Nykyaikaisen raitiotiejärjestelmän suunnittelu: case Helsinki

Helsinki has a long history of tramways. However, they have a local reputation as a slow mode of transit which only belongs in the inner city. In 2016, the city approved a new master plan which includes nearly 100 km of new tramways to be built by 2050, with the aim of enabling more intense land use. The tramway system is now officially split into “urban” and “rapid” tramways. The thesis is a case study into the planning process of tramways in Helsinki and aims to determine whether there is an actual difference between the two categories. As a general conclusion, the infrastructure is fundamentally compatible. However, the rapid tramways will be built to higher standards as a system, operating with a higher capacity and speed. The work also functions as a high-level overview of the current development of Helsinki’s tramways in English.Helsingin raitioteillä on pitkä historia. Niillä on kuitenkin yleinen maine hitaana liikennemuotona, joka kuuluu vain kantakaupunkiin. Vuonna 2016 kaupunki hyväksyi uuden yleiskaavan, joka sisältää lähes 100 km uusia raitioteitä. Ne on tarkoitus rakentaa vuoteen 2050 mennessä tiivistyvän maankäytön tueksi. Raitiotiejärjestelmä on nyt virallisesti jaettu kaupunki- ja pikaraitioteihin. Diplomityö on tapaustutkimus Helsingin raitioteiden suunnitteluprosessista. Tavoitteena on selvittää, onko näiden kahden kategorian välillä todellista eroa. Yleisenä johtopäätöksenä voidaan todeta, että infrastruktuuri on pääosin yhteensopivaa. Pikaraitiotiet rakennetaan kuitenkin järjestelmänä laadukkaammin ja niillä tullaan ajamaan suurempia raitiovaunuja aiempaa nopeammin. Työ toimii myös englanninkielisenä yleiskatsauksena Helsingin raitioteiden tämänhetkisestä kehityksestä

An elastic software architecture for extreme-scale big data analytics

This chapter describes a software architecture for processing big-data analytics considering the complete compute continuum, from the edge to the cloud. The new generation of smart systems requires processing a vast amount of diverse information from distributed data sources. The software architecture presented in this chapter addresses two main challenges. On the one hand, a new elasticity concept enables smart systems to satisfy the performance requirements of extreme-scale analytics workloads. By extending the elasticity concept (known at cloud side) across the compute continuum in a fog computing environment, combined with the usage of advanced heterogeneous hardware architectures at the edge side, the capabilities of the extreme-scale analytics can significantly increase, integrating both responsive data-in-motion and latent data-at-rest analytics into a single solution. On the other hand, the software architecture also focuses on the fulfilment of the non-functional properties inherited from smart systems, such as real-time, energy-efficiency, communication quality and security, that are of paramount importance for many application domains such as smart cities, smart mobility and smart manufacturing.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme under the ELASTIC Project (www.elastic-project.eu), grant agreement No 825473.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Electric Bus Selection with Multicriteria Decision Analysis for Green Transportation

Eren, Tamer/0000-0001-5282-3138; Hamurcu, Mustafa/0000-0002-6166-3946WOS:000531558100202Multicriteria decision-making tools are widely used in complex decision-making problems. There are also numerous points of decision-making in transportation. One of these decision-making points regards clean technology vehicle determination. Clean technology vehicles, such as electric buses, have some advantages compared to other technologies like internal combustion engine vehicles. Notably, electric vehicles emit zero tailpipe emissions, thereby ensuring cleaner air for cities and making these clean technologies preferable to other technologies, especially in highly populated areas for better air quality and more livable cities. In this study, we propose a multicriteria decision-making process using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) in the context of an electric bus in the center of Ankara. Six potential electric bus alternatives were evaluated under seven specific criteria. Overall, EV-2 electric buses outperformed other electric bus alternatives based on the chosen criteria. In addition, the stability of the results obtained under different scenarios using this method was established via sensitivity analysis

The principles of public transport network planning: a review of the emerging literature with select examples

