Carpooling and carpool clubs: Clarifying concepts and assessing value enhancement possibilities through a Stated Preference web survey in Lisbon, Portugal

The increase of urban traffic congestion calls for studying alternative measures for mobility management, and one of these measures is carpooling. In theory, these systems could lead to great reductions in the use of private vehicles; however, in practice they have obtained limited success for two main reasons: the psychological barriers associated with riding with strangers and poor schedule flexibility. To overcome some of the limitations of the traditional schemes, we proposed studying a carpooling club model with two main new features: establishing a base trust level for carpoolers to find compatible matches for traditional groups and at the same time allowing to search for a ride in an alternative group when the pool member has a trip schedule different from the usual one. A web-based survey was developed for the Lisbon Metropolitan Region (Portugal), including a Stated Preference experiment, to test the concept and confirm previous knowledge on these systems’ determinants. It was found through a binary logit Discrete Choice Model calibration that carpooling is still attached with lower income strata and that saving money is still an important reason for participating in it. The club itself does not show promise introducing more flexibility in these systems; however, it should provide a way for persons to interact and trust each other at least to the level of working colleagues.     

Bicycling renaissance in North America? An update and re-appraisal of cycling trends and policies

This paper reviews trends in cycling levels, safety, and policies in Canada and the USA over the past two decades. We analyze aggregate data for the two countries as well as city-specific case study data for nine large cities (Chicago, Minneapolis, Montréal, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington). Cycling levels have increased in both the USA and Canada, while cyclist fatalities have fallen. There is much spatial variation and socioeconomic inequality in cycling rates. The bike share of work commuters is more than twice as high in Canada as in the USA, and is higher in the western parts of both countries. Cycling is concentrated in central cities, especially near universities and in gentrified neighborhoods near the city center. Almost all the growth in cycling in the USA has been among men between 25-64 years old, while cycling rates have remained steady among women and fallen sharply for children. Cycling rates have risen much faster in the nine case study cities than in their countries as a whole, at least doubling in all the cities since 1990. They have implemented a wide range of infrastructure and programs to promote cycling and increase cycling safety: expanded and improved bike lanes and paths, traffic calming, parking, bike-transit integration, bike sharing, training programs, and promotional events. We describe the specific accomplishments of the nine case study cities, focusing on each city’s innovations and lessons for other cities trying to increase cycling. Portland’s comprehensive package of cycling policies has succeeded in raising cycling levels 6-fold and provides an example that other North American cities can follow.     

GPS-based optimization of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles’ power demands in a cold weather city

Using the WPG03 duty cycle developed from global positioning data collected in Winnipeg, Canada, real world energy demands and costs are modeled. Three types of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, four temperatures and two charging scenarios are compared to a vehicle with an internal combustion engine. Cold temperatures are shown to greatly affect vehicle operation energy costs, which is an important consideration for cold weather cities such as Winnipeg. The largest energy cost savings are obtained for smaller-battery plug-in hybrids that had the opportunity to charge during the day.     

城市轨道交通对房地产价值的影响研究——以武汉市轨道交通为例

城市轨道交通是一种快捷、高效、节能环保的大容量城市客运交通方式,而且对于沿线房地产的开发具有巨大的带动作用.本文定性分析了城市轨道交通对房地产价值的影响机理,并采用地价影响函数模型,对武汉城市轨道交通1号线地价影响函数相关参数进行了标定.定量研究证实了城市轨道交通时房地产价值的拉动作用.最后提出了武汉市轨道交通与房地产...     

浅谈宁波市水上公共交通的可行性

考虑到宁波市林立的桥梁,较大的水域纵横连通,同时路面上的交通状况时常不理想,本文基于历史面向未来,从民众需求,政府支持,航道情况,其他兄弟城市的相关现状等角度着手,通过文献调研,问卷调查,数据分析等方式来论述宁波市发展水上公共交通的可行性.     

城市客运模式选择研究

国内目前各城市的客运发展存在着地域之间不平衡,发展面临问题众多的局面,行业管理存在较多待破解的关键性问题.本文从城市客运管理运营模式作为研究视角,通过审视和比较世界不同城市交通的发展模式,结合影响城市客运模式的主要决定因素,论证国内目前的发展阶段和城市客运模式,研究提出适合于中国特点的、可持续发展的城市交通发展模式.     

一种基于GPS和IC卡数据的城市公交出行分布推算方法

城市公交规划、管理工作迫切需要信息化技术给予定量的决策数据支持.公交出行分布数据通常基于居民出行调查获得,然而因其调查代价巨大不能作为常态化调查手段.短期的公交线网调整工作更依赖于现状的公交出行分布需求,本文由此提出了一种利用公交GPS和IC卡(含老年卡)数据推算现状公交出行分布的实用方法.当前在大城市常住人口使用IC卡作为公交支付手段已得到相当普及,采用基于车载GPS和乘客IC卡记录能够推断得到全日公交OD数据并用于公交出行量回归模型的标定.模型检验通过后,可结合人口数据和就业岗位资料用标定模型计算以投币作为主要付费方式的流动人口公交OD;叠加两部分OD得到完整的城市公交出行分布结果.该模型的有效性通过2010年郑州市综合交通调查实践得以验证,对其它城市具有借鉴意义.     

Why do some motorbike riders wear a helmet and others don’t? Evidence from Delhi,India

Road traffic accident fatalities lead to important private and social costs in the metropolitan areas of most low and middle income countries. An important share of these fatalities is due to injuries to the head and the neck. Helmets can provide efficient protection, but many drivers do not use them. We focus on helmet use behavior among motorbike users in Delhi. We use a detailed data set collected for the purpose of the study. To guide our empirical analysis, we rely on a model in which drivers decide on self-protection and self-insurance. The empirical findings suggest that risk-averse drivers are more likely to wear a helmet and that this has no systematic effect on speed. Helmet use also increases with education. Drivers who show a higher awareness of road risks seem to be both more likely to wear a helmet and to speed less. Controlling for risk awareness, we observe that drivers tend to compensate between speed and helmet use. The results can provide a basis for awareness-raising policies. They also show that improvements to the road infrastructure risk leading to risk-compensating behavior.     

Estimating the influence of common disruptions on urban rail transit networks

With the continuous expansion of urban rapid transit networks, disruptive incidents—such as station closures, train delays, and mechanical problems—have become more common, causing such problems as threats to passenger safety, delays in service, and so on. More importantly, these disruptions often have ripple effects that spread to other stations and lines. In order to provide better management and plan for emergencies, it has become important to identify such disruptions and evaluate their influence on travel times and delays. This paper proposes a novel approach to achieve these goals. It employs the tap-in and tap-out data on the distribution of passengers from smart cards collected by automated fare collection (AFC) facilities as well as past disruptions within networks. Three characteristic types of abnormal passenger flow are divided and analyzed, comprising (1) “missed” passengers who have left the system, (2) passengers who took detours, and (3) passengers who were delayed but continued their journeys. In addition, the suggested computing method, serving to estimate total delay times, was used to manage these disruptions. Finally, a real-world case study based on the Beijing metro network with the real tap-in and tap-out passenger data is presented.     

Traffic noise studies in a tropical environment

This paper reports upon a survey of traffic noise annoyance in three residential districts of Trinidad, West Indies. Householder perceptions were solicited by means of a questionnaire survey and direct measurements of traffic noise levels were taken. The results were compared with surveys elsewhere. It was concluded that household status had little effect on annoyance perception, that at L₁₀ levels greater than 70 dB(A) at a dwelling facade the noise level is unacceptable. L₁₀ levels less than 65 dB(A) at the building facade are not perceived as annoying in the environment considered.