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According to the transport White Paper “better modal choices will result from greater integration of the modal networks: airports, ports, railway, metro and bus stations, should increasingly be linked and transformed into multimodal connection platforms for passengers.” Transport terminals are the junction points of local, regional or inter-regional transport. The main objective of a transport terminal is to serve the passengers’ demand by maintaining their safety and comfort. Intermodal terminals have emerged as a response or solution to the demands of sustainable development (reducing congestion should be the main objective), Bucharest ranks 5th in the world at congestion (according to Tomtom Traffic Index). The use of intermodality in passenger transport significantly reduces congestion in cities. Intermodal passenger terminals lead to reduced congestion but impair passenger quality parameters such as time, comfort, convenience and even travel’s cost because each mode of transport has its own pricing principles. The problem of reducing the transit time through these intermodal terminals is the key in making the public transport more attractive; the way the terminals are designed and organized leads to their intensive use or not. The paper presents a model for designing intermodal passenger terminals that encourage modal transfer. The model’s framework suppose the correlation of the transport modes timetables, placing the platforms so that the movements between them are as small as possible, tariff integration and the use of an unique ticket, etc. The model presented within the paper has been tested on a hypothetical intermodal passenger terminal that has benefitted by transport modes schedules correlation through a linear programming with integer numbers model.

The port shunting yards are developed inside the area of the ports. The main activities are to receive the freight trains from the hinterland, to shunt the freight wagons according to their final destinations from the area of the port, to receive the wagons from maritime terminals, to accumulate wagons according to their destination, and to depart the freight train to the hinterland. So, it is important for port administration to have good methods to evaluate the transit capacity of port shunting yards. A feasible method is to use the discrete simulation model. In our paper, we develop one of this taking into consideration the input flow characteristics of freight trains from land network, the input flow characteristics of freight wagons from maritime terminals, the number of tracks in a port railway station, the technology used for separation of freight wagons on destinations (inside the port or from hinterland), and the duration of technological processes. From the results, we extract the values of trains and wagon sets that transit through the main areas of the railway station (Receiving Tracks, Hump(s) and Departure Tracks).

The recent emergence of bad events (fires, terrorist attacks, etc.) resulted in a large number of deceased and injured people, brought to the attention of specialist’s problems and caused by the lack of adequate dimensioning of access and transit path. In the case of urban transport terminals linking rail lines, metro lines, and surface public transport lines there are a number of specific aspects such as the transport means arrival after a fixed schedule, group acces within the terminal, long waiting time in the terminal etc. In this case the use of a discrete simulation model allows the evaluation of the use of access gates, transit times, etc. In this paper, a simulation model is developed for a hypotetical passenger terminal using the topology of the main Romanian train station. The obtained data can be used for the optimal dimensioning of the number of access gates, of the stairs, of the waiting area etc.

The paper intends to present the advantages and the disadvantages of the non-motorized movements (cycling and walking) in large urban areas compared to motorized modes using as a case study the application of an instrument called Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) for walking and cycling. The case study is based upon the analogy between these aspects for a town which is friendly to walking and cycling (Barcelona - Spain) and a town less friendly with these types of movements (Bucharest - Romania). Health impact assessment is a combination of procedures, methods and tools used to evaluate the potential health effects of a policy, programme or project. Using a combination of qualitative, quantitative and participatory techniques, health impact assessment aims to produce recommendations that will help decision-makers and other stakeholders make choices about alternatives and improvements to prevent disease/injury and to actively promote health (more on health impact assessment).

Seaports are multifunctional socio-economic spaces that provide a wide range of services and serve a wide range of customers including shippers, forwarders, logistics operators and transport companies. One of their main tasks is to facilitate the domestic and international trade of goods. The paper attempts to highlight the major role that ports have in the transport system together with the minimization of the transport costs. Ports provide a crucial interface between land and sea. Ports, as integrated logistics centers and multifunctional socio-economic spaces, are key components of the European and global transport system. They also cover transport, logistics, distribution and space functions that influence the city development. Port improvement plays a major role in reducing the transport costs. In order to reduce transport costs, we need to identify the necessary changes to the system (additional berths, reducing the service time by upgrading the operating facilities etc.) to reduce the penalties. Most often, in order to minimize costs, the economic function (sum of waiting costs) have to be optimized. A useful tool for approaching port optimization problems is provided by the theory of queuing: ships can be regarded as "customers", while the "service stations" can be represented by the berths of a seaport. In the case of transit storage, the transfer of goods between sea and land transport is not a single-stage process. In these circumstances the optimum number of berths should be replaced by the optimum number of cranes and the optimum area for transit storage. However, in the hypothetical case study from the paper we will consider the case of a single-stage and single-channel facility (one berth) in order to reduce the queuing time. The main conclusion from the analysis is that the expected queuing time may be reduced either by increasing the handling speed or by making ships more homogeneous (by specializing in serving a particular type of ship or cargo).

