Train Station Research Articles

Effect of Distance to Train Station and Mobile Coverage on Land Value: A Case of Tax Valuation in Oreamuno, Costa Rica

Abstract In Costa Rica, a land tax valuation model provided by the Technical Standardization Body (ONT) of the Ministry of Finance is used. This model considers homogeneous areas that include properties with similar characteristics and review factors that have not been recently updated. The objective of this article is to determine the effect of the distance to the train station and mobile coverage on the value of land in Oreamuno, Costa Rica, as a proposal to be included in the mass valuation model of the ONT. A multiple regression econometric model was used to establish the functional relationship between the value of the property and its characteristics, through the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method, using 10 variables applied to 200 references initially. The results allow demonstrating that other variables such as “Distance to the train station” and “Mobile coverage” are representative for determining the value of properties, in addition to those commonly used by the ONT model. The research allows concluding that the land valuation models should be updated periodically and should include variables related to improvements in technology and access roads, since these increase the market value of properties and improve the social development of localities in study.

High-Speed Rail Stations and Airports: Symbolic Infrastructures of Mobility as “Places of Globalisation”

In the current era of mobility, airports and high-speed train stations have turned into necessary infrastructures of any world city. Beyond connecting places physically and energizing economically the cities in which they are located, they play a prominent role in the consolidation and maintenance of world cities, as they are also symbolic facilities, linked to dominant leisure-consumption practices. This more immaterial perspective is emphasised, especially in the face of the greater presence of non-aeronautical uses in these places, which has caused a change of conception in their architectural design, in the leisure-consumption activities that are developed in them and in the attempts to project territorial identities in a world context where homogenisation patterns printed by globalization are generalised. Therefore, in the face of those anthropological conceptions that define them as “non places”, they can be referred to as “places of Globalisation”, that are defined, or are at least heavily influenced, by the contemporary emphasis on leisure, consumption and global mobility.

Raymond A Dieter, Jr. MD MS

Raymond A Dieter, Jr. MD MS

Analysis of rail traffic vibrations’ impact on a residential building. A case study

This paper presents an analysis of the harmful effects of vibrations caused by train traffic in the area of the Radzionków train station and transmitted through the substrate soil to a neighbouring residential building. Mechanical vibrations caused by train traffic were assessed pursuant to the requirements specified in the Polish PN-B-02170:2016-12 standard and compared with the standard threshold values. The research methodology, taking into account a description and location of the measurement site and specification of the measurement apparatus, is also presented.

Górski gatunek Chamaenerion palustre (Onagraceae) w Wielkopolsce

Chamaenerion palustre is distributed in Poland mostly in mountains. It was found in the lowland of Wielkopolska at two ruderal localities on rocky substrates: in 2008 in the town of Buk on a railway siding, and in 2019 in the town of Głogów near railway tracks at the train station.

More mobile, less common? The transit sociality of Rabat’s Central train station

ABSTRACT Over the past few years, Rabat has been undergoing a double-process of modernisation and transformation into a heritage site. Its central railway station, which is currently being transformed into a large interchange hub, reflects the city’s aspiration to become a global metropolis. Previously, this place functioned as an urban magnet where people also came to stroll and socialise. The article explores how the refurbishment is affecting its functional and symbolic uses. Official sources promise that the renewed infrastructure will be a great new ‘milieu de vie’, a notion that summons up a vision of togetherness and an aspiration to metropolitan high life. But will the future project still welcome everyone and every type of sociality? Structured as a before-and-after comparison, the article describes ethnographic observations conducted at the station’s successive entrances. It shows that the new entrance layout may make the infrastructure more functional, but that it offers less opportunity for social activities. Causal interpretations concerning the role of design in facilitating or preventing social practices are proposed. The article concludes that the capacity of transit infrastructures to become a ‘common’ place depends on the connection between physical features and cultural skills. Since Rabat Central Station has become an arena of conflict between tradition and modernity, the paper’s contribution aims to reposition the controversy within a broader perspective, which connects the architectural and social dimensions of a local culture of transit (im)mobility.

Spatial and sociodemographic determinants of energy consumption for personal mobility in the Netherlands

We used a combination of logistic and multilinear regression models to analyze how the built environment and people's sociodemographic characteristics are related to energy consumption for personal mobility in the Netherlands. This energy consumption was accurately and comprehensively quantified based on distances travelled with a large number of modes, distances travelled with different types of cars, the occupancy of cars, and the probability of staying home. Local density was found to be the most important aspect of the built environment: it strongly reduced both the probability of using a passive mode of transportation and the associated energy consumption. Other relevant spatial variables included the landuse mix entropy, green space, and distances to city centers, supermarkets, and train stations. Sociodemographic characteristics were, however, more important overall. In particular, full-time employment was associated with higher energy consumption. Males, respondents from high-income households, and respondents with a higher education degree also consumed significantly more energy despite owning the most efficient cars. Our results thus highlight the importance of an energy policy mix that goes beyond the stimulation of technological progress.

