Insights on disruptions as opportunities for transport policy change

Policy change is characterised as being slow and incremental over long time periods. In discussing a radical shift to a low carbon economy, many researchers identify a need for a more significant and rapid change to transport policy and travel patterns. However, it is not clear what is meant by rapid policy change and what conditions might be needed to support its delivery.Our contention in this paper is that notions of habit and stability dominate thinking about transport trends and the policy responses to them. We limit variability in our data collection and seek to design policies and transport systems that broadly support the continuation of existing practices. This framing of the policy context limits the scale of change deemed plausible and the scope of activities and actions that could be used to effect it.This paper identifies evidence from two sources to support the contention that more radical policy change is possible. First, there is a substantial and on-going churn in household travel behaviour which, harnessed properly over the medium term, could provide the raw material for steering behaviour change. Secondly, there is a growing evidence base analysing significant events at local, regional and national level which highlight how travellers can adapt to major change to network conditions, service availability and social norms. Taken together, we contend that the population is far more adaptable to major change than the policy process currently assumes.Disruptions and the responses to them provide a window on the range of adaptations that are possible (and, given that we can actually observe people carrying them out, could be more widely acceptable) given the current configuration of the transport system. In other words, if we conceptualise the system as one in which disruptions are commonplace, then different policy choices become tractable. Policy change itself can also be seen as a positive disruption, which could open up a raft of new opportunities to align policy implementation with the capacity for change. However, when set against the current framing of stability and habit, disruption can also be a major political embarrassment. We conclude that rather than being inherently problematic, disruption are in fact an opportunity through which to construct a different approach to transport policy that might enable rather than frustrate significant, low carbon change.     

Decision Support Systems for Public Transport Management: The Athens Public Transport Authority Project

This article reports on an implementation study of a computerised decision support system for public transport management for the Athens Public Transport Authority (APTA). The study analysed the current situation, specified user requirements, determined system functionality, designed the system architecture, organised the project and, finally, planned dissemination activities. The decision support system covers the main public transport management activities of APTA - transport service provision, economic and financial planning, passenger complaints and suggestions, and personnel management - offering its users the possibility to study the potential effects of their decisions before implementation. To achieve this, the system will consist of a data warehousing system, for the integrated management of a wide variety of data sources, and of online analytical processing tools, for information analysis and scenario testing. The system architecture has been designed to offer robustness, flexibility, rich functionality and open connectivity. The system aims to help APTA reduce operational costs and provide a better transport service, attracting more passengers to public transport and reducing, in the process, congestion and pollution.     

Sociological perspectives on travel and mobilities: A review

There is increasing interest in understanding and achieving changes in travel behaviour, but a focus on individual behaviour change may overlook the potential for achieving change via transformation at the levels of institutions, cultures and societies – the domains of sociological inquiry. In this paper, we review sociological contributions to the literature on travel and ‘mobilities’. We summarise four key themes which supplement or contradict arguments made in mainstream transport debates on behaviour change. The first involves focusing on travel ‘practices’ as social entities with dynamics of their own, rather than on individual behaviours. The second relates to the changing natures of societies, and the implications for travel. The third explores and interprets the issue of car dependence in ways which highlight the ethical, experiential and emotional dimensions associated with car use, its symbolic role in societies increasingly concerned with consumption, and its differing roles within different cultures. Finally, the ‘new mobilities paradigm’ highlights issues such as the increasing links between travel and new technologies, and the primacy of social networks in influencing travel decisions. These themes emphasise the importance of understanding the broader contexts in which travel choices are made. In particular, the implication is that the creation of more sustainable travel patterns will require changes at a range of social levels, not simply in individual behaviours, and that changes to transport will inevitably be linked with, and influenced by, broader changes in the values and practices developed by societies as a whole.     

The suitability of hedonic models for cost-benefit analysis: Evidence from commuting flows

We compare two estimates of benefits arising from the construction of new bridges in south-west Norway. One estimate comes from a hedonic property value model. Rather than follow an approach which is strictly theoretically correct, we adopt Rosen’s simple first-stage approach. To investigate and validate whether this simplified approach gives a reasonable estimate, we compare it to an estimate derived from a travel demand model. We find that a variant of an ex post hedonic house price model gives very similar estimates to the estimates from the travel demand model. This supports a hypothesis that the simplistic hedonic approach is reasonable.     

Engaging disadvantaged populations in transport studies: Linking modal use and perceptions of safety to activity patterns

Accessibility measures are important tools in planning. However, if the data are not available to adequately capture the mobility and accessibility challenges of disadvantaged populations, than the results of the model provide little to no direction for policy makers. This paper explores data collection techniques that have the potential to address the “why” underlining the activity behavior, especially linking personal safety perceptions to activities. The first study comes from a series of focus groups with low-income women in Quebec City, Canada. Self-mapping of individual spaces creates a framework to address spatial and temporal challenges that negatively impact transit dependent populations. The second study focuses on the activity patterns of low-income immigrant youth in Providence, RI. A technique is presented to elicit formatted responses concerning perceptions of personal safety. With the help of GIS, this technique has the potential to link together activities and perceptions of safety for activity modeling.     

土木规划的规划环境与规划政策研究

研究目的：土木规划是以社会公共基础设施为对象，本着统筹、系统的思想，利用土木工程技术与系统科学方法进行的规划。但就我国目前土木规划领域的现状来看，无论是在“规划环境”方面还是“规划政策”方面，都存在着一定的问题。本文的目的在于通过对我国土木规划的规划环境与规划政策的研究，促进土木规划在我国的科学化、体系化发展。研究方法：本文聚焦于我国的交通基础设施，系统地整理和分析了我国土木规划的历史与现状，包括政府与市场的角色定位、规划体制、法律法规的情况，同时介绍了国外的经验，揭示了存在的问题。研究结果：提出我国要走科学的“土木规划”道路，在规划环境上应改革规划体制，完善立法，建立多层次的基础设施体系；在规划政策上应努力拓宽资金渠道，加强综合规划等。研究结论：揭示了在我国开展土木规划研究的重要性和必要性，土木规划相关研究的不断深入，必将促进我国的土木规划水平的提高。     

铁路客货列车分摊线路使用费比例的研究

客货列车均对线路造成损伤,但因运行速度、轴重和运量不同,则对线路损伤的程度不同,所承担线路使用费不同。从工务维修角度出发,以对线路使用费有决定性作用的钢轨抽换成本和轨道状态维修成本作为研究对象,建立客货列车线路使用费分摊比例的工程模型,对我国铁路进行大量现场调研,并用所建立的工程模型对现场调研数据进行处理,得到我国客运货运分摊线路使用费的比例。     

城乡结合部交通与枢纽规划研究

文章从城乡结合部和交通与枢纽的基本内涵出发,指出了城乡结合部存在的一些交通问题,同时针对城乡结合部已成为交通瓶颈,阻碍城市的对外经济联系和乡村经济发展等问题,提出了结合部交通与枢纽规划的优化设想。     

关于海事基础设施建设中的招投标管理

工程造价管理,贯穿于海事基础设施建设的全过程。而招投标阶段的造价控制,不仅能有效消除因项目前期深度、设计精度问题带来的造价不确定因素,也会为施工阶段的造价控制打下良好的基础,作者通过对影响招标投标阶段工程造价诸多因素的分析研究,提出有效控制工程造价的方法和建议,供广大同行参考。