The urban transport models are used in the development of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. These models are designed to reproduce the actual traffic flow on transport network infrastructure and to test and evaluate the solutions that will lead to a sustainable mobility. One of these solutions is represented by the development of park and ride facilities, for users that are coming from extra urban area. The authors propose in the paper an algorithm for traffic allocation when are developed park and ride facilities. The initial data are obtained from a classic four steps model and are processed to evaluate the degree of demand of transport network when a multi-stage phased scenario is pursued. The results obtained with the proposed method are useful for local and regional decision makers to conceive a strategy to develop new park and ride facilities as well as to obtain a series of quantifiable results for transport network users.

This paper investigates the efficiency of different models in shaping the transfer function of port container terminals by coordinating the handling equipment’s activity. Differences in the productivity of the handling equipment and the limited capacity of the storage area at berth generate deadlock situation that could be handle through three correlation procedures: (i) adjusting the productivity to the minimum when the storage area is fully used; (ii) on/off control of the most efficient equipment, and (iii) limitation of the productivity of the most performing equipment. These techniques and the variations in input elements (ships arrival rate, containers number to unload/load, berth storage area) are taken into account for choosing the best strategy of port activity. A simulation model, developed with ARENA software, is created to analyse the port activity. Beyond the analytical models that deal with one ship handling process, the simulation model could take into consideration the process on a period of time, allowing studying the impact of stochastic elements on the process. The model contains the following modules: the vessels arrival, waiting in harbour, anchorage, containers unloading/loading on the vessels, temporary storage at berth, container transfer to inland storage area, and vessel departure. Computer simulations allow analysing random variable of the vessels time spent in port. The mean value should be kept at minimum and thus the best handling strategy could be identified. In addition, the sensitivity of the results according to the variation of the input elements is obtained.

The paper tries to improve the multimodal passenger transport system. The growing demand for mobility has led to the need of finding ways to deal with it. The Authorities should focus on providing an attractive public transport which implies a public transport with sufficient transport capacity and with announced and correlated transport schedules. Transfer time is one of the most important service quality indicator for evaluating intermodal transit system. The paper is making available to decision-makers from transport domain a methodology for correlating both transport capacities and transport schedules, exemplifying it on a case study in Henri Coanda airport. To increase the airport accessibility, the airport Authority depends on other involved organizations like: urban and regional public transport companies; taxi operators; rental car companies etc. The transport options for air passengers from/to home to/from Henri Coanda Airport are: individual long distance modes (private vehicle, taxi); collective long distance modes (bus transport). The paper presents the correlation of transport capacities and transport schedules in Henri Coanda airport considering the air traveler passengers flow

Quality demands imposed to transportation by beneficiaries might be reached in the situation that the transport means that get obsolete with time, are replaced with others to satisfy the need for mobility addressed to the system. Establishing the moment of transport means replacement is an economic equilibrium problem. As time passes, obsolescence arises and maintenance and operating costs rise. They increase until they exceed the acquisition cost of a new vehicle. The research methodology consists in establishing the most appropriate maintenance and operating costs evolution function so that, by finding its minimum and considering the costs of acquiring a new transport vehicle to determine the minimum value of both cost categories. To take into account real situations, calculation encloses an updated value of costs in time. The theoretical considerations are supported by a case study where the economic moment of replacing a transport vehicle is determined for both cases, with and without updating.

In the global reality of intense competition for financial resources, models for transport infrastructure and operational technologies development are to be taken into consideration in order to ensure that both service and physical network provision serves society's wider need. Proposed paper presents a detailed methodology for the substantiated choices of transport infrastructure development in case of long distance haul and high speed passenger travel, adequate for efficient resources consume (space, energy, finances). Practical aspects are revealed in the present comparative study regarding space and equivalent energy consumption, conducted for two land infrastructures, highway and high speed rail, connecting the same origin and destination points. As a result, although both services have their benefits and costs, high speed rail is recommended as a sustainable development action, ranking better than highway infrastructure. Recommendations concerning methodological clarifications and practical aspects are made in order to insure the best practice considering a sustainable network based transport infrastructure assessment process.

