Agricultural vehicles and sustainable safe road traffic: solving conflicts on arterial highways

Addressing the issues of traffic safety in rural areas presents a constant challenge. The mix of light and heavy vehicles and the considerable differences in speed among these traffic participants result in high risks and delays for the faster vehicles. Agricultural vehicles (AVs) in particular have such an impact on traffic, especially when using arterial highways. This paper reviews the problems of safety and delays that AVs cause on arterial highways, and the appropriate mitigation. The concept of 'sustainable safety' in The Netherlands focuses on these problems, because of the proposed construction of parallel roads alongside all arterial highways. However, Dutch accident statistics cannot justify the high costs for the construction of parallel roads alongside 7000 km of arterial highways. Delays experienced by fast traffic are another reason for separating AVs from other road users with parallel roads. Alternative measures alongside the arterial highway, such as passing bays, restricting AVs to travelling at off-peak only and improving the conspicuity of the AVs, may be more cost-effective ways of reducing delays and/or improving traffic safety on arterial highways. Another solution may be to eliminate the need for AVs to use the arterial highway by altering their routes. For this purpose, land reallocation projects (as practised in Holland) can provide a useful tool.     

The Value of a Spillover Fishery for Spiny Lobsters Around a Marine Reserve in Northern New Zealand

The contribution that Leigh Marine Reserve in northern New Zealand makes to the local spiny lobster fishery was examined by comparing the catch characteristics of Jasus edwardsii around the reserve boundary with those from Coastal Leigh, 0.3-2 km from the reserve, and Little Barrier Island, 22-30 km from the reserve. Seasonal trends were apparent in the reserve catch characteristics, consistent with lobster movements into and out of offshore fishing areas adjacent to the boundary. No significant difference was detected in catch per unit effort (kg.trap haul -1 ) among locations. However, the catch around the marine reserve consisted of fewer but larger lobsters than at Little Barrier Island, while the size and number of lobsters caught per trap haul at Coastal Leigh was intermediate between the other two locations. Catch rates around the reserve were more variable than at the other sites, but on average, the amount of money made per trap haul was similar to Little Barrier Island and Coastal Leigh.     

Historic Monuments Threatened by Coastal Hazards at Boca do Rio,Algarve, Portugal

The coastal stretch of Boca do Rio, western Algarve, Portugal, is experiencing shoreline retreat. Roman ruins are located along the beach section of the coast, and a 17th-century fort is positioned over the cliff section. Both historic monuments are being destroyed by erosion but need to be protected due to their heritage status. Aerial photograph analysis was used to define the evolution of the coast for the period 1945–2001. Shoreline retreat of 0.3 m/year was measured for the sandy coast and 14 mass movements in the cliff face were identified. Considering the rate and style of shoreline evolution, several types of management scenario were evaluated, with the favored measures being the removal of the Roman ruins to a museum and the relocation of the fort inland.     

MINOE: A Software Tool to Analyze Ocean Management Efforts in the Context of Ecosystems

Transitioning ocean governance into an integrated ecosystem-based approach requires improved knowledge of existing governance arrangements. This article presents a software tool, MINOE, to assist policymakers, scientists, and others involved in ecosystem-based management initiatives to navigate through management documents as they relate to a user-defined ecosystem. The tool uses a conceptually modeled ecosystem, defined by the user, and text analysis of a set of management-related documents to determine which ecosystem linkages are potentially acknowledged in the documents. For illustration, the set of documents included with MINOE currently (and used to demonstrate the software in this article) are laws and regulations from four geopolitical jurisdictions for the year 2006; however, users may also import other documents for a more tailored application. Features include an interactive matrix containing results about the set of management documents within the user's scope and scale of interest. In addition, MINOE includes metrics and visualization tools to synthesize information derived from the documents. The article presents the software tool, describes potential uses for the tool, and ends with a discussion of future work to expand the program.     

