When human beings are like drunk robots: Driverless vehicles,ethics, and the future of transport

It is often argued that driverless vehicles will save lives. In this paper, we treat the ethical case for driverless vehicles seriously and show that it has radical implications for the future of transport. After briefly discussing the current state of driverless vehicle technology, we suggest that systems that rely upon human supervision are likely to be dangerous when used by ordinary people in real-world driving conditions and are unlikely to satisfy the desires of consumers. We then argue that the invention of fully autonomous vehicles that pose a lower risk to third parties than human drivers will establish a compelling case against the moral permissibility of manual driving. As long as driverless vehicles aren’t safer than human drivers, it will be unethical to sell them. Once they are safer than human drivers when it comes to risks to 3rd parties, then it should be illegal to drive them: at that point human drivers will be the moral equivalent of drunk robots. We also describe two plausible mechanisms whereby this ethical argument may generate political pressure to have it reflected in legislation. Freeing people from the necessity of driving, though, will transform the relationship people have with their cars, which will in turn open up new possibilities for the transport uses of the automobile. The ethical challenge posed by driverless vehicles for transport policy is therefore to ensure that the most socially and environmentally beneficial of these possibilities is realised. We highlight several key policy choices that will determine how likely it is that this challenge will be met.     

A bibliometric analysis on trends and characters of carbon emissions from transport sector

Transport sector’s substantial contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions has made it a growing area of study and concern. In order to identify trends and characteristics of carbon emissions research in the transportation sector we conducted a Bibexcel and complex network analysis for the period 1997–2016. In addition, we identify critical themes and contributions of research articles using h-index, PageRank and cluster analysis. We report contribution of countries, authors, institutions and journals, as well as performance of citations and keywords. Co-citing situations between different countries, authors, and institutions are also analyzed using network analysis. Between 1997 and 2016 we found a rise in publications on carbon emissions in the transportation sector and increased cooperation between countries, authors, and institutions. Authors from the USA, China and United Kingdom published the most articles and articles with the highest academic influence. Tsinghua University from China is the leading institution in carbon emissions research in the transportation sector. The most widely published author and cited author is Dr. He. We conclude our analysis by analyzing keywords and trends to suggest critical topic areas of future research. The systematic approach undertaken in this study can be extended and applied to other research topics and fields.     

加快哈尔滨铁路局保价运输发展的思考

开展铁路保价运输20年来,哈尔滨铁路局通过拓展保价业务、改进服务方式、用好保价资金等措施,在铁路保价运输增收创效、形象塑造、加快发展等方面实现新突破。     

铁路超重车安全通过简支梁桥的运输条件

以限制超重车通过的主要桥梁种类——铁路简支梁桥为例,以超重车通过桥梁时的运行活载系数必须小于桥梁的检定承载系数为基本条件,通过调整装载方案、优化车辆编组及限制车辆运行速度3种运输组织措施,降低超重车的运行活载系数,分析各种运输组织措施应满足的要求并推导相关的计算公式。提出铁路超重车安全通过简支梁桥的运输条件:在满足装载基本技术条件的前提下,合理选择车辆并尽量减少货物重心的偏移,以降低超重程度;当超重车的长度小于桥梁跨度时,应使用隔离车将超重车与超重车或机车隔离;隔离车应选用轴距大、轴重小的车辆,并在超重车前后加挂同等数量的隔离车;应限制车辆运行速度,而且超重车重心的横向偏移量和纵向偏移量必须满足相关要求;若调整装载方案、优化车辆编组和限制车辆运行速度等运输组织措施均不能保证超重车安全通过桥梁,则应采取加固桥梁等其他方法。     

光通信传输网排除故障技巧

光通信传输网是维护的重点,要求根据故障现象快速、准确判断故障点,缩短故障延时。为此,总结运行维护中排除故障的基本原则、分析思路、常用方法及典型实例等。     

电子商务环境下提升货运事故理赔服务质量的思考

针对现行货运事故理赔服务中存在的问题,通过既有货运事故理赔业务流程的优化调整,在电子商务环境下研发一套基于互联网的货运事故理赔服务系统与货运电子商务平台对接,从而提升货运事故理赔服务质量。在阐述货运事故理赔服务系统实施步骤的基础上,提出进一步完善电子商务环境下货运事故理赔服务的措施。     

西安北动车所传输网优化

保障列控信号传输网络安全是网管维护中心的首要工作.通过网络优化改造,提升郑西客专动车所传输网络的安全系数及系统的资源利用度,使其承载的高铁业务更加稳定可靠.     

