Attitudes Towards the Future of Transportation

The Center for Teaching Old Models New Tricks(TOMNET), is a Tier 1 University Transportation Center (UTC) at Arizona State University (ASU). Aptly named, it is researching behaviors that affect mobility choices: how do people choose to get around; how many and what types of vehicles do they own; when do they travel and to where are just some of the key patterns they study. TOMNET is developing and implementing new models that can accurately forecast future travel demand in the face of such "new tricks" as transformational technologies. Around the country, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and other planning agencies are grappling with facing radically different transportation options in the future. How can agencies plan wisely when drawing up long range transportation plans? What should they assume about transportation behaviors of how people adopt and adapt (or resist) to new and emerging transportation technologies? TOMNET is striving to provide agencies with the behavioral data that will better inform their plans. As one of its signature projects, TOMNET researchers are conducting a large-scale four-city survey-based research study to understand the public\u2019s preferences and choices in mobility options and technologies. The survey will collect data about people\u2019s mobility patterns, as well as attitudes towards options such as ride-hailing services and autonomous vehicles. TOMNET consortium members, which include Georgia Tech, University of Washington, and University of South Florida, as well as a UTC, the Data-Supported Transportation Operations and Planning Center (D-STOP), led by the University of Texas at Austin, are collaborating with ASU to collect data from about 5,000 randomly sampled residents in Phoenix, Tampa, Austin, and Atlanta

Attitudes and Trust in Leveraging Integrated Sociotechnical Systems for Enhancing Community Adaptive Capacity: Phase I

69A3551747116The overarching goal of the project is to understand and model ways in which we can leverage unique \u2013 and interconnected \u2013 physical and social characteristics of place to enhance community adaptive capacity in response to disruptions. This first phase (one-year) sets the stage for that line of inquiry by exploring and assessing the state of the field and best practices regarding attitudinal surveys in the areas of both resilience and transportation planning. The review explores the role of networked sociotechnical systems as they contribute to adaptive capacity, a concept rooted in social-ecological resilience theory, at the community level. Relevant applications of social network analytical methods are explored as a means of guiding methodological development for the next project phase

Cluster expansion for abstract polymer models. New bounds from an old approach

We revisit the classical approach to cluster expansions, based on tree graphs, and establish a new convergence condition that improves those by Kotecky-Preiss and Dobrushin, as we show in some examples. The two ingredients of our approach are: (i) a careful consideration of the Penrose identity for truncated functions, and (ii) the use of iterated transformations to bound tree-graph expansions.Comment: 16 pages. This new version, written en reponse to the suggestions of the referees, includes more detailed introductory sections, a proof of the generalized Penrose identity and some additional results that follow from our treatmen

Private Incentives to Innovate: Interplay of New Products and Brand-Name Reputation

This paper studies the introduction of new products (increase in product variety) in the automobile industry. The focus is on the two sources of market power that may allow the firms to get higher profits (and, thus, recoup investments): new products and brand-name reputation. The effects of new products on the private incentives to innovate are investigated on the basis of the dataset for the German car industry for 2003. The dataset is rather unique in the sense that it contains detailed information on the technical characteristics of cars, prices and sales as well as information on the introduction of new car models (including new variants and versions) into the German car market at a very disaggregate level. It has been found that both a new model and brand-name reputation may allow the innovative firms to get some market power and recoup their investments. Competition is, however, not localized within a market segment and the class of new or old models, i.e., products from different market segments, new and old products compete with each other (coexisting and not eliminating each other) and do not constitute separate market niches. On the other hand, new (old) models are perceived to be closer substitutes than old (new) models. Consumer preferences towards brand and new products vary depending on their age. --discrete choice models,automobile industry,new products,innovations,brandname reputation

The Visualization of Historical Structures and Data in a 3D Virtual City

Google Earth is a powerful tool that allows users to navigate through 3D representations of many cities and places all over the world. Google Earth has a huge collection of 3D models and it only continues to grow as users all over the world continue to contribute new models. As new buildings are built new models are also created. But what happens when a new building replaces another? The same thing that happens in reality also happens in Google Earth. Old models are replaced with new models. While Google Earth shows the most current data, many users would also benefit from being able to view historical data. Google Earth has acknowledged this with the ability to view historical images with the manipulation of a time slider. However, this feature does not apply to 3D models of buildings, which remain in the environment even when viewing a time before their existence. I would like to build upon this concept by proposing a system that stores 3D models of historical buildings that have been demolished and replaced by new developments. People may want to view the old cities that they grew up in which have undergone huge developments over the years. Old neighborhoods may be completely transformed with new road and buildings. In addition to being able to view historical buildings, users may want to view statistics of a given area. Users can view such data in their raw format but using 3D visualizations of statistical data allows for a greater understanding and appreciation of historical changes. I propose to enhance the visualization of the 3D world by allowing users to graphically view statistical data such as population, ethnic groups, education, crime, and income. With this feature users will not only be able to see physical changes in the environment, but also statistical changes over time

Isochrones and Luminosity Functions for Old White Dwarfs

Using a new grid of models of cooling white dwarfs, we calculate isochrones and luminosity functions in the Johnson-Kron/Cousins and HST filter sets for systems containing old white dwarfs. These new models incorporate a non-grey atmosphere which is necessary to properly describe the effects of molecular opacity at the cool temperatures of old white dwarfs. The various functions calculated and extensively tabulated and plotted are meant to be as utilitarian as possible for observers so all results are listed in quantities that observers will obtain. The tables and plots developed should eventually prove critical in interpreting the results of HST's Advanced Camera observations of the oldest white dwarfs in nearby globular clusters, in understanding the results of searches for old white dwarfs in the Galactic halo, and in determining ages for star clusters of all ages using white dwarfs. As a practical application we demonstrate the use of these results by deriving the white dwarf cooling age of the old Galactic cluster M67.Comment: 7 pages, 8 tables, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

An Introduction to Extra Dimensions

Models that involve extra dimensions have introduced completely new ways of looking up on old problems in theoretical physics. The aim of the present notes is to provide a brief introduction to the many uses that extra dimensions have found over the last few years, mainly following an effective field theory point of view. Most parts of the discussion are devoted to models with flat extra dimensions, covering both theoretical and phenomenological aspects. We also discuss some of the new ideas for model building where extra dimensions may play a role, including symmetry breaking by diverse new and old mechanisms. Some interesting applications of these ideas are discussed over the notes, including models for neutrino masses and proton stability. The last part of this review addresses some aspects of warped extra dimensions, and graviton localization.Comment: 39 pages. Two figures. Comments and references added. Lectures given at the XI Mexican School of Particles and Fields. Xalapa, Mexico, August 1-13, 200

Measuring the speed of the conscious components of recognition memory: Remembering is faster than knowing.

Three experiments investigated response times (RTs) for remember and know responses in recognition memory. RTs to remember responses were faster than RTs to know responses, regardless of whether the remember–know decision was preceded by an old/new decision (two-step procedure) or was made without a preceding old/new decision (one-step procedure). The finding of faster RTs for R responses was also found when remember–know decisions were made retrospectively. These findings are inconsistent with dual-process models of recognition memory, which predict that recollection is slower and more effortful than familiarity. Word frequency did not influence RTs, but remember responses were faster for words than for nonwords. We argue that the difference in RTs to remember and know responses reflects the time taken to make old/new decisions on the basis of the type of information activated at test