Alternative Transport Modes Research Articles

Integrated distribution system and urban district planning with high renewable penetrations

Recent efforts to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions have resulted in the development of sustainable, smart districts with highly energy efficient buildings, renewable distributed energy resources (DERs), and support for alternative modes of transportation. However, there is typically little if any coordination between the district developers and the local utility. Most attention is paid to the district's annual net load and generation without considering their instantaneous imbalance or the connecting network's state. This presents an opportunity to learn lessons from the design of distribution feeders for districts characterized by low loads and high penetrations of DERs that can be applied to the distribution grid at large. The aim of this overview is to summarize current practices in sustainable district planning as well as advances in modeling and design tools for incorporating the power distribution system into the district planning process. Recent developments in the modeling and optimization of district power systems, including their coordination with multi‐energy systems and the impact of high penetration levels of renewable energy, are introduced. Sustainable districts in England and Japan are reviewed as case studies to illustrate the extent to which distribution system planning has been considered in practice. Finally, newly developed building‐to‐grid modeling tools that can facilitate coordinated district and power system design with utility involvement are introduced, along with suggestions for future research directions.This article is categorized under: Wind Power > Systems and Infrastructure Energy Policy and Planning > Systems and Infrastructure Energy Efficiency > Systems and Infrastructure

A statistical analysis of bike sharing usage and its potential as an auto-trip substitute

IntroductionBikesharing has become increasingly popular in urban areas as an alternative active transportation mode that can help relieve congestion, mitigate negative environmental impacts, and improve public health through increased physical activity. To understand the benefit of bikesharing, it is important to identify the factors influencing how often registered users use bikesharing, and assess whether and how much their bikesharing use is displacing an auto trip. MethodsA survey was conducted, and random parameters logit models were estimated to study individuals’ bikesharing usage rates and modal substitution. In addition to standard socio-demographic and travel behavior characteristics of the survey respondents, health-related questions were also included in the survey and health-related indicators were considered as explanatory variables in the estimated models. ResultsIt was found that gender, age, income, household size, commute type and length, and vehicle ownership all played significant roles in bikesharing usage and modal substitution decisions. Regarding health measures, respondents’ body mass index (BMI), one of the health-related indicators, was also a significant predictor of bikesharing usage. ConclusionsThe outcomes of this research provide some initial insights into the bikesharing decision-making process that can help in the development of policies to improve the performance of bikesharing systems and making them a more viable transportation option.

An application of the bicycle lane on the complete street concept in efforts reducing global warming impact

The incomplete roads, designed only for cars, with limited transportation options make pedestrians, cyclists, and other transport users feel uncomfortable and safe and risk dangerous. The bicycle as a more environmentally friendly means of transportation which is an alternative mode of transportation that can replace motor vehicles to reduce the impact of global warming. Facilities for bicycle users provide a sense of security and comfort to the various users and is considered an important part of the complete street where a community of 100,000 people replacing their cars by bicycle a month will reduce 3.764 tons of carbon dioxide gas (C02) per year. Yos Sudarso Road in Mamuju City is a road segment with activities in various zones, the intensity of activities that occur on the road is very high at certain hours, due to the different activities of the diversity of building functions. Road conditions that do not provide facilities for bicycle users require assessment of the needs of bicycle lane and analyze how the design of the concept of bike lane on the road segment is based on the complete street concept. The type of research used is non-experimental descriptive with the qualitative and quantitative approach, using a survey method in the form of direct observation at research sites, interviews and questionnaires. The condition of the road lane is not yet based on the complete street concept because there is no bicycle lane available as one of the complete street elements so it does not provide a sense of security and comfort for bicycle users. The need for bicycle lanes based on the responses of respondents is the need to provide bike lanes, on segment 1 with bike lane type, on segment 2 and segment 3 with bike lane type, for provision of bicycle lane based on bicycle volume and volume the traffic needs of the bike lane on Yos Sudarso road segment is not yet necessary to be provided. The recommended implementation of bicycle lane based on the concept of Complete Street is a bike lane (width of 1.5 meters for a one-way lane with elevated surfaces that can still be passed by motor vehicles in an emergency condition. A safe and comfortable bike lane improves people’s enthusiasm using bicycles as a mode of transportation that can help reduce carbon dioxide (C02) gas and improve clean air quality.

