Personal Rapid Transit for Airport Applications

2005 ◽  
Vol 1930 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-106
Author(s):  
Martin Lowson
Keyword(s):  
Operating Cost ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Rapid Transit ◽  
Personal Rapid Transit ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Trip Time ◽  
Transport Problems ◽  
Simple Integration ◽  
Terminal Area

Personal rapid transit (PRT) systems offer a series of new opportunities for effective solution of airport-related transport problems, both on the landside and airside of the airport. A comparative analysis is offered of the potential advantages and disadvantages of this form of transport for airport applications. The work is illustrated by a case study of the application of the ULTra PRT system to serve passenger and staff car parks at Heathrow. The small scale and flexibility of the ULTra infrastructure allow use of the tunnel side bores and provide unexpectedly simple integration with the complex central terminal area. Detailed comparisons show a benefit of 60% in trip time and 40% in operating cost over current buses. The study shows that such forms of transport are well matched to landside applications for airports. An outline evaluation of possible benefits for airside operations is also presented.

Deadhead Minimization with a Flexible Facility Locator Tool

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110444
Author(s):  
Kara Todd ◽  
Freyja Brandel-Tanis ◽  
Daniel Arias ◽  
Kari Edison Watkins
Keyword(s):  
Open Source Software ◽  
Operating Cost ◽  
Bus Rapid Transit ◽  
Rapid Transit ◽  
Flexible Tool ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Transit Agencies ◽  
A Site

As transit agencies expand, they may outgrow their existing bus storage and service facilities. When selecting a site for an additional facility, an important consideration is the change in bus deadhead time, which affects the agency’s operating costs. Minimizing bus deadhead time is the subject of many studies, though agencies may lack the necessary software or programming skill to implement those methods. This study presents a flexible tool for determination of bus facility location. Using the R dodgr package, it evaluates each candidate site based on a given bus network and existing depots and calculates the network minimum deadhead time for each potential set of facilities. Importantly, the tool could be used by any transit agency, no matter its resources. It runs on open-source software and uses only General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) and data inputs readily available to transit agencies in the U.S.A., filling the accessibility gap identified in the literature. The tool is demonstrated through a case study with the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), which is considering a new bus depot as it builds its bus rapid transit network. The case study used current MARTA bus GTFS data, existing depot locations, and vacant properties from Fulton County, Georgia. The tool evaluated 17 candidate sites and found that the winning site would save 29.7 deadhead hours on a typical weekday, which translates to more than $12,000 daily based on operating cost assumptions. The output provides important guidance to transit agencies evaluating sites for a new bus depot.

Preliminary economic appraisal of personal rapid transit (PRT) and urban gondola feeder systems serving a university campus and its surrounding major attractions

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-79
Author(s):  
Shahram Tahmasseby ◽  
Lina Kattan
Keyword(s):  
Energy Use ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Operating Cost ◽  
Noise Pollution ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Rapid Transit ◽  
Modal Shift ◽  
Capital Costs ◽  
Personal Rapid Transit

Personal rapid transit (PRT) and urban gondolas are two types of driverless transit vehicles that are increasingly attracting attention as viable mass transit alternatives in urban environments. Both systems are identified with high reliability of travel time, as they have their own right of way and, thus, do not interact with vehicular traffic. They are also associated with environmental benefits, resulting from their low emissions, energy use, and noise pollution. The objective of this study is the investigation of the potential economic viability of the implementation a PRT feeder line linking the University of Calgary to its surrounding major attraction centres, compared to that of two types of urban gondola systems. The main focus of the research is the examination of the thresholds and feasibility of these emerging urban transit systems relative to certain important inputs, such as capital costs, ridership levels, and modal shift from other modes. The VISSIM microsimulation tool was used to simulate the operation of these systems to replicate more closely the on-demand nature of PRT and to get better estimates of the operating speed, reliability, and passengers waiting, boarding and alighting times for both types of examined systems. The project efficiency was analyzed given the calculated economic cash flow for a certain period (e.g., 30 years). The results indicate that the three examined systems differed widely in terms of their capital cost, maintenance and operating cost, capacity, and their anticipated benefits.

