Juan José Arenas: Rigor y sensibilidad en la ingeniería.

La figura de Juan José Arenas destaca de manera imponente en el mundo de la Ingeniería de Caminos, Canales y Puertos. Repasar su biografía es disfrutar de una trayectoria sólida, sin puntos de inflexión y abalada por una multitud de premios y reconocimientos a nivel internacional. Pero más allá de sus obras hay un enorme legado que abarca otros aspectos, como aquellos relacionados con su actividad en la Escuela de Caminos de Santander. Como actual director de la misma pretendo reflexionar sobre el legado y lecciones que podemos aprender de Juan José y su trayectoria en relación tres puntos. El primero relativo a la necesidad de transmitir a la sociedad cuál es nuestra labor y misión como Ingenieros de Caminos, y trabajar para seguir agrandando el nombre de todos aquellos que como Juan José han dedicado su vida a nuestra profesión dejándonos una herencia de un valor incalculable. El segundo aspecto está relacionado con el nuevo escenario definido por el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior y el conocido Proceso de Bolonia y en particular a la acreditación de profesorado, defendiendo la potenciación de criterios que valoren la destacada actividad profesional y que no dejen fuera del sistema a perfiles como el de Juan José Arenas. Por último, hacer mención transferencia tecnológica bidireccional entre universidad-empresa-universidad, un aspecto muy valorado en el actual sistema universitario y en el que Juan José Arenas con su manifiesto carácter emprendedor desarrolló de forma notoria. Si algo recodamos todos en la Escuela de Caminos de Santander y que a su vez define toda la obra y vida de Juan José, es el rigor y sensibilidad que deberíamos tener como ingenieros.Juan Jose Arenas stands out in an impressive way in the world of the Civil Engineering. To review his biography is to enjoy a so/id trajectory, without inlection points and overcome by a multitude of awards and recognitions at an international level. But beyond his works and projects there is an enormous legacy that covers other aspects, such as those related to his activity in the School of Civil Engineering of Santander. As current director of the same intend to relect on the legacy and lessons we can learn from Juan José and his career in relation to three points. The irst one related to the need to transmit to society what our work and mission is as Civil Engineers, and work to continue enlarging the name of all those who, like Juan José, have dedicated their lives to our profession, leaving us a heritage of incalculable value. The second aspect is related to the new scenario deined by the European Higher Education Area and the well-known Bologna Process and in particular to the accreditation of teaching staff, defending the strengthening of criteria that value the outstanding professional activity and that do not leave outside the system to proiles like Juan José Arenas. Finally, mention should be made of the bidirectional technology transfer between university- company-university, an aspec highly valued in the current university system and in which Juan José Arenas, with his manifest entrepreneurial character, developed in a notorious manner. If we remember something in the School of Civil Engineering of Santander and that deines all the work and life of Juan José, it is the rigor and sensitivity that we should have as engineers.

The positive impacts of designing transition between traffic signal plans considering social cost

ABSTRACT: Traffic congestion generates social costs associated with additional travel time, fuel consumption and gas emissions, among others externalities. The design and implementation of policies and strategies for improving the efficiency of transport systems and mobility in cities may lead to a potential reduction of such externalities. Traffic signals plans are defined as the process of switching from one timing plan to another. The optimal implementation of the transition between signal plans is a strategy to improve the performance of signal systems. However, despite their importance, few studies have addressed it from a social approach using mathematical modelling and optimisation techniques. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the impacts of implementing the transition between signal timing plans designed from a mathematical model that minimises social costs (delays, air pollution emissions and fuel consumption). Impacts are evaluated for an arterial corridor traffic lights intersections in the city of Santander (Spain). The performance for reducing social costs of the proposed model was compared with other traditional methods. Results show that the proposed model overperforms the traditional approaches, reducing the level of externalities and social costs. Consideration of social costs when designing a transition between signal plans is a good tool to be considered by traffic planners

