You (expect to) get what you pay for: A system approach to delay, fare, and complaints

In this paper, an analytical framework integrating delay, fare, and complaints with passenger air travel has been laid out. Examining aggregate monthly data for US domestic air travel, we have identified causal relationships among fare, complaints, and levels of delay. An analytical framework is proposed that formalizes these relationships in an integrated manner. This integrated framework is then estimated in a set of simultaneous equations by using 118 months of data from January 1997 to October 2006. Results show that complaints are influenced by levels of delays. However, complaints are positively influenced by average yield. These findings lead us to support the central hypothesis that complaints are responsive to levels of delays, but they tend to vary according to fare. That is, air travelers are less likely to complain in return for lower fares, even when faced with the same or even higher levels of delays. These findings have important policy implications, including the passengers’ bill of rights and regulator’s choice between market and operational performances.     

Vehicle mass as a determinant of fuel consumption and secondary safety performance

One interaction between environmental and safety goals in transport is found within the vehicle fleet where fuel economy and secondary safety performance of individual vehicles impose conflicting requirements on vehicle mass from an individual’s perspective. Fleet characteristics influence the relationship between the environmental and safety outcomes of the fleet; the topic of this paper. Cross-sectional analysis of mass within the British fleet is used to estimate the partial effects of mass on the fuel consumption and secondary safety performance of vehicles. The results confirmed that fuel consumption increases as mass increases and is different for different combinations of fuel and transmission types. Additionally, increasing vehicle mass generally decreases the risk of injury to the driver of a given vehicle in the event of a crash. However, this relationship depends on the characteristics of the vehicle fleet, and in particular, is affected by changes in mass distribution within the fleet. We confirm that there is generally a trade-off in vehicle design between fuel economy and secondary safety performance imposed by mass. Cross-comparison of makes and models by model-specific effects reveal cases where this trade-off exists in other aspects of design. Although it is shown that mass imposes a trade-off in vehicle design between safety and fuel use, this does not necessarily mean that it imposes a trade-off between safety and environmental goals in the vehicle fleet as a whole because the secondary safety performance of a vehicle depends on both its own mass and the mass of the other vehicles with which it collides.     

论公路职工教育与公路文化建设

文章针对公路行业职工教育现状,分析公路职工教育存在的问题及原因,从提高职工综合素质、加强职工＂三种文化＂建设等方面阐述了加强公路职工教育与公路文化建设的对策。     

成品油税费改革对西部道路客货运输的影响及对策

国家实行成品油税费改革,给西部道路客货运输业的发展带来了机遇和挑战。文章从道路运输管理部门和道路客货运输企业的角度阐述成品油税费改革对行业管理与企业发展的机遇和挑战,并结合实际提出了应对策略与建议。     

Understanding members' carsharing (activity) persistency by using econometric model

Carsharing is an innovative travel alternative that has recently experienced considerable growth and become part of sustainable transportation initiatives. Although carsharing is becoming increasingly a popular alternative transportation mode in North America, it is still an under‐researched area. Current research is aimed at better understanding of the behavior of carsharing users. For every member, a two‐stage approach microsimulates the probability of being active in any month using a binary probit model and given that a particular member is active during a month, the probability of that member using the service multiple times using a random utility‐based model. The model is estimated using empirical data from one of the largest carsharing companies in North America. The model estimates reveal that the activity persistency of members is positively linked to previous behaviors for up to 4 months, and that the influence of previous months weakens over time. It also shows that some attributes of the traveler (gender, age, and language spoken at home) impact his or her behaviors. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Augmented Reality Vehicle system: Left-turn maneuver study

