Mobiliteit van werknemers en studenten van de UT

Mobiliteitsmanagement is in Nederland enorm in beweging. Dit is in gang gezet door de landelijke Taskforce Mobiliteitsmanagement. Inmiddels hebben vele tientallen werkgevers in Nederland zich verbonden aan een convenant, ook in Twente is dat het geval. De Universiteit Twente is een van 24 werkgevers in de regio Twente die zich heeft verbonden aan het convenant Twente Mobiel, Samen Slim Werken. Daarmee wil de UT een voortrekkersrol vervullen voor wat betreft mobiliteitsmanagementmaatregelen. Het doel van het convenant is reductie van het aantal autokilometers in de spits met gemiddeld 5% rond het jaar 2012

Quantification of the risk of Phytophthora dieback in The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage area

Biological invasions exert great pressure on natural ecosystems and conservation areas, the latter of which have been established to conserve biodiversity. The presence of invasive species in natural ecosystems disrupts evolutionary processes, alters species abundance and can potentially lead to extinction (Mack et al., 2000; Crowl et al., 2008). When an invasive species is the cause of plant disease, the potential for that pathogen to survive in a new environment and the expectation of the impacts it may cause, can be estimated from locations where it already occurs. Understanding the dynamics of disease is important for management and research alike, and will hopefully make way for a proactive rather than reactive response. Disease in natural Australian ecosystems caused by the invasive species Phytophthora cinnamomi has been recognised for nearly 100 years (Newhook and Podger, 1972); its devastating impacts have lead to the disease syndrome, Phytophthora dieback, being classified as a Key Threatening Process by the Australian Federal Government (Commonwealth of Australia, 2005). Yet, the assessment of potential disease establishment, that is, disease risk, is limited. This remains true for the globally significant Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (GBMWHA) in New South Wales, a centre of plant and animal conservation. Not only is the understanding of the pathogen distribution limited, so too is knowledge of the potential impacts on flora and the influence climate change may have on disease expression. Management of Phytophthora dieback in the GBMWHA is made increasingly complex by the rugged and remote nature of much of the World Heritage Area, as well as competing demands from tourism, recreation and the impacts of fire and other introduced species. This study aims to address some of these complexities by establishing the suitability of the GBMWHA to P. cinnamomi, its current distribution and the potential for disease. Additionally, with the difficulty of accessing much of the GBMWHA and the risk of disease transmission in mind, an alternate approach to disease identification is trialed. The first task of this project, was concerned with understanding the potential distribution of P. cinnamomi within the GBMWHA using mechanistic modelling and information on the pathogen’s ecology. Most of the GBMHWA was found to be suitable, leading to the acceptance of the first hypothesis that the climatic and topographic conditions of the GBMWHA are conducive to P. cinnamomi establishment. The most conducive areas were characterised by high soil wetness, high rainfall and moderate temperatures, while the areas least conducive were conversely hotter and drier. Although iv the model appeared to overpredict into areas the pathogen was not found, increasing distribution risk was associated with increasing isolations, possibly indicating that the pathogen is yet to reach its potential niche. The modelled distribution of P. cinnamomi was then used to inform a field investigation to determine the actual distribution in the GBMWHA and assess the impact of the pathogen on vegetation communities and individuals. As an invasive species, the distribution of P. cinnamomi was hypothesised to be primarily found in locations with high anthropogenic activity; however it was isolated extensively from remote areas, leading to the rejection of this hypothesis. Disease was never the less expected, albeit sporadic, as per disease expression in other vegetation communities in New South Wales (Arentz, 1974; Walsh et al., 2006; Howard, 2008). Heathland communities that often have a higher incidence of disease (McDougall and Summerell, 2003), had a high rate of pathogen isolation, as well as clear indications of disease in the GBMWHA. Additionally, freshwater wetlands, many of which are endangered ecological communities under Commonwealth and State legislation, had a high rate of pathogen isolation also. The results collected during the field work were then utilised to assess the risk of Phytophthora dieback occurring in the GBMWHA within the context of the disease triangle. The distribution of P. cinnamomi was combined with models of over 130 individual host species to produce a spatially explicit model, quantifying the risk of disease. That a large portion of the GBMWHA is at risk of Phytophthora dieback was not the case, and as such this hypothesis was rejected. Although much of the World Heritage Area had a least some level of risk, greatest risk was associated with a few small areas that occurred at higher elevations with suitable rainfall and temperature conditions. Unfortunately, many of these locations were associated with high levels of tourism and recreation, highlighting the potential for anthropogenic dispersal of P. cinnamomi into, around and out of the GBMWHA. Disease itself has a temporal element which cannot be quantified in one set of field results and as disease spreads the results become outdated quickly (O'Gara et al., 2005). Field-based assessments of disease are expensive and time consuming, and in area as vast and rugged as the GBMWHA, difficult and potentially dangerous. Real-time information on the impacts of disease are therefore needed by land managers to efficiently deploy management strategies (O'Gara et al., 2005). Remote sensing offers an alternative means of assessment not requiring site entry. Vegetation condition can be assessed remotely in all manner of plant systems including the detection and quantification of disease. As such, it was hypothesised here that infection caused by P. cinnamomi could be detected fro

