Making in-class skills training more effective: the scope for interactive videos to complement the delivery of practical pedestrian training

Skills and awareness of young pedestrians can be improved with on-street practical pedestrian training, often delivered in schools in the United Kingdom by local authorities with the intention of improving road safety. This training is often supplemented by in-class paper based worksheet activities which are seen to be less effective than practical training in that they focus on knowledge acquisition rather than directly improving the correct application of safe pedestrian skills at the roadside. Previous research indicates that interactive video tools have the potential to develop procedural skills whilst offering an engaging road safety educational experience, which could positively impact on road crossing behaviour.In this paper, the design and development of a hazard-identification interactive road safety training video targeting child road crossing skills is presented. The interactive video was shown to be an engaging training resource for 6-7 year old children. The tool’s scope for improving pedestrians’ roadside skills is considered along with the wider implications for interactive video to aid safety training in other areas

Tourism and the smartphone app: capabilities, emerging practice and scope in the travel domain.

Based on its advanced computing capabilities and ubiquity, the smartphone has rapidly been adopted as a tourism travel tool.With a growing number of users and a wide varietyof applications emerging, the smartphone is fundamentally altering our current use and understanding of the transport network and tourism travel. Based on a review of smartphone apps, this article evaluates the current functionalities used in the domestic tourism travel domain and highlights where the next major developments lie. Then, at a more conceptual level, the article analyses how the smartphone mediates tourism travel and the role it might play in more collaborative and dynamic travel decisions to facilitate sustainable travel. Some emerging research challenges are discussed

Understanding the Impact of E-commerce on Last-Mile Light Goods Vehicle Activity in Urban Areas: The Case of London

Growth in e-commerce has led to increasing use of light goods vehicles for parcel deliveries in urban areas. This paper provides an insight into the reasons behind this growth and the resulting effort required to meet the exacting delivery services offered by e-retailers which often lead to poor vehicle utilisation in the last-mile operation, as well as the duplication of delivery services in urban centres as competitors vie for business. A case study investigating current parcel delivery operations in central London identified the scale of the challenge facing the last-mile parcel delivery driver, highlighting the importance of walking which can account for 62% of the total vehicle round time and 40% of the total round distance in the operations studied. The characteristics of these operations are in direct conflict with the urban infrastructure which is being increasingly redesigned in favour of walking, cycling and public transport, reducing the kerbside accessibility for last-mile operations. The paper highlights other pressures on last-mile operators associated with managing seasonal peaks in demand; reduced lead times between customers placing orders and deliveries being made; meeting delivery time windows; first-time delivery failure rates and the need to manage high levels of product returns. It concludes by describing a range of initiatives that retailers and parcel carriers, sometimes in conjunction with city authorities, can implement to reduce the costs associated with last-mile delivery, without negatively impacting on customer service levels

Quantifying environmental and financial benefits of using porters and cycle couriers for last-mile parcel delivery

Parcel carriers face increasingly difficult operating conditions in busy metropolitan areas due to growing consumer demand for ever faster delivery services and having to cope with traffic congestion and city authority measures that may restrict or penalise access for certain types of vehicle. This paper evaluates the potential environmental and financial benefits of switching from traditional van-based deliveries to an alternative operating model, where porters or cycle couriers undertake deliveries supported by a substantially reduced van fleet. Results using a specially-developed algorithm to model operations of a real carrier in an area of central London, UK, suggested that the carrier could reduce CO2 emissions by 45%, NOx emissions by 33%, driving distance by 78% and curbside parking time by 45%. Overall cost savings to the carrier were estimated to be in the range 34–39%. Scaling up the modelled emissions savings to London’s Central Activities Zone, an area of approximately 30 km2 and with current total annual parcel delivery distance of around 15 million km, could see annual emissions savings in the region of 2 million kg CO2 and 1633 kg NOx if all carriers utilised porters or cycle couriers. The key operating challenges identified were related to sorting and consolidating items by weight and volume, parcel handover arrangements and how to deal with express items and failed deliveries