Travelers’ Activities at Modern Train Stations: Kyoto Station, Japan

Cities People Places journal is the official journal associated with the ‘Cities People & Places’ (ICCPP) Annual Conference being organized by the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. Two ICCPP conferences were held in Colombo in 2013 and 2014 and these have established the event as a credible academic endeavor that can bring together academics and practitioners in the fields of urban design, architecture and allied arts. By generating a mass and diversity of knowledge on urban spaces, people and places in cities, the conference is contributing to a greater understanding of cities and urban settlement systems in the modern world. This publication consolidates the development of this knowledge to be made available to a wider spectrum of academics and practitioners.

Comparing Methods for Measuring Walkability

Walkability analyses have gained increased attention for economic, environmental and health reasons, but the methods for assessing walkability have yet to be broadly evaluated. In this paper, five methods for calculating walkability scores are described: in-radius, circle buffers, road network node buffers, road network edge buffers and a fully integrated network approach. Unweighted and various weighted versions are analyzed to capture levels of preference for walking longer distances. The methods are evaluated via an application to train stations in central Tokyo in terms of accuracy, similarity and algorithm performance. The fully integrated network method produces the most accurate results in the shortest amount of processing time, but requires a large upfront investment of time and resources. The circle buffer method runs a bit slower, but does not require any network information and when properly weighted yields walkability scores very similar to the integrated network approach.

What Makes Consumers Purchase Fresh Eggs in Supermarkets: The Effect of Unrealistic Choice Set Matters

Simple SummaryFresh egg is a very fundamental food ingredient to consumers’ daily life, while consumers in Taiwan have faced barriers to effective decision-making for eggs they needed, including the increasing consumer concerns about food safety, traceability, and the increasing demand for animal welfare production. Consequently, Taiwanese supermarkets are eager to identify what types of fresh egg attributes would fit to their customers. Further, the effect of unrealistic options in the choice experiment design has a limited understanding. This study aims to investigate what factors affect customers’ decision-making to purchase fresh eggs in Taiwan. The findings of this research suggest that the effect of unrealistic options in the choice experiment design may mislead the results. Thus, the confirmed results showed that Taiwanese consumers are willing to pay a premium for attributes for animal welfare, traceability, farm brand, and brown color egg. Especially, the attribute of animal welfare reveals a significant effect on consumers’ decision-making. This provides an important hint to government policymakers and egg industry in Taiwan to better understand issues encompassing the diversity of attributes associated with fresh egg products offered in supermarkets.Eggs are the crucial component of daily meals for almost everyone in Taiwan, while the multi-attributes of fresh egg products generate the challenges of marketing and promotions in supermarkets. This study analyzes the market segmentation and consumer willingness-to-pay (WTP) for fresh egg attributes (i.e., color, traceability, animal welfare, brand, and price). In particular, the effect of the unrealistic choice set is considered in this study. The data collection was distributed near markets, schools, and train stations across Taiwan from July to September in 2020. A total of 1115 valid responses were collected, and the Latent Class Model was used. Results show that fresh egg products in supermarkets reveal a strong preference for animal welfare label with the highest WTP, which is about 64.2 NT$ (≈US$ 2.29). Furthermore, traceability label, farm brand, and brown-color egg still exhibit positive WTP of about 33.4 NT$ (≈US$ 1.19), 32.6 NT$ (≈US$ 1.16), and 32.5 NT$ (≈US$ 1.16) in supermarkets, respectively. However, including the unrealistic choice set can potentially alter the final outcomes, and it provides a good example for researchers who may have the same situation. This research helps to know more about the complexity of attributes for fresh egg products in supermarkets, so marketers would be able to adopt the effective marketing strategies for fresh egg products in supermarkets.

Using existing infrastructures of high-speed railways for photovoltaic electricity generation

Cities worldwide are stepping up efforts to reshape their infrastructure to ensure a carbon-neutral and sustainable future, leading to the rapid electrification of transportation systems. The electricity demand of this sector, particularly that of high-speed railways, is increasing. Application of the existing infrastructures of railway stations and available land along rail lines for photovoltaic (PV) electricity generation has the potential to power high-speed bullet trains with renewable energy and supply surplus electricity to surrounding users. In this work, a methodology based on a geographic information system was established to evaluate the PV potential along rail lines and on the roofs of train stations. The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway (HSR) was used as a case study. Its total PV potential reached 5.65 GW (of which the station potential accounted for 264 MW, approximately 4.68%, of the total potential), with a lifelong generation capacity of 155 TWh, which corresponds to approximately 12% of the total new installed capacity of China in 2020. Although electricity prices and solar resources differed along the railway line, all PV systems were profitable. Moreover, a comparison between the electricity consumption and generation shows that the PV+HSR system can cover most of the electricity demand of the Beijing-Shanghai HSR without a storage system. This concept can be further expanded to other rail lines and stations. Within the context of global carbon peaks and carbon neutrality, the integration of PV and railway systems should be promoted.

