Pressure cookers or pressure valves: Do roads lead to deforestation in China?

The effect of roads on forests is ambiguous. Many studies conclude that building and upgrading roads increases pressure on forests but some find that new and better roads may reduce the rate of deforestation. In this paper we use satellite remote sensing images of forest cover in Jiangxi Province, China, to test whether the existence and the size of roads (ranging from expressways to tertiary roads) in 1995 affected the level of forest cover in 2000 or the rate of change between 1995 and 2000. To account for road access for each of our 1 km² (“pixel”) units of forest cover we measure whether or not and what type of roads penetrate the “watershed” in which the pixel lies. These watersheds allow more plausible measures of accessibility than do traditional “crowfly” distance measures that ignore topography. To account for possible confounding we also use 12 additional covariates: geographic and climatic variables (e.g., elevation, slope, rainfall, temperature, soil properties); demographic and economic variables (e.g., local population and GDP per square kilometer); and distance variables (e.g., distance to the nearest provincial capital). Although simple univariate OLS regressions show that forest levels are lower and deforestation rates higher either when there is a road, or when there is a higher quality road, these results are not robust. Controlling for all of the covariates and also using recently developed covariate matching techniques to estimate treatment effects, we find that roads in China’s Jiangxi Province can most safely be described as having no impact on the level of forests and no impact on the rate of deforestation.     

Acciphilia on the road: An analysis of severe collisions

Introduction

Although prior studies of road traffic accidents have found between-group differences in risk, little attention has been given to the encounter between drivers involved in severe collisions.

Method

The present study empirically evaluates two different possible causes of "social accidents," which are defined as collisions between two or more drivers where some faulty social interaction might be assumed, and which are the most prevalent cause of road injuries. The analyses use merged Israeli collision records from 1983 to 2004 with data from two national censuses, thus providing an unprecedented empirical basis to study the social foundations of car accidents. The data are used to adjudicate between two alternative hypotheses: the heterogeneity hypothesis (socially different drivers tend to collide) versus the homogeneity hypothesis (socially similar drivers tend to collide).

Results

Multivariate analyses provide preliminary support for the latter hypothesis. Given an accident, there are more collisions among drivers from the same broad educational group, and the factors that influence this correlation are independent of geography. The paper thus leads to the idea that severe collisions reflect a sociological or ecological process that is akin to acciphilia.

Impact on Industry

The preliminary findings suggest that variation between drivers may be preferable to similarity, since apparently there is a greater tendency toward collisions between similar drivers.     

"The little squealer" or "the virtual guardian angel"? Young drivers' and their parents' perspective on using a driver monitoring technology and its implications for parent-young driver communication

Introduction

In-vehicle driving monitoring technologies have the potential to enable young drivers to learn from self-assessment. However, their use is largely dependent on parental involvement.

Method

A total of 79 interviews were conducted with young drivers and parents regarding this technology and its use. Most had the experience of having an in-vehicle data recorder installed in the vehicle driven by the young drivers. Parents and the young drivers expressed both appreciation as well as reservations about its potential as a means to enhance the driving safety of young drivers.

Results

A surprising finding was that some parents did not check the feedback and said they relied on the young driver to do so. Main concerns related to privacy, parent-young driver relationship, self-esteem and confidence, constructive use of the feedback data, and the limitations of the documentation that can be done by the technology.

Conclusions

Providing parents and young drivers with a support system and tools to discuss and utilize the feedback are underscored. Challenges include addressing the invasion of young drivers’ privacy and gender differences, and using the monitoring-capacity of the technology to enhance safe driving practices. Implications for programs to enhance communication and a dialogical approach between parents and young drivers are discussed.     

Random parameter models for accident prediction on two-lane undivided highways in India

Introduction

Generalized linear modeling (GLM), with the assumption of Poisson or negative binomial error structure, has been widely employed in road accident modeling. A number of explanatory variables related to traffic, road geometry, and environment that contribute to accident occurrence have been identified and accident prediction models have been proposed. The accident prediction models reported in literature largely employ the fixed parameter modeling approach, where the magnitude of influence of an explanatory variable is considered to be fixed for any observation in the population. Similar models have been proposed for Indian highways too, which include additional variables representing traffic composition. The mixed traffic on Indian highways comes with a lot of variability within, ranging from difference in vehicle types to variability in driver behavior. This could result in variability in the effect of explanatory variables on accidents across locations. Random parameter models, which can capture some of such variability, are expected to be more appropriate for the Indian situation.

Method

The present study is an attempt to employ random parameter modeling for accident prediction on two-lane undivided rural highways in India. Three years of accident history, from nearly 200 km of highway segments, is used to calibrate and validate the models.

Results

The results of the analysis suggest that the model coefficients for traffic volume, proportion of cars, motorized two-wheelers and trucks in traffic, and driveway density and horizontal and vertical curvatures are randomly distributed across locations.