Whose Lane Is It Anyway? The Experience of Cycling in a Mid-Sized City

The need to upgrade infrastructure for cycling has never been greater, yet urban development in North America continues to privilege car usage. Cities are responding by encouraging alternate modes of transportation through bike-friendly design and planning, but the politics of approving such initiatives remain contentious, even though evidence reveals bikeable cities are beneficial in a variety of ways. The purpose of this study was to explore cyclists’ experiences within a car-centric city. To this end, this study engaged with local cyclists directly to understand how their experiences were influenced by their surroundings. This qualitative analysis is organized around three themes: (1) identity as a cyclist, (2) riding in a car-centric city, and (3) lived experience with “bicycle-friendly” infrastructure. Cyclists’ experiences offer direction for further research on the topic of cycling in leisure studies.

The effect of odd-even driving scheme on PM2.5 and PM1.0 emission

According to a global survey of 1600 cities by WHO in 2015, Delhi was found to be the most polluted city in the world, highlighting immediate need to bring in appropriate and effective measures to ensure a healthy air quality throughout the city. In a bid to do so, the odd-even driving scheme was implemented a few years ago in Delhi city on a trial basis requiring the vehicles bearing odd and even registration numbers to run on alternative days with effect from 1st January 2016. Applied for the very first time in India and lasting on a pilot basis for 15 days and also referred to as Phase 1 of implementation, the scheme ended on 15th January 2016 with primary goal of assessing the extent to which such a scheme could serve as an effective measure to bring down and control the excessively high ambient air pollution levels. Other associated benefits, which the study considered, were decongestion of city roads, and promoting use of public transport system and carpooling, besides other alternative modes of transport. The paper presents a comparative analysis of particulate matter concentrations recorded before and during the implementation of odd-even scheme of Phase 1 for three key traffic corridors of the city. The study reports an average reduction of PM2.5 of 5.73% and that of PM1.0 of 4.70% in the ambient air across all the corridors during the days of implementation of scheme, which depicts a small but positive impact of the measure adopted towards abatement of urban air pollution in the megacity of Delhi.Capsule: The study finds that the odd-even driving scheme can help to reduce particulate matter levels compared to non-scheme days at traffic corridors.

Consumers' processing of mindful commercial car sharing

AbstractCommercial car sharing offers a form of market‐mediated, access‐based consumption with a markedly lower impact on the natural environment than that of car ownership. Consumers adopting such alternative transportation modes are manifesting a marketplace behavior that can be said to be mindful because of the innovative and sustainable nature of car sharing. This study employs behavioral reasoning theory to examine how consumers' value orientations, as well as reasons for and against car sharing, might be used in consumers' processing of mindful commercial car‐sharing adoption. Findings suggest that subjective norms (thoughts of important others for consumers, such as co‐workers) serve an important mediating role for both consumers' value orientations and reasons for car sharing in their relationship with car‐sharing behavior. These results provide marketing researchers important knowledge about green consumption and suggest that practitioners would do well to emphasize the social dimension when marketing environmentally oriented services, such as car sharing.

A Weighted Multi-Objective Mathematical Model for Cell Scheduling and Environmentally Sustainable Supply Chain Network

This paper presents a weighted multi-objective mixed-integer-non-linear programming model to integrate manufacturing scheduling and environmentally sustainable supply chain network (SCN). The SCN consists of two echelons including a manufacturing plant and customers. The manufacturing system adopted in the plant is cellular manufacturing. Production sequence of each product is determined based on the manufacturing capacity and customer due date. Consequently, the manufactured products are shipped by the appropriate transportation mode that minimizes transportation cost and meets the customer due date. The first objective of the model is to maximize the total net profit in the network, the second objective is to minimize the environmental impact (EI) of using an alternative transportation mode, and the third objective is to minimize the probability of tardiness for shipping the products. In order to obtain the optimal satisfaction level in the network, experiment is conducted. The outcome of this research will help decision makers to find the most desirable trade-off between total net profit, environmental impact and the probability of tardiness.

Complex Solution of Ecological and Economic Problems of Traffic Jams

The article explores the congestion level in traffic of motor vehicles and its negative environmental and economic consequences in case of Kiev. The amount of pollution from traffic jams in Kiev and the number of vehicles which got into them in 2009-2018 is analyzed. The loss of earnings on the side of automobile owners from their standby are calculated with corresponding quantitative expressions found and described. For the course of the research, the methods of system-structural and comparative analysis were used for analyzing the environmental and economic problems of modern automobile systems; methods of formal logical analysis were used for substantiating the innovative infrastructure of transport routes. Separately economic and statistical methods were used in the study for trends development, structure analysis, and estimation of the influence of road congestion on the environmental and economic sphere. Pearson test has indicated a close relationship between the number of cars in Kiev and the number of values from traffic jams in environmental and economic sphere. Solutions to this problem are offered in forms of automated traffic control systems, improvisation of organizational and technical methods for the distribution of traffic flows over time, namely reverse traffic, road junctions, smart traffic lights, road extension, and the transition to alternative modes of transport. In all countries of the world there are new research methods that affect pollutants from motor vehicles. It is proved that they are forced by the recipients. In addition, landscaping can improve landscape design, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, surface water runoff and noise pollution. In this regard the policy implication of the research are aimed to eliminate the negative consequences from the use of vehicles during traffic jams, and the necessary number of trees for planting in Kiev is calculated. Key words: motor transport, congestion, traffic jam, motor vehicle, greening, compensation effect, lost profits, losses.

