Joint leisure travel optimization with user-generated data via perceived utility maximization

The lack of personalized solutions for managing the demand of joint leisure trips in cities in real time hinders the optimization of transportation system operations. Joint leisure activities can account for up to 60% of trips in cities and unlike fixed trips (i.e., trips to work where the arrival time and the trip destination are predefined), leisure activities offer more optimization flexibility since the activity destination and the arrival times of individuals can vary.To address this problem, a perceived utility model derived from non-traditional data such as smartphones/social media for representing users’ willingness to travel a certain distance for participating in leisure activities at different times of day is presented. Then, a stochastic annealing search method for addressing the exponential complexity optimization problem is introduced. The stochastic annealing method suggests the preferred location of a joint leisure activity and the arrival times of individuals based on the users’ preferences derived from the perceived utility model. Test-case implementations of the approach used 14-month social media data from London and showcased an increase of up to 3 times at individuals’ satisfaction while the computational complexity is reduced to almost linear time serving the real-time implementation requirements.     

Workshop 3A: Governance,contracting, ownership and competition issues in public transport: Looking up not down

Workshop 3A focussed on matters of institutional design that seem likely to improve public transport outcomes. It started by defining high level outcome goals, as measures of ultimate public transport success, and then identified the major societal issues that public transport systems can help to resolve. These issues were separately defined for Southern African and western settings. The importance of taking an integrated approach to transport, particularly land use/transport integration, was seen as fundamental to goal achievement. Workshop papers provided many and varied examples of this importance, ranging from PPPs for major public transport projects to system design issues and contracting out of services. The Workshop included detailed discussion on paratransit development in Southern Africa, where relationship management is proving to be critical, in-line with much previous Thredbo discussion about the important role of trusting partnerships. Parallels and contrasts were drawn with paratransit in western settings. Competition in passenger rail was also a focus, with some questioning of the benefits of franchising. Discussion concluded by proposing recommendations for policy and research and suggesting agenda items for future Thredbo Conferences.     

Workshop 6: The public agenda: What is working and what is missing

Workshop 6 topics covered social inclusion, the informal transport sector, transport in developing countries and sustainability. The strong connections and complimentary goals were noted, where solutions to social exclusion and greenhouse gas reduction can both be realised with good transport and urban planning. There is an opportunity for developing countries to avoid the transport mistakes in many developed countries, such as car dependence. This will involve the development of infrastructure that offers accessible public transport to the majority of people, providing resources to the informal transport system and integrating this with public transport. The workshop considered specific issues such as rural transport, new technology, car tolls to subsidise public transport, safety issues with informal transport and the failure to evaluate the longer-term impacts of many major transport infrastructure developments. Recommendations were made in relation to research and policy and future Thredbo topics.     

试论商品质量规律在流通领域里的作用

本文在提出了商品销售质量、个别销售质量、社会一般销售质量等范畴后,对商品质量规律在流通领域里的作用和作用形式进行了分析。从而得出了商品质量规律会迫使流通经营企业提高商品销售质量、提高营业水平、提高管理能力的结论。     

正确认识和处理"五大关系"是构建和谐社会的本质要求——学习胡锦涛在《全国统战工作会议上的讲话》

胡锦涛同志《在全国统战工作会议上的讲话》深刻论述了正确认识和处理政党关系、民族关系、宗教关系、阶层关系、海内外同胞关系这五个方面的重大关系,是马克思主义中国化的最新成果.正确认识和处理好"五大关系"是构建和谐社会的本质要求,是构建社会主义和谐社会的必然要求.     

NSPMF-EB耦合模型及其在近岸波浪计算中的应用

提出通过耦合透水介质的流体运动方程(NSPMF模型)和改良Boussinesq方程(EB模型)来描述近岸水波现象的数学模型。NSPMF模型的优越性在于它能描述波浪破碎、越浪以及波浪和各种结构物(包括透水性结构物)之间的相互作用等伴随着复杂流动结构的局部波动现象;EB模型则可用于求解广阔海域内非线性不规则波浪的运动和变形过程。耦合模型兼有二者的优势,具有广阔的应用前景。验证计算的结果表明本文建议的耦合方法是有效的。     

Social exclusion: What can public transport offer?

