Light Rail System Research Articles

The role of light rail systems in urban regionalisation processes and in defining the bioregional vision of the Pontine plain in Italy

ABSTRACT Urban regionalisation or new regionalism is a land transformation process that involves the emergence of new sprawl settlements in the European Union and North America. These settlements are often composed of residential or micro-productive units that cause ecological fragmentation, biodiversity loss, and spatial reorganisation. This process challenges conventional spatial analytical and planning frameworks and calls for a new approach. This paper argues that bioregional units which account for complex human-environment interactions and the sustainability of natural resources and ecosystems can provide a new analytical and planning framework. Bioregions represent the main living environments for people, and mobility is a key driver shaping their lifestyle choices. This paper explores the role of light rail systems (LRSs) in enhancing the sustainability and well-being of bioregions, using the Pontine bioregion in Italy as a case study. It reviews the bioregional theory and applies the bioregional framework to the Pontine plain presenting the main features of the Pontine bioregion, including its internal and external urban relationships. Building on these analyses, the paper then discusses the proposal of a new railway network system that integrates LRSs as strategic elements for efficient mobility, urban regeneration, social cohesion, and environmental sustainability of the bioregional territory.

The application of direct ridership models in the evaluation of the expansion of the Porto Light Rail Transit

The main purpose of this paper is to show how a direct demand ride model coupled with a transfer model was able to support the choice of alternative routes for the expansion of the light rail system serving the Porto Metropolitan Area. After an overview of the literature on direct ridership models, emphasizing some key issues such as the need for a systematic assessment of their forecasting performance, the issues related to the definition of the pedestrian catchment area and the limitations of the simultaneous consideration of demand and supply effects, the paper moves into the case study, providing some background information on current occupation densities, land uses and mobility patterns, as well as on the performance of the existing LRT in the Metropolitan Area of Porto. The development of the direct ridership model, measuring the potential attractiveness of each station, and the transfer model, measuring the number of transfers at each station, are presented in detail. A justification is provided why, in this case, a two-step modelling approach was necessary. Further details about the statistical tests for model validation are also provided. After a brief characterization of the alternative routes under analysis for the expansion of the network, the modelling results are presented enabling a comparative assessment of the potential performance of each proposed route. The paper ends with a discussion of the relevance of this modelling results vis a vis the actual final decisions on investment priorities taken jointly by the Metropolitan Council and the Metro Company.

Intermodal travel planning and decision support integrated with transportation and energy systems

The fast urbanization in China makes it all the more important to find sustainable solutions that are both comprehensive and energy-efficient. Because of its important role in lowering logistical expenses and pollutant emissions, intermodal transport is generally seen as an effective method of coordinating transportation operations, helping to address the growing economic and environmental issues. Considering the characteristics of a growing city, this article lays out a multi-criteria method for selecting which new initiatives for China's public transportation system should be prioritized. “Electric municipality bus,” “light rail system,” and “modernization to the current fleet and optimization” are the three enhancement initiatives that are outlined. Using transportation-related economic, social, and environmental sub-criteria, this research applies TOPSIS, an analytic hierarchy method and fuzzy approach for order preference by resemblance to ideal circumstance application, to prioritize transportation projects. The study aims to improve city life in Chongqing, China, by identifying the most environmentally friendly development projects. Applying the analytical hierarchy method (AHP), the relative importance of several sustainability criteria was established for use in making strategic decisions. The alternative projects for the given city have been ranked using the fuzzy TOPSIS approach. However, the investigated results show the supportive response of hybrid to environmental sustainability and vice versa for non-hybrid vehicles. However, the energy consumption in public transport remains a leading hurdle in sustainability across the three modes of transport: taxis, rail transit and buses. Finally, computer trains in public transport also surprisingly deal with environmental sustainability to keep the current & forthcoming generation from ecological harm. However, theoretical and empirical policy suggestions have been proposed to become clean & green shortly.

