Applications of transport economics and imperfect competition

The great majority of analyses made in transport economics use, explicitly or, more often, implicitly, the common assumption of perfect competition. This is the case, for instance, when infrastructure projects are evaluated using the mere sum of the surpluses of transport users and providers. Even when putting aside the question of externalities such as noise, safety or environmental quality, the real chain of economic interactions that takes place in transport provision or downstream of transport provision is not taken into account. Surely enough, describing and simulating this chain could be quite complex. Nevertheless, it is not uninteresting to try to estimate if it does make a big difference or not to make this approximation. The paper makes such an attempt for two broad kinds of applications of transport economics:     

Forecasting automobile petrol demand in Australia: An evaluation of empirical models

Transport fuel consumption and its determinants have received a great deal of attention since the early 1970s. In the literature, different types of modelling methods have been used to estimate petrol demand, each having methodological strengths and weaknesses. This paper is motivated by an ongoing need to review the effectiveness of empirical fuel demand forecasting models, with a focus on theoretical as well as practical considerations in the model-building processes of different model forms. We consider a linear trend model, a quadratic trend model, an exponential trend model, a single exponential smoothing model, Holt’s linear model, Holt–Winters’ model, a partial adjustment model (PAM), and an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model. More importantly, the study identifies the difference between forecasts and actual observations of petrol demand in order to identify forecasting accuracy. Given the identified best-forecasting model, Australia’s automobile petrol demand from 2007 through to 2020 is presented under the “business-as-usual” scenario.     

Underwater acoustic imaging: image due to a specular reflector in the geometrical-acoustics limit

In underwater acoustic imaging, which is used to produce high-quality images in turbid waters, a specular reflector can produce a “pseudoimage” of the receiving array at the reflecting surface. Based on the “geometrical approximation” (which is similar to geometrical acoustics), formulae are derived for the size and shape of the pseudoimage for both flat and curved reflectors. For curved reflectors, described by two principal radii of curvature, the formulae also assume the “large-range approximation.” The formulae allow radii of curvature to be determined from an image. Also discussed briefly are some possible extensions and the role of nongeometrical effects.     

管线三维建模及可视化分析

管线是主要的城市基础设施之一，管线三维建模与可视化是构建“数字城市”的重要内容。采用断面与体面三角剖分拟合方法构建弯曲管线、三连通管线的三维模型，给出建模的方法和步骤，以OpenGL作为三维图形应用程序接口，实现管线三维建模及可视化。     

抗车辙MPE改性沥青混合料性能研究

采用MPE和SBS两种改性剂,对比研究了基质沥青、MPE改性沥青与花岗岩碎石的黏附性;加抗剥落剂的基质沥青、加抗剥落剂的SBS改性沥青和MPE改性沥青与酸性花岗岩碎石混合料的路用性能.研究结果表明:(1)MPE改性沥青和花岗岩碎石的黏附等级为5级;(2)掺加MPE的沥青混合料,在60℃条件下的动稳定度超过6 000次/mm,在70℃条件下的动稳定度超过5 000次/mm,在80℃条件下的动稳定度超过2 000次/mm;(3)马歇尔稳定度比基质沥青混合料提高35％,比掺加5％ SBS的改性沥青混合料提高23％;(4)浸水残留稳定度达到98％,比基质沥青混合料提高11％,比SBS改性沥青混合料提高5％;(5)冻融劈裂残留强度比达到97％,较基质沥青混合料提高8％.     

Measuring unobserved prices using the structural time-series model: The case of cycling

This study presents a means of determining a historic (generalised cost based) price index for cycling in the UK for the period 1949–2006 using annual demand data. By specifying demand as a function of generalised price and income and then applying a structural time-series model to elucidate the unobserved component of prices (while controlling for observed income levels), it is illustrated that the role of prices in influencing demand is non-trivial. Over the sample period price responses generally influence demand for cycling to a greater extent than income effects.     

编制机车周转图的优化模型

指派问题算法模型和最小费用最大流模型是机车周转图优化的基本算法和模型,对解决部分双机牵引情况下的机车运用优化问题,具有一定的局限性。通过建立线性整数规划模型,可以解决铁路现场出现的列车运行图成对或不成对,列车单机牵引、全部双机牵引或部分双机牵引等多种情况下的机车周转方案的优化问题。为了简化求解过程,提高模型的实用性,在保持通用性的前提下,先后将整数规划模型转化为最小费用循环流和最小费用给定流模型。实际应用表明,最小费用给定流模型除了以上多种情况外,还可以解决客货分别勾画机车交路的优化运用问题。由于最小费用给定流模型具有很强的通用性,简化了程序设计工作,应用该模型并结合铁路实际情况开发的软件已在乌鲁木齐铁路局经过现场测试,使用情况良好。     

Cosh窗函数改进及其在舰船振动分析中的应用

窗函数设计在振动故障诊断、噪声处理等舰船工程领域有重要价值。针对Cosh窗性能特点,提出了一种新的组合改进方法,一方面增强了Cosh窗的旁瓣抑制能力,另一方面扩大了组合改进窗函数的适用范围。改进后的窗函数表达式简单,计算量较小。试验证明,新窗函数应用于舰船电机振动信号频谱分析,与Cosh窗函数对比,可使能量泄漏大大减少,频率分辨性能更高。     

桥梁下部结构型式与特点分析

对桥墩、桥台等桥梁下部结构的结构型式及其构造特点进行介绍和分析,指出其各自的适用情况,可供同行参考。     

散装货物运输中水尺计重研究

通过对水尺计重的原理及方法的研究,分析了在水尺计重过程中产生误差的主要原因;结合实践经验,阐述了作为承运人代表的船舶大副在水尺计重中应注意的一些事项,以免承运人在水尺计重这一工作中遭受不必要的损失。