形的不锈钢框架,与碳钢材料台体壳壁门框孔处以焊接形式固定,配置电磁兼容密封材料,形成完整的电磁兼容结构。实践证明:电磁干扰测试和电磁敏感度测试符合设备正常工作要求,结构简洁,可靠性好,便于MACAD制造。     

电子差速系统轮胎附着特性模拟仿真研究

电子差速系统相对于传统的机械式差速器可以实现转矩的精准分配,根据轮胎的纵向运动特性以及侧向运动特性,结合轮胎滑移率让内外侧车轮在过弯时拥有足够的附着力,减小整车的横摆角速度,提高过弯稳定性。采用后轮双电机的驱动方案,驱动电机采用直接转矩控制的方法,由整车控制器将指定的计算转矩信号发送给电机控制器完成动力分配,所需转矩根据驾驶员的加速踏板及方向盘转角,运用阿克曼转向模型计算得到。     

Developing an enhanced weight-based topological map-matching algorithm for intelligent transport systems

Map-matching (MM) algorithms integrate positioning data from a Global Positioning System (or a number of other positioning sensors) with a spatial road map with the aim of identifying the road segment on which a user (or a vehicle) is travelling and the location on that segment. Amongst the family of MM algorithms consisting of geometric, topological, probabilistic and advanced, topological MM (tMM) algorithms are relatively simple, easy and quick, enabling them to be implemented in real-time. Therefore, a tMM algorithm is used in many navigation devices manufactured by industry. However, existing tMM algorithms have a number of limitations which affect their performance relative to advanced MM algorithms. This paper demonstrates that it is possible by addressing these issues to significantly improve the performance of a tMM algorithm. This paper describes the development of an enhanced weight-based tMM algorithm in which the weights are determined from real-world field data using an optimisation technique. Two new weights for turn-restriction at junctions and link connectivity are introduced to improve the performance of matching, especially at junctions. A new procedure is developed for the initial map-matching process. Two consistency checks are introduced to minimise mismatches. The enhanced map-matching algorithm was tested using field data from dense urban areas and suburban areas. The algorithm identified 96.8% and 95.93% of the links correctly for positioning data collected in urban areas of central London and Washington, DC, respectively. In case of suburban area, in the west of London, the algorithm succeeded with 96.71% correct link identification with a horizontal accuracy of 9.81 m (2σ). This is superior to most existing topological MM algorithms and has the potential to support the navigation modules of many Intelligent Transport System (ITS) services.     

Multi‐objective highway alignment optimization using a genetic algorithm

The available highway alignment optimization algorithms use the total cost as the objective function. This is a single objective optimization process. In this process, travel‐time, vehicle operation accident earthwork land acquisition and pavement construction costs are the basic components of the total cost. This single objective highway alignment optimization process has limited capability in handling the cost components separately. Moreover, this process cannot yield a set of alternative solutions from a single run. This paper presents a multi‐objective approach to overcome these shortcomings. Some of the cost components of highway alignments are conflicting in nature. Minimizing some of them will yield a straighter alignment; whereas, minimizing others would make the alignment circuitous. Therefore, the goal of the multiobjective optimization approach is to handle the trade‐off amongst the highway alignment design objectives and present a set of near optimal solutions. The highway alignment objectives, i.e., cost functions, are not continuous in nature. Hence, a special genetic algorithm based multi‐objective optimization algorithm is suggested The proposed methodology is demonstrated via a case study at the end.     

The Alternative Motor Fuels Act, alternative-fuel vehicles, and greenhouse gas emissions

The corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard is the major policy tool to improve the fleet average miles per gallon of automobile manufacturers in the US. The Alternative Motor Fuels Act (AMFA) provides special treatment in calculating the fuel economy of alternative-fuel vehicles to give manufacturers CAFE incentives to produce more alternative-fuel vehicles. AMFA has as its goals an increase in the production of alternative-fuel vehicles and a decrease in gasoline consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This paper examines theoretically the effects of the program set up under AMFA. It finds that, under some conditions, this program may actually increase the production of fuel-inefficient gasoline vehicles, gasoline consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.     

The impact of climate change and weather on transport: An overview of empirical findings

This paper presents a survey of the empirical literature on the effects of climate change and weather conditions on the transport sector. Despite mixed evidence on many issues, several patterns can be observed. On a global scale especially shifts in tourism and agricultural production due to increased temperatures may lead to shifts in passenger and freight transport. The predicted rise in sea levels and the associated increase in frequency and intensity of storm surges and flooding incidences may furthermore be some of the most worrying consequences of climate change, especially for coastal areas. Climate change related shifts in weather patterns might also cause infrastructure disruptions. Clear patterns are that precipitation affects road safety by increasing accident frequency but decreasing severity. Precipitation also increases congestion, especially during peak hours. Furthermore, an increased frequency of low water levels may considerably increase costs of inland waterway transport. Despite these insights, the net impact of climate change on generalised costs of the various transport modes are uncertain and ambiguous, with a possible exception for inland waterway transport.     

Severity of injury resulting from pedestrian–vehicle crashes: What can we learn from examining the built environment?

This paper examines the impact of personal and environmental characteristics on severity of injuries sustained in pedestrian–vehicle crashes using a generalized ordered probit model. The data covers 2000–2004 of pedestrian–vehicle crashes taken from police incident reports for Baltimore City and supplemented with local land use, urban form and transportation information specific to the individual crash locations. The results on personal and behavioral variables confirm previous findings. Women pedestrians involved in crashes tend to be injured less frequently than their male counterparts; children have an increased likelihood of sustaining injuries and older persons are more likely to be fatally injured. Pedestrians who cross against the traffic signal, are not in a crosswalk and are involved in a crash after dark are associated with greater injury risk. Of the built environment policy variables of interest, transit access and greater pedestrian connectivity, such as central city areas, are significant and negatively associated with injury severity. These results suggest that the environmental conditions should be given more scrutiny and be an important consideration when evaluating and planning for pedestrian safety.     

船用往复泵管路减振技术研究

船舶往复式水泵管路振动一直是国内有待解决的难题，本文在分析往复式舱底泵管路振动产生机理的基础上，针对往复式水泵管路振动特性，运用近年来研制的一些新型管路减振元件，如袖套式挠性接管、管路消振器、管路流体压力蓄能器等，对往复式水泵管路振动进行试验研究，为管路减振设计提供了有意义的参考依据。