Hong Kong has an extensive network of public bus services covering almost all areas of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New Territories and Lantau Island. It is doubtless that the long history and reliable public bus service for the general masses has helped make Hong Kong achieving a world-class efficient and comprehensive public transport network. The operation of bus services can be traced back to the 1920's when, in 1921, the Vehicles and Traffic Regulation Ordinance set out the fares, stopping points and bus specifications for four bus routes serving Kowloon Peninsula. The first franchises were awarded in 1933 to China Motor Bus Company Ltd and Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB). The third franchised bus company was New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Ltd which has operated franchised services on Lantau Island since 1979. In 1991 Citybus Limited, which since 1979 had operated a shuttle service for United Services Dockyard workers with a single bus and, later, some residential services, was granted a franchise for operating one Hong Kong Island bus route and further routes from 1993 and 1995. In 1998 CMB's history of operating bus services came to an end when New World First Bus Services Limited (NWFB) won the tender to operate 88 routes previously operated under CMB's franchise. However, with diverse and primarily private nature of bus operators, and the lack of motivation and hence regulations of any sort of the then colonial government and current SAR Government in mandating the documentation of bus-related relics and archive, there is no policy, mechanism or institution of any sort to provide records of history of this important form of public transit service in Hong Kong. Streets are the foreground of our buildings and the backdrop to everyday lives and contain valuable cultural symbols. The number of signs, bollards and guardrails are increasing over the years, without intended coordination. This result in streetscape which is unsigtly and seemingly lacking character. The example of England in rediscovering and preserving the street character is noteworthy. Since England has launched campaign of “Save Our Streets”, every sign has been concerned in towns or villages, such as traditional traffic direction signs, or “fingerposts”, which are a cherished feature of the English countryside and suburbs. English Heritage has joined forces with the Department for Transport to call on local authorities to retain, repair and reintroduce fingerposts where appropriate. Back to Hong Kong, as time passed, some of the bus service companies which have witnessed the historic development of this important service have either closed down or changed their business direction. All of the historic information has been lost other than their financial report. Antique bus stop or signs were nowhere to be found. Those information may only gather from some of the bus fans’ collection. To remedy such anomaly and loss of historic information, a designated library or museum should gather the history of bus services information at the past with easy public access. And instead of relying on the will and interest of individual companies, the government should at lead take the lead in coordinating such work. / published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Criminal Justice." Includes bibliographical references (p. 186-194).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-61).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-61). Also available in print.

The master´s thesis deals with the design of the transfer terminal on the proposed high speed railway Prague - Hradec Kralove - Wroclaw near the town of Podebrady and exit 39 from the D11 motorway. The work includes the design of station layout, platforms, access roads, bus stops and parking house. As part of the railway station design naintenance base with the loading area. The integral parts of the thesis is design of the railway superstructure, substructure and drainage system.

In practice, the design of bus routes and stop placement involves calculated trade-offs between service frequency, quality, and access. Increased stop density improves access but contributes to slow operating speeds and increased operating costs. In this thesis, a optimized bus stop spacing model is applied using the high resolution archived stop-level bus performance data from the Bus Dispatch System (BDS) provided by TriMet, the regional transit provider for the Portland metropolitan area. Two cost components are considered in the stop spacing model including passenger access cost and in-vehicle passenger stopping cost, and are combined and optimized to minimize total cost. A case-study is presented using one year's stop-level data from one bus route 19 in Portland, Oregon. The analysis considered both inbound and outbound stop spacing and determined the optimal average stop spacing based on an all-day, peak and off-peak time periods. Based on the analysis considering inbound trips over the entire day, the theoretical optimized bus stop spacing was about 1,200 feet, as compared to the current value of 890 feet. This paper also builds on the all day analysis and focuses on inbound and outbound trips during peak periods, resulting in optimized spacing of about 1,300 feet. The peak hour demand has a significant impact on the transit operation. A bus stop consolidation scheme is proposed for the analyzed bus route considering the peak hour transit demand. Finally, the thesis discusses trade-offs and presents an estimate of transit operating cost savings based on the optimized spacing. Given the growing availability of high-resolution archived data, the thesis illustrates that this modeling tool can be applied in a routine way across multiple routes as part of an ongoing service planning and performance measurement process.

