Sustainable urbanization using high speed rail (HSR) in Karnataka,India

Considering the present trends of urbanization and motorization in India, there is an urgent need for integration, revitalization and renewal of the smaller towns and cities to make urban areas in India more sustainable. Unless our regional space is reorganized to upgrade development of towns and cities and integrate them with each other and the larger cities, the urbanization process in India will become unsustainable. It is argued that High Speed Rail (HSR) can play a role in achieving this more balanced and sustainable development of towns and cities, opening up opportunities for growth across a wider, inter-connected, region, with the benefit of taking the pressure of the larger cities to absorb additional burgeoning populations. This paper will make the case that in the current Indian context, current patterns of mega-city growth are unsustainable, and that HSR can play an important role in providing opportunities for medium and smaller size cities through their interconnections. It begins by highlighting the role that railways have played in India and other countries, noting that merely economic analysis of their costs and benefits generally underestimated their contributions to development. It then provides an introduction to HSR and its potential impact in general, before applying this to the example of the State of Karnataka in South India.     

Examining transport futures with scenario analysis and MCA

Climate change is a global problem and across the world the transport sector is finding it difficult to break projected increases in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions; there are very few contexts where deep reductions in transport CO₂ emissions are being made. A number of research studies are now examining the potential for future lower CO₂ emissions in the transport sector. This paper develops this work to consider some of the wider sustainability impacts (economic, social and local environmental) as well as the lower CO₂ transport impacts of different policy trajectories. Hence the central argument made is for an integrated approach to transport policy making over the longer term - incorporating scenario analysis and multi-criteria assessment (MCA) - to help assess likely progress against a range of objectives.The analysis is based on work carried out in Oxfordshire, UK. Different packages of measures are selected and two scenarios developed which satisfy lower CO₂ aspirations, one of which also provides wider positive sustainability impacts. A simulation model has been produced to help explore the strategic policy choices and tensions evident for decision-makers involved in local transport planning. The paper argues for a ‘strategic conversation’ (Van der Heijden, 1996) at the sub-regional and city level, based upon future scenario analysis and MCA, discussing the priorities for intervention. Such an approach will help us examine the scale of change and trade-offs required in moving towards sustainable transport futures.     

The vehicle emissions and performance monitoring system: analysis of tailpipe emissions and vehicle performance

This paper describes tailpipe emission results generated by the Vehicle Performance and Emissions Monitoring system (VPEMS). VPEMS integrates on‐board emissions and vehicle/driver performance measurements with positioning and communications technologies, to transmit a coherent spatio‐temporally referenced dataset to a central base station in near real time. These results focus on relationships between tailpipe emissions of CO, CO₂, NO_x and speed and acceleration. Emissions produced by different driving modes are also presented. Results are generally as one would expect, showing variation between vehicle speed, vehicle acceleration and emissions. Data is based upon a test run in central London on urban streets with speeds not exceeding about 65 km/h. The results presented demonstrate the capabilities of the system. Various issues remain with regard to validation of the data and expansion of the system capability to obtain additional vehicle performance data.     

Path planning and collision avoidance for autonomous surface vehicles I: a review

Journal of Marine Science and Technology - Autonomous surface vehicles are gaining increasing attention worldwide due to the potential benefits of improving safety and efficiency. This has raised...     

Traffic congestion pricing methodologies and technologies

This paper reviews the methods and technologies for congestion pricing of roads. Congestion tolls can be implemented at scales ranging from individual lanes on single links to national road networks. Tolls can be differentiated by time of day, road type and vehicle characteristics, and even set in real time according to current traffic conditions. Conventional toll booths have largely given way to electronic toll collection technologies. The main technology categories are roadside-only systems employing digital photography, tag & beacon systems that use short-range microwave technology, and in-vehicle-only systems based on either satellite or cellular network communications. The best technology choice depends on the application. The rate at which congestion pricing is implemented, and its ultimate scope, will depend on what technology is used and on what other functions and services it can perform.     

Why do marine pollution conventions take so long to enter into force?

A concern of many environmentalists is that marine pollution conventions are usually slow in coming into force. The reasons for this vary with each convention. Instead of exhaustively examining each convention, this paper suggests a general framework of inquiry which may be used in seeking to ascertain the speed and degree of ratification of any particular convention.     

Simulating a rich ride-share mobility service using agent-based models

Transportation - Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is the integrated and on-demand offering of new mode-sharing transport schemes, such as ride-share, car-share or car-pooling. MaaS schemes may solve...     

The New Zealand experience in restructuring road administration New Zealand road reform

Reform in the public sector in New Zealand saw the abolition of the Ministry of Works and Development in 1988, with the commercial activities being transferred into a Government owned company. Further reform saw the client function of roads transferred initially into the Ministry of Transport and then into an independent Crown agency known as Transit New Zealand. Transit New Zealand is led by an Authority of six members, appointed by the Government, and it administers the strategic (national) road network (10,500 kilometres).In 1996 a separate funding body, Transfund New Zealand, was established to distribute funds to Transit New Zealand and local authorities. Transfund New Zealand is funded through a share of the petrol excise, all vehicle registration and licensing fees and all road user charges (an axle-weight/distance charge levied on diesel vehicles, especially trucks). These revenues are paid into a dedicated National Roads Fund, which allows a measure of transparency in funding the road system. The reforms in New Zealand have resulted in large efficiency gains, with no measurable lowering in level of service.The road agency of the future is discussed, along with possible changes in road management.     

Performance of Low-bandwidth, Semi-active Damping Concepts for Suspension Control

Active damping has been shown to offer increased suspension performance in terms of vehicle isolation, suspension packaging, and road-tire contact force. It can even approximate the performance of full state feedback control without requiring the difficult measurement of tire deflection. Many semi-active damping strategies have been introduced to approximate the response of active damping with the modulation of passive damping parameters. These strategies have typically required a relatively high bandwidth for actuator response. This paper investigates the simulation performance and “frequency response” of two concepts in low-bandwidth semi-active suspension control, one that sets a damping force directly and another that sets the damping resistance. The electronically controlled bandwidth of these actuators is approximately an order of magnitude less than other semi-active devices; high frequency control is handled mechanically. A quarter-car model is studied with the controlled damping replacing both passive and active damping of typical control schemes. Both low-bandwidth damping strategies perform remarkably well compared to both active and high-bandwidth, semi-active damping. In certain dynamic performances, the new semi-active strategies outperform active damping and what the author calls “nominal” semi-active damping.