Daily Commute Research Articles

Risk Assessment of In-Vehicle Noise Pollution From Highways

Regular and long-term elevated noise exposure can bring about various adverse health effects, such as hearing impairment, hypertension, heart disease and sleep disturbance. Many noise pollution controls have been implemented in industries, transport vehicles, households and other sources. However, relatively little attention has been paid to in-vehicle noise. In-vehicle noise is overall higher than the maximum safe level of 70 dB(A) for 24 h exposure without harmful effects. Though the excessive noise may not induce acute adverse health consequences, millions of commuters are chronically exposed to the hazardous noise during daily commuting. There are fewer studies investigated the in-vehicle noise exposure and its adverse health consequences to the public, most relevant noise controls are limited to vehicle manufacturing industries, which underestimate or ignore the impacts of ambient traffic and road conditions on the in-vehicle noise. This motivates the objective, which is to assess the risk of hazardous noise exposure on highways for commuters. Twelve subjects were recruited for an on-road driving test on State Highway 288 in Houston to collect real-time in-vehicle noise levels and vehicle activity. Results show that commuters are more likely to be exposed to the noise level between 75 dB(A) and 85 dB(A). At the driving speed of 70 kph above, the in-vehicle noise level exceeds the public health and welfare marginal safe level of 8 h 75 dB(A).

Prevalence of Pain in Medical Representatives using Two-wheeler for Daily Commute

Aim: To investigate the prevalence of pain in medical representatives exposed to riding compared with medical representatives using other modes of commuting. Materials and methods: A total of 105 medical representatives participated in the study with history of exposure to traveling of at least 300 minutes per week with at least 60 minutes per day for 5 days a week for more than 1 year. Fifty-two of them traveled by two-wheelers and were grouped under two-wheeler and 53 were grouped under as they used bus, train, or car (not self-driven) as a mode of commute. The prevalence and intensity of pain was assessed by Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) for baseline pain and worst pain, Pain Disability Index (PDI), and the Pain diagram for the pain observed during last 2 weeks. Results: Statistically significant difference was observed in pain levels between the two groups (two-wheeler group vs control group): Numeric Rating Scale baseline pain (p= 0.0315), NRS worst pain (p = 0.0388), and PDI (p = 0.010). The pain scores of the group showed positive dose–response relation with time of exposure to riding. Thepain distribution pattern between group vs control group was quiet different with lower back pain 36 vs 23% and ankle foot pain 2 vs 12%. Conclusion: The study concludes that medical representativestraveling using two-wheelers as compared with bus, train, or car suffer from more cumulative trauma. Clinical significance: Two-wheeler users have significantly higher prevalence of pain and pain-associated disability due to cumulative trauma disorder, which warrants further studies to improve the depth of our understanding about cumulative traumas.

Daily commuting of female population in Vojvodina

Daily commuting of female population in Vojvodina

Peer-to-Peer Ridesharing with Ride-Back on High-Occupancy-Vehicle Lanes: Toward a Practical Alternative Mode for Daily Commuting

This paper presents a matching and pricing mechanism for a peer-to-peer ridesharing system that ensures a ride-back for matched riders. This service is thus presented as an alternative to driving alone for daily commuting. The matching algorithm is formulated as a minimum-cost, maximum-flow problem that is exact and quickly solvable on polynomial time. The mechanism modeling is based on the Vickrey–Clarke–Groves (VCG) mechanism that is known to be efficient, incentive compatible, and individually rational. However, VCG runs on a budget deficit in a ridesharing setting. To address this issue, participants were classified into drivers and riders in accordance with a novel multiparameter reserve price that fixes the revenue shortage problem and makes the system financially self-sustainable but in detriment of no longer being efficient. Agents’ utility functions include cost-sharing savings and high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) travel time savings. The parametric study uses origin–destination demand data from the Southern California Association of Governments, and travel times are extracted from a professional web mapping service. Results show the method has a revenue surplus over most of the reserve-price parameter space and offers high matching rates attributable to the inclusion of HOV travel time savings and reserve-price structure. The reserve prices are drawn from empirical distributions of value of time and unit distance cost.

Collaborating to Create Healthier Communities.

