Isolating high-priority metro and feeder bus transfers using smart card data

Fixed-rail metro (or ‘subway’) infrastructure is generally unable to provide access to all parts of the city grid. Consequently, feeder bus lines are an integral component of urban mass transit systems. While passengers prefer a seamless transfer between these two distinct transportation services, each service’s operations are subject to a different set of factors that contribute to metro-bus transfer delay. Previous attempts to understand transfer delay were limited by the availability of tools to measure the time and cost associated with passengers’ transfer experience. This paper uses data from smart card systems, an emerging technology that automatically collects passenger trip data, to understand transfer delay. The primary objective of this study is to use smart card data to derive a reproducible methodology that isolates high priority transfer points between the metro system and its feeder-bus systems. The paper outlines a methodology to identify transfer transactions in the smart card dataset, estimate bus headways without the aid of geographic location information, estimate three components of the total transfer time (walking time, waiting time, and delay time), and isolate high-priority transfer pairs. The paper uses smart card data from Nanjing, China as a case study. The results isolate eight high priority metro-bus transfer pairs in the Nanjing metro system and finally, offers several targeted measures to improve transfer efficiency.     

Social Networks of Alaska Fishing Communities

Fishing community social networks function as channels for transfer of fishery knowledge, resources, and business transactions that help mitigate risks and shocks associated with altered access to fishery resources. Research on such networks in Alaska is limited despite their cultural importance and community reliance on fisheries. We contribute to scholarship of fishery social networks by assessing Alaska fishing community perspectives of challenges related to fisheries policy and management, and the existing social networks that aid in overcoming these challenges. Our findings show that the greatest challenges fishing communities face pertaining to fishery management are high costs of participating in catch share programs, restricted subsistence fishing activity due to decline in salmon, and complex regulations. Social networks exist for coping with these challenges; fishery information, and resources such as food, fuel and medicines are shared between communities. However, networks for accessing fishery support services are centralized in fewer larger communities and hubs such as Anchorage. Smaller and remote communities are the most compromised in this regard given the distance they must travel to access fishery support services. Leveraging social networks for sharing resources and improving fishery support services in smaller communities will increase their adaptive capacity and ability to maintain participation in Alaska fisheries.     

Performance Indicator Importance in MPA Management Using a Multi-Criteria Approach

Much has been written about the usefulness of marine protected areas (MPAs) as a management tool. Their performance has been measured using biological and ecological indicators. However, objectives of management also include economic and social responsibilities. As such, stakeholder objectives in MPA management are frequently incompatible. This has been attributed to the variety of stakeholders with an interest in how MPAs are managed. This article considers the development of a performance indicator hierarchy for the Egadi Islands Marine Reserve, and a multi-criteria approach implemented to define compromise positions between stakeholders in decision-making. Data was obtained from a pairwise comparison survey using the analytic hierarchy process to investigate preferences of stakeholder groups for performance indicators in evaluating marine protected area management. The analysis showed that although there are five key stakeholder groups, none are homogenous in prioritizing performance indicators and that none are clear with respect to what the MPA means for them.     

Using Socioeconomic and Fisheries Involvement Indices to Understand Alaska Fishing Community Well-Being

Over recent years, fisheries managers have been going through a paradigm shift to prioritize ecosystem-based management. With this comes an increasing need to better understand the impacts of fisheries management decisions on the social well-being and sustainability of fishing communities. This article summarizes research aimed at using secondary data to develop socioeconomic and fisheries involvement indices to measure objective fishing community well-being in Alaska. Data from more than 300 communities in Alaska were used to create a database of socioeconomic and fisheries involvement indices of objective well-being and adaptability for Alaska communities dependent on marine resources. Each index was developed using a principal components factor analysis to assess the relative position of each community compared to all other communities in Alaska. We find that creating performance measures, such as the indices presented here, provides a useful way to track the status of socioeconomic conditions and fisheries involvement by communities over time.     

Do Active Participation Measures Help Fishermen Retain Fishing Privileges?

In numerous fisheries management programs, managers have implemented measures to ensure that the benefits of the fishery accrue to those who are actively fishing. Although active participation measures are common in fisheries management, there has been limited research on these measures. This study highlights the variety of objectives that motivate the development of active participation measures and how they have been implemented. We examine the application of these measures in four case study fisheries management programs—the Alaska Halibut and Sablefish Individual Fishing Quota, the Pacific Coast Sablefish Permit Stacking, the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization, and the Alaska State Limited Entry programs—and, based on the experiences in these programs, provide recommendations for instituting active participation measures in other management programs.     

Sensitivity Analysis of Effect Related with Material Process and Assembly Variations to Loads Deformation and Stress on HSS Stamping Die

During stamping process, the material properties, process design parameters and production environments inevitably have variation and noisy factors, which possibly affect the sheet metal formability and the deformation of the die structure.After gaining a success in applying sheet metal forming numerical simulation analysis to get the forming loads during stamping process, a methodology of die structure analysis based on sheet metal forming simulation was proposed and validated by experiments.Based on these results, the effect related with initial blank thickness, blank holder force, blank positioning error and die alignment error variations to a DP600 hyperbolic bottomed cup drawing die's forming loads(especially unbalanced loads), and deformation and stress was studied numerically.The influence level of these variations to the die's forming loads, deformation and stress was disclosed.The findings can guide die design, die tryout and process control for high-strength steel(HSS) stamping with increased forming load and decreased sheet metal formability.     

Factors Affecting Disaster Preparedness,Response, and Recovery Using the Community Capitals Framework

Abstract

Disaster research often focuses on how and why communities are affected by a discrete extreme event. We used the community capitals framework to understand how community characteristics influence their preparedness, response to, and recovery from successive or multiple disasters using the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake and the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill as case studies. This study assesses community response to these disasters by reviewing published literature on impacts to create profiles for six communities and by identifying community capitals before and during these disasters, and throughout the long-term recovery. While the presence of rich natural capitals commonly contributed resources to pre-disaster planning and long-term recovery, restriction of resource access immediately following the disasters was detrimental to many communities. Communities with strong political, social, and financial capitals tended to fare better immediately following disasters, enabling longer-term processes of transformation or recovery. However, in some communities the oil spill undermined these capitals more than the earthquake and resulting tsunami. In understanding how use and reliance on community capitals can lead to varied recovery success from different kinds of disasters, these findings can help coastal managers and planners prepare for future disasters.     

Ground-truthing social vulnerability indices of Alaska fishing communities

Abstract

Community vulnerability is increasingly evaluated through quantitative social indices, typically developed using secondary data sources rather than primary data collection. It is necessary to understand the validity of these indices if they will be used to inform policy and decision making. This paper presents a ground-truthing effort to validate quantitative indices that characterize the well-being of Alaska fishing communities. We utilized ethnographic data collected from 13 representative communities and a capital assets framework to ground-truth the indices, in which qualitative ranks of vulnerability were compared against quantitative indices. The majority (73.8%) of ranks were in complete or moderate agreement and the results indicate that most of the indices are representative of community vulnerability; yet some variables utilized to create the indices could be modified to better reflect realities in Alaska. Indices of commercial fishery engagement and reliance appeared to be more reliable than socio-economic indicators, particularly for smaller fishing communities. We also confirmed that the indices do not capture political, or ecological factors that affect levels of community vulnerability. We conclude that quantitative indices of community vulnerability are useful rapid assessment tools; however, they should be validated, and complemented with ethnographic data prior to their implementation as policy making and management tools.