A methodology for assessing the urban supply of on-street delivery bays

ABSTRACT: The loading and unloading operations carried out by transport and logistics operators have a strong impact on city mobility if they are not performed correctly. If loading/unloading bays, i.e., delivery bays (DB), are not available for freight vehicle operations, operators may opt to double park or park on the sidewalk where there is no strong enforcement of these laws, with significant impact on congestion. This paper proposes a methodology for verifying and designing the number of delivery bays needed for freight vehicles for not interfere with cars or pedestrians. The methodology consists of two stages: in the first stage, an initial estimation is made using queueing theory. Subsequently, in the second stage, using such tentative scenario, in order to take into account the system stochasticity involving different entities, a discrete event simulation is performed to more realistically verify and upgrade (if necessary) the number of delivery bays to obtain the expected outcomes. The methodology was applied in the inner area of Santander (Spain). The study area was subdivided into 29 zones where the methodology was applied individually. The results indicated that none of these zones currently have an optimal number of delivery bays to satisfy demand. In some zones, there is an excess of delivery bays, although in most of them, there is a deficit which can cause significant impacts on traffic. The method proposed can be an effective tool to be used by city planners for improving freight operations in urban areas limiting the negative impacts produced in terms of internal and external costs

Illegal Use of Loading Bays and Its Impact on the Use of Public Space

Loading bays are public spaces reserved for the operation of freight vehicles, and it is well known that there are significant problems concerning their use due to non-compliance with existing regulations. Unlawful use of loading bays leads to double parking, or to parking on the pavement or in restricted areas. This article has two objectives: Firstly, the study and analysis of the use of loading bays (type of demand, parking duration, illegal use, etc.), as well as their use according to their morphology. Secondly, the quantitative assessment of the influence of illegal use with regard to the efficient use of public urban space. Illegal use is quantitatively assessed by calculating the number of loading bays that are used inappropriately and the surface area (m2) of public space used incorrectly. In the analysis carried out in the city of Santander (Spain), it can be observed that the urban morphology of loading zones influences their use: The greater the capacity of the loading zone, the less efficient is its use. Moreover, it is observed that the degree of illegal use within loading zones is very high and that illegally excessive parking durations have a greater impact on the use of the ground space than vehicle type

Urban freight transport demand: transferability of survey results analysis and models

ABSTRACT: The present research addresses the issue of data collection, models and methods for urban freight transport demand investigation and the difficulties related to costs and the fact that few data are often available. Then, it becomes important to investigate the transferability of results in order to improve their use and to assess whether the obtained results is dependent on any particular condition, and whether the lessons learnt in one city can be transferred to other cities. The transfer of a previously estimated model to a new application context can reduce or eliminate the need for a large data collection and model development effort in the application context. Therefore, the main goal of the research is to compare the freight transport demand in two European cities (Rome and Santander) in order to highlight which similarities and differences depend on some factors and demonstrates that there are many different patterns of urban distribution that need to be taken into account. The analysis is based on some similar surveys carried out in the cities that are also very different in terms of spatial and economic patterns. Furthermore, the available surveys in Rome and Santander have been the basis for the calibration also in Santander of a modelling system for urban freight demand forecast set up in Rome. In such a way, the analysis of model and parameter transferability is also investigated

Design and Evaluation of a Mathematical Optimization Model for Traffic Signal Plan Transition Based on Social Cost Function

Signal plan transition is the process of changing from one timing plan to another. It begins when the first intersection starts adjusting signal timing plans and ends when the last intersection completes adjusting signal timing plans.The transition between signal timing plans is required because traffic patterns change during the day. Therefore, it is necessary to modify signal timing parameters offset, phase split, and cycle length for different expectations of traffic volume. This paper presents an alternative and new mathematical model to enhance the performance of traffic signals coordination at intersections during the transition phase. This model is oriented to describe the transition regarding coordination parameters in all intersections of an arterial road for minimizing the social cost during the transition phase expressed in function of costs due to delays, fuel consumption, and air emissions. An ant colony algorithm was designed, coded, and simulated to find the optimal transition parameters using available data.The model was evaluated based on its ability to minimize social costs during the transition period. Results showed that the proposed method performs better than traditional ones

