Urban Route Research Articles

For the War Yet to Come: Planning Beirut’s Frontiers by Hiba Bou Akar

Reviewed by: For the War Yet to Come: Planning Beirut’s Frontiers by Hiba Bou Akar Matthew DeMaio Hiba Bou Akar, For the War Yet to Come: Planning Beirut’s Frontiers. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2018. 264 pp. Following Lebanon’s May 2018 parliamentary elections, a strong showing from Hezbollah and its allied parties in Beirut was interpreted, both in Lebanon and abroad, as a sign of the party’s growing power. Indeed, as election results were made public, Hezbollah supporters took to Beirut’s streets in celebration. In one particularly provocative act, some of these supporters draped Hezbollah flags over the memorial statue of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri (who is believed to have been assassinated by Hezbollah operatives) and chanted “Beirut has become Shia” (Khatib 2018). In her excellent study For the War Yet to Come, Hiba Bou Akar gives compelling insight into how this sort of sectarian identity has been spatialized and contested in a city where “land has a religion and everyday spaces are evaluated as strategic assets” (29). Bou Akar disputes the oft-voiced lament that Beirut lacks urban planning. Challenging the modernist notion of planning-as-progress that underpins this complaint, she shows that urban spaces are instead planned according to the logic of “the war yet to come.” In this logic, war is not a temporary aberration but “a state of affairs expected to recur” (7), and preparation for it takes the form of planning and construction of the built environment as an always potentially militarized space. This includes ensuring residence of certain areas by members of the appropriate sect and seeking “to control strategic hilltops, secure access to supplies of weapons, and control urban routes of movement” (29). At the center of these processes are what Bou Akar terms Lebanon’s “religious-political organizations” (3). Bou Akar shows how these organizations, which grew out of militias active in Lebanon’s 15-year civil war, work through a constellation [End Page 1313] of government ministries, municipal bodies, private developers, and religious institutions to construct Beirut’s peripheries as frontiers in future sectarian and regional wars. In order to demonstrate this, Bou Akar undertakes ethnographic research in three of Beirut’s southern neighborhoods: Hayy Madi/Mar Mikhail, Sahra Choueifat, and Doha Aramoun. She speaks with a wide variety of stakeholders involved in the planning and building process over two periods (2004–2005 and 2009–2010), showing how sectarianism and its manifestation in the built environment have changed over time. Bou Akar characterizes these three neighborhoods as both peripheries and frontiers. She argues that they are peripheries in two senses: both to Beirut’s traditional urban center and to the neighboring Hezbollah-dominated area of al-Dahiya, which has transformed from a former periphery to a new urban center. At the same time, these neighborhoods have become frontiers in struggles against perceived “Shiite encroachment” (17) stemming from al-Dahiya. Seeking to stymie arrival of further Shiite residents, the neighborhoods’ Christian, Druze, and Sunni Muslim religious-political organizations have engaged in planning practices designed to maintain the neighborhoods’ previous sectarian identity. These include changing zoning laws to limit the number of apartments and floors in a given building or seeking to prevent or even reverse sales of land and buildings to Hezbollah-affiliated developers. The book is split into five chapters, with a brief prologue and epilogue. Chapter 1 functions as an introduction to the book’s methods, theory, and sites of inquiry and provides context for Lebanon’s sectarian politics and discourses. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 take each of the three neighborhoods in turn, analyzing how a particular planning practice is manifested in the built environment and how it contributes to the production of Beirut’s frontiers. Chapter 5 traces the trajectory of planning discourse and practice in Lebanon spanning from the 1950s to the present. Chapter 2 focuses on the neighborhood of Hayy Madi/Mar Mikhail and analyzes what Bou Akar terms the “doubleness” (32) of ruins from Lebanon’s civil war in the neighborhood. Before the civil war, most of the neighborhood’s residents were Christians and the Maronite Church owned large swaths of land in the area. However, at the...

