scholarly journals The Impact of Visits to Dryland Forests on Environmental Outlook: Results from a National Survey

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 872
Author(s):  
Alon Tal ◽  
Miriam Billig
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Policy ◽  
National Survey ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Strong Correlation ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Policy Positions ◽  
Israeli Arabs ◽  
Forest Visitation ◽  
The Impact

The effect of visits to the country’s forests on environmental perspectives and commitments was assessed in a national survey of the Israeli public. As a highly urbanized country, visits to the country’s dryland forests constitute an important national pastime across ethnic lines. We evaluated the impact that forest visitation had on the attitudes and perspectives of the visitors. A strong correlation was found between the frequency of visits to forests by individuals and a range of pro-environmental and pro-conservation sentiments. Of particular interest was the response of Israel’s Arab citizens. Not only do Israeli Arabs visit forests more frequently, but they also support environmental policy positions more avidly than do Jewish citizens. The article argues that increasing accessibility to forests and natural sites by expanding public transportation lines should constitute an important component in conservation strategies.

Implementation of best-value procurement for highway design and construction in the USA

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 774-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dai Q. Tran ◽  
Keith R. Molenaar ◽  
Bharath Kolli
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
National Survey ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Best Value ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Transportation Agencies ◽  
Design And Construction

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate procedures and practices to promote transparency in best-value procurement for the design and construction of highway projects with the goal of improving this evolving procurement method. Design/methodology/approach The review of published empirical studies, a national survey of transportation agencies, and case studies of highway agencies form the basis of the conclusions in this research. In addition to the national survey, with 46 of 52 agencies participating, the research presents case studies from seven highway agencies in the USA including: California, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, and Utah. These seven case studies were selected from agencies that employ mature best-value procurement methods. The case studies involved a thorough procedural review and structured interviews of agency personnel. The agencies then validated the results and conclusions. Findings The results showed that evaluation committees should include technical members who do not have a personal interest in the outcome of the selection to maintain transparency in best-value projects. The committees should receive best-value procurement training, which necessitates the development of consistent and transparent best-value selection procedures. Debriefing meetings should be conducted to provide comments about strengths and weaknesses of each proposal to enhance fairness and transparency of the best-value selection process. Research limitations/implications Knowledge of the best-value procurement procedure will allow researchers to better understand the impact of procedures and practices on transparency in selecting best-value projects. The chief limitation of this research is that the primary data were collected from highway agencies in the USA. Any future research should include more data to enhance the validity of this study outside of the public transportation sector. Practical implications The result of this research will help transportation agencies and other public owners to improve their best-value procurement procedures. The findings of this research also address the construction and consulting industry’s concern about transparency and fairness of a best-value selection process. Originality/value This research is the first attempt to examine the impact of the evaluation committee, best-value training, and debriefings on transparency of best-value selection.

scholarly journals The impact of coronavirus 2019 on general surgery residency: A national survey of program directors

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
pp. 102285
Author(s):  
Maxwell F. Kilcoyne ◽  
Garrett N. Coyan ◽  
Edgar Aranda-Michel ◽  
Arman Kilic ◽  
Victor O. Morell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
National Survey ◽  
General Surgery ◽  
Program Directors ◽  
General Surgery Residency ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Virus Transmission Risk in Urban Rail Systems: Microscopic Simulation-Based Analysis of Spatio-Temporal Characteristics

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110101
Author(s):  
Jiali Zhou ◽  
Haris N. Koutsopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Public Transportation ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Transportation Systems ◽  
Transmission Risk ◽  
Microscopic Simulation ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Patterns ◽  
Subway System ◽  
Public Transportation Systems ◽  
The Impact

The transmission risk of airborne diseases in public transportation systems is a concern. This paper proposes a modified Wells-Riley model for risk analysis in public transportation systems to capture the passenger flow characteristics, including spatial and temporal patterns, in the number of boarding and alighting passengers, and in number of infectors. The model is used to assess overall risk as a function of origin–destination flows, actual operations, and factors such as mask-wearing and ventilation. The model is integrated with a microscopic simulation model of subway operations (SimMETRO). Using actual data from a subway system, a case study explores the impact of different factors on transmission risk, including mask-wearing, ventilation rates, infectiousness levels of disease, and carrier rates. In general, mask-wearing and ventilation are effective under various demand levels, infectiousness levels, and carrier rates. Mask-wearing is more effective in mitigating risks. Impacts from operations and service frequency are also evaluated, emphasizing the importance of maintaining reliable, frequent operations in lowering transmission risks. Risk spatial patterns are also explored, highlighting locations of higher risk.

