Transport state enterprises: the Canadian experience

Abstract

In most economies, the ownership and control of state enterprises has been an important government policy instrument. This has been particularly true in the transportation sector in which governments have intervened extensively through the acquisition and creation of state enterprises. While the genesis of and rationale for transportation state enterprises have varied from country to country and even from time to time within each country, at present, most governments do exercise a significant degree of ownership and control in transportation. Some of these enterprises enjoy monopoly status and others are in competition with and behave similarly to their private sector counterparts.

Consequently, and in recent years, questions have been raised about government intervention in the market‐place as it relates to effective management control and accountability of state enterprises. Questions have also been raised about the continuing need for transportation state enterprises and some governments have promoted some form of divestiture (privatization).

This paper addresses the accountability and control of transportation state enterprises based on the Canadian experience. It discusses their role and policies related to diversification, financing and divestiture, and the need for development of a performance framework.     

Trend analysis of activity generation attributes over time

Activity generation models are relatively poorly developed in activity-based travel demand modelling frameworks. This research investigates whether observed distributions of activity attributes (activity frequency, start time and duration) used as inputs in the activity generation component of an activity-based travel demand model have changed over time. This research empirically examines changes in the distributions of activity generation attributes over time in the Greater Montreal area (GMA), Quebec, Canada. It also focuses on how these attributes vary with peoples’ socio-demographic characteristics. This research relies on the 1998, 2003 and 2008 origin–destination (O–D) household travel surveys of the GMA. The comparative analysis at three time points in a 10-year period clearly reveals that distributions of activity attributes are significantly changing over time. Work and school activities show similar trends; frequency “1” has increased and frequency “2+” has decreased over time. The occurrence of shopping activity on weekdays is decreasing over time. Start time and duration distributions for each activity have also changed significantly over time. The research allows preparing activity attributes for the application of an activity-based model, TASHA, such that they reflect temporal changes in travel behaviour of the GMA.     

Questioning the need for full amortization in PPP contracts for transport Infrastructure

PPP contracts most often have durations of between 20 and 35 years, but in some cases even longer. The main reason for this is the wish of the Public side to minimize its financial contribution, by including in the contract many years of revenue generation by the project to help cover the investment contribution of the private partner. Implicit however is the need to fully amortize the initial investment, which in many countries is even included in the relevant legislation.PPP contracts are normally framed around the delivery of a range of services during the lifetime of the contract, those services requiring the initial construction or recovery of an expensive infrastructure. The specification of the financial clauses of the contract requires the estimation of demand for those services over the period of the contract and this is usually taken as the major incidence of uncertainty in the contract. Indeed, experience shows that demand forecasts often fail substantially, in many cases by more than 20%, mostly by excess, as State side project promoters (and the bidding private partners) tend to be excessively optimistic about the development of such demand.But when we consider the nature of these contracts we should recognize the existence of at least two other very important types of uncertainty: first, the socially desirable scope and specification of the services to be offered as technology and social preferences evolve; and second, the policy guidelines relative to the total quantity and the social distribution of those services, as that quantity may be causing congestion in other parts of the system, or it may become important to (positively or negatively) discriminate some user segments.In both cases, it is almost impossible to foresee at the time of writing the initial contract if, when and in what direction such types of socially beneficial changes in the provision of the services would intervene, but this rigidness may bear a great loss of social welfare in relation to a more adjustable framework. This criticism affects not only PPPs but all kinds of concession contracts with long duration, so it is not the “partnership” element that must be questioned but rather the duration of the contract.An alternative way is relatively straightforward: abandon the assumption that these contracts must provide full amortization of the infrastructure, which allows adoption of contracts with a shorter life, and the use of multiple such contracts over the lifecycle of the infrastructure.The first generation contract would still have to face the full cost of the construction, but the private partner would receive the unamortized part at the end of that contract, to be paid by the State, directly from the public budget if no more private participation is wanted, or indirectly through the acquisition fee for the contract to be paid by the partner to the second life segment. But, crucially, the State recovers the right to re-specify the terms of the service to be provided without the need for any indemnity, and also the uncertainty associated with the evolution of demand in that period will be much smaller, as this will be my then a mature system in operation.This may seem to increase the transaction costs for the State as more contracts (although of a similar type, especially from the second onwards) may have to be negotiated and signed. But if we take into consideration the difficulties of the frequently needed renegotiations of long duration contracts and the conditions of asymmetry of information in which the State normally finds itself in such cases, we will conclude that, besides avoiding the loss of welfare due to the poor fit of the contract after 20 years or so, this solution after all may also reduce the transaction costs associated with negotiations over the duration of the traditional contracts.     

