Mitigating human thermal discomfort and vehicle-emitted pollutants exposure in urban transportation hubs through natural ventilation: Numerical modeling and morphology optimization

With the increasing number of vehicles and the demands for complexity of urban transportation, the insufficiency of planning method in traditional urban synthesis transportation hub has stood out. In this paper, the author proposed a plan towards urban transportation hub (UTH) based on clustering analysis method (CAM). The proposed method can well solve the problems of imprecise calculation and less effecting factors to be considered in UTH. Thus it may realize the UTH layout plan at the requirements of accuracy, rationality and feasibility. Furthermore, the results of the CAM are a cluster of order range of points. Consequently, it provides a theoretical foundation for the UTH layout planning to be well functional and clearly demarcated.

With the rapid development of urbanization in China, the number of travel modes and urban passenger transportation hubs has been increasing, gradually forming multi-level and multi-attribute transport hub networks in the cities. At the same time, Super Network Theory (SNT) has advantages in displaying the multi-layer transport hubs. The aim of this paper is to provide a new perspective to study connectivity contribution of potential hubs. Urban transport hubs are ranked through topological features based on Hub Super Network (HSN). This paper proposes two indexes based on Super-Edge (SE), Zero Hub Degree of SE (ZHDoSE) and a number of shared SEes (NSSE), respectively. Then, a case study was conducted in Beijing, which considers four combinations to study the influence of transport modes and subway lines on connectivity. The results show that no-normalization strengthens the contribution of transport modes and subway lines on connectivity. Besides, the transport mode contributes a lot to the connectivity. However, elements normalization strengthens the subway lines under ZHDoSE reciprocal. In addition, various weights of ZHDoSE and NSSE have different influences on the recognition results of SEes in HSN.

Rapid development of long-span urban transportation hubs arouses higher requirements of structural design methods. However, the current design codes do not give effective provisions of the equivalent uniform live load for long-span transportation hubs. A revised equivalent uniform live load is developed by considering the aspect (length-to-width) ratio of the one-way slab system for the urban transportation hubs. The most unfavorable loading positions of the bus tires are determined, and the equivalent uniform live load is computed by using the Chinese Load Code. The structural response under equivalent uniform live load is further compared to that under actual load, then the original equation of the equivalent uniform live load with the Chinese Load Code is revised by considering the aspect ratio of one-way slab. An actual engineering computation of equivalent uniform live load is carried out. The results reveal that the calculation methods of the Chinese Load Code cannot reflect the force transmission characteristics of the small-area tire load on the one-way slab. The structural responses under the revised equivalent uniform load are in good agreement with that under the actual load. The revised calculation method is suitable for most areas in this urban transportation hub and similar structures.

This paper examines the effect of varying attack and interdiction strategies, both alone and in combination, in an urban transport hub. Particular attention is paid to the potential disruption to normal commuter services resulting from an intrusive stop and search regime. The work presented here represents a qualitative investigation in that many parameters relating to the details of the interdiction mechanisms are first-order approximations. However, the background against which the investigation is conducted has been constructed to be as realistic as possible. The simulation is performed using our generalised microsimulation framework Simulacron, along with a repertoire of simulation modules. Changes and additions to these modules required for the present study are described. The station is modelled using 454 distinct locations, most of which are interconnected to form a directed graph to permit commuter movement. An average of some 8,300 commuters move through the station, outbound and inbound. Figure 1 is a frame from the baseline simulation of the station, generated by a custom post-processing tool and rendered by LightWave, showing commuters and trains. The train schedule is constructed from the real schedule for the 3rd of June, 2013. It is from this that the commuter population is derived. Five attack strategies (including no attack) are matrixed against four interdiction strategies (including no protection) to produce 20 scenarios. Some key results are presented, along with brief remarks on the remainder. An additional 30 variant scenarios were used to examine a stop and search interdiction strategy. For these scenarios, impact on commuters was inferred from the number of outbound commuters missing their intended train, how long commuters spent waiting in checkpoint queues, and the size of these queues, on average and at peak. Congestion at the search point was also used as an indication of the increased vulnerability resulting from stop and search. Our conclusions from this work are that overt, intrusive protection schemes appear to be more efficacious than passive or covert means. However, the former present their own problems in both disruption to commuter activities and the creation of new potential targets. In the case of stop and search, this takes the form of unacceptable commuter delays and congestion at the checkpoints. As a result of this, the overall interdiction regime must be adjusted to protect the new target. Doing so without introducing additional targets may prove challenging. It seems that the “best” likely outcome is to redirect the terrorist attack to a softer target. Figure 1. Visualisation of the baseline simulation.

