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Our research question is to what extent, and under what circumstances, full automation in metro lines defines transit mode boundaries with respect to semi-rapid transit. The modeling approach is based on micro-economic appraisal. Automation, beside changing the investment and operation and maintenance cost profiles of metro lines, can improve some aspects of the user experience. The low marginal cost of frequency possible with automated metro may unlock both users’ benefits via reduced waiting times and crowding, and operator’s savings via shorter trains and smaller platforms and stations. We show how the user’s travel time components are structurally different under several configurations. In particular, we highlight the critical role that different demand and alignment patterns play in the mode comparison.

The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) System is instrumental to both the reconstruction of a collective identity and the development of a renewed political subjectivity, with which the Taiwanese esta...

Metro systems serve large populations and form extensive networks. Incidents such as signal failure, train failure, and power failure, pose great challenges to the reliable operation of metro systems around the world. For the Beijing metro system, incidents caused 408 disruptions of train services from 2014 to 2018. These incidents are investigated in detail, and a Monte Carlo approach and incident parameter functions are used to generate stochastically simulated incident events. Based on the simulated incidents, combined passenger flow data and an input-output model, we estimate the risk associated with the Beijing metro system in terms of disrupted passenger flows by considering risk propagation in the network, where both direct passenger loss and indirect passenger flow loss considering interchanges between different lines are considered. Lines at high risk are identified, and a sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the effects of risk mitigation measures. This study provides a generic risk modeling method for urban metro systems and can improve decision making to manage metro system risk.

This article examines the Canada Line rapid rail transit project in Vancouver, British Columbia, a decade after its completion and the 2010 Winter Olympic Games for which it was accelerated. The case resides at the intersection of two project classes with well-documented patterns of underperformance: transit mega-projects and sporting mega-events. Beyond connecting a number of Vancouver 2010 venues, the Canada Line is notable for its use of a public-private partnership procurement (PPP) model, as well as the significant real estate development seen nearby. In particular, the article focuses on outcomes classified under three headings: procurement model, community impact, and land use impact. Prior to providing avenues for future research, this article finds that while the PPP model avoided substantial cost overrun risks, the lucrative operational concession was where the growth coalition pushing the project was able to make it sufficiently attractive for private partners, while externalizing cost on third-parties.

The last mile between metro stations and commuters’ homes or workplaces has become one of key topics in relation to metro ridership in megacities where more than 10 million people live. Al...

Metro trains often encounter the problem of wheel flange wear when they pass through sharp curves, especially for the poor wheel–rail profile matching or lack of lubrication, evidently increasing t...

The emergence of rapid transit, primarily represented by high-speed railway (HSR), while reshaping the regional traffic patterns, leads to the reconstruction and redistribution of population and industry. This leads to either shrinkage or expansion of urban scale. However, research on the influence mechanisms of the urban scale has mostly concentrated on historical, economic and social factors. The influence of traffic factors is rarely mentioned in current research. Therefore, this study examines Northeast China, where the change in urban scale is most significant, to discuss the spatial impact of high-speed railway on the urban scale. This is of great significance in terms of enriching current understanding of the factors affecting the urban scale. The results included the following: 1) The high-speed railway produced considerable space-time convergence effects, however, simultaneously aggravated the imbalance in traffic development in Northeast China. The increase in accessibility presents attenuation characteristics from the high-speed railway. Additionally, the high-speed railway has changed the mode of cooperation between cities in the provinces, inter-regional and inter-provincial cooperation models gradually become popular. 2) The change rate of accessibility and the urban scale present significant spatial coupling phenomena, with the change rate of the Harbin-Dalian trunk lines and its surroundings being more significant. 3) There are predominantly four modes of the influence of high-speed railway on the urban scale, which make difference city present expansion or shrinkage.

espanolLa evolucion de los sistemas de transporte urbano en Latinoamerica ha sido significativa, producto de los elevados indices de urbanizacion. Entre estos destacan al servicio publico los metros y los buses de transito rapido. El presenta trabajo describe la evolucion de estos sistemas en Latinoamerica. Para esto se seleccionaron ocho (8) ciudades, referenciadas como emblematicas. Como resultado se muestra el creciente numero de pasajeros anuales de los sistemas metro de las ciudades de Buenos Aires y Lima. Adicionalmente, en seis (6) de las ciudades los pasajeros diarios superan los 100.000 y en las restantes alrededor de los 26.000. EnglishThe evolution of urban transport systems in Latin America has been significant, due to the high rates of urbanization. These include the public service, subways and rapid transit buses. This research describes the evolution of these systems in Latin America. Here eight (8) cities were selected, referenced as emblematic. The result shows the increasing number of annual passengers of the subways systems of the cities of Buenos Aires and Lima. Additionally, in six (6) of the cities the daily passengers exceed 100,000 and in the rest it was around 26,000.

