What is paratransit worth?

Paratransit is a flexible demand-responsive form of public transportation intended for transporting mobility impaired individuals. This is the first study that estimates both demand and cost functions for publicly provided paratransit in the United States and the first to conduct a benefit-cost analysis for this mode. We find that the benefits of paratransit far exceed its associated costs. The results suggest that paratransit riders have few transportation alternatives available to them. We also find that the level of service matters in the demand for paratransit.     

Overcoming Governance and Institutional Barriers to Integrated Coastal Zone,Marine Protected Area,and Tourism Management in Sri Lanka

One of the major barriers to addressing complex social–ecological issues through integrated coastal management (ICM) is a lack of intergovernmental coordination and cooperation (horizontal and vertical fragmentation). This article describes an effort to overcome the barriers to ICM in Sri Lanka by fostering intergovernmental collaboration and initiating adaptive governance to restore one town, Hikkaduwa, and its associated marine protected area (MPA) and coastal zone habitats. Administrators from 12 national and local governmental agencies that are responsible for aspects of coastal management in the town of Hikkaduwa participated in a series of formal and informal workshops and a week-long tour of ICM projects in the Philippines. Outcomes demonstrate that these informal and formal meetings, workshops, and travel experiences fostered trust, social capital, and attitudinal organizational commitment (AOC). The experiences motivated members to overcome vertical and horizontal governance fragmentation through the formation of an independent intergovernmental committee for the restoration of Hikkaduwa into a sustainable and resilient community. ICM activities undertaken by the newly formed organization suggest that internal leadership capacity, effective local–national partnerships, explicitly linked ecological–economic projects, and long-term commitment are necessary conditions for success. Overall, attainment of sustainability and resilience through successful ICM should be thought of as a journey and not a destination.     

Abrolhos 2000 : Conserving the Southern Atlantic's Richest Coastal Biodiversity into the Next Century

The Abrolhos bank, an area of continental shelf off the coast of Bahia, Brazil, has the most biologically diverse coral reefs in the entire southern Atlantic Ocean. The coral reefs and nearby coastal ecosystems constitute a global conservation priority and are the target of the Abrolhos 2000 project, initiated by Conservation International as part of its global marine conservation strategy. Although portions of the Abrolhos reefs are located within a marine park, they are not afforded adequate protection due to insufficient conservation resources and a failure to be part of a broader integrated coastal management program. Through partnerships with government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, local communities, the private sector, and other stakeholders, Abrolhos 2000 is working to provide these needs while establishing local capacity for conserving coastal and marine ecosystems. The project's initial successes provide examples of useful strategies for making integrated coastal management work in the context of emerging economies.     

Developing intermodal transport for small flows over short distances

Intermodal road-rail freight transport works best within markets with relatively large flows occurring over long distances, which corresponds poorly to the current demand for transport in the European Union. The purpose of this paper is to compare the capabilities of conventional European intermodal transport, with special reference to the competitiveness in markets with small flows over short distances, and to explore innovative concepts. Using a technological systems approach, key functions are identified as being the inducement and blocking mechanisms that affect the development and diffusion path of this 'small flows over short distances' (SFSD) system, providing a tool for empirical delineation of the system. These concepts are illustrated and analysed through a case study of the Swedish development project Light-combi. The results show that market and financial uncertainties, insufficient network connectivity and policies favouring the existing technology paradigm, severely hamper the development and diffusion of SFSD systems.     

Digging Deep: Managing Social and Policy Dimensions of Geoduck Aquaculture Conflict in Puget Sound,Washington

Shellfish aquaculture can result in conflicts among stakeholders who perceive impacts and tradeoffs regarding sense of place, aesthetic, recreational, economic, and ecological values. Pacific geoduck clams (Panopea generosa Gould 1850) are grown in intertidal plots using gear- and labor-intensive techniques that result in a high value export product. A confluence of issues has resulted in on-going social and legal tensions surrounding geoduck aquaculture in southern Puget Sound, Washington (WA), USA. Using interviews and document analysis, we explored stakeholder perspectives and policy issues related to geoduck aquaculture in southern Puget Sound. Twenty-three stakeholders were interviewed, including state agency employees, representatives of the aquaculture industry, nongovernmental organizations, landowners, a tribal member, and an academic. Nine state hearings board decisions on challenges to aquaculture permits were also analyzed. Stakeholders articulated a variety of perspectives regarding aesthetic, recreational, land-use, ecological, political, regulatory, and economic aspects of geoduck aquaculture activities. Hearings board cases addressed similar issues (aesthetic, ecological, and recreational), as well as challenges to restrictions on aquaculture. Potential strategies for managing this conflict include emphasizing best management practices, identifying and incorporating best available science, joint fact-finding approaches, and initiating and improving communication among all stakeholders.     

