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Transportation problems have always been a global concern. The challenges in traffic congestion were easily observed during pre-pandemic times. However, traffic congestion still persists even during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020 and present) where there has been less number of vehicles because of travel restrictions. The emergence of wireless communication technologies and intelligent transportation systems (ITS) pave the way for solving some of the problems found in the transportation industry. Subsequently, traffic control systems are used at various intersections to manage the flow of traffic and reduce car collisions. However, some intersections are better off without these traffic control systems. The proposed study will analyze a T-junction road in five different setups using different types of traffic controllers. The simulation tool used is SUMO. The study found that an adaptive or vehicle-actuated traffic controller is the ideal method for regulating traffic flow in a T-junction with a one-way or two-way main road. It was observed in the simulation that it reduced the potential car collisions in the non-TL junction. However, the average speed and completion time of the road network was affected by the method. © 2022 IEEE.
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Kazakhstan, being in the centre of the Eurasian continent, is a landlocked country that shares a border both with China and Russia. Since its independence in 1991, Kazakhstan has attempted to take advantage of its geographical location, by becoming a bridge between Europe and China. To achieve this goal, Kazakhstan has actively participated in the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) and joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as one of the founding countries. These activities have brought Kazakhstan not only the opportunity to become a transport and logistics hub but also to reduce its dependence on Russian infrastructure. In the light of the current war in Ukraine, the transportation of goods through the territory of Kazakhstan becomes more crucial to China as it can bypass Russia. Though the SREB has enabled Kazakhstan to export more resources and become more independent from Russian infrastructure, same time, China might become a threat to Kazakhstan's economic independence, as it will be more connected to the Chinese infrastructure. This chapter also shows that during the COVID-19 pandemic, China's economic policy in Kazakhstan is evolving. China now spends less on large infrastructure projects and focuses more on Kazakhstan's raw materials. This study aims to take a comprehensive look at Kazakhstan's relationship with China, as well as the implications of the SREB for Kazakhstan and its transport capacity. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
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The global outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected the urban mobility of nations around the world. The pandemic may even have a potentially lasting impact on travel behaviors during the post-pandemic stage. China has basically stopped the spread of COVID-19 and reopened the economy, providing an unprecedented environment for investigating post-pandemic travel behaviors. This study conducts multiple investigations to show the changes in travel behaviors in the post-pandemic stage, on the basis of empirical travel data in a variety of cities in China. Specifically, this study demonstrates the changes in road network travel speed in 57 case cities and the changes in subway ridership in 26 case cities. Comprehensive comparisons can indicate the potential modal share in the post-pandemic stage. Further, this study conducts a case analysis of Beijing, where the city has experienced two waves of COVID-19. The variations in travel speed in the road network of Beijing at different stages of the pandemic help reveal the public's responses towards the varying severity of the pandemic. Finally, a case study of the Yuhang district in Hangzhou is conducted to demonstrate the changes in traffic volume and vehicle travel distance amid the post-pandemic stage based on license plate recognition data. Results indicate a decline in subway trips in the post-pandemic stage among case cities. The vehicular traffic in cities with subways has recovered in peak hours on weekdays and has been even more congested than the pre-pandemic levels;whereas the vehicular traffic in cities without subways has not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. This situation implies a potential modal shift from public transportation to private vehicular travel modes. Results also indicate that commuting traffic is sensitive to the severity of the pandemic. This may be because countermeasures, e.g., work-from-home and suspension of non-essential businesses, will be implemented if the pandemic restarts. The travel speed in non-peak hours and on non-workdays is higher than pre-pandemic levels, indicating that non-essential travel demand may be reduced and the public's vigilance towards the pandemic may continue to the post-pandemic stage. These findings can help improve policymaking strategies in the post-pandemic new normal. © 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Background: In March 2020, the world health organization declared COVID-19 a world wide pandemic. Countries introduced public health measures to contain and reduce its spread. The effect of mandated societal lockdown to reduce the transmission of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on road traffic accidents is not known. For this we performed an in-depth analysis singdata of emergency and trauma centre UPUMS, Saifai. As most of the manpower was involved in managing Covid patients directly or indirectly, it was a challenge to manage