This paper highlights for urban planners the key strategies and tactics that can be deployed to improve suburban public transport networks. Introduction The governance and management of public transport systems is an essential component of metropolitan planning and urban management. Most metropolitan strategies in Australia and in other jurisdictions presuppose the provision of public transport. Yet there is often a disconnection between transport plans and land-use schemes. Similarly, metropolitan land-use plans that do integrate with transport plans tend to focus on infrastructure rather than service quality and connectivity. A failure to adequately consider the quality of public transport networks in land-use planning analysis has the potential to produce poor planning outcomes in two key ways. First new land-uses may be inadequately served with public transport services, leading to dependence on alternative travel modes, such as cars. Second, the failure to recognise the significance of well-planned local public transport networks may result in the preclusion of some land-use options. This preclusion may relate to the location of land-uses or their design, such as over-provision of carparking. The continuing debate over whether to address suburban cardependence via land-use change or via transport planning is a case in point. And while the arguments in favour of and against land-use change as a means to overcome car dependence are well known in the planning literature. There is a growing if not yet widely appreciated literature that advocates improvements to public transport network planning and coordination as a means of reducing car dependence. The recognition of improved public transport network planning as a means of reducing car dependence is immensely significant because it offers planners an additional or alternative tool for managing urban transport patterns beyond land-use variation or investment in heavy infrastructure. Urban planning practitioners are not yet well served and informed by the broader public transport planning literature on the advantages of public transport network planning. While there is an extensive literature focusing on the economics and engineering of urban public transport systems the planning literature on the practices that contribute to success in public transport network design and operations is relatively poorly documented. There is also very little literature dedicated to public transport network design within Australian cities which are distinguished by highly centralised radial heavy rail networks with bus or tram networks that are well developed in inner urban zones but less so in the outer suburbs. The remainder of this paper has four objectives for transport planning theory and practice. First the paper reviews the literature on public transport network planning principles; next the paper attempts to formulate these principles in practical terms such that they can be applied to line and network design; third the paper considers further dimensions of network planning, including institutional arrangements and transition points in network design. The paper is intended for three audiences. The first is planning scholars who are involved in debates about public transport. The second is strategic policy officials in planning agencies who are involved in the planning and design of public transport networks. The third audience comprises those involved in development processes and who seek insights into the technical components of public transport network planning. Some caveats are appropriate however. The paper is not seeking to justify public transport network planning. The authors consider that the case for dedicated planning is implicit in the assumption that cities should provide good quality public transport to their residents. The wider case in favour of network planning has been successfully advanced elsewhere. Conversely, the paper is not intended as a directly applicable manual of detailed transport planning practice. While it does offer some insights into the practical public transport network planning task such guidance is better provided by Nielsen et al and Vuchic. Instead the paper highlights for urban planners the key strategies and tactics for that can be deployed to improve suburban public transport networks. Understanding these principles should thus assist urban planners – and urban scholars – to better shape and evaluate urban development processes and patterns

Applications of Genetic Algorithm and Its Variants in Rail Vehicle Systems: A Bibliometric Analysis and Comprehensive Review

Railway systems are time-varying and complex systems with nonlinear behaviors that require effective optimization techniques to achieve optimal performance. Evolutionary algorithms methods have emerged as a popular optimization technique in recent years due to their ability to handle complex, multi-objective issues of such systems. In this context, genetic algorithm (GA) as one of the powerful optimization techniques has been extensively used in the railway sector, and applied to various problems such as scheduling, routing, forecasting, design, maintenance, and allocation. This paper presents a review of the applications of GAs and their variants in the railway domain together with bibliometric analysis. The paper covers highly cited and recent studies that have employed GAs in the railway sector and discuss the challenges and opportunities of using GAs in railway optimization problems. Meanwhile, the most popular hybrid GAs as the combination of GA and other evolutionary algorithms methods such as particle swarm optimization (PSO), ant colony optimization (ACO), neural network (NN), fuzzy-logic control, etc with their dedicated application in the railway domain are discussed too. More than 250 publications are listed and classified to provide a comprehensive analysis and road map for experts and researchers in the field helping them to identify research gaps and opportunities

Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory - Preliminary Design Report

