2,128 research outputs found
Making in-class skills training more effective: the scope for interactive videos to complement the delivery of practical pedestrian training
No full textSkills and awareness of young pedestrians can be improved with on-street practical pedestrian training, often delivered in schools in the United Kingdom by local authorities with the intention of improving road safety. This training is often supplemented by in-class paper based worksheet activities which are seen to be less effective than practical training in that they focus on knowledge acquisition rather than directly improving the correct application of safe pedestrian skills at the roadside. Previous research indicates that interactive video tools have the potential to develop procedural skills whilst offering an engaging road safety educational experience, which could positively impact on road crossing behaviour.In this paper, the design and development of a hazard-identification interactive road safety training video targeting child road crossing skills is presented. The interactive video was shown to be an engaging training resource for 6-7 year old children. The tool’s scope for improving pedestrians’ roadside skills is considered along with the wider implications for interactive video to aid safety training in other areas
Requirements from vehicle routing software: perspectives from literature, developers and the freight industry
No full textRouting and scheduling software is part of the information and technology systems available to support the transport industry, and uses complex algorithms along with geographical representations of the road network to allow better planning of daily collection and delivery schedules. This paper reviews the evolution of routing and scheduling software, the algorithms used along with reported barriers to wider take-up and potential industry-driven improvements that could be made. A survey of transport companies in the U.K. was conducted in order to validate and prioritise the software capabilities that require the most development according to the new challenges that the industry is facing. Responses suggested that companies required improved route optimisation to tackle congestion based on time-dependent data and models, and greater accuracy in the representation of the road network. Not considering congestion leads to the underestimation of travel times and the production of inaccurate schedules. Literature shows that operational research techniques are available to solve problems that represent real-world conditions, but research into the relative merits of using time-dependent models needs to be undertaken. Data might be improved by cooperation between government and private sector.</p
Evolution of adaptive route choice behaviour in drivers
No full textTraffic assignment, the process by which vehicle origin-destination flows are loaded on to discrete paths traversing a road network, has been traditionally approached as a non-linear optimisation problem where it is expected that travellers will each minimise their own travel time. While such models are suitable for obtaining an `average’ expected network state, traffic conditions on a day to day basis are inherently uncertain due to variations in travel patterns and incidents such as vehicle breakdowns, roadworks or bad weather resulting in fluctuations in realised traffic flows. Further, such models do not consider the transition from one `average’ state to another when an aspect of infrastructure is changed such as a new road opening or the introduction of long term roadworks. This paper therefore examines the evolution of driver route choice over time in stochastic time-dependent networks, specifically focusing on how individual experience of network conditions guides future decisions and its relationship with en-route switching opportunities. Existing algebraic and empirical models of route choice evolution are assessed (particularly using discrete whole path choices to assess benefits of information provision) and it is proposed that incorporating adaptive path routing based on expected correlations in traffic flow behaviour is more suitable than fixed path models for capturing the extent of observed uncertainty in network conditions. We present this issue and explore through simulation a model where drivers adapt expected road link travel times for a given trip based on a combination of previous experience and discovered link travel times on that trip. We show how adaptive behaviour produces travel times which are on average faster than non-adaptive behaviour, confirming the potential of this modelling approach. <br/
The evolution of urban traffic control: changing policy and technology
No full textThe history of urban traffic control (UTC) throughout the past century has been a continued race to keep pace with ever more complex policy objectives and consistently increasing vehicle demand. Many benefits can be observed from an efficient urban traffic control system, such as reduced congestion, increased economic efficiency and improved road safety and air quality.There have been significant advances in vehicle detection and communications technologies which have enabled a series of step changes in the capabilities of UTC systems, from early (fixed time) signal plans to modern integrated systems. A variety of UTC systems have been implemented throughout the world, each with individual strengths and weaknesses; this paper seeks to compare the leading commercial systems (and some less well known systems) to highlight the key characteristics and differences before assessing whether the current UTC systems are capable of meeting modern transport policy obligations and desires.This paper then moves on to consider current and future transport policy and the technological landscape in which UTC will need to operate over the coming decades, where technological advancements are expected to move UTC from an era of limited data availability to an era of data abundance.<br/
The usability and effectiveness of interactive video as a complementary child pedestrian training activity
No full textPractical on-street pedestrian training is one form of education designed to promote safe roadside behavior amongst young road users with the intention of reducing their potential of involvement in road traffic collisions. While many local authorities in the United Kingdom operate pedestrian training, a number are reducing the amount of on-street training on offer as a result of financial and time constraints. This reduction in practical training puts more emphasis on paper-based classroom activities which increase knowledge acquisition but are generally not as effective in improving practical skills. Interactive videos may prove to be an effective complementary activity alongside pedestrian training as it is suggested that they can more effectively target hard skills compared to paper-based activities. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of an interactive road safety video designed to improve children’s crossing skills between parked cars when no other alternative safer route is available. The paper finds that interactive video shows the potential to improve the crossing behavior of children and that it therefore may make a useful additional educational activity alongside pedestrian training
An international review of roundabout capacity modelling
No full textRoundabouts are an increasingly common form of road junction worldwide, and their effective design requires a detailed analysis of maximum vehicle throughput capacities. In this paper, the worldwide state-of-the-art in roundabout capacity modelling is examined, covering the three main methodologies on which models are based: fully-empirical, gap acceptance and simulation. It is shown that due to their limitations, each of these methodologies on their own cannot completely explain the complex behavioural and physical processes involved in roundabout entries, hence all the models require strong semi-empirical or fully-empirical bases using data obtained from their countries of origin. Differences in driver behaviour and methodologies thus result in differences in predicted capacities by the various models, and although local calibration allows some transferability, it is often limited by the availability of data or an incomplete understanding of the relationships between model parameters and capacity
Can locker box logistics enable more human-centric medical supply chains?
