Correlates of bicycling trip flows in Hamilton,Ontario: fastest,quietest, or balanced routes?

Transportation - Bicycling is an increasingly popular mode of travel in Canadian urban areas, like the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). While trip origins and destinations can be inferred...     

Impacts of urban built environment on empty taxi trips using limited geolocation data

This study identifies the determinants of the empty taxi trip duration (ETTD) by combining three high-resolution databases—geolocation data in New York City, geodatabase of urban planning data, and transportation facilities data. Considering the nature of duration data, hazard-based duration model is proposed to explore the relationships between causal factors and ETTD, coupling with three variations of baseline hazard distribution, i.e., Weibull distribution with heterogeneity, Weibull distribution, and log-logistic. Furthermore, the likelihood ratio test is presented to implement comparisons of three baseline hazard distributions, as well as spatial and temporal transferability of causal factors. The results show significant complementary effects by subway system and competitive effects by city bus and bicycling system, as well as significant impacts of trip length, airport trip, average annual income, and employment rate. Urban built environment, for instance, density of road, public facilities, and recreational sites and ratio of green space, has various impacts on ETTD. The elasticity estimations confirm significant spatial and temporal heterogeneity in impacts on ETTD. In addition, the analysis on elasticity also reveals the considerable impacts of severe traffic congestion on ETTD within Manhattan. The modeling can assist stakeholders in understanding empty taxi movements and measuring taxi system efficiency in urban areas.     

The continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone: the problem of delimitation at UNCLOS III

If the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea succeeds in adopting a new Caracas Convention on the Law of the Sea, it is likely to embody detailed provisions on the delimitation of both the continental shelf and the new zone, the exclusive economic zone. In this paper, the most recent draft of these rules—contained in the Revised Single Negotiating Text—is subjected to a detailed and critical scrutiny which leads to the conclusion that the Sixth Session of the Conference still has a great deal of work to do before agreement can be reached on a satisfactory set of rules.     

Plate scanning tools to obtain travel times in traffic networks

The management of vehicle travel times has been shown to be fundamental to traffic network analysis. To collect travel time measurement, some methods focus solely on isolated links or highway segments, and where two measurement points, at the beginning and at the end of a section, are deemed sufficient to evaluate users' travel time. However, in many cases, transport studies involve networks in which the problem is more complex. This article takes advantage of the plate scanning technique to propose an algorithm that minimizes the required number of registering devices and their location in order to identify vehicles candidates to compute the travel times of a given set of routes (or subroutes). The merits of the proposed method are explained using simple examples and are illustrated by its application to the real network of Ciudad Real.     

Nanoparticle emission characteristics and reduction strategies by boost pressure control and injection strategies in a passenger diesel engine

This research attempted to analyze nanoparticles and other harmful exhaust emissions in accordance with injection strategies and air-fuel ratio (AFR) changes for small diesel engines. The emission characteristics were analyzed in the medium-speed condition, which is the main driving range of a diesel engine. In the case of particulate matter (PM), the number of particles was measured, analyzed, and compared to identify the correlation and emission characteristics of nanoparticles by using a dilution device and condensation particle counter (CPC), which are international standards for particle measurement recommended by the Particulate Measurement Programme (PMP). The engine torque tended to be reduced as pilot injections were added, and the torque was increased by the increased boost pressure, but reduced by the exhaust pressure increase in a part of the low-load range. The number of nanoparticles was not influenced greatly by the change in AFR, but the reduction effect on the PM weight was great depending on the boost pressure increase. In addition, the number of nanoparticles tended to increase as the fuel injection timing became closer to TDC in all conditions, and its difference became larger with an increase in AFR. In addition, in the case of the pilot injection, nanoparticle emission showed similar characteristics depending on the main injection timing, but it was increased by advanced injection timing when performing the main injection only, and the number of the nanoparticles increased as pilot injections were added. Last, the optimal conditions for EMS calibration were analyzed by selecting the conditions of torque reduction and NOx increase within 5 % from all of the engine operating conditions; optimized conditions are presented.     

A study on the stability of a motorcycle wheel–swingarm suspension with chain transmission

The present study describes a possible driving mechanism for a self-excited oscillation observed in motorcycle dynamics, often referred to as chatter. This phenomenon, affecting the performance of road racing motorcycles, has been simulated in straight running braking manoeuvres with multibody motorcycle models. It involves rear suspension bounce and driveline oscillation in the frequency range between 17 and 22?Hz. A simplified model of a motorcycle rear suspension with chain transmission is proposed and its stability in equilibrium configurations is studied via eigenvalue analysis. The sensitivity with respect to all its governing parameters is analysed by means of stability maps and the self-excitation mechanism is explained with the aid of energy balance analysis and phase diagrams. It is found that the key role for the instability onset is played by the gradient of the nonlinear characteristic slip function of the tyre.     

