Switching service types for multi-region bus systems

Conventional fixed-route bus services are generally preferred to flexible-route services at high demand densities, and vice versa. This paper formulates the problem of integrating conventional and flexible services that connect a main terminal to multiple local regions over multiple time periods. The system’s vehicle size, route spacing (for conventional services), service area (for flexible services), headways and fleet sizes are jointly optimized to minimize the sum of supplier costs and user costs. The route spacing for conventional bus services and service area for flexible bus services are also optimized for each region. The proposed solution method, which uses a genetic algorithm and analytic optimization, finds good solutions quickly. Numerical examples and sensitivity analyses confirm that the single fleet variable-type bus service may outperform either the single fleet conventional bus service or the single fleet flexible bus service when demand densities vary substantially among regions and time periods.     

An analysis of Metro ridership at the station-to-station level in Seoul

While most aggregate studies of transit ridership are conducted at either the stop or the route level, the present study focused on factors affecting Metro ridership in the Seoul metropolitan area at the station-to-station level. The station-to-station analysis made it possible to distinguish the effect of origin factors on Metro ridership from that of destination factors and to cut down the errors caused by the aggregation of travel impedance-related variables. After adopting two types of direct-demand patronage forecasting models, the multiplicative model and the Poisson regression model, the former was found to be superior to the latter because it clearly identified the negative influences of competing modes on Metro ridership. Such results are rarely found with aggregate level analyses. Moreover, the importance of built environment in explaining Metro demand was confirmed by separating built environment variables for origin and destination stations and by differentiating ridership by the time of day. For morning peak hours, the population-related variables of the origin stations played a key role in accounting for Metro ridership, while employment-related variables prevailed in destination stations. In evening peak hours, both employment- and population-related variables were significant in accounting for the Metro ridership at the destination station. This showed that a significant number of people in the Seoul metropolitan area appear to take various non-home-based trips after work, which is consistent with the results from direct household travel surveys.     

A dichotomous choice survey for quantifying option and non-use values of bus services in Korea

The total economic value for a transportation service consists of use, option, and non-use value. The use benefit is based on a traveler’s willingness to pay for usual consumption of the service. The optional value, on the other hand, is related to the possible use of the service for trips not yet anticipated or currently accommodated by other travel modes. The non-use value, however, is derived from the intrinsic merit of the service, even though a trip-maker never actually or potentially depends on the mode. A closed-ended contingent valuation method is considered for the quantification of the option and non-use values. A survey of single- and double-bounded dichotomous choices is conducted with a case study of South Korean bus operations. A logistic regression model and a survival analysis for the single- and double-bounded approaches, respectively, are applied. The estimation result is examined according to the statistical property required and the behavioral validity expected. In particular, three issues from the output are discussed. First, the results help to show the preferable framework between single- and double-bounded surveys for addressing an individual’s option and non-use values. Second, the differences in the absolute values of option and non-use values are compared. Thirdly, the relationship between trip-makers’ willingness to pay and the level of service of their primary travel modes are investigated. In conclusion, the summary of research and the possibilities for future studies are given.     

Three-dimensional numerical wave tank simulations on fully nonlinear wave–current–body interactions

A finite-difference scheme and a marker-and-cell (MAC) method are used for numerical wave tank (NWT) simulations to investigate the characteristics of nonlinear wave motions and their interactions with a stationary three-dimensional body in the presence of steady uniform currents. The Navier–Stokes (NS) equation is solved in the computational domain, and the boundary values are updated at each time-step by a finite-difference time-marching scheme in the frame of a rectangular coordinate system. The fully nonlinear kinematic free-surface condition is satisfied by the marker–density function technique developed for two fluid layers. The incident waves are generated from the inflow boundary by prescribing a velocity profile resembling the motions of a flexible flap wavemaker, and the outgoing waves are numerically dissipated inside an artificial damping zone located at the end of the tank. Using the NS–MAC NWT, nonlinear wave and current interactions around a stationary vertical truncated circular cylinder are studied, and the results are compared with the experimental results of Mercier and Niedzwecki, a time-domain NWT based on linear potential theory, a fully nonlinear NWT, and a second-order diffraction computation. Received: July 3, 2001 / Accepted: September 25, 2001     

A method for measuring accurate traffic density by aerial photography

Traffic density can be accurately measured by counting the number of vehicles within 1 km; however, it is often calculated between macroscopic traffic parameters using the fundamental equation because of difficulty of observing traffic density directly in the field. Measuring density in this way may be inaccurate and may bias the analysis because the relationship between these traffic parameters can vary across the study sites. The purpose of this study is to find a method for measuring traffic density from aerial photography that is easy and accurate, and for this purpose, we investigated whether the measuring length (i.e., the length of a section of roadway from which observations of traffic are simultaneously collected) can be shorter than 1 km and yet retain the same measured traffic density. We divided an aerial photograph into several 20‐m unit sections, counted the number of vehicles manually, and examined measured traffic density according to central limit theory. According to the results of this study, with the number of 20‐m unit sections for observing traffic density at 15 (the measuring length is 300 m), the measured traffic density was almost the same as the density of a representative section of 1 km. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of a large injection-molded body using knowledge-based flow process technology