these mass casualty patients who require intensive care as well as Medicolegal documentation, record keeping, Consent for life saving procedures in absence of Relatives. Material(s) and Method(s): We reviewed data on total 2876 road traffic accident records in UPUMS, Saifai from January 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020. We treated March 20th as the first day of mandated societal lock down and 1st July as the first day of re-opening. Result(s): We have found that the reis increase in road traffic accidents resulting in serious or fatal injuries during lockdown and post-lockdown period. There was increased Medicolegal burden in spite of the decreased medical resources, manpower as most of manpower and resources were being utilized for covid patients. Conclusion(s): Road traffic accidents are a prominent contributor to hospitalization and may negatively impact the existing hospital resources directed towards COVID-19.Copyright © 2023, World Informations Syndicate. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
SARS-CoV-2 is a pandemic that affects road traffic flaw and crashes globally. This study attempted to compare the situation of road traffic crashes in the city of Budapest before and after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic to better understand its long-term percussive effects. The study considers 12208 road traffic crashes that registered between 20 May 2018 – 31 December 2021. The rate and severity of road traffic crashes during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic examined by using a percentage frequency distribution and a severity index. This study depicted that most crashes reported during the normal daytime between15:01-18:00 (peak hour). The study indicated that during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic the road traffic crashes were reduced by 20.15%. A rear-end collision was one of the most common type of catastrophes highly registered. Road users, particularly drivers, heavily endorsed crashes. Even though the proportion of road traffic crashes caused by alcohol consumption was modest (6%), the rate of alcohol consumption and its concentration increased slightly during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. At the same time the number of crashes caused by high-speed traffic maneuvers reduced. Improper interpretation of road traffic signs, road pavement condition and failure to respect proper sight distance were influential reasons of road traffic crashes among the top. Meanwhile, the distributional impact of careless driving in the aftermath of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic causes a shift in rank. Therefore, this study proved that during SARS-CoV-2 pandemics road traffic crashes reduced, the rate and concentration of alcohol consumption increased, and careless driving was encouraged.
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The city of Christchurch, New Zealand, incurred significant damage due to a series of earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. The city had, by the late 2010s, regained economic and social normalcy after a sustained period of rebuilding and economic recovery. Through the concerted rebuilding effort, a modern central business district (CBD) with redesigned infrastructure and amenities was developed. The Christchurch rebuild was underpinned by a commitment of urban planners to an open and connected city, including the use of innovative technologies to gather, use and share data. As was the case elsewhere, the COVID-19 pandemic brought about significant disruptions to social and economic life in Christchurch. Border closures, lockdowns, trading limitations and other restrictions on movement led to changes in traditional consumer behaviors and affected the retail sector's resilience. In this study, we used CBD pedestrian traffic data gathered from various locations to predict changes in retail spending and identify recovery implications through the lens of retail resilience. We found that the COVID-19 pandemic and its related lockdowns have driven a substantive change in the behavioral patterns of city users. The implications for resilient retail, sustainable policy and further research are explored. © 2023 by the authors.
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As part of Mumbai Coastal Road Project-the connection between Nariman Point and Bandra Worli, a total length of 10.58 km-Package IV (MCRP4) includes submarine twin tube tunnels. Current Package's total length is 4,480 m, of which 2,008 m are excavated by means of one slurry shield and supported/lined by precast segments. Each tube will accommodate a three-lane carriageway, for an internal diameter of 11 m and an excavation diameter 12.19 m. To enable the launching and receiving of the TBM, two shafts were constructed at North end and South end of the package. The reception shaft is 42m long and 30m wide with a depth of 26m below the ground formation level at +3.0 msl. The intention was to disassemble the TBM after the first drive to reassemble and relaunch it from the original shaft – the "launch-ing shaft”. However, due to logistical constraints, given the project location in a dense urban setting, and due to time delays, because of stoppage of works during Covid lockdown, the Contractor of the project decided to relaunch the TBM from the reception shaft itself by rotating the TBM and save approx. 60-75 days. Due to this dynamic need of the project, reception shaft was repurposed for relaunching with additional ancillary structures (like Heavy weight modular gantry crane foundations, TBM reaction frame, Slurry treatment plant on surface etc.,) in and around the shaft which weren't foreseen during the excavation of shaft. This paper discusses design aspects with special focus on challenges which were needed for this repurposing of shaft. © 2023 The Author(s).
