The transportation systems of Buenos Aires, Chicago and São Paulo: City centers, infrastructure and policy analysis

We compare the passenger transportation systems of Buenos Aires, Chicago and São Paulo. The selected cities represent distinctive combinations of land-use, infrastructure, and evolution of transport policy. Analysis is centered on accessibility to downtown areas, where transportation processes converge in an environment where space is scarce. In two of the three cities institutional arrays that legally establish unified decision making have shown little capacity to launch fare or physical coordination between modes. In two of the three cities the concentration of public transportation supply to historical downtowns has not been an attraction factor, and downtown uses have expanded to less accessible areas. Gentrification in Chicago is also another process showing that land use changes are related to many factors, transportation being only one of them, and not always a necessary one. In all three cases the use of railways, as a set of inherited infrastructures, has seen an increase whose magnitude suggests a link to modal reassignment due to increasing congestion. Scarcity of space in old downtown areas is being counteracted through more intense use, or through the expansion of vertical space for transportation operations.     

Attitudes towards the role of Cost–Benefit Analysis in the decision-making process for spatial-infrastructure projects: A Dutch case study

This paper provides a systematic overview of the attitudes of key actors in the Dutch Cost–Benefit Analysis (CBA) practice towards the role of CBA in the decision-making process for spatial-infrastructure projects. The main aim of this paper is to scrutinize the extent to which there is agreement among these Dutch actors in regard to the role of the CBA in the decision-making process. A secondary goal is to provide possible explanations for agreements and controversies among key actors in the Dutch CBA practice. In this study two research methods are combined to study the key actors’ attitudes. Firstly, 86 key actors (e.g. consultants, scientists, policy makers) were interviewed in-depth. Secondly, 74 of them completed a written questionnaire. The most important conclusion of this paper is that in the Dutch CBA practice there is agreement that CBA must have a role in the appraisal process of spatial-infrastructure projects. However, there is a lot of controversy among economists and spatial planners in the Dutch CBA practice concerning the value that is and should be assigned to CBA in the decision-making process. Economists predominantly believe that not enough value is assigned to the CBA in the decision-making process, whereas spatial planners predominantly think that too much value is assigned to the CBA. Both economists and spatial planners believe that this controversy is problematic as it results in debates about the pros and cons of CBA instead of the pros and cons of the spatial-infrastructure projects. This paper analyzes some solutions for this controversy.     

Technical standardization of ITS and Asian initiatives for intelligent mobility

User-centric intelligent mobility businesses emerge and prosper in Asian metropolitan areas by utilizing the progress if information and communication technology (ICT). Under the rise of private lead initiatives on intelligent transport systems (ITS), the roles of public sectors are still large. Public sectors should precisely identify the extensive ITS services by considering the regional conditions and deploy them by collaboration between the public and private. Public sectors also are strongly encouraged to identify the benefits acquired by development and compliance of the international technical standards. Furthermore, in order to maximize the potential capacity of ICT, improvements of social infrastructures are required by the public sectors together with private businesses. With the realization of the collaboration works, Asian regions are well deserved to take the lead in future ITS initiatives.     

Impacts of an emission based private car taxation policy - First year ex-post analysis

This paper assesses the impacts of a targeted policy designed to influence car purchasing trends towards lower CO₂ emitting vehicles. Vehicle registration tax and annual motor tax rates in Ireland changed in July 2008 from being based on engine size to emissions performance of cars. This paper provides a one year ex-post analysis of the first year of the tax change, tracking the change in purchasing trends arising from the measure related to specific CO₂ emissions, engine size and fuel, and the implications for car prices, CO₂ emissions abatement, and revenue gathered. While engine efficiency improvements had been offset by purchasing trends towards larger and generally less efficient cars in the past, with the average MJ/km remaining constant from 2000 to 2007, this analysis shows that in the first year of the new taxation system the average specific emissions of new cars fell by 13% to 145 g/km. This was brought about, not by a reduction in engine size, but rather through a significant shift to diesel cars. Despite an unexpected reduction in car sales due to a recession in 2008, the policy measure has had a larger than anticipated impact on CO₂ emissions, calculated to be 5.9 ktCO₂ in the first year of the measure. The strong price signal did however result in a 33% reduction in tax revenue from VRT, in financial terms amounting to a drop of €166 million compared to a baseline situation.     

公共交通系统经营模式分析

公共交通行业的基本经营特征决定行业不能实现完全独立的商业化运转,必须纳入到城市的公共服务体系中.为打造高效、优质的公共交通系统,应在公共政策、行业管理和企业经营三个层面各司其职,形成多层次的管理体系.本文按照市场的经营主体和竞争模式划分,对国内外最为常见的管理模式进行分析,探讨各种模式的运营环境及其适应性,为国内城市制...     

城市公共交通可持续发展的评价体系研究

现今,随着交通问题的突出,很多城市都走上了公交可持续发展之路.本文介绍了一种评价城市公共交通可持续发展度的体系方法--改进层次分析-Delphi综合评价法,这种评价方法能较科学、合理地对我国一般城市公共交通可持续发展现状进行评价,而且操作简便.     

SCGE modelling in cost-benefit analysis: The Dutch experience

Spatial computable general equilibrium (SCGE) models offer opportunities for computing wider economic effects in cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in a theoretically satisfactory way. This is important for the correct estimation of additional economic benefits and international relocation impacts. In the Netherlands, this potential has only been reached partly. Many different types of models are actually used, none of which yet covers all relevant markets. In CBAs carried out in recent years, ad hoc methods were used more often than models, let alone SCGE models. Moreover, the usual presentation of the model outcomes appears as a ‘black box’ to policy makers. There is much work to be done, in extending SCGE models to strengthen their empirical basis, and in improving the presentation of the outcomes.     

Predicting freight flows in a globalising world

In this paper we suggest a methodology to predict commodity specific transportation flows that brings together data in value and in quantity terms in a consistent way. The approach is based on the modern gravity formulation. There are three driving forces of the transport flows dynamics: economic growth, the ongoing globalization (reduction of trade barriers), and the changing commodity composition of trade, whereby the evolution of value-to-weight ratios is explicitly taken into account. The methodology is applied to forecast the interregional trade flows in Europe.     

提高铁路货运安全防范能力的对策

从货运作业过程、货运安全管理体系、货运职工队伍素质、货运外部环境方面分析铁路货运安全现状。提出加强作业过程控制,加大货运安全基础设施投入;运用现代化管理手段,推进货运安全基础五大系统建设;加强专业技术培训,优化专业技术队伍建设;加强与公安机关的合作,创造货运安全防范的良好环境等提高铁路货运安全防范能力的对策。