Intelligent bus routing with heterogeneous human mobility patterns

Optimal planning for public transportation is one of the keys helping to bring a sustainable development and a better quality of life in urban areas. Compared to private transportation, public transportation uses road space more efficiently and produces fewer accidents and emissions. However, in many cities people prefer to take private transportation other than public transportation due to the inconvenience of public transportation services. In this paper, we focus on the identification and optimization of flawed region pairs with problematic bus routing to improve utilization efficiency of public transportation services, according to people’s real demand for public transportation. To this end, we first provide an integrated mobility pattern analysis between the location traces of taxicabs and the mobility records in bus transactions. Based on the mobility patterns, we propose a localized transportation mode choice model, with which we can dynamically predict the bus travel demand for different bus routing by taking into account both bus and taxi travel demands. This model is then used for bus routing optimization which aims to convert as many people from private transportation to public transportation as possible given budget constraints on the bus route modification. We also leverage the model to identify region pairs with flawed bus routes, which are effectively optimized using our approach. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed methods, extensive studies are performed on real-world data collected in Beijing which contains 19 million taxi trips and 10 million bus trips.     

Public transport accessibility measure based on weighted door to door travel time

Providing accessibility by public transportation is one of the main concerns in sustainable transportation development. An appropriate accessibility index should not only take transportation and land use into account but also the people who want to attend activities via the transport system. Travel time as the most common variable is used to indicate the role of transportation. A trip with public transport includes different parts: walking from the origin point to the bus stop or from the bus stop to the destination point, waiting for the bus to arrive, and in-vehicle time. These different parts have different weight values for passengers which affect their tendency towards traveling by public transportation. In this paper, a GIS-based multimodal gravity model is developed based on the weighted door to door travel time to compute accessibility by public transportation. Five main distinct urban activities including employment, education, healthcare, shop, recreation opportunities, and services are considered and the accessibility of the target population at the census block level to these destinations through public transportation is computed. In the next step, in order to consider all activities together and report a single unique index, the five computed accessibility indices are integrated into a composite index using a principal component analysis (PCA). The integrated accessibility measure helps to get an insight into the relative distribution of the benefits of public transportation and its interaction with the land use. The proposed method is applied to the City of Isfahan in Iran. The results indicate where places, for each activity and in overall, would benefit from the better land use and public transportation interaction and where regions would suffer from low accessibility level. This work provides a methodological framework as a tool for measuring the performance of public transportation and its interaction with the land use pattern.     

A multi-agent approach to Intelligent Transportation Systems modeling with combinatorial auctions

Challenges of urbanization require new, more flexible approaches to design of public transportation systems. Demand Responsive Transport systems (DRT) that provide a share transportation services with flexible routes and focus on optimizing of economic and environmental value are becoming an important part of public transportation. In this paper we propose a new approach to design of DRT models which considers DRT as a multi-agent system (MAS) where various autonomous agents represent interests of system’s stakeholders. The distributed nature of the MAS facilitates design of scalable implementations in modern cloud environments. We also propose a planning algorithm based on combinatorial auctions (CA) that allows to express commodity of multiple transportation scenarios by evident means of the bids. Using the mechanism of CA we may fully take into account the presence of complementariness and substitutability among the items that differ across bidders. Further, we describe design principles of our proposed software with a prototype implementation. We believe that our approach to multi-agent modeling is general enough to provide the flexibility necessary for adoption of DRT-services modeling into real-world scenarios. The results of modeling have been compared against several cases of a local bus provider and validated in a set of computational experiments.     

MST703公交调度屏的软硬件模块设计

针对智能公交车载终端与司机人机交互的需求,提出了一种基于视频解码芯片MST703的公交调度屏系统设计方案;主要阐述了整个系统的软硬件模块实现方法,重点讨论了系统电源转换以及模拟视频信号显示输出的实现方法;最后完成整个系统设计,实现了LCD屏的稳定显示,相关外设也满足实际需求.     

基于节点可达度的公交多路径搜索算法

针对公交网络路径搜索问题,以复杂网络的角度进行了相关研究。根据出行者实际需求,提出一种基于节点可达度的公交多路径搜索算法。采用复杂二分网络模型来描述公交网络,将公交线路和公交站点分别看做一类节点,每条公交线路与它所经过的公交站点之间存在连边;在分析网络社团结构的基础上定义了节点可达度,算法根据节点可达度逐步搜索直至目的节点,搜索过程保留可能存在的多条最佳路径。实验结果表明,该方法能够得到最小换乘的多条有效路径。     

Balanced work system and participation in quality management: applications in the community

Selected issues related to Quality Management (QM) are discussed, and applications of QM in 'non-traditional' environments, i.e., public sector and community environments, are presented. Two ergonomic themes are emphasised: balanced work system and participation. The case studies provide examples for how the ergonomic themes of a balanced work system and participation can be used to examine QM applications in public sector organisations and communities. Further theoretical development of the concept of community quality is necessary, as well as more research for developing and adapting QM models and methods for the community setting.     