Faster or slower? Valence framing of car drivers’ urban route choices

Abstract Urban traffic management aims to influence navigational decisions of drivers to avoid congestion and provides travel information. To this effect, even small-scale differences between route options can be presented as gains or losses (valence framing), e.g. ‘Route A is 1 min faster than Route B.’ vs. ‘Route B is 1 min slower than Route A.’ or ‘Route A has 1 min waiting time at traffic lights.’ vs. ‘Route B has no waiting time.’ To analyze if valence framing has an impact on route choices, a short online survey was conducted. Four route choice scenarios were presented, consisting of a 500 m main route with red traffic light and an alternative without traffic lights but varying travel time and distance. A total 458 drivers participated and were randomly assigned to one of the five experimental groups: control, gain or loss frame of travel time, gain or loss frame of waiting at a red traffic light. Results showed for the framing of travel time that gain framed routes were often approached more than loss framed routes were avoided. The framing of the waiting time had no effect. Traffic planners and policy-makers as well as navigation system manufacturers could make use of the findings but more research is needed on the design of travel information.

Development of strategies for the development of urban passenger transport in EurAsEC countries

Currently, in many cities of the Russian Federation and the EurAsEC countries, due to an increase in the level of motorization, there is an increase in traffic congestion, which leads to unproductive losses of time and an increase in transport costs in the economic sector. Therefore, urban infrastructure is currently unable to provide unhindered traffic flow. The scientific and practical purpose of the article is to summarize the best practices of transport planning of the urban route network in large cities of the Russian Federation, and integrate it in cities of the EurAsEC countries. The development of such projects occurs, as a rule, in several stages. The main stages are as it follows: 1) a survey of passenger flows on public road transport, 2) analysis of the data and development of measures to optimize the route network. Based on the task, an analysis is carried out of a survey of passenger flows (transport mobility of the population), stopping points and the intensity of public transport, including: general provisions and a methodology for conducting a survey of urban public passenger transport. The experience of foreign countries in the use of commercial organizations for urban passenger transport, in the organization of transport systems functioning, the definition and justification of the role of each type of transport (for the public and private sectors) is analyzed. The proposals on the development of interconnections and the functioning of various modes of transport are considered. Measures have been proposed to optimize the route network of urban passenger transport based on modeling in a macroscopic model, and quality standards for the provision of services and the introduction of navigation management systems aimed at improving the quality of public services have been determined.

КОНТРОЛЬ І МОДЕЛЮВАННЯ ПАРАМЕТРІВ ДЛЯ ТЕПЛОВОЇ ДІАГНОСТИКИ ПОРУШЕНЬ СИЛОВОГО ЕЛЕКТРООБЛАДНАННЯ

It has been considered the heat processes of traction electric engines parts in the maintenance and possible ways of heat generation modeling, which intensity is interconnected with operating physical quantities and possible components failure of traction electric drives in urban electric transport. The reasonable choice of input parameters, which control is possible with the help of remote techniques, located outside the mobile vehicle, was used in the development of pilot plant. By means of experimental equipment set containing electromechanical device in the form of a traction drive and brake, means for setting, regulation and control of technological input values and experimental device for measuring heating temperature electric engine with a given accuracy, it was realized the prepared experiment plan, implemented the variation of thermal processes in possible duty cycles of traction power equipment occurring on real urban routes. By means of differential electronic transducer “temperature-frequency” (T–F), the results of changing output ordinate were recorded and used in polynomial modeling of heating process in electric engine. The regression second order model, describing the thermal process, a spectral analyzer for record and visual control of output ordinate, were used for studying heat generation in laboratory-like environments and for evaluating the possibility of using standard and experimental control device for real traction substations of urban electric transport during remote technical diagnostics equipment according to its heating temperature. Using experimental differential electronic transducer T–F with a modulator and short mathematical description of heating process of traction electric drive allow to identify thermal processes with using of computing tools, which are different in few resources. It has been considered hardware-based ways to achieve the desired measuring set accuracy of the output ordinate and a program solution variant of the spectral low-frequency signal analyzer, which realization is possible by means of popular microcontrollers. The results have confirmed the appropriateness of studying thermal processes in electrical equipment and devices for synthesis of local compact remote equipment, which allows to create technical diagnostics devices and neural networks for possible failures evaluation, determined by the heat gradient in parts of power equipment of urban electric vehicles, operated on various routes and in different conditions.

