The role of land use and psycho-social factors in high density residents' work travel mode choices : implications for sustainable transport policy

Imperatives to improve the sustainability of cities often hinge upon plans to increase urban residential density to facilitate greater reliance on sustainable forms of transport and minimise car use. However there is ongoing debate about whether high residential density land use in isolation results in sustainable transport outcomes. Findings from surveys with residents of inner-urban high density dwellings in Brisbane, Australia, suggest that solo car travel accounts for the greatest modal share of typical work journeys and attitudes toward dwelling and neighbourhood transport-related features, residential sorting factors and socio-demographics, alongside land use such as public transport availability, are significantly associated with work travel mode choice. We discuss the implications of our findings for transport policy and management including encouraging relatively sustainable intermodal forms of transport for work journeys.

Efficient Voltage/Current Spike Reduction by Active Gate Signaling

This paper presents an Active Gate Signaling scheme to reduce voltage/current spikes across insulated gate power switches in hard switching power electronic circuits. Voltage and/or current spikes may cause EMI noise. In addition, they increase voltage/current stress on the switch. Traditionally, a higher gate resistance is chosen to reduce voltage/current spikes. Since the switching loss will increase remarkably, an active gate voltage control scheme is developed to improve efficiency of hard switching circuits while the undesirable voltage and/or current spikes are minimized.

Investigation into Travel of Transit Oriented Development Residents’ of Kelvin Grove Urban Village

Travel surveys were conducted for collecting data related to residents’ travel at Kelvin Grove Urban Village (KGUV). Currently, KGUV has residents living in the affordable apartments, apartments, townhouses and student accommodation. As a part of data collection process, travel surveys were undertaken for residents living in apartments, affordable apartments and student accommodation. This document contains the questionnaire form used to collect the demographic and travel data related to residents at KGUV. A mail back survey technique was used to collect data for residents living in affordable apartment and apartments, and an intercept surveys was conducted for residents living in student accommodation.

When 'listeners can't talk' : comparing active listening in opening sequences of telephone and online counselling

While there is growing use of online counselling, little is known about its interactional organisation and how it compares to telephone counselling. This is despite past research suggesting that both counsellors and clients report the impact of the different modalities on the presentation and management of the counselling interaction. This paper compares the interactional affordances of telephone and online web counselling in opening sequences on Kids Help Line, a 24-hour Australian counselling service for children and young people up to the age of 25. We examine two ways that counsellors show active listening through response tokens and formulations. The analysis describes how counsellors’ use of minimal response tokens facilitate the clients’ problem presentation and are used in the management of turn taking and sequence organisation. For example, counsellors use the response token Mm hm to show that they understand that the client’s unit of talk to is not yet complete, and to affirm or invite the client to continue speaking. Formulations in phone and web counselling are another way that counsellors display active listening to re-present stretches of the clients’ preceding talk. In phone and web counselling, however, the respective modalities can complicate matters of turn transition and sequence organisation. By examining actual phone and online counselling sessions, this paper offers empirical demonstrations of the interactional affordances of phone and online counselling, and shows how the institutional practice of active listening is accomplished across different counselling modalities

Urban network travel time estimation from stop-line loop detector data and signal controller data

This paper presents a model to estimate travel time using cumulative plots. Three different cases considered are i) case-Det, for only detector data; ii) case-DetSig, for detector data and signal controller data and iii) case-DetSigSFR: for detector data, signal controller data and saturation flow rate. The performance of the model for different detection intervals is evaluated. It is observed that detection interval is not critical if signal timings are available. Comparable accuracy can be obtained from larger detection interval with signal timings or from shorter detection interval without signal timings. The performance for case-DetSig and for case-DetSigSFR is consistent with accuracy generally more than 95% whereas, case-Det is highly sensitive to the signal phases in the detection interval and its performance is uncertain if detection interval is integral multiple of signal cycles.

Socio-cultural dimensions of Active Futures : Importance of studying migrants’ perspectives of wellness

In this paper we provide a migrant perspective on how women and men from a different culture perceive wellness while settling down in a new country. We are discussing the texts of research interviews with Indian migrant women and men that illuminate their perception of lifestyle enhancement in their adopted country Australia. Our purpose is to show how socio-cultural factors influence the migrants‟ perspective of lifestyle enhancement, and to what extent they direct their wellness. Personal development, both in theory and practice, is a huge concept in Australia. Concerted efforts are made towards increasing public awareness about health literacy leading to a better understanding and practice of wellness. However, as research studies have pointed out, lifestyle enhancement leading to holistic wellness is not void of socio-cultural factors. The number of women and men migrating to Australia from India has increased greatly in the present decade. As migrants their participation in developing Australian society is significant. So what is their socio-cultural perception of wellness including nutrition and physical exercises as active citizens? How do young Indian migrants participate in lifestyle enhancement programmes? As parents what are their socio-cultural beliefs, attitudes, practices and values, and how do they influence their children‟s participation in personal development and PE progammes? To what extent gender differences exist in such participation levels? What is the space available in State school curriculum to learn from the migrants‟ cultures towards enhancing lifestyles including nutrition and personal development?The findings may sensitise Australian researchers, academics, school teachers and practitioners of wellness therapies. Long term research studies may inform the governments and HPE practitioners of the changes occurring in such values, beliefs and practices as they incorporate nutrition and lifestyles of Australian society.

