Search results for: road user characteristics

Authors: Xiao Chen, Xiaoying Kong, Min Xu

Abstract:

This paper presents a road vehicle detection approach for the intelligent transportation system. This approach mainly uses low-cost magnetic sensor and associated data collection system to collect magnetic signals. This system can measure the magnetic field changing, and it also can detect and count vehicles. We extend Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients to analyze vehicle magnetic signals. Vehicle type features are extracted using representation of cepstrum, frame energy, and gap cepstrum of magnetic signals. We design a 2-dimensional map algorithm using Vector Quantization to classify vehicle magnetic features to four typical types of vehicles in Australian suburbs: sedan, VAN, truck, and bus. Experiments results show that our approach achieves a high level of accuracy for vehicle detection and classification.

Keywords: vehicle classification, signal processing, road traffic model, magnetic sensing

Procedia PDF Downloads 293

Authors: Marylene S. Eder

Abstract:

Existing location based alarm applications has inability to give information to user’s particular direction to a specified place of destination and does not display a particular scenic spot from its current location going to the destination. With this problem, a location based alarm mobile reminder was developed. The application is implemented on Android based smart phones to provide services like providing routing information, helping to find nearby hotels, restaurants and scenic spots and offer many advantages to the mobile users to retrieve the information about their current location and process that data to get more useful information near to their location. It reminds the user about the location when the user enters some predefined location. All the user needs to have is the mobile phone with android platform with version 4.0 and above, and then the user can select the destination and find the destination on the application. The main objective of the project is to develop a location based application that provides tourists with real time information for scenic spots and provides alarm to a specified place of destination. This mobile application service will act as assistance for the frequent travelers to visit new places around the City.

Keywords: location based alarm, mobile application, mobile reminder, tourist’s spots

Procedia PDF Downloads 353

Authors: Kainat Affrin, P. Reshma, G. Narendra Kumar

Abstract:

Optimization of timetable is the need of the day for the rescheduling and routing of trains in real time. Trains are scheduled in parallel with the road transport vehicles to the same destination. As the number of trains is restricted due to single track, customers usually opt for road transport to use frequently. The air pollution increases as the density of vehicles on road transport is increased. Use of an alternate mode of transport like train helps in reducing air-pollution. This paper mainly aims at attracting the passengers to Train transport by proper rescheduling of trains using hybrid of stop-skip algorithm and iterative convex programming algorithm. Rescheduling of train bi-directionally is achieved on a single track with dynamic dual time and varying stops. Introduction of more trains attract customers to use rail transport frequently, thereby decreasing the pollution. The results are simulated using Network Simulator (NS-2).

Keywords: air pollution, AODV, re-scheduling, WSNs

Procedia PDF Downloads 333

Authors: Vivian Guo, Yan Qu

Abstract:

Online marketplaces are not only digital places where consumers buy and sell merchandise, and they are also destinations for brands to connect with real consumers at the moment when customers are in the shopping mindset. For many marketplaces, brands have been important partners through advertising. There can be, however, a risk of advertising impacting a consumer’s shopping journey if it hurts the use experience or takes the user away from the site. Both could lead to the loss of transaction revenue for the marketplace. In this paper, we present user-based methods for cannibalization control by selectively turning off ads to users who are likely to be cannibalized by ads subject to business objectives. We present ways of measuring cannibalization of advertising in the context of an online marketplace and propose novel ways of measuring cannibalization through purchase propensity and uplift modeling. A/B testing has shown that our methods can significantly improve user purchase and engagement metrics while operating within business objectives. To our knowledge, this is the first paper that addresses cannibalization mitigation at the user-level in the context of advertising.

Keywords: cannibalization, machine learning, online marketplace, revenue optimization, yield optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Jiantao Weng, Yujie Zhao

Abstract:

With the improvement of living quality and demand for nighttime activities in China, the current situation of outdoor lighting environment at night needs to be assessed. Lighting environment at night plays an important role to guarantee night safety. Two typical residential communities in Hangzhou were selected. A comprehensive test method of outdoor lighting environment at night was established. The road, fitness area, landscape, playground and entrance were included. Field measurements and questionnaires were conducted in these two residential communities. The characteristics of residents’ habits and the subjective evaluation on different aspects of outdoor lighting environment at night were collected via questionnaire. A safety evaluation system on the outdoor lighting environment at night in the residential community was established. The results show that there is a big difference in illumination in different areas. The lighting uniformities of roads cannot meet the requirement of lighting standard in China. Residents pay more attention to the lighting environment of the fitness area and road than others. This study can provide guidance for the design and management of outdoor lighting environment at night.

