Suchergebnisse

This dissertation conducts comprehensive analyses on global seaport institutions and port infrastructure productivity. It also examines the determinants of port output and the roles port institutions play in driving port infrastructure productivity. Specifically, the dissertation analyzes the roles of macro-, meso-, and micro-levels of institutional features of ports (inter-port competition, corporate structure, and port asset ownership practice). They are evaluated to understand why ports have become productive over the last decade and how those factors yield better opportunities for ports to prosper. While influences from external environments are still one of the important factors in shaping port efficiency, the roles of institutions play an increasingly important role, especially in the management of ports over the medium-long term. Furthermore, port efficiency has been shaped not only by macro-level market institutions (i.e. inter-port competition) but also by the capacity of port authorities to implement innovative institutional practices for port ownership and capital asset management. While port managing institutions maintain a close relationship with their own historical trajectories, global container ports in the contemporary era search for a strategic flexibility with institutional bindings to respond to external challenges and to overcome their limitations. This strategic flexibility can be partly achieved by "vertical unbundling" of container terminal operation functions from the government's hand and by private sector participation for investment in port assets, i.e. concessions or leases – institutional bindings based on neoclassical contracts. From the view of regulators and policy makers, they should focus they policy making on environmental, safety, and customs regulations. They also need to create a competitive market to reduce oligopoly in the port sector by adopting diverse policy mechanisms. Given the competitive market structure, the business aspects of port operation can be better secured through diverse institutional mechanisms of private sector participation. From the view of planners in port authorities facing global competition, the capacity of strategic planning to increase strategic flexibility of ports based on medium- or long-term scenarios is essential to achieve this institutional flexibility, thereby contributing to a higher productivity level of leading ports. This is a critical time for port authorities, managers, and policy makers to understand that they have a choice in what roles to play with what kinds of policy tools under the global pressure and rapidly transforming environments.

It seemed important to study the reading habits of students of rural and urban areas in the light of current political concerns about reading generally, that the issues raised in the appraisal about reading habits are discovered in greater detail. This study is conducted to explore students studying professional and non-professional colleges in their reading preferences. The data for this study are based on 1757 respondents from professionals and non-professional college student respondents of rural (N=866) and urban (N=891) areas of Dakshina Kannada District. Results revealed that students from urban area were found to have higher preferences than students from rural areas in reading Business magazines, Kannada news papers, competitive magazines, subject journals and newspaper clippings. In general newspapers, students from urban areas had more frequency in 'most frequently', whereas; rural students had more frequency in 'frequently' categories. In crime news category, students from urban areas had more frequency in 'most frequently' reading categories. whereas, rural students had more frequency in 'frequently' category. In reading general magazines no difference was observed between students from rural and urban areas. Further, role of librarians and influence of electronic media reading habits are also discussed.

This article presents results from the first statistically significant study of cost escalation in transportation infrastructure projects. Based on a sample of 258 transportation infrastructure projects worth US$90 billion and representing different project types, geographical regions, and historical periods, it is found with overwhelming statistical significance that the cost estimates used to decide whether such projects should be built are highly and systematically misleading. Underestimation cannot be explained by error and is best explained by strategic misrepresentation, that is, lying. The policy implications are clear: legislators, administrators, investors, media representatives, and members of the public who value honest numbers should not trust cost estimates and cost-benefit analyses produced by project promoters and their analysts.

A structured survey of transit agency staff and interviews with agency executives and other local leaders were conducted in areas that have undertaken a major transit investment project in the past 5 years. The purpose was to identify methods and procedures used to evaluate and select projects and, in particular, to document how land use considerations are being incorporated into project decisions. Staff members responsible for 41 projects were contacted, and 28 completed the survey, discussing projects in 23 regions of the United States. Supplementary interviews were conducted for 10 of the regions. The study found that most agencies use federal guidance and regulations on the evaluation of transit investment as a starting point, but give equal weight in project design and selection to state and local policy objectives such as social equity, economic development, and fair-share distribution of projects among local communities. A number of transit agencies give priority to projects in jurisdictions with transit-supportive land use patterns or plans. The availability of public or private funding contributions is increasingly important in prioritizing projects. Increasingly, transit agencies are hiring staff to work with local governments on land use planning and on funding partnerships and are working with them to develop a shared understanding of the area's transit needs and related development objectives. Staff and political leaders deem these efforts at least as important as technical evaluations of cost-effectiveness.