The HWAM-EMD-GRU Forecasting Model for Short-Term Passenger Flow in an Airport Light Rail Transit Line

Accurate forecasting of airport light rail transit line (ALRTL) outbound passenger flow is critical to the optimal operations of both light rail and airport systems. Considering the nonlinearity, non-stationarity, uncertainty, and periodicity of outbound passenger flow in the ALRTL, we propose a combined forecasting model that integrates the Holt and Winters additive model (HWAM), empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and gated recurrent unit (GRU). Firstly, the edge effect of EMD will greatly affect the performance of the forecasting model. To overcome this, we extend the passenger flow by HWAM. After that, the decomposition method, EMD, can be applied to passenger flow, and several intrinsic mode function (IMF) components can be extracted. After extracting all the IMFs, the remaining part is referred to as the residual (Res) component. Then, a correlation test is performed on all the components, followed by their aggregation. Finally, the GRU is used to predict each of the aggregated components, and the prediction of aggregated components requires reconstruction. To verify the performance of the HWAM-EMD-GRU, we conducted a comparative study on the hourly passenger flow data for Beijing Daxing International Airport Express and set the autoregressive integrated moving average model, HWAM, Prophet, and GRU as the baseline. Predictions of the HWAM-EMD-GRU combined model demonstrated higher accuracy than baseline models, with a root mean square error of 83.52 (Prophet is 110.21) and mean absolute percentage error of 8.32% (Prophet is 12.48 %). The experimental result shows that the HWAM-EMD-GRU forecasting model offers more accurate predictions.

Toward a Better Understanding of the Construction Impacts of a Light Rail System in Montréal, Canada

Large-scale transport infrastructure projects generate long-lasting changes in the built environment and alter the lives of nearby residents. It is crucial to understand public perceptions of public-transit projects and associated construction impacts, as they influence the social acceptance and eventual success of such projects. To characterize the construction-phase experiences of a new light rail in Montréal, Canada—the Réseau express métropolitain (REM)—we analyzed data from 1,236 respondents from the Greater Montréal region who self-reported ongoing construction activities near their homes. This study employs an exploratory factor and k-means cluster analysis to group residents by their different experiences and perceptions of the REM and its associated construction impacts. The analysis returned five clusters with distinct construction experiences: construction-concerned travelers, REM-critical respondents, neutral travelers, REM enthusiasts, and rerouted travelers. Subsequently, the acceptability of the impacts during the construction phase on each cluster is assessed by comparing perceptions of the impact of neighborhood change on their quality of life and their intention to use the REM. Finally, we derive targeted policy recommendations to help promote increased social acceptability of light-rail transit (LRT) projects, including mitigating disruptions in construction zones, public information campaigns, and inclusive decision-making processes. Findings from this study can benefit policymakers and transport planners as they aim to reduce the disruptions associated with the construction of LRT systems and promote increased social acceptability.

Evaluating Performance and Satisfaction of Bus Raid Transit Using the Hybrid T2NN-APPRESAL Method

There are many factors that affect the environment in general, the most important of which is climate change as well as population growth. To preserve the environment, researchers seek to find the best ways and solutions to preserve the quality of the environment through the use of renewable energy to reduce emissions resulting from other energies as well as provide a good life for people in light of population density. The high One of these solutions is bus rapid transit (BRT). It's a public transportation system that uses dedicated lanes to provide fast, efficient bus service. BRT systems often feature stations with elevated platforms for easy boarding, prepayment systems to speed up boarding, and traffic signal priority to keep buses moving smoothly. BRT is designed to offer many of the benefits of light rail or subway systems at a lower cost and with more flexibility. It's commonly implemented in cities around the world as a way to improve public transportation and reduce congestion. The term "BRT" is mainly used in the Americas and China, while in India, it is called "BRTS," and in Europe, it is often referred to as a "busway" or "BHLS." This paper seeks to analyze the BRT system based on its features according to the user’s satisfaction using the Approach for Preference, Performance and Ranking Evaluation with SAtisfaction Level (APPRESAL) method to overcome the problems of multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods that lack in dealing with user satisfaction as well as the influence of factors on the analysis under the type-2 neutrosophic numbers (T2NN) environment to overcome ambiguity and uncertainty resulting from the collected data.

