Transport Infrastructure Network Research Articles

A dual approximation-based quantum-inspired genetic algorithm for the dynamic network design problem

In this paper, we formulate a dynamic transportation network design model in which traffic dynamics are modeled by the cell transmission model. In the formulation, transportation planners decide on the optimal capacity expansion policies of existing transportation network infrastructure with limited resources, while road users react to the capacity changes by selfishly choosing routes to maximize their own profit. Owing to the problem complexity, a majority of the research efforts have focused on tackling this problem using meta-heuristics. In this study, we incorporate a series of dual-variable approximation techniques into the paradigm of a quantum-inspired genetic algorithm (QIGA) and devise an efficient evaluation function based on these techniques. The proposed QIGA contains a series of enhancements compared to conventional genetic algorithms (GAs) and can be considered as a better alternative when solving problems with a complex solution space. The QIGA is applied to a synthetic network, a subnetwork of a real-world road network, and a realistic network to justify its theoretical and practical value. From the numerical results, it is found that in the same computational time, the QIGA outperforms the conventional GA by 3.86–5.63% in terms of the objective value, which can be significant, especially when network expansion of a large urban area is considered. Technical, computational, and practical issues involved in developing the QIGA are investigated and discussed.

Traffic modeling flows in a developing urban infrastructure with a software suite for creating interactive virtual environments

We present a design paradigm for a cloud-based service for interactive modeling of traffic flows in a developing urban infrastructure. The mathematical forecasting model for the load of a transportation network is constructed as a result of synthesizing a gravitational model that describes origin-destination trips and a multimodal traffic equilibrium problem with elastic demand. The search for traffic equilibrium reduces to solving a variational inequality. Three-dimensional visualization of the transportation network and adjacent infrastructure is implemented with the virtual environment's declarative model.

Data-Driven Spatial Modeling for Quantifying Networkwide Resilience in the Aftermath of Hurricanes Irene and Sandy

In recent years, the New York City metropolitan area was hit by two major hurricanes, Irene and Sandy. These extreme weather events disrupted and devastated the transportation infrastructure, including road and subway networks. As an extension of the authors’ recent research on this topic, this study explored the spatial patterns of infrastructure resilience in New York City with the use of taxi and subway ridership data. Neighborhood tabulation areas were used as the units of analysis. The recovery curve of each neighborhood tabulation area was modeled with the logistic function to quantify the resilience of road and subway systems. Moran's I tests confirmed the spatial correlation of recovery patterns for taxi and subway ridership. To account for this spatial correlation, citywide spatial models were estimated and found to outperform linear models. Factors such as the percentage of area influenced by storm surges, the distance to the coast, and the average elevation are found to affect the infrastructure resilience. The findings in this study provide insights into the vulnerability of transportation networks and can be used for more efficient emergency planning and management.

Impacts of Model Resolution on Transportation Network Criticality Rankings

Objective rankings of the criticality of transportation network infrastructure are essential for efficiently allocating limited adaptation resources and must account for network connectivity and travel demand. Road link criticality can be quantified by the total travel delay caused when the capacity of a road segment or link is disrupted or removed. These methods can use standard travel demand models, but the exclusion of lower-volume roads and the aggregate nature of traffic analysis zones may distort resulting criticality rankings. To test the impact of link exclusion and demand aggregation, the authors applied the network robustness index, a well-established link criticality measure, to a hypothetical network with varying levels of network resolution and demand aggregation. The results show a statistically significant change in criticality rankings when demand is aggregated and especially when links are excluded from the network, suggesting that criticality rankings may be distorted when estimated with typical demand models. Application to a road network in Vermont supports the finding on the impact of network resolution on criticality rankings.

The Problem of High-Speed Railway Noise Prediction and Reduction

In view of the rapid high-speed railway transport development in the world, the question of ecological safety of the people living in the areas adjacent to transport infrastructure networks, including physical factors compliance, becomes crucial. The article introduces problems of high-speed railway noise control and prediction (with train speed from 250 to 400 km\\h), calculation methods for determining high-speed train noise characteristics; comparison of the calculation and experimental results is made. The article describes main ways of high-speed train noise reduction, in the noise source in particular, such as installing small local noise barriers and aerodynamic streamlining of the rolling stock and its separate elements (pantograph, etc.), implemented in China, Japan, France, German, South Korea and other countries. The article also considers efficiency of the main practically applied noise mitigation measures.

