Should the user pay?

The paper puts the case that historical analysis helps to understand current discussions on user-pays principles and practice. In particular, (a) it is demonstrated that the nature of funding systems is dominated by political considerations, and (b) user-pays systems lead to inadequate funding of infrastructure when politically controlled, but provide funds for expansion when “market-driven” (in pursuit of profit maximisation). The case is illustrated by reference to the experience of interregional transport infrastructure in 19th century in England and 20th century Australia. Revenue deficiencies arising from government-controlled rates can lead to the demise of private transport infrastructure. The problem is considered in the context of the history of interregional roads and railways in England between the 15th and 19th century in England and in Australia in the 19th and 20th century. The current embrace by government of the user-pays system in transport services arises from fiscal deficiencies, as much from economic philosophy. User-pays policies are part of the global re-emergence of economic rationalism since the 1970s. The lesson for other nations from Australia's experience is twofold. First, in a federal system of government, despite the efficiency benefits of user-pays in interregional land transport, fiscal and political objectives will prevail. Second, in sparsely populated and/or developing countries, deregulation of long distance road transport will make funding a national highway system a critical concern.     

Investment strategies in market uncertainty

The nature of the global economy is one of dynamic change. Shipping is a service industry with its demand related to changes in international trade levels and patterns. As a consequence shipping is subject to sometimes unpredictable swings in demand so that the operator is required to make strategic planning decisions while navigating through boom or bust environments. While boom economies generate rising freight rates which are welcomed and encourage investment, ship operators may also have to face falling freight demand and declining freight rates that may have significant impact on profitability, often falling to uneconomic levels for extended periods. In such a period of uncertainty and declining profitability management will make operational decisions to reduce costs. However, shipping lines operate in a market environment so any decisions made to rationalize the trade may have significant long-term competitive implications. For example, traditional micro economic theory might suggest that the prudent strategy to adopt would be to close down the operation and reopen when the market conditions improve. In a world of certainty or when costs of taking this action are zero, this would be a valid strategy. However, because of fear of competitors taking up a line's market share if the shipping company exits, even temporarily, this strategy cannot be valued simply in terms of shut-down and start-up costs. A further consideration is the fact that standard capital budgeting techniques, such as Net Present Value (NPV), cannot incorporate the flexibility to respond to new information and strategic responses explicitly into their investment analysis. This paper will demonstrate the use of Real Option Analysis (ROA) to provide guidelines for decisions about closing operations in adverse market conditions.     

Reliable container line supply chains

Container line supply chains, based on a near-frictionless international transport belief, have contributed to economic prosperity and also rendered themselves uniquely vulnerable to various risks. 9/11 terrorists attacks, the lock-out of American West Ports and the global breakout of SARS disease have gradually shown that a) the safety and reliability in the chains are facing an unprecedented challenge and b) traditional engineeringbased risk assessment methods are inadequate to deal with the threats from variational environments, especially in the era of terrorism rampancy. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to develop a conceptual risk assessment model for container line supply chains based on a modified Formal Safety Assessment (FSA) methodology that takes risks from vulnerability rather than only hazards into account. It gives particular emphasis on the analysis of the threats with a high level of uncertainty from both safety and economic viewpoints. The advantages of the vulnerability-based risk analysis approach to the hazard-based one are clarified and both engineering-based and managerial risk assessments are also discussed.     

Use and perceptions of a real time passenger information system

The use of high-technology systems in the transport sector has increased steadily over recent years. This paper outlines the development of vehicle monitoring and control systems and their use in the public transport arena. The paper shows how one such system, that operated by Datatrak Ltd., has been adapted to provide a real time passenger information system for the RiverBus Partnership in London.

1 The RiverBus service described in this article ceased operation in August 1993. The collapse of the RiverBus Partnership followed the financial difficulties surrounding Olympia and York, developers of Canary Wharf in London Docklands.

Passenger use and perception of the system is evaluated, based on surveys of RiverBus users. This provides an evaluation of the system, and highlights the importance of introducing such systems based on user information needs and as part of the total marketing package.     

