Improving traffic safety: Conceptual considerations for successful action

Introduction

In the early stages of motorization, it did not take rigorous scientific research to achieve major improvements in traffic safety. Instead, early traffic-safety countermeasures were often based exclusively on common sense. Since then, scientific research has gradually increased in importance as the basis for developing successful interventions. This shift was not made by choice but mostly by necessity: Many of the “easy” problems have already been addressed, and the remaining problems are generally too complex for an approach based solely on common sense. Fortunately, our understanding of the complexities involved in traffic safety has recently made major gains, and common sense can now be supplemented, to some degree, by valid technical analysis.

Approach

This article discusses major conceptual issues that should be considered in guiding the future development of effective, science-based traffic-safety countermeasures.

Impact on industry

After briefly discussing the conceptual issues, the article offers a list of implications for action.     

Consolidation in an Individual Transferable Quota Regime: Lessons from New Zealand, 1986–1999

Market-based approaches to environmental regulation (such as tradable permits or transferable quotas) are frequently offered as innovative solutions to many environmental problems. Globally, one of the most well-established forms of this approach is individual transferable quotas (or ITQs) in fisheries management. Within the natural resource management community, there is considerable debate over the effects ITQs have on the fishing industry and fisher behavior although this approach is not well-established in the United States. The previously imposed moratorium on ITQs in the United States has expired and the 2006 reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act explicitly provides for limited access privileges (LAPs). A variety of fishers, regulators, and conservation organizations are enthusiastically seeking to introduce ITQ management. With debate over whether and how ITQs should be used in American fisheries reinvigorated, it is timely to examine the evidence on the social and economic effects of ITQs in other nations’ fisheries. After briefly summarizing the debate on ITQs, we examine the case of New Zealand, one of the earliest and longest-lived ITQ-based fisheries regimes. We use multiple data sources and methods to analyze the extent to which industry consolidation and aggregation has occurred, including surveys of industry participants, expert interviews, reviews of academic reports and analyses, analysis of trade publications, and direct analysis of quota ownership patterns. This analysis shows a more complex outcome than recent debates in the ITQ literature would predict. These findings suggest that policy makers considering ITQs can learn from the experiences of other countries related to key issues such as quota allocation, aggregation limits, transferability, cost recovery, and resource sustainability when designing ITQ and other LAP systems. It is also important to explicitly identify economic and social objectives and then carefully design ITQ regimes to meet these objectives.     

A Typology of Collaboration Efforts in Environmental Management

Collaboration involves stakeholders and the public in a process of consensus building to address some of the most difficult environmental management problems facing society today. Collaborative groups vary widely, ranging from small watershed councils to regional ecosystem collaboratives to groups addressing large-scale policy issues. While these collaboratives all match the common principles of collaboration, a closer examination reveals many differences. Using institutional theories about levels of decision making provides a way of classifying collaboratives along a spectrum from action level to organizational level to policy level. This typology is applied to thirty-six collaboration case studies in Australia and the United States that were investigated over a series of years through interviews, observation, document analysis, and surveys. The application reveals different tendencies among the case types in terms of population, size, problem significance, institutional setting, and focus of activities. The typology also reveals functional differences in the types of stakeholders involved, the management arrangements for implementation, and the approaches to implementing change. This typology can help practitioners better understand the challenges and appropriate types of collaborations for different settings. It helps highlight differences in the role of government and decentralization of power. It distinguishes the different theoretical foundations for different types of collaboratives. Finally, it elucidates the different evaluation approaches for different types of collaboratives.     

经济增长和环境规制对雾霾的区际影响差异

为探究不同省级区域雾霾、经济增长和环境规制之间的空间关联效应,本文提出针对雾霾的引力模型空间权重矩阵,并利用该矩阵建立了空间杜宾模型,分别对全国、西部、中部和东部省区的面板数据进行了空间计量检验。实证结果显示:全国雾霾的莫兰指数值显著,且取值介于0.367—0.460之间;雾霾"重心"呈现先向东南再向西北移动的趋势,移动距离为76 557 m;雾霾的莫兰指数值为东部省区最大,西部省区最小,中部省区介于二者之间。全国的雾霾与经济增长之间呈显著的"U"型曲线,而西部、中部和东部省区则呈倒"U"型曲线,其中中部省区的曲线最为陡峭,西部省区次之,东部省区最为平缓。环境规制每增加1%,只有西部和东部的雾霾相应减少,且各自相应下降0.009和0.010个百分点。西部和东部经济增长的溢出效应均显著,而环境规制的溢出效应不显著。研究结果表明:(1)雾霾在空间上表现出集聚的特点,全国和三个区域的雾霾都存在显著的正向空间溢出效应,这种空间依赖性在时间维度上大致呈加强的趋势;雾霾的空间相关性表现为东部省区最强,西部省区紧随其后,中部省区最低。(2)西部和东部省区部分省市还未过拐点,全国意义上的环境库茨涅兹假说是不存在的,或者是至少还未出现。(3)西部和东部环境规制效果较为理想,而中部省区的环境规制效果不佳;从全国总体来看,当前的环境规制整体上对雾霾并未起到有效的抑制作用。(4)东西部省区和中部省区经济增长对雾霾溢出效应分别表现为正向和反向;环境规制对雾霾的溢出效应并不显著。建议加强对雾霾的区域协同治理,重点推进西部和东部省区经济结构的转型升级,调整和完善西部、中部和东部省区的环境规制政策。     