Train specific services and commuter satisfaction of Delhi Metro: an empirical analysis

Public transport organisations are adopting customer centric approach to provide cost effective, comfortable, convenient services to commuters due to deregulation, availability of alternative mode of transportation and increasing expectation of the customers. Customer satisfaction is outcome of customer centricity, service quality and service orientation of organisation and it has become key result area for all the organisations irrespective of nature and type of the business. The present study has been undertaken to identify the factors that have major impact over train specific service satisfaction of commuters of Delhi Metro. In this study total 1,015 samples were collected from all the 160 metro stations using survey method and inferential analysis was applied to analyse the data. The major finding of the study depicts that the factors which directly influence the senses of commuters have most significant impact over satisfaction of commuters and delay of the train, crowded train in the peak hours and jerking of the train are adversely influencing passenger satisfaction. This study arranges the factors in a hierarchical order keeping in mind relative importance of each factor from perspectives of commuters and intends to identify the area where attention need to be given by the metro railway.

METHODS OF PROMOTING INTERMODAL TRANSPORT DEVELOPMENT IN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, FRANCE AND ITALY IN YEARS 1990-2016 ‒ CONCLUSIONS FOR POLAND

The purpose of this paper is to show directions for promoting alternative modes of transport in Europe and Poland in...

Train specific services and commuter satisfaction of Delhi Metro: an empirical analysis

Public transport organisations are adopting customer centric approach to provide cost effective, comfortable, convenient services to commuters due to deregulation, availability of alternative mode of transportation and increasing expectation of the customers. Customer satisfaction is outcome of customer centricity, service quality and service orientation of organisation and it has become key result area for all the organisations irrespective of nature and type of the business. The present study has been undertaken to identify the factors that have major impact over train specific service satisfaction of commuters of Delhi Metro. In this study total 1,015 samples were collected from all the 160 metro stations using survey method and inferential analysis was applied to analyse the data. The major finding of the study depicts that the factors which directly influence the senses of commuters have most significant impact over satisfaction of commuters and delay of the train, crowded train in the peak hours and jerking of the train are adversely influencing passenger satisfaction. This study arranges the factors in a hierarchical order keeping in mind relative importance of each factor from perspectives of commuters and intends to identify the area where attention need to be given by the metro railway.

Kinematic Analysis of Triple Ball Tie-rod in Ackermann Steering and Tilting Mechanism for Tricycle Application

Nowadays, a concept of tilting three-wheel vehicle is introduced, one of which is the electric tilting tricycle to provide an alternative mode of transportation. Some of the tilting tricycle design usinga tadpole trike configuration and it needs an adequate steering system that can be synergized with tilting mechanism. The steering mechanism follows the Ackermann steering geometry. Usage of Ackermann geometry means applying a mechanism of trapezoidal four-bar linkage to the tricycle. To create and maintain the simple trapezoid shape, Triple Ball Tie-rod model, a single rod which supports three ball joints, is proposed. Since the capabilities of the model are yet to be proven, this research evaluates the usageof a tie-rod model to find out its capabilities to support the works of the steering mechanism of the tricycle. The measurements are conducted after the simulation of the 3D model to extract some data such as maximum lean angle and inner and outer steering angles. Another simulation using regular tie-rod model also conducted with the same method for comparison purposes. The results of the study are maximum allowed tilting angle and generated Ackermann steering angles. Each designed models have their respectiveadvantages.

A holistic framework for lot sizing problem in fast-moving perishable products

One of the major challenges being faced by manufacturing companies today is the issue of addressing various aspects of perishable products in a supply chain environment. To address this issue, the integrated lot size problem for a perishable product has been investigated in the present work. The problem is modeled as a single vendor multiple buyer system. A variant of the truckload discount scheme is applied and the proposed model is formulated as a mixed integer program (MIP). The traditional warehouses are replaced by ‘cross-docks’ and situations in which, cross-docking would be more beneficial are highlighted. The problem of fleet selection is also addressed and various strategies to minimize the vendor cost are also highlighted for centralized and decentralized supply chains. Sensitivity analysis is then carried out on various input parameters such as setup cost at plant, variable transportation cost, fixed transportation cost, setup cost per order, holding cost and, lost cost, which underscores the significant impact of economies of scale in transportation on the total supply chain cost. Analysis of lead time-cost trade-off reveals that alternate modes of transportation could be explored, which significantly reduces the lead time of transportation, thereby minimizing the total supply chain cost.

