Evaluating determinants of attractiveness and their cause-effect relationships for container ports in Taiwan: users’ perspectives

The attractiveness of ports is usually a pre-requisite and necessary condition for ports to achieve competitiveness, as well as the springboard to explore the competitive advantages of ports. To determine whether a port is competitive, it is necessary to explore whether it boasts certain factors that make the port attractive to users. The main purpose of this article is to apply the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method and the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) technique to evaluate key determinants of attractiveness and their cause/effect relationships for container ports in Taiwan. The empirical results showed that: (1) Top six determinates of attractiveness for container ports are ‘ample cargo sources,’ ‘favorable port charges,’ ‘dense ship network and routes,’ ‘low transshipment costs,’ ‘efficient wharf operations,’ and ‘adequate wharfs and back-line land,’ respectively. (2) Among the above six determinants of attractiveness, ‘ample cargo sources’ is the cause determinant. Three determinants of port attractiveness, ‘favorable port charges,’ ‘dense ship network and routes,’ ‘low transshipment costs,’ which are the effect determinants. They are affected by the determinants of attractiveness of ‘ample cargo sources’. In addition, this study discusses the above findings and expects to provide the study results to Taiwan’s port authorities for reference.     

基于光纤传感系统的德国列车实时精确定位技术

实时、精确地获取列车位置信息是保证列车安全有效运行、发挥效率、提供最佳服务的前提。而轨旁传感器将在进行高效、可靠的列车跟踪和定位方面发挥重要作用。文章介绍德国基于光纤传感系统的列车实时精确定位技术,这是一种全新的解决方案,具有独特的优势和可能性。     

Does crowding affect the path choice of metro passengers?

This paper investigates crowding effect on the path choice of metro passengers. We show people reroute not only to avoid the delay from crowding but also to evade crowding itself. More specifically, a logit model fits best when it uses the transit delay from crowding as well as the passenger load of a connection in addition to the conventional explanatory variables. Also, we demonstrate that crowding decreases the overall welfare of metro passengers. The model is tested on the real path choice data acquired by the recent algorithm by Hong et al. (2015) known to detect the real path choice from Smart Card data in more than 90% of the cases.     

基于信令数据的出行强度影响因素分析模型

为探究城市交通出行强度影响因素及不同因素的影响程度，本文从土地利用与交通基础设施建设两方面出发，分析包括土地利用混合指数，职住混合率熵指数，公共交通站点 500 m覆盖率，路网可达性等17个指标与出行强度的相关关系；基于相关系数和拟合优度分析，提取7个与出行强度强相关指标，基于所识别指标构建北京市中心城区出行强度多元回归模型.模型结果表明，职住混合率熵指数对出行强度的影响最为显著，公共交通站点覆盖率对出行强度的影响比道路网密度和可达性更为明显.此外，给出单一土地利用/交通基础设施指标对出行强度拟合结果的离群特征分析方法，用于评估不同区域基础设施供给与交通出行需求之间的平衡关系.     

基于深度强化学习的智能船舶航迹跟踪控制

[目的]智能船舶的航迹跟踪控制问题往往面临着控制环境复杂、控制器稳定性不高以及大量的算法计算等问题。为实现对航迹跟踪的精准控制,提出一种引入深度强化学习技术的航向控制器。[方法]首先,结合视线(LOS)算法制导,以船舶的操纵特性和控制要求为基础,将航迹跟踪问题建模成马尔可夫决策过程,设计其状态空间、动作空间、奖励函数;然后,使用深度确定性策略梯度(DDPG)算法作为控制器的实现,采用离线学习方法对控制器进行训练;最后,将训练完成的控制器与BP-PID控制器进行对比研究,分析控制效果。[结果]仿真结果表明,设计的深度强化学习控制器可以从训练学习过程中快速收敛达到控制要求,训练后的网络与BP-PID控制器相比跟踪迅速,具有偏航误差小、舵角变化频率小等优点。[结论]研究成果可为智能船舶航迹跟踪控制提供参考。     

