The taxi industry: working conditions and health of drivers,a literature review

The taxi industry plays an important role in urban transportation systems, both in economic and mobility terms. In the case of the former, it provides employment for a large number of people and circulates significant amounts of money. In the case of the latter, it is a flexible means of transportation capable of arriving at any destination. Although the way the taxi industry is organised varies across countries and even within countries, some factors are shared at varying latitudes of the globe. Working conditions, habits, health, and exposure to road crashes have been a subject of interest for researchers from various disciplines, including medicine, psychology, and economics. However, much of this research focuses on a part of the problem and is not mutually referential. A review of the literature may be useful not only to researchers of diverse disciplines but also to industry representatives and those public officials responsible for transportation, road safety and health policy. This article provides a comprehensive review of the working conditions of taxi drivers, their relationship to road risk exposure and their consequences on the health of workers. It also includes information on coping strategies and protective behaviors. The review is based on a Scopus database search. The search covered the period from 1990 to 2015. This initial search was complemented with other database searches, which yielded some additional studies. Our goal was to summarise existing knowledge, identify possible lines of research and suggest some practical recommendations. It would be important (a) to reduce the workload, establish adequate time for breaks, and provide access to healthcare, (b) to implement actions to promote and maintain healthy habits, (c) to diagnose, detect and treat indicators of occupational fatigue and stress, and (d) to develop programs that make it possible to evaluate work concerns and broaden coping strategies to foster positive changes.     

安全性对地铁系统设计的影响

论文简要介绍了风险识别、风险分析的概念以及新时代轨道交通安全面临的新问题,并探讨了功能和安全规范的解决方案.论文旨在以系统安全性为出发点,介绍地铁网络系统的实施步骤,以及如何综合考虑降低设备费用和缩短实施时间等因素.     

Strategies for improving the mode transition in a sequential parallel turbocharged automotive diesel engine

Parallel sequential turbocharging systems are able to operate in different modes, which are defined according to the turbochargers that simultaneously boost the engine, and are controlled by means of specific valves. In order to cover the full engine operating range, a smooth transition between turbocharging operating modes must be ensured. However, important disturbances affect both boost and exhaust pressure when shifting the operation mode, thus causing non-negligible torque oscillations. This paper presents different methods for smoothing such undesirable effects during mode transition. Strategies covering optimal synchronization of the control valves, control of the valves’ position, and correction of the injected fuel during the transition are analysed. A fully instrumented passenger car engine is used for illustrating the different torque smoothing methods, and experimental results for transitions during both steady operation and engine accelerations are shown.     

Telemetric system for monitoring and automation of railroad networks

This paper describes a new method of real-time train monitoring based on the ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4 protocol. The system consists of a mobile device embedded in the moving train which transmits parameter signals that are being measured by a base unit with the help of routers. When applied, the technique monitors and controls vehicles operating on permanent routes, making a real-time evaluation of their performance and location, and allowing an effective planning of trains. It consists of a low cost, low power consumption and safe modular technology capable of monitoring many different variables simultaneously.     

Valuing Freight Transport Time using Transport Demand Modelling: A Bibliographical Review

The value of time for freight transport is of major importance in infrastructure-related cost–benefit analysis and yet its study has been largely neglected when compared with its passenger counterpart. In fact, one of the attributes that could decide the profitability of a project is how much can be saved if freight vehicles use new infrastructure. Despite being the primary benefit of most investments in transport infrastructure, researchers have not yet reached agreement over either the size or the nature of the values of time that should be used when evaluating projects. This article provides a review of the estimation of freight value of time through transport demand modelling and extant empirical evidence on this topic. Similarly, the bibliographic review of studies undertaken has allowed us to pinpoint the most critical issues when modelling freight transport demand and the position of various research teams regarding these aspects. Such issues include identifying the decision-maker, heterogeneity in the transport flows and transport attributes considered by decision-makers.     

Market Orientation in Public Transport Research—A Review

It is commonly argued that, in order to meet increasing competition, public transport organizations and systems need to be market oriented. Even though the notion of market orientationhas not been explicitly addressed in public transport research, studies relevant to market orientation have been conducted. The aim of this paper is to introduce the concept of market orientation into the field of public transport, to review previous research into market orientation in public transport research, and to suggest directions for future research. Market orientation is defined as the generation and dissemination of market intelligence by organizations, as well as responses to it. The review suggests that previous academic research has focused on intelligence generation by developing and using models for measuring travel behaviour, stated preferences, perceived customer quality, and satisfaction. Studies of responsiveness have mainly addressed the physical improvements made in public transport organizations, which is also the primary concern of the industry research accounted for. There has been less research into the dissemination of market intelligence, the drivers of market orientation, the relations between the elements, and the overall concept of market orientation in public transport. It is thus concluded that future public transport research needs to address these issues.     

