环境风险分析在港口规划环境影响评价中的应用

提出了适合于港口总体规划特点的环境风险评价的内容与模式,并通过在营口港总体规划环境风险分析中的应用,讨论了港口规划环境风险分析应注意的问题,认为港口总体规划的环境风险分析的重点在于最大可信事故的风险影响程度、范围与周边其它功能区及相邻敏感点的空间关系。     

戈壁粗粒土填料填筑铁路路基压实评价指标研究

选取兰新铁路第二双线4个具有代表性的路基试验段,进行戈壁粗粒土填筑路基的压实质量评价指标研究。研究表明:粗粒土填料填筑路基的孔隙率偏小,但现有规范规定的孔隙率标准偏大,起不到控制路基密实度的作用,因此提出用填料的细颗粒室内击实试验得到的孔隙率换算整体孔隙率的方法控制粗粒土填筑路基的密实度;K30能较好地反映填料的塑性变形,且对压实质量敏感,比Ev2更适合作为路基压实质量的评价指标;Ev2/Ev1控制路基压实质量的实质是Ev1在起作用;规范不应用统一的Ev2/Ev1标准,而应根据填料的粗颗粒含量制定相应的Ev2/Ev1标准,填料的粗颗粒含量越多,填筑的路基的弹性变形量越小,Ev2/Ev1的规范标准应越大;Ev1的测试深度比K30大,且塑性变形在总变形中的比例也大,因此可以考虑将Ev1设定为路基压实质量的评价指标。     

《VTS培训评估指南》修订建议

《VTS培训评估指南》是国际航标协会(IALA)针对VTS人员培训和发证的规范性指导文件。现行版指南自成稿至今,尚无修订或更新记录,而业态的发展对指南提出了新的要求,现行版指南的内容已经不能满足现实和未来的发展需求。该文结合国际航标协会VTS委员会第49次会议的概况,从文件结构、文件内容、与其他IALA文件的关系三个方面对现行版指南进行了梳理,并就存在的问题,提出了修订建议。     

The potential mitigation of CO2 emissions via modal substitution of high-speed rail for short-haul air travel from a life cycle perspective – An Australian case study

The objective of this study is to provide a strategic evaluation of the mitigation of CO₂ emissions via modal substitution of high-speed rail for short-haul air travel on the Sydney–Melbourne, Australia city-pair from a life cycle perspective. It has been demonstrated that when considering CO₂ emissions from vehicle operations, the modal shift from air to high-speed rail on this city-pair has the potential to provide a means of CO₂ mitigation. However, uncertainty exists with regard to the level of mitigation potential when considering the whole-of-life performance of the systems. Given the significant difference in the infrastructure requirements between the air mode and the high-speed rail mode, this study quantifies the life cycle CO₂ load attributable to each system and examines the effect on CO₂ mitigation potential. The study concluded that while the inclusion of the linehaul infrastructure did increase the CO₂ load associated with high-speed rail mode, it did not equate to or exceed the CO₂ load per trip as experienced by the air mode. The avoided annual life cycle CO₂ emission in the target year 2056 was 0.37 Mt representing an 18% reduction when compared to the air mode only on the city pair. In fact, the scenario comparison indicated that the substitution of high-speed rail for short-haul air travel on the city pair resulted in CO₂ emissions avoidance throughout the longitudinal period.     

Life cycle emissions and cost model for urban light duty vehicles

The growth of vehicle sales and use internationally requires the consumption of significant quantities of energy and materials, and contributes to the deterioration of air-quality and climate conditions. Advanced propulsion systems and electric drive vehicles have substantially different characteristics and impacts. They require life cycle assessments and detailed comparisons with gasoline powered vehicles which, in turn, should lead to critical updates of traditional models and assumptions. For a comprehensive comparison of advanced and traditional light duty vehicles, a model is developed that integrates external costs, including emissions and time losses, with societal and consumer life cycle costs. Life cycle emissions and time losses are converted into costs for seven urban light duty vehicles. The results, which are based on vehicle technology characteristics and transportation impacts on environment, facilitate vehicle comparisons and support policy making in transportation. Substantially, more sustainable urban transportation can be achieved in the short-term by promoting policies that increase vehicle occupancy; in the intermediate-term by increasing the share of hybrid vehicles in the car market and in the long-term by the widespread use of electric vehicles. A sensitivity-analysis of life cost results revealed that vehicle costs change significantly for different geographical areas depending on vehicle taxation, pricing of gasoline, electric power and pollution. Current practices in carbon and air quality pricing favor oil and coal based technologies. However, increasing the cost of electricity from coal and other fossil fuels would increase the variable cost for electric vehicles, and tend to favor the variable cost of hybrid vehicles.     

The symmetric intersection design and traffic control optimization

It is well recognized that the left-turning movement reduces the intersection capacity significantly, because exclusive left turn phases are needed to discharge left turn vehicles only. This paper proposes the concept of Left-Hand Traffic (LHT) arterial, on where vehicles follow left-hand traffic rules as in England and India. The unconventional intersection where a LHT arterial intersects with a Right-Hand Traffic (RHT) arterial is named as symmetric intersection. It is only need three basic signal phases to separate all conflicts at symmetric intersection, while it at least need four signal phases at a conventional intersection. So, compared with the conventional intersection, the symmetric intersection can provide longer green time for the left-turning and the through movement, which can increase the capacity significantly. Through-movement waiting areas (TWAs) can be set at the symmetric intersection effectively, which can increase the capacity and short the cycle length furthermore. And the symmetric intersection is Channelized to improve the safety of TWAs. The Binary-Mixed-Integer-Linear-Programming (BMILP) model is employed to formulate the capacity maximization problem and signal cycle length minimization problem of the symmetric intersection. The BMILP model can be solved by standard branch-and-bound algorithms efficiently and outputs the lane allocation, signal timing decisions, and other decisions. Experiments analysis shows that the symmetric intersection with TWAs can increase the capacity and short the signal cycle length.     

