Evaluating Satisfaction in Shared Lanes as Part of Sustainable Transport Infrastructure by Using VR Technology – Evidence from Urban China

The concept of sharing transport infrastructure has become increasingly prominent in the sustainable society due to limited resources in urban cities. Shared lanes where cars, electric motorcycles, and bicycles are permitted have been promoted in urban China to overcome the shortage of road space available to meet the increasing traffic demand. Based on VR video and questionnaire survey, this study has identified that the levels of satisfaction of drivers, e-motorcyclists, and cyclists are associated with the factors of traffic condition and lane characteristics among various shared lanes. Based on the analysis of data by a multinomial ordered logistic regression model, the major findings of this study are summarised as follows: (1) Satisfaction was mainly affected by lane width, lane number, lane type, and presence of parking space in the driver group. (2) Lane width, lane number, lane type, presence of parking space, speed, and lateral separation were the main factors in the e-motorcyclist group. (3) For the group of cyclists, lane width, lane number, presence of slope, presence of parking space, speed, and lateral separation were identified as the main factors. Our study will help local government officials to design more effective sustainable transport infrastructures.

Separating individual contributions of major Siberian rivers in the Transpolar Drift of the Arctic Ocean

The Siberian rivers supply large amounts of freshwater and terrestrial derived material to the Arctic Ocean. Although riverine freshwater and constituents have been identified in the central Arctic Ocean, the individual contributions of the Siberian rivers to and their spatiotemporal distributions in the Transpolar Drift (TPD), the major wind-driven current in the Eurasian sector of the Arctic Ocean, are unknown. Determining the influence of individual Siberian rivers downstream the TPD, however, is critical to forecast responses in polar and sub-polar hydrography and biogeochemistry to the anticipated individual changes in river discharge and freshwater composition. Here, we identify the contributions from the largest Siberian river systems, the Lena and Yenisei/Ob, in the TPD using dissolved neodymium isotopes and rare earth element concentrations. We further demonstrate their vertical and lateral separation that is likely due to distinct temporal emplacements of Lena and Yenisei/Ob waters in the TPD as well as prior mixing of Yenisei/Ob water with ambient waters.

Analysis of deformation features using integrated field methods and aerial drone imaging on the Bach Long Vy island, Gulf of Tonkin, Vietnam

<p>Situated in the junction between the Song Hong Basin and the Beibuwan Basin, the Bach Long Vy island exposes Paleogene syn-rift rocks not seen elsewhere in the Gulf of Tonkin. The island underwent a complex geological history related to the Cenozoic SE-ward tectonic escape of Indochina, recorded as deformation features along the outstanding, continuous coastal exposure. To analyze these deformation features in detail and relate them to the regional events, we acquired a high-resolution Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) dataset covering about 635,000m<sup>2</sup> of the 3.5 km long coastal outcrop. In addition, 656 strike and dip measurements were made and 390 photos were taken using smart phone apps, thus on-the-ground data were rapidly acquired and georeferenced. Strike and dip measurements from smart phone apps were periodically checked against traditional Brunton compasses for their reliability. The ground photos were correlated with the UAV image during interpretation. QGIS allows both datasets to be overlain on one another for detailed analysis and interpretation.</p><p>We interpreted 2236 deformation features from the dataset, which can be divided into three major types: sand injectites, NW-SE faults, and NE-SW faults. Sand injectites can be divided into three main types: linear dikes, irregular dikes, and massive remobilized sands. Linear dikes trend dominantly N80-100E.</p><p>NW-SE faults are closely spaced and have high dip with N110-130E trend. They consistently left-laterally offset sand dikes while most of the time left-laterally offset the gently dipping beds. Apparent right-lateral separation of beddings probably resulted from variation of the slip vector from horizontal pure strike-slip. Occasionally, sand dikes fill in these NW-SE faults. The offsets are small, mostly less than 1 m.</p><p>NE-SW faults are larger scale than the NW-SE faults, and are associated with drag folding of the strata. No fault surface kinematic indicators were found, probably due to wave erosion. The drag folds are consistently right-lateral, while the bedding separation can be either left-lateral or right lateral. Left-lateral separation is inferred to indicate a second phase of movement along the same fault. Sand dikes cross-cut the drag folds, thus sand dikes formed after the drag folds and the right-lateral motion on NE-SW faults.</p><p>The orientations of these deformation features are consistent with the regional stress field associated with the End-Oligocene inversion, which affected the northern Song Hong Basin and the western Beibuwan Basin due to transpression along the junction between the two basins. The inversion caused regional tilting and NE-SW right-lateral faulting, followed by the main phase of sand injection, and finally the left-lateral NW-SE faults that offset sand dikes. Previously the inversion event was characterized at large scale using industrial seismic and well data. This study provides further evidence of the inversion at the outcrop scale, well below the resolution of the seismic data.</p>