Différences de sexe et rôle de l’internalisation des règles sur la propension des enfants à prendre des risques à vélo

The objective of this study is to explore gender differences and effect of internalization of traffic rules on children’s propensity to take risks as cyclists. Risk perception, internalization of traffic rules, and self-reported risk-taking propensity as cyclist were measured in a questionnaire among 145 children (86 boys and 59 girls) aged 9 to 12. The results show gender differences in cycling rules internalization, risk perception, and risk-taking propensity as cyclist. Furthermore, the results show that internalizing traffic rules is a better predictor than biological sex of the propensity to take risks as cyclist.     

Daily and seasonal variations of the partial pressure of CO2 in surface seawater along Belgian and southern Dutch coastal areas

The variations of the partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂) and related parameters were determined in surface seawater along the Belgian coast, from January 1995 to June 1996, at both daily and seasonal time scales. The distribution of pCO₂ in this area is regulated by river input from the Scheldt, biological activity and hydrodynamics. The contribution of each of these processes varies as a function of the considered time scale: (i) the daily variation of pCO₂ depends on the tide although modulated by the biological diel cycle; (ii) the seasonal variation of pCO₂ depends on the input from the Scheldt and the seasonal variations of phytoplanktonic biomass. During winter, the plume of the river Scheldt is oversaturated in pCO₂ with respect to the atmosphere. During spring and summer, phytoplankton blooms occur both in the lower Scheldt estuary and in the river plume and may lead to undersaturation of pCO₂ in the easternmost area of the river plume. However, the degradation of phytoplankton induces oversaturation of pCO₂, in the westernmost area of the plume. Furthermore, the inter-annual variation of pCO₂ depends partly on the fluctuations of the discharge of the Scheldt. Our preliminary results strongly suggest that, on an annual basis, the Scheldt plume behaves as a net source of CO₂ to the atmosphere.     

机械电子技术在未来铁道车辆中的应用与发展(待续)

全面介绍了机械电子技术在未来铁道车辆特别是悬挂系统、牵引系统和制动系统中的应用和发展。     

直流车辆用蓄能器

直流车辆用文中所述的蓄能器能在显著降低功率消耗的同时,又在节能方面迈出了重要一步,而且车辆可在局部无接触导线区运行.样车试验证实了这些设想.     

基于全矢量显式算法的双相流填充数值模拟

基于模拟填充过程显式算法,提出用于模拟双相流的全矢量化运算显式算法。在双相流混合理论的基础上,对各类双相流填充及组份分离现象进行模拟。为高效求解耦合的Navier Stokes方程,新算法中的矩阵操作仅在单元一级进行,避免全局求解,使全局操作完全矢量化。新算法的另一显著优势,是采用等阶插值的普通单元,使不可压缩条件通过反馈修正的方法得到满足,通过系统化的光顺处理来避免由于应用等阶插值而导致的自锁。由于全局操作完全矢量化,计算代价与节点的自由度近似成正比,可实现高效的双相流填充及组份分离现象的模拟,满足工业应用中模拟复杂实际问题的需要。     

Development of an Energy Efficiency Design Index for Inland Vessels of Bangladesh

More than 10000 different types of ship ply the waters of Bangladesh all year round, but the performance of these ships in terms of CO2 emission is not known an...     

轨道交通的产学研新模式——麻省理工学院/波多黎各地铁项目简介

波多黎各于20世纪90年代初才开始发展城市轨道交通,但因为善于利用后发优势,通过产学研的结合,充分考虑了地铁工程的多学科特性,走出一条有波多黎各特色的道路,成为美国和国际公共交通领域技术交流的典范.主要介绍了其产学研的项目,它由负责地铁项目的政府主管部门、波多黎各大学和美国麻省理工学院共同组织实施,历经地铁前期规划、修建、调试、运营和政策分析等全部过程,共13年的时间.这种方式提高了工程的质量和施工效率,推动当地轨道交通辅助产业的发展,加快了新技术的应用及研究,培养了一大批轨道交通的规划运营人才,为拉丁美洲城市轨道交通建设提供了一个新模式.波多黎各的经验对于我国当前的城市轨道交通建设同样具有借鉴意义.