Bus stops are interwoven into the urban landscape, providing direct access to the transit system and offering upfront information to users. This contact creates an ever-present opportunity for transit agencies to market their services to the public and attract ridership. The purpose of this thesis is to help transit agencies exploit this opportunity through the development and deployment of user information. The thesis examines how agencies are leveraging bus stop infrastructure in the United States and Canada. Site visits were conducted at twenty-nine transit agencies across the continent with observations photographed and processed into matrices. The photographs provide examples of innovative ways in which agencies have employed elements, while the matrices reveal the current state of the practice. The thesis concludes with recommendations for the conceptualization and development of bus stop signage that integrate many of these innovative elements as well as ADA regulations to improve user information at transit agencies. The findings of this thesis may be of interest to transit agencies that are seeking to construct a new or improve upon an existing user information system as well as to those interested in or studying public transit, wayfinding, or environmental graphic design. While there exists a large degree of difference as to the level of information that is made available to users in different transit agencies, all agencies have room to improve.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / In this work we highlight the importance of urban planning, which finds in geoprocessing an ally to a spatial data analysis in the city. In this context, the objective of the present research is to analyze the suitability of the main bus stops in the urban transport in the city of Santa Maria. In order to achieve this goal, we have developed the following methodological steps: 1) bibliography review; 2) definition of the principal bus stops studied; 3) registration of the main bus stops; 4) after collected all bus stops, they were sent to the software ArcGIS Server Workgroup Standart 9.3; 5) it was drawn up a map for each bus routes containing the itinerary and its respective bus stops as well as the development of thematic maps with information about population density and income; 6) it was examined the infrastructure of each bus stop with the aim at classifying each bus stop according to the bibliography selected. In this sense, it was registered the following bus stops of the collective urban transport: Tancredo Neves, UFSM-Faixa Velha, Bombeiros-Faixa Velha, Santa Marta, Prado, Cohab Fernando Ferrari Faixa Nova e Faixa Velha, Alto da Boa Vista, 7 de Dezembro, UFSM-Faixa Nova, Tancredo Neves-Campus, Bombeiros-Faixa Nova, Camobi. As results, it was registered 347 bus stops and analyzed that most itineraries of bus stop routes are downtown and in East regions, demonstrating that the majority of people s displacement in those regions happens due to their jobs and studies. It was possible to find five sorts of bus stops: 29 bus stops with signposting and shelter, 139 with only shelter, 24 with shelter in bad conditions, 40 only with signposting and 115 with any identification. Considering the bibliography used in this research, 232 bus stops could be classified as formal bus stops and the rest of them as informal ones due to the fact that they did not present any kind of signposting. Taking into account physic aspects, 177 bus stops were classified as simple ones. Only 29 bus stops could be considered complete ones and in order to classify them as complex ones, they should have presented more equipment. Consequently, less than 1% of all bus stops analyzed presented all equipment. It is also important to highlight that the bus stops studied in this research with less infrastructure were located in areas of the city in which the responsible for the residence earns until 2 minimum wages. Bus stops with better structure presented only 8, 35% from the total amount of bus stops analyzed in the research. / No trabalho destaca-se a importância do planejamento do meio urbano, tal ação encontra no geoprocessamento um aliado para análise espacial de dados em uma cidade. Inserido neste contexto, o objetivo desta pesquisa foi analisar a adequabilidade das paradas de ônibus das principais linhas realizadas pelo transporte coletivo urbano na área urbana do Município de Santa Maria, RS. As etapas metodológicas: 1) revisão de bibliografia; 2) definição das linhas de ônibus que foram abordadas; 3) registro dos pontos de paradas de ônibus em