The Montgomery County United Way and Sam Houston State University explored existing public health and community-based issues and associated assets and gaps within Montgomery County, Texas, through the integration of quantitative geospatial data, demographic information, and the application of geographical information systems. The intent of the initial results was to use maps to visually compare the magnitude of significant emerging health issues in Montgomery County with other counties across Texas in an effort to better educate and increase the awareness of the general public within Montgomery County. The second objective was to present an example of the visual effect and impact of the overall spatial analysis and mapping process with a focus on a specific community issue that could likely be addressed and potentially solved in a relatively short amount of time. This second and more spatially detailed aspect of the evaluation resulted in the creation of an asset map that presented high concentrations or densities of payday loan services in Montgomery County. Recognizing the potential risks of payday loans, Montgomery County United Way presented the asset maps to the effected community leaders. Upon review, leaders discovered there were dense clusters of payday loan sites in areas with high rates of poverty. Prior to the creation of this aggregated payday loan business location map, an individual in a community typically only saw one, or two at the most, payday loan business during a daily commute. Within a very short period and through a grassroots effort to improve community well-being, there were significant formal and positive changes made by the community.

On time and ready to go: An analysis of commuters’ punctuality and energy levels at work or school

The strain of the daily commute can negatively impact performance at work. This study differentiates how various modes influence commuters’ punctuality and energy levels at work and school. The data for this study come from the 2013 McGill Commuter Survey, a university-wide survey in which students, staff and faculty described their typical commuting experience to McGill University, located in Montreal, Canada. Ten multilevel mixed-effects logistic regressions are used to determine the factors that impact (1) a commuter’s feeling of being energized when he or she arrives at work or school and (2) his or her punctuality. Our results show that weather conditions and mode of transportation have significant impacts on an individual’s energy at work and punctuality. The models indicate that drivers have the lowest odds of feeling energized and the highest odds of arriving late for work. Cyclists, meanwhile, have the highest odds of feeling energized and being punctual. Overall, this study provides evidence that satisfaction with travel mode is associated with higher odds of feeling energized and being punctual. With these findings in mind, policy makers should consider developing strategies that aim to increase the mode satisfaction of commuters. Encouraging the habit of commuting by bicycle may also lead to improved performance at work or school.

Metodologia para planejamento de um de sistema cicloviário

Neste trabalho apresenta-se uma metodologia para planejamento de um sistema cicloviário, servindo como base para órgãos municipais na implantação destes sistemas visando fomentar o uso da bicicleta como forma alternativa de trans-porte diário ao trabalho e por motivo estudo. A proposta da metodologia partiu, inicialmente, da análise de parâmetros que são utilizados em métodos que avaliam vias cicláveis ou rotas. Após este estudo, foi aplicada uma pesquisa junto a ciclistas com o objetivo de identificar quais eram suas rotas usuais e quais os parâmetros mais importantes para escolha de uma determinada rota nos seus deslocamentos diários. Assim sendo, do cruzamento destas duas bases de informações, foi possível definir indicadores para a avaliação de segmentos viários, a partir do cálculo de um índice denominado de Índice de Adequa-ção do Segmento para viagens por bicicletas. Este índice possibilita definir, numa rede viária, que segmentos são mais apro-priados para fazerem parte de um sistema cicloviário.

Save Time for Public Transport Users in a Developing Country

A large number of people of a country uses public transport for their daily commute. Public transport users in a developed country get many facilities which is absent in a developing country like frequent transport, less traffic jam, maintaining time schedule, etc. In most of the developing countries, intercity public transports do not have any time schedule to arrive and leave in a stoppage and as a result, a person cannot manage his time accordingly which leads to waste valuable time. In this paper, we have proposed a system which is simple, cost-effective and will be able to save time for a public transport user that might be wasted due to bad timing. The system includes vehicle tracking system to trace the location of the transport and a website for the graphical view of the transport locations. A website has been developed with some dummy data to illustrate the proposed idea.

The specifics and spatial structure of circular migration in Russia

This article aims at distinguishing recurrent population movements within the territory of the Russian Federation between urban localities of different sizes and rural areas in connection to the processes of urbanization, suburbanization, and de-urbanization. Incomplete urbanization and the strong polarization of socio-economic space in Russia have resulted in two powerful contradictory population flows: centrifugal seasonal sub- and de-urbanization and centripetal labor migration from rural and small towns to large urban centers. The article discusses three forms of recurrent population mobility in Russia: (1) daily commuting of urban and rural inhabitants within metropolitan areas; (2) commuting to large cities and their suburbs for long-term employment intervals (weekly, monthly, etc.), (3) second-home commuting to countryside dachas. Unfinished urbanization in Russia not only attracts rural and small towns’ population to major cities but also keeps it within the latter. It slows down the real de-urbanization and induces specific dachas (second-home) suburbanization/de-urbanization, with these processes being closely interrelated. An opportunity to earn money in cities together with the impossibility of moving to major centers due to expensive housing encourages households to remain in small towns and rural areas. Meanwhile, inhabited rural localities (even ones distant from cities) attract seasonal population (dachniks).

