Crowding cost estimation with large scale smart card and vehicle location data

Travel time reliability is an important aspect of bus service quality. Despite a significant body of research on private vehicle reliability, little attention has been paid to bus travel time reliability at the stop-to-stop link level on different types of roads. This study aims to identify and quantify the underlying determinants of bus travel time reliability on links of different road types with the use of supply and demand data from automatic vehicle location and smart card systems collected in Brisbane, Australia. Three general bus-related models were developed with respect to the main concerns of travelers and planners: average travel time, buffer time, and coefficient of variation of travel time. Five groups of alternative models were developed to account for variations caused by different road types, including arterial road, motorway, busway, and central business district. Seemingly unrelated regression equations estimation were applied to account for cross-equation correlations across regression models in each group. Three main categories of unreliability contributory factors were identified and tested in this study, namely, planning, operational, and environmental. Model results provided insights into these factors that affect bus travel time and its variability. The most important predictors were found to be the recurrent congestion index, traffic signals, and passenger demand at stops. Results could be used to target specific strategies aimed at reducing unreliability on different types of roads.

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Automated Method for Delineating Harvested Stands Based on Harvester Location Data

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs12172754 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (17) ◽

pp. 2754

Author(s):

Timo Melkas ◽

Kirsi Riekki ◽

Juha-Antti Sorsa

Keyword(s):

Forest Inventory ◽

Large Scale ◽

Field Measurements ◽

Detailed Comparison ◽

Satellite System ◽

Comparison Method ◽

Aerial Images ◽

Location Data ◽

Automated Method ◽

Good Stand

The data produced by cut-to-length harvesters provide new large-scale data source for event-based update of national forest stand inventory by Finnish Forest Centre. This study aimed to automate geoprocessing, which generates delineations of operated areas from harvester location data. Automated algorithms were developed and tested with a dataset of 455 harvested objects, recorded during harvestings. In automated stand delineation, the location points are clustered, the stand points are identified and external strip roads are separated. Then, stand polygons are produced. To validate the results, automatic delineations were compared to 57 observed delineations from field measurements and aerial images. A detailed comparison method was developed to study the correspondence. Stand polygonization parameter was adjusted and areal correspondence with 1% error on average was obtained for stands over 0.75 ha. Good stand shape agreement was observed. Overall, the automated method worked well, and the operative stand delineations were found suitable for updating the forest inventory data. To modify the operative stands towards forest inventory stands, a balancing algorithm is introduced to create a solid, unique stand boundary between overlapping stands. This algorithm is beneficial for upkeep of stand networks. In addition, the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) accuracy of the harvesters was examined and estimated numerically.

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Environmental assessment and cost estimation of drinking water and wastewater systems for transition areas in Sweden

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2008.315 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 57 (12) ◽

pp. 2039-2042

Author(s):

A. Norström ◽

Å. Erlandsson ◽

E. Kärrman

Keyword(s):

Cost Estimation ◽

Large Scale ◽

Flow Analysis ◽

Total Annual Cost ◽

Wastewater Systems ◽

Water And Wastewater ◽

Peripheral Areas ◽

The Baltic ◽

The Cost ◽

Transition Areas

In the Stockholm region there are around 90,000 households with single systems. These households cause larger phosphorus flows to the Baltic Sea than the 1.8 million people connected to four advanced large-scale treatment plants in the same region. According to city plans, some of these areas with on-site systems in transition to permanent living shall be connected to central systems. The problem is however that this sewer system will take decades to complete. It is also not ensured whether or not all peripheral areas with on-site systems could be connected to the central systems. To help support environmental decisions for the selection of wastewater systems for these areas, an Excel-based model has been developed where the cost for the systems can be assessed and evaluated in relation to their environmental impact. The model deals with two types of environmental issues: substance flow analysis and energy analysis. The cost part considers investigations, investments, design, operation, maintenance and supervision, and calculates total annual cost for the water and wastewater system per person.

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Efficiency of routing and scheduling system for small and medium size enterprises utilizing vehicle location data

Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems ◽

10.1080/15472450.2017.1291350 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 239-250 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Tomio Miwa ◽

Michael G. H. Bell

Keyword(s):

Medium Size ◽

Scheduling System ◽

Routing And Scheduling ◽

Location Data ◽

Vehicle Location

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Nanofiltration technology in water treatment and reuse: applications and costs

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2015.015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 71 (3) ◽

pp. 309-319 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Arash Shahmansouri ◽

Christopher Bellona

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Cost Estimation ◽

Water Reuse ◽

Large Scale ◽

Industrial Applications ◽

Estimation Methods ◽

Seawater Desalination ◽

Labor Costs ◽

Water And Wastewater Treatment ◽

Water And Wastewater

Nanofiltration (NF) is a relatively recent development in membrane technology with characteristics that fall between ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis (RO). While RO membranes dominate the seawater desalination industry, NF is employed in a variety of water and wastewater treatment and industrial applications for the selective removal of ions and organic substances, as well as certain niche seawater desalination applications. The purpose of this study was to review the application of NF membranes in the water and wastewater industry including water softening and color removal, industrial wastewater treatment, water reuse, and desalination. Basic economic analyses were also performed to compare the profitability of using NF membranes over alternative processes. Although any detailed cost estimation is hampered by some uncertainty (e.g. applicability of estimation methods to large-scale systems, labor costs in different areas of the world), NF was found to be a cost-effective technology for certain investigated applications. The selection of NF over other treatment technologies, however, is dependent on several factors including pretreatment requirements, influent water quality, treatment facility capacity, and treatment goals.

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