Sense, Model and Identify the Load Signatures of HVAC Systems in Metro Stations

The HVAC systems in subway stations are energy consuming giants, each of which may consume over 10, 000 Kilowatts per day for cooling and ventilation. To save energy for the HVAC systems, it is critically important to firstly know the "load signatures" of the HVAC system, i.e., the quantity of heat imported from the outdoor environments and by the passengers respectively in different periods of a day, which will significantly benefit the design of control policies. In this paper, we present a novel sensing and learning approach to identify the load signature of the HVAC system in the subway stations. In particular, sensors and smart meters were deployed to monitor the indoor, outdoor temperatures, and the energy consumptions of the HVAC system in real-time. The number of passengers was counted by the ticket checking system. At the same time, the cooling supply provided by the HVAC system was inferred via the energy consumption logs of the HVAC system. Since the indoor temperature variations are driven by the difference of the loads and the cooling supply, linear regression model was proposed for the load signature, whose coefficients are derived via a proposed algorithm . We collected real sensing data and energy log data from HaiDianHuangZhuang Subway station, which is in line 4 of Beijing from the duration of July 2012 to Sept. 2012. The data was used to evaluate the coefficients of the regression model. The experiment results show typical variation signatures of the loads from the passengers and from the outdoor environments respectively, which provide important contexts for smart control policies.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Essentials for sustainable urban transport in Brazil's large metropolitan areas

Before financing major urban transport projects, decisionmakers should attempt to put in place the basic elements for long-term sustainability of the sector. Specifically, the author contends that each large metropolitan area in Brazil should incorporate into its urban transport strategy, and pursue vigorously, the following four-point agenda: 1) create a regional transport coordination commission in charge of coordinating policies among federal, state, and municipal governments, giving highest priority to major urban transport investments in the metropolitan region and promoting modal integration - all to the end of improving the sector's economic efficiency and long-term sustainability; 2) adopt an integrated land use, urban transport, and air quality strategy that provides a framework in which the community and decisionmakers can evaluate future urban transport investments and policies; 3) enact into law formal financing mechanisms that would ensure that long-run variable costs of urban transport systems are covered by operating and non-operating revenues from the systems and by appropriate user charges; and 4) promote private sector participation in the operation, maintenance, and construction of urban transport systems - through concessions or management contracts - as a way to lessen the financial burden on the government.Roads&Highways,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Environmental Economics&Policies,Urban Transport,Banks&Banking Reform,Roads&Highways,Municipal Financial Management,Environmental Economics&Policies

Selective Screening of Rail Passengers, MTI 06-07

The threat of another major terrorist attack in the United States remains high, with the greatest danger coming from local extremists inspired by events in the Middle East. Although the United States removed the Taliban government and destroyed al Qaeda’s training camps in Afghanistan, events in Europe and elsewhere have shown that the terrorist network leadership remains determined to carry out further attacks and is capable of doing so. Therefore, the United States must systematically conduct research on terrorist strikes against transportation targets to distill lessons learned and determine the best practices for deterrence, response, and recovery. Those best practices must be taught to transportation and security professionals to provide secure surface transportation for the nation. Studying recent incidents in Europe and Asia, along with other research, will help leaders in the United States learn valuable lessons—from preventing attacks, to response and recovery, to addressing the psychological impacts of attacks to business continuity. Timely distillations of the lessons learned and best practices developed in other countries, once distributed to law enforcement, first responders, and rail- and subway-operating transit agencies, could result in the saving of American lives. This monograph focuses on the terrorist risks confronting public transportation in the United States—especially urban mass transit—and explores how different forms of passenger screening, and in particular, selective screening, can best be implemented to reduce those risks

Formulating a Strategy for Securing High-Speed Rail in the United States, Research Report 12-03

This report presents an analysis of information relating to attacks, attempted attacks, and plots against high-speed rail (HSR) systems. It draws upon empirical data from MTI’s Database of Terrorist and Serious Criminal Attacks Against Public Surface Transportation and from reviews of selected HSR systems, including onsite observations. The report also examines the history of safety accidents and other HSR incidents that resulted in fatalities, injuries, or extensive asset damage to examine the inherent vulnerabilities (and strengths) of HSR systems and how these might affect the consequences of terrorist attacks. The study is divided into three parts: (1) an examination of security principles and measures; (2) an empirical examination of 33 attacks against HSR targets and a comparison of attacks against HSR targets with those against non-HSR targets; and (3) an examination of 73 safety incidents on 12 HRS systems. The purpose of this study is to develop an overall strategy for HSR security and to identify measures that could be applied to HSR systems currently under development in the United States. It is hoped that the report will provide useful guidance to both governmental authorities and transportation operators of current and future HSR systems

