Scipedia: Documents published in 2015

Metropolitan Governance in Brazil : Inputs for an Agenda and Strategy

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 19:25:02 +0100

In less than fifty years, Brazil evolved from a predominantly rural society and economy to a highly urbanized country in which 85 percent of its people now live in urban areas and more than 90 percent of the country’s GDP is generated in the cities. This rapid urbanization process was characterized by a lack of planning and an enduring framework of inequality, resulting in high degrees of concentrated poverty in the urban areas. Much of this urbanization has taken place in metropolitan regions (MRs). MRs have grown more rapidly than the rest of the country, both in population and in GDP terms. In 2010, per capita GDP was higher in MRs than in the rest of the country and metropolitan economies accounted for 70 percent of GDP. At the same time, half of the Brazilian poor and 90 percent of the people living in subnormal conditions were found in metropolitan regions. The recent approval of a new framework for metropolitan governance inBrazil creates the opportunity for debate and evolution regarding several key issues. These include: a) placing metropolitan matters at the forefront of the development arena in Brazil; b) reviewing what has been learned about inter-municipal governance and service delivery; c) estimating resource mobilization needs for metropolitan development; d) coordinating metropolitan land use with transport and housing; e) including metropolitan concerns in any revision of fiscal federalism; and f) promoting environmental sustainability, social inclusion and resilience to disasters and climate change plans at the metropolitan scale. The World Bank can be a partner in addressing these issues. In responding to client demand, the Bank has been providing a range of support to Brazilian states and cities and especially their low- income populations in the areas of infrastructure, social services, slum upgrading, institutional development, river basin management, local economic development, environmental protection, water and sanitation, and transportation.

Heuristics for NP-hard optimization problems

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 19:17:26 +0100

"jats:p" We provide several examples showing that local search, the most basic metaheuristics, may be a very competitive choice for solving computationally hard optimization problems. In addition, generation of starting solutions by greedy heuristics should be at least considered as one of very natural possibilities. In this critical survey, selected examples discussed include the traveling salesman, the resource-constrained project scheduling, the channel assignment, and computation of bounds for the Shannon capacity.

Document type: Article

Malaysia Economic Monitor, June 2015 : Transforming Urban Transport

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 19:14:10 +0100

fter a strong finish in 2014, growth moderated in early 2015. Malaysia’s economy expanded by 6.0 percent in 2014, accelerating to 7.3 percent q/q saar in Q42014 due to resilient domestic demand and a pick-up of exports. Growth moderated to 4.7 percent q/q saar in Q1 2015 on account of weaker external demand, but domestic demand remained strong. To transform the planning and delivery of urban transport, Malaysia may consider prioritizing the following reforms: (a) Establish lead transport agencies at the conurbation level that spearhead an integrated approach towards the planning and delivery of urban transport across different modes; (b) identify and implement sustainable financing mechanisms for the lead agency. Introducing local taxes on fuel would not only result in environmental gains and trim the fiscal deficit (by RM10-19 billion), but also fund transport (for example, 24 percent of Vancouver’s transit system is funded by municipal gas taxes). Reviewing impediments to transit-oriented development will be another option, but should be considered alongside implications for affordability and inclusion; and (c) align policies to promote public transport with incentives to discourage the usage of private transport in congested areas. Introducing congestion pricing in areas well-covered by public transport as is done inSingapore will be an example of such policies.

Assessment of Gender Impacts of ITS

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 19:10:01 +0100

The World Bank and China has over 30 years of partnership and this partnership has evolved over time. In the early years, the World Bank shared its global knowledge with China on infrastructure development and institutional capacity building, which contributed to shaping China’s modernization and development. Today, many Chinese cities are making significant investment in Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and the scale is among the largest in all countries. The World Bank is supporting over 20 urban transport projects in China. This study uses Wuhan and Urumqi as two case studies to evaluate the gender impacts of their existing urban transport ITS, by adopting methods of survey and focus group discussion. Under the support of the World Bank, Urumqi and Wuhan have completed its first Bank-financed ITS construction in 2007 and 2010 respectively. They are now proposing to expand or upgrade ITS in their new Bank-financed projects. The findings suggest that men and women have unique travel patterns and transport demands, which result in special requirements of ITS; the findings also suggest that ITS can play a significant role in filling the gender gap in urban transport. In addition to improving infrastructure and intelligent transport facilities, the pressing issue is to build gender awareness for policy makers and practitioners and mainstream gender in transport and ITS. The study aims at strengthening capacity for gender-informed operations and policy making in East Asia and Pacific (EAP) countries. Besides this report, the team has also developed a technical guideline to better incorporate gender considerations in ITS planning, design, implementation and operation.

Algeria-Mali Trade : The Normality of Informality

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 19:05:10 +0100

This paper estimates the volume of informal trade between Algeria and Mali and analyzes its determinants and mechanisms, using a multi-pronged methodology. First, the authors discuss how subsidy policies and the legal framework create incentives for informal trade across the Sahara. Second, the authors provide evidence of the importance of informal trade, drawing on satellite images and surveys with informal traders in Mali and Algeria. The authors estimate that the weekly turnover of informal trade fell from approximately United States (U.S.) 2 million dollars in 2011 to U.S. 0.74 million dollars in 2014, but continues to play a crucial role in the economies of northern Mali and southern Algeria. Profit margins of 20-30 percent on informal trade contribute to explaining the relative prosperity of northern Mali. The authors also show that official trade statistics are meaningless in this context, as they capture less than 3 percent of total trade. Finally, the authors provide qualitative evidence on informal trade actors and mechanisms for the most frequently traded products.

SDRC 9.6: An assessment of the public acceptance of Demand Side Response of EV charging using Esprit

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 19:02:05 +0100

This report describes the research conducted by De Montfort University as part of the My Electric Avenue project to investigate public acceptance of the Esprit system for control of electric vehicle (EV) charging. Esprit provides ‘demand side response’ (DSR) for local electricity network protection by intervening in the charging of electric vehicles (EVs) when demands on the local electricity network reach a certain threshold. The aim of the research was to provide a response to SDRC 9.6 set out in the Project Direction: And to address the additional learnings: T.1.1.1 - How does a trial encourage the uptake of low carbon technology? T.1.1.2 - What social factors have an impact on the use of the Technology? T.1.1.3 - How can a trial be used to educate customers about the electricity network and low carbon technologies? Acceptability of Esprit Research findings suggest that the Esprit system for control of EV charging was acceptable to the majority of participants in the My Electric Avenue Technical Trial. The degree of acceptability of Esprit was not related to whether or not participants experienced curtailment of charging by Esprit Most of the participants in the Domestic Clusters whose charging was curtailed were either not aware of the curtailment, or were not impacted by it. In face-to-face data collection, only one participant reported a significant issue with curtailment where changes to plans were required due to insufficient charge in the vehicle. Curtailment of charging by Esprit was more of an issue for participants in the Workplace Cluster of the Technical Trial. The majority of participants opted not to charge at the workplace after curtailment began due to the uncertainty of receiving sufficient charge. This uncertainty may result from the interaction of Esprit and the load profile for the Workplace Cluster which caused Esprit to operate in an impractical way. In face-to-face data collection with Workplace Cluster participants those individuals who needed to charge at the workplace reported being very unhappy with the technology. Acceptability of Esprit by the Workplace Cluster participants as a whole, however, was comparable to the acceptance by Domestic Cluster participants. This may be due to the majority of the Workplace cluster participants choosing to charge at home rather than at work and therefore not being impacted by curtailment. 9.6 An assessment of the public acceptance (or otherwise) to Demand Side Response of EVs using this sort of technology. SDRC 9.6: Public Acceptance of Esprit My Electric Avenue (I²EV) – SSET205 4 The control of charging by Esprit was more acceptable to participantsin the Technical Trial who viewed EVs more positively (as measured by Experience of and Attitude towards EVs). This greater degree of acceptance was the case whether or not participants had experienced curtailment by Esprit during the course of the trial. The relationship between the acceptability of Esprit and a positive view of EVs suggests that the concept and reality of curtailment are more acceptable to drivers with a more positive view of EVs. Acceptability of Esprit was also found to be greater among participants who were more comfortable with a lower level of charge in their battery. Additionally, participants with greater confidence in finding alternative charging locations to their home charger had a higher level of acceptance of Esprit. The types of journeys (e.g. commuting, shopping, transporting others) for which EVs were used over the trial period did not appear to affect participants’ view of Esprit. However, with regard to trip length, drivers who had a higher proportion of journeys between 11 and 30 miles at the end of the trial were more likely to find Esprit acceptable; acceptability was also higher amongst those drivers who took more unplanned trips. Overall there were few changes in either charging patterns or travel patterns following the introduction of curtailment. This lack of change suggests that Esprit control of charging had little impact on the use of EVs or attitudes towards them. Uptake of Low Carbon Technology Findings suggest that the My Electric Avenue Trial encouraged the uptake of low carbon technology with some participants installing or intending to install PV, adopting energy efficiency measures, and/or intending to acquire EVs after the trial. By allowing direct experience of a low carbon technology, such as EVs, in a supportive social and economic environment, participants were able to familiarise themselves with the technology, which encouraged them to consider investing in EVs after the trial. A few participants also felt that being involved with the trial had raised their awareness of low carbon technology more generally. Social Factors Social factors did not appear to be related to the use of the technology (Esprit). However, the trial participants were not representative of the UK population as a whole in terms of socio-demographics or household composition. Knowledge of the Electricity Network and Low Carbon Technologies Pre-trial involvement with the My Electric Avenue trial increased participants’ awareness and understanding of both the electricity network and low carbon technologies. Awareness and understanding of low carbon technologies continued to increase during the course of the trial, with actual experience of the technology being the most important factor in increasing both awareness and understanding. The trial also appeared to be successful in educating both participants and the wider community about EVs.

Country Partnership Framework for Azerbaijan for the Period FY16-FY20

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 19:01:38 +0100

The country partnership framework (CPF) for Azerbaijan covering the period FY2016-20, sets out the World Bank Group (WBG) support to the country on its path toward a sustainable, inclusive, and private sector-led growth underpinned by a diversified asset base. The country’s strategic goals are laid out in its development strategy - Azerbaijan 2020: vision for the future and other strategic documents that aim at reducing Azerbaijan’s dependence on oil and gas revenues and strengthening its resilience to external shocks through investments into diversified human capital, physical infrastructure, and stronger institutions. The CPF builds on the WBG systematic country diagnostic (SCD) for Azerbaijan and aligns its objectives with the constraints and priorities identified in the SCD. Over the past decade, Azerbaijan has made remarkable progress toward reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity. In response to the emerging challenges and the mounting depreciation pressures, the government devalued the national currency and committed to fiscal consolidation. The CPF takes into account the government’s intention to optimize the external borrowing over the medium term as part of the ongoing effort to maintain fiscal sustainability. The CPF lending program will help Azerbaijan in meeting its development objectives through engagement in priority areas where the country’s ownership is strong, where the WBG has a comparative advantage and where the potential impact on the WBG twin goals is substantial. The CPF will address the SCD connectivity agenda through investments into the development of the county’s transport and transit corridors as well as improvement of local infrastructure at the community level. The CPF results are grouped around two focus areas and eight objectives that aim at improved public sector management and service delivery, and enhanced economic competitiveness.

Strategies for Urbanization and Economic Competitiveness in Burundi

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 19:00:33 +0100

This report argues that urbanization brings significant opportunities for both rural and urban areas and that Burundi needs to prioritize issues of economic growth and job creation. Based on a diagnostic evaluation of the current urbanization and spatial growth, GDP, and job potential, the report highlights the importance of prioritizing policies and investments to address deficiencies in Burundi urbanization. These remedial actions will help prepare Burundi for coming urban growth and help leverage agglomeration effects, minimize negative externalities associated with rapid urbanization, and potentially reap the demographic dividend of this transition. Getting urbanization right will need to be associated with targeted implementation strategies for growth in the agribusiness and tourism sectors. A rapid move to cities is a central element of Burundi development strategy, including an increase in the urbanization rate from 11 percent to 40 percent by 2025. Burundi vision 2025 aims to aims to promote urbanization via rural-urban migration, freeing arable land, providing nonagricultural urban employment opportunities, and in turn, reducing the risks for social conflict and economic fragility. This report shows that while the Vision 2025 target of rate 40 percent is unrealistic, Burundi urbanization rate may already be higher than expected due to limitations in the current urban classification and the agglomeration of households along major transport corridors. This uncertainty further underlines the need for government to address the key issues that will affect whether Burundi will achieve effective urbanization or not.

Unlocking Trade for Low-Income Countries : Report of the Trade Facilitation Facility, 2009-2015

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:55:51 +0100

The trade facilitation facility (TFF) was launched to help low-income countries improve their competitiveness by reducing the costs of engaging in international trade, thus supporting their efforts to reduce poverty and achieve the millennium development goals. This report summarizes the outcomes of the TFF between its establishment in 2009 and its end in 2015. The report highlights and reviews the accomplishments and lessons learned of TFF; it also discusses and reflects the perspective of task team leaders and relevant World Bank Group officials on the Bank Group’s continuing work in the trade facilitation sphere. The report presents results of TFF-funded activities and programs managed by staff from a large cross section of Bank Group sectors, including transport, agriculture, governance (customs), international trade, and private sector development. The report is organized as follows: chapter one give introduction. Chapter two provides an overview of the TFF portfolio. Chapter three looks at TFF as enabler of deepening regional integration, highlighting some of the facility’s accomplishments from a geographic and thematic perspective, particularly the extent to which TFF complemented Bank infrastructure operations and nurtured progress on trade facilitation instruments that countries and regional economic communities (RECs) have adopted but failed to implement. Chapter four, expanding thematic insights, addresses conceptual themes in trade facilitation. Chapter five, conclusions and contributions, sums up the areas in which TFF has contributed to moving the regional and multilateral trade facilitation agenda.

Rising through Cities in Ghana : Ghana Urbanization Review Overview Report

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:54:05 +0100

Rapid urbanization in Ghana over the past three decades has coincided with rapid GDP growth. This has helped to create jobs, increase human capital, decrease poverty, and expand opportunities and improve living conditions for millions of Ghanaians. Ghana’s urban transformation has been momentous, but it is not unique: a similar process has characterized other countries at similar levels of development. Ghana’s key challenge now is to ensure that urbanization continues to complement growth through improvements in productivity and inclusion, rather than detracting from these goals. Many rising problems are related to efficiency and inclusion: these include slums, lack of basic services, underdeveloped manufacturing, and insufficient transport infrastructure.