Enhancing effectiveness of use of the rolling stock through route optimisation

The article deals with issues of enhancing efficient use of the rolling stock of urban passenger transport through route optimisation. The authors offer to upgrade urban route network opt for: optimisation of routing system. In order to streamline passenger transport performance, the authors propose to calculate transport route schemes by applying economically mathematical methods of planning.

MATHEMATICAL MODELLING AND ALGORYTHMIZATION OF THE PROCESSES OF RATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF BUS DRIVER’S WORK EN ROUTE WHEN PLANNING PASSENGER TRANSPORTATION

The main activities for creating the modern level of organization public route transport in the cities of Ukraine are the development of rational route schemes, determining the number of rolling stock on a route, scheduling vehicles, schedules of vehicles for the route and organizing drivers work. This article highlights the features, roles and tasks of management in passenger transport and, in particular, management dispatching, which is aimed at implementing the optimal functioning of the passenger transport route to meet the needs of the population and ensure transport safety. For planning the rational organization of work of buses and labor of drivers, the grapho-analytical method has been recognized. With this method, a schedule of buses for the route is constructed by the hour of the day, the driver’s labor modes on the route are modes are indicated on the diagram schedule by a set of cells that are unit squares with sides equal to a unit time interval and a unit segment relative to the number of buses operating on the route. Such cells are combined into rectangles corresponding to the bus driver’s labor modes. Further, for the organization of labor of drivers and vehicles on urban routes, it is necessary to present the area of bus release diagrams in each hour of the day in the form of a set of rectangles that correspond certain conditions and that reflect the labor's modes of personnel and work's modes rolling stock.Algorithms for partitioning a given orthogonal region, corresponding to a diagram of the operation of vehicles on a route, into rectangles are created in this scientific work after recording a mathematical formulation of the problem. Thus, the paper presents the mathematical formulation of the problem of scheduling vehicles and organizing driver labor. In the course of the research, algorithms for solving the assigned task of dispatching the work of rolling stock and the rational organization of driver labor have been created.

CLUTCH OPERATING DEVICE WITH FRICTION LINING WEAR COMPENSATION ANALYSIS OF PROPERTIES AND UTILIZATION EFFICIENCY

In modern conditions of competition a lot of attention is paid to the comfort of driving. Control to driveline units is no exception. Application of clutch with the system of compensation of wear of friction overlays can not only enhance comfort, due to maintaining a stable effort on the pedal, but also improve the performance of the clutch. In the article a comparative analysis of the traditional design of the pneumohydraulic booster (PHB) and the design, which has a mechanism for compensating the wear of friction plate of clutches. As a compensator for the wear of friction plate of clutches, a telescopic rod with a closed cavity is used, which is filled the brake fluid through a reverse valve. With the wear of friction clutches, the fluid has the ability to slowly flow out of the closed cavity of the rod due to the leakage of the reverse valve. A positive feature is the ability to implement the proposed design within the framework of the traditional design of the pneumatic booster without changing the basic parts. As a result of the application of the proposed designs, it is expected to obtain such positive qualities as reducing the mass and material capacity of the product, maintaining high clutch performance regardless of the degree of wear of friction plates, reducing air consumption in operation (and, consequently, reducing fuel consumption), reducing the overall dimensions of the PHB. In order to confirm the new qualities, the consumption of air and fuel during the operation of both design of PHB on the typical urban route in the route bus is calculated. When calculating, the clutch exclusions taken into account are required during acceleration after each stop and traffic light. A reference to the investigation of the speed of the clutch control mechanism with new and worn friction plate of clutch is given. The properties of the proposed PHB design with the mechanism of compensation of the wear of the friction plate of the clutch are analyzed and the effect is shown not only in the manufacture of this design, but also from the application of this design in operation, which is expressed in fuel economy