Augmented Reality “AR” is a promising paradigm that can offer users with real-time, high-quality visualization of a wide variety of information. In AR, virtual objects are added to the real-world view in real time. The AR technology can offer a very realistic environment for enhancing drivers’ performance on the road and testing drivers’ ability to react to different road design and traffic operations scenarios. This can be achieved by adding virtual objects (people, vehicles, hazards, and other objects) to the normal view while driving an actual vehicle in a real environment. This paper explores a new Augmented Reality Vehicle “ARV” system and attempts to apply this new concept to a selected traffic engineering application namely the left-turn maneuver at two-way stop-controlled “TWSC” intersection. This TWSC intersection experiment, in addition to testing the feasibility of the application, tries to quantify the size of gaps accepted by different driver’s characteristics (age and gender). The ARV system can be installed in any vehicle where the driver can see the surrounding environment through a Head Mounted Display “HMD” and virtual objects are generated through a computer and added to the scene. These different environments are generated using a well defined set of scenarios. The results from this study supported the feasibility and validity of the proposed ARV system and they showed promise for this system to be used in the field-testing for the safety and operation aspects of transportation research. Results of the left-turn maneuver study revealed that participants accepted gaps in the range of 4.0-9.0 s. This finding implies that all gaps below 4 s are rejected and all gaps above 9 s are likely to be accepted. The mean value of the left-turn time was 4.67 s which is a little bit higher than reported values in the literature (4.0-4.3 s). Older drivers were found to select larger gaps to make left turns than younger drivers. The conservative driving attitude of older drivers indicates the potential presence of reduced driving ability of elderly. Drivers’ characteristics (age and gender) did not significantly affect the left-turn time. Based on the survey questions that were handed to participants, most participants indicated good level of comfort with none or small level of risk while driving the vehicle with the ARV system. None of the participants felt any kind of motion sickness and the participants’ answers indicated a good visibility and realism of the scene with overall good system fidelity.     

Recursive estimation of average vehicle time headway using single inductive loop detector data

Vehicle time headway is an important traffic parameter. It affects roadway safety, capacity, and level of service. Single inductive loop detectors are widely deployed in road networks, supplying a wealth of information on the current status of traffic flow. In this paper, we perform Bayesian analysis to online estimate average vehicle time headway using the data collected from a single inductive loop detector. We consider three different scenarios, i.e. light, congested, and disturbed traffic conditions, and have developed a set of unified recursive estimation equations that can be applied to all three scenarios. The computational overhead of updating the estimate is kept to a minimum. The developed recursive method provides an efficient way for the online monitoring of roadway safety and level of service. The method is illustrated using a simulation study and real traffic data.     

VMT, energy consumption, and GHG emissions forecasting for passenger transportation

Globalization, greenhouse gas emissions and energy concerns, emerging vehicle technologies, and improved statistical modeling capabilities make the present moment an opportune time to revisit aggregate vehicle miles traveled (VMT), energy consumption, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions forecasting for passenger transportation. Using panel data for the 48 continental states during the period 1998-2008, the authors develop simultaneous equation models for predicting VMT on different road functional classes and examine how different technological solutions and changes in fuel prices can affect passenger VMT. Moreover, a random coefficient panel data model is developed to estimate the influence of various factors (such as demographics, socioeconomic variables, fuel tax, and capacity) on the total amount of passenger VMT in the United States. To assess the influence of each significant factor on VMT, elasticities are estimated. Further, the authors investigate the effect of different policies governing fuel tax and population density on future energy consumption and GHG emissions. The presented methodology and estimation results can assist transportation planners and policy-makers in determining future energy and transportation infrastructure investment needs.     

物联网平台下智能交通系统体系框架研究

文章以现有智能交通系统体系框架为基础,提出以结构化方法制定物联网平台下智能交通系统体系框架,并以结构化方法的基本步骤为主线,结合物联网工作原理和自主体系结构,从用户服务、逻辑框架、物理框架三方面探讨新体系框架与现有体系框架的差别。     

城市绿色交通建设与发展策略综述

绿色交通系统对改善城市交通拥堵,减少交通能耗、环境污染,提高城市的宜居性等方面有着积极的推动作用。文章从城市规划和土地利用开发、交通需求管理、交通基础设施建设等方面阐述了城市绿色交通的建设与发展策略,为发展、建设城市绿色交通提供思路。