Understanding suburban travel demand: Flexible modelling with revealed and stated choice data

We analyse the choice of mode in suburban corridors using nested logit specifications with revealed and stated preference data. The latter were obtained from a choice experiment between car and bus, which allowed for interactions among the main policy variables: travel cost, travel time and frequency. The experiment also included parking cost and comfort attributes. The attribute levels in the experiment were adapted to travellers’ experience using their revealed preference information. Different model specifications were tested accounting for the presence of income effect, systematic taste variation, and incorporating the effect of latent variables. We also derived willingness-to-pay measures, such as the subjective value of time, that vary among individuals as well as elasticity values. Finally, we analysed the demand response to various policy scenarios that favour public transport use by considering improvements in level-of-service, fare reductions and/or increases in parking costs. In general, demand was shown to be more sensitive to policies that penalise the private car than those improving public transport.     

Safety Management Evaluation in Bus and Coach Companies

Abstract

In recent years, different initiatives have been carried out to develop Safety Management System guides or standards for coach and bus companies. They all consist of a set of safety and management requirements to be followed by organizations. However, none of them offers a complete set of tools to evaluate the safety level of the company and find the main weak points in order to improve them. The INSIA (Automotive Research Institute of Madrid, Spain) has developed a complete model that includes not only a set of elements that determine the safety level of the company but also a set of indicators and criteria to evaluate these elements by a team of auditors. The model allows companies to measure their safety level, find the weakest points and propose improvement actions.     

Port choice in container market: a literature review

As a result of the intense changes occurring in port environment over the last decades, new models of competitiveness have been developed, where port authorities try to increase their attractiveness. In this context, one of the most debated issues in this area of research is still the role played by port authorities in defining port competitiveness. The aim of this paper is to provide a review of port choice literature enabling to identify the main port choice’s criteria in order to define the role played by Port Authorities and to point out future lines of research that should be undertaken to fully incorporate current ports’ environment and performance. The results show that although some studies point out the importance of geographical factors in port choice, a larger number of studies defend the increasing role played by port authorities in determining the competitiveness through investing in port infrastructure, improving port efficiency or hinterland accessibility. Despite the existing models contributing on this topic, there are still some gaps in terms of measuring the port performance, including port strategies and studying the port choice for specific industries.     

Latent lifestyle and mode choice decisions when travelling short distances

In the quest for sustainable travel, short distances appear the most amenable to curbing the use of the automobile. Existing studies about short trips evaluate the potential of shifting from the automobile to sustainable travel options while considering the population as homogeneous in its preferences and its tendency to accept these alternative travel options as realistic. However, this assumption appears quite unrealistic and the current study offers a different perspective: the mode choices when travelling short distances are likely related to lifestyle decisions. Short trip chains of a representative sample of the Danish population in the Copenhagen Region were analysed, and more specifically a latent class choice model was estimated to uncover latent lifestyle groups and choice specific travel behaviour. Results show that four lifestyle groups are identified in the population: car oriented, bicycle oriented, public transport oriented and public transport averse. Each lifestyle group has specific perceptions of travel time (with extremely different rates of substitution between alternative travel modes), transfer penalties in public transport trip chains, weather influence (especially on active travel modes), and trip purpose effect on mode selection. Consequently, when thinking about measures to increase the appeal of sustainable travel options, decision-makers should look at specific individuals within the population and more sensitive individuals to comfort and level-of-service improvements across the lifestyle groups.     

Methodology for calculating passenger capacity in bus rapid transit systems: Application to the TransMilenio system in Bogotá, Colombia

Transit textbooks and engineering manuals indicate that the capacity of Bus Rapid Transit –BRT – systems does not exceed 20,000 passengers per hour per direction. The implementation of the TransMilenio BRT System, in Bogotá, Colombia, showed that the systematic combination of multiple platforms at stations, overtaking lanes, level boarding, prepayment, large buses with multiple doors, express and local services, and traffic engineering measures at intersections, allow for very large passenger throughput. Measurements indicate actual throughput of 43,000 passengers per hour per direction with average bus occupancy of 150 passengers per articulated bus, and a commercial speed of 22–24 km/h. According to special formulas developed for the analysis of high capacity BRT corridors, the critical section of TransMilenio has a practical capacity of 48,000 passengers per hour per direction with its existing infrastructure and 150 passengers per bus – 35,000 passengers per hour per direction with 110 passengers per bus. Changes in existing infrastructure, such as additional platforms, higher capacity vehicles, non-grade facilities at critical intersections, among other improvements, may increase the capacity, speed, reliability and quality of service of the system.     

