Characterisation of and reflections on the synergy of bicycles and public transport

The bicycle is often understood as a disjointed ‘feeder’ mode that provides access to public transport. We argue that combined use of the bicycle and public transport should be understood in a broader perspective, especially where bicycles link to higher speed and higher capacity public transport, such as the train. Cycling and public transport can have a symbiotic relationship forming a hybrid, distinct transport mode, which should be reflected in transport planning. The bicycle is as a way to soften the rigid nature of public transport and thus accommodate diverse individual travel needs and situations. Public transport can be seen as a means to dramatically extend cycling’s speed and spatial reach. We combine a system perspective with conceptual analysis to explore how, why and when this reconsideration is important. We use the Netherlands as illustrative case because of the relative maturity of its bicycle–train connections. The case shows that the synergy between rather opposite yet highly complementary aspects, high speed of the train, high accessibility of the bicycle and flexibility in combining both sub-modes, are the fundamental characteristics to understand the functioning of this system in a wider spatial context. In our conclusion we propose a research agenda, to further explore the relevance of this system for land-use and transport planning and distil wider implications for the international debate.     

Using intelligent agents for Transportation Regulation Support System design

This paper presents an agent-based approach used to design a Transportation Regulation Support System (TRSS), that reports the network activity in real-time and thus assists the bus network regulators. The objective is to combine the functionalities of the existing information system with the functionalities of a decision support system in order to propose a generic model of a traffic regulation support system. Unlike the other approaches that only deal with a specific task, the original feature of our generic model is that it proposes a global approach to the regulation function under normal conditions (network monitoring, dynamic timetable management) and under disrupted conditions (disturbance assessment and action planning of feasible solutions). Following the introduction, the second section presents the notions of the domain and highlights the main regulation problems. The third section details and motivates our choice of the components of the generic model. Based on our generic model, in the fourth section, we present a TRSS prototype called SATIR (Système Automatique de Traitement des Incidents en Réseau – Automatic System for Network Incident Processing) that we have developed. SATIR has been tested on the Brussels transportation network (STIB). The results are presented in the fifth section. Lastly, we show how using the multi-agent paradigm opens perspectives regarding the development of new functionalities to improve the management of a bus network.     

广西交通干部量化考核的探索与创新

文章结合广西交通行业实际,对广西交通干部考核量化测评系统具有的符合性、有效性、适用性等几大特点进行了全面阐述,并对干部考核量化测评系统在整个交通系统中的通用性、有效性进行了论述,同时指出该系统仍需要进一步发展与完善的方向。     

大数据下天津VTS效益评估新方法

VTS效益评估是展示VTS服务效能最直接的手段之一,天津VTS中心在效益评估领域已做了大量工作,拥有海量的船舶动态数据.在大数据背景下,在之前效益评估实践的基础上利用新型的数据挖掘技术,为深入认识和利用海事系统数据提供了重要的研究思路和分析工具,并以VTS大数据为基础,重新梳理效益评估的项目种类,探索新的效益评估计算方...     

Putting our money to good use: Can we attract more passengers without increasing subsidies?

This paper evaluates the policy of Swedish public transport authorities, determining whether the number of trips on local public transport could have been increased without increasing subsidies. Based on annual data from Swedish counties, the evaluation found that between 1986 and 2001 public transport fares exceeded the passenger-maximising fare most of the time in all but two counties, the average deviation being 1-215%. Evaluating the alternative, passenger-maximising policy, including both fare and service changes for 2001, demonstrated that demand for local public transport in Swedish counties could have been increased by 0-178% without increasing subsidies. Aggregated, this represents a 2.3% increase in the number of trips on local public transport in Sweden.     

What’s so funny about peace, love and transport integration?

