An investigation into the social, political and economic barriers to the adoption of a Mass Rapid Transit system in Malta. A study based on the Extended Theory of Planned Behavior and Behavioural Economics

Congestion in Malta is difficult to alleviate. In a country which has a land mass of just 316km2 , in 2020, Malta had a population of 519,562, with 263,352 licensed drivers, 422,576 vehicles on the road, increasing at 65 every day, and with a road network of 2,450km, making this island the fifth most densely populated nation and the fifth most dense transport network in the world. The Government of Malta has finally proposed to build an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system, a METRO that is estimated to cost €6.2b, take 20 years to complete and cover 25 stations. For such a system to succeed, it is vital that a significant number of Maltese licensed drivers opt to switch and use this new public transport. This study adopted a post-positivist quantitative approach, employed a convenience, non-representative stratified sample, through both a pilot and a main study, employing second generation statistical methods, specifically Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), to test the validity, reliability and predictability of a proposed Extended Theory of Planned Behavior (ETPB) model, that combined the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Behavioural Economics (BE). The final resulting model was a combination of these two theories, as well as the inclusion of the UK Department for Transport (DfT, 2011) intervention ladder approach. This allowed the application of both soft-behavioural methods and hard-policy regulations to overcome a number of social, economic and political barriers, identified in this study that can inhibit adoption and use of the MRT by Maltese licensed drivers. The final model passes all reliability, validity and predictability tests, showing distinct path coefficients between the unobservable endogenous latent variables and the exogenous observable variables. The study findings confirmed that TPB and BE are coherent interwoven behavioural models, especially within the social and subjective norms. This academic study is a first for Malta for a transportation study, which also adopts PLS-SEM as a data analysis process. The study findings identified 12 key social, economic and political barriers that would deter the adoption and use of MRT by Maltese licensed drivers and offers 20 recommendations to ensure that prior and leading to the introduction to MRT, their intent to switch and use an MRT, becomes a behavioural reality

Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), Far Detector Technical Design Report, Volume I Introduction to DUNE

International audienceThe preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early universe, the dynamics of the supernovae that produced the heavy elements necessary for life, and whether protons eventually decay—these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our universe, its current state, and its eventual fate. The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is an international world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions as it searches for leptonic charge-parity symmetry violation, stands ready to capture supernova neutrino bursts, and seeks to observe nucleon decay as a signature of a grand unified theory underlying the standard model. The DUNE far detector technical design report (TDR) describes the DUNE physics program and the technical designs of the single- and dual-phase DUNE liquid argon TPC far detector modules. This TDR is intended to justify the technical choices for the far detector that flow down from the high-level physics goals through requirements at all levels of the Project. Volume I contains an executive summary that introduces the DUNE science program, the far detector and the strategy for its modular designs, and the organization and management of the Project. The remainder of Volume I provides more detail on the science program that drives the choice of detector technologies and on the technologies themselves. It also introduces the designs for the DUNE near detector and the DUNE computing model, for which DUNE is planning design reports. Volume II of this TDR describes DUNE's physics program in detail. Volume III describes the technical coordination required for the far detector design, construction, installation, and integration, and its organizational structure. Volume IV describes the single-phase far detector technology. A planned Volume V will describe the dual-phase technology

Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), Far Detector Technical Design Report, Volume II: DUNE Physics

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early universe, the dynamics of the supernovae that produced the heavy elements necessary for life, and whether protons eventually decay -- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our universe, its current state, and its eventual fate. DUNE is an international world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions as it searches for leptonic charge-parity symmetry violation, stands ready to capture supernova neutrino bursts, and seeks to observe nucleon decay as a signature of a grand unified theory underlying the standard model. The DUNE far detector technical design report (TDR) describes the DUNE physics program and the technical designs of the single- and dual-phase DUNE liquid argon TPC far detector modules. Volume II of this TDR, DUNE Physics, describes the array of identified scientific opportunities and key goals. Crucially, we also report our best current understanding of the capability of DUNE to realize these goals, along with the detailed arguments and investigations on which this understanding is based. This TDR volume documents the scientific basis underlying the conception and design of the LBNF/DUNE experimental configurations. As a result, the description of DUNE's experimental capabilities constitutes the bulk of the document. Key linkages between requirements for successful execution of the physics program and primary specifications of the experimental configurations are drawn and summarized. This document also serves a wider purpose as a statement on the scientific potential of DUNE as a central component within a global program of frontier theoretical and experimental particle physics research. Thus, the presentation also aims to serve as a resource for the particle physics community at large