Fieldwork inhabitants in Zurich, Switzerland

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:46:16 +0100

nalysis of how urban diversity and policies and arrangements affect different population groups living in Zurich in terms of social cohesion and social mobility.

Water and Climate Adaptation Plan for the Sava River Basin : Annex 4. Guidance Note on Adaptation to Climate Change for Navigation

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:42:59 +0100

This report presents the water and climate adaptation plan (WATCAP) developed for the Sava river basin (SRB) as result of a study undertaken by the World Bank. The WATCAP is intended to help to bridge the gap between the climate change predictions for the SRB and the decision makers in current and planned water management investment projects that will be affected by changing climate trends. The purpose of the report is to: (i) assist stakeholders and decision makers in assessing and planning for the risks generated by climate change impacts on water resources; (ii) provide a basis for future plans and studies of adaptation to climate change impacts in the SRB; and (iii) stimulate cooperation and debate across the basin toward additional and more detailed studies on climate change impacts at the regional and basin scale. The SRB is projected to experience small increases in water use by the public water supply, industry, energy, and agricultural and irrigation sectors. However, it is widely expected that new hydropower plants (HPPs) will be constructed in the near future, making energy (primarily through hydropower) the most important water use in the SRB.

Fieldwork inhabitants in Warsaw, Poland

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:42:19 +0100

nalysis of how urban diversity and policies and arrangements affect different population groups living in Warsaw in terms of social cohesion and social mobility.

Analysis of urban freight distribution measures

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:37:34 +0100

Urban Freight Distribution (UFD) represents a very important activity in terms of cities economy, but can also be a problem for the daily life of citizens, due to traffic, noise and environmental contamination. Therefore UFD activities must be managed cautiously, to avoid or minimise external negative effects. In this context, this research aims to evaluate existing UFD measures, ranking the m from the best to the worst one, according to experts’ opinions. The proposed evaluation process is flexible in order to allow evaluating future UFD measures that may arise.

Growing Pains of Industrial Renewal – Case Nordic Cleantech

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:26:17 +0100

To steer economies onto a sustainable path in a way that is compatible with the urgent priorities of economic developers, sustainability needs to come with new business opportunities, growing markets and, most importantly, new jobs. The big question becomes then how do you wed economic growth with sustainability? Enter the growth of cleantech and the emergence of green industries. Recent rankings place Finland in the top-3 of global leaders in cleantech, along with Israel and the US. Driven by an ambition to selectively invest in a ‘green’ economic turnaround, a number of strategy-level research documents and roadmaps have been produced in recent years on how to kindle new growth and create jobs in the Finnish CleanTech- and the Bio-economies. The three industry ecosystems frequently mentioned are efficient energy solutions (smart grid), mobility-as-a-service (smart mobility), and the bioeconomy. The ultimate questions to be answered are: In which industry ecosystems does Finland have the necessary assets to be an effective competitive contender? And given the existing asset base, what is the true potential of these sectors as engines of economic growth? To rise to the challenge, the report probes (a) the structure and direction of industrial activity that underlie the selected ecosystems, (b) the value capture potential of individual companies in them, and (c) the types of financing the companies are most compatible with. The results are somewhat sobering. They clearly show that for business and economic development purposes the only feasible approach to Cleantech is to deal with it by the ecosystem. The three ecosystems analyzed in this study all feature different industrial structures, make vastly different value propositions, address different markets and involve a very different set of stakeholders. There is little value in cursorily lumping them together under a quasi-common concept such as Cleantech or the Bioeconomy. These concepts have no substance as they do not refer to specific industrial or economic activity. Hence, it is also very challenging to develop concrete instruments for economic or business development purposes that are to promote such activity. At worst, scarce resources are put to suboptimal use, as they are allocated over a vast spread of individual companies and projects that might be a fit with the overall theme of Cleantech but have no common denominator in the form of an industrial ecosystem and its underlying value chains. Our results on a next to non-existent Bioeconomy provide for an excellent showcase. We further show that even the more promising ecosystems such as Smart Mobility and Smart Grids are in the throes of growing pains. There is much that economic developers can do efficiently to alleviate them. The poor leverageability of industry assets and connections for market access across the board speak of fragile, budding industry structures that make it difficult for companies to establish robust markets and steady businesses in the short term. Companies of different sizes suffer the symptoms in their own ways. On the one hand, large incumbents do wield the assets necessary to conquer the ecosystem – telecommunications operators seem to have an especially favorable vantage point in smart ecosystems – but shoot themselves in the foot by applying conventional, capital-intensive business models that leave the door open for more agile growth companies that harness the potential of digitalization to exploit opportunities. On the other, start-ups and SMEs indeed show the drive and lean on nimble enough business models but utterly lack the assets for a full-scale conquest. It is easy to envision a symbiotic relationship, in which incumbents provide the capital-intensive assets while their smaller peers introduce the competitive business models. Given the incipient structure of the ecosystems, however, just finding appropriate partners can incur considerable transaction costs. Here economic developers can step in, helping to find matches via collaborative accelerators that broker partnerships between industrial heavy-hitters on a mission of industrial renewal and small growth companies looking for resources and downstream assets. Finding partners is a formidable challenge in and by itself, but our conclusions point to even more systemic impediments to industrial renewal that lie outside the industry’s sphere of influence. One such is the lack of proper standards for the interconnectivity and interoperability of the various, often proprietary, IT systems that the numerous stakeholders to ecosystems run their businesses on. Especially smart ecosystems by definition build on the seamless interoperability across diverse system architectures and organizational boundaries. In the absence of universal standards, interconnectivity needs to be established one relationship at a time, building on contractually agreed, customized solutions that do not scale beyond the specific relationship. Economic developers can considerably speed up the construction of a digital business environment by introducing universal standards that promote the emergence of plug-and-play platforms for efficient interoperability. In a world of autonomous, self-driving vehicles and applications that affect offtake and feed into electricity grids, quality and safety controls for algorithms that govern these systems will be paramount for individual and societal safety.

TRACE Model in Pilot Cities in Latin America

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:26:07 +0100

This report, supported by the energy sector management assistance program (ESMAP), applies the tool for the rapid assessment of city energy (TRACE) to examine energy use in León, México. This study is one of three requested and conducted in 2013 by the World Bank Latin America and the Caribbean energy unit to begin a dialogue on energy efficiency (EE) potential in Latin America and Caribbean cities. In Puebla and León, TRACE helped the Mexican Secretary of Energy (SENER) develop an urban EE strategy. TRACE is a simple, practical tool for making rapid assessments of municipal energy use. It helps prioritize sectors that have the potential to save significant amounts of energy and identifies appropriate EE measures in six sectors - transport, municipal buildings, wastewater, streetlights, solid waste, and power and heat. Globally, the six are often managed by the cities which have substantial influence over public utility services. The study looked at six areas to determine the three that have the greatest savings potential and where the city has a significant degree of control: streetlights, solid waste, and municipal buildings.

The Costs of Container Transport Flow Between Far East and Serbia Using Different Liner Shipping Services

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:25:41 +0100

"jats:p" Liner shipping is the most efficient mode of transport for goods. International liner shipping is a sophisticated network of regularly scheduled services that transports goods from anywhere in the world to anywhere in the world at low cost and with greater energy efficiency than any other form of international transportation. Liner shipping connects countries, markets, businesses and people, allowing them to buy and sell goods on a scale not previously possible. Today, the liner shipping industry transports goods representing approximately one-third of the total value of global trade. Ocean shipping contributes significantly to international stability and security. Considering the large and constant struggle in the market in terms of competitive pricing of products, a very important and indispensable role represents the container transport with a clear task to define the final price of the product. This paper analyzes the costs of container transport flow between Far East and Serbia, using different liner shipping services, observing the six world’s largest container operators (Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Company, CMA CGM, Evergreen Line, China Ocean Shipping Company and Hapag-Lloyd) and inland (truck-rail-river) transport corridors. These corridors include distance between selected Mediterranean ports (Koper, Rijeka, Bar, Thessaloniki, Constanta) and Serbia. As a result, in this paper is considered a mathematical model that provides a comparative analysis of transportation costs on the different routes. It is observed already existing transport routes and it is also given hypothetical review to the development of new transport routes. The main goal of this research is to provide an optimal route with lowest transportation cost during container transport. Selection of the best route in the intermodal network is a very difficult and complex task. The costs in all modes of transport and the quality of their services are not constant parameters and changes depending on a number of conditions and characteristics. The analysis of this model within combined maritime and land-based networks would prove helpful for the study of logistics chains, the hinterland-foreland continuum, intermodal transport systems, and market competitiveness.

Document type: Article

Georgia : Assessing Economy Wide Indirect Impacts of East-West Highway Investments through CGE Modeling

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:21:58 +0100

The objective of this study was to assess the economy wide indirect benefits of investments in the East West highway (EWH). This study has used a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, which simulates indirect benefits associated with the completion of the upgraded road corridor. The transmission channel modeled is the reduction in transportation costs - reduction in vehicle operating costs, and time savings - resulting from the investments in the EWH. A CGE model is a simultaneous equation system that consists of equations representing various economic relationships for different economic agents, such as producers and households. CGE models are commonly used by countries and international financial institutions to simulate policy interventions to determine economy-wide impacts. This study involved modifying the existing social accounting matrix (SAM) and CGE model in order to carry out simulations to answer the question of economy wide impacts of the EWH investments, including impacts on real gross domestic product (GDP) growth, jobs, and trade, as well as impacts on households disaggregated by income. It aims to answer the following questions: how will the EWH lower the transportation costs for producers of goods and services?; what are the economy wide impacts of the EWH on employment, real GDP growth, trade, and household income?; and can the EWH help bridge the existing economic divide between rural and urban areas in Georgia? The study is aims to simulate quantitatively how the EWH as a large-scale infrastructure investment program can bring significant stimulus to foster economic growth and welfare in Georgia.

WTP Pretreatment Facility Potential Design Deficiencies--Sliding Bed and Sliding Bed Erosion Assessment

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:19:45 +0100

This assessment is based on readily available literature and discusses both Newtonian and non-Newtonian slurries with respect to sliding beds and erosion due to sliding beds. This report does not quantify the size of the sliding beds or erosion rates due to sliding beds, but only assesses if they could be present. This assessment addresses process pipelines in the Pretreatment (PT) facility and the high level waste (HLW) transfer lines leaving the PT facility to the HLW vitrification facility concentrate receipt vessel.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia : Enhancing Urban Resilience

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:17:45 +0100

Cities are vulnerable to many types of shocks and stresses, including natural hazards like storms and sea level rise, but also man-made ones like economic transformation and rapid urbanization. These shocks and stresses have the potential to bring cities to a halt and reverse years of socio-economic development gains. Cities that are to grow and thrive in the future must take steps to address these shocks and stresses. Simply put, a resilient city is one that can adapt to these types of changing conditions and withstand shocks while still providing essential services to its residents. A resilient city can keep moving toward its long-term goals despite the challenges it meets along the way. In February 2015, a team of specialists from the World Bank Group worked with government officials, experts and stakeholders in Addis Ababa to identify the priority actions and investments that will enhance the city’s resilience to these current and future challenges. They explored options to transform planned or aspirational projects into initiatives that will also enhance the city’s resilience. As the largest city in Ethiopia and one of the fastest growing cities in Africa, Addis Ababa plays an important role in promoting the well-being of the country and economic prosperity in the region. For Addis Ababa, efforts to promote greater resilience must be closely aligned with the city’s vision to be a safe and livable city, ensure the national goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2025, and become Africa’s diplomatic capital.

Analytical and numerical solution for a rigid liquid-column moving in a pipe with fluctuating reservoir-head and venting entrapped-gas

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:10:52 +0100

The motion of liquid filling a pipeline is impeded when the gas ahead of it cannot escape freely. Trapped gas will lead to a significant pressure build-up in front of the liquid column, which slows down the column and eventually bounces it back. This paper is an extension of previous work by the authors in the sense that the trapped gas can escape through a vent. Another addition is that the driving pressure is not kept constant but fluctuating. The obtained analytical and numerical solutions are utilized in parameter variation studies that give deeper insight in the system’s behavior.

Results in the Latin America and Caribbean Region 2015, Volume 5

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:09:20 +0100

In the past decade, Latin America and the Caribbean has achieved impressive social and economic successes. For the first time in history, more people are in the middle class than in poverty. Inequality, although still high, declined markedly. Growth, jobs and effective social programs have transformed the lives of millions. In a striking departure from the crisis-prone Latin America of the past, the region has shown it is better prepared to weather the brunt of the global economic slowdown. Now, the region faces the challenge of maintaining and expanding its hard won gains in an adverse context of low growth. This is caused in part by a decrease in commodity prices and reduced economic activity in major commercial partners such as China. In such a scenario, achieving development results - and learning from them - becomes more important. This publication showcases stories about people and how their lives have been improved through better health and education, youth employment, disaster recovery and preparedness, infrastructure, and more.

