Does Rail Transit Save Energy or Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

Far from protecting the environment, most rail transit lines use more energy per passenger mile, and many generate more greenhouse gases, than the average passenger automobile. Rail transit provides no guarantee that a city will save energy or meet greenhouse gas targets. While most rail transit uses less energy than buses, rail transit does not operate in a vacuum: transit agencies supplement it with extensive feeder bus operations. Those feeder buses tend to have low ridership, so they have high energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions per passenger mile. The result is that, when new rail transit lines open, the transit systems as a whole can end up consuming more energy, per passenger mile, than they did before. Even where rail transit operations save a little energy, the construction of rail transit lines consumes huge amounts of energy and emits large volumes of greenhouse gases. In most cases, many decades of energy savings would be needed to repay the energy cost of construction. Rail transit attempts to improve the environment by changing people's behavior so that they drive less. Such behavioral efforts have been far less successful than technical solutions to toxic air pollution and other environmental problems associated with automobiles. Similarly, technical alternatives to rail transit can do far more to reduce energy use and CO2 outputs than rail transit, at a far lower cost. Such alternatives include the following: Powering buses with hybrid-electric motors, biofuels, and -- where it comes from nonfossil fuel sources -- electricity;Concentrating bus service on heavily used routes and using smaller buses during offpeak periods and in areas with low demand for transit service;Building new roads, using variable toll systems, and coordinating traffic signals to relieve the highway congestion that wastes nearly 3 billion gallons of fuel each year;Encouraging people to purchase more fuel-efficient cars. Getting 1 percent of commuters to switch to hybrid-electric cars will cost less and do more to save energy than getting 1 percent to switch to public transit. If oil is truly scarce, rising prices will lead people to buy more fuel-efficient cars. But states and locales that want to save even more energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions will find the above alternatives far superior to rail transit

The Impact of the Cross-Cultural Factors on Getting the Management Performances within AKER Multinational Company

Our paper approaches the aspects connected to the analysis of the values’ system specific to the AKER multinational group, world leader on the market targets represented by cruises and ferryboats, commercial ships and offshore platforms. The case study was developed at Aker Tulcea subsidiary, component of AKER multinational group. We proposed to identify the cultural profile of this firm, on the basis of the organizational cultures pattern elaborated by G. Hofstede. In this way, we conceived a questionnaire addressed to a number of 20 middle managers, in view to analyze the cross-cultural influence upon the performances of this organization. The results obtained during our research revealed that Aker Tulcea subsidiary assumed the values promoted by AKER multinational group, fact which led at the efficient management of the cultural differences and the creation of the premises in order to obtain organizational performances.cross-cultural; performance; cultural values; motivation; rewards, cultural differences.

Sustainable mobility in a mid-sized city : a multimodal approach

Transportation systems of mid-sized cities play an important role in guaranteeing a sustainable development of the surrounding areas. Sustainable principles applied to the study of urban mobility involve the consideration of all different travel modes, as well as the territory where all modes interact and establish points of connection. Consequently, a multimodal approach is necessary, especially to encourage a more effective and sustainable use of the system and to promote greener modes of transport, like pedestrians and cyclists, or other less pollutant modes. The paper presents a case study on the city of Viana do Castelo, which is located in the North of Portugal with approximately 37000 inhabitants in 33.6 square kilometres. It is considered a mid-sized city with a large number of different transport modes, namely trains, buses, ferryboats, cyclists and pedestrians, which provide an opportunity to develop and apply a multimodal approach towards a more sustainable city environment

Transport organization and economic development of an European peripherical region: the case of Sicily

Transport and communication networks are some of the most important factors which influence the socio-economic development, and particularly the tourist sector, of Sicily, a peripherical region by comparison with the European central areas. The most recent changes in the transport sector are: a) the creation of integrated trans-national networks, based on specific systems such as the inter-modality transport one and the hub and spoke one. b) the solution of the conflicts between transport development and environmental impact. These changes lead to the creation of global national and regional logistic networks, which increased the competition and efficiency of states/regions/local economic systems. In this paper the authors will analyse how Sicily wants to face these transformations in order to change its economic functions in the Euro-Mediterranean area. On the other side they will take in consideration how the principal choices of European Union influence the projects of Sicilian transport Plans and if Sicilian actors are able to use the European financial resources available in transport sector.

No Road, No Rage: A Forum on Expanding Bay Area Ferry Service, MTI Report F-02-01

As part of the Mineta Transportation Institute\u27s ongoing efforts to promote dialogue addressing surface transportation issues, it is my pleasure to share this edited transcript of No Road, No Rage: A Forum on Expanding Bay Area Ferry Service . As the title suggests, expanding water transit services has been proposed as one way to ease congestion on the roads. The San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority is seeking to expand ferry service for the Bay Area, and this forum offered an opportunity for interested citizens to hear more about the proposal, ask questions, and share their concerns and hopes. This event was the result of many people\u27s efforts, and I thank all those individuals and organizations referenced in the Acknowledgements section. I especially want to thank George Dobbins, Program Director of The Commonwealth Club, for working with MTI to sponsor this event; Senator Don Perata for being a leader in the legislature on this issue and also for being our keynote speaker; Tom Vacar for taking the time to be our moderator; and our panelists, Steve Kinsey, Russell Long, Cynthia Murray, and Gavin Newsom. The Mineta Transportation Institute has three primary functions: research, education, and information transfer. It is in this last role that we organized and presented this discussion. We hope that this edited transcript will contribute to an understanding of the issues and possible solutions, not only for those in our community, but also for anyone considering water transit issues

До питання номінації дромонімів Північно-Східної України

Розглядаються питання номінації стародавніх шляхів і переправ: бродів і поронів. Обстоюється думка, що за сучасними назвами, які впродовж століть в умовах контамінації набули інших смислових відтінків, криються специфічні історико-географічні терміни.The article deals with the problem of nomination of ancient tracks and crossings: fords and ferryboats. There is an opinion that present names, which have obtained other shades of meaning in the conditions of contamination during the centuries, include specific historical and geographical terms