Improving maritime inventory routing: application to a Brazilian petroleum case

The crude oil offloading and supply problem (COSP) is a type of operation maritime inventory routing (MIR) problem encountered by petroleum companies. In COSP, the company not only is responsible for the ship scheduling to carry the crude oil from production sites to discharge ports but also must maintain inventory levels at both ports (production and consumption) between safety operational bounds to avoid disruptions in its crude oil production and/or refining processes. We show how to improve significantly the decision-making process in a Brazilian petroleum company using a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model to represent COSP. Comparison tests with a current ship-scheduling method adopted in the company indicated that the use of the MILP model increased the transportation efficiency and reduced costs by 20% on average. In addition to the quantitative gains, the use of a MILP model to solve COSP has succeeded when encountering real-life events, such as variation in production or consumption rates, berth unavailability, and changes in the storage capacities at ports.     

The origin of California’s zero emission vehicle mandate

The California Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) rule, adopted in 1990, is arguably one of the most daring and controversial air quality policies ever adopted. Some consider it a policy failure, while others credit it with launching a revolution in clean automotive technology. This paper is the first systematic empirical study of the policy process that resulted in the adoption of the ZEV mandate. We draw upon theoretical frameworks of the policy process, empirical data from public documents, and personal interviews with key stakeholders, to explain how a confluence of technology, policy, and political circumstances created a window of opportunity that led to the adoption of this policy. We expect the conclusions of our analysis to be useful to other policy debates that involve technological innovation.     

Experimental study on piston- and sloshing- mode moonpool resonances

An experimental study was performed on the piston- and sloshing-mode moonpool resonances of offshore structures. Two different geometries were considered to investigate the flow characteristics in a plain moonpool and a moonpool with a cofferdam. To examine the efficiency of a cofferdam for reducing the flow in a moonpool, three cofferdam geometries were tested. The plain moonpool presented violent flows as a result of the piston- and sloshing-mode resonances. However, the moonpool with the cofferdam introduced violent sloshing waves instead of the ascent and descent of the water column in the piston-mode moonpool resonance. Among three different cofferdam geometries, the model with a right triangle facing to the left on the top of the cofferdam was most effective in reducing the flow in the moonpool when compared with the other models.     

Rail infrastructure,ITS and access charges

This paper presents an overview of the principles and technologies relating to railway infrastructure. Specifically this paper includes rail–wheel contact, inspection and maintenance of rail. Intelligent transport systems (ITS) and their applications for the purposes of the railway transport in Europe are discussed. The potential, levels of development, technological and operational characteristics of the European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS) are presented. Finally, a discussion on methodologies, principles and current practices for access charging in Europe is provided.     

Robust optimization for emergency logistics planning: Risk mitigation in humanitarian relief supply chains

This paper proposes a methodology to generate a robust logistics plan that can mitigate demand uncertainty in humanitarian relief supply chains. More specifically, we apply robust optimization (RO) for dynamically assigning emergency response and evacuation traffic flow problems with time dependent demand uncertainty. This paper studies a Cell Transmission Model (CTM) based system optimum dynamic traffic assignment model. We adopt a min–max criterion and apply an extension of the RO method adjusted to dynamic optimization problems, an affinely adjustable robust counterpart (AARC) approach. Simulation experiments show that the AARC solution provides excellent results when compared to deterministic solution and sampling based stochastic programming solution. General insights of RO and transportation that may have wider applicability in humanitarian relief supply chains are provided.     

Drivers' route choice and learning mechanism under bounded information environment

In this paper, we propose the theory of Rational Beliefs as the model of expectations that extends the theory of rational expectations to the postulated environments. Under the rational beliefs paradigm, drivers do not have structural knowledge of traffic conditions and they choose their routes based only on personal experiences and decision‐making rules. We found that if drivers have different decision‐making rules and experiences, then they form different beliefs of traffic conditions (e.g. average travel time) even though they have the same public information and use the same routes. Under the rational beliefs model, drivers are not motivated to renew their beliefs because the beliefs are compatible with their experiences. Therefore, the heterogeneity of beliefs does not disappear even though they have long‐term learning. In order to investigate how drivers form their beliefs of traffic conditions under bounded information environments, numerical experiment is carried out.     

叉车液压转向系统的改造

在现代港口中,叉车数量多.应用广,是装卸机械的主力.叉车的转向系统直接影响到叉车使用的灵活性和安全性.     

SiMoCo: the viability of a prototype platform for a coastal monitoring system: a case study

Coastal zones are among the most productive areas in the world, offering a wide variety of valuable habitats and ecosystems services. Despite the low population density in the Brazilian coastal zone, their distribution is quite concentrated near some coastal cities and state capitals. This concentration places enormous pressure on coastal resources. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to present an overview on the current status of SiMoCo (Sistema de Monitoramento Costeiro, or Coastal Monitoring System in English) project as a possible early warning system that can be integrated to the Brazilian Coastal Management Information System. This prototype platform provides a real-time access to the composition, organization and simulation of planktonic communities. First, our results demonstrate such a system detecting a target dinoflagellate; second, we apply structural and functional indexes to compare and characterize the ecological networks from two different coastal areas. Conclusions are made about SiMoCo’s feasibility and its possible contribution to the decision-making process within integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) strategies.     

Community Severance: Where Is It Found and at What Cost?

Community severance occurs when transport infrastructure or motorised traffic divides space and people. Despite the growing awareness of its effects on the wellbeing of local communities, the problem is not usually assessed quantitatively or assigned a monetary value. This paper reviews existing practice and research on quantitative methods dealing with community severance. The problem is first decomposed into a series of questions, which are then used as a base to review the methods found in governmental guidance documents, technical reports, and academic studies. The paper ends with recommendations for the integration of severance issues into transport planning.