1st Quarter Transportation Report FY 2015: Radioactive Waste Shipments to and from the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS)

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:05:02 +0100

This report satisfies the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office (NNSA/NFO) commitment to prepare a quarterly summary report of radioactive waste shipments to and from the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC) at Area 5. There were no shipments sent for offsite treatment and returned to the NNSS this quarter. This report summarizes the 1st quarter of Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 low-level radioactive waste (LLW) and mixed low-level radioactive waste (MLLW) shipments. Tabular summaries are provided which include the following: Sources of and carriers for LLW and MLLW shipments to and from the NNSS; Number and external volume of LLW and MLLW shipments; Highway routes used by carriers; and Incident/accident data applicable to LLW and MLLW shipments. In this report shipments are accounted for upon arrival at the NNSS, while disposal volumes are accounted for upon waste burial. The disposal volumes presented in this report include minor volumes of non-radioactive classified waste/material that were approved for disposal (non-radioactive classified or nonradioactive classified hazardous). Volume reports showing cubic feet generated using the Low-Level Waste Information System may vary slightly due to rounding conventions for volumetric conversions from cubic meters to cubicmore » feet.« le

Improving infrastructure in the United Kingdom

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:04:41 +0100

The United Kingdom (UK) has spent less on infrastructure compared to other OECD countries over the past three decades. The perceived quality of UK infrastructure assets is close to the OECD average but lower than in other G7 countries. Capacity constraints have emerged in some sectors, such as electricity generation, air transport and roads. Developing and regularly updating a national infrastructure strategy, with the National Infrastructure Plan being a welcome first step in this direction, would contribute to reduce policy uncertainty and tackle capacity constraints in a durable way. The design of coherent development plans by local authorities congruent with the national and local planning systems should continue to improve project delivery. The government intends to finance a large share of infrastructure spending to 2020 and beyond through private capital. Unlocking private investment in a cost effective and transparent way could be supported by further improving incentives for greenfield investment, continuing to carefully assess and record public-private partnerships, and promoting more long-term financing instruments. This Working Paper relates to the 2015 OECD Economic Survey of the United Kingdom (www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/economic-survey-united-kingdom.htm). Ameliorer les infrastructures au Royaume-Uni Au Royaume-Uni, les depenses dans les infrastructures ont ete inferieures a ce qu’elles ont ete dans d’autres pays de l’OCDE au cours des trois dernieres decennies. La perception de la qualite des actifs d’infrastructure y est comparable a la moyenne de l’OCDE, mais est plus faible que dans les autres pays du G7. Des contraintes de capacite se sont fait jour dans certains secteurs comme la production d’electricite, le transport aerien ou le reseau routier. L’elaboration et l’actualisation reguliere d’une strategie nationale en matiere d’infrastructures, avec le Plan National d’Infrastructure etant une premiere etape bienvenue en ce sens, contribuerait a reduire les incertitudes au niveau de l’action publique et de s’attaquer de maniere durable aux contraintes de capacite. La conception, par les collectivites locales, de plans de developpement coherents conformes aux systemes de planification nationaux et locaux ameliorerait la livraison de projets. Le gouvernement a l’intention de financer une grande partie des depenses d’infrastructures jusqu’en 2020 et au-dela en mobilisant des capitaux prives. Le deverrouillage de l’investissement prive de maniere transparente et avec un bon rapport cout/efficacite pourrait etre soutenu en ameliorant les incitations a investir dans des installations entierement nouvelles, de recenser et d’evaluer soigneusement les partenariats public-prive et de promouvoir de nouveaux instruments de financement a long terme.

Federative Republic of Brazil iRAP Pilot Technical Report : Federal Highways

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:02:04 +0100

part of efforts to curb road deaths and serious injuries, the World Bank Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) invited the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) to work with the National Department of Transport Infrastructure (Departamento Nacional de Infraestrutura de Transportes, DNIT) to assess the safety of Brazilian roads. During this second assessment of Brazilian roads, approximately 3,400km of roads were assessed. This technical report describes the road assessment project and includes details on data collection, the methodology used and a summary of the results. The infrastructure-related risk assessment involved detailed surveys and coding of 50 road attributes at 100 meter intervals along the network and creation of Star Ratings, which provide a simple and objective measure showing the level of risk on the road network. The star ratings show that 1 percent of road length is rated as 5-star, 9 percent is rated as 4-star, 58 percent is rated as 3-star, and the remaining 32 percent is rated as 2-star and below for vehicle occupants. For motorcyclists, no roads were rated as 5-star, only 3 percent of road length is rated as 4-star, 47 percent is rated as 3-star, and the remaining 50 percent is rated 2-star and below. For pedestrians less than 1 percent is rated as 4-star and 5-star, 2 percent is rated as 3-star and the remaining 13 percent is rated 2-star and below. For bicyclists less than 1 percent is rated as 5-star or 4-star, 5 percent is rated as 3-star and the remaining 14 percent is rated 2-star and below. The project also involved the creation of a Safer Roads Investment Plans, which draws on more than 90 proven road safety treatments, ranging from low cost road markings and pedestrian refuges to higher cost intersection upgrades and full highway duplication.

Deliverable 2.1. Accident Analysis, Naturalistic Observations and Project Implications - Part B. Naturalistic Observations

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 18:00:51 +0100

Deliverable D2.1 'Accident Analysis, Naturalistic Observations and Project Implications' is issued in the scope of WP2 'Accident analysis and user needs' from the PROSPECT project. The objective of WP2 is to generate the user requirements for next generation proactive safety systems, with a focus on the specific needs of vulnerable road users (VRUs). Part A of deliverable D2.1 (Accident data analyses) provided results from task T2.1 'Characteristics of vehicle to VRU accidents'. Within this task, an in-depth accident analysis involving Vulnerable Road Users was carried out in Europe, focusing mainly on pedestrians and cyclists.The output already obtained from task T2.1 has provided information about the current safety situation and the identification of the most relevant car-to-cyclist and car-to-pedestrian accident scenarios where safety improvements are necessary. This data has been used to define the use cases of PROSPECT, and the system development will focus on the most relevant of these. The overall process of use case definition for PROSPECT and the associated test catalogue derived from the accident analysis data is provided in deliverable D3.1 'The addressed VRU scenarios within PROSPECT and associated test catalogue', available in May 2016.This report corresponds to Part B of deliverable D2.1, which seeks to provide additional knowledge to the project through naturalistic observations within selected European cities in order to establish how vehicles and VRUs interact in real traffic situations. This work has been developed in task T2.2.Naturalistic observations facilitate a better understanding of potentially dangerous traffic situations with VRUs. In particular, it includes the identification of motions, behaviours and interactions that lead to such situations, from both VRU and driver perspective. Additional to the information provided from the accident databases, it is necessary to identify the parameters that signal VRU intent in order to enable earlier and more precise reactions by safety systems. Naturalistic observations are therefore crucial for the development of advanced algorithms integrated in next generation PROSPECT-like systems, and must be also taken into account as relevant factors for the definition of test scenarios.An introduction and specific objectives of the task are presented in this part, as well as the methodology for data acquisition and extraction of conflicts regarding VRUs in real-world traffic from infrastructure-mounted and/or vehicle-based sensors and cameras in Lyon, Budapest and Barcelona. An additional study made on Helmond on cyclist behaviour is also described.The parameters considered for the analyses of conflicts are provided, as well as analysis of the conflicts.Finally, this part of the document offers a general conclusion about the results obtained from the naturalistic observations.

Land Transport and How to Unlock Investment in Support of “Green Growth”

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:57:44 +0100

“Green growth” and transport combines several different concepts that are central to sustainable mobility, including sustainable economic activity, reduced environmental impact and sustained growth in high quality jobs. It attempts to balance the importance of economic growth, with environmental damage and social priorities through assessing positive actions that can be taken by a wide variety of public and private stakeholders. It has arisen out of the concern over the use of non-renewable resources in transport, increasing emissions of carbon and other pollutants, and the expected levels of growth in mobility over the next 40 years. But it also acknowledges the importance of transport to the economy, and its role in helping to create jobs, improving levels of productivity and output, and in promoting agglomeration benefits. This means that transport should be efficient, but at the same time make less demand on the environment through less use of resources, through recycling and reuse of materials, and through embracing a life cycle perspective...

Mapping Global and Regional Value Chains in SACU : Sector-Level Overviews

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:56:38 +0100

In considering the prospects for expanding non-commodities exports, the SACU region faces a global environment that has changed markedly over the past two decades. First, trade is increasingly shifting away from high income countries and toward developing countries. Second and perhaps most importantly, is the increasing importance of or ‘global production networks’ or ‘global value chains’ (GVCs). With wages rising rapidly in China and other places where GVC-oriented trade is concentrated, parts of these value chains are migrating to new global locations. Some estimates indicate that over the next generation 85 million manufacturing jobs will migrate from coastal China, and Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to be a major beneficiary. The SACU region, with its abundance of natural capital and surplus labor, along with a relatively high quality infrastructure and institutional environment, should be in a good position to attract investment and create a ‘factory Southern Africa’. Beyond assembly manufacturing that is typical of GVCs (e.g. apparel, electronics, automotive), the region should also be well-placed to compete as a location for value-addition to agricultural and mineral commodities (‘beneficiation’). Both types of investment would not only drive exports and have the potential to create significant employment, but also support upgrading by accessing global technologies and knowledge. And with growing markets across Africa, a ‘factory Southern Africa’ might increasingly be sustainable in the regional context.

Rise of the Anatolian Tigers : Turkey Urbanization Review, Policy Brief

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:56:23 +0100

Turkey’s demographic and economic transformation has been one of the world’s most dramatic, with urban growth and economic growth proceeding hand in hand. Distinguishing Turkey from many other developing countries has been the pace, scale, and geographical diversity of its spatial and economic transformation. Fast-growing secondary cities bring added challenges that define Turkey’s second-generation urban agenda. New and differentiated service standards will need to be established across both dense urban built-up areas and small villages and rural settlements within the newly-expanded metropolitan municipality administrative area. These developments make planning, connecting, and financing important policy principles for Turkey’s second-generation urban development agenda. This policy brief frames a second-generation urban development agenda to support Turkey’s transition from upper middle income to high income.

Zero Emission Bay Area (ZEBA) Fuel Cell Bus Demonstration Results. Fourth Report

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:54:22 +0100

This report presents results of a demonstration of fuel cell electric buses (FCEB) operating in Oakland, California. Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) leads the Zero Emission Bay Area (ZEBA) demonstration, which includes 12 advanced-design fuel cell buses and two hydrogen fueling stations. The FCEBs in service at AC Transit are 40-foot, low-floor buses built by Van Hool with a hybrid electric propulsion system that includes a US Hybrid fuel cell power system and EnerDel lithium-based energy storage system. The buses began revenue service in May 2010.

Estimating truck operating costs for domestic trips – case studies from Greece

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:53:55 +0100

"jats:p" The transport sector represents a vital component of national economies and has significant impacts on productivity and social welfare. In 2012, the transport sector in Europe was estimated to account for 3.7% of the European Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 5.1% for employment. Road transport proves to be the predominant mode for moving goods within Europe holding a share of approximately 45.8% in 2012 (in ton-kms). In Greece, the share of road freight transport is significantly higher (98%) indicating the importance of this sector for the Greek economy. To this end and considering the existing needs of road freight transport operators in Greece, the objective of this research is to establish an analytical and documented basis for estimating the operating cost of a truck on specific urban or national freight transport routes. To achieve this goal, an extended literature review has been conducted resulting in the identification of the main components comprising the total truck operating cost, which were then updated and validated through a series of personal interviews with selected road freight transport professionals. An excel-based application tool was also developed in order to facilitate operating cost estimates for different cases, through selection of the proper values of the relevant parameters. The resulting tool was used to analyse four test cases, which demonstrate the tool’s usability and applicability. Results from this analysis have been also validated by industry experts and they reflect real-world transport scenarios.

Document type: Article

Air Traffic Control Regulation with Union Bargaining

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:52:12 +0100

This paper studies the behavior of the air traffic control (ATC) centers in the EU. We investigate the functioning of the European ATC sector with a union bargaining model. In this model, working conditions are the outcome of a bargaining game between the public air traffic control agency and the unions of air traffic controllers. We use this framework to understand the behavior of the ATC centers for wage formation, their reactions to a price-cap, adoption of new technologies, congestion pricing, effect of vertical disintegration, competition and the possible success of mergers between different national ATC centers. The theory is able to explain the slow progress in ATC performance in a unionized environment. We also test the theoretical model and estimate its parameters. The empirical analysis is based on actual ATC performance data. ispartof: CES - Discussion paper series, DPS15.17 pages:1-25 status: published

Modeliranje pristaniškega zaledja z izbiro pristanišča

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:52:00 +0100

This paper presents a new approach for hinterland modelling based on the results of port choice modelling. The paper follows the idea that the shippers' port choice is a trade-off between various objective and subjective factors. The presented model tackles the problem by applying the AHP method in order to obtain ports' preference rates based on subjective factors, and combine them with objective factors, which include port operation costs, sailing times, and land transport costs using MILP. The ports' hinterlands are modelled by finding the optimal port of choice for different locations across Europe and merging the identical results. The model can be used in order to produce captive hinterland of ports and can also be exploited in order to analyse how changes in the traffic infrastructure influence the size of hinterlands. Članek predstavlja nov pristop za modeliranje pristaniškega zaledja na podlagi rezultatov izbire pristanišča. Metodologija je osnovana na ideji, da je izbira pristanišča kompromis med raznimi tako objektivnimi kot tudi subjektivnimi dejavniki. Predstavljen model rešuje problematiko z uporabo metode AHP za določitev preferenčnih stopenj pristanišč na podlagi subjektivnih dejavnikov, katere nato združi z objektivnimi izračuni, ki vključujejo operativne stroške, čase plutja ter stroške zemeljskega transporta z uporabo metode MILP. Modeliranje zaledja je izvedeno z določitvijo optimalnega pristanišča za razne lokacije znotraj Evrope in z združevanjem istih rezultatov. Model je možno uporabiti za določanje zajetega zaledja pristanišč, prav tako pa ga je možno uporabiti za razne analize kako spremembe v prometni infrastrukturi vplivajo na obliko zaledij.

Institutional and Governance Structure of Oman’s Transport Sector : Challenges and Options for Reforms

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:47:18 +0100

This paper describes a study carried out for the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC), Oman to identify more efficient institutional and governance structures for Oman’s transport sector. The paper has been prepared for a wider readership of transport sector political leaders, public officials and their advisers who may be contemplating the assessment or strengthening of transport sector governance in their own countries. The study also recommended that a new framework for Oman’s freight logistics be established outside the structure of MOTC. This will be led by an inter-ministerial logistics council, with a technical logistics center to undertake research and plan improvements, and a Logistics Consultative Committee that will provide an interface between the private and public sectors.

The Integrated Urban Development Strategy for Ploiesti Growth Pole 2014-2020

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:46:34 +0100

In 2012, the World Bank signed five agreements with MRDPA for advisory services, out of which one relates to the growth poles policy and to its improvement for the programming period 2014-2020. This agreement has three components: 1) an analysis of the growth poles policy, 2) energy efficiency studies for each growth pole; and 3) a review of the Integrated Development Plans prepared by the growth poles for the period 2007-2013. In this context, South Muntenia Regional Development Agency, through the coordinator of Ploiești Growth Pole, requested the World Bank, under a project funded by ERDF through the Technical Assistance Operational Program 2007-2013, to support the Growth Pole in implementing the recommendations stemming from the previous analysis with: 1) updating the Integrated Development Plan for 2014-2020; and 2) proposing an improved institutional framework for coordinating the planning, implementation and monitoring of projects under this plan. The current document of the Integrated Development Plan belonging to Ploiești Growth Pole was developed during the period 2008-2009 and approved and submitted to South Muntenia RDA in April 2010. It contains a total number of 93 projects with a total value of RON 5,136,143,583.91, out of which 762,515,322.81 are EU funds, and the remainder comes from the national budget and the beneficiaries’ own contribution. In the process of updating the plan, the implementation status of these projects will be studied further, while attention will be also given to the unimplemented projects in order to see whether they will be included in the documentation, depending on their response to the new development conditions of the growth pole.