Public transportation is a crucial means for tourists to visit urban attractions. This study aims to explore pedestrian accessibility from tourist destinations to urban transportation hubs, using the renowned Yuyuan Garden in Shanghai as a case study and employing spatial syntax methodology. By investigating spatial relationships and accessibility levels from the perspectives of depth and choice. The research finds that the main transportation hubs around the Yuyuan Garden area have a limited capacity to attract visitors, and visitors have limited choices when it comes to using public transportation. Additionally, there are barriers from transportation hubs to the entrance of the tourist area, and some segments of accessibility overlap, posing challenges for the operation of the tourist area, especially during specific festivals. The study emphasizes the significance of the straightforward data acquisition method of spatial syntax for further research on transportation network accessibility, as well as the layout of commercial areas, tourist attractions, and historic districts. However, it also highlights the limitations of spatial syntax, including its abstraction, disregard for temporal attributes, and insufficient qualitative analysis. It acknowledges the subjectivity inherent in pedestrian accessibility and model creation.

The scientific planning and optimal management of charging facilities of electric vehicles (EVs) need to identify the charging demand in advance. In order to ensure the stability of the power grid and meet the charging demand of EVs effectively in some urban transport hubs, it is important to estimate the charging demand. Combined with the timetable of high-speed railway hub, this paper considers some typical factors that affect charging demand and charging characteristics. A method based on Monte Carlo simulation for estimating the charging demand of EVs in high-speed railway hub is proposed. To verify the effectiveness of this method, a case study of Beijing South Railway Station is carried out. Results show that this method can estimate the charging demand at high-speed railway hub well. Factors such as, the market share of EV, the arrival state of charge, the charging power of the charging pile, and the battery capacity can cause significant changes in the daily charging power of the hub. Finally, suggestions are further presented for charging station at the Beijing South Railway Station.

With the rapid expansion of the urban population, urban transportation hub are developing in the direction of large-scale, complex and systematic, the main function of urban transportation hub is to guarantee the effective transfer among different transportation modes. As an important means of passenger guidance, the rational design and layout of visual guiding signage is the key to the effective passenger guidance. This paper summarizes the main research methods of the evaluation of the visual guiding signage's layout, introducing from Visual Visibility Analysis, Environmental Psychology Research Methods, Eye-tracking, Isovist Superposition Analysis, and furthermore, came up with a new perspective for further study.

The barrier-free design of transportation hubs is the embodiment of modern civilization and the requirement for the city development. The barrier-free design of urban transportation hubs in Singapore has implemented the people-oriented concept and built a systematic, delicate, harmonious public barrier-free environment. By analyzing the barrier-free design of transportation hubs in Singapore and taking into consideration the speeding population aging and the growing demand of disabled people to integrate into society in our country, the enlightenment is summarized, which will provide reference to the establishment of barrier-free system of our urban transportation and the development of harmonious society.

The accelerating pace of urban development has given birth to the large-scale transportation pivot, in which abundant traffic is abstracted and congregated. Drivers often have difficulty obtaining reader-friendly available car-parking place information in this area, inversely been confused with complicated layout of car-park and having trouble finding their correct car-parking place when they returned. This paper describes a choice behavioral model based on principal components analysis to survey data. The model was used to determine the demand intensity of different car-parking guidance information, which influences design of the car-parking guidance system. A triple-level sign system was developed for indoor car-parking guidance aims. The procedures were applied to the car-parking guidance system of Hongqiao comprehensive transport hub in Shanghai.

Exploring and Evaluating Users' Satisfaction and Perceptions at an Urban Transport Hub

This study examines the statistical associations between institutional factors, human capital, and sustainable transportation development in urban transport hubs within developing economies. Guided by North's institutional theory and human capital theory, it investigates how institutions and human capital are statistically associated with the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable transportation development, emphasizing statistically significant direct effects. Data were obtained from 354 transportation enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, via stratified probability sampling and analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Results indicate that institutional factors exhibit both positive and negative statistical associations across the three dimensions, while the social and environmental dimensions are reciprocally associated with institutional factors in positive and negative ways, respectively. Likewise, human capital exhibits positive, statistically significant bidirectional relationships with the social and environmental dimensions, highlighting mutual reinforcement. By documenting these two-way relationships, the study advances theory and provides applied insights. In particular, it highlights the value of aligning regulations with enterprise needs and investing in human capital to guide policies that promote institutional effectiveness and sustainable urban mobility.

