No abstract

Research background: In determining the prices in road transport, carriers usually use the calculations based on a so-called routes utilisation coefficient, which allows the carrier to also take the possibility of the return rides without load into account. Currently, it is usually used as a constant from the interval from zero to one. Purpose of the article: Considering a different offer of return transport from individual European Union (EU) countries, it can be assumed that the routes utilisation coefficient should have different values because there is a varying level of non-zero probability that the vehicle will return without a load. This study therefore proposes a new approach to determining the value of this coefficient based on transport direction. The study also aims to identify clusters of EU countries, for which the common value of the coefficient should be set. Methods: The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test was used to verify the assumption of the differences among the means of transport offers. Cluster analysis was used to identify the aforementioned groups of countries. This analysis is based on real data on transport offers to Slovakia from 18 different EU countries. Findings & value added: The results of the analysis can also be used in other EU countries because if significant differences in transport offers to Slovakia exist in individual countries, there is a reasonable assumption that this conclusion will also be valid in other countries. The analysis demonstrated that it is more appropriate to use the routes utilisation coefficient with various values, dependent on the transport direction. For the transport companies, implementation of the obtained results into practice is beneficial to increase their competitiveness through the more precise setting of transport prices, but also to the optimisation of the transport price itself with regard to the expected costs.

Abstract. This report describes opportunities for using driving simulators for research of driver-vehicle interaction. We have focused on examples of the using of the current equipment of the University Science Park of University of Žilina. Laboratory was built for research of driver-vehicle interaction. It's also important to give examples of evaluation after several measurements. The SNA -211 REN driving simulator was used for each experimental measurement. It was necessary to use some additional equipment, because the driving simulator was used only for simulation. During simulations, drivers have been performing tasks connected with vehicle driving. Driver's eye tracking in specific conditions was also important part of our research. We have tested the behaviour of drivers when they have used mobile phones for texting and GPS device with touchscreen.

This paper focuses on the statistical evaluation of various operating characteristics of electric buses. The data obtained for statistical evaluation come from practice. In this paper, we focus on electricity consumption—an important aspect of electric bus operation. The ambient temperature significantly affects electricity consumption. In this paper, we use applied mathematics—correlation analysis, we accurately identify the effect of temperature on the consumption of the electric bus. Our next goal was to define the relationship between the loss of energy from the battery and driving power. We used regression analysis to describe this relation. Our article also includes an example of the practical use of ANOVA analysis in identifying a statistically significant effect of a particular vehicle on average consumption. We also show results from previous research and compare two different types of electric buses in operation.

Road freight transport in its current form has significant issues in terms of sustainability. These problems arise from an increase in density as well as from legislative decisions. Although not obvious, the parking of freight vehicles and legislation are connected. EU legislative decisions have reduced the sustainability of the parking system. The first and main goal of our study was to test the hypothesis that social law requirements negatively impact truck parking. The second important goal was to create a methodology that can determine the necessary number of parking spaces that comply with the requirements of social law. The method used for this research included the counting and numbering of parking spaces on specific routes in the EU compared with the intensity of freight vehicles on these routes. Our study shows that it is not possible to meet the requirements of social law and that the current state of freight vehicle parking is unsustainable. Planning sustainable parking areas in accordance with regulatory requirements is necessary, otherwise drivers will circumvent the rules, leading to a distortion of the freight transport market. In this paper, we also outline the proposed methodology for numbering parking spaces in a specific area.