The impacts of mass transit on land development in China: The case of Beijing

Land development impacts of mass transit have long been studied in the developed economies. Yet relatively little is known by the outside world about the Chinese experience due to China's rather short history in the development of modern mass transit and land/property market. This paper attempts to fill the gap by presenting evidence from China, with a detailed case study of Beijing. Selecting three newly built suburban transit lines in Beijing, the study examined land development context and estimated hedonic housing price models to measure the proximity premiums associated with these three lines. The empirical evidence in Beijing, one of the first tier mass transit cities in China, shows that investments in mass transit can have significant and positive impacts on land development. Properties with transit proximity enjoy sizable price or value premiums. The study also confirms the international experience: transit impacts on land development are unlikely to occur automatically; they rely greatly on supportive regional and site conditions. Integrated planning and design for mass transit and land development are critical to expand and maximize the return of transit investments.     

Understanding the Relationship Between Physical and Virtual Representations of Transit Agencies

Abstract

This study examines whether physical attributes of transit agencies, such as agency size, make a difference in how transit websites are designed, and how transit information is distributed. The objective of this study is to see if there is a relationship between physical and virtual representations of transit agencies. A rating instrument is developed for evaluating the quality of transit websites. Our findings suggest that transit agency size plays a key role in determining website quality: When the size of transit system is large, the information about the agency is too complex to be effectively presented on web pages. Thus, the quality of the large agencies’ websites is lower than medium-sized agencies. Instead, we find that large agencies attempt to design more user-friendly sites, and provide advanced information searching tools to compensate for low information quality. Policy implications for transit agencies are discussed.     

西安地铁二号线一期运营客流特征研究及改善建议

本文以西安地铁二号线一期为研究对象,通过对线路客流特征的分析,剖析其客流发展和分布规律,为增加客流、改善运营服务提供支持。本文根据匝机OD及居民出行调查等数据,对客流总量、客流强度、出行目的、时间分布、运距分布、车站集散量、断面客流量、接驳交通方式、接驳耗时等客流特征指标进行了统计分析,结果显示指标值基本反映了本地居民的出行规律和地铁单线运营的客流现状特点;根据车型、车辆编组以及发车间隔对线路运力进行了核算,结果显示线路运力与客流时间分布基本一致,但工作目、周末日运力配备和客流量变化趋势相反,需引起重视。最后,本文建议西安地铁通过加快地铁成网建设、完善车站接驳设施等手段扩大客流吸引范围,从而增加客流规模;通过探索中心站等管理模式建立站务人员的灵活调配机制,确保运营服务适应客流空间分布不平衡的需求。     

南京市快速公交系统（BRT）的规划和建设

南京积极推进公交优先发展战略的实施,优化交通结构,提高公交对市民出行的吸引力。本文介绍了BRT的组成与基本元素,从中国城市的实际出发,阐述了“优先发展公共交通”、“绿色交通”的理念,提出了公交体系建设的基本要求,介绍了BRT在省内城市常州、连云港的应用,针对南京快速公交现状与需求,提出BRT建设和管理的建议。     

Observed and simulated traffic impacts from the 2013 Bay Area Rapid Transit strike

Despite high costs, many cities build public transit to address regional equity, environmental and economic goals. Although public transit accounts for a minority of trips (～5%), the impact is widely felt when service is suspended during a strike through excess road demand and slower journeys. In 2013, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) workers participated in two brief strikes, and the resulting traffic conditions illustrate the value of transit to drivers in the San Francisco Bay Area region. This paper tests the impact of rail transit service interruption on freeway traffic conditions using volumes and travel times. During the strike, regional freeway conditions showed negligible change. However, on facilities that parallel BART service, the impacts are as bad as the worst day of a typical week. Conditions on the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge showed significant impacts with travel times and volumes nearly doubling the baseline median values on the worst day.     

