Transportation Facilities Research Articles

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF THE TRANS METRO DELI PROGRAM IN IMPROVING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SERVICES IN MEDAN CITY

This study aims to determine and describe the Performance Evaluation of the Trans Metro Deli Program in Improving Public Transportation Services in Medan City. At the beginning of its operation, Trans Metro Deli received good views from the public because it could be enjoyed for free. However, the implementation of the Trans Metro Deli program, which has been almost 3 years, has not fully addressed the problems in the field, so it is necessary to evaluate the performance of the Trans Metro Deli program. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe in detail performance evaluation of the Trans Metro Deli Program by looking at Helmut Wollman's evaluation indicators: Effectiveness, Efficiency and Equity. This research use descriptive qualitative approach. Based on the research results, performance evaluation of the Trans Metro Deli program was carried out using three evaluation indicators: First, effectiveness is running well but is hampered by the problem of illegal parking which has not been resolved. Second, efficiency needs to be considered to increase the number of human resources in the technology department. Third, Equity is not yet optimal, this can be seen from the 217 bus stops, only 60 of them were made permanent while the rest were damaged. Therefore, it is very necessary to improve the transportation facilities and infrastructure in Medan that are able to meet the needs of all levels of society, especially for the disabled and the elderly.

ANALISIS TINGKAT KESEJAHTERAAN RUMAH TANGGA NELAYAN

The study was conducted on a fisherman's household in Weru Village, Paciran district of Lamongan. The objective of the study was to find out the relationship between income, consumption, housing conditions, accommodation facilities, family members' health, access to health services, children's access to education, and access to transport facilities to the well-being of fishermen's households, both simultaneously and partially. The method used in this research uses associative descriptive methods. The study used 91 as a sample of the study using double linear regression analysis. Hypothesis testing in this study uses test-F and test-t statistics. The statistical analytics process uses the SPSS for Windows 25 program. According to the results of the study, the influence of income, consumption, housing conditions, accommodation facilities, the health of family members, access to health services, children's education, and access to transport facilities on the well-being of fishermen's households, carried out with a determination coefficient analysis, has an impact of 0.998 or 99.8%, i.e. income, consumer, conditions of housing, accommodations, family members' health, health of health services access, child education access, and transport facility access have an effect of 99.8% on fisherman's welfare and the remaining 0.2% is influenced by other factors not studied by the author.

The Impact of Rail Transport Infrastructure on Residential Property Rental Values in Kubwa, Abuja, Nigeria

On a global scale, numerous research studies have been embarked upon to show the level of relationship between transport facilities and residential rental values. This study dwelt on the various aspects of rail infrastructure and how it impacts on residential rental values. To accomplish the aim, questionnaires were distributed to head of households and practicing Estate Surveyors and Valuers in Kubwa, Nigeria. Physical observation also aided the researcher in data gathering. Data were interpreted using tables and percentage while Karl Pearson product moment correlation with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences was employed for data analysis. From the correlation analysis the result revealed that the value of r (Pearson correlation) is 0.751 which indicates strong relationship. The p-value (.001) was less than 0.05 significant level. It was confirmed that the rail transport infrastructure has significant impact on residential rental values in Kubwa, Abuja. This translates to growth in rental values. The study recommended government initiatives on the rail system which directly increases the quantity of optimum rail lines of high-frequency metro lines resulting to a substantial increase in real estate values. This study has provided firsthand information and guide for property investors, estate surveyors, built environment professionals as well as government agencies on the importance of rail infrastructure and the various ways it can positively or negatively affect rental values.

The whole journey chain with public transport for people with autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – a scoping review

ABSTRACT Independent transport mobility is an important contributor to health, well-being, and participation. Several skills and competences are required for a person to use the transport system. The characteristics of cognitive disorders, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), may pose barriers to independent travel. Methods The study’s aim was to synthesise knowledge on the use of public transport among individuals with ASD or ADHD using the whole journey chain perspective. A scoping review using the PRISMA ScR framework was conducted, and included articles published between January 2012 and June 2022. A total of 11 studies from four countries were included in the analysis. Results This study complements the whole journey chain perspective with a phase that takes place long before the journey begins, and which concerns planning and preparation. Confident travellers could easily learn new routes, while those lacking confidence faced challenges, especially with unexpected route changes or cancellations. Conclusions There is a great need for emphasis on the design of public transport facilities and public spaces to increase the sense of safety for travellers with ASD, and to assist them with information-seeking, comprehension, and recovery between journeys.