Selection of tramcars for sustainable urban transportation by using the modified WASPAS approach based on Heronian operators

The wrong design of rail system vehicle fleets is one of the most critical problems in terms of urban transportation. Light rail system fleets in many large cities, including Istanbul, consist of various types and feature vehicles. It creates significant problems in integrating each rail system vehicle into the system. In addition, while it is necessary to keep an inventory of spare parts for each different type of vehicle, it requires different qualifications for professionals involved in processes such as maintenance and repair, leading to extra costs. In this context, the study's primary purpose is to determine the most suitable light rail vehicles for urban transportation systems and create vehicle fleets accordingly. In that regard, the study aims to provide a reliable and practical decision-making model that can be used as a roadmap for decision-makers when choosing tramcars to solve these problems. The present work proposes a hybrid procedure integrating the Best and Worst Method (BWM) and Power-Heronian Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS'PH) approaches. The most critical implication of the work indicated that the acquisition cost per tramcar set (0.148) is still the most influential factor. The economic lifespan of tramcars (0.037), the number of seats in a vehicle set (0.041), and energy consumption (0.072) have followed the most significant criterion, respectively. Besides, it highlighted that the A14 Brand CR (0.7819) is the most appropriate option for well-structuring the urban light rail system fleet. An extensive validation test to check the suggested model's robustness confirmed the procedure's stability and consistency.

Validation of a railway rolling noise model on a system with slab track and resilient wheels

This study investigates rolling noise emissions using an analytical model of the Seattle Sound Transit Light Rail system developed using Train Noise Expert (TNE) software. Measurements of track frequency response, decay rate, rail and wheel roughness were used to determine model input parameters. Wheel modal test results were used to characterize the wheels. Wayside noise and track vibration measurements during revenue service train passbys were used to experimentally validate the model. The average difference between measured and predicted overall passby LAeq noise at a position immediately adjacent to the track was 0.1 dBA (average from four scenarios, i.e. two surface track sites with two train types). Inspection of the predicted versus measured noise spectra indicates the model does not exactly match the measured spectrum in every frequency band, however the correlation with overall spectrum shape is good in the frequency bands that contribute most to the overall A-weighted level. It is concluded that the model provides an accurate representation of the most relevant physical rolling noise factors and is reliable with resilient wheels and light rail vehicles on ballast and slab track.

Impacts of COVID-19 on Travel Behaviors: The Case of Izmir

With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, passenger preferences for transportation modes and transportation management strategies have rapidly changed in the last few years. In this study, field research was conducted to reveal the behaviors and perceptions of passengers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Izmir city of Turkey. A total of 1437 participants were asked to evaluate the pre and during pandemic periods with their frequency of use for different types of transportation modes in Izmir. When the results of the study were evaluated holistically, it was revealed that the participants used environmentally friendly transportation modes such as bicycles and e-bikes more than before the pandemic and that they wanted to use them after the pandemic. Despite this, it is seen that the use of taxis and private vehicles has increased during the pandemic, especially for long-distance trips, and the use of public transport and light rail systems (LRS) in general has decreased. Nearly half of respondents (49.7%) said bus drivers did not use adequate protective equipment during the pandemic. In addition, 41.1% of the participants stated that the HES code application was not applied adequately in public transportation. In the study, it was also revealed that the practice of reducing the number of operational public transport vehicles during the pandemic was found to be negative by the participants.

