We propose a ridesharing strategy with integrated transit in which a private on-demand mobility service operator may drop off a passenger directly door-to-door, commit to dropping them at a transit station or picking up from a transit station, or to both pickup and drop off at two different stations with different vehicles. We study the effectiveness of online solution algorithms for this proposed strategy. Queueingtheoretic vehicle dispatch and idle vehicle relocation algorithms are customized for the problem. Several experiments are conducted first with a synthetic instance to design and test the effectiveness of this integrated solution method, the influence of different model parameters, and measure the benefit of such cooperation. Results suggest that rideshare vehicle travel time can drop by 40-60% consistently while passenger journey times can be reduced by 50-60% when demand is high. A case study of Long Island commuters to New York City (NYC) suggests having the proposed operating strategy can substantially cut user journey times and operating costs by up to 54% and 60% each for a range of 10-30 taxis initiated per zone. This result shows that there are settings where such service is highly warranted.

Reactive multilayer films (RMFs) can be integrated into semiconducting electronic structures with the use of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology and represent potential applications in the advancement of microscale energy-demanding systems. In this study, aluminum/molybdenum trioxide (Al/MoO)-based RMFs with different modulation periods were integrated on a semiconductor bridge (SCB) using a combination of an image reversal lift-off process and magnetron sputtering technology. This produced an energetic semiconductor bridge (ESCB)-chip initiator with controlled ignition performance. The effects of the Al/MoO RMFs with different modulation periods on ignition properties of the ESCB initiator were then systematically investigated in terms of flame duration, maximum flame area, and the reaction ratio of the RMFs. These microchip initiators achieved flame durations of 60-600 μs, maximum flame areas of 2.85-17.61 mm, and reaction ratios of ∼14-100% (discharged with 47 μF/30 V) by simply changing the modulation periods of the Al/MoO RMFs. This behavior was also consistent with a one-dimensional diffusion reaction model. The microchip initiator exhibited a high level of integration and proved to have tuned ignition performance, which can potentially be used in civilian and military applications.

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International audienceIntroduction: Understanding temporal rhythms in travel and activity patterns has been recognized as an important issue for the effective management of urban congestion. Research issues related to this topic concern the degree to which travel behaviour varies from one day to another, the differences between weekday and weekend travel, and the determinants of variability. Thanks to a seven-day travel diary collected for 707 individuals in the city of Ghent (Belgium) in 2008, this study goes further by studying this variability according to various time periods within the week and by analysing interpersonal and intrapersonal variations according to the varying attributes of activity-travel patterns.Methods: Different variance indicators and the sequential alignment method are applied for the measurement of variability of travel-activity behaviour. Moreover, the influence of individual characteristics on these variations is examined. ResultsThe overall picture of a large intrinsic variability in travel behaviour (i.e. trip or home-based tour generation) is confirmed. There is more difference in the number of trips per day for a given individual depending on the various days of week than there is between individuals per se, not including the weekend period, and this aspect is reinforced when considering home-based tours. Unlike the case of trip generation, there is greater difference between persons in their daily time allocation to various activities than between days for a given person in general, either during working days or during the weekend. This is also the case for daily activity sequence. Finally, the influence of socio-demographic characteristics on intrapersonal variability is weak, whether for daily trips, tours, time use or activity sequence. ConclusionsThe large level of intrapersonal variability in daily trip numbers already demonstrated in the literature is confirmed. Systematic day-to-day variability is shown to have an extremely low share in intrapersonal variability. The global picture is that intrapersonal variability is large while systematic day-to-day variability is marginal. Moreover, a striking result is that socio-demographic characteristics are mostly unable to explain the level of intrapersonal variability. The results reveal that individual behaviour is neither completely habitual nor completely random. On the one hand, intrapersonal variability is more important than the interpersonal one as regards daily trip numbers for the realization of mobility needs. On the other hand, activity time allocation and sequencing show an inverse trend, which can be linked with the habitual part of behaviour and the social role of the individual (through e.g. work, childcare and other activities)

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