Investigation of Failures of Three Precast Post-Tensioned Segmental Concrete (PSC) Box Girder Bridges During Construction

Considering the fast pace of construction development, with a consistent increase in the volume of traffic, both road and rail traffic in developing countries like India, which are constrained by the limitation of land availability, especially in built-up or urban areas, lateral expansion in transport facilities has become increasingly challenging. Under such circumstances, vertical expansion through the construction of long flyovers or elevated structures is the most viable solution to meet traffic demand. Road and railway bridges are complex structures by nature with respect to their design and construction requirements based on a high level of knowledge, expertise and experience. Hence, some structural failures are taking place even during the construction stage of bridges owing to material quality issues as well as human error, to name but a few of the causes. This paper presents three case studies related to the investigation process and the primary cause(s) of the collapse of three different precast concrete post-tensioned segmental concrete (PSC) box girder bridges in India, with the corresponding lessons learnt and proposed recommendations. This paper covers issues relating to the investigation of the reasons leading to the failures of three precast concrete PSC box girders and a few suggestions for remedial measures.

Sistem Informasi Geografis Untuk Visualisasi Daerah Rawan Kecelakaan Lalu Lintas Jalan Arteri Primer Kota Surabaya

Accidents are an event that often occurs on the highway, especially in big cities, one of which is Surabaya City. Accidents are one of the main problems for the safety of road users. Almost all activities carried out require transportation facilities, if the transportation facilities do not run well due to traffic accidents, the activities carried out will not run well. Therefore, a solution is needed to reduce accidents by building an accident-prone area information system. In determining the criteria for accident-prone areas, it is taken from the Republic of Indonesia Police, the Department of Transportation, and Public Works, based on the number of accidents, the number of fatalities of victims, and road conditions. This research is an effort to visualize the occurrence of accidents using spatial data of Surabaya City road network maps and non-spatial data, namely accident data and road data obtained from the police and the Bina Marga Service. In the final result of this research, an application is obtained that can provide visualization of accident-prone areas such as Ahmad Yani road which is a road with a high accident rate with the number of incidents and has the highest victim fatality weighting results among 9 other primary arterial roads. Keywords:Accident Prone Areas, Geographic Information System, Surabaya City, Traffic, Transportation

Geosynthetic stabilization of road pavements, railroads, and airfields

Geosynthetics provide sustainable alternatives for enhanced performance, durability and cost-effectiveness of road pavements, railways, and airfields. Even when the same geosynthetic products are used for constructing these different transportation facilities, an optimal approach is needed to match the properties of soils or unbound aggregate geomaterials and the geosynthetic products to establish an effective mechanical stabilization. This Proctor lecture keynote paper presents the state-of-the-practice on the transportation applications of geosynthetics, design methods, and the recent research findings on geosynthetics used in road and airfield pavements and ballasted railway tracks. The paper introduces first the transportation applications of commonly used geosynthetic products, i.e., geogrids, geotextiles, and geocells, with special emphases to subgrade restraint and unbound aggregate stabilization applications and discusses in detail the related unpaved and paved design procedures. Next, the focus is directed towards establishing a better understanding of geosynthetic mechanisms governing stabilization applications. To summarize, this keynote paper reports on two decades of developments and research findings at the University of Illinois and elsewhere on the topic of geosynthetic stabilization using the latest technologies to quantify the stiffness enhancement in the vicinity of a geosynthetic material via the bearing capacity improvement and lateral restraint mechanisms. Recent research at the University of Illinois focused on the successful use of bender element shear wave transducer technology is discussed in detail with several examples given related to the laboratory and field efforts of unbound aggregate base and railroad ballast geosynthetic stabilization including full-scale instrumentation of stabilization geosynthetics used in actual road and airfield pavements constructed in the United States.

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF HYDRATE FORMATION PECULIARITIES FOR CONDITIONS OF THE TURNO AND CENOMANIAN DEPOSITS. Part I