In this paper it is developed a location model for the infrastructures dedicated to non-motorized movements by bike in Oradea city, using ArcGIS geographic and information system [3]. They are taken into consideration the movements made by the target people – alternating movements (from home to school) and optional movements (made for recreation), the densities in residential areas, the type of the city arteries and the mobility need of the target people (in this case – young people aged between 15 and 25) in order to design two structures of the transport infrastructure networks (one for the alternating movements and the other for the optional movements), structures which will be realized on the actual frame of the existing transport infrastructure in Oradea city. Using Dijkstra algorithm, the minimal routes for the movements related to the alternating mobility, but also for the movements specific to the optional mobility are determined. Further on the most used arteries in the two structures of urban infrastructure networks are determined. The paper suggests as a solution the structure of the network for the non-motorized movements and also those arteries that must be used for its development, that guarantee gains for the target people (time), for the main operators who exploit the motorized systems, for the local budget of the local municipalities (less funds to sustain the public services) and especially for the environment and people’s health (attenuation of noxious and phonic pollution, reduction of the accidents’ number and health improvement).

Impetuous multiplication of mobility and road traffic proliferation lead to concerns for increasing the attractiveness of urban public transport. Compared to private car use, urban public transport attractiveness is conditioned, in particular, by travel times and certainty of respecting the transport schedules, meaning planned traffic stability. Traffic schedules are considered to be more stable as the primary delays from the announced schedule have low probabilities and values and their propagation as repeated delays is least noticed in time and space. Solutions for assuring traffic stability must take into consideration contradictory aspects, because introducing time reserves in the schedules means time travel extensions. In order to assure the stability of planned traffic, present paper develops studies of various models and methods that aim to reduce inherent primary delays. Thereby, for studying repeated delays on a complex network, a mathematical model adequate to a Discrete Event Dynamic System (DEDS), that in MAX-PLUS algebra becomes a linear system, was used. The paper concludes with a case study on an integrated network resulted from the superposition of Bucharest’s existing suburban rail network with the underground network designed for 2030, being identified measures for improving the stability indicators. Traffic stability is assessed on the basis of two indicators: instability coefficient and delay elimination rate. Main measure for improving stability indicators is the growth of time reserves taking into consideration the quality requirements resulting from the condition of maintaining a reduced planned travel time.

The transport system is a powerful system with varying loads in operation coming from changes in freight and passenger traffic in different time periods. The variations are due to the specific conditions of organization and development of socio-economic activities. The causes of varying loads can be included in three groups: economic, technical and organizational. The assessing of transport demand variability leads to proper forecast and development of the transport system, knowing that the market price is determined on equilibrium between supply and demand. The reduction of transport demand variability through different technical solutions, organizational, administrative, legislative leads to an increase in the efficiency and effectiveness of transport. The paper presents a new way of assessing the future needs of transport through dynamic series. Both researchers and practitioners in transport planning can benefit from the research results. This paper aims to analyze in an original approach how a good transport forecast can lead to a better management in transport, with significant effects on transport demand full meeting in quality terms. The case study shows how dynamic series of statistics can be used to identify the size of future demand addressed to the transport system.

Terminals constitute the factual interface between different modes and, as a result, buffer stocks are unavoidable whenever transport flows with different discontinuities meet. This is the reason why assessing materials handling and storage capacities is an important issue in the course of attempting to increase operative planning of logistic processes in terminals. Proposed paper starts with a brief review of the compatibilities between different sorts of materials and corresponding transport modes and after, a literature overview of the studies related to ports terminals and their specialization is made. As a methodology, discrete event simulation stands as a feasible technique for assessing handling and storage capacities at the terminal, taking into consideration the multi-flows interaction and the non-uniform arrivals of vessels and inland vehicles. In this context, a simulation model, that integrates the activities of an inland water terminal and describes the essential interactions between the subsystems which influence the terminal capacity, is developed. Different scenarios are simulated for diverse sorts of materials, leading to bottlenecks identification, performance indicators such as average storage occupancy rate, average dwell or transit times estimations, and their evolution is analysed in order to improve the transfer operations in the logistic process

The significant growth of volumes and distances on road transportation led to the necessity of finding solutions to increase water transportation market share together with the handling and transfer technologies within its terminals. It is widely known that the biggest times are consumed within the transport terminals (loading/unloading/transfer) and so the necessity of constantly developing handling techniques and technologies in concordance with the goods flows size so that the total waiting time of ships within ports is reduced. Port development should be achieved by harmonizing the contradictory interests of port administration and users. Port administrators aim profit increase opposite to users that want savings by increasing consumers' surplus. The difficulty consists in the fact that the transport demand – supply equilibrium must be realised at costs and goods quantities transiting the port in order to satisfy the interests of both parties involved. This paper presents a port equipment sizing model by using queueing theory so that the sum of costs for ships waiting operations and equipment usage would be minimum. Ship operation within the port is assimilated to a mass service waiting system in which parameters are later used to determine the main costs for ships and port equipment.