Modular route bus design – A method of meeting transport operation and vehicle manufacturing requirements

This research examines the problem of route bus specification and vehicle manufacturability. In order for bus operators to provide transport services, a range of vehicle configurations must be available from bus manufacturers, generating variety which has a negative impact on the manufacturing process. Larger part inventories, uncontrolled labour tasks and more troublesome maintenance are known impacts of this variety. This research identifies the functional necessities in route bus interior design and reduces the problems in bus manufacture and operation caused by specification diversity by proposing a modularised system of bus design. In particular, it makes recommendations as to how bus configuration should be carried out, ensuring an optimum mix of operational and manufacturing needs:

• 1.Determine user needs before the bus specification process.
• 2.Designs to be developed by the manufacturer in response to user needs.
• 3.This design should be standardised where possible, as suggested by the user needs.
• 4.Where user needs dictate product variations, apply a mass customisation approach to accommodate these needs.

The recommendations are communicated in design proposals for a modular bus interior, demonstrated by four cases designed to meet the present status quo of bus interior design and predictions for the future of the field.     

济南市BRT车辆类型对比研究

优先发展公共交通是缓解拥堵的重要手段。快速公交（BRT）作为济南中运量系统的制式,其运输工具的性能对乘客出行时间、企业的运营效益具有重要意义。因此,对天然气车和现代无轨电车两种绿色公共交通车辆的性能进行介绍,从技术、经济、环境、社会影响和实施可行性几个方面进行对比,最后选择出合适的车辆类型作为济南市BRT的运载工具。     

城市轨道交通列车自动控制系统闭塞制式的分析

城市轨道交通信号系统制式在国内外逐步呈现多样化和标准化的趋势,其制式按照闭塞方式分,有固定式、准移动式与移动式等.重点从城市轨道交通信号系统闭塞制式控制原理、技术经济特点等方面对3种闭塞方式进行对比和分析.     

Impact of regulation on the performances of long-distance transport services: A comparison of the different approaches in Sweden and Norway

Despite the many socio-economic similarities between Sweden and Norway, differences in jurisdiction, organisation, cooperation, and financing of long-distance passenger train and coach services have led to the development of four distinctively different ways of serving the markets. This paper describes how the train and coach markets have developed in the two countries, with emphasis on regulatory and industrial structure and a couple of performance variables.Looking at passenger rail, both countries separated infrastructure from operation over a decade ago. However, while Norwegian rail is characterised by an almost monopoly supplier, rail services in Sweden are partly decentralised to the responsibility of county authorities and are widely subjected to competitive tendering. The rest of the network is about to be opened up for on-the-track competition. Swedish Rail (SJ) has spent the last decades consolidating its core business (passenger rail) and sold out its other businesses. In contrast, the Norwegian state rail (NSB) has expanded its business to become a major bus operator and property owner, with extensions also into the Swedish market.The coach industry was more recently deregulated in both countries. The Swedish coach market is dominated by privately owned companies operating services to and from Stockholm. In Norway, state-owned NSB is a major coach operator on medium distance routes, and is also the largest partner of Nor-Way Bussekspress which totally dominates long-distance coach services. Further, the Norwegian coach market is characterised by cross-ownership and cooperation which has enabled an extensive route network which covers most of Norway.We find distinct differences in achievements in the two modes and in the two countries. Swedish rail services have succeeded in winning market shares and in renewing and developing both infrastructure and service levels to a greater extent than the Norwegian model. On the other hand, the Norwegian coach market seems to be more developed and efficient compared to its Swedish counterpart.The paper concludes with a discussion on the possible links between the different approaches and the performance observed, with the aim to stimulate further and more detailed research on some important issues.     

Transit network design for small-medium size cities

This paper proposes a novel heuristic to solve the network design problem for public transport in small-medium size cities. Such cities can be defined as those with a diameter of a few kilometers with up to a few hundred thousand residents. These urban centers present a specific spatial configuration affecting the land use and mobility system. Transportation demand is widespread in origin and concentrated in a small number of attraction points close to each other. This particular structure of demand (‘many-to-few’) suggests the need for specific methodologies for the design of a transit system at a network level. In this paper, such design methodologies are defined in terms of models and solution procedures and tested on a selected case study. The solution methods show promising results. The key variables of the model are the routes and their frequencies. The constraints of the problem affect the overall demand to be served, the quality of the proposed service (transfer, load factors) and the definition of routes.