Establish a Time-Dependent Mass Rapid Transit Timetable: A Case Study for the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit System

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shou-Ren Hu ◽  
Chao-Tang Liu
Keyword(s):  
Operating Cost ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Time Dependent ◽  
Total System ◽  
Rapid Transit ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Solution Algorithms ◽  
The Government ◽  
Mass Rapid Transit

The operation of a mass rapid transit (MRT) should consider the balance between total system costs and service level. For a MRT system, the main service is to provide passengers with the cost-affordable mobility, under the regulation of MRT service indicators; the government sets the minimum standards to ensure a certain level of MTR services. Thereby, how to establish an optimal operating timetable is one of the important operational issues for a MRT system. In the past research concerning MRT operations, most researches focused on the issues of train delay, energy saving, route design or overall system operating regards, and placed less focus on the optimal timetable problem. In the Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit (KMRT) system, the total ridership has not reached a predicted level, but the service provided in terms of the Train Service Plan (TSP) is more than needed. Therefore, a time-dependent time table for the KMRT system is crucial to minimize total system cost while maintaining the certain level of train service. In this research, we aim to develop a time-dependent timetable model which is able to dynamically adjust train schedule depending on the passenger spatio-temporal distribution demands during daily operation. The developed model will be solved by minimizing both the operating cost and passenger waiting cost. Finally, numerical case study and sensitivity analysis will be conducted to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the developed models and solution algorithms.

scholarly journals Computation of Optimal Spacing and Density of Bus Rapid Transit Stations Using Evolutionary Algorithms

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Umair ◽  
Sabih ur Rehman ◽  
Aimal Sohail ◽  
Afaq Khattak
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Algorithms ◽  
Cost Function ◽  
Operating Cost ◽  
Bus Rapid Transit ◽  
Optimum Number ◽  
Rapid Transit ◽  
Optimal Cost ◽  
Optimal Spacing ◽  
The Cost

AbstractIn this research, a feasible mechanism is developed to determine the optimum number of bus rapid transit (BRT) stations as well as their respective locations along the service corridor. To accomplish this, a mathematical model is developed and optimized by using three different evolutionary algorithms, namely particle swarm optimization (PSO), genetic algorithm (GA), and differential evolution (DE), and the results are compared. The total cost function is composed of two main costs namely the operator’s cost, i.e., related to costs on service provider’s end, and the user’s cost, i.e., related to costs on commuters’ end. A functional numerical example with the commuters’ demand is worked out by minimizing the cost function, which demonstrates the applicability of the framework. In our case study, PSO outclassed GA and DE on the basis of convergence rate. Since our work has proved the robustness of PSO as compared to GA and DE, we conducted our sensitivity analysis keeping PSO as our benchmark algorithm to study the influence of various parameters on the optimal cost. The computational experiments reveal that the optimal cost is substantially affected by the variations in the commuters’ demand, commuters’ walking speed, and value of the users’ access and in-vehicle time. On the contrary, the acceleration/deceleration delays at a bus station, bus operating cost, and headway have an inconsiderable impact on the optimal cost.

Design process for serious activities inspired by play and games: a problem solving with a board game from disengamement and gamification processes (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stéphane Goria ◽  
Louise Dupet ◽  
Maëva Négroni ◽  
Gabriel Sega ◽  
Philippe Arnoux ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Detection ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Diagnostic Method ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Board Game ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Design Result

BACKGROUND most serious games and other game-based tools are designed as digital games or escape games. They are designed for learning or sometimes in the field of medicine as an aid to care. However, they can also be seen as an aid to research, in our case, to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of imaging techniques for cancer detection. OBJECTIVE we present a case study of action research on the design of a serious board game intended to consider the advantages and weaknesses of a diagnostic method in a different ways. The goal was to better understand the principles of designing a tool using game or play. METHODS we explicitly implemented another process than gamification to develop a structure reminiscent of the game to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of different imaging techniques from the point of view of the respondents (in this case specialists not directly involved in the project). Based on this feedback and the scientific literature on this subject, we detail the main categories of games and games developed for serious use in order to understand their differences. Concerning the cancer research part to which game contributes, our method is based on questions asked to experts and practitioners of this specialty. RESULTS an expert point of view translation tool in the form of a game has been realized to apprehend a research in a different way. CONCLUSIONS we show with the help of a diagram, some possible design paths leading to this type of design result including two hidden dimensions to consider (the awareness of the game or play by the "player" and his role as a contributor or recipient).

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