Towards measures of affective and eudaimonic subjective well-being in the travel domain

Studies of the connections between transportation and subjective well-being (SWB) require a clear understanding of the conceptual composition of travel-related SWB as well as psychometric instruments to measure these complex topics. Well-established psychological scales for measuring general SWB—including both hedonic (affective and cognitive) and eudaimonic aspects—are difficult to adapt or have yet to be tested in the travel domain. Existing measures of travel liking and travel satisfaction are somewhat inadequate for these purposes, especially for representing eudaimonia. Using a questionnaire survey of 680 commuters in the Portland, Oregon, region, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses examined responses to a total of 42 items. Results suggested four-factor measurement models of both travel affect (Enjoyment, Attentiveness, Distress, and Fear) and travel eudaimonia (Health, Competence, Autonomy, and Security). Despite some limitations and opportunities for enhancements, these models show promise as ways of measuring affective and eudaimonic SWB in the travel domain for future studies and travel surveys.

     

Motorway crash duration and its determinants: do durations vary across motorways?

Traffic congestion has been a growing issue in many metropolitan areas during recent years, which necessitates the identification of its key contributors and development of sustainable strategies to help decrease its adverse impacts on traffic networks. Road incidents generally and crashes specifically have been acknowledged as the cause of a large proportion of travel delays in urban areas and account for 25% to 60% of traffic congestion on motorways. Identifying the critical determinants of travel delays has been of significant importance to the incident management systems, which constantly collect and store the incident duration data. This study investigates the individual and simultaneous differential effects of the relevant determinants on motorway crash duration probabilities. In particular, it applies parametric Accelerated Failure Time (AFT) hazard‐based models to develop in‐depth insights into how the crash‐specific characteristic and the associated temporal and infrastructural determinants impact the duration. AFT models with both fixed and random parameters have been calibrated on one year of traffic crash records from two major Australian motorways in South East Queensland, and the differential effects of determinants on crash survival functions have been studied on these two motorways individually. A comprehensive spectrum of commonly used parametric fixed parameter AFT models, including generalized gamma and generalized F families, has been compared with random parameter AFT structures in terms of goodness of fit to the duration data, and as a result, the random parameter Weibull AFT model has been selected as the most appropriate model. Significant determinants of motorway crash duration included traffic diversion requirement, crash injury type, number and type of vehicles involved in a crash, day of week and time of day, towing support requirement and damage to the infrastructure. A major finding of this research is that the motorways under study are significantly different in terms of crash durations; such that motorway 1 exhibits durations that are on average 19% shorter compared with the durations on motorway 2. The differential effects of explanatory variables on crash durations are also different on the two motorways. The detailed presented analysis confirms that looking at the motorway network as a whole, neglecting the individual differences between roads, can lead to erroneous interpretations of duration and inefficient strategies for mitigating travel delays along a particular motorway.     

Mathematical model for optimising the sequence for clearing snow from the manoeuvring area during winter operations

This article considers the optimisation of the sequence for clearing snow from stretches of the manoeuvring area of an airport. This issue involves the optimisation of limited resources to remove snow from taxiways and runways thereby leaving them in an acceptable condition for operating aircraft. The airfield is divided into subsets of significant stretches for the purpose of operations and target times are established during which these are open to aircraft traffic. The document contains several mathematical models each with different functions, such as the end time of the process, the sum of the end times of each stretch and gap between the estimated and the real end times. During this process, we introduce different operating restrictions on partial fulfilment of the operational targets as applied to zones of special interest, or relating to the operation of the snow‐clearing machines. The problem is solved by optimisation based on linear programming. The article gives the results of the computational tests carried out on five distinct models of the manoeuvring area, which cover increasingly complex situations and larger areas. The mathematical model is particularised for the case of the manoeuvring area of Adolfo Suarez Madrid—Barajas Airport. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Highlights
• Optimal sequence for clearing snow from the manoeuvring area of an airport.
• Contains optimising algorithms solved using CPLEX LP‐based tree search.
• Restrictions on partial fulfilment of operational targets applied to subsets of significant stretches, used for planning the operation of snow‐clearing machines.
• Model applied to the case of the manoeuvring area of Adolfo Suárez Madrid Barajas Airport.
• Conclusions are given on the results of the computational tests carried out. There are five models of the manoeuvring area which cover increasingly complex situations and larger areas.

     

Modification of the Highway Capacity Manual two‐lane highway analysis procedure for Spanish conditions

The US Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) methodology is used in Spain to evaluate traffic operation and quality of service. The effect of passing manoeuvre on two‐lane highway operational performance is considered through adjustment factors to average travel speeds and percent time spent following. The procedure is largely based on simulations in TWOPAS and passing behaviours observed during US calibrations in the 1970s. It is not clear whether US driving behaviour and vehicles' performance are comparable with Spanish conditions. The objective of this research is to adapt the HCM 2010 methodology to Spanish driver behaviour, for base conditions (i.e. no passing restrictions). To do so, TWOPAS was calibrated and validated based on current Spanish passing field data. The calibration used a genetic algorithm. The case study included an ideal two‐lane highway with varying directional traffic flow rate, directional split and percentage of trucks. The updated methodology for base conditions is simpler than the current HCM 2010 and does not rely on interpolation from tables. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