Keywords: residential community, lighting environment, night, field measurement

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Hyun-Jee Yang, Bit-Na Kwon, Yong-Jun Kim, Hyoung-Kyu Song

Abstract:

In the cooperative transmission scheme, both the cellular system and broadcasting system are composed. Two cellular base stations (CBSs) communicating with a user in the cell edge use cooperative transmission scheme in the conventional scheme. In the case that the distance between two CBSs and the user is distant, the conventional scheme does not guarantee the quality of the communication because the channel condition is bad. Therefore, if the distance between CBSs and a user is distant, the performance of the conventional scheme is decreased. Also, the bad channel condition has bad effects on the performance. The proposed scheme uses two relays to communicate well with CBSs when the channel condition between CBSs and the user is poor. Using the relay in the high attenuation environment can obtain both advantages of the high bit error rate (BER) and throughput performance.

Keywords: cooperative communications, diversity gain, OFDM, interworking system

Procedia PDF Downloads 544

Authors: Diego Roberto Goncalves De Pontes, Sergio Donizetti Zorzo

Abstract:

Studies show that most users do not read privacy policies from the online services they use. Some authors claim that one of the main causes of this is that policies are long and usually hard to understand, which make users lose interest in reading them. In this scenario, users may agree with terms without knowing what kind of data is being collected and why. Given that, we aimed to develop a model that would present the privacy policies contents in an easy and graphical way for the user to understand. We call it the Privacy Label. Using information recovery techniques, we propose an architecture that is able to extract information about what kind of data is being collected and to what end in the policies and show it to the user in an automated way. To assess our model, we calculated the precision, recall and f-measure metrics on the information extracted by our technique. The results for each metric were 68.53%, 85.61% e 76,13%, respectively, making it possible for the final user to understand which data was being collected without reading the whole policy. Also, our proposal can facilitate the notice-and-choice by presenting privacy policy information in an alternative way for online users.

Keywords: privacy, policies, user behavior, computer human interaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 280

Authors: Quy Dang Nguyen, Reza Nakhaie Jazar

Abstract:

The paper investigates vibration dynamics of tire-road separation for a quarter-car model; this separation model is developed to be close to the real situation considering the tire is able to separate from the ground plane. A set of piecewise linear mathematical models is developed and matches the in-contact and no-contact states to be considered as mother models for further investigations. The bound dynamics are numerically simulated in the time response and phase portraits. The separation analysis may determine which values of suspension parameters can delay and avoid the no-contact phenomenon, which results in improving ride comfort and eliminating the potentially dangerous oscillation. Finally, model verification is carried out in the MSC-ADAMS environment.

Keywords: quarter-car vibrations, tire-road separation, separation analysis, separation dynamics, ride comfort, ADAMS validation

Procedia PDF Downloads 57

Authors: Maryam Amiri, Leyli Mohammad-Khanli

Abstract:

Cloud computing is becoming increasingly popular and more business applications are moving to cloud. In this regard, services that provide similar functional properties are increasing. So, the ability to select a service with the best non-functional properties, corresponding to the user preference, is necessary for the user. This paper presents an Evaluation Framework of Service Trustworthiness (EFST) that evaluates the trustworthiness of equivalent services without need to additional invocations of them. EFST extracts user preference automatically. Then, it assesses trustworthiness of services in two dimensions of qualitative and quantitative metrics based on the experiences of past usage of services. Finally, EFST determines the overall trustworthiness of services using Fuzzy Inference System (FIS). The results of experiments and simulations show that EFST is able to predict the missing values of Quality of Service (QoS) better than other competing approaches. Also, it propels users to select the most appropriate services.

