Mode Choice Model for the Elderly: Case of Mashhad City, Iran

Although much research has been conducted on mode choice, very little has focused on the topic for the elderly. Considering the very particular behavior of this population group, different factors are expected to influence their decisions. Travel behavior of the elderly are mostly studied in developed countries. However, developing countries will have a great share of the elderly in a few decades. This paper aims to analyze Mashhad’s elderly travel behavior statistically through the application of multinomial logit model. A questionnaire is then designed based on the literature and the particular sample in Iran and administered to a sample of 499 elderly people through a field survey. The questionnaire contains socio-economic and trip characteristics questions. That includes travel origin and destinations, mode of travel, purpose and frequency of travel, number of the people along with respondents, household size, educational attainment, monthly household expenses, number of cars in the household, elderly car-ownership and having a driving license. To determine the statistically significant variables and Multi Nomial Logit model is used and the results indicate that the elderly in Masshad tend to use public transport more. Also, car users are mostly women and they prefer to be car passengers. Elderly with higher educational attainment and income tend to use car more. Elderly prefer to walk more as they get older and elderly men walk more than women. The walking mode has a negative correlation with the travel distance

Modeling metro users' travel behavior in Tehran: Frequency of Use

Transit-oriented development (TOD), as a sustainable supporting strategy, emphasizes the improvement of public transportation coverage and quality, land use density and diversity around public transportation stations and priority of walking and cycling at station areas. Traffic, environmental and economic problems arising from high growth of private cars, inappropriate distribution of land use, and car-orientation of the metropolitan area, necessitate adoption of TOD. In recent years, extensive research into urban development and transportation has focused on this strategy. This research in which metro stations are considered as a base for development, aims to model metro users' travel behavior and decision-making procedures. In this regard, the research question is: what are the parameters or factors affecting the frequency of travel by metro in a half-mile radius from stations. The radius was determined based on TOD definitions and five-minute walking time to metro stations. A questionnaire was designed in three sections that include travel features by metro, attitudes toward metro, and economic and social characteristics of respondents. Ten stations were selected based on their geographic dispersion in Tehran and a sample of 450 respondents was determined. The questionnaires were surveyed face to face in (half-mile) vicinity of metro stations. Based on a refined sample on 400 questionnaires ordered discrete choice models were considered. Results of descriptive statistics show that 38.5 percent of the sample used metro more than 4 times per week. Trip purpose for 45.7 percent of metro users is work. Access mode to the metro stations for nearly half of the users (47.6 percent) is bus. The results of ordered logit models show a number of significant variables including: habit of using the metro, waiting time in stations, trip purpose (working, shopping and recreation), personal car access mode to the metro station, walking access mode to the metro station and being a housewife

Integrated TOD and Urban Land Use Planning: Evidence from Iran, Kashan

Ignoring mobility in urban development policies leads to social and environmental costs. Therefore, reviewing these policies, in order to reach sustainable mobility, is necessary. This means that urban development programs should be directed towards strategies where walking, cycling and transit are key elements. This approach which is known as transit-oriented development (TOD), focuses on developing communities that push away from the car-oriented urbanism and mobility toward urban forms and land uses that are closely integrated with active, efficient, low-impact and people-oriented urban travel modes: walking, cycling and transit. The focus of this paper is on urban land use planning to shape sustainable mobility in cities, according to TOD principles. First, based on experts and practitioners’ opinions and using a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) model, most important variables and criteria were determined in order to effective TOD-based urbanism planning. Results showed that criteria related to land use are most important factors from experts’ point of view. Then, as the case study from Iran, four bus stations in main squares of the city of Kashan were considered. Information about land use factors around these squares was extracted and analyzed using ArcGIS software, and those stations that are more prone to transit-oriented development, were determined. According to results, 15-Khordad square is an appropriate location for future development. Results can be of help to urban planners in future planning and policies, in order to achieve the sustainable mobility in urban environments

TRAFFIC INFORMATION USE MODELING IN THE CONTEXT OF A DEVELOPING COUNTRY

The use of traffic information in the form of radio reports, as a solution to the problem of congestion, is one of the issues, which is of particular importance for large cities like Tehran. In this study, factors affecting the use of traffic information in the context of a developing country are examined for commuters in the city of Tehran using ordered logit models. Results based on the particular survey designed for this purpose are compared to those of a developed country. Regarding the use of information in the form of listening to the radio traffic reports, the models show that older commuters, commuters who adjust their departure time according to traffic conditions (those who are sensitive to traffic congestion), commuters with longer preferred arrival time at work, and those with longer total travel time, have a greater propensity to listen to traffic reports and use to them

