Behavioural responses to transport congestion: peak spreading and the more efficient usage of transport infrastructure. Transport networks in cities such as Sydney are at or near capacity. It is no longer socially, environmentally or financially sustainable to continue supplying additional transport infrastructure to meet increased demand. An alternative is to make better use of existing infrastructure by spreading demand more evenly across the day. This project will test behavioural responses t ....Behavioural responses to transport congestion: peak spreading and the more efficient usage of transport infrastructure. Transport networks in cities such as Sydney are at or near capacity. It is no longer socially, environmentally or financially sustainable to continue supplying additional transport infrastructure to meet increased demand. An alternative is to make better use of existing infrastructure by spreading demand more evenly across the day. This project will test behavioural responses to increased congestion and quantify the phenomenon of peak spreading. It will assess economic costs and benefits of using congestion as a signal to encourage more efficient network usage, and examine other tools (e.g. time-based transport pricing) to encourage more efficient use of transport infrastructure.Read moreRead less
Multidimensional evaluation of the overall benefits of voluntary travel behaviour change programs. Voluntary Travel Behaviour Programs (VTBC) offer considerable promise for the management of traffic congestion and reduction in greenhouse gas and air quality emissions from road transport. Research to date has identified two outstanding issues: (1) measurement and evaluation of actual behaviour change and (2) identification of the full benefits and impacts of VTBC. Empirical studies indicate that ....Multidimensional evaluation of the overall benefits of voluntary travel behaviour change programs. Voluntary Travel Behaviour Programs (VTBC) offer considerable promise for the management of traffic congestion and reduction in greenhouse gas and air quality emissions from road transport. Research to date has identified two outstanding issues: (1) measurement and evaluation of actual behaviour change and (2) identification of the full benefits and impacts of VTBC. Empirical studies indicate that many of the benefits fall outside the transport area, including a wide range of socio-economic benefits to individuals and the community. This project will develop a survey tool for assessing benefits and impacts of VTBC within a properly designed and tested evaluation framework.Read moreRead less
Combining mathematical programming and constraint programming to solve large-scale integrated scheduling problems. This project will target major savings in the airline industry, with resulting benefits for others such as tourism. The efficient use of airline fuel, which will be directly addressed in the project, is very important for the environment. The algorithms developed can improve cost and quality of service for Australian transportation, manufacturing and other industries.
The solut ....Combining mathematical programming and constraint programming to solve large-scale integrated scheduling problems. This project will target major savings in the airline industry, with resulting benefits for others such as tourism. The efficient use of airline fuel, which will be directly addressed in the project, is very important for the environment. The algorithms developed can improve cost and quality of service for Australian transportation, manufacturing and other industries.
The solutions developed within the project will be sold by the industrial partner, CTI, into major companies worldwide, and the technology will be used to develop further products.
Finally the project will extend Australia's lead in constraint programming and expertise in optimisation. This creates a major opportunity for the Australian software industry.
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From Tactical Planning to Operational Control - Bridging the Chasm. All organisations plan, and all organisations suffer from the disruptions that occur when plans are put into practice. Few organisations manage to balance operational control with planning to as to maintain both efficiency and flexibility to deal with the unexpected. This project addresses this requirement for the transportation and logistics industries.
The results discovered within the project will enable the industrial ....From Tactical Planning to Operational Control - Bridging the Chasm. All organisations plan, and all organisations suffer from the disruptions that occur when plans are put into practice. Few organisations manage to balance operational control with planning to as to maintain both efficiency and flexibility to deal with the unexpected. This project addresses this requirement for the transportation and logistics industries.
The results discovered within the project will enable the industrial partner, CTI, to develop solutions for major companies worldwide. The technology will be used to build further optimisation products.
Moreover the project will extend Australia's lead in constraint programming and expertise in optimisation. This creates a major opportunity for Australia's software industry.