The DUSEL Project has produced the Preliminary Design of the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) at the rehabilitated former Homestake mine in South Dakota. The Facility design calls for, on the surface, two new buildings - one a visitor and education center, the other an experiment assembly hall - and multiple repurposed existing buildings. To support underground research activities, the design includes two laboratory modules and additional spaces at a level 4,850 feet underground for physics, biology, engineering, and Earth science experiments. On the same level, the design includes a Department of Energy-shepherded Large Cavity supporting the Long Baseline Neutrino Experiment. At the 7,400-feet level, the design incorporates one laboratory module and additional spaces for physics and Earth science efforts. With input from some 25 science and engineering collaborations, the Project has designed critical experimental space and infrastructure needs, including space for a suite of multidisciplinary experiments in a laboratory whose projected life span is at least 30 years. From these experiments, a critical suite of experiments is outlined, whose construction will be funded along with the facility. The Facility design permits expansion and evolution, as may be driven by future science requirements, and enables participation by other agencies. The design leverages South Dakota's substantial investment in facility infrastructure, risk retirement, and operation of its Sanford Laboratory at Homestake. The Project is planning education and outreach programs, and has initiated efforts to establish regional partnerships with underserved populations - regional American Indian and rural populations

Re-assembling the city: rapid transit as catalyst.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Architecture, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Urban Design.The fountainhead of the tramways in South African cities occurred a century ago, when Johannesburg, in particular, experienced horse-drawn trams in the early 1890's. From a rough Babylon, this city has henceforth experienced significant changes in time and space, failing to avoid the desecration of racial segregation and the associated spatial ramifications. The contemporary city hs thus charged with the task of reconstruction and integration to redress the effects of past actions. In parallel, the renslssance of the tramway worldwide, in the form of rapid transit, has brought to light an opportunity to be exploited in the process of re-assembling the fragmented urban form. The catalytic and associated rtpple effects of rapid transit on the urban environment in nearby proximity is, considered critical to both the sustainability of the system and to the environment through which it operates. The underlying approach incorporates the notion of linking history and precedent as a means of instructing future designs. The process Is concerned w!th definition, decomposition, analysis of intermutual links, and re-assembling the whole, to achieve a higher level conceptual abstractlon and understanding. Such an understanding could facilitate the urban designer to maximise the catalytic benefits of a revived urban element.Andrew Chakane 201

Compliance of maintenance and operational needs for trains: a simulation analysis to evaluate the impact of a flexible scheduling on local transport by rail

If not properly managed neither planned on real needs, the maintenance of rolling stock may strongly affect rail operations in local public transport, risking to compromise the quality of service or generating an over sizing of the fleet. Therefore, an effective coordination is required between the Operation and Maintenance departments. Some flexibility in maintenance activities – i.e., preventive and on condition maintenance policies - has already been applied for some years in the regional rail transport with successful results; however, it has not been introduced yet in rail public transport, where a corrective maintenance is generally adopted. In this work, the proper scheduling of more flexible maintenance activities in the rail public transport context is addressed through the use of discrete event simulation. Real data sets provided by the Italian GTT-Gruppo Torinese Trasporti company have been used to test the proposed approach and to carry out a multi-scenarios campaign, aiming at analyzing the effectiveness of the maintenance process when certain operating conditions change or unexpected events occur. Some improvement proposals have also been analyzed with the proposed simulation method

Electric Bus Charging Infrastructures: Technologies, Standards, and Configurations

Rapid growth in the electrification of bus fleets, driven by substantial environmental benefits, is facing challenges such as range anxiety, prolonged charging durations, and reduced flexibility compared to combustion engine buses. This study first conducts a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of diverse publications to identify key research trends in electric buses (E-buses). It then offers a thorough comparison of charging technologies, encompassing topologies, power flow capabilities, costs, grid impacts, and efficiency, along with an examination of existing standards, norms, and challenges. With a classification of nearly 150 references, the study aims to illuminate the strengths and weaknesses of each charging technology, providing a solid background for selecting optimal topologies and strategies for specific applications. Emphasizing the importance of a nuanced trade-off between the quantity and type of chargers and E-bus battery capacity in each scenario, the research goes beyond technical considerations to explore potential future trends in the field. The information gathered in this review is a helpful guide for policymakers, industry experts, and researchers dealing with the complexities of E-bus charging infrastructure