Ergonomic standards for pedestrian areas for disabled people: literature review and consultations

As part of the project for the Transport and Road Research Laboratory concerned with the development of design guidance for pedestrian areas and footways to satisfy the needs of disabled and elderly people, a thorough examination of the literature was required. In addition the literature search was to be complemented by a wide-ranging series of discussions with local authorities, organisations representing the interests of elderly and disabled people, and other interested agencies. This Working Paper sets out the findings of this exercise. The objective of the literature review and the consultations was to identify the key impediments for elderly and disabled people when using pedestrian areas and footways. The current guidelines and standards relating to footways, pedestrianised areas and access to buildings were to be identified and their adequacy commented upon, as were the conflicts such recommendations raise between various groups of disabled people and with able-bodied people. The consultations were intended to provide greater insights into what the literature highlighted, and to suggest possible solutions. The literature review produced over 400 key references and a list of 35 impediments. A more detailed examination of the literature and the consultations reduced this list to six key impediments namely: parking; public transport waiting areas; movement distances; surface conditions; ramps, and information provision. The type and scale of problem created by the above impediments for various groups of disabled and elderly people are discussed, together with their measurement and assessment. The type and adequacy of existing design standards and guidance relating to these impediments are also outlined

Bike Share Systems and Equitable Disaster Management: Utilization in Low-income Neighborhoods Amid Subway Flood Damage

We focus on the equity problem of the IT-enabled public bike share systems and posit that shared bicycles become a heavily reliant mode of transportation in low-income neighborhoods during abrupt suspensions of subway systems caused by disasters. Although bike share is known to provide many social benefits, it has been often criticized for having low usage and lazy expansion among low-income neighborhoods. We leverage a natural experiment setting to estimate the effect of flood damage to subway lines on the demand for public bike share service. Through a quasi-experiment analysis, we find that the effect of flood significantly increases bike share usage in low-income neighborhoods while not profoundly affecting usage in high-income neighborhoods. From the results, we shed light on the previously undiscovered role of bike share in the disaster management context and its role in mitigating the transportation disturbance of low-income commuters

Analysis of urban expansion and transportation characteristics

Urban expansion and transportation are actually interrelated. Shanghai’s rapid urban expansion was caused by the inflow of people and the relocation of employment, which increased people’s travel demand, particularly for long-distance and motorized travel, greatly from 1990s onward. Dynamic travel purposes increased non-commute trips as well as people’s travel rates. Thus, average daily trips rose sharply due to these combined effects. Based on results of statistical analyses, population and GDP are statistically significant factors that increase average daily trips, while the expansion of urban space is significantly related to the growth of private motorized car share in Shanghai. People are working to increase transportation supply to fulfill travel demand by constructing more roads and promoting a well-designed public transportation system. However, the growth in demand has outpaced the increase in supply, as indicated by more congested roads, trains, and buses despite the significant increase in subway ridership. The demand management strategy needs to be involved in the policy making process to manage not only the growth of motorization, but also the growth of urban spaces and population. More supply still induces new demand, and the demand will continue to grow unless it is managed

THE EFFECT OF URBAN TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS ON EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES AND TRAFFIC CONGESTION

This dissertation comprises two papers that examine the effect of urban transportation systems on employment outcomes and traffic congestion. The first paper evaluates the labor market effects of subway systems on low-skilled workers. A model of labor supply predicts that this should improve search and employment outcomes. The empirical findings confirm that improved subway access increases low-skilled labor force participation. Related effects for light rail and bus service are much smaller. For low-skilled men without a car, a 10 percent expansion in subway, rail, and bus service increases labor force participation by 3.0, 0.3, and 0.3 percentage points, respectively. Improved subway service increases hourly wage, but has no significant effect on work hours and commuting time. These findings confirm that subway access increases travel speed and has potential to expand the geographic scope of workers’ labor market. The second paper investigates the effects of subway expansions on passenger miles traveled (PMT) in subways and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) on roads in the US. Drawing on a panel dataset that tracks city-level expansions of subway and road systems, estimates indicate that the fundamental law of subway congestion holds as the PMT increases one for one with the length of the subway systems. Subway systems have substitution and growth effects on road traffic. A 10 percent expansion of a subway system reduces contemporaneous traffic on ring interstate highways and non-highway arterial roads by 0.7 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively. With a three-year lag, a 10 percent increase in subway capacity increases VMT on ring highways by 0.4 percent and increase VMT on radial highways by 1.7 percent. Together, these estimates suggest that subway expansions do not reduce congestion on radial highways but do relieve congestion on roads that are close substitutes to subways (ring highways and non-highway arterial roads)