This paper is the Part I of a study devoted to investigating the peculiarities of hydrate formation for the conditions of Turonian and Cenomanian reservoirs. The launch of new gas projects at the Turon and Senoman production facilities in Western Siberia provided a good opportunity to critically analyze the known methods of protecting production, gathering and transportation facilities of the gas field from the formation of solid gas hydrates. The paper presents the experience of implementing a program of laboratory studies of conditions of gas hydrate formation with their subsequent processing and in-depth analysis. The research program covered the area of thermobaric parameters typical for the conditions of Turon-Senoman deposits exploitation with localization of hydrate-hazardous areas in the conditions of technological regimes for full development. The description of laboratory studies is given, in which two gas compositions of Senoman and Turon objects, different variants of mineralization and ionic composition corresponding to formation and condensation water, as well as hydrate formation conditions under changing dosages of basic inhibitor on the basis of methanol were considered. The details of the experiment based on the method of swinging cells and the subsequent analysis of the results of the completed experiments to determine the thermobaric conditions of formation and decomposition of hydrates are given. The main features of the experiment are specified, estimates of the rate of change of the influencing parameters of the experiment on its quality are given. In the process of implementation of the experimental program, the optimal values of these parameters were selected, which allowed us to significantly reduce the variation of experimental results to determine the thermobaric conditions of hydrate formation. It is experimentally established that the temperature of hydrate decomposition is higher than the temperature of its formation at all investigated gas compositions and water mineralization.Based on the processing of an extensive matrix of experimental studies, the calculation dependences of thermobaric conditions of hydrate formation were specified, which allowed to significantly improve the efficiency of prediction and accuracy of calculation of optimal dosages of inhibitor for the Kharampurskoye gas field. In this part of the study, the characteristic thermobaric conditions of natural gas production and collection from Turonian-Cenomanian deposits are summarized, the component composition of the investigated gas and water is described, and the methodology of laboratory tests is described.

Cost-Effective Data Acquisition Systems for Advanced Structural Health Monitoring.

With the growing demand for infrastructure and transportation facilities, the need for advanced structural health monitoring (SHM) systems is critical. This study introduces two innovative, cost-effective, standalone, and open-source data acquisition devices designed to enhance SHM through the latest sensing technologies. The first device, termed CEDAS_acc, integrates the ADXL355 MEMS accelerometer with a RaspberryPi mini-computer, ideal for measuring strong ground motions and assessing structural modal properties during forced vibration tests and structural monitoring of mid-rise buildings. The second device, CEDAS_geo, incorporates the SM24 geophone sensor with a Raspberry Pi, designed for weak ground motion measurements, making it suitable for seismograph networks, seismological research, and early warning systems. Both devices function as acceleration/velocity Data Acquisition Systems (DAS) and standalone data loggers, featuring hardware components such as a single-board mini-computer, sensors, Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADCs), and micro-SD cards housed in protective casings. The CEDAS_acc includes a triaxial MEMS accelerometer with three ADCs, while the CEDAS_geo uses horizontal and vertical geophone elements with an ADC board. To validate these devices, rigorous tests were conducted. Offset Test, conducted by placing the sensor on a leveled flat surface in six orientations, demonstrating the accelerometer's ability to provide accurate measurements using gravity as a reference; Frequency Response Test, performed at the Gebze Technical University Earthquake and Structure Laboratory (GTU-ESL), comparing the devices' responses to the GURALP-5TDE reference sensor, with CEDAS_acc evaluated on a shaking table and CEDAS_geo's performance assessed using ambient vibration records; and Noise Test, executed in a low-noise rural area to determine the intrinsic noise of CEDAS_geo, showing its capability to capture vibrations lower than ambient noise levels. Further field tests were conducted on a 10-story reinforced concrete building in Gaziantep, Turkey, instrumented with 8 CEDAS_acc and 1 CEDAS_geo devices. The building's response to a magnitude 3.2 earthquake and ambient vibrations was analyzed, comparing results to the GURALP-5TDE reference sensors and demonstrating the devices' accuracy in capturing peak accelerations and modal frequencies with minimal deviations. The study also introduced the Record Analyzer (RECANA) web application for managing data analysis on CEDAS devices, supporting various data formats, and providing tools for filtering, calibrating, and exporting data. This comprehensive study presents valuable, practical solutions for SHM, enhancing accessibility, reliability, and efficiency in structural and seismic monitoring applications and offering robust alternatives to traditional, costlier systems.

THE ROLE OF THE VILLAGE GOVERNMENT IN EMPOWERING THE COMMUNITY TOWARDS WASTE MANAGEMENT IN GAMPONG JAWA - BANDA ACEH CITY

The Gampong government has an important role in empowering the community. This is the case with the Gampong Jawa government, which empowers community groups to manage waste. This research aims to discover the role played by the village government in empowering the community towards waste management in Gampong Jawa, Banda Aceh City. In this study, researchers used qualitative research methods with a descriptive approach. The data sources obtained are primary data from direct interviews with 5 informants in Gampong Jawa Banda Aceh City and secondary data collected from the field and library supporting documents. The data collection techniques used in this research are observation, interviews, and documentation sent directly to the research location. From the results of the study, it can be concluded that the role of the village government in waste management is very necessary for community empowerment of the surrounding environment. Then, the results of the discussion state that the village government's lack of participation and supervision in waste management by the community is a problem. The village government pays little attention to waste management groups in Gampong Jawa. The form of attention of the Gampong government only facilitates transportation facilities, such as garbage trucks and rickshaws, in waste management by the community.