The use of focus groups to foster stakeholder engagement in intercity passenger rail planning

Recent changes in the United States (U.S.) passenger rail policies have affected a number of National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) corridors. One of the major changes is that, since the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) of 2008 was passed, all short-distance Amtrak corridors should become state-supported. Stakeholder and public involvement is strongly advocated by the U.S. Department of Transportation as a fundamental component of the transportation planning process and an important step to keep the public informed and engaged in decision making. Thus, states should attempt to engage the public in any funding decisions that might affect passenger rail service changes (such as line discontinuance). In addition, states should seek the input of the stakeholder and public to evaluate the alternative transportation investment options available in case such service changes occur. Nevertheless, both literature and practice of stakeholder engagement on policy making and planning of strategic operational changes and/or other broader decision making is scarce.This article presents a case study of stakeholder engagement in transportation decision making pertaining to decisions of investments in passenger rail and state and local fund allocation, using a focus group approach. This engagement aimed to (1) consult stakeholders in a group setting in an attempt to produce shared knowledge and (2) explore how the transportation investment decision-making process can incorporate public preferences and community values in a participatory manner via the assessment of potential investment directions. The goals of the study are to explore whether stakeholder engagement at a smaller-size projects and/or broader policy and planning decision making can be beneficial, and whether focus groups are suitable to facilitate such engagement.The findings verify that stakeholder involvement can provide states and other decision-makers with valuable insights on several topics supporting future policy and funding decisions. For example, in the case explored, the engagement of the stakeholders revealed that public investments towards the continuation and potentially improvement of the intercity passenger rail services are in line with the communities’ goals and are viewed as more beneficial than alternative transportation investments that can enable mobility in the area. In addition, the findings suggest that the benefits of engaging stakeholders in transportation decision making go beyond the act of gathering stakeholders’ input; focus groups or similar dynamic forums can facilitate the production of innovative ideas and shared knowledge while fostering collegiality among stakeholders. Finally, the findings of the case study also verify that focus groups can be a suitable approach to engage and consult a small group of stakeholders for higher-level transportation investment decision making. Overall, the case study results indicate that stakeholder engagement can benefit smaller-size projects and/or broader policy and planning decision making, such as decisions involving the financing of an intercity passenger rail line and investment directions towards operational changes of the line and/or alternative transportation modes and infrastructure.

The role of car ownership in attitudes towards public transport: A comparative study of Guangzhou and Brisbane

Car ownership has often been linked to a strong commitment to car use and a tendency to undervalue alternative transport modes, thereby potentially biasing people away from using more environmentally friendly transport modes such as public transport. Although a considerable body of research has shed light on the attitudinal dimensions of car ownership and usage, few have investigated the potential influence of car ownership on attitudes towards alternative transport modes from an international comparative perspective. Across cities with distinct mobility cultures and economic backgrounds, car ownership may have differentiated influences on how people view various transport modes, yet little research exists in this area. This study aims to bridge this knowledge gap by investigating the relationship between car ownership and attitudes towards public transport in two vastly different metropolises, Guangzhou, China and Brisbane, Australia, while taking account of environmental concerns, past behaviour and socio-demographic characteristics. Drawing on two survey data sets, we derived measurements that directly compare the perceived difference between bus transit and cars, and constructed latent attitudinal variables based on loose-matching and strict-matching criteria to enable a more robust test of hypotheses. Using structural equation modelling (SEM), our analysis shows that car ownership appeared to contribute significantly to the perceived disparity between public transport services and car use in Guangzhou, but less so in Brisbane. Furthermore, environmental concerns were found to have a stronger influence on transport-mode attitudes in Brisbane. Recommendations are developed to inform local policies to promote more sustainable urban transportation.

The Characteristic of Online Transportation Services and Provision in Semarang City

The complex mobility in Semarang city requires the efficient and effective provision and services of public transportation. Due to the condition of public transportation services is not proper, so it requires the presence of online transportation. Online transportation services have a flexibility (in routes and time) and it seems the society has their own private vehicles. Online transportation prices is more expensive than private vehicles or public transportation. But it provides flexibility and convenience as one of the alternative transportation mode.

