Activity‐based approaches to travel analysis: conceptual frameworks,models, and research problems

Recent policy discussions about information technology in transport and traffic demand management have increased interest in activity‐based approaches to the analysis of travel behaviour, in particular in the modelling of household activity scheduling which is at the core of many of the required changes in travel behaviour. This paper is a state‐of‐the‐art review of conceptualizations and models of activity scheduling with special regard to issues raised by the new policy instruments. In the course of the review, the validity of behavioural assumptions is examined critically and several needs for future research identified.     

The return on investment for taxi companies transitioning to electric vehicles

We study whether taxi companies can simultaneously save petroleum and money by transitioning to electric vehicles. We propose a process to compute the return on investment of transitioning a taxi corporation’s fleet to electric vehicles. We use Bayesian data analysis to infer the revenue changes associated with the transition. We do not make any assumptions about the vehicles’ mobility patterns; instead, we use a time-series of GPS coordinates of the company’s existing petroleum-based vehicles to derive our conclusions. As a case study, we apply our process to a major taxi corporation, Yellow Cab San Francisco (YCSF). Using current prices, we find that transitioning their fleet to battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles is profitable for the company. Furthermore, given that gasoline prices in San Francisco are only 5.4 % higher than the rest of the United States, but electricity prices are 75 % higher; taxi companies with similar practices and mobility patterns in other cities are likely to profit more than YCSF by transitioning to electric vehicles.     

Locating refuelling stations for alternative fuel vehicles: a review on models and applications

The recent concerns on environmental issues have expedited the technological development of alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs), but the deployment of AFVs still remains at the initial stage mainly because of the lack of refuelling facilities. Recognising this, researchers have conducted various studies, proposing a variety of approaches to strategically locating refuelling stations. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the approaches, focusing more on applications than computational issues. The review identifies two main elements of the approaches: location modelling and refuelling demand estimation. Examining how the elements were handled in refuelling location studies, this paper suggests that future refuelling location models should properly reflect the intricate and various perspectives of three major AFV stakeholders: drivers, government agencies and refuelling service providers. This study is expected to help researchers efficiently set up their refuelling location problems and identify critical factors for seeking the solutions.     

Investigating travel utility elements in association with travel time and mode choice: the case of Seoul,South Korea

In this paper, travel utility is conceptualized into the elements of disutility, or derived utility, and positive utility, which includes synergistic and intrinsic utility, and then analyzed in terms of the effects of these elements on weekly travel time according to three travel modes – the automobile, public transit, and nonmotorized modes – and on the choice of the annually most used mode. Linear regressions on mode-specific travel time and a multinomial logistic regression on mode choice show that, compared to life situation and land-use characteristics, utility elements are among the strongest travel determinants. Specifically, while some utility elements contribute exclusively to shifting the mode of travel and others to increasing nonmotorized travel, modal shift is most strongly affected by a disutility element, trip timeliness, and the increase in nonmotorized travel by a positive utility element, amenities.     

变形者——Terrafugia Transition

《第五元素》里展示的那个未来世界一直令人生畏，希望那样的世界不要来到，但那些在一柱擎天的摩天大楼之间飞行，并可以随意停在空中的汽车，还是让我们印象深刻。是的!我们需要这样的交通工具，不管你叫它会飞的汽车，还是会跑的飞机，总之，没有人会拒绝在空中和地面随意切换!     

Spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamics of particles, bacteria, and pEPS in Arctic winter sea ice

Abundances of particles, total bacteria, and particulate extracellular polymeric substances (pEPS) in Arctic sea ice were tracked through a winter season to examine the impact of combined extremes of low temperature and high salinity on the prokaryotic microbial community. Three horizons, centered at depths of 25, 45, and 65 cm from the ice surface, with mean seasonal temperatures of − 20, − 17, and − 13 °C, respectively, were sampled 16 times over the course of 12 weeks. Microscopic counts of bacteria (stained with DAPI) and particles (stained with acridine orange) reflected the dynamic conditions of the growing ice sheet, with greater abundances and variability in the upper ice horizons compared to the lower. The trend of higher particle and bacterial abundances in the upper ice was corroborated by several full-depth profiles taken during the expedition, which also displayed significantly decreasing cell abundance with depth. Bacterial abundance declined slowly and significantly with time in the upper and middle ice horizons, but not in the lowest, suggesting that much of the prokaryotic microbial community is resilient to extreme environmental conditions. We found that pEPS concentrations increased significantly with time and with decreasing temperatures in all depth horizons, which may lend support to the argument that sea ice bacteria produce EPS in situ as a cryoprotectant.     

当油价坐上过山车

随着国际金融危机的不断加深，关于国际油价的最新走势逐渐成为了国内市场最为关注的焦点。据统计，近四个月来，国际油价跌幅超过60％。国际油价下跌幅度之大，速度之快出人意料。