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Optimising the design and implementation of public transport priority initiatives. This project strengthens national approaches to a pervasive Australian problem, growing traffic congestion deteriorating liveability, environmental health & economic performance of the cities where most Australians live. Public transport can address these issues but most is provided by buses which are caught up in traffic congestion. This project improves approaches for traffic priority design to improve the eff ....Optimising the design and implementation of public transport priority initiatives. This project strengthens national approaches to a pervasive Australian problem, growing traffic congestion deteriorating liveability, environmental health & economic performance of the cities where most Australians live. Public transport can address these issues but most is provided by buses which are caught up in traffic congestion. This project improves approaches for traffic priority design to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of on-road public transport. It optimises the design of individual and groups of priority treatments and will generate diagnostic tools to better target priority treatments. Findings will better focus Australia's approach to increasingly challenging transport futures.Read moreRead less
Monitoring and Maintaining the Structural Health of Bridges Using Vibration Characteristics. Bridges form an important part of our physical infrastructure system and in Queensland alone there are nearly 3000 bridges with an annual maintenance cost in excess of 20 million dollars and a replacement value in excess of 2 billion dollars. It is necessary to ensure that these bridges function safely and efficiently at all times. Bridge failure will cause disruption to normal lives and expensive repa ....Monitoring and Maintaining the Structural Health of Bridges Using Vibration Characteristics. Bridges form an important part of our physical infrastructure system and in Queensland alone there are nearly 3000 bridges with an annual maintenance cost in excess of 20 million dollars and a replacement value in excess of 2 billion dollars. It is necessary to ensure that these bridges function safely and efficiently at all times. Bridge failure will cause disruption to normal lives and expensive repairs. Towards this end, this project will develop an innovative structural health monitoring system to monitor and maintain the structural health of our bridges. The project outcomes will have immediate applications in Australia and overseas with economic and social benefits to the community.Read moreRead less
Optimisation of Rail Network Infrastructure Capacity under Dynamic Train Planning. Recent changes in railway operating environments have caused significant operational and management problems in Australia. This research will lead to improvements of railway's key managerial functions, namely: network capacity planning; rollingstock planning; train scheduling; and maintenance planning. The major outcome of the research will be to develop an optimisation model to significantly improve the operati ....Optimisation of Rail Network Infrastructure Capacity under Dynamic Train Planning. Recent changes in railway operating environments have caused significant operational and management problems in Australia. This research will lead to improvements of railway's key managerial functions, namely: network capacity planning; rollingstock planning; train scheduling; and maintenance planning. The major outcome of the research will be to develop an optimisation model to significantly improve the operating efficiency and assets productivity of Australia's rail system. The novelty of the research is that it will be undertaken using innovations based on modern job shop scheduling and sequencing optimisation techniques as the complexity of the problem makes it impossible to solve by classic optimisation techniques.Read moreRead less
The potential role of transit-oriented development in Australian cities: a critical assessment using a suburban rail corridor. Sustainability in urban development and a reduction in our dependence on the private car for mobility are key concerns in Australia and elsewhere. The results of this research will inform and lead world's best practice in the evaluation and adoption of sustainable transport solutions, especially those related to investment in urban public transport systems, and hence pro ....The potential role of transit-oriented development in Australian cities: a critical assessment using a suburban rail corridor. Sustainability in urban development and a reduction in our dependence on the private car for mobility are key concerns in Australia and elsewhere. The results of this research will inform and lead world's best practice in the evaluation and adoption of sustainable transport solutions, especially those related to investment in urban public transport systems, and hence provide options for planners and developers to minimise the impacts of developments on the environment. The benefits from the project will be in improved planning and design principles and planning tools for transit-oriented urban developments in both inner and outer suburbs in Australian cities.Read moreRead less
The development of active third-generation heavy vehicle aerodynamic drag reducing devices to reduce future transport emissions. The potential for emission reductions through aerodynamic improvements is particularly apparent in long haul heavy vehicle transport. By developing active devices to be fitted to the heavy vehicle trailer of the future this work offers drag reduction potential from current levels of up to 40 per cent. If widely implemented these devices could play a major part in the t ....The development of active third-generation heavy vehicle aerodynamic drag reducing devices to reduce future transport emissions. The potential for emission reductions through aerodynamic improvements is particularly apparent in long haul heavy vehicle transport. By developing active devices to be fitted to the heavy vehicle trailer of the future this work offers drag reduction potential from current levels of up to 40 per cent. If widely implemented these devices could play a major part in the transport sector meeting medium term emissions targets. If successful not only will the project develop unique components, it will support heavy vehicle research and development that is so important to maintaining a strong manufacturing presence in Australia, especially in regional centres, such as Ballarat where Maxitrans has major headquarters. Read moreRead less
Wave Climate in the Southern Great Barrier Reef. Sea surface roughness has a major influence on global climate modelling. This project will provide a better understanding of the variability of sea waves in coastal waters. New technology of HF ocean radar can map wave fields over coastal waters and thus fill a gap between the open ocean satellite measurements and the point measurements from wave buoys. In this project we will improve the analysis of the radar echoes to produce sea wave spectra, a ....Wave Climate in the Southern Great Barrier Reef. Sea surface roughness has a major influence on global climate modelling. This project will provide a better understanding of the variability of sea waves in coastal waters. New technology of HF ocean radar can map wave fields over coastal waters and thus fill a gap between the open ocean satellite measurements and the point measurements from wave buoys. In this project we will improve the analysis of the radar echoes to produce sea wave spectra, and evaluate focussing of waves by complex currents on the continental shelf to help improve wave forecasting in coastal waters. The HF radar will be used to experimentally test current theories of wind wave spreading.Read moreRead less