The social context of informal commuting: Slugs, strangers and structuration

Despite considerable interest in the role of social interactions and social context on transportation, there have been very few attempts to explore specific cases of social interaction influencing transportation systems. This paper explores the social practice of slugging, an informal system of carpooling in the Washington, DC area. Slugging emerged in response to the establishment of Virginia’s High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes in the early 1970s, as single drivers picked up riders alongside the road (slugs) in order to meet the requirements for driving in the less congested HOV lanes. Drawing on the work of sociologist Anthony Giddens, as well as the sociological insights of Georg Simmel and Stanley Milgram, we suggest that the practice of slugging highlights the processes of institutionalization and structuration. This paper details how the region’s mass transportation policies and urban culture have combined to result in an institutionalized practice with particular norms and logics of behavior. We conclude that looking at specific cases where social context has affected transportation, like slugging, could provide useful insights on the impact of social context on transportation policies and systems.     

Incorporating sustainability assessment in transportation planning: an urban transportation vehicle-based approach

Environmental assessments are on the critical path for the development of land, infrastructure and transportation systems. These assessments are based on planning methods which, in turn, are subject to continuous enhancement. The substantial impacts of transportation on environment, society and economy strongly urge the incorporation of sustainability into transportation planning. Two major developments that enhance transportation sustainability are new fuels and vehicle power systems. Traditional planning ignores technology including the large differences among conventional, hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles and buses. The introduction of alternative fuel vehicles is likely to change the traditional transportation planning process because different characteristics need to be taken into account. In this study a sustainability framework is developed that enables assessment of transportation vehicle characteristics. Identified indicators are grouped in five sustainability dimensions (Environment, Technology, Energy, Economy and Users). Our methodology joins life cycle impacts and a set of quantified indicators to assess the sustainability performance of seven popular light-duty vehicles and two types of transit buses. Bus Rapid Transit receives the highest sustainability index and the pickup truck the lowest. Hybrid electric vehicles are found to have the highest sustainability index among all other passenger vehicles. A sensitivity analysis shows the proposed sustainability dimensions produce robust sustainability assessment for several weighting scenarios. The results are both technology and policy sensitive, thus useful for both short- and long-term planning.     

The role of transportation sectors in the Korean national economy: An input-output analysis

The transportation industry has been playing an important role in the economic development of Korea and, thus, has become a critical factor in sustaining the well-being of the Korean people. This paper attempts to analyze the economic impacts of four transportation modes using input-output (I-O) analysis, with specific application to Korea. To this end, we apply the I-O models to the Korean I-O tables generated by the Bank of Korea, paying particular attention to the four transportation sectors in Korea (rail, road, water, and air transportations), considering them as exogenous, and then determining their impacts. Specifically, the production-inducing effects, supply shortage effects, sectoral price effects, forward linkage effects, and backward linkage effects of the four transportation modes are quantitatively derived over the period 2000–2010. For example, the production-inducing effect of a KRW 1.0 production or investment in transportation is larger in the petroleum and transportation equipment sectors than in other sectors. Furthermore, the rail and road transportation sectors have greater supply shortage effects than the other transportation sectors. Finally, the potential uses of the results of this analysis are presented from the perspective of policy instruments, and policy implications are discussed.     

Environmental invitingness for transport-related cycling in middle-aged adults: A proof of concept study using photographs

IntroductionCurrent evidence on associations between modifiable environmental characteristics and transport-related cycling remains inconsistent. Most studies on these associations used questionnaires to determine environmental perceptions, but such tools may be subject to bias due to unreliable recall. Moreover, questionnaires only measure separate environmental characteristics, while real environments are a combination of different characteristics. To overcome these limitations, the present proof of concept study used panoramic photographs of cycling environments to capture direct responses to the physical environment. We examined which depicted environmental characteristics were associated to environments’ invitingness for transportation cycling. Furthermore, interactions with gender and participants’ cycling behavior were examined.MethodsFifty-nine middle-aged adults were recruited through purposeful convenience sampling. During a home visit, participants took part in a structured interview assessing demographics and PA during the preceding seven days, followed by an intuitive choice task and a (cognitive) rating task, which both measured 40 photographed environments’ invitingness to cycle along. Multi-level cross-classified analyses were conducted using MLwiN 2.26.ResultsBoth tasks’ multivariate results showed that presence of vegetation was identified as the most important environmental characteristic to invite people for engaging in transportation cycling, even when the amount of vegetation was relatively small. In the bivariate analyzes, some differences between results of the cognitive rating task and the intuitive choice task were found, showing that invitingness measured by the rating task was associated with environmental maintenance and cycling infrastructure, whereas invitingness determined by the choice task was associated with more traffic-oriented characteristics. Moreover, only for the choice task’s results, moderating effects of gender and participants’ cycling behavior in the preceding week were observed.ConclusionThe present study provides proof of concept that capturing people’s less cognitive, more intuitive responses to an environment’s invitingness for transport-related cycling may be important for revealing environment-behavior associations. If replicated in future studies using larger samples, results of our innovative measurements with photographs, especially those on vegetation, can complete the existing knowledge on which environmental characteristics are important for transportation cycling in adults and could form a basis to inform health promoters and local policy makers. However, future studies replicating our study method in larger samples and other population subgroups are highly encouraged. Moreover, causal relationships should be explored.     

