Rail Infrastructure: Challenges for Cost–Benefit Analysis and Other ex ante Evaluations

Abstract

Cost–benefit analysis (CBA) plays a major role in the ex ante evaluation of rail projects in many western countries. At first sight carrying out a CBA for rail projects seems straightforward, since cost estimates are almost always available, and the most dominant benefits are generally known, being the travel time saved and the increase in consumer surplus due to induced demand. However, the practice is much more complex: the quality of current estimates for costs and benefits is often poor and several benefits-related aspects are ignored. This article gives an overview of the challenges in improving the quality of CBAs for rail projects.     

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.     

Traffic Sounds and Cycling Safety: The Use of Electronic Devices by Cyclists and the Quietness of Hybrid and Electric Cars

Abstract

The growing popularity of electric devices and the increasing number of hybrid and electric cars have recently raised concerns about the use of auditory signals by vulnerable road users. This paper consolidates current knowledge about the two trends in relation to cycling safety. Both a literature review and a crash data analysis were carried out. Based on a proposed conceptual model, knowledge gaps are identified that need to be addressed for a better understanding of the relation between limitations on auditory information while cycling. Results suggest that the concerns regarding the use of electronic devices while cycling and the advent of hybrid and electric vehicles are justified. Listening to music and conversing on the phone negatively influence cyclists’ auditory perception, self-reported crash risk and cycling performance. With regard to electric cars, a recurring problem is their quietness at low speeds. Implications of these findings in terms of cycling safety are discussed.     

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.     

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.

把玩2007 Smart Fortwo

Smart近日发布的新一代Fortwo延续独特的城市用微型车概念．新一代的发展更侧重于内涵．提高Fortwo的驾乘舒适性、操控性,主被动安全水平和更环保的排放。新车的外形设计在上一代的基础上渗入了新的设计语言．并试图改变第一代过于女性化的形象．以求新车能得到更多男性买家的认同。     

俘获女人心Jeep Compass

JeepCompass是以2005年法兰克福车展中发表的JeepCompass概念车发展而成的全新产品,除了具有SUV的外形与特性之外,还结合了轿车的性能、操控、省油及适宜价格等优点。JeepCompass是Jeep旗下第一款以前轮驱动底盘为基础的产品,并且以四轮独立悬架系统提供一般道路的乘坐舒适度、操控与驾驶乐趣。     

Accommodating user preferences in ad hoc shared ride trip planning using GIS

Ad hoc shared ride trip planning (SRTP) utilizes mobile devices, geo-sensors and wireless networks to match on-the-fly individual travel demand with transport supply. It represents one of many alternatives to single occupancy vehicle use. This paper outlines a SRTP approach via a two-phase algorithm based on user preferences in a time-dependent routing. Whereas current algorithms use minimization of travel time as the only optimization criterion in trip planning, in the framework presented here, the user can specify multiple trip preferences including travel time, walking time, number of transfers between cars and trip length. Various scenarios are simulated in the city of Tehran (Iran) to demonstrate how preference settings affect the routes of ad hoc shared journeys.     

Environmental reform of West and Central Africa ports: the influence of colonial legacies

West and Central Africa ports have historically not paid much attention to environmental issues. In the past decade, however, environmental concerns are beginning to emerge with pockets of innovative responses to environmental risks as the ports undergo institutional and infrastructural reform – most notably, with concessions to multinational terminal operators. In this article, environmental management processes in the ports of Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Douala (Cameroon), Lagos (Nigeria) and Tema (Ghana) are compared. Three aspects of ecological modernization theory: changing role of the state, growing involvement of economic actors and economic incentives, and shifting roles for civil society organizations are focused on to analyse the dynamics of their environmental reform. Findings suggest that globalization processes are a common major trigger in enhancing a gradual but still fragmented and limited process of environmental reform in West and Central Africa ports, but paces and pathways of the reform are influenced by national politico-administrative arrangements rooted in colonial legacies. Consequently, understanding and advancing environmental reform processes of West and Central Africa ports requires following trends and significant developments but also taking into account national historical trajectories.