Rail Electronic Data Interchange in a Border Crossing Point in South East Europe : An Assessment of Options

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:41:26 +0100

Within the European Union (EU) rail transport is currently the least integrated transport mode. This leads to delays, extra costs, and insufficient use of rail freight, especially for time-sensitive cargo. This also represents a missed opportunity in terms of moving towards a greener transport modal split within the EU. Rail freight, for which international activity represents 50 percent of total activities, will not be able to develop fully if border crossing rail operations do not deliver a better service for shippers and freight operators who require seamless trans-national transport as is possible by road, air and sea. Observing that the modal split of rail in the EU is stagnating at around 16 percent after years of decline, the European Commission proposed a regulation on a European rail network for competitive freight to be based on a number of rail freight corridors which entered into force on November 9, 2010. Regulation No 913/2010 makes it mandatory to create a European rail network for competitive freight based on international freight corridors, recognizing that the need to strengthen the competitiveness of rail freight requires a corridor approach, involving corridors that cross national borders. TheEU adoption in 2010 of a corridor approach focusing on international rail freight has important implications for EU member states, accession and candidate countries, in terms of approaching rail freight investments and performance from an international corridor perspective with enhanced cross-border coordination, with the ultimate aim of increasing the attractiveness of rail to potential freight customers. The objective of this report is to address this recommendation by assessing whether it makes sense to introduce a pilot EDI in a rail border crossing point in South East Europe. It aims to make a preliminary assessment of the various technical options in terms of hardware, software, and communication requirements of such architecture, taking into account that any technical solution proposed needs to be adapted to the countries in question, given existing infrastructure and European regulations. The ultimate aim is to improve rail border crossing performance in South East Europe by the use of EDI to improve integration.

The Regional Balkans Infrastructure Study Update : Enhancing Regional Connectivity, Identifying Impediments and Priority Remedies

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:36:04 +0100

In an effort to further develop the South East Europe transport observatory (SEETO) comprehensive network, integrate it in the European Union’s (EU) Trans-European transport (TEN-T) network and strengthen the underlying transport planning systems, a grant was awarded by the Western Balkans infrastructure framework (WBIF) for the update of the regional Balkans infrastructure study (REBIS). The motivation for the update was the fact that since the completion of REBIS in 2003, there had been no review or update of the study’s projections and recommendations that will in turn enable an informed assessment and updating of the regional priorities for investment in the SEETO comprehensive network. The main objective of the REBIS update was to develop a priority action plan for enhancing the efficiency of the SEETO comprehensive network. The action plan identifies priority physical investments as well as non-physical improvements including regulatory, institutional, and managerial changes required to reduce impediments to the efficient performance of the network. The focus of the final report is the assessment of the 2030 traffic projections under low and moderate and moderate and high economic growth scenarios against the capacity of the network under the do-nothing scenario and the full SEETO scenario and on the development of the priority action plan. The report is organized as follows: section one gives introduction .Section two presents a brief assessment of the 2003 REBIS traffic projections against reported counts. Section three presents key non-physical impediments to transport and trade facilitation, as well as the costs and benefits associated with their alleviation. Section four presents the 2030 traffic projections for both the low and moderate and moderate and high economic growth scenarios. Section five presents the results of the capacity assessment of the existing and planned networks to handle the projected traffic. Section six presents the methodology used in the preliminary economic efficiency analysis for assessing the physical interventions and the results, while section seven presents the priority action plan. Section eight provides concluding comments.

Fieldwork inhabitants in Leipzig, Germany

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:35:31 +0100

nalysis of how urban diversity and policies and arrangements affect different population groups living in Leipzig in terms of social cohesion and social mobility.

Cambodia Rice Sector Review : A More Detailed Road Map for Cambodian Rice Exports

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:33:17 +0100

Cambodias rice exports are on a steep upward trajectory, benefiting from import duty preferences and new investments in rice mills and polishing factories. Cambodia’s major export competitors are Thailand and Vietnam. Thailand is a main competitor for fragrant rice, exporting itself ca 2.65 million tons of aromatic rice (including brokens) in 2010/2011. Vietnam is the principal competitor for the nonaromatic white rice markets such as the Philippines and Indonesia. Pakistan and Burma are competing with Cambodia for low-grade white rice markets mainly in Africa. The government needs to intensify its export facilitation efforts to increase its rice exports. Cambodia has reduced its milling costs but more needs to be done to improve competitiveness of its rice export. The capacity of Cambodia’s logistics system from mills to ports is inadequate to accommodate large-scale volumes. All of Cambodia’s rice exports are shipped in containers from Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville ports. Unless the government obtains a transit access to Saigon Port via the Mekong River for un-containerized milled rice, it is unlikely that Cambodia will export even 500,000 tons by 2015.

Unlocking Growth Potential in Kenya : Dismantling Regulatory Obstacles to Competition

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:28:00 +0100

Kenya’s business environment has been weakening over recent years and this has limited the private sector’s ability to grow, create jobs, and contribute to economic development. Competitive domestic markets are necessary to boost Kenya’s competitiveness. There are two pillars that sustain effective competition policy: (i) opening markets and removing anticompetitive regulation; and (ii) effectively enforcing competition law. The main focus of this report is the identification of regulations that could restrict competition and distort markets and business decisions, having a negative effect on Kenya’s competitiveness and growth. This report contains results from a review of the regulatory framework in key areas identified using Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Product Market Regulation (PMR) indicators, the World Bank Group’s framework to identify anticompetitive regulations, and interviews with stakeholders. This report is concerned only with certain regulations that affect market competition in select sectors and topical areas. The report stems from the policy dialogue with various Kenyan institutions, supported by the Kenya Investment Climate Program. This report contains three parts. Part one identifies restrictive regulations that affect the whole economy, while Part two focuses on select sectors. Part three provides policy recommendations to promote greater competition in Kenyan markets through the assessment and modification of regulations that create obstacles to competition. It also provides estimates of the potential benefits of reforming product market regulations.

Federative Republic of Brazil : National Road Safety Capacity Review

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:25:50 +0100

part of a long-term partnership between the World Bank and Brazil, the Federal Government of Brazil sought the World Bank’s assistance to review road safety management capacity in Brazil, building both on past experiences in the country and international best practices. This National Road Safety Management Capacity Review, therefore, was prepared by the World Bank, with the support of the Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF). The primary objective of the review is to evaluate the multi-sectoral capacity of road safety management in Brazil, identifying possible road safety challenges and presenting recommendations to address these challenges. The methodology of the review, in accordance with the guidelines of the World Bank Global Road Safety Facility, focused on examinations of key functional aspects of road safety, including institutions, legislation, financing, information, and capacities at all levels of government and among non-government actors. The review was prepared mainly based on interviews of key road safety stakeholders at the federal, state, and municipal levels, members of parliament, NGOs, and the private sector, in addition to direct inspection of roads and on-road behaviors, and the analysis of published research and reports on road safety. In addition, information and understanding gained from previous reviews of the states of São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, and Bahia were also incorporated.

Fieldwork inhabitants in Toronto, Canada

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:25:03 +0100

nalysis of how urban diversity and policies and arrangements affect different population groups living in Toronto in terms of social cohesion and social mobility.

Small Hydropower in the United States

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:19:23 +0100

Small hydropower, defined in this report as hydropower with a generating capacity of up to 10 MW typically built using existing dams, pipelines, and canals has substantial opportunity for growth. Existing small hydropower comprises about 75% of the current US hydropower fleet in terms of number of plants. The economic feasibility of developing new small hydropower projects has substantially improved recently, making small hydropower the type of new hydropower development most likely to occur. In 2013, Congress unanimously approved changes to simplify federal permitting requirements for small hydropower, lowering costs and reducing the amount of time required to receive federal approvals. In 2014, Congress funded a new federal incentive payment program for hydropower, currently worth approximately 1.5 cents/kWh. Federal and state grant and loan programs for small hydropower are becoming available. Pending changes in federal climate policy could benefit all renewable energy sources, including small hydropower. Notwithstanding remaining barriers, development of new small hydropower is expected to accelerate in response to recent policy changes.

Passenger transport in rural and sparsely populated areas in France

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:12:22 +0100

Improving mobility is a major issue in sparsely populated areas. The low population density in these localities often means that longer journeys are required to access services, carry out everyday activities or maintain social links. Whole sections of the population – in particular older people, young people, stay-at-home parents in single-car households, and seasonal workers – are effectively handicapped in mobility terms by inadequate public transport provision and an overdependence on people who have cars.

Tax and regulatory policies for European Transport : getting there, but in the slow lane

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:11:34 +0100

This paper reviews policy developments in the EU transport sector. The EU has successfully introduced the external cost concept into policy thinking. In the policy orientations, there has been too much emphasis on climate and energy objectives. Also modal share objectives are popular among policy makers but are not a good guideline for transport policies. The transition from high fuel taxes to distance charges has begun for trucks, but the charges need to be differentiated according to place and time. The same transition will also develop for cars, as soon as implementation costs have been reduced and public acceptance has improved. EU transport policy priorities can be to allow and promote the progressive substitution of high diesel and gasoline taxes by other car and truck user charges that depend on place and time, to scale back overambitious implementation of biofuel and electric car policies and re-orient resources to R&D for cleaner vehicles, to efficiently regulate distance charges for trucks and to assure an unbiased assessment of infrastructure investment needs. Member country priorities can be to move away from high vehicle ownership and fuel taxes to local congestion charges; the extra burden on motorists might be offset by scaling back vehicle excise taxes and to complement the introduction of road pricing with peak-load pricing for public transport. ispartof: CES - Discussion paper series, DPS15.11 pages:1-33 status: published

BEVs and PHEVs in France: Market trends and key drivers of their short-term development : Project Corri-door Task 4.1: Evolution of EV/PHEV market Interim report Final version 1

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:11:23 +0100

This interim report for Task 4.1 looks into the current sales and market trends for electric vehicles worldwide, as well as in several European countries, and brings out a set of factors that are likely to influence the French market for PEVs in the short term (2020). We identify three main factors as key drivers of the uptake of PEVs in Europe and in France in the near-term future : - Technology improvements and purchase subsidies to reduce the retail price of PEVs ; - Standardisation throughout Europe, as defined by the 2014 EU Directive on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure, to lay the ground for wider consumer acceptance ; and - Deployment of fast-charging infrastructure (together with conventional and semi-fast chargers), to reduce “range anxiety” and to promote the use of PEVs for long-distance trips.

Vietnam Affordable Housing : A Way Forward

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:08:50 +0100

ffordable housing will be instrumental to helping Vietnam achieve its goals for increasing productivity and inclusive urban growth. Since Doi Moi, the country has experienced impressive economic growth, averaged at 7.4 percent per annum from 1990 to 2008, lowering to an average of 6 percent per annum from 2007 to 2013. Strong economic growth has supported a substantial reduction in poverty, from 58 percent in 1993 to 17 percent in 20121. Yet, the country has remained largely rural, with more than half of its population working in the agricultural sector, which only contributed 17 percent of GDP in 20142. In some countries, urbanization has been used as a tool to accelerate economic growth and poverty reduction. As Vietnam aims to maintain a high growth rate, supporting urbanization, where cities contribute a growing share of jobs and GDP, will be an important measure. This structural shift will drive population growth and new demand for housing in cities, for which quality and affordable housing options in well-serviced and connected settlements will be needed. Areas of particular importance in the Law is support toward self-built housing, the active participation of the private sector, addressing the shortage of affordable rental housing as well as high demand for housing from low income groups, especially workers in industrial zones of large cities. This report, which includes a comprehensive assessment and roadmap for affordable housing in Vietnam, recommends the following key messages moving forward: increase investment, Prepare Three Flagship Initiatives under an umbrella National Affordable Housing Program, Institutional Strengthening, Land Tax Reform, and Create an Enabling Environment for Affordable Housing. Moving forward, design of the market-oriented measures described above will require intensive and careful consultation and engagement with all housing sector actors, particularly the private sector. Private sector will need to play an active role in the early preparation to ensure their participation and commitment that carries through to implementation of policy measures on the financing and supply side.

Revealing the Impact of Relaxing Service Sector FDI Restrictions on Productivity in Indonesian Manufacturing

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:00:39 +0100

The services sector in Indonesia accounts for more than half of total value added, employs more than 55 million workers, and provides 35 percent of overall inputs to the productive sectors of the economy. Improving quality, increasing diversity and reducing costs in service sectors produce is likely to greatly improve Indonesia s competitiveness across all sectors. With a focus on the manufacturing sector, this note argues that relaxing restrictions on competition and on the participation of foreign firms, in services can be expected to improve service sector performance, and lead to economy-wide benefits in terms of productivity and competitiveness. It does so by reviewing the international evidence available, and by presenting new evidence for Indonesia on the positive spillovers that easing restrictions has had on the productivity of domestic manufacturing firms. The economic impact of these spillovers is sizable. In fact, spillovers from service sector reform account for about 8 percent of the observed increase in Indonesian manufacturing productivity over the period 1997-2009.

Country Partnership Framework for the Republic of Panama for the Period FY15-FY21

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:58:29 +0100

Panama's economic growth has been at the top of the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region in recent years. The country s rapid growth has been largely pro-poor and translated into significant poverty reduction. The new Administration is well placed to tackle these challenges, with its commitment to maintaining an open and diversified economy and redressing social imbalances. Looking ahead, the country s main challenges are to maintain the current growth performance and ensure that its benefits are extended to all. The World Bank Group s (WBG) new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) seeks to support Panama s continued high growth, while ensuring inclusion and opportunities for marginalized groups, and bolstering resilience and sustainability. These themes are highlighted as priorities in the Government s 2014-2019 Strategic Development Plan (SDP) and in the WBG s Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD). The CPF seeks to maximize over a six-year period, the comparative advantages of the WBG, through packages of innovative public and private financing options based on cutting edge global knowledge and experience.

Fieldwork inhabitants in Copenhagen, Denmark

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:53:56 +0100

nalysis of how urban diversity and policies and arrangements affect different population groups living in Copenhagen in terms of social cohesion and social mobility.

