Trip Model Research Articles

The impact of virtual trips on the development of Arabic language listening skills among third grade students in Jordan

This study aimed at investigating the impact of virtual trips on developing Arabic language listening skills among third grade students in Jordan. The researchers used a quasi-experimental design to answer the research questions. The study sample consisted of 48 students who were chosen purposely. Those participants were divided randomly into two groups: 1) experimental group which consisted of 24 students who were taught by using a Virtual Trip Model (VTM), and 2) control group which consisted of 24 students who were taught by using a traditional method of teaching. To achieve the study objectives, the researchers developed a content-based VTM and achievement test to measure Arabic language listening skills. Reliability and validity of the study instruments were checked. To answer the study questions, means and standard deviations were calculated, and ANCOVA test was used. Study results revealed that there were statistically significant differences (α=0.05) between means of students’ achievement test scores attributed to teaching method variable, and in favor of the experimental group. Furthermore, there were no statistically significant differences (α=0.05) between means of students’ achievements test scores attributed to gender variable, and the interaction between teaching method and gender variables. Additional implications and future recommendations were argued.

Hybrid-Trip-Model-Based Energy Management of a PHEV With Computation-Optimized Dynamic Programming

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) with fuel and electricity have demonstrated the capability to reduce fuel consumption and emissions by adopting appropriate energy management strategies. In the existing energy management strategies, the dynamic programming (DP)-based energy management strategy (EMS) can realize the global optimization of the fuel consumption if the global vehicle-speed trajectory is known in advance. The global vehicle-speed trajectory can be obtained by applying GPS data of vehicles when the trip path is determined. However, for a trip path without GPS data, the global vehicle-speed trajectory is difficult to be gained. In this case, the DP-based EMS cannot be utilized to achieve the globally optimal fuel consumption, which is the issue discussed in this paper. This paper makes the following two contributions to solve this issue. First of all, the cell transmission model of the road traffic flow and the vehicle kinematics are introduced to obtain the traffic speeds of road segments and the accelerations of the PHEV. On this basis, a hybrid trip model is presented to obtain the vehicle-speed trajectory for the trip path without GPS data. Next, a DP-based EMS with prediction horizon is proposed, and moreover, in order to improve its real-time implementation, a search range optimization algorithm of the state of charge (SOC) is designed to reduce the computational load of DP. In summary, we propose a computation-optimized DP-based EMS through applying the hybrid trip model. Finally, a simulation study is conducted for applying the proposed EMS to a practical trip path in Beijing road network. The results show that the hybrid trip model can effectively construct the vehicle-speed trajectory online, and the average accuracy of the vehicle-speed trajectory is more than 78%. In addition, compared with the existing optimization algorithm for DP calculation, the SOC search range optimization algorithm can further reduce the calculation load of DP. More importantly, compared to the globally optimal DP-based EMS, although the proposed EMS makes the fuel consumption grow less than 5.36%, it can be implemented in real time. Moreover, compared with the existing real-time strategies, it can further reduce the fuel consumption and emissions. Thus, the proposed EMS can offer an effective solution for the PHEV applying it online in the trip path without GPS data.

Medical missions for the provision of paediatric cardiac surgery in low- and middle-income countries.

This review will outline the role of visiting cardiac surgical teams in low- and middle-income countries drawing on the collective experience of the authors in a wide range of locations. Requests for assistance can emerge from local programmes at a beginner or advanced stage. However, in all circumstances, careful pre-trip planning is necessary in conjunction with clinical and non-clinical local partners. The clinical evaluation, surgical procedures, and postoperative care all serve as a template for collaboration and education between the visiting and local teams in every aspect of care. Education focusses on both common and patient-specific issues. Case selection must appropriately balance the clinical priorities, safety, and educational objectives within the time constraints of trip duration. Considerable communication and practical challenges will present, and clinicians may need to make significant adjustments to their usual practice in order to function effectively in a resource-limited, unfamiliar, and multilingual environment. The effectiveness of visiting trips should be measured and constantly evaluated. Local and visiting teams should use data-driven evaluations of measurable outcomes and critical qualitative evaluation to repeatedly re-assess their interim goals. Progress invariably takes several years to achieve the final goal: an autonomous self-governing, self-financed, cardiac programme capable of providing care for children with complex CHD. This outcome is consistent with redundancy for the visiting trips model at the site, although fraternal, professional, and academic links will invariably remain for many years.