Keywords: user preference, cloud service, trustworthiness, QoS metrics, prediction

Procedia PDF Downloads 254

Authors: Sarada Prasad Pradhan, Vikram Vishal, Tariq Siddique

Abstract:

With a vast area of India comprising of hilly terrain and road cut slopes, landslides and rockfalls are a common phenomenon. However, while landslide studies have received much attention in the past in India, very little literature and analysis is available regarding rockfall hazard of many rockfall prone areas, specifically in Uttarakhand Himalaya, India. The subsequent lack of knowledge and understanding of the rockfall phenomenon as well as frequent incidences of rockfall led fatalities urge the necessity of conducting site-specific rockfall studies to highlight the importance of addressing this issue as well as to provide data for safe design of preventive structures. The present study has been conducted across 10 rockfall prone road cut slopes for a distance of 15 km starting from Devprayag, India along National Highway 58 (NH-58). In order to make a qualitative assessment of Rockfall Hazard posed by these slopes, Rockfall Hazard Rating using standards for Indian Rockmass has been conducted at 10 locations under different slope conditions. Moreover, to accurately predict the characteristics of the possible rockfall phenomenon, numerical simulation was carried out to calculate the maximum bounce heights, total kinetic energies, translational velocities and trajectories of the falling rockmass blocks when simulated on each of these slopes according to real-life conditions. As it was observed that varying slope geometry had more fatal impacts on Rockfall hazard than size of rock masses, several optimizations have been suggested for each slope regarding location of barriers and modification of slope geometries in order to minimize damage by falling rocks. This study can be extremely useful in emphasizing the significance of rockfall studies and construction of mitigative barriers and structures along NH-58 around Devprayag.

Keywords: rockfall, slope stability, rockmass, hazard

Procedia PDF Downloads 184

Authors: Zhaopeng Xuan, Yuan Bian, C. Cailleaux, Jing Qin, S. Traore

Abstract:

Traditional software engineering allows engineers to propose to their clients multiple specialized software distributions assembled from a shared set of software assets. The management of these assets however requires a trade-off between client satisfaction and software engineering process. Clients have more and more difficult to find a distribution or components based on their needs from all of distributed repositories. This paper proposes a software engineering for a user-driven software product line in which engineers define a feature model but users drive the actual software distribution on demand. This approach makes the user become final actor as a release manager in software engineering process, increasing user product satisfaction and simplifying user operations to find required components. In addition, it provides a way for engineers to manage and assembly large software families. As a proof of concept, a user-driven software product line is implemented for eclipse, an integrated development environment. An eclipse feature model is defined, which is exposed to users on a cloud-based built platform from which clients can download individualized Eclipse distributions.

Keywords: software product line, model-driven development, reverse engineering and refactoring, agile method

Procedia PDF Downloads 406

Authors: Ravindra Dastikop, G. S. Thyagaraju, U. P. Kulkarni

Abstract:

Even though the number of context aware applications is increasing day by day along with the users, till today there is no generic programming paradigm for context aware applications. This situation could be remedied by design and developing the appropriate context modeling and programming paradigm for context aware applications. In this paper, we are proposing the static context model and metrics for validating the expressiveness and understandability of the model. The proposed context modeling is a way of describing a situation of user using context entities , attributes and relationships .The model which is an extended and hybrid version of ER model, ontology model and Graphical model is specifically meant for expressing and understanding the user situation in context aware environment. The model is useful for understanding context aware problems, preparing documentation and designing programs and databases. The model makes use of context entity attributes relationship (CEAR) diagram for representation of association between the context entities and attributes. We have identified a new set of graphical notations for improving the expressiveness and understandability of context from the end user perspective .

Keywords: user context, context entity, context entity attributes, situation, sensors, devices, relationships, actors, expressiveness, understandability

Procedia PDF Downloads 316

Authors: Hiroki Kikuchi, Atsushi Fukuda, Hirokazu Akahane, Satoru Kobayakawa, Tuenjai Fukuda, Takeru Miyokawa

Abstract:

