Improving the forecasting accuracy of air passenger and air cargo demand: the application of back-propagation neural networks

This study employs back-propagation neural networks (BPN) to improve the forecasting accuracy of air passenger and air cargo demand from Japan to Taiwan. The factors which influence air passenger and air cargo demand are identified, evaluated and analysed in detail. The results reveal that some factors influence both passenger and cargo demand, and the others only one of them. The forecasting accuracy of air passenger and air cargo demand has been improved efficiently by the proposed procedure to evaluate input variables. The established model improves dramatically the forecasting accuracy of air passenger demand with an extremely low mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 0.34% and 7.74% for air cargo demand.     

Route Choice Models Used in the Stochastic User Equilibrium Problem: A Review

Several route choice models are reviewed in the context of the stochastic user equilibrium problem. The traffic assignment problem has been extensively studied in the literature. Several models were developed focusing mainly on the solution of the link flow pattern for congested urban areas. The behavioural assumption governing route choice, which is the essential part of any traffic assignment model, received relatively much less attention. The core of any traffic assignment method is the route choice model. In the wellknown deterministic case, a simple choice model is assumed in which drivers choose their best route. The assumption of perfect knowledge of travel costs has been long considered inadequate to explain travel behaviour. Consequently, probabilistic route choice models were developed in which drivers were assumed to minimize their perceived costs given a set of routes. The objective of the paper is to review the different route choice models used to solve the traffic assignment problem. Focus is on the different model structures. The paper connects some of the route choice models proposed long ago, such as the logit and probit models, with recently developed models. It discusses several extensions to the simple logit model, as well as the choice set generation problem and the incorporation of the models in the assignment problem.     

Financial appraisals of a microcomputer‐based referencing system for a local bus travel telephone enquiry service

Abstract

Solution of current and future transportation problems requires a more consistent and complete realization of the principles of socioeconomic motivation in research and practical work. With this aim it is suggested that a transport‐communication model (TCM) of society should be constructed as a projection of all the social processes into the space of artificial flows of matter, energy and information. A simplified example of a transport‐communication systems model in terms of mathematical systems theory is reviewed, demonstrating the constructs of such an approach, and a critical analysis is made of scientific paradigms, used in the transportation theory. The author suggests an iterative procedure for the formation of a hierarchic theory of transportation systems based on simulation concepts and experiments, and formulates a hypothesis of its feasibility in the construction of present‐day transportation theory as a realistic basis for solving transportation problems.     

Empirical evidence on cruising for parking

The literature on car cruising is dominated by theory. We examine cruising for parking using a nation-wide random sample of car trips. We exclude employer-provided and residential parking. We focus on the Netherlands, where levels of on-street and off-street parking prices are locally the same. We demonstrate then that due to this price setting the average cruising time in the Netherlands is only 36 s per car trip. Furthermore, we show that cruising is not random. It is more common in (large) cities that receive more car trips, particularly for shopping and leisure activities. Cruising time increases with travel duration as well as with parking duration. Cruising has a distinctive pattern over the day with a peak in the morning, so the order of arrival is essential to parking. Because cruising has a spatial and time component, policies may be considered that reduce cruising time through flexible pricing of parking or improved information about vacant parking spaces.     

响应面法模拟轴肩和搅拌针形状对铝合金搅拌摩擦的影响(英文)

The present paper discusses the modeling of tool geometry effects on the friction stir aluminum welds using response surface methodology. The friction stir welding tools were designed with different shoulder and tool probe geometries based on a design matrix. The matrix for the tool designing was made for three types of tools, based on three types of probes, with three levels each for defining the shoulder surface type and probe profile geometries. Then, the effects of tool shoulder and probe geometries on friction stirred aluminum welds were experimentally investigated with respect to weld strength, weld cross section area, grain size of weld and grain size of thermo-mechanically affected zone. These effects were modeled using multiple and response surface regression analysis. The response surface regression modeling were found to be appropriate for defining the friction stir weldment characteristics.     

集肤效应电伴热系统在码头输油管线上的应用

重点介绍与某港区燃料油码头输油管线相配套的集肤效应电伴热系统的工作原理.实践证明,集肤效应电伴热系统可替代现有的蒸汽伴热系统,且具有运营成本低、运行安全、维护方便、节能效果显著等优势.集肤效应电伴热技术代表着今后的技术发展方向.     

Experimental investigation of the strength and stability of submarine pressure hulls with and without artificial corrosion damage

A submarine may have to operate for a period of time with local corrosion damage in the pressure hull if a suitable repair method is unavailable or too expensive for implementation. This paper describes collapse tests on twenty ring-stiffened aluminium cylinders, which were conducted to study the effect of corrosion damage on hull strength and stability. Artificial hull thinning was found to reduce the collapse strength of experimental models through high local stresses in the corroded region, leading to early onset of yielding and inelastic buckling. Bending associated with the eccentricity due to one-sided thinning was found to further increase the local stresses in the hull. Overall collapse pressures were more severely affected by corrosion damage than interframe collapse pressures. The percentage reduction in overall collapse pressure, compared with intact experimental models, was found to be closely related to the percentage depth of thinning. The accuracy of conventional collapse pressure predictions for the experimental models was significantly better for intact than for corroded cylinders.     

Evolution and research trends of container shipping

The shipping industry was transformed by the expansion of international trade and technological innovation, notably containerization, since the 1960s. Accordingly, this was followed by a significant increase in research addressing different aspects of container shipping. Despite such availability, important questions have remained unanswered: what are the major contributions that the research community has made to the container shipping industry, global and regional economies? Have their contributions been skewed towards particular themes, directions, and geographical areas? What can the shipping research community learn from the evolution and trends of container shipping research so that they can continue to contribute to the well-being of the global and regional economies? To address these questions, the paper undertakes a critical review and analysis on the evolution and trends of research in container shipping in the past four decades, based on a collection of 282 papers investigating different topics in container shipping featuring in major scholarly journals between 1967 and 2012. The study enables the shipping research community to enhance self-understandings and identifies major gaps for further research.     

Railway planning in developing countries: a case study of Colombia

This paper describes a study of possible network changes for the Colombian railway system. A cost model is developed and the variation of costs with traffic density and with gradient is analysed and found to be different from that expected from experience in developed countries. The evaluation of network changes is carried out by a form of systems analysis in which two new lines and many closures are examined. Closures are evaluated by means of social cost benefit analysis incorporating a consumers’ surplus approach. The study recommends fairly radical changes to the present network configuration, these involving the construction of one new line and the closure of several existing ones.     

Adaptability and vulnerability of zooplankton species in the adjacent regions of the Black and Marmara Seas

During 2005–2008 species composition, abundance patterns, natural mortality rates and salinity effects on zooplankton were studied in the Bosphorus regions of the Black and Marmara Seas. The tendencies to diminish for abundance and biomass of the Black Sea originated zooplankton species and to increase for the proportion of their carcasses in the direction from the Black Sea toward the Marmara Sea were found. The mortality in the Black Sea species increased with depth in the Marmara Sea. The contribution of organic matter of carcasses of the Black Sea originated organisms to bacterial processes in the deep strata of the Marmara Sea was estimated. Different salinity and temperature regimes restrict mutual penetration of the species in these seas.