Environmental Degradation Land Utilization â€Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Environmental Degradation Land Utilization? Answer: Introduction The transportation system has had a rapid growth over the past decade primarily because of the commercial production of vehicles. Prior to that, the major over-land transportation mechanism was the use cart powered by of beasts of burden (donkeys, asses and horses) and rail. Rail transportation system was however not extensive as the railway cost too much to construct. The animal carts however, could be used in between the railway nodes. However, with the growth of the transportation system carts and animal driven carriages have become extinct save for recreational purposes and motor-vehicles have become the major over-land transportation units putting the road system at the very top of the list of transportation networks. Needs Definition With the growth of the road networks, many manufacturers have been able to come up with more affordable makes and brands. This has been important as, with the increase in population growth and the rising prices of renting and owning homes near big cities, many people have been forced to endure a long commute to work and school. The affordability has led to an increase in vehicle ownership and with this rate of ownership steadily increasing over the years, transport management has been a nightmare for both transport system oversight authorities and the users of this road network. Traffic congestion can be attributed to the transport system being overwhelmed by the number of vehicles which makes them relatively redundant and this necessitates the development of other complementary or supplementary systems. The increase of vehicles on the roads has also led to safety concerns as currently, road accidents are the fourth highest causes of death as indexed by the mortality rate graphs in demographic analysis. While the safety issue may not be directly attributed to the oversaturation of the road network capacity, it does owe it some credit. This is because, while not many road accidents occur as a result of too many vehicles on the road, reducing the number of vehicles on the road could indeed increase security. Conceptual Analysis Environmental degradation can also be largely attributed to congestion of the roads as vehicles usually release greenhouse gases which work towards depleting the O-zone layer and trapping hot gases. While new hybrid vehicles have been introduced into the road network system, their environmentally friendly efforts have gone unnoticed due to their insignificant volumes in comparison to the volumes of vehicles still using fossil fuels on the road. The vehicle manufacturing industry has also had a slow technological growth rate as production of environmentally friendly vehicles is too expensive in relation to the profit margins. The railway system on the other hand is not extensive as building more rail that traverses major transportation routes as opposed to road is also very expensive. All these factors have necessitated the implementation of new transport system networks, one of which is the mass light rail system. Mass rapid transport is a system of ferrying large volumes people and goods over short distances at a relatively fast speed. Some of the most prominent mass rapid transportation systems include the light rail system and bus rapid transit. Bus rapid transport involves the introduction of buses within a city that have special lanes and operate on a given time schedule in relation to the route they traverse. The light rail system is an environmentally approach to transportation where a relatively smaller railway carriage in introduced into the heart of a city to aid in the mass rapid transport of individuals. Their electrical power dependency ensures that, while they do not pollute the environment through greenhouse gases release from the exhaust, they have enough power to move large volumes and remain in operation without needing to stop except for regular maintenance. With, light rail transport, modelling is a bit different from that of road transport system design which primarily uses origin-destination models and travel demand models. Light rail systems, while incorporating some principles of travel-demand model, primarily use its more evolved relation, the activity-based model. These supply user demand information by utilizing deterministic and stochastic methods of analysis. Other evolved methods are the assignment-models that give a prediction of traffic information based on congestion and agent-based models. This system has different operation requirements when compared to existent rail network. This is because the methods of operations are fairly different and this necessitates different approaches to implementation and operation. As it stands, very few countries in the world have long distance electric railway transportation systems. The operation life cycle of such a project is usually between 10 15 years because human population growth rates necessitate new transportation systems after such a time when the population will have exceeded the capacity of the network system. The high electricity costs leave these 2 systems out of the reach of most governments. As light rail systems usually operate within the confines of a city, they require regular surveillance and control to ensure that they do not stop or interfere with other transportation networks. They also require high levels of expertise to operate compared to other transport systems and this expertise is required in design, moni toring, operation, maintenance and repair. The system has so far enjoyed technical and operational support from various industries. These include manufacturing engineering industry, electrical, control and instrumentation, civil, geospatial and environmental engineering industries as well as ICT, legal and corporate support from both the government and the private sector. This means that, every component of this transportation system can be operated, maintained and repaired or replaced as there are mechanisms of doing that. It also enjoys the support of having complementary and supplementary network systems in case a failure causing downtime occurs while it is in operation. This system also enjoys human support from the large volumes of members of the public who use this light rail system on a regular basis. This support is usually in the form fares charged or taxes paid to the local government. To evaluate the results of this transportation system, various technical performance measures can be put in place to analyze the effectiveness of the design, manufacture and implementation of this