Determining the role of bicycle sharing system infrastructure installation decision on usage: Case study of montreal BIXI system

The traditional quantitative approach to studying Bicycle Sharing System (BSS) usage involves examining the influence of BSS infrastructure (such as number of BSS stations and capacity), transportation network infrastructure, land use and urban form, meteorological data, and temporal characteristics. These studies, as expected, conclude that BSS infrastructure (number of stations and capacity) have substantial influence on BSS usage. The earlier studies consider usage as a dependent variable and employ BSS infrastructure as an independent variable. Thus, in the models developed, the unobserved factors influencing the measured dependent variable (BSS usage) also strongly influence one of the independent variables (BSS infrastructure). This is a classic violation of the most basic assumption in econometric modeling i.e. the error component in the model is not correlated with any of the exogenous variables. The model estimates obtained with this erroneous assumption are likely to over-estimate the impact of BSS infrastructure. Our research effort proposes an econometric framework that remedies this drawback. We propose a measurement equation to account for the installation process and relate it to the usage equations thus correcting for the bias introduced in earlier research efforts by formulating a multi-level joint econometric framework. The econometric models developed have been estimated using data compiled from April 2012 to August 2012 for the BIXI system in Montreal. The model estimates support our hypothesis and clearly show over-estimation of BSS infrastructure impacts in models that neglect the installation process. An elasticity analysis to highlight the advantages of the proposed econometric model is also conducted.

A Europe of multiple flows: Contested discursive integration in trans-European transport infrastructure policy-making

This paper presents an examination of the extent to which discursive integration is accompanying the European integration process, by focusing on the development of trans-European transport infrastructure networks. Because they facilitate movement across nation-state borders, these networks are central to European integration and have in fact constituted a key EU policy issue for more than two decades. Some authors have argued that their development has been driven by a hegemonic discourse that promotes the production of a ‘Europe of Flows’: a single, uniform space underpinned by a vision of ‘frictionless’ mobility through inter-city networks. However, the existence of such a discourse is questionable given the variety of rationales that may potentially influence the development of this type of infrastructure. Their claim is evaluated by means of an in-depth empirical study of the policy process surrounding a high-speed rail line of EU relevance in the Spanish region of the Basque Country. The analysis of the discursive constructions mobilized in this process indicates that the discourse on a ‘Europe of Flows’ is better conceptualized as one of the several storylines associated with different scales through which a wider hegemonic discourse is articulated. Whilst the heterogeneity of this discourse did not fundamentally contradict the development of a trans-European high-speed rail line, it did result in a policy compromise according to the influence the different coalitions were able to exert in the policy process. The analysis largely demonstrates the importance of considering the multi-scalar discursive landscape of policy-making in order to understand trans-European infrastructure development.

Assessing large-scale wildlife responses to human infrastructure development

Habitat loss and deterioration represent the main threats to wildlife species, and are closely linked to the expansion of roads and human settlements. Unfortunately, large-scale effects of these structures remain generally overlooked. Here, we analyzed the European transportation infrastructure network and found that 50% of the continent is within 1.5 km of transportation infrastructure. We present a method for assessing the impacts from infrastructure on wildlife, based on functional response curves describing density reductions in birds and mammals (e.g., road-effect zones), and apply it to Spain as a case study. The imprint of infrastructure extends over most of the country (55.5% in the case of birds and 97.9% for mammals), with moderate declines predicted for birds (22.6% of individuals) and severe declines predicted for mammals (46.6%). Despite certain limitations, we suggest the approach proposed is widely applicable to the evaluation of effects of planned infrastructure developments under multiple scenarios, and propose an internationally coordinated strategy to update and improve it in the future.