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This final chapter of the book "Frontiers of COVID-19: Scientific and Clinical Perspectives of the Novel SARS-CoV-2" takes the contents of the book and lesson learned of the clinical and epidemiological aspects of COVID-19 to the next level and provides guidelines and the road map into the future, beyond COVID-19. The aim is to present the most recent understanding of the fast-changing dynamics of COVID-19 and to help our clinicians and physicians better prepare for the road ahead. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
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National resilience is a consensus benchmark to characterize the ability of disaster resistance of a country. The occurrence of various disasters and the ravages of COVID-19 have created urgent needs in assessing and improving the national resilience of countries, especially for countries along the Belt and Road (i.e., B&R countries) with multiple disasters with high frequency and great losses. To accurately depict the national resilience profile, a three-dimensional assessment model based on multi-source data is proposed, where the diversity of losses, fusion utilization of disaster and macro-indicator data, and several refined elements are involved. Using the proposed assessment model, the national resilience of 64 B&R countries is clarified based on more than 13,000 records involving 17 types of disasters and 5 macro-indicators. However, their assessment results are not optimistic, the dimensional resilience are generally trend-synchronized and individual difference in a single dimension, and approximately one-half of countries do not obtain resilience growth over time. To further explore the applicable solutions for national resilience improvement, a coefficient-adjusted stepwise regression model with 20 macro-indicator regressors is developed based on more than 19,000 records. This study provides the quantified model support and a solution reference for national resilience assessment and improvement, which contributes to addressing the global national resilience deficit and promoting the high-quality development of B&R construction.
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Road accidents have been identified as one of the main causes of death and have a significant effect on public health challenges, economic growth and development. The Iraqi transport infrastructure has suffered from the effects of war, carelessness, and lack of investment. As a result, road traffic accidents have increased, and the current efforts to address road safety are minimal in comparison to the growing level of citizen suffering. The objective of this study was to provincially analyze traffic accidents in Iraq using data from 2010 to 2020 to shed light on the current situation. Three key conclusions were made from the results: first, people aged 35 years and under was the age group recorded in the most traffic accidents;second, Al-Najaf province recorded the highest rate of traffic accidents;and third, COVID-19 lockdown in Iraq caused a 28.5 % decline in traffic accidents while fatality and injury rates fell by 28 % and 18.4 % respectively, when comparing with the data of the same period in 2019.
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Analysis of trends in interregional inequality in Russia in 2015–21 and of the actual outcome during the 2020 pandemic and the subsequent recovery in 2021 reveals short-term regional convergence in seven indicators, albeit of different depth and duration. Sub-federal budget revenue experienced the most significant and persistent reduction in interregional disparities, the main sources of which were a reduction of unevenness in a number of taxes, a significant increase in federal transfers and a change in their nature. After a strong short-term convergence, industry, trade, transport and investment all tended to return to long-term divergence paths. Personal income and wage inequality responded weakly to the shock in the short term and entered the new long-term path. Multidirectional spatial trends resulted from the interaction of sectorial and fiscal policy effects during the pandemic. (English) [ FROM AUTHOR] Cómo ha afectado la pandemia en las desigualdades interregionales en Rusia. Area Development and Policy. En los análisis sobre las tendencias en las desigualdades interregional en Rusia durante el periodo de 2015 a 2021, el resultado actual durante