Influence of drivers’ psychological risk profiles on the effectiveness of traffic calming measures

Road traffic injuries represent a serious public health problem and are one of leading cause of death, injury and disability around the world. Road accidents are often caused by an accumulation of factors; however, drivers appear to be by far the most decisive one. The driver’s behaviour is complex and depends on reflex (or involuntary) and voluntary driving actions. The first class of actions (reflex actions) are typical human reactions that remain inaccessible to awareness and refer to the direct interaction between the road user and the characteristics of the road and its surrounding environment. Conversely, voluntary actions are conscious behaviours adopted on the basis of planned decisions. Both types of driving actions act simultaneously and the interaction between them and their relative effects on road safety are an aspect not yet well examined. The main objective of this study was to provide, by means of a driving simulation experiment, an insight on this interaction by evaluating the influence of some psychological characteristics on the effectiveness of different types of traffic calming measures at pedestrian crossings, designed according to the Human Factors principles. Fifty-eight participants drove a virtual urban route while data on their performance, as they approached five configurations of pedestrian crossings equipped with different physical and perceptual treatments, were collected. The participants were preliminarily characterized by means of two psychological questionnaires, which allowed the identification of three distinct groups of drivers belonging to three risk profiles (careful, worried, and at risk). The three groups of drivers reacted differently to the proposed engineering treatments, confirming the clustering identified by the preliminary analysis. The results showed that the proposed traffic calming measures are effective on all psychological sub-groups of drivers, with different effectiveness. These first results support that, in the considered driving environment (pedestrian crossings), the Human Factors approach, with which traffic calming measures can be arranged, could be effective, even if different psychological sub-groups are differently affected.

RESULTS OF PASSENGER RESOURCES EXAMINATIONS IN KYZYL CITY OF THE TYVA REPUBLIC

Introduction.The paper considers the results of surveys taking into account the efficiency increase of passenger traffic in a small town. The need to regulate the work of carriers of various ownership forms, taking into account the characteristics of urban routes, determines the relevance of the research in this area. Therefore, the purpose of the survey is to clarify the total size of the movement of the zones and the city as a whole for the further projects’ development of the road network planning and for the passenger traffic development.Materials and methods.The paper considers alternatives to passenger surveys, i.e. application of the most optimal variants of the transportation plan. The characteristics of the route and load on the routes of Kyzyl are also illustrated. The author uses the methodology of surveying the population transport needs in a small town, in particular, the counting of passengers.Results.As a result, the author conducts the survey of passenger traffic, taking into account the city specific. The characteristics of the route and the load on the routes of Kyzyl are studied. It is important to use the methodology of the transport needs and transport services for population in a small town.Discussion and conclusions. On the basis of the conducted surveys of passenger traffic, the average hourly volume of transportation on routes is revealed and the unevenness of traffic volume is calculated.

Integer programming for urban design

We present an integer program (IP) for urban design that (1) maximizes the floor area; (2) fills building volume with room templates; (3) encodes translational symmetry in urban layout; and (4) constructs economical urban routes. Regardless that integer programming is intensively studied in operational research (OR), its role in solving geometrical and topological problems in urban design was overlooked. Based on a regular grid, our 0–1 IP formulates the sunlight-gain rules, which give urban sites their shapes, especially for residential projects. With predefined plot templates, the gross floor area (volume) within a given site can be maximized under various sunlight requirements. Subsequently, the IP fills each building volume with 2D/3D room templates. Finally, an IP-based algorithm constructs routes that connect all plots and the site’s entrances to public transportation. Both the classical Steiner tree model and the latest coverage network model are extended to create reasonable routes. In addition, this work extends the concept of special ordered sets (SOS) to encode translational symmetry in urban layouts. Encoding layout symmetry can benefit from the solvers’ SOS2 mechanism in the Branch-and-Bound search algorithm. The results indicate that traditional decision making for cities could be partially automated by IP and an abundance of valid solutions are available for designers.

