Estudio de indicadores de explotación y conservación en la concesión de la carretera CV-35, provincia de Valencia. Análisis y propuestas de mejora

[ES] La CV-35 es una autovía de la provincia de Valencia que está gestionada mediante un Peaje en Sombra. De esta forma, la Generalitat Valenciana bonifica o penaliza al Concesionario en la liquidación anual del canon pendiente atendiendo a unos indicadores de calidad: El Índice de Peligrosidad, el Coeficiente de Rozamiento transversal (CRT), el Índice de Regularidad Internacional (IRI), congestiones de la vía, la capacidad u otros aspectos no medidos con indicadores como el grado de conservación. En este Trabajo Final de Máster se contextualiza a la CV-35 en referencia a los peajes en sombra en carreteras del Estado o de otras Comunidades Autónomas para conocer qué tratamiento hacen de sus indicadores, previo estudio de los indicadores de la concesión, definiéndolos, calculándolos, realizando un análisis y estableciendo posibles propuestas de mejora de los mismos. Además se proponen nuevos indicadores que puedan sustituir, mejorar o complementar a los ya existentes. Se concluye que existen problemas de interpretación de algunos indicadores como el IRI o el CRT debido a su redacción o inconvenientes en su gestión o inspección, como el índice de congestión de la vía y de la capacidad y nivel de servicio.[CA] La CV-35 és una autovia de la província de València que està gestionada per mitjà d'un Peatge en Ombra. D'esta manera, la Generalitat Valenciana bonifica o penalitza al Concessionari en la liquidació anual del cànon pendent atenent a uns indicadors de qualitat: L'Índex de Perillositat, el Coeficient de Fregament transversal (CRT) , l'Índex de Regularitat Internacional (IRI) , així com depenent de les congestions de la via, la capacitat o altres aspectes no mesurats amb indicadors com el grau de conservació. En este Treball Final de Màster es contextualitza a la CV-35 en referència als peatges en ombra en carreteres de l'Estat o d'altres comunitats autònomes per a conéixer quin tractament fan dels seus indicadors, previ estudi dels indicadors de la concessió, definint-los, calculant-los, realitzant una anàlisi i establint possibles propostes de millora dels mateixos. A més es proposen nous indicadors. Es conclou que hi ha problemes d'interpretació d'alguns indicadors com l'IRI o el CRT a causa de la seua redacció o inconvenients en la seua gestió o inspecció, com l'índex de congestió de la via i de la capacitat i nivell de servici.[EN] The CV-35 is a highway in the province of Valencia that is managed by a Shadow Toll. In this way, the Generalitat Valenciana credtis or penalizes to the licenced company in the annual settlement of the outstanding royalty according to some quality indicators: the Hazard Index, the Crossing Friction Coefficient (CRT), the International Regularity Index (IRI), congestion of the road, capacity or other aspects not measured with indicators such as the degree of conservation. In this Final Master's Work, CV-35 is contextualized in reference to shaded tolls roads in the State Gobernment network or other Autonomous Communities to know what treatment they make of their indicators. After studying the indicators of the concession, defining them, calculating them, carrying out an analysis and establishing possible suggestions to improve the indicators. In addition to that, new indicators are proposed to replace, improve or complement existing indicators It is concluded that there are problems of interpretation with some indicators such as IRI or CRT due to their wording or inconveniences in their management or inspection, such as the track congestion index and the capacity and level of service.Monzón Hernández, A. (2017). Estudio de indicadores de explotación y conservación en la concesión de la carretera CV-35, provincia de Valencia. Análisis y propuestas de mejora. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/90536Archivo delegad

Glial alterations in human prion diseases

Background: Neuroinflammation has recently been proposed to be a major component of neurodegenerative diseases. The aim of this study was to determine how the interaction between microglia and astroglia, which are the primary immune cell populations in the brain, and pathological prion protein (PrPsc) could influence the development and propagation of this neurodegenerative disease. Because a relevant role for glial response in prion disease has been clearly demonstrated in our previous studies using the natural animal model, a similar approach has been taken here using the natural human model. Methods: A morphological approach has been developed to analyze cerebellar samples from patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in comparison with healthy control cases. Histopathological lesions were assessed, and PrPsc, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and reactive microglia were immunolabelled by specific antibodies. Furthermore, co-location studies using confocal microscopy were performed to determine the possible relationships between both types of glial cells in all samples. Results: The results presented in this study support the involvement of both types of glial cells in CJD. Evidence of increased astrocyte and microglia reactivity can be observed in all CJD cases, and a close relationship between the types of glia is demonstrated by co-location studies. Conclusion: Proteinopathies such as Alzheimer, Parkinson, and Huntington diseases, where aberrant proteins spread throughout the brain during disease progression, may share a molecular basis and mechanisms of propagation. Therefore, studies elucidating the interaction between gliosis and prion propagation may be relevant to these other neurodegenerative diseases and may provide new targets for therapeutic intervention

Real time passenger information systems and quality of bus services

One of the main problems in urban areas is the steady growth in car ownership and traffic levels. Therefore, the challenge of sustainability is focused on a shift of the demand for mobility from cars to collective means of transport. For this end, buses are a key element of the public transport systems. In this respect Real Time Passenger Information (RTPI) systems help citizens change their travel behaviour towards more sustainable transport modes. This paper provides an assessment methodology which evaluates how RTPI systems improve the quality of bus services in two European cities, Madrid and Bremerhaven. In the case of Madrid, bus punctuality has increased by 3%. Regarding the travellers perception, Madrid raised its quality of service by 6% while Bremerhaven increased by 13%. On the other hand, the users ́ perception of Public Transport (PT) image increased by 14%