scholarly journals Behavior of Traffic Congestion and Public Transport in Eight Large Cities in Latin America during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 4703
Author(s):  
Renato Andara ◽  
Jesús Ortego-Osa ◽  
Melva Inés Gómez-Caicedo ◽  
Rodrigo Ramírez-Pisco ◽  
Luis Manuel Navas-Gracia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Public Transport ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
Urban Transport ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Johns Hopkins Hospital ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
Public Data ◽  
The Impact

This comparative study analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on motorized mobility in eight large cities of five Latin American countries. Public institutions and private organizations have made public data available for a better understanding of the contagion process of the pandemic, its impact, and the effectiveness of the implemented health control measures. In this research, data from the IDB Invest Dashboard were used for traffic congestion as well as data from the Moovit© public transport platform. For the daily cases of COVID-19 contagion, those published by Johns Hopkins Hospital University were used. The analysis period corresponds from 9 March to 30 September 2020, approximately seven months. For each city, a descriptive statistical analysis of the loss and subsequent recovery of motorized mobility was carried out, evaluated in terms of traffic congestion and urban transport through the corresponding regression models. The recovery of traffic congestion occurs earlier and faster than that of urban transport since the latter depends on the control measures imposed in each city. Public transportation does not appear to have been a determining factor in the spread of the pandemic in Latin American cities.

“Blacks Can’t Jump”: The Racialization of Transit Police Responses to Fare Evasion

2021 ◽  
pp. 215336872110075
Author(s):  
TaLisa J. Carter ◽  
Lallen T. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Racial Identity ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Predominately White ◽  
White Neighborhoods ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Race And Place ◽  
Fare Evasion

This study demonstrates that racially disparate fare evasion citation outcomes are the product of racialized social systems that allow transit police officers to determine the belongingness of Black riders in systems of mass transit. Using citation data from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, we test the impact of race and place attributes on transit officer decisions to allocate punishment for subway fare evasion using mixed effects logistic regression controlling for individual and contextual predictors. Although rider racial identity alone proves statistically irrelevant, Black riders suspected of fare evasion possess an elevated risk for being fined as opposed to merely being warned at stations located within predominately white neighborhoods and as stations increase in ridership. These findings demonstrate how transit police officer discretion challenges Black belongingness on systems of public transportation. Broader implications of this work include the importance of scholarship linking statistical disparities to organizational intent and integrating diverse voices in policing policy development.

Transit networks, social contacts and open data meet public transportation plans for post-COVID-19: A Canadian case study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Benning ◽  
Jonathan Calles ◽  
Burak Kantarci ◽  
Shahzad Khan
Keyword(s):  
Public Transportation ◽  
Population Distribution ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Practical Method ◽  
Municipal Services ◽  
Transit Network ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Pandemic Response ◽  
The Impact

This article presents a practical method for the assessment of the risk profiles of communities by tracking / acquiring, fusing and analyzing data from public transportation, district population distribution, passenger interactions and cross-locality travel data. The proposed framework fuses these data sources into a realistic simulation of a transit network for a given time span. By shedding credible insights into the impact of public transit on pandemic spread, the research findings will help to set the groundwork for tools that could provide pandemic response teams and municipalities with a robust framework for the evaluations of city districts most at risk, and how to adjust municipal services accordingly.

Energy-Saving Methods for Urban Travel and Public Transportation in Smart Cities

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shan Li ◽  
Ying Gao ◽  
Tao Ba ◽  
Wei Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Energy Saving ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Traffic Control ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Learning Technologies ◽  
General Strategy ◽  
Smart Transportation ◽  
Urban Travel ◽  
Emissions Mitigation ◽  
The Impact

In many countries, energy-saving and emissions mitigation for urban travel and public transportation are important for smart city developments. It is essential to understand the impact of smart transportation (ST) in public transportation in the context of energy savings in smart cities. The general strategy and significant ideas in developing ST for smart cities, focusing on deep learning technologies, simulation experiments, and simultaneous formulation, are in progress. This study hence presents simultaneous transportation monitoring and management frameworks (STMF ). STMF has the potential to be extended to the next generation of smart transportation infrastructure. The proposed framework consists of community signal and community traffic, ST platforms and applications, agent-based traffic control, and transportation expertise augmentation. Experimental outcomes exhibit better quality metrics of the proposed STMF technique in energy saving and emissions mitigation for urban travel and public transportation than other conventional approaches. The deployed system improves the accuracy, consistency, and F-1 measure by 27.50%, 28.81%, and 31.12%. It minimizes the error rate by 75.35%.

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