Impacts of biodiesel blending on freight emissions in the Midwestern United States

We use a combination of petroleum–diesel models, datasets and tools along with biodiesel-specific corrections to create a roadway-level emissions inventory capable of evaluating spatial, temporal and scale aspects of fuel distribution options for the Midwestern US. Specifically, we compare the emissions of a year-round “low-blend” biodiesel implementation scenario, already under consideration in a variety of states, with a more strategic summer-only, interstate-only “high-blend” scenario. Our results indicate that spatial and seasonal distribution decisions do affect the overall emissions impacts of any biodiesel deployment, even those at low-blend levels. However, we also finds that changes in emissions due to biodiesel are considerably smaller than those anticipated from improvements to engine and control technologies.     

A dynamic CSTT model for the effects of added nutrients in Loch Creran, a shallow fjord

Despite a tendency for the complexity of physical–biological models to increase, simple coupled models remain useful for some applications and can provide insights into crucial links between physical and biological processes. This argument is illustrated with an account of a simple 3-box model intended to help assess the capacity of fjords to assimilate nutrients from fish farms. The model, a dynamic version of the UK “Comprehensive Studies Task Team” (CSTT) steady-state model for eutrophication, was applied to Loch Creran (Scottish Western Highlands) and was implemented using Stella 8 and tested using historical data from 1975 (before the installation of a salmon farm) and field data collected in 2003, during the period of operation of the farm. The model's biological state variables are chlorophyll, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP), and it includes a simple run-off model to convert rainfall into river discharge. The physical processes involved in exchange between the loch and the adjacent waters of the Firth of Lorne were parameterised as a constant daily exchange rate.Between 1975 and 2003, local inputs of nutrient increased but, despite this, there was little apparent increase in nutrient concentrations in the loch, and observed chlorophyll concentrations decreased substantially. Model simulations of chlorophyll and DIN agreed well with observations in 1975, as did DIN simulations in 2003. However, simulated chlorophyll was overestimated in 2003.Some of the agreement between observations and simulations come from the use of observed boundary conditions to force the model. However, even when boundary conditions are subtracted from simulations and observations, the simulations in most cases retain a significant correlation with observations, demonstrating that the model's ‘interior’ processes do add to its ability to replicate conditions in the loch.     

Autonomous vehicle control systems for safe crossroads

This article presents a cooperative manoeuvre among three dual mode cars – vehicles equipped with sensors and actuators, and that can be driven either manually or autonomously. One vehicle is driven autonomously and the other two are driven manually. The main objective is to test two decision algorithms for priority conflict resolution at intersections so that a vehicle autonomously driven can take their own decision about crossing an intersection mingling with manually driven cars without the need for infrastructure modifications. To do this, the system needs the position, speeds, and turning intentions of the rest of the cars involved in the manoeuvre. This information is acquired via communications, but other methods are also viable, such as artificial vision. The idea of the experiments was to adjust the speed of the manually driven vehicles to force a situation where all three vehicles arrive at an intersection at the same time.     

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货运车辆行车途中能否有安全便利的休息站,关系到联邦关于司机工作时间规定的执行及高效的车队运营.由于货运车辆的激增,中途停车站能力短缺问题日益凸显.本研究开发了一个基于互联网的地理信息系统,用于从用户大范围收集停车位短缺的地理信息.为了分析这些停车紧张点的地理分布,采用了点聚合和排名的方法来发现停车问题最严重的地区.另外,提出一种沿公路方向的单测度的聚合方法.其基本思路是,停车问题不是一个单点问题,而是一个区域性问题.缓解停车紧张,可通过增加区域性停车能力.本文发现能力紧张的区域通常在大都市的郊区,反映出很多长途司机在此停车等待第二天往市区内送货的运作规律.研究结果与来自公路巡警方面的观察结果一致.     

Exposure of urban populations to road traffic noise in Hong Kong

This article examines the exposure of Hong Kong’s population to road traffic noise and whether there is class-biased inequality in this. The socio-economic characteristics of residents of public and private building are taken from census data and the noise exposure levels from 3-D noise mapping. Using decile plots and binary logistic regression analysis, we find that in general the socially deprived groups tend to live in building groups exposed to higher noise levels. This is particularly pronounced in private housing estates where older, less educated, those engaged in craftsman and elementary jobs, and non-owners of their dwellings are exposing to higher levels of traffic noise. Inequality is less conspicuous in public housing estates.     

On the assessment of vehicle trajectory data accuracy and application to the Next Generation SIMulation (NGSIM) program data

Trajectories drawn in a common reference system by all the vehicles on a road are the ultimate empirical data to investigate traffic dynamics. The vast amount of such data made freely available by the Next Generation SIMulation (NGSIM) program is therefore opening up new horizons in studying traffic flow theory. Yet the quality of trajectory data and its impact on the reliability of related studies was a vastly underestimated problem in the traffic literature even before the availability of NGSIM data. The absence of established methods to assess data accuracy and even of a common understanding of the problem makes it hard to speak of reproducibility of experiments and objective comparison of results, in particular in a research field where the complexity of human behaviour is an intrinsic challenge to the scientific method. Therefore this paper intends to design quantitative methods to inspect trajectory data. To this aim first the structure of the error on point measurements and its propagation on the space travelled are investigated. Analytical evidence of the bias propagated in the vehicle trajectory functions and a related consistency requirement are given. Literature on estimation/filtering techniques is then reviewed in light of this requirement and a number of error statistics suitable to inspect trajectory data are proposed. The designed methodology, involving jerk analysis, consistency analysis and spectral analysis, is then applied to the complete set of NGSIM databases.     

Do transportation network companies increase or decrease transit ridership? Empirical evidence from San Francisco

Transportation - Transportation network companies (TNCs), such as Uber and Lyft, have been hypothesized to both complement and compete with public transit. Existing research on the topic is limited...     

URANS simulations of catamaran interference in shallow water

This paper investigates the interference effects of wave systems on a multi-hull vessel in shallow water. A numerical analysis is made using the URANS code CFDSHIP-Iowa V.4 on the DELFT Catamaran model 372. The test matrix for numerical computations includes two separation distances (s = 0.17; 0.23) and the depth values of h/T = 8.2, 2.5 and 2, at several speeds ranging within Fr _H = 0.775–1.739. Numerical results are compared with the experimental data of the Bulgarian Ship Hydrodynamic Center, and verification and validation for resistance, sinkage and trim are also performed. Results show that, at critical speed (Fr _H ≈ 1), the presence of a finite depth significantly affects the catamaran total resistance, which, in shallower water, increases considerably with respect to deep water. At low h/T, small effects of the water depth on resistance occur at subcritical and supercritical speeds. The interference effects seem to be more relevant in shallow, rather than in deep water, with maximum IF values registered at critical speeds (Fr _H ≈ 1). Similarly to deep water, the lower the separation distance the greater the interference value. Moreover, in shallow water some negative interference is observed at Fr > 0.5. Wave patterns and wave profiles are analyzed and a comparison is made between several configurations of catamaran and a mono-hull vessel, in order to analyze how water depth and separation distance determine resistance and interference. Finally, a vortex instability study is also included.