Tollroads are only part of the overall trip: the error of our ways in past willingness to pay studies

With rare exception, actual tollroad traffic in many countries has failed to reproduce forecast traffic levels, regardless of whether the assessment is made after an initial year of operation or as long as 10 years after opening. Pundits have offered many reasons for this divergence, including optimism bias, strategic misrepresentation, the promise to equity investors of early returns on investment, errors in land use forecasts, and specific assumptions underlying the traffic assignment models used to develop traffic forecasts. One such assumption is the selection of a behaviourally meaningful value of travel time savings (VTTS) for use in a generalised cost or generalised time user benefit expression that is the main behavioural feature of the traffic assignment (route choice) model. Numerous empirical studies using stated choice experiments have designed choice sets of alternatives as if users choose a tolled route or a free route under the (implied) assumption that the tolled route is tolled for the entire trip. Reality is often very different, with a high incidence of use of a non-tolled road leading into and connecting out of a tolled link. In this paper we recognise this feature of route choice and redesign the stated choice experiment to account for it. Furthermore, this study is a follow up to a previous study undertaken before a new toll road was in place, and it benefits from real exposure to the new toll road. We find that the VTTS is noticeably reduced, and if the VTTS is a significant contributing influence on errors on traffic forecasts, then the lower estimates make sense behaviourally.     

Efficiency sensitivity analysis of a hydrostatic transmission for an off-road multiple axle vehicle

There is a large variety of multiple driven axle vehicles. Some of the most common are the 3-axle rigid vehicles and the 4-axle articulated vehicles, which can in some cases have different steering mechanisms, adaptive suspension, etc. This last kind of vehicles usually have very complex transmission configurations. Moreover, the required torques in each of the wheels can be very different, especially when the vehicle is working in rough terrains. The aim of this work is to study and model the driveline of this kind of vehicles, when using a hydrostatic transmission, from the performance and efficiency point of view, by analysing the influence of the operating conditions in the transmission efficiency. A global model is used to quantify the power flow in each of the transmission elements and the overall performance of the entire vehicle driveline, given the operating conditions thereof. A sensitivity analysis has also been done showing the influence of vehicle speed, rolling resistance, terrain slope and hydraulic motors displacement in the overall transmission efficiency. The interest of this work is also to make a contribution to the literature in the field of global modelling of drivelines under variable operating conditions and its application to ATVs. One important aspect is the influence of different actuation requirements that occur in different wheels at the same time. The results show that the overall performance of the transmission is highly dependent on operating conditions, on the selected transmission configuration and on the used components.     

Book reviews of Maritime Transport. Edited by M ary R. B rooks,K enneth B utton and P eter N ijkamp (Cheltenham UK: Edward Elgar, 2002) [Pp. 553] £150.00. ISBN 1 84064 552 0

Using the extended task-technology fit (TTF) model, this paper investigates how certain factors (e.g. task characteristics, technology (i.e. intranet) characteristics, middle managers’ demographic characteristics, task-technology fit, and perceived usefulness and usage) affect the port middle managers’ job performance. Numerous organizations in the port industry constitute the population of interest. The preliminary results suggest that the majority of middle managers believe that intranet could improve their job performance. The results from the structural equation modelling (SEM) indicate that task characteristics and intranet characteristics significantly justify their variance on task-technology fit. However, demographic variables do not predict task-technology fit. Perceived usefulness is found to be a predictor of intranet usage. Task technology fit, on the other hand, significantly predicts usage and explains the variance on middle managers’ job performance. This study is the first study to investigate the effects of intranet usage and managerial performances in an integrative perspective, taking into account various user acceptance models and users’ demographic characteristics.     

Emerging organizational values in shipping: Part 4. Decentralization—the redefinition of authority in shipping company organization

Decentralization is a major theme of organizational change in shipping. It is often seen as ‘putting power back aboard ship’. However, the authors argue that this view is too simple. Decentralization poses fundamental questions about the entire management structure of the shipping company. The redistribution of authority necessary for decentralization is discussed in terms of the company organization structure.     