Assessing Social Experiments Using Apps: The Case of Car-Free Days in Bogotá

Nowadays, several Apps record real-time data from social networks that enrich users’ decision making. We argue that these data may also be used to better inform policy makers in the absence of monitoring data or as a complementary tool of measurement systems. This is the case of Waze, an App designed to facilitate access to information on real-time traffic conditions reported by users and based on navigation tools through Global Position System in smartphones. We collect traffic speeds reported by Waze and use air quality measurements from the Air Quality Network in Bogota to assess the impact of car-free days, a social experiment in Bogota, aimed at promoting the use of alternative transport modes rather than automobile travel, and temporally addressing congestion and air pollution. Our results suggest that car-free days improve traffic speed in 20% and local air quality, measured by particulate matter, in 2%, compared to classical working days.

Revenue management of airport car parks in continuous time

We study the revenue management (RM) problem encountered in airport car parks, with the primary objective to maximize revenues under a continuous-time framework. The implementation of pre-booking systems for airport car parks has spread rapidly around the world and pre-booking is now available in most major airports. Currently, most RM practises in car parks are simple adjustments of those developed for hotels, exploiting the similarities between the two industries. However, airport car parks have a distinct setting where the price per day of a parking space is heavily discounted by the length of stay (LoS) of the booking. This is because the customer decision tends to be made after the length of the trip is already set, and it becomes a choice between parking or alternative modes of transport. Consequently, the LoS becomes a critical variable for revenue optimization. Since customers are able to book the parking by the minute, the resulting state space is very large, making a conventional network solution intractable . Instead, decomposed single-resource problems need to be considered. Here we develop a bid-price control strategy to manage the bookings and propose novel approaches to define such bid prices depending on the LoS, which could be utilized in real-time RM algorithms. Managing stochastic car park bookings by LoS in the decomposed single-resource approximation allowed us to achieve within 5% of the expected revenues for a multi-resource approximation, with a fraction of the computational effort. When expected demand exceeds the available parking capacity, the method increases the revenues by up to 45% relative to the first come, first served acceptance policy.

Shared school transportation: determinants of carpooling as children’s school travel mode in California

Carpooling has potential as an alternative mode of school transportation along with other viable options, especially at a time when technology continues to increase our reliance upon shared mobility. Unfortunately, our knowledge of carpooling as a school travel mode is very limited. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap. Using a multinomial logit model, this study presents an analysis of data from the 2012 California Household Travel Survey to assess the effects of various factors, such as trip characteristics, child characteristics, parental or caregiver’s characteristics, household characteristics, and spatial variables on choosing carpooling as a school travel mode. The findings of the study indicate that travel distance is one of the major determinants of carpooling, suggesting that children are more likely to carpool to school as travel distance from home to school increases. The analysis shows that a higher income two-parent two-earner family with a 5–15-year-old female schoolchild is more likely to use carpooling for school trips when compared to other modes of transportation. Parental/caregiver characteristics are also found to be important, as children from households with young, female, higher educated heads are more likely to carpool to school. Results of spatial variables suggest that families living in neighborhoods with higher numbers of schoolchildren are also more likely to carpool. The empirical evidence presented in this study provides useful insight to school districts, policymakers, and other transportation related entities in identifying potential target groups to whom this travel mode could be presented.

Understanding driving anxiety in older adults

Background/objectivesDriving anxiety is a heterogeneous experience that can impact on everyday activities. Little is known about whether older adults experience driving anxiety and, if so, what impact it has on their health, functioning, and quality of life. This is particularly important given the ageing population and driving patterns of older drivers. The present study examines the extent of self-reported driving anxiety in older adult drivers. DesignPopulation survey of community-dwelling older drivers. SettingNew Zealand. Participants1170 adults aged 65 and over. MeasurementsSelf-reported ratings of driving anxiety. Results62.3% of participants reported no driving anxiety, 27.0% reported mild driving anxiety and 10.7% endorsed more moderate to extreme levels of driving anxiety, which is higher than has been identified with adults aged 55–72. Women were significantly more often (p < .01) represented in the groups of mildly and moderately anxious drivers, and those who were moderately to extremely anxious were more likely to be aged 70+ (p < .04). Those with moderate to severe driving anxiety tended to drive less often, for shorter distances, and to use alternative modes of transport more often than those with mild or no driving anxiety. ConclusionDriving anxiety is experienced by many older adults, with quite a large proportion reporting high levels of driving anxiety and associated differences in driving patterns. Further research is needed to better understand why older drivers experience driving anxiety, and how it impacts health and wellbeing as well as driving self-regulation and cessation.