Quantifying individuals’ trade-offs between privacy,liberty and security: The case of rail travel in UK

Public transport systems have been targets in several terrorist attacks, notably in recent years, resulting in tight security measures worldwide. However, individuals’ privacy and liberty often conflict with efforts towards safety and security, making it difficult to assess the implications of security measures balanced against the costs (e.g., citizens may be stopped, searched and asked to provide personal identification data to authorities without any particular reason). Henceforth, our research question asks, “to what extent would people sacrifice their right to privacy and liberty in exchange for potentially safer and more secure travel?” This paper uses a stated choice experiment to quantify individuals’ trade-offs between privacy and security within a real-life context, namely rail travel in the UK. Using a nationwide sample, the empirical analysis yields the importance of improvements in the security infrastructure and identifies areas of concern with regard to privacy and liberty controlling for travel related factors. Further, trade-offs across different security measures for rail travel are quantified in terms of individuals’ willingness-to-pay extra on top of the average ticket price.     

Assessing the accuracy of the Sydney Household Travel Survey with GPS

Over the past few years, GPS has been used in a number of surveys in the US to assess the accuracy of household travel surveys. The results have been somewhat alarming in that most of these exercises have shown that the standard trip-based CATI survey conducted in the US under-reports travel by about 20–25%. It was decided to use GPS to assess the accuracy of the Sydney Household Travel Survey, a continuous survey conducted by face-to-face interviewing. The procedure used was for the interviewers to recruit households for the household travel survey in the normal manner, and then, if the household met certain criteria, to endeavour to recruit the household to also undertake a GPS survey. A small sample of about 50 households was obtained, and GPS devices successfully retrieved that measured data on the same day as the travel diary was completed. In addition, participants in the GPS survey completed a prompted recall survey a week or two later, using maps and tabulations of travel obtained from the GPS devices, to identify mode, purpose and occupancy for trips measured by the GPS, and also to check for accuracy in defining trip ends and total number of trips. Based on the analysis of the GPS compared to the diary results, it was found that respondents under-reported their travel by about 7%, which is much less than in the US CATI results. Respondents were also found to under-report travel distances and over-report travel times. There was also a high incidence of non-reporting for VKT.

Determinants of modal choice in freight transport

In the next few years, exciting developments in the field of freight transport are likely to occur. The Channel Tunnel will be perceived as giving railways much greater distance of operation, compared to the current train ferry to/from Great Britain. The further development of swap-body technology will allow easier modal transfer and the creation, in 1992, of a single market in Europe will transform the pattern of trade. All of these are likely to have significant impacts on modal choice, and hence modal split, in freight transport. Reappraisal by many firms of the modes of transport used is likely but will it result in a net transfer of freight from road to rail and, if so, to what extent? To answer such questions, an accurate and reliable method of predicting modal split is required. Research in the past has concentrated on the development of modal split models based on generalised costs. These fail to explain adequately the prevalence of road freight in the UK. From surveys of freight managers within industry, it is clear that models to date rely too heavily on the economic cost factor and too little on behavioural factors (Jeffs 1985). This paper derives from a recent study of freight transport modal choice from the standpoint of the transport decision-maker within the firm. It attempts to shed light on the actual parameters which should be incorporated into a modal split model. Many variables appear to exert an influence on modal choice decision-making process. However, it is possible to categorise them into six main groups, namely: customer-requirements; product-characteristics; company structure/organisation; government interventions; available transport facilities; and perceptions of the decision-maker him/herself. It is the interactions and inter-relationships between these which ultimately determine freight modal split. This study has shown that the relationship between the outcome of the transport decision process and the values of particular determinants of modal split is not straight-forward, due to the complexity and variety of interactions involved. Perhaps one of the main reasons for researchers' failure hitherto to develop a successful modal-split model has been the preoccupation with techniques that rely on the development of common metric (e.g. generalised cost), which has led to the exclusion of some important explanatory variables along quite different dimensions. Another important issue concerns the appropriate level of aggregation. In order not to reduce the explanatory power of the key variables, it is important to work at a disaggregate level, although this does make substantial demands on data. The use of factor analysis enables both the aggregation of information without loss of behavioural reality and the specification of variables in terms of a common metric. In conclusion, freight transport has usually been examined within too narrow a framework. It must be placed firmly within the context of the total industrial process. The demand for freight transport is directly influenced by the level, composition and geographical distribution of production and consumption activities. Freight flows are complex and so it is highly unlikely that a universal mode-choice model can ever be developed. Future research should, therefore, be directed towards developing partial models in response to specific needs of those involved in decision-taking in the freight sector.     

Modelling lane changing and merging in microscopic traffic simulation

This paper introduces Simulation of Intelligent TRAnsport Systems (SITRAS), a massive multi-agent simulation system in which driver-vehicle objects are modelled as autonomous agents. The simulation outputs can be used for the evaluation of Intelligent Transport Systems applications such as congestion and incident management, public transport priority and dynamic route guidance. The model concepts and specifications, and the first applications of the model in the area of incident modelling in urban arterial networks were described in previous publications. This paper presents the details of the lane changing and merging algorithms developed for the SITRAS model. These models incorporate procedures for ‘forced’ and ‘co-operative’ lane changing which are essential for lane changing under congested (and incident-affected) traffic conditions. The paper describes the algorithms and presents simulation examples to demonstrate the effects of the implemented models. The results indicate that only the forced and cooperative lane changing models can produce realistic flow-speed relationships during congested conditions.     

