Environmental innovation and the role of stakeholder collaboration in West Coast port gateways

The paper explores the role of stakeholder collaboration in the adoption of innovations as part of the environmental and sustainability agenda of port gateways. We do this through a comparative assessment of the port of Vancouver, British Columbia, and the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California. An inductive research approach is used to identify and assess the initiation and implementation process behind exemplary innovations. Innovation includes new technologies and processes for handling and moving cargo, mechanisms for planning and policy making, as well as financing, implementing, upgrading, managing and operating infrastructure systems. A relatively new arena for competition on the basis of innovation concerns environmental performance. The conceptual framework and empirical evidence suggest that while there may be intense demand for and supply of innovation in port gateways, the complex dynamics of the logistics chain are such that successful innovation requires conscious involvement and collaboration of stakeholders.     

Workplace travel plans: can they be evaluated effectively by experts?

Employers are regularly involved in transport planning and characteristic workplace-oriented tools include: (1) travel plans for building projects, (2) mandatory travel plans, (3) subsidies to employers with an advanced travel plan and (4) best travel plan awards. In all cases, experts judge the level of car use. We argue that decision-makers might benefit from a multiple regression-based benchmark modelling tool that estimates the expected share of the car. In this paper, we estimate the share of car users in the commuting modal split at workplaces. However, since the amount of information available to experts differs, we gradually add information to the model to measure the impact of data availability. Without historic data on modal split, the current share can only be predicted moderately well, i.e. within a 20% range. Besides adding the past, results improve by using homogenous and regional subsamples. Nevertheless, quantitative analyses do not make expert knowledge obsolete.     

Edinburgh's Congestion Charging Plans: An Analysis of Reasons for Non-Implementation

Abstract

The City of Edinburgh in Scotland in the UK had advanced plans for a congestion charging scheme until 25 February 2005. However, these plans were abandoned at that time after a referendum that resulted in a ‘no vote’. This paper explains the origins of the scheme, outlines its nature, extent, charging technology and predicted effect; it also analyses the difficulties that exist when attempting to plan and implement such a scheme in a particular governance context, and when there is little unanimity of public opinion about the need for a scheme.

As well as the primary documentation from the proposals (e.g. public inquiry submissions, papers to government), the paper also draws upon a series of face-to-face interviews that were undertaken with key stakeholders. It also provides an analysis of press coverage in the local (Edinburgh) and national (Scottish) newspapers in the run-up to the referendum. These sources explain both the systemic and more local barriers to the scheme's implementation.

The paper draws key lessons which are important for authorities considering the implementation of a road user charging scheme, by suggesting how legislative and governance barriers to implementation can be reduced. The lessons are of relevance world wide.     

Lagrangian flow in the California Undercurrent, an observation and model comparison

During the period 1992–1998, 38 isobaric RAFOS floats were deployed to sample the subsurface flow of the California Undercurrent. The deployments, released over the California continental slope west of San Francisco, have sampled robust year-round poleward subsurface flow associated with the Undercurrent most seasons and the combined inshore current and Undercurrent in winter. Two other types of flow have been seen: a region of weak flow with little net displacement just west of the California Undercurrent, and an active westward propagating eddy field. This eddy field appears to be the primary mechanism for moving floats from the Undercurrent into the ocean interior. The observations and statistics from the RAFOS floats are compared with Lagrangian estimates of particles tracked in a global high resolution ocean simulation in order to evaluate the fidelity of the model along an eastern boundary. The results show that the model reproduces the general character of the flow reasonably well, but underestimates both the mean and eddy energies by a substantial amount.     

Variability of the Bohai Sea circulation based on model calculations

The circulation and the hydrography of the Bohai Sea are simulated with the Hamburg Shelf Ocean Model (HAMSOM). The model is three-dimensional, prognostic baroclinic and has a resolution of 5 min in latitude and longitude and 10 layers in the vertical. It is initialised and forced with the five main tidal constituents, temperature and salinity distributions taken from the Levitus database, monthly mean river run-off values and European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) re-analysed data of air pressure, wind stress and of those parameters relevant for the calculation of heat fluxes. The simulation period covers 14 years from 1980 to 1993 due to the availability of the time-dependent ECMWF forcing.The results are analysed by means of time series and EOFs focussing on the interpretation of fluctuations with periods above the tidal cycle. Furthermore, tracer simulations are carried out and turnover times are calculated in order to evaluate the importance of these fluctuations on the renewal and transport of water masses in the Bohai Sea.One of the major outcomes of the investigation is the overall dominance of the annual cycle in all hydrographic parameters and the importance of stochastic weather fluctuations on the transport of water masses in the Bohai Sea.     

Parametric Hull Form Optimization of Containerships for Minimum Resistance in Calm Water and in Waves

This paper described the process of generating the optimal parametric hull shape with a fully parametric modeling method for three containerships of different s...     

客车电磁缓速制动器的制动力矩与温升研究

在介绍电磁缓速制动器工作原理的基础上,通过电磁理论推导,得到了电磁缓速制动器制动功率和制动力矩的计算公式,并研究了温度升高对电磁缓速制动器主要参数电导率和相对磁导率的影响。     

Introducing shared life experience metric in urban planning

Transportation - Historically cities are formed to provide interaction and communication opportunities for communities. As cities become smarter, new forms of interactions are formed and the...     

'Get yourself a proper job girlie!': recruitment, retention and women seafarers* [1]

This paper considers the issue of women's employment at sea in view of the current and predicted labour shortage in the industry. It reports on an International Labour Organization (ILO) commissioned study which aimed to explore employment policies and practices regarding women seafarers and the experiences of women seafarers themselves. The data suggested that those employers who had experience employing women seafarers were generally very positive about their skills and abilities. Women seafarers themselves were dedicated and committed to a sea-going career. The paper concludes that women seafarers are an under-recognized resource and, if utilized, could fill labour shortages in the industry, both in sea-going positions and in marine positions ashore that require sea-going experience. A series of recommendations are outlined in order to promote the recruitment and retention of women at sea.     

Freight transportation demand: A survey of recent econometric studies

This paper surveys econometric studies of freight transportation demand which have been published since the mid-1970s. It describes the variables, data sources, and estimation procedures utilized by the studies. In addition, it summarizes their statistical results. The studies included in this survey typically accounted for freight rates and service characteristics (e.g., transit time and reliability). Data sources often varied across the studies.Based on the data they utilized, the surveyed studies are classified as either aggregate or disaggregate. The data in the aggregate studies consist of information on total flows by modes at the regional or national level, while the data in the disaggregate studies pertain to individual shipments. The earlier aggregate studies estimated linear logit models. It has been pointed out that when they are estimated on aggregate data these models are subject to certain shortcomings. To avoid these shortcomings, more recent aggregate studies have estimated flexible forms such as translog functions. The disaggregate studies surveyed in this paper used either logit or probit models.Statistical results often varied with the commodities analyzed, making it somewhat difficult to generalize the findings of the different studies. One finding common to several studies is that freight rates have a significant impact on shipment decisions. This paper discusses certain theoretical and empirical limitations of the surveyed studies. It also offers suggestions for future research in freight transport demand. Freight demand models can be used to examine various effects of the recent deregulation in freight transportation.