Transportation of dangerous goods by road: the Brazilian case for selection of carriers based on a risk management methodology

Abstract

This article applies a methodology for selecting carriers for the transportation of dangerous goods by road, with a special focus on risk management aspects. The methodology makes use of Stated Preference techniques and verifies the most critical risk-related variables influencing decision-making from the shippers' point of view. It embraces the planning and execution stages, an evaluation of the contracted company and a feedback process. The methodology was effectively applied to the case of liquid fuel shippers in the Brazilian middle-west region where it proved possible to identify which dangerous goods road transport company to contract in accordance with the risk management factors selected by the decision makers.     

The Measurement of Efficiency of UK Airports,Using a Stochastic Latent Class Frontier Model

Abstract

In this paper, the latent stochastic frontier model is used to estimate the technical efficiency of UK airports. These airports are ranked according to their technical efficiency for the period 2000–06 and the airports are disentangled and segmented by the cost frontier model, which leads us to advise the implementation of policies by segments. Economic implications arising from the study are also considered.     

Observations on the relationship between European standards for safety barrier impact severity and the degree of injury sustained

Road restraint systems are roadside structures that include safety barriers, crash cushions, terminal of barriers, the transitions among different road restraint systems, motorcyclist protection devices, etc. These systems are used to protect vehicle occupants from dangerous roadside elements and are a key issue in roadside safety.     

Transferability of sustainable urban mobility measures

This paper describes an approach developed to identify common elements of city performance that have transferability potential across a number of cities. The findings provide a wealth of information sourced from 200 measures in 19 European cities. A transferability framework is proposed, that uses ideas from traditional top-down approaches using city clustering to infer the transferability of measures, as well as elements of a bottom-up approach, based on the concept of “measure enabling context”. Systems' thinking diagramming was used to depict relationships between measures, drivers and barriers, portraying the feedbacks at work and the cause-effect relationships, to establish appealing preconditions for transferability.     

On the evaluation of a public transportation network quality: Criteria validation methodology

A public transportation network serves in adequate way a population if it evolves in time following the existent social reality. Changes made in order to improve service must be analyzed and evaluated. The introduction of modern technology to validate the fare card allowed a quick access to important, although incomplete, data. Databases with only the getting in validation information can be used to construct an origin–destination (OD) matrix, allowing a service quality analysis. Here it is presented a basic methodology to rigorously validate service quality criteria considering what might be interesting for the user. The quality analysis philosophy is the following. First, based on automatically gathered data, one reconstructs the origin–destination (OD) matrix, which contains information concerning the number of passengers traveling between zones of a certain region. The OD matrix is used to calculate some criteria characterizing the transportation network quality, such as traveling times, waiting times at a stop or transport occupation. The reconstructed OD matrix always contains errors, which cause errors in the criteria values. How significant are these errors? This question can be answered using our criteria validating methodology, which is based on statistical analysis. It has been implemented at the urban bus transport system of Porto, STCP, allowing the evaluation of the transportation network quality under a number of criteria and guaranteeing rigorous results.     

Centrality indicators as an instrument to evaluate the integration of urban equipment in the area of influence of a rail corridor

The objective of this work is to formulate a structure of procedures to support projects to integrate neighborhoods in the area of influence of railway corridors and the urban facilities around each station. Based on the concept of centrality, formulated mathematically by graph theory and with the support of a geographic information system (GIS), we propose interventions aiming to create a more harmonious urban environment better in tune with sustainable mobility. We highlight the relevance of quantitative approaches in the study of urban concepts to foster integration between transportation and urban development, as well as the potential of their application in various Brazilian metropolises having commuter rail systems that are currently underutilized and in the process of revitalization.     

Aggregation with multinomial probit and estimation of disaggregate models with aggregate data: A new methodological approach

This paper describes an analytic aggregation procedure for disaggregate demand models similar to the one proposed in earlier publications by Westin (1974) and McFadden and Reid (1975). The technique, which uses a multivariate normal approximation for the distribution of the vector of attributes, is based on the multinomial profit algorithm proposed by Daganzo, Bouthelier and Sheffi (1977) and can be applied to an arbitrary number of alternatives. The procedure is computationally so efficient that it enables us to calibrate disaggregate models with aggregate data by maximum likelihood using the same or slightly modified codes developed for disaggregated data. The paper also contains a small scale numerical example intended to illustrate the important highlights of the aggregation-estimation problem.     

Number and phylogenetic affiliation of bacteria assimilating dimethylsulfoniopropionate and leucine in the ice-covered coastal Arctic Ocean

The ability of bacteria to assimilate sulfur from dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) was examined in the western Arctic Ocean by combining microautoradiography and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Assimilation of leucine was also measured for comparative purposes since leucine is considered a universal substrate for bacteria, which use it for protein synthesis. Samples were collected at 3 m depth, through a hole in the ice, in the CASES (Canadian Arctic Shelf Ecosystem Study) overwintering station in Franklin Bay (eastern Beaufort Sea) in March and May 2004 to compare two contrasting situations: winter and early spring. FISH counts indicated that the bacterial assemblage consisted of α- (up to 60% of the EUB positive cells), β- (up to 10%) and γ-proteobacteria (around 20%), and Bacteroidetes (up to 60%). The β-proteobacteria were not active with any of the two substrates tested. The remaining groups were much less efficient at assimilating DMSP-sulfur (5% of the cells) than leucine (20–35%) both in winter and in spring. Only the Roseobacter group of α-proteobacteria showed a similar assimilation of both substrates.     

世界最大的蒸发器

稳定可靠的蒸发器是纸厂平稳运行的基石，随着设备呈大型化趋势，正确考虑设计和安装蒸发系统很有必要     

Capitalization of BRT network expansions effects into prices of non-expansion areas

A before and after hedonic model is used to determine the property value impacts on properties already served by the transit system caused by extensions to Bogotá’s bus rapid transit system. Asking prices of residential properties belonging to an intervention area (N = 1407 before, 1570 after) or a control area (N = 267 before, 732 after) and offered for sale between 2001 and 2006 are used to determine capitalization of the enhanced regional access provided by the extension. Properties offered during the year the extension was inaugurated and in subsequent years have asking prices that are between 13% and 14% higher than prices for properties in the control area, after adjusting for structural, neighborhood and regional accessibility characteristics of each property. Furthermore, the appreciation is similar for properties within 500 m and properties between 500 m and 1 km of the BRT.