The Effects of Boating Safety Regulations

This article investigates the effects of boater education programs and an increase in the number of water patrol officers on the prevention of recreational boating accidents. The empirical study, which estimates a reduced-form model similar to those used in the automobile safety literature, analyzes data on boating accidents that occurred in 1994 from 49 states and the District of Columbia. Model simulations, based on empirical estimates from Poisson and negative binomial models, suggest that a uniform law-enforcement policy of one-and-a-half water patrol officers per 1,000 boaters would prevent between 2,229 (negative binomial) and 2,318 (Poisson) accidents in 44 states.     

Capacity Building for Integrated Coastal Management in Asia-Pacific: The Case for Case Studies

Development of awareness and capacity is a central component to the delivery of ICM and spans from local communities to national-level politicians. Education and training activities associated with ICM must be extremely varied to match both the existing capacity and role that the stakeholders play within the process of ICM. Consequently, there cannot be considered any effective “generic” ICM training; training must be tailored to match the requirements of target groups. The transfer and uptake of good-practice thus becomes an important aspect of quality enhancement in ICM capacity development. Six case studies from the Asia-Pacific region are presented that show diverse and innovative examples of good practice. A comparative analysis of these case studies is carried out in terms of institutional level of impact. In addition a generic systems-based evaluation framework is used to determine the extent to which the training impacts upon ICM implementation indicators. It is concluded that the exchange, transfer, and translation to local conditions of appropriate good practice in ICM capacity development can be an important element in enhancing the impact of ICM programs on the coastal environments and societies. Furthermore, there appears to be a positive link between the involvement of national/state/regional stakeholders in capacity-building initiatives and impacting a wider variety of indicators of ICM delivery.     

Constraint Mapping as a Means of Further Refining Saltmarsh Re-Creation Opportunities for the UK Solent Region

Based on geomorphological criteria, the Coastal Habitat Management Plan (CHaMP) for the Solent identified some 4,800 hectares of land potentially suitable for the creation of intertidal habitat, principally saltmarsh, through the use of managed realignment. Using “constraint mapping,” this study set out to illustrate that limitations to habitat re-creation through inundation are not merely geomorphological in nature. Indeed, a broad range of social, political, legal, technical, and economic constraints exist and must be evaluated in conjunction with physical parameters if the objectives of the European Birds and Habitats Directives are to be met, and so that future coastal defense policies ensure maintenance of the “favorable conservation status” of designated sites. A numerical filter system has been used to re-evaluate individual sites to establish “realistic” opportunities for compensatory saltmarsh creation in the Solent. As a result of taking into account wider socioeconomic constraints, it is clear that fewer areas are available for habitat creation purposes than were initially identified in the Solent CHaMP study.     

Wave impact underneath horizontal decks

The problem of water impact on a fixed horizontal platform deck from regular incident waves was studied. Two-dimensional potential flow was assumed, and the resulting boundary-value problem was solved by three alternative numerical methods, a method based on a generalization of the impact theory by Wagner, and two different nonlinear boundary-element methods. The Wagner-based method used a von Karman approach during the water exit phase, i.e., when the wetted surface decreases. Experiments of the impact on an idealized platform deck have been performed to validate the theory. Comparisons show that the Wagner-based method yields good results for the water entry phase, when the wetted deck area increases, but poor results when the wetted area diminishes. The boundary-element methods compare well with experiments for the entire impact process. A Kutta condition is necessary at the aft body–free surface intersection during water exit and when the flow separates from the aft edge. Gravity effects matter for the water exit phase.     

New technology and maritime training in the 21<Superscript>st</Superscript> century: Implications and solutions for MET institutions

This paper examines the impact of new technology on MET institutions in the 21^st century and discusses to what extent global MET institutions can enhance and enrich traditional practices through access to new technology and the use of innovative teaching and assessment methods within a sustainable and achievable framework. It notes the diverse standards and access to new technology by MET institutions across the globe and discusses the implications for them if they are to remain competitive and viable. The paper concludes that maritime institutions can benefit from the use of new technology, but only through rational planning and sustainable staged growth. A series of continua of technical development is provided to assist institutions, from the smallest to the largest, to plan for technical development and growth in a rational and feasible way.     

欧洲走廊将大规模安装欧洲铁路运输管理系统

欧洲铁路运输管理系统安装会议于2006年4月4日-6日在匈牙利的布达佩斯举行。此次会议由国际铁路联盟主持召开，会议旨在部署欧洲铁路运输管理系统在六大欧洲铁路运输走廊上的安装。此前，欧盟委员会与铁路部门已于3月份通过了一项谅解备忘录。