Cost-effectiveness of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from High-Speed Rail and urban transportation projects in California

A rising trend in state and federal transportation finance is to invest capital dollars into projects which reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, a key metric for comparing projects, the cost-effectiveness of GHG emissions reductions, is highly dependent on the cost-benefit methodology employed in the analysis. Our analysis comparing California High-Speed Rail and three urban transportation projects shows how four different accounting framings bring wide variations in cost per metric tonne of GHG emissions reduced. In our analysis, life-cycle GHG emissions are joined with full cost accounting to better understand the benefits of cap-and-trade investments. Considering only public subsidy for capital, none of the projects appear to be a cost-effective means to reduce GHG emissions (i.e., relative to the current price of GHG emissions in California’s cap-and-trade program at $12.21 per tonne). However, after adjusting for the change in private costs users incur when switching from the counterfactual mode (automobile or aircraft) to the mode enabled by the project, all investments appear to reduce GHG emissions at a net savings to the public. Policy and decision-makers who consider only the capital cost of new transportation projects can be expected to incorrectly assess alternatives and indirect benefits (i.e., how travelers adapt to the new mass transit alternative) should be included in decision-making processes.     

In search of surrogate safety indicators for vulnerable road users: a review of surrogate safety indicators

Surrogate indicators are meant to be alternatives or complements of safety analyses based on accident records. These indicators are used to study critical traffic events that occur more frequently, making such incidents easier to analyse. This article provides an overview of existing surrogate indicators and specifically focuses on their merit for the analyses of vulnerable road users and the extent to which they have been validated by previous research. Each indicator is evaluated based on its ability to consider the collision risk, which can be further divided into the initial conditions of an event, the magnitude of any evasive action and the injury risk in any traffic event. The results show that various indicators and their combinations can reflect different aspects of any traffic event. However, no existing indicator seems to capture all aspects. Various studies have also focused on the validity of different indicators. However, due to the use of diverse approaches to validation, the large difference in how many locations were investigated and variations in the duration of observation at each location, it is difficult to compare and discuss the validity of the different surrogate safety indicators. Since no current indicator can properly reflect all the important aspects underlined in this article, the authors suggest that the choice of a suitable indicator in future surrogate safety studies should be made with considerations of the context-dependent suitability of the respective indicator.     

Economic Outcomes for Harvesters under the West Coast Groundfish Trawl Catch Share Program: Have Goals and Objectives Been Met?

Abstract

The West Coast Groundfish Trawl Catch Share Program was designed to achieve multiple economic goals and objectives, including increasing net benefits, profitability, flexibility, and utilization of harvest allocations. In this article, we leverage seven years of comprehensive cost and earnings data to evaluate progress towards these goals with a focus on harvesters. Our assessment shows that five years post-implementation, net benefits to the nation have doubled, and indicators of productivity and profitability have increased. The fleet that targets Pacific whiting has seen the largest gains, due in part to increases in total allowable catch and the elimination of the race-to-fish. However, increased revenues have not been realized to the degree that was expected for harvesters targeting non-whiting groundfish, partly due to lower than predicted consolidation and relatively low quota utilization. Economic outcomes indicate that tradeoffs exist between certain objectives of the program, specifically between achieving full utilization and flexibility for harvesters. Results are discussed in the context of the design and evaluation of catch share programs for diverse, multispecies fisheries.     