According to WHO reports, fatalities by road traffic accidents in many countries of South-East Asia region especially Thailand and Malaysia are increasing year by year. In order to overcome these serious problems, both governments are focusing on road safety measures. In response, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) of Japan and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have begun active support based on the experiences to reduce the number of fatalities in road accidents in Japan in the past. However, even if the successful road safety measures in Japan is adopted in South-East Asian countries, it is not sure whether it will work well or not. So, it is necessary to clarify the issues and systematize the process for the implementation of road safety measures in South-East Asia. On the basis of the above, this study examined the applicability of "information sharing traffic safety measure" which is one of the successful road safety measures in Japan to the social implementation of road safety measures in South-East Asian countries. The "Information sharing traffic safety measure" is carried out traffic safety measures by stakeholders such as residents, administration, and experts jointly. In this study, we extracted the issues of implementation of road safety measures under local context firstly. This is clarifying the particular issues with its implementation in South-East Asian cities. Secondly, we considered how to implement road safety measures for solving particular issues based on the method of "information sharing traffic safety measure". In the implementation method, the location of the occurrence of a dangerous event was extracted based on the “HIYARI-HATTO” data which were obtained from the residents. This is because it is considered that the implementation of the information sharing traffic safety measure focusing on the location where the dangerous event occurs leads to the reduction of traffic accidents. Also, the target locations for the implementation of measures differ for each city. In Penang, we targeted the intersections　in the downtown, while in Suphan Buri, we targeted mainly traffic control on the intercity highway. Finally, we proposed a method for implementing traffic safety measures. For Penang, we proposed a measure to improve the signal phase and showed the effect of the measure on the micro traffic simulation. For Suphan Buri, we proposed the suitable measures for the danger points extracted by collecting the “HIYARI-HATTO” data of residents to the administration. In conclusion, in order to successfully implement the road safety measure based on the "information sharing traffic safety measure", the process for social implementation of the road safety measures should be consistent and carried out repeatedly. In particular, by clarifying specific issues based on local context in South-East Asian countries, the stakeholders, not only such as government sectors but also local citizens can share information regarding road safety and select appropriate countermeasures. Finally, we could propose this approach to the administration that had the authority.

Keywords: information sharing road safety measure, social implementation, South-East Asia, HIYARI-HATTO

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: Ana Hol

Abstract:

We live in a constantly changing environment where technology has become an integral component of our day to day life. We rely heavily on mobile devices, we search for data via web, we utilise smart home sensors to create the most suited ambiences and we utilise applications to shop, research, communicate and share data. Heavy reliance on technology therefore is creating new connections between STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields which in turn rises a question of what the STEM education of the future should be like? This study was based on the reviews of the six Australian Information Systems students who undertook an international study tour to India where they were given an opportunity to network, communicate and meet local students, staff and business representatives and from them learn about the local business implementations, local customs and regulations. Research identifies that if we are to continue to implement and utilise electronic devices on the global scale, such as for example implement smart cars that can smoothly cross borders, we will need the workforce that will have the knowledge about the cars themselves, their parts, roads and transport networks, road rules, road sensors, road monitoring technologies, graphical user interfaces, movement detection systems as well as day to day operations, legal rules and regulations of each region and country, insurance policies, policing and processes so that the wide array of sensors can be controlled across country’s borders. In conclusion, it can be noted that allowing students to learn about the local conditions, roads, operations, business processes, customs and values in different countries is giving students a cutting edge advantage as such knowledge cannot be transferred via electronic sources alone. However once understanding of each problem or project is established, multidisciplinary innovative STEM projects can be smoothly conducted.

Keywords: STEM, curiosity, innovation, advancements

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: Charitha Harshani Perera, Rajkishore Nayak, Long Thang Van Nguyen

Abstract:

With the advent of social media, Vietnam has changed the way customers perceive the information about the brand. In the context of higher education, the adoption of social media has received attention with the increasing rate of social media usage among undergraduates. Brand-related user-generated content (UGC) on social media emphasizes the social ties between users and users’ participation, which promotes the communication to build and maintain the relationship with the brands. Although brand positioning offers a significant competitive advantage, the association with brand-related user-generated content in social media with brand positioning in the context of higher education is still an under-researched area. Accordingly, using social identity theory and social exchange theory, this research aims to deepen our understanding of the influence of brand-related user-generated content on brand positioning and purchase intention. Employing a quantitative survey design,384 Vietnamese undergraduates were selected based on purposive sampling. The findings suggest that brand-related user-generated content influence brand positioning and brand choice intention. However, there is a significant mediating effect of the reliability and understandability of the content.