A família na unidade de terapia intensiva pediátrica e a atuação do assistente social: da humanização ao direito

O processo de internação sempre afeta em algum grau a família do paciente. Quando se trata de crianças, especialmente em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva (UTI), a situação torna-se ainda mais delicada. Diversos estudos apontam a importância da presença da família para recuperação da criança internada em UTI, além deste ser um direito assegurado pelo Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente, em seu art. 12; e também garantido pela Política Nacional de Humanização do SUS. Entretanto, por vezes as condições concretas não são propícias a tal. Atualmente a UTI Pediátrica do HC-Unicamp, passa por um período de reformas, estando momentaneamente sem alojamento para acolher e acomodar pais e responsáveis vindos de cidades distantes. Compete ao Assistente Social contribuir para o acesso dos usuários aos seus direitos civis, sociais e políticos, estando assim alinhado a seu projeto ético-político profissional. Esse trabalho tem por objetivo apresentar os dados relacionados aos encaminhamentos realizados pelo Serviço Social após a entrevista social na UTI. No período de fevereiro a maio de 2016 foram realizados 32 encaminhamentos para municípios vizinhos para garantia de visitas de pais às crianças e adolescentes internados. Deste modo,por haver a garantia legal da permanência de familiares durante a internação, cabe ao Serviço Social neste espaço socio-ocupacional intervir junto aos municípios de origem dos pacientes a fim de garantir o transporte diário dos familiares ao hospital, o que tem sido uma tarefa árdua tendo em vista o cenário de minimização das ações do Estado em razão da conjuntura econômica atual.

Developing (tele)work? A multi-level sociotechnical perspective of telework in Ireland

The ubiquitous nature and use of technology in contemporary societies continues to transform lives and work environments. At the same time, transport continues to be a major source of harmful emissions. Telework has been suggested as a means to reduce unnecessary work-related travel, including the daily commute. Telework occurs when Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) are applied to enable work be accomplished at a distance from the location where results are needed. However, despite its promising nature and early optimist predictions, telework has largely failed to capture management and workers' attention and imagination. Using a multi-level perspective (MLP) on sociotechnical transitions approach, this study reveals why telework continues to remain a ‘niche’ practice dominated by a small set of industries, managers and workers. The paper builds on MLP thinking with a view to highlighting behavioural, cultural, and political aspects of socio-technical transitions and their interactions, which are frequently limited in classical MLP thinking. The failure to enrol additional niche-actors, the dominance of traditional forms of working and automobility, and the absence of policy and lack of legitimacy, all act negatively to keep telework from emerging from the niche to the regime level and becoming established as a more mainstream practice.

Features of a Health-Oriented Education Program during Daily Commutes: A Qualitative Study.

IntroductionToday, despite scientific advances, many people spend more time and distance between home and their workplaces because of various economic and population reasons. The aim of this study was to identify features of an appropriate health education program during commutes for factory staff at Ardakan county (Yazd province, Iran).MethodsThis qualitative study was conducted via the phenomenological method in 2014. The population of this study was members of the staff of Ardakan Steel Company. Nineteen specialists and 11 members of the factory’s staff were invited to participate in the study, and data were collected using semi-structured interviews. The interviews took 20 to 40 minutes, and their content was analyzed using content analysis.ResultsExtraction of codes and themes and their placement in this study showed that an educational program during commutes should have nine features to have the desired effectiveness, i.e., the program must be audience-oriented, repeatable, participatory, technology-based, combinational, supportive, and motivational and interesting. Also, the program should have environmental and organizational support, and it must be evaluated for its effectiveness.ConclusionConsidering appropriate features of a health education program in educational situations, especially interventions related to daily commutes, is very important because the effectiveness of such health-oriented educational programs must be ensured.

