Pooling for the journey to work: The outlook in Great Britain

Pooling, or ride-sharing, is a term coined in the United States (U.S.) to describe various forms of collective travel organised for, and often by, specific groups of commuters with similar travel requirements. Its different forms include bus pooling (financially self-supporting works bus or commuter coach services), minibus pooling (van pooling in U.S. terminology) and car pooling. It has been claimed that these forms of collective travel offer a more personalised service than conventional stage carriage buses, and therefore have a greater chance of attracting solo car drivers and increasing vehicle occupancies. This, in turn, can lead to lower fuel consumption and reduced traffic congestion at peak times. Following the advent of oil shortages in the winter of 1973/74, considerable efforts were made in the U.S. to promote pooling initiatives. This gave rise to the publication of a substantial volume of literature that sometimes indicated significant resource-saving achievements. This paper considers the potential for bus, minibus and car pooling in Great Britain, drawing both on relevant theoretical and economic studies, and on practical operational experience. It concludes that under reasonable assumptions about the transport situation in the next decade or so, pooling could become increasingly useful for solving the travel problems of individual local groups, but that it is unlikely to become a major mode in terms of the numbers of trips carried. The effects of recent legislative changes are discussed, and the justification for further change assessed. Relevant comparisons are made with the U.S.Crown Copyright 1983. Extracts from the text may be reproduced, except for commercial purposes, provided the source is acknowledged.     

An Evaluation of Passive Automotive Suspension Systems with Variable Stiffness and Damping Parameters

Passenger discomfort, suspension working space and dynamic tyre loading parameters are calculated for different combinations of spring stiffness and damping coefficient representing the suspension system in a quarter car model subject to realistic random disturbance inputs from roads of widely differing quality. Sprung and unsprung masses and the tyre vertical stiffness and damping coefficient employed derive from a current production car. Designs which are best for the specific conditions represented are identified and their performance properties in other (off-design) conditions are considered, and conventional design is explained as the inevitable consequence of the need to compromise if fixed suspension parameters are used. Performance improvements possible if variable parameters can be employed are evaluated as a function of the ranges of variability provided, and a stratagem for controlling parameters is proposed.     

Productive efficiency and ownership of urban bus services

The established ownership mix of urban bus operations in Australia provides a unique opportunity to investigate the productivity differences between public and private bus service supply. Using duality theory in economics which links economic indices of factor productivity to the cost structure of a firm, we develop empirical measures of total and partial productivity of inputs, and adjust the differences for the effects of ownership status and operating environment. The evidence supports the notion that private supply of public passenger transport in general has performed more efficiently in the past than public supply, although the differences in productivity need not continue in the future.     

A Variable Free Control Characteristic Vehicle

A variable characteristic car (VCC) has been developed at Melbourne University for driverlvehicle handling research. The vehicle is unusual in that it has facilities for varying both its fixed control and free control dynamic characteristics over wide ranges. In this paper the servo systems used to effect these changes are described. The calibration methods used to relate the vehicle response characteristics to the variable servo settings are detailed. Sample calibration results are given for the fixed control parameters steering ratio, yaw response time and stability factor. Calibration of the free control parameters is also described and results are given for the steering torque gradient, and the time-to-peak and percentage overshoot of the steering wheel motion in response to a step input of torque.     

为英国市场提供的改进型电动车组Desiro UK

Siemens公司为英国铁路区间交通开发了能适应当地各种不同需要的动车组家族Desiro UK.动车组设计考虑了两种不同的电流制、不同的车辆和列车长度以及端车的两种不同车头形式.主要影响牵引设备和车辆控制设计的准入程序是一特殊的挑战.     

Modeling and Dynamics of Friction Wedge Dampers in Railroad Freight Trucks

A mechanical model for the vertical response of the bolster and friction-wedge suspension elements in a railroad freight truck is developed. The model incorporates linear stiffnesses and dry friction contact between rigid elements. Numerical bifurcation diagrams for sticking events, obtained for parameterizations of the amplitude and frequency of a harmonic track excitation, and for various friction laws, reveal distinct parameter-dependent dynamic responses: strongly nonlinear stick-slip oscillations, observed away from period-1 resonance; and weakly nonlinear, nearly harmonic responses, observed near the period-one resonance. The analytical method of harmonic balance is applied to develop a first order approximation for the period-1 response, and, as should be expected, is found to correspond well with the numerical results in the large amplitude limit and near the resonance location. Given that such weakly nonlinear, large amplitude, period-1 responses are not common for the speeds and system parameters of most freight vehicles, we conclude that friction-wedge models based on some form of equivalent linearization may be inadequate for simulating freight car dynamics in many cases of practical importance.     

Shorter sea routes as a result of increasing cargo flows

This paper examines the apparent paradox involved in shipping lines responding to increasing cargo flows from Britain to mainland Europe by moving to shorter routes. Analysis shows, however, this move to be a logical and valuable defensive response by shipping lines but at a cost to the transport consumer.     

Contributors to this issue

Contributors to this issue     

Trip characteristics of selected israeli cities

Over the last 15 years travel patterns were investigated in 15 urban settlements in Israel. The results indicate an unusual combination of high trip generation by dwelling unit and low motorization rates.The diversity of socio-economic characteristics of population groups, as well as that of city size distribution, are reflected both in motorization rates and in trip generation.