Validating and improving public transport origin–destination estimation algorithm using smart card fare data

Smart card data are increasingly used for transit network planning, passengers’ behaviour analysis and network demand forecasting. Public transport origin–destination (O–D) estimation is a significant product of processing smart card data. In recent years, various O–D estimation methods using the trip-chaining approach have attracted much attention from both researchers and practitioners. However, the validity of these estimation methods has not been extensively investigated. This is mainly because these datasets usually lack data about passengers’ alighting, as passengers are often required to tap their smart cards only when boarding a public transport service. Thus, this paper has two main objectives. First, the paper reports on the implementation and validation of the existing O–D estimation method using the unique smart card dataset of the South-East Queensland public transport network which includes data on both boarding stops and alighting stops. Second, the paper improves the O–D estimation algorithm and empirically examines these improvements, relying on this unique dataset. The evaluation of the last destination assumption of the trip-chaining method shows a significant negative impact on the matching results of the differences between actual boarding/alighting times and the public transport schedules. The proposed changes to the algorithm improve the average distance between the actual and estimated alighting stops, as this distance is reduced from 806 m using the original algorithm to 530 m after applying the suggested improvements.     

Forecasting travel behavior using Markov Chains-based approaches

Recent advances in agent-based micro-simulation modeling have further highlighted the importance of a thorough full synthetic population procedure for guaranteeing the correct characterization of real-world populations and underlying travel demands. In this regard, we propose an integrated approach including Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation and profiling-based methods to capture the behavioral complexity and the great heterogeneity of agents of the true population through representative micro-samples. The population synthesis method is capable of building the joint distribution of a given population with its corresponding marginal distributions using either full or partial conditional probabilities or both of them simultaneously. In particular, the estimation of socio-demographic or transport-related variables and the characterization of daily activity-travel patterns are included within the framework. The fully probabilistic structure based on Markov Chains characterizing this framework makes it innovative compared to standard activity-based models. Moreover, data stemming from the 2010 Belgian Household Daily Travel Survey (BELDAM) are used to calibrate the modeling framework. We illustrate that this framework effectively captures the behavioral heterogeneity of travelers. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the proposed framework is adequately adapted to meeting the demand for large-scale micro-simulation scenarios of transportation and urban systems.     

A bi-objective optimization framework for three-dimensional road alignment design

Optimization of three-dimensional road alignments is a nonlinear non-convex optimization problem. The development of models that fully optimize a three-dimensional road alignment problem is challenging due to numerous factors involved and complexities in the geometric specification of the alignment. In this study, we developed a novel bi-objective optimization approach to solve a three dimensional road alignment problem where the horizontal and vertical alignments are optimized simultaneously. Two conflicting cost objective functions, earthwork cost and the utility cost, are cast in a bi-objective optimization problem. We numerically compare several multi-objective optimization solvers, and find that it is possible to determine the Pareto front in a reasonable time.     

Happy or liberal? Making sense of behavior in transport policy design

Appropriate microeconomic foundations of mobility are decisive for successful policy design in transportation and, in particular, for the challenge of climate change mitigation. Recent research suggests that behavior in transportation cannot be adequately represented by the standard approach of revealed preferences. Moreover, mobility choices are influenced by factors widely regarded as normatively irrelevant. Here we draw on insights from behavioral economics, psychology and welfare theory to examine how transport users make mobility decisions and when it is desirable to modify them through policy interventions. First, we explore systematically which preferences, heuristics and decision processes are relevant for mobility-specific behavior, such as mode choice. We highlight the influence of infrastructure on the formation of travel preferences. Second, we argue that the behavioral account of decision-making requires policy-makers to take a position on whether transport policies should be justified by appealing to preference satisfaction or to raising subjective well-being. This distinction matters because of the (i) influence of infrastructure on preference formation, (ii) health benefits from non-motorized mobility, (iii) negative impact of commuting on happiness and (iv) status-seeking behavior of individuals. The orthodox approach of only internalizing externalities is insufficient because it does not allow for the evaluation of these effects. Instead, our analysis suggests that transport demand modeling should consider behavioral effects explicitly.     