INVESTIGATING THE POTENTIAL OF ACTIVITY TRACKING APP DATA TO ESTIMATE CYCLE FLOWS IN URBAN AREAS

Abstract. Traffic congestion and its associated environmental effects pose a significant problem for large cities. Consequently, promoting and investing in green travel modes such as cycling is high on the agenda for many transport authorities. In order to target investment in cycling infrastructure and improve the experience of cyclists on the road, it is important to know where they are. Unfortunately, investment in intelligent transportation systems over the years has mainly focussed on monitoring vehicular traffic, and comparatively little is known about where cyclists are on a day to day basis. In London, for example, there are a limited number of automatic cycle counters installed on the network, which provide only part of the picture. These are supplemented by surveys that are carried out infrequently. Activity tracking apps on smart phones and GPS devices such as Strava have become very popular over recent years. Their intended use is to track physical activity and monitor training. However, many people routinely use such apps to record their daily commutes by bicycle. At the aggregate level, these data provide a potentially rich source of information about the movement and behaviour of cyclists. Before such data can be relied upon, however, it is necessary to examine their representativeness and understand their potential biases. In this study, the flows obtained from Strava Metro (SM) are compared with those obtained during the 2013 London Cycle Census (LCC). A set of linear regression models are constructed to predict LCC flows using SM flows along with a number of dummy variables including road type, hour of day, day of week and presence/absence of cycle lane. Cross-validation is used to test the fitted models on unseen LCC sites. SM flows are found to be a statistically significant (p<0.0001) predictor of total flows as measured by the LCC and the models yield R squared statistics of ~0.7 before considering spatio-temporal variation. The initial results indicate that data collected using fitness tracking apps such as Strava are a promising data source for traffic managers. Future work will incorporate the spatio-temporal structure in the data to better account for the spatial and temporal variation in the ratio of SM flows to LCC flows.

INVESTIGATING THE POTENTIAL OF ACTIVITY TRACKING APP DATA TO ESTIMATE CYCLE FLOWS IN URBAN AREAS

Traffic congestion and its associated environmental effects pose a significant problem for large cities. Consequently, promoting and investing in green travel modes such as cycling is high on the agenda for many transport authorities. In order to target investment in cycling infrastructure and improve the experience of cyclists on the road, it is important to know where they are. Unfortunately, investment in intelligent transportation systems over the years has mainly focussed on monitoring vehicular traffic, and comparatively little is known about where cyclists are on a day to day basis. In London, for example, there are a limited number of automatic cycle counters installed on the network, which provide only part of the picture. These are supplemented by surveys that are carried out infrequently. Activity tracking apps on smart phones and GPS devices such as Strava have become very popular over recent years. Their intended use is to track physical activity and monitor training. However, many people routinely use such apps to record their daily commutes by bicycle. At the aggregate level, these data provide a potentially rich source of information about the movement and behaviour of cyclists. Before such data can be relied upon, however, it is necessary to examine their representativeness and understand their potential biases. In this study, the flows obtained from Strava Metro (SM) are compared with those obtained during the 2013 London Cycle Census (LCC). A set of linear regression models are constructed to predict LCC flows using SM flows along with a number of dummy variables including road type, hour of day, day of week and presence/absence of cycle lane. Cross-validation is used to test the fitted models on unseen LCC sites. SM flows are found to be a statistically significant (p<0.0001) predictor of total flows as measured by the LCC and the models yield R squared statistics of ~0.7 before considering spatio-temporal variation. The initial results indicate that data collected using fitness tracking apps such as Strava are a promising data source for traffic managers. Future work will incorporate the spatio-temporal structure in the data to better account for the spatial and temporal variation in the ratio of SM flows to LCC flows.

The Evolutionary Dynamic of the Main Urban Labour Market Areas

If the Labour Market Areas consist of «territorial units identified by a set of adjacent municipalities approximated with travel-to-work daily commuting flows», the change in the number of municipalities that make them up, can be considered an indicator of the changes in the levels of socio-economic interaction within the LMAs. In particular, in the hierarchical-functional LMAs, where the daily commute to work moves from the periphery of the system toward its center, the variation in the number of municipalities that are part of it can be interpreted as the result of a change in the attractiveness of the economic and employment level of the center for its immediate geographical surroundings. Following any changes in the spatial configuration of the 21 local labour systems of the major Italian urban areas and crossing data with that relating to demographic and economic level, an interpretive framework can be built of the evolutionary dynamics of these metropolitan areas and the role they occupy within the national urban system.

