Workplace travel plans: can they be evaluated effectively by experts?

Employers are regularly involved in transport planning and characteristic workplace-oriented tools include: (1) travel plans for building projects, (2) mandatory travel plans, (3) subsidies to employers with an advanced travel plan and (4) best travel plan awards. In all cases, experts judge the level of car use. We argue that decision-makers might benefit from a multiple regression-based benchmark modelling tool that estimates the expected share of the car. In this paper, we estimate the share of car users in the commuting modal split at workplaces. However, since the amount of information available to experts differs, we gradually add information to the model to measure the impact of data availability. Without historic data on modal split, the current share can only be predicted moderately well, i.e. within a 20% range. Besides adding the past, results improve by using homogenous and regional subsamples. Nevertheless, quantitative analyses do not make expert knowledge obsolete.     

Influence of composition,amount and life span of passenger cars on end-of-life vehicles waste in Belgium: A system dynamics approach

The increasing worldwide production of passenger cars depletes natural resources and increases the number of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) to be processed. Lack of landfill capacity and a growing scarcity of natural resources have lead to severe ELV reuse and recovery targets in the European Union (EU). This paper examines the main influencing parameters affecting the amount and composition of ELV waste originating from passenger cars to be treated in Authorized Treatment Facilities (ATFs). Moreover the effect of a changing number, composition and life span of passenger cars on the ability to meet the ambitious EU ELV Directive 2000/53/EC targets in 2015 is examined for Belgium. Using system dynamics, the aforementioned changing parameters are studied from 1990 and projected to 2030. The model results show that the total annual weight of ELV waste to be reused and recycled in Belgium is expected to grow over the coming years despite the economic downturn of 2008 and its effect on GDP growth. Moreover it shows that Belgium can sustainably achieve the ambitious EU ELV Directive 2000/53/EC targets in 2015 and thereafter if it continues to invest in waste treatment of ELV plastics. The availability of higher amounts of ELV plastics proves to be favourable to trigger investments in their reusing and recycling. We demonstrate that this can be realized by reducing export of discarded passenger cars, shortening the life span of passenger cars or shortening the time for investing in additional plastic recovery.     

比利时港口产业集群建设及启示

概述了比利时主要港口的情况。详细介绍了比利时港口产业集群的现状。分析了港口产业集群对区域经济和港口发展的促进作用。同时对我国港口的发展规划和产业集群的建设提出了建议,对我国港口产业集群建设有一定的借鉴。     

Longer and heavier vehicles in Belgium: A threat for the intermodal sector?

To achieve transport cost reductions and to reduce the environmental impact of road transport, different European countries are allowing or testing longer and heavier vehicles on their road network. In Belgium, the Flanders region started a trial in 2015 allowing a limited number of longer and heavier vehicles on a selection of approved routes. A concern among intermodal operators is however that an allowance of longer and heavier vehicles could trigger a reverse modal shift away from rail and inland waterways container transport. Starting from experiences in other European countries, this paper discusses the potential spatial impact of allowing longer and heavier vehicles on the market areas of intermodal transhipment terminals using a geographic information systems-based location analysis model. In a second step, external transport costs are incorporated in this model, to quantify the spatially diversified societal costs of a potential reverse modal shift.     

比利时荷语地区高等学院合并研究--学院领导的体会

本文对比利时高等学院合并的情况进行了系统研究，指出高校的合并在课程提供、财政稳定性、设备改善、管理层的工作、系际合作、跨系课题、高等教育心态、教职员工的效率、学校的形象等方面产生了较大变化。认为合并的规模、竞争、规划、资源利用、管理层的职业化、院系资源配置的平衡、以及学院层管理模式等因素影响着合并工作。尤其对合并后集权与分权型学院的优劣进行了精辟分析。