Including congestion effects in urban road traffic CO2 emissions modelling: Do Local Government Authorities have the right options?

Tailpipe emissions from vehicles on urban road networks have damaging impacts, with the problem exacerbated by the common occurrence of congestion. This article focuses on carbon dioxide because it is the largest constituent of road traffic greenhouse gas emissions. Local Government Authorities (LGAs) are typically responsible for facilitating mitigation of these emissions, and critical to this task is the ability to assess the impact of transport interventions on road traffic emissions for a whole network.This article presents a contemporary review of literature concerning road traffic data and its use by LGAs in emissions models (EMs). Emphasis on the practicalities of using data readily available to LGAs to estimate network level emissions and inform effective policy is a relatively new research area, and this article summarises achievements so far. Results of the literature review indicate that readily available data are aggregated at traffic level rather than disaggregated at individual vehicle level. Hence, a hypothesis is put forward that optimal EM complexity is one using traffic variables as inputs, allowing LGAs to capture the influence of congestion whilst avoiding the complexity of detailed EMs that estimate emissions at vehicle level.Existing methodologies for estimating network emissions based on traffic variables typically have limitations. Conclusions are that LGAs do not necessarily have the right options, and that more research in this domain is required, both to quantify accuracy and to further develop EMs that explicitly include congestion, whilst remaining within LGA resource constraints.     

Walking accessibility and property prices

Walking is an imperative travel mode, especially for short trips. Walking accessibility, which is defined as the ease of reaching essential destinations in the walk-in catchment area, may affect property prices because residents are more likely to be willing to pay for this attribute. In addition, different categories of public services may have varied influencing directions and magnitude. These two hypotheses are tested in this study. Taking Xiamen, China as a case study, we estimate the cumulative opportunities of public services on foot and develop a set of hedonic pricing models (more specifically, two pre-specified ordinary least squares models, four Box-Cox transformed models, and two spatial econometric models) to estimate, whether and to what extent, walking accessibility contributes to price premiums (or discounts). Using a database of 22,586 second-hand residential properties in 358 multi- or high-storey residential complexes, we find that (1) walking accessibility to public services contributes to the variations in housing prices and plays a role in determining housing prices; (2) different categories of services have vastly divergent, even opposite, influencing impacts; and (3) walking accessibility to primary schools, commercial centers, and sports and cultural centers have positive effects on house prices whereas walking accessibility to comprehensive hospitals adversely affects housing prices. Methodologically, we confirm that spatial econometric methods improve estimation accuracy and have more explanatory power relative to the standard non-spatial models. Robustness check analysis further guarantees the plausibility of this study.     

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。     

Did Chinese cities that implemented driving restrictions see reductions in PM10?

Imposing driving restrictions is becoming increasingly popular as a policy intended to control urban air pollution. Existing studies on this topic offer highly mixed observations, and each study tends to focus on only one city. In this paper, we used 11 Chinese cities with driving restrictions as the treatment group, and compared them to other cities that did not implement the policy. Based on a propensity score matching and difference-in-difference analysis, we found no evidence of a decrease in PM10 concentrations in cities after they implemented driving restrictions. This finding may be attributed to an increase in the number of cars in these cities after implementing driving restrictions, but we also found no evidence of an improvement in air quality for a given number of cars after implementation of the policies.     

Simulating the air quality impacts of traffic calming schemes in a dense urban neighborhood

In this study, the effects of isolated traffic calming measures and area-wide calming schemes on air quality in a dense neighborhood were estimated using a combination of microscopic traffic simulation, emission, and dispersion modeling. Results indicated that traffic calming measures did not have as large an effect on nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) concentrations as the effect observed on nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions. Changes in emissions resulted in highly disproportional changes in pollutant levels due to daily meteorological conditions, road geometry and orientation with respect to the wind. Average NO₂ levels increased between 0.1% and 10% with respect to the base-case while changes in NO_x emissions varied between 5% and 160%. Moreover, higher wind speeds decreased NO₂ concentrations on both sides of the roadway. Among the traffic calming measures, speed bumps produced the highest increases in NO₂ levels.     

Predicting market potential and environmental benefits of deploying electric taxis in Nanjing,China

This paper investigates the market potential and environmental benefits of replacing internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles with battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the taxi fleet in Nanjing, China. Vehicle trajectory data collected by onboard global positioning system (GPS) units are used to study the travel patterns of taxis. The impacts of charger power, charging infrastructure coverage, and taxi apps on the feasibility of electric taxis are quantified, considering taxi drivers’ recharging behavior and operating activities. It is found that (1) depending on the charger power and coverage, 19% (with AC Level 2 chargers and 20% charger network coverage) to 56% (with DC chargers and 100% charger network coverage) of the ICE vehicles can be replaced by electric taxis without driving pattern changes; (2) by using taxi apps to find nearby passengers and charging stations, drivers could utilize the empty cruising time to charge the battery, which may increase the acceptance of BEVs by up to 82.6% compared to the scenario without taxi apps; and (3) tailpipe emissions in urban areas could be significantly reduced with taxi electrification: a mixed taxi fleet with 46% compressed-natural-gas-powered (CNG) and 54% electricity-powered vehicles can reduce the tailpipe emissions by 48% in comparison with the fleet of 100% CNG taxis.     

高速公路沥青路面施工质量控制分析

无接缝、平整、行车舒适、噪音低以及振动小、易于养护等优点,使沥青混凝土路面成为我国国内公路面层普遍采用的一种比较好的结构形式。但是如果施工中不能按照施工工艺严格的进行施工质量控制,则很容易导致路面的一系列质量问题,这不仅影响使用功能,还影响影响其社会效益。     

关于大学生心理健康教育课程的几点思考

大学生心理健康教育课程教学的目的是培养学生健康的心理和良好的心理素质,使其在思想认识、知识和技能三个层面学有所获。课程教学应遵循理论与实践相结合、教师讲授与学生体验相结合,通过课堂讲授、小组讨论与典型案例分析、心理素质训练与拓展等体验式教育方法进行教学;采用理论效果评估与实际操作效果评估相结合的方式对课程效果进行评估。     

高职院校公共《计算机基础》课程实践教学研究

对高职院校公共《计算机基础》实践教学效果及其存在的问题进行剖析,针对这些问题所采取的应对措施进行了探索和研究。提出加强实践教学改革的方案和具体方法,使高职院校的计算机基础教育能更好地与市场接轨。     

基于沉降差的填石路堤施工工艺与质量控制研究

结合南方地区填石路堤施工,通过填石路堤试验段研究,介绍了填石路堤的施工工艺和质量控制要求,并通过沉降差检测分析,说明了沉降差作为填石路堤质量控制指标的可行性,为同类工程提供参考.