[EN] Railways are an efficient transport mean with lower energy consumption and emissions in comparison to other transport means for freight and passengers, and yet there is a growing need to increase their efficiency. To achieve this, it is needed to accurately predict their energy consumption, a task which is traditionally carried out using deterministic models which rely on data measured through money- and time-consuming methods. Using four basic (and cheap to measure) features (train speed, acceleration, track slope and radius of curvature) from MetroValencia (Spain), we predicted the traction power using different machine learning models, obtaining that a random forest model outperforms other approaches in such task. The results show the possibility of using basic features to predict the traction power in a metropolitan railway line, and the chance of using this model as a tool to assess different strategies in order to increase the energy efficiency in these lines., This work was supported by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad [TRA2011-26602].

Energy consumption and its environmental impact are now among the most challenging problems in most developing cities. The common sources of energy used as the fuel in transportation sector include gasoline, diesel, natural gas, propane, biofuels, electricity, coal, and hydrogen. However, in Tanzania, diesel and gasoline are still the dominant source of energy used by public and private vehicles. We have experienced significant efforts of converting conventional vehicles (gasoline engines) to operate on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or on hybrid system (gasoline and natural gas) as an alternative source of energy in Tanzania. The CNG is considered as cleaner combustion energy used as a vehicular fuel alternative to gasoline or diesel. In this chapter, the amount of energy consumption from the fuel combustion, the impact of environmental health (toxicity gas emission), the cost of fuel used by the transit buses in terms of fuel energy consumption, and driving profile are discussed. The scope of this work is based on the total energy contained in the fuel only. The ability of the engine to transform the available energy from the fuel into useful work power (efficiency) is left to the designers and manufacturers.

The development of high-speed railways has become an important factor influencing regional pattern changes in China. In this study, an accessibility evaluation model was constructed in combination with regional scale and regional center city to research the effect of high-speed rails on accessibility in the South Jiangsu, an urban agglomeration in China. Based on accessibility index, urban economic and social statistics data were used in conjunction with a gravity model to analyze the characteristics and evolvement of economic relations in this area. The result shows that high-speed rails improve overall regional accessibility, significantly benefit regions along rail lines, and makes middle- and long-distance journeys more convenient for the general public. High-speed rails play a particularly dominant role in the evolution of economic linkage and effectively strengthen the ties between cities. When the bonds between cities along rail lines greatly improve, a basic framework of economic relations is formed. Finally this paper discusses the imbalance arising from the effect of high-speed rails, proposing such suggestions as improving urban traffic and building expressways that connect high-speed rail stations in marginal areas to improve accessibility.

In the present era, rapid transits are one of the most affordable means of public transport with various useful integrated application systems. The majority of the integrated applications are deployed in concern over safety and precautionary measures against the worst side-effects of unfortunate emergencies. For such cases, high-end reliable and autonomous systems provide possible positive solutions. Wireless Sensor Network is one of the suitable choices for rapid transit applications to gain positive results with inexpensive implementation cost. However, managing few network consequences like fault tolerance, energy balancing and routing critical informative packets are considered to be the challenging task due to their limited resource usage restriction. In this paper, a novel fuzzy logic-based fault tolerance and instant synchronized routing technique have been proposed specifically for the rapid transit system. On utilizing the fuzzy logic concepts, most of the computational complexities and uncertainties of the system is reduced. The central thematic of the proposed design is concerned over the synchronized routing and permanent faults which abruptly depicts the non-functional nature of the sensor nodes during normal operations. Moreover, our proposed simulation outcomes proved to be improvised evidence on obtaining maximum packet delivery ratio which tends to handle an emergency situation in the compartments of rapid transits.

This paper presents a technique aimed to assist in planning of surface rapid transit alignment in a metropolitan area by applying space syntax configurational approach. The technique proposed in this study was applied to the proposed surface rapid transit network for the Metropolitan Area of Tel Aviv. For this research a bi-modal model of the spatial structure, which includes the street network as well as the planned rapid transit routes, was analyzed. The results show that that a substantial share of the network’s alignment can be described solely by measuring through-movement potentials. This finding demonstrates the significant role of spatial accessibility analysis in transit planning. Consequently, this study provides a reproducible methodology for identifying the routes which hold the highest potential to serve as strategic movement corridors at a metropolitan scale, thus improving current RTS (Rapid Transit System) planning practice.