Keywords: brand positioning, brand-related user-generated content, emerging countries, higher education

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: Milad Keshvardoost, Amir Khanlari, Nader Khalesi

Abstract:

Background: Any firm in the pharmaceutical industry requires efficient and effective management information systems (MIS) to support managerial functions. Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of Task-Technology Fit on user effectiveness, efficiency, and creativity in Iranian pharmaceutical companies. Methodology: 345 reliable and validate questionnaires were distributed among selected samples, through the cluster method, to Information system users of eight leading Iranian pharmaceutical companies, based on the likert scale. The proposed model of the article is based on a model with Task technology fit, on user performance with the definition of efficiency, effectiveness, and creativity through mediation effects of perceived usefulness and ease of use. Results: This study confirmed that TTF with definitions of adequacy and compatibility has positive impacts on user performance Conclusion: We concluded that pharmaceutical users of IS, utilizing a system with a precise and intense observation of users' demands, may make facilitation for them to design an exclusive IS framework.

Keywords: information systems, user performance, pharmaceuticals, task technology fit

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Maha Shamseddine, Amjad Nusayr, Wassim Itani

Abstract:

In this paper, we present a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) model for controlling the privacy enforcement mechanisms applied on user data when stored and processed in Cloud data centers. The proposed architecture consists of establishing user configurable ‘sticky’ policies on the Graphical User Interface (GUI) data-bound components during the application development phase to specify the details of privacy enforcement on the contents of these components. Various privacy classification classes on the data components are formally defined to give the user full control on the degree and scope of privacy enforcement including the type of execution containers to process the data in the Cloud. This not only enhances the privacy-awareness of the developed Cloud services, but also results in major savings in performance and energy efficiency due to the fact that the privacy mechanisms are solely applied on sensitive data units and not on all the user content. The proposed design is implemented in a real PaaS cloud computing environment on the Microsoft Azure platform.

Keywords: privacy enforcement, platform-as-a-service privacy awareness, cloud computing privacy

Procedia PDF Downloads 196

Authors: Siham G. Farag

Abstract:

The main objective of this paper is to provide a new methodology for road safety assessment in Oman through the development of suitable accident prediction models. GLM technique with Poisson or NBR using SAS package was carried out to develop these models. The paper utilized the accidents data of 31 un-signalized T-intersections during three years. Five goodness-of-fit measures were used to assess the overall quality of the developed models. Two types of models were developed separately; the flow-based models including only traffic exposure functions, and the full models containing both exposure functions and other significant geometry and traffic variables. The results show that, traffic exposure functions produced much better fit to the accident data. The most effective geometric variables were major-road mean speed, minor-road 85th percentile speed, major-road lane width, distance to the nearest junction, and right-turn curb radius. The developed models can be used for intersection treatment or upgrading and specify the appropriate design parameters of T- intersections. Finally, the models presented in this thesis reflect the intersection conditions in Oman and could represent the typical conditions in several countries in the middle east area, especially gulf countries.

Keywords: accidents prediction models (APMs), generalized linear model (GLM), T-intersections, Oman

Procedia PDF Downloads 241

Authors: Sabir Tehrankhan Hasanov, Mir Movsum Anar Dadashev

Abstract:

The article provides a brief overview of irrigation systems and canals applied to slopes, landslide-prone, seismic areas, and swelling and collapsing soils. The contemporary construction of the canal used for irrigation, energy, and water supply purposes is described. In order to ensure the durability, longevity, and reliability of the channel, a damping mat made of cast material is created under its cover, and the top is covered with a waterproof screen. Dowels are placed on the bottom and sides of the channel, and the bottom dowel is riveted to the solid bedrock and connected with piles placed at certain distances. Drainage was placed next to the bottom dowel, an operation road was created on one side of the channel, and a berm road was created on the other side. A bathtub was built on the side of the road, and a forest-bush strip was built on its bank.

