Why do some motorbike riders wear a helmet and others don’t? Evidence from Delhi,India

Road traffic accident fatalities lead to important private and social costs in the metropolitan areas of most low and middle income countries. An important share of these fatalities is due to injuries to the head and the neck. Helmets can provide efficient protection, but many drivers do not use them. We focus on helmet use behavior among motorbike users in Delhi. We use a detailed data set collected for the purpose of the study. To guide our empirical analysis, we rely on a model in which drivers decide on self-protection and self-insurance. The empirical findings suggest that risk-averse drivers are more likely to wear a helmet and that this has no systematic effect on speed. Helmet use also increases with education. Drivers who show a higher awareness of road risks seem to be both more likely to wear a helmet and to speed less. Controlling for risk awareness, we observe that drivers tend to compensate between speed and helmet use. The results can provide a basis for awareness-raising policies. They also show that improvements to the road infrastructure risk leading to risk-compensating behavior.     

A bi-objective optimization framework for three-dimensional road alignment design

Optimization of three-dimensional road alignments is a nonlinear non-convex optimization problem. The development of models that fully optimize a three-dimensional road alignment problem is challenging due to numerous factors involved and complexities in the geometric specification of the alignment. In this study, we developed a novel bi-objective optimization approach to solve a three dimensional road alignment problem where the horizontal and vertical alignments are optimized simultaneously. Two conflicting cost objective functions, earthwork cost and the utility cost, are cast in a bi-objective optimization problem. We numerically compare several multi-objective optimization solvers, and find that it is possible to determine the Pareto front in a reasonable time.     

Estimation of road profile variability from measured vehicle responses

When assessing the statistical variability of fatigue loads acting throughout the life of a vehicle, the question of the variability of road roughness naturally arises, as both quantities are strongly related. For car manufacturers, gathering information on the environment in which vehicles evolve is a long and costly but necessary process to adapt their products to durability requirements. In the present paper, a data processing algorithm is proposed in order to estimate the road profiles covered by a given vehicle, from the dynamic responses measured on this vehicle. The algorithm based on Kalman filtering theory aims at solving a so-called inverse problem, in a stochastic framework. It is validated using experimental data obtained from simulations and real measurements. The proposed method is subsequently applied to extract valuable statistical information on road roughness from an existing load characterisation campaign carried out by Renault within one of its markets.     

T梁桥绳锯切割拆除方案优化研究与数值模拟分析

为了研究先简支后连续的T梁桥的整体切割拆除关键技术,以三洲沧江拆除工程为研究背景,结合大桥实际情况制订了针对性的大桥上、下部结构整体拆除施工方案。验证了采用2台80t汽车吊分别站位于旧桥左右幅,将左幅旧桥各跨8片独立的T梁分别进行吊运的绳锯切割拆除方法为最优方案。以典型的简支T梁桥结构为例,采用有限元模型分析了拆除工程中T梁桥的力学性能变化。针对三洲沧江大桥的下部结构特点,特别对水上桥墩的拆除方案进行了数值分析,并对钢抱箍平台上拆除盖梁的方案进行了仿真模拟,验证了下部结构拆除方案的可操作性。本桥梁绳锯切割拆除工程的优化方案及关键技术的应用为相似桥梁切割拆除工程提供一定的参考。     

Does the income elasticity of road traffic depend on the source of income?

An extensive body of literature addresses the income elasticity of road traffic, in which income is typically treated as a homogenous quantity. Here we report evidence of heterogeneity in cross-sectional estimates of the elasticity of vehicle-kilometres of travel (VKT) with respect to income, when household income is disaggregated on the basis of income source.The results are generally intuitive, and show that the cross-sectional income elasticity of road traffic is not homogeneous as is typically specified in transport planning models. We show that in a number of circumstances the cross-sectional elasticity with respect to aggregate household income is of the opposite sign in comparison to more refined estimates of elasticity disaggregated by income source. If further research confirms that the elasticities we report here are causal in nature, neglecting the elemental effects could result in misleading results affecting practical infrastructure-investment and policy decisions, particularly as the mix of income sources shifts (e.g. if, as society ages, pension income increases as a share of all income).These results are of interest to both researchers and forecasters of travel demand, as well as designers of future travel survey instruments; the latter group must decide how to generate data about respondents’ income. Current expert guidance is to collect a single estimate of aggregate income at the household level. Future travel survey design choices will bound the analyses that can be supported by the resulting survey data, and therefore methodological research to re-visit the trade-offs associated with such choices is warranted.     

