Vol 13 No 1 (2013)
Vol 13 No 1 (2013)
Articles
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The aim of this paper is to evaluate the performance of two divergent methods for delineating commuting regions, also called labour market areas, in a situation that the base spatial units differ largely in size as a result of an irregular population distribution. Commuting patterns in Sweden have been analyzed with geographical information system technology by delineating commuting regions using two regionalization methods. One, a rule-based method, uses one-way commuting flows to delineate local labour market areas in a top-down procedure based on the selection of predefined employment centres. The other method, the interaction-based Intramax analysis, uses two-way flows in a bottom-up procedure based on numerical taxonomy principles. A comparison of these methods will expose a number of strengths and weaknesses. For both methods, the same data source has been used. The performance of both methods has been evaluated for the country as a whole using resident employed population, self-containment levels and job ratios for criteria. A more detailed evaluation has been done in the Göteborg metropolitan area by comparing regional patterns with the commuting fields of a number of urban centres in this area. It is concluded that both methods could benefit from the inclusion of additional control measures to identify improper allocations of municipalities.
The aim of this paper is to evaluate the performance of two divergent methods for delineating commuting regions, also called labour market areas, in a situation that the base spatial units differ largely in size as a result of an irregular population distribution. Commuting patterns in Sweden have been analyzed with geographical information system technology by delineating commuting regions using two regionalization methods. One, a rule-based method, uses one-way commuting flows to delineate local labour market areas in a top-down procedure based on the selection of predefined employment centres. The other method, the interaction-based Intramax analysis, uses two-way flows in a bottom-up procedure based on numerical taxonomy principles. A comparison of these methods will expose a number of strengths and weaknesses. For both methods, the same data source has been used. The performance of both methods has been evaluated for the country as a whole using resident employed population,...
The aim of this paper is to evaluate the performance of two divergent methods for delineating commuting regions, also called labour market areas, in a situation that the base spatial units differ largely in size as a result of an irregular population distribution. Commuting patterns in Sweden...
Martin Landré, Johan Håkansson -
Freight transport operations in urban areas are normally performed by private companies using public infrastructure and governed by regulations implemented by public authorities. Until recently there has been little involvement of private companies in local transport planning processes and as a result urban transport regulations and plans are frequently formulated with limited understanding of the impacts on freight transport operations. In the UK, freight partnerships have been developed to bring together public and private stakeholders often in an urban context and there are other examples elsewhere in Europe. Few of these partnerships have been assessed in order to compare their activities systematically. The paper compares several freight partnerships and considers their usefulness and possible shortcomings in terms of specific outcomes and projects as well as their input to and influence on policy formulation. Six partnerships are investigated by means of desk research, interviews and questionnaires and in two cases participation by the researchers. The freight partnerships are compared using an assessment framework derived from the literature review conducted. Results show that shortterm actions solving specific problems are valued but are not perceived as the sole benefit of the partnerships. Longer-term relationships and mutual understandings of each other’s problems and possibilities are considered equally important especially in respect of input to policy formulation by the local authorities. The results also show that one of the most important factors to support the on-going activities of a partnership is a core set of engaged and interested participants and several ways in which this can be achieved have been identified.
Freight transport operations in urban areas are normally performed by private companies using public infrastructure and governed by regulations implemented by public authorities. Until recently there has been little involvement of private companies in local transport planning processes and as a result urban transport regulations and plans are frequently formulated with limited understanding of the impacts on freight transport operations. In the UK, freight partnerships have been developed to bring together public and private stakeholders often in an urban context and there are other examples elsewhere in Europe. Few of these partnerships have been assessed in order to compare their activities systematically. The paper compares several freight partnerships and considers their usefulness and possible shortcomings in terms of specific outcomes and projects as well as their input to and influence on policy formulation. Six partnerships are investigated by means of desk research,...
Freight transport operations in urban areas are normally performed by private companies using public infrastructure and governed by regulations implemented by public authorities. Until recently there has been little involvement of private companies in local transport planning processes and as...
