Optimisation of policies for transport integration in metropolitan areas: report on work packages 30 and 40

The overall objectives of Project OPTIMA are:- (i) to identify optimal urban transport strategies for a range of urban areas within the EU; (ii) to compare the strategies which are specified as optimal in different cities, and to assess the reasons for these differences; (iii) to assess the acceptability and feasibility of implementation of these strategies both in the case study cities and more widely in the EU, and (iv) to use the results to provide more general guidance on urban transport policy within the EU. There is a wide range of objectives of transport policy in urban areas, but most can be grouped under the broad headings of economic efficiency, including economic development, on the one hand, and sustainability, including environment, safety, equity and quality of life, on the other. It is now generally accepted that the overall strategy for achieving these objectives must include an element of reduction of private car use and transfer of travel to other modes. The policy instruments for achieving these objectives can include infrastructure provision, management measures to enhance other modes and to restrict car use, and pricing measures to make public transport more attractive and to increase the marginal cost of car use. It is now widely accepted that the most appropriate strategy will involve several of these measures, combined in an integrated way which emphasises the synergy between them. The most appropriate strategy for a city will depend on its size, the current built form, topography, transport infrastructure and patterns of use; levels of car ownership, congestion and projected growth in travel; transport policy instruments already in use; and the acceptability of other measures in political and legislative terms. These will differ from city to city. Policy advice cannot therefore be generalised, but must be developed for a range of different types of city. This is the approach adopted in this study, in which nine different cities in five countries (Edinburgh, Merseyside, Vienna, Eisenstadt, Trams@, Oslo, Helsinki, Torino and Salerno) have been studied in detail, using a common study methodology. This report summarises the output of two work packages in OPTIMA: WP30: Test Combinations of Policy Instruments WP40: Identify Optim

Theological and Scientific Arguments for the Occurrence of Death Before Human Sin

Messiah College faculty scholarship papers : submitted by faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for promotion to the rank of professo

Improving the capabilities and use of strategic decision making tools.

Recent research has shown that a substantial proportion of local authorities do not use models for strategy formulation or scheme design and appraisal. Models were perceived to be unable to reflect the range of policy instruments which local authorities now use; and were seen as too complex for local authority staff and stakeholders to use themselves. To overcome these issues the MARS model has been enhanced to provide a transparent and easy to use tool with a flight simulator front-end. This paper describes the model along with improvements to the representation of public transport by inclusion of quality and crowding factors and the incorporation of urban heavy rail

Designing optimal urban transport strategies : the role of individual policy instruments and the impact of financial constraints

This paper presents a methodology for the design of optimal transport strategies and the case study results of the methodology for the City of Edinburgh, using the two multi-modal transport/land-use models MARS and TPM. First, a range of policy instruments are optimised in turn and their relative impacts explored. Second, optimisations with and without financial constraints are performed and compared. Although both models produce similar optimal policies, the relative contribution of the instruments differs between models as does the impact on outcome indicators. It is also shown that by careful design it is possible to identify a strategy which costs no more than the do-minimum but which can generate substantial additional benefits. The optimisation methodology is found to be robust, and is able to be used with different transport models, and with and without financial constraints

Changing Structures Induce Changing Behaviour: Streetscape Revitalisation and Human Mobility

The preceding contributions of Frey and Emberger in this workshop prepare the theory-based path from the layer-based model of human behaviour to the acting principles of a human-centered design of urban spaces, streetscapes and transport structures. Designing transport infrastructures and urban streetscapes poses an ethical challenge for the human being a part of a socio-technical regime. Not only are humans of course in every stage of life and health every-day users of these designed structures, some also act as planning agents of the very same – either as planners or in a public participation. Densely intertwined with the ethics question of properly designing urban mobility structures is the question on where and how to start the change of structures. Overcoming mental barriers among planners and decision makers as well as users not yet accustomed to a changed streetscape pose a considerable challenge for shaping society’s dynamically evolving urban transport regimes. Human mobility behaviour is subject to “fast” adaptability, if change management techniques are applied, ie. comprehensive information is available on a wide scale beforehand of the intervention. As large scale sporting events of the past have shown, such quasi-permanent transformation (closures for vehicular traffic) evoke the transport system’s flexibility in reacting on such events: mobility patterns adapt. Because this paper claims to provide a synopsis of evidence and examples of changes in behaviour due to changed structures, it culminates with four sets of examples following these main lines of thought: (1) Example: Active modes friendly settlement structures (2) Example: Commuting infrastructure (3) Example: Parking place pricing and and locations (4) Example: Rredifining road space usage We conclude with highlighting the behavioural flexibility of mobility, the impacts of such behavioural changes from the urban dwellers’ perspectives and the importance of making such changes conceivable beforehand