基于环境的道路交通安全分析

介绍了道路交通安全环境的涵义,分析了道路交通安全环境中的软环境和硬环境,提出了改善我国道路交通安全环境的相关措施。     

新建结构与运营地铁车站接驳关键技术

以深圳地铁新建3号线老街站换乘综合体与运营地铁车站接驳工程为实例,对运营车站临时加固防护、分部切割既有结构、新旧结构接驳等关键技术展开论述。提出运用金刚石绳锯与金刚石水钻相结合的一种静力切割工艺,很好地解决了该工程作业环境复杂、技术要求高、风险大等难题,安全、高效地完成了新建结构与运营地铁车站接驳工程。     

Options for reducing noise from roads and railway lines

The fundamental noise generation mechanisms of road and rail vehicles are discussed with attention to noise abatement measures. Based on an evaluation of publicly available tire noise data and the European road traffic noise emission model CNOSSOS, it is shown that on the road side there is a significant noise reduction potential in the usage of low-noise tires. From a three months measurement campaign a noise model was derived to predict the maximal sound pressure level of heavy duty vehicles during a pass-by in 7.5 m distance with the parameters vehicle speed and number of axles. With help of recently published information about external costs caused by heavy duty vehicles and the noise prediction tool, a model was developed to derive a money equivalent that can be used as a bonus/malus in a heavy duty vehicle fee. As a measure at the infrastructure, the installation of low-noise pavements is an effective, durable and economically attractive measure. Recent experiences with different technologies from all over the world are compiled and evaluated. On the rail side, an overview of the possible noise reduction strategies is given, followed by a discussion of the current policy and legislation in the EU and on the national level of different European countries.     

Roads in transition: Integrated modeling of a manufacturer-traveler-infrastructure system in a mixed autonomous/human driving environment

This paper develops an integrated model to characterize the market penetration of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in urban transportation networks. The model explicitly accounts for the interplay among the AV manufacturer, travelers with heterogeneous values of travel time (VOTT), and road infrastructure capacity. By making in-vehicle time use more leisurely or productive, AVs reduce travelers’ VOTT. In addition, AVs can move closer together than human-driven vehicles because of shorter safe reaction time, which leads to increased road capacity. On the other hand, the use of AV technologies means added manufacturing cost and higher price. Thus, traveler adoption of AVs will trade VOTT savings with additional out-of-pocket cost. The model is structured as a leader (AV manufacturer)-follower (traveler) game. Given the cost of producing AVs, the AV manufacturer sets AV price to maximize profit while anticipating AV market penetration. Given an AV price, the vehicle and routing choice of heterogeneous travelers are modeled by combining a multinomial logit model with multi-modal multi-class user equilibrium (UE). The overall problem is formulated as a mathematical program with complementarity constraints (MPCC), which is challenging to solve. We propose a solution approach based on piecewise linearization of the MPCC as a mixed-integer linear program (MILP) and solving the MILP to global optimality. Non-uniform distribution of breakpoints that delimit piecewise intervals and feasibility-based domain reduction are further employed to reduce the approximation error brought by linearization. The model is implemented in a simplified Singapore network with extensive sensitivity analyses and the Sioux Falls network. Computational results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the solution approach and yield valuable insights about transportation system performance in a mixed autonomous/human driving environment.     

Indicators of reliability and vulnerability: Similarities and differences in ranking links of a complex road system

This article investigates two performance attributes of road networks, reliability and vulnerability, analyzing their similarities as well as the differences that justify distinct definitions, based on consolidation of recent studies. We also discuss the indicators found in the literature for these two performance attributes. Since various authors treat vulnerability as an aspect of reliability instead of a specific attribute, we carried out an application to a complex road network representative of the city of Rio de Janeiro to check the suitability of this approach. The results show that the vulnerability indicators are more strongly affected by the characteristics of alternative routes while the reliability metrics are more sensitive to the congestion level. The conclusion is that reliability and vulnerability should be treated distinctly for evaluating the performance of road network links.