campo; 4) após ter coletado todos os pontos de paradas de ônibus os mesmos foram importados no software ArcGIS Server Workgroup Standart 9.3; 5) foram elaborados mapas de cada uma das linhas de ônibus, constando o itinerário e suas respectivas paradas de ônibus, como também os mapas temáticos com informações sobre densidade populacional e renda; 6) foi analisada a infraestrutura de cada parada a fim de classifica-las de acordo com a bibliografia. Assim foram registradas as paradas de ônibus das seguintes linhas do transporte coletivo urbano: Tancredo Neves, UFSM-Faixa Velha, Bombeiros-Faixa Velha, Santa Marta, Prado, Cohab Fernando Ferrari Faixa Nova e Faixa Velha, Alto da Boa Vista, 7 de Dezembro, UFSM-Faixa Nova, Tancredo Neves-Campus, Bombeiros-Faixa Nova, Camobi. Desta forma, foram registradas 347 paradas de ônibus e constatou-se que a maioria dos itinerários das linhas de ônibus são no centro e região leste, destacando o maior deslocamento da população em direção a estas regiões por motivos de trabalho e estudos. Foram encontradas em campo cinco tipos de paradas, as quais são: 29 paradas com sinalização e abrigo, 139 com somente abrigo, 24 com abrigo em condições inadequadas, 40 somente com sinalização, e 115 nenhuma identificação. Considerando a bibliografia consultada 232 paradas podem ser classificadas paradas formais, as demais são consideradas paradas informais por não apresentarem nenhum tipo de sinalização. Quanto aos aspectos físicos são classificadas 177 paradas como simples. Apenas 29 paradas podem ser consideradas mais completas, no entanto para serem paradas complexas teriam que apresentar mais equipamentos. Desta forma menos de 1% das paradas apresentam todos os equipamentos. Destaca-se também que as paradas que apresentam menos infraestrutura estão localizadas em áreas da cidade em que o responsável por domicílio recebe até 2 salários mínimos. As paradas com a melhor infraestrutura representam somente 8,35% do total das paradas registradas em campo.

Bus stops are key links in the journeys of transit patrons with disabilities. Inaccessible bus stops prevent people with disabilities from using fixed-route bus services, thus limiting their mobility. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 prescribes the minimum requirements for bus stop accessibility by riders with disabilities. Due to limited budgets, transit agencies can only select a limited number of bus stop locations for ADA improvements annually. These locations should preferably be selected such that they maximize the overall benefits to patrons with disabilities. In addition, transit agencies may also choose to implement the universal design paradigm, which involves higher design standards than current ADA requirements and can provide amenities that are useful for all riders, like shelters and lighting. Many factors can affect the decision to improve a bus stop, including rider-based aspects like the number of riders with disabilities, total ridership, customer complaints, accidents, deployment costs, as well as locational aspects like the location of employment centers, schools, shopping areas, and so on. These interlacing factors make it difficult to identify optimum improvement locations without the aid of an optimization model. This dissertation proposes two integer programming models to help identify a priority list of bus stops for accessibility improvements. The first is a binary integer programming model designed to identify bus stops that need improvements to meet the minimum ADA requirements. The second involves a multi-objective nonlinear mixed integer programming model that attempts to achieve an optimal compromise among the two accessibility design standards. Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques were used extensively to both prepare the model input and examine the model output. An analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was applied to combine all of the factors affecting the benefits to patrons with disabilities. An extensive sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the reasonableness of the model outputs in response to changes in model constraints. Based on a case study using data from Broward County Transit (BCT) in Florida, the models were found to produce a list of bus stops that upon close examination were determined to be highly logical. Compared to traditional approaches using staff experience, requests from elected officials, customer complaints, etc., these optimization models offer a more objective and efficient platform on which to make bus stop improvement suggestions.

