Urban walkability considering pedestrians’ perceptions of the built environment: a 10-year review and a case study in a medium-sized city in Latin America

ABSTRACT

Numerous methodologies measuring walkability have been developed over the last years. This paper reviews the Walkability Index (WI) literature of the last decade (2009–2018) and highlights some limitations in the current approaches. Only a few studies have evaluated walkability in Latin America, mainly in big cities but not in medium and small-sized cities in the region, which present their own urbanisation dynamics, security issues, sidewalk invasion problems, and poor planning. Furthermore, most WIs in the literature use objective mesoscale variables to assess walkability in a given area. This paper contributes to filling these gaps by generating new evidence from a medium-sized city in Latin America to question if characteristics of the built environment encourage walking trips, as found in the literature, are transferable among regions. The study also proposes a novel index comprised of microscale and mesoscale built environment variables to assess walkability using virtual tools and considering users’ perceptions. The WI estimation relies on ranking probability models. The results of the case study suggest that subjective Security and Traffic Safety are the most crucial factors influencing walkability in these kind of cities, which is different from what is found in the literature from cities in developed countries where Sidewalk Condition and Attractiveness are the most important factors. Security appeared to be strongly associated with a subjective dimension, represented by the fear of crime or perceived risk for crime, instead of the actual occurrence of crimes. This result evidences the importance of the physical attributes of the real world and how they are captured, judged, and processed by pedestrians. Then, regional transferability of WIs needs to be done carefully. Finally, results in this paper highlight the importance of microscale built environment characteristics in the WI formulation in these cities. Results are in line with other research in some cities of the region, which found that microscale variables such as pavement quality and presence of obstacles on the sidewalks are relevant components to promote walkability.     

Topological analysis of powertrains for refuse-collecting vehicles based on real routes–Part I: Hybrid hydraulic powertrain

In this two-part paper, a topological analysis of powertrains for refuse-collecting vehicles (RCVs) based on the simulation of different architectures (internal combustion engine, hybrid electric, and hybrid hydraulic) on real routes is proposed. In this first part, a characterization of a standard route is performed, analyzing the average power consumption and the most frequent working points of an internal combustion engine (ICE) in real routes. This information is used to define alternative powertrain architectures. A hybrid hydraulic powertrain architecture is proposed and modelled. The proposed powertrain model is executed using two different control algorithms, with and without predictive strategies, with data obtained from real routes. A calculation engine (an algorithm which runs the vehicle models on real routes), is presented and used for simulations. This calculation engine has been specifically designed to analyze if the different alternative powertrain delivers the same performance of the original ICE. Finally, the overall performance of the different architectures and control strategies are summarized into a fuel and energy consumption table, which will be used in the second part of this paper to compare with the different architectures based on hybrid electric powertrain. The overall performance of the different architectures indicates that the use of a hybrid hydraulic powertrain with simple control laws can reduce the fuel consumption up to a 14 %.     

Safe Platooning in Automated Highway Systems Part II: Velocity Tracking Controller

This paper presents the design of a velocity tracking controller for safe vehicle maneuvering in Automated Highway Systems (AHS) in which traffic is organized into platoons of closely spaced vehicles. The notion of safety is related to the absence of collisions that exceed a given relative velocity threshold. In a companion paper, state dependent safety regions for the platoons are designed in such a way that, whenever the state of a platoon is inside these safety regions, it is guaranteed that platoon maneuvering will be safe and follow the behavior prescribed by the finite state machines that control vehicles maneuvers. Velocity profiles inside these safety regions are derived for all the single lane maneuvers and a nonlinear velocity tracking controller is designed to track these profiles. This controller attempts to complete the maneuvers with comfort in minimum time, whenever safety is not compromised. The control schemes presented in this paper were implemented and tested using AHS simulation software.     