Reduktion des Eisebahnlärms durch die Anwendung von CHFC Material

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:52:39 +0100

Traffic is the most widespread source of environmental noise. Railway noise has become increasingly common in urban areas in the past few decades. Therefore environmental requirements for railway operations regarding noise are becoming very strict and will become even tighter in future. In the present paper we present actual track- based field test performed on Slovenian Railways. The significant noise reduction (up to 30dBA) was achieved by the application of CHFC material on the rail using CL-E1 top anti noise system. Der Verkehr ist die am weitesten verbreitete Quelle von Umgebungslärm. Eisenbahnlärm nahm in den letzten Jahrzehnten in städtischen Gebieten immer mehr zu. Aus diesem Grund wurden die Umweltanforderungen für den Bahnverkehr bezüglich des Lärms immer strenger und werden in der Zukunft noch höher. In der vorliegenden Arbeit stellen wir den tatsächlichen Track-basierten Feldversuch auf der Slowenischen Bahn dar. Die deutliche Lärmreduzierung (bis 30 dBA)wurde durch die Anwendung von CHFC-Material auf der Schiene mithilfe des Cl-E1 Antirauschsystems erreicht.

Document type: Article

Modeli intra-organizacijskega logističnega managementa v Sloveniji

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:48:52 +0100

Throughout the history, the transportation of goods and related logistics have played an important role in human development and existence. This pertains to numerous interlinked processes, whose management is often linked to social system, international linkages, development of industry, market and market specifics. In modern times, the management of these processes is increasingly bound to globalization of production and market, moving of production to countries with cheaper labour force, environmental protection. The present Slovenian economy depends to a large extent on economies and corporate relations of the European Union and the world. Such inter-connectedness demands frequent transportation of semi-finished and finished goods. By providing timely delivery of goods, transportation consequently enables inter-organizational linkages and individual production, economic, market and other processes. Organizational and inter-organizational management of transport logistics demands profound understanding of transport flows, freight forwarding expertise and knowledge of transport, tax, environmental and other related regulations. Adequate knowledge and mastering of cultural, linguistic, national and other differences is important as well. The presented analysis and evaluation form the basis of the construction of inter-organizational model of logistics management in Slovenia. Skozi zgodovino je prevoz blaga in s tem v povezavi z logistiko igral pomembno vlogo v človeškem razvoju in obstoju. To se nanaša na številne medsebojno povezane procese, katerih upravljanje je pogosto povezano z družbenim sistemom, mednarodnimi povezavami, razvoju industrije, trga in specifike le tega. V sodobnem času, je obvladovanje teh procesov vse bolj vezano na globalizacijo proizvodnje in trga, ki se giblje od proizvodnje v države s cenejšo delovno silo z okoljskim protekcionizmom. Slovensko gospodarstvo je v veliki meri odvisno od gospodarstva in korporativnih odnosov v Evropski uniji in svetu. Takšna medsebojna povezanost zahteva pogoste prevoze polizdelkov in končnih izdelkov. Z zagotavljanjem pravočasne dostave blaga, transport posledično omogoča medorganizacijske povezave in individualno proizvodnjo, gospodarstva, trga in druge postopke. Organizacijsko in medorganizacijsko upravljanje logistike zahteva globoko razumevanje prometnih tokov, špedicijo in strokovnega znanja o prometu, davkih, okoljskih in drugih povezanih predpisov. Ustrezno znanje in obvladovanje kulturnih, jezikovnih, nacionalnih in drugih razlik, je ravno tako pomembno. Predstavljena analiza in ocena je osnova za gradnjo medorganizacijskega modela logističnega upravljanja v Sloveniji.

Seaport efficiency and productivity based on Data Envelopment Analysis and Malmquist Productivity Index

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:47:43 +0100

"jats:p" Seaport efficiency and productivity are the critical factors for handling of goods in the international supply chains and plays an important role in trade exchange with other countries. It is important to evaluate efficiency and productivity of seaports to reflect their status and reveal their position in competitive environment. The main purpose of this article is to use Data Envelopment Analysis and Malmquist Productivity Index to measure the technical efficiency and total factor productivity of container ports. DEA analysis enables one to assess how efficiently a seaports uses the available inputs to generate a set of outputs relative to other units in the data set. This article presents the use CCR and BCC DEA model, to determine overall technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency of container ports. The analysis gives a possibility to create a efficiency ranking of seaports. The study also applies the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI), which was used to analyze changes in seaports productivity. The study indicated that technological progress had a greater impact on the change in productivity of container ports than changes in technical efficiency.

Document type: Article

City Strength Diagnostic : Methodological Guidebook

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:45:38 +0100

With most of the global population and capital goods concentrated in urban areas, cities are key to social development and economic prosperity. They are drivers of national economic growth and innovation, and act as cultural and creative centers. Many development partners and other organizations are active on the topic of resilience in cities, and there has been a recent upswing in the development and promotion of innovate programs, tools, and initiatives. Arup International and the Rockefeller Foundation have developed the city resilience framework, which provides a lens through which the complexity of cities and the numerous factors that contribute to a city’s resilience can be understood. The framework is being used to facilitate agenda-setting sessions in cities selected to participate in the 100 resilient cities challenge. Within this global context, the city strength diagnostic was developed to help World Bank staff apply this new holistic approach to urban resilience to operations. It was designed to help facilitate a dialogue among stakeholders (for example, government, civil society, residents, and the private sector) about risks, resilience, and the performance of urban systems. The city strength diagnostic results in the identification of priority actions and investments that will enhance the city’s resilience as well as increase the resilience building potential of planned or aspirational projects. It stresses a holistic and integrated approach that encourages cross-sectoral collaborations to more efficiently tackle existing issues and to unlock opportunities within the city.

The Impact of the Syrian Conflict on Lebanese Trade

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:42:12 +0100

The devastating civil war in Syria is arguably one of the major civil conflicts in recent times. The conflict started with protests in March 2011 and soon after escalated to a violent internal war with no end in sight to this date. The conflict has by the end of 2014 caused well in excess of 150,000 fatalities, and 6 million internally displaced people (UN), and led 3 million refugees to move out of the country (UNHCR). Beyond the human tragedy, the conflict has disrupted the functioning of the economy in many ways. It has destroyed infrastructure, prevented children from going to school, closed factories and deterred investments and trade. The economic effects of the war extend beyond the country’s borders affecting also the neighboring countries. In particular trade is one of the main channels through which the effects of the crisis are transmitted to neighboring countries. For example, the demand for goods and services in Syria is likely to have fallen thus affecting the many exporters to Syria in neighboring countries. Moreover, to the extent that Syria has become harder to cross, the war may have made trade through Syria more difficult. At the same time producers in neighboring countries may have replaced Syrian producers in Syria and in other markets as their productive assets in Syria were destroyed. This report examines the effects of the Syrian war on the Lebanese economy via one of the most important channels through which the economic impact of the war occurs, i.e. the trade channel. In doing so, it partly updates and extends the previous economic assessment of World Bank (2013b) carried out last year. Focusing specifically on trade allows us to examine in more depth the trade effects than that report was able to do. Indeed, we go beyond the effects on aggregate and sectoral imports and exports to also examine the effects on exports at firms’ level, comparing the effects in Lebanon with those in other neighboring countries, including Jordan, Turkey and Iraq.

Coordination of Strategies and Programs for EU and State-Funded Investments in Romania’s Infrastructure

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:41:14 +0100

This report provides a diagnostic and a set of recommendations for the coordination of infrastructure investments in three main sectors in Romania: roads; water and wastewater; and social infrastructure (education, health, culture, and sports). The proposals formulated are targeted primarily at the main client of this work, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration (MRDPA) and specifically at the Directorate General for Regional Development and Infrastructure (DG RDI), which manages the most important state-budget-funded program for local infrastructure investments – the National Local Development Program (PNDL). Other key stakeholders include the Center of Government (CoG), the Ministry of Public Finances, the Ministry of European Funds, other central authorities in charge of EU and/or state-funded investment programs, Regional Development Agencies, and county and local councils. While customized for the PNDL, the recommendations that follow can be replicated across all state-budget-funded investment programs. This report presents multiple instruments for promoting coordination: dedicated platforms, harmonization of investment programs (design, financing criteria, producers), and knowledge sharing of good practices at the local level.

Controlling Methane Emissions in the Natural Gas Sector. A Review of Federal and State Regulatory Frameworks Governing Production, Gathering, Processing, Transmission, and Distribution

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:36:38 +0100

This report provides an overview of the regulatory frameworks governing natural gas supply chain infrastructure siting, construction, operation, and maintenance. Information was drawn from a number of sources, including published analyses, government reports, in addition to relevant statutes, court decisions and regulatory language, as needed. The scope includes all onshore facilities that contribute to methane emissions from the natural gas sector, focusing on three areas of state and federal regulations: (1) natural gas pipeline infrastructure siting and transportation service (including gathering, transmission, and distribution pipelines), (2) natural gas pipeline safety, and (3) air emissions associated with the natural gas supply chain. In addition, the report identifies the incentives under current regulatory frameworks to invest in measures to reduce leakage, as well as the barriers facing investment in infrastructure improvement to reduce leakage. Policy recommendations regarding how federal or state authorities could regulate methane emissions are not provided; rather, existing frameworks are identified and some of the options for modifying existing regulations or adopting new regulations to reduce methane leakage are discussed.

Project Summary

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:33:58 +0100

The objective of the Unisys Spoken Language Systems effort is to develop and demonstrate technology for the understanding of goal-directed spontaneous speech input. The Unisys spoken language architecture couples a speech recognition system (the MIT Summit system) with the Unisys discourse understanding system Pundit. Pundit is a broad-coverage language understanding system used in a variety of message understanding applications and extended to handle spoken language input. Its power comes from the integration of syntax, semantics and pragmatics (context), the ability to port rapidly to new task domains, and from an open, modular architecture. Pundit is unique in its ability to handle connected discourse; it includes a reference resolution module that tracks "discourse entities" and distinguishes references to previously mentioned entities from the introduction of new entities. The Pundit front-end supports turn-taking dialogue and permits the system to include both questions and answers in building an integrated discourse context, required for the handling of interactive communication. Pundit has been interfaced to speech recognition systems (both Summit and the ITT continuous speech recogniser) to perform applications on direction-finding assistance (Voyager), air travel planning (ATIS), and air traffic control (flight strip updating).

Shifting towards low carbon mobility systems

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:29:27 +0100

Private motorised vehicles account today for 90% of total surface transport1 CO2 emissions. Car fleets are growing rapidly in many cities in the developing world, where population and income growth will be concentrated in the coming decades. For example, whilst urban agglomerations with more than 500 000 inhabitants in Latin America, India and China currently account for only about 9% of total global CO2 emissions from motorised passenger surface transport, this share is likely to grow to 20% in the next 40 years. This means that 40% of the total global growth in CO2 emissions related to surface passenger transport will be generated in these cities (ITF, 2015).

Budżetowy wypływ elektronicznego systemu poboru opłat na efektywność długoterminową

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 15:04:22 +0100

The transport infrastructure is extremely important for economic development and the labour mobility and competitiveness of European economy. However it is becoming increasingly difficult for government to publicly fund transport infrastructures. Therefore the decision to implement toll roads in Europe as a transport-policy instrument is an important shift in the funding of infrastructure. Adoption of appropriate technology has implications on the efficiency of the system. The mathematical model developed upon and simulations were carried out on several scenarios given the different types of technology. The results suggest that DSRC technology employed on motorways to be the most efficient. Infrastruktura transportowa jest niezwykle waÅ¼na dla rozwoju przemysÅowego, mobilnoÅci siÅy roboczej i konkurencyjnoÅci gospodarki Europejskiej. JednakÅ¼e coraz trudniejsze dla rzÄdu staje siÄ publiczne dofinansowanie infrastruktury transportowej. W zwiÄzku z tym decyzjÄ o wdroÅ¼eniu pÅatnych drÃ³g w Europie jako instrument polityki transportowej jest znaczÄcÄ zmianÄ w finansowaniu infrastruktury. PrzyjÄcie odpowiedniego metody dofinansowania ma wpÅyw na wydajnoÅÄ systemu. Model matematyczny opracowany na jego podstawie i symulacje przeprowadzono na kilka scenariuszy, biorÄc pod uwagÄ rÃ³Å¼ne rodzaje technologii. Wyniki sugerujÄ, Å¼e technologia DSRC uÅ¼yta na autostradach jest najbardziej efektywna.

Document type: Article

Fieldwork inhabitants in Paris, France

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 15:02:21 +0100

Analysis of how urban diversity and policies and arrangements affect different population groups living in Paris in terms of social cohesion and social mobility.

Primerjava vedenjskih razlik motoristov pri vožnji z motornim kolesom ali avtomobilom

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 15:02:09 +0100

The goal of the study was to investigate if the drivers behave in the same way when they are driving a motorcycle or a car. For this purpose, the Motorcycle Rider Behaviour Questionnaire and Driver Behaviour Questionnaire were conducted among the same drivers population. Items of questionnaires were used to develop a structural equation model with two factors, one for the motorcyclist's behaviour, and the other for the car driver's behaviour. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were also applied in this study. Results revealed a certain difference in driving behaviour. The principal reason lies probably in mental consciousness that the risk-taking driving of a motorbike can result in much more catastrophic consequences than when driving a car. The drivers also pointed out this kind of thinking and the developed model has statistically confirmed the behavioural differences. The implications of these findings are also argued in relation to the validation of the appropriateness of the existing traffic regulations. Glavni namen raziskave je preuÄevanje morebitnih vedenjskih razlik motoristov pri voÅ¾nji z motornim kolesom ali avtomobilom. V ta namen je izvedena anketa v obliki dveh vpraÅ¡alnikov med isto populacijo motoristov. Prvi vpraÅ¡alnik zrcali motoristiÄne vedenjske, drugi pa avtomobilistiÄne vedenjske vzorce. Na osnovi zbranih podatkov ankete je razvit model strukturnih enaÄb z dvema faktorjema, eden se nanaÅ¡a na vedenjske lastnosti voÅ¾nje z motorjem, drugi pa na vedenjske lastnosti voÅ¾nje z avtom. V procesu razvoja modela sta uporabljeni tudi eksploratorna in potrditvena faktorska analiza. Rezultati kaÅ¾ejo, da dejansko obstajajo doloÄene razlike v voznem obnaÅ¡anju. Glavni razlog za to je verjetno v mentalnem zavedanju motoristov, da riziÄna voÅ¾nja z motorjem lahko vodi do mnogo hujÅ¡ih posledic v primerjavi z voÅ¾njo z avtom. Motoristi namreÄ posebej izpostavijo tovrstno dojemanje razlik pri voÅ¾nji z motorjem ali avtom, kar naÅ¡ model tudi statistiÄno potrdi. Implikacije teh ugotovitev so sooÄene z morebitno neustreznostjo obstojeÄe prometne zakonodaje.