清管器在输油管道中的运动规律研究

在分析清管物理模型的基础上,建立了清管器前段塞流动的特征参数计算模型、动态数学模型以及相应的数值计算方法,并进行了数值模拟。利用数学模拟方法可以计算清管过程中管线的压力分布,利用压力分布可以跟踪清管球在管线内的运行,这为混输管路的运行管理提供了理论依据。     

The Impact of Travel Time Information on Travelers’ Learning under Uncertainty

In this work, laboratory experiment was conducted in order to evaluate the effect of feedback on decision-making under uncertainty, with and without provided information about travel times. We discuss the prediction of travelers’ response to uncertainty in two route–choice situations. In the first situation travelers are faced with a route–choice problem in which travel times are uncertain but some external information about routes’ travel times is provided. The second situation takes place in a more uncertain environment in which external information about travel times is not provided, and the travelers’ only source of information is their own experience. Experimental results are in conflict with the paradigm about traveler information systems: As a consequence of information, the propensity of travelers to minimize expected travel time is not necessarily increased. Providing travelers with static information about expected travel times reveals an increase in the heterogeneity of travelers’ choices and reduces the maximization rate.     

On Safety in Dismantling Temporary Strut of Super-large Tunnels with Double-layer Primary Support北大核心CSCD

More and more multiple-track tunnels and super-large section tunnels have been built, and disman- tling of temporary strut is a weak point of the whole structure during force transfer when the secondary lining is con- structed. It is significant to guarantee structure safety during dismantling of temporary strut. Little systematic re- search on safety in dismantling of temporary strut of the super-large section tunnel with double-layer primary support has been conducted, so the internal force and security of the two-layer primary support of the Xinkaotang tunnel were analyzed by a numerical analysis and site measurement, and it proves the effect of two-layer primary support on the safety during strut dismantling. The research results indicate that: (1) with constant support thickness and one-time longitudinal dismantling length, the safety factor of secondary primary support is larger than that of the first primary support, and the safety factor of the first primary support is larger than that of the single-layer primary support. Change range of safety factor for the first primary support is smaller than that of the single-layer primary support, and the safe factor for the single-layer primary support is smaller than that of the secondary primary support; (2) with the same support pattern, the safety factors increase firstly and then decrease with an increase of the onetime dismantling length. The calculated results of various cases show that the reasonable one-time dismantling length for this project is about 9 m. © 2018, Editorial Office of "Modern Tunnelling Technology". All right reserved.     

Structural Optimization and Strength Analysis of the Lifting Arm of a Wet Shotcrete Spraying Unit北大核心CSCD

Wet shotcrete spraying units are widely used in underground engineering, for railways, highways, water conservancy and hydropower stations, municipal works, mining and military and other industries. Structural analysis and mechanical behavior optimization are conducted regarding the lifting arm of a TKJ series shotcrete spraying unit, and optimization of the hinge point position and working scope of the lifting arm is realized. The optimal layout scheme for the hinge force is given based on the Monte Carlo method, the hinge force of the lifting arm is improved for the mean and maximum values, and the maximum and average hinge force of the lifting cylinder decrease by 23.14% and 7.70%, respectively, compared with that of the original scheme. The static strength is checked using Ansys-Workbench for the optimized scheme, and the results show that the optimized scheme has a larger safety re-serve and that the structural design is more reasonable than the original scheme. © 2018, Editorial Office of "Modern Tunnelling Technology". All right reserved.     

Environmental and transport effects of warehouse relocationing: evidence from Norway

Reducing traffic volumes and CO2-emissions from freight transport has proven difficult in many countries. Although the increasing suburbanization of warehouses is seen as a relevant land use trend, comprehensive analyses of their impact remain scarce. This study uses real data in modeling transport, costs, environmental and modal effects from warehouse relocations around Oslo and Trondheim (Norway). Results indicate that for Oslo, traffic performance (ton-km), CO2-emissions, and transport costs increase following warehouse suburbanization. For Trondheim, transport performance and CO2-emissions increase less, while transport costs decrease marginally. We conclude that specific case characteristics (geography and trade patterns) are important in determining the strength and direction of effects, and expect that common concomitant developments (warehouse centralization and consolidation) would lead to more pronounced results. Our findings confirm some, but challenge other, findings from the relatively scarcely literature available. Finally, the study's more general insights and observations can help advance similar analyses beyond Norway.     

Applying the theory of reasoned action to understanding consumers’ intention to adopt hybrid electric vehicles in Saudi Arabia

To satisfy the global energy demand while accommodating the rapidly increasing consumption rate in its domestic market, Saudi Arabia must develop and implement fuel efficiency programs in many sectors. In the transportation sector, which is a major contributor to fuel consumption and emissions, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) could provide a viable solution, but they are not yet available in the Saudi market. Applying the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and an online questionnaire instrument (N = 847), this paper aims to identify the factors that could drive Saudi citizens’ intention to adopt such technology. We find that the TRA is appropriate to describe intention to adopt HEVs in the Saudi context, and that both subjective norms and attitudes are significant in explaining Saudi consumers’ intention, with subjective norms having three times as strong an effect as attitudes. The findings should be useful to relevant Saudi government officials as they develop and implement transportation-related initiatives and policies, as well as to global auto manufacturers and dealers seeking to tap into Saudi Arabia’s prospective HEV market.