Search results for "Transport engineering"
showing 10 items of 196 documents
Smart lighting in a historic context: a case study
2017
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address a project for lighting an old town in Italy. Its originality lies in the holistic approach that aims to fulfil several objectives. One is to reduce energy consumption by using efficient lamps and advanced control systems; the second one is to make the network viable and useful for many purposes by integrating ICT devices; the third one is to provide a new identity to the older part of the city by using new technologies and design concepts; while the last one is to ensure street and pedestrian safety according to codes and standards. Design/methodology/approach The plan of the city of Bagheria and the stock of luminaires of the city are analys…
Economic impact of BACS and TBM systems on residential buildings
2013
The paper presents the results of a study on the economic impact of building automation control systems and technical building management systems on residential buildings. The different functions considered by European Standard EN 15232 and having impact on the energy performance of buildings are applied to a test house, varying its energy efficiency class. The economic impact due to the introduction of each BACS or TBM function is evaluated using the BAC factors method, considering the real costs for the purchase and the installation of the components that implement the specific functions and the yearly energy costs of the building before and after their installation.
A qualitative study on the role of the built environment for short walking trips
2015
The present study uses a qualitative approach with the aim to identify built environmental factors influencing short walking distances for transportation among adults (18-65 years), with special attention to micro-scale attributes. Three focus groups were held in Valencia (Spain) and conducted with participants who undertook, at least once a week, one short non-shopping trip in any travel mode (were "short trip" is defined as less than 3045 min walking distance). A thematic analysis of the data was performed and six categories of factors emerged related to the built environment. Factors were also classified as either barriers to walking, or secondary factors related to the attractiveness of…
Development of “New Silk Road” Northern Branch through Seaport of Riga in Latvia
2014
Abstract The study reveals opportunity to develop the “New Silk Road” Northern branch from North-West China (the People's Republic of China) via seaport of Riga in Latvia to Europe. The methods of the study are the monographic method, the statistical analysis, the expert method and a case study. The study shows that the shortest route for the “New Silk Road” Northern branch is through seaport of Riga (Latvia) which is the shortest way from China to the seaport in the European Union. The existing railway infrastructure can be used from Urumqi (North-Western China) to the seaport of Riga. Transit countries for this route are Kazakhstan and Russia. This route could be beneficial for distributi…
What distance do university students walk and bike daily to class in Spain
2016
Abstract Introduction Physical activity levels are low in the general population and these levels decrease from childhood to adolescence, as well as from adolescence to adulthood. Active commuting (AC) is an opportunity to increase the physical activity levels. The distance between home and destinations is a main correlate of AC; however, the distance that university students walk or cycle to university is unknown. Methods Participants self-reported their modes and time of commuting to and from university in a questionnaire, and the main mode of commuting was identified. Moreover, they reported their home address, and the Spanish version of Mapquest software was used to measure street-netwo…
Energy saving in airports by trigeneration. Part I: Assessing economic and technical potential
2006
Airports are very energy-intensive areas, because of the large buildings (both terminals and non-passengers areas) equipped with heating and air-conditioning systems, the high power demand for lighting and electric equipment and the energy requests from many facilities within the airport area. The contemporaneous and high demand for power and heat makes cogeneration to represent a viable solution for energy saving; in southern climate zones, however, combined heating, cooling and power (CHCP) systems can lead to even better results. This paper constitutes the first part of a work in two parts; starting from an analysis of typical energy demand profiles in airports, economical and technical …
The importance of the inland leg of containerised maritime shipments: An analysis of modal choice determinants in Spain
2011
Abstract While most of the studies that address competition between road and rail transport focus on national or international non-maritime shipments, there is practically no empirical evidence on the modal choice determinants of the inland leg of maritime shipments. This paper intends to fill that gap by estimating a modal choice model between road and rail transport on the inland leg of Spanish containerised maritime freight shipments, using a mixed logit model and stated preference techniques. The results obtained confirm the vital role that frequency plays in the relative competitiveness of rail transport and also provide subjective values of transport attributes that are deemed essenti…
Energy saving and user satisfaction for a new advanced public lighting system
2019
Abstract The retrofit of urban lighting systems is often an advantageous means of achieving notable energy savings and improvements in the quality of light. User habits, expectations and lifestyle can contribute to the design of these systems, for example in deciding on the most appropriate control strategies or the light quality. The influence of such variables can be extended to the overall system performance. This paper presents a method of street lighting design based on two kinds of analysis carried out in a defined test area: measurements (by means of a monitoring study) and user preferences (by means of a survey). The results of this data analysis create the basis for the final desig…
Image-based 3D reconstruction using traditional and UAV datasets for analysis of road pavement distress
2018
Abstract On local and urban networks, the enduring issue of scarce resources for Maintenance, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction strategies (MR&R) has led, in many cases, to using unadjusted or poor techniques for road pavement distress detection and analysis, yielding ineffective or even counterproductive results. Therefore, it is necessary to have tools that can carry out quick, reliable and low-cost assessment surveys. This paper aims at validating the use of innovative and low-cost technologies for road pavement analysis, assessing their potentialities for improving the automation and reliability of distress detection. A Structure from Motion (SfM) technique is analyzed at different alt…
Passenger Car Equivalents for Heavy Vehicles at Roundabouts. a Synthesis Review
2019
Passenger Car Equivalents (PCEs in the following) are used to transform a mixed fleet of vehicles into a fleet of equivalent passenger cars and to analyze capacity and level-of-service of roads and intersections. Most roundabouts guidelines propose constant values for PCEs but a single PCE value can result improper under heterogeneous traffic conditions. PCEs should be vary with traffic and road conditions and consequently PCEs applied to undersaturated traffic conditions can overestimate the heavy vehicle effect or be not sensitive to the traffic level or characteristics of heavy vehicles. Compared to other at-grade intersections, the interaction between the operational performances of the…