Transport Characteristics and Policy Implications for Four Australian Cities

Abstract

The smaller capitals have larger levels of vehicular travel per head than the larger capitals and are more dependent on private transport, due mainly to greater non-work trip frequencies. Policy approaches are examined for reducing vehicular travel through increasing travel costs, changing land-use patterns and modifying people's values and attitudes to urban vehicular travel.     

A cost-benefit analysis of increased investment in Melbourne's public transport system

Abstract

The paper considers economic effects of increased investment in public transport in Melbourne, based on investment plans of VicRail and the M.M.T.B. over a 5 year period, 1981–5. If the investment were to encourage a shift in patronage from private to public transport, this would change the magnitude of costs associated with passenger transport in Melbourne. Calculations are made of these possible cost savings, given particular levels of shift in patronage. The paper concludes by reviewing the feasibility of achieving given patronage changes.     

An Agent-Based Connection Management Protocol for Ad Hoc Wireless Networks

Supporting high volume of data transmission in a highly dynamic architecture like Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANET) still remains a major point of research. In this paper, we have attempted to address the issue of managing an uninterrupted connection between a source and a destination through multiple paths in a temporal domain. We have developed an agent-centric protocol that would accomplish uninterrupted communication over adaptively selected routes. The protocol ensures minimal consumption of network resources. We have organized this work in two logical steps. In the first part, we have described an agent-based framework with its associated protocols and mechanisms. The primary objective of this mobile multiagent framework is to make all nodes in the system topology-aware. We have used the GPS (Global Positioning System) support at each node for the extraction of geographical coordinates, velocity, and direction of movement of each node. The second part of the work attempts to make use of this topology awareness in the context of establishing and managing a connection between two nodes. The agent-enabled proactive replenishment of fresh topology information enables each node to constantly evaluate network conditions and to take decisions on adaptive route selection.     

Group Title Subdivision: The Application of the Cluster Concept to Queensland,Australia

Abstract

Economic arguments presented by the Victoria Grants Commission and the Local Government Commission to justify the restructuring of local government in Victoria are evaluated. A number of limitations are found in the economic case of the two agencies which seriously weaken the (now abandoned) case for re-drawing local government boundaries in Victoria.     

A hybrid multi-objective tour route optimization algorithm based on particle swarm optimization and artificial bee colony optimization

Computational intelligence techniques have widespread applications in the field of engineering process optimization, which typically comprises of multiple conflicting objectives. An efficient hybrid algorithm for solving multi-objective optimization, based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) and artificial bee colony optimization (ABCO) has been proposed in this paper. The novelty of this algorithm lies in allocating random initial solutions to the scout bees in the ABCO phase which are subsequently optimized in the PSO phase with respect to the velocity vector. The last phase involves loyalty decision-making for the uncommitted bees based on the waggle dance phase of ABCO. This procedure continues for multiple generations yielding optimum results. The algorithm is applied to a real life problem of intercity route optimization comprising of conflicting objectives like minimization of travel cost, maximization of the number of tourist spots visited and minimization of the deviation from desired tour duration. Solutions have been obtained using both pareto optimality and the classical weighted sum technique. The proposed algorithm, when compared analytically and graphically with the existing ABCO algorithm, has displayed consistently better performance for fitness values as well as for standard benchmark functions and performance metrics for convergence and coverage.     

Australia's waterfront container productivity & international benchmarking: A review of the productivity commission's 1998 and the bureau of industry economics' 1995 reports

In the recent Australian waterfront dispute, a 1998 Report by the Productivity Commission, and a 1995 one by the Bureau of Industry Economics, assumed public importance. They were used by the Commonwealth Government to undergird its claims that the Australian waterfront exhibits low international container productivity. This paper contests such conclusions via a critique of the methodology of the Reports.     

Book reviews

JOBS OF OUR OWN: Building a Stake-holder Society. Race Mathews. Pluto Press, Annandale, NSW,. and Comerford and Miller, West Wickham, Kent, 1999. ISBN 1 86403 064 X (paperback). 308pp including bibliography. rrp$24.95.

FROM UTOPIAN DREAMING TO COMMUNAL REALITY: Co-operative Lifestyles in Australia. Bill Metcalf (editor). University of New South Wales Press, Sydney, 1995. ISBN 0 86840 087 4 (paperback). 196pp with bibliography. rrp $24.95.

HOME/WORLD: Space, Community and Marginality in Sydney's West. Helen Grace, Ghassan Hage, Lesley Johnson, Julie Langsworth and Michael Symonds. Pluto Press, Sydney, 1997. ISBN 1 86403 036 4 (paperback). 204pp including index and bibliographies. rrp$24.95.

RENEWING AUSTRALIAN PLANNING? New Challenges, New Agendas. Brendan Gleeson and Penny Hanley (editors). Urban Research Program, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, 1998. ISBN 0 7315 3501 4 (paperback). 111pp rrp $10.00.     

Reducing Vehicular Travel Need through Increasing Travel Efficiency

In Australia, all measures of vehicular travel, both passenger and freight, show large increases on a per capita basis over recent decades, with the growth almost entirely due to road travel. But because vehicular travel inevitably generates external costs these too have risen greatly. Decreases in both primary energy and materials consumption per capita in the advanced industrial countries suggest that the need for vehicular travel could decline if travel efficiency was increased. A definition of travel efficiency is developed, and means are explored by which travel efficiency might be increased.     

Managing the biological environment to promote and sustain crop productivity and quality

Global crop production needs to double by 2050 in order to meet demands from rising populations, diet shifts and biofuels. Production must increase through more efficient use of currently available arable land to prevent encroachment on land that otherwise provides vital services to the earth and its people (i.e. through increased biodiversity and reduced carbon emissions). Significant improvements can be realised through enhanced management of critical diseases of crops that are pivotal to food security and income generation. To achieve this, the dynamic and complex interactions between crops and beneficial or antagonistic organisms that characterise the biological environment, must be understood. For Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) a crop healthcare system is required that encompasses national responsibility and regional cooperation, and which harnesses global excellence in terms of the knowledge and methods that are available for implementation. This system would be able to control crop diseases in a pre-emptive and cost efficient manner and avoid the current scenario of belatedly combating largescale epidemics. Components would include: risk assessment to predict impacts on food and feed value chains; targeted surveillance; fit-for-purpose diagnostics; control intervention packages; extension mechanisms; and enabling policy environments. Each component would be refined, based on practical feedback and results from research targeted to address knowledge gaps. Specific examples are presented for viruses of cassava, viral and bacterial diseases of banana, stem rust of wheat and a new viral disease complex of maize. Finally, the links among disease control and improved crop quality, consumer health and safe trade are discussed through biological control interventions for aflatoxin in SSA.