Urban arterials are both promising and problematic locations for infill development and urban revitalization. San Pablo Avenue, a multilane urban arterial traversing nine cities and two counties along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in California, is considered here. The road developed over a long period: first as a streetcar line, then as an inter-city automobile route, and most recently as a subregional traffic and transit route. Land uses from each of these transportation eras are still present along the avenue and range from neighborhood retail to automobile-oriented strip development. Recent transit service improvements and a strong housing market are leading to new developer interest in San Pablo Avenue. Findings are reported from interviews with 11 developers who recently built infill housing and mixed-use projects on or near the arterial. Developers see San Pablo Avenue's accessibility as a major asset but view transit services as a bonus instead of a necessity; transit availability allows developers to argue for reduced transportation impact fees and reduced parking requirements. Other aspects of the arterial's design, including high speeds and unattractive streetscapes, are problematic, as are zoning ordinances that require high parking ratios, large setbacks, and lengthy, discretionary approval processes. Small land parcels, incompatible adjacent uses, and high development costs are also drawbacks but, with creative development, are manageable. Local governments could provide incentives for private development along arterials such as San Pablo Avenue by improving street designs, reducing parking requirements, and updating zoning codes and approval processes.

In August 2002, AC Transit – the principal bus operator serving the eastern shore of the San Francisco Bay – began distributing free bus passes to low-income middle school and high school students in the transit service district. The program developed in response to grassroots community activism and growing political pressure to remove the burden of school transportation costs from low-income households. Advocates argued that school transportation costs were a barrier that prevented poor children from participating in after-school activities and, in severe cases, led to missed days of school. Funding for a pilot bus pass program was provided by the transit agency, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, local agencies, and several nonprofit organizations. The University of California, Berkeley, was funded to carry out an evaluation of the program during the first year of the program. Before-and-after travel and activity surveys, interviews, focus group meetings, and analysis of attendance data were used in the evaluation. Findings after 1 year of implementation indicate that the free bus pass program increased student bus ridership and after-school participation but did not increase overall school attendance. Increases in bus use were greater among pass holders, in areas with high levels of bus service, and among high school students.

In this study we are documenting and comparing the economic and travel impacts of bypass roads in the United States and Israel on the towns near which they are constructed. Using historical research, on-site observations, interviews, surveys, and data analyses we consider the effects of bypasses on local and through traffic, travel patterns, development patterns, and the local urban economy in the immediately affected communities. We aim elucidate how road design, market forces, local politics, land use policies, planning and zoning and location-specific factors interact to produce the effects we observe. The incidence of costs and benefits upon various interest groups within the local community is a particular focus of the research. In Israel, we are examining the impacts of a regional road affecting three towns. In the United States, we are examining the impact of two different regional roads, one in New Hampshire and the other in California, each road affecting two towns. For all the cases, the bypasses divert traffic from the centers of small communities that are along major corridors for through traffic. The bypasses have been built at different times and some towns have not been bypassed, allowing us to consider with/without effects as well as the effects of the bypasses over time. We will consider not only overall impacts of the roads but the spatial and socio-economic distribution of those impacts.

This paper examines sustainable transportation issues, drawing upon the literature as well as on evidence from a study tour of Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, and Scotland. Greenhouse gases have been the initial motivation for most sustainable transportation initiatives, but broader social, economic, and environmental concerns now figure into the idea of sustainability. In the US, barriers to sustainability include uncertainty about the problem and the best ways to address it, as well as uncertainties about public support. Nevertheless, many efforts are underway locally in the US to promote sustainable development and sustainable transportation. The European organizations visited are using many of the same strategies as are US planners, but can rely on strong policy commitments, government incentives, and new planning processes putting an emphasis on collaboration and performance measurement to support their efforts.

A complex partnership between many governmental bodies, continually influenced by numerous private, corporate, and civic interests, finances our nation's transportation system. But the nature of the partnership is changing. Originally offset by a variety of user fees, such as tolls and fuel taxes, the burden of financing transportation programs is gradually being shifted to local governments and voter-approved initiatives. This shift to local transportation taxes raises interesting issues for public policy. This brief dissects the arcane and complicated system of transportation funding by describing the relationships that define the federal,state and local roles. It summarizes the most pressing problems facing the transportation network, and argues that expanded reliance on user fees remains the most promising way to promote equity and efficiency in transportation finance.

Walking or bicycling to school could contribute to children's daily physical activity, but physical environment changes are often needed to improve the safety and convenience of walking and cycling routes. The California Safe Routes to School (SR2S) legislation provided competitive funds for construction projects such as sidewalks, traffic lights, pedestrian crossing improvements, and bicycle paths.

Most local governments' off-street parking requirements promote quantity over quality, focusing on ensuring an ample supply of parking. This has undesirable consequences for the built environment. Parking lots and parking structures routinely overwhelm the architecture and urban design of even the best buildings and neighborhoods. We argue that planners should worry less about the quantity of parking, and pay more attention to its quality. Through examples of zoning reforms adopted by some cities, we show how regulating the quality of parking has the potential to improve urban design.

