Are We There Yet? Perspectives of a Pioneering Visionary

2016 ◽  
pp. 250-261
Author(s):  
Dennis Hodges
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Rail Transportation ◽  
Social Attitude ◽  
Passenger Rail

This chapter addresses a vision of what was, is, and can be. Japan is already 65 years into its passenger rail improvements and modifications. France is just over 35 years and China is eight (8) years into its passenger rail improvements and modifications. Why cannot the United States see the economic and environmental reasons for doing the same in this country? This chapter discusses that and more. The author has attempted to parcel out the whys, what's and where's as to how the United States became so parochial when it comes to passenger rail transportation; why it is so reticent towards moving forward, and what can be done to change the current political and social attitude and climate.

Are We There Yet?

2018 ◽  
pp. 1057-1065
Author(s):  
Dennis Hodges
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Rail Transportation ◽  
Social Attitude ◽  
Passenger Rail

This chapter addresses a vision of what was, is, and can be. Japan is already 65 years into its passenger rail improvements and modifications. France is just over 35 years and China is eight (8) years into its passenger rail improvements and modifications. Why cannot the United States see the economic and environmental reasons for doing the same in this country? This chapter discusses that and more. The author has attempted to parcel out the whys, what's and where's as to how the United States became so parochial when it comes to passenger rail transportation; why it is so reticent towards moving forward, and what can be done to change the current political and social attitude and climate.

What the Railroad Industry Needs and Expects from Higher Education

2013 ◽  
Vol 2328 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasi T. Lautala
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Collaborative Study ◽  
The United States ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
University Education ◽  
Rail Transportation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Industry Needs

Rail transportation and engineering education in the United States was neglected for decades, from a lack of demand for graduates in the field. However, the increase in freight rail transportation volumes, combined with a growing interest in passenger rail development, has reenergized the academic community. Currently, several universities are either investigating or implementing rail-related activities. Because of the long disconnect between the industry and academia, several challenges have arisen about what the rail industry needs and wants from graduates and universities. Challenges include the quantitative and qualitative demands placed on graduates by the industry as well as industry preference for types of education and the perceived benefits from university education and university–industry collaboration. The educational background of current industry employees and its importance to their career selection are also of interest. This paper reports the outcomes of two online surveys of industry employees to bring light to the aforementioned points. More than 1,000 industry employees participated in the surveys that were conducted in 2006 and 2010. The second survey was conducted as part of a collaborative study between the United States and the European Union, allowing direct comparison of opinions between the U.S. and international workforce.

scholarly journals An Optimal Redesign Approach for Optimal Global Supply Chain Redesign: Brazilian Soybean Grain Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Juan José Uchuya Lopéz ◽  
Raad Yahya Qassim
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Supply Chains ◽  
Rail Transportation ◽  
Road Transportation ◽  
Mato Grosso ◽  
Inland Waterways

Brazil and the United States are the leading soybean grain producing and exporting countries in the world. Although crop production cost is significantly lower in Brazil than in the United States due to more advanced crop production technology, this competitive advantage vanishes in view of the higher logistics costs in Brazil than in the United States, in view of the dominance of road transportation in Brazil, whilst river and rail transportation are prevalent in the United States. In order to regain its competitive advantage, there is a clear need for a redesign of the inland supply chain in Brazil through the use and expansion of existent inland waterways and rail networks. In this paper, an optimal supply chain redesign methodology is presented to achieve the aforesaid objective, with a focus on Mato Grosso which is the largest producer and exporting state in Brazil. This methodology is in fact applicable to multiply echelon global supply chains in general.

Comparison of Swedish and American Preschool Children's Attitudes toward Elderly Persons

1999 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 899-903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue W. Williams ◽  
Elizabeth M. Blunk
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
The United States ◽  
Attitude Scale ◽  
Elderly Persons ◽  
Social Attitude ◽  
Attitudes Toward Elderly ◽  
The Social ◽  
Children's Attitudes ◽  
Full Day

Attitudes toward elderly persons were examined for 40 4- and 5-yr.-old children, 20 from Sweden and 20 from the United States, enrolled in full-day preschool programs. Subjects were matched for age, socioeconomic status, and parents' age and marital status. One-half of each group were male and one-half were female. The Social Attitude Scale of Ageist Prejudice was used to assess children's attitudes toward elderly persons. One-way analysis of variance indicated no significant differences in scores between the groups.

