Abstract

Part 1: Long and Short Papers (Continued); International audience; For expert interfaces, it is not obvious whether providing multiple modes of interaction, each tuned to different sub-tasks, leads to a better user experience than providing a more limited set. In this paper, we investigate this question in the context of air traffic control. We present and analyze an augmented flight strip board offering several forms of interaction, including touch, digital pen and physical paper objects. We explore the technical challenges of adding finger detection to such a flight strip board and evaluate how expert air traffic controllers interact with the resulting system. We find that users are able to quickly adapt to the wide range of offered modalities. Users were not overburden by the choice of different modalities, and did not find it difficult to determine the appropriate modality to use for each interaction. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Abstract

An agent-based simulation model for supporting the decision making in urban transport planning is presented. The model can be used to investigate how different transport infrastructure investments and policy instruments will affect the travel choices of passengers. We identified four main categories of factors influencing the choice of travel: cost, time, convenience, and social norm. However, travelers value these factors differently depending on their individual characteristics, such as age, income, work flexibility and environmental engagement, as well as on external factors, such as the weather. Moreover, instead of modeling the transport system explicitly, online web services are used to generate travel options. The model can support transport planners by providing estimations of modal share, as well as economical and environmental consequences. As a first step towards validation of the model, we have conducted a simple case study of three scenarios where we analyze the effects of changes to the public transport fares on commuters' travel choices in the Malmo-Lund region in Sweden. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Abstract

Rail transport generally has the advantage for large-volume long-haul freight operations. The literature generally shows that shipping distance, costs, and reliability are among the most important determinants of people's modal choice among road, rail, air, and coastal shipping transport. However, there is little evidence in Africa, although the region historically possesses significant rail assets. Currently, Africa's rail transport faces intense competition against truck transportation. With firm-level data, this paper examines shippers' modal choice in Tanzania. The traditional multinomial logit and McFadden’s choice models were estimated. The paper shows that rail prices and shipping distance and volume are important determinants of firms' mode choice. The analysis also finds that the firms' modal choice depends on the type of transactions. Rail transport is more often used for international trading purposes. Exporters and importers are key customers for restoring rail freight operations. Rail operating speed does not seem to have an unambiguous effect on firms' modal selection. Document type: Book

Abstract

A qualitative projection (the ''baseline scenario'') is made of the pipeline industry growth to the year 2000. This projection is based on the conventional wisdom of the industry. It is concluded that, to achieve significant growth, the industry must develop the capability, called freight pipeline, to move other commodities than oil and gas, i.e., bulk and packaged goods. Technical and economic performance criteria are identified which, if met by the freight pipeline capability, could induce modal shifts resulting in a reduction of total transportation energy consumption, and would offer other benefits, including compatibility with high-speed rail passenger service. Document type: Report