Assessment of Cross‐Border Spillover Effects of National Transport Infrastructure Plans: An Accessibility Approach

Abstract

Traditional transport infrastructure assessment methodologies rarely include the full range of strategic benefits for the transportation system. One of these benefits is the contribution to cross‐border integration, critical for the European integration process. However, this is a key issue in strategic planning and decision‐making processes, as its inclusion may increase the probability of large‐scale transport infrastructure projects being funded. This paper presents a methodology for the measurement of the contribution of transport infrastructure plans to European integration. The methodology is based on the measurement of the improvement in network efficiency in cross‐border regions of neighbouring countries, via accessibility calculations in a Geographical Information System support. The methodology was tested by applying it to the ambitious road and rail network extensions included in the Spanish Strategic Transport and Infrastructure Plan (PEIT) 2005–2020. The results show significant and important network efficiency improvements of the PEIT outside the Spanish border. For the road mode, while the Spanish average accessibility improvement accounts for 2.6%, average improvements in cross‐border regions of France and Portugal are of 1.8%. And for the rail mode, the corresponding Spanish value is 34.5%, whereas in neighbouring regions it accounts for 20.2%. These results stress the significant importance of this strategic benefit and the consequent need for its inclusion in strategic planning processes. Finally, the paper identifies the potential of the methodology when applied at different administrative levels, such as the local or state levels.     

Lightweight Occupancy Estimation on Freeways Using Extended Floating Car Data

Advanced traffic management systems rely heavily on technology to perform accurate estimations of the current state of the traffic as well as its short-term evolution. The objectives are improving traffic flow and enhancing road safety. Their success is based on accurate monitoring of two key variables, specifically speed and occupancy. The latter of the two has, to date, received significantly less attention from the scientific community. In this work we present a lightweight method to perform “on-line” occupancy estimation. We first propose three occupancy measurements calculated from data collected by a floating car: vehicle count, percentage of stop time, and headway. We then extend these discrete values to a continuous estimation of occupancy in space and time. The proposed estimators are based on a pairwise linear regression of each of the previously calculated measurements over certain references obtained from other floating cars or magnetic loop detectors. The method has been calibrated and validated under real traffic conditions and data. Despite the ease of implementation, the method is able to reproduce the occupancy values generated by the actual loop detectors, achieving promising results, with estimation errors down to 6.52%, even before multivehicle systems are considered.     

Factors that affect the ability of people with disabilities to walk or wheel to destinations in their community: a scoping review

ABSTRACT

It is essential that the pedestrian environment accommodates all users so they can participate in everything the community has to offer. However, people with disabilities (PWDs) often find it difficult to navigate this environment because of physical and social accessibility factors. While we know a great deal about which factors act as barriers and facilitators to mobility, we do not know enough about how they influence navigation (i.e. planning a route, en route decisions, and route learning) or how they can be improved. A scoping review was conducted to identify these factors, assess their implications, and suggest future directions. In total, 3394 studies were found and screened, 163 full-text articles were reviewed, and 37 articles met the inclusion criteria for the final review. These studies focused on those with visual impairments, navigating crosswalks, and the cognitive elements of navigation. Future research is needed that includes more types of disabilities, considers the navigational process from planning to arrival, and evaluates interventions.     

Sail-assisted motor vessels weather routing using a fuzzy logic model

In this study sail-assisted motor vessels weather routing is investigated to establish the most economical route by applying available information of the ship's behavior regarding the encountered sea-conditions. To derive the vessel’s fuel use on a route, a fuzzy logic model is constructed through an automated identification process. Only data collected from actual integrated bridge measurements systems is used. Fuzzy modeling is a framework providing a flexible and transparent mathematical structure to describe the physical relationships in a vessel's behavior. This consumption model is integrated into a determinist weather-routing optimization workflow based on a systematic meshing scheme of the sailing area. Pareto-optimization with a multi-objective genetic algorithm is used to maximize fuel economy in a limited or optimum time. The benefits of the developed decision helping tool in sail-assisted motor vessel routing are highlighted on a westbound north Transatlantic journey.