Sub‐optimal decision‐making and the transportation problem

A modification to the transportation problem is outlined that aims to improve the quality of predictions of trip matrices, and at the same time, allow some behavioural and economic insights. A framework is suggested within which this modification may be made and a suitable statistic and iterative process are described. A simple example demonstrates the validity of the modification and suggests some areas of difficulty with the approach.     

A hedonic test of the effects of the Alternative Motor Fuels Act

Under the Alternative Motor Fuels Act (AMFA), vehicles that run on ethanol, methanol, or natural gas get extra credits in the calculation of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE). This paper uses hedonic techniques to examine the effect of production of alternative-fuel vehicles (AFVs) on the implicit price of fuel economy. This study finds that, after AFVs came to market, the marginal value of fuel economy from companies producing them decreased. This finding suggests that manufacturers who produced AFVs were willing to offer a lower price for fuel economy, because automakers had an additional way to achieve fuel economy standards beyond improving the fuel efficiency of conventional cars. These findings bolster the argument that a major role of the AMFA credit for AFVs is to allow automakers to increase their production of fuel-inefficient vehicles.     

Modelling the provision of transport with planned or market‐determined public transport services

Implications of the difference between planned and market‐determined public transport services for the modelling of the transport system and its use are examined. In the former case, the task for government seeking to optimise performance of the transport system has a standard bi‐level form, but in the latter case, the lower‐level problem in the bi‐level formulation is to determine mutually consistent solutions to a pair of optimisation problems. The relevance of the mutually consistent solution in this context is contrasted with its sometimes misleading role in the context of optimisation of urban traffic signal control.     

将安全及环境保护置于一切之上

今天,我将冒着一定的风险来预言一些在下一世纪开始阶段,会出现在航运业内的某些事物的形态.很显然,我会着重谈一些IMO活动范围以内的事.     

Intermodal and international freight network modeling

The authors describe the development and application of a single, integrated digital representation of a multimodal and transcontinental freight transportation network. The network was constructed to support the simulation of some five million origin to destination freight shipments reported as part of the 1997 United States Commodity Flow Survey. The paper focuses on the routing of the tens of thousands of intermodal freight movements reported in this survey. Routings involve different combinations of truck, rail and water transportation. Geographic information systems (GIS) technology was invaluable in the cost-effective construction and maintenance of this network and in the subsequent validation of mode sequences and route selections. However, computationally efficient routing of intermodal freight shipments was found to be most efficiently accomplished outside the GIS. Selection of appropriate intermodal routes required procedures for linking freight origins and destinations to the transportation network, procedures for modeling intermodal terminal transfers and inter-carrier interlining practices, and a procedure for generating multimodal impedance functions to reflect the relative costs of alternative, survey reported mode sequences.     

Performance Benefits in Passive Vehicle Suspensions Employing Inerters

A new ideal mechanical one-port network element named the inerter was recently introduced, and shown to be realisable, with the property that the applied force is proportional to the relative acceleration across the element. This paper makes a comparative study of several simple passive suspension struts, each containing at most one damper and inerter as a preliminary investigation into the potential performance advantages of the element. Improved performance for several different measures in a quarter-car model is demonstrated here in comparison with a conventional passive suspension strut. A study of a full-car model is also undertaken where performance improvements are also shown in comparison to conventional passive suspension struts. A prototype inerter has been built and tested. Experimental results are presented which demonstrate a characteristic phase advance property which cannot be achieved with conventional passive struts consisting of springs and dampers only.     

Valuation of environmental externalities: from theory to decision‐making

Valuation of externalities is a condition for correct investment and pricing decisions in transport. This paper provides a brief survey of the main studies achieved in OECD countries in order to get these valuations. Numerical values for the average social cost of transport are presented. The procedures according to which environment is taken into account in France and Italy are analyzed, and the importance of valuation in these procedures is assessed. Finally, prospects for further research and new developments are expressed.     

GPS-based optimization of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles’ power demands in a cold weather city

Using the WPG03 duty cycle developed from global positioning data collected in Winnipeg, Canada, real world energy demands and costs are modeled. Three types of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, four temperatures and two charging scenarios are compared to a vehicle with an internal combustion engine. Cold temperatures are shown to greatly affect vehicle operation energy costs, which is an important consideration for cold weather cities such as Winnipeg. The largest energy cost savings are obtained for smaller-battery plug-in hybrids that had the opportunity to charge during the day.     

Genetics of traffic assignment models for strategic transport planning

This paper presents a review and classification of traffic assignment models for strategic transport planning purposes by using concepts analogous to genetics in biology. Traffic assignment models share the same theoretical framework (DNA), but differ in capability (genes). We argue that all traffic assignment models can be described by three genes. The first gene determines the spatial capability (unrestricted, capacity restrained, capacity constrained, and capacity and storage constrained) described by four spatial assumptions (shape of the fundamental diagram, capacity constraints, storage constraints, and turn flow restrictions). The second gene determines the temporal capability (static, semi-dynamic, and dynamic) described by three temporal assumptions (wave speeds, vehicle propagation speeds, and residual traffic transfer). The third gene determines the behavioural capability (all-or-nothing, one shot, and equilibrium) described by two behavioural assumptions (decision-making and travel time consideration). This classification provides a deeper understanding of the often implicit assumptions made in traffic assignment models described in the literature. It further allows for comparing different models in terms of functionality, and paves the way for developing novel traffic assignment models.     

应用Delphi语言进行AutoCAD2006二次开发实现重轨孔型优化设计

根据ActiveX Automation技术原理．利用AutoCAD2006提供的类型库。介绍了应用Delphi语言进行AutoCAD2006二次开发的程序设计方法和技巧。