Research Subject Area: Transportation and Freight Services

REF impact found 7 Case Studies

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A world first in flight safety: University of Portsmouth academics bring avionic data analysis into the 21st century

Summary of the impact

A Portsmouth team has helped revolutionise how flight data from aircraft flight recorders is being analysed. This has improved the corporate performance of a leading UK company in a globally competitive market by helping it expand its business in the UK and to subsequently compete in the dynamic North American market. Historically, data was manually evaluated on a flight by flight basis. Research by the Portsmouth team means such data can now be analysed automatically by artificial intelligence (AI), saving significant man-hours, and allowing the company to diversify domestically into a related market and to expand internationally. The techniques developed were subsequently applied in a new market, enabling the new corporate partner to realise savings estimated at £100,000 p.a.

Submitting Institution

University of Portsmouth

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing, Information Systems
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Transportation and Freight Services

3: Improvements to the Performance and Management of Mass Transit Systems in Major Cities

Summary of the impact

Methods have been developed to characterise and evaluate the performance of mass transit systems which have then been applied in 60 of the world's major cities. The financial benefit, as quantified by mass transit operators, is in excess of £0.5 Billion between 2003 and 2013. Examples of impact include cost savings for escalator renewal by London Underground (2009-ongoing), influencing fares policy in Hong Kong (2003, 2012) and the adoption of performance measurement systems, developed by Imperial, by Chinese metros (2010-ongoing). This impact has been enabled by the creation and subsequent facilitation of 5 global consortia comprising over 70 metro, suburban rail and urban bus operators.

Submitting Institution

Imperial College London

Unit of Assessment

Civil and Construction Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing, Information Systems
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Transportation and Freight Services

Improving Airline Safety through the Analysis of Pilot Fatigue

Summary of the impact

Flight safety has been a major focus in the past sixteen years at the Civil Safety and Security Unit (CSSU), affiliated with the University of Leicester's School of Management. The knowledge created has had three impacts. First, the development of a tailored fatigue-risk management system (FRMS) now in operation in a night-freight airline. FRMS provides for the development and validation of rosters that optimise crews' economic and safety performance, saving lives and money. Until this research no UK-registered night-freight airline had operated a FRMS. Second, the research underpins the evidence-base for the British Air Line Pilots' Association (BALPA) in its lobbying of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Third, the research is supporting the Society for the Welfare of Indian Pilots (SWIP) in its campaign for safe flight-time limitations (FTLs).

Submitting Institution

University of Leicester

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Transportation and Freight Services
Psychology and Cognitive Sciences: Psychology

Intelligent Traffic and Vehicle Systems

Summary of the impact

This research by the University's Transportation Research Group (TRG) has contributed to the development of sustainable road transport networks both in the UK and other leading cities worldwide. In summary:

  1. TRG has developed/evaluated the algorithms for advanced bus priority at traffic signals for Transport for London (TfL) — an application benefitting bus passengers and operators across London, valued by TfL at ~£29 million/year.
  2. TRG provided the UK's National Traffic Control Centre (NTCC) with improved methods to forecast traffic flows and journeys on the UK's motorway network — producing benefits estimated at £50 million/year.
  3. TRG's experimental research for Jaguar has led to better dashboard displays for drivers. Jaguar has valued this impact at ~£1 million to their business.

Submitting Institution

University of Southampton

Unit of Assessment

General Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Engineering: Civil Engineering
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Transportation and Freight Services

1p. Minimising heat and other stresses during animal transportation improves animal welfare and has driven EU legislation

Summary of the impact

Impact: Policy / animal welfare / economic. European Directives on Animal Welfare have been changed to improve animal comfort during transport. Our research has provided a basis for establishing comfort/discomfort at an objective, physiological level through response modelling and the quantitative assessment of the effects of thermal conditions. The definition of optimum transport environments has underpinned improved transport vehicle design and operation and formed the basis of the development of regulations for improved animal welfare.

Significance: ~60 billion animals are transported world-wide each year.

Beneficiaries: EU policy makers (leading to revised Directives), UK Government departments (especially Defra), and animals during transport.

Attribution: Prof. Mitchell (SRUC).

Reach: All EU Member States, Canada, and the US.

Submitting Institutions

University of Edinburgh,SRUC

Unit of Assessment

Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics
Engineering: Civil Engineering
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Transportation and Freight Services

Case Study 1: Providing the evidence base for UK and international transport demand forecasting and appraisal

Summary of the impact

Research undertaken by the Institute for Transport Studies (ITS) at the University of Leeds from 1997 to 2013 has played a key role in developing the methods and evidence base for demand forecasting and economic appraisal in transport. The primary impact of this research has been changes to official guidance Manuals, which are prescribed to scheme promoters, operators, consultants and other agents. In applying these Manuals, a secondary research impact has been to improve the quality of transport decision-making and Value for Money (VfM) of public expenditure. Against this background, ITS Leeds research has achieved the following impacts throughout the period 2008 to 2013 (and ongoing):

  • The UK Department for Transport's WebTAG appraisal guidelines have specified monetary valuations of travel time savings and traffic noise directly from our research.
  • The UK rail sector's Passenger Demand Forecasting Handbook, which is the industry Manual, has specified key parameter values directly from our econometric and review work.
  • Extending the reach of the impacts from the UK to worldwide, the ITS Leeds research has also been exploited in the appraisal processes of the World Bank and European Commission.

Submitting Institution

University of Leeds

Unit of Assessment

Civil and Construction Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Applied Economics, Econometrics
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Transportation and Freight Services

Green Freight Transport and Logistics

Summary of the impact

The research into green freight transport and logistics has had several key impacts. It facilitated freight transport becoming part of the London Mayor's Transport Strategy (which aims to improve efficiency and reduce negative impacts of freight) and that this strategy incorporated van-based activities as well as heavier goods vehicles. It provided evidence for policy makers and industry of the potential for modal shift to rail freight and new methods of measuring rail freight activity to inform decision making. The joint development of a technique for calculating fuel consumption and carbon emissions of road goods vehicle activities was adopted by the Department for Transport (DfT) and DEFRA in guidance to industry about emissions reporting.

Submitting Institution

University of Westminster

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Transportation and Freight Services

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