system and its supporting infrastructure. These values are based on design specifications, client feedback, theoretical and simulation models and practical tests conducted in referenced researches. They are suggestive and should not be taken as design considerations in any component of the design of this system. Table 1: Technical Performance Measure No. Technical Performance Measure Quantitative Value Relative Priority Value 1. Speed 30 kph 12% 2. User appeal (high/moderate/low) High 10% 3. Maintainability Relatively cheap 8% 4. Total operating costs 70% - 100% more than BRT 9% 5. Personnel skill levels Moderate to High expertise 6% 6. Environmental friendliness Electrically powered so very green 10% 7. Connectivity Low as it is very expensive 11% 8. Economic Productivity Highest when demand is high 6% 9. Durability 10 - 15 years 8% 10. Utilization Has highest ridership 11% 11. Interchangeability Highly possible 9% Total 100% Functional Analysis The functional analysis diagram below illustrates process of design based on the need requirements identified earlier in the system. It also shows how the various elements of the design and implementation phases interact with each other in the overall lifecycle of the project. As illustrated earlier, the transport system could to a large extent benefit from the expansion of the existent light rail systems, introduction of new ones and introduction of complementary and supplementary networks. The overall system requirements detailed provide a deeper understanding into the implementation cost of the most suitable alternative when looking at light rails. The overall design, acquisition and application of resources into the network system in order to provide for a maximum design life are also included. Figure 1: Functional Flow Block Diagram of Light Rail Transportation System Tradeoff Analysis: The proposed mass rapid transportation network is not only one of the most efficient at present but one of the most advanced. It is however prone to its own challenges which could be addressed by other similar systems. As such, it is important to compare this transport network with relevant alternatives that would probably provide a better value for the services. The best system is usually chosen. This report analyses the two major mass rapid transportation networks. Light rail system: light rail system enjoys greater demand due to its comfort therefore giving it more public support. For this reason, most individuals would prefer leaving their cars at home if the transport system was accessible or near their home or work/school destination. The comfort ensured by the seat arrangements also lead to some level of productivity as individuals can afford to have some work done on the way. This system also has a higher capacity than bus rapid transport while occupying a much smaller land area. This makes it much more economical to manage especially where demand is high. The systems speed is also improved where it is grade separated as it can attain peak velocities and consequently providing better service than the alternatives. It is also very environmentally friendly as it runs on electricity and keeps noise levels at a minimum. They, however, have their own challenges of which the most obstructive are the high initial cost of infrastructure investment. Light rail system requires an extensive lay-down of rail routes and where the infrastructure investment fails to cover more than half a city, it becomes uneconomical. Where the rail system has more stops, the trip duration is also increased prompting users of such a route to prefer the road network. Bus rapid transport: the main advantage of this system is the low initial costs. The various phases of complete infrastructural development can also be used without necessitating the whole system to be complete first. It requires no infrastructural specifications and can work very well on the existent roads. In doing so, they become very flexible because of the large number of routes available and are even able to drop people as close to their destination as the doorstep. For this reason, they require little to no transfers and a passenger can take only one bus in order to get to a destination even when it is far or not along the main avenues and highways. They also have lower operating costs even when the rider volumes are low proving to be economical. Their challenges include the bad image they have because of individual biases. They do not seem as classy as the light rail and they also are not as comfortable. They are not environmentally friendly as most still use fossil fuels for power. They also contribute to traffic congestion especially where they have signal priority modules to help change the traffic lights. Conclusion It is apparent from the analysis that light rail system would be a preferred system of operation. The only hindrance that does not have a direct or indirect solution is the high initial costs of infrastructure construction. Their economical aspect provides them with an edge as there are systems in place to promote accountability. This include automation of rider fare payment and also the easy surveillance due the low number of transport routes. Recommendation The light rail transportation system would be ideal for a city where public transport user volumes are high. While bus rapid transport has more network connectivity, it is possible to interchange the units when dealing with light rail systems and the overall system can in itself be intermodal. An example of such is when a light rail train station close to a suburb has adequate parking facilities to allow riders to use the road system to get to it conveniently. References Antiplanner, 2014. The Alternative to Light Rail. Retrieved 24 Aug 2014, from https://ti.org/antiplanner/?p=9737 Boarnet, Marlon Wang, Xize Houston, Douglas., (2016). Can new light rail reduce personal vehicle carbon emissions? A before-after, experimental-control evaluation in Los Angeles: light rail and CO2 emissions. Journal of Regional Science. Brown, Barbara Werner, Carol. (2009). Before and After a New Light Rail Stop: Resident Attitudes, Travel Behavior, and Obesity. Journal of the American Planning Association. (75), 5-12. Cassidy, E., 2015. LRT versus BRT: which is the better option? 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A long-time limit of world subway networks. Journal of the Royal Society, Interface / the Royal Society. (9), 2540-50. Wattrick, J. T., 2011. Bus Rapid Transit: A real alternative to light rail, or just a lovely parting gift? Retrieved 24 Aug 2017, from https://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/12/bus_rapid_transit_a_real_alter.html