A new workshop on ‘Social exclusion: What can public transport offer?’ was introduced in the Thredbo 10 program. The workshop examined the concept of social exclusion in a transport context, looking briefly at the history and comprehensiveness of the term for social policy in transport. Other concepts, such as well-being and social capital, were determined to be also needed. While important research was reported to the workshop, it was clear that social exclusion was at an early stage of empirical development. Gaps were highlighted, particularly in evaluation and cost-benefit analysis. Examples of service systems designed to address social exclusion were presented at the workshop, revealing the need to better understand governance arrangements. The workshop developed recommendations for future research and policy, particularly emphasising the need to integrate social outcomes with economic and environmental transport policy at the strategic, tactical and operational levels. Finally, ideas for further exploration of social exclusion in Thredbo 11, were outlined.     

高校校园网络舆论的有序引导机制研究——以协同理论为视角

高校作为知识分子的荟萃之地,是信息网络建设人才最集中的地方。当前,移动通信和互联网络的发展尤其是微博、QQ、微信和人人网等新媒介的出现,对高校师生的学习、工作、生活等产生了前所未有的影响,校园网络已成为高校师生思想交汇、情感碰撞和信息传播的重要舞台。因此,高校要充分认识网络舆论的积极作用和消极影响,以协同理论为视角,用先进的文化、规范的管理和科学的思想占领网络舆论第一线,引导青年大学生树立正确的世界观、人生观和价值观。     

A framework to evaluate policy options for supporting electric vehicles in urban freight transport

Electric vehicles (EVs) are considered as a feasible alternative to traditional vehicles. Few studies have addressed the impacts of policies supporting EVs in urban freight transport. To cast light on this topic, we established a framework combining an optimization model with economic analysis to determine the optimal behavior of an individual delivery service provider company and social impacts (e.g., externalities and welfare) in response to policies designed to support EVs, such as purchase subsidy, limited access (zone fee) to congestion/low-emission zones with exemptions for EVs, and vehicle taxes with exemptions for EVs. Numerical experiments showed that the zone fee can increase the company’s total logistics costs but improve the social welfare. It greatly reduced the external cost inside the congestion/low-emission zone with a high population, dense pollution, and heavy traffic. The vehicle taxes and subsidy were found to have the same influence on the company and society, although they have different effects with low tax/subsidy rates because their different effects on vehicle routing plans. Finally, we performed a sensitivity analysis. Local factors at the company and city levels (e.g., types of vehicle and transport network) are also important to designing efficient policies for urban logistics that support EVs.     

Modelling contact mode and frequency of interactions with social network members using the multiple discrete–continuous extreme value model

Communication patterns are an integral component of activity patterns and the travel induced by these activities. The present study aims to understand the determinants of the communication patterns (by the modes face-to-face, phone, e-mail and SMS) between people and their social network members. The aim is for this to eventually provide further insights into travel behaviour for social and leisure purposes. A social network perspective brings value to the study and modelling of activity patterns since leisure activities are influenced not only by traditional trip measures such as time and cost but also motivated extensively by the people involved in the activity. By using a multiple discrete-continuous extreme value model (Bhat, 2005), we can investigate the means of communication chosen to interact with a given social network member (multiple discrete choices) and the frequency of interaction by each mode (treated as continuous) at the same time. The model also allows us to investigate satiation effects for different modes of communication. Our findings show that in spite of people having increasingly geographically widespread networks and more diverse communication technologies, a strong underlying preference for face-to-face contact remains. In contrast with some of the existing work, we show that travel-related variables at the ego level are less important than specific social determinants which can be considered while making use of social network data.