Some observed details of freeway traffic evolution

Certain details of traffic evolution were studied along a 2 km, homogenous freeway segment located upstream of a bottleneck. By comparing (transformed) cumulative curves constructed from the vehicle counts measured at neighboring loop detectors, it was found that waves propagated through queued traffic like a random walk with predictable statistical variation. There was no observed dependency of wave speed on flow. As such, these waves neither focused nor fanned outward and shocks arose only at the interfaces between free-flowing traffic and the back of queues. Although these traffic features may have long been suspected, actual observations of this kind have hitherto not been documented. Also of note, the shocks separating queued and unqueued traffic sometimes exhibited unexpectedly long transitions between these two states. Finally, some observations presented here corroborate earlier reports that, in unqueued traffic, vehicle velocity is insensitive to flows and that forward-moving changes in traffic states therefore travel with vehicles. Taken together, these findings suggest that certain rather simple models suffice for describing traffic on homogeneous freeway segments; brief discussion of this is offered in Section 5.     

Comparison of sediment profile image data with profiles of oxygen and Eh from sediment cores

A study of oil and gas development in the Gulf of Mexico provided a unique opportunity to compare data from sediment profile images (SPI) with that of sediment cores collected at locations in the central Gulf of Mexico from 1034 to 1175 m. Variables measured from SPI included sediment grain-size, sediment texture, apparent depth of oxygen penetration (aDOP) into the sediments, and parameters related to biogenic activity (tubes, burrows, feeding pits or mounds, and subsurface feeding voids). Variables measured from the sediment cores included sedimentation rate, dissolved oxygen profiles, and redox potential (Eh). There was a high degree of concordance between the two data sets based on correlation analysis. For example, the correlation between aDOP and maximum penetration of oxygen into the sediment was 0.69. For deep-sea sediment, SPI provides a means by which general geochemical conditions of near surface sediment can be remotely assessed providing a quick method for mapping surficial geochemistry over large areas.     

The acquisition of pre-trip information: A stated preference approach

This paper describes a study into the effects of pre-trip information on travel behaviour, carried out as part of the DRIVE project EURONETT. The aim of the study was to investigate travellers' requirements for different types of travel information and methods of enquiry and to relate the process of information acquisition to changes in travel behaviour. The study was carried out using a stated preference approach, built on the use of a microcomputer based simulation of an in-home pre-trip information system offering information on travel times from home to City Centre, by bus and car, at different times of the day. A novel feature of the stated preference exercise was that respondents effectively generated their own choice set of alternatives through the process of information acquisition. Surveys were undertaken in parallel in Birmingham and Athens, thus allowing a comparison to be made between behaviour in typical Southern and Northern European settings.The first part of the paper discusses some of the fundamental behavioural and modelling issues raised by the introduction of advanced traveller information systems. It then describes the study methodology and the stated preference experiment. Results are presented from an analysis of the information acquisition process itself and from choice models relating the acquired information to effects on different dimensions of travel behaviour.     

Travel demand model system for the information era

The emergence of new information technologies and recent advances in existing technologies have provided new dimensions for travel demand decisions. In this paper we propose a comprehensive travel demand modeling framework to identify and model the urban development decisions of firms and developers and the mobility, activity and travel decisions of individuals and households, and to develop a system of models that can be used by decision makers and planners to evaluate the effects of changes in the transportation system and development of information technologies (e.g. various tele-commuting, tele-services and Intelligent Transportation Systems).The implementation of an operational model system based on this framework is envisioned as an incremental process starting with the current best practice of disaggregate travel demand model systems. To this end, we present an activity-based model system as the first stage in the development of an operational model system.     

The Potential Economic Benefits of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems: The Southeast Atlantic Region

The Southeast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System (SEACOOS) collects, manages and disseminates coastal oceanic and atmospheric observation information along the Atlantic coast of the southeastern United States. This article estimates the benefits of SEACOOS information in eleven benefit categories. Following a methodology used in similar studies of other U.S. coastal regions, we evaluate the impacts of conservative changes in economic activity in each benefit category. The annual economic benefit of SEACOOS information is $170 million (2003 $), an estimate that falls between annual benefits of $33 million for the Gulf of Maine region and $381 million for the Gulf of Mexico.     

The case of Rochdale versus Rochdale

An examination of the problems facing marine training in Canada at present as compared to the marine training systems developed in the United Kingdom, Australia, China and at the World Maritime University in Sweden.     

Analyzing road safety in the United States

This paper reviews road safety performance in the United States. The paper develops a framework for assessing dimensions of road safety, and analyzes the importance of economic factors, travel patterns, demographics, road/traffic/vehicle technology, driver behavior, and public policy. Issues and challenges for future road safety research are discussed.     

A nationwide study of factors associated with household car ownership in China

Car ownership is growing very rapidly in China; whilst this is a reflection of sustained economic growth, it presents a major challenge to Chinese transport policymakers. The consequences of China's motorization also extend beyond the national borders, however, via mechanisms such as increased demand for new automobiles produced in North America and Europe and the global atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases. Chinese cities are also experimenting with innovative transport policies to manage increasing car ownership, which in a number of cases go beyond the menu of policy options that have traditionally been considered in the West. Despite policy interest for these reasons, China's motorization process is poorly understood, in part due to a scarcity of relevant data.This paper contributes to the body of literature regarding this phenomenon by drawing on a unique data resource: the 2011 wave of the China Household Finance Survey (n = 8438 households). This is a disaggregate national-scale survey dataset developed to monitor economic conditions in China, though to the authors' knowledge the CHFS has not previously been employed to study patterns of car ownership.We report a set of three analyses, to identify factors associated with: 1) whether a household owns at least one car, 2) multiple car ownership, and 3) whether a household owns a new car. Amongst other empirical results, we find that living in a rural area is negatively associated with car ownership, net of confounding effects, and that within towns/cities poor accessibility (i.e. long travel time) to the town/city centre is also negatively associated with car ownership. These findings regarding spatial effects are contrary to typical findings in the West, where car ownership is generally lowest in urban centres.An earlier version of this study was presented at the 2017 Transportation Research Board conference.     

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速度差与安全性有着直接的关系。传统方法以集计的运行速度差 作为速度一致性指标,容易陷入生态学谬论的误区,并且会高估道路的安全性能。本文比较了几种常用速度一致性评价方法的优劣,采用85位单车速度差85 作为出口匝道速度一致性指标,解析了85 ≥ 的关系。通过雷达对沪宁高速和南京绕城高速出口减速车道、匝道上半部以及匝道下半部单车速度的调查,得出连续路段的运行速度差 、85位单车速度差85 以及85位速度变化率85 R,验证了85 约为 的1.42~2.02倍,表明使用85 或者85 R作为速度一致性评价指标是更加可靠合理的。最后通过速度差以及速度差变化率大小分级,用三种方法综合判定了37个出口匝道的安全等级。