No full textThere are a range of non-clinical support services within hospitals, such as catering, linen / laundry and supply logistics, which are widely considered to have a significant effect on the delivery and quality of patient care. Supply chain activities are regarded as one of the most important owing to the potentially fatal consequences of ‘stock-outs’ (Özkil et al. 2009; Costantino et al. 2010) where key inventory becomes temporarily unavailable. As a result, hospitals typically employ inventory buffers but in spite of such practices, stock-outs still occur due to disparities in inventory requirements between the hospital and suppliers; the presence of unusual demand for specific items (Jarret 2006); and, receipt of goods which are faulty, contaminated or otherwise unfit for purpose. In such events, the supply chain needs to be agile, responding quickly in order to cater for demand. However, due to the structure of the healthcare supply chain which consists of an external chain (delivering goods to the hospital) and internal hospital chain (distributing delivered goods to end users throughout the hospital), the fast flow of goods is often stalled by the interface between the two (Aronsson et al. 2011).This paper critically assesses the current supply chain practices implemented at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) NHS Trust in London in relation to those that could be utilised, whilst presenting a new concept of supply for key lines and items to the trust using unattended electronic locker boxes to create a more individualistic human-centric service for users, with the overall aim of improving the speed of the distribution of goods both internally (between players once inventory has arrived at the hospital) and externally (for inventory being delivered into the hospital from outside)
On the consistency of urban cellular automata models based on hexagonal and square cells
No full textCellular automata have found extensive applications in the modelling of urban systems. Calculations in cellular automata models are based on cell centroids and therefore cellular automata models are sensitive to the choices of cell size and shape. While the effect of cell size for urban simulation has been studied, discussions on the effect of cell shape on urban cellular automata models have been limited. Applications in other fields suggest there are advantages of using hexagonal cells over square cells, yet most urban cellular automata models use square cells. Using connectivity indices from graph theory, experiments in this study compared models based on hexagonal and square cells to examine the potential advantage of hexagonal cells in urban cellular automata models. This paper finds that simulation results from the model with hexagonal cells are more consistent and concludes that hexagonal cells would increase the robustness of model simulation.</p
Unravelling the dynamics behind the urban morphology of port-cities using a LUTI model based on cellular automata
No full textThe urban morphology is characterised by self-organisation where interactions of multiple agents produce emerging patterns on the urban form. Port-urban relationship added to the complexity of port cities’ urban form. Most urban cellular automata (CA) models simulate land-use evolution through transition rules representing multi-factored local interactions. However, calibration of CA-based urban land use and transport interaction (LUTI) models often utilise manual methods due to complexity of the process. This limits insights on urban interactions to a few explored settlements and prevents applications for planning and assessment of transport policies in other contexts. This paper, therefore, addresses three main points. The paper (i) demonstrates an improved method for the calibration of CA-based LUTI models, (ii) contributes to a better understanding of the urban dynamics in port city systems by quantifying generalizable interactions from a wide range of port-urban settlements, and (iii) illustrates how the use of these interactions in a simulation model can allow long-term impact predictions of planning interventions.These were done by formulating a model in a similar structure as a neural network model to enable automatic calibration using an application of the gradient-descent algorithm. The model was then used to quantify the dynamics between land-use, geographic, and transport factors in 46 port-based and 10 non-port settlements across Great Britain, thus enabling cross-sectional analysis. Cluster analysis of the calibrated interactions in the study areas was conducted to examine the variations of these interactions. This produced two main groups. In the first group, consisting larger settlements, connections between ports and other urban activities were weaker than in the second group which consisted of smaller port-settlements. Overall, the findings of the research are consistent with existing evidence in the port-cities literature but go further in quantifying the interaction between urban agents within port-urban systems of various sizes and types. These quantified interactions will enable planners to better predict the longer-term consequences of their interventions
Recommendations for a "coarse-resolution rapid-assessment" methodology to assess barriers to fish migration, and associated prioritization tools
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