A review of the methodology and applications of anthropometry in ergonomics and product design

Abstract

Anthropometry is a key element of ergonomic studies for addressing the problem of fitting the tasks/products to user characteristics, but there is a gap between anthropometric data and their application for designing ergonomic products and environments. This research was conducted to review the literature on the methodology and applications of anthropometry for the ergonomic design of products and environments, and to identify where further research is needed to improve its application and evaluation protocols. One hundred and sixteen papers meeting the inclusion criteria were reviewed. Although a number of anthropometric investigations have been conducted to improve the design of products/environments for different users, further research seems to be necessary, particularly for special groups, such as children, the elderly and people with disabilities. Different anthropometric measurement methods/techniques and fitting criteria are discussed regarding their applicability for various design applications. This review also highlights methodological issues (sampling considerations and prototype evaluation and testing) that should be considered in future research to ensure a user-centred approach of the design process.

Practitioner Summary: A literature review was conducted on the methodology and applications of anthropometry for the ergonomic design of products/environments. This review emphasises the need for anthropometric research to design for special groups, such as children, the elderly and people with disabilities, and methodological issues that should be considered in future research.

Abbreviations: 1D: one-dimensional; 2D: two-dimensional; 3D: three-dimensional; HF/E: Human Factors/Ergonomics; PCA: Principal Components Analysis; CA: Cluster Analysis; DHM: Digital Human Modelling     

Applied research of data sensing and service to ubiquitous intelligent transportation system

High-efficiency transportation systems in urban environments are not only solutions for the growing public travel demands, but are also the premise for enlarging transportation capacity and narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas. Such transportation systems should have characteristics such as mobility, convenience and being accident-free. Ubiquitous-intelligent transportation systems (U-ITS) are next generation of intelligent transportation system (ITS). The key issue of U-ITS is providing better and more efficient services by providing vehicle to vehicle (V2V) or vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) interconnection. The emergence of cyber physical systems (CPS), which focus on information awareness technologies, provides technical assurance for the rapid development of U-ITS. This paper introduces the ongoing Beijing U-ITS project, which utilizes mobile sensors. Realization of universal interconnection between real-time information systems and large-scale detectors allows the system to maximize equipment efficiency and improve transportation efficiency through information services.     

Applied research of data sensing and service to ubiquitous intelligent transportation system

High-efficiency transportation systems in urban environments are not only solutions for the growing public travel demands, but are also the premise for enlarging transportation capacity and narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas. Such transportation systems should have characteristics such as mobility, convenience and being accident-free. Ubiquitous-intelligent transportation systems (U-ITS) are next generation of intelligent transportation system (ITS). The key issue of U-ITS is providing better and more efficient services by providing vehicle to vehicle (V2V) or vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) interconnection. The emergence of cyber physical systems (CPS), which focus on information awareness technologies, provides technical assurance for the rapid development of U-ITS. This paper introduces the ongoing Beijing U-ITS project, which utilizes mobile sensors. Realization of universal interconnection between real-time information systems and large-scale detectors allows the system to maximize equipment efficiency and improve transportation efficiency through information services.     

Ergonomic aspects of aircraft keyboard design: the effects of gloves and sensory feedback on keying performance

Increasing requirements for aircraft keyboards have indicated inadequacies in ergonomic standards for airborne environments, in particular for tasks involving unskilled, discontinuous data entry, with emphasis on accuracy rather than speed. Four experiments are reported from a programme of research aimed at the development and application of methodologies for assessing factors relevant to keyboard design. Experiment 1 demonstrated that the effects of various aircrew gloves on a representative aircraft data entry task are highly situation specific. Experiment 2 showed that gloves impaired performance on a high compatibility continuous keying task, with relatively high keying rates, and that this impairment was not reduced by additional auditory feedback. Experiment 3 demonstrated that the high compatibility keying task provided a successful methodology for investigating the effects of key displacement and resistance on speed and accuracy. Experiment 4 indicated the relative contributions of reduced tactility and mobility to the effects on keying and manipulative performance caused by aircrew gloves. Together, these experiments suggest that kinaesthetic and tactile feedback associated with keying are relatively unaffected by aircrew gloves, and that restrictions on mobility caused by gloves may be more important for continuous data entry involving relatively high keying rates     