A Direct Demand Model of Departure Time and Mode for Intercity Passenger Trips

Travel demand is well announced as a crucial component of transportation planning. This paper aims to develop a direct demand model, denoting a more acceptable abstraction of reality, for intercity passengers in daily work and leisure trips in Tehran province. The model utilizes combined estimation across the data source, collected in 2011, of travelers originating from the city of Tehran and heading toward two destination clusters: intra-province and inter-province. The paper sketches a way to predict simultaneous choice of departure time and travel mode under the influence of zonal (origin, destination, and residence), individual and household socio-demographic, and trip-related variables. The time frame for analysis of departure time is [5-19] and available modes are auto, taxi, bus, and metro. Multinomial Logit (MNL) and Nested Logit (NL) models as behavioral models are selected from discrete choice family to provide appropriate direct demand structure. Besides, the paper discusses Independent Irrelative Alternative (IIA) assumption of the models and demonstrates choice order of NL; Travelers choose departure time prior to mode at first level and then decide on mode at second level. Finally, travel demand elasticity and marginal effect with respect to travel time, age, and auto cost are also highlighted

Comparative Analysis of Safety Performance Indicators Based on Inductive Loop Detector Data

Conflicts in traffic stream have been detected by different safety performance indicators. This study aims to empirically investigate the differences between different indicators in detecting rear-end conflicts and assessing the risk in an uninterrupted flow. Micro-level data of a 24-hr traffic stream (including 6,657 vehicles) were captured using inductive loop detectors installed on a rural freeway section. Different indicators (Time Headway (H), Time to Collision (TTC), Proportion of Stopping Distance (PSD), Deceleration Rate to Avoid Collision (DRAC) and Stopping Distance Index (SDI)) were used to measure each car following event in a bivalent state (safe/unsafe). Unsafe events associated with each indicator were detected and common unsafe events characterized by different indicators were identified. Temporal distributions of rear-end collision risks associated with each indicator at 15-min intervals were also compared. Finally, the 15-min risk values based on different indicators were categorized and compared across three levels (Low, Medium and High). Data mining and statistical techniques showed that while SDI is the single most conservative indicator, DRAC and TTC detect a few risky events but very equal ones. In almost all conflicts associated with TTC, headway is still lower than the critical threshold. However, there exist considerable risky events based on headway which are still safe according to TTC. Comparison of PSD and TTC also declares that almost all conflicts associated with TTC are also risky according to PSD

Role of Children in Parents’ Car Use Behavior

This paper demonstrated how related variables of children’s school trips and the principle factors of the theory of planned behavior(TPB) influence parents’ car use behavior along with socio demographic factors. An urban Iranian sample from Tehran, consisting of parents (men and women) with primary-school children was asked to fill in physical questionnaires. Sample characteristics next revealed by descriptive statistics. A block regression analysis was utilized to explore first; how TPB’s factors and second; how children’s transportation’s related-variables increase the explained variance of parents’ car use behavior beyond socio- demographic factors. Results show both TPB’s factors and children’s transportation block increased the explained variance of parents’ car use behavior beyond socio demographic variables. Finally results are discussed due to the hierarchy pattern in the models

Effect of double-pass and single-pass architecture in Brillouin-Raman fiber laser

We experimentally investigate effect of double pass and single pass configuration in multi-wavelength Brillouin-Raman fiber laser in a linear cavity. Up to 110 flat amplitude multi-wavelengths Brillouin Stokes with spacing of 0.16 nm within wavelength range of 1554 to 1570 nm in single pass configuration are generated. The generated wavelengths with OSNR 25 dB compared with that of double pass architecture. Single space configuration has a superior performance due to double line spacing, higher OSNR, wider bandwidth and high stability than that of double pass configuration. Lasing lines in double pass has 0.08 nm space due to the increment of Rayleigh scattering in double pass configuration

Effect of Erbium doped fiber location on double spacing multi-wavelength Brillouin-Erbium fiber laser performance

Two different locations of Erbium Doped Fiber (EDF) in dual ring configuration to generate double frequency shifted of multiwavelength Brillouin Erbium fiber laser (BEFL) have been investigated. The experimental results show that the location of EDF has important roles to determine the number of output Stoke signals and tuning range. Beside the Erbium gain, the Brillouin gain also contributes to the performance of BEFL. By putting the EDFA next to the BP, more Stokes lines with wider tuning range were obtained compare by putting the EDF next to the gain medium was observed

Evaluation of optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) encoding techniques for free space optics (FSO)

Free space optics (FSO) was found to have numerous applications in next generation networks, whilst optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) can be used to provide many facilities and its implementation in FSO environment has attracted several researchers. The aim of this paper is to express the achievements of these studies comprising proposed techniques in mitigating the effect of turbulence on the system. Also some defects of the mentioned studies are discussed, and suggestions for potential future researches will be provided. Furthermore, spectral amplitude coding (SAC) is implemented in FSO utilizing two different sources: light-emitting diode (LED) and laser array and their performances is compared via simulation. It is shown that considering bit error rate (BER) being equal to 10-3 as a threshold, in strong turbulence the maximum achieved distance with LED is 800 m. In the same situation using laser array can improve the distance up to 1600 m