The local development effects of major new roads

This paper is based on research undertaken for CPRE (Council for the Protection of Rural England) arising from concern at the inadequacy of current road planning procedures to address the issue of local development effects. The paper puts forward a number of arguments of principle in support of this proposition before recounting the planning and development experience of sites in the vicinity of the original (London-Oxford) section of M40 motorway built 20–30 years ago. This experience points to quite different outcomes in areas of open countryside as distinct from the periphery of the major intermediate town (High Wycombe), paricularly enclaves of enclosed land near to motorway junctions. With the latter the experience points to the failure of the planning system to anticipate and cope satisfactorily with development pressures. Since the provisions of development plans are used as the basis for assessing the impact of new road proposals this situation is not merely inefficient but conflicts with the basic purpose of the public planning system to give full consideration to the likely effects of proposals before they are committed.     

Scientists and Crew

This study reports on scientist/crew relations aboard research vessels at sea. It is a case study in a case study in a long-range project dealing with the relations of natural scientists in the U.S.A. to various segments of the lay population. An earlier paper dealt with the interaction of scientists and Government policy makers during the science-advisory process [1]. In that study we found that the frustration was reciprocal; scientists and policy makers were equally vocal on what was wrong with ‘ the other groups’. The present research, by comparison, focuses on scientists and members of ‘the working class’. Here we find the frustration rather one-sided, reflecting the differences in status and power of the two groups. On a research vessel, science and scientists control the lives and careers of the mariners. In the science-advising committee, members of both government and science meet as social equals.

In this paper elements of conflict between scientists and crew on a research vessel are described. It is suggested that conflict between these two groups is the inevitable result of extending the ‘intellectual’/‘worker’ class conflict of our society to a closed space at sea. The controlling mechanism of the conflict may be called ‘subcultural privacy’, a mechanism worked out by mariners to cope with the disrupting effects of a constant stream of strangers into their sea-going home. The mechanism takes the form of institutionalized ‘bitching’ and systematic physical separation of scientists and crew during critical periods of the day. It is suggested that attempts to create greater crew/scientist harmony by forcing by greater interaction (and thus a breakdown of subcultural privacy) will be counter productive.     

Marine Stingers: Review of an Under-Recognized Global Coastal Management Issue

Dangerous marine stingers (jellyfish) are an emotive issue in tropical Australia, where they are widely regarded as the number one marine health threat. However, numerous severe and fatal stings have been reported throughout the tropical and temperate seas of the world, indicating that marine stingers are a global health problem. Further, life-threatening jellyfish stings are more frequently reported globally now compared to earlier decades, possibly as a result of improved recognition and reporting, or increased spatial and/or temporal distribution or densities. As stinging incidents may also have significant financial implications (lost tourism revenues and liability settlements), and the treatment of envenomed patients comes at high cost to the taxpayer, this issue is also a management challenge. This article outlines suggested approaches, based largely on Australian experience, for dealing with this under-recognized global coastal management issue.     

寻找完美的“皇帝位”

上期讲到GPS导航系统将随改装市场的发展而变化,而这个变化是什么呢？笔者认为,像目前单纯把GPS导航地图分为PND版和车机版,是不能满足改装市场需求的,而是要“民间化”与“产业化、规模化”并存发展。为此,笔者从消费者的需求层面,归纳出3大类导航电子地图的未来发展方向：     

NOBODY NEEDS A BOAT 作一名感觉销售者

生活对每个人来说都是必需的。作为一个行业,我们没有太多理由认为人们会受诱惑买我们的产品。的确,一个客户可能会对某船的尺寸和独特设计有兴趣,甚至对它的设计建造最细微的细节都感兴趣;但是从一开始就吸引他的其实是一个简单的感情,那就是这艘船给他的感觉如何。     

Long-term development of express coach services in Britain

Express coach services compete for longer distance market with car and rail, and largely cater for the leisure, tourism, and visiting friends and relatives. markets. Britain deregulated its express coach system in 1980, and it is now opportune to examine long-term impacts of that change. The initial impacts were reviewed by the authors in 1986 (Robbins & White, 1986) but such impacts do not necessarily match long-term outcomes. Monitoring of the British system has been conducted by examining service changes and data on ridership, together with financial performance of the main operator groups and technical press coverage. It can be shown that a dominant position has been retained by the major operator (National Express), with a continued decline in the role of smaller independent operators in the all-year-round daily network. However, new competition has emerged from other large groups (most notably Stagecoach ‘Megabus’ in 2003). The paper analyses the operating and marketing strategies of the new operator and contrasts these strategies with those adopted in the 1980s. Implications for the future development of the network in Britain are outlined.