Choice of departure station by railway users

This paper applies a multinomial logit model to the choice of a departure railway station by Dutch railway passengers. This is a relevant theme since about 50% of Dutch railway passengers do not travel via the nearest railway station. The passengers’ choices for departure stations are aggregated at the four digit postal code area level. We applied three functional forms for the underlying systematic utility of a station, namely a linear effect of attributes, cross effect of distance and frequency of service, and a translog formulation on distance and frequency of train services. With 3,498 post code areas and 360 railway stations our analysis found consistent effect sizes for distance, frequency of service, intercity status of the station and the presence of park-and-ride facility on the choice of departure station. The effect of distance on the choice of a departure station declines smoothly. The effect of frequency of service is relatively small compared to the effect of distance. A frequency of service increase by a hundred trains per day is equivalent to being 600 m closer to the station. The Intercity status of the station plays the biggest role in the choice of departure station. It has an equivalent effect of a change in 2 km distance or about a frequency of service of 300 trains per day. In addition, the presence of park-and-ride facility in the station poses a sizable effect in the departure station choice. In most cases its effect reaches about 35% of the intercity status effect

The effects of railway investments in a polycentric city

This paper analyses the effect of railway investment on land prices and land use in a polycentric city under various regulatory regimes of land markets. The introduction of a faster mode of transport (train), accessible in discrete locations leads to an extended city size. The stations of the “fast” mode attract dense residential settlements. As a result, the average residential and commercial land rents increase in both the competitive and segmented land market situations, as compared with the “slow” unimodal transport case. When rail investments only serve one particular centre, this leads to the growth of the advantaged centre at the expense of the other centre. Generally speaking, investment in the fast mode results in city growth and increase in rent receipts. However the effect of the investment for individual centres and their corresponding residential areas depends on the underlying land market assumptions and the level of investment. Distorted land markets lead to increases in commercial rents, but this is more than off-set by the decrease in residential land rent

Returns to density in operations of the Netherlands Railways

Rail cost function analysis has been a popular topic in the (empirical) economics literature over the past decades. Most studies find increasing returns to density for rail companies. The results can, however, be quite diverse. Results for the Dutch National Railway company (NS), for instance, indicate very strong increasing returns to density (Andrikopoulos and Loizides, 1998) or decreasing returns to density (Preston, 1994). Using the, to our knowledge, most comprehensive dataset for the NS, this paper estimates a translog variable cost function for the NS. While the returns to density parameter shows increasing returns, like so many other papers_new, the calculated standard errors shows that the null hypothesis of constant returns may not be rejected

Brain-Computer interfaces for communication:preferences of individuals with locked-in syndrome, caregivers and researchers

Objectives: The development of Brain-Computer Interfaces to restore communication (cBCIs) in people with severe motor impairment ideally relies on a close collaboration between end-users and other stakeholders, such as caregivers and researchers. Awareness about potential differences in opinion between these groups is crucial for development of usable cBCIs and access technology (AT) in general. In this study, we compared the opinions of prospective cBCI users, their caregivers and cBCI researchers regarding: (1) what applications would users like to control with a cBCI; (2) what mental strategies would users prefer to use for cBCI control; and (3) at what stage of their clinical trajectory would users like to be informed about AT and cBCIs.Methods: We collected data from 28 individuals with locked-in syndrome, 29 of their caregivers and 28 cBCI researchers. The questionnaire was supported with animation videos to explain different cBCI concepts, the utility of which was also assessed.Results: Opinions of the three groups were aligned with respect to the most desired cBCI applications, but diverged regarding mental strategies and the timing of being informed about cBCIs. Animation videos were regarded as clear and useful tools to explain cBCIs and mental strategies to end-users and other stakeholders.Conclusions: Disagreements were clear between stakeholders regarding which mental strategies users prefer to use and when they would like to be informed about cBCIs. To move forward in the development and clinical implementation of cBCIs, it will be necessary to align the research agendas with the needs of the end-users and caregivers.</p

The Influence of Education and Socialization on Radicalization: An Exploration of Theoretical Presumptions and Empirical Research

Background and Objective: Research into radicalization does not pay much attention to education. This is remarkable and possibly misses an important influence on the process of radicalization. Therefore this article sets out to explore the relation between education on the one hand and the onset or prevention of radicalization on the other hand. Method: This article is a theoretical literature review. It has analyzed empirical studies-mainly from European countries-about the educational aims, content and style of Muslim parents and parents with (extreme) right-wing sympathies. Results: Research examining similarity in right-wing sympathies between parents and children yields mixed results, but studies among adolescents point to a significant concordance. Research also showed that authoritarian parenting may play a significant role. Similar research among Muslim families was not found. While raising children with distrust and an authoritarian style are prevalent, the impact on adolescents has not been investigated. The empirical literature we reviewed does not give sufficient evidence to conclude that democratic ideal in and an authoritative style of education are conducive to the development of a democratic attitude. Conclusion: There is a knowledge gap with regard to the influence of education on the onset or the prevention of radicalization. Schools and families are underappreciated sources of informal social control and social capital and therefore the gap should be closed. If there is a better understanding of the effect of education, policy as well as interventions can be developed to assist parents and teachers in preventing radicalization. © 2011 The Author(s)