Key Issues in Raise Boring of Super-deep Vertical Shafts of CCS Hydropower Station in Ecuador北大核心CSCD

The CCS Hydropower Station in Ecuador is a water diversion type power station, in which two superdeep vertical shafts with depth of 537.9 m are arranged. After comparison of alternative options, a new type of 1088DC RHINO raise boring machine was chosen to construct the vertical shafts. The construction process with the raise boring machine is divided into 3 stages, i.e. pilot hole construction by forward drilling, pilot shaft construction by reverse expanded excavation and shaft construction by manual expanded excavation. In view of the problems of buried drill bits and pilot hole deflection in the first stage, the problems of shaft collapse and cutter damage in the second stage, and the problems of collapse, water inflow and shaft blocking in the third stage, some preventive and treatment measures were proposed based on causes analysis, and good construction effect was achieved. The success- ful construction of super-deep vertical shafts at CCS hydropower station with raise boring method is significant to improve the construction level of deep shafts of domestic water conservancy and hydropower engineering, and the re- lated research can provide a reference for the similar shaft engineering construction. © 2018, Editorial Office of "Modern Tunnelling Technology". All right reserved.     

Elderly travel frequencies and transport mode choices in Greater Rotterdam,the Netherlands

Demographic ageing is a key societal challenge in Europe as well as in many other western and non-western societies. A crucial dimension concerns elderly daily mobility patterns. While still partaking fewer and shorter trips than younger generations, today’s elderly have been found increasingly (auto)mobile. Although the elderly benefit from the independence, freedom of movement, and social inclusion, concerns may rise regarding the environmental and accessibility impacts of this induced mobility. The present study adds to the expanding literature on elderly mobility, an integrated analysis of the effects of socio-demographic, health, trip, spatial and weather attributes on elderly mobility. Utilizing travel diary data for Greater Rotterdam, The Netherlands, trip frequencies and transport mode choices of the elderly are analysed by means of zero-inflated negative binomial models as well as multinomial logit regression models, and contrasted to the non-elderly subpopulation to explore (dis)similarities. While the results show common determinants, the models also highlight important differences in the magnitude of the estimated coefficients and factors only influencing transport patterns for the elderly. Embedded in the context of an aging population, the empirical findings assist policy-makers and planners in several respects: For transportation plans and programs it is critical to recognize mobility needs of the elderly. As the seniors are becoming increasingly automobile, the results call for strategies to encourage older people to use more physically active and environmentally friendly transport modes such as public transport, walking and cycling.     

Experimental Investigation of a Hydraulic Turbine for Hydrokinetic Power Generation in Irrigation/Rainfall Channels

The development of microchannels with open flow for use in irrigation and rainy areas is challenged by electricity generation via hydrokinetic devices in shallo...     

A porous cell method for the simulation of fluid-solid interactions

There are many ways of describing a solid,porous or fluid region of the computational domain when solving the Navier-Stokes equations(NSE)for flow motions.Amongst these the porous cell method is one of the most flexible approaches.In this method,a parameter is defined as a ratio of the volume open to water and air in a calculation cell to its cell volume.In the calculation,the same numerical procedure is applied to every cell and no explicit boundary conditions are needed at solid boundaries.The method is used to simulate flow through porous media,around solid bodies and over a moving seabed.The results compare well with experimental data and other numerical results.In our future work the porous cell method will be applied to more complex fluid-solid interaction situations.     

Dynamic Stability of Vehicle Systems via Poincaré Maps

Computer simulations of a driven vehicle are performed to assess and quantify the automobile stability. The analytical methodology is based on PoincarS maps and Floquet theory, which are commonly used to investigate the stability of periodic systems. The approach accommodates the study of the complex dynamics of vehicle locomotion under various configurations of the system. The proposed method does not require any knowledge regarding the inner structure of the vehicle model. Kinematic data is simply collected at the specific instants to conduct the analysis. It is found that this method has the potential for real time warning and control of vehicle instabilities.