Safety Oriented Maneuvers for IVHS

The IVHS architecture of the California PATH program organizes traffic into platoons of closely spaced vehicles. Platoons are formed and broken up by two longitudinal control maneuvers, the merge and the split. A third longitudinal maneuver, decelerate to change lane, allows a platoon switching from one lane to another to enter its new lane at a safe spacing and speed. The maneuvers, particularly the merge, can be potentially hazardous. In a merge, the cars in the trail platoon are moving faster than those in the lead platoon, while the gap separating the two platoons is smaller than usual. A sudden deceleration by the lead platoon could cause a high-speed collision. If the relative velocities of the merging platoons can be constrained so that they are guaranteed never to collide at a high relative velocity, the merge can be considered safe. A maximum safe velocity for the trail platoon can be found for any given spacing and lead-platoon velocity. This paper presents a merge maneuver in which the velocity of the trail platoon never exceeds the maximum safe velocity. The controller switches among several feedback control laws that keep the velocity of the trail platoon inside a safe region and within comfort limits on jerk and acceleration, under normal circumstances. This merge maneuver can be considered to be the fastest merge strategy mat does not violate bounds on safety and comfort. The controller is also more robust to changes in the vehicles' acceleration capability than those that use a desired open-loop trajectory

The control approach used for the merge maneuver can be applied to the other maneuvers to ensure that they never result in a collision. The switching controllers for the split and decelerate to change lane maneuvers that are safe and yield a more comfortable ride than those that track a timed trajectory are also presented.     

Safe Platooning in Automated Highway Systems Part I: Safety Regions Design

This paper addresses the problem of designing safe controllers for vehicle manuevering in Automated Highway Systems (AHS) in which traffic is organized into platoons of closely spaced vehicles. Conditions to achieve safe platooning under normal modes of operation are investigated. The notion of safety is related with the absence of collisions that exceed a given relative velocity threshold. State dependent safety regions for the platoons are designed in such a way that, whenever the state of a platoon is inside these safety regions, it is guaranteed that platoon maneuvering will be safe and follow the behavior prescribed by the finite state machines that control vehicles manuevers. It is shown that it is possible to design control laws that keep the state of the platoons inside these safety regions. The results obtained allow one to decouple the controllers for the regulation of the manuevers and the finite state machines that determine their proper sequence in AHS architectures. The overall complexity of the design and verification of the AHS as an hybrid system is therefore greatly reduced.     

Topological analysis of powertrains for refuse-collecting vehicles based on real routes–Part II: Hybrid electric powertrain

In this two-part paper, a topological analysis of powertrains for refuse-collecting vehicles (RCVs) based on simulation of different architectures (internal combustion engine, hybrid electric, and hybrid hydraulic) on real routes is proposed. In this second part, three different hybrid electric powertrain architectures are proposed and modeled. These architectures are based on the use of fuel cells, ultracapacitors, and batteries. A calculation engine, which is specifically designed to estimate energy consumption, respecting the original performance as the original internal combustion engine (ICE), is presented and used for simulations and component sizing. Finally, the overall performance of the different architectures (hybrid hydraulic, taken from the first paper part, and hybrid electric, estimated in this second part) and control strategies are summarized in a fuel and energy consumption table. Based on this table, an analysis of the different architecture performance results is carried out. From this analysis, a technological evolution of these vehicles in the medium- and long terms is proposed.     

Comparative analysis between operational weather prediction models and QuikSCAT wind data near the Galician coast

Wind measurements from SeaWinds scatterometer on the NASA QuikSCAT satellite and wind forecasts from two different operational numerical models provided by MeteoGalicia were compared for a 4-year period (2002–2005) in Galician coast environment. Available wind data buoy measurements were also used to complement the analysis. A statistical analysis based on mean errors, root mean square errors and complex correlation was performed from spatial, temporal and directional points of view.In the spatial comparison no significant differences between models and satellite were observed and the error magnitudes of the models are compatible with typical QuikSCAT errors. The suitability of satellite wind estimations for data assimilation in these models must be further investigated. Negative bias of models with respect to the satellite was also confirmed with buoy data, in such a way that models overestimation is smaller than the satellite one. Big errors in wind direction appear in southeasterly and southwesterly winds for both satellite and models, contributing to high RMSE values when compared to buoy data. These errors were mainly attributed to the effect of insufficient spatial resolution near shore.     