Benefits Forgone

2016 ◽  
pp. 53-80
Author(s):  
Eric C. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Actual Cost ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Feasible Option ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Rail Service ◽  
Practical Constraints

By conservative, reliable, objective, and preliminary estimates, the United States could generate at least $660 million annually – $26.4 billion over four decades – by building and operating faster, more frequent, more dependable, and more highly integrated passenger rail service in four corridors: The Northeast; the Chicago Hub; California; and the Northwest. Numerous studies by a variety of national and international organizations and government agencies suggest that the actual cost of building and/or improving passenger rail service lines is significantly less than the cost per mile of other modal alternatives. In fact, in many corridors, passenger rail is the only feasible option for adding capacity, given the practical constraints facing aviation and highway expansion. Further, by integrating improved, higher speed intercity passenger rail service into the existing transportation system, major issues of congestion, mobility and economic inequality can be addressed.

Hazmat Transport Safety and Alternative Transport Modes

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Luca Zamparini ◽  
Genserik Reniers ◽  
Michael Ziolkowski
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Hazardous Materials ◽  
The United States ◽  
Rail Transportation ◽  
Transportation Modes ◽  
Transport Safety ◽  
Transport Modes ◽  
The U.S

This paper analyzes 21 years of data related to unintentional hazardous materials (hazmat) releases on air, marine, and rail transportation modes reported in the United States (U.S.) -- although their origins and destinations may be outside the U.S. The authors' analysis reveals thousands of cases have occurred and their impacts vary by mode. These impacts include material losses, carrier damages, property damages, response costs, and remediation and clean-up costs. There appears to be some reduction in the frequency of incidents and accidents as regulations have been promulgated, although the authors cannot attribute causation. They review suggests that enhanced regulations and attentiveness have probably led to better reporting of hazmat occurrences. Moreover, developing and maintaining safer processes and designing safer products, containers, and systems can play an important role in minimizing hazmat releases.

scholarly journals No Hunting

2001 ◽  
Vol 123 (05) ◽  
pp. 54-57
Author(s):  
Paul Sharke
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Metal Forming ◽  
The United States ◽  
Car Body ◽  
Design Philosophy ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Lateral Forces

This article reviews that wheels riding along parallel tracks have to balance diameters by “hunting.” Hunting wears down both wheels and rails, because a wheel must move sideways to find balance. The wheels, much like a pup chasing the phantom tip of a cropped tail, seek an accord they can never reach. Auto manufacturers might say all that energy used to go toward metal forming of the unwanted variety. American freight lines carry heavier loads than their counterparts in Europe. In Europe, passenger rail exerts more influence over railroad infrastructure than it does in the United States. Abc-Naco designed a variant of its domestic swing motion truck for European rail. Dubbed Axle Motion, the truck incorporates the same design philosophy of decoupling lateral forces from the car body that inspired the swing frame.

Developing Railway Higher Education in the European Union and United States

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasi T. Lautala ◽  
Rosa´rio Ma´ca´rio ◽  
Jo¨rn Pachl ◽  
J. Riley Edwards ◽  
William J. Sproule
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
European Union ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Rail Transportation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Railway Systems

Congestion, emissions generated by transportation, increasing fuel costs and expanding demand for mobility have revived the interest for modern rail transportation throughout the world. Simultaneously, expansion of global trade and increasing demands for technology to improve the safety and productivity of the industry are creating a new environment that requires a different way of thinking when developing railway systems. Overall, the authors believe that current changes provide a fertile ground for institutions of higher education in the United States and the European Union (EU) to increase their transatlantic cooperation in education and research. Recent studies related to railway higher education have been undertaken in Europe and the United States. The European Rail Research Network of Excellence (EURNEX) conducted a study to develop and organize educational and training activities in participating higher education institutions. In Germany, a comprehensive inventory was conducted to define the current level of rail transportation activities in higher education institutions. In the United States, American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association (AREMA) conducted a study to determine the type and extent of rail education currently offered on campuses. In addition, a benchmarking study was performed by Michigan Tech University to investigate rail education and recruitment at universities with the objective to define the quantitative and qualitative demands for rail engineers by industry employers. This paper presents a synopsis of these past studies and introduces an on-going “TUNRail” project to “tune” and intensify the railway higher education knowledge exchange and collaboration between the EU and the United States.

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