Integrated railways-based policies: The Regional Metro System (RMS) project of Naples and Campania

The Campania Regional Metro System (RMS) project is an example of integrated land-use, infrastructure and operational planning. The whole project is based on the idea of integrating the existing railway lines into a single physical network by building some new links, new stations and new modal interchange facilities. The RMS project integrates also operational components such as service lines, timetables and integrated pricing. In addition to the transit “supply-side” elements, the project includes relevant “demand-side” aspects, including town planning based on the rail network, urban renewal around rail stations and upgraded and new stations with high architectural standards and a new symbolic value. This paper describes the general structure of the project. It also discusses some preliminary results on land-use and modal shift after the implementation of the first stage of the project, which included 43 km of new railways lines, 30 new stations, an integrated timetable and a single integrated ticket.     

The safety impact of land use changes resulting from bypass road constructions

This paper analyzes the effect of bypass construction on road safety, specifically crash rates on bypass segments and in bypassed communities. It further investigates the effect of bypass construction on those communities’ economic development through changes in the number and spatial distribution of businesses and residential development, and examines whether these changes affect the road-safety level. Finally, it evaluates the effect on road safety of various traffic arrangements implemented in such communities. Drawing on an extensive data collection, the study focuses on Arab cities in the Galilee region of Israel, using cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis.The results show that bypass construction does not necessarily reduce overall crash frequencies or crash rates. It merely shifts road crashes from the highways (the bypass roads) to inner roads (bypassed) and from there to local traffic, with no significant reduction. The findings indicate a large variance in the effects of bypass constructions on safety.     

How children view their travel behaviour: a case study from Flanders (Belgium)

Understanding the thoughts of contemporary children about travel and their opinions on different transport modes of transport may provide important answers for policy-makers on how to respond to current and future transport needs of children. Obviously, children do not act autonomously and their travel behaviours also strongly influence their parents’ travel behaviours. Therefore, a better understanding of children’s travel behaviours seems necessary.This paper reports the results of a large-scale, self-reporting survey (N = 2546) that was conducted to examine the concept and meaning of travel and travel behaviour of children aged between 10 and 13 years in Flanders. It was found that children are able to complete a travel diary on their own, that their travel patterns differ and that the most important part of travelling for them is the social aspect.     

Analysing passenger network changes: The case of Hong Kong

Passenger throughput at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) has shown steady growth since its opening. Various aspects relating to HKIA have been studied in prior literature. This paper investigated changes in HKIA's passenger network for the period of 2001–2012 and used the gravity model to examine the key factors explaining its passenger traffic flows. The findings suggested that HKIA's passenger network has changed significantly and expanded to many new different destinations. Two regions (East Asia and Southeast Asia) were the most important markets for HKIA, and most key destinations connected by Hong Kong showed healthy growth. Nine factors could explain passenger traffic flows between Hong Kong and its key destinations: Hong Kong GDP per capita, GDP per capita of destinations connected by HKIA, distance, airport hub status of the destination airport, tourist destinations connected by HKIA, numbers of passenger airlines in service, bilateral trade flows, speaking a common language and having strong cultural/colonial links with Hong Kong, and the route presence of Cathay Pacific.     

Film-induced tourist motivations. The case of Seville (Spain)

Tourists' attraction to filmed sites has increased destination marketing organisations (DMOs) interest in film-induced tourism. Seville, Spain, has been the setting of many national and international film productions. Film tourism research has focused on impacts, travel preferences and destination choice, but there is a lack of research on motivations of film tourism. As a consequence, DMO actions in film tourism are often developed ad hoc, in an unplanned and opportunistic way without understanding the phenomenon. This research tries to fill this gap by focusing on film tourism in Seville in order to identify film tourists' motivations. Results identify film tourism activity and find five motivations of the film-induced tourist in Seville: film site experiences, fantasy, novelty, touring the film and personal film-location connection. Results show films add something valuable to destination experience (as a secondary or tertiary attraction). Destination managers should consider novelty factor as an element to enhance tourist experience, especially for non-European ones as well as for female tourists and tourist above 25 years, to motivate a slightly positive site experience.     

Optimizing high-speed rail routes using a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS): the Texas Urban Triangle (TUT) case

Previously, an analytical method was derived to model a possible high-speed rail route within the Texas Urban Triangle (TUT) area. By implementing a raster-based geographic information system (GIS), researchers were able to optimize a route with the given variables. Based on prior research outcomes, the authors improved the overall analytical approach. This article expands the study boundary from Travis County through Bexar County to test the corridor between the San Antonio and Austin metropolitan areas. Nearby counties are also included, resulting in a total of six counties. In addition, a statistical tool, explanatory factor analysis (EFA), is added to fill the gap identified in the previous modeling practices. The project addresses transportation corridor planning in the Texas Urban Triangle at the regional scale. Its aim is to determine the most suitable locations for new transport infrastructure by employing a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS). The proposed SDSS provides a composite foundation for decision making to attain enhanced regional mobility, especially for a high-speed rail (HSR). Route alternatives are compared in terms of construction estimates, anticipated land acquisition fees, and suitability scores.     