Four sections of continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) were constructed at the University of São Paulo campus in order to introduce this kind of pavement structure to Brazil\'s technical transportation community. Sections were designed as 50 m long concrete slab, short in comparison to traditional CRCP, in order to simulate bus stops and terminals - locations of critical interest for public infrastructure. The thesis presented herein concludes this research project initiated in 2010. As the initial goal of this study was the development of coherent, reliable and intuitive design recommendations for the use of CRCP technology in Brazil, a profound understating of its structural and performance peculiarities was needed. For that, the cracking process of the experimental CRCP sections was recorded over a span of seven years. Due to the sections\' short length and lack of anchorage, the experimental \"short\" CRCP presented a cracking behavior quite different than traditional CRCP. There were much less visible cracks than expected. To address this issue, a novel technology in ultrasonic non-destructive testing of concrete structures was applied. Through ultrasonic signal interpretation it was possible to discover several incipient non-visible cracks within the slabs - many of these became apparent on the slab surface in later crack surveys - and to characterize visible and non-visible cracks regarding crack depth. The updated crack map with non-visible cracks showed similarities with traditional CRCP. Additionally, the ultrasonic data analysis provided important information on thickness variation, reinforcement location and concrete condition that were applied in theoretical simulations (finite element software) of the short CRCP. Simulations were attempted considering different slab geometries, firstly with transverse cracks as joints with high load transfer efficiency (LTE) and secondly with a continuous slab without cracks or joints. The latter simulation was more accurate reaching a shift factor between field and simulated stresses in the order of 0.7 to 1.0. Deflection data and LTE analysis from cracks and panels in between cracks further attested the slab continuous behavior, which contradicts current CRCP design models and performance predictors. Furthermore, critical traffic and environmental loading conditions concerning Brazil\'s climate and bus traffic characteristics were investigated and related using a selected fatigue model resulting in design recommendations in a chart format for the short CRCP aimed at long-term projects for over 20 years of operation. The design chart was successfully applied to investigate three failures presented by the experimental short CRCP due to thickness deficiencies pointed out by the ultrasonic testing. / Quatro seções de pavimento de concreto continuamente armado (PCCA) foram construídas no campus da Universidade de São Paulo, com o objetivo de introduzir esta estrutura, de reconhecido sucesso internacional, à comunidade técnica de engenharia de transportes brasileira. As seções foram projetadas com uma placa de concreto de 50 m de extensão, curta em comparação ao PCCA tradicional, com a finalidade de simular paradas e terminais de ônibus - locais de grande interesse para a infraestrutura pública. A tese aqui apresentada conclui este projeto de pesquisa iniciado em 2010. Como o objetivo inicial deste estudo foi o desenvolvimento de recomendações de projeto coerentes, confiáveis e intuitivas para a utilização do PCCA no Brasil, foi necessário um profundo entendimento de suas peculiaridades estruturais e de desempenho. Para isso, o processo de fissuração das secções experimentais foi acompanhado durante sete anos. Devido à curta extensão e falta de ancoragem das seções, o PCCA \"curto\" apresentou um padrão de fissuração diferente do PCCA tradicional com muito menos fissuras visíveis na superfície do que o esperado. Para abordar esta questão, uma nova tecnologia ultrassônica para ensaios não destrutivos de estruturas de concreto foi aplicada. Pela interpretação do sinal de ultrassom, foi possível descobrir várias fissuras incipientes (não visíveis) dentro das placas - muitas dessas foram observadas na superfície da placa em levantamentos de fissuras posteriores - e caracterizar fissuras visíveis e não-visíveis quanto à profundidade da fissura. O mapa de fissuração atualizado com fissuras não visíveis mostrou semelhanças com PCCA tradicional. Além disso, a análise dos dados de ultrassom forneceu informações importantes sobre a variação da espessura, localização da armadura longitudinal e condição do concreto, que foram aplicados em simulações teóricas (software de elementos finitos) do PCCA curto. Simulações foram propostas considerando diferentes geometrias, primeiramente com fissuras transversais como juntas com alta eficiência de transferência de carga (LTE) e posteriormente com uma placa contínua, sem fissuras ou juntas. Esta última simulação foi mais precisa alcançando um fator de conversão entre tensões de campo e simuladas na ordem de 0,7 a 1,0. Dados de deflexão e análise de LTE em fissuras e placas entre fissuras atestaram novamente o comportamento contínuo das placas, o que vai em contradição com os modelos atuais de dimensionamento e de previsão de desempenho para o PCCA. Ademais, o tráfego crítico e condições de carga ambiental correspondentes ao clima e tráfego de ônibus típicos brasileiros foram investigados e relacionados usando um modelo de fadiga resultando em recomendações de projeto para o PCCA de curta extensão sendo direcionado para projetos de longo prazo para mais de 20 anos de operação. O gráfico de projeto foi aplicado com sucesso para investigar três falhas apresentadas pelo PCCA curto experimental devido a deficiências de espessura apontadas pelo teste ultrassônico.