A heuristic methodology to tackle the Braess Paradox detecting problem tailored for real road networks

Adding a new road to help traffic flow in a congested urban network may at first appear to be a good idea. The Braess Paradox (BP) says, adding new capacity may actually worsen traffic flow. BP does not only call for extra vigilance in expanding a network, it also highlights a question: Does BP exist in existing networks? Literature reveals that BP is rife in real world. This study proposes a methodology to find a set of roads in a real network, whose closure improve traffic flow. It is called the Braess Paradox Detection (BPD) problem. Literature proves that the BPD problem is highly intractable especially in real networks and no efficient method has been introduced. We developed a heuristic methodology based on a Genetic Algorithm to tackle BPD problem. First, a set of likely Braess-tainted roads is identified by simply testing their closure (one-by-one). Secondly, a seraph algorithm is devised to run over the Braess-tainted roads to find a combination whose closure improves traffic flow. In our methodology, the extent of road closure is limited to some certain level to preserve connectivity of the network. The efficiency and applicability of the methodology are demonstrated using the benchmark Hagstrom–Abrams network, and on a network of city of Winnipeg in Canada

Sustainable Cities as the Gateway to the Future: A Case Study of New Rochelle

This thesis explores the characteristics of sustainable cities and uses New Rochelle, New York as a case study to further describe initiatives synonymous with green communities. Five prominent topics of sustainable cities and urban planning are discussed within the literature review and later mirrored throughout the case study of New Rochelle. These topics include, smart growth, energy efficiency, green buildings, transportation, and recycling. The mayor of New Rochelle and Sustainability Coordinator completed questionnaires and their responses contributed to an assessment of the contemporary issues facing sustainable cities

New Frontiers In Surface Transportation

Land transportation in America today is a paradox of technological development. Our most successful systems seem to cause as many national problems as they solve. Yet our most unsuccessful systems seem to offer many of the solutions we seek. So we are in a period of rethinking and self analysis with respect to national surface transportation development. In addition to determining the necessary technology and systems consistent with mobility requirements, we must consider the often intangible social goals of the nation. For this reason, many of the systems analysis techniques which have proved so successful in military and aerospace applications cannot be used unaided, or without substantial modification, on transportation planning and other civilian problems. Unlike the space and defense programs, transportation planning must satisfy consumers and nonusers and be responsive to both market and political processes. Because of these constraints, surface transportation planning is exceedingly complex. The need to provide options and alternatives for a decade or more further complicates planning analyses and evaluations. The obligation to respond to the will of the people expressed through the democratic process means that the development of large municipal or regional systems must evolve by consensus, rather than by Federal fiat. Some new systems may incorporate technological breakthrough, but others must be limited by what has been planned or built before in an evolutionary manner

Flight deck automation: Promises and realities

Issues of flight deck automation are multifaceted and complex. The rapid introduction of advanced computer-based technology onto the flight deck of transport category aircraft has had considerable impact both on aircraft operations and on the flight crew. As part of NASA's responsibility to facilitate an active exchange of ideas and information among members of the aviation community, a NASA/FAA/Industry workshop devoted to flight deck automation, organized by the Aerospace Human Factors Research Division of NASA Ames Research Center. Participants were invited from industry and from government organizations responsible for design, certification, operation, and accident investigation of transport category, automated aircraft. The goal of the workshop was to clarify the implications of automation, both positive and negative. Workshop panels and working groups identified issues regarding the design, training, and procedural aspects of flight deck automation, as well as the crew's ability to interact and perform effectively with the new technology. The proceedings include the invited papers and the panel and working group reports, as well as the summary and conclusions of the conference

Cycling, environmentalism and change in 1970s Britain

Dave Horton’s widely cited paper, Environmentalism and the Bicycle (Environmental Politics 15(1) 2006: 41-58) clearly highlighted “significance of the bicycle to the discourse and practice of the contemporary environmental movement” in Britain. While broadly in agreement with Horton’s discussion, this paper seeks to extend it through a more strongly historicised account of the formation of the particular discourses around the bicycle and cycling. It critically examines the multiple ways in which bicycles and cycling have been explicitly constructed as ‘natural’ allies since the late 1960s and the degree to which this linkage has been simultaneously intertwined with the forging of a broader, counter-cultural identity in the English-speaking world. Focusing on the UK experience, it draws on primary sources from advocacy groups, and contrasts the tensions between longstanding cycle advocacy bodies and the emergent environmental and countercultural discourses through the 1970s and 1980s. In particular, one recurrent question which is opened to scrutiny is the relation of these discourses to both technophilic and technophobic utopianism and the problems both positions pose for integration into a wider pragmatic political agenda. In charting these events and the framing of both the need for change and the methods whereby it may be achieved, it is further argued that this legacy is not entirely unproblematic in relation to current aspirations for an increased modal share for cycling in transport planning.Kerschensteiner Kolleg, Deutsches Museum, Munich. research made possible by Leverhulme Trust International Academic Fellowship IAF-2014-01