智能交通动态调度优化模型与评价方法

为了降低大城市市民出行成本,缓解公交企业运力压力,提出一种智能交通出行OD(Origin Destination,出行地和目的地)的公交调度优化算法,以公交出行OD客流预测和计划排班发车时间间隔为出发点,运用公交出行OD客流推导理论,构建智能交通出行OD的公交调度优化模型。通过获取个人OD数据,利用单条线路公交OD方法,实现全市公交OD矩阵推算。根据全市公交出行OD推算结果,求解公交调度模型,解决智能交通调度多目标规划和公交线网优化问题。通过仿真模拟试验,分析智能公交排班计划评价指标,计算车辆营运效率占比:自动排班仿真数据为79%,实际运营数据为73%;统计车辆高峰时段与全天营运车次占比:自动排班仿真数据为36.75%,实际运营数据为37.37%,满足智能公交计划排班评价指标的要求,实例证明模型和算法具有实用性和可靠性。     

公交线路查询算法

公共交通不仅是衡量城市现代化程度的重要标志也是解决交通拥堵问题的途径. 而公交线路查询系统的关键技术是公交线路查询算法, 它对提高公交资源的利用率有着重要的意义. 总结了国内外城市公交最优路径算法并在此基础上分析了高效运行城市公交系统的条件和影响因素. 介绍了最短路径问题及Dijkstra算法及其在查询系统应用中的弊端. 然后提出了基于换乘最小的广度优先算法的数学模型, 给出了算法的实现, 并以银川市公共交通公司的公交部分数据为基础, 完成了公交信息查询系统的设计与开发.     

School bus routing—a column generation approach

The School Bus Routing Problem (SBRP), a generalization of the well‐known Vehicle Routing Problem, involves the routing, planning, and scheduling of public school bus transportation. The problem can be divided into several subproblems, including bus stop selection, assigning students to buses, and determining the bus routes. This work presents an exact branch‐and‐price framework for the SBRP, with a strong emphasis on efficiency issues inherently related to column generation (CG). Experiments are conducted on a set of 128 SBRP instances. Many of these instances are solved optimally; for the remaining instances, strong lower bounds have been derived. Furthermore, better integer solutions were found for a number of instances reported in the literature. Both lower bounds computed on the optimum solution and stabilization added to the CG procedure significantly improved computation times.     

Data streaming in telepresence environments

In this paper, we discuss data transmission in telepresence environments for collaborative virtual reality applications. We analyze data streams in the context of networked virtual environments and classify them according to their traffic characteristics. Special emphasis is put on geometry-enhanced (3D) video. We review architectures for real-time 3D video pipelines and derive theoretical bounds on the minimal system latency as a function of the transmission and processing delays. Furthermore, we discuss bandwidth issues of differential update coding for 3D video. In our telepresence system - the blue-c - we use a point-based 3D video technology which allows for differentially encoded 3D representations of human users. While we discuss the considerations which lead to the design of our three-stage 3D video pipeline, we also elucidate some critical implementation details regarding decoupling of acquisition, processing and rendering frame rates, and audio/video synchronization. Finally, we demonstrate the communication and networking features of the blue-c system in its full deployment. We show how the system can possibly be controlled to face processing or networking bottlenecks by adapting the multiple system components like audio, application data, and 3D video.     

公交移动协助城市车载网络分层路由协议

城市车载网络作为未来智能交通的重要组成部分,为解决城市交通问题提供了有效的解决方案.现有大部分路由方案未能很好地解决车辆高速移动、复杂城市交通环境和不同车流密度三大问题对路由转发的影响,导致路由协议的性能在高效和可靠性方面不足.根据城市交通信号传播环境、红灯等停以及公交运行轨迹固定、周期循环等特性,提出公交移动协助的城市车载网络路由协议,将车车之间的复杂、不确定路由转换为普通车辆-簇头-公交三层节点之间的确定、协作方式,发挥公交周期移动优势,并用簇头策略优化普通车辆与公交之间的通信.设计根据城市信号传播衰减与车辆移动相关的单跳链路筛选与多跳延迟相关的概率转发机制,保证公交转发的高效、可靠,并设计能自适应车流密度的簇头触发策略,仿真实验结果表明,整体方案转发跳数达到一定数量时,能取得较好的数据传输成功率和较低的网络延迟.     