지하공간에서 건설 공사를 위한 법제 고찰

The necessity for construction projects in underground spaces is gradually increasing. Currently, since there is no special law governing underground spaces, the Civil Code is applied. However, the Civil Code does not present a legal concept for underground spaces or deep strata. Therefore, there has been ongoing debate on whether the effect of land ownership under the Civil Code is recognized or excluded in deep strata. The “Deep Strata Act (Draft)” proposed in September 2020 mainly stipulates that when constructing or managing transportation facilities in deep strata, it is permissible to use the deep strata underground, and in such cases, compensation for the land as prescribed by the “Land Compensation Act” is not required, nor is it necessary to establish a separate superficies under the Civil Code. This premise implies that ownership rights do not extend below the boundary depth. However, simply limiting private ownership rights for public projects could lead to essential infringements on property rights, which necessitates considering the relationship between ownership and superficies under the Civil Code, as well as compensation for losses, when enacting special laws. Particularly, unlike the Japanese Civil Code, Article 212 of the Korean Civil Code includes an abstract provision of “legitimate interest,” making it difficult to adopt the Japanese Deep Strata Act as is. Under the current legal system, construction projects in deep strata require individual assessments of the scope of ownership, as well as the establishment of separate superficies and compensation for losses. Nevertheless, for the efficiency of construction projects in deep strata, it is believed that not only the enactment of special laws but also a legal review of the Civil Code and other legal principles is necessary.

Transportation Mode Choice and Sustainability

This study conducted in Bandung Regency delves into the factors influencing the choice of transportation modes for tourists and provides practical insights. Specifically, the research examines the influence of park-and-ride security, travel time savings, and travel costs on the selection of private vehicles and shuttle buses. The findings emphasize the importance of sustainable transportation facilities and efficient public transport services, offering a practical roadmap for addressing transportation needs for tourists in Bandung Regency. With a focus on the park-and-ride concept, this research identifies and analyzes the factors influencing mode choice between private vehicles and public transportation. The study was conducted in Ciwidey, a natural tourism area in Bandung Regency, which offers diverse attractions such as nature-based tourism, ancient sites, culinary experiences, and water tourism. The findings of this research aim to contribute to the improvement of sustainable transportation and mobility choices for tourists while alleviating traffic congestion and environmental impact in Bandung Regency's tourism areas.

Ensuring the stability of deep boilers of high-rise buildings

In today's conditions, the development of underground space can rightly be considered one of the most important and dynamic directions in civil and industrial construction at the worldlevel. In Ukraine, underground construction is important in connection with Russia's aggressive war. Underground and buried structures are most actively built in large cities and megacities. The main reasons for the need to use underground space in cities include the lack of free territories within historically formed buildings and requirements for urban infrastructure development. Today, the underground space is used not onlyfor the placement of engineering communicationsand transport facilities, but also for the construction of public complexes, multi-story underground garages and parking lots, shopping centers, as well asburied parts of residential and office buildings. Structural solutions for underground and buried structures, as well as their construction methods, depend on spatial planning solutions, purpose, depth of laying, engineering-geological, climatic and seismic construction conditions, surface loads, and the proximity of other buildings and buildings. Today, the maximum depth of pits designed inurban conditions usually do not exceed 25-30 m, and the number of underground floors is five to six. Given the growing demand for underground space, especially in densely populated areas, designers and engineers face a number of challengesthat require innovative approaches and modern technologies. This includes the use of the latest methods of geotechnical modeling, the use of highquality materials that ensure the durability and safety of structures, and the implementation of effective water drainage and waterproofing systems. Particular attention should be paid to safety issues during the construction and operation of underground structures, as they may be exposed to natural and man-made factors, such as groundwater, soil movement, and seismic activity. An important aspect is also the provision of comfortable conditions for people using underground facilities, which includes ventilation, lighting and evacuation routes. Scientific research and the experience of international projects demonstrate that the correct use of underground space can significantly increase the efficiency of the use of urban areas, contribute to the steady development of cities and improve the quality of life of their residents. Investments in underground construction are becoming more and more justified in view of the long-term benefits and theneed to adapt to the conditions of the modern urban environment. In general, underground construction is an important direction that has significant potential for development and improvement in the future, responding to the challenges of time and contributing to the development of modern infrastructure.