Pedestrians’ Sidewalk Development and Level of Safety in Ikeja Area, Lagos Nigeria

Safe and accessible pedestrian sidewalk is significant to sustainable infrastructural development and industrialisation of core of cities in world over. Studies have shown that safety of pedestrian on walkways aid their ability to shop more than sitting in the comfort of their vehicles. The study modelled the influence of lateral separation (LS) (sidewalk separation); volume of motor vehicles (VM); speed of motor vehicle (SM) and vehicular access to adjoining properties (VA) on pedestrians’ level of safety (PLS) along the streets of core area of Ikeja. Fifty-six (56) road segments were observed, measured and field information obtained analysed. Though, LS, VM, SM and VA contributed about 58.1% to (PLS) in Ikeja, the results further revealed that PLS increased with LS distant vehicles (βsd=0.60, tsd=5.14), but decreased with higher VM (βvv=0.20, tvv=1.73) and SM (βsp=0.07, tsp=0.76). It was recommended that a standardised distance of LS from moving traffic and its wideness; the required SM of vehicles and increased investment on pedestrian facilities in urban centre will improve pedestrian safety and as well promote sustainable industrialisation since pedestrian form major traffic of the industries.

ENSO drives lateral separation of FAD-associated skipjack and bigeye tuna in the Western Tropical Pacific

Incidental capture of juvenile bigeye tuna in fish aggregating device (FAD)-associated purse seine fisheries targeting skipjack tuna have contributed significantly to the degradation of bigeye stocks in the Western Tropical Pacific (WTP) Ocean. One way to reduce this incidental catch is to simply limit purse seine fishing effort; however, skipjack tuna stocks are healthy and economically important to many small island nations in the region. Here we assess whether there is sufficient lateral separation of skipjack and bigeye within FAD-associated purse seine fisheries in the WTP to allow limiting bigeye catch while maintaining a robust skipjack fishery. Based on monthly 5°-longitude-by-5°-latitude catch and effort data, FAD-associated bigeye and skipjack catch per unit effort (CPUE) covary tightly throughout the WTP, such that lateral separation between the two species is generally small. There are, however, significant variations in the amount of separation over both space and time. Waters within the Party to the Nauru Agreement exclusive economic zones (EEZs) belonging to Palau, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu regularly exhibit some of the smallest bigeye-to-skipjack catch ratios, especially during El Niño. In contrast, waters within Kiribati’s Phoenix Islands EEZ regularly exhibit some of the largest bigeye-to-skipjack catch ratios, which are particularly high during La Niña. In general, El Niño lowers bigeye-to-skipjack catch ratios east of 170°E, while La Niña lowers bigeye-to-skipjack catch ratios west of 170°E. These ENSO-driven variations in separability are larger and more widespread than those driven by seasonality, due to larger associated variations in environmental conditions. Sea surface height anomalies may be particularly useful for demarcating the different environments preferred by skipjack and bigeye throughout the WTP. Sea surface temperatures, temperatures at 100 m, and thermocline depths may also help distinguish between the two species’ preferred habitats in many areas. These analyses can help better inform the complex decisions made by both fishers during operations and fisheries managers during creation of effective, dynamic policies to preserve bigeye stocks in the WTP. They also show that climate variability can have substantial effects on the spatial distributions of top pelagic predators and their interactions with one another.

Drafting Effect in Cycling: On-Site Aerodynamic Investigation by the ‘Ring of Fire’

An on-site Ring of Fire (RoF) experiment is performed at the Tom Dumoulin bike park in Sittard-Geleen, the Netherlands. The current work investigates the aerodynamic drag of a cyclist following a lead cyclist at different lateral and longitudinal separations; additionally, the athletes’ skills to maintain their position and distance with respect to the preceding riders are evaluated. The effect of the relative size of the lead cyclist on the drag area of the drafting cyclist is also investigated. The results show drag reductions of the trailing cyclist in the range from 27% to 66% depending on the longitudinal and lateral separation from the leading rider. The aerodynamic advantage of the drafting rider decreases with increasing lateral and longitudinal separation between riders, with the lateral separation found to be more relevant. Besides this, the drag reduction of the drafting cyclist benefits from an increase in drag area of the leading cyclist.