太原市公交查询系统的设计及实现

从太原市公交查询系统建立的必要性出发,进行了公交查询算法的研究,主要探讨了包括最短路径查询及最少花费查询及数据库管理的公交查询系统的实现。该系统采用了VISUAL BASIC6．0为开发工具,MICROSOFT ACCESS2003为后台数据库,开发了基于太原市公交线路的公交查询系统。具有线路查询、换乘查询、站点查询、数据管理等一系列功能。     

Strategic Assessment of Lisbon’s Accessibility and Mobility Problems from an Equity Perspective

Accessibility planning with reference to sustainability and equity principles has been advocated as the best approach to deal with the urban mobility complexity. It has enabled the development of more sustainable and fair policies in relation to access provision. However, despite this paradigm shift, many planning initiatives in practice are still focused on assessing alternatives and proposing solutions, instead of centering on the understanding and assessment of problems as the primary activity of planning. Therefore, in order to contribute for the problem-oriented paradigm in the accessibility planning, this work proposes a strategic assessment methodology for unequal and inequitable distribution problems of accessibility and mobility. This methodology relies on spatial analysis techniques and allows the characterization of accessibility and mobility conditions, as well as the diagnosis of accessibility and mobility problems and their causal relationships. It was applied for the case of Lisbon and the results of the performed assessment allowed an intelligent reading of the problems considered. Specifically, it was found that Lisbon presents an unequal and inequitable distribution of job accessibility and mobility by private car and public transport, and also that job accessibility, along with other transportation, land-use and socioeconomic variables, impact the mobility levels of its citizens.     

An Open Road Evaluation of a Self-Driving Vehicle Human–Machine Interface Designed for Visually Impaired Users

ABSTRACT

Fully autonomous or “self-driving” vehicles are an emerging technology that may hold tremendous mobility potential for individuals who are visually impaired who have been previously disadvantaged by an inability to operate conventional motor vehicles. Prior studies however, have suggested that these consumers have significant concerns regarding the accessibility of this technology and their ability to effectively interact with it. We present the results of a quasi-naturalistic study, conducted on public roads with 20 visually impaired users, designed to test a self-driving vehicle human–machine interface. This prototype system, ATLAS, was designed in participatory workshops in collaboration with visually impaired persons with the intent of satisfying the experiential needs of blind and low vision users. Our results show that following interaction with the prototype, participants expressed an increased trust in self-driving vehicle technology, an increased belief in its likely usability, an increased desire to purchase it and a reduced fear of operational failures. These findings suggest that interaction with even a simulated self-driving vehicle may be sufficient to ameliorate feelings of distrust regarding the technology and that existing technologies, properly combined, are promising solutions in addressing the experiential needs of visually impaired persons in similar contexts.     

A generic data model for moving objects

Moving objects databases should be able to manage trips that pass through several real world environments, e.g., road network, indoor. However, the current data models only deal with the movement in one situation and cannot represent comprehensive trips for humans who can move inside a building, walk on the pavement, drive on the road, take the public vehicles (bus or train), etc. As a result, existing queries are solely limited to one environment. In this paper, we design a data model that is able to represent moving objects in multiple environments in order to support novel queries on trips in different surroundings and various transportation modes (e.g., Car, Walk, Bus). A generic and precise location representation is proposed that can apply in all environments. The idea is to let the space for moving objects be covered by a set of so-called infrastructures each of which corresponds to an environment and defines the available places for moving objects. Then, the location is represented by referencing to the infrastructure. We formulate the concept of space and infrastructure and propose the methodology to represent moving objects in different environments with the integration of precise transportation modes. Due to different infrastructure characteristics, a set of novel data types is defined to represent infrastructure components. To efficiently support new queries, we design a group of operators to access the data. We present how such a data model is implemented in a database system and report the experimental results. The new model is designed with attention to the data models of previous work for free space and road networks to have a consistent type system and framework of operators. In this way, a powerful set of generic query operations is available for querying, together with those dealing with infrastructures and transportation modes. We demonstrate these capabilities by formulating a set of sophisticated queries across all infrastructures.     

基于GPS技术的公交车智能报站及液晶显示系统设计

针对目前公交车手动电子报站的不足,设计了一种新型自动报站系统。系统主要由STC89C52单片机、GPS、LCD12864、WT588D语音模块和键盘组成。通过对公交车行驶中的经纬度信息进行处理,实现了公交车自动语音报站和液晶显示双重功能,能够使驾驶员从手动报站的模式中解脱出来,从而更加专心于行驶,减少了安全隐患。本设计给出了系统的总体结构和软硬件设计,是公交智能化的一项重大改进。