Effectiveness of spatial measurement model based on SDM-STIRPAT in measuring carbon emissions from transportation facilities

To gain a deeper understanding of the carbon emission mechanism from transportation facilities, all system elements affecting carbon emissions from regional transportation facilities are identified and analyzed according to panel data from 30 regions in China. A spatial econometric model for carbon emissions from transportation facilities is constructed using the Spatial Dolbin model from 2004 to 2022 as the research period. From the results, the carbon dioxide emissions from transportation facilities added from 318 million tons in 2004 to 752 million tons in 2022, with an average annual growth rate of 4.9%. The global spatial auto-correlation coefficient was significant at the 5%, with an obvious spatial correlation between carbon dioxide emissions within a geographical range. In addition, through stability testing, the model showed high stability in both spatial lag testing and spatial error testing, demonstrating strong ability to interpret data. The research shows that the carbon emission is affected by independent variables, including population, economy, technology, and transportation, and exhibit significant spatial distribution characteristics in different regions and years, providing a basis for policy formulation and carbon emission management.

Problems of Countering Terrorism in the Decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation

The paper elucidates the problems related to various aspects of counter-terrorism activities in Russia. This activity involves the use of a set of political, socio-economic, information and propaganda, legal, special and other measures, the possibility of introducing a legal regime for a counter-terrorism operation, as well as ensuring the restoration of the rights of persons affected by the actions of terrorists. The author examines the content of the legal standing of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation concerning the forms and methods of antiterrorist activities, including the criteria for evaluating the legal restrictions applied in this case, their admissibility and proportionality. Special attention is paid to constitutionally significant aspects of the consideration of criminal cases on terrorism, problems of anti-terrorist protection of transport and other infrastructure facilities, issues of social protection of military personnel, law enforcement officers and other persons engaged in countering terrorism. The author explains the significance of the legal standings defined by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the nature of their impact on law-making and law enforcement activities in the area under consideration.

SATISFACTION OF TRAINEES REGARDING TRAINING PROGRAMMES ORGANIZED BY CENTRE FOR TRAINING AND EMPOWERMENT OF RURAL WOMEN

The present study was undertaken to assess the satisfaction level of the trainees about trainings organized by ‘Centre for Training and Empowerment of Rural Women.’ This study was conducted in five talukas of Banaskantha district. Sixteen villages purposively selected where training programmes were organised. A total of 200 (Skill traninig 100 + Awareness programmes 100) rural women were selected for the study randomly. The findings of the study reveal that majority of the respondents had high satisfaction level and were fully satisfied with all the aspect of trainings except transportation facility. The main constraint faced by the respondents was non-use of projector in off-campus training programmes. It can be concluded that trainings organised by the centre were beneficial to rural women for knowledge and skill enhancement, venture creation and income generation. Rural women were fully satisfied with training programmes organized by the centre and look forward to attend more training programmes.

Global, regional, and national burdens of mild traumatic brain injuries from 1990-2019: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 - a cross-sectional study.

The objective of this study was to utilize data from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2019 to estimate the patterns and prevalence of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) from 1990 to 2019, with the intention of informing the development of efficacious intervention strategies. Data from the GBD 2019 were examined to determine the prevalence, incidence, and rates of years lived with disability (YLDs) associated with mTBI across global geographic populations from 1990 to 2019. To assess temporal patterns, estimated annual percentage changes (EAPCs) and age-standardized rates were computed. Additionally, an age-period-cohort model (APC model) framework was employed to analyze potential trends in incidence based on age, period, and birth cohort. In 2019, there were a total of 12,268.5 thousand incident cases (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 992.66 to 1,602.07), 11,482.5 thousand prevalent cases (95% UI 107.59 to 123.52), and 1,366.9 thousand YLDs (95% UI 96.36 to 183.35) of mTBI worldwide. The age-standardized rates (ASRs) of incidence, prevalence, and YLDs exhibited a decline from 1990 to 2019. Across all age groups, males had higher prevalence, incidence and YLDs rates. Furthermore, middle-aged and elderly adults experienced a greater disease burden. The primary causes of the global mTBI burden in 2019 were falls and road injuries. According to the APC model, the age effect trend exhibited a similar pattern across individual sociodemographic index (SDI) groups, characterized by an initial increase, followed by a decrease and a subsequent increase. Regarding the period effect, each SDI group demonstrated variation, with the middle SDI group notably displaying a consistent increase. Furthermore, in terms of the birth effect, the middle-SDI group experienced the most substantial and continuous increase. The global incident cases and prevalent cases of mTBI increased significantly from 1990 to 2019, with a heavier burden observed in males, older adults, and in low SDI such as Afghanistan. More efforts are needed in the prevention and management of mTBI, such as reducing the incidence of falls among older people and building safer road transport facilities to reduce the burden of mTBI.

