Users’ Perception on Operation and Performance of Public Transport Systems in African Developing Countries: The Case of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Dar es Salaam City, Tanzania

Public transport system has been a means of addressing transportation challenges in urban areas, such as traffic congestion, traffic jam and long travel time in cities worldwide. Transportation in Africa is unique in that it has the least developed public transport systems in the world, while also being one of the fastest urbanizing continents. Bus Rapid Transit being one of the public transport systems was introduced in Africa in 2008 as a means to provide solution on urban transportation challenges. Despite of public transport being the main means of transport in African developing countries, there have been a number of challenges that affects efficiency of performance of the system and makes its users uncomfortable. Therefore, the study aimed at exploring the setbacks or challenges associated with operation and performance of the BRT system in the African developing countries and address them. The study employed mixed methods research design that integrates both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods and analysis. The study findings reveal that, there is an improvement on the perspectives of the commuters on public transport after introduction of BRT system. However, some challenges such as long waiting time, passengers overcrowding during peak hours, as well as safety and security can slowly change the perspective of the commuters. Therefore, to address these challenges it is recommended to reduce the long waiting time and improve accessibility by introduction of passenger information displays (bus information system) and automated fare collection system;reduce travel time by introduction of bus priority signal;and improve safety and security by introduction of signage and CCTV Camera within the bus and bus stops.

ComplexTrans-Global Rail-Road Transportation System Economical and Clustered Individual and Individualised Public Transport also Prevents the Spread of Covid 19

Land transport can no longer meet the requirements.European transport can be described by these words−crowded motorways and cities,dangerous emissions,ubiquitous traffic accidents,delays,expensive railways.Solutions are being sought to transfer a large part of passengers and especially freight transport to(high-speed)rail,and efforts are moving towards electromobility,car-sharing,5G-connectivity,autonomous driving,MaaS(Mobility as a Service)-coordinated transport or hyperloop-type solutions.However,all these solutions have additional challenges and limitations.Solutions are not being searched where they really exist-in the mutual adaptation of road and rail vehicles and their deep cooperation.The ComplexTrans project shows that simply adapting the dimensions and functions of road and rail vehicles can eliminate(or at least significantly reduce)all the problems of existing land transport.The main features of the ComplexTrans system are sufficient parking spaces,reduction of urban and non-urban congestion,electric vehicles with unlimited range and cheaper than standard cars,cheaper and more accessible battery charging,“autonomous ride”,solving the overlap between passenger and freight rail transport and making it self-financing,transferring intercity freight transport to rail,replacing part of continental air transport and many others.The cost-effective and clustered individual transport and individualised public transport of the ComplexTrans system also bring very significant reductions in the risk of transmission of covid-19 and other contagious diseases during transport.

The Development of Generalized Public Bicycles in China and Its Role in the Urban Transportation System

Public bicycle service has experienced 15 years of development in Chinese cities,and China's Mainland is the world's largest public bicycle market.Choosing to use public bicycles is becoming more and more a daily habit of residents.Broadly speaking,public bicycles in Chinese cities include both public bikes with service stations and shared bicycles without service stations.Based on historical review and years of accumulated data,this paper reviews the development of general public bicycles in Chinese cities in the past 15 years.And the role of general public bicycles in China’s urban transportation system is analyzed.Finally,from the perspective of urban construction and management,some suggestions for the future development of public bicycles are put forward.

Computational Strategy Research on the Development of Kiruna,in Sweden

In Kiruna,nearly all the residents support the migration plan in order to make LKAB able to continue the mining process.Based on current condition,a larger part of this town will be demolished by the sinking land caused by iron ore mining processing operated by LKAB.Since then,most of the buildings in the sinking district will be relocated in another district.However,the situation in Kiruna is not quite the same as when this kind of migration happens in another place.In other place,while migration happens,even if not most,a large part of the local residents will resist and fight for their house and properties.Concentrated on the ownership of different buildings and tried find the relationship between the public and private buildings to discover some issue that will help to work on the computational urban design.

A Support System of Sightseeing Tour Planning Using Public Transportation in Japanese Rural Areas

Though most of tourists tend to visit multiple sightseeing spots during their sightseeing tours,it is difficult for them to efficiently acquire information necessary for their sightseeing tour planning.Additionally,in rural area,many people hope to use public transportation which has not developed as much as in urban areas.The present study aims to design and develop a support system of sightseeing tour planning in Japanese rural areas,adopting the information related to real timetables of public transportation on both the sea and the ground,and genetic algorism(GA).The system was developed integrating moving route recommendation system,web-geographic information systems(Web-GIS),and augmented reality(AR)application.Furthermore,Kagawa Prefecture in the western part was selected as the operation target area.The operation of the system was conducted for two months,targeting those inside and outside the operation target area,and web questionnaire surveys were conducted.From the evaluation results based on the web questionnaire surveys,the usefulness of all the original functions as well as of the entire system was analyzed.Additionally,though some users could not easily use the system,it is expected that they will get used to utilizing it by their continuous use.