Keywords: slope, channel, landslide, collapse, swell, soil, structure

Procedia PDF Downloads 53

Authors: Mursal Ibrahim Zada

Abstract:

Since 2001, the new Government of Afghanistan has put the improvement of transportation in rural area as one of the key issues for the development of the country. Since then, about 17,000 km of rural roads were planned to be constructed in the entire country. This thesis will assess the impact of rural road improvement on the development of rural communities and housing facilities. Specifically, this study aims to show that the improved road has leads to an improvement in the community, which in turn has a positive effect on the lives of rural people. To obtain this goal, a questionnaire survey was conducted in March 2015 to the residents of four different districts of Kabul province, Afghanistan, where the road projects were constructed in recent years. The collected data was analyzed using on a regression analysis considering different factors such as land price, waiting time at the station, travel time to the city, number of employed family members and so on. Three models are developed to demonstrate the relationship between different factors before and after the improvement of rural transportation. The results showed a significant change positively in the value of land price and housing facilities, travel time to the city, waiting time at the station, number of employed family members, fare per trip to the city, and number of trips to the city per month after the pavement of the road. The results indicated that the improvement of transportation has a significant impact on the improvement of the community in different parts, especially on the price of land and housing facility and travel time to the city.

Keywords: accessibility, Afghanistan, housing facility, rural area, land price

Procedia PDF Downloads 239

Authors: Wen Liang Chang

Abstract:

In this study, the optimal replacement time and number of preventive maintenance (PM) actions were investigated for a second-hand device. Suppose that a user intends to use a second-hand device for manufacturing products, and that the device is replaced with a new one. Any device failure is rectified through minimal repair, thereby incurring a fixed repair cost to the user. If the new device fails within the FRW period, minimal repair is performed at no cost to the user. After the FRW expires, a failed device is repaired and the cost of repair is incurred by the user. In this study, two profit models were developed, and the optimal replacement time and number of PM actions were determined to maximize profits. Finally, the influence of the optimal replacement time and number of PM actions were elaborated on, using numerical examples.

Keywords: second-hand device, preventive maintenance, replacement time, device failure

Procedia PDF Downloads 440

Authors: Zahra Hamedani, Ebrahim Solgi, Henry Skates, Gillian Isoardi

Abstract:

Daylighting plays a pivotal role in promoting productivity and user satisfaction in office spaces. There is an ongoing trend in designing office buildings with a high proportion of glazing which relatively increases the risk of high visual discomfort. Providing a more realistic lighting analysis can be of high value at the early stages of building design when necessary changes can be made at a very low cost. This holistic approach can be achieved by incorporating subjective evaluation and user behaviour in computer simulation and provide a comprehensive lighting analysis. In this research, a detailed computer simulation model has been made using Radiance and Daysim. Afterwards, this model was validated by measurements and user feedback. The case study building is the school of science at Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, which features highly glazed office spaces. In this paper, the visual comfort predicted by the model is compared with a preliminary survey of the building users to evaluate how user behaviour such as desk position, orientation selection, and user movement caused by daylight changes and other visual variations can inform perceptions of visual comfort. This work supports preliminary design analysis of visual comfort incorporating the effects of gaze shift patterns and views with the goal of designing effective layout for office spaces.

Keywords: lighting simulation, office buildings, user behaviour, validation, visual comfort

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Ali Al-Zughaibi

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to present a modeling and control of the quarter car active suspension system with unknown mass, unknown time-delay and road disturbance. The objective of designing the controller by deriving a control law to achieve stability of the system and convergence that can considerably improve the ride comfort and road disturbance handling. Thus is accomplished by using Routh-Herwitz criterion and based on some assumptions. A mathematical proof is given to show the ability of the designed controller to ensure stability and convergence of the active suspension system and dispersion oscillation of system with unknown mass, time-delay and road disturbances. Simulations were also performed for controlling quarter car suspension, where the results obtained from these simulations verify the validity of the proposed design.

