The automatic vehicle monitoring to improve the urban public transport management

Helicopter lines: demand & cost analysis

Environmental sustainability and alternative energy: biofuels and public transport

The energy saving and the use of renewable sources want to give a response to the increasing of energy demand and the rising of prices of traditional fuels. The use of renewable sources and efficient use of energy impose a strategic and irreversible choice. The possibility of replacing traditional fossil fuels with those of biological origin has been strongly emphasized. The European Union aim is that by 2010 the biofuels must account 5.75% of total fuel used (the Italian government has recently approved the Directive). In 2020 this rate will climb to 18%. The policies have played a key role in the development of the biofuel industry, and particularly in the energy, environmental, fiscal,tr…

Short Sea Shipping in Sicily: a future scenario based on infomobility services.

An Analytic Hierachy Process for Ranking Operating Costs of Low Cost and Full Service Airlines

This paper develops an application of the analytic hierarchy process to rank the operating cost components of full service and low cost airlines. It takes into account the financial balance sheets and answers to a questionnaire submitted to the managers of selected airlines. The results suggest that the analytic hierarchy process can be appropriately used to obtain the ranking of the costs taking into account different views: financial, management and operative. Rental, office equipment and other supplies costs show the highest importance in the cost ranking, both for full services and low cost airlines. The robustness of the results is tested by Monte Carlo analysis.

A system for wide area travellers to provide infomobility services

SWATHE (System for Wide Area Travellers and Haulers to provide infomobility sErvices) is a project funded by the Italian Ministry of Scientific and Technological Research (MIUR). The project, was led by Telespazio and the University of Palermo, it had a duration of three years and the main objective was the study and development of applications based on innovative location techniques (e.g. supported by GPS, EGNOS-TRAN and more, generally, by assisted network systems) for the provision of infomobility services in the framework of the intermodal transportation of goods. The SWATHE project manages the change among transport modes by the seamless monitoring of intermodal transport units. The pr…

Modelling Airlines Competition on Fares and Frequencies of Service by Bi-level Optimization

Abstract The research aims to understand how airlines make operative decisions on fares and frequencies of service in a competitive envi-ronment. A game approach has been developed to model the airlines’ choices in a duopolistic market. In particular, the short haul market for intercity linkages has been investigated. In this segment the air mode is in competition with other ground modes (i.e. road and high speed rail). A bi-level optimization program has been realized. The variables of model are: fares and frequencies of airlines.

L’unificazione europea della segnaletica stradale

La sicurezza stradale in Europa è un argomento che riguarda in maniera peculiare l’intero territorio dell’Unione. Nell’Europa dei Quindici (EU-15), sono 375 milioni gli utenti della strada, di cui 200 milioni in possesso di patente di guida, che utilizzano veicoli su un totale di 4 milioni di km di strade. Gli incidenti automobilistici sono oggi causa di più di 40.000 morti e 1.700.000 feriti all’anno sul territorio continentale. Il costo, diretto o indiretto di questa ecatombe, stima la Commissione Europea, è di circa 160 miliardi di Euro, ovvero il 2% del PIL. In Italia a causa di incidenti stradali si registrano circa 8.000 morti all’anno. Il 50% di questi incidenti ha come vittime perso…

TRAVELLING TOWARDS AND FROM MINOR ISLANDS THROUGH NON-CONVENTIONAL AIR TRANSPORT: DEMAND AND COST ANALYSIS

This research addresses the role of innovative forms of passenger air transport in favouring mobility of tourists visiting minor islands. In particular, we studied the feasibility of scheduled transport services using helicopter and seaplane for connecting Sicily in the south of Italy, to the near and very attractive Eolie Islands rapidly. In order to estimate the potential service demand, we allowed for the number of tourists arriving in the Eolie Archipelago during the period 1999-2008. In detail, we considered only the market of visitors with a high willingness-to-pay for time savings (individuals choosing superior hotels) coming from origins at least 300 km away from the Eolie Islands. …

Analisi del mercato dei velivoli e dei fattori che influenzano la scelta

Lo studio mira da un lato a comprendere quali fattori tecnico-economici influenzano la scelta di un aeromobile da parte delle compagnie aeree; dall’altro si vuole identificare quali aeromobili hanno più inciso sul trasporto commerciale mondiale dal dopoguerra ad oggi. L’indicatore scelto per fare questa analisi è stato il Revenue Passenger Kilometers, che ognuno di questi modelli ha realizzato dalla sua entrata in servizio sino alla fine del 2003. Per ottenere questo risultato sono stati considerati i dati relativi alle caratteristiche tecniche medie dei diversi aeromobili considerando un ciclo operativo medio tipico. I risultati finali di questo studio hanno collocato al primo posto il Boe…

Predicting roadside CO and NO2 concentrations using Instrumented City facility and Neural Networks

A GIS Approach for the Integration of the Transit Network with the Road Public Transport in the Metropolitan Area of Palermo.