la pandemia de 2020 y la recuperación posterior en 2021 se observa una convergencia regional a corto plazo en siete indicadores, si bien con diferencias en cuanto a la profundidad y la duración. En los ingresos presupuestales subfederales se observó la reducción más significativa y persistente en las desigualdades interregionales, siendo las principales fuentes la reducción de las desigualdades en una serie de impuestos, un aumento significativo en las transferencias federales y un cambio en su naturaleza. Tras una fuerte convergencia a corto plazo, la industria, el comercio, el transporte y las inversiones tendían a volver a las rutas de divergencia a largo plazo. Los ingresos personales y las desigualdades salariales respondieron débilmente al choque a corto plazo y entraron en una nueva fase a largo plazo. Las tendencias espaciales multidireccionales surgieron a partir de la interacción de los efectos de la política sectorial y fiscal durante la pandemia. (Spanish) [ FROM AUTHOR] Как пандемия повлияла на межрегиональное неравенство в России. Area Development and Policy. Анализ тенденций межрегионального неравенства в России в 2015–21 гг. и фактического неравенства во время пандемии 2020 г. и последующего восстановления в 2021 г. выявил краткосрочную конвергенцию регионов по семи показателям разной глубины и продолжительности. В доходах субфедерального бюджета произошло наиболее значительное и стойкое сокращение межрегиональных диспропорций, основными источниками которого стали уменьшение неравномерности по ряду налогов, значительное увеличение федеральных трансфертов и изменение их характера. После сильной краткосрочной конвергенции промышленность, торговля, транспорт и инвестиции, как правило, возвращались к долгосрочным траекториям дивергенции. Неравенство личных доходов и заработной платы слабо отреагировало на шок в краткосрочной перспективе и вступило на новую долгосрочную траекторию. Разнонаправленные пространственные тренды возникали в результате взаимодействия отраслевых эффектов и фискальной политики во время пандемии. (Russian) [ FROM AUTHOR] 流行病如何影响俄罗斯地区间不平等? Area Development and Policy. 本文分析了2015–21年间俄罗斯区域间不平等趋势、2020年爆发的流行病所造成的实际结果以及2021随后的疫情恢复情况, 研究表明七个指标在短期内区域趋同, 尽管深度和持续时间不同。联邦以下各级预算收入在区域间差异方面经历了最显著和持久的减少, 其主要来源是一些税收不平衡性减少, 以及联邦转移的显著增加和其性质的改变。在短期强劲趋同之后, 工业、贸易、运输和投资都倾向于回归长期的趋同路径。个人收入和工资不平等在短期内对冲击反应微弱, 并进入新的长期路径。多方的空间趋势是流行病期间部门和财政政策影响相互作用的结果。 (Chinese) [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Area Development & Policy is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
Road traffic injuries continue to be a major public health concern and are a leading cause of death and injury across the world. Road transport remains the most favoured mode of transport for both freight and passenger movement in India. As per the World Health Organization, approximately 1.35 million people die annually on the world's roads, and another 20 to 50 million sustain nonfatal injuries as a result of road traffic crashes. These injuries and deaths have an immeasurable impact on the families affected, whose lives are often changed irrevocably by these tragedies, and on the communities in which these people lived and worked. India ranks 1 in the total number of traffic-related deaths across the 199 countries reported in the World Road Statistics, 2018, followed by China and the USA due to its large population (India, 21.7, and China, 18.6, fatalities per 100,000), although several Central American and African countries have higher fatality rates. During COVID-19 (coronavirus disease-19) pandemic, a national lockdown was implemented by Government of India from 24 March to 31 May 2020, in four phases to control the spread of SARS CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2) infection. In our observational study, we compared the epidemiology of trauma patients of two periods from 1 April to 31 May 2019 and 24 March to 31 May 2020 and found out that unique concept of lockdown with stringent implementation of discipline, alcohol ban, behavioural change in visiting family and friends as minimum as possible, promoting work from home and digital classes for school and colleges lead to phenomenal decrease in traffic-related injuries and fatality. The lockdown has grossly decreased 'disability-adjusted life year'(DALY), an outcome indicator for cost-effective analysis, which is calculated as the value of future years of healthy life lost to morbidity/disability and future years of life lost to premature mortality.