Real-Time Road Lane Detection in Urban Areas Using LiDAR Data

The generation of digital maps with lane-level resolution is rapidly becoming a necessity, as semi- or fully-autonomous driving vehicles are now commercially available. In this paper, we present a practical real-time working prototype for road lane detection using LiDAR data, which can be further extended to automatic lane-level map generation. Conventional lane detection methods are limited to simple road conditions and are not suitable for complex urban roads with various road signs on the ground. Given a 3D point cloud scanned by a 3D LiDAR sensor, we categorized the points of the drivable region and distinguished the points of the road signs on the ground. Then, we developed an expectation-maximization method to detect parallel lines and update the 3D line parameters in real time, as the probe vehicle equipped with the LiDAR sensor moved forward. The detected and recorded line parameters were integrated to build a lane-level digital map with the help of a GPS/INS sensor. The proposed system was tested to generate accurate lane-level maps of two complex urban routes. The experimental results showed that the proposed system was fast and practical in terms of effectively detecting road lines and generating lane-level maps.

Optimising urban routes as a factor to favour sustainable school transport

•Comfortable school routes for children.•Promoting healthy schoolchildren's transport.•Optimum route models.•Time and pollution cost optimisation.•Optimum route factors and Geographic Information Systems.

Urban Greenness Extracted from Pedestrian Video and Its Relationship with Surrounding Air Temperatures

Abstract Urban greenness has been associated with a wide range of health benefits, partially due to local cooling. Several studies on these health benefits have assessed individual and population exposure to urban greenness using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from different satellite platforms. Recent comparisons between birds-eye NDVI and street-level measurements suggest that NDVI can severely misclassify individual exposure which, in turn, can bias epidemiologic effect estimates. Pedestrian video data may provide a novel source of individual, eye-level information on both indoor and outdoor exposure to vegetation. The objective of this pilot study was to examine the potential of pedestrian video data for assessing exposure to urban greenness using secondary data collected for a different study on microscale urban air temperatures. Image processing was used to extract green, yellow, and shaded pixels from ˜10 million frames of video footage collected during 40 sampling runs of 20 urban routes measuring 8–10 km each. Resulting greenness values (combined total of green, yellow, and shaded pixels) were compared with concurrent air temperatures using correlations, time series plots, and maps. Correlations ranged from -0.61 to 0.34 and were in the expected direction for 31 of 40 runs. Time series plots and overlay maps showed clear inverse relationships in many cases. Most routes originally chosen to characterize higher temperature areas had negative correlations. Flat and weakly positive relationships tended to occur when conditions were overcast or routes were closer to large waterways. Secondary data are limited for such assessments, but the methods described here are promising for future exposure assessment at the individual level and evaluation of methods applied at the population level.

Modelling Urban Route Transport Network Parameters with Traffic, Demand and Infrastructural Limitations Being Considered

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in urban public transport. This has led to overabundant route networks; deteriorated conditions for moving route transport within cities; conflict situations at stop points occurring between vehicles of duplicating routes. Conflict situations occurring between vehicles of different routes at stop points when loading and unloading passengers prove the problem of optimizing urban route networks to be insufficiently investigated, with traffic, demand and infrastructure limitations being considered. Conflict situations at stop points are found to be dependent on route configurations and network parameters, with the number of conflict situations being inversely dependent on the number of combined intervals for route transportation through stop points and their throughout capacity. There has been developed an imitation model for moving vehicles of adjacent routes, with a model for optimizing urban route network parameters being presented. It reduces conflicts in number due redistributed vehicles of various types for routes, with the population’s demand for transportation being absolutely satisfied. Models and methods can be used by transportation companies, city administrations to develop and improve urban route public transport networks.