Conclusions

The paper is concluded with a discussion on modeling results and the limitations of the present study.     

纵向通风下坡度隧道火灾烟气特性数值模拟研究

为探讨纵向通风情况下坡度隧道火灾烟气的温度分布、回流长度等特性参数,运用火灾动力学模拟软件FDS建立一个长为500 m的公路隧道模型,对不同坡度、不同纵向通风速率的20组火灾工况进行模拟研究,通过分析各工况的模拟结果,并结合前人在隧道火灾烟气特性研究方面的成果,得到火灾情况下隧道内烟气的纵向温度分布规律、隧道拱顶温度变化规律、温度偏移及烟气回流长度变化规律等。     

基坑开挖影响下下卧盾构隧道变形及控制措施研究

近年来地铁建设不断加快,在地铁隧道上方施工已成常态。为研究基坑开挖影响下下卧盾构隧道的隆起变形,评价不同变形控制措施的实际控制效果,以武汉市轨道交通6号线琴台变电站地下电缆通道工程为例,采用两阶段法计算了基坑开挖影响下下卧盾构隧道的隆起变形,同时采用数值模拟方法对无加固、压力注浆加固、水泥土搅拌桩加固和压力注浆+水泥土搅拌桩综合加固控制措施4种工况下下卧隧道的隆起变形值进行了数值模拟计算,并将数值模拟结果与实际工程监测数据进行了对比分析。结果表明:对于初步预测基坑开挖引起下卧盾构隧道的隆起变形,该理论计算方法可靠、实用;压力注浆+水泥土搅拌桩综合加固控制措施使下卧盾构隧道的隆起变形和横断面收敛变形值分别减小至2.3 mm和0.35 mm,控制效果良好,具有一定的实际推广意义,可为类似工程提供参考。     

地铁隧道排烟口无量纲结构参数与局部阻力研究*

针对现有行业规范中的排烟口结构参数尚不明确的问题,依托过海瓦贵区间隧道,搭建隧道通风排烟模型实验系统。设定11种排烟口面积工况,结合实验与数值模拟,得到排烟口上、下游的静压值和风速。引入动能修正系数,推导出基于上下游能量差的排烟口局部阻力表达式,绘制出无量纲面积比与局部阻力系数曲线族。研究结果表明:排烟口长宽比值较大时,不利于排烟口下方风流流动;在同一风机组合工况下,当排烟口面积缩小时,局部阻力系数会呈现出先减后增的趋势;提出排烟口最优结构长宽比为1.06。研究结果可为相关规范制定提供参考,并为防灾救灾提供理论支持。     

隧道入口冰雪环境下驾驶员心生理特性研究*

为提高高速公路冰雪环境下隧道入口行车安全水平,探究隧道入口冰雪环境下驾驶员心生理反应特性,依据心生理理论,通过模拟驾驶试验采集驾驶员在冬季晴、雪天气下隧道入口行驶的心率增长率、速度等数据,分析照度变化率、路面摩擦系数、速度对驾驶员心生理的影响规律,明确不同影响因素下隧道入口驾驶员心率增长率变化特征,利用Matlab构建多因素耦合下隧道入口驾驶员心生理反应模型,并设计实车试验验证心生理反应模型有效性。研究结果表明:冰雪环境下隧道入口驾驶员心率增长率紧张阈值为28%,隧道入口冰雪环境下照度变化率安全阈值为51%,心生理反应模型误差小于10%,吻合程度较好。研究结果对提高山区高速公路隧道入口冰雪环境的行车安全性、降低隧道入口事故风险具有重要意义。     

城市地下道路V形区段坡度构成对烟气扩散和重点排烟效果的影响研究*

为了研究城市地下道路V形区段坡度构成对烟气扩散和重点排烟效果的影响,采用数值模拟手段,对V形区段内变坡点两侧不同坡度构成、排烟口的开启方式对烟气扩散和重点排烟效率的影响进行研究。研究结果表明:对于对称V形区段,采用重点排烟控制烟气相对容易,但对降低排烟道下方顶棚最高温度作用有限;针对非对称V形区段,烟气的自由扩散特性与变坡点两侧坡度差有关,增加大坡度侧的排烟口数量可以提高排烟效率,但要将烟气有效地控制在较小的范围内相对困难。实际运行中,应结合坡度的实际构成和烟气控制总目标,制定相应的排烟口开启策略。     

隧道废气环境影响评价方法及影响预测

以天津某隧道工程环评为例,介绍了隧道NOX排放量的计算方法;采用高斯模式预测了风塔下风向NO2扩散浓度,计算结果表明在排放口下风向129 m范围内、空间69～73 m高度范围内NO2浓度超标;采用TOP模式预测了峒口下风向NO2的扩散浓度,计算结果表明峒口下风向30 m范围内NO2浓度超标;提出了隧道工程废气污染控制措施。