Assessing the cost of transfer inconvenience in public transport systems: A case study of the London Underground

Few studies have adequately assessed the cost of transfers² in public transport systems, or provided useful guidance on transfer improvements, such as where to invest (which facility), how to invest (which aspect), and how much to invest (quantitative justification of the investment). This paper proposes a new method based on path choice,³ taking into account both the operator’s service supply and the customers’ subjective perceptions to assess transfer cost and to identify ways to reduce it. This method evaluates different transfer components (e.g., transfer walking, waiting, and penalty) with distinct policy solutions and differentiates between transfer stations and movements.The method is applied to one of the largest and most complex public transport systems in the world, the London Underground (LUL), with a focus on 17 major transfer stations and 303 transfer movements. This study confirms that transfers pose a significant cost to LUL, and that cost is distributed unevenly across stations and across platforms at a station. Transfer stations are perceived very differently by passengers in terms of their overall cost and composition. The case study suggests that a better understanding of transfer behavior and improvements to the transfer experience could significantly benefit public transport systems.     

Non‐compatible chemicals as cargoes in industry,on road,rail, and water

Toronto is to have an urban transit system with a passenger carrying capacity which fills the gap between the capacity of the subway and the capacity of the car and bus. Correspondingly, in the words of the Premier of Ontario, the system will “make possible an attractive alternative to high‐rise, high‐density living and urban sprawl. . . .” Furthermore, the new system is sufficiently economical to provide “. . . an encouragement to growth in appropriate areas, rather than merely responding to growth as it occurs . . .”

The decision to have such a system is the culmination of some years of major transportation activities in the Province, which included the Metropolitan Toronto and Region Transportation Study (MTARTS) of 1962. This study pursued both urban expressways and public transport solutions to the movement of people in Metropolitan Toronto.

The urban expressways programmes ran into difficulties, on environmental terms, when strong opposition from community groups was met on proposed routes. A climax came when the Ontario Government halted the construction of the controversial Spadina expressway in June 1971. However, the programmes of public transport solutions met with great success. The Toronto subway and its extensions, together with the change in land values along the route, has become a classic success story. So, too, has the introduction of the GO Train Service (Government of Ontario train service). This pioneered a combination of commuter rail service and integrated feeder buses and today replaces some 14,000 cars each day along the lakeshore highways.

The success of the subway and the GO train coupled with the difficulties experienced by the urban expressways programme, gave rise to the realisation that a better city through public transport rather than the car, was practicable. However, subways were too expensive and they needed a large patronage in a narrow corridor. Accordingly, an intermediate capacity transit system was sought.

The paper describes the programme of activities involved in the choice of the system and describes the technical specification which the system will enjoy. In particular, the demonstration installation which is to be set‐up in Toronto is described in detail, together with the plans to instal some 56 miles over five routes in Metropolitan Toronto.     

北京地铁4号线与伦敦地铁PPP项目案例分析

北京地铁4号线和伦敦地铁都是通过公私合营(PPP)的方式与融资能力强、具有一定经验的社会资本合作,北京地铁4号线自2009年开通以来一直运行良好,伦敦地铁PPP项目在运营不到7年就宣布破产.运用比较分析方法从融资结构、运营管理和合同履行3个方面对北京地铁4号线和伦敦地铁进行分析,发现伦敦地铁失败的原因主要是其融资结构不合理、竞争机制不完善、契约精神缺失,并针对这些问题为以后PPP项目的实践提出3点建议:1)在伙伴选择方面,引入竞争机制,项目公司市场化运营;2)优化融资结构,合理分担风险;3)强化契约精神,加强政府监管.     

追求精细化的街道设计——《伦敦街道设计导则》解读

自20世纪90年代,英国的交通政策就在向整合交通和土地利用规划的方向努力。伦敦交通局于2004年发布了《伦敦街道设计导则》(以下简称《导则》),并于2009年修订。该导则作为"更好的街道"计划的一部分,对伦敦市区的街道项目具有重要的引导作用。首先通过叙述伦敦市街道形态与规划政策的演变,介绍《导则》的政策背景、概要内容及设计原则。从设计流程、材料面板、街道设计指引几个方面解析《导则》的特点。通过研究伦敦市的道路形态和街道设计现状,评述《导则》的落实与应用情况。最后,从全过程精细化指导、规范标准补充、街道设计理念转变三个方面总结《导则》对中国城市街道设计的借鉴意义。     