We solve the Integrated Network Design and Line Planning Problem in Railway Rapid Transit systems with the objective of maximizing the net profit over a planning horizon, in the presence of a competing transportation mode. Since the profitability of the designed network is closely related with passengers’ demand and line operation decisions, for a given demand, a transit assignment is required to compute the profit, calculating simultaneously the frequencies of lines and selecting the most convenient train units. The proposed iterative solving procedure is governed by an adaptive large neighborhood search metaheuristic which, at each iteration, calls a branch-and-cut algorithm implemented in Gurobi in order to solve the assignment and network operation problems. We provide an illustration on a real-size scenario.

Rapid-transit systems, commonly referred to as metros or subways, offer a cost-effective and sustainable solution to tackle modern-day problems of urban congestion. However, the planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of rapid-transit networks pose monumental challenges to civic authorities. Building information modelling (BIM) offers numerous opportunities to leverage the benefits of three-dimensional modelling and four-dimensional simulations to plan and manage construction of these facilities alongside existing operations. Post-construction and commissioning, the BIM model can then be used to operate and maintain the facility more efficiently through integration with asset-monitoring systems. The use of BIM for transit infrastructure is in its early stages and is far from being standardised. This paper attempts to provide a preliminary overview that can form the basis for a more detailed review of BIM applications relevant to rapid-transit schemes during different phases of project delivery. The paper briefly lists examples of BIM applications used by metro management companies, design and construction firms, and by construction software vendors.

This article describes how a wheel–rail wear detection parameter based on noise was developed by running a rapid transit train instrumented with microphones in a depot with a small curve radius. Th ...

This study aims to combine the modeling skills of deep learning and the domain knowledge in transportation into prediction of metro passenger flow. We present an end-to-end deep learning architecture, termed as Deep Passenger Flow (DeepPF), to forecast the metro inbound/outbound passenger flow. The architecture of the model is highly flexible and extendable; thus, enabling the integration and modeling of external environmental factors, temporal dependencies, spatial characteristics, and metro operational properties in short-term metro passenger flow prediction. Furthermore, the proposed framework achieves a high prediction accuracy due to the ease of integrating multi-source data. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the proposed DeepPF model can be extended to general conditions to fit the diverse constraints that exist in the transportation domain.

Urbanization has altered fish communities in many ways. However, as cities expand and redevelop, it is challenging to assess the impacts of new projects given existing alteration. We investigated how new and old infrastructure alters fish communities over a 4-year period in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada). We compared fish communities from a stream altered by a new rapid transit rail line and seven reference sites over 4 years, from before to after construction. We provide evidence that new and old projects depress the density, species richness, and diversity of fish communities. During and after construction, sections of the altered stream had one fewer species and lower density compared with preconstruction and reference streams. Streams without existing culverts had more species and greater diversity than those with culverts, but only in some years. Diversity was lower in 1 year of the study across all streams. We argue that most monitoring in Canada is insufficient to detect the incremental changes that new projects may cause and suggest improvements in monitoring and protecting reference streams.

Through Metrolinx, the province of Ontario seeks to change the sprawling, car dependent character of The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Areas by introducing a vast network of rapid transit routes along a series of corridors, linked by a series of nodes, called mobility hubs. Following Smart Growth principles, these hubs should be buttressed by transit supportive land-use regulations, but the current land-use planning framework in the region makes such changes difficult. By implementing a little used tool in Ontario's

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has emerged in the 21st century as a leading form of building rapid transit in urban environs due to their ability as a rapidly implementable, relatively low-cost, flexible, and high-quality transit mode. While the popularity of the BRT mode continues to grow worldwide, there remains a degree of uncertainty over what designing for success looks like for BRT systems. This paper sought to determine whether there was a "correct" design approach for BRT implementation through literature review and case study. The case study revealed that despite differences in design and implementation, the cases successfully attained their respective planning and performance objectives. The inherent flexibility of the BRT mode allowed for BRT systems to be scaled to a wide array of operating and ridership contexts, as well as allow for incremental enhancements to the system as the passenger demands, available financing, and political will for upgrades arise. Key Words: bus rapid transit; BRT; BRT Lite; service package; system design.

This chapter explores supply and demand conditions for successful ferry operations, including various vessel types and appropriate characteristics for differentiating maritime public transport services. Sustainable ferry operations require services that not only meet public transport requirements but also contribute to meeting ‘zero emissions’ targets set by the International Maritime Organization. The chapter sets out criteria for comparing maritime public transport options with traditional bus rapid transit (BRT), light rapid transit (LRT), and other options. The chapter then discusses the case of the Halifax Regional Municipality in Canada, where only conventional ferries have been chosen, BRT is evolving, commuter rail has been studied and rejected as an option, and LRT has not been considered. The case illustrates the key elements in a framework for examining alternative public transport options. Conclusions are drawn on how successful, sustainable ferry operations for a modern city can be implemented.