Intercultural interactions among different roles: a case study of an international volunteer tourism project in Shaanxi,China

A qualitative case study approach was used to explore the phenomenon of intercultural interactions among different roles in the Earthwatch Institute's ‘Chinese Village Traditions’ project, conducted in Shaanxi, China, in 2008. On-site observation, in-depth interviews, and related documentation were utilized to explore guest–host relations. The study investigated the perceptions and experiences of the 4 principal investigators, 4 student helpers, 10 international volunteer tourists, 5 domestic volunteer tourists, and 3 members of the host family. The results showed some linkages among the expectations, motivations, and intercultural interaction experiences of the different roles. The findings provide a first look at the intercultural interactions among different roles within an international volunteer tourist project in China, offering an insight into a neglected field.     

Household decision-making for everyday travel: a case study of walking and cycling in Lancaster (UK)

Increased walking and cycling for short journeys in urban areas has many obvious advantages yet so far gains from the promotion of more sustainable travel of this type are mostly small. This paper reports on a large research project which uses a mixed method approach to explore attitudes to and perceptions of walking and cycling, and which examines the process of household decision-making for everyday travel and the constraints that this imposes. Using survey, interview and ethnographic data it is argued that many people hold ambiguous and sometimes contradictory views of walking and cycling as effective means of everyday travel, that what they do rarely matches precisely what they believe, and that the complexity and contingency associated with everyday travel for many households is a major barrier to the use of more sustainable travel modes. It is suggested that better understanding of these processes could help to inform both future transport policy and the promotion of walking and cycling for short trips in urban areas.     

Job accessibility through public transport and unemployment in Latin America: The case of Montevideo (Uruguay)

Accessibility to job opportunities is one of the factors that explains labor outcomes. For developing countries, public transport plays a key role in providing the population with access to employment opportunities. This paper aims to quantify accessibility by public transport to employment in Montevideo, Uruguay and to explore how accessibility to job opportunities via public transport relates to unemployment. To do so, we calculate a cumulative measure of accessibility to job opportunities for 1063 small zones—approximately 4–6 blocks each—within Montevideo. This measure yields accurate data on accessibility and can be assigned to individual households. Accessibility in Montevideo is unevenly distributed among social strata and is concentrated within the central (and wealthier) areas of the city. In addition, a multilevel logistic regression analysis indicates that greater accessibility to jobs via public transport is associated with a lower probability of being unemployed. This finding suggests that improving accessibility to job opportunities via public transit may enhance individual labor outcomes.     

The potential of management networks in the innovation and competitiveness of rural tourism: a case study on the Valle del Jerte (Spain)

Since the 1980s, rural tourism has witnessed a significant and generalised growth among the European Union members. However, from the perspective of business management, rural tourism suffers from several obstacles that complicates its competitiveness as a tourism product. By focusing on the Valle del Jerte (Extremadura, Spain) case study, this study analyses a rural tourism business network, from the social network analysis perspective, to critically discuss its potential as a structure that enhances competitiveness and innovation. The results demonstrate that these networking structures contribute towards the creation of a cohesive destination, whereby the sharing of resources enables innovative local responses to the global market challenges.     

The transition from freight consolidation to logistics: the case of Hong Kong

This paper examines the challenges and opportunities confronting the traditional container consolidation industry in Hong Kong as it strives to modernise by adopting logistics functions. The study is based upon a series of detailed surveys of the industry undertaken during a period of adjustment. Improving value-added services is seen as the key to the survival of Hong Kong as a major transportation centre; this study indicates that making the improvements represents unique challenges to the firms actually involved. The barriers and potentials for these firms to transform themselves to third-party logistics service providers are analysed.     

The potential of optimization in communal routing problems: case studies from Finland

In many European countries, municipalities offer their inhabitants a wide variety of social services. In this paper we will focus on efficiently scheduling home care, transportation of the elderly, and home meal delivery. These so-called municipal or communal routing problems can be modeled as different variants of the vehicle routing problem, a well-known optimization problem from the literature. We present a focused literature review and report on case studies using Finnish data. The computational results show that there is a significant potential for cost savings for all applications considered.     