A review of Australian traffic system design models

The demands for traffic infrastructure are increasing. Yet over the last decade investment in new infrastructure has decreased at all levels. Traffic systems designers are, therefore, being asked to be more accurate in their prediction of the impacts of changes, to analyse ever more complex situations and to extract more from the existing traffic system. This paper reviews developments in techniques for analysing the impacts of changes in the traffic system. It looks at intersection, route, network, parking lot and public transport design models that have been developed in Australia. Particular emphasis is given to the considerable developments in microcomputers and graphics and the impact these are having on the models. Future developments are also discussed.     

National policy towards cars: Greece

Passenger car ownership and use in Greece has been a matter of serious consideration at government level, only in the last decade with the increasing traffic congestion in the big cities. However, government policy towards private car ownership has always been influenced by two main factors.

First, that virtually all vehicles have to be imported, a fact which has a serious balance of payments implication for a small country like Greece.

Second, the traditional heavy taxation of motor vehicles and fuel, brings high revenues for the national budget. Recently a third consideration has been added, that of energy consumption and of the environmental effects of car use.

From the point of view of car owners, ownership was originally seen as a means of social recognition and establishment, but for the last decade it has been considered mainly as an everyday necessity more or less imposed on one, by a number of other well accepted facts of everyday social and professional life.

Influenced by the two main factors above; private car ownership and use in Greece has developed for the last two decades at a pace similar to but not the same as in other Western Countries. In this paper the existing situation and prospects will be examined and comments made on the peculiarities characterizing the Greek scene.     

Policies towards suburban rail services in Britain and the federal republic of Germany — a comparison

This paper compares the major role played by suburban rail (S‐Bahn) systems in West German cities with the much more limited role of rail in the British conurbations. Clearly, the difference owes much to the institutional and financial arrangements in the two countries. In West Germany, large amounts of earmarked funds have been available for rail investment, whilst the Federal government has been willing to shoulder much of the burden of operating subsidies. The Verkehrsverbund has emerged as a highly effective way of coordinating fares and services without direct ownership of any mode of transport. By contrast in Britain funds for rail investment have been much more limited. Progress with integration has been far slower, and is threatened by current government policies regarding both bus deregulation and the abolition of the Metropolitan county councils. Whilst rail is firmly established in German cities, its future in Britain looks bleak.     

Patterns and projections of technical development in freeway surveillance and control in the U.S.A.

This paper explores the historical trends in freeway traffic management technology in the U.S., and the most likely projections for the coming two decades. First, existing computer‐supervised freeway surveillance and control techniques are reviewed with particular emphasis on the scientific and technological landmarks which has led to the evolution of these techniques. Next, the major underlying trends which bear on the future of automated freeway surveillance and control are identified. Finally, extrapolative projections are made to determine the most likely future of this technology. The paper concludes with implications for the issues of meeting short‐term transportation needs of urban areas through more efficient use of existing transportation facilities.     

Stated preference analysis of travel choices: the state of practice

Stated preference (SP) methods are widely used in travel behaviour research and practice to identify behavioural responses to choice situations which are not revealed in the market, and where the attribute levels offered by existing choices are modified to such an extent that the reliability of revealed preference models as predictors of response is brought into question. This paper reviews recent developments in the application of SP models which add to their growing relevance in demand modelling and prediction. The main themes addressed include a comparative assessment of choice models and preference models, the importance of scaling when pooling different types of data, especially the appeal of SP data as an enriching strategy in the context of revealed preference models, hierarchical designs when the number of attributes make single experiments too complex for the respondent, and ways of accommodating dynamics (i.e. serial correlation and state dependence) in SP modelling.An earlier modified version was presented as the keynote address to the 1993 National Conference on Tourism Research, held at the University of Sydney, 19 March 1993. The comments of Jordan Louviere, Lester Johnson, Paul Hooper, W.G. Waters II and Mark Bradley are appreciated.