Effecten milieudifferentiatie basistarieven kilometerprijs

De Nederlandse overheid heeft vergevorderde plannen ontwikkeld voor Anders Betalen voor Mobiliteit. Daarbij worden aankoop- en jaarlijkse bezitsbelastingen afgeschaft en een heffing per gereden kilometer geïntroduceerd. Deze ‘kilometerprijs’ wordt nationaal ingevoerd op alle wegen. De prijs bestaat uit een basistarief met differentiatie naar de milieukenmerken van de auto. Daarnaast wordt een spitstarief op bepaalde filegevoelige locaties geïntroduceerd. In het paper worden de effecten van het basistarief op het autopark, het autogebruik en de emissies beschreven. Het dynamische automarktmodel Dynamo versie 2.1 is gebruikt om de effecten te bepalen. Het paper laat zien dat op langere termijn het autobezit met 2% zal groeien en het totaal aantal autokilometers met 12-13% zal dalen als gevolg van invoering van het basistarief. Daarnaast zijn de effecten op het autopark alsmede op vervuiling aanzienlijk

Accessibility, land use and transport. Accessibility evaluation of land-use and transport developments and policy strategies

How can accessibility be defined? How useful are different accessibility approaches in evaluating land-use and transport policy strategies? How can the economic benefits associated with accessibility changes be measured? What are the accessibility benefits of having a public transport service available as a transport option for unexpected future use? How can the land-use, transport and accessibility impacts of Dutch compact urbanisation policies implemented in the last decades be measured? The research presented in this thesis seeks to answer these and related questions. Results suggest that current practices in evaluating accessibility in the Netherlands can be improved using geographical accessibility measures within an integrated land-use/transport perspective. Another major outcome is formed by the possible significant benefits associated with option use of public transport services in addition to use and non-use benefits traditionally included in transport policy appraisal. Residents in the service area of regional railway links seemed to be willing to pay significant amounts for the continued availability of the railway links for unexpected future use. Dutch compact urbanisation policies were also shown to have contributed to the land-use and transport-related intentions of the Dutch national government. Without compact urban development urban sprawl would likely have been greater, resulting in greater car use and related environmental impacts, higher congestion and lower accessibility levels, along with stronger fragmentation of wildlife habitats

Gathering travel behaviour via a smartphone: a pilot study of the Dutch mobile mobility panel

Objective: With the rise of Smartphone use, a new method of travel behaviour data acquisition arises as well. The Smartphone, carrying numerous sensors including GPS, may allow for registered data acquisition instead of reported data from the traditional travel diary surveys. In this research, we use an automated trip registration procedure via a Smartphone application in contrast to self-registration. This survey design may cater for a reduction in under registration of trips in comparison to self-registration and therefore provides a benchmark for the quality of the traditional travel diary surveys. However, the use of Smartphone’s in the acquisition of travel behaviour data is still in an emerging phase and the potential is still largely unclear. The objective of this study is to assess the potential of using a Smartphone in the process of data acquisition of travel behaviour by evaluating the accuracy of measurement, battery life and participant burden in a pilot study. Methodology: To assess the potential of using the Smartphone in travel behaviour data acquisition, we will evaluate the functionality and the user experience of the MoveSmarter-application during the pilot study of the Dutch Mobile Mobility Panel (DMMP). This panel, containing over 500 individuals, will be monitored for 4 weeks and are paid for their cooperation. We provide some non-smartphone-users in the sample group with a Smartphone with the MoveSmarter-application installed. The application uses the data from the GPS-sensor in the Smartphone to recognize trips of an individual. After processing the data, information per trip can be extracted such as distance travelled, time spent, (average) speed, modality used and travel purpose. Furthermore, the respondents are asked roughly twice per week to verify and, if needed, to correct the processed trip information using a web interface to ensure the accuracy of the trip overview. Moreover, the respondents are asked to answer some additional questions about their travel choices as well. On a daily basis the respondents are asked if there were any circumstances that influenced their travel choices (e.g. weather conditions and delays in the transport system). Results: The results of the pilot study will show the potential of using Smartphone for the acquisition of travel behaviour data. The results will be analyzed from an accuracy, technical and usability viewpoint. Firstly, the data gathered should accurately reflect the travel behaviour of the participants. All trips made should be detected and an accurate estimation of the trip purpose and modality should be made. Secondly, the Smartphone’s and measurement application should not use too much of the Smartphone’s resources to ensure sufficient battery life (i.e. recharging only once per day). Finally, participating in a travel behaviour study as such should not come with a large burden on the respondent. The evaluation of the pilot study will reflect on the balance between these three elements in using Smartphone’s for travel behaviour research and will provide suggestions for future application in longitudinal travel behaviour research in combination or eventually as a substitute for the widely-used cross-sectional one-day travel surveys