The Nicaragua Canal: scenarios of its future roles

Connections between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans are vital for international trade. Since 1914, the Panama Canal has provided ships with a direct interoceanic canal for crossing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The geographical advantage of the Panama Canal allows it to enjoy an exclusive position in international seaborne trade. Passage demand through the canal has increased continuously since its opening, with about 12,000 vessels travelling through it in 2013. However, the Panama Canal’s monopoly in interoceanic canal operations may soon come to an end. In 2012, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Nicaraguan Government and a Chinese investor to construct the Nicaragua Canal, which will be built about 400 nautical miles from the Panama Canal. It is expected that the Nicaragua Canal will be operational by 2020. The proposed canal will not only provide an alternative route for vessels to pass between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, but will also trigger dynamic changes in seaborne trade patterns. To assess the long-term benefits of the proposed canal, we use a scenario planning method in this study to provide a framework for constructing several scenarios for 2030, 10 years after the anticipated construction of the canal. To develop the scenarios, we consider three macroscale drivers, namely politics, economics, and environment, and the causal relationships between them. Combinations of pairs of drivers are used to generate dominant scenarios to anticipate the role of the Nicaragua Canal with respect to future international trade. The analysis presented in this study will provide transport geographers and other major stakeholders with alternative mindsets into the future spatial changes in and development of maritime transport.     

Regional transport and its association with tuberculosis in the Shandong province of China, 2009–2011

Human mobility has played a major role in the spread of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) through transportation; however, its pattern and mechanism have remained unclear. This study used transport networks as a proxy for human mobility to generate the spatial process of TB incidence. It examined the association between TB incidence and four types of transport networks at the provincial level: provincial roads, national roads, highways, and railways. Geographical information systems and geospatial analysis were used to examine the spatial distribution of 2217 smear-positive TB cases reported between 2009 and 2011 in the Shandong province. The study involved factors such as population density and elevation difference in conjunction with the types of transport networks to predict the disease occurrence in space. It identified spatial clusters of TB incidence linked not only with transport networks of the regions but also differentiated by elevation. Our research findings provide evidence of targeting populous regions with well-connected transport networks for effective surveillance and control of TB transmission in Shandong.     

Port traffic risks – A study of accidents in Hong Kong waters

This paper investigates port traffic risk issues by discussing historic accidents in Hong Kong port. A total of 2012 marine accidents with 94 deaths were reported in Hong Kong waters in year 2001–2005, while 660,427 oceanic ships visited the port. A negative binomial regression model is used to analyze the record of dataset. It is found that port traffic risks are of certain pattern and collision accidents are the most popular incidents when port traffic is heavy. Passenger-type vessels have higher potential for injuries during accidents. The findings have identified statistically significant factors for improvements in managing port traffic risks.     

Transport practice and policy in Mauritius

Like many developing nations over the last twenty years or so, the small, isolated, densely populated, developing Indian Ocean island of Mauritius has undergone––and continues to undergo––a revolution in the way its society lives and works. From a transport perspective, the case of Mauritius is interesting because it exhibits many of the transport problems faced in other countries, such as worsening congestion, air pollution and traffic accidents, but its transport planners have rather less time, experience and resources to develop a solution before the situation becomes critical, due to the faster pace of population, economic growth, and the lack of space. Further, while Mauritius is clearly a developing country, the future policy options currently being considered by the Government are perhaps better suited to a western developed nation than to a less capital intensive country.This paper outlines the development of transport policy on the island to date, and suggests that Mauritius might look to models closer to home to see how to address its problems instead of looking to the West for its inspiration.     