集装箱多式联运公共信息平台建设研究

针对我国集装箱多式联运发展滞后,铁路、公路、航空、水运等各为独立系统,条块分割,导致各种运输方式之间缺乏紧密衔接和有效联动的实际,研究建立以集装箱铁路运输为骨干的、有机整合各种运输方式的集装箱多式联运公共信息平台。通过信息技术创新带动机制创新,通过信息化对物流、信息流、资金流进行有效整合,大力发展集装箱多式联运,促进我国物流业整体发展水平的提升。     

Public perceptions of the use of dynamic message signs

Intelligent transportation systems have been promoted as a means to improve both the efficiency and safety of the road network. The effectiveness of advanced technologies in improving road safety has been an area of research which has thus far yielded mixed results. In order to ensure that advanced technologies deliver on their intended outcomes, more research has to be devoted to understanding road users' perceptions and reactions to these systems. This study examines drivers' perceptions of the use of dynamic message signs and their self‐reported reactions to the messages displayed. In general, drivers support the use of highway electronic boards for traffic incident reports and weather information which have an impact on traffic delays and level of service. They also think that it is a good idea to display road safety messages and to remind drivers to drive safely and be courteous on the roads. Moreover, most drivers reported that they do read and think about the messages displayed and react positively to some of the road safety messages.     

Factors influencing support for local transportation sales tax measures

Sales tax measures passed at the local level and dedicated to transportation projects have become increasingly popular in the United States. While revenues from fuel taxes stagnate, growth of local transportation sales taxes (LTSTs), most approved in local elections, has led to a gradual shift of the financial base for transportation projects away from user fees and toward broader-based taxes. In this study, the relationship between voter support and the social, political, and geographic characteristics of the voters is explored. Using precinct-level voting data and census demographic data for three local transportation sales tax elections in Sonoma County, in the San Francisco Metropolitan area of California, regression models were constructed to analyze this relationship. In addition, the relationship between the outcomes of the three measures was explored to better understand which transportation projects might have garnered more support for the successful measure. It was found that the closer voters lived to the transportation projects to be funded, the greater their support. Higher incomes were also positively related to support, controlling for other variables. Political leanings were found to affect support, with the direction of the effect dependent upon the project list in each measure’s expenditure plan. Finally, it appears that the latest measure, which passed successfully, benefited greatly from its multi-modal expenditure plan.     

基于知识的原油运输船港航系统的评价决策模型及分析

我国原油进口是一项长期的国家战略,原油进口量逐年增长,原油进口的的海运需求相当大,所以需要科学合理的原油运输系统的论证、设计和建设。本文从原油运输船型的发展和趋势出发,运用基于知识的最短路径模型,结合综合必要费率对包含船、港、航和货值的原油运输系统经济性进行了计算和分析,从而选择合理的原油运输船型和专用码头的合理吨位。     

对铁路发展集装箱多式联运的思考

随着我国国民经济发展水平的提高及货物在区域间流动的加快,集装箱运输需求量有了快速的增长。在介绍和分析了铁路发展集装箱多式联运的必要性、取得的成效及目前存在的问题基础上,对铁路发展集装箱多式联运提出了相应建议。     

基于车载信息采集平台的智能交通系统实现方式

本文介绍了智能交通系统特点和发展,分析了车载信息采集平台的软件结构设计,提出了设计信息采集平台的基本功能要求和建立方式,进而讨论了智能交通系统的功能实现过程和运行情况.