Total cost analysis: An alternative to benefit-cost analysis in evaluating transportation alternatives

This paper explains the theory in support of total cost analysis (TCA) to compare transportation system alternatives. The full costs of each alternative are first aggregated, including travel time costs and monetizable environmental and social costs. Many costs which are considered on the benefits side of the equation in benefit-cost analysis (BCA) as "cost savings" are brought over to the costs side. Total cost differences among alternatives are then traded off against their estimated non-monetized benefits or impacts, just as a consumer trades off product quality against cost before deciding which product he or she will buy. One advantage of TCA over traditional BCA is that the concept of "total cost" is more easily understood by the public and by political decision-makers than BCA concepts such as "net present worth", "benefit-cost ratio" and "internal rate of return". A second advantage is that there is no suggestion that all "benefits" have been considered; decision-makers are free to use their own value judgements to trade off total cost against non-monetizable social, environmental and economic impacts, just as they trade off quality and convenience against cost when purchasing goods and services in their roles as consumers. The TCA approach is demonstrated in this paper through a case study of two systemwide alternatives for the Baltimore, MD urban area.     

Lane changing intention recognition based on speech recognition models

Poor driving habits such as not using turn signals when changing lanes present a major challenge to advanced driver assistance systems that rely on turn signals. To address this problem, we propose a novel algorithm combining the hidden Markov model (HMM) and Bayesian filtering (BF) techniques to recognize a driver’s lane changing intention. In the HMM component, the grammar definition is inspired by speech recognition models, and the output is a preliminary behavior classification. As for the BF component, the final behavior classification is produced based on the current and preceding outputs of the HMMs. A naturalistic data set is used to train and validate the proposed algorithm. The results reveal that the proposed HMM–BF framework can achieve a recognition accuracy of 93.5% and 90.3% for right and left lane changing, respectively, which is a significant improvement compared with the HMM-only algorithm. The recognition time results show that the proposed algorithm can recognize a behavior correctly at an early stage.     

Alternative fuels for transportation

The alternatives to the oil based fuels for transportation are considered and analysed. These are the synthetic fuels, made from coal, the liquid petroleum gases of propane and butane, compressed natural gas and methanol. The problems associated with the use of electric vehicles are discussed; the main problem being that of range.

The possible use of hydrogen as a fuel is analysed in some detail. Since its supply can be tied directly to nuclear energy sources, rather than hydrocarbon feed stocks, it could be an alternative in the long term. The main problems of the storage of hydrogen on the vehicle and of its propensity to “back‐fire” into the engine intake are discussed. The first can be ameliorated and the second eliminated by dual fuelling; with petrol. It is advocated that the on‐board storage of hydrogen be by the use of hydrides for private cars. However, it is expected that it may be as liquid hydrogen for some forms of transport and will certainly be in this form for aircraft.     

National road mortality reduction targets under European Union road safety policy: 2011–2020

The European Union (EU) has proposed renewing the target for halving the number of road fatalities in the period 2011–2020. In this paper, a nonlinear distribution method for dynamic fatality reduction targets is applied for the purpose of finding individual national mortality reduction targets for each of the 27 member countries in the EU. Weighting is undertaken for four scenarios based on the following indicators: road mortality rates, fatality rates, fatality risks, and fatality density. Results are presented for four proposals to reduce the number of fatalities in each Member State, based on the original situation of the indicators considered in the study. The results seek to provide policy-makers with a broader vision with regard to the achievement of the goals of EU road safety policy.     

An integrated framework for embedding large-scale dynamic traffic assignment models in advanced traveler information systems

In recent years, increasing attention has been drawn to the development of various applications of intelligent transportation systems (ITS), which are credited with the amelioration of traffic conditions in urban and regional environments. Advanced traveler information systems (ATIS) constitute an important element of ITS by providing potential travelers with information on the network's current performance both en-route and pre-trip. In order to tackle the complexity of such systems, derived from the difficulty of providing real-time estimations of current as well as forecasts of future traffic conditions, a series of models and algorithms have been initiated. This paper proposes the development of an integrated framework for real-time ATIS and presents its application on a large-scale network, that of Thessaloniki, Greece, concluding with a discussion on development and implementation challenges as well as on the advantages and limitations of such an effort.     

基于非线性扰动观测的商用车ESC自适应滑模控制研究

针对商用车ESC控制中,实际车辆存在各种扰动,难以建立精确的车辆模型,传统滑模控制存在较大抖振等问题,本文中提出基于非线性扰动观测(NDOB)的自适应滑模控制(ADSMC)算法。首先,利用非线性扰动观测器对车辆建模的扰动项进行估计;然后,采用径向基神经网络对滑模控制器的关键参数进行自适应调节,以简化参数调节过程、减小滑模抖振、提高控制精度;最后,在TruckSim中建立车辆模型,在MATLAB中建立控制策略模型,在电控气压硬件在环试验台上,对控制算法进行试验验证。试验结果表明,NDOB-ADSMC算法的ESC控制效果良好,能够满足车辆ESC控制需求。     

基于AHP的空空导弹武器系统作战能力研究

介绍作战能力的基本概念,分析影响空空导弹武器系统作战能力的因素;提出层次分析法进行作战能力评估的步骤和准则,运用层次分析法建立能力综合评价模型;并通过典型武器系统评价实例,利用提出的算法对方案进行了综合分析,分析结果验证了方法的合理有效。     

超短脉冲发生器

介绍一种超短脉冲发生器,它可以重复产生宽度极窄的高电压脉冲,而功耗却很低。这种电路可应用于超高分辨率雷达、扩频通信以及许多其它需要宽带辐射的场合,因而具有较高的实用价值。