Performance Evaluation of Public Bus Transportation by Using DEA Models and Shannon’s Entropy:An Example From a Company in a Large City of China

The purpose of this paper is to assess the operational efficiency of a public bus transportation via a case study from a company in a large city of China by using data envelopment analysis(DEA)model and Shannon’s entropy.This company operates 37 main routes on the backbone roads.Thus,it plays a significant role in public transportation in the city.According to bus industry norms,an efficiency evaluation index system is constructed from the perspective of both company operations and passenger demands.For passenger satisfaction,passenger waiting time and passenger-crowding degree are considered,and they are undesirable indicators.To describe such indicators,a superefficient DEA model is constructed.With this model,by using actual data,efficiency is evaluated for each bus route.Results show that the DEA model with Shannon’s entropy being combined achieves more reasonable results.Also,sensitivity analysis is presented.Therefore,the results are meaningful for the company to improve its operations and management.

Public Transportation Management Strategies in a Low-Carbon Economy

The importance of public transportation in social and economic development is undeniable.With the rising concerns of environmental pollution and resource depletion in recent times,China has made significant efforts to transition towards a low-carbon economy.To advance this transition,it is imperative to confront the obstacles faced by public transportation and enact effective management strategies that promote both economic and environmental sustainability.In this regard,the author has evaluated the existing status of public transit within the context of a low-carbon economy and put forth targeted management approaches.This research is expected to make a valuable contribution towards enhancing the quality of public transportation management.

Application Strategy of Green Transportation Concept in Urban Road Design

Urban traffic and urban environmental pollution are important issues that must be taken into account in the process of urbanization,especially in China.Modernization has enabled many developed countries in the west to carry out rational city traffic planning.At the same time,the concept of green transportation has also emerged,integrating low-energy consumption,low pollution,comfort,and safety into urban traffic to effectively solve issues pertaining to traffic and pollution.The concept of green transportation has been widely adopted in China and made popular in many cities,thereby promoting the sustainable development of cities.

30 years of the transformation of non-urban public transport in Poland's peripheral areas – what went wrong?

Transport-based social exclusion is currently a serious social problem in Poland,and one which is apparently most severe at the level of the county(Polish powiat)in the south-eastof the country,including the Beskid Niski and Bieszczady Mountains.A deeper illustration of this problem requires both observation of changes in the suburban public-transport network and the identification of areas in which this has deteriorated significantly in quantity and quality.The chosen starting point for the research was therefore 1990,as a year in which–on the one hand–the Polish economy was already shifted to the new free-market principles;while–on the other–state PKS(Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacji Samochodowej)non-urban bus transport enterprises still dominated public transport.The endpoint of the study is then the beginning of 2019(the author's research year).The article introduced here seeks to identify and present cartographically the changes affecting the public-transport network in the study area over the last 30 years,as well as to point to possible consequences of these processes.The background of the described changes is also discussed,as are the observed consequences of what is taking place.

On Distributary Model of Public Transportation in Metropolis

The expansion of population and the worsening of the city development pattern brought serious effects on public transportation in the metropolis. The traditional method is not suitable for the analysis of city public transportation. This paper presents the model of “frog jumping and permeation” of passage flow in city public transportation. In this model, the passages between the first class gradient centers are transported by the fastest ways, and transferred in the mode of permeation between the second class gradient centers. this model will improvc the situation in the metropolitan communications.

Open Queueing Network Model of Shanghai Public Transportation Problem

In this paper, the open queueing network model is proposed for solving the problem of public transportation in cities. The vertices of the networks(i.e., the bus stops) are determined by means of the fuzzy clustering method. The arcs (i.e., the paths of the public transportation) can be set up by using the shortest path model in the time sense or the 0 1 integer programming method.Applying the statistics method, we can calculate the parameters(such as the passenger flow's distribution, passenger flow's transition probability, mean waiting time for the bus etc. ) of the public transportation network. In this paper, we suggest to divide the network into two or three stages to implement the public transportation system in the form of ``frog jumping' fast transfer and ``permeation' fast dispersion.Combining the computer simulation and the evaluation of the achievement and effect of public transportation system, we modify the model so as to solve the public transportation problem better.

