1,721,099 research outputs found
Public Bicycles: How the Concept of Human-Oriented “Mobility Sharing” Technology Can Influence Travel Behaviour Norms and Reshape Design Education
No full textAlthough at the moment an excess of 500 public bicycle schemes of variable sizes operate in almost 50 countries worldwide, the impact of their use on travel behaviour and modal change have neither been studied extensively nor have been understood thoroughly as yet. This work negotiates the initial stages of an international research scheme that means to look into the attitudes and system user experiences (the latter only when it is applicable) that could define the design (or re-design) criteria for three public bicycle schemes in three cities of different size and culture. These systems are currently on three dissimilar operational phases spanning from bidding for funding to actually having a fairly successful system already in place. As a matter of fact, the choice of the three case study cities represent an effort to frame the dynamics of the bike-sharing phenomenon in a micro-scale (Drama, Greece, 50.000 residents), meso-scale (Gothenburg, Sweden, 500.000 residents) and mega-scale (Shanghai, China, 23 million residents) looking also into the attitude-shaping process before and after the implementation of a scheme. This project’s didactic role is a twin one; it aims to reinforce education practice on sustainable mobilities design by using student projects as an apparatus for supporting research and promoting urban change in real societal terms and subsequently to integrate the findings of the research into future postgraduate and undergraduate course material. Thus, bike-sharing design, for the means of this paper, aims to serve as an academic platform for integrating and synchronising research and education by promoting a balanced and timely development of technological opportunities that capture the mobility needs of tomorrow
Understanding Public Attitudes to Bike-Sharing in Gothenburg
No full textA predominately car-oriented transport has been the cornerstone of urban development in a worldwide scale for decades now; a cornerstone that is associated mostly with the short-term individualistic benefit of the road user in terms of comfort and convenience, but also with severely adverse effects on societal and environmental sustainability. The problem for society – and policy – is therefore how to retain the social and economic benefits linked to mobility while reducing the negative environmental, economic and social impacts from transport. Considering this and the ever-increasing number of people who live in cities, the development and promotion of alternative social, attitudinal, behavioural and technological niches to the current automobile-focused transport regime is needed more than ever before. One of the prime non-regulatory frameworks to promote this transition to a more sustainable transport paradigm refers to the shared-use of mobility innovation mechanisms. Bike-sharing is perhaps the most characteristic and greener example of this sort of alternative transport solutions. It can be described as a short-term bicycle rental service for inner-city transportation providing bikes at unattended stations. Bike-sharing systems have been introduced as a means to extend the reach of public transit services to final destinations in a way that promotes the development of sustainable and aesthetically pleasing urban environments that prioritize people over cars. The most distinctive function of such a scheme however, is clearly the concept of “sharing” since individuals use bicycles on an “as-needed” basis without the costs and responsibilities of bicycle ownership. Despite the vast potential of bike-sharing outlined herein and more importantly despite the numerous (at least 500) schemes of variable sizes and types that run in more than 50 countries worldwide, the impact of its use and the factors that can make it successful or not constitute a topic that is still only modestly negotiated by research. This abstract refers to a study aiming to frame the attitudes of people towards the rapidly expanding bike-sharing scheme of Gothenburg some of them referring to their experience of the scheme as users.Gothenburg has in place Styr & Ställ, which is a self-service bike rental system, spread across 62 stations throughout the city centre with an excess of 600 bicycles. This fairly inexpensive system can be accessed 24 hours a day and seven days a week between 1st of March to 31st of October. Approximately 50,000 annual users signed up in 2012 for using this service (including tourists) a number that has really forced the rapid expansion of the scheme in what it is today and calls for research pointing to two directions; research that could either attempt to captivate what it seems to be a formula for success or understand how a scheme with such a potential could become even more publicly acceptable.A number in excess of 500 fully completed questionnaires were collected and analyzed. The respondents believed in general that cycling could be a sustainable, cost-saving, healthy, pleasant mode capable of reducing road traffic congestion. 90% of them agreed or strongly agreed that more bicycle-related investments are necessary for Gothenburg. More importantly though, only an insignificant proportion of the respondents (approximately 1.5% of them) disagreed or strongly disagreed with the notion that Styr and Ställ is a good scheme for the city. The respondents believed that Styr and Ställ is a pro-environmental, inexpensive and healthy travel option, which complements the other existing public transport services and promotes a more human-friendly identity for the city. The vast majority of them also believed that public bicycles provide a viable service for the city that should expand to more areas. Despite these positive attitudes and although at least one out of four respondents cycle in a daily basis and more than half of them use a bike regularly, very few of them ride a public bicycle: almost 85% of them don’t or use it rarely. More than 40% of the respondents though reported that they do that because they use their own bicycles, while an excess of 30% considered that there is still a lack of good public bicycle related infrastructure in the city. Another finding of the study is that quite a few people find neither the bicycles nor the rental stations particularly attractive and they do not see a need for electrical bicycles. All in all, even the majority of the respondents that self-reported a small likelihood to ever use systematically public bicycles was positive towards the scheme
Perspektiv på eldrivna fordon 2014
No full textMÖJLIGHETER OCH UTMANINGAR MED ELDRIVNA TRANSPORTER AV
GODS OCH MÄNNISKOR
Mänsklighetens historia är till dels en historia om längre transportvägar, större
utbyte av varor och mer resande. Det moderna transportsystemet är helt beroende
av olja - ett ändligt fossilt bränsle som bidrar till klimatförändringar och lokala
luftföroreningar. Begreppet “elektromobilitet” avser ett alternativt transportsystem
som bygger på eldrivna fordon. Elektromobilitet uppfattas alltmer fördelaktigt
eftersom det skulle kunna tillgodose vårt behov av rörlighet och samtidigt kringgå
problem relaterade till både olja och biobränslen.
