Cable Propelled Transit Systems—Emirates Air Line London

Author(s):  
Johannes Winter
Keyword(s):  
2021 ◽  
Vol 295 ◽  
pp. 126441
Author(s):  
Hongyu Chen ◽  
Limao Zhang ◽  
Qiong Liu ◽  
Hongtao Wang ◽  
Xiaosong Dai

Author(s):  
Charalampos Sipetas ◽  
Eric J. Gonzales

Flexible transit systems are a way to address challenges associated with conventional fixed route and fully demand responsive systems. Existing studies indicate that such systems are often planned and designed without established guidelines, and optimization techniques are rarely implemented on actual flexible systems. This study presents a hybrid transit system where the degree of flexibility can vary from a fixed route service (with no flexibility) to a fully flexible transit system. Such a system is expected to be beneficial in areas where the best transit solution lies between the fixed route and fully flexible systems. Continuous approximation techniques are implemented to model and optimize the stop spacing on a fixed route corridor, as well as the boundaries of the flexible region in a corridor. Both user and agency costs are considered in the optimization process. A numerical analysis compares various service areas and demand densities using input variables with magnitudes similar to those of real-world case studies. Sensitivity analysis is performed for service headway, percent of demand served curb-to-curb, and user and agency cost weights in the optimization process. The analytical models are evaluated through simulations. The hybrid system proposed here achieves estimated user benefits of up to 35% when compared with fixed route systems, under different case scenarios. Flexible systems are particularly beneficial for serving corridors with low or uncertain demand. This provides value for corridors with low demand density as well as communities in which transit ridership has dropped significantly because of the COVID-19 pandemic.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2550
Author(s):  
Andrés E. Díez ◽  
Mauricio Restrepo

This paper presents an electrical infrastructure planning method for transit systems that operate with partially grid-connected vehicles incorporating on-board batteries. First, the state-of-the-art of electric transit systems that combine grid-connected and battery-based operation is briefly described. Second, the benefits of combining a grid connection and battery supply in Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems are introduced. Finally, the planning method is explained and tested in a BRT route in Medellin, Colombia, using computational simulations in combination with real operational data from electric buses that are currently operating in this transit line. Unlike other methods and approaches for Battery Electric Bus (BEB) infrastructure planning, the proposed technique is system-focused, rather than solely limited to the vehicles. The objective of the technique, from the vehicle’s side, is to assist the planner in the correct sizing of batteries and power train capacity, whereas from the system side the goal is to locate and size the route sections to be electrified. These decision variables are calculated with the objective of minimizing the installed battery and achieve minimum Medium Voltage (MV) network requirements, while meeting all technical and reliability conditions. The method proved to be useful to find a minimum feasible cost solution for partially electrifying a BRT line with In-motion Charging (IMC) technology.


Urban Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Peter Newman ◽  
Sebastian Davies-Slate ◽  
Daniel Conley ◽  
Karlson Hargroves ◽  
Mike Mouritz

The need for transit oriented development (TOD) around railway stations has been well accepted and continues to be needed in cities looking to regenerate both transit and urban development. Large parts of suburban areas remain without quality transit down main roads that are usually filled with traffic resulting in reduced urban value. The need to regenerate both the mobility and land development along such roads will likely be the next big agenda in transport and urban policy. This paper learns from century-old experiences in public–private approaches to railway-based urban development from around the world, along with innovative insights from the novel integration of historical perspectives, entrepreneurship theory and urban planning to create the notion of a “Transit Activated Corridor” (TAC). TACs prioritize fast transit and a string of station precincts along urban main roads. The core policy processes for a TAC are outlined with some early case studies. Five design principles for delivering a TAC are presented in this paper, three principles from entrepreneurship theory and two from urban planning. The potential for new mid-tier transit like trackless trams to enable TACs is used to illustrate how these design processes can be an effective approach for designing, financing and delivering a “Transit Activated Corridor”.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinxin Zhang ◽  
Bo Huang ◽  
Shunzhi Zhu

Taxicabs play an important role in urban transit systems, and their ridership is significantly influenced by the urban built environment. The intricate relationship between taxi ridership and the urban environment has been explored using either conventional ordinary least squares (OLS) regression or geographically weighted regression (GWR). However, time constitutes a significant dimension, particularly when analyzing spatiotemporal hourly taxi ridership, which is not effectively incorporated into conventional models. In this study, the geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR) model was applied to model the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of hourly taxi ridership, and visualize the spatial and temporal coefficient variations. To test the performance of the GTWR model, an empirical study was implemented for Xiamen city in China using a set of weekday taxi pickup point data. Using point-of-interest (POI) data, hourly taxi ridership was analyzed by incorporating it to various spatially urban environment variables based on a 500 × 500 m grid unit. Compared to the OLS and GWR, the GTWR model obtained the best performance, both in terms of model fit and explanatory accuracy. Moreover, the urban environment was revealed to have a significant impact on taxi ridership. Road density was found to decrease the number of taxi trips in particular places, and the density of bus stops competed with taxi ridership over time. The GTWR modelling provides valuable insights for investigating taxi ridership variation as a function of spatiotemporal urban environment variables, thereby facilitating an optimal allocation of taxi resources and transportation planning.


Author(s):  
Hsiang-Yu Hsieh ◽  
Nanming Chen ◽  
Ching-Lung Liao

In recent years, the railway transportation system has become one of the main means of transportation. Therefore, driving safety is of great importance. However, because of the potential of multiple breaks of elastic rail clips in a fixed rail, accidents may occur when a train passes through the track. This paper presents the development of a computer visual recognition system which can detect the status of elastic rail clips. This visual recognition system can be used in mass rapid transit systems to reduce the substantial need of manpower for checking elastic rail clips at present. The visual recognition system under current development includes five components: preprocessing, identification of rail position, search of elastic rail clip regions, selection of the elastic rail clip, and recognition of the elastic rail clip. The preprocessing system transforms the colored images into grey-level images and eliminates noises. The identification of rail position system uses characteristics of the grey-level variation and confirms the rail position. The search system uses wavelet transformation to carry out the search of elastic rail clip regions. The selection system finds a suitable threshold, using techniques from morphological processing, object search and image processing. The recognition system processes characteristics and structures of elastic rail clips. Experimental testing shows the ability of the developed system to recognize both normal elastic rail clip images and broken elastic rail clip images. This result confirms the feasibility in developing such a visual recognition system.


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