Analysis and solutions of congestion of vehicles using DTCA, FUZZY logic, and ITS on highways

Dynamic Traffic Cellular Automata (DTCA) method has been used to develop a mathematical model of vehicular traffic flow based on acceleration, velocity and position. This model is extended to investigate human driver behavior using Fuzzy Logic algorithms including; asymmetric auto driving, symmetric auto driving, and the driver behavior using ITS. Congestions have been created and solutions are offered thus leading to a better understanding traffic flow, aggregate fuel consumption, and emissions caused by clusters of vehicles. In simulation, ITS is used to provide inter-vehicular information leading to avoidance of congestions, fuel control, and emission reduction

Automated Traffic Law Enforcement System: A Feasibility Study for the Congested Cities of Developing Countries: Automated Traffic Law Enforcement System: A Feasibility Study for the Congested Cities of Developing Countries

The population of the cities in developing countries are growing at a whirlwind speed. Industrialization and urbanization are making the crowd of these countries more city-oriented gradually. Most of these cities were not planned to cope up with a high growth rate of the population. Therefore, congestion occurs with a negative impact on every sector of the lifestyle. Regular traffic congestion in these cities is a remarkable problem which stabilizes the productivity and the national economy as well. An automated traffic enforcement system is not a new concept for any developed territory. But the implementation of such a system in any third world country is the real challenge. Cities like Kabul, Dhaka, Kathmandu, Lusaka, Cairo, Hanoi, Manila etc. are having a huge crowd but very narrow roads and poor traffic maintenance system to regulate those crowds. The transport infrastructure is struggling to keep pace with demand. But before we design any advanced traffic management system, we should look into what are the factors that are causing congestion and how costly are the respective measurements against them. This paper is intended to present a feasibility study on the implementation of the advanced artificial intelligence techniques in the traffic management sectors of the developing countries. It reviews theoretical and empirical work on the determinants on the implementation of automated traffic law enforcement system particularly in the cities of the developing countries

An application of stated choice to the valuation of bus attributes: a case study of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Bus is the main mode of urban transport in most cities in developing countries. Despite a high mode share, bus service quality is often poor and para-transit services are regarded as a problem in urban transport systems rather than a solution. Using Dhaka as a case study, this thesis investigates bus service quality through identification and valuation of thirteen important attributes using discrete choice models. The attributes examined are travel time, travel cost, waiting time, headway, priority seats for women, crowding inside the bus, boarding and alighting, picking up and dropping off passengers, bus stop facilities, driving quality, driver and crew behaviour, cleanliness inside the bus, and air conditioning. Five focus groups were conducted to identify key qualitative bus attributes and their levels in order to design choice experiments for valuation. A survey of 431 respondents in Dhaka was then undertaken. Two choice experiments were designed and implemented within the survey, each with seven attributes (set A and set B) with travel cost as the common attribute. Multinomial Logit (MNL) models and Mixed Logit (MXL) models were developed using the Dhaka choice data. Twelve of the thirteen attributes were statistically significant at the 99% level. The values of in-vehicle time (IVT), waiting time and headway were BDT 34.80, 47.40 and 64.20 per hour respectively for low income groups in the segmented model. Waiting time has a premium valuation, 1.36 times higher than IVT, which endorses existing evidence. The highest valuation is for the dummy variable seating all the way which is BDT 42.20 for high income females. The next largest was bus stops properly, picks and drops passengers nicely , followed by wide door and mild steps for boarding and alighting , smooth and safe journey , bus stop with shed, but no seating arrangements , and air conditioning . The lowest value was BDT 4.61 for deck and seats are clean and tidy , for the low income group. The WTP for the qualitative attributes is high, but given the poor level of the existing service and low fare levels this seems reasonable. Income has a significant impact on travel cost, as well as gender on priority seats for women and crowding inside the bus. However, household car ownership does not have a significant impact on any of the bus attributes examined. The high income group has 75% higher WTP for A set attributes and 79% higher WTP for B set attributes than low income group. Females have 76% higher WTP for standing comfortably all the way , but 38% higher WTP for seating all the way compared to the male. However, females have a WTP of BDT 0.44 for per percent of priority seats for women in contrast with males who have a WTP of BDT -0.11. There is significant taste heterogeneity for both quantitative and qualitative attributes. The qualitative attributes for picking up and dropping off passengers, boarding and alighting facilities and driving facilities have higher valuation and this attributes came from the existing within the market competition structure in a highly fragmented bus market. Therefore, it is recommended to introduce competition for the market and incentives for bus industry consolidation

Narrative and Selfhood in the Antidepressant Era

This dissertation is a study of the relationship between antidepressant medications, self-understanding, and the narrative construction of self. The analysis relied upon two kinds of empirical data. First, advertisements for antidepressants in popular magazines, television, and online promotional websites were collected. Second, interviews were conducted with 23 people who were taking or had taken antidepressant medications. It is argued that antidepressants are components of the larger social processes of risk, biomedicalization, and individualization. In contrast to a narrative view, which conceives selfhood as a dialogical and embodied achievement, the antidepressants participate in a set of discourses that sustain atomistic conceptions of the self. The analysis emphasizes the personal agency that antidepressant users bring to bear upon their use of antidepressants. Chapter one is an introduction to theories of risk, individualization, and narrative as well as the ways in which narrative and selfhood are potentially transformed through the use of antidepressants. Chapter two offers an analysis of three theoretical conceptualizations of the relationship between biomedicine and selfhood: naturalism, poststructuralism and the narrative-hermeneutic perspective adopted in the dissertation. Chapter three analyzes the advertising materials emphasizing the manner in which relationships are constructed between selfhood, biology, and antidepressant medications. Chapters four, five, and six introduce interview materials in order to examine: a) how people learn to use antidepressants and in doing so come to split-off and manage unwanted elements of their selves, b) the ways in which the popular discourse of authenticity (being a "real" self) is transformed in the encounter with antidepressants, and c) the manner in which the antidepressants are taken up in social institutions such as the family. The dissertation concludes with a reflection upon the implications of a shift from a form of selfhood composed in narrative and relationship, to a form of post-social selfhood composed through the use of technologies such as antidepressants

Highway traffic flow equation depending on DTCA

This paper discusses Dynamic Traffic Cellular Automata (DTCA) model. It integrates acceleration, deceleration, and reaction probability functions. The effects of these probability functions on the traffic flow has been explained and shown that they have a major impact on the prediction of traffic flow. This mathematical approach has been verified by simulations