An Analysis on Efficiency and Equity of Fixed-Time Ramp Metering

Various traffic management strategies have been developed to alleviate the congestion on freeways. The equity issue has been considered as one of the major challenges for the implementation of some traffic control strategies, especially ramp metering. This paper presents a comparative evaluation of the efficiency and equity performance of a traffic control strategies namely Fixed Time Ramp Metering (FTRM). Instead of focusing on a single equity measure and/or indicator, different approaches to the equity concept are discussed and various equity measures are examined. The equity and efficiency performance of traffic control strategies are compared and evaluated by incorporating them into the simulated corridor. The Bosporus Bridge of Istanbul O-1 Freeway, Turkey is used as a test-bed for the simulation model and the control strategy is employed through microscopic traffic flow simulation software, VISSIM AG. The findings from the simulations show that the equity and efficiency properties of the network vary with the measures and indicators taken into account. The results also suggest that the trade-off between equity and efficiency can be observed for some measures, whereas regarding to other measures the trade-off is not validated.

Operational Characteristics of Paratransit Services with Ride-Hailing Apps in Asian Developing Cities: The Phnom Penh Case

Rapid adoption of ride-hailing apps (RHAs) has greatly influenced the way people travel—there is no exception for paratransit users. However, it remains unclear whether RHAs would be regarded as threats or opportunities among paratransit operators in Asian developing cities. While RHAs have been viewed as disruptive transportation, several studies explored the threats of RHAs on taxi industry—but only a few examined such threats on other paratransit services (e.g., auto-rickshaws). This study assessed the changes in the operational services among paratransit operators who have adopted RHAs. The changes were examined by statistical comparisons using data collected from questionnaire survey with 182 Bajaj drivers in Phnom Penh, January 23-27, 2018, as a case study. Results showed that majority of the interviewed drivers started new services with RHAs less than a year ago—they were younger (88%) satisfied with RHAs and acknowledged improvements on their operational services. The results suggested that RHAs would be opportunities for those paratransit drivers who have adopted them, while they would be threats for those who have not. The collected data serve as useful inputs for future public transport planning in Asian developing cities.

Effects of Noise Sensitivity, Noise Exposure, and Affluent Status on Aircraft Noise Annoyance

Subjective discomfort of airport community is often assessed as reported noise annoyance in relation to noise exposure level and noise sensitivity. In addition, it has been mentioned that higher affluent people appear to have higher contention to aircraft noise, but there is little literature explicitly supporting that. This paper investigates the relationships among aircraft noise exposure level, noise sensitivity, affluence status, aircraft noise annoyance, and annoyance by other noise sources (e.g., road traffic and neighbor noise). A structural equation model is developed and estimated using data collected from residents, aged between 18 and 77 years old, living near Manila airport in the Philippines (N = 321). Results show that noise sensitivity, noise exposure level, and affluent status have positive effects on aircraft noise annoyance, suggesting that higher affluent people are substantially more annoyed by the aircraft noise than lower affluent people. The results also indicate that the annoyance by other noise sources is significantly influenced by noise sensitivity (p < 0.01), but not by the affluent status. This implies that people with higher affluent status consider more about the noise generated from aircraft than the noise from other sources. Following an airport development plan, the aviation authorities should also consider the affluent status of nearby communities in order to formulate a better aircraft noise management near that airport.

Development of the Driving Simulation System MOVIC-T4 and Its Validation Using Field Driving Data

Underground urban expressways are a possibility for solving many existing transportation-related problems, such as traffic congestion in high density areas and the division of neighborhoods due to elevated roadways. However, they may also pose high risks regarding traffic safety. Therefore, it is important for a pre-analysis of traffic safety to be made. This paper describes recent efforts to develop a driving simulation system, MOVIC-T4, for traffic safety analysis of underground urban expressways. In order to develop a small portable simulator, a small-sized motion-base with two-degrees-of-freedom is used to duplicate acceleration cueing together with a head-mounted-display （HMD） for the visual system. An overview of this system is given and the reliability of driving data obtained from the experiments using MOVIC-T4 is discussed through a validation study using field driving data. The results of validation indicate that the perceived speed distance headway, and physiological data in the simulator show the almost same trend as that in the real world, but larger decelerations tend to be produced in the simulator.