Car sharing in Wellington, New Zealand: Benefits and barriers

<p>Sprawling urban development and high levels of car dependency in New Zealand have resulted in a range of adverse impacts, including increased greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. Car sharing can support compact development and sustainable transport patterns by providing a potential alternative to car ownership. Despite the increasing popularity of car sharing overseas, it is still in the early stages of development in New Zealand. There is a growing body of international literature about car sharing; however, very little has been written about car sharing in the New Zealand context. This thesis contributes to the literature by exploring car sharing in Wellington. This study has adopted a mixed method approach, surveying Wellington residents about car sharing and interviewing car share stakeholders. The findings from this research indicate that car sharing is a transport innovation which offers Wellington significant benefits. Perhaps most importantly, car sharing can reduce car ownership and usage, which in turn can help reduce congestion, demand for parking and greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, this study provides evidence that the people most interested in car sharing in Wellington have similar characteristics to car share members overseas. This includes younger people, apartment dwellers, households without children, and people who use a car occasionally but do not necessarily own one. This thesis also highlights that car sharing is complementary to alternative modes of transport, and underlines the close connection between car sharing and modern technologies such as automated booking. The findings from this research indicate that car share providers face a range of barriers, including access to public parking and financial assistance. Progress has already been made to remove barriers facing car sharing but more support for car sharing could allow Wellington to take full advantage of its benefits.</p>

Car sharing in Wellington, New Zealand: Benefits and barriers

<p>Sprawling urban development and high levels of car dependency in New Zealand have resulted in a range of adverse impacts, including increased greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. Car sharing can support compact development and sustainable transport patterns by providing a potential alternative to car ownership. Despite the increasing popularity of car sharing overseas, it is still in the early stages of development in New Zealand. There is a growing body of international literature about car sharing; however, very little has been written about car sharing in the New Zealand context. This thesis contributes to the literature by exploring car sharing in Wellington. This study has adopted a mixed method approach, surveying Wellington residents about car sharing and interviewing car share stakeholders. The findings from this research indicate that car sharing is a transport innovation which offers Wellington significant benefits. Perhaps most importantly, car sharing can reduce car ownership and usage, which in turn can help reduce congestion, demand for parking and greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, this study provides evidence that the people most interested in car sharing in Wellington have similar characteristics to car share members overseas. This includes younger people, apartment dwellers, households without children, and people who use a car occasionally but do not necessarily own one. This thesis also highlights that car sharing is complementary to alternative modes of transport, and underlines the close connection between car sharing and modern technologies such as automated booking. The findings from this research indicate that car share providers face a range of barriers, including access to public parking and financial assistance. Progress has already been made to remove barriers facing car sharing but more support for car sharing could allow Wellington to take full advantage of its benefits.</p>

Hydrodynamic and Sediment Transport Patterns in the Minho and Douro Estuaries (NW Portugal) Based on ADCP Monitoring Data: Part 2—Statistical Interpretation of Bottom Moored Datasets

Exploratory statistical partitioning methods (K-means Clustering analysis) were applied to ADCP monitoring datasets collected inside the Douro and Minho estuaries. This analysis is aimed to discriminate ADCP acoustic responses according to the variations of the suspended particles within the ensonified medium. Based on the interpretation of the results, this work establishes general sediment transport patterns at both estuaries’ exits under continuously varying river flows and tidal amplitudes recorded during a summer dry seasonal scenario (September 2005) and winter high river discharge (January/February 2007) conditions. Results confirm the already known present scarcity of (sandy) sediment export from the Douro and Minho estuaries into the inner shelf and the consequent sediment depletion of the adjacent littoral, with no effective contribution of the Douro and some evidence of sand export observed at the Minho outlet during the winter of 2007.

Hydrodynamic and Sediment Transport Patterns in the Minho and Douro Estuaries (NW Portugal) Based on ADCP Monitoring Data: Part 1-Tidal Sediment Exchanges

The tidal variability of the Minho and Douro lower estuaries (NW Portugal) water column structure was assessed at the semi-diurnal and fortnightly time scales under two contrasting seasonal river flow scenarios during the summer of 2005 and winter of 2006. Sediment fluxes inferred from calibrated ADCP acoustic backscatter revealed that, during spring tides and low runoff conditions, both estuaries act as sinks instead of sources of sediments into the inner shelf. Sediment export occurred during neaps, in both estuaries, when the river flow values were high enough to counteract the effect of the entering flood. No evidence of coarse sediment export into the inner shelf that would eventually nourish the littoral system could be inferred from these datasets.

Breakthrough Investigation of Advective and Diffusive Transport in a Porous Matrix with a Crack

Fluid flow and transport processes in fractured porous media are of particular interest for geologists and in the material sciences. Here a systematic investigation is presented, dealing with a generic geometric set-up of a porous matrix with a crack. In such a combined porous medium/free fluid system flow patterns have been examined frequently, while the resulting transport patterns have attracted less attention. Using numerical modeling with finite elements the problem is approached using a dimensionless formulation. With a reduced number of dimensionless parameter combinations (Darcy-, Peclet- and Reynolds-numbers) solution dependencies are examined in parametric sweeps. Breakthrough curves are fitted in comparison to those of 1D model approaches, yielding effective diffusivities and velocities. The computations reveal highest sensitivity concerning the angle between crack axis and flow direction, followed by the Peclet number and the crack axes ratio. As a dimensionless representation is used the results are scale independent. Thus, they deliver estimations concerning effective heat and solute transport parameters that can be relevant in all application fields.