Classification of autonomous vehicle crash severity: Solving the problems of imbalanced datasets and small sample size

Only a few researchers have shown how environmental factors and road features relate to Autonomous Vehicle (AV) crash severity levels, and none have focused on the data limitation problems, such as small sample sizes, imbalanced datasets, and high dimensional features. To address these problems, we analyzed an AV crash dataset (2019 to 2021) from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (CA DMV), which included 266 collision reports (51 of those causing injuries). We included external environmental variables by collecting various points of interest (POIs) and roadway features from Open Street Map (OSM) and Data San Francisco (SF). Random Over-Sampling Examples (ROSE) and the Synthetic Minority Over-Sampling Technique (SMOTE) methods were used to balance the dataset and increase the sample size. These two balancing methods were used to expand the dataset and solve the small sample size problem simultaneously. Mutual information, random forest, and XGboost were utilized to address the high dimensional feature and the selection problem caused by including a variety of types of POIs as predictive variables. Because existing studies do not use consistent procedures, we compared the effectiveness of using the feature-selection preprocessing method as the first process to employing the data-balance technique as the first process.Our results showed that AV crash severity levels are related to vehicle manufacturers, vehicle damage level, collision type, vehicle movement, the parties involved in the crash, speed limit, and some types of POIs (areas near transportation, entertainment venues, public places, schools, and medical facilities). Both resampling methods and three data preprocessing methods improved model performance, and the model that used SMOTE and data-balancing first was the best. The results suggest that over-sampling and the feature selection method can improve model prediction performance and define new factors related to AV crash severity levels.

Assessing the Impact of Transportation on Seal Behaviour: A Case Study from Ísafjörður, Iceland.

This study explores the behavioural responses of seals to various disturbances while hauling out within a transport hub featuring diverse transport facilities. Utilising Factor Analysis of Mixed Data (FAMD) on observations from September 2021 to May 2023 in Ísafjörður, Iceland, the research reveals that watercraft, particularly kayaks, significantly affect seal haul-out behaviour, triggering vigilance and flush responses. Aerial vehicles also induce stress responses, whereas road-based vehicles have lower impacts. These findings highlight the substantial influence of human activities, especially transportation, on seal haul-out behaviour, suggesting a need for mitigating strategies to reduce these impacts.

Environmental impact assessment for large carnivores: a methodological review of the wolf Canis lupus monitoring in Portugal

The continuous growth of the global human population results in increased use and change of landscapes, with infrastructures like transportation or energy facilities being a particular risk to large carnivores. Environmental impact assessments were established to identify the probable environmental consequences of any new proposed project, find ways to reduce impacts, and provide evidence to inform decision making and mitigation. Portugal has a wolf population of approximately 300 individuals, designated as an endangered species with full legal protection. They occupy the northern mountainous areas of the country which has also been the focus of new human infrastructures over the last 20 years. Consequently, dozens of wolf monitoring programs have been established to evaluate wolf population status, to identify impacts, and to inform appropriate mitigation or compensation measures. We reviewed Portuguese wolf monitoring programs to answer four key questions. Do wolf programs examine adequate biological parameters to meet monitoring objectives? Is the study design suitable for measuring impacts? Are data collection methods and effort sufficient for the stated inference objectives? Do statistical analyses of the data lead to robust conclusions? Overall, we found a mismatch between the stated aims of wolf monitoring and the results reported, and often neither aligns with the existing national wolf monitoring guidelines. Despite the vast effort expended and the diversity of methods used, data analysis makes almost exclusive use of relative indices or summary statistics, with little consideration of the potential biases that arise through the (imperfect) observational process. This makes comparisons of impacts across space and time difficult and is therefore unlikely to contribute to a general understanding of wolf responses to infrastructure‐related disturbance. We recommend the development of standardized monitoring protocols and advocate for the use of statistical methods that account for imperfect detection to guarantee accuracy, reproducibility, and efficacy of the programs.