A GIS‐based method to identify cost‐effective routes for rural deviated fixed route transit

Deviated fixed route transit (DFRT) service connecting rural and urban areas is a growing transportation mode in the USA. Little research has been done to develop frameworks for route design. A methodology to explore the most cost‐effective DFRT route is presented in this paper. The inputs include potential DFRT demand distribution and a road network. A heuristic is used to build possible routes by starting at urban cores and extending in all network directions in certain length increments. All the DFRT routes falling in the length range desired by the users are selected. The cost effectiveness of those routes, defined by operating cost per passenger trip, is compared. The most cost‐effective route is selected and presented in a GIS map. A case study illustrates the methodology in several Tennessee metropolitan regions. The most cost‐effective route length is case specific; some routes (e.g. those out of our Nashville case) are most cost effective when short, while others (e.g. those out of Memphis) are most cost effective when long. Government agencies could use the method to identify routes with the lowest operating cost per passenger given a route length or an operating cost budget. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Measuring the influence of bus service quality on the perception of users

Encouraging the use of public transport is a key policy goal in many countries. Therefore, public transport should offer the level of quality that accommodates the demands of current users, and importantly, the desires of potential users. This study investigates the influence of the perceived quality of bus service on the perception of both current and potential users. The study draws upon data from 512 questionnaires distributed across Belfast City in the UK. The study utilises a binary logistic regression model to quantify the relationships between the perceived quality of 29 bus indicators (independent) and the perceptions of users towards the overall bus service (dependent). Eleven significant indicators are reported to have significant influence on the perception of users. These indicators are utilised to propose scenarios for optimising the quality of bus service with the perceptions of current and potential users.     

The influence of bus service satisfaction on university students' mode choice

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between bus service satisfaction and the transport mode of choice among university students in Qatar. The degree of bus service satisfaction was collected directly from questionnaire surveys, in which university students were asked questions in relation to their satisfaction with the bus service they used and their transport mode of choice. These questions were categorized into three factors according to confirmatory factor analysis: service at bus stops, service of busses, and service of drivers. Furthermore, the students were asked which mode of transport they used given the choice between public and private transport. This study presents a structural equation model to determine how much bus service satisfaction affects people's decisions about their transport mode. The results from the analysis showed that three key factors—namely, service at bus stops, service of busses, and service of bus drivers—were strongly correlated to the mode of choice. In particular, the bus stop was strongly associated with ease of use, shade, cleanliness, safety, and crowdedness level, while the bus itself influenced reliability, travel time, and frequency. Complying with traffic laws and the driver's attitude were also important contributors to the level of bus service satisfaction. Ultimately, this study will be beneficial for policy/decision‐makers. It will allow them to determine what needs to be accomplished to encourage people to use public transportation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An exact modelling of the uniform control traffic delay in undersaturated signalized intersections

The average delay experienced by vehicles at a signalized intersection defines the level of service (LOS) at which the intersection operates. A major challenge in this regard is the ability to accurately estimate all the components underlying the overall control delay, including the uniform, incremental and initial queue delays. This paper tackles this challenging task by proposing a novel exact model of the uniform control delay component with a view to enhancing the accuracy of the existing approximate models, notably, the one reported in the Highway Capacity Manual 2010. Both graphical and analytical proofs are employed to derive exact closed‐form expressions for the uniform control delay at undersaturated signalized intersections. The high degree of accuracy of the proposed models is analysed through extensive simulations to demonstrate their abilities to exactly characterize the performance of real‐life intersections in terms of the resulting vehicle delay. Unlike the existing widely adopted uniform delay models, which tend to overestimate the LOS of real‐life intersections, the delay models introduced in this paper have the merit of exactly capturing such a LOS. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

利用溴化锂吸收式空调回收海洋平台余热的应用研究

针对海洋石油平台上大量余热资源的利用问题,以锦州油田某平台的余热情况和空调系统设计为例,设计了溴化锂吸收式空调系统。该系统采用烟气双效型溴化锂吸收式空调机组,利用主机高温烟气作为热源,完成了两套应用方案,并进行了方案技术对比。以方案一为基础进行了溴化锂吸收式空调系统的布置设计和经济评价。结果表明,采用该系统具有良好的节能效果和经济效益。     

基于AQWA的半潜式平台动力特性分析

依据三维势流理论并利用ANSYS AQWA软件对某半潜式平台进行建模。分析平台在恶劣海况下的水动力性能,并运用时域耦合的分析方法的得到了平台运动的时历曲线,同时对平台系泊锚链的系泊强度进行了校核计算。结果证明平台在恶劣海况下可安全有效的工作,本文的工作对于半潜式平台的相关设计有一定的参考意义。     

汽车电气故障诊断的流程与分析方法（I）

对汽车故障、汽车故障诊断和汽车故障诊断标准进行了重新定义,详细介绍汽车电气故障诊断的一般流程与分析方法,结合汽车故障诊断仪、汽车示波器、汽车万用表等仪器设备的使用操作、测试数据分析与电路分析,一一举例加以说明。     

DEA方法在城市客运换乘枢纽评价中的应用研究

通过对城市客运换乘枢纽进行分类和定位分析,指出换乘枢纽服务效率的优劣将直接影响到城市交通的运行效率。从定性和定量两个方面入手,建立切实可行的客运换乘枢纽评价指标体系,引入DEA模型,对城市客运换乘枢纽的服务效率进行有效性评价分析,通过对评价结果的对比分析,可对换乘枢纽在规划、布局、换乘衔接、交通组织等方面存在的问题进行有针对性的改善。通过在实际工程中的应用表明,DEA方法在评价客运换乘枢纽效率的过程中具有较强的可操作性。     

基于交互式多目标遗传算法的混凝土桥面板维修优化

为了保证桥梁结构安全,并使维修效果最好,研究了如何确定桥面板最佳维修策略的问题。建立了桥面板维修的多目标优化模型。提出一种基于交互式遗传算法的维修策略优化方法,通过非精确偏好信息引导遗传搜索,使种群朝着多个目标的最佳综合性能进化。引入适应值共享方法增加种群的多样性,最终获得符合决策者偏好的解集。并通过算例进行了分析验证。结果表明,基于交互式多目标遗传算法的混凝土桥面板维修优化方法可以在有限的桥梁维修资源和良好的维修效果之间进行折衷,不仅获得一组比较理想的维修方法组合,还可以考虑决策者的个人倾向,降低了维修策略的选择难度,为桥梁管理者提供了有力的决策支持。