The 1998 White Paper proposed integration as the solution to Great Britain’s land transport problems. Most commentators agree that this much vaunted New Deal for Transport has been a failure. Yet some ten years later policy papers from bodies such as the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Centre for Cities are still proposing integration as a possible panacea.There are a number of reasons for the failure of integrated transport over the last decade. The first is the failure to define the concept. The second is the failure to operationalise the concept. The third is the lack of an evidence base on the success of integrated transport policies. Evidence is now emerging in Britain on the benefits (and indeed the costs) of some aspects of integrated transport policies. The fourth, and perhaps the most crucial, is the lack of will in terms of politicians, civil servants and the public at large, to adopt the behavioural changes necessary for an integrated transport policy to be successful. A series of organisational and funding changes are proposed that could advance the prospects for integration.     

The regulatory cycle stalled? An assessment of current institutional obstacles to regulatory reform in the provision of road-based public transport in Cape Town, South Africa

Wide-ranging and ambitious proposals for the comprehensive transformation of public transport systems in major South African cities, including Cape Town, have now been in play for a decade or more since the country’s post-apartheid transition. To date, progress in implementing such proposals has been, at best, much delayed and, in Cape Town, appears to have stalled, and may now be significantly compromised. This paper draws on aspects of the concept of regulatory cycles in the bus transport sector to explore some of the key factors which have given rise to this situation, focusing primarily on obstacles embedded in the present institutional framework which governs the provision of road-based public transport in the city. It specifically identifies difficulties in establishing an appropriately mandated and resourced agency at the local level to drive forward the transformation project and the sustained opposition of existing, largely ‘self-regulated’ minibus-taxi operators as key factors which have obstructed the introduction of the proposed regime of ‘regulated competition’. A tentative conclusion is offered to the effect that perhaps a partial or ‘hybrid’ transformation of the public transport system may be the best - and, indeed, possibly the most appropriate - outcome of the transformation process that can be anticipated under the present and foreseeable future circumstances prevailing in the city.     

Future challenges for transport infrastructure pricing in PPP arrangements

In this paper we report the conclusion of a research project dedicated to pricing regimes in public-private partnership contracts for the provision of transport infrastructure (Macário et al., 2009). Several elements have been brought to the bulk of knowledge that supports the design and implementation of public-private partnership in the transport sector. These developments have been achieved in the following domain:

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Understand difficulties of price setting within the PPP environment, given the potential conflict of interest among the different parties engaged, go beyond the discussion of first best versus second-best price setting mechanisms.

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Understand the role of government and regulators in the performance of a PPP.

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Translate the issue of asymmetries of information between parties into a risk taking language.

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Devise alternative contractual designs that will enable competitive price setting.

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Understand that a structural element is missing to conciliate the views of the different stakeholders over a PPP: a bridge between infrastructure costs and charges.

The objective of this paper is to overview the main challenges ahead of transport infrastructure pricing, considering the current and likely future policies as well as the field constraints. Moreover, a proposal is formulated to overcome some of the current pitfalls associated to transport infrastructure pricing.     

交通拥挤的经济学分析

本文以交通拥挤问题为研究对象,用微观经济学的方法分析其产生的原因、现有的解决方案,并以上海为例分析了适合我国国情的最优策略之一--"公交优先"系统的经济学意义.     

Analyzing the gap between the QOS demanded by PT users and QOS supplied by service operators

This research evaluated the effectiveness of tendered bus public transportation (PT) in improving the attractiveness of that service in order to promote sustainable mobility. This was accomplished by characterizing the gap between the quality of service (QOS) supplied by contract regimes and that which is demanded by passengers. Analysis of a customer satisfaction survey aimed at bus users provided insight into their ranking of 14 QOS parameters while 13 active service contracts were analyzed for their impact on QOS. In-depth interviews with relevant experts completed the complex narrative that is Israel’s policy of privatization in PT. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses helped identify those QOS parameters most in demand by passengers and impacted by contracts. The results show that the gap is minimal, high demand parameters receive increased priority in contracts. In addition this research documented an evolution in the method contracts employed to provide QOS. Late model contracts define an increasingly higher minimum QOS; but also strongly limit the operator’s ability to make service changes. This is a trend which should improve QOS in Israel but reduce the incentive for operator enacted QOS initiatives. Despite its obvious success to date, it might be time to change again the contract regime for the provision of competitive bus services in Israel.