Keywords: active suspension system, time-delay, disturbance rejection, dynamic uncertainty

Procedia PDF Downloads 300

Authors: Trude Tørset, María Díez Gutiérrez

Abstract:

The west coast of Norway features numerous islands and fjords. Ferry services connect the roads when these features make the construction challenging. Currently, scientific effort is designated to assess potential ferry replacement projects along the European road E-39. The inconvenience of ferry dependency is imprecisely represented in the transport models, thus transport analyses of ferry replacement projects appear as guesstimates rather than reliable input to decision-making processes of such costly projects. Trips including ferry connections imply more inconvenient elements than just travel time and cost. The goal of this paper is to understand and explain the extra inconveniences associated to the dependency of the ferry. The first scientific approach is to identify the characteristics of the ferry travelers and their trips’ features, as well as whether the ferry represents an obstacle for some specific trip types. In doing so, a survey was conducted in 2011 in eight E-39 ferries and in 2013 in 18 ferries connecting different road categories. More than 20,000 passengers answered with their trip and socioeconomic characteristics. The travel patterns in the different ferry connections were compared. The analysis showed that the trip features differed based on the location of the ferry connections, yet independently of the road category. Additionally, the patterns were compared to the national travel survey to detect differences in the travel patterns due to the use of the ferry connections. The results showed that the share of commuting trips within the same travel time was lower if the ferry was part of the trip. The second scientific approach is to know how the different travelers perceive potential benefits for a ferry replacement project. In the 2011 survey, some of the questions were about the relevance of nine different benefits this project might bring. Travelers identified the better access to public services and job market as the most valuable benefits, followed by the reduced planning of the trip. In 2016, a follow-up survey in some of the ferry connections was carried out in order to investigate variations in travelers’ perceptions. The growing interest in ferry replacement projects might make travelers more aware of the potential benefits these would bring to their daily lives. This paper describes the travel behaviour of travelers using a ferry connection as part of their trips, as well as the potential inconveniences associated to these trips. The findings might provide valuable input to further development of transport models, concept evaluations and cost benefit analysis methods.

Keywords: ferry connections, ferry trip, inconvenience costs, travel behaviour

Procedia PDF Downloads 198

Authors: Jung-Hun Cho, Tae-Heon Moon, Jin-Hak Lee

Abstract:

Land price contains the comprehensive characteristics of urban space, representing the social and economic features of the city. Accordingly, land price can be utilized as an indicator, which can identify the changes of spatial structure and socioeconomic variations caused by urban development. This study attempted to explore the changes in land price by a new road construction. Methodologically, it adopted Space Syntax, which can interpret urban spatial structure comprehensively, to identify the relationship between the forms of road networks and land price. The result of the regression analysis showed the ‘integration index’ of Space Syntax is statistically significant and has a strong correlation with land price. If the integration value is high, land price increases proportionally. Subsequently, using regression equation, it tried to predict the land price changes of each of the lots surrounding the roads that are newly opened. The research methods or study results have the advantage of predicting the changes in land price in an easy way. In addition, it will contribute to planners and project managers to establish relevant polices and smoothing urban regeneration projects through enhancing residents’ understanding by providing possible results and advantages in their land price before the execution of urban regeneration and development projects.

Keywords: space syntax, urban regeneration, spatial structure, official land price

Procedia PDF Downloads 297

Authors: Magdi Mohamed Eltayeb Zumrawi

Abstract:

It is quite essential to investigate the causes of pavement deterioration in order to select the proper maintenance technique. The objective of this study was to identify factors cause deterioration of recently constructed roads in Khartoum state. A comprehensive literature concerning the factors of road deterioration, common road defects and their causes were reviewed. Three major road projects with different deterioration reasons were selected for this study. The investigation involved field survey and laboratory testing on those projects to examine the existing pavement conditions. The results revealed that the roads investigated experienced severe failures in the forms of cracks, potholes and rutting in the wheel path. The causes of those failures were found mainly linked to poor drainage, traffic overloading, expansive subgrade soils and the use of low quality materials in construction. Based on the results, recommendations were provided to help highway engineers in selecting the most effective repair techniques for specific kinds of distresses.