The influence of travel time and size of shopping center towards the frequencies of visiting customers in shopping centers in surabaya

Visiting a modern shopping center is becoming vital in our society nowadays. The fast growth of shopping center, transportation system, and modern vehicles has given more choices for consumers in shopping. Although there are many reasons for the consumers in visiting the shopping center, the influence of travel time and size of shopping center are important things to be considered towards the frequencies of visiting customers in shopping centers. A survey to the customers of three major shopping centers in Surabaya has been conducted to evaluate the Ellwood’s model and Huff’s model. A new exponent value N of 0.48 and n of 0.50 has been found from the Ellwood’s model, while a coefficient of 0.267 and an add value of 0.245 have been found from the Huff’s model.

Fusing shrinking and expanding active contour models for robust IRIS segmentation

The performance of iris recognition systems is significantly affected by the segmentation accuracy, especially in non- ideal iris images. This paper proposes an improved method to localise non-circular iris images quickly and accurately. Shrinking and expanding active contour methods are consolidated when localising inner and outer iris boundaries. First, the pupil region is roughly estimated based on histogram thresholding and morphological operations. There- after, a shrinking active contour model is used to precisely locate the inner iris boundary. Finally, the estimated inner iris boundary is used as an initial contour for an expanding active contour scheme to find the outer iris boundary. The proposed scheme is robust in finding exact the iris boundaries of non-circular and off-angle irises. In addition, occlusions of the iris images from eyelids and eyelashes are automatically excluded from the detected iris region. Experimental results on CASIA v3.0 iris databases indicate the accuracy of proposed technique.

Non-motorized public transport : a global review and analysis of trends and issues

Over recent decades there has been growing interest in the role of non-motorized modes in the overall transport system (especially walking and cycling for private purposes) and many government initiatives have been taken to encourage these active modes. However there has been relatively little research attention given to the paid form of non-motorized travel which can be called non-motorized public transport (NMPT). This involves cycle-powered vehicles which can carry several passengers (plus the driver) and a small amount of goods; and which provide flexible hail-and-ride services. Effectively they are non-motorized taxis. Common forms include cycle-rickshaw (Bangladesh, India), becak (Indonesia), cyclos (Vietnam, Cambodia), bicitaxi (Columbia, Cuba), velo-taxi (Germany, Netherland), and pedicabs (UK, Japan, USA). --------- The popularity of NMPT is widespread in developing countries, where it caters for a wide range of mobility needs. For instance in Dhaka, Bangladesh, rickshaws are the preferred mode for non-walk trips and have a higher mode share than cars or buses. Factors that underlie the continued existence and popularity of NMPT in many developing countries include positive contribution to social equity, micro-macro economic significance, employment creation, and suitability for narrow and crowded streets. Although top speeds are lower than motorized modes, NMPT is competitive and cost-effective for short distance door-to-door trips that make up the bulk of travel in many developing cities. In addition, NMPT is often the preferred mode for vulnerable groups such as females, children and elderly people. NMPT is more prominent in developing countries but its popularity and significance is also gradually increasing in several developed countries of Asia, Europe and parts of North America, where there is a trend for the NMPT usage pattern to broaden from tourism to public transport. This shift is due to a number of factors including the eco-sustainable nature of NMPT; its operating flexibility (such as in areas where motorized vehicle access is restricted or discouraged through pricing); and the dynamics that it adds to the urban fabric. Whereas NMPT may have been seen as a “dying” mode, in many cities it is maintaining or increasing its significance and with potential for further growth. --------- This paper will examine and analyze global trends in NMPT incorporating both developing and developed country contexts and issues such as usage patterns; NMPT policy and management practices; technological development; and operational integration of NMPT into the overall transport system. It will look at how NMPT policies, practices and usage have changed over time and the differing trends in developing and developed countries. In particular, it will use Dhaka, Bangladesh as a case study in recognition of its standing as the major NMPT city in the world. The aim is to highlight NMPT issues and trends and their significance for shaping future policy towards NMPT in developing and developed countries. The paper will be of interest to transport planners, traffic engineers, urban and regional planners, environmentalists, economists and policy makers.