轨道复合不平顺对无缝线路横向变形的影响分析

轨道复合不平顺会对行车的安全及稳定性产生较大影响,也是影响无缝线路横向变形的一个重要因素。为研究轨道复合不平顺对无缝线路的具体影响,通过构建三维轨道框架非线性有限元模型,采用轨道框架单点(或多点)位置发生横向及竖向位移来模拟复合不平顺状态,通过计算获取节点位移变化规律,进而分析轨道复合不平顺对无缝线路横向变形的影响作用。研究结果表明,轨道的复合不平顺会对无缝线路的横向变形产生显著的影响;当线路出现三角坑等类似病害时,其节点位移变化更为显著,在无缝线路的日常养护维修中应尤为注意。     

移动闭塞系统区间通过能力分析及参数计算

移动闭塞条件下“闭塞分区”呈现出“移动”和“长度变化”的特征,其区间通过能力的计算较固定闭塞系统更加复杂。本文建立了移动闭塞系统区间通过能力的数学模型,对区间通过能力与列车追踪运行速度、跟驰车距和列车性能等参数之间的相互关系进行了定性、定量分析,并就关鍵参数的计算方法进行了深入的讨论,对移动闭塞条件下的列车运行控制与行车组织有一定的参考价值。     

Policy packages for modal shift and CO2 reduction in Lille,France

This paper proposes different policy scenarios to cut CO₂ emissions caused by the urban mobility of passengers. More precisely, we compare the effects of the ‘direct tool’ of carbon tax, to a combination of ‘indirect tools’ – not originally aimed at reducing CO₂ (i.e. congestion charging, parking charges and a reduction in public transport travel time) in terms of CO₂ impacts through a change in the modal split. In our model, modal choices depend on individual characteristics, trip features (including the effects of policy tools), and land use at origin and destination zones. Personal “CO₂ emissions budgets” resulting from the trips observed in the metropolitan area of Lille (France) in 2006 are calculated and compared to the situation related to the different policy scenarios. We find that an increase of 50% in parking charges combined with a cordon toll of €1.20 and a 10% travel time decrease in public transport services (made after recycling toll-revenues) is the winning scenario. The combined effects of all the policy scenarios are superior to their separate effects.     

Fast-charging station choice behavior among battery electric vehicle users

This study explores how battery electric vehicle users choose where to fast-charge their vehicles from a set of charging stations, as well as the distance by which they are generally willing to detour for fast-charging. The focus is on fast-charging events during trips that include just one fast-charge between origin and destination in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Mixed logit models with and without a threshold effect for detour distance are applied to panel data extracted from a two-year field trial on battery electric vehicle usage in Japan. Findings from the mixed logit model with threshold show that private users are generally willing to detour up to about 1750 m on working days and 750 m on non-working days, while the distance is 500 m for commercial users on both working and non-working days. Users in general prefer to charge at stations requiring a shorter detour and use chargers located at gas stations, and are significantly affected by the remaining charge. Commercial users prefer to charge at stations encountered earlier along their paths, while only private users traveling on working days show such preference and they turn to prefer the stations encountered later when choosing a station in peak hours. Only private users traveling on working days show a strong preference for free charging. Commercial users tend to pay for charging at a station within 500 m detour distance. The fast charging station choice behavior is heterogeneous among users. These findings provide a basis for early planning of a public fast charging infrastructure.     

Dynamic traffic metering in urban street networks: Formulation and solution algorithm

Traffic metering offers great potential to reduce congestion and enhance network performance in oversaturated urban street networks. This paper presents an optimization program for dynamic traffic metering in urban street networks based on the Cell Transmission Model (CTM). We have formulated the problem as a Mixed-Integer Linear Program (MILP) capable of metering traffic at network gates with given signal timing parameters at signalized intersections. Due to the complexities of the MILP model, we have developed a novel and efficient solution approach that solves the problem by converting the MILP to a linear program and several CTM simulation runs. The solution algorithm is applied to two case studies under different conditions. The proposed solution technique finds solutions that have a maximum gap of 1% of the true optimal solution and guarantee the maximum throughput by keeping some vehicles at network gates and only allowing enough vehicles to enter the network to prevent gridlocks. This is confirmed by comparing the case studies with and without traffic metering. The results in an adapted real-world case study network show that traffic metering can increase network throughput by 4.9–38.9% and enhance network performance.