A knowledge-based flow process is presented for large injection-molded body technology (LIMBT). Injection molding of a large body is a difficult technique because of the many factors and their interactions during the molding process. The proposed flow process can support LIMBT through integration of CAE(Computer-Aided Engineering), CAI (Computer-Aided Inspection), and monitoring systems. CAE and DOE (Design of Experiment) are used to construct an optimal mold design in terms of gates and runners and to identify working conditions for the molding process. CAI and monitoring systems with temperature sensors and pressure sensors can be used to inspect the physical molding process and the molded parts. The flow process of a large body is systematically planned and constructed using a knowledge-based flow process with DOE and computer-aided technologies. The proposed flow process is implemented for the molding process of an automobile front bumper fascia.     

Lateral controller design for an unmanned vehicle via Kalman filtering

This paper proposes a lateral control system for an unmanned vehicle that is designed to improve the responsiveness of the system with the use of a PD control. The vehicle heading error can be stabilized, and the transient response characteristics can be improved using the proposed controller. A mathematical model of the vehicle dynamics using two degrees of freedom was developed for the controller design. The waypoint tracking method for autonomous navigation was tested with incorporation of the Point-to-Point algorithm with position and heading measurements received from GPS receivers via Kalman filtering. The performance of the designed controller was verified through experiments with a real vehicle.     

Modeling and control of an anti-lock brake and steering system for cooperative control on split-mu surfaces

The brake and steering systems in vehicles are the most effective actuators that directly affect the vehicle dynamics. In general, the brake system affects the longitudinal dynamics and the steering system affects the lateral dynamics; however, their effects are coupled when the vehicle is braking on a non-homogenous surface, such as a split-mu road. The yaw moment compensation of the steering control on a split-mu road is one of the basic functions of integrated or coordinated chassis control systems and has been demonstrated by several chassis suppliers. However, the disturbance yaw moment is generally compensated for using the yaw rate feedback or using wheel brake pressure measurement. Access to the wheel brake pressure through physical sensors is not cost effective; therefore, we modeled the hydraulic brake system to avoid using physical sensors and to estimate the brake pressure. The steering angle controller was designed to mitigate the non-symmetric braking force effect and to stabilize the yaw rate dynamics of the vehicle. An H-infinity design synthesis was used to take the system model and the estimation errors into account, and the designed controller was evaluated using vehicle tests.     

Validation of the 6-dof vehicle dynamics model and its related VBA program under the constant radius turn manoeuvre

For a 6-dof (degrees of freedom) nonlinear vehicle dynamics model and its related VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) program, which were recently derived and coded by the authors, validations are carried out under the constant radius turn manoeuvre. This model has the uniqueness that the longitudinal translation, lateral translation and yaw rotation of a platform are described by an inertial ground coordinate system and the body-roll, body-pitch, and body-yaw rotations by a platform-fixed coordinate system. The simplified STI tire model is applied for the calculation of combined longitudinal and lateral tire forces. Vehicles used in the calculation are a NISSAN DATSUN 210 (manufactured in 1980) and a HONDA ACCORD (1984). The calculation results of the present 6-dof model are compared with the published test data and those of a simpler 3-dof lateral dynamic equation based on another coordinate system. As a result of the comparison, the present 6-dof results agree very well with those of the 3-dof model and give a partial consistency with the test data.     

Evaluation of the adequacy of neck injury indicators on bioridii in a lower-rear impact sled test

The BioRIDII (Biofidelic Rear-Impact Dummy II) is regarded as possessing similar characteristics to human volunteers and PMHS (post-mortem human subjects) in terms of its response to low-speed rear-impact tests. The biofidelity of the RID 2 (Rear-Impact Dummy 2) does not yield satisfactory results in comparison to the BioRIDII. Although a great deal of research on the repeatability and reproducibility of the BioRIDII has been conducted, the research results to date do not directly suggest the neck injury criteria and limit values that should be set in safety regulations. The purpose of this research is to evaluate neck injury indicators for the BioRIDII using low-speed rear-impact sled tests on three sets of BioRIDII ver-g. A series of sled tests was conducted to assess the adequacy of neck injury indicators in terms of the repeatability and reproducibility of the results obtained for the three BioRIDII dummies tested. The sled tests were performed according to the test procedure proposed by K-NCAP (the Korea New Car Assessment Program). Several neck injury indicators, namely, NIC, Nkm, upper- and lower-neck Fx, upper- and lower-neck Fz and My, T1 X acc and Head X acc, were analyzed for each dummy. The results show that for some criteria, such as the lower-neck shear force and moment and T1 acceleration, the BioRIDII could be considered adequate.