Tourism planning requirements from a private sector perspective: the case of Hong Kong

Government’s role in tourism planning has shifted from control to consultation, and many governments have adopted economic planning that move the responsibility for investment in infrastructure from the public to the private sector. In Hong Kong, the government has not articulated a clear tourism policy to guide tourism development but continues to assume responsibility for significant tourism infrastructure investment. This paper considers the views of the private sector towards tourism planning in Hong Kong, which gravitate towards the need for a formalized planning. The tourism sector supports the interventionist policies that have been a characteristic of the government’s relationship to the tourism industry in the past, believes that the current approach to planning needs to be replaced by a formal planning process, and that there is a need to include community groups in the policy determination process. The insights gained from the case of Hong Kong may serve as a reference for other destinations.     

The practicalities of a Learning Tourism Destination: a case study of the Ningaloo Coast

The complex and dynamic nature of tourism, and the need to address triple bottom line sustainability, has encouraged a search for adaptive tourism management approaches based on organisational learning. In this paper, the authors discuss a practical approach for the implementation of a Learning Tourism Destination (LTD), a new concept derived from the theory of learning organisations. Preliminary results from a case study undertaken at the Ningaloo Coast in Western Australia are discussed. The conducted surveys indicate that the LTD forms a useful framework for fostering consensus building, dialogue and collective learning processes among stakeholders. The proposed approach has the potential to improve decision‐making within the concept of sustainable tourism development by facilitating participative planning processes. The overall strategy of this paper is to explore the practicalities of the LTD implementation process, and to spark further conceptual and practical debate, based on the analysis of the Ningaloo case study. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Road accessibility and articulation of metropolitan spatial structures: the case of Madrid (Spain)

In the last few decades, rapid growth in mobility has facilitated the inclusion of distant places in metropolitan processes and the modification of traditional metropolitan areas into Polycentric Urban Regions. This paper aims to understand the articulation of metropolitan urban regions through a diachronic road network accessibility analysis with a focus on the Madrid Metropolitan Region (Spain) over a period of general increase in accessibility. The findings reveal that the metropolitan core has been reinforced and that its influence area has expanded. However, the main contribution of this work is the proposal of a methodological approach to identify city-profiles among the sub-centres organising the emerging polycentric urban structures.     

Topological evolution of a metropolitan rail transport network: The case of Stockholm

The structure of transport networks is the outcome of a large number of infrastructure investment decisions taken over a long time span. Network indicators are widely used for characterizing transport network topology and its performance as well as provide insights on possible developments. Little is known however on how rail bound public transport networks and their network indicators have evolved into their current form. This study conducts a longitudinal analysis of the topological evolution of a multimodal rail network by investigating the dynamics of its topology for the case of Stockholm in 1950–2025. The starting year marks the opening of the metro system while the end year is set to mark the completion of the current development plan. Based on a compilation of network topology and service properties, a year-on-year analysis of changes in global network efficiency and directness as well as local nodal centrality were conducted. Changes in network topology exhibit smooth long-term technological and spatial trends as well as the signature of top-down planning interventions. Stockholm rail network evolution is characterized by contraction and stagnation periods followed by network extensions and is currently undergoing a considerable densification, marking a shift from peripheral attachment to preferential attachment.     

Evaluation of the cognitive image of a country/destination by the media during the coverage of mega‐events: the case of UEFA EURO 2004TM in Portugal

By reporting a study undertaken during the final stages of the European Football Championships—UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) EURO 2004^TM, this paper aims to evaluate the cognitive image of a country/destination by the media during the coverage of mega‐events, which may in turn contribute to the field of tourism promotion and planning. By applying various statistical methods, it is possible not only to assess and identify the aspects which have contributed the most to the opinion‐forming of autonomous agents, but also to present empirical evidence of the influence of the organisation of this event on the image formation of the destination as a whole. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The future of walking in Europe: a Delphi project to identify expert opinion on future walking scenarios

There is increasing recognition of the importance of walking to the sustainability of cities, set against a continuing decline in everyday walking. This paper reports on a research project, which predicts trends in walking in Europe by 2010 by seeking opinion of experts who are knowledgeable about non-motorised transport. There is a consensus that there will be more walking for leisure and health, but less everyday walking. This will happen despite walking being seen as more important and there being more facilities, infrastructure, information and funding for walking.     

Urban mobility with a focus on gender: The case of a middle-income Latin American city

This study analyzes gender differences in travel patterns for the Metropolitan Area of Montevideo, Uruguay. By applying multilevel regression models, it provides estimates of the impact of individual and contextual factors on travel behavior. The paper's findings lend support to the household responsibility hypothesis, which claims that women's travel patterns are affected by the type of household in which they live and the consequent responsibilities or roles they assume. Furthermore, gender differences in travel patterns are reinforced across census tracts. The results indicate that policy makers need to consider gender differences when seeking to enhance urban planning decisions.