The analysis of bus costs and revenues by time period

Bus operators serve many markets characterized both spatially and temporally. An objective of these companies is to tailor fares and service provision to these myriad markets. The past 20 years have seen an unprecedented desire by bus companies to analyse costs and revenues at the micro level to permit this tailoring. This was initially on a route‐by‐route basis and later on a time‐of‐day/day‐of‐week (or time period) basis. The methodology was developed in three stages: (1) apportioning methods for allocating costs and revenues to route level were developed in the United Kingdom and the U.S.A. in the period 1968 to 1974; (2) further developments post 1974 were chiefly in the U.S.A. and Australia and concentrated on prediction methods for incremental costs resulting from expanding/contracting service at particular times of day; and (3) there was a resurgence of interest in the U.K. post 1979 with analysis of both allocated and incremental costs and revenues. This assumed great practical interest with deregulation of the industry in 1986.

The paper traces the development of the literature over the period and indicates that costing methodologies have been extensively analysed but revenue methodologies are still in their infancy. On the costing side, two methodologies, one from the U.K. and one from Australia, are available. The paper describes these two techniques and, in comparing them, identifies a trade‐off between predictive accuracy and simplicity of application. The paper concludes that the development of micro‐level analytical techniques has proved to be both practical and desirable. Areas for potential future research are also identified.     

参数不确定及有扰动的情况下欠驱动遥控无人潜水器鲁棒性建模、滑模控制及仿真研究（英文）

A dynamic model of a remotely operated vehicle(ROV) is developed. The hydrodynamic damping coefficients are estimated using a semi-predictive approach and computational fluid dynamic software ANSYS-CFX~(?) and WAMIT~(?). A sliding-mode controller(SMC) is then designed for the ROV model. The controller is subsequently robustified against modeling uncertainties,disturbances, and measurement errors. It is shown that when the system is subjected to bounded uncertainties, the SMC will preserve stability and tracking response. The paper ends with simulation results for a variety of conditions such as disturbances and parametric uncertainties.     

Commercializing management and financing of roads in developing and transition countries

The road sector reforms undertaken by a growing number of developing and transition countries during the past 10-20 years are described. The problems these countries share with industrialized countries and the additional factors that also affect them--large backlogs of deferred maintenance, an acute shortage of funds and dysfunctional road agencies--are also described. The paper then describes how these countries have restructured road management by separating planning and management of roads from implementation of works, provided road agencies with more autonomy, created more effective oversight, introduced annual performance agreements and turned the road agency into a more commercial organization paying market-based wages. In relation to road financing, road tolls and toll roads are touched on briefly before the new style road funds that have recently been set up in these countries are detailed. The paper then describes how they were established and their basic operating modalities--revenues only from charges related to road use (with one notable exception), no abstraction of revenues from other sectors, proactive management and oversight provided by a board of directors that includes members nominated by road users and the business community.     

Port performance in Asia: Does production efficiency imply environmental efficiency?

Atmospheric and water pollution are two main sources of negative environmental externalities generated by shipping. This study recognizes the negative externalities in the production of port services in East Asia by explicitly incorporating environmental impacts of shipping. Programming techniques are used to analyze 156 Origin–Destination pairs between 13 major East Asian ports, to derive the externality-augmented measures of port productivity and efficiency at the waterside. The results suggest that the inclusion of externality mitigation strategies can exert a considerable influence on efficiency performance.     

Study on Tire Dynamic Cornering Properties Using Experimental Modal Parameters

Based on the modeling of tire vertical characteristics and steady cornering properties, the model of tire nonsteady cornering is established in this paper using tire modal parameters extracted experimentally. In order to consider the influence of tire rolling effect on its cornering properties, the induced transfer function is introduced. The analytical formulae for calculation of transfer-function of lateral force and self-aligning torque with respect to lateral displacement and yaw angle are derived. The nonsteady cornering characteristics of tire under different loads can be calculated. The results of calculation are consistent with the experimental ones in the literature. The influence of rolling speed on tire cornering properties including the static case is analyzed. The nonsteady cornering properties in high frequency range are given by the model. The study demonstrates the consistency between steady and nonsteady tire modeling by using modal parameters.     