Fixed routing or demand-responsive? Agent-based modelling of autonomous first and last mile services in light-rail systems

Fixed routing or demand-responsive? Agent-based modelling of autonomous first and last mile services in light-rail systems

A Study on the Viability of Adopting Battery Electric Vehicles in Bus Rapid Transit in Brazil Using the AHP Method

Public transport is essential to provide urban mobility, and cities need to offer a fast, comfortable, secure, and low-pollutant public transport mode to attract passengers and reduce private car use. Despite metros, trains, and light rail systems being desirable, the cost of implementation and low flexibility make bus services the best option for many cities. One solution for improving bus service systems is the implementation of bus rapid transit systems that are composed of buses running in segregated lines with pre-payment fares and level boarding platforms in stations. However, the main challenge of bus systems is the use of engines fueled by diesel, which is extremely polluted. One possible solution is the use of battery buses; but are they really feasible regarding daily operation cost? In this paper, we investigate the adoption of battery buses in comparison to diesel engines in a BRT system using municipal data from São Paulo, Brazil, as a reference. We collected operational data from the Sao Paulo city government transport agency and data from the literature to produce an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model, which allowed us to compare both systems. The AHP model considered a triple-bottom-line perspective using social, economic, and environmental impact criteria. The result showed that the initial costs of acquisition can be a barrier, but in the long run, cities adopting battery buses in their BRT system can benefit from the effects of reduction in gas emissions and longer lifetimes of electric bus components. Moreover, the results showed that the adoption of battery buses in BRT systems depends on local government subsidies being implemented.

A structured comparison of causal machine learning methods to assess heterogeneous treatment effects in spatial data

AbstractThe development of the “causal” forest by Wager and Athey (J Am Stat Assoc 113(523): 1228–1242, 2018) represents a significant advance in the area of explanatory/causal machine learning. However, this approach has not yet been widely applied to geographically referenced data, which present some unique issues: the random split of the test and training sets in the typical causal forest design fractures the spatial fabric of geographic data. To help solve this issue, we use a simulated dataset with known properties for average treatment effects and conditional average treatment effects to compare the performance of CF models across different definitions of the test/train split. We also develop a new “spatial” T-learner that can be implemented using predictive methods like random forest to provide estimates of heterogeneous treatment effects across all units. Our results show that all of the machine learning models outperform traditional ordinary least squares regression at identifying the true average treatment effect, but are not significantly different from one another. We then apply the preferred causal forest model in the context of analysing the treatment effect of the construction of the Valley Metro light rail (tram) system on on-road CO2 emissions per capita at the block group level in Maricopa County, Arizona, and find that the neighbourhoods most likely to benefit from treatment are those with higher pre-treatment proportions of transit and pedestrian commuting and lower proportions of auto commuting.

Can We Detect Urban‐Scale CO2 Emission Changes Within Medium‐Sized Cities?

AbstractThe COVID‐19 pandemic resulted in a widespread lockdown during the spring of 2020. Measurements collected on a light rail system in the Salt Lake Valley (SLV), combined with observations from the Utah Urban Carbon Dioxide Network observed a notable decrease in urban CO2 concentrations during the spring of 2020 relative to previous years. These decreases coincided with a ∼30% reduction in average traffic volume. CO2 measurements across the SLV were used within a Bayesian inverse model to spatially allocate anthropogenic emission reductions for the first COVID‐19 lockdown. The inverse model was first used to constrain anthropogenic emissions for the previous year (2019) to provide the best possible estimate of emissions for 2020, before accounting for emission reductions observed during the COVID‐19 lockdown. The posterior emissions for 2019 were then used as the prior emission estimate for the 2020 COVID‐19 lockdown analysis. Results from the inverse analysis suggest that the SLV observed a 20% decrease in afternoon CO2 emissions from March to April 2020 (−90.5 tC hr−1). The largest reductions in CO2 emissions were centered over the northern part of the valley (downtown Salt Lake City), near major roadways, and potentially at industrial point sources. These results demonstrate that CO2 monitoring networks can track reductions in CO2 emissions even in medium‐sized cities like Salt Lake City.