Identifying the factors affecting bike-sharing usage and degree of satisfaction in Ningbo, China.

The boom in bike-sharing is receiving growing attention as societies become more aware of the importance of active non-motorized traffic modes. However, the low usage of this transport mode in China raises concerns. The primary objective of this study is to explore factors affecting bike-sharing usage and satisfaction degree of bike-sharing among the bike-sharing user population in China. Data were collected by a questionnaire survey in Ningbo. A bivariate ordered probit (BOP) model was developed to examine simultaneously those factors associated with both bike-sharing usage and satisfaction degree of bike-sharing among users. Marginal effects for contributory factors were calculated to quantify their impacts on the outcomes. The results showed that the BOP model can account for commonly shared unobserved characteristics within usage and satisfaction of bike-sharing. The BOP model results showed that the usage of bike-sharing was affected by gender, household bicycle/e-bike ownership, trip model, travel time, bike-sharing stations location, and users’ perception of bike-sharing. The satisfaction degree of bike-sharing was affected by household income, bike-sharing stations location, and users’ perception of bike-sharing. It is also found that bike-sharing usage and satisfaction degree are strongly correlated and positive in direction. The results can enhance our comprehension of the factors that affect usage and satisfaction degree of bike-sharing. Based on the results, some suggestions regarding planning, engineering, and public advocacy were discussed to increase the usage of bike-sharing in Ningbo, China.

Geographic regions for assessing built environmental correlates with walking trips: A comparison using different metrics and model designs

There is growing international evidence that supportive built environments encourage active travel such as walking. An unsettled question is the role of geographic regions for analyzing the relationship between the built environment and active travel. This paper examines the geographic region question by assessing walking trip models that use two different regions: walking activity spaces and self-defined neighborhoods. We also use two types of built environment metrics, perceived and audit data, and two types of study design, cross-sectional and longitudinal, to assess these regions. We find that the built environment associations with walking are dependent on the type of metric and the type of model. Audit measures summarized within walking activity spaces better explain walking trips compared to audit measures within self-defined neighborhoods. Perceived measures summarized within self-defined neighborhoods have mixed results. Finally, results differ based on study design. This suggests that results may not be comparable among different regions, metrics and designs; researchers need to consider carefully these choices when assessing active travel correlates.

Big data driven dynamic driving cycle development for busses in urban public transportation

Field-relevant reference driving cycles, equivalent to real-life operation, are a prerequisite for the consistent development and testing of vehicles, their components, and control algorithms. Furthermore they are the basis for certification and type testing. However, a static cycle can easily be detected during vehicle testing, so that optimized control parameters could be used to obtain improved emission results under test conditions. In this paper, a novel method is described and applied to generate a dynamic driving cycle that statistically matches the real-life operation of a vehicle. The analysis is performed based on an extensive field data set obtained during an automated measurement campaign of public busses for more than a full year with 27,365h of operation and 315,583km driven in the city of Hamburg (Germany). The data collected is statistically compared to the static reference cycles New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) and Worldwide harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP). Two micro trip models with increasing complexity are described and fit to the data set. All models are quantitatively compared to the measured data set applying a Quality of Fit (QoF) indicator. Based on the highest consistency to field data, a non-deterministic driving cycle generator is developed and its output is statistically compared to the original measurement. In contrast to the existing reference cycles, the dynamic output of the non-deterministic driving cycle generator presented in this paper is statistically proven to be consistent with real-life operation of public busses in the urban environment of Hamburg.