Insights into vehicle trajectories at the handling limits: analysing open data from race car drivers

Race car drivers can offer insights into vehicle control during extreme manoeuvres; however, little data from race teams is publicly available for analysis. The Revs Program at Stanford has built a collection of vehicle dynamics data acquired from vintage race cars during live racing events with the intent of making this database publicly available for future analysis. This paper discusses the data acquisition, post-processing, and storage methods used to generate the database. An analysis of available data quantifies the repeatability of professional race car driver performance by examining the statistical dispersion of their driven paths. Certain map features, such as sections with high path curvature, consistently corresponded to local minima in path dispersion, quantifying the qualitative concept that drivers anchor their racing lines at specific locations around the track. A case study explores how two professional drivers employ distinct driving styles to achieve similar lap times, supporting the idea that driving at the limits allows a family of solutions in terms of paths and speed that can be adapted based on specific spatial, temporal, or other constraints and objectives.     

低阻通风船体的远程控制测试平台开发（英文）

This paper addresses the development and testing of a remotely controlled boat platform with an innovative air-ventilated hull. The application of air cavities on the underside of ship hulls is a promising means for reducing hydrodynamic drag and pollutant emissions and increasing marine transportation efficiency. Despite this concept’s potential, design optimization and high-performance operation of novel air-cavity ships remain a challenging problem. Hull construction and sensor instrumentation of the model-scale air-cavity boat is described in the paper. The modular structure of the hull allows for easy modifications, and an electric propulsion unit enables self-propelled operation. The boat is controlled remotely via a radio transmission system. Results of initial tests are reported, including thrust, speed, and airflow rate in several loading conditions. The constructed platform can be used for optimizing air-cavity systems and testing other innovative hull designs. This system can be also developed into a high-performance unmanned boat.     

台北公共交通月及无车日活动回顾与展望

台北国际无车日自2002年起举办了5次,由最早的骑自行车活动扩大至包含“走路上学日”与“公共交通月”丰富多彩的系列活动,渐渐获得民众认同。无车日活动的目标是通过活动的倡导和社会参与来改变民众使用交通工具的行为,潜移默化的效应可促使形成可持续交通政策,当可持续交通政策与基础设施建设落实后又可具体改变交通环境,形成良性的循环机制。首先说明了“无车日”的由来,并回顾台北都会区过去5年来举行无车日系列活动的内容与经验,同时基于活动的发展与成果归纳出无车日活动的成功要素,最后提出未来活动将扩大举办的内容、方式与展望,以期能为其他城市作参考。     

山区峡谷非均匀风场下大跨度斜拉桥静风稳定性分析

为研究山区峡谷地形下非均匀风场对大跨度桥梁静风稳定性的影响,以一座跨越典型山区峡谷地形的大跨度斜拉桥为工程背景,首先,采用计算流体动力学（CFD）软件Fluent对桥址区地形的风场特性进行分析,计算出沿主梁方向的非均匀风速和非均匀风攻角分布;然后,采用ANSYS APDL技术实现能考虑非均匀风速和非均匀风攻角下大桥静风稳定性的非线性分析方法。在此基础上,综合考察非均匀风攻角分布、非均匀风速分布、非均匀风速非均匀风攻角分布等风场条件对大桥静风稳定性的影响,分析各工况下主梁的静风变形与跨中处拉索刚度变化。研究结果表明：与均匀风场条件下的静风响应不同,非均匀风攻角或非均匀风速下主梁静风响应最大值点位于风荷载峰值点与跨中之间,在针对非均匀风场下大桥的静风稳定性分析时,应更注重静风响应最大值点而不是跨中处;非均匀风攻角下大桥的静风失稳临界风速要远低于均匀风攻角的静风失稳临界风速,且其静风稳定性能主要受最大风攻角而不是主跨部分非均匀风攻角的平均值来控制;非均匀风速下大桥的静风失稳临界风速主要由主跨部分的风速平均值和最大值共同影响;主梁的竖向位移和扭转角形状主要由风攻角因素来控制,而横向位移的变化规律相对较独立,其形状基本上以跨中线对称,且其值主要由风速因素来决定。