Durability in Design of Light Rail Reinforced Concrete Structures

Recently, a number of light rail systems have been built or extended in North America. Typical design lives of metallic and concrete transit structures are required to exceed 75 y, with exposure to de-icing salts, freeze/thaw, and the potential for stray currents. Measures to mitigate the risks of reinforcement corrosion to rail structures have progressed over the last century, with some diversion between the preferred practices in Europe and North America. One significant difference with large cost impacts on projects is the means and methods to achieve continuity of the reinforcing steel within rail structures to control stray currents to negligible levels. Herein we review the available standards and literature as it relates to the risks of stray current corrosion of reinforcing steel, specifically with respect to the requirement for welding reinforcing. Field measurements of steel resistivity taken during the construction of rail structures are presented to clarify the as-built condition. Taking into account the effect of stray currents on the chloride threshold for corrosion initiation, methods are recommended to achieve durability requirements for the least lifecycle cost to asset owners.

EV’s as energy storage on urban light rail systems — A synergy of requirements

The increasingly urgent need to decarbonize transport is leading to a much greater uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) in countries across the world. Also, the installation and use of urban light rail systems (trams) is seen as a way of breaking the reliance of commuters on the internal combustion engine, and therefore car ownership. Due to the simplicity of design, most conventional tram systems use unidirectional substations to draw power/energy from the utility supply. Due to their very nature, the substations are not able to return excess regenerated energy from the trams back into utility supply, with this energy often being dissipated in dump resistors onboard the trams to prevent over-voltages on the tram system. This paper explores the possibility of using EV’s as temporary trackside energy storage systems on urban light rail systems through the use of bi-directional connection interfaces (chargers), which allow use of the vehicle battery in typical V2X scenarios. The paper uses the city of Sheffield (UK) Supertram network as an example network on which the effect of EV energy storage could be studied.

Utah In Focus

Other| April 01 2023 Utah In Focus Utah Historical Quarterly (2023) 91 (2): 168. https://doi.org/10.5406/26428652.91.2.08 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Utah In Focus. Utah Historical Quarterly 1 April 2023; 91 (2): 168. doi: https://doi.org/10.5406/26428652.91.2.08 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveUniversity of Illinois PressUtah Historical Quarterly Search Advanced Search Monte Meier celebrates at the finish line, March 15, 2002, at the Salt Lake City 2002 Paralympic Winter Games. Team USA's Meier, who lost his right leg at age eight in a gardening accident, won the silver medal in the LW2 Class downhill slalom event at the Snowbasin Resort in Weber County. From March 7–16, 2002, soon after Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, the eighth Winter Paralympics took place at the same venues. From 1996 to 2003, about 3.5 billion dollars were spent preparing for the games, which included expanding Interstate-15 and introducing the TRAX light rail system. The 2002 games would go on to have an important impact on Utah's economy and worldwide image. Utah State Historical Society, MssC_1514_002_004_044.jpg. You do not currently have access to this content.

Development of a Real-Time Wheel Load Quantification System for the Transit Environment

With recent (prepandemic) growth in both transit ridership and the number of passenger rail systems nationwide, researchers have been increasingly interested in quantifying the rail transit loading environment. Research that stemmed from this renewed interest provided engineers with greater insights into the loading demands placed on the track structure of heavy, light, and commuter rail systems. Although results from this earlier work were useful in a general manner, it was not possible to provide agencies with immediately actionable information on wheel loads, since the relevant data were analyzed and reported at a later date. As a result, agencies were unable to monitor their rolling stock wheel health in real time. In addition, trend analysis was not possible because it was not feasible to track specific wheels over time. To address these limitations, researchers at the University of Illinois have developed an economical system that both provides real-time notifications to transit agencies when it detects problematic loading conditions, and tracks specific wheels over time. This paper provides a framework for installing and launching this real-time wheel health monitoring system that transit agencies can replicate, as well as presents some preliminary data that have been collected. By receiving actionable wheel load data and better understanding the wheel deterioration trends present on their networks, agencies can remove bad actor wheels from service before they damage the track structure, improving the state of good repair. In addition, a more thorough understanding of the loading environment will allow them to plan maintenance and design more effectively.