Indicators of Consumers' Preferences for Bio-Based Apparel: a German Case Study with a Functional Rain Jacket Made of Bioplastic

Plastic pollution is an increasing global problem, however, replacing fossil resources with bioplastics made from renewable resources could be part of the solution. Currently, no research analyzing the influencing factors for consumers' preferences for functional apparel made of bioplastic material could be found. To close this gap in research, we conducted this study with a sample of 1673 participants that were representative of the German population aged 16 years and above. We conducted a choice based conjoint analysis for a bio-based rain jacket and measured psychographic indicators that were used as covariates in the statistical estimation of participants’ preferences for the rain jacket. Our results show the high level of importance of prior product experience, Green Consumer Values and attitude towards bioplastic for selecting bio-based apparel, and thus give first insights related to the influence of psychographic characteristics of consumers when selecting bio-based apparel

Total ionizing dose test with DEPFET sensors for Athena's WFI

The focal plane of Athena's WFI consists of spectroscopic single photon X-ray detectors that contain arrays of DEPFETs (DEpleted P-channel Field-Effect Transistor) as well as ASICs that are used for steering, readout and analog signal shaping. These components have to be examined regarding the effect of ionizing radiation. A Total Ionizing Dose (TID) test was done with prototype detector modules with 64x64 DEPFETs and one SWITCHER and VERITAS ASIC each. The current design of the WFI detector head features a proton shield equivalent to 4 cm of aluminum in order to prevent a strong increase of leakage current in the fully depleted 450 $\mu$m thick bulk of the sensor. This keeps the expected doses and dose rates during the nominal mission relatively low ($\sim$5 Gy). It is nevertheless important to study the current system in a dedicated TID test in order to exclude unforeseen effects and to study any radiation related changes that can have an effect on the very sensitive readout chain and the detector performance. The combination of low doses, low dose rates, low operating temperature (<-60{\deg}C) but high sensitivity on small changes of the threshold voltages represent somehow unusual boundary conditions in comparison to TID tests for standard radiation hard electronic components. Under these circumstances it was found beneficial to do the test in our own laboratory with an X-ray source in order to realize irradiation during nominal operation conditions. Furthermore, it facilitated to take annealing effects into account. Reasonably accurate dosimetry is achieved by measuring the X-ray spectrum and intensity with the device under test. After irradiation to a total dose of 14 Gy and subsequent annealing the threshold voltage of the DEPFETs were shifted by a mean value of 80 mV, the performance remained unchanged apart from a slight increase in readout noise by 10%.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, to appear in SPIE Proceeding of Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 202

La Tradición Clásica en la novela Phädra (1885) de Malwida von Meysenbug

Today very few are familiar with Malwida von Meysenbug (1816-1903), andfewer still with her novel Phädra (1885). For this reason the present study, on the one hand,aims to recover and spread knowledge about the author and her rich literary output while,on the other hand, analyse the presence and treatment of Greco-Roman mythology in heronly work that is clearly based on Classical Tradition.Actualmente son muy pocos los que conocen a Malwida von Meysenbug (18161903), y menos todavía los que conocen su novela Phädra (1885). Por ello, el presente estudio pretende, por un lado, recuperar y difundir el conocimiento de la autora y su rica producción literaria y, por otro, analizar la presencia y el tratamiento de la mitología grecorromana en la que es su única obra de clara inspiración clásica