Interstate highways have had broad social effects on the United States. The Interstates have not only altered how the nation travels, and how much, but also have changed the structure of communities and regions and the choices that residents are able to make on where to live, work, shop, and play. For many, the social impacts of the Interstates have been positive: increased access, mobility, and options for individuals, households, and firms. For others, however – especially for those not able to own or drive a car – the Interstates have decreased access and mobility by undermining the viability of alternative modes of transport. Similarly, some communities have developed because of the Interstates, but others never have recovered from Interstate construction and are subjected to Interstate-related noise and emissions. The Interstate Highway System also has had profound impacts on American institutions. The Interstate program helped create highway departments with a strong set of norms, values, and beliefs that continue to guide organizational missions, day-to-day activities, and views of the department's role in society. In turn, the program has led to changes in government organization, sometimes to counteract the dominant focus on highway building. The redistribution of power and authority from independent highway commissions to governors and legislators and from state highway departments to metropolitan planning organizations is an example of institutional change sparked by the Interstate program and its impacts.

By the 1990s, many experts concluded that transit privatization in Britain had produced positive impacts on service provision in London, but that deregulation outside of the capital had resulted in a number of negative impacts to passengers, most notably, rising fares, lower service frequencies in some areas, and declining levels of service integration. In an attempt to improve mobility at the local level, the incoming Labour Government effectively devolved transport planning powers to local authorities, requiring that they submit five-year Local Transport Plans in order to receive funding. Empowering legislation specifically identified service integration as a means through which to improve transit and provide a viable alternative to the auto. More recently, however, experts have surmised that local strategies in the Metropolitan Areas (Mets) have yielded limited gains in the area of service integration, in contrast to the experience of London. While some politicians believe that re-regulation of the transit industry in the Mets would automatically resolve integration issues, interview results suggested that there are additional factors that keep transit providers from effectively collaborating with one another. For example, existing competition law prevents transit operators from freely communicating with others, virtually eliminating the prospect of collaborative responses to common concerns. Other factors influencing the level of integration include the ease with which local authorities voluntarily band together to provide service links, and the level of trust that transit operators have in local authorities. In addition, the interviews revealed that the integration of transit is more easily achieved where operators sense that authorities want to engage in horizontal integration and do not have a hidden agenda. Beyond providing a better understanding of transit integration and possible reasons for past failures in the coordination of services, this study suggests ways of encouraging the sort of collaborative planning that can effectively bring together operators to work on improving service links in common areas. Attention to these issues is essential, not only to avoid disruptive, interoperator conflicts, but also to provide the conditions necessary to collectively offer a seamless, integrated transit service that provides significant benefits to passengers and society at large.

This article analyzes the European Union's strategy towards the Western Balkans as a hegemonic project. The European Commission's strategy is neither total exclusion nor rapid integration. The Commission's aim is to restructure the Western Balkans in line with neoliberalism to prepare the region for the "preincorporation stage." The Commission's major initiatives show that this neoliberal restructuring need not end in full membership but remains an open-ended process. Two components of the Commission's formula, neoliberal economy and democracy, have not fed one another; rather, the opposite has occurred. Local crises have exacerbated and been exacerbated by the Commission's strategy, whereby existing social forces and structures have been dismantled, leading to the reproduction of authoritarianism. Despite the continuously shifting hegemonic discourses of ethnopolitical groups, their ultimate objective is integration with the EU. However, cycles of crises in the region have, in neo-Gramscian terms, undermined the formation of a historic bloc, and thus the EU's hegemonic project is rather daunting.

This paper investigates factors affecting ITS implementation as a "mainstream" transportation planning activity. It draws upon interviews with 51 leaders from a cross-section of jurisdictions and agencies in California. The interviews revealed that the vast majority of elected officials and senior staff are familiar with ITS. However, they are irritated by ITS literature, which they view as heavily promotional and full of jargon. Many believe that ITS is being implemented fairly quickly overall and that ITS elements that are not proceeding well suffer from institutional problems or market weaknesses. Respondents do not see a problem in fitting ITS projects into mainstream transportation planning processes, but complain of a lack of good information on ITS benefits and costs. Many are concerned that ITS evaluations have been less than arm's-length, and focus too heavily on system benefits rather than traveler benefits. Many believe that the private sector should be left to implement certain ITS applications, but they also think that earmarked funds for ITS applications would speed implementation of other measures. Respondents suggested that the state DOT should lead by example, implementing ready-to-go technologies on its own facilities and within its own agency. Stronger partnerships with local government and other state agencies, developing mutually beneficial, multipurpose applications, were also recommended. Finally, respondents urged that future ITS work should pay more attention to legal and institutional issues and provide a clearer sense of "next steps." The findings should be of use to state and local organizations with an interest in encouraging ITS implementation.