Incorporating the impact of spatio-temporal interactions on bicycle sharing system demand: A case study of New York CitiBike system

Recent success of bicycle-sharing systems (BSS) have led to their growth around the world. Not surprisingly, there is increased research towards better understanding of the contributing factors for BSS demand. However, these research efforts have neglected to adequately consider spatial and temporal interaction of BSS station's demand (arrivals and departures). It is possible that bicycle arrival and departure rates of one BSS station are potentially inter connected with bicycle flow rates for neighboring stations. It is also plausible that the arrival and departure rates at one time period are influenced by the arrival and departure rates of earlier time periods for that station and neighboring stations. Neglecting the presence of such effects, when they are actually present will result in biased model estimates. The major objective of this study is to accommodate for spatial and temporal effects (observed and unobserved) for modelling bicycle demand employing data from New York City's bicycle-sharing system (CitiBike). Towards this end, spatial error and spatial lag models that accommodate for the influence of spatial and temporal interactions are estimated. The exogenous variables for these models are drawn from BSS infrastructure, transportation network infrastructure, land use, point of interests, and meteorological and temporal attributes. The results provide strong evidence for the presence of spatial and temporal dependency for BSS station's arrival and departure rates. A hold out sample validation exercise further emphasizes the improved accuracy of the models with spatial and temporal interactions.

Long-term impacts of transport infrastructure networks on land-use change: an international review of empirical studies

ABSTRACTImprovements in geographical information systems, the wider availability of high-resolution digital data and more sophisticated econometric techniques have all contributed to increasing academic interest and activity in long-term impacts of transport infrastructure networks (TINs) on land use (LU). This paper provides a systematic review of recent empirical evidence from the USA, Europe and East Asia, classified regarding the type of transport infrastructure (road or rail), LU indicator (land cover, population or employment density, development type) and outcome (significance, relationship’s direction) as well as influential exogenous factors. Proximity to the rail network is generally associated with population growth (particularly soon after the development of railway infrastructure), conversion to residential uses and the development of higher residential densities. Meanwhile, proximity to the road network is frequently associated with increases in employment densities as well as the conversion of land to a variety of urban uses including commercial and industrial development. Compared with road infrastructure, the impact of rail infrastructure is often less significant for land cover or population and employment density change. The extent of TINs’ impact on LU over time can be explained by the saturation in TIN-related accessibility and LU development.

Detail Categories for Reliability-Based Fatigue Evaluation of Mast-Arm Sign Support Structures

AbstractSign and luminaire support structures are prevalent throughout the transportation infrastructure network. Collapse and inspection of these pose hazards to the motoring public and the inspection personnel charged with their maintenance. There is a need to understand variability in their performance and to develop inspection protocols consistent with this expected performance to ensure public safety and to rationally disperse limited fiscal and personnel resources. Because mast-arm sign support structures are most often decommissioned when cracks are found, these protocols will focus on detecting crack initiation. Inspection protocols for assessing service life and the limit state of fatigue-induced crack initiation are most effectively developed using reliability-based procedures. The objective of this manuscript is to present two methods for synthesizing archival fatigue test data into a form suitable for implementation in reliability-based procedures for fatigue-induced crack initiation assessmen...

Modeling Error Uncertainty Characterization for Reliability-Based Fatigue Assessment in Sign Support Structures

Sign and luminaire support structures are prevalent throughout the transportation infrastructure network. Collapse and inspection of these signs pose hazards to the motoring public and the inspection personnel charged with their maintenance. There is a need to develop inspection protocols and understand variability in their performance to ensure public safety and to rationally disperse limited fiscal and personnel resources. This paper outlines a methodology that enables simulated and easured time histories of wind speed and resulting bending stress to be used in establishing parameters defining lognormal statistical models for modeling error that can be included in reliability-based assessment of structures subject to the tendency toward fatigue-induced crack initiation. Rainflow cycle counting is used to generate expected stress ranges from simulated and measured bending stress signals. The ratio of simulated expected stress range to measured expected stress range is defined as the modeling error bias factor. Statistical analysis of this factor at various magnitudes of wind speed is then used to formulate lognormal modeling error parameters suitable for implementation into a reliability-based assessment of fatigue-induced crack initiation risk for sign support structures.