Maria Lindholm, Michael Browne -
In recent years short sea shipping, and specifically the so-called motorways of the sea, have increasingly become the focus of attention in the area of European Union transport policy. As an intermodal alternative to door-to-door unimodal road transport, the success of short sea shipping is dependent on properly functioning interaction among agents in the chain, particularly shipping companies and road transport firms. Taking the road transport firm perspective, this study aims to evaluate the extent to which shared planning between agents explains the firm’s performance in the context of the intermodal relationship, and explores the key antecedents for shared planning in this context. The research hypotheses were tested on a sample of 106 relationships between shipping companies and road transport firms. Our study contributes to the literature on intermodality and short sea shipping by providing evidence on how shared planning positively benefits the road transport firm performance. The results also demonstrate that two factors––namely, trust in the shipping company and the road transport firm’s involvement through adaptations to the partner––largely determine shared planning.
In recent years short sea shipping, and specifically the so-called motorways of the sea, have increasingly become the focus of attention in the area of European Union transport policy. As an intermodal alternative to door-to-door unimodal road transport, the success of short sea shipping is dependent on properly functioning interaction among agents in the chain, particularly shipping companies and road transport firms. Taking the road transport firm perspective, this study aims to evaluate the extent to which shared planning between agents explains the firm’s performance in the context of the intermodal relationship, and explores the key antecedents for shared planning in this context. The research hypotheses were tested on a sample of 106 relationships between shipping companies and road transport firms. Our study contributes to the literature on intermodality and short sea shipping by providing evidence on how shared planning positively benefits the road transport firm...
In recent years short sea shipping, and specifically the so-called motorways of the sea, have increasingly become the focus of attention in the area of European Union transport policy. As an intermodal alternative to door-to-door unimodal road transport, the success of short sea shipping is...
Miguel Ángel López-Navarro -
Urban goods distribution has gained in importance in recent years since its optimization not only has the potential to increase productivity and operational efficiency but also to achieve broader goals related to the reduction of externalities including congestion, accidents, noise, air pollution and CO2 emissions. The focus of this paper is to explore the costs and benefits related to freight trams and appraise, by means of a cost benefit analysis a hypothetical freight tram scheme in the centre of Barcelona, to identify the factors that critically influence the potential success or failure of such schemes and to examine through sensitivity testing ways of improving performance. Thus, this paper aims to enhance our understanding of the potential for freight trams to contribute to mitigating a range of transport externalities. Two freight tram scenarios were developed for detailed investigation: the first for retail deliveries and the second for domestic waste collection. Cost benefit analysis (CBA) was carried out based on the best available public domain information and with clearly specified assumptions. The waste tram scenario yields a high Net Present Value (NPV) and rapid return on investment due to the low set up costs and significant operating cost savings. On the other hand, in the initial specification, the retail delivery tram has a very negative NPV due to high initial investment costs and annual costs exceeding annual benefits. Sensitivity tests indicate that both the initial infrastructure costs and the costs and efficiency levels of the consolidation centres are critical to the performance of a freight tram.
Urban goods distribution has gained in importance in recent years since its optimization not only has the potential to increase productivity and operational efficiency but also to achieve broader goals related to the reduction of externalities including congestion, accidents, noise, air pollution and CO2 emissions. The focus of this paper is to explore the costs and benefits related to freight trams and appraise, by means of a cost benefit analysis a hypothetical freight tram scheme in the centre of Barcelona, to identify the factors that critically influence the potential success or failure of such schemes and to examine through sensitivity testing ways of improving performance. Thus, this paper aims to enhance our understanding of the potential for freight trams to contribute to mitigating a range of transport externalities. Two freight tram scenarios were developed for detailed investigation: the first for retail deliveries and the second for domestic waste collection. Cost...
Urban goods distribution has gained in importance in recent years since its optimization not only has the potential to increase productivity and operational efficiency but also to achieve broader goals related to the reduction of externalities including congestion, accidents, noise, air...
Robert Regué, Abigail L. Bristow