Large-scale road network vulnerability analysis: a sensitivity analysis based approach

Traditionally, an assessment of transport network vulnerability is a computationally intensive operation. This article proposes a sensitivity analysis-based approach to improve computational efficiency and allow for large-scale applications of road network vulnerability analysis. Various vulnerability measures can be used with the proposed method. For illustrative purposes, this article adopts the relative accessibility index (AI), which follows the Hansen integral index, as the network vulnerability measure for evaluating the socio-economic effects of link (or road segment) capacity degradation or closure. Critical links are ranked according to the differences in the AIs between normal and degraded networks. The proposed method only requires a single computation of the network equilibrium problem. The proposed technique significantly reduces computational burden and memory storage requirements compared with the traditional approach. The road networks of the Sioux Falls city and the Bangkok metropolitan area are used to demonstrate the applicability and efficiency of the proposed method. Network manager(s) or transport planner(s) can use this approach as a decision support tool for identifying critical links in road networks. By improving these critical links or constructing new bypass roads (or parallel paths) to increase capacity redundancy, the overall vulnerability of the networks can be reduced.     

Bicycle commuting in an automobile-dominated city: how individuals become and remain bike commuters in Charlotte,North Carolina

Transportation - In Charlotte, North Carolina less than one half of 1% of commuters ride a bicycle to work despite several decades of public investment in bicycle infrastructure and planning. Like...     

基于SVM的隧道衬砌空洞填充物雷达图像识别研究北大核心CSCD

衬砌背后空洞及其填充物对隧道结构安全具有重要影响,开展空洞探测识别对于结构安全评估和病害处置具有重要意义。首先采用室内试验和FDTD正演模拟相结合的方法,获得了空洞内填充空气、水、干砂、湿砂条件下的雷达图谱数据,并对不同填充物波形规律进行对比分析;然后,基于支持向量机算法对波形特征进行提取和分类识别,建立了一种空洞填充物的人工智能辨识方法。研究结果表明,采用傅里叶变换前的平均值、方差、平均绝对离差和傅里叶变换后的最大幅度值max(fft(X))四个统计量作为支持向量机的识别特征,可以有效区分出衬砌背后填充物的六种类型;当采取单一倾向数据时,识别准确率较好,六种物质二分类问题准确率均可以达到90%以上。     

新建地铁隧道近距离下穿运营地铁线路施工及安全管控北大核心CSCD

新建青岛地铁8号线青岛北站—沧口站区间近距离下穿既有运营地铁3号线,初期支护距3号线底板结构仅0.4 m,在不影响既有地铁3号线正常运营的前提下,施工难度极大。通过构建三维有限元模型,模拟新建线路下穿施工全过程,制定针对性措施:采用非爆破机械开挖减小震动;加强超前支护和及时支护封闭成环,控制沉降;自动化监测快速反馈3号线结构变形信息以指导现场施工。通过现场技术手段和安全管控手段,下穿施工期间3号线隧道结构最大沉降仅2.11 mm,道床最大沉降仅1.55 mm,满足沉降控制要求,施工期间未对地铁3号线的安全运营产生影响。相关工程经验可为今后小净距、小角度、长距离下穿既有运营地铁工程的设计、施工提供借鉴。     

Monocular visual servo-based stabilization control of underactuated unmanned surface vehicle北大核心CSCD

［Objectives ］ Aiming at the accurate posture stabilization problem of an under-actuated unmanned surface vehicle (USV) in GPS-denied environments, a monocular visual servo stabilization control scheme is proposed based on homography.［Methods］By virtue of the homography decomposition technique, posture errors with an unknown scale factor are directly reconstructed from current and desired images, which thoroughly removes the calibration of extrinsic camera parameters and priori information on visual targets; with respect to the under-actuation constraint, a periodic function to persistently excite the yaw angle is incorporated into the continuous time-variant output feedback controller, allowing the USV to be stabilized in the absence of image depth, movement velocities and model parameters.［Results］Under the framework of the Lyapunov theory, the closed-loop visual servo system of the USV is rigorously proven to be asymptotically stable by Barbalat lemma.［Conclusions］By installing an onboard monocular camera, USV posture errors can be precisely stabilized with the aid of the proposed visual servo strategy, providing significant technique support for practical applications including docking, berthing, dynamic positioning, etc. © 2022 Journal of Clinical Hepatology. All rights reserved.     