It is of great importance to examine all interactions between ports, terminals, intermodal transport and logistic actors of distribution channels, as their optimization can lead to operational improvement. Proposed paper starts with a brief overview of different goods types and allocation of their logistic costs, with emphasis on storage component. Present trend is to optimize storage costs by means of port storage area buffer function, by making the best use of free storage time available, most of the ports offer. As a research methodology, starting point is to consider the cost structure of a generic intermodal transport (storage, handling and transport costs) and to link this to intermodal distribution patterns most frequently cast-off in port relationship to hinterland. The next step is to evaluate storage costs impact on distribution pattern selection. For a given value of port free storage time, a corresponding value of total storage time in the distribution channel can be identified, in order to substantiate a distribution pattern shift. Different scenarios for transport and handling costs variation, recorded when distribution pattern shift, are integrated in order to establish the reaction of the actors involved in port related logistic and intermodal transport costs evolution is analysed in order to optimize distribution pattern selection.

The quality of service in transport terminals is differently perceived by engineers, economists, transport operators and sociologists. The traveler's perception is nevertheless decisive. The quality of service is well connected with the inside design of terminals, with the facilities in terminals and with the provided service standards. In order to provide a high level of service, the activities taking place in the public transport terminal and the maximum travelers flow size must be carefully analyzed and dimensioned. The purpose of modelling is to find the best route for each traveler from origin (entrance) to destination (exit) through all the intermediate service points, taking into consideration the instant network conditions. In developing the model we consider the walking, the waiting and the serving time. Using a simulation program written in ARENA we determine the waiting time. For validation, the model is used to evaluate the performance level in Bucharest Basarab station. By comparing the total walking distance for the possible routes and the utility function that describes the utility of all activities from entrance to exit we can find the optimal route.

Currently, no methodology is widely accepted by engineers, planners, or bicycle coordinators that allow them to determine how compatible a roadway is in providing efficient operation of both bicycles and motor vehicles. Previous studies reported a number of approaches to obtain an appropriate level of service; some authors developed the bicycle level of service (BLOS) and other authors developed the bicycle compatibility indexes (BCI). The level of service (BLOS) for a bicycle route represents an evaluation of safety and commodity perceived by a bicyclist reported to the motorized traffic, while running on the road surface. The bicycle compatibility index (BCI) is used by bicycle coordinators, transportation planners, traffic engineers to evaluate the capability of specific roadways to accommodate both motorists and bicyclists and to plan for and design roadways that are bicycle compatible. After applying BCI and BLOS models for the designed bicycle infrastructure network in the city of Dej, one can see that only few streets are Moderately Low compatible compared to the others with a high degree of compatibility that recommends to include them in the bicycle infrastructure network.

Present paper aims to propose a set of ranking indices and related criteria, concerning mainly spatial analysis, for the inland waterway port, with special view on inland ports of Danube. Commonly, the attraction potential of a certain transport node is assessed by its spatial accessibility indices considering both spatial features of the location provided by the networks that connect into that node and its economic potential defining the level of traffic flows depending on the economic centers of its hinterland. Paper starts with a overview of the critical needs that are required for potential sites to become inland waterway ports and presents nodal functions that coexist at different levels, leading to a port hierarchy from the points of view of: capacity, connection to hinterland, traffic structure and volume. After a brief review of the key inland waterway port ranking criterion, a selection of nodal attraction measures is made. Particular considerations for the Danube inland port case follows proposed methodology concerning indices of performance for network scale and centrality. As expected, the shorter the distance from an inland port to the nearest access point the greater accessibility. Major differences in ranking, dependent on selected criterion, were registered.

Maritime vessels have long service life and great costs of building, manning, operating, maintaining and repairing throughout their life. Major actions are needed to repair, renovate, sometime built or even replace those scrapped when technology or demand changes determine obsolescence. It is regarded as a concern throughout vessel's entire life cycle and reflects changes in expectation regarding performances in functioning, safety and environmental effects. While service live may differ from physical lives, expectations about physical lives is the main factors that determines design service life. Performance and failure are illustrated conceptually and represented in a simplified form considering the evolution of vessels parameters during its service life. In the proposed methodology an accumulated vessel lifecycle cost is analyzed and obsolescence is characterized from ship's design, performances, maintenance and management parameters point of view. Romanian ports feeding Black Sea are investigated in order to provide comprehensive information on: number and types of vessels, transport capacity and life cycle length. Recommendations are to be made in order to insure a best practice in lifecycle management in order to reduce costs.