Evaluation of active travel using with the health and economic assessment tool (HEAT): The case of Samsun/Turkey

IntroductionThe widespread use of fossil fuel vehicles in transportation, which is one of the most basic needs of societies, has negative effects on air pollution and traffic congestion. In order to reduce the negativities of the usage of motor vehicles in transportation, countries are trying to expand the use of active travel paths and electric vehicles. However, to increase the use of active travel in transportation, the cities' active travel infrastructure, the traffic density, and the distance for active travel are essential. Active travel path's investment in Turkey is less than in European countries. In this study, planned active travel path investment in Atakum/Turkey has been evaluated from different perspectives in order to provide useful data to decision-makers. MethodHealth Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) was used to analyze the benefits of planned investment. As a result of new investment, four scenarios of the walking and cycling time were assumed as input to HEAT. HEAT outputs compromise premature deaths prevented, physical activity (PA) time, carbon emissions avoided and a benefit/cost ratio for each scenario. In addition to HEAT outputs, the net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) of the planned investment have also been calculated for different scenarios. ResultsIn the Atakum, there is an about 9 km active travel path built on a line parallel to the coast to increase the use of bicycles and the level of walking mobility of the citizens. In addition to that, a new active travel path is planned. The length of the planned active travel path is about 22 km long and is designed to be interconnected with the light rail system. In this study, benefit/cost ratios have been estimated for expected different physical activity (PA) time due to the new active travel path. The highest benefit/cost (B/C) ratio was obtained as 8 with an expected 117 min of PA time for scenario4. The least PA time is 22 min for scenario1 provides B/C ratio of 1. The prevented premature death is 6 for scenario1 and 69 for scenario2. The IRR is estimated to be 83% for 117 min of PA and 6% for 22 min of PA.

Combining Urban Fleet Vehicle Operation with Reducing Energy Wastage in Light Rail Systems

Fleet electric vehicles offer excellent potential for vehicle-to-grid operation, as a result of their predictable use patterns. This paper investigates the potential for linking up urban fleet electric vehicles with wasted energy from urban light rail networks. Vehicle-to-grid charging could be deployed to reduce energy wastage from regenerative braking, while serving as temporary energy storage on the light rail system to reduce energy requirements during acceleration and providing an energy supply for fleets of electric vehicles based in urban areas. This paper uses GPS data from real light rail journeys to estimate regenerative braking energy availability for Edinburgh's light rail network. Findings indicate that electric vehicle charging linked to Edinburgh's light rail network would be beneficial for both parties.

Operational Effıciency and Energy Saving Analysis of Urban Transportation: The Case of Akcaray

Light rail systems are sustainable, energy-efficient, and eco-friendly alternatives to public transport systems that can offer solutions to increasing traffic density. As a solution to that traffic congestion, Akcaray, the first public transportation light rail system in Kocaeli, was launched by Ulasımpark in Kocaeli in 2017. In this study, operational efficiency and service level performance of 12 trams belonging to Akcaray, and 4 bus lines that interact with Akcaray route are compared with one another by Data Envelopment Analysis. It is found out that while the performance efficiency score of Akcaray is 100% in all 12 trams, it is 100% for one bus line only out of 4 busses. In addition, transportation costs, such as energy/fuel, maintenance cost, accident and environmental costs are calculated, and compared separately for both transportation options. Because Akcaray offers less energy consumption per passenger, it is calculated that USD 317,737/year can be saved, thus as a result, Akcaray consumes 1,3 million Sm3 compressed natural gas less while performing public transportation.