Large-scale urban sensing data, such as vehicle global positioning system (GPS) traces, are emerging as an important data source for urban planning. However, the widespread availability of commercial ...truck GPS data comes with a large diversity of sources with different operational characteristics. In this context, motivated by addressing ongoing challenges in urban logistics from the perspective of transport geography, we describe an approach to exploring and analyzing a large amount of vehicle GPS data from heterogeneous sources. Our aim is to leverage GPS data to better understand and characterize urban logistics from a broader, city-wide perspective as well as from the perspective of a single corporate logistics system. Using the city of São Paulo, Brazil, as an example, we show how such data can be leveraged to improve the operational planning of transport operators and the policymaking strategies of public agencies, especially in cities in developing and emerging economies where other sources of data are not readily available. We build on GPS data from company-specific logistics fleets as well as company-agnostic, mixed-use general vehicle fleets to present novel insights into the spatial distribution of cargo vehicles across the city on different days, the distinct flows and preferred paths of freight traffic, the number of stops per vehicle trip, the distribution of stop times, and the speed patterns. Our proposed approach can easily be transferred and extended to other geographic contexts and other datasets that exhibit structures similar to those used in our case study.
► A case study approach to urban freight challenges in the Baltic Sea Region. ► Potentials and shortcomings in urban freight transport planning are identified. ► Lack of long-term freight transport ...strategies. ► Lack of cooperation between stakeholders. ► A necessity to use integrated transport planning including both passenger and freight transport.
Freight transport in urban areas is still not well understood and there is no methodology aimed at the analysis and planning of such areas. To achieve urban sustainability, new models for the management of urban freight movements are needed, in which local authorities play a pro-active role. The aim of this paper is to contribute to lay the groundwork for designing strategies to overcome the challenges involved in sustainable urban freight transport. This paper is based on a multiple-case study analysing the current state of urban freight transport and current planning practices in cities around the Baltic Sea. While the cities differ in size, economy, and political and cultural frameworks, the transport sector plays a strong role in all cities. In-depth freight interviews with public and private stakeholders were conducted and complemented with several holistic interview sessions and document analysis. Potentials and shortcomings in urban freight transport planning are presented and the results show that freight transport is increasingly important for regional competitiveness while freight traffic is a growing threat for urban sustainability. In turn, the urban context is a barrier for efficient freight operations. However, both local authorities and transport operators neglect the problems that arise from freight in urban areas. An overall awareness is needed to understand that a deeper integration of freight transport and urban sustainability strategies can be beneficial for both the efficiency of freight transport networks and for local sustainability. City authorities need more logistics competence to facilitate the required integration between private and public actors.
Soon after its introduction in the communications domain, the novel concept of multiple input-multiple output (MIMO) has been making its way also into the radar world. A new generation of multistatic ...netted systems with unprecedented capabilities has been fully theorised, unveiling its potential advantages over its classical stand-alone, monostatic counterparts. However, MIMO radars mainly remained the object of abstract modeling, since electronic technology could hardly support the practical implementation of this new class of systems. With the development of microwave photonics, the realization of MIMO radar networks at the best of their capabilities has become a reality, thanks to the inherent coherence of photonics systems, and to the broad-band, low-distortion, and interference-immune optical signal distribution. This paper presents the results of a microwave photonics widely-distributed, dual-band MIMO radar network, deployed in a real freight port for maritime traffic monitoring, with inverse synthetic aperture radar imaging capabilities. It employs a central unit connected to multiple widely distributed remote radar peripherals thanks to optical fiber. The possibility to operate in dual-band mode, and the coherent management of the transmitted and received signals are demonstrated, exploiting geometric and frequency diversity in target detection. The system exhibits a spurious-free dynamic range of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">\boldsymbol{\sim 82}\,{\mathbf{d}\mathbf{B}\cdot \mathbf{\mathbf{Hz}}^{\mathbf{2/3}}}</tex-math></inline-formula> and a sensitivity of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">\mathbf{-110}\,\mathbf{dBm}</tex-math></inline-formula>. Under these premises, a small boat of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">\mathbf \sim\! 1\,{\mathrm{\mathrm{m}}^{\mathrm{2}}}</tex-math></inline-formula> radar cross section has been detected at more than <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">\mathbf {800}\,{\mathbf{m}}</tex-math></inline-formula>, achieving a probability of detection of about <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">\mathbf {0.85}</tex-math></inline-formula>, for a false alarm rate of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">\mathbf {7.7\times 10^{-4}}</tex-math></inline-formula>.
