An evaluation of web site services in liner shipping in Taiwan

This paper empirically evaluates web site services in the liner shipping industry based on the service requirements of the user firms, i.e., shippers. The results suggest that shippers perceive tracing to be the most important service attribute of a web site, followed by customs response, vessel schedules, and electronic document service. Based on the concept of market segmentation, we employed cluster analysis to classify users (shippers) of web site services provided by liner shipping companies into four segments, namely support and performance services oriented firms, equipment information oriented firms, performance information oriented firms, and transaction services oriented firms. Theoretical and practical implications of the research findings are discussed.     

Evaluation,prioritization and selection of transportation investment projects in New York City

Over the last decade, a large number of high capital cost transportation projects have been proposed for the New York City Region. Many have resulted from addressing evolving capacity needs, changes in regional demographics and economics, meeting the improvements necessitated by operating century old subway systems and recognizing the impact of moving freight in a dense region. But the catalyst for bringing all of these projects to the attention of the public and all regional agencies was the tragedy of September 11, 2001. While these projects entail massive investments ($50–$60 billion), little analytical work has been carried out to measure the transportation and economic costs and benefits they entail and to categorize them accordingly. Competition among agencies to secure adequate resources to implement any of the desired projects makes such analysis necessary; yet there still remain political, vested economic interests and agency rivalry barriers to achieving this important planning objective. This paper reports the methodological approach taken by these authors for consistent and transparent project evaluation and then presents results from the ranking and prioritizing methodology. The policy underpinnings and implications of the analysis are discussed in a subsequent paper and thus only briefly touched upon here in the concluding section.     

Ultimate collapse tests of stiffened-plate ship structural units

An increasingly popular approximate method for assessing ship hull girder ultimate strength is to combine the individual elasto-plastic load-carrying characteristics of each single stiffened-plate unit comprising the ship hull cross section. In order to evaluate methods (numerical and experimental) for developing the load-carrying characteristics (load–shortening curves), a full-scale testing system was designed and constructed to provide data for stiffened steel plate units under combined axial and lateral loads. The system included an assembly of discrete plate edge restraints that were developed to represent symmetric boundary conditions within a grillage system. Twelve full-scale panels including ‘as-built’, ‘deformed’ and ‘damaged’ specimens were tested in this set-up.

The specimens failed by combined plate and flexural buckling, stiffener tripping or local collapse, depending on the magnitude of lateral loads and local damage. Load-shortening curves associated with different failure modes were found to be distinctly different and it was found that a small lateral load could change the failure mode from flexural buckling to tripping. Current design criteria should directly consider effects of the lateral loads on the failure modes and the collapse loads of stiffened plates.     

Time series for sea water and seaweed of Tc and Sb originating from releases at La Hague

⁹⁹Tc and ¹²⁵Sb have been released in low level liquid waste at the reprocessing plant at La Hague (Fr). Over a number of years data have been obtained on the concentration of ⁹⁹Tc in sea water and in seaweed from sampling locations close to and at increasing distances north and east of the point of release into the English Channel.In addition such data have been obtained on ¹²⁵Sb for a small number of sampling points. These time series, and the information derived from their intercomparison and from comparison with the release data, are presented in this paper.Time series on ⁹⁹Tc as well as ¹²⁵Sb in sea water and seaweed clearly confirm a considerable decrease in release rates at La Hague over the years 1986–1993. Transit times and transfer factors derived from the series are generally in good agreement with the results of modelling efforts. The data do not provide evidence for a time lag between levels of the radionuclides in sea water and those in seaweed longer than a few months.The very high concentration factors for ⁹⁹Tc in brown seaweeds make these seaweeds very useful for environmental monitoring the radionuclide at low release rates and to trace releases in areas remote from the point of release.     

Road safety: Research and reality 6th Reuben Smeed memorial lecture

Research has had a major influence in advancing road safety in Britain over more than 60 years. Lessons learnt in the early years provide a model for effective conduct of research of high quality to aid and influence practice and policy making. As the control of road safety research has become more widespread over the last decade and effort more diffused, problems have arisen which militate against the appropriateness and successful application of findings. Conflicts between researchers, practitioners and policy makers stem from lack of mutual understanding of their roles, the need to balance scientific rigour against the urgency of government and practice, and inadequate coherent communication.The potential for road casualty reduction in Britain has been addressed at intervals since the early 1960s. Assessment of the latest trends in casualties, set against current activities to achieve target reductions, shows the need for a further update to redefine priorities. For future advancement of road safety, a 20-point plan of activities is suggested. Technical, social, economic and institutional difficulties, of varying degrees, will need to be overcome to achieve the objectives of the plan. Most importantly, the academic and professional standing of road safety workers needs to be raised.     

Carbon flux in ice–ocean–plankton systems of the Bellingshausen Sea during a period of ice retreat

Most analyses of marine microbial systems in the seasonally ice covered areas of the Southern Ocean have been based on data from the major embayment areas of the Ross and Weddell Seas. In this study data were collected at stations covering a range of regimes from full ice cover through to open water in the Bellingshausen Sea. A major feature of the production system was a rapid retreat of the ice-edge, which uncoupled the marginal ice zone from a phytoplankton bloom which remained associated with a frontal system. This bloom was maintained, and probably initiated, in an unusual environment generated by the interaction between the marginal ice zone and the front. Size-based analyses of the microbial system were derived for ice-covered, recently ice-covered and open water sites. Estimates of standing stocks and key rate processes were combined to produce a single food web network for each station. The under-ice system was one of low production and low recycling but apparently high retention. As the ice retreated the microbial systems to the north began to develop, but these were constrained by grazing pressure. The bloom in the area appeared to be sustained even though estimated losses were far higher than production, although the high sedimentation losses expected were not observed. The carbon flow networks are discussed in relation to the environmental changes and the interaction of the marginal ice zone and the frontal system appears crucial to the phytoplankton. Microzooplankton grazing is implicated as a major controlling factor. The local microbial dynamics are strongly influenced by material which was produced at an earlier time and somewhere else in the Southern Ocean.     

Estimating the demand for electric automobiles using fully disaggregated probabilistic choice analysis

This study uses probabilistic choice models to predict potential demand for electric cars. Survey data are employed to estimate separate utility functions for each of 51 subjects. This provides a sample distribution of consumer preferences for vehicle attributes including price, operating cost and range. The results indicate great diversity in individual trade-offs among attributes, with range and top speed generally being highly valued. The sample of utility functions is then used to predict potential market shares for various kinds of electric vehicles as second cars. Demand is quite limited, except when (a) electric cars are considerably more advanced than anything likely to be available in the near future, and (b) consumers fear massive gasoline shortages. The latter effect derives from an observed “bias” in favor of electric autos, which is plausibly interpreted as a hedge against disruptions in the gasoline market.     

The evolution of Canadian liner shipping policy

This paper traces the evolution of Canadian liner shipping policy from its beginnings, at the time of the initial formation of shipping conferences, in the late nineteenth century, to its current form, as provided by the 1987 Shipping Conference Exemption Act. It is shown that evolution has been associated with a shift in policy orientation from an initial British-based position to a contemporary form that is distincly American in nature. The reasons for this shift are analysed and the similarities and differences between curent Canadian and U.S.A. legislation are identified. The paper shows that the adoption by Canada of an American-style policy became inevitable once the container revolution had physically integrated the transport systems of both nations.