Övergången till ett eldrivet transportsystem är dock inte utan problem och en rad
frågor kräver svar. Hur är det med elfordonens energieffektivitet och säkerhet? Hur
miljövänliga är de? Kan brist på vissa metaller leda till en begränsning av antalet
elfordon? I vilken utsträckning kommer körmönster att forma eller formas av nya
typer av fordon? Är eldrift endast lämpligt för bilar och inte för tunga fordon eller
är det tvärt om? Vilka nya affärsmodeller och statligt stöd behövs för att stimulera
efterfrågan på elfordon?
Det saknas slutgiltiga svar på dessa och andra viktiga frågor. Däremot kan vi
studera elektromobilitet från olika perspektiv för att skapa en mer komplex bild,
döda myter, klargöra konflikter och fördjupa förståelsen.
Perspektiv på eldrivna fordon är en levande e-bok med årliga uppdateringar
Systems Perspectives on Electromobility 2014
No full textThe transportation of goods and people is at the heart of the industrial society.
Yet transportation relies heavily upon oil – a scarce fossil fuel that contributes to
climate change and local air pollution. The term ’electromobility’ refers to an alternative
transportation system based on vehicles propelled by electricity. Electromobility
is increasingly seen as favourable in that it could circumvent problems related
to both oil and biofuels whilst meeting our mobility needs and desires.
However, the virtue of electromobility is not uncontested and a range of questions
demand an answer: if electric vehicles are energy efficient; if they are safe;
how environmental friendly they are; if metal resource scarcity will limit their use;
to what extent driving patterns shape or are shaped by new types of vehicles; if
electromobility is suitable only for cars and not for heavy vehicles, or vice versa;
and what type of new business models and governmental policy support that is
required to stimulate demand for electric vehicles.
There is not one final answer to questions like these. However, studying electromobility
from different systems perspectives can help to resolve such complex issues.
The sixteen chapters of Systems Perspectives on Electromobility 2014 address
different topics related to the immensely important issue of whether – and to what
extent – our transport systems can and should be energised by electricity.
Systems Perspectives on Electromobility is an evolving ebook with annual
updates. You may also want to read Systems perspectives on Renewable Power
and Systems Perspectives on Biorefineries
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Uppfattningar och erfarenheter av elsparkcyklar och dess säkerhet -en enkätstudie [Elektronisk resurs]
No full textAppropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Enabling the user - Exploring methodological effects on user requirements elicitation
No full textThis thesis concerns centred product development and more specifically how methodological choices in user requirements elicitation can enable the users to communicate their requirements to the product developers. During the development process choices have to be made concerning what methodology to use for eliciting user requirements. These choices include the choice of data collection method, the choice of participants, the choice of mediating object, and the choice of context. In order to explore how different methodological choices can work as enabler in user requirements elicitation two case studies, three comparative studies, and a survey have been carried out. The results show that all four methodological choices influence user requirements elicitation in terms of their enabling effect. Product use experience and to what extent the method could provide the users with product use experience seem to be the most important factor to enable the users. An important finding was that enabling the user also includes enabling the designer to understand the user and the use situation in order for the designer to interpret the users' requirements. A conscious choice of methods can be used as a common tool enabling the user as well as the designer
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