Browsing by Author "Hu, Shou-Ren"

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Effects of mixed traffic and elderly passengers on city bus drivers' work-related fatigue
(2019-10-01)
Hu, Shou-Ren
;
Chen, Szu-Yu
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運輸與物流管理系註：原交通所+運管所
;
Department of Transportation and Logistics Management
City bus drivers are facing increasingly stressful work situations. In urban areas, bus drivers are competing for limited road space with various vehicles in mixed traffic conditions. This mixed traffic flow condition may not only cause traffic congestion problems but also increase the driving fatigue of a city bus driver. In addition, the average number of elderly passengers are increasing. Constrained by their physical conditions, elderly passengers usually take more time to get on or off a bus and require a city bus driver's special attention or help. An increase in elderly passengers using city buses may increase the bus driver's stress and/or fatigue levels. This study developed a structural equation model to investigate the causal relationships between a vector of stress factors and city bus drivers' fatigue levels from a risk management perspective. The empirical study results based on a questionnaire survey indicated that mixed traffic flow conditions and the characteristics of elderly passengers are positively correlated with the levels of driving fatigue in city bus drivers. An increase in the number of motor scooters in a traffic stream and/or elderly passengers on a bus will lead to higher levels of mental fatigue for a city bus driver. This study discussed the effects of several stressors on a city bus driver's fatigue and provided suggestions for changes in policies to ensure the fatigue mitigation of city bus drivers. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
RISK ANALYSIS AT HIGHWAY-RAILWAY GRADE CROSSINGS USING COUNT-DATA STATISTICAL MODELING: A CASE STUDY OF THE TAIWAN RAILWAYS ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM
(2012-01-01)
Hu, Shou-Ren
;
Ji, Jia-Ling
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運輸與物流管理系註：原交通所+運管所
;
Department of Transportation and Logistics Management
A highway-railway grade crossing (HRGX) is a spatial location where highway and rail users share the same right-of-way (ROW). Despite the number of HRGXs managed by Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) is relatively small, a significant number of traffic collisions and severe consequences at the HRGXs in Taiwan have signaled an urgent need for applying appropriate models to investigate the key factors that are associated with the casualty risk level of an HRGX. This study applies Poisson-based count-data statistical model to analyze crash risk levels in terms of number of fatalities or injuries of the investigated HRGXs in a given time period. In the empirical study, using the recent HRGX crash and inventory data provided by the TRA, the causal relationships between crash risk and a set of influence factors are analyzed and policy implications are discussed. Finally, elasticity analysis based on the calibrated model is also conducted. The empirical study results indicate that traffic exposure related variables such as daily trains and/or average highway daily vehicular traffic are the key factors that are responsible for the occurrence of a traffic collision(s) at HRGXs. Besides, highway and/or railway geometric characteristics and/or sight distance also play different roles on the risk levels of an HRGX.