Search results for "Transportation"
showing 10 items of 860 documents
Characterization of a small Mediterranean island end-users’ electricity consumption: The case of Lampedusa
2017
Abstract The paper presents the results of a study carried out on Lampedusa Island (Italy) and based on the survey of electricity consumption data. The main outcomes of the study are: • the characterization of the energy demand of private houses and hotels in Italian small islands with significant touristic flows during the summer period; • the identification of inefficient use of the electric loads; • the construction of aggregated load profiles for clusters of homogeneous domestic end-user to be used for implementing Demand Response strategies. The study shows how electricity consumption in Mediterranean small islands are very high with respect to the national average and lays the basis f…
Measuring innovation in tourism from the Schumpeterian and the dynamic-capabilities perspectives
2012
This paper offers a diagnosis of the “state of the issue” regarding the measurement of innovation in the tourism industry at the company level, and some recommendations for overcoming identified problems. The study addresses two central issues: how existing secondary databases of innovative activity define the boundaries of the tourism industry, and the degree to which these databases reflect the particular characteristics of this economic activity. It is concluded that these analyses present serious biases and anomalies hindering the understanding of the situation at the micro level and complicating the issue of international comparability, and the analyses do not capture the internal hete…
Evaluating European railway deregulation using different approaches
2012
Abstract There has recently been a great deal of interest in the impacts of the deregulating and restructuring measures in the European railway sector. A vast amount of literature is devoted to analyzing the effects of these deregulation and restructuring measures on efficiency and productivity and the results are not totally unambiguous. However, while most of the papers show that the introduction of competition within the sector (in both passenger and freight markets) has had a positive impact in terms of efficiency and productivity, the impact of vertical separation has produced different results in the literature. The contribution of this paper to the existing literature is twofold. Fir…
Changes in Transport and Non Transport Costs: Local vs. Global Impacts in a Spatial Network
2007
We develop a multi-country Dixit-Stiglitz trade model and analyze how industry location and welfare respond to changes in: (i) transport frictions (e.g., infrastructure, transportation technology); and (ii) non-transport frictions (e.g., tariffs, standards and regulations). We show that changes in non-transport frictions, which are usually origin-destination specific, do not allow for any clear prediction as to changes in industry location and welfare; whereas changes in transport frictions, which are usually not origin-destination specific, may allow for such predictions. In particular, we show that reductions in transport frictions occurring at links around which the spatial network is lo…
Cycling for Home-to-School Travel in Palermo: A Method for Assessing the Optimal Allocation of New Cycling Infrastructure
2019
In order to reduce the number of cars on the road, one of the most incisive actions is to encourage cycling, e.g. through the introduction of bike-sharing systems. In particular, the activation of special bike-sharing programs for school students could lead students to choose this mode of transport to make their own home-school travel. The success of such initiatives is primarily linked to the presence of a continuous and functional cycle network, which can create safe routes to school. It is, therefore, necessary a cycle network design model that allows determining the optimal allocation of new cycle paths, maximizing the number of users and considering technical and economic constraints. …
Apical root canal transportation of different pathfinding systems and their effects on shaping ability of ProTaper Next
2015
Background: This study aimed to compare glide path preparation of different pathfinding systems and their effects on the apical transportation of ProTaper Next (Dentsply Maillefer, Ballaigues, Switzerland) in mesial root canals of extracted human mandibular molars, using digital subtraction radiography. Materials and Methods: The mesial canals of 40 mandibular first molars (with curvature angles between 25° and 35°) were selected for this study. The specimens were divided randomly into 4 groups with 10 canals each. Glide paths were created in group 1 with #10, #15 and #20 K-type (Dentsply Maillefer, Ballaigues, Switzerland) stainless steel manual files; in group 2 with Path-File (Dentsply M…
On deterministic solutions for multi-marginal optimal transport with Coulomb cost
2022
In this paper we study the three-marginal optimal mass transportation problem for the Coulomb cost on the plane $\R^2$. The key question is the optimality of the so-called Seidl map, first disproved by Colombo and Stra. We generalize the partial positive result obtained by Colombo and Stra and give a necessary and sufficient condition for the radial Coulomb cost to coincide with a much simpler cost that corresponds to the situation where all three particles are aligned. Moreover, we produce an infinite class of regular counterexamples to the optimality of this family of maps.
A GIS-Based Methodology for Evaluating the Increase in Multimodal Transport between Bicycle and Rail Transport Systems. A Case Study in Palermo
2021
Background: In a world where every municipality is pursuing the goals of more sustainable mobility, bicycles play a fundamental role in getting rid of private cars and travelling by an eco-friendly mode of transport. Additionally, private and shared bikes can be used as a feeder transit system, solving the problem of the first- and last-mile trips. Thanks to GIS (Geographic Information System) software, it is possible to evaluate the effectiveness of such a sustainable means of transport in future users’ modal choice. Methods: Running an accessibility analysis of cycling and rail transport services, the potential mobility demand attracted by these services and the possible multimodality bet…
The role of the transportation phase for a green management of municipal solid waste
2017
Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) constitutes a high challenging issue to cope with to move towards sustainability of the urban policies. Despite new standards call for recycling and reusing materials contained in the city waste, several municipalities still use extensive landfills. Other than the environmental pressure exerted by these plants, the waste transportation from the recovery points of towns to landfills needs consideration to correctly assess the whole burden of the waste management. In this paper, the Ecological Footprint indicator is applied to the MSWM of the town of Palermo (Sicily). Results show that the effects produced by the involved transportation vehicles, both i…
What?s new in intelligent transportation systems?: An overview of European projects and initiatives
2013
This article is a taxonomy of recent intelligent transportation systems (ITS) initiatives/projects in Europe, and it covers nearly all of the main segments of the transportation sector. The purpose is to appraise the milestones that have been reached so far in the area of ITS. Furthermore, this article will help in identifying directions for future research. By highlighting the potential advantages users get through deployed ITS solutions, this article stimulates the interest of users and relevant stakeholders in the uptake of this technology. Finally, it will also serve as a useful resource for those agents of the scientific community who are interested in taking part in the European Commi…