Validating the results of a route choice simulator

This paper describes the validation of a route choice simulator known as VLADIMIR (Variable Legend Assessment Device for Interactive Measurement of Individual Route choice). VLADIMIR is an interactive computer-based tool designed to study drivers’ route choice behaviour. It has been extensively used to obtain data on route choice in the presence of information sources such as Variable Message Signs or In-Car Navigation devices. The simulator uses a sequence of digitized photographs to portray a real network with junctions, links, landmarks and road signs. Subject drivers are invited to make journeys between specified origins and destinations under a range of travel scenarios, during which the simulator automatically records their route choices. This paper describes validation experiments carried out during the period Summer 1994 to Autumn 1995 and reports on the results obtained. Each experiment involved a comparison of routes selected in real life with those driven under simulated conditions in VLADIMIR. The analysis included investigation of the subjects’ own assessment of the realism of the VLADIMIR routes they had chosen, a comparison of models based on the real life routes with models based on VLADIMIR routes, and a statistical comparison of the two sets of routes. After an extensive series of data collection exercises and analyses, we have concluded that a well designed simulator is able to replicate real life route choices with a very high degree of detail and accuracy. Not only was VLADIMIR able to precisely replicate the route choices of drivers who were familiar with the network but it also appears capable of representing the kind of errors made and route choice strategies adopted by less familiar drivers. Furthermore, evidence is presented to suggest that it can accurately replicate route choice responses to roadside VMS information.     

Transport studies research in U.K. universities

British universities have entered a period of crisis. The outward manifestation of the current malady has appeared as a general cut-back in university spending. Until two or three years ago, most universities looked forward to a modest growth in activity. This has now been changed and the expectations of growth have been replaced by the reality of consolidation and modest decline. However, the universities are not alone in their dilemma. The general downturn in economic prosperity has left few institutions unscathed. Most universities, both in Britain and abroad, have therefore been forced to review their expectations and their ongoing commitments in teaching and research. The review of university activity goes much deeper than the immediate problems of finance. The current soul-searching has been sparked off by the crisis of finance, but has roots which go much deeper and touch on the very fundamentals of university education itself. In a sense, one is witnessing a belated form of public accountability: what is the purpose of a university; should its subjects be demonstrably relevant (both in themselves, as well as in their capacity to prepare students for a career); should universities engage in research and, if so, should it complement their teaching functions or be additional to it? These, and many other issues, are currently being discussed, and it is specifically with reference to their role in the field of transport research that this paper is addressed.     

硒对克山病区粮饲养大鼠心肌细胞的影响——超微结构及膜通透性的改变

本实验用克山病区低硒粮饲养大鼠,造成动物低硒状态,同时增设补硒组和常备饲料组大鼠作为对照,饲养2个月后,应用示踪剂分别观察其心肌细胞超微结构及膜通透性。结果低硒组大鼠部分心肌细胞膜不完整,镧颗粒进入到细胞内。钌红使质膜染色呈中等电子密度的不均匀窄带,并经质膜破损处进入心肌细胞内。补硒组大鼠变化轻微。提示克山病区粮可引起大鼠早期心肌细胞超微结构及膜通透性的改变,补硒可使之缓解或改善。     

Evaluation of the Transferability of Incident Detection Algorithms Developed for Singapore Expressways

ABSTRACT

Two new detection algorithms, single-station DV (dual-variable) and dual-station CODE (COmbined Detector Evaluation) were developed earlier using 160 incidents collected along Singapore's Central Expressway (CTE). The transferability of these CTE-developed algorithms is assessed, as a case study, using 100 incidents collected from the Tullamarine Freeway and South Eastern Freeway in Melbourne, Australia. The investigation covers the differences in traffic detector systems (loop detectors versus video-based), road geometry and behaviour between drivers in Singapore and Australia. The re-calibrated application of these algorithms to freeways in Melbourne yielded a reasonably good detection performance as well as satisfying the average expected performances of seven traffic management centres surveyed in the USA. The results suggested that the detection logic of the algorithms developed for CTE possessed reasonably good transferability and are also suitable for receiving traffic inputs from video-based detectors as well as from loop detectors.     

Adoption of Internet Services in Liner Shipping: An Empirical Study of Shippers in Taiwan

Abstract

The Internet service attributes desired by shippers were examined as well as a model that seeks to explain the intention of shippers to use Internet services in liner shipping. Using data collected from a survey of a group of shippers in Taiwan, the relationships among the constructs in the model were tested, namely: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, security and use intention. The results suggest that shippers perceive tracing to be the most important service attribute of Internet services, followed by checking for customs clearance, vessel schedules and electronic document services. The findings indicate that perceived ease of use is the major factor affecting the intention of shippers to use Internet services, and that perceived ease of use has a strong positive effect on perceived usefulness. The results also indicate that security has a positive effect on a shipper’s perception of ease of use. However, the influence of security on use intention and perceived usefulness was not supported in this study. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings on the intention of shippers to use Internet services in liner shipping are discussed.