Network structure of subway passenger flows

.The results of transportation infrastructure network analyses have been used to analyze complex networks in a topological context. However, most modeling approaches, including those based on complex network theory, do not fully account for real-life traffic patterns and may provide an incomplete view of network functions. This study utilizes trip data obtained from the Beijing Subway System to characterize individual passenger movement patterns. A directed weighted passenger flow network was constructed from the subway infrastructure network topology by incorporating trip data. The passenger flow networks exhibit several properties that can be characterized by power-law distributions based on flow size, and log-logistic distributions based on the fraction of boarding and departing passengers. The study also characterizes the temporal patterns of in-transit and waiting passengers and provides a hierarchical clustering structure for passenger flows. This hierarchical flow organization varies in the spatial domain. Ten cluster groups were identified, indicating a hierarchical urban polycentric structure composed of large concentrated flows at urban activity centers. These empirical findings provide insights regarding urban human mobility patterns within a large subway network.

A Multi-hazard Risk Assessment Methodology, Stress Test Framework and Decision Support Tool for Transport Infrastructure Networks

Natural hazards can cause serious disruption to societies and their transport infrastructure networks. The impact of extreme hazard events is largely dependent on the resilience of societies and their networks. The INFRARISK project is developing a reliable stress test framework for critical European transport infrastructure to analyse the response of networks to extreme hazard events. The project considers the spatio-temporal processes associated with multi-hazard and cascading extreme events (e.g. earthquakes, floods, landslides) and their impacts on road and rail transport infrastructure networks. As part of the project, an operational framework is being developed using an online INFRARISK Decision Support Tool (IDST) to advance decision making approaches, leading to better protection of existing transport infrastructure. The framework will enable the next generation of European infrastructure managers to analyse the risk to critical road and rail infrastructure networks due to extreme natural hazard events. To demonstrate the overarching risk assessment methodology developed in the project, the methodology is demonstrated for two case studies, which comprise portions of the European TEN-T network; a road network in the region of Bologna, Italy and a rail network extending from Rijeka to Zagreb in Croatia. This paper provides an overview of the INFRARISK multi-hazard risk assessment methodology and a brief introduction to the case studies, as the project is currently ongoing. INFRARISK is funded by the European Commission's FP7 programme, Grant Agreement No. 603960. Further information can be found at www.infrarisk-fp7.eu.

Disruption and adaptation of urban transport networks from flooding

Transport infrastructure networks are increasingly vulnerable to disruption from extreme rainfall events due to increasing surface water runoff from urbanization and changes in climate. Impacts from such disruptions typically extend far beyond the flood footprint, because of the interconnection and spatial extent of modern infrastructure. An integrated flood risk assessment couples high resolution information on depth and velocity from the CityCAT urban flood model with empirical analysis of vehicle speeds in different depths of flood water, to perturb a transport accessibility model and determine the impact of a given event on journey times across the urban area. A case study in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (UK) shows that even minor flooding associate with a 1 in 10 year event can cause traffic disruptions of nearly half an hour. Two adaptation scenarios are subsequently tested (i) hardening (i.e. flood protection) a single major junction, (ii) introduction of green roofs across all buildings. Both options have benefits in terms of reduced disruption, but for a 1 in 200 year event greening all roofs in the city provided only three times the benefit of protecting one critical road junction, highlighting the importance of understanding network attributes such as capacity and flows.

Sustainable Market Involvement in Transport Infrastructure Management

The construction industry is going through hard times in many countries. This is certainly true in the Netherlands as all big Dutch contractors face disappointing results. The market policies of major (public) clients are held accountable by politics and the market for this situation. However, for the operation and development of transport infrastructure networks, a sustainable construction industry is essential. But how do public infrastructure network managers involve this industry in their network management? And does this involvement lead to the development of a sustainable construction market?In this paper we argue that the market policies of public transport infrastructure administrators (still) favour price competition and risk opportunism, thereby inhibiting a healthy development of the industry.This paper describes the reciprocal relation between public infrastructure network administrators (in their role as manager of the network and client) and the construction industry as a supplier of infrastructure hardware and services. It reveals that a sustainable development of the construction industry can only be achieved through the development of a value awarding mechanism, explicitly linked to the functions of the infrastructure network instead of to intermittent one-off projects. The paper will give practical recommendations for (public) infrastructure network administrators how to stimulate the creation of added network value through sustainable market involvement.