Determinants of route choice behavior: A comparison of shop versus work trips using the Potential Path Area - Gateway (PPAG) algorithm and Path-Size Logit

This paper presents an in-depth comparison of route choice models for work and shop vehicle trips—with emphasis on the interactions between route attributes and individual characteristics—to better understand the route choice determinants that are assumed to vary by trip purpose. Insights into the route choice behavior involving two dominant vehicle trip purposes—work and shop trips—will help in the design of traffic facilities and implementation of measures to influence route choice in the desired direction.In this study, we show that the utility and scale parameters for separate models of work and shop trips differ by direct comparison using a sequential scaling estimation method and likelihood ratio tests, and highlight the differences in route choice behavior by considering the interaction of route attributes and individual characteristics using Path-Size Logit modeling. In the process, we used Potential Path Area - Gateway (PPAG) algorithm—that generates feasible route choice sets for route choice modeling from GPS trajectories of observed routes.The results show that, indeed, route choice behavior varies by trip, which suggests that drivers attach value to route choice determinants relative to trip purpose. The inclusion of interaction terms in model specifications further indicates that work route choice behavior tends to be restrictive compared to the nonrestrictive route choice for shop trips—a generalization consistent with the mandatory and discretionary nature of work and shop trips, respectively. Specifically, individual characteristics such as personal income, age, gender, tenure, household size, and access to public transit affect route choice behavior.

The Hitchhiker’s guide to the pick-up locations

Hitchhiking is a well-known form of transportation, which has been extensively studied from a sociological perspective. While this tourism approach has been popular in some countries for decades, the question of making hitchhiking fast has never been studied from a comprehensive point of view. In this research, we aim to find the best locations for hitchhiking, which may be used in travel recommender systems. For this purpose, we study the relationships between certain spatial properties and waiting time at pick-up locations, estimate statistical significance of several factors according to various countries. We extracted features for the data from hitchhiking logs, analyzed their importance and built corresponding classification and regression models for estimating hitchhiking experience with a sufficient accuracy. This paper is the first to analyze important spatial factors for a successful hitchhiking trip and construct models to predict the quality and waiting time at hitchhiking locations.

Boeing at 100 [Numbers Don't Lie

On 15 July 1916, William Boeing incorporated Pacific Aero Products Co., a small Seattle company, to build light seaplanes. But much bigger achievements lay ahead. In 1939 the Boeing 314, a massive seaplane, inaugurated the U.S.-Asia service of Pan American Airways. During the Second World War, Boeing built nearly 4,000 B-29 Superfortress planes, the war's largest long-distance strategic bombers. In October 1958, Boeing's four-engine 707 made its maiden flight to Paris, ushering in the jet age. During the 1960s, Boeing introduced three-engine and two-engine models for shorter trips, notably the 737, a twin jet that has become the most successful airliner in history, with 9,000 sold by April of this year. Capping it all, in 1969 Boeing introduced the 747, the world's first wide-body jet, and powered it for the first time with energy-efficient turbofans (rather than the turbojets of yore). This plane helped make affordable intercontinental travel possible.

Exploring the Relationship between Transfer Trips and Land Use

This paper is to analyze characteristics of transfer trips and to identify impacts of land use on them. Using the smart transport card data of Seoul on a weekday in April 2013, we explored general characteristics of the transfer trips such as spatial and temporal distributions, transfer types, and geographical patterns of transfer trips. Then, the multiple regression model for the transfer trips was developed, considering land use as well as socio-economic variables as explanatory ones. For the characteristics of the transfer trips, their ratio to the total trips accounts for 26.7%. Nearly 87% of the trips are one-time transferred, and 64.7% are bus-subway transfer trips. In addition, the transfer trips are more likely to appear nearby subway stations and business facilities. The regression model indicates that land use variables such as the floor areas of business facilities and department stores and mixed land use index significantly positively affect the transfer trips. Our results can be used as basic data for choosing feasible locations of multi-modal transfer centers in urban areas.

Analysis of Household Survey Sample Size in Trip Modelling Process

Large cities are developing sophisticated trip models that consist of demand and supply part. Since supply model is quite easy to obtain and develop, demand model needs more input data. In particular Comprehensive Travel Surveys (CTS) are conducted to feed the demand model. The core part of the CTS are household trip questionnaires which are used, among others, to identify residents’ trip patterns. These surveys are very expensive and often determine CTS frequency. Many cities, also large ones, cannot afford to conduct these kinds of survey as often as it should be done.In this paper the authors analyzed possible ways to reduce CTS cost. They verified whether survey sample size reduction would not cause rapid error increase. Based on CTS for Krakow metropolitan area authors compared results between full sample (6000 households inquired) and reduced samples (2400, 1000 and 750 households inquired). The differences between results obtained from different samples are perceptible but not significant. Therefore, the authors proved that household survey sample size might be reduced even to 1000 inquired households with acceptable loss of results quality.