Ekman transport along the Galician Coast (NW, Spain) calculated from QuikSCAT winds

Ekman transport is studied close to the Galician coast by means of wind data provided by the QuikSCAT satellite from November 1999 to October 2005. Three different coastal zones are identified, western coast from Miño River to Cape Finisterre, middle coast from Cape Finisterre to Cape Ortegal and northern coast, from Cape Ortegal to Cape Peñas. In addition to existence of long-term variations, the periodicity of the transport signal is characterized by an annual component (365 days), a seasonal fluctuation (50–80 days) and a time scale related to passing storms (15–20 days). Although the periodicity of the signal is similar at the three zones due to external meteorological forcing, the Ekman transport is modulated by the presence of the coast, in such a way that seasonal patterns vary in intensity and direction along the coast. Thus, the spring–summer pattern is characterized by high transport at the western coast, pointing seaward perpendicular to the shore-line. The same orientation is observed at the middle coast although with a lower magnitude. Finally, Ekman transport at the northern coast points landward and oblique to the shore-line. The different transport orientations are shown to be responsible for the upwelling probability variation along the coast. On the other hand, the autumn–winter pattern does not show a clear trend with important inter-annual differences showing the high variability of Ekman transport for this period.     

Characterization of fall–winter upwelling recurrence along the Galician western coast (NW Spain) from 2000 to 2005: Dependence on atmospheric forcing

Upwelling events driving ENACW (Eastern North Atlantic Coastal Water) into the Galician western coast rias had been considered typical spring–summer processes, according to the research developed in this area. However, they can also be observed in fall or winter under northerly winds blowing at shelf. Six different upwelling events were analyzed in the Ria of Pontevedra during the wet season (NDJF) from 2000 to 2005. These events were characterized by means of the zonal Ekman transport (Q_x) at four control points in front of the western rias (locally known as Rias Baixas) and thermohaline variables measured at a fixed station in the main mouth of the Ria of Pontevedra. The duration of the upwelling events ranged from 27 days (during February and March 2002) to 69 days (during November–December 2004 and January 2005). Upwelling events studied in the Ria of Pontevedra from 2000 to 2005 showed the similarity in upwelling features during both seasons (similar wind forcing and upwelled water). Finally, Q_x was correlated with the most representative atmospheric patterns in the Northern Hemisphere (EA, NAO, EA/WR, POL and SCA) from 1966 to 2005. The winter EA pattern has the most influence on Q_x showing an annual evolution with a prevalence of the positive phase from 1976 on. This positive phase is directly correlated with a prevalence of positive values of Q_x which are upwelling unfavorable in the Rias Baixas.     

Forecasting front displacements with a satellite based ocean forecasting (SOFT) system

Relatively long term time series of satellite data are nowadays available. These spatio–temporal time series of satellite observations can be employed to build empirical models, called satellite based ocean forecasting (SOFT) systems, to forecast certain aspects of future ocean states. The forecast skill of SOFT systems predicting the sea surface temperature (SST) at sub-basin spatial scale (from hundreds to thousand kilometres), has been extensively explored in previous works. Thus, these works were mostly focussed on predicting large scale patterns spatially stationary. At spatial scales smaller than sub-basin (from tens to hundred kilometres), spatio–temporal variability is more complex and propagating structures are frequently present. In this case, traditional SOFT systems based on Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) decompositions could not be optimal prediction systems. Instead, SOFT systems based on Complex Empirical Orthogonal Functions (CEOFs) are, a priori, better candidates to resolve these cases.In this work we study and compare the performance of an EOF and CEOF based SOFT systems forecasting the SST at weekly time scales of a propagating mesoscale structure. The SOFT system was implemented in an area of the Northern Balearic Sea (Western Mediterranean Sea) where a moving frontal structure is recurrently observed. Predictions from both SOFT systems are compared with observations and with the predictions obtained from persistence models. Results indicate that the implemented SOFT systems are superior in terms of predictability to persistence. No substantial differences have been found between the EOF and CEOF-SOFT systems.