Tradable credits for managing car travel: a review of empirical research and relevant behavioural approaches

Recently, there has been a surge of interest in Tradable Credits (TC) as an alternative measure to manage the growth of personal car use. This paper summarises the results and methodologies of studies that have sought to anticipate the behavioural responses to several proposed TC schemes that target personal travel. In a critical reflection on this work and in an attempt to inspire future research, we argue that future empirical studies on TC behaviours can greatly benefit from insights from the fields of behavioural economics and cognitive psychology. Therefore, in the second part of the paper, we bring together behavioural concepts from these fields that are relevant in a TC decision-making context. Based on observations from current TC studies and the behavioural mechanisms identified in the second part of the paper, we propose promising directions for future research on understanding the impact of TC on personal car travel.     

Direct formulation and algorithms for the probit-based stochastic user equilibrium traffic assignment problem

This paper proposes simple and direct formulation and algorithms for the probit-based stochastic user equilibrium traffic assignment problem. It is only necessary to account for random variables independent of link flows by performing a simple transformation of the perceived link travel time with a normal distribution. At every iteration of a Monte-Carlo simulation procedure, the values of the random variables are sampled based on their probability distributions, and then a regular deterministic user equilibrium assignment is carried out to produce link flows. The link flows produced at each iteration of the Monte-Carlo simulation are averaged to yield the final flow pattern. Two test networks demonstrate that the proposed algorithms and the traditional algorithm (the Method of Successive Averages) produce similar results and that the proposed algorithms can be extended to the computation of the case in which the random error term depends on measured travel time.     

Development and calibration of a long-distance passenger traffic assignment model

This paper studies the assignment of long-distance passenger traffic on a highway corridor network. First, we propose a traditional model for the long-distance traffic assignment considering interactions with local commuter traffic. It addresses the effect of local networks on highway corridors. An iterative algorithm is developed to solve for the exact solution. Then, to address the potential computational issues that arise therein, a decomposition method is proposed by introducing a new concept of corridor elasticity. An assignment procedure for long-distance passenger traffic is developed accordingly. Numerical tests show that the proposed decomposition method makes significant improvements in computational performance at a small loss of optimality. This decomposition method well approximates the exact assignment from the traditional formulation, especially when the highway corridors are near-saturation. The proposed decomposition method appears practical for application.     

Assessing the impact of reduced visibility on traffic crash risk using microscopic data and surrogate safety measures

Due to the difficulty of obtaining accurate real-time visibility and vehicle based traffic data at the same time, there are only few research studies that addressed the impact of reduced visibility on traffic crash risk. This research was conducted based on a new visibility detection system by mounting visibility sensor arrays combined with adaptive learning modules to provide more accurate visibility detections. The vehicle-based detector, Wavetronix SmartSensor HD, was installed at the same place to collect traffic data. Reduced visibility due to fog were selected and analyzed by comparing them with clear cases to identify the differences based on several surrogate measures of safety under different visibility classes. Moreover, vehicles were divided into different types and the vehicles in different lanes were compared in order to identify whether the impact of reduced visibility due to fog on traffic crash risk varies depending on vehicle types and lanes. Log-Inverse Gaussian regression modeling was then applied to explore the relationship between time to collision and visibility together with other traffic parameters. Based on the accurate visibility and traffic data collected by the new visibility and traffic detection system, it was concluded that reduced visibility would significantly increase the traffic crash risk especially rear-end crashes and the impact on crash risk was different for different vehicle types and for different lanes. The results would be helpful to understand the change in traffic crash risk and crash contributing factors under fog conditions. We suggest implementing the algorithms in real-time and augmenting it with ITS measures such as VSL and DMS to reduce crash risk.     

Cooperation in transit delivery in West German metropolitan areas

West Germany is densely populated, averaging 245 inhabitants/km², but varying widely between urban agglomerations and rural areas. Transport volume has increased by 40% since 1970, with virtually all growth due to private automobiles. Since 1981 public transit has been suffering from decreasing demand.A 1964 Expert's Report to the German federal government was the stimulus for initiating an effective funding mechanism for new public transit construction. In 1965 Germany's first federated transit authority was founded for the region of Hamburg.Principal among the goals of any cooperative agreement among transit companies are improvements for the passengers and improvement of revenues for the companies. To attain these ends, two distinct forms of transit aggrements have been developed in Germany: transit cooperative (Verkehrsgemeinschaft) and transit federation (Verkehrsverbund). The former is more suitable for smaller to medium-sized towns, while the latter is more suitable for larger cities. The two types are described in this article.German transit federations during the 1970s succeeded in significantly increasing ridership, while during the 1980s patronage has either remained steady or has declined. Yet transit federations showed much better perfomance than did public transit in general. In terms of costs and revenues, no public transit organization in Germany is able to break even; deficits vary between 42% and 55%. The author concludes, however, that hidden subsidies for automobile traffic are far higher, because of environmental damage and the high social cost of traffic accidents.     

运用操纵模拟器试验进行超大型船舶航道宽度计算研究

运用船舶操纵模拟器模拟试验的方法,通过试验分析风、流压偏角等因素与超大型船舶在航行时航迹带宽度之间的关系,提出了超大型船舶在风、流以及波浪作用下,进出港航行所需航道宽度的计算方法。     

无核密度仪在沥青路面工程质量控制中的应用技术研究

无核密度仪是一种可实现大样本、高效、实时、无损、安全测定沥青面层压实度和非均匀性的新型检测仪器.根据无核密度仪检测方法的基本原理,分析该法测值精确度的影响因素,并提出现场检测时的操作建议及注意事项.阐述无核密度仪在沥青路面压实过程中的压实控制、压实效果评价、压实方案和工艺比选,提出改善沥青面层压实效果的措施,并探讨无核密度仪在沥青面层非均匀性检测中的应用技术.     

十字交叉吊杆拱桥支座更换顶升方案研究

对某钢管混凝土十字交叉吊杆拱桥支座更换顶升方案进行分析研究,采用有限元软件分析并探讨主梁与梯道梁相接处的钢板连接、主梁与主拱相交处的橡胶圈、单点顶升与多点顶升、顶升位置、附加支撑以及顶升最大高度对拱梁受力性能的影响,得出相应结论及建议,为同类型桥梁施工提供借鉴。     

差异沉降对箱涵结构物内力的影响分析

软土地基高速公路工后沉降普遍偏大,结构物与相邻软土地基差异沉降造成路面呈波浪起伏,严重影响交通安全。分别考虑软土地基在CFG桩、袋装砂井、粉喷桩的地基处理方式,分析差异沉对结构物内力分布的影响程度,可为设计计算提供参考。