Effects of Flexible Notice-to-Proceed Provisions on the Performance of Transportation Infrastructure Projects

When alternative contracting techniques are considered, one innovative approach for assuring the performance of a transportation infrastructure project is offering contractors flexibility about when they start the project. Although such flexible notice-to-proceed (NTP) provisions are becoming more common, quantitative studies examining their impact on project performance are nonexistent. This study investigates the likely effects of flexible NTP provisions on competitive bidding, bid prices, and contract time. A dataset gathered from the North Carolina Department of Transportation, United States, was carefully stratified by type and size of project to allow for unbiased analysis. The results from the hypothesis testing revealed that projects with flexible NTP provisions were more competitive in relation to bidding. The results also indicated a positive correlation between the length of flexible time window and award growth. This study is the first of its kind and will help state transportation agencies make better-informed decisions by providing a point of reference when adopting NTP provisions for alternative contracting projects.

A Priority in Land Supply for Sustainable Transportation of Chinese Cities: An Empirical Study from Perception, Discrimination, Linkage to Decision

With the rapid development of China’s economy, alleviating the shortage of land resources has become a significant challenge. Transportation infrastructure is a channel connecting cities, which carries the flow of population and material circulation. The efficient allocation of land used for transportation is closely related to production and life. By investigating the main factors affecting the priority of the supply of land used for transportation, this paper evaluates the transportation condition of all cities in China from five aspects: dominance, dependence, coordination, accessibility, and land demand for transportation. Furthermore, this paper constructs a multi-objective decision support system for land supply, which aims to find out which cities are in urgent need of the supply of land for transportation and what types of transportation infrastructure need to be focused on. The results of this paper show that most of the cities with high land supply priority are non-provincial capital cities and are important growth poles of regional economic development. The construction of a comprehensive transportation system is the short-term goal of these cities. Most cities with low land supply priority are sparsely populated, in good ecological condition, and far away from the core areas of economic development. The preferred transportation mode of these cities is generally land transportation. The main contribution of this paper is to provide a comprehensive decision support system for the land management department to determine land supply priorities and achieve the sustainable use of land.

Raw milk collection in Ireland: insights into the challenges facing the industry

PurposeThis paper provides insights into national practices used to schedule, collect and manage the transportation infrastructure of raw milk by Irish processors.Design/methodology/approachA survey was designed and distributed to 14 processors, collecting details regarding suppliers, seasonality, costs per litre, planning, processing sites and emissions related to milk collection.FindingsIrish raw milk transportation costs €95 million per annum, with an average weighted cost of 1.1 cents per litre. Primary route clustering of suppliers is based on farm location. Typically, collections employ forty-eight-hour rotas. Just three of the processors reported transportation emissions data. A disjointed approach to the adoption of scheduling and transportation technology was revealed.Research limitations/implicationsGiven the broad scope of the survey covering financial, operational and environmental aspects of milk collection, it was challenging to find a single representative such as a transport manager who could be tasked with responding to the entire survey. Future research may consider a more focused interview-based approach with the various stakeholders to provide a more in-depth analysis.Practical implicationsProcessors can gain an improved understanding of diversified milk collection methods. The research supports policymakers in considering environmental issues related to milk transportation. Costs could be reduced if transportation was better managed collectively with benefits accruing to the industry, suppliers and wider rural community. Stakeholders will need to address aspects of responsibility concerning environmental issues going forward.Social implicationsIn this paper the authors recognise the environmental cost of milk collection. By improving the transportation infrastructure, this will have a positive impact on society in general.Originality/valueThe paper highlights the unique challenges and extends present knowledge in relation to milk collection; thus, this paves the way for new approaches to raw milk transportation.

Queuing Theory in Traffic Management System

In cities where the number of vehicles has consistently expanded faster than the transportation infrastructure available to serve them. More on queuing theory and its crucial application has been discussed in the current study. In Thudiyalur, Gandhipuram, and Periyanaickenpalayam, all in Coimbatore, this research examines the usefulness of queuing theory in the field of traffic management. The concept of traffic intensity isapplied to a set of areas in queuing theory in this study. Keywords: Traffic intensity, Queuing theory, Single server Poisson model