EVALUATION OF USABILITY OF MAPS OF DIFFERENT SCALES PRESENTED IN AN IN-CAR ROUTE GUIDANCE AND NAVIGATION SYSTEM

Abstract Noise from the information communication process produced by the interfaces of navigation systems has overloaded drivers' cognitive processing systems and increased the probability of traffic accidents. This work evaluates the usability of maps of different scales in a prototype route guidance and navigation system. The maps were designed on basic cartographic communication principles, such as perceptive grouping and figure-ground segregation, as well drivers’ requirements for performing a tactical task. Two different scales were adopted, 1:3,000 and 1:6,000, and the maps implemented in the prototype. A total of 52 subjects (26 males and 26 females) participated in an experiment performed in a driving simulator. The maps describe an urban route composed of 13 simple and complex maneuvers. The drivers’ mental workload was measured in terms of visual demand, navigational error and subjective preference. Results reveal that the usability of maps is influenced by map scale variation, and this is related to maneuver complexity. Also, an association between drivers’ visual demand and gender was found, and this was related to drivers’ spatial ability. More implications are presented and discussed.

The impact of texting on driver behaviour at rail level crossings

A driver text messaging in the vicinity of a rail level crossing represents the merging of a high-risk, high-workload driving environment with a highly distracting secondary task. In this simulator study, we examined how texting impacts driver behaviour on approach to actively controlled urban rail level crossings. Twenty-eight participants drove a series of simulated urban routes containing rail level crossings, while sending text messages and while driving without performing a secondary task. At half of the crossings, drivers were required to respond to the crossing warnings as a train approached. Results revealed that texting on approach to rail level crossings had a detrimental impact on a range of driver behaviour measures. Specifically, texting more than doubled the amount of time spent with eyes off the forward roadway, resulting in drivers spending more than half of their approach time to rail level crossings looking away from the road. This lack of visual attention to the roadway was associated with a range of decrements in driving that may be indicative of a loss of situation awareness, including increased brake reaction time to the crossing warnings and a reduction in lateral position control. The findings have safety implications, not only for urban level crossings, but also for passive level crossings where no warnings are present to re-orient the distracted driver’s attention toward an approaching train.

INFORMATION SUPPORT OF PUBLIC PASSENGER TRANSPORT NETWORK OPTIMIZATION IN MAJOR CITIES: RELEVANCE AND APPROACHES

Introduction . The article is devoted to the analysis of scientific developments in the sphere of the information support of public passenger transport networks’ optimization in major cities. Currently, insufficient attention is paid to the infobase formation for the urban route networks’ optimization. Materials and methods . The article presents the analysis of the experience for optimization of urban route networks on the basis of identified modern optimization approaches, which should be directed to the generated information support. Typical initial information to process city route networks’ optimization in qualitative and quantitative indicators, which is used by designers of the route network, is reflected. The most time-consuming among the initial information is the matrix of passenger correspondence, some methods of which are not sufficiently developed nowadays. The problems of forming passenger correspondence matrix for major cities are considered. Results . Relevance of the information support methodology to public passenger transport route networks’ optimization in major cities and on the basis of this methodology the correspondence matrix for major cities is substantiated. Therefore, this matrix should contain all types of urban movements, detailing correspondence to the stopping point and provide an acceptable level of results. Moreover, goals and directions for further research in the sphere of information management efficient for route networks’ optimization of public passenger transport in major cities are identified. Discussion and conclusion . The results of the investigation could be used as a basis for scientific research, which should make a significant contribution to improving the efficiency of the urban route networks’ optimization and the quality of transport services for the population, in particular for major cities.

Effect of Traffic Noise and Relaxations Sounds on Pedestrian Walking Speed.