Commuters’ Perceptions of Littering on Trains in South Africa: A Case for Environmental Social Work

Environmental social work is a growing area of interest in social work globally; yet in South Africa there is still an absence of literature in this field. Building on the definition of environmental social work as assisting humanity in creating and sustaining a biodiverse planetary ecosystem, we researched the relationship between perceptions of waste disposal behaviour and waste disposal practices such as littering. Littering has been underexplored in developing countries, including in South Africa, and particularly in South African public transport. This article reports on the results of a case study at one train station in the Western Cape province of South Africa to explore and understand possible reasons for littering on trains and train stations as perceived by commuters. A qualitative exploratory methodology was used to collect 21 in-depth semi-structured interviews at the train station. The data were thematically analysed and the perceived determinants of littering were highlighted. The findings echoed the global literature referring to a lack of infrastructure such as bins, the litterers’ personal traits, and the need for education and awareness. Two unique South African themes emerged: job creation and dissatisfaction with the government or authorities not being responsive to the commuters’ needs. This study, the first on littering on trains in South Africa, makes a case for the importance of environmental social work by demonstrating the way in which it could contribute to sustainability and reaching the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Architecture of Small Type Train Station in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

The reason for the construction of the Ngabean (Yogyakarta)-Palbapang (Bantul)-Sewugalur (Kulon Progo) railway line with a length of 28 km was to accommodate 4 sugar factories along the line. In order to shorten the rail transport line on the Yogyakarta-Sewugalur railway line, 12 small stations were made. But unfortunately, in 1942 this line was closed causing some of these stations to be closed and disappeared. Among the available stations are Winongo Station, Bantul Station, and Palbapang Station. This study aims to look at the characteristics of 18th century Dutch Indonesian architecture in the station building. Knowing the architectural character of the station building can play as a reference for maintaining the conservation of historical buildings in Indonesia. This study employed a rationalistic-qualitative approach. To identify the architectural character of the station building, this study was conducted by looking at the spatial system, architectural system, and structural building system. From the results of the study, it was found that Winongo Station, Bantul Station, and Palbapang Station have a distinctive character both from the spatial system, architectural system, and structural system.

Effects of atmospheric pollutants on human health and deterioration of medieval historical architecture (North Africa, Tunisia)

Air pollution is a factor of concern on a global scale, accelerating the deterioration of historic medieval architecture and having harmful effects on human health. The general objective of this study is to understand the risks of atmospheric contamination that contribute to the degradation of the medieval historical heritage of (1) Bab El Bhar, (2) the Tunis Train Station and (3) the Bardo National Museum, in the City of Tunis, capital of Tunisia, located in North Africa. Sequentially, 64 samples were collected in SMPSs and 64 of dust particles in sites 1, 2 and 3, from 2015 to 2019. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) was utilized together with High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR-TEM) and the coupled with an Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDS), which allowed a better characterization and identification of NPs in images, using Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDS). The Bab El Bhar SMPS samples yielded a higher proportion of ultrafine and organic particles. Sedimented dusts showed high proportions of organometallic particles (Al, As, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, Pb, S, Sb, Se, Si, Sn, Ti, V and Zn). The need to create public policies to protect both human health and physical historic infrastructure is noted, as this study identified dangerous elements harmful to human health in ultrafine particles, easily suspended by the wind and highly corrosive to historical buildings from the medieval period in the air of a busy metropolitan tourist site.

Innovation durch Technik? Rohrpostsysteme als Medientechnologien der Verwaltung im 20. Jahrhundert

Abstract This paper deals with the role of pneumatic tube systems in public administration in the twentieth century. Based on archival sources and considering examples as different as ministries in Zagreb and Bucharest, the British military administration in the 1940s, the customs and train stations on the Swiss-Italian border as well as governmental buildings in Bonn and Bern around 1970, this article shows in what ways pneumatic mail tubes were interpreted as fostering (or not) innovation in public administration and how clerks were actually dealing with this (not always effective) communication system.