Wiederaufbau von dem Lieferpositionen in Stadt Celje, Slowenien

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 15:00:47 +0100

The paper addresses the problem of the reconstruction and allocation of delivery positions in the urban area. The aim is to achieve the optimal reorganization of urban freight transport in old town core in the municipality of Celje. Optimal allocation relies on optimization based on the Monte Carlo simulation and represents a first stage of a two-stage optimization approach to re-design the existing urban freight transport. The number of optimal delivery positions is required to be as minimal as possible, which can still assure a maximal service area within the prescribed radius, while keeping the minimal walking distances of delivery personnel between the nearest delivery position and the customerÊ¼s physical location. The main issues of the used heuristic allocation algorithm and the presentation of calculated results are provided. In the near future, the calculated delivery positions are going to be used for the purpose of physical implementation in order to improve the existing delivery transport. Der Artikel behandelt das Problem der Wiederaufbau und Allokation von den Lieferung Positionen in einem stÃ¤dtischen Gebiet. Der Zweck ist die optimale Reorganisation des stÃ¤dtischen GÃ¼terverkehrs im alten Stadtkern in der Gemeinde Celje zu Erreichen. Die optimale Allokation basiert auf der Optimierung auf Basis der Monte-Carlo-Simulationen und stellt die erste Stufe einer zweistufigen Optimierung Verfahren zur Re-Designs der bestehenden stÃ¤dtischen GÃ¼terverkehrs. Die Anzahl der optimalen Lieferpositionen sollte so wenig wie mÃ¶glich sein, aber trotzdem einen maximalen Service-Bereich innerhalb des vorgeschriebenen Radius gewÃ¤hrleisten. Gleichzeitig sollte die Entfernung zwischen den nÃ¤chstgelegenen Lieferpositionen und Kunden Positionen kleinstmÃ¶glich sein. Die wichtigsten Themen des verwendeten Heuristic Zuordnungsalgorithmus und die Darstellung der berechneten Ergebnisse sind gegeben. Die Standorte der berechneten Lieferung Positionen werden zum Zwecke der physikalischen Implementierung genutzt, um den bestehenden GÃ¼terverkehr zu verbessern.

Document type: Article

Country Partnership Framework for Republic of Botswana for the Period FY16-20

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 14:57:22 +0100

This document details the scope and the main elements of the Country Partnership Framework (CPF) with the Republic of Botswana for FY16-20. The previous Country Partnership Strategy (CPS), considered by the Board on May 21, 2009 and completed in 2013 has built a solid foundation to design the new World Bank Group (WBG) program. The CPF supports the governmentâs ongoing National Development Plan (NDP10) that has recently been extended until 2017. It also reviews the new NDP11 now under preparation. The Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) was completed after Botswanaâs General Elections in October 2014. The SCD drew on all available research and benefited greatly from the series of stakeholder consultations conducted in the country between March and September, 2014. The report was well received by the national authorities and sent for information to the Board on March 31, 2015. The SCD identified the following priority development challenges: (a) despite rapidly declining poverty, low job creation keeps inequality extremely high; (b) with the weakening of traditional growth drivers, a new growth model is needed that is jobs-intensive, export-oriented, and private sector-driven; (c) despite broad and well-intentioned investment, inclusion barriers remain; (d) sustainability is threatened as resource vulnerability challenges long-term growth and inclusion.

Consideration of fracture mechanics analysis and defect dimension measurement assessment for the trans-Alaska oil pipeline girth welds :

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 14:43:18 +0100

The volume contains the appendices to the above report. These appendices contain several technical reports from consultants and NBS staff. In some cases, the terminology, units, and symbols chosen are not consistent with the main body of the report (Volume I). However, within a given appendix report, notation and symbols are consistent. (Portions of this document are not fully legible.)

Very long term development of the Dutch Inland Waterway Transport System

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 14:38:46 +0100

This thesis addresses how a new method for the evaluation of policies with a very long term impact on the Dutch Inland Waterway Transport (IWT) system can be developed. It proposes an outline for a very long term transport model, prepares a number of very long term scenarios, and indicates that a different perspective on economic growth and future discounting is required to obtain realistic projections and develop sensible policies for issues with a very long term impact. Extended summary report: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ef349716-b484-4820-a02a-d1cd13bc51b8

Managing airlines: the cost of complexity

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 12:38:34 +0100

[EN] This paper is dedicated to the structure of airline networks as a sink of efficient airline operations. Parameters of complexity were derived and mirrored on level of service as well as efficiency parameters. Airlines usually considerers an operational overhead to predict the total flight operation cost. This parameter includes the expected cost for disruptions and delays. When an airline has to mobilize an aircraft in a base for recovering the service or for breaking an emergent dynamic, then it is running extra costs. The cost of managing complexity in the airline industry has a direct impact on profit and loss account. Therefore, this paper presents an integrated approach to evaluate this cost, based on padding and aircrafts dedicated to recover disruptions. Finally, some additional indicators are derived to evaluate reliability improvement as part of complex performance. Trapote-Barreira, C.; Deutschmann, A.; RobustÃ©, F. (2016). Managing airlines: the cost of complexity. En XII Congreso de ingenierÃa del transporte. 7, 8 y 9 de Junio, Valencia (EspaÃ±a). Editorial Universitat PolitÃ¨cnica de ValÃ¨ncia. 25-35. https://doi.org/10.4995/CIT2016.2015.4092 OCS 25 35

Modal analysis of a composite sandwich panel used in the structure of an hybrid bus

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 12:35:29 +0100

The rear module of an hybrid bus was redesigned in a joint effort by Volvo andIDMEC in the framework of the european project HCV Hybrid Commercial Vehicle (GrantAgreement No 234019), replacing most of the metallic frame and other components with compositesandwich panels. The redesigned bus overall weight was reduced by approximately900kg. This paper presents the numerical and experimental modal analysis of a sandwichpanel that was produced using the same materials and production process used to produce themain prototype rear component.

Driver Behavior Models

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 12:28:35 +0100

The attractive power of driving motor vehicles results from the expansion of human mobility far beyond the natural physiological capabilities of people such as radius of action, power, speed, transport capacity, independence of timing and choosing routes, etc. Unfortunately, the enormous kinetic energy involved in the dynamic process of driving is coupled with an inherent danger of loss of control. Both human factors and technical features of the road traffic system combined with their interactive compatibility decisively influence primary safety, i.e., accident prevention potential. Science established a successful method of gaining and comprehensively representing knowledge by derivation of empirical models in terms of qualitative (descriptive) and particularly quantitative (mathematical) models. Such modeling approaches for human driver behavior in road traffic with scope on specific capabilities and limitations are reported on, aiming at their challenges for driver assistance systems. As focal points of the following discussion, the predictability principle (in control systems theory terminology, this could be named âanticipatory observability criterionâ), the acquisition of driving skills, and the quantification of collective and individual human driving competence will be highlighted. The gaps between intrinsic human performance limitations and physico-technical constraints of vehicle, road, and traffic-environment characteristics open up the most promising realms for the development of driver assistance systems.

Regionalism in Services: A Study of ASEAN

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 12:23:38 +0100

Can regionalism do what multilateralism has so far failed to doâpromote greater openness of services markets? Although previous research has pointed to the wider and deeper legal commitments under regional agreements as proof that it can, no previous study has assessed the impact of such agreements on applied policies. This paper focuses on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where regional integration of services markets has been linked to thriving regional supply chains. Drawing on surveys conducted in 2008 and 2012 of applied policies in the key services sectors of ASEAN countries, the paper assesses the impact of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) and the ambitious ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint, which envisaged integrated services markets by 2015. The analysis finds that over this period, ASEAN did not integrate faster internally than vis-Ã -vis the rest of the world: policies applied to trade with other ASEAN countries were virtually the same as those applied to trade with rest of the world. Moreover, the recent commitments scheduled under AFAS did not produce significant liberalization and, in a few instances, services trade policy actually became more restrictive. The two exceptions are in areas that are not on the multilateral negotiating agenda: steps have been taken toward creating regional open skies in air transport, and a few mutual recognition agreements have been negotiated in professional services. These findings suggest that regional negotiations add the most value when they are focused on areas that are not being addressed multilaterally.

Document type: Article

Big and Open Linked Data (BOLD) to Create Smart Cities and Citizens: Insights from Smart Energy and Mobility Cases

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 12:04:03 +0100

Part 2: Open and Smart Government; International audience; Smart cities focus on using existing resources in a better way to improve the urban environment. At the same time Big and Open Linked Data (BOLD) can be used to better understand the use of the resources and to suggest improvements. The objective of this paper is to investigate the complementariness of the smart cities and big and Open Data research streams. Two inductive cases concerning different aspects of smart cities, energy and mobility, are investigated. The idea of using BOLD for smart cities seems initially straightforward, but the cases show that this is complex. A taxonomy for forms of collecting and opening data is derived. A major challenge is to deal with data distributed over various data sources and how to align the data push with the citizensâ needs. This paper highlights a continuous scale between open and closed data and emphasizes that not only Open Data but also closed data should be used to identify improvements. BOLD can contribute to the âsmartnessâ of cities by linking and combining data or employing data or predictive analytics to improve better use of resources. A smart city only becomes smart when there are smart citizens, businesses, civil servants and other stakeholders.

Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Evaluating Methods for Counting Aircraft Operations at Non-Towered Airports

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 12:02:05 +0100

This report provides a thorough review of techniques and technologies for estimating aircraft operations at airports without air traffic control towers. The report documents the industryâs first comprehensive evaluation of the most common traffic estimation methods and is especially valuable to practitioners seeking to develop a statistically defensible estimate of aircraft activity for their non-towered airport. The research built on the results of ACRP Synthesis 4: Counting Aircraft Operations at Non-Towered Airports by reviewing recent literature and identifying new technologies. The research team then reached out to stakeholders to identify how operations data are used, confirm the criteria practitioners consider when selecting a counting method, and determine the most common counting methods used by the industry. Next, a testing program was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of three methods, including multiplying based aircraft by an estimated number of operations per based aircraft, applying a ratio of FAA flight plans to total operations, and expanding a sample count into an annual estimate through extrapolation. For the sampling method, the testing program also looked at the accuracy of different aircraft traffic counting technologies. The testing program involved installing counting systems at four airports for extended time periods to test their accuracy, reliability, and ease of use within the safety and operational constraints typically found at airports. The research also evaluated sampling plans and methods of expanding samples to produce estimates of annual activity. The research found that methods of estimating aircraft operations using ratios of based aircraft or instrument flight plans, while simple and inexpensive, could not be supported by the test results. Basing operations estimates on actual samples of activity produces results that are significantly more accurate and defensible, with the most accurate sampling approach based on four 2-week samples. Finally, the research found that the selection of a counting technology needs to consider the airfield layout and fleet mix, among other factors.

Advances in Aerospace Guidance, Navigation and Control: Selected Papers of the Third CEAS Specialist Conference on Guidance, Navigation and Control held in Toulouse

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 12:01:02 +0100

The two first CEAS (Council of European Aerospace Societies) Specialist Conferences on Guidance, Navigation and Control (CEAS EuroGNC) were held in Munich, Germany in 2011 and in Delft, The Netherlands in 2013. ONERA The French Aerospace Lab, ISAE (Institut Superieur de lâAeronautique et de lâEspace) and ENAC (Ecole Nationale de lâAviation Civile) accepted the challenge of jointly organizing the 3rd edition. The conference aims at promoting new advances in aerospace GNC theory and technologies for enhancing safety, survivability, efficiency, performance, autonomy and intelligence of aerospace systems. It represents a unique forum for communication and information exchange between specialists in the fields of GNC systems design and operation, including air traffic management. This book contains the forty best papers and gives an interesting snapshot of the latest advances over the following topics: l Control theory, analysis, and design l Novel navigation, estimation, and tracking methods l Aircraft, spacecraft, missile and UAV guidance, navigation, and control l Flight testing and experimental results l Intelligent control in aerospace applications l Aerospace robotics and unmanned/autonomous systems l Sensor systems for guidance, navigation and control l Guidance, navigation, and control concepts in air traffic control systems For the 3rd CEAS Specialist Conference on Guidance, Navigation and Control the International Program Committee conducted a formal review process. Each paper was reviewed in compliance with standard journal practice by at least two independent and anonymous reviewers. The papers published in this book were selected from the conference proceedings based on the results and recommendations from the reviewers.

Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Sustainable Transport System

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 11:58:36 +0100

Sustainable Transport System is an interactive wheel based information installation where users can watch the information projected on the wheel with a narration. Its information consists of 9 questions that are related with road transport systems ranging from 'The history of road traffic' to 'How will the sustainable traffic system evolve in the future'? The circular interface was used to show information in a pie chart, diagram and history of wheel. This interface contains the meaning of sustainable circulation. The modalities of the project are Vision, Sonic, and Touch. A potentiometer sensor is mounted onto the center of wheel, which is linked with Flash action script through Arduino as the technical method. The user enables the information to be navigated by rotating the wheel clockwise from No.1 to No.9 and counterclockwise from No.9 to No.1. CHI attendees can experience the information ranging from history of road transport to necessity of sustainable transport system easily, interestingly and engagingly.

Simulation Based Evaluation of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 11:53:26 +0100

Road transportation is an essential element of mobility in most countries and we can observe an increasing demand for both goods and passenger traffic. There are however important societal and economical problems related to road transportation in terms of congestions, traffic safety and environmental effects. During the last decades vehicles have increasingly been equipped with different types of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). These systems can to some extent compensate for human behaviour and errors that cause congestions, accidents and air pollution. Most studies conducted to evaluate ADAS have focused on ADAS impacts on the driver or on the vehicle. Since an ADAS might influence not only driving behaviour and vehicle dynamics, but also the interaction between equipped and non-equipped vehicles, it is also important to consider the resulting effect on the traffic system. A reliable and realistic evaluation approach needs to include estimations of driversâ decisions in different traffic situations with respect to the ADAS functionality and how such decisions affect the traffic system as a whole. The overall aim of the thesis is to develop a simulation based evaluation framework for investigations of impacts of different types of cruise controllers on the traffic system. The objective is also to apply the framework to evaluate a fuel minimizing cruise controller for trucks, the Look Ahead Cruise Control (LACC). The framework developed consists of a combination of a microscopic traffic simulation model, and a vehicle and ADAS simulation model. When applied for a specific ADAS, as for example the LACC, the framework needs to be complemented with a driver model that captures the changes in driving behaviour due to the system of interest. In this thesis a driver model for LACC equipped trucks was developed based on results from a driving simulator experiment, a field operational test, and a focus group study. Simulation experiments were carried out to observe the LACC impacts on the traffic system with respect to penetration rate, traffic density, and variation in the desired speed. Environmental effects were estimated using emission calculations.