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We live in a world of disruption aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In view of the highly divisive global discourse, we envision a different way of regional and international partnership in social work education and practice through our proactive partnership, to build hope and transformation. Social work educators from the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong SAR, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Israel, and Vietnam, who have developed partnerships with counterparts in the countries along the New Silk Road, have come together to reflect on their partnership experiences, having developed the "Transformative Cultural Inclusion Model” consisting of four essential pillars: (1) equal partnership, (2) cultural inclusion, (3) capacity-building, and (4) social solidarity. Social work is a catalyst for social change and development, and we hope that the model can provide insights and principles to guide future development of regional and international partnerships. This will, in turn, develop context-specific authentic social work theories and practice by partnering together, engaging in participatory practice research, and making positive changes through education, research, and action with regional, international, and local partners. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
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Based on 1692 outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) events of 735 A-share listed companies in China's manufacturing industry from 2010 to 2019, this paper empirically examines the effect of investment motivation and the impact of institutional differences between China and the host country on the choice of OFDI entry mode;the paper also investigates the moderating effect of the "Belt and Road” Initiative (BRI) on Chinese manufacturing enterprises (CMEs) through use of the logit model. The empirical results show that, with greater institutional differences, CMEs become more inclined to choose cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Furthermore, a positive moderating effect of resource-seeking motivation on the choice of M&A OFDI by CMEs is observed. The signing of the "Belt and Road” cooperation document positively moderates institutional differences in promoting CMEs—especially state-owned CMEs—to choose the M&A mode. The "Belt and Road” Initiative provides an efficient supply system for OFDI by CMEs. This study enriches and extends existing institutional theories and provides suggestions for the promotion of the geopolitical pattern and international cooperation regarding the "Belt and Road” Initiative.
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Background and Objectives: In every tertiary care hospital, casualty deals with the emergency cases of which the majority are Medico legal cases. The knowledge about the incidence of Medico legal cases is important to recognise the socioeconomic burden. The present study was conducted to scrutinize different Medicolegal cases at the emergency department of Mediciti Hospital, Medchal. The idea of the study was to find out frequency of several types of medico legal cases at casualty of Mediciti Hospital, Medchal. Material(s) and Method(s): It was a record based cross sectional study in which all the MLC cases registered in MLC record book from March 2020-March 2021 were analyzed. The data was collected on age, sex, type of Medico legal cases, road traffic accidents, mode of occurrence, month-wise distribution of medico legal cases and the time of occurrence. Results were expressed in numbers and percentages. Result(s): Out of all 355 registered medico legal cases, of which 258(73.2%) were males and 94(26.76%) were females. Maximum cases were from the age group of 20-29 years i.e., 127(43.09%). Majority of the MLC's registered we are due to road traffic accidents 144(39.7%) followed by Assault 49(13.8%), falls-43(12.7%), poisoning-43(12.1%), and injury at workplace-43(12.1%), accidental-14(3.9%), snake bite-8(2.2%) and others (7.4%). Conclusion(s): The present study shows RTAs account for a major part of MLCs. By proper education and training of safety measures among public decreases the cases. Enforcement of strict laws reduces the incidence of road traffic accidents. And also, strict laws should be amended to reduce the incidence of Assault.Copyright © 2023, Dr Yashwant Research Labs Pvt Ltd. All rights reserved.
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The road environment is one of the factors that contribute to road accidents. Extensive research has been conducted on the diversity of road users, conditions, and environments;however, it tends to be general in focus. In Malaysia, the road environment is an important element of the Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) agenda. As women play a greater role in a country's population growth, they are considered to hold greater responsibility for the nation's sustainability. This paper examines the road environment in Malaysia, centering on women's perceptions and using emotions as a predictor. The study data were collected via an online Google form that was specifically targeted at female drivers. A total of 93 respondents participated in the survey. The results include an R2 value equal to 0.27 with a 99% confidence interval. The results indicate that emotions played a moderate role in determining women's perceptions of the on-road environment. Meanwhile, respondents with negative emotions were able to separate their cognitive processes without affecting their perception. Current research indicates that the confidence interval-based estimation of relevance (CIBER) technique is efficient at predicting behavior and is useful for behavior modification in the future, which has significant implications for policy revision and recommendations. Limitations of this research include its focus on women and reliance on data collected during the pandemic, which may be different from other events or situations. Finally, this research suggests that it would be appropriate to establish future behavior interventions among road users at the national level. © 2023 Conscientia Beam. All Rights Reserved.