Exploring the impact of walk–bike infrastructure,safety perception,and built-environment on active transportation mode choice: a random parameter model using New York City commuter data

This study estimates a random parameter (mixed) logit model for active transportation (walk and bicycle) choices for work trips in the New York City (using 2010–2011 Regional Household Travel Survey Data). We explored the effects of traffic safety, walk–bike network facilities, and land use attributes on walk and bicycle mode choice decision in the New York City for home-to-work commute. Applying the flexible econometric structure of random parameter models, we capture the heterogeneity in the decision making process and simulate scenarios considering improvement in walk–bike infrastructure such as sidewalk width and length of bike lane. Our results indicate that increasing sidewalk width, total length of bike lane, and proportion of protected bike lane will increase the likelihood of more people taking active transportation mode This suggests that the local authorities and planning agencies to invest more on building and maintaining the infrastructure for pedestrians. Further, improvement in traffic safety by reducing traffic crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists, will increase the likelihood of taking active transportation modes. Our results also show positive correlation between number of non-motorized trips by the other family members and the likelihood to choose active transportation mode. The model would be an essential tool to estimate the impact of improving traffic safety and walk–bike infrastructure which will assist in investment decision making.     

Analysis of the effectiveness of control measures to mitigate road dust emissions in a regional network

The effectiveness of control measures to reduce road dust emissions is analyzed using a year’s data of road dust emissions collected with a mobile sampling platform and a survey of road maintenance practices in the Lake Tahoe Basin of Nevada and California US. Attributes such as sweeping practices, anti-icing, shoulder improvement, pavement condition, trackout, and abrasive material from road segments were analyzed with a feature subset selection algorithm. Street sweeping was found to be an effective means of controlling dust emissions from roads. Road dust from dirty tertiary roads served as a continuous source of suspendable material for adjacent high-speed roads in the winter time. To be most effective, emission control strategies require that not only primary roads, but all roads be swept after snow storms to recover applied abrasive material.     

Towards connected autonomous driving: review of use-cases

Connected autonomous vehicles are considered as mitigators of issues such as traffic congestion, road safety, inefficient fuel consumption and pollutant emissions that current road transportation system suffers from. Connected autonomous vehicles utilise communication systems to enhance the performance of autonomous vehicles and consequently improve transportation by enabling cooperative functionalities, namely, cooperative sensing and cooperative manoeuvring. The former refers to the ability to share and fuse information gathered from vehicle sensors and road infrastructures to create a better understanding of the surrounding environment while the latter enables groups of vehicles to drive in a co-ordinated way which ultimately results in a safer and more efficient driving environment. However, there is a gap in understanding how and to what extent connectivity can contribute to improving the efficiency, safety and performance of autonomous vehicles. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate the potential benefits that can be achieved from connected autonomous vehicles through analysing five use-cases: (i) vehicle platooning, (ii) lane changing, (iii) intersection management, (iv) energy management and (v) road friction estimation. The current paper highlights that although connectivity can enhance the performance of autonomous vehicles and contribute to the improvement of current transportation system performance, the level of achievable benefits depends on factors such as the penetration rate of connected vehicles, traffic scenarios and the way of augmenting off-board information into vehicle control systems.     

困境之后——东南亚地区领军国家的业绩很可能强势反弹

2001年乔治·沃克·布什当政后不久,美国宣布推出双边自由贸易协议计划,以开拓新加坡、马来西亚和泰国等地的市场.美国与上述三个高速发展的东南亚国家之间的协议将大大增加相关产品和服务的双边贸易量,为美国出口企业尤其是农业综合企业创造更多商机,并将减少或消除许多领域的贸易壁垒.     

Planning considerations for preservation and use of the national seashores

This article reviews the historical development of the category of national park known as “national seashore,”; and traces the evolution of basic planning and management policies that are applied to such areas. Also reviewed is the current sequential approach applied by the National Park Service in all its planning efforts, including a discussion of the impact of the National Environmental Policy Act on park planning. Several examples are provided to illustrate a variety of planning problems common to the sashore environment. Finally, comments are provided on the future promise of seashore and barrier island conservation and development, as well as the future role of other agencies and private organizations.     

Building Philippine Local Government Capacity for Coastal Resource Management

The responsibility for managing coral reefs and other coastal resources was largely devolved to coastal municipalities and cities in the Philippines in 1991 with the passage of the Local Government Code. Devolution of powers and responsibilities to local government has paved the way for mainstreaming coastal resource management at the local level. However, the capacity to carry out this mandate has only recently begun to mature as municipalities and cities gain an increased awareness of the importance of coastal resources to communities and economic development. Approaches and strategies to increase local government capacity for coastal resource management are described based on the experiences of the Coastal Resource Management Project of the United States Agency for International Development. Qualitative and quantitative data are used to illustrate the possible impact of these capacity building efforts and to describe the current capacity of local government to undertake coastal resource management. After five years of project implementation, coastal municipalities have increased technical capacity, have allotted financial resources, and have achieved key performance benchmarks in the delivery of coastal resource management as a basic service.