Kohti avointa älykkään liikkumisen ekosysteemiä

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 11:48:17 +0100

The deployment of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) throughout the transportation system is expected to significantly shape the current structures and operating models. Infrastructure, vehicles and end-user handsets are becoming increasingly intelligent and instrumented with sensors and broadband connectivity, which in turn enables a wide range of smart mobility services. This evolution trend is also challenging the public sector to renew itself and create new policies, new ways to organize services and regulate the market. In relation to this evolution trend, the Ministry of Transport and Communications has launched the Traffic Lab development program the goal of which is to enable the creation of an ecosystem of smart mobility services, and which also provides a context for this study. In this study we use different modelling frameworks to analyse how the evolution towards an open ecosystem model for smart mobility services could occur in Finland. Two evolution paths in particular are described, the first being a more centralized path where centrally controlled public services are gradually liberalized, following possibly a similar evolutionary path what took place in the evolution of 1st and 2nd generation mobile communications. The second is a more decentralized path, where fragmented and isolated solutions are loosely coupled in a similar manner to that which occurred in the evolution of the Internet. In order for smart mobility services to reach their full potential, many changes are needed in current organizational structures and legislation. New collaboration models are needed between the public and private sectors and between existing sub-sectors of the transport system. While it remains uncertain how quickly these changes will eventually occur in full scale, it is evident that the upscaling of smart mobility solutions requires multiple points of intervention and is not likely to emerge by market forces alone.

Greening Demand Chains in Urban Passenger Transport: Emissions Saving from Complex Trip Chains

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 11:36:09 +0100

It is well known that a significant amount to passenger trip activity involves multiple modes, destinations and trip purposes. For example, with multi-worker households, we observe a car commuter taking a child to a child care centre en route to work and also dropping their partner off at another location such as a railway station. This example is one of many trip chain configurations that represent the complexity of travel activity, and which have important implications on how we represent travel demand in transport planning models. What is not well understood is the impact that trip chaining has on greening the demand chain. We are unaware of any studies that have investigated the greening of passenger demand chains associated with the complexity of trip chains. This chapter uses the Sydney Household Travel Survey and an econometric model to identify the impact that the changing nature of trip chains has on CO2 emission. Results suggest that trip chains were stable in Sydney over a period of 15-year from 1997/98 to 2011/12. Emissions saving from chaining multiple activities into a single chain were found to vary between 5 and 19 % depending on whether the mode of travel is car, bus, or train.

Towards Hyper-Diversified European Cities: A Critical Literature Review

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 11:33:11 +0100

This report analyses some of the key literatures on contemporary urban diversity and its relationships with governance, social cohesion, social mobility and economic competotiveness.

Automated Setting of Bus Schedule Coverage Using Unsupervised Machine Learning

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 11:20:46 +0100

The efficiency of Public Transportation (PT) Networks is a major goal of any urban area authority. Advances on both location and communication devices drastically increased the availability of the data generated by their operations. Adequate Machine Learning methods can thus be applied to identify patterns useful to improve the Schedule Plan. In this paper, the authors propose a fully automated learning framework to determine the best Schedule Coverage to be assigned to a given PT network based on Automatic Vehicle location (AVL) and Automatic Passenger Counting (APC) data. We formulate this problem as a clustering one, where the best number of clusters is selected through an ad-hoc metric. This metric takes into account multiple domain constraints, computed using Sequence Mining and Probabilistic Reasoning. A case study from a large operator in Sweden was selected to validate our methodology. Experimental results suggest necessary changes on the Schedule coverage. Moreover, an impact study was conducted through a large-scale simulation over the affected time period. Its results uncovered potential improvements of the schedule reliability on a large scale.

Public transport demand

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 11:19:19 +0100

Extract"br/""br/"Public transport may be defined as any mode of transport available for hire and reward (Preston, 2009; Nash, 1981). In other words, any form of transport available for use by the general public. This includes not only bus and rail, but also taxis, as well as air and sea services. It can include both passenger and freight services, although own-account freight services (where a company moves its own goods) are not normally thought of as public transport. In practice, the term âpublic transportâ (âtransitâ in the US) has tended to refer to land-based passenger transport and, especially, bus and rail services. It is in this context that the phrase âpublic transportâ will be used in this chapter."br

Transport Accessibility Analysis Using GIS: Assessing Sustainable Transport in London

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 11:13:03 +0100

Transport accessibility is an important driver of urban growth and key to the sustainable development of cities. This paper presents a simple GIS-based tool developed to allow the rapid analysis of accessibility by different transport modes. Designed to be flexible and use publicly-available data, this tool (built in ArcGIS) uses generalized cost to measure transport costs across networks including monetary and distance components. The utility of the tool is demonstrated on London, UK, showing the differing patterns of accessibility across the city by different modes. It is shown that these patterns can be examined spatially, by accessibility to particular destinations (e.g., employment locations), or as a global measure across a whole city system. A number of future infrastructure scenarios are tested, examining the potential for increasing the use of low-carbon forms of transport. It is shown that private car journeys are still the least cost mode choice in London, but that infrastructure investments can play a part in reducing the cost of more sustainable transport options.

Document type: Article

The Urban Imperative : Towards Competitive Cities

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 11:09:56 +0100

The volume emphasizes the need to rethink cities and to imagine a better urban future by providing the reader with diverse perspectives on urbanization such as the changing economic landscape, city competitiveness, entrepreneurship, inclusion, informality, sustainability, and provision of essential services.

Leveraging spatial abstraction in traffic analysis and forecasting with visual analytics

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 11:09:02 +0100

A spatially abstracted transportation network is a graph where nodes are territory compartments (areas in geographic space) and edges, or links, are abstract constructs, each link representing all possible paths between two neighboring areas. By applying visual analytics techniques to vehicle traffic data from different territories, we discovered that the traffic intensity (a.k.a. traffic flow or traffic flux) and the mean velocity are interrelated in a spatially abstracted transportation network in the same way as at the level of street segments. Moreover, these relationships are consistent across different levels of spatial abstraction of a physical transportation network. Graphical representations of the flux-velocity interdependencies for abstracted links have the same shape as the fundamental diagram of traffic flow through a physical street segment, which is known in transportation science. This key finding substantiates our approach to traffic analysis, forecasting, and simulation leveraging spatial abstraction.\\ud \\ud We propose a framework in which visual analytics supports three high-level tasks, assess, forecast, and develop options, in application to vehicle traffic. These tasks can be carried out in a coherent workflow, where each next task uses the results of the previous one(s). At the 'assess' stage, vehicle trajectories are used to build a spatially abstracted transportation network and compute the traffic intensities and mean velocities on the abstracted links by time intervals. The interdependencies between the two characteristics of the links are extracted and represented by formal models, which enable the second step of the workflow, 'forecast', involving simulation of vehicle movements under various conditions. The previously derived models allow not only prediction of normal traffic flows conforming to the regular daily and weekly patterns but also simulation of traffic in extraordinary cases, such as road closures, major public events, or mass evacuation due to a disaster. Interactive visual tools support preparation of simulations and analysis of their results. When the simulation forecasts problematic situations, such as major congestions and delays, the analyst proceeds to the step 'develop options' for trying various actions aimed at situation improvement and investigating their consequences. Action execution can be imitated by interactively modifying the input of the simulation model. Specific techniques support comparisons between results of simulating different "what if" scenarios.

The value of democracy: evidence from road building in Kenya

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 11:08:32 +0100

Â© 2015, American Economic Association. All rights reserved. Ethnic favoritism is seen as antithetical to development. This paper provides credible quantification of the extent of ethnic favoritism using data on road building in Kenyan districts across the 1963-2011 period. Guided by a model, it then examines whether the transition in and out of democracy under the same president constrains or exacerbates ethnic favoritism. Across the post-independence period, we find strong evidence of ethnic favoritism: districts that share the ethnicity of the president receive twice as much expenditure on roads and have five times the length of paved roads built. This favoritism disappears during periods of democracy. (JEL D72, H54, J15, O15, O17, O22, R42).

Metaheuristics for Air Traffic Management

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 11:04:31 +0100

International audience; Air Traffic Management involves many different services such as Airspace Management, Air Traffic Flow Management and Air Traffic Control. Many optimization problems arise from these topics and they generally involve different kinds of variables, constraints, uncertainties. Metaheuristics are often good candidates to solve these problems. The book models various complex Air Traffic Management problems such as airport taxiing, departure slot allocation, en route conflict resolution, airspace and route design. The authors detail the operational context and state of art for each problem. They introduce different approaches using metaheuristics to solve these problems and when possible, compare their performances to existing approache

Dynamic Time-Dependent Route Planning in Road Networks with User Preferences

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 10:53:18 +0100

There has been tremendous progress in algorithmic methods for computing driving directions on road networks. Most of that work focuses on time-independent route planning, where it is assumed that the cost on each arc is constant per query. In practice, the current traffic situation significantly influences the travel time on large parts of the road network, and it changes over the day. One can distinguish between traffic congestion that can be predicted using historical traffic data, and congestion due to unpredictable events, e.g., accidents. In this work, we study the \\emph{dynamic and time-dependent} route planning problem, which takes both prediction (based on historical data) and live traffic into account. To this end, we propose a practical algorithm that, while robust to user preferences, is able to integrate global changes of the time-dependent metric~(e.g., due to traffic updates or user restrictions) faster than previous approaches, while allowing subsequent queries that enable interactive applications.

The impact of exchange rates and its systems on the situation of transport companies exporting their services to the european market

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 10:24:49 +0100

Celem publikacji jest ukazanie dorobku naukowego, gÅÃ³wnie polskich i ukraiÅskich uczonych, w zakresie uwarunkowaÅ procesÃ³w i rezultatÃ³w internacjonalizacji przedsiÄbiorstw oraz jej wpÅywu na funkcjonowanie biznesu w dobie globalizacji. Opracowanie stanowi istotny wkÅad w zakresie teorii i praktyki w proces restrukturyzacji przedsiÄbiorstw w kierunku ich internacjonalizacji. MoÅ¼e posÅuÅ¼yÄ jako inspiracja do stworzenia strategii opartej na poszukiwaniach (prospector strategy), co bÄdzie sprzyjaÄ zwiÄkszonej innowacyjnoÅci w budowaniu strategii i organizacji firm przechodzÄcych transformacjÄ. MoÅ¼e teÅ¼ byÄ przesÅankÄ do zacieÅniania wspÃ³Åpracy biznesÃ³w z rÃ³Å¼nych krajÃ³w i do wspÃ³lnych badaÅ w tym wzglÄdzie. KsiÄÅ¼ka powstaÅa jako rezultat miÄdzynarodowej konferencji naukowej (teoretyczno-metodyczno-praktycznej), zorganizowanej 21-22 listopada 2016 r. pt. âInternacjonalizacja polskich przedsiÄbiorstw â uwarunkowania, modele, wyniki badaÅâ. Zamieszczone studia przypadkÃ³w i analizy jakoÅciowe mogÄ uÅatwiÄ przedsiÄbiorstwom dostosowanie siÄ do warunkÃ³w dziaÅania na nowych rynkach. BÄdÄ teÅ¼ pomocne menedÅ¼erom oraz przedsiÄbiorcom w zrozumieniu koniecznoÅci i metod dostosowania siÄ do globalnej konkurencji, ktÃ³ra generuje nowe akcenty w zarzÄdzaniu. BranÅ¼a transportu drogowego na rynku europejskim jest waÅ¼na dla gospodarki. Mimo, iÅ¼ jest ona w bardzo dobrej kondycji w Polsce oraz w Europie to boryka siÄ z wieloma utrudnieniami. W artykule zostaÅ przedstawiony problem wpÅywu kursÃ³w walut na usÅugi transportowe, zagadnienie jak w bardzo w krÃ³tkim czasie moÅ¼e zmieniÄ siÄ kurs waluty EUR/PLN i jakie mogÄ byÄ tego skutki dla przedsiÄbiorstw. Przedstawiona zostaÅa analiza kosztÃ³w okreÅlonego produktu dla staÅego klienta w walucie EUR oraz PLN w rÃ³Å¼nych okresach czasowych. Road haulage industry in the European market is a very important sector for the economy of countries. Although, this area very well prospers in Poland and in Europe, struggling with a number of aspects that hinder the activities of transport. The article was presented the problem of the impact of exchange rates for transport services, as well as a very short period of time can change the exchange rate EUR/PLN and what might be the consequences for businesses. Furthermore, the article presents the analysis of the cost of a particular product for loyalty in EUR and PLN at different times. Publikacja jest rezultatem ministerialnego projektu: miÄdzynarodowej konferencji naukowej (teoretyczno-metodyczno-praktycznej) pt. Internacjonalizacja polskich przedsiÄbiorstw â uwarunkowania, modele, wyniki badaÅ â finansowana w ramach umowy 641/P-DUN/2016 ze ÅrodkÃ³w Ministra Nauki i Szkolnictwa WyÅ¼szego, przeznaczonych na dziaÅalnoÅÄ upowszechniajÄcÄ naukÄ.