用一个模型分析焊轨列车应用的条件

通过对秦皇岛 -沈阳客运专线 B2 7标段情况的分析得出铺轨基地存轨场地的面积是制约焊轨列车应用的一个重要因素。以预存长钢轨的数量为主要参数 ,利用焊轨列车在两个基地间工作的时间约束关系 ,建立起相应的模型 ,通过对其中其它参数的分析 ,得出应用焊轨列车所适宜的条件。在此基础上结合一次铺设跨区间无缝线路的工艺分析了焊轨工序与铺轨、大型机械养路工序的关系 ,提出了设备配套的建议和施工中应注意的一些问题。本文对设备选型、施工组织的编制及新工艺的采用有一定借鉴意义。     

基于键合图的车用蓄电池建模与仿真

按照键合图的规则,分别建立了蓄电池等效电路的键合图模型和冷却系统的键合图模型,然后将电系统和热系统耦合在一起,实现了蓄电池系统的键合图模型,最后建立了蓄电池的数学模型和仿真模型,并实现了动态仿真。     

高速公路计重收费模型研究及改进

首先通过对我国各省计重收费模型进行比较,选择出较为合理的计重收费模式;其次,从正常装载和超限装载运输车辆两个方面对云南省计重收费模型进行分析与研究,并且利用在计重收费调研中积累的经验与数据对此模型进行实施后评价,得出该模型存在的不足;再次,着重从正常装载优惠区间的划分、超限装载加收系数的确定,同时结合面积原理,对云南省...     

Policy packages for modal shift and CO2 reduction in Lille,France

This paper proposes different policy scenarios to cut CO₂ emissions caused by the urban mobility of passengers. More precisely, we compare the effects of the ‘direct tool’ of carbon tax, to a combination of ‘indirect tools’ – not originally aimed at reducing CO₂ (i.e. congestion charging, parking charges and a reduction in public transport travel time) in terms of CO₂ impacts through a change in the modal split. In our model, modal choices depend on individual characteristics, trip features (including the effects of policy tools), and land use at origin and destination zones. Personal “CO₂ emissions budgets” resulting from the trips observed in the metropolitan area of Lille (France) in 2006 are calculated and compared to the situation related to the different policy scenarios. We find that an increase of 50% in parking charges combined with a cordon toll of €1.20 and a 10% travel time decrease in public transport services (made after recycling toll-revenues) is the winning scenario. The combined effects of all the policy scenarios are superior to their separate effects.     

Socially and environmentally appropriate urban futures for the motor car

In its relatively short life, the automobile has provided a level of mobility unlikely to have been feasible with a reliance on conventional forms of land based public transport. It has contributed in both a positive and negative way to the quality of life, transforming our cities, our way of life, and giving us a greater command over time and space. Concern over the undesirable social and environmental impacts has increased over time, with calls for governments to take action to reduce the automobile's dominant role. New investment in fixed-track public transport and bus priority systems together with strategies to discourage travel have been proposed to improve accessibility and to aid in cleaning up the physical environment. This paper reviews some of the issues facing society as it works to identify policies to achieve an economically and environmentally sustainabie future. There is a need for a broader set of policies to facilitate alternative land use-transport lifestyles while facing appropriate pricing signals. Some of the key issues are adjustments in the relative prices of location and transport, spatial incentives to make public transport economically viable (i.e. changing urban densities, zoning/incentive changes to allow more infill), road pricing (i.e. charging cars the economic cost of using the roads), new information technology systems (e.g. IVHS) to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of transport infrastructure, major improvements in the fuel efficiency of fossil fuelled vehicles, and alternative-fuelled vehicles (clean-air vehicles).     

一种半自动的基于图像建模系统

针对目前各种类型航海模拟器的虚拟建模效率较低与真实感较差等问题,设计与实现了一种基于多幅图像及少量用户交互恢复物体三维几何模型的系统.本系统采用稳定性好的改进Har-ris算子进行角点检测,基于角点空间特征及交叉相关实现角点的初始匹配;采用基于极线约束的角点匹配快速算法完成角点的精匹配,同时引入迭代和人工辅助修正的方法解决匹配算法的退化情况.在角点匹配结果基础上进行仿射重建,通过升级矩阵实现度量重建,在OpenGL环境下绘制出物体的三维模型框架.从原图像中抽取纹理并采用多视角图像融合的方法进行纹理映射,得到"照片级"真实感的三维模型.