Elasticities for taxicab fares and service availability

This study utilizes a unique dataset from New York City to examine the effects of taxi fare increases on trip demand and the availability of taxi service. The elasticity of trip demand with respect to fares is estimated to be –0.22; the elasticity of service availability with respect to the taxi fare is 0.28; and the elasticity of service availability with respect to total supply of service is near 1.0. These results have important implications for taxi regulatory decisions. First, fare increases do substantially increase industry revenues but at a lesser rate than the percentage increase in the fare. The implication for policy-makers is that fare elasticities must be carefully considered to obtain desired improvements in drivers' earnings. Second, service availability -- an important aspect of service quality that is generally overlooked during fare policy debates -- should be a central consideration in fare setting, given the considerable impact of fares on availability. Finally, where the supply of cabs needs to be expanded, the number of cabs can be significantly increased without harming the revenue stream of existing operators. This finding alleviates a major industry objection to issuing additional taxicab licenses.     

Competition and public service obligations in European aviation markets

This paper analyzes the effect of universal service policies on the airline markets of five European Union countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) in the period 2002–2010. Results show that airfare discount schemes for island residents raise demand and positively affect competition and the number of flights at the route level. These effects are evident in France and Italy, but are particularly marked in Spain. By contrast, public service obligations (PSOs) reduce competition on the protected routes, while their effect on the number of flights differs depending on national regulations. In Spain, routes protected with PSOs have greater flight frequencies than those on unprotected routes of similar characteristics, but in France, Italy and the UK the opposite result is found. The empirical model also finds that on routes with low-cost airlines market concentration is smaller and there is a larger number of flights. This result is relevant for the design of universal service policy, since in recent years low-cost airlines have entered a number of thin routes and have increased access to air transportation.     

The Downs–Thomson Paradox with responsive transit service

Downs (1962) and Thomson (1977) suggested that highway capacity expansion may produce counterproductive effects on the two-mode (auto and transit) transport system (Downs–Thomson Paradox). This paper investigates the occurrence of this paradox when transit authority can have different economic objectives (profit-maximizing or breakeven) and operating schemes (frequency, fare, or both frequency and fare). For various combinations of economic objectives and operating schemes, the interaction between highway expansion and transit service is explored, as well as its impact on travelers’ mode choices and travel utilities. Further, for each combination, the conditions for occurrence of the Downs–Thomson Paradox are established. We show that the paradox never occurs when transit authority is profit-maximizing, but it is inevitable when the transit authority is running to maximize travelers’ utility while maintaining breakeven. This is because the former transit authority tends to enhance transit service (e.g., raise frequency or reduce fare) when facing an expanded highway; and on the contrary, the latter tends to compromise transit service (e.g., reduce frequency or raise fare). Both analytical and numerical examples are provided to verify the theoretical results.     

要重视发展物流服务企业

本文阐述了发展物流服务企业的意义及应注意解决的问题     

路网环境下考虑大型车混入率的事故疏散诱导模型

大型车的混入对高速公路交通流产生了较大的影响，尤其是在交通事故情景下。为了引导事故条件下驾驶人和组织者做出高效准确的决断，将考虑了大型车混入率的动态空间占有率模型引入到交通波模型，构建干涉与非干涉情景下的交通事故影响模型。以郑尧高速为例，对模型的准确性和可行性进行了验证，分别对干涉情景下的疏散时间、疏散量以及事故发生的位置，车辆数等指标与事故影响程度的指标（包含事故最远排队长度，事故持续时间）关系进行分析。研究结果表明：疏散时间与事故影响程度成正相关关系，疏散量与事故影响程度成负相关关系，而事故发生点与上游匝道之间的距离与其关系不大；道路服务水平为0.456，车辆数为1 321 veh·h^-1时，为了使得分合流区不受影响，在不采取任何措施的情景下，应将大型车混入率控制在50.1%以下，使得最远排队长度在10 km内；当大型车混入率大于58%时，将很难通过干涉引导避免对上游分合流区产生影响；在35 min以内采取干涉措施的效果最为明显，而大于35 min时，事故持续时间会发生一个急剧的增加，不利于路网恢复，之后事故恢复时间将趋于平稳；对道路交通量进行模拟可知交通量每增加50 veh，疏散时间和距离增加的范围为[1.5 min，3.6 min]和[1.209 km，1.543 km]。研究结果可为高速公路事故诱导策略制定和疏散效果提升提供参考。     

远程技术支援系统构建及其关键问题研究

通过综合通信网络,实现系统、全面、高效的远程知识共享和管理的装备维修远程技术支援系统,是实现一体化保障组织体系,加强一体化协同保障力量的重要组成部分.在不远的未来,随着通信技术和信号管理技术的发展,将构建安全、可靠、开放的远程技术支援通信网络平台一面向服务的软件架构(SOA,Service Oriented Achitecture).在此过程中,需研究更高效、通用的抽象知识表示,构建更科学的服务评价体系和全方位的通信网络安全体系.     

北京地铁新线100km/h车辆热容量问题分析

对北京地铁新线100 km/h车辆热容量问题进行了分析,对4种基础制动装置的配置方案进行了探讨。     

移动电站维修常见技术问题分析

通过对移动电站维修中存在的技术问题深入分析,指出了问题的成因、导致的后果,并逐一提出了解决问题的方法和避免问题的注意事项等。     

内河干线航道服务区布局研究

为了有效地指导我国水网地区内河干线航道服务区规划建设,提升内河航道服务水平和水运行业形象,增强航道服务性功能,从内河航道服务区研究背景与研究现状分析入手,从航道服务性功能角度出发,对内河航道服务区进行系统定义与分类;结合船民服务需求意向调查,对各类服务区进行功能定位;分析内河干线航道服务区布局的指导性原则、要求、步骤,提出分类布局、整体优化的航道服务区布局方法.     

Assessing the performance of SpeedInfo radar traffic sensors

Traffic speed is a crucial input for real-time traffic management applications. Operating agencies typically deploy their own sensors to collect the measurements, e.g., loop detectors. Recently, SpeedInfo emerged with a different paradigm for traffic speed collection: instead of selling hardware to operating agencies, at each link the company deploys its own Doppler radar in a self-contained wireless unit to measure traffic speeds and then sells the speed data. This study uses well-tuned loop detector-based speed measurements to evaluate 15 of the Doppler radar sensors over several months while the two traffic data collection systems were operating concurrently. The extended study period includes potentially challenging and transient conditions for the radar sensors: both recurrent (rush hour congestion and late night low flow) and nonrecurrent (incidents and precipitation). The analysis took a broad overview, comparing speed measurements from the radar sensors against the concurrent loop detector data and then explicitly looked for any anomalous pattern in the radar data such as latency and system outages. The work found the radar measurements are generally good, but also identified several points that should be considered before deployment, including latency, different biases in free flow and congestion, vulnerability to precipitation, and sensitivity to mounting angle.