The Internet-of-Things paradigm is pushing the current fully-automated industry to Industry 4.0, laying on a high degree of end-to-end digitization of all physical assets and their integration into ...data-based services. A significant contribution to recent advances of digital technologies comes from microwave photonics, whose benefits for RF systems in terms of performance and flexibility have been largely demonstrated. In the radar domain, the high degree of coherence granted by photonics makes possible multiple input-multiple output systems, enabling an enhancement of surveillance and monitoring capabilities, thanks to the possibility of performing centralized processing and raw-data fusion. The advantages offered by photonics for surveillance converge with the Industry 4.0 revolution, helping in the actualization of the "Port of the Future" paradigm, to monitor the freight traffic inside ports, increasing goods distribution efficiency, at the same time reducing carbon footprint. Here, we present the first photonics-based widely distributed multiple input-multiple output dual-band radar network, designed to operate in a real port, showing the achieved enhanced potential detection and imaging capabilities. The integration of the targets radar tracks within the monitoring and control platform of the port is reported, enabling the fusion with other data managed by the multiservice monitoring platform.
To face the problem of freight safety and reduce the traffic accidents, the influence of the response time of the pneumatic braking system on the braking performance should be investigated, which can ...improve the safety level of vehicle. The mathematical model of the pneumatic braking response time was established in this paper. The parameters of the pneumatic braking time and the time delay characteristics of the pneumatic braking system was discussed. The results show that the pressure and effective cross-sectional area of the brake chamber are the main factors affecting the time delay of the pneumatic braking system. When the effective cross-sectional area of the brake chamber is certain, the push rod stroke of the brake chamber increases significantly with the increase of air pressure; when the brake chamber pressure is constant, the larger the effective cross-sectional area of the brake chamber, the greater the output thrust of the brake chamber push rod.
Due to the burgeoning demand for freight movement in the era of e-commerce, freight related road safety threats have been growing in both urban and suburban areas, despite the improved general ...traffic safety over the past decades. The empirical evidence on how freight trucks related crashes are distributed across neighborhoods and correlated to spatially varying factors is, however, highly limited. This article uses data from the Los Angeles region in 2018 to analyze the spatial patterns of freight trucks related traffic crashes and examines the major factors that contribute to those patterns using spatial econometric models. Maps show that freight trucks related crashes are highly associated with major freight generators but less clustered than the overall traffic crashes. Results from the spatial Durbin model indicate that access to freight generators, economic attributes, land uses, road infrastructure, and road network variables all contribute to the spatial distribution of freight trucks related crashes. The findings could help transport planners understand the dynamics of freight trucks related traffic safety and develop operational measures for mitigating the impacts of growing goods movement on local communities.
The significant growth in freight traffic and relevant crashes has aroused increasing concerns about road safety threats in local communities. We use data from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan ...Area and examine the spatial relationship between freight-related crashes and neighborhoods with low-income and minority populations. We find that both household income and percentage of minority population are significantly correlated with the density of both freight-related crashes and freight-related crashes causing severe injuries and fatalities. The results indicate that freight-related crashes are subject to a spatial inequity problem. The findings underscore the importance of incorporating freight-related safety improvement within these low-income and minority neighborhoods.
•The relationship between freight-related crashes and socioeconomics of neighborhoods is examined.•Lower-income and minority neighborhoods have a higher risk of freightrelated crashes.•A coverage validity of the results is revealed in both the census tract and block group level analyses.•Policy implications on local traffic safety improvements and freight planning are provided based on the findings.
One of the main problems of railway transport in Russia is the inappropriate development of infrastructure and the increased transport accident rate. The strategy for the development of Russian ...railway transport until 2030 should ensure the effective implementation of the unique geographical potential of its Arctic part and Northern territories through the integrated interaction of all transport types and the improvement of infrastructure. Railway transport, as an infrastructure industry, provides Russia with industrial and economic growth. To increase the territories connectivity, it is planned to develop transport corridors "West-East" and "North-South". The Russia economic level growth of implies, among other things, the modernization of the railway infrastructure, the development and implementation of engineering and technical measures aimed at preventing emergencies, accidents and man-made disasters, reducing their scale, protecting the population and material assets, by increasing the technological, structural and environmental safety of the transportation process and operational reliability of transport due to the modernization of freight car bogies.
Optimizing route choices for truck drivers is a key element in achieving reliable road freight operations. For commercial reasons, it is often difficult to collect freight activity data through ...traditional surveys. Automated vehicle identification (AVI) data on fixed locations (e.g., Bluetooth or camera) are low-cost alternatives that may have the potential to estimate route choice models. However, in cases where these AVI sensors are sparsely located, the resulting data lack actual route choices (or labels), which limits their application estimating route choice models. This paper overcomes this limitation with a new two-step approach based on fusing AVI and loop-detector data. First, a sparse Bluetooth data set is fused with travel times estimated from densely spaced loop-detector data. Second, the combined data set is fed into a bi-objective optimization method which simultaneously infers the actual route choices of truck drivers between an origin–destination pair and estimates the parameters of a route choice (discrete choice-based) model. We apply this approach to investigate the route choice behavior of truck drivers operating to and from the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The proposed model can distinguish between peak and off-peak periods and identify different segments of truck drivers based on a latent classes choice analysis. Our results indicate the potential of traffic and logistics interventions in improving the route choices of truck drivers during peak hours. Overall, this paper demonstrates that it might be possible to estimate route choice characteristics from readily available data that can be retrieved from traffic management agencies.
