Assessing systematic sources of variation in public transport elasticities: Some comparative warnings

There is an extensive and continually growing body of empirical evidence on the sensitivity of potential and actual users of public transport to fare and service levels. The sources of the evidence are disparate in terms of methods, data collection strategy, data paradigms, trip purpose, location, time period, and attribute definition. In this paper, we draw on a data set we have been compiling since 2003 that contains over 1100 elasticity items associated with prices and services of public transport, and car modes. The focus herein is on direct elasticities associated with public transport choice and demand, and the systematic sources of influence on the variations in the mean estimates for fares, in-vehicle time, and headway obtained from 319 studies. The major influences on variations in mean estimates of public transport elasticities are the time of day (peak, all day vs. off-peak), the data paradigm (especially combined SP/RP vs. revealed preference (RP)), whether an average fare or class of tickets is included, the unit of analysis (trips vs. vkm), specific trip purposes, country, and specific-mode (i.e., bus and train) in contrast to the generic class of public transport.     

基于工程经济的公共停车场建设滞后原因分析

文章针对公共停车场建设滞后的实际情况,从工程经济角度定量分析了停车场建设与经营困难的原因,并运用工程经济学理论来推测停车场项目投资经济指标值,提出促进社会公共停车场建设发展的相关建议.     

衡水市冬季公交免费乘坐政策实施效果评估

优先发展公共交通,倡导绿色出行方式,可以缓解交通拥堵,减少交通污染。河北省衡水市在国内率先实施了冬季公交免费乘坐政策,政策出台的初衷是为了改善衡水市空气质量,经综合评估后,该政策在提高公交乘客满意度、增强公共交通吸引力和缓解交通拥堵等方面取得了明显成效,为国内三、四线城市的公共交通优先发展提供了有益的经验借鉴。     

公交查询系统设计与开发

为提供快速简便的城市公交站点、线路查询服务,文章采用B/S模式、ASP.NET（C#）开发环境及工具、Web发布服务方式以及Microsoft SQL Server后台数据库,构建了一个简单、实用的公交查询系统,并对该系统的整体架构、数据库设计及应用程序设计方法进行了介绍。     

Analytical and institutional methods and frameworks

This chapter presents a summary of the findings of the workshop on ‘Analytical and Institutional Methods and Frameworks’. The paper discusses the nature of the analytical methods used in the papers presented and the purposes for which they were employed, which were generally to either assist in the planning and operation of public transport or to monitor the efficiency and effectiveness of transport services. Subsequent sections examine issues related to data collection and management, and the more general issue of institutional arrangements. Policy and research agendas needed to support further consideration of the subject are then identified.     

深水海底支持船减振降噪的设计与研究

结合大连中远海运重工建造的深水海洋工程船为例,介绍了船舶减振降噪方面的设计方案和改善举措,以达到减振降噪效果。根据国际海上安全委员会《船上噪声等级规则》和船级符号要求,研究在设计和建造不同阶段减振降噪的方法,为船员提供更好的工作环境,为其他类似产品的设计和建造提供宝贵的经验。     

A hybrid model of fuzzy and AHP for handling public assessments on transportation projects

Having an effective public participation in transportation planning and project development processes has been a major concern for developed countries. In the United States, for instance, all state Departments of Transportation are subject to the Transportation Equity Act (TEA-21) that formally requires public involvement in transportation planning. Since transportation planning involves public resources and values, judgments by the public should play a key role in determining final decisions. Therefore, all these agencies are required not only to disseminate information to the public, but also to solicit and consider public opinion in forming transportation policy. This work presents a decision support model, with public involvement and public oversight, to help policy makers select appropriate transportation projects for implementation. Since focus groups will face multiple objectives and inexact information in the process, a hybrid model of fuzzy logic and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is proposed. A set of ‘if–then’ rules based on Weber’s psycho-physical law of 1834 is presented to reason from fuzzy numbers to capture essential subjective preferences, pairwise, among the alternatives. The AHP is then incorporated to estimate preference allotments among alternatives. An example application of the suggested method is provided seeking public approval of an appropriate public bus transportation system choosing between one run by municipal authorities and one run by private agencies to show how this procedure works.

Financing public transport systems in Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia: challenges and prospects

Most major cities across the world today are facing an intractable challenge of financing public transport. In Kuala Lumpur for example, public transport services are somewhat poor in part because of the failure of major operators to secure ample funding. Previous funding programs implemented in the city have failed to produce a replicable model for financing public transport. Due to numerous financial problems and the dismal performance of privately owned transport firms, the State has in the recent past emerged as a key source of funding for the public transport sector in Kuala Lumpur. This article argues that, despite the insuperable challenges, prospects for the future funding of public transport in Kuala Lumpur appears to be good. The article also draws lessons from both Tokyo and Hong Kong. In order to address the funding deficit facing the public transport industry in the city it is crucial that more viable strategies and policies such as value capture and public–private sector partnerships are adopted by the urban authorities.

The effect of financial constraints on the optimal design of public transport services

Recent experience with the design of bus services in Santiago, Chile, seems to confirm Jansson's (1980) assertion regarding observed planned bus frequency and size being too low and too large, respectively. We offer an explanation based upon the relation between cost coverage, pricing and optimal design variables. We recall that average social cost decreases with patronage, which generates an optimal monetary fare below the average operators' cost, inducing an optimal subsidy. Then we compare optimal frequency and bus size—those that minimize total social costs—with those that minimize operators' costs only. We show that an active constraint on operators' expenses is equivalent to diminish the value of users' time in the optimal design problem. Inserting this property back in the optimal pricing scheme, we conclude that a self-financial constraint, if active, always provokes an inferior solution, a smaller frequency and, under some circumstances, larger than optimal buses.

Who uses smart card? Understanding public transport payment preference in developing contexts,a case study of Manila's LRT-1

The culture of “tingi-tingi” or sachet economy provides a strong backdrop to better understand the payment mode preference of the riding public in the Philippines. First, the use of single journey tickets (SJT) reflects the purchasing practices amongst the urban poor thereby affecting the promotion and uptake of public transport smart cards. Second, as a glocalization strategy, it can inform what, how, when, and why services that has global uptake can be tailored towards the realities of a differentiated, local market conditions.Categorical principal component analysis (CATPCA) is presented to determine the key variables explaining the likelihood of uptake of smart cards for public transport passengers in the Philippines. The Metro Manila Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) presents an appropriate context to examine how the glocalization of smart cards can help improve the quality of public transport services, and to provide planning and policy recommendations on smart card uptake and integrated ticketing, with the end goal of improving public transport provision and management. LRT-1 alongside its change in management, also introduced a new smart card payment system. However, more than half continue to use single journey tickets.The model parameters are estimated using primary survey data collected from LRT-1 passengers. Transit smart card has been widely used around the world and effectively reduces waiting time for passengers who used to purchase paper tickets.The main results of the model reveal that: (1) only groups with high education background, stable income, or with stable job would likely to use smart card; (2) passengers with lower education level, lower income, or with unstable job prefer to use single journey ticket; and (3) the sachet economy is strongly associated with the purchasing practices amongst Filipinos, particularly the urban poor, hence may affect the promotion and uptake of public transit smart cards. These findings may inform changes to the introduction of alternative payment schemes and the planning of public transport policies that recognise the need for an effective glocalization strategy, paving the way towards improved public transport service and provision.