Efficient urban interchanges: the City-HUB model

Multimodal trips are increasing in metropolitan areas, making public transport less attractive. There is a need for integration in order to achieve effective seamless mobility. One dimension of integration is to reduce the disruption of transfer among modes and interchanges appear as the best solution when big number of travellers has to transfer. The City-HUB 7FP project has developed a three years research for deploying new interchanges and improving existing ones. It starts by identifying two groups of dimensions that define Interchange key features. The first dimension is related to Physical&Size, including passenger demand, modes of transport, services and facilities and location in the city. The second dimension is related to Local Impacts such as developing of new activities –housing, offices, nearby shopping-, jobs creation and its connection with the local Development Plan. The combination of the elements of the two dimensions define the following key features: building design, stakeholders’ involvement and the type of business model. The findings are based on interviews to practitioners undertaken in 26 selected interchanges in 9 European countries. According to these key features, the interchange should organize the space among three different zones: access-egress zone; facilities zone; and arrival-departure-transfer zone. The first one is where links to the local area and access to transport modes are focused. The last one caters for intermodal transfers. Travel information and intermodal services are spread across both zones as well as the facilities and retailing. Users’ perceptions should be collected to improve interchange efficiency. To that end a travellers’ attitudinal survey has been carried out in interchanges in 5 European cities. From the user point of view the most important factors identified in the surveys are safety and security, transfer conditions, emergency situation, information, design, services&facilities, environmental quality and comfort of waiting time. All these elements define the interchange from two different perspectives: “as a transport node” and “as a place”. The first one is related to the functionality as a node of the transport network; the second includes all the features for make the transfer experience more attractive and efficient. The project has identified a number of recommendations for developing urban transport interchanges. Some of them refers to users, other to operators and the third part deals with local impacts, governance issues and business models. All these findings have served to develop an integrated concept of interchange: City-HUB mode

Quality of bus services performance: benefits of real time passenger information systems

One of the main problems in urban areas is the steady growth in car ownership and traffic levels. Therefore, the challenge of sustainability is focused on a shift of the demand for mobility from cars to collective means of transport. For this purpose, buses are a key element of the public transport systems. In this respect Real Time Passenger Information (RTPI) systems help people change their travel behaviour towards more sustainable transport modes. This paper provides an assessment methodology which evaluates how RTPI systems improve the quality of bus services performance in two European cities, Madrid and Bremerhaven. In the case of Madrid, bus punctuality has increased by 3%. Regarding the travellers perception, Madrid raised its quality of service by 6% while Bremerhaven increased by 13%. On the other hand, the users¿ perception of Public Transport (PT) image increased by 14%

Urban transport interchanges: Importance-Performance analysis for evaluating perceived quality

As the world becomes more urbanised, public transport in cities must seek to provide viable alternatives to individual car transport. At an urban level, interchanges in public transport networks provide easy transfers between and within different transport modes and facilitate seamless travel. This study proposes a methodological framework with which to identify the factors that travellers view as key elements of an urban transport interchange. An attitudinal survey was undertaken in order to collect information about users? needs and perceptions in the Moncloa interchange in Madrid, Spain. The results obtained from an Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) show that aspects related to the signposting of different facilities and transport services, the internal design of the interchange and the surrounding area, and safety and security are the greatest strengths of the interchange

Decarbonization of toll plazas: impact assessment of toll collection system management

Transport climate change impacts have become a worldwide concern. The use of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) could contribute to a more effective use of resources in toll road networks. Management of toll plazas is central to the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as it is there that bottlenecks and congestion occur. This study focuses on management strategies aimed at reducing climate change impacts of toll plazas by managing toll collection systems. These strategies are based on the use of different collection system technologies – Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) and Open Road Tolling (ORT) – and on queue management. The carbon footprint of various toll plazas is determined by a proposed integrated methodology which estimates the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of the different operational stages at toll plazas (deceleration, service time, acceleration, and queuing) for the different toll collection systems. To validate the methodology, two main-line toll plazas of a Spanish toll highway were evaluated. The findings reveal that the application of new technologies to toll collection systems is an effective management strategy from an environmental point of view. The case studies revealed that ORT systems lead to savings of up to 70% of CO2 emissions at toll plazas, while ETC systems save 20% comparing to the manual ones. Furthermore, queue management can offer a 16% emissions savings when queue time is reduced by 116 seconds. The integrated methodology provides an efficient environmental management tool for toll plazas. The use of new technologies is the future of the decarbonization of toll plazas

Energy- and environmentally efficient road management: The case of the Spanish motorway network

Transport is responsible for 41% of CO2 emissions in Spain, and around 65% of that figure is due to road traffic. Tolled motorways are currently managed according to economic criteria: minimizing operational costs and maximizing revenues from tolls. Within this framework, this paper develops a new methodology for managing motorways based on a target of maximum energy efficiency. It includes technological and demand-driven policies, which are applied to two case studies. Various conclusions emerge from this study. One is, that the use of intelligent payment systems is recommended; and another, is that the most sustainable policy would involve defining the most efficient strategy for each motorway section, including the maximum use of its capacity, the toll level which attracts the most vehicles, and the optimum speed limit for each type of vehicle