Exposure to noise in everyday urban life is considered to be an environmental stressor. A specific outcome of reactions to environmental stress is a fast pace of life that also includes a faster pedestrian walking speed. The present study examined the effect of listening to annoying acoustical stimuli (traffic noise) compared with relaxation sounds (forest birdsong) on walking speed in a real outdoor urban environment. The participants (N = 83) walked along an urban route of 1.8 km. They listened to either traffic noise or forest birdsong, or they walked without listening to any acoustical stimuli in the control condition. The results showed that participants listening to traffic noise walked significantly faster on the route than both the participants listening to forest birdsong sounds and the participants in the control condition. Participants who listened to forest birdsong walked slightly slower than those under control conditions; however, this difference was not significant. Analysis of the walk experience showed that participants who listened to forest birdsong during the walk liked the route more than those who listened to traffic sounds. The study demonstrated that exposure to traffic noise led to an immediate increase in walking speed. It was also shown that exposure to noise may influence participants’ perception of an environment. The same environment may be more liked in the absence of noise or in the presence of relaxation sounds. The study also documented the positive effect of listening to various kinds of relaxation sounds while walking in an outdoor environment with traffic noise.

Traveling by Bus Instead of Car on Urban Major Roads: Safety Benefits for Vehicle Occupants, Pedestrians, and Cyclists

Some studies have estimated fatality and injury rates for bus occupants, but data was aggregated at the country level and made no distinction between bus types. Also, injured pedestrians and cyclists, as a result of bus travel, were overlooked. We compared injury rates for car and city bus occupants on specific urban major roads, as well as the cyclist and pedestrian injuries associated with car and bus travel. We selected ten bus routes along major urban arterials (in Montreal, Canada). Passenger-kilometers traveled were estimated from vehicle counts at intersections (2002–2010) and from bus passenger counts (2008). Police accident reports (2001–2010) provided injury data for all modes. Injury rates associated with car and bus travel were calculated for vehicle occupants, pedestrians, and cyclists. Injury rate ratios were also computed. The safety benefits of bus travel, defined as the number of vehicle occupant, cyclist, and pedestrian injuries saved, were estimated for each route. Overall, for all ten routes, the ratio between car and bus occupant injury rates is 3.7 (95% CI [3.4, 4.0]). The rates of pedestrian and cyclist injuries per hundred million passenger-kilometers are also significantly greater for car travel than that for bus travel: 4.1 (95% CI [3.5, 4.9]) times greater for pedestrian injuries; 5.3 (95% CI [3.8, 7.6]) times greater for cyclist injuries. Similar results were observed for fatally and severely injured vehicle occupants, cyclists, and pedestrians. At the route level, the safety benefits of bus travel increase with the difference in injury rate associated with car and bus travel but also with the amount of passenger-kilometers by bus. Results show that city bus is a safer mode than car, for vehicle occupants but also for cyclists and pedestrians traveling along these bus routes. The safety benefits of bus travel greatly vary across urban routes; this spatial variation is most likely linked to environmental factors. Understanding the safety benefits of public transit for specific transport routes is likely to provide valuable information for mobilizing city and transportation planners.

Emission estimates for an on-road flex-fuel vehicles operated by ethanol-gasoline blends in an urban region, Brazil

Vehicle emissions have become the dominant source of air pollutants in many cities. Relatively few studies have examined the impact of different ethanol concentrations into fuel on exhaust emissions from flex-fuel vehicles on real-time traffic conditions. In this study, emissions analyses of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons were carried out in a flex-fuel vehicle in an urban route in the Fortaleza city/Brazil. The vehicular exhaust emissions of the pollutants above mentioned were measured through a portable analyzer. Route was performed with different ethanol/gasoline blends (27%, 85%, and 100% ethanol). VSP methodology was used in this work. On-board system data used could register instantaneous emissions as a function of vehicle dynamics. It was observed that the acceleration operation mode was the major responsible for highest emissions of CO, CO2 and NOx for all blends tested. CxHy emissions of <0.005 g km−1 were registered. The results show the relevance of performing sampling in real-time traffic conditions, since the emission standards set by approved real-time traffic conditions do not often represent local reality.