Traffic modelling in system boundary expansion of road pavement life cycle assessment

This paper uses a case study of a UK inter-urban road, to explore the impact of extending the system boundary of road pavement life cycle assessment (LCA) to include increased traffic emissions due to delays during maintenance. Some previous studies have attempted this but have been limited to hypothetical scenarios or simplified traffic modelling, with no validation or sensitivity analysis. In this study, micro-simulation modelling of traffic was used to estimate emissions caused by delays at road works, for several traffic management options. The emissions were compared to those created by the maintenance operation, estimated using an LCA model. In this case study, the extra traffic emissions caused by delays at road works are relatively small, compared to those from the maintenance process, except for hydrocarbon emissions. However, they are generally close to, or above, the materiality threshold recommended in PAS2050 for estimating carbon footprints, and reach 5–10% when traffic flow levels are increased (hypothetically) or when traffic management is imposed outside times of lowest traffic flow. It is recommended, therefore, that emissions due to traffic disruption at road works should be included within the system boundary of road pavement LCA and carbon footprint studies and should be considered in developing guidelines for environmental product declarations of road pavement maintenance products and services.     

Are French millenials less car-oriented? Literature review and empirical findings

Generation effects play a key role in shaping long-term trends in travel behaviors. Though cohorts born until the 1970s have been increasingly car-focused, a reversal of this trend was noticed among the millenials. Determining whether this break-in-trend resulted from changes in living conditions and economic difficulties, or demonstrates a shift in attitudes away from the car, is critical to future travel trends. We bring a contribution to this debate in the French context, through a literature review followed by empirical findings, using the French Base of Local Household Travel Surveys. Through age-cohort analysis, we find evidence of changing travel patterns among the millenials, taking the form of a shift from driving to transit, along with a decline of car ownership. However, travel attitudes of the millenials play little role, as they do not differ substantially from their elders. Besides, we show that generation effects disappear once a large number of structural factors are controlled for. It looks like the main driver of change in travel behaviors comes from a shift in residential patterns, in relation with longer studies and a delayed entrance into the workforce, and possibly because of increasing work pressure, degraded transport conditions and changes in residential attitudes and desired lifestyles. In the end, these assumptions should be further explored, along with complementary research tracks, including the role of economic factors, the effects of learning experience, as well as heterogeneity in travel patterns, in relation with issues of social and spatial equity.     

Vehicle electrification in a developing country: Status and issue,from a well-to-wheel perspective

The increase of public attention, scientific research and political interest in environmental problems associated with transportation has provided the motivation for re-invention of electric vehicles. However the usage of grid-dependent EVs with a high-carbon electricity grid might produce more damage to the environment. This study aims to provide an environmental impact comparison of ICEVs, HEVs and EVs during their usage cycle, by modeling their energy consumption (electricity or fuel) and the supply chains of the supplied energy, (well-to-wheel) based on a life cycle assessment. The results show that running EVs with the existing mixed sources of electrical energy produce larger impacts on the environment 60% of the time; when compared to HEVs. When compared to ICEVs, EVs produce a larger environmental impact on 7 out of 15 environmental impact categories. Overall the environmental impacts of EVs are substantial based on the well-to-wheel analysis. It will continue to be so if no change is made to the methods of electricity generation in the near future. Given that the environmental profile of EVs is linked with the existing national electricity generation mix, the national electricity supply must be made cleaner before the electrification of the urban transport system.     

Using GPS-data to determine optimum electric vehicle ranges: A Michigan case study

Fuel-switching personal transportation from gasoline to electricity offers many advantages, including lower noise, zero local air pollution, and petroleum-independence. But alleviations of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are more nuanced, due to many factors, including the car’s battery range. We use GPS-based trip data to determine use type-specific, GHG-optimized ranges. The dataset comprises 412 cars and 384,869 individual trips in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. We use previously developed algorithms to determine driver types, such as using the car to commute or not. Calibrating an existing life cycle GHG model to a forecast, low-carbon grid for Ann Arbor, we find that the optimum range varies not only with the drive train architecture (plugin-hybrid versus battery-only) and charging technology (fast versus slow) but also with the driver type. Across the 108 scenarios we investigated, the range that yields lowest GHG varies from 65 km (55+ year old drivers, ultrafast charging, plugin-hybrid) to 158 km (16–34 year old drivers, overnight charging, battery-only). The optimum GHG reduction that electric cars offer – here conservatively measured versus gasoline-only hybrid cars – is fairly stable, between 29% (16–34 year old drivers, overnight charging, battery-only) and 46% (commuters, ultrafast charging, plugin-hybrid). The electrification of total distances is between 66% and 86%. However, if cars do not have the optimum range, these metrics drop substantially. We conclude that matching the range to drivers’ typical trip distances, charging technology, and drivetrain is a crucial pre-requisite for electric vehicles to achieve their highest potential to reduce GHG emissions in personal transportation.