Tweeting about twenty: an analysis of interest, public sentiments and opinion about 20mph speed restrictions in two UK cities

Background Twenty miles per hour (20mph) speed limits (equivalent to roughly 30kmh) have become part of public health policies to reduce urban road collisions and casualties, especially in Western countries. Public opinion plays a crucial role in opposition to and acceptance of policies that are advocated for improving public health. Twenty miles per hour speed limit policies were implemented in Edinburgh and Belfast from 2016 to 2018. In this paper, we extract public opinion and sentiments expressed about the new 20mph speed limits in those cities using publicly available Twitter data. Methods We analysed public sentiments from Twitter data and classified the public comments in plain English into the categories ‘positive’, ‘neutral’, and ‘negative’. We also explored the frequency and sources of the tweets. Results The total volume of tweets was higher for Edinburgh than for Belfast, but the volume of tweets followed a similar pattern, peaking around 2016, which is when the schemes were implemented. Overall, the tone of the tweets was positive or neutral towards the implementation of the speed limit policies. This finding was surprising as there is a perception among policymakers that there would have been public backlash against these sorts of policy changes. The commonly used hashtags focused largely on road safety and other potential benefits, for example to air pollution. Conclusions Overall, public attitudes towards the policies were positive, thus policymakers should be less anxious about potential public backlash when considering the scale-up of 20mph speed restrictions.

Effectiveness of surface-based North Atlantic right whale detection methods for vessel strike mitigation

Increasing commercial and recreational use of the world's ocean leads to growing concerns on vessel and marine mammal encounters. For endangered species, like the North Atlantic right whale (NARW), vessel strikes can be responsible for the majority of the recorded deaths. Reducing the number of vessel strikes is key to improve North Atlantic right whale protection and a number of mitigation methods have been proposed and implemented. In this manuscript, we developed an agent-based model to assess the effectiveness of surface-based whale detection methods for vessel strike mitigation. We find that the effectiveness of such systems varies highly depending on the vessel's speed and maneuverability. We also find that if vessel-based whale detection systems are used in conjunction with other mitigation measures such as general speed restrictions, they can be very effective and could lead to a significant decrease in vessel strikes when deployed at a large-scale.

Effects of Hazmat Train Speed Restrictions on Train Delay Performance and Railroad Line Capacity: Comparative Study with Two Railway Simulation Tools

In response to multiple derailments involving hazmat trains, in early February 2020 Transport Canada released ministerial order (MO) 20-02, imposing speed restrictions of 20 to 25 mph on trains transporting a sufficient quantity of hazardous material. Since much of the North American freight network is used by multiple train types, the extreme speed heterogeneity created by this mandate substantially reduced train performance. Although this order was replaced within 2 weeks by new speed restrictions that were in turn replaced in May, MO 20-02 introduced the most extreme levels of train speed heterogeneity. The research team investigated the corresponding capacity effects to better understand the effects of train speed heterogeneity at low speed and inform agencies on future speed restrictions in this range. Using Rail Traffic Controller and General Train Movement Simulator, we quantitatively investigated the capacity loss from these speed restrictions and found that MO 20-02 can double or triple average train delay and lead to mainline capacity loss in excess of 60% on a representative single-track mainline.

A Rail-Temperature-Prediction Model Based on Machine Learning: Warning of Train-Speed Restrictions Using Weather Forecasting

Predicting the rail temperature of a railway system is important for establishing a rail management plan against railway derailment caused by orbital buckling. The rail temperature, which is directly responsible for track buckling, is closely related to air temperature, which continuously increases due to global warming effects. Moreover, railway systems are increasingly installed with continuous welded rails (CWRs) to reduce train vibration and noise. Unfortunately, CWRs are prone to buckling. This study develops a reliable and highly accurate novel model that can predict rail temperature using a machine learning method. To predict rail temperature over the entire network with high-prediction performance, the weather effect and solar effect features are used. These features originate from the analysis of the thermal environment around the rail. Precisely, the presented model has a higher performance for predicting high rail temperature than other models. As a convenient structural health-monitoring application, the train-speed-limit alarm-map (TSLAM) was also proposed, which visually maps the predicted rail-temperature deviations over the entire network for railway safety officers. Combined with TSLAM, our rail-temperature prediction model is expected to improve track safety and train timeliness.

ANALISIS KRIMINOLOGI TINGGINYA ANGKA KECELAKAAN LALULINTAS DI WILAYAH HUKUM POLRES PESISIR SELATAN

On the South Coast there is an increasing number of accidents every year. The criminological factor of the high number of traffic accidents in the Legal Area of the Pesisir Selatan Police is a factor of road conditions because Pesisir Selatan Regency has a geographical condition as a hilly plateau and is located along the southern coast of Sumatra. Another factor for community domesticated livestock is cows that are allowed to roam around without a leash. Efforts to Overcome Traffic Accidents in the Legal Area of the Pesisir Selatan District Police are carried out with several aspects, namely the engineering aspects of road maintenance and infrastructure, installation of markers, installation of warning lights (flip flop lights), installation of signs, and speed restrictions. The education aspect is carried out by improving motorist behavior, through appeals and training. Externally the obstacle faced is the lack of cooperation between the traffic police and other agencies related to traffic such as the transportation department and the nagari administration. The low level of legal awareness of road users in carrying out their work, namely driving their vehicles in accordance with good and correct driving operational standards, is often not applied by violating traffic regulations.