FUZZY LOGIC APPROACH IN MODE CHOICE MODELLING FOR EDUCATION TRIPS: A CASE STUDY OF INDIAN METROPOLITAN CITY

Urban population in India has increased significantly from 62 million in 1951 to 378 million in 2011 in six decades. It is estimated to reach 540 million by the year 2021. This reflects on likely pressure on urban transportation system. The situation necessarily calls plans for balanced personal and public transport system. Mandatory trips bear more importance in this regard owing to their higher share in urban trips. Mode share and their choice behaviour in estimation of such trips play vital role in analysing and boosting sustainable transportation. Logit modelling approach is the conventional method generally adopted for analysing mode choice behaviour, which is based on the principle of random utility maximization derived from econometric theory. However, such models cannot address uncertainity prevailing in the choice decisions. On the contrary, fuzzy logic bypasses the binary crisp derivations of the inputs and accepts multivalued inputs in linguistic expressions, which make possible to resemble the human behaviour closely. Therefore, the attempt here is to develop fuzzy logic based mode choice model for education trips, which constitutes a good share in mandatory trips by covering various income groups of Indian society.

관광지간 회유(回遊)행동을 고려한 당일관광통행 출발권역 비교연구 - 거가대로 개통 전후 거제 방문관광객을 대상으로 -

Ratio of a day`s tour for Geoje-si, 22.6 percent, has increased to 48.6 percent since the opening of Busan-Geoje fixed link. Eight cities of Yeungnam area including Busan-Ulsan and Daegu-Gyeongbuk has been directly affected by the changed route from GJ Bridge to BG Bridge. In order to compare the range of departure area for a one-day trip in Geoje tourist attractions before and after the new fixed link, duration variation of visitors is described as individual difference by normal distribution function. One-day tour trip model based on a circular trip is also suggested under comparatively simple supposition. Since average area after the opening is equal to maximum area before as minimum area after is equal to average area before, the effect of access improvement by the new bridge is revealed definitely. In addition, the effect of cities located in the middle and long distance is greater. Although cities proximity to Geoje are not influenced significantly, every citizen is capable of taking a one-day trip anywhere.

Valuing Consumer Surplus for the Beach Resources at Ko Chang National Marine Park in Thailand

This paper presents recreation trip demand models from three beaches administrated by the Ko Chang National Marine Park in Thailand. In specific, we apply Poisson (POI) and negative binomial (NB) count data models to estimate consumer surplus (CS) attributed to tourism development. An onsite stratified random sample of 409 beach visitors was administrated along the shorelines of the marine park. The results show that the estimated CS of a Thai visitor is $244 per trip and $256 per trip, respectively, under POI and NB models. In contrast, the CS per trip of a foreign visitor is double that of the Thai visitor's. As all the potential beach visitors’ CS counted, it suggests that the beaches along the Ko Chang's coastline are highly valuable public resources. As a result, several important policy-making comments regarding the coastal park management are addressed.

A Study of a Formational Process Model for Wilderness Trips

A Study of a Formational Process Model for Wilderness Trips

In The Absence of Language: Modeling a Transformative, Short-Term Abroad Experience

This essay explores models for short-term, faculty-led study abroad in cases where language skills cannot be expected of students, focusing on issues of local immersion and relationship-building. It explicates three models undertaken by the author, detailing the strengths and weaknesses of common trip structures and related course outlines, and offers recommendations for successful trip modelling. It further explores the relationship between short-term abroad trips and cultural tourism, focusing on a model that allows students a pedagogical space to reflect critically on anthropological stereotypes.