伦敦(2012奥林匹克城)排水隧道工程

北京7.21特大灾害与城市排水系统有关,而且近些年国内城市内涝增多。鉴于此,本刊特邀国际隧道协会前主席MartinC.Knights先生介绍了英国伦敦的地下排水系统的建设情况,包括伦敦维多利亚时期建设的排水系统、正在建设以及将要建设的排水系统,以期为我国的城市建设提供参考。同时,Martin C.Knights表示业主泰晤士水务公司(Thameswater)在全球寻求感兴趣的承包商,对在施工与伦敦Tideway隧道工程类似的复杂软弱地层条件下的重大城市隧道工程有经验的亚洲承包商/供应商,很有兴趣并期望与他们合作。     

Implications of climate change for thermal discomfort on underground railways

Hot weather events, ventilation assets, changing passenger demand and service expectations have all caused increased attention on thermal comfort on London’s Tube. This study provides estimates of the future number of days when passengers travelling on sections of the Tube could be subjected to thermal discomfort under future scenarios of climate change, and the potential number of passengers dissatisfied. A risk based methodology is presented, integrating a spatial weather generator modified for urban areas and a thermal comfort model. The study provides an initial assessment of adaptation options by considering the implications of lowering train temperatures by 2 °C and 4 °C to represent saloon cooling. Median results under a 2050 high scenario indicate that all Tube lines assessed could experience near-complete passenger dissatisfaction with the thermal environment in trains in the unlikely event that nothing else were to change. Adaptation aimed at lowering train temperatures has the potential to provide tangible improvements in thermal comfort. However, this was not projected to be sufficient to maintain comfortable thermal conditions for many of the lines in the 2050s under high emission scenarios, requiring a combination of other infrastructure cooling measures to be implemented in parallel.     

The efficiency of congestion charging: Some lessons from cost–benefit analyses

This paper addresses methodological issues in cost–benefit analysis (CBA) regarding congestion charging schemes. Despite suspicion on the reality of travel time savings, it is argued that these savings are a conservative value of surplus gained from a congestion scheme. The methodology of measurement of travel time reliability is not yet stabilised, but the literature review suggests that it may take a growing share of benefits in the future. Sensitivity tests performed on the London and Stockholm case studies with a simulation model underline the need to accurately measure speeds, while the value of travel time appears less critical. Finally, the impact of costs of public funds on public accounts is greatly significant and may increase in the future.     

Mind the map! The impact of transit maps on path choice in public transit

This paper investigates the impact of schematic transit maps on passengers’ travel decisions. It does two things: First, it proposes an analysis framework that defines four types of information delivered from a transit map: distortion, restoration, codification, and cognition. It then considers the potential impact of this information on three types of travel decisions: location, mode, and path choices.¹ Second, it conducts an empirical analysis to explore the impact of the famous London tube map on passengers’ path choice in the London Underground (LUL). Using data collected by LUL from 1998 to 2005, the paper develops a path choice model and compares the influence between the distorted tube map (map distance) and reality (travel time) on passengers’ path choice behavior. Results show that the elasticity of the map distance is twice that of the travel time, which suggests that passengers often trust the tube map more than their own travel experience on deciding the “best” travel path. This is true even for the most experienced passengers using the system. The codification of transfer connections on the tube map, either as a simple dot or as an extended link, could affect passengers’ transfer decisions. The implications to transit operation and planning, such as trip assignments, overcrowding mitigation, and the deployment of Advanced Transit Information System (ATIS), are also discussed.     

伦敦城市公共交通枢纽发展的经验及启示

介绍了伦敦城市公共交通发展及其在城市综合交通中的地位.调查分析了伦敦城市公共交通枢纽规划及典型枢纽建设的基本情况.初步剖析了伦敦城市公共交通枢纽发展的基本经验,提出了对上海城市公共交通枢纽建设的几点启示:多种交通方式有机结合构成高效率的换乘体系;枢纽建设应与周边环境及历史文化和谐统一;应重视硬件与软件的一体化建设,进一步巩固和放大枢纽的作用.     

A multi-criteria evaluation of solutions and alternatives for matching capacity to demand in an airport system: the case of London

This paper applies multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods to the evaluation of solutions and alternatives for matching airport system airside (runway) capacity to demand. For such a purpose, ‘building a new runway’ is considered as the solution and candidate airports of the system as alternatives for implementing the solution. The alternative airports are characterized by their physical/spatial, operational, economic, environmental, and social performance represented by corresponding indicator systems which, after being defined and estimated under given operating scenarios, are used as evaluation attributes/criteria by the selected MCDM methods. Two MCDM methods – Simple Additive Weighting and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution – are applied to the case of the London airport system to rank and select the preferred alternative from three candidate airports – Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted – for where a new runway could be built.