The potential mitigation of CO2 emissions via modal substitution of high-speed rail for short-haul air travel from a life cycle perspective – An Australian case study

The objective of this study is to provide a strategic evaluation of the mitigation of CO₂ emissions via modal substitution of high-speed rail for short-haul air travel on the Sydney–Melbourne, Australia city-pair from a life cycle perspective. It has been demonstrated that when considering CO₂ emissions from vehicle operations, the modal shift from air to high-speed rail on this city-pair has the potential to provide a means of CO₂ mitigation. However, uncertainty exists with regard to the level of mitigation potential when considering the whole-of-life performance of the systems. Given the significant difference in the infrastructure requirements between the air mode and the high-speed rail mode, this study quantifies the life cycle CO₂ load attributable to each system and examines the effect on CO₂ mitigation potential. The study concluded that while the inclusion of the linehaul infrastructure did increase the CO₂ load associated with high-speed rail mode, it did not equate to or exceed the CO₂ load per trip as experienced by the air mode. The avoided annual life cycle CO₂ emission in the target year 2056 was 0.37 Mt representing an 18% reduction when compared to the air mode only on the city pair. In fact, the scenario comparison indicated that the substitution of high-speed rail for short-haul air travel on the city pair resulted in CO₂ emissions avoidance throughout the longitudinal period.     

Agent-based simulation framework for mixed traffic of cars,pedestrians and trams

In this paper, we report on the construction of a new framework for simulating mixed traffic consisting of cars, trams, and pedestrians that can be used to support discussions about road management, signal control, and public transit. Specifically, a layered road structure that was designed for car traffic simulations was extended to interact with an existing one-dimensional (1D) car-following model and a two-dimensional (2D) discrete choice model for pedestrians. The car model, pedestrian model, and interaction rules implemented in the proposed framework were verified through simulations involving simple road environments. The resulting simulated values were in near agreement with the empirical data. We then used the proposed framework to assess the impact of a tramway extension plan for a real city. The simulation results showed that the impact of the proposed tramway on existing car traffic would not be serious, and by extension, implied that the proposed framework could help stakeholders decide on expansion scenarios that are satisfactory to both tram users and private car owners.     

绿色公路技术LCA评价体系及效益分析

针对各类绿色公路技术难以横向比较的问题,文章从技术可行性、经济效益、节能减排效益等方面,提出建立绿色公路技术LCA评价体系,并以G312苏州西段工程为例进行综合效益分析,其综合效益最为显著,具备规模化、资源化、投资适宜的绿色公路技术;技术瓶颈问题的突破和创新,是推进绿色公路发展的根本动力;将绿色理念融入公路建设的全生命周期的前提,是因地制宜的前期规划布局研究,也是合理选择适宜绿色公路技术的基础。     

新疆钢渣成渣工艺及集料化分析研究

本文通过对新疆不同成渣工艺及钢渣矿物化学组成、稳定性、物理指标进行分析,阐述了新疆钢渣技术现状,推动钢渣在公路工程中的资源化利用。新疆钢渣主要集中于北疆的乌昌地区,在热泼法和热闷法两种成渣工艺下,钢渣化学矿物成分相对稳定,属于高碱活性材料,并具有胶凝特性,同时具有一定工程级配。f-CaO含量热闷法小于热泼法,并且在自然环境下可陈化降解,有利于钢渣的稳定性。钢渣物理指标优于新疆常规碎、砾石材料,可集料化用于公路工程建设。此外,钢渣在工程应用中具有显著的经济和生态效益。     

Optimal bus fleet management strategy for emissions reduction

Transportation is a major cause for environmental degradation via exhaust emissions. For many transit-oriented metropolitan areas, bus trips often constitute a sizeable mode share. Managing the bus fleet, in particular updating buses to comply with the newer emissions standards, therefore, can have a substantial impact on transportation-induced air quality. This paper presents the approach of remaining life additional benefit–cost (RLABC) analysis for maximising the total net benefit by either early-retiring or retrofitting the current bus fleet within their lifespans. By referring to the net benefits for different bus types estimated by RLABC analysis, the most beneficial management scheme for the current bus fleet can be identified. Optimal bus fleet management (BFM) models based on the RLABC analysis for the operator and the government are developed. Then a government subsidy plan is produced to achieve win–win solutions, which will offer efficient and flexible management schemes. To illustrate the approach, the largest bus company in Hong Kong, which carries more than 23% of the total trips in Hong Kong, is taken as a case study example. Instead of adopting a fixed retirement plan, such as replacing buses at the age of 17 as is currently practised, the proposed method develops an optimal BFM scheme that progressively phases out buses or retrofits them. This study produces promising results to demonstrate the large benefit of this approach for optimal bus fleet management.     

Traffic modelling in system boundary expansion of road pavement life cycle assessment

This paper uses a case study of a UK inter-urban road, to explore the impact of extending the system boundary of road pavement life cycle assessment (LCA) to include increased traffic emissions due to delays during maintenance. Some previous studies have attempted this but have been limited to hypothetical scenarios or simplified traffic modelling, with no validation or sensitivity analysis. In this study, micro-simulation modelling of traffic was used to estimate emissions caused by delays at road works, for several traffic management options. The emissions were compared to those created by the maintenance operation, estimated using an LCA model. In this case study, the extra traffic emissions caused by delays at road works are relatively small, compared to those from the maintenance process, except for hydrocarbon emissions. However, they are generally close to, or above, the materiality threshold recommended in PAS2050 for estimating carbon footprints, and reach 5–10% when traffic flow levels are increased (hypothetically) or when traffic management is imposed outside times of lowest traffic flow. It is recommended, therefore, that emissions due to traffic disruption at road works should be included within the system boundary of road pavement LCA and carbon footprint studies and should be considered in developing guidelines for environmental product declarations of road pavement maintenance products and services.     

A comparative life-cycle energy and emissions analysis for intercity passenger transportation in the U.S. by aviation,intercity bus,and automobile

Intercity passenger trips constitute a significant source of energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and criteria pollutant emissions. The most commonly used city-to-city modes in the United States include aircraft, intercity bus, and automobile. This study applies state-of-the-practice models to assess life-cycle fuel consumption and pollutant emissions for intercity trips via aircraft, intercity bus, and automobile. The analyses compare the fuel and emissions impacts of different travel mode scenarios for intercity trips ranging from 200 to 1600 km. Because these modes operate differently with respect to engine technology, fuel type, and vehicle capacity, the modeling techniques and modeling boundaries vary significantly across modes. For aviation systems, much of the energy and emissions are associated with auxiliary equipment activities, infrastructure power supply, and terminal activities, in addition to the vehicle operations between origin/destination. Furthermore, one should not ignore the embodied energy and initial emissions from the manufacturing of the vehicles, and the construction of airports, bus stations, highways and parking lots. Passenger loading factors and travel distances also significantly influence fuel and emissions results on a per-traveler basis. The results show intercity bus is generally the most fuel-efficient mode and produced the lowest per-passenger-trip emissions for the entire range of trip distances examined. Aviation is not a fuel-efficient mode for short trips (<500 km), primarily due to the large energy impacts associated with takeoff and landing, and to some extent from the emissions of ground support equipment associated with any trip distance. However, aviation is more energy efficient and produces less emissions per-passenger-trip than low-occupancy automobiles for trip distances longer than 700–800 km. This study will help inform policy makers and transportation system operators about how differently each intercity system perform across all activities, and provides a basis for future policies designed to encourage mode shifts by range of service. The estimation procedures used in this study can serve as a reference for future analyses of transportation scenarios.     

基于模糊综合评价法的城市综合管廊结构健康评价方法研究

为解决城市综合管廊结构健康状况评估结果无法量化和指导运维的问题，通过分析模糊综合评价理论在交通隧道结构健康评价方法研究中的应用，依照类比思想，利用该理论建立城市综合管廊结构健康状况评价体系。首先，依据有关养护规定和调研结果，基于不同需求分别建立管廊结构的本体完好状况和本体结构状况评价指标体系； 其次，以交通隧道和综合管廊养护经验为基础，划分各指标的分级判定标准； 然后，采用层次分析法，计算评价指标的权重分配； 最后，采用柯西分布型隶属函数和矩阵型隶属函数确定各指标的隶属度，建立一级和二级模糊综合评价模型，赋予评价向量中各评语相应分值，将评价向量单值化，判定管廊结构健康状况。采用所提出的评价方法应用于实际工程，所得评价结果与经验评判得到的结果相同。     

Vehicle electrification in a developing country: Status and issue,from a well-to-wheel perspective

The increase of public attention, scientific research and political interest in environmental problems associated with transportation has provided the motivation for re-invention of electric vehicles. However the usage of grid-dependent EVs with a high-carbon electricity grid might produce more damage to the environment. This study aims to provide an environmental impact comparison of ICEVs, HEVs and EVs during their usage cycle, by modeling their energy consumption (electricity or fuel) and the supply chains of the supplied energy, (well-to-wheel) based on a life cycle assessment. The results show that running EVs with the existing mixed sources of electrical energy produce larger impacts on the environment 60% of the time; when compared to HEVs. When compared to ICEVs, EVs produce a larger environmental impact on 7 out of 15 environmental impact categories. Overall the environmental impacts of EVs are substantial based on the well-to-wheel analysis. It will continue to be so if no change is made to the methods of electricity generation in the near future. Given that the environmental profile of EVs is linked with the existing national electricity generation mix, the national electricity supply must be made cleaner before the electrification of the urban transport system.     

Effectiveness of travel time reliability indicators in the light of the assessment of dynamic managed lane strategy

ABSTRACT

The aim of traffic management is to ensure a high quality of service for a maximum number of users by decreasing congestion and increasing safety. Uncertainty of travel times decreases the quality of service and leads end users to modify their plans regardless of the average travel time. Indicators describing travel time reliability are being developed and should be used in the future both for the optimization and for the assessment of active traffic management operations. This article discusses the efficiency of certain reliability indicators in an ex-post assessment of a traffic management strategy. Ex-post assessment is based on an observational before–after study. As some factors other than the studied management strategy may intervene between the two periods, and as most reliability indicators require knowledge of the full travel time distribution and not only its average, a methodology is developed for the identification of the impact of these exogenous factors on the whole distribution. Many reliability indicators are split into different parts allowing the identification of the part due to the management strategy impact. The methodology is tested numerically on a managed lane operation consisting of Hard Shoulder Running (HSR) at rush hour on a section of a French motorway. The variation of some reliability indicators appears misleading, whereas the splitting of the indicators increases our understanding of the strategy and highlights its impact. The paper gives the reliability assessment of the HSR field test and discusses different reliability indicators to identify their potential performances and shortcomings.