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the global restaurant business hard, especially dine-in. However, it has also provided opportunities for online dining, with takeout becoming a fulcrum for the economic resilience of the urban restaurant industry. Currently, research on the factors affecting takeout order demand under the pandemic has been inadequate. Therefore, this study uses multisource data from Nanjing to explore the changes in takeout order demand as the pandemic develops. And based on the Light gradient boosting machine (Light GBM) model, the nonlinear relationship between the built environment and order demand under different periods of pandemic is investigated, and the important factors affecting the demand are obtained. The results show that daily orders on average during COVID-19 decline by 25.6% than before COVID-19, while during the stabilization phase of the pandemic, they are 20.0% higher than before COVID-19. According to the relative importance ranking of factors in the model, land use diversity and road design influence takeout the most and the crucial influencing factors vary across pandemic periods. In the postpandemic era, special attention needs to be paid to the impact of the number of restaurants, colleges, offices, and main roads on takeout services. In addition, the thresholds of key built environment factors through partial dependency plots can enhance operators' understanding of takeout services and provide suggestions for the spatial layout of takeout resources. While satisfying people's dietary needs, the role of takeout in restoring the restaurant economy can be better utilized. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Advanced Transportation is the property of Hindawi Limited and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
This research aims to find the impact of the nationwide partial and complete lockdowns on the environmental quality of Kuwait. This objective was accomplished by collecting roadside deposited sediments (n=54) at three periods during the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic (complete-lockdown, partial-lockdown, and re-opening) from different locations in Kuwait and then analyzing them via ICP-AES for the presence of heavy metals and later applying various pollution indices. Extensive analysis of 162 subsamples showed that virtually all the minimum values were associated with the complete lockdown period (9 out of 10 elements). Pearson's correlation coefficients indicate that all elements are positively correlated except for Cu-Cd, Cu-Cr, and Co-V, suggesting that the sediments share a common source. Except for cadmium and copper, almost all sediments showed low ecological risk potential (Eri < 40). The lowest risk index was during the complete lockdown (RI=162.2). The full lockdown period had marginally lower geo-accumulation indices and classes than the partial lockdown and re-opening periods. The improvement in sediment quality between the different periods was minimal due to low levels of commitment in the governmental curfew leave permissions, the continuity of Kuwait municipality manual and mechanical road cleanup processes during lockdowns, and the associated energy consumption with emissions resulting from extended indoor stay. © 2023, ALÖKI Kft., Budapest, Hungary.
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Given the rise of automated vehicles from an engineering and technical perspective, there has been increased research interest concerning the Human and Computer Interactions (HCI) between vulnerable road users (VRUs, such as cyclists and pedestrians) and automated vehicles. As with all HCI challenges, clear communication and a common understanding-in this application of shared road usage-is critical in order to reduce conflicts and crashes between the VRUs and automated vehicles. In an effort to solve this communication challenge, various external human-machine interface (eHMI) solutions have been developed and tested across the world. This paper presents a timely critical review of the literature on the communication between automated vehicles and VRUs in shared spaces. Recent developments will be explored and studies analyzing their effectiveness will be presented, including the innovative use of Virtual Reality (VR) for user assessments. This paper provides insight into several gaps in the eHMI literature and directions for future research, including the need to further research eHMI effects on cyclists, investigate the negative effects of eHMIs, and address the technical challenges of eHMI implementation. Furthermore, it has been underlined that there is a lack of research into the use of eHMIs in shared spaces, where the communication and interaction needs differ from conventional roads.
Subject(s)
Autonomous Vehicles , Pedestrians , Humans , Computers , Communication , Accidents, TrafficABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to rapid and unexpected changes across the world, particularly in road safety. Thus, this work assesses the impact of COVID-19 accompanied by government preventive policies on road safety in Saudi Arabia by investigating the crash frequency and crash rates. A 4-year crash dataset relating to 2018-2021 was collected, covering about 71,000 km in total road length. It covers all intercity roads and some of the major intercity roads in Saudi Arabia with over 40,000 data logs of involved crashes. We considered three different time phases to observe road safety. These time phases were identified by the duration of government curfew measures against COVID-19 (before, during, and after). The crash frequency analysis showed that the curfew during COVID-19 significantly impacted the crash reduction. At a national level, the crash frequency decreased during 2020 and reached a 33.2% reduction compared to 2019 (the previous year), and it surprisingly continued decreasing in 2021 (the consequent year) to another 37.7% reduction although the government measures were lifted. Moreover, considering the traffic volume and road geometry, we analyzed crash rates for 36 selected segments, and the results showed a significant reduction in the crash rate before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, a random effect negative binomial model was developed to quantify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results showed that the reduction in crashes was significant during and after COVID-19. Also, single roads (two-lane, two-way) were found to be more dangerous than other types of roads.