REFINET: REthinking Future Infrastructure NETworks

The European transport infrastructure network is considered as the lifeblood of European trade and society, and is commonly regarded as a shared heritage of great economic value. But it is also recognised today that this network is composed of many existing infrastructures that no longer fulfil the current functional requirements and today's safety and quality standards, and requires refurbishment and increased capacities, potentially relying on innovative technologies, components and systems. The ECTP (European Construction Technology Platform) reFINE (Research for Future Infrastructure Networks in Europe) initiative aims at the development and delivery of innovative design, construction, maintenance and upgrading concepts and solutions that promote and strengthen seamless transport links for passenger and freight, while keeping up with future technological trends. The REFINET European Coordination action is an instrument supporting the reFINE initiative: based on a sustainable research network that integrates relevant stakeholders’ representatives of all transport modes (road, railway, maritime, fluvial…) and transport infrastructure sectors. Its primary objective is to create a shared European vision of how the multimodal European transport infrastructure network of the future should be specified, designed, built, renovated, and maintained, and elaborate a SIP (Strategic Implementation Plan) that will define the innovation activities required to make this vision a reality.

Development of Non-Motorized Infrastructure Network in Oradea City Using Dijkstra Algorithm in ArcGIS

In this paper it is developed a location model for the infrastructures dedicated to non-motorized movements by bike in Oradea city, using ArcGIS geographic and information system [3]. They are taken into consideration the movements made by the target people – alternating movements (from home to school) and optional movements (made for recreation), the densities in residential areas, the type of the city arteries and the mobility need of the target people (in this case – young people aged between 15 and 25) in order to design two structures of the transport infrastructure networks (one for the alternating movements and the other for the optional movements), structures which will be realized on the actual frame of the existing transport infrastructure in Oradea city. Using Dijkstra algorithm, the minimal routes for the movements related to the alternating mobility, but also for the movements specific to the optional mobility are determined. Further on the most used arteries in the two structures of urban infrastructure networks are determined. The paper suggests as a solution the structure of the network for the non-motorized movements and also those arteries that must be used for its development, that guarantee gains for the target people (time), for the main operators who exploit the motorized systems, for the local budget of the local municipalities (less funds to sustain the public services) and especially for the environment and people’s health (attenuation of noxious and phonic pollution, reduction of the accidents’ number and health improvement).

English

In The recent decades, the use of underground spaces including tunnels, railway, subway, cavern, underground spaces and others had great growth. Geological and geotechnical site conditions vary in different projects, requires different design, calculation and implementation methods also requires that the past experience and scientific and technical principles consistently applied. In this article we have tried to use the method of analytical, numerical and experimental investigation of the subway tunnel subsidence station of Imam Ali university. Keywords—Tehran Subway, Tunnel subsidence, Station of Imam Ali University, Ground Surface subsidence, Plaxis 3D Tunnel Software. I. Introduction Today, in the big cities, urban subways and tunnels as one of the most important and most urban transport infrastructure networks are considered. However, the implementation of such major projects in the country who spent considerable cost to build them, may always be challenges. The most noticed part of this challenges is the implementation phase and the operation of these spaces and subsidences that during and after the operation occurred in underground spaces, is (i). The method used in this study, The computational method is based on the use of finite element software that The assumption of elastic behavior for the Terrestrial environment to be taken (ii). In this research, station of Imam Ali University in the second line of Tehran Subway has been studied The second line of Tehran Subway has a length of 24 km. The subway line is an east-west direction that is at the intersection of Imam Khomeini and Vali Asr Street near the University of Imam Ali university. Figure (1), Geographical location of subway station of Imam Ali University indicates second line of Tehran subway (iii).

Forecasting infrastructure resilience to climate change

Resilience of the UK transport infrastructure network can be expressed as the imbalance between the physical condition of the network and the transport demands the network experiences. Forecasting changes of resilience in the long term (e.g. the 2050s) requires a structured, multi-disciplinary approach. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council funded Futurenet project developed a model architecture to formalise such an approach and this paper addresses one component: the assessment of the influence of physical processes on asset condition. This requires the development of new, integrated physical-based models that respond to detailed inputs of forecast weather events (e.g. UK Climate Projections 2009). The results are plotted onto the infrastructure network for visualisation. Subsequent combination with user demand will then enable determination of network resilience at a range of spatial scales. The project has highlighted the need for better datasets, more sophisticated physical-based models and further analyses of complex feedbacks and interactions between physical processes and also with user behaviour.