基于线网全寿命成本控制目标的车辆基地资源共享研究

目前国内各城市都在开展或已经开展资源共享的研究,其中车辆基地资源共享是线网资源共享的重要组成部分。根据《地铁设计规范》规定,车辆基地是保证地铁正常运营的后勤基地。车辆基地的设计范围包括车辆段、综合维修中心、物资总库和培训中心以及必要的办公、生活设施等,是地铁正常运营所必需的设备和设施。通过广泛调研,目前国内大多数城市车辆基地资源共享研究还存在一定的不足,仅集中在车辆大、架修的资源共享,缺乏对车辆基地综合维修中心、物资库等全系统的资源共享研究。创新性地提出基于线网全寿命成本控制目标的车辆基地资源共享研究思路,以沈阳地铁线网车辆基地为例,提出资源共享方案。除大、架修资源共享外,进一步研究物资存储、综合维修、特种车辆等多方面的资源共享,此外,对车辆基地各个单体的配置提出一定的标准化指标。在充分调研国内其他城市地铁建设经验、运营经验以及不同城市车辆基地建设规模的基础上,最终得到沈阳地铁车辆大架修资源共享、物资共享、综合维修共享、特种车辆共享以及场段配置标准化5个方面的研究结论。便于指导沈阳及类似城市地铁在新一轮的建设规划中以及未来线网规划调整中更加合理地分配车辆基地的物资、人力、设备、用地。     

The visual impact of development in coastal zone areas

Abstract

The focus of this paper is theoretical, as well as methodological. It reviews previous studies of visual impact and reports research by the author on people's evaluation of the appropriateness of different man‐made facilities in different coastal‐area contexts and other environments. In this study, subjects were asked to react to slides developed through the use of landscape models and experimental facilities to simulate the appearance of a building in the landscape, while systematically varying the visual relatedness between the two. Specific interest centered on the variable of congruity vs. contrast between the appearance of the building and its landscape context, manipulated by co‐varying the attributes of color and size to create a five‐point scale of contrast/obtrusiveness. The hypothesis was that judgments of appropriateness, and to a lesser extent judgments of liking, would vary inversely with level of contrast. The role of two further variables, the functional significance of the building in its setting, and the character of the setting itself, was also investigated. The author reviews methodological issues involved where subjects respond to visual stimuli for purposes of judging change in visual quality. These methodological issues include: stimulus‐selection and problems of simulation, choice of response measures, and choice of respondents, and the treatment of individual differences. The author calls for development of standardized scales and indices such as “perceptually‐relevant environmental quality indicators.”     

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.     

Coastal Management and Economic Development in Developed Nations: The Forth Estuary Forum

This article considers the issue of economic development as a component of coastal management initiatives in developed countries, focusing on the Forth Estuary Forum as a case study. The evolution of coastal management into integrated coastal management is briefly considered, as is the context of the Scottish coastal management system and a brief discussion of the variations between the different legal systems within the UK. The current hurdles to economic development and the views of developers and economic agencies being considered in the coastal management process itself are highlighted, illustrating the process of integration and the current voluntary regime in the UK, particularly in the Forth Estuary Forum. The article concludes that economic development issues must be taken seriously if coastal management is to be integrated and inclusive.     

小型运输船船型经济性论证分析

文章根据大连湾老铁山水道的情况,考虑变吃水的运输方式,以船长、船宽、吃水及航速作为变量来进行船型方案的组合。选用净现值、内部收益率、投资回收期、必要运费率和综合经济指标作为衡量船型方案的标准,通过分析计算得出最佳的船型方案,为小型渔货船型选择提供参考。     

市场经济下公路工程机械台班定额问题的探讨

《公路工程机械台班费用定额》是公路机务管理工作的关键性基础文件之一。随着公路工程机械被推向市场，现行《定额》编制依据的不合理成份日趋增多，使用弊端也愈加突出。本文通过对《定额》现状的分析，提出了试图适合市场经济发展，有利于维持机械简单再生产的“指数定额”。     

西部地区高速公路发展规划生态环境影响评价——指标体系构建及评价方法探讨

在探讨战略环境评价意义的基础上，按照战略环境评价指标体系构建的一般步骤，针对高速公路规划自然生态环境的影响因素，建立了公路交通发展的战略性生态环境评价的可选指标集，并根据指标的特点给出了一种基于GIS技术的评价方法。这种构建指标体系的方法简单易行，评价要素明确，层次分明，构建的可选指标集可为西部地区高速公路发展规划生态环境评价提供参考。