A new roadway lighting measurement system

Past studies have shown that the level of roadway lighting is an important factor for nighttime roadway safety. To evaluate roadway lighting systems and maintain their functionality, it is essential to perform field lighting measurements. Currently, field measurements of roadway lighting systems are often conducted by handheld light meters using a short sample section. The evaluation of an entire corridor or a longer section is difficult when using the traditional manual measurement methods. This paper addresses this difficulty by developing a new lighting measurement system that can be used to collect massive amounts of lighting level data in an efficient, safe, and effective manner. The system consists of a light meter, a distance measurement instrument (DMI), a computer, software, and an electronic converter circuit to connect the computer and other hardware. Software was developed for the communication link between the computer and the light meter, and to record both the distance and illuminance data. The system was calibrated and validated with the field data. The new system will not only reduce future data collection costs, but also improve safety for field data collection personnel. The system has been approved for use to collect illuminance data on Florida state roads greater than or equal to 250-miles in length.     

心花怒放——Toyota Auris

全新丰田Auris已经正式发布,这款车是基于Corolla Sedan.设计灵感来源于Yaris,Auris是一款5门的Hatahback车型，有着与Yaris非常相近的血缘，特别是车头大灯，进气格栅和椭圆的乘员舱。     

Internet-based Teleoperation Platform For Mobile Robot

An Internet-based teleoperation platform for Mobile Robot is introduced in this paper. The hardware of the system mainly consists of a mobile robot. Its software employs client-server architecture for robot control and feedback information display . Different communication protocols are adopted according to the characteristics of message exchanged between the robot server and the client. The user interface is designed for the purpose of interaction. The great benefit of this client-server architecture is that the client software is insulated from the lowest level details of the mobile robot. Thus, it is very easy to implement and test new advanced teleoperation control algorithms, interface designs and applications on this platform without large programming work.     

Choice valuation of traffic restrictions: Noise, pollution, and congestion preferences. A note

This Note looks at the choice valuation restrictions on traffic entering the city of Lisbon, based on individual preferences in relation to noise, pollution and congestion. The analysis employs a questionnaire distributed in 2007 to ascertain the significant characteristics of traveling to Lisbon, with the aim of curbing the number of cars that are associated with the probability of individuals supporting a charge on motor vehicles entering the city. The model also takes into account the uncontrolled heterogeneity of the data.     

Community Severance: Where Is It Found and at What Cost?

Community severance occurs when transport infrastructure or motorised traffic divides space and people. Despite the growing awareness of its effects on the wellbeing of local communities, the problem is not usually assessed quantitatively or assigned a monetary value. This paper reviews existing practice and research on quantitative methods dealing with community severance. The problem is first decomposed into a series of questions, which are then used as a base to review the methods found in governmental guidance documents, technical reports, and academic studies. The paper ends with recommendations for the integration of severance issues into transport planning.     

Comparative performance analysis of European airports by means of extended data envelopment analysis

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has become an established approach for analyzing and comparing efficiency results of corporate organizations or economic agents. It has also found wide application in comparative studies on airport efficiency. The standard DEA approach to comparative airport efficiency analysis has two feeble elements, viz. a methodological weakness and a substantive weakness. The methodological weakness originates from the choice of uniform efficiency improvement assessment, whereas the substantive weakness in airport efficiency analysis concerns the insufficient attention for short‐term and long‐term adjustment possibilities in the production inputs determining airport efficiency. The present paper aims to address both flaws by doing the following: (i) designing a data‐instigated distance friction minimization (DFM) model as a generalization of the standard Banker–Charnes–Cooper model with a view to the development of a more appropriate efficiency improvement projection model in the Banker–Charnes–Cooper version of DEA and (ii) including as factor inputs also lumpy or rigid factors that are characterized by short‐term indivisibility or inertia (and hence not suitable for short‐run flexible adjustment in new efficiency stages), as is the case for runways of airports. This so‐called fixed factor case will be included in the DFM submodel of the DEA. This extended DEA—with a DFM and a fixed factor component—will be applied to a comparative performance analysis of several major airports in Europe. Finally, our comparative study on airport efficiency analysis will be extended by incorporating also the added value of the presence of shopping facilities at airports for their relative economic performance. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Maritime security: an update of key issues

This paper presents a comment on some of the key issues relating to piracy, terrorism, regulatory approaches and economic issues stemming from maritime security measures. It takes a wide ranging view of these issues and argues that security measures must be managed effectively so as not to be perceived as burdensome. Furthermore, any measures adopted must cover the whole of the international logistics supply chain and not just the shipping component of such distribution channels.     

Review of GPS Travel Survey and GPS Data-Processing Methods

Abstract

Global positioning system (GPS) devices have been utilised in travel surveys since the late 1990s. Because GPS devices are very accurate at recording time and positional characteristics of travel, they can correct the trip-misreporting issue resulting from self-reports of travel and improve the accuracy of travel data. Although the initial idea of using GPS surveys in transport data collection was just to replace paper-based travel diaries, GPS surveys currently are being applied in a number of transport fields. Several general reviews have been done about GPS surveys in the literature review sections in some papers, but a detailed systematic review from GPS data collection to the whole procedure of GPS data processing has not been undertaken. This paper comprehensively reviews the development of GPS surveys and their applications, and GPS data processing. Different from most reviews in GPS research, this paper provides a detailed and systematic comparison between different methods from trip identification to mode and purpose detection, introduces the methods that researchers and planners are currently using, and discusses the pros and cons of those methods. Based on this review, researchers can choose appropriate methods and endeavour to improve them.     

Determinants of Efficiency at Major Brazilian Port Terminals

This paper reports on the use of different approaches for measuring the efficiency of major Brazilian port terminals. Two of the most important approaches, DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) and SFA (Stochastic Frontier Analysis), were performed on data collected from 25 terminals. The findings indicate that the majority of Brazilian terminals are running short on capacity due to the export boom that has occurred over the past few years and due to the lack of investment in capacity expansion. Furthermore, efficiency measurements derived from a reduced model with only one input and one output were explained based on variables such as type of cargo handled (container or bulk), connectivity of the terminal to railroads, and control (state or private) of the terminal. Implications and directions for future research are explored.