The wider value of rural rail provision

In the context of recent plans for public sector expenditure, the value for money provided by rural public transport is an important issue in Britain and elsewhere, and one aspect of this is the option and non-use value placed on public transport by residents. Whilst there are a small number of studies which have estimated option and non-use values, they rest largely on contingent valuation methods which are subject to dangers of bias, and concentrate on commuter services into cities rather than truly rural services. This paper seeks to overcome these problems by conducting a Stated Preference (SP) experiment in rural communities, which values the provision of rail services and compares this against Post Office provision. We believe that using this approach, and allowing respondents to compare willingness to pay for rail services with that for another important rural service subject to threatened cuts, should produce more reliable results; moreover we achieve this using self completion questionnaires rather than much more expensive interviews. Our results show much lower values for rail than previous studies, though this is to be expected in truly rural areas where the likelihood of commuting by rail is much lower. Other non-use values are greater than option values in this context

Rural road management in Botswana

This paper discusses the management of rural roads in Chobe in Botswana, which are mainly tertiary and access roads. These roads are low-volume roads and mostly gravelled. It was observed that the maintenance management of these roads was based on engineering judgement through visual inspection all over the country, without having any economic or technical analysis. Therefore, a comprehensive pavement management system for rural roads' maintenance is needed in Chobe and also in all the council areas of Botswana, which would consist of data collection, database, use of the Highway Development and Management Model to undertake efficient decision making project preparation, funding, implementation and feedback. A partial implementation of pavement management system in Chobe has been highlighted in this paper. The present analysis reveals that total demand for the road network in Chobe was 41·29 million pula, the backlog was 34·86 million pula and the first-year backlog demand was 20·63 million pula. Furthermore, the analysis found the long-term periodic maintenance strategy for the network at 6·43 million pula when there is no backlog. This huge backlog indicates that roads are not being maintained appropriately. The paper also estimates current road asset value in Chobe at 55·48 million pula. Finally, the paper recommends several solutions for the efficient preservation of road assets in Botswana

The properties of route catchments in orbital - radial cities

In this paper we consider the analytical and geometric properties of route catchments in urban areas in which the transport network consists of a combination of radial routes converging on the city centre and one or more major orbital routes around the city. After defining the basic concepts, we examine in detail the analytical and geometric determination of quickest routes through the city centre versus orbital routing and how these vary with location, speed, and urban transport provision. The results are useful in explorations of urban traffic management policies and for testing the general effectiveness of long-term urban network planning strategies

Feeling Safe in the Dark : Examining the Effect of Entrapment, Lighting Levels, and Gender on Feelings of Safety and Lighting Policy Acceptability

This research examined to what extent physical factors, notably lighting and entrapment (blocked escape), and individual factors, notably gender, affect feelings of safety and the acceptability of reduced lighting levels. The authors reasoned that acceptability of reduced street lighting depends on perceived safety, which in turn depends on entrapment, lighting, and gender. Virtual representations of a residential street were used, systematically manipulating entrapment and lighting levels. As expected, people felt less safe in lower lighting and higher entrapment settings, and these settings were evaluated as less acceptable. Although women perceived a situation as less safe compared with men, the authors found no gender differences in acceptability, which extends previous research. Importantly, as hypothesized, perceived safety mediated the effect of lighting on acceptability levels, suggesting that people can accept lower lighting levels when social safety is not threatened

The Free State Public Transportation System: A Comparison Between Buses and Taxi Services and Adaptation of ICT Solutions

Conference ProceedingsThis paper explores Information Communication Technologies (ICT) for consideration in the public transportation system in the Free State and how the two main types of public transportation; buses and taxis, are likely to adapt to these technologies. Taxis and buses operation and management of operations are completely different; their differences are likely to affect how each adapts to these technologies. Adaptation to the integrated public transportation system by the bus and taxi users, drivers, and operators will be key to successful ICT integration. Focusing on the benefits that ICT solutions have brought in some regions in the world should not overshadow consideration for possible slow adaptation, lack of acceptance or resistance by stakeholders when applied in a different environment and a different public transportation system. This paper considers the different operational scenarios, government involvement and political will, public – driver – operator participation and willingness and ICT awareness. Whether the technologies and applications will be suitable and adaptable to the existing system and their perceived influence on adaptation to an ICT integrated public transportation system from implementation until there are fully embedded into the system are also considered. Feasibility of some ICT solutions, to the decision makers and operators, considering financial, technical and management feasibility and degree of integration will influence the adaptation process

Air pollutants exposure with respiratory symptoms and lung function among primary school children nearby heavy traffic area in Kajang

The high loading of air pollutants in heavy traffic area has urged researcher to pay greater attention as it frequently associated with significant health impact particularly among children. This study aims to determine the association between traffic-related air pollutants and respiratory health among Malay primary school children in heavy traffic area and low traffic area. A cross-sectional comparative study was carried out among Malay children in heavy traffic area (N=69, Kajang) and low traffic area (N=69, Hulu Langat) areas. Air quality monitoring was conducted in 6 primary schools which include parameters of PM10, PM2.5, ultrafine particles(UFP), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2). A set of standardized questionnaire was distributed to obtain respondents’ background information, exposure history and respiratory health symptoms. Spirometry test was carried out to determine the lung function of the respondents. Traffic count survey was conducted at two time intervals per day (7.00- 7.30 am and 1.00-1.30 pm). The result showed that there is a significant difference between concentration of PM10 [t=22.37; p≤0.001], PM2.5 [t=9.73; p≤0.001], UFP [Z= -3.36; p=0.001], NO2 [t=5.73; p=0.001], SO2 [t=6.88; p≤0.001] and CO2 [t=15.67; p≤0.001] in school in exposed and comparative area. Lung function abnormalities found in children in exposed area was 3 times higher than comparative area. All respiratory symptoms show significant difference between both exposed and comparative groups. All pollutants show a significant association with lung function abnormality among the respondents. The finding indicated that higher PM10 and PM2.5 will increase the FVC abnormality by 4 and 6 times of getting FVC abnormality and increase the FVC abnormality by 2 and 3 times of getting FEV1 abnormality. The finding concluded that exposures to traffic-related air pollutants, especially PM10, PM2.5 increase the risk of getting lung function abnormality and respiratory health symptoms among respondents