Transportation and infrastructure are the most crucial components which affect the development and renewal of cities and regions. The results of infrastructure and transportation planning not only take effect on the accessibility of an urban area, but also, it determines the livability of the whole city (Krizek & Levinson, 2005). Recently, new technologies, concepts and practical means have largely emerged in infrastructure and transportation planning, such as: “Big Data,” “Large scale model” and “old-community planning (Cunliang Guihua in Chinese)”. These concepts and tools almost reversed the traditional knowledge system and operating mode of urban planning, which has prompted us to carry out the necessary research and work to adapt to these changes (Vlahogianni, Park, & van Lint, 2015). On the other hand, we should still attach importance to the traditional knowledge and practical means by applying them to the new problems arising in the urban planning process today. Consequently, in this special issue, we study new concepts such as the “Big data” in the life-circle community determination, policy instruments on the new energy vehicle industry, and others. Moreover, we also pay attention to the change of urban planning law and survey technology on urban transportation hubs.

Traditional infrastructure operation and maintenance (O&M) models have long been plagued by issues such as low efficiency, insufficient accuracy, and high costs, primarily due to the subjectivity of human judgment, inadequate data processing capabilities, and poor resource management. To overcome these challenges, this study proposes the integration of digital twin technology into modern O&M systems. By establishing an intelligent management platform that enables bidirectional mapping between physical and virtual domains, the study aims to achieve fine-grained management of infrastructure throughout its entire lifecycle. Multi-source data collection and fusion technology based on the Internet of Things (IoT) addresses the issue of data silos in traditional operations and maintenance. Through analyses of typical cases such as urban transportation hubs, cross-sea bridges, and nuclear power plants, this technology has demonstrated significant effectiveness in risk warning, resource optimisation, and emergency response. Research indicates that the application of digital twin technology can improve operations and maintenance efficiency by over 40%, reduce costs by approximately 30%, and significantly enhance system safety and reliability. With the integration of new technologies such as 5G and edge computing, digital twins will drive infrastructure maintenance toward advanced stages of 'predictive maintenance and 'autonomous decision-making, providing critical technological support for the development of smart cities. Future research will focus on areas such as digital twin model lightweighting and multi-system collaborative optimisation to further expand its engineering application value.

This study examines the statistical associations between institutional factors, human capital, and sustainable transportation development in urban transport hubs within developing economies. Guided by North’s institutional theory and human capital theory, it investigates how institutions and human capital are statistically associated with the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable transportation development, emphasizing statistically significant direct effects. Data were obtained from 354 transportation enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, via stratified probability sampling and analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Results indicate that institutional factors exhibit both positive and negative statistical associations across the three dimensions, while the social and environmental dimensions are reciprocally associated with institutional factors in positive and negative ways, respectively. Likewise, human capital exhibits positive, statistically significant bidirectional relationships with the social and environmental dimensions, highlighting mutual reinforcement. By documenting these two-way relationships, the study advances theory and provides applied insights. In particular, it highlights the value of aligning regulations with enterprise needs and investing in human capital to guide policies that promote institutional effectiveness and sustainable urban mobility.

Previous studies have shown that site-city interaction (SCI) is important for sustainable seismic design in a congested urban environment. However, due to its complexity, the phenomenon is not yet fully understood. A fully integrated 3D model was developed herein to analyze the problem using a transportation hub in Hong Kong as a testbed. The site assumes a typical downtown layout with a central plaza, a large underground chamber surrounded by 16 high-rise buildings with deep foundations. This investigation aims to explore SCI emphasizing soil-underground structure-soil interaction (SUSSI) and contamination of the site response caused by the dense building cluster. To simulate visco-elastic wave propagation, a discontinuous Galerkin spectral element code (SPEED) is employed. Key SCI effects manifest in a wavefield propagating from the buildings and surface waves trapped in-between them. The propagated wavefield travels up to 450 m with 20% increase in peak ground accelerations (PGA) compared with the free field. In the center plaza, 70% increase in PGA is observed. Furthermore, a coherency analysis was conducted to quantify the spatial variation of ground motions. The building layout and subsurface structures govern the SCI phenomena, which highlights the importance of realistic fully integrated modeling for sustainable urban design. © 2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.