ADRIPLAN Conclusions and Recommendations: A short manual for MSP implementation in the Adriatic-Ionian Region (English edition)

Scipedia content — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 10:22:50 +0100

Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) is a practical way to create and establish a more rational organisation of the use of marine space and the interactions between its uses, to balance demands for development with the need to protect marine ecosystems, and to achieve social and economic objectives in an open and planned way (Ehler and Douvere, 2009). The so-called âBlue Economyâ in the Adriatic and Ionian Region (AIR) generates an annual turnover that exceeds â¬21 billion, with an increasing growth trend. An effective spatial planning is an essential condition in order to guarantee a long-lasting development ensuring a sustainable use of marine resources for future generations. This is particularly true in areas such as the Adriatic-Ionian Region, where several uses are competing for the same space and the same resources and where the transboundary dimension needs to be taken into account for the best regulation of those uses. MSP is also an opportunity to connect the marine and the maritime world, essential components of Blue Growth. While an extended presentation of ADRIPLAN results is contained in the ADRIPLAN Final Report âDeveloping a Maritime Spatial Plan for the Adriatic Ionian Regionâ, this booklet intends to summarise key findings of ADRIPLAN (chapters 3 and 4) and to be a short manual, or at least a vademecum (actually a commented checklist â chapter 5), for those who, at different levels and with different responsibilities, are or will be involved in the elaboration and implementation of spatial plans in the AIR. It is meant to be applied in general to the process of developing MSP plans and to single projects dealing with specific aspects of the MSP process. This Report takes direct inspiration from the TPEA Report âTPEA Good Practice Guideâ (Jay and Gee, 2014), for which we thank the Editors and all the Authors. Suggested citation: Barbanti A., Campostrini P., Musco F., Sarretta A., Gissi E. (eds.) (2015). ADRIPLAN. Conclusions and Recommendations: A short manual for MSP implementation in the Adriatic-Ionian Region. CNR-ISMAR, Venice, IT. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.49190

Human-in-the-Loop Multi-agent Approach for Airport Taxiing Operations

Scipedia content — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 15:46:44 +0100

International audience; This paper describes a study to develop an intelligent air traffic ground control operation system that is able to integrate initiatives from both controllers andautonomous vehicles. We use a multi-agent approach to optimize dynamically a routing and scheduling task while taking into account real-time human suggestions. Weexpect that such mixed-initiative systems combined with autonomous vehicles will permit reduction of congestion and fuel consumption in large airports.

Interoperability Architecture for Electric Mobility

Scipedia content — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 15:40:32 +0100

Part 2: Short and Position Papers; International audience; The current architecture for electric mobility provides insufficient integration with the electricity system, since at this moment there is no possibility for influencing the charge process based on information from market parties such as the distribution system operator. Charging can neither be influenced by grid constraints nor by the amount of (renewable) energy supply available. Because of the potential threats and opportunities and the impact these could have on the business model, there is a need for further integration of the energy and electric mobility markets. The aim of the current research is to define a reference architecture based on the current developments and concepts from literature to help market players in making the right steps forward. As main objectives, the reference architecture should (1) optimally integrate with the electricity system, (2) accommodate the adoption of renewable energy sources, (3) be aligned with European standardization developments and (4) have a positive impact on the current business model. The main concept behind the reference architecture is the concept of âsmart chargingâ. Based on a literature study, a reference architecture is defined for electric mobility. To provide a path for implementation and migration, a migration architecture is proposed.

Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Towards Road Transport Automation: Opportunities in Public-Private Collaboration

Scipedia content — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 15:39:58 +0100

Visible CWDM system design for Multi-Gbit/s transmission over SI-POF

Scipedia content — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 15:29:34 +0100

This proceeding at: SPIE Photonics West 2015. IX Conference Broadband Access Communication Technologies (SPIE). In order to increase the data rates of Multi-Gbit/s links based on large core step index (SI) plastic optical fibers (POF), different modulation scenes have been proposed. Another option is to use multiple optical carriers for parallel transmission of communication channels over the same fiber. Some designs to reach data rates of 14.77 Gb/s in 50 m, with 4 channels have been developed by off line processing. In this work, designs to test the potential of real Multi- Gbit/s transmission systems using commercial products are reported. Special care in designing low insertion loss multiplexers and demultiplexers is carried out to allow for greener solutions in terms of power consumption. This work has been sponsored by the Spanish institutions Ministerio de EconomÃa y Competitividad under project TEC2012-37983-C03-02, Comunidad de Madrid under grant S2013/MIT-2790. Publicado

Lossless Multicast Handovers in Proxy Fast Mobile IPv6 Networks

Scipedia content — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 15:05:40 +0100

Part 5: Resource Management; International audience; There is a demand in the Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) community for high bandwidth services on mobile devices. Group communication is an important aspect of PPDR networks. In IP based networks multicast is the preferred method to efficiently transmit data to more than one receiver simultaneously. It is important PPDR users can switch seamlessly between wireless networks. This paper describes improvements to multicast in Fast handovers for Proxy Mobile IPv6 (PFMIPv6) to provide seamless mobility to its users. We also identify and explore the specific problems stemming from difference in end-to-end delay between the old and new path during handovers for multicast traffic. A novel mechanism to determine the delay difference between two paths in a PFMIPv6 system is described and an implementation of this system is evaluated. It is shown the proposed approach can prevent multicast packet loss during a handover.

Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Automated Road Transport Systems (ARTS)—The Safe Way to Integrate Automated Road Transport in Urban Areas

Scipedia content — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 14:55:49 +0100

The CityMoibil2 project aims at developing and demonstrating Automated Road Transport Systems, ARTS. The philosophy of the project is that the vehicle cannot be automated autonomously; it requires infrastructures and external control systems to be in the picture too. The certification methodology developed by the project (derived from the rail technical standard EN 50126) is demonstrated to guarantee the safe insertion of automated road vehicles in the urban environment; however it requires some adaptation of the environment. It is based on a risk assessment procedure organized in 8 steps. Its application to one section of the Oristano demonstrator is used as example.

Optimal Fleet Sizing of Personal Rapid Transit System

Scipedia content — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 14:53:17 +0100

Part 5: Modelling and Optimization; International audience; In this paper, we address the problem of determining the optimal fleet size for Personal Rapid Transit system (PRT). In our problem, we consider electric battery and distance constraints which are found in real world application of the PRT system. To tackle this problem, we propose two valid mathematical formulations that are able to find optimal fleet size. Extensive computational experiments show that the edge based formulation performs impressively well, in terms of solution quality and computational time in comparison to the node based formulation.

Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Sociotechnical system studies of the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from energy and transport systems

Scipedia content — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 14:47:12 +0100

It is agreed that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from energy and transport systems must be reduced. Technical means exist to reduce GHG emissions from these sources. However, these emission-reduction measures are not implemented to a high enough degree. In this thesis, it is assumed that this is because the reduction of GHG emissions from energy and transport systems is a wicked problem. Unlike a tame problem, which has an unambiguous definition and a finite number of well-defined solutions, a wicked problem is difficult to define, and its solutions are often intertwined with the problem. The âwickednessâ of a wicked problem lies in the extreme difficulty of solving the problem, rather than in the problem itself. In this thesis, the wicked problem of reducing GHG emissions from energy and transport systems is studied by applying a sociotechnical systems approach to the introduction of renewable vehicle fuels, the production and use of biogas, the introduction of electric vehicles, and the sustainability of district heating. In addition, this thesis discusses how energy issues are approached in different contexts, and what implications different actions can have on GHG emissions. The analysis shows that a sociotechnical approach to energy systems analysis can offer insights with regard to how system boundaries are handled within GHG-emission assessments and energy and transport policy. By problematising the use of system boundaries in GHG-emission assessments, this thesis explains how attempts to reduce GHG emissions could add to the wicked problem of GHGemission reductions from energy and transport systems. GHG-emission assessments can give very different results depending on system boundaries. While these results can be used in attempts to solve this wicked problem, they can also contribute to complicating it. As solutions to wicked problems are mainly found in policy, the use of system boundaries in policy is studied. Results show that narrow system boundaries in energy and transport policy can hamper sustainable development of energy and transport systems. The use of wider system boundaries could facilitate approaches to solve the wicked problem of reducing GHG emissions from energy and transport systems by making the consequences and effects of policy actions more clearly visible. Det Ã¤r vÃ¤lkÃ¤nt att energi- och transportsystemens utslÃ¤pp av vÃ¤xthusgaser mÃ¥ste minska. Tekniska fÃ¶rutsÃ¤ttningar fÃ¶r att minska utslÃ¤ppen av vÃ¤xthusgaser frÃ¥n anvÃ¤ndning av energi och transporter existerar. ÃndÃ¥ genomfÃ¶rs inte Ã¥tgÃ¤rder fÃ¶r att minska utslÃ¤pp av vÃ¤xthusgaser i tillrÃ¤cklig utstrÃ¤ckning. I fÃ¶religgande avhandling antas detta bero pÃ¥ att minskandet av utslÃ¤pp av vÃ¤xthusgaser frÃ¥n energi- och transportsystem Ã¤r ett âwicked problemâ. Ett sÃ¥dant problem Ã¤r svÃ¥rdefinierat och motstÃ¥ndskraftigt mot lÃ¶sningar, eftersom lÃ¶sningarna ofta Ã¤r sammanflÃ¤tade med problemet. I avhandlingen studeras frÃ¥gan om hur utslÃ¤pp av vÃ¤xthusgaser frÃ¥n energi- och transportsystem kan minska. Introduktion av fÃ¶rnybara drivmedel, produktion och anvÃ¤ndning av biogas, introduktion av elbilar, samt hÃ¥llbarhet i fjÃ¤rrvÃ¤rmesystem Ã¤r omrÃ¥den som studeras med hjÃ¤lp av ett sociotekniskt angreppssÃ¤tt. Detta innebÃ¤r att teknik studeras som en integrerad del av samhÃ¤llet, dÃ¤r teknik bÃ¥de pÃ¥verkar och pÃ¥verkas av aktÃ¶rer och sociala strukturer. Analysen visar att ett sociotekniskt angreppssÃ¤tt kan ge insikter om hur systemgrÃ¤nser hanteras inom energisystemforskning samt inom energi- och transportpolicy. VÃ¤rderingar av vÃ¤xthusgasutslÃ¤pp, som utfÃ¶rs inom energisystemforskning, kan ge vitt skilda resultat beroende pÃ¥ hur det studerade systemet avgrÃ¤nsats. Resultaten kan anvÃ¤ndas i fÃ¶rsÃ¶k att minska utslÃ¤pp av vÃ¤xthusgaser frÃ¥n energi- och transportsystem, men detta kan leda till att problemet fÃ¶rsvÃ¥ras ytterligare. I avhandlingen fÃ¶rklaras detta genom problematisering av systemavgrÃ¤nsningar i vÃ¤rderingar av vÃ¤xthusgasutslÃ¤pp. Eftersom lÃ¶sningar pÃ¥ âwicked problemsâ oftast Ã¥terfinns inom policy, studeras Ã¤ven systemavgrÃ¤nsningar i policy. Det visas att snÃ¤va systemgrÃ¤nser inom energi- och transportpolicy kan hindra hÃ¥llbar utveckling av energi- och transportsystem. Vidgade systemgrÃ¤nser skulle kunna underlÃ¤tta ansatser att minska utslÃ¤pp av vÃ¤xthusgaser frÃ¥n energi och transportsystem genom att synliggÃ¶ra konsekvenser och effekter av policyÃ¥tgÃ¤rder.

Hukou and highways : the impact of China?s spatial development policies on urbanization and regional inequality

Scipedia content — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 14:41:52 +0100

China has used two main spatial policies to shape its geographic patterns of development: restricted labor mobility through the Hukou residential registration system and massive infrastructure investment, notably a 96,000 kilometer national expressway network. This paper develops a structural new economic geography model to examine the impacts of these policies. Fitting the model to available data allows simulating counterfactual scenarios comparing each policyâs respective impact on regional economic development and urbanization patterns across China. The results suggest large overall economic benefits from constructing the national expressway network and abolishing the Hukou system. Yet, the spatial impacts of the two policies are very different. The construction of the national expressway network reinforced existing urbanization patterns. The initially lagging regions not connected to the network have not benefitted much from its construction. By contrast, removal of the Hukou restrictions, which Chinese policy makers are considering, would result in much more widespread welfare gains, allowing everyone to gain by moving to where he or she is most productive. Removal of the Hukou restrictions would also promote urbanization in currently lagging (inland) regions, mostly by stimulating rural to urban migration.

Document type: Preprint

Overview of Optimization Problems in Electric Car-Sharing System Design and Management

Scipedia content — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 14:40:24 +0100

International audience; Car-sharing systems are increasingly employing environmentally-friendly electric vehicles. The design and management of Ecar-sharing systems poses several additional challenges with respect to those based on traditional combustion vehicles, mainly related with the limited autonomy allowed by current battery technology. We review the main optimization problems arising in Ecar-sharing systems at strategic, tactical and operational levels, and discuss the existing approaches often developed for similar problems, for example in car-sharing systems with traditional vehicles. We also outline open problems and fruitful research directions.

Marine Renewable Energies: Main Legal Issues

Scipedia content — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 14:37:16 +0100

International audience; The development of renewable marine energies has its origin in the United Nations' Framework Convention on Climate Change, adopted on 9 May 1992, and in the additional protocol, adopted in 1997 in Kyoto. Although, for many years, the French legal system did not consider the specificities of ocean renewable energies, the French government now seems to have become aware of the importance of establishing an adapted legal framework. The boom of marine renewable energies is the result of proactive policies from a French nation that seeks to meet its international and European commitments. The French policy makes use of legal instruments that ensure programming and planning. The economic activities in the field of marine renewable energies make up a market to which access is regulated. This requires administrative procedures which are as varied as they are complex. Â© ISTE Ltd 2015. All rights reserved.

Neue Mobilitätsformen und -technologien - Merkmale und Potenziale für eine nachhaltige Raumentwicklung

Scipedia content — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 14:36:58 +0100

Der Beitrag verschafft einen aktuellen Ãberblick Ã¼ber die neuen bzw. alternativen MobilitÃ¤tsformen und -technologien in Deutschland. Neben der Beschreibung der jeweiligen Merkmale und derzeitigen AusprÃ¤gungen werden ihre wesentlichen StÃ¤rken und SchwÃ¤chen sowie Chancen und Risiken fÃ¼r eine nachhaltige, die wirtschaftlichen, sozialen und umweltbezogenen Erfordernisse in Einklang bringende Entwicklung umrissen. Im Hinblick auf das Ziel einer dauerhaften, groÃrÃ¤umig ausgewogenen Ordnung als Teil des bayerischen Leitbildes der Raumentwicklung "Gleichwertigkeit und Nachhaltigkeit" wird zudem der Frage nachgegangen, welche Potenziale - Chancen wie Risiken - in den neuen MobilitÃ¤tsformen und -technologien fÃ¼r die verschiedenen Raumkategorien - Verdichtungs- und lÃ¤ndliche RÃ¤ume - erkennbar sind. The article provides an up-to-date overview of new and alternative forms of mobility and mobility technologies in Germany. Discussion covers not only a description of their individual characteristics and current manifestations but also their principal strengths and weaknesses. It furthermore considers the opportunities and risks associated with a sustainable course of development that balances economic, social and environmental requirements. The Bavarian guiding principles for spatial development, "Equivalence and Sustainability", include the aim of achieving balanced structures over a large area and in the long term. The paper pursues the question of what potential - opportunities and risks - the new forms of mobility and mobility technologies hold for the various categories of spatial order categories - urban agglomerations and rural areas.