Planning of site supply transport for port works

RESUMEN. Frecuentemente la ejecución de grandes obras infraestructurales, generan impactos significativos sobre el medio provocados por el transporte de importantes cantidades de material requeridas. Esto se agudiza aun más si la ubicación es en ámbito urbano, provocando serios problemas de congestión de trafico, emisión de contaminantes, polvo y ruido. En este artículo se presenta un modelo de simulación-optimización para la planificación de dicho sistema de transporte de abastecimiento, aplicándolo al caso de la construcción del nuevo puerto de Laredo (España), donde se calcula el reparto modal de carga entre camiones y barcazas con el objetivo de minimizar costes totales del sistema, desde un punto de vista económico, social y medioambiental. El coste total del sistema, se compone de los costes de operación de los camiones, el coste de operación de las barcazas y un coste de tipo social que representa el coste sobre los usuarios de transporte privado por el incremento de la congestión provocada por el flujo de los camiones en la red vial. Todo ello sujeto a restricciones medioambientales, asegurando que los flujos compuestos de vehículos privados y camiones no sobrepasan los limites de emisión de contaminantes y de ruido. Finalmente, consecuencia del análisis de los resultados junto con el pertinente análisis de sensibilidad se presentan una serie de interesantes conclusiones para una correcta gestión del sistema de transporte analizado.ABSTRACT. The construction of large infrastructural works frequently causes considerable environmental impact as a result of the transport of large quantities of materials. This impact is further heightened when the work is located in an urban environment and tends to lead to serious traffic congestion problems together with pollution, dust and noise. This article presents a simulation-optimization model for the planning of site supply transport, applied to the construction of the new Laredo harbour (Spain), which calculates the modal distribution of loads between lorries and barges in order to minimize the total costs of the system from an economic, social and environmental point of view. The total cost of the system is composed of the operational costs of lorries and barges and a public related cost which represents the costs affecting private transport users as a result of traffic jams caused by the increased number of lorries on the roads. This is also subject to environmental restrictions in order to ensure that the combined flow of private vehicles and lorries does not exceed contamination and noise pollution limits. From the analysis of the results and on the basis of the pertinent sensitivity study, a number of interesting conclusions may be reached regarding the correct management of the transport system under study

Integration of Automated Vehicle Location, Fare Control, and Schedule Data for Improved Public Transport Trip Definition

his paper proposes a flexible methodology to improve the definition of each distinct trip carried out in a transport system, integrating the information provided by stop-level events from its automated vehicle location and fare collection systems, and scheduling subsystem information at the initial stop of planned trips. The data are structured; and then corrected and completed utilizing several criteria, including a probabilistic approach based on the distributions of travel and dwell times, aiming to minimize the distortions that appear due to the nature of the available sources. The case study data encompass one year of records from the automated vehicle location, fare collection, and scheduling subsystems in Santander City, Spain. The results are discussed with captures from an interactive web visualization tool that has been developed for this work.This work was supported in part by the Ministerio de Ciencia Innovación y Universidades through the European Regional Development Fund under Project TRA2015-69903-R, in part by the EU Horizon 2020 Projec

Modeling the Impacts of Autonomous Vehicles on Land Use Using a LUTI Model

ABSTRACT: Autonomous vehicles (AVs) can generate major changes in urban systems due to their ability to use road infrastructures more efficiently and shorten trip times. However, there is great uncertainty about these effects and about whether the use of these vehicles will continue to be private, in continuity with the current paradigm, or whether they will become shared (carsharing/ridesharing). In order to try to shed light on these matters, the use of a scenario-based methodology and the evaluation of the scenarios using a land use?transport interaction model (LUTI model TRANSPACE) is proposed. This model allows simulating the impacts that changes in the transport system can generate on the location of households and companies oriented to local demand and accessibility conditions. The obtained results allow us to state that, if AVs would generate a significant increase in the capacity of urban and interurban road infrastructures, the impacts on mobility and on the location of activities could be positive, with a decrease in the distances traveled, trip times, and no evidence of significant urban sprawl processes. However, if these increases in capacity are accompanied by a large augment in the demand for shared journeys by new users (young, elderly) or empty journeys, the positive effects could disappear. Thus, this scenario would imply an increase in trip times, reduced accessibilities, and longer average distances traveled, all of which could cause the unwanted effect of expelling activities from the consolidated urban centerThis work is based on two research projects—“InnovAtive Urban and Transport planning tOols for the implemeNtation of new mObility systeMs based On aUtonomouS driving” – AUTONOMOUS, 2020–2023, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation/ERDF (EU)-State Programme for Knowledge Generation and Scientific and Technological Strengthening of the R&D&i System (PID2019-110355RB-I00); and “Autonomous share mobility for tomorrow’s liveable cities” – MOVI-CITY, 2019–2020, resulting from a Call of the University of Cantabria and funded by the Department of Universities and Research, Environment, and Social Policy of the Government of Cantabria (Spain)