Utility of prehospital electrocardiogram interpretation in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction utilizing computer interpretation and transmission for interventional cardiologist consultation

Objectives: We examined the appropriateness of prehospital cardiac catheter laboratory activation (CCL-A) in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) utilizing the University of Glasgow algorithm (UGA) and remote interventional cardiologist consultation. Background: The incremental benefit of prehospital electrocardiogram (PH-ECG) transmission on the diagnostic accuracy and appropriateness of CCL-A has been examined in a small number of studies with conflicting results. Methods: We identified consecutive PH-ECG transmissions between June 2, 2010 and October 6, 2016. Blinded adjudication of ECGs, appropriateness of CCL-A, and index diagnoses were performed using the fourth universal definition of MI. The primary outcome was the appropriate CCL-A rate. Secondary outcomes included rates of false-positive CCL-A, inappropriate CCL-A, and inappropriate CCL nonactivation. Results: Among 1088 PH-ECG transmissions, there were 565 (52%) CCL-As and 523 (48%) CCL nonactivations. The appropriate CCL-A rate was 97% (550 of 565 CCL-As), of which 4.9% (n = 27) were false-positive. The inappropriate CCL-A rate was 2.7% (15 of 565 CCL-As) and the inappropriate CCL nonactivation rate was 3.6% (19 of 523 CCL nonactivations). Reasons for appropriate CCL nonactivation (n = 504) included nondiagnostic ST-segment elevation (n = 128, 25%), bundle branch block (n = 132, 26%), repolarization abnormality (n = 61, 12%), artefact (n = 72, 14%), no ischemic symptoms (n = 32, 6.3%), severe comorbidities (n = 26, 5.2%), transient ST-segment elevation (n = 20, 4.0%), and others. Conclusions: PH-ECG interpretation utilizing UGA with interventional cardiologist consultation accurately identified STEMI with low rates of inappropriate and false-positive CCL-As, whereas using UGA alone would have almost doubled CCL-As. The benefits of cardiologist consultation were identifying “masquerading” STEMI and avoiding unnecessary CCL-As

Late Outcomes of Patients With Prehospital ST-Segment Elevation and Appropriate Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory Nonactivation

BACKGROUND: Patients with suspected ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and cardiac catheterization laboratory nonactivation (CCL-NA) or cancellation have reportedly similar crude and higher adjusted risks of death compared with those with CCL activation, though reasons for these poor outcomes are not clear. We determined late clinical outcomes among patients with prehospital ECG STEMI criteria who had CCL-NA compared with those who had CCL activation. METHODS AND RESULTS: We identified consecutive prehospital ECG transmissions between June 2, 2010 to October 6, 2016. Diagnoses according to the Fourth Universal Definition of myocardial infarction (MI), particularly rates of myocardial injury, were adjudicated. The primary outcome was all-cause death. Secondary outcomes included cardiovascular death/MI/stroke and noncardiovascular death. To explore competing risks, cause-specific hazard ratios (HRs) were obtained. Among 1033 included ECG transmissions, there were 569 (55%) CCL activations and 464 (45%) CCL-NAs (1.8% were inappropriate CCL-NAs). In the CCL activation group, adjudicated index diagnoses included MI (n=534, 94%, of which 99.6% were STEMI and 0.4% non-STEMI), acute myocardial injury (n=15, 2.6%), and chronic myocardial injury (n=6, 1.1%). In the CCL-NA group, diagnoses included MI (n=173, 37%, of which 61% were non-STEMI and 39% STEMI), chronic myocardial injury (n=107, 23%), and acute myocardial injury (n=47, 10%). At 2 years, the risk of all-cause death was higher in patients who had CCL-NA compared with CCL activation (23% versus 7.9%, adjusted risk ratio, 1.58, 95% CI, 1.24–2.00), primarily because of an excess in noncardiovascular deaths (adjusted HR, 3.56, 95% CI, 2.07–6.13). There was no significant difference in the adjusted risk for cardiovascular death/MI/stroke between the 2 groups (HR, 1.23, 95% CI, 0.87–1.73). CONCLUSIONS: CCL-NA was not primarily attributable to missed STEMI, but attributable to “masquerading” with high rates of non-STEMI and myocardial injury. These patients had worse late outcomes than patients who had CCL activation, mainly because of higher rates of noncardiovascular deaths

