Introducing willingness-to-pay for noise changes into transport appraisal: an application of benefit transfer.

Numerous research studies have elicited willingness-to-pay values for transport-related noise, however, in many industrialised countries including the UK, noise costs and benefits are still not incorporated into appraisals for most transport projects and policy changes (Odgaard et al, 2005; Grant-Muller et al, 2001). This paper describes the actions recently taken in the UK to address this issue, comprising: primary research based on the city of Birmingham; an international review of willingness-to-pay evidence; development of values using benefit transfers over time and locations; and integration with appraisal methods. Amongst the main findings are: that the willingness-to-pay estimates derived for the UK are broadly comparable with those used in appraisal elsewhere in Europe; that there is a case for a lower threshold at 1 45dB(A)Leq,18hr1 rather than the more conventional 55dB(A); and that values per dB(A) increase with the noise level above this threshold. There are significant issues over the valuation of rail versus road noise, the neglect of non-residential noise and the valuation of high noise levels in different countries. Conclusions are drawn regarding the feasibility of noise valuation based on benefit transfers in the UK and elsewhere, and future research needs in this field are discussed

The transformation of transport policy in Great Britain? 'New Realism' and New Labour's decade of displacement activity

In a 1999 paper, Goodwin announced ‘the transformation of transport policy in Great Britain’. His central point was that consensus was emerging among policy makers and academics based on earlier work including Transport: The New Realism, which rejected previous orthodoxy that the supply of road space could and should be continually expanded to match demand. Instead a combination of investment in public transport, walking and cycling opportunities and – crucially – demand management should form the basis of transport policy to address rising vehicle use and associated increases in congestion and pollution / carbon emissions. This thinking formed the basis of the 1997 Labour government’s ‘sustainable transport’ policy, but after 13 years in power ministers neither transformed policy nor tackled longstanding transport trends. Our main aim in this paper is to revisit the concept of New Realism and re-examine its potential utility as an agent of change in British transport policy. Notwithstanding the outcome of Labour’s approach to transport policy, we find that the central tenets of the New Realism remain robust and that the main barriers to change are related to broader political and governance issues which suppress radical policy innovation

International meta-analysis of stated preference studies of transportation noise nuisance

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11116-014-9527-4This paper reports the first meta-analysis and most extensive review of stated preference studies of transportation noise nuisance. The meta-analysis is based on a newly compiled data set of 258 values from 49 studies and 23 countries and spanning more than 40 years. Contrast this with the most extensive meta-analysis of the more conventional hedonic pricing approach which includes 53 noise valuations. Moreover, the sample compares favourably with the 444 observations from the very first meta-analysis of the value of travel time savings which is by far the most widely examined parameter in transport planning. A particularly significant finding of the study is that the intertemporal income elasticity is close to one, somewhat larger than the cross-sectional income elasticity typically obtained from individual studies. This demonstrates the importance of distinguishing the effects of 2 income variations that occur over time, which tend to drive policy, from variations across individuals at one point in time, and such findings are typical of those observed in other markets. Importantly, the values derived are transferable across countries and may be used to benchmark existing evidence and provide values in contexts where none exist. Other key results are that values for aircraft noise exceed those for other modes, whilst those exposed to higher noise levels and those who are highly annoyed also have higher values in line with expectations. A wide range of design effects were tested but few were significant and these included the consumer surplus measure, the representation of noise and the context

Controlling the rates of reductively-activated elimination from the (indol-3-yl)methyl position of indolequinones

A series of substituted 3-(4-nitrophenyloxy)methylindole-4,7-diones (Q) were synthesised. The effects of substitution patterns on the indole core on rates of elimination of 4-nitrophenol as a model for drug release following fragmentation of a phenolic ether linker were studied. After reduction to either the radical anion (Q ؒϪ ) or hydroquinone (QH 2 ) elimination of 4-nitrophenol occurred from the (indol-3-yl)methyl position. The half-lives , typical of tumour hypoxia, were t1 -2 ≈ 0.3-1.8 ms, the higher values associated with higher reduction potentials. Half-lives for the autoxidation of the QH 2 were markedly longer at the same oxygen concentration (t1 -2 ≈ 8-102 min) and longer still in the presence of 4 µmol dm Ϫ3 superoxide dismutase (t1 -2 ≈ 8-19 h). Although the indolequinones were able to eliminate 4-nitrophenol with high efficiency only Q ؒϪ radicals of the 3-carbinyl substituted derivatives did so with sufficiently short half-lives (t1 -2 ≈ 41-2 ms) to compete with electron transfer to oxygen and therefore have the potential to target the leaving group to hypoxic tissue. The hydroquinones are not sufficiently oxygen sensitive to prevent the elimination of 4-nitrophenol (t1 -2 ≈ 1.5-3.5 s) even at oxygen concentrations expected in normal tissue. By incorporating electron rich substituents at the indolyl carbinyl position it is possible to control the rate of reductive fragmentation. This may prove an important factor in the design of an indolequinone-based bioreductive drug delivery system

A multi-modal network approach to model public transport accessibility impacts of bicycle-train integration policies

In the Netherlands, the bicycle plays an important in station access and, to a lesser extent, in station egress. There is however fairly little knowledge in the potential effects of bicycle-train integration policies. The aim of this paper is to examine the impacts of bicycle-train integration policies on train ridership and job accessibility for public transport users.MethodsWe extended the Dutch National Transport Model (NVM) by implementing a detailed bicycle network linked to the public transport network, access/egress mode combinations and station specific access and egress penalties by mode and station type derived from a stated choice survey. Furthermore, the effects of several bicycletrain integration policy scenarios were examined for a case study for Randstad South, in the Netherlands, comprising a dense train network with 54 train stations.ConclusionsOur analysis shows that improving the quality of bicycle routes and parking can substantially increase train ridership and potential job accessibility for train users. Large and medium stations are more sensitive to improvements in bicycle-train integration policies, while small stations are more sensitive to improvements in the train level of service

Lichen rehydration in heavy metal polluted environments: Pb modulates the oxidative response of both Ramalina farinacea thalli and its isolated microalgae

Lichens are adapted to desiccation/rehydration and accumulate heavy metals, which induce ROS especially from the photobiont photosynthetic pigments. Although their mechanisms of abiotic stress tolerance are still to be unravelled, they seem related to symbionts' reciprocal upregulation of antioxidant systems. With the aim to study the effect of Pb on oxidative status during rehydration, the kinetics of intracellular ROS, lipid peroxidation and chlorophyll autofluorescence of whole Ramalina farinacea thalli and its isolated microalgae (Trebouxia TR1 and T. TR9) was recorded. A genetic characterization of the microalgae present in the thalli used was also carried out in order to assess possible correlations among the relative abundance of each phycobiont, their individual physiological responses and that of the entire thallus. Unexpectedly, Pb decreased ROS and lipid peroxidation in thalli and its phycobionts, associated with a lower chlorophyll autofluorescence. Each phycobiont showed a particular pattern, but the oxidative response of the thallus paralleled the TR1's, agreeing with the genetic identification of this strain as the predominant phycobiont. We conclude that: (1) the lichen oxidative behaviour seems to be modulated by the predominant phycobiont and (2) Pb evokes in R. farinacea and its phycobionts strong mechanisms to neutralize its own oxidant effects along with those of rehydration