Children on the move: Guided participation in travel activities

The present article explores how children appropriate travel competence. The data material consists of 12 h of video recordings of five families prior to journeys where children travel by public transport without a known adult. Through analyses of adult-child interactions in an airport and a train station, we show how children become positioned and act as learners in busy and semiotically complex public spaces. Situated activities such as finding an airport gate and planning an upcoming train change became learning activities in which adults guided children in identifying, understanding and acting upon travel information. We show how adults highlight features in the environment as relevant for the task at hand, and in cooperation with children establish and sustain a joint focus of attention. The activities were organised as collaborative tasks that enabled children to develop and display competence in using such sources of information as signs, tickets and audible messages, and to identify and solve emerging problems.

Passenger shuttle service network design in an airport

This study examines the service network design problem (SNDP) for passenger shuttle buses in the airport and nearby places (e.g. train stations, parking, hotels, shopping areas). A time–space service network for bus flows and time–space networks for passenger flows are developed. Based on proposed time–space networks, the studied SNDP is formulated as a mixed integer linear program (MILP) for a single-type bus fleet and deterministic passenger demand, where the objective is to minimize the weighted sum of passenger cost and service operating cost. We then extend the developed SNDP model to the heterogeneous multi-type bus fleet case and the stochastic demand case. To solve the stochastic demand case, a Monte Carlo simulation-based approach is adopted, which is further coupled with the ‘effective demand’ concept (mean demand value plus a margin). The proposed SNDP models and solution approach are applied on the inter-terminal transport network at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport for illustration.

Shared automated vehicle fleet operations for first-mile last-mile transit connections with dynamic pooling

Shared automated vehicles (SAVs) have the potential to promote transit ridership by providing efficient first-mile last-mile (FMLM) connections through reduced operational costs to fleet providers and lower out-of-pocket costs to riders. To help plan for a future of integrated mobility, this paper investigates the impacts of SAVs serving FMLM connections, as a mode that provides flexibility in access/egress decisions and is well coordinated with train station schedules. To achieve this objective, a novel dynamic pooling algorithm was introduced to match SAVs with riders while coordinating the riders' arrival times at the light-rail station to a known train schedule. Microsimulations of SAVs and travelers throughout two central Austin neighborhoods show how larger service areas, higher levels of SAV demand, and longer arrival times between successive trains require larger SAV fleet sizes and higher SAV utilization rates to deliver close traveler wait times. Four-person SAVs appear to perform similar to 6-seat SAVs but will cost less to provide. Using a dynamic pooling algorithm tightly coordinated with train arrivals (every 15 min) delivers 87% of travelers to their stations in time to catch the next train, while uncoordinated assignments deliver just 58% of travelers in time.

Neurological outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest occurring in Tokyo train and subway stations

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to identify a relationship between the background environment, bystander and emergency medical services intervention, and favourable neurological outcomes (CPC1-2) one-month after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) occurred at Tokyo train and subway stations. MethodsThis retrospective observational study used OHCA data between 2014 and 2018 that occurred at train stations in Tokyo. The eligible 954 patients were analysed for correlation between background, time frame, and location. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate factors associated with CPC1-2 in patients with cardiogenic OHCA. ResultsA total of 886 OHCA cases, cardiogenic (n=562) and non-cardiogenic (n=324), met the inclusion criteria. Of the cardiogenic cases, 71.9% occurred at the platform and on-a-train. One-month CPC1-2 was achieved in 32.0% of cardiogenic OHCAs, which included 47.3% during morning rush hour, 24.7% during daytime hours, 40.2% during evening rush hour, and 20.5% during night-time/early morning hours. CPC1-2 had significant correlation with morning rush hour (adjusted odds ratio [AOR],4.52; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09–18.78), evening rush hour (AOR, 6.85; 95% CI, 1.51–31.15), public access defibrillation (AOR, 5.19; 95% CI, 1.38–19.51), and ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia (AOR, 7.56; 95% CI, 1.35–42.43). ConclusionA total of 71.9% of cardiogenic OHCAs occurred at platforms and on trains. To improve neurological outcomes of OHCAs at stations, AED installations on train platforms are necessary. Additionally, using artificial intelligence-based platform monitoring for early detection of OHCAs and offering CPR training are required.

The Risk of Mainstreaming Economic Growth and Tourism on Preventing Covid-19 in Indonesia

The outbreak of Covid-19 has put serious pressure on the management of international tourism problems and Indonesia, being a tourist attraction, is not an exception. In this wake, the main purpose of this study was to analyze the dilemma of Indonesia’s health policy in maintaining the stream of tourism visitors as well as containing the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Qualitative research methods were used in this research. Data collection was conducted through constitutional legislations, press releases from the Indonesian Covid-19 special task force and observations gathered from numerous public facilities which are mostly used by travellers such as airport, train and bus station. This research reveals that that the policy prioritizing to the safety of economic growth and tourism in the global pandemic context is inclined to be more contra-productive to the management of containing contagion. It was also found that the implementation of health protocols and restrictions on social activities is also claimed to be the most and efficient way to contain the contagion.