Yearly Archives: 2004

Flexibility and robustness as options to reduce risk and uncertainty

Leave a reply
Revised on: 2015-12-02

Any company operating in international markets will face a multitude of risks. Acknowledging these risks and devising a strategy for how to deal with these risks is a prerequisite for survival in today’s competitive market. Assuming that the task to come up with a new strategy implies that the old strategy has outlived itself or at least has proven itself wrong on too many occasions, the stage is now set for a new approach. This paper will first present the main risks that are facing any company. Then, the available options to reduce these risks will be considered. Finally, in relation to these risks, flexibility and robustness will be introduced as a tool to handle uncertainties (risks).

Continue reading →

Reliability and vulnerability versus costs and benefits

Leave a reply
Revised on: 2011-03-10

Looking beyond the science of vulnerability assessments, this paper discusses some of the network attributes that influence the vulnerability of transport networks, influences that can be described as structure-related, nature-related or traffic-related attributes. The paper introduces vulnerability as a parameter for decision-support in cost-benefit analyses, by seeking to establish a link between the terms reliability and vulnerability vis-a-vis costs and benefits.

Continue reading →

Book review: The Network Reliability of Transport

Leave a reply
Revised on: 2015-09-09

I guess you would have to have attended the conference yourself or be a researcher in this very field to actually go and buy The Network Reliability of Transport by Michael G. H. Bell (Editor), Yasunori Iida (Editor). It’s definitely worth a read, as it presents a cross-section of the current state of the art knowledge within the field. These are the people you would want to cooperate with in your own research and reading their articles is one way to get to know them. These are the same authors who wrote Transportation Network Analysis, and who I was lucky enough too meet at INSTR 2004, the 2nd International Symposium on Transportation Network Reliability.

Continue reading →

Book review: Handbook of Transportation Engineering

1 Reply
Revised on: 2011-03-10

Comprehensive and all-encompassing, the Handbook of Transportation Engineering by Myer Kutz (editor) may be way to much if road transportation, like in my case, is all you need. The authors are solid researchers in their field and some even personal acquaintances of mine. My particular interest in this book is the chapter on Transportation Hazards, written by Tom Cova and Steve Conger, a professor and fellow student who I met while studying at the UofU in Salt Lake City, Utah. Is it worth the hefty price? Yes.

Continue reading →

Book review: Transport – Economics and Management

Leave a reply
Revised on: 2015-09-09

Kept at an executive level, Transport: An Economics and Management Perspective by David A. Hensher and Ann M. Brewer delves just deep enough for you to grasp the various concepts of transport planning, where costs occur and how to maximise benefits in both the public and the private transport sector. You will enjoy this book even more if you have some macro-economical background, nevertheless it never goes into complex formulas or calculations.  Continue reading →

Reliability and vulnerability versus costs and benefits

1 Reply
Revised on: 2015-09-09

Issues of reliability and vulnerability are mormally not considered a matter of evaluation in traditional cost-benefit analyses. Consequently, traditional cost-benefit analyses are lacking decision variables that may be important. This paper looks beyond the abstract science of vulnerability assessments, and discusses some of the factual influences and network attributes that contribute to the vulnerability of transport networks. The influences of the individual attributes are then examined as a measure of the vulnerability of a transport network. Although reliability can be defined by absolute numbers, vulnerability, by its very nature can not. The paper further outlines a framework for developing a methodology that to incorporate reliability and vulnerability as parameters for decision-support in a cost-benefit analysis. In doing so, this paper seeks to establish a link between the terms reliability/vulnerability and cost/benefit and seeks to describe reliability and vulnerability in terms of cost and benefit. Cost-benefit evaluations are part of many decision making processes, and it is argued that vulnerability assessments likewise should play an important role as input to these processes.

Continue reading →

Reliability and vulnerability in road development projects

Leave a reply
Revised on: 2011-03-17

Few will question that the sender, the recipient, the freight hauler or society in general, experience additional costs when goods or persons cannot reach their destinations in time or space. Consequently, it should be obvious that a reliable transportation network represents a benefit to society. Equally, a vulnerable network would represent a net cost to society. Why then, is the reliability, or conversely, the vulnerability, of the transportation network not a matter of evaluation in traditional cost-benefit analyses?

Continue reading →

Pålitelighet og sårbarhet – et ikke-tema i nyttekostnadsanalyser?

Leave a reply
Revised on: 2015-09-09

Pålitelighet og sårbarhet er to forhold av betydning for transportbrukere som i dag ikke tas hensyn til i vurdering av samferdselsprosjekter. Få vil være i tvil om at både avsender, mottaker, transportør og samfunnet generelt påføres til dels betydelige tilleggskostnader når varer eller personer ikke kommer frem dit de skal når de skal. At et pålitelig vegnett representerer en nytteverdi er derfor innlysende. Hvorfor er slike vurderinger ikke med når vegprosjekter blir vurdert?

Dette er den norske originalversjonen av Why reliability and vulnerability should be an issue in road development projects. Denne artikkelen stod på trykk i Samferdsel, nr. 3/2004 (pdf).

Continue reading →

Book review: Cost-Benefit Analysis: Theory and Application

Leave a reply
Revised on: 2015-09-09

I really enjoyed reading Cost-Benefit Analysis: Theory and Application by Tefvik Nas.  I used this book to learn more about cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in tranportation planning, and albeit the book does not relate specifically to that field, it worked very well. The nice part is that it first discusses some macro-economical concepts before delving into cost-benefit calculations. This is very useful if you, like me, do not have a background, classes, courses or a degree in economics. As an introductory book this is excellent.

Continue reading →

Book Review: Transportation Network Analysis

Leave a reply
Revised on: 2015-09-09

Transportation Network Analysis by M. G. H. Bell and Yasunori Iida is a book for the expert rather than the novice. Drawing heavily on academic knowledge this book almost requires a degree in civil engineering before you even start reading. On a side note, I was lucky enough to meet up with both Bell and Iida at INSTR 2004 the  Second International Symposium on Transportation Network Reliability. If you’re seriously into transportation planning and analysis this is the book you should not miss. It teaches you all the basic concepts you need to know. For my part, I mostly use only one chapter from the book for my research, others may do the same with different parts of the book. That’s what makes it so useful.

Continue reading →