Using an agent-based model to explore alternative modes of last-mile parcel delivery in urban contexts

The scale of parcel delivery is increasing rapidly, with indications that it will continue to do so. This presents a challenge both to those in the industry who wish to understand how they might adapt and change their ways of doing delivery and the policymakers who would like to encourage this in order to positively impact urban areas in terms of traffic and pollution. We present an early implementation of an agent-based modelling framework of parcel delivery processes, flexible enough to be extended to explore a variety of scenarios. We apply it to a baseline case study to begin the process of exploring the effectiveness of switching to a different method of delivery

Logistics impacts of student online shopping – Evaluating delivery consolidation to halls of residence

Growth in online shopping has led to increased numbers of small delivery vehicles in urban areas leading to a range of negative externalities. Young people are significant generators of home deliveries and, when clustered in university halls of residence, can generate considerable freight traffic to one location. This paper explores the potential to consolidate these deliveries using an urban consolidation centre. Based on the case of Southampton, UK, data were compiled from three linked sources: a delivery audit of four halls of residence at the University of Southampton housing 5050 residents; annual package receipt records from Southampton Solent University halls (2294 residents); and an online shopping survey distributed to Southampton University students (486 responses). The results suggest that in cities with multiple higher education institutions (HEIs), where in excess of 8000 students live in halls, over 13,000 courier trips could be generated annually, delivering over 4000 m3 of packages. These could be consolidated onto fewer than 300 vehicles for an annual service cost of approximately £18 per student, reducing congestion, parking infringements and improving air quality. Analysis indicated student acceptance of a consolidated parcel service but operational challenges would include enforcement, performance risk, finance and delivery speed

Impact and process assessment of the seven CITYLAB implementations

CITYLAB focuses on four axes that call for improvement and intervention: •Highly fragmented last-mile deliveries in city centres •Inefficient deliveries to large freight attractors and public administrations •Urban waste, return trips and recycling •Logistics sprawl Within these axes, the project supports seven implementations that are being tested, evaluated and rolled out. An implementation is defined as the process of preparing, testing and putting into practice a new service or a new way of operating or organising logistics activities. The objective of this report is to present an assessment of the effects and consequences of the implementations as they are conducted. For each case, we summarise the process leading to the application of a specific technical and managerial solution, and present the outcomes. For each implementation, we present •Problem and aim •Description of the solution •Implementation process •Effects and consequences •Challenges ahead •Lessons and generalisation of results This deliverable provides a complete picture of the evolvement of the implementations during the CITYLAB project and final versions of the process and impact assessment

The scope for pavement porters: addressing the challenges of last-mile parcel delivery in London

The UK parcel sector generated almost £9 billion in revenue in 2015, with growth expected to increase by 15.6% in 2019 and is characterized by many independent players competing in an ‘everyone-delivers-everywhere’ culture leading to much replication of vehicle activity. With road space in urban centers being increasingly reallocated to pavement widening, bus and cycle lanes, there is growing interest in alternative solutions to the last-mile delivery problem. We make three contributions in this paper: firstly, through empirical analysis using carrier operational datasets, we quantify the characteristics of last-mile parcel operations and demonstrate the reliance placed on walking which can make up over 60% of the round time; secondly we introduce the concept of ‘portering’ where vans rendezvous with porters who operate within specific ‘patches’ to service consignees on-foot, potentially saving 86% in driving distance on some rounds; finally, we highlight the wider practical issues and optimization challenges associated with operating driving and portering rounds in inner urban areas