Marine Shoreline Management—A 35-Year Evaluation of Outcomes in San Juan County,Washington, US

In 1976, Washington became the first state to implement the federal Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) primarily through the 1971 WA Shoreline Management Act (SMA). However, there has been little effort in Washington to evaluate outcomes of shoreline protection programs post SMA. In 2006–2008, we characterized shoreline conditions in San Juan County over three time periods spanning pre and post SMA and engaged community members to improve effectiveness of shoreline protection. We found modest improvements in forest retention on marine shorelines between pre and post 1977, but few other improvements through time. While we could not measure shoreline construction rates, construction practices for shore armor and overwater structures (docks) have changed very little, despite the increased regulatory standards. The vast majority of shore armor constructed post SMA occurred without mandatory county or state permits likely due to: widespread perception that permits were unnecessary and that permit standards were arbitrary and inconsistently applied; poor understanding of shoreline ecology by community members; lack of county or state enforcement authority and shoreline monitoring programs; and poor permit tracking systems.     

Shifting urban freight deliveries to the off-peak hours: a review of theory and practice

This paper presents a comprehensive review of the literature on off-peak hour deliveries (OPHD). The review identifies different approaches and policy levers used in the past, such as the laissez-faire approach, a road pricing approach, an incentives approach, and a regulatory approach. The paper also identifies different delivery reception schemes discussed in the literature. The authors complement the theory with a synthesis of pilot tests and the analysis of a set of interviews with practitioners (from the public sector and other organisations) in charge of OPHD programmes. The results from this review show the potential benefits that these programmes could bring about, the challenges faced in the early stages – along with potential solutions – and the significant progress that has been made in this domain in the last decade. According to the review, the results from the pilot tests tend to be positive, suggesting the importance of these programmes to reach more efficient and sustainable transportation systems.     

Examination of factors affecting freeway incident clearance times: a comparison of the generalized F model and several alternative nested models

Traffic incidents are a principal cause of congestion on urban freeways, reducing capacity and creating risks for both involved motorists and incident response personnel. As incident durations increase, the risk of secondary incidents or crashes also becomes problematic. In response to these issues, many road agencies in metropolitan areas have initiated incident management programs aimed at detecting, responding to, and clearing incidents to restore freeways to full capacity as quickly and safely as possible. This study examined those factors that impact the time required by the Michigan Department of Transportation Freeway Courtesy Patrol to clear incidents that occurred on the southeastern Michigan freeway network. These models were developed using traffic flow data, roadway geometry information, and an extensive incident inventory database. A series of parametric hazard duration models were developed, each assuming a different underlying probability distribution for the hazard function. Although each modeling framework provided results that were similar in terms of the direction of factor effects, there was significant variability in terms of the estimated magnitude of these impacts. The generalized F distribution was shown to provide the best fit to the incident clearance time data, and the use of poorer fitting distributions was shown to result in severe over‐estimation or under‐estimation of factor effects. Those factors that were found to impact incident clearance times included the time of day and month when the incident occurred, the geometric and traffic characteristics of the freeway segment, and the characteristics of each incident. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estuary Management and Recreational Fishing Benefits

Recognition of the benefits to society supported by estuary ecosystem functions and services, and threats to these benefits posed by human activities, has led to various public programs to restore and protect estuaries at the federal, state, and local levels. As available budgets shrink, program administrators and public elected officials struggle to allocate limited restoration and protection funds to the highest priority areas. Economic benefit and cost information can provide useful inputs into this decision-making process by quantifying estuary restoration and protection benefits and costs in commensurate terms. In this paper, a combined actual and intended travel behavior model is described that can be applied to estimate the recreational fishing benefits of estuary restoration and protection. The model was estimated for recreational fishing in the Lower Atchafalaya River Basin estuary along the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, USA coast. Changes in freshwater flows into this estuary may affect redfish and speckled trout game fish populations. The model indicates that changes in catch rates of these two species would have a relatively minor affect on annual fishing trips per angler. However, because total effects may be large when effects per angler are aggregated across total anglers, resource management agencies should consider these changes in recreation benefits when evaluating projects that influence the ecology of coastal estuaries, fish populations, and catch rates. Moreover, in other coastal areas or situations, the responsiveness of angling trips to changes in catch rates may vary because of differences in user populations, environmental conditions, fish populations, and fishing experiences.     

Book review

According to the latest BIMCO and Drewry reports, there is a global shortage of officers for the worlds’ merchant fleet. This article focuses on the South African labour market for officers and examines some of the maritime education and training challenges facing these officers in accessing global labour markets. The paper argues that despite processes of globalisation, the nation state can still be an important actor in shaping global labour markets. Using a qualitative approach, interviews were conducted with 10 key informants in the maritime human resources management sectors in South Africa. Interview data was analysed and coded for themes using NVivo qualitative data analysis software (QSR International Pty Ltd., Version 10, London, UK). This was theoretically informed by Braun &; Clarke’s six-step method of thematic analysis. This was combined with a review of labour market statistics to demonstrate that the key challenges facing South African officers are the lack of training berth availability and the lack of South African ship ownership. The solutions adopted by the state includes a limited adoption of best practices adopted by global MET institutions in the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and Nigeria. The article contributes to filling the gap in empirical-based maritime studies that are located on Africa.