Innovative alternatives take action – Investigating determinants of alternative fuel vehicle adoption

Alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) as environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional internal combustion engines have gained increasing attention in general public. While empirical studies have begun to explore product-specific factors that drive consumer adoption of AFVs, an integrative framework of a comprehensive set of AFV adoption factors and its theoretical foundation as well as empirical validation is still missing. By drawing on theory of innovation adoption and theory of reasoned action we show that consumers’ perceptions of AFV attributes lead to a general attitude formation towards AFV. In conjunction with consumers’ subjective and personal norm, this in turn determines AFV adoption behavior. Concerning AFV attributes, compatibility, design, and relative advantage of AFVs exhibit the strongest influence on consumers’ attitude formation toward AFV. We derive implications for future research and policy makers. The latter include suggestions on how to develop and communicate AFV in order to stimulate AFV adoption.     

Analysis of hurricane evacuee mode choice behavior

The purpose of this study is to explain the evacuee mode choice behavior of Miami Beach residents using survey data from a hypothetical category four hurricane to reveal different evacuees’ plans. Evacuation logistics should incorporate the needs of transit users and car-less populations with special attention and proper treatment. A nested logit model has been developed to explain the mode choice decisions for evacuees’ from Miami Beach who use non-household transportation modes, such as special evacuation bus, taxi, regular bus, riding with someone from another household and another type of mode denoted and aggregated as other. Specifically, the model explains that the mode choice decisions of evacuees’, who are likely to use different non-household transportation modes, are influenced by several determining factors related to evacuees’ socio-demographics, household characteristics, evacuation destination and previous experience. The findings of this study will help emergency planners and policy-makers to develop better evacuation plans and strategies for evacuees depending on others for their evacuation transportation.     

The benefits of a monitoring strategy for firms subject to the Emissions Trading System

This study tests the impact of Internal and External Environmental Management on performance in firms subject to the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS). A conceptual model is drawn up based on the existing literature, and tested on a large sample of Italian firms. The unit of analysis is single firms subject to the ETS that are involved in Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM). The ETS mechanism has been shown to be marginally beneficial for some firms while supply chain relationships are also influenced by such system. Firms need to identify suitable practices to boost the effectiveness of their environmental strategies. We propose the implementation of a monitoring strategy as a useful practice for firms to be environmentally and economically better off. Our results show that firms subject to the ETS should rely on their own (internal) Environmental Management alone for improving environmental performance, as collaboration with suppliers only has a positive impact on economic performance. However, implementation of a monitoring strategy allows a firm subject to the ETS to partially offset the inefficiency created by the system. We show that environmental collaboration does not become more effective when a monitoring practice is put in place.     

CAD 二次开发技术在防波堤断面设计中的应用

防波堤断面设计计算及结构设计图的绘制,是海岸工程设计的重要组成部分。鉴于现阶段实际工程应用中计算机绘图的发展,利用CAD二次开发技术（AutoLISP语言）编制相应的辅助设计软件。开发过程中,通过对防波堤设计流程 的分解,针对防波堤设计图的特点,对防波堤进行分析及分类,细化构成单个防波堤图形的各种参数,确定了软件的目标功能和结构组织。在此基础上,就实际工程进行防波堤断面设计。分析表明,设计切实可行,且完全符合规范要求。     

Relationships among service quality,corporate image,customer satisfaction,and behavioral intention for the elderly in high speed rail services

Since the Taiwan High Speed Rail operations, Taiwan's transportation market entered into a new era. Because of its competitive service of speed, convenience, environmental concerns and comfort, the High Speed Rail has not only made significant changes but has played a significant role in Taiwan's transportation. However, Taiwan now is an aging society. Due to the physical constraints among the elderly, demands to redesign the traffic system and maintain transportation safety are essential considerations. In the current market, Taiwan's transportation construction is facing fewer barriers; however, it must still improve, especially considering the health of the elderly. Thus, this study investigates elderly passengers' demands and further examined the relationships among service quality, corporate image, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intention. According to empirical analytical results based on structural equation modeling (N = 341), satisfaction directly affected travel behaviors, while service quality and corporate image played indirect roles. In addition, service quality plays a significant role on the effect of satisfaction. This study provides empirical evidence to indicate the quality of the accessible environment affects not only the effectiveness and efficiency of service quality, but also, the corporate image. The results provide valuable references for critically managing the elderly's usage of the high speed rail transportation service. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of different contraflow strategies for hurricane evacuation in Charleston,South Carolina

Abstract

Limited specific evidence is available on the effectiveness of using contraflow as an evacuation traffic management tool. This study was conducted to determine the best combination of strategy options for evacuating Charleston, SC, along route I-26 during the event of a hurricane or other events. PARAMICS microscopic traffic simulator was used to evaluate the impact of each combination of evacuee response timing and traffic control strategy, such as contraflow, with respect to average vehicular travel time and evacuation duration. Analysis revealed the combination of management strategies that created the lowest evacuation durations and travel times for several types of anticipated evacuee responses. Furthermore, a proposed reconfiguration of the I-526/I-26 interchange for contraflow operations produced additional savings in travel times and evacuation durations. These findings support the use of all lanes for contraflow during all evacuations and provide justification to examine a possible reconfiguration of the I-526/I-26 interchange for use during evacuations.     

Uncertainty modeling for bus selection and allocation in a private transportation system

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the development of a probabilistic formulation that provides global optimum selection and allocation of a fleet of buses in a private transportation system of an organization where a third party is hired to provide transportation for its employees and their dependents. In this private transportation system, a fleet of buses is to be selected and allocated to serve employees and their independents on different prescheduled trips along different routes from the organization’s headquarters and residential compound where round-trip times of scheduled trips are subject to uncertainty due to random delays. We propose a probabilistic approach based on 0-1 integer programming for the selection and allocation to determine the optimal number and size of buses assigned to a set of prescheduled trips in a particular time interval. Examples and a case study are presented to illustrate the applicability and suitability of the proposed approach.     

矿用自卸车流量放大器AMESim建模与特性研究

以300 t矿用自卸车全液压转向系统中采用的流量放大器为研究对象,为了研究其压力特性和流量放大特性及进一步研发同类产品,在矿用自卸车流量放大器的原理基础上,利用AMESim仿真平台建立自卸车流量放大器的动力学模型.设置模型中的主要参数,对流量放大器的动力学特性进行仿真研究.研究发现:流量放大器响应特性好,在阶跃转向流量35 L/min时,响应时间约为0.16 s;流量放大器的放大特性好,在较长时间内成线性变化,放大倍数基本稳定在8倍;流量放大器的入口压力随负载变化而变化,但其放大流量随入口压力的变化很小,可见流量放大器的压力稳定性好.     

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依据模拟驾驶区段的工务数据,在模拟驾驶过程中实时地生成三维视景.根据平面几何和立体几何的基础知识,设计三维空间直线和圆曲线对象的空间走向求解公式,以及以线路中心线为基准的纵断面顶点坐标求解公式.在将坡道、曲线重新组合的基础上,以线段为单位,计算轨道线路中心线的空间走向,根据线路、设备(设施)的纵断面结构,依据线路中心线的空间走向,求解纵断面的顶点坐标,构造三维视景所需要的三维平面要素.同时结合列车的运行状态,确定列车的空间方向,将线路的三维视景经三维平移、旋转得到驾驶场景.使用结果表明,三维虚拟场景能够还原真实场景,帧频率可达25fps,满足真实和实时的要求.