An Evaluation of the Accessibility Benefits of Commuter Rail in Eastern Massachusetts using Spatial Hedonic Price Functions

We estimate spatial hedonic price functions to examine local and regional accessibility benefits of commuter rail service in Eastern Massachusetts, while controlling for proximity-related negative externalities and other confounding influences. The data include 1,860 single-family residential properties from four municipalities with commuter rail service, and three municipalities without commuter rail service. We find some evidence of the capitalization of accessibility to commuter rail stations. Two model specifications suggest that properties located in municipalities with commuter rail stations exhibit values that are between 9.6% and 10.1% higher than properties in municipalities without a commuter rail station. With a third model we detect weak evidence of the capitalization of auto access time or walking time to the stations, suggesting that properties located within a one-half mile buffer of a station have values that are 10.1% higher than properties located outside of this buffer area and that an additional minute of drive time from the station is related to a decrease of 1.6% in property values. Our results also indicate that proximity to commuter rail right-of-way has a significant negative effect on property values, which suggests that for every 1,000 ft. in distance from the commuter rail right-of-way, property values are between $732 and $2,897 higher, all else held equal. At the mean sample values, this result translates into an elasticity of between 0.03 and 0.13, depending on the functional form of the hedonic price equation.     

The numerical friction line

This paper presents a study on the numerical calculation of the friction resistance coefficient of an infinitely thin plate as a function of the Reynolds number. Seven eddy-viscosity models have been selected: the one-equation turbulence models of Menter and Spalart–Allmaras; the k-ω two-equation model proposed by Wilcox and its TNT, BSL and SST variants and the two-equation model. The flow has been computed at 14 Reynolds numbers in sets of seven geometrically similar Cartesian grids to allow a reliable estimation of the numerical uncertainty. The effect of the computational domain size has been reduced to negligible levels (below the numerical uncertainty). And the same holds for the iterative and round-off errors. In the finest grids of each set, the numerical uncertainty of the friction resistance coefficient is always below 1%. Special attention has further been given to the solution behaviour in the laminar-to-turbulent transition region. Curve fits have been applied to the data obtained at the 14 Reynolds numbers and the numerical friction lines are compared with four proposals from the open literature: the 1957 ITTC line, the Schoenherr line and the lines suggested by Grigson and Katsui et al. The differences between the numerical friction lines obtained with the seven turbulence models are smaller than the differences between the four lines proposed in the open literature.     

The <Emphasis Type="Italic">Santiago Panel</Emphasis>: measuring the effects of implementing Transantiago

Although panels offer significant advantages over cross sectional data especially in terms of evaluating the effects of significant policy changes, there are precious few examples of panels built around an important change to an urban transport system. For this reason we took the opportunity of the introduction of Transantiago, a radically new public transport system for Santiago de Chile in February 2007, to form a panel, the first wave of which was taken in December 2006. The final objective was to use this Santiago Panel to estimate mode choice models considering both inertia and policy effects. This document describes both the design and construction of the panel, and presents some results based on an analysis of its four waves; for example, we registered a high percentage of mode change (55.1%) attributable to the introduction of the new system. The panel can claim the highest response rate (or lowest attrition) reported in the literature (95% in the second wave, 92% in the third one, and 85% in the forth one). This hints at the possibility of developing sophisticated models to evaluate the effects of a system shock in the presence of inertia in decision making.     

Constrained nested logit model: formulation and estimation

A model of traveller behaviour should recognise the exogenous and endogenous factors that limit the choice set of users. These factors impose constraints on the decision maker, which constraints may be considered implicitly, as soft constraints imposing thresholds on the perception of changes in attribute values, or explicitly as hard constraints. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) To present a constrained nested logit-type choice model to cope with hard constraints. This model is derived from the entropy-maximizing framework. (2) To describe a general framework to deal with (dynamic) non-linear utilities. This approach is based on Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Spaces. The resulting model allows the dynamic aspect and the constraints on the choice process to be represented simultaneously. A novel estimation procedure is introduced in which the utilities are viewed as the parameters of the proposed model instead of attribute weights as in the classical linear models. A discussion on over-specification of the proposed model is presented. This model is applied to a synthetic test problem and to a railway service choice problem in which users choose a service depending on the timetable, ticket price, travel time and seat availability (which imposes capacity constraints). Results show (1) the relevance of incorporating constraints into the choice models, (2) that the constrained models appear to be a better fit than the counterpart unconstrained choice models; and (3) the viability of the approach, in a real case study of railway services on the Madrid–Seville corridor (Spain).     

Total cost minimizing transit route structures considering trips towards CBD and periphery

The total cost minimizing approach to design transit systems is extended here beyond the usual dimensions of fleet (frequency) and vehicle size in order to examine the most appropriate spatial setting of transit lines as well. Motivated by the case of large cities in Latin America, characterized by high volumes of relatively long urban trips, we analyze the best ways to provide public transport services in a simplified urban setting represented by an extended cross-shaped network, where short trips (periphery–center) and long trips (periphery–periphery) coexist, generating economies of density. Three families of strategic lines structures are compared: mostly direct, feeder–trunk and hub and spoke. For each structure fleet and vehicle sizes are optimized, considering total (users’ and operators’) costs. The best structure is found parametrically in total passenger volume, the proportion of long trips and the value of the transfer penalty. The advantages of each dominating structure are explained in terms of factors like idle capacity, waiting or in-vehicle times and number of transfers.     