Marketing management at the world's major ports

Recent technological developments in maritime transport, particularly in container shipping and larger vessels, are having major repercussions at ports the world over. The latest wave of innovations has increased the level of competition in maritime transport, in particular in port activities. Shippers have many more alternatives available, something that tends to increase the hinterland of each port, precisely by reducing captive hinterlands. Ports are now generally moving towards formulas in which private initiative has a bigger role to play. Increases in competition combined with growth in private initiatives highlight the usefulness of marketing tools in two ways. Externally, because they help to achieve throughputs from remote points of origin and destination, and internally, by aiding the proper coordination of business and organizational activity at a commercial port. The present paper is a transversal study of the current situation of marketing and quality tools at major ports, including the opinions of a range of port commercial and marketing managers. We have also tried to describe the differentiated groups to be found at ports, as a useful methodology for identifying the nearest competition or ports with similar characteristics.     

Water masses and cyclonic circulation in Bay of La Paz, Gulf of California, during June 1998

The Bay of La Paz, a coastal and shallow basin of the Gulf of California (depth<420 m), exchanges mixed-layer waters with the Gulf of California predominantly through Boca Grande (Big Mouth), in the northeastern part of the bay. Equatorial Surface Water (ESW) flows from the gulf to the bay; once there, due to evaporation processes, this water increases its salinity above 35.00, therefore becoming Gulf of California Water (GCW) Mass. During June 1998, the baroclinic circulation in the bay was dominated by a cyclonic gyre. The hydrographic dome, related to this gyre, is depicted until approximately 150-m depth. However, the vertical mixing of water between the mixed-layer and the ones below practically does not occur because of the development of a sharp pycnocline. This fact and the isolation of the bottom of the bay by a bathymetric sill (approximately 250-m depth) at Boca Grande induce low oxygen content, particularly in the bottom-waters (O₂<0.1 ml/l). Chlorophyll values are higher and with larger vertical fluctuations within the Bay of La Paz than outside.     

Hydrographic structure and zooplankton abundance and diversity off Paita, northern Peru (1994 to 2004) — ENSO effects, trends and changes

The objective of the present study was to verify possible spatial, seasonal, and inter-annual changes in the zooplankton off Paita (northern Peru), an upwelling area located closely to the limits of cold Humboldt Current and warm Equatorial Surface Waters. Zooplankton was sampled at subsurface on 53 occasions from August 1994 to December 2004 at four stations located 2 to 30 km offshore with a WP-2 net (300 µm). Extremely high surface water temperatures combined with low salinities were observed during the 1997/98 El Niño up to 29.0 °C) and in April 2002 (up to 25.0 °C). Temperatures more than 2 °C above monthly average were also observed in October 1994, in April 2000, and in November 2004. Significant trends were observed for oxygen concentration (increase) and several horizontal and vertical gradients. Among the copepods (72% of all individuals), the most abundant species were Paracalanus parvus (28%), Acartia tonsa (26%), and Calanus sp. (10%). The strong 1997–98 El Niño (EN) event led to drastic changes in species composition that were reversed during the 1998–99 La Niña (LN) event. Community parameters such as total abundance, diversity, equitability and species richness displayed marked variations associated with the 1997–98 EN and long-term trends. Long-term trends were significant for several vertical and horizontal temperature and oxygen gradients, indicating an increase in upwelling intensity at the shelf during the study period. 10-year-trends were also significant for total zooplankton abundance (increase) and community evenness (J, decline). Our data confirmed the importance of the weak EN in 2002/03 for the study region. Within the trend of increasing zooplankton abundance, a sharp step or shift was observed from 1999 to 2000. When using sequential t-tests to detect shifts in (x + 1) transformed abundance data, a significant rupture was found between the last sampling in 1999 and the first sampling in 2000. Also, a substantial decrease in diel variability occurred after 1999, probably due to changes in vertical migration patterns. The considerable increase in zooplankton abundance over the study period, the ENSO effect, and the 1999–2000 transition are discussed with regard to synchronicity with other zooplankton time series. The present study contributes with the first evidence from an important area located in the Humboldt Current for synchronous trends and changes that were previously observed elsewhere in the Pacific. Our results demonstrated the importance of long-term zooplankton monitoring studies in upwelling areas, and confirms the idea of dramatic changes in pelagic ecosystem structure occurring in the East Pacific.     

The Brazilian National Plan for Coastal Management (PNGC)

The article is divided into three clearly defined sections. The first outlines the Brazilian National Coastal Zone Management Plan. The second offers a critical assessment of its introduction. To conclude, some general considerations are made. In this way, the author aims to achieve two objectives: to disseminate the aforementioned plan and offer a critical opinion of it.