Keywords: pavement, deterioration, causes, failures

Procedia PDF Downloads 325

Authors: Adinarayana Badveeti, Mohammad Shafi Mir

Abstract:

In Srinagar City, in India, traffic congestion is a condition on transport networks that occurs as use increases and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queuing. Traffic congestion is conventionally measured using indicators such as roadway level-of-service, the Travel Time Index and their variants. Several measures have been taken in order to counteract congestion like road pricing, car pooling, improved traffic management, etc. While new road construction can temporarily relieve congestion in the longer term, it simply encourages further growth in car traffic through increased travel and a switch away from public transport. The full paper report, on which this abstract is based, aims to provide policymakers and technical staff with the real-time data, conceptual framework and guidance on some of the engineering tools necessary to manage congestion in such a way as to reduce its overall impact on individuals, families, communities, and societies dynamic, affordable, liveable and attractive urban regions will never be free of congestion. Road transport policies, however, should seek to manage congestion on a cost-effective basis with the aim of reducing the burden that excessive congestion imposes upon travellers and urban dwellers throughout the urban road network.

Keywords: traffic congestion, modeling, traffic management, travel time index

Procedia PDF Downloads 285

Authors: Kazi Md. Shifun Newaz, S. Miaji, Shahnewaz Hazanat-E-Rabbi

Abstract:

In this study, the kernel density estimation tool has been used to identify most crash prone locations in a national highway of Bangladesh. Like other developing countries, in Bangladesh road traffic crashes (RTC) have now become a great social alarm and the situation is deteriorating day by day. Today’s black spot identification process is not based on modern technical tools and most of the cases provide wrong output. In this situation, characteristic analysis and black spot identification by spatial analysis would be an effective and low cost approach in ensuring road safety. The methodology of this study incorporates a framework on the basis of spatial-temporal study to identify most RTC occurrence locations. In this study, a very important and economic corridor like Dhaka to Sylhet highway has been chosen to apply the method. This research proposes that KDE method for identification of Hazardous Road Location (HRL) could be used for all other National highways in Bangladesh and also for other developing countries. Some recommendations have been suggested for policy maker to reduce RTC in Dhaka-Sylhet especially in black spots.

Keywords: hazardous road location (HRL), crash, GIS, kernel density

Procedia PDF Downloads 274

Authors: Stephen Miller

Abstract:

The act of applying game mechanics and dynamics (which have been traditionally used in video games) into business applications is being widely trialed in an effort to make conventional business software a bit more participative, fun and engaging. This new trend, named ‘gamification’ has its believers and of course, its critics who still need convincing that the concept is an effective and beneficial business tool worthy of investment. The literature reveals that user engagement of business intelligence (BI) tools is much lower than expected and investors are failing to get a good return on their investment (ROI). So, a software prototype will be designed and developed to add gamification to a BI tool to determine its effect upon the user engagement levels of test participants. The experimental study will be evaluated using the comprehensive User Engagement Scale (UES) to see if there are improvements in areas such as; aesthetics, perceived usability, endurability, novelty, felt involvement and focused attention. The results of this unique study should demonstrate whether or not ‘gamifying’ a BI tool has the potential to increase an individual’s motivation to use BI software more often.

Keywords: business intelligence, gamification, human computer interaction, user engagement

Procedia PDF Downloads 557

Authors: Tejas Dhadphale

Abstract:

The user-centered design (UCD) approach has led to an increased interest in empathy within the product development process. Designers have explored several empathetic methods and tools such as personas, empathy maps, journey maps, user needs statements and user scenarios to capture and visualize users’ needs. The goal of these tools is not only to generate a deeper and shared understanding of user needs but also to become a point of reference for subsequent decision making, brainstorming and concept evaluation tasks. The purpose of this study is to measure the effect of empathy priming on divergent brainstorming tasks. This study compares the effects of three empathy tools, personas, empathy maps and user needs statements, on ideation fluency and originality of ideas during brainstorming tasks. In a three-between-subjects experimental design study, sixty product design students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: persona, empathy maps and user needs statements. A one-way, between-subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed a a statistically significant difference in empathy priming on fluency and originality of ideas. Participants in the persona group showed higher ideation fluency and generated a greater number of original ideas compared to the other groups. The results show that participants in the user need statement group to generate a greater number of feasible and relevant ideas. The study also aims to understand how formatting and visualization of empathy tools impact divergent brainstorming tasks. Participants were interviewed to understand how different visualizations of users’ needs (personas, empathy maps and user needs statements) facilitated idea generation during brainstorming tasks. Implications for design education are discussed.

Keywords: empathy, persona, priming, Design research

Procedia PDF Downloads 50