Anuario de Derecho Municipal 2020 Madrid, 2021. ISSN: 1888-7392. Nº 14: 243-258 Building rapid transit in Canada: the problem of governance Martin Horak* University of Western Ontario ABSTRACT Canadian cities have seen a boom in the construction of rapid transit infrastructure in recent years, fueled by the rise of financial support for transit from the federal government and the provinces. However, the extent to which individual cities have been able to productively harness this new financial support varies greatly. This study compares the recent development of rapid transit infrastructure in two of Canada’s largest metropolitan areas, Toronto and Vancouver. It finds that while both cities have recently developed regional transportation authorities to manage large transit investments, in Toronto the development of rapid transit has been highly contentious, marked by frequent changes in plan and the repeated cancellation and deferral of transit projects, while in Vancouver, the development of rapid transit has been much more consensual and orderly. The study introduces an analytical framework that interprets these different outcomes as the result of dissimilar institutional environments in the two cities, which vary in the extent to which they insulate long-range planning and decision-making from efforts by politicians to harness rapid transit decisions for short-term electoral advantage

Usually, when a rapid transit line is planned a less efficient system already partially covers the demand of the new line. Thus, when the rapid transit starts its regular services, the slow mode (e.g. bus lines) have to be cancelled or their routes modified. Usually this process is planned according to a sequential way. Firstly, the rapid transit line is designed taking into account private and public flows, and possibly surveys on mobility in order to predict the future utilization of the new infrastructure and/or other criteria. Then, in a second stage, the bus route network is redesigned. However, this sequential process can lead to a suboptimal solution, for which reason in this paper a cooperative model for rapid and slow transit network design is studied. The aim is to design simultaneously both networks and the objective is to maximize the number of passengers captured by both public modes against the private mode. We present a mathematical programming formulation and solve the problem by an improved Benders decomposition approach., OASIcs, Vol. 96, 21st Symposium on Algorithmic Approaches for Transportation Modelling, Optimization, and Systems (ATMOS 2021), pages 18:1-18:6

A specific European research project has been conducted to improve the reliability and the accuracy of the compensation grouting method used for the control of settlements related to underground excavations. The objective of the project was to connect interactively a 3D numerical model of tunnel excavation and compensation grouting operation, the real-time monitoring of surface displacement and the automatic grouting control. A real-time field test of the developments has been carried out on the construction site of the Tren Urbano Rapid Transit System, Rio Piedras section, in a historic and commercial district of San Juan, Puerto Rico. This paper presents a summary of the developments carried out within the framework of the COSMUS project concerning the 3D numerical analyses and its application during the real test. The results show how a FLAC3D “Steady State” model may been used to simulate, on a day to day basis, the progress of the excavation and the compensation grouting effect and hence, to provide useful information to design the grouting programs according to the actual data collected on the construction site.

Cardiac wounds are uncommon and seen mainly at urban trauma centers. Despite advancements in surgical care, prehospital treatment, and resuscitation, cardiac injury remains highly lethal. In fact, over several decades survival has not improved, underscoring their lethality. One factor that may influence the poor outcome is a mortality bias due to the rapid transit of patients with devastating, non-survivable injuries to the hospital. When considering only the patients who survive to treatment at trauma centers, the incidence of cardiac injury is quite low. The number of patients with blunt cardiac rupture who survive to treatment is even less common. It is estimated that 8–86% of immediate deaths after significant blunt chest trauma are a result of blunt cardiac rupture. Gunshot wounds (GSWs) account for the majority of penetrating cardiac injuries (58–76%), while stab wounds account for most of the remainder. For patients surviving to the hospital, successful outcomes require prompt diagnosis and therapeutic intervention with an aggressive, precise, and coordinated effort on the part of the surgeon, trauma service, and anesthesia team.

Bus rapid transit (BRT) lanes may increase the travel time cost of other motor vehicles while improving the operating efficiency of BRT vehicles. In this paper the control strategies of the...

Women face many barriers to using public transport services, despite representing the largest share of public transport users around the world. Transport and infrastructure-oriented barriers are related to constraints in its affordability, acceptability and availability, as well as to the physical access to public transport. There is also a recognition that there are other non-transport-related barriers that can constrain women’s mobility, such as social norms regarding gender and other more personal elements influencing women’s agency, such as self-efficacy and aspirations.

Real-time anomaly detection at metro stations is a very important task with considerable implications for massive passenger flow organization and train timetable rescheduling. State-of-the-...

The main objective of this work was to study the mobility patterns and characteristics of the city of Kuwait by implementing a detailed modulization of these patterns and characteristics. T...