Accessibility modelling: predicting the impact of planned transport infrastructure on accessibility patterns in Edinburgh,UK

The achievement of good spatial accessibility and equity in the distribution of urban services is one of the supreme goals for urban planners. With Scottish Government backing, the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) has started to construct a tram network to cater for the future needs of Scotland’s capital city by providing an integrated transport solution using trams and buses. Spatial Network Analysis of Public Transport Accessibility (SNAPTA) which is a GIS-based accessibility model has been developed to measure the accessibility by public transport to different urban services and activities. The model responds to several limitations in other existing accessibility models in planning practice. It offers an alternative and practical tool to help planners and decision makers in examining the strengths and weaknesses of land use – transport integration. SNAPTA has been applied to a pilot study in Edinburgh city to identify the contribution of the infrastructure improvements of the tram system and Edinburgh South Suburban Railway (ESSR) to improved accessibility by public transport to six types of activity opportunities. This paper outlines the concept and methodology of the SNAPTA model, and presents the findings related to this pilot study with a focus on changes in potential accessibility to jobs between four different public transport network scenarios. The accessibility values so obtained help to identify the gaps in the coverage of the public transport network and the efficiency in the spatial distribution of urban services and activities. The findings focus on whether the planned transport infrastructures for Edinburgh will lead to better accessibility and reduced inequity (in terms of accessibility) across the city.     

China in transition: institutional change at work in inland waterway transport on the Yangtze River

Chinese national fiscal reforms and the transfer of power from the central government to local governments impact the governance of inland waterway transport (IWT). In this paper we argue that the development of IWT on the Yangtze River is strongly influenced by institutional changes at different levels of government in line with the path dependent transformation of the Chinese centrally planned economy. This paper deduces how institutional change of IWT on the Yangtze fails to fulfil its purposes because of institutional legacies and conflicts of interests among the various levels of government and the persistent interwovenness of the state with private enterprises (via SOEs). In order to further stimulate IWT on the Yangtze more institutional changes are on the cards, in particular a need for more (foreign) private involvement and more independent SOEs, but these changes will not necessarily break out of the development path.     

Public/stakeholder perceptions of airline alliances: The New Zealand experience

The recent proposed alliance between Air New Zealand and Qantas is examined in the context of public opinion within New Zealand. Overall, public support for the alliance was lacking, and several reasons for this are discussed. More than half of respondents were not in favour of the Government of New Zealand having majority ownership in Air New Zealand. In this case, however, the New Zealand public act as both consumers and stakeholders. Thus, the proposed alliance raises issue of national interest as well as consumption-based considerations.     

专用铁路集装箱江海联运驳接方式研究

专用铁路集装箱江海联运具有较好的经济效益,是铁路运输的重要发展方向。为提升集装箱江海联运的效率,化解既有集装箱江海联运驳接方式的缺点,在阐述既有集装箱江海联运驳接方式及存在问题的基础上,提出专用铁路集装箱江海联运驳接方式,从设施布局、作业流程和实现效果等方面进行分析。专用铁路集装箱江海联运驳接方式可以打破海船与江船的倒装限制,提升集装箱江海联运驳接效率,降低集装箱江海联运成本。     

Professional travellers and tourist practices

This study analyses to what extent conventional tourism is part of the experience of professional visitors. Following the literature on mobilities, this paper assumes that leisure and work increasingly intermingle in time and space. Empirical work based on a survey of conference attendants in Barcelona confirms this stance, and invites to reframe professional life ‘in mobility’ as performed as part of a wider package of everyday activities. Public transport and mobile communication are analysed as facilitators of such convergence, highlighting how professional travel is situated in flexible spaces and flows. These findings provide insights for urban (tourism) policy, insofar as they demonstrate that planning for specialised spaces is not sufficient to reduce visitor pressure on the main tourist ‘sights’.     

The role of holiday styles in shaping the carbon footprint of leisure travel within the European Union

Leisure travel within the European Union (EU) contributes significantly to the carbon footprint of global tourism. Distance travelled is a main factor in this impact, but some of its determinants remain unexplored. We examined the role of tourists' holiday preferences in shaping the carbon footprint of leisure travel within the EU by calculating demand and impact indicators associated with eight holiday styles. We find a substantial and equivalent carbon footprint for visiting relatives, nature tourism and sea, sun and sand tourism, but a higher carbon intensity of travel per trip for the latter. This is due to widespread demand for sea, sun, and sand tourism despite the concentration of destinations in Southern Europe. Furthermore, international travel within the EU is on average three times more carbon intensive than domestic travel. Our insights suggest that tourists’ holiday preferences can be leveraged for the sustainable development of leisure travel within the EU.