ANALISIS HUBUNGAN KECEPATAN TERHADAP KECELAKAAN LALU-LINTAS DI KOTA BANJARMASIN

Many factors cause traffic accidents where the driving speed is one of the main causes, and this is known from several studies conducted in universities in the city of Banjarmasin, which chronologically the accident events mostly stated that the vehicles involved in the accident were driven at high speed. The results of recording the speed on the road segment studied violations exceeding the speed limit that is at night before dawn, and this applies to almost all types of vehicles in both directions of the lane at that time the traffic volume decreases. The majority of respondents think that high speed "speeding" is very likely 88.40% resulting in accidents that injure others and themselves. Regarding speed restrictions on all road segments to reduce accidents to the perpetrators, respondents said 83.99% were subject to sanctions, and argued that the potential consequences of behavior beyond the speed limit were very harmful and dangerous, 71.7%. And the main cause of motorists doing "speeding" is to reach their destination on time and even faster, 79.7%. Banyak faktor penyebab kecelakaan lalu-lintas dimana kecepatan berkendaraan merupakan salah satu penyebab utamanya, ini diketahui dari beberapa penelitian yang dilakukan diperguruan tinggi di Kota Banjarmasin yang pada kronologis kejadian kecelakaannya sebagian besar menyebutkan bahwa kendaraan yang terlibat kecelakaan tersebut dipacu dengan kecepatan tinggi. Hasil dari pencatatan kecepatan pada segmen jalan yang diteliti terjadi pelanggaran melebihi batas kecepatan yaitu pada malam menjelang subuh, ini berlaku hampir pada semua jenis kendaraan dikedua arah jalur pada saat itu volume lalu-lintas berkurang. Mayoritas responden berpendapat bahwa berkecepatan tinggi “ngebut” sangat mungkin 88,40% berakibat menyebabkan kecelakaan yang mencederai orang lain dan diri sendiri. Terkait dengan pembatasan kecepatan pada semua segmen jalan untuk mengurangi kecelakaan terhadap pelakunya responden mengatakan 83,99% dikenakan sanksi, serta berpendapat bahwa potensi akibat perilaku melampaui batas kecepatan sangat merugikan dan membahayakan, 71,7%. Dan penyebab utama pengendara kendaraan bermotor melakukan “ngebut” adalah untuk mencapai tujuan tepat waktu dan bahkan bisa lebih cepat, 79,7%.

Coura and Valença Bridges on Minho Railway line – old structures, updated performance

<p>The pleasant Minho railway single lane line section from Caminha to Valença crosses the Minho river at Valença, through a very interesting and beautiful steel bridge. At Caminha it crosses the river Coura, by an also attractive steel bridge. Both are more than a century old and were refurbished and upgraded in a recent past and had before severe speed restrictions and load limitations:</p><ol><li> <p>Coura bridge: This 1879 iron bridge is a 3 span 164m lower deck continuous closed lattice girder, for a live load of only 4t/m without dynamic effects allowance. It was totally supported by a new continuous steel arch bridge, so both work together, combining in a very elegant construction.</p></li><li> <p>Valença bridge: This double-deck 1886 bridge is a steel 5 span 333m continuous lattice girder. Pathologies like excessive bending on the columns top sections, changing inappropriate bearing and a lock-up system for the braking action resulted in a demanding but discrete reinforcement.</p></li></ol>

Anti-Collision Device (ACD) Electric Diesel Locomotive CC201 Series With Dual Tone Multiple Frequency (DTMF) Induction

Railroad transportation has characteristics in the pattern of operation that a block block is only allowed to be passed by a train facility whose safety is guaranteed by the railroad signaling system. The existing signaling system in Indonesia currently uses a wayide signal aspect indicator and has not been equipped with a warning and protection system against violations of the unsafe signal aspect / SPAD (Signal Pass At Danger) or speed limit violations. To improve travel safety absolutely requires warning equipment for drivers about violations of signal aspects and violations of speed restrictions. This study discusses the calculation of the braking profile on the CC201 series electric locomotive and the Anti-Collition Device (ACD) prototype design using the Audio Frequency (AF) induction system using Dual Tone Multiple Frequency (DTMF) coding as well as the Atmel AT89S52 type Microcontroller control system. Based on the analysis of the braking distance at a speed of 120 Km / h using the minden method, the AF sensor is installed at a distance of 1,168.79 meters before the incoming signal. Based on the measurement results of the signal intensity received by the DTMF locomotive sensor, the biggest signal is at the gap gap between the AF sensors with a distance of 80 mm, while for the lowest reading level at a distance of 120mm.

Investigation of Relationship between Train Speed and Bolted Rail Joint Fatigue Life using Finite Element Analysis

Reducing the allowable operating speed or imposing temporary speed restrictions are common practices to prevent further damage to rail track when defects are detected related to certain track components. However, the speeds chosen for restricted operation are typically based on past experience without considering the magnitude of the impact load around the rail joints. Due to the discontinuity of geometry and track stiffness at the bolted rail joints, an impact load always exists. Thus, slower speeds may not necessarily reduce the stresses at the critical locations around the rail joint area to a safe level. Previously, the relationship between speed and the impact load around the rail joints has not been thoroughly investigated. Recent research performed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) has focused on investigating the rail response to load at the joint area. A finite element model (FEM) with the capability of simulating a moving wheel load has been developed to better understand the stress propagation at the joint area under different loading scenarios and track structures. This study investigated the relationship between train speed and impact load and corresponding stress propagation around the rail joints to better understand the effectiveness of speed restrictions for bolted joint track. Preliminary results from this study indicate that the contact force at the wheel–rail interface would not change monotonically with the changing train speed. In other words, when train speed is reduced, the maximum contact force at the wheel–rail interface may not necessarily reduce commensurately.