Influence of bus stop with left-turn lines between two adjacent signalized intersections

Based on the symmetric two-lane Nagel–Schreckenberg（STNS） model, a three-lane cellular automaton model between two intersections containing a bus stop with left-turning buses is established in which model the occurrences of vehicle accidents are taken into account. The characteristics of traffic flows with different ratios of left-turn lines are discussed via the simulation experiments. The results indicate that the left-turn lines have more negative effects on capacity,accident rate as well as delay if the stop is located close to the intersections, where the negative effect in a near-side stop is more severe than that in a far-side one. The range of appropriate position for a bus stop without the bottleneck effect becomes more and more narrow with the increase of the ratio of left-turn bus lines. When the inflow is small, a short signal cycle and a reasonable offset are beneficial. When the inflow reaches or exceeds the capacity, a longer signal cycle is helpful. But if the stop position is inappropriate, the increase of cycle fails in reducing the negative effect of left-turning buses and the effectiveness of offset is weakened.

Route Search Method for Railway Replacement Buses Adopting Ant Colony Optimization

In recent years, Japan, and especially rural areas have faced the growing problems of debt-ridden local railway lines along with the population decline and aging population. Therefore, it is best to consider the discontinuation of local railway lines and introduce replacement buses to secure the transportation methods of the local people especially in rural areas. Based on the above background, targeting local railway lines that may be discontinued in the near future, appropriate bus stops when provided with potential bus stops were selected, the present study proposed a method that introduces routes for railway replacement buses adopting ant colony optimization (ACO). The improved ACO was designed and developed based on the requirements set concerning the route length, number of turns, road width, accessibility of railway lines and zones without bus stops as well as the constraint conditions concerning the route length, number of turns and zones without bus stops. Original road network data were generated and processed adopting a geographic information systems (GIS), and these are used to search for the optimal route for railway replacement buses adopting the improved ACO concerning the 8 zones on the target railway line (JR Kakogawa line). By comparing the improved ACO with Dijkstra’s algorithm, its relevance was verified and areas needing further improvements were revealed.

Numerical study of the mechanical process of long-distance replacement of the definitive lining in severely damaged highway tunnels

Mountain road tunnels are prone to water leakage and lining corrosion under the complex geological conditions and corrosive envi-ronments,which will reduce the strength of the lining structure until it loses its load-bearing capacity;eventually,the definitive lining will need to be replaced.In this paper,a highway tunnel in a mountainous area in Southwest China is taken as an example.Field investi-gation found that the tunnel was seriously corroded by sulfate,the strength of the definitive lining decreased,and large-scale cracks and spalling appeared on the surface,so the operator decided to replace the definitive lining by the method of interval replacement.Based on the data obtained from drilling and coring,a numerical model of long-distance replacement of the definitive lining of the damaged tunnel is established.First,the back analysis of the calculation parameters is carried out,and the modified calculation results are com-pared with the field monitoring results for verification.Then,the deformation trend of the tunnel and the development of the plastic zone during the process of long-distance replacement of the definitive lining are studied.Finally,the construction scheme is optimized.Numer-ical analysis results show that the replacement of the definitive lining of the tunnel mainly leads to the settlement of the arch crown and the uplift of the inverted arch.The deformation of the tunnel shows two rapid growth stages and two stable stages during the replace-ment process;after replacement,the deformation of the arch crown and the inverted arch is divided into two buffer zones and one stable zone.In the progress of the replacement of the definitive lining,the plastic zone does not change.Regarding the reinforcement measures,with the increase in the grouting range,the grouting efficiency decreases,and the effect of the temporary steel arch on controlling the overall deformation is not obvious.The length of the replacement of the single section should be determined according to the geological conditions of the replacement section and the monitoring data during construction.The research results can provide a reference for sim-ilar projects for the replacement of the definitive lining.

Optimal operating strategy of short turning lines for the battery electric bus system

Operating short turning line is an efficient strategy to satisfy the unevenly distributed demand during peak periods while reducing operational cost.However,for the battery electric bus(BEB)system,the application of the strategy is challenging due to the disadvantages of BEBs,such as limited driving mileage and long charging time.Improper vehicle configuration and charging scheduling may dramatically increase the operational cost and cut the benefits of these strategies.In this work,we propose a general framework to design an effective short turning strategy for the BEB system at a tactical planning level.First,the trade-off relationship between the battery capacity and the average trip time is identified by modeling the BEBs operations.Second,a microeconomic model is formulated to jointly optimize the frequencies and charging schedules of the whole bus line and the short turning line,to effectively minimize passengers’waiting time and operational cost.Finally,numerical experiments have been carried out for an illustrative linear line to demonstrate the potential benefits of the sub-line operating strategy compared with the normal operation.

Distributed and Decentralized Control Architectures for Converter-Interfaced Microgrids

This paper gives a summary on recently available technologies for decentralized and distributed control of microgrids.They can be classified into two general categories:1)power line communication based architectures and 2)multi-agent based architectures.The essential control methods and information sharing algorithms applied in these architectures are reviewed and examined in a hierarchical manner,in order to point out benefits they will bring to future microgrid applications.The paper is concluded with a summary on existing methods and a discussion on future development trends.