The development of air traffic in Sicily

The aim of this work is to analyse the air traffic development that interested the airport system in Sicily, consisting of the airport of Palermo “Falcone –Borsellino”, the airport of Catania “Fontanarossa” and that one of Trapani-Birgi “Vincenzo Florio”. The analysis of the possible growth of air traffic volume and performance in Sicily was mainly suggested by the growing importance of the Mediterranean region like a new crossroad of the worldwide traffic on the East-West line. It gives a new chance for the development of this area that mustnÂ’t be loosed. Globalization and the migrant flows from South and East towards the Western Europe, makes of the southern Italy a strategic knot…

Modelling strategic alliances in the wide-body long range aircraft market

Abstract The wide-body long-range aircrafts market is characterized by increasing rivalry between Airbus and Boeing. One of the factors that drive their strategic behaviour is technological. We propose a technology indicator to identify conditions under which the aircraft companies have incentives to join a coalition. For this, we provide measurement of the side-payments necessary to sign a strategic alliance aimed at reducing technological barriers in the market. The results suggest that the existence of side-payments guarantees the stability of a strategic alliance if the gap in the technological level between the firms is high, or competition is through prices. For monopoly, a strategic …

Valutazione dell’accessibilità con software open source

L'accessibilità ha da sempre ricoperto un ruolo fondamentale per lo sviluppo delle società e per rendere sempre più agevoli gli spostamenti, a prescindere dalle cause che li originano. In questo articolo si vuole focalizzare l’attenzione sull’accessibilità ai terminal aeroportuali, in quanto la velocità e la facilità di accesso sono aspetti strategici per il trasporto aereo. Se il tempo di accesso ai terminal non fosse sufficientemente rapido, negli spostamenti a breve distanza, l’aereo perderebbe il vantaggio che ha sulle altre scelte modali. Lo scopo che ci si è posti nella ricerca è di valutare l’accessibilità territoriale attraverso l’uso di software GIS (Geographic Information System) …

Simulation-Based Study to Quantify Data-Communication Benefits in Congested Airport Terminal Area.

Accessibility urban and central business

The structures and facilities of large dimensions, such as shopping malls centers and leisure facilities are an important component in the expansion of contemporary cities and urban planning. Urban planning and transport have to be involved in the strategic role of policy related to business planning, this is the aim the city has to requalify the suburbs and large marginal areas. This study analyzes the characteristics and the dynamics that influence the mobility demand and the impact that these greet attractors have on mobility itself.

Definitions of cycling paths along the seafront: Palermo e Catania, two sicilian cases

L’unificazione della segnaletica stradale verticale nell’ambito dell’Unione Europea: un’applicazione ai segnali di pericolo

La presente memoria illustra la metodologia ed i risultati di un’attività di ricerca finalizzata a studiare il problema dell’unificazione europea dei sistemi di segnaletica stradale verticale, la quale rappresenta uno dei presupposti fondamentali per favorire la crescita dei livelli di efficienza e sicurezza della mobilità delle persone e delle merci in ambito UE. Nella prima fase di tale studio, i cui risultati sono riportati in questo articolo, l’attenzione è stata focalizzata sui cartelli stradali di pericolo, utilizzando una base dati relativa a 19 Stati membri dell’Unione Europea. I set di segnali di pericolo di questi Paesi sono stati confrontati tramite un’analisi a molti criteri, ba…

I Velivoli che hanno Influenzato il Mercato Aeronautico Commerciale

Lo studio mira a identificare quali aeromobili hanno più inciso sul trasporto commerciale mondiale dal dopoguerra ad oggi. L’indicatore scelto per fare questa analisi è stato il Revenue Passenger Kilometers, che ognuno di questi modelli ha realizzato dalla sua entrata in servizio sino alla fine del 2003. Per ottenere questo risultato sono stati considerati i dati relativi alle caratteristiche tecniche medie dei diversi aeromobili considerando un ciclo operativo medio tipico. I risultati finali di questo studio hanno collocato al primo posto il Boeing 747 con un significativo margine rispetto agli altri modelli; infine è stato sottolineato il netto vantaggio, in termini di RPK complessivi, c…

Sustainable Mobility Planning in the Tourist Centres: the Estimation of Transport Demand.

This paper on sustainable mobility planning in tourist centers is from the proceedings of 14th international Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment in the 21st Century, which was held in Malta in 2008. The authors focus on estimating the potential non-motorized transport demand and to design the supply of sustainable modes of transportation, including public transit, bicycling and walking. The authors use the tourist area of San Vito Lo Capo, the famous historical and swimming center of Sicily, as a case example. They conducted a stated preference survey in June-July 2006 to evaluate the potential demand of non-motorized transport modes, primarily bicycling, then calibrated a mul…

Forecasting modelling of the fuel cell vehicles’ environmental impact in Sicily

The Contribution of Air Logistics to the Development of Sicilian Economy

The role, played by globalization and the “just in time” supplying logic in present world economic scenario, implies that the opportunity of frequent, quick, safe and low-priced freight deliveries can be considered a key element for competitiveness. For these reasons, transportation systems, in the last years, have been characterized by the diffusion of intermodality and the “hub and spoke” distribution pattern. The phenomenon of organizing freight transport services according to a network and modal integration logic, has involved also the air transport field: to meet the new requirements of freight transportation market, in many cases, airline companies have become “global players”, expand…