Human rights and proactive displacement: determining the appropriate balance between the duty to protect and the right to remain

The proactive displacement by public authorities of populations from areas perceived to be exposed to a high risk of disaster presents complex human rights challenges. Provided that no ulterior motive is at play, the use of compulsory evacuations and relocations as policy responses to such risk is mandated by the duty to protect the right to life. However, proactive displacement in the interest of saving lives can be problematic as such measures can lead to the limitation of other human rights, resulting in an intricate assessment of whether compulsory evacuation or permanent relocation is proportional in any given circumstance. Such an analysis demands critical attention by public authorities to the perception of the disaster risk in question and problematises claims to objectivity of official risk assessments. Furthermore, it poses the question as to whether measures designed to address the disaster risk in question that are less intrusive than relocation may be available to public authorities.     

Impacts of Human Behavioral Heterogeneity on the Benefits of Probabilistic Flood Warnings: An Agent‐Based Modeling Framework

Flood forecasts and warnings are intended to reduce flood‐related property damages and loss of human life. Considerable research has improved flood forecasting accuracy (e.g., more accurate prediction of the occurrence of flood events) and lead time. However, the delivery of improved forecast information alone is not necessarily sufficient to reduce flood damage and loss of life, as people have varying responses and reactions to flood warnings. This study develops an agent‐based modeling framework that evaluates the impacts of heterogeneity in human behaviors (i.e., variation in behaviors in response to flood warnings), as well as residential density, on the benefits of flood warnings. The framework is coupled with a traffic model to simulate evacuation processes within a road network under various flood warning scenarios. The results show the marginal benefit associated with providing better flood warnings is significantly constrained if people behave in a more risk‐tolerant manner, especially in high‐density residential areas. The results also show significant impacts of human behavioral heterogeneity on the benefits of flood warnings, and thus stress the importance of considering human behavioral heterogeneity in simulating flood warning‐response systems. Further study is suggested to more accurately model human responses and behavioral heterogeneity, as well as to include more attributes of residential areas to estimate and improve the benefits of flood warnings.     

水合改性对钙基吸收剂循环捕集CO2的影响

在钙基吸收剂捕集CO2的过程中,吸收剂转化率会随着循环次数的增加而迅速降低。钙基吸收剂的水合改性作为改善吸收剂循环转化率的主要方法之一受到了国内外学者的广泛关注。总结了目前国内外研究者对不同的吸收剂、循环捕集条件下的水合改性方法的研究成果。结果表明,在循环过程中的不同阶段对吸收剂进行水合处理后得到的效果不同。其中,在碳酸化阶段、煅烧阶段、循环捕集前预处理以及煅烧后对吸收剂水合改性．吸收剂捕集CO2的能力均得到了改善;碳酸化反应后对吸收剂进行水合处理是否对循环吸收有利还存在争议。目前,利用水合改性的方法提高钙基吸收剂循环捕集CO2能力的机理还存在争议,且水合改性后的吸收剂机械性能差以及此方法能耗高的问题尚待解决。     

环保物联网技术及应用研究

物联网的发展如火如荼,作为新兴高技术产业的重要组成部分,物联网技术广泛应用于各行各业。文中阐述了环保物联网技术及其应用系统,详细介绍了以在线监测、视频和工况监测三种手段联合监控的感知端技术,信息传输网络技术,以及环保物联网智慧监控平台,描述了物联网技术在污染企业综合监控管理、环境质量综合监测管理、环境应急管理中的实际应用,最后提出环保物联网应在技术规范、技术保障、感知设备研发、感知数据处理等方面进行深入研究,形成一个全覆盖、全运转、全应用、可持续的环保物联网体系。     

Applying environmental policy instruments to used oil

A comprehensive assessment was conducted of California's Used Oil Program, which was established in 1992 to reduce the illegal disposal, and promote the reuse, of used lubricating oil. This paper summarises selected key findings of the assessment and discusses them in the context of designing and implementing policy instruments for promoting environmentally responsible waste management. The approach known as ‘community-based social marketing’ is identified as a promising option.     

A Tool for Automated Load Duration Curve Creation1

Abstract: A recent study by the Texas Bacteria Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Task Force has recommended the use of load duration curves as a primary tool in calculating bacterial TMDLs. This method is attractive because it effectively integrates flow regimes into TMDL analyses, clearly communicates data through a method that is understandable to the general public, and has been successfully applied in TMDL studies in other states. To ease the creation of load duration curves, an automated load duration curve creation tool called LDCurve has been created within a Microsoft Excel framework. Web services and a webscraper are used to retrieve U.S. Geological Survey streamflow data and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality water quality data. Data are imported to the spreadsheet, combined to create flow and load duration curves, and plotted. Final steps result in a preliminary estimate of the overall load reductions needed to meet water quality standards in the modeled segment. LDCurve is currently only applicable in the state of Texas, but may be updated to model water quality throughout the nation using analogous web services from the EPA STORET database. By using automated data retrievals and computations, the LDCurve tool reduces the amount of time required to create curves and calculate load reductions to a matter of minutes. LDCurve and all supporting materials are available online for free download at: http://tools.crwr.utexas.edu/LDCurve/ .