The taxi industry: working conditions and health of drivers,a literature review

The taxi industry plays an important role in urban transportation systems, both in economic and mobility terms. In the case of the former, it provides employment for a large number of people and circulates significant amounts of money. In the case of the latter, it is a flexible means of transportation capable of arriving at any destination. Although the way the taxi industry is organised varies across countries and even within countries, some factors are shared at varying latitudes of the globe. Working conditions, habits, health, and exposure to road crashes have been a subject of interest for researchers from various disciplines, including medicine, psychology, and economics. However, much of this research focuses on a part of the problem and is not mutually referential. A review of the literature may be useful not only to researchers of diverse disciplines but also to industry representatives and those public officials responsible for transportation, road safety and health policy. This article provides a comprehensive review of the working conditions of taxi drivers, their relationship to road risk exposure and their consequences on the health of workers. It also includes information on coping strategies and protective behaviors. The review is based on a Scopus database search. The search covered the period from 1990 to 2015. This initial search was complemented with other database searches, which yielded some additional studies. Our goal was to summarise existing knowledge, identify possible lines of research and suggest some practical recommendations. It would be important (a) to reduce the workload, establish adequate time for breaks, and provide access to healthcare, (b) to implement actions to promote and maintain healthy habits, (c) to diagnose, detect and treat indicators of occupational fatigue and stress, and (d) to develop programs that make it possible to evaluate work concerns and broaden coping strategies to foster positive changes.     

The nexus between port governance and performance

The diversity of port governance models in the world, sometimes even within the same country, has aroused the interest of researchers. This study is based on contingency theory to support the port governance model. The purpose is to understand the port governance model and the relation with port performance. There are three objectives: to analyze the port governance mechanisms; to analyze the port performance factors; and to understand the influence of the governance model mechanisms on port performance. A factorial analysis was used to determine the main components, and the methodology of the structural equation model was used to analyze a survey sample of 105 valid responses from specialists and managers of port user’s companies that operate in the main Portuguese ports. This study demonstrates that port governance model influences directly the port performance. The main contribution of this paper to the literature is providing a set of factors that public managers may decide when changing the characteristics of the port governance models to ensure their performance. It was also observed the approximation of the port expert vision of port governance with models described in literature.     

Perceptions of Threats Facing Cabo de Palos - Islas Hormigas MPA and Potential Solutions

Many marine protected areas (MPAs) face a multitude of threats to the ecosystems that they have been established to conserve. This study is based on 111 interviews conducted in 2013–2014 designed to discover the perceptions of stakeholders about the threats, the causes of the threats, and their responses to the threats, to a well-established MPA – Cabo de Palos - Islas Hormigas (CPH-MPA). This MPA was created to safeguard fisheries and the associated artisanal fishers, but over time it has become a tourism “hotspot.” Resilience theory, which incorporates ecological resilience, social resilience, and individual resilience, helps us to analyze stakeholders' responses to threats by categorizing them into passive, adaptive, and transformative responses. We found respondents identified four main threats – over-fishing, excessive scuba diving, pollution, and invasive species; attributed the threats to three main causes – ineffective management, poor environmental stewardship, and climate change; and expressed three kinds of responses – do nothing, adapt, or transform – with a preference for adaptation and (especially) transformation. The lesson of this study is that it shows how, unless drastic action is taken to curb recreational diving activities, the CPH-MPA is in danger of changing from a fishing reserve to a largely unregulated leisure diving venue, which is unlikely to fulfill the requirements of resilience; ecological, social, or individual.     

Environmental rail charges in Europe: a review

European legislation implies the use of marginal social cost pricing in rail access charges levied on rail operators. Thus, they may include specific environmental charges to internalise the impacts of rail transport. However, when applying these principles in practice, several difficulties call for second-best settings adapted to the particularities of the rail market. In this context, few European railway administrations are already implementing rail access charges with an environmental dimension. This paper reviews the literature on the issue and assesses the current European experience in noise and air pollution rail charges. For this purpose, an analytical framework is built on the definition of four basic dimensions: charging approach, allocation of abatement efforts, degree of differentiation and intermodal approach. The qualitative examination of the existing systems suggests that the level of environmental surcharges can be generally increased given the low substitutability between rail and road and that the range of abatement possibilities should be enlarged by further differentiating charges. It is also found that the pricing scope should be adapted to achieve particular cost-efficient allocations of abatement efforts among rail operators and upstream agents. Finally, further research requirements for a quantitative assessment are defined.     

Assessing the influence of indicators’ complexity on hybrid discrete choice model estimates

Transportation - Hybrid discrete choice (HDC) modeling requires indicators to allow for the identification of latent variables. An indicator usually expresses the level of agreement of a respondent...