Happy or liberal? Making sense of behavior in transport policy design

Appropriate microeconomic foundations of mobility are decisive for successful policy design in transportation and, in particular, for the challenge of climate change mitigation. Recent research suggests that behavior in transportation cannot be adequately represented by the standard approach of revealed preferences. Moreover, mobility choices are influenced by factors widely regarded as normatively irrelevant. Here we draw on insights from behavioral economics, psychology and welfare theory to examine how transport users make mobility decisions and when it is desirable to modify them through policy interventions. First, we explore systematically which preferences, heuristics and decision processes are relevant for mobility-specific behavior, such as mode choice. We highlight the influence of infrastructure on the formation of travel preferences. Second, we argue that the behavioral account of decision-making requires policy-makers to take a position on whether transport policies should be justified by appealing to preference satisfaction or to raising subjective well-being. This distinction matters because of the (i) influence of infrastructure on preference formation, (ii) health benefits from non-motorized mobility, (iii) negative impact of commuting on happiness and (iv) status-seeking behavior of individuals. The orthodox approach of only internalizing externalities is insufficient because it does not allow for the evaluation of these effects. Instead, our analysis suggests that transport demand modeling should consider behavioral effects explicitly.     

Commuting and wellbeing: a critical overview of the literature with implications for policy and future research

ABSTRACT

This review provides a critical overview of what has been learnt about commuting’s impact on subjective wellbeing (SWB). It is structured around a conceptual model which assumes commuting can affect SWB over three time horizons: (i) during the journey; (ii) immediately after the journey; and (iii) over the longer term. Our assessment of the evidence shows that mood is lower during the commute than other daily activities and stress can be induced by congestion, crowding and unpredictability. People who walk or cycle to work are generally more satisfied with their commute than those who travel by car and especially those who use public transport. Satisfaction decreases with duration of commute, regardless of mode used, and increases when travelling with company. After the journey, evidence shows that the commute experience “spills over” into how people feel and perform at work and home. However, a consistent link between commuting and life satisfaction overall has not been established. The evidence suggests that commuters are generally successful in trading off the drawbacks of longer and more arduous commute journeys against the benefits they bring in relation to overall life satisfaction, but further research is required to understand the decision making involved. The evidence review points to six areas that warrant policy action and research: (i) enhancing the commute experience; (ii) increasing commute satisfaction; (iii) reducing the impacts of long duration commutes; (iv) meeting commuter preferences; (v) recognising flexibility and constraints in commuting routines and (vi) accounting for SWB impacts of commuting in policy making and appraisal.     

乘用车车内噪声与主观评价相关性分析

文章选取了7辆车进行噪声舒适性主客观评价试验,客观评价指标为驾驶员耳边噪声值,主观评价指标为滚动噪声、边棱敏感性等5个,评车师根据试验情况对试验车各指标进行打分并给出总分值。比较了不同试验车速车辆前后排的噪声值,并对主、客观数值进行多元回归分析。     

车辆操纵稳定性客观评价指标的降维处理

影响驾驶员主观感觉的车辆运动量有很多,为研究驾驶员主观感觉与车辆客观运动量之间的关系,需要大量的试验样本,而在实际中往往很难实现.本文采用级别相当的两辆车,通过改变轮胎型号、胎压及配重质量等方法衍生出16种车型,完成相关的客观试验.利用丰成分分析方法,对所提出的客观指标做降维处理,从而降低主、客观一致性研究对试验样本量的要求,为主客观评价体系的一致性研究打下了基础.     

乘用车操纵稳定性评车师主观评价能力检验方法

汽车操纵稳定性的主观评价是现代车辆开发过程中的重要组成部分,开发前期的性能定标和最终的主观调校,都需要主观评价来完成。介绍了评车师主观评价能力检验方法——信噪比方法和相关分析方法。建立了包括评价指标、试验方法、打分依据和打分方法的车辆操纵稳定性主观评价体系,并利用信噪比分析和相关分析方法对主观评车师评价能力进行了检验。     

Towards a more equitable distribution of resources: Using activity-based models and subjective well-being measures in transport project evaluation

In this paper, we develop an innovative and comprehensive transport evaluation criterion to better account for equity considerations in transport project evaluation. This work explores transportation benefits from the consumer’s perspective to accessibility as a key benefit generated by any transportation project. To assess the full benefits of transportation project implementation for various consumers and calculate the improvement in accessibility, it is best to use Activity-Based Models (ABM). ABMs have two important advantages for equity analysis, which have not been utilized in the literature so far: first, ability to analyze results by various groups of the population; second, these models can utilize the Activity Based Accessibility (ABA) measure to estimate the overall benefits from transport investments and policies. The ABA measure allows one person to have different accessibilities for different choice situations, depending on his/her characteristics. We suggest including social and spatial factors in social welfare assessment by introducing the concept of accessibility gains to key social activities. Specifically, it is suggested to incorporate subjective well-being consideration into a new evaluation framework “Equity Benefit Analysis” (EBA). we use an alternative measure, “Subjective Value of Accessibility gains” (SVOA), which is based on the ABM accessibility measure as well as on Subjective Well-Being (SWB) measure, as the key benefit taken into account in the evaluation process. The SVOA is not intended to replace the current practice of analyzing equity by comparing various impacts on different groups of the population, but can aid by providing policymakers with a single measure advancing both equity and efficiency considerations and facilitating comparison among alternatives. Initial case study results indicate the SVOA can show higher benefits to policies focusing on the needs of vulnerable social groups that compared traditional measures.     

基于主观感受的汽车车内气味评价

本文介绍了汽车车内气味评价的方法和原理,分析了影响气味评价的因素。说明了汽车车内气味评价是提高和改善车内空气质量的重要手段和方向。     

汽车动力传动系的冷却润滑和排气系热能回收

为了提高汽车动力传动系的冷却润滑效能,减少内燃机等高温、润滑不良产生的排放和噪声污染,保证冷启动性能,文章对汽车冷却、润滑和排气系统进行技术性能的分析,表明：精准测量内燃机冷却、润滑系温度和压力,能有效提升燃烧热效率、经济性和输出功率各约2％;高效利用内燃机冷却系余热用于除霜除雾,可以保证舒适性和安全性;理论分析内燃机排气系热能并回收利用,可以减少电磁辐射,改善环境.     

高职学生犯罪的原因分析

文章对高职学生犯罪的理论进行了探究,分析了高职学生犯罪的主客观原因,为采取有效措施预防高职学生犯罪提供了依据。     

Living with aircraft noise: Airport proximity,aviation noise and subjective wellbeing in England

Airport expansion is an issue of intense public debate due to the potential impacts on climate change and the quality of life of affected local communities. This paper is the first study to analyse the relationships between airports and multiple subjective wellbeing measures, by merging national-level population statistics with noise measurement maps for seventeen English airports. The presence of daytime aviation noise was found to consistently negatively impact on five subjective wellbeing measures. We found a marginal negative association with every additional decibel of aircraft noise. We found no significant association between wellbeing and living within night-time noise contours or living in close airport proximity. We conclude that living under air traffic flight paths has a negative effect on peoples’ overall and momentary wellbeing, equivalent to around half the effect of being a smoker for some wellbeing measures. The subjective wellbeing method findings support wider revealed preference literature showing lower market demand in areas affected by aviation noise.