Using Mobile Phone Location Data to Develop External Trip Models

This paper explores the use of passively collected data on the location of mobile phones in the development of external travel models, which capture trips to, from, and through an area. The data were collected 24 h a day for 1 month during May 2013 for the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The data cover the French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization and surrounding counties in North Carolina. This paper details the format of the data collected and the required processing and cleaning to support the development of the external trip models. The process for developing a through-trip table and estimating external trip interchanges in the region is presented, along with validation techniques for both. The results of this effort show that passively collected mobile phone data can be a good source of local information for developing external trip models.

Road pricing for congestion and accident externalities for mixed traffic of motorcycles and automobiles

Motorcycles play an important role in sharing the trip demand with automobiles for commuting, especially in many cities in Asia. However, the accident cost of a trip by motorcycle is higher than that of an automobile. This study analyzes the road pricing for the congestion and accident externalities of mixed traffic of automobiles and motorcycles. A model for equilibrium trips with no taxation and that for optimal trips with taxation are explored. The model is then applied to the Tucheng City–Banciao City–Taipei central business district corridor in Taipei metropolitan area. The findings in this case study show that the tax for accident externality is larger than that for congestion externality.

A fully coupled Mediterranean regional climate system model: design and evaluation of the ocean component for the 1980–2012 period

A fully coupled regional climate system model (CNRM-RCSM4) dedicated to the Mediterranean region is described and evaluated using a multidecadal hindcast simulation (1980–2012) driven by global atmosphere and ocean reanalysis. CNRM-RCSM4 includes the regional representation of the atmosphere (ALADIN-Climate model), land surface (ISBA model), rivers (TRIP model) and the ocean (NEMOMED8 model), with a daily coupling by the OASIS coupler. This model aims to reproduce the regional climate system with as few constraints as possible: there is no surface salinity, temperature relaxation, or flux correction; the Black Sea budget is parameterised and river runoffs (except for the Nile) are fully coupled. The atmospheric component of CNRM-RCSM4 is evaluated in a companion paper; here, we focus on the air–sea fluxes, river discharges, surface ocean characteristics, deep water formation phenomena and the Mediterranean thermohaline circulation. Long-term stability, mean seasonal cycle, interannual variability and decadal trends are evaluated using basin-scale climatologies and in-situ measurements when available. We demonstrate that the simulation shows overall good behaviour in agreement with state-of-the-art Mediterranean RCSMs. An overestimation of the shortwave radiation and latent heat loss as well as a cold Sea Surface Temperature (SST) bias and a slight trend in the bottom layers are the primary current deficiencies. Further, CNRM-RCSM4 shows high skill in reproducing the interannual to decadal variability for air–sea fluxes, river runoffs, sea surface temperature and salinity as well as open-sea deep convection, including a realistic simulation of the Eastern Mediterranean Transient. We conclude that CNRM-RCSM4 is a mature modelling tool allowing the climate variability of the Mediterranean regional climate system to be studied and understood. It is used in hindcast and scenario modes in the HyMeX and Med-CORDEX programs.

A mixed-lubrication model considering elastoplastic contact for a piston ring and application to a ring pack

A mixed-lubrication model considering the oil supply was developed. The elastoplastic model was applied in the asperity contact simulation. The oil-film thickness at the ring–cylinder liner interface was determined using a mass conservation algorithm. The modeling results were compared with experimental results for verification on a reciprocating wear tester. It is found that, under the fully flooded condition, the results of the Greenwood–Trip model and the current model in the middle of the stroke are in accordance with the experimental results, but the results of the current model at the ends of the stroke are closer to the experimental results than the Greenwood–Trip model results are. Under the starved-lubrication condition, the friction coefficient of the current method is closer to the experimental result than that of the Greenwood–Trip model in the entire stroke. Therefore, the model developed in this study is appropriate for mixed lubrication under the fully flooded condition and the starved-lubrication condition. Furthermore, the model was applied to the ring pack of a diesel engine to study the effect of the oil supply on the tribological performance. The results show that the frictional forces under the 1 μm oil supply condition are far larger than those under the sufficient oil supply condition in the middle of the stroke, and so the increase in the frictional force may be used to identify scuffing failure in future studies if the relationships between the frictional forces and the measured vibration signals of the engine are obtained.