Beyond commuting....

Transport in the news

2011-12-31T05:38:00.000-08:00

ORR publishes latest rail crowding statistics

Frost & Sullivan Journey Experience Index Ranks Copenhagen, Seattle & Sydney as Top 3 Cities with Highly Satisfied Commuters

VOLVO RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS

New Publication

2011-12-31T05:32:00.000-08:00

Mohd Mahudin, N.D., Cox, T., & Griffiths, A. (2012). The measurement of rail passenger crowding: Scale development and psychometric properties. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 15 (1): 38-51.

Abstract

Research on rail passenger crowding often tacitly subscribes to a measurement of crowding based on density (i.e. physical conditions involving space limitations) and rarely considers the possible role psychological factors may play in measuring this construct. This paper describes the development of an instrument that captures the dimensionality of rail passenger crowding and its relationship to the experience of stress and feelings of exhaustion. The proposed instrument is a 20-item self-rating questionnaire consisting of three sub-scales designed to assess subjective crowding experiences among rail users (n = 525). Findings from the factor analyses generally support the hypothesised three-factor structure of the measurement model (evaluation of the psychosocial aspects of the crowded situation, evaluation of the ambient environment of the crowded situation, and affective reactions to the crowded situation). All sub-scales demonstrate excellent internal consistency and construct validity as well as good convergent and discriminant validity values. The instrument was further tested using structural equation modelling to examine the impact of crowding on commuters’ stress and feelings of exhaustion. With the addition of the “passenger density” variable as an indicator of objective measurement of crowding operating in tandem with the crowding sub-scales, the results reveal that: (1) commuters’ evaluations of the psychosocial aspects of the crowded situation and of its ambient environment, alongside their rating of passenger density, significantly predict affective reactions to the crowded situation; (2) these affective reactions, in turn, significantly predict stress and feelings of exhaustion; and (3) evaluations of the psychosocial aspects of the crowded situation and of its ambient environment as well as passenger density do not directly predict stress and feelings of exhaustion. The link between rail passenger crowding and the negative outcomes therefore does not appear as a simple, direct relationship, but is mediated by affective feelings of crowdedness. Overall, these results provide satisfactory psychometric properties for the proposed instrument and support its use as an assessment tool for measuring crowding experience in the rail setting.

COMMUTERS CONCERNED OVER OVERCROWDING, RELIABILITY OF TRAIN SERVICES - SURVEY

2011-12-22T09:47:00.000-08:00

Source: BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 -- Malaysian commuters cite overcrowding and reliability of train services as their top concerns, a survey by Frost & Sullivan shows.

It also reveals that commuters are generally satisfied with disabled passengers'' facilities at the stations but they are not satisfied with first aid kits on-board trains, stations and the lack of CCTV monitoring.

"Smoothness of ride -- no sudden braking -- is rated highest, while queue-up discipline and availability of security guard are the least satisfied attributes," said Gopal R, Frost & Sullivan Vice President (Transportation and Logistics Practice) Asia Pacific and Country Head for Malaysia, in a statement today.

The survey, part of the business research and consulting firm''s new rail subscription programme -- Strategic Analysis: Passengers Safety for Urban Rail in Malaysia -- was conducted with commuters of the five rail services, namely KTM, Kelana Jaya line, Ampang line, ERL and Monorail.

Gopal said overcrowding inside the train and at platform during peak hours could lead to higher risk of personal safety and security especially during emergency.

He also said satisfaction ratings on the communication of rail safety had a low rating as compared to ratings for infrastructure and operations, indicating significant room for improvement.

"Commuters expect more communication from rail providers on what to do during an emergency and a proper emergency response guideline," he said.

Frost & Sullivan Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.
Suite E-08-15 Plaza Mont Kiara
2, Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara
50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: +60 (0) 3 6204 5800
Fax: +60 (0) 3 6201 7402

Greater KL/ Klang Valley Land Public Transport Master Plan

2011-12-07T06:16:00.000-08:00

The Draft Greater KL/ Klang Valley Land Public Transport Master Plan is now available for viewing at the Land Public Transport Commission’s (LPTC/SPAD) website.

Greater KL/ Klang Valley Land Public Transport Master Plan

Urban Rail Development Plan

Bus Transformation Plan

Taxi Transformation Plan

Interchange and Integration Plan

Land Use Plan

Travel Demand Management Plan

High Speed Rail HC 1185

2011-11-15T05:03:00.000-08:00

Report of an inquiry into the strategic case for High Speed Rail (the HSR programme).

House of Commons Transport Committee (2011). High Speed Rail. Tenth Report of Session 2010–12

Volume I: Report, together with formal minutes

Volume II: Oral and written evidence

Volume III: Additional written evidence

Commuting is more stressful for women than men

2011-09-29T07:18:00.000-07:00

The Guardian: Report on the effects of commuting on psychological health says greater responsibility for childcare and household chores increases the burden on women

DailyMail UK: Too much to juggle: Why commuting is far more stressful for women than men

The study:
Roberts, J., Hodgson, R., & Dolan, P. (2011). “It's driving her mad”: Gender differences in the effects of commuting on psychological health. Journal of Health Economics, 30 (5): Pages 1064-1076.

Abstract:

Commuting is an important component of time use for most working people. We explore the effects of commuting time on the psychological health of men and women. We use data from the British Household Panel Survey in a fixed effects framework that includes variables known to determine psychological health, as well as factors which may provide compensation for commuting such as income, job satisfaction and housing quality. Our results show that, even after these variables are considered, commuting has an important detrimental effect on the psychological health of women, but not men, and this result is robust to numerous different specifications. We explore explanations for this gender difference and can find no evidence that it is due to women's shorter working hours or weaker occupational position. Rather women's greater sensitivity to commuting time seems to be a result of their larger responsibility for day-to-day household tasks, including childcare and housework.

Long commute and well-being

2011-09-29T07:03:00.000-07:00

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index:

Well-Being & Commuting: Well-Being Index Analytics
The study reaffirms the well-known relationship between long commuting duration and poor psychological health. It reports that the longer people have to commute (be it in a car, train or bus) to get to work, the more miserable they feel.

Specifically, the longer you commute:

The more you worry.
You are less likely you are to smile or laugh each day.
High blood pressure and obesity are more likely.
You will exercise less.
It's less likely you will see your workