A new era for airport regulators through capacity investments

Private and public airports’ optimal actions may not coincide. While private airports usually pursue profit maximization, publicly owned airports look for maximum social welfare. Thus, the prices charged by private airports may differ from the socially optimal charges and public intervention may be needed. In this paper, we analyze airport charges when an increase in frequency produces positive or negative externalities and carriers have market power. We use the methodology of game theory to show that there may exist a level of capacity for which private and social objectives coincide, so no price regulation is needed. Thus, the usual role of regulators and planners could be modified in order to decide the appropriate capacity investments for which airport regulation is no longer necessary.     

The impact of a financial constraint on the spatial structure of public transport services

Using a single line model, it has been shown recently that the presence of a stringent financial constraint induces a less than optimal bus frequency and larger than optimal bus size. This occurs because the constraint induces a reduction of the importance of users’ costs (their time); in the extreme, users’ costs disappear from the design problem. In this paper we show that such a constraint also has an impact on the spatial structure of transit lines. This is done departing from the single line model using an illustrative urban network that could be served either with direct services (no transfers) or with corridors (transfers are needed). First, the optimal structure of lines is investigated along with frequencies and vehicle sizes when the full costs for users and operators are minimized (unconstrained case); the optimal lines structure is shown to depend upon the patronage level, the values of time and the cost of providing bus capacity. Then the same problem is solved for the extreme case of a stringent financial constraint, in which case users’ costs have relatively little or no effect in determining the solution; in this case the preferred outcome would be direct services under all circumstances, with lower frequencies and larger bus sizes. The impact of the financial constraint on the spatial structure of transit lines is shown to be caused by the reduction in cycle time under direct services; the introduction of users’ costs in the objective function makes waiting times reverse this result under some circumstances.     

Willingness to Pay for Airline Service Quality

Abstract

This paper looks at estimated valuations of some service‐quality attributes in an airline choice context using stated preferences methods. The analysis is based on information obtained in the most important route connecting the Canary Islands with the Iberian Peninsula: Gran Canaria–Madrid, and tries to contribute to the body of knowledge in this area, given the relatively few studies of the monetary valuations of air travel regarding level‐of‐service attributes. A feature of this analysis is the examination of variations in values according to different characteristics of the service, such as price, penalties for changes in the ticket, legroom, food, etc.; the currently experienced level of the attribute, and various socio‐economic factors that affect the characteristics of the trip and passengers. In addition, the important issue of added value regarding different attributes is addressed, obtaining the willingness‐to‐pay for different improvements of service quality. A further analysis is made about how taste heterogeneity (market segments) affects these values. Results from the stated preference experiment and the market value of some comparable service are also compared. Finally, the paper brings together evidence from other studies and compares them with the findings obtained herein.     

Accompanied versus Unaccompanied Transport in Short Sea Shipping between Spain and Italy: An Analysis from Transport Road Firms Perspective

Short sea shipping (SSS) is called to play a key role in ensuring sustainable mobility in the European context. In the past years several studies tried to define the SSS requirements and also to identify the SSS lines that were economically viable. However, no studies approach the profile of their users—the road transport firms—and the organizational patterns adopted by them, in order to gain a better understanding of this transport modality. This research, on the basis of a sample of 81 international road transport firms that use SSS between Spain and Italy, analyses the profile of these firms and certain elements inherent to their relationship with the shipping firms, according to the two modalities of organizing their SSS transport operations: accompanied versus unaccompanied.     

Quality indicators and capacity calculation for RoRo terminals

Abstract

Road freight transportation has increased dramatically over recent years along with its impacts such as congestion, noise, and pollution. As a result, European and US governments have started policies to promote alternatives to road transportation, such as logistic chains containing a Short Sea Shipping (SSS) link. Road is, by definition, a more flexible means of transportation than shipping, which is usually cheaper. Therefore, to move traffic to SSS chains, it is necessary to provide fast, frequent, and reliable maritime transportation. In this sense, roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessels are the most convenient ships to be used, since they have smaller dwell times in port and, therefore, this is a kind of traffic likely to increase dramatically. The foreseeable increase of this kind of traffic must meet with an increase in the actual capacity by means of either improvement in performance and possible enlargements of existing terminals or the construction of new terminals. In that sense, this paper proposes a simple methodology to calculate the capacity of a RoRo terminal, whether already in operation or during its design process, and relate it to some quality standards by means of quality indicators, which should lead to the definition of Levels of Service similar to those already used in roads and airports. The paper ends by applying the methodology to a real terminal in Barcelona, Spain.     

The Decline of the Artisanal Fisheries in Mediterranean Coastal Areas: The Case of Cap de Creus (Cape Creus)

This article examines the sociocultural, economic, and environmental causes of the decline of the artisanal fisheries in the rocky coast of Cape Creus (NW Mediterranean) over the past decades. The changes that have occurred over time have favored trawlers, purse-seiners, shellfish fisheries, and tourism activities, to the detriment of artisanal fisheries. This article shows that the establishment of a marine reserve in 1998 could not reverse the observed decline in the artisanal fisheries. This raises the necessity of implementing a fishery management plan integrated into a coastal management plan, which should accompany the habitat protection. These plans could assist in the maintenance and the sustainable development of the artisanal fishing sector in Cape Creus as well as in other Mediterranean coastal areas where artisanal fisheries are also declining.     

Multiobjective pricing of bus-subway services in Santiago,Chile

Presently, the surface transit system in Santiago, Chile is private and atomized. It operates in competition with the subway, covering long distances and causing congestion in the central business district. As the subway operates below capacity, integrated services with a common fare have been identified as both operatively and financially possible, making better use of resources and avoiding negative externalities. A multi-objective approach is formulated and applied to determine the price of the combined service, accounting for both users' benefits and operators' profit. The role of different parameters in the financial and operative constraints is analyzed in particular, as well as the conflicting nature of the objective functions. The non-inferior set of solutions is constructed and analyzed both in the decision variables space and in the objectives space, and solutions are compared against the present conditions.     

A cooperative waiting strategy based on elliptical areas for the Dynamic Pickup and Delivery Problem with Time Windows

The purpose of this paper to present a cooperative scheduling algorithm for solving the Dynamic Pickup and Delivery Problem with Time Windows (DPDPTW). The idea behind cooperative waiting strategies is to calculate simultaneously the waiting times for all nodes in the solution. Classical non‐cooperative scheduling algorithms perform the scheduling for each route independently of the scheduling of the other routes. We present the Cooperative Scheduling Problem (CSP) based on the elliptical areas generated by vehicles waiting at their nodes. The CSP is solved by means of a genetic algorithm and is evaluated by using a set of benchmarks based on real‐life data found in the literature. Initially, two waiting strategies are presented: Wait‐Early‐Time scheduling and Balanced‐Departure scheduling. Extensive empirical simulations have been carried out by analyzing the degree of dynamism and the average waiting time, a new concept defined to take into account the gap between the time windows of pickup and delivery nodes. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.