Intra-city access to inter-city transport nodes: The implications of high-speed-rail station locations for the urban development of Chinese cities

In the high-speed-rail (HSR) construction boom of China, although some cities have upgraded old train stations in inner cities to be compatible with HSR, more cities have built new HSR stations on undeveloped land in the urban periphery. This study investigates the impact of intra-city access to inter-city transport nodes and explores the implications of HSR station locations for the accessibility and residential property values in Chinese cities connected by bullet trains. We find that for the cities with HSR stations in suburbs, the gains in inter-city travel brought by HSR are largely offset by the prolonged intra-city travel time to reach the stations, thus limiting frequent usage of HSR for daily commuting. The inner-city HSR station in Hangzhou shows a positive impact on residential property value in the vicinity, while the suburban HSR station in Guangzhou has not been observed to raise the residential property values noticeably in the short term despite the government’s intention to stimulate development in surrounding areas. The research findings show the need for better connections of HSR stations with the city to magnify the accessibility provided by HSR and careful integrated planning to promote desirable urban development outcomes in station areas.

Urban Rail Transit Types and Single Wire on the Propagation Law of Delays

Along with our country, a steady and rapid development of economy, politics and culture, the traffic also got rapid development with the trend. The improvement of people's living standard in our country, more and more frequent transportation also emerged, the requirement for the quality of travel people also put forward higher requirements; Therefore, as a responsible for the daily commuter traffic tools, urban rail transit train delay problem should give our attention. The types of urban rail traffic delay is described in this paper, including the initial delay and joint and several delays, and expounds the time characteristics and spatial characteristics of delays, and the urban rail transit delays was studied, on the single line shows the single delays the transmission of the recursive formula, for the delay of the urban rail transit emergency disposal provides theory basis.

Race and the Micropolitics of Mobility

Th is article takes an autoethnographic approach in exploring the micropolitics of mobility with particular reference to race, class, and identity on one South African bus service. For his daily commute between an inner-city Cape Town suburb and a worksite near the metropolitan edge, the author explores personal, embodied, and political dimensions of mobility in a context where race continues to dictate the expected parameters of mobility practice. When socioeconomics might allow for private car ownership and use (and when timegeographies almost require it), the autoethnography at the heart of this article requires the author to question the politics of choosing not to drive; to be a public transport passeng er when one is expected to be a driver. In spite of the author’s intentional status in the member group of bus passengers, experience of six months of everyday bus use sheds light on hidden dimensions of mobility inequality. It contributes toward filling a gap in empirical evidence on contemporary bus passengering and the continuing role of race in contexts of visibly differentiated and differentiating everyday mobility.

Are perceptions of the environment in the workplace ‘neighbourhood’ associated with commuter walking?

Walking for the daily commute is one potential strategy for increasing physical activity levels. Understanding the behaviour-specific environmental correlates associated with commuter walking will help effective interventions to be identified and developed. The aim of this study was to examine the associations of perceptions of the environment in the workplace ‘neighbourhood’ and commuter walking. Participants in the baseline survey of the Walking Works intervention study reported perceptions of ten environmental attributes in their workplace neighbourhood, availability of public transport, time spent walking to and from work in the last seven days, their participation in physical activity and socio-demographic characteristics (n=676). We built a series of multivariate logistic regression models to examine associations between each environmental item, public transport availability and commuter walking. Half (52%) of respondents were classified as commuter walkers (n=352) (66% female; 47% aged <30 years). Respondents were significantly more likely to walk for their daily commute if they reported there to be convenient walking routes (OR (odds ratio) 2.05, 95% CI (confidence interval) 1.23–3.42), suitable pavements (OR 2.23, 95% CI 1.23–4.04), maintained pavements (OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.02–2.62) or convenient public transport (OR 4.98, 95% CI 3.34–7.44) after adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics, free car parking at work and distance lived from work. Creating ‘pedestrian friendly’ environments in workplace surroundings may be important for encouraging walking for the daily commute to work. Such environments would include convenient routes, suitable and maintained pedestrian infrastructure and convenient access to public transport. Improving and maintaining the walking environment around existing workplaces and ensuring infrastructure around new workplaces is designed to support commuter walking should be considered a priority area for investment.

Spillover Effects of Daily Commuting on Self-Regulation and Cognitive Fatigue

As much as work is an integral part of our lives and has significant impact on our well-being and functioning, the daily commute too is an essential component of our daily work routines, one that i...