Wireless Sensor Enabled Public Transportation System

Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI) in real time is becoming an urgent necessity due to rapid increase in the number of vehicles on roads. The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology can be used for vehicle identification to gather information in real-time from roads by getting the vehicles location from RFID readers placed in the vehicle. This paper focuses on designing the Public Vehicle Location System (PVLS). The proposed structure consists of passive RFID tags placed at various locations on the chosen route, RFID reader on the Bus, wireless communication with a PC and commanding software (RFID reader and database structure), also PVLS applications and website. The designed system controls, manages and monitors the performance of RFID readers. It also filters and stores the information in an appropriate format so that it could be used without difficulty in the application system and website. The system implemented by using RFID is placed in the Bus which is programmed by Visual C# 2008 with Compact .Net Framework.

A Preliminary Study of Just-in-Time Methods for a Seamless Public Transportation Information Framework

A seamless multimodal transit system has been a goal for transportation planners and users. Owing to the developments of advanced public transportation and telecom technologies such as automatic vehicle location (AVL) and real-time passenger information system, key just-in-time (JIT) concepts can now be realized in process design and coordinated scheduling to shape a seamless multimodal transit system. JIT refers to a production system that times both movements of goods during production and delivery from suppliers together. It meets the same logic for seamless multimodal services. Therefore, this study innovatively analyzes possible public transportation technologies for JIT uses;moreover, to layout the possible application frame-work of a transportation technology based JIT multimodal transit system for main station area in Taipei city. With this innovative framework, multimodal transit services can deliver to the right place at right time.

Optimal Allocation of Public Transport Hub Based on Load Loss Value and the Economy of Distribution Network

The rapid development of electric buses has brought a surge in the number of bus hubs and their charging and discharging capacities.Therefore,the location and construction scale of bus hubs will greatly affect the operation costs and benefits of an urban distribution network in the future.Through the scientific and reasonable planning of public transport hubs on the premise of meeting the needs of basic public transport services,it can reduce the negative impact of electric bus charging loads upon the power grids.Furthermore,it can use its flexible operation characteristics to provide flexible support for the distribution network.In this paper,taking the impact of public transport hub on the reliability of distribution network as the starting point,a three-level programming optimization model based on the value and economy of distribution network load loss is proposed.Through the upper model,several planning schemes can be generated,which provides boundary conditions for the expansion of middle-level optimization.The normal operation dispatching scheme of public transport hub obtained from the middle-level optimization results provides boundary conditions for the development of lower level optimization.Through the lower level optimization,the expected load loss of the whole distribution system including bus hub under the planning scheme given by the upper level can be obtained.The effectiveness of the model is verified by an IEEE-33 bus example.

The quality of escalator signage for public safety in Malaysia:an observational study

Objective:Escalator signage could be playing a vital role to alert users for safe use of escalators.This study aimed to evaluate the availability,standardization,and content of safety information on escalator signage in the shopping malls.Methods:An observational study was conducted from November 2017 to February 2018 to assess the availability,standardization of safety information among the signage inside the shopping mall,and the content of safety information for public safety in Malaysia.A checklist was developed by adapting escalator safety guidelines from seven countries and regions including Malaysia.Data collctors identified from the selected states were required to capture three photographs at different angles of the escalator signage for each ascending and descending directions at each entrance of the mall.Descriptive analysis was performed;each criterion was presented in frequency and percentage.Results:A total of 268 escalators from 84 shopping malls in 9 states of Malaysia were assessed.Two operating escalators were not equipped with signage.More than one-ifth(23.0%)of the signage was not standardized within the mall.The majority of safety information was displayed in the form of a pictogram,a minority of signage displayed information in both pictogram and text format:"children must hold hand"(12.7%)and"be careful of long clothing"(10.8%),respectively.Nevertheless,"toddlers should be carried"(8.6%)and"take extra care with rubber shoes/tied shoes/laces"(30.2%)were found absent in most of the signage.Conclusion:Escalator signage was present in almost all of the escalators observed.However,non-standardization of the signage of escalators should warrant the attention of relevant authorities to revise the safety guideline s and improve the quality of escalator.

Simulations of Carbon Dioxide Emissions Related to the Use of Public Transport for Students in a Higher Education Institution in Southern Brazil

Carbon dioxide(CO2)emissions from motor vehicles have been increasing in large urban centers,thus contributing to air pollution.The general objective of this study is to analyze simulations of CO2 emissions among students who use public transport in the city of Passo Fundo,in the state of Rio Grande do Sul,Brazil.Methodologically,this study was developed in three stages:(1)verification of the time used by higher education students at Faculdade Meridional(IMED)in relation to urban mobility;(2)understanding of the transport mode used by these students,taking into account the one which appears with the highest incidence;(3)simulating CO2 emissions from the modes of transport used by students after the application of the Environmental Impact Simulator(EIS)used by the National Public Transport Association(ANTP,in Portuguese)for the modeling of transport indexes aimed at analyzing CO2 emissions.When considering the total of 3,079 students who assigned to a sample of 66 questionnaires,a reduction of CO2 emissions of 4,527.04 kg during a year in relation to the use of public transport was found.