A review of separate and joint strategies for the use of data on revealed and stated choices

This paper examines recent developments in household travel surveys that collect data for use in transportation planning and modeling efforts. The paper then introduces the notion of a total survey design and elaborates on what is meant by this concept. This is done first in the context of standard surveys of revealed choices. The paper discusses aspects of content and respondent burden and illustrates the potential to reduce respondent burden through careful consideration of content, question design, and question ordering. The paper also explores some issues of survey "friendliness" particularly with respect to activity surveys versus time-use surveys, with some observations about the potential of time-use surveys to eliminate some of the burden and content problems of previous diary designs. The remainder of the paper concentrates on the issue of collecting stated-response data and examines two alternative methods for collection: simultaneous collection of the contextual information and "on-the-fly" development of the alternatives for the stated-response questions, or sequential collection of contextual data and development of the stated-response questions. The paper also addresses issues of respondent burden that arise in the administration of stated-response surveys. The paper concludes with exploration of some of the reasons for collecting stated-response data, with particular emphasis on the US situation. In conclusion, the paper stresses again the need for a total design concept for collection of stated-response data, as well as for the simpler collection of more standard revealed choice data.     

On a pathway to de-carbonization – A comparison of new passenger car CO2 emission standards and taxation measures in the G20 countries

Considering the role of transport for a 1.5 Degree stabilization pathway and the importance of light-duty vehicle fuel efficiency within that, it is important to understand the key elements of a policy package to shape the energy efficiency of the vehicle fleet. This paper presents an analysis focusing on three types of policy measures: (1) CO₂ emission standards for new vehicles, (2) vehicle taxation directly and indirectly based on CO₂ emission levels, and (3) fuel taxation. The paper compares the policies in the G20 economies and estimates the financial impact of those policies using the example of a Ford Focus vehicle model. This analysis is a contribution to the assessment of the role of the transport sector in global decarbonisation efforts. The findings of this paper show that only an integrated approach of regulatory and fiscal policy measures can yield substantial efficiency gains in the vehicle fleet and can curb vehicle kilometres travelled by individual motorised transport. Using the illustrative example of one vehicle model, the case study analysis shows that isolated measures, e.g. fuel efficiency regulation without corresponding fuel and vehicle taxes only have minor CO₂ emission reduction effects and that policy measures need to be combined in order to achieve substantial emission reduction gains over time. The analysis shows that the highest level of impact is achieved by a combination regulatory and fiscal policies rather than only one policy even if this policy is more aggressive. When estimating the quantitative effect of fuel efficiency standards, vehicle and fuel tax, the analysis shows that substantial gains with regard to CO₂ emission are only achieved at a financial impact level above 500 Euros over a four year period.     

Living with aircraft noise: Airport proximity,aviation noise and subjective wellbeing in England

Airport expansion is an issue of intense public debate due to the potential impacts on climate change and the quality of life of affected local communities. This paper is the first study to analyse the relationships between airports and multiple subjective wellbeing measures, by merging national-level population statistics with noise measurement maps for seventeen English airports. The presence of daytime aviation noise was found to consistently negatively impact on five subjective wellbeing measures. We found a marginal negative association with every additional decibel of aircraft noise. We found no significant association between wellbeing and living within night-time noise contours or living in close airport proximity. We conclude that living under air traffic flight paths has a negative effect on peoples’ overall and momentary wellbeing, equivalent to around half the effect of being a smoker for some wellbeing measures. The subjective wellbeing method findings support wider revealed preference literature showing lower market demand in areas affected by aviation noise.