33,669 research outputs found
The multi modal study of transport investment plans.
In 1998 the UK Department for Transport
commissioned a programme of 22 studies to examine
the most acute congestion problems on the English road
network. The studies promised a new approach to
reducing road congestion by examining the contribution
that all modes of transport could make to solve these
problems. The studies have provided the most
convincing evidence to date that road building alone will
not be able to solve congestion and pollution problems.
Extra road infrastructure will, in most cases, buy a few
years’ respite from congestion on the inter-urban road
network. The studies have proposed substantial packages
of road and public transport improvements, combined
with demand management and traffic restraint
measures, to tackle the problems. The evidence suggests
that some form of road-user charging will be required in
many areas to ensure that the efficiency benefits gained
from the extra road capacity will not simply be eroded
by traffic growth as has been seen to date on routes such
as the M25. The outcomes of the studies have prompted
the Government to undertake a review of the potential
for a national road-user charging system. The multimodal
studies have undoubtedly brought about a more
balanced and integrated approach to transport planning.
There have been quite significant changes to the roads
schemes that were initially remitted to the studies and
evidence to suggest that significant environmental
concerns are now playing a much stronger role in
decisions taken by the Department for Transport. The
challenge now is to ensure that all of the major parts of
the integrated strategies proposed are delivered. A
failure to do so will not only reduce the benefits the
proposals offer but will also devalue the multi-modal
approach taken to the studies
A review of urban climatology
The review attempts to elucidate the history of interest and the developing research work done in the field of urban climatology, with special emphasis on temperature. References are made to the works of certain researchers whose publications have not yet been translated into the English language. The reference list is by no means complete but contains most of the important works in this field
Research management of water economics in agriculture - an open agenda
It is indeed a privilege and an honour to deliver the FR Tomlinson Commemorative lecture this year. Although the invitation was quite unexpected, it is of course highly appreciated. When Prof Johann Kirsten phoned me with the request, I was initially not sure what topic I should address. The topic, which I have now formulated, is one which has fascinated me and certainly kept me busy for the most part of my career. I want to share with you some thoughts and perspectives, but will steer away from a laborious review or an abstract analysis. In doing so, I trust that this is appropriate within the spirit of the occasion, which is now a well established tradition in the Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA). Let me start with a quotation which is at the core of the theme I want to unfold in this lecture. “Our most important resource is not land, nor capital and even less the climate. Our most important resource is not the gold under the earth’s crust, or the oil that might be there. Our most important resource is our human material. We must develop our human material and make full use of it.” (Groenewald JA, 1973a)Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,
Report on geophysical and geological surveys at Blackmount, Argyllshire
Blackmount, on the southern fringe of Rannoch Moor is
largely drift covered but, where exposed, the underlying
Precambrian Moine psammite contains granitic veins
which probably stem from the adjacent (Devonian) Moor
of Rannoch granite. These veins are generally pyritiferous
and, at one locality, carry small amounts of molybdenite.
Blackmount is also traversed by the Ericht-Laidon Fault,
which, in theory, and by analogy with a similar fault to
the south-east (the Tyndrum Fault), could be a site of
significant sulphide mineralisation. Magnetic, very low
frequency electro-magnetic (VLF EM), slingram EM and
induced polarisation measurements carried out in the area
of the veins suggest that the mineralisation has little or no
lateral or depth continuation. Similar surveys were
successful in locating the Ericht-Laidon Fault beneath
drift, but suggest no associated mineralisation down to the\ud
greatest depth investigated
The Development Of Mutual Trust In British Workplaces Through ?Partnership?
This article examines the alleged links between 'partnership' forms ofmanaging workplace relationships in Britain, and the development ofintra-organisational 'trust'. The potential for mutually complementarylinkages between the two are clear, in theory at least: partnership,as defined here, should produce, nurture and enhance levels ofinterpersonal trust inside organisations, while in turn trust, asdefined here, legitimates and helps reinforce an organisation's'partnership'. Qualitative evidence drawn from the self-reports of keyparticipants in four partnership organisations provides considerablesupport for the claimed linkages, while also highlighting severalweaknesses, discrepancies and pitfalls inherent in the process ofpursuing trust through partnership. This research is of interest froma public policy perspective, most of all in the United Kingdom, wherepartnership is the favoured organisational model for the New Labourgovernment, most trade unions, and many employers (not to mention theEuropean Union) yet where an agreed definition of the idea has yet toemerge, and where still remarkably little is known about whatpartnership involves inside organisations. This analysis also seeks torestore the curiously neglected idea of trust to a position of centralimportance to the study of employment relations.United Kingdom;case studies;organisational change;trust;social partnership
On the stability of the critical state with inhomogeneous temperature in composite superconductors
The problem of the thermal and magnetic destruction of the critical state in
composite superconductors is investigated. The initial distributions of
temperature and electromagnetic field are assumed to be essentially
inhomogeneous. The limit of the thermomagnetic instability in quasi-stationary
approximation is determined. The obtained integral criterion, unlike the
analogous criterion for a homogeneous temperature profile, is shown to take
into account the influence of any part of the superconductor on the threshold
for critical-state instability.Comment: 10 Pages, LaTEX file, 3 Figures, PS fil
Shopper Questionnaire Surveys at Convenience Foodstores in West Yorkshire
This report sets out the preliminary findings of a series of
questionnaire shopper surveys at five convenience foodstores in
West Yorkshire. The surveys, which form the second phase of a
current research study, followed an earlier series of surveys,
the results of which were given in a report produced earlier this
year 1 .
The questionnaire surveys were carried out in May-June 1983
and the information obtained comprised that on the shopper and
shopper's household together with trip, travel mode and
attitudinal data
Road traffic pollution monitoring and modelling tools and the UK national air quality strategy.
This paper provides an assessment of the tools required to fulfil the air quality management role now expected of local authorities within the UK. The use of a range of pollution monitoring tools in assessing air quality is discussed and illustrated with evidence from a number of previous studies of urban background and roadside pollution monitoring in Leicester. A number of approaches to pollution modelling currently available for deployment are examined. Subsequently, the modelling and monitoring tools are assessed against the requirements of Local Authorities establishing Air Quality Management Areas. Whilst the paper examines UK based policy, the study is of wider international interest
Trip Generation of Selected Industrial Groups.
This paper determines the factors influencing commercial vehicle trip generation for selected industrial groups, and quantifies their effects using multiple regression analysis. Two methods of selecting the groups were adopted: one using eight of the Standard Industrial Classes; and one which attempted to put industries having similar vehicle generation characteristics into the same group, by subdividing SIC groups or by grouping together industries with similar manufacturing or trading processes. The survey combined an initial interview of firm's management about the operations of the firm with a recording by the firm of their travel data, using a sample of firms in the West Yorkshire metropolitan area. Of 22 relationships developed, 15 were considered acceptable descriptors of the variations in trip making, but only in 3 cases did a single variable (such as total floor area or total employees) account for more than 70 percent of the variation, and no single variable type gave the best fit for the various groups investigated
Parking and Vehicle Activity Surveys at Large Convenience Foodstores in West Yorkshire: Results and Guidelines for Design
This report sets out the main results and conclusions of a series of vehicular activity,and parking surveys at thirteen convenience food stores in West Yorkshire. The surveys, carried out in the period February - June 1982, were undertaken at stores ranging from a typical high street supermarket to large superstores. Data on vehicular flows and-parking indices were obtained at twelve stores; in addition registration number surveys were completed at three stores to allow customer parking durations to be determined
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