About the "away goals rule" in association football:Does scrapping the rule increase the fairness of the game?

The present study analyzes all major international football tournaments organized by UEFA and CONMEBOL during a period of 30 years to assess the impact of the away goals rule (AGR). The study takes advantage of natural experiment given by the differentiated application of the AGR by both confederations, in order to assess the efficacy and the consequences of the rule in terms of both the total amount of goals being scored (the original intention of the rule) and the teams that progressed onto the next stages. The results show that the AGR seems to have failed to fulfill its original goal of increasing both scoring by teams playing away and scoring in general. The AGR is found to have a significant impact favoring the chances of the team starting the series at home. However, it still does not translate into a higher probability of progressing onto the next stage than the team closing the series at home. Closing the series at home has an intrinsic advantage, which is only countered, although not completely, by the impact of the AGR. Regarding tiebreakers, we observe that closing the series at home has a positive impact no matter whether overtimes with AGR or penalty shootouts are used as tiebreakers. However, playing an overtime, when no AGR is set in place has a determining influence favoring the team closing the series at home

Commuting to the future: Assessing the relationship between individuals’ usage of information and communications technology, personal attitudes, characteristics and mode choice

Innovations in transportation and communications technologies influence the development of cities and how people move through them. Since the widespread adoption of smartphones, mobility and information and communication technology (ICT) have become increasingly interconnected, and there may be a possibility for mobile technologies to nudge, or influence, individuals to travel using sustainable, and collective modes. It remains unclear whether social, financial, or ICT incentives would be effective to nudge the use of sustainable modes. The objective of the study is to understand the reasons affecting modal choices and how the use of ICTs and personal opinions and attitudes influence the decision-making process. A discrete choice model is used to consider five transportation alternatives including three single modes, namely bicycle, transit, and car, and two multimodal possibilities, bicycle and transit as well as park and ride (car and transit). The target population for this study are Utrecht University employees, who travel to a large university campus located in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The results of the person-based mode-choice model demonstrate that strong correlations exist between the kinds of mobile applications individuals use, their attitudes towards travel, their personal characteristics and their transportation mode. No mobile application seems to favor the use of active modes, which cast doubts upon the use of ICT to promote sustainable transportation. However, social incentives may play an important role for certain groups as individuals who are influenced by their friends, family, and colleagues, are less likely to travel by car or to use park & ride facilities

From riding to driving:The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on public transit in Metro Vancouver

This study analyzed a panel-based dataset to understand the effect of COVID-19 on transport behavior in Metro Vancouver, Canada, between December 2020 and May 2021. Findings from the sample indicate a decline in transit users compared to pre-pandemic levels and an increase in car use. On the other hand, we saw a shift to a more positive perception of transit in May 2021, while also capturing an increase in perceived levels of crowding. The study underscores the necessity for transit agencies to focus on instilling the feeling of safety among the population, as the majority of those who have not used transit since the beginning of the pandemic reported their willingness to return only with widespread vaccination, community immunity, or other broad successful treatments

Should competition between regulated public transport and autonomous ride-sharing providers be allowed?:An outlook into a possible transport paradox

Provision of public transport with autonomous vehicles may enable the implementation of more flexible services, characterised by a reduction of the vehicle's capacity (and increase in the number of vehicles) - leading to fewer stops, better frequencies, and more individualised services (origins and destinations). If public transport provision is centralised, increasing flexibility will lead to reductions in average travel times (although not to the optimal capacity), as the provider internalises congestion costs; however, if public transport is provided in competitive conditions, it may lead to situations in which the entire society ends up worse off, representing a clear transportation paradox

Should competition between regulated public transport and autonomous ride-sharing providers be allowed?: An outlook into a possible transport paradox

Provision of public transport with autonomous vehicles may enable the implementation of more flexible services, characterised by a reduction of the vehicle's capacity (and increase in the number of vehicles) - leading to fewer stops, better frequencies, and more individualised services (origins and destinations). If public transport provision is centralised, increasing flexibility will lead to reductions in average travel times (although not to the optimal capacity), as the provider internalises congestion costs; however, if public transport is provided in competitive conditions, it may lead to situations in which the entire society ends up worse off, representing a clear transportation paradox

A brief discussion on the treatment of spatial correlation in multinomial discrete models

Spatial dependence plays a key role in all phenomena involving the geographic space, such as the social processes associated with transport and land use. Nevertheless, spatial dependence in multinomial discrete models has not received the same level of attention as have the other kinds of correlations in the discrete modeling literature, mainly due to the complexity of its treatment. This paper aims at offering a brief discussion on the different kinds of spatial correlation affecting multinomial discrete models and the different ways in which spatial correlation has been addressed in the discrete modeling literature. Furthermore, the paper offers a discussion on the advantages and limitations of the different approaches to treat spatial correlation and it also proposes a compromise solution among complexity, computational costs, and realism that can be useful in some specific situations

The ride-sourcing industry: status-quo and outlook

Ride-sourcing, the use of private cars to provide on-demand mobility services, first appeared in San Francisco around the year 2010. Since then, transportation network companies (TNCs) who offer ride-sourcing services have expanded all around the world. By examining three case cities (San Francisco, Mexico City, Paris) we explain what facilitated this growth and how the regulation of TNCs differs. Subsequently, an economic analysis discusses the current expansionary strategy of TNCs and their future. We show that TNCs adapt their strategies to local contexts, with first priority to establish themselves in the market, if necessary, using gray regulatory areas, even if they face resistance from city authorities, taxi drivers and other groups, and despite being unprofitable. Our economic model explains this. We show that an unregulated ride-sourcing market leads to monopolistic situations once autonomous vehicles become available. We hence conclude that city authorities need to develop a regulatory framework to maximize social welfare