Feeder-trunk or direct lines? Economies of density,transfer costs and transit structure in an urban context

A feeder-trunk scheme has been labeled as superior in urban areas due to the presence of economies of density (decreasing average operating cost) along the avenues served by trunk lines. We compare this structure against three types of direct lines structures (no transfers) to serve a stylized public transport network where several flows converge into a main avenue, simultaneously optimizing fleet and vehicle sizes considering both users’ and operators’ costs. The best structure is shown to depend not only on the total passenger volume but also on demand imbalance, demand dispersion in the origins and the length of the trunk line. The region where the feeder-trunk structure dominates depends largely on the value assigned to the pure transfer penalty.     

Assessing the impact of tactical airport surface operations on airline schedule block time setting

With the growth of air traffic, airport surfaces are congested and air traffic operations are disrupted by the formation of bottlenecks on the surface. Hence, improving the efficiency and predictability of airport surface operations is not only a key goal of NASA’s initiatives in Integrated Arrival/Departure/Surface (IADS) operations, but also has been recognized as a critical aspect of the FAA NextGEN implementation plan. While a number of tactical initiatives have been shown to be effective in improving airport surface operations from a service provider’s perspective, their impacts on airlines’ scheduled block time (SBT) setting, which has been found to have direct impact on airlines’ on-time performance and operating cost, have received little attention. In this paper, we assess this impact using an econometric model of airline SBT combined with a before/after analysis of the implementation of surface congestion management (SCM) at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in 2010. Since airlines do not consider gate delay in setting SBT, we find that reduction in taxi-out time variability resulting from SCM leads to more predictable taxi-out times and thus decreases in SBT. The JFK SCM implementation is used as a case study to validate model prediction performance. The observed SBT decrease between 2009 and 2011 at JFK is 4.8 min and our model predicts a 4.2 min decrease. In addition, Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) is used as an example to demonstrate how different surface operations improvements scenarios can be evaluated in terms of SBT reduction.     

Influence of driving patterns on vehicle emissions: A case study for Latin American cities

On-board real-time emission experiments were conducted on 78 light-duty vehicles in Bogota. Direct emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and hydrocarbons (HC) were measured. The relationship between such emissions and vehicle specific power (VSP) was established. The experimental matrix included both gasoline-powered and retrofit dual fuel (gasoline–natural gas) vehicles. The results confirm that VSP is an appropriate metric to obtain correlations between driving patterns and air pollutant emissions. Ninety-five percent of the time vehicles in Bogota operate in a VSP between −15.2 and 17.7 kW ton⁻¹, and 50% of the time they operate between −2.9 and 1.2 kW ton⁻¹, representing low engine-load and near-idling conditions, respectively. When engines are subjected to higher loads, pollutant emissions increase significantly. This demonstrates the relevance of reviewing smog check programs and command-and-control measures in Latin America, which are widely based on static (i.e., idling) emissions testing. The effect of different driving patterns on the city’s emissions inventory was determined using VSP and numerical simulations. For example, improving vehicle flow and reducing sudden and frequent accelerations could curb annual emissions in Bogota by up to 12% for CO₂, 13% for CO and HC, and 24% for NO_x. This also represents possible fuel consumption savings of between 35 and 85 million gallons per year and total potential economic benefits of up to 1400 million dollars per year.     

The role of the air transport service in interregional long-distance students’ mobility in Italy

This study investigates the role of air transport service in the attractiveness of universities to national students, examining how it might stimulate local economic development by attracting highly skilled labor. Examining the flow of Italian university students at the provincial level in 2003–2012, we find that the air transport service affects university attractiveness for long-distance students living at least 300 km from their university. Specifically, accessibility increases with the proximity of universities to airports, when low-cost carriers serve university routes and more alternative airports exist at the origin. Further, our results suggest that, over the last decade, air transport service has facilitated mobility of long-distance students from southern areas to universities in the north of Italy, where students generally move to increase their future prospects.     

海峡两岸海上直航客运分析

本文就目前海峡两岸海上客运直航问题，提出了“特别直航”的建议。在分析了客运船型、港口及航线经济效益后，得到了有益的结论。     

交通经济带CA模拟研究

交通经济带(Traffic Economic Belt,简称TEB)是描绘区域经济组织形式的经济学概念,它将区域经济框架构成方式应用辐带状空间地域信息表述出来。本文在统计力学中的元胞自动机原理(Cellular Automata,简称CA)基础上,对交通经济带进行了模拟和探讨。     

大型油船结构尺寸直接计算法研究

介绍了满足ＤｎＶ规范的大型油船结构尺寸直接计算法的原理和部分计算结果。计算结果表明该方法优化效果明显，计算速度快，使用可靠。     

既有线提速200 km·h-1的线路区间通过能力分析

在既有线旅客列车最高运行速度提高到200 km.h-1,货物列车最高运行速度提高到100,120 km.h-1条件下,逐一分析追踪列车间隔时间、列车连发比例、列车区间运行时分之差、维修天窗时间等因素对线路通过能力的影响。由分析可知,追踪列车间隔时间货物列车可压缩为7,6 min,旅客列车可压缩为6,5 min;旅客列车比例提高,有利于组织列车群发;客货列车速差变小,有利于列车区间运行时分之差减小。均对提高线路区间通过能力产生有利的影响。但综合维修天窗时间延长,对线路区间通过能力产生负面影响。在此基础上设定基础方案、过渡方案和目标方案,运用直接计算法计算各方案的线路通过能力值,构建两个综合比较方案。通过综合分析,若天窗预留时间延长至180 min,线路区间通过能力可提高约20%。若天窗预留时间延长至240 min,线路区间通过能力可提高约13%。为使线路通过能力保持不变或改善,提出应加快货车提速改造、减少并尽量统一列车标尺,以及研究优化相关作业组织和车底运用方式的建议。     

基于CAN总线的微机直通式电空制动监测系统

针对微机直通式电空制动系统分散控制的特点,构建了基于控制局域网CAN总线的监测网络。它将各个分散的制动控制单元信息,通过CAN总线传输到上位计算机,进行分析处理。系统进行两次通讯协议的转换:一是每个制动控制单元与CAN智能适配卡之间,完成串行RS232到CAN总线通讯协议的转换;二是CAN总线上的主适配卡接收包含有车号信息的各制动控制单元的数据帧,完成CAN总线到RS232通讯协议的转换,传输给上位机。同时对监测系统的实时性进行了分析,并应用于2动9拖高速列车直通式电空制动系统,实现制动控制单元的集中监测,实时反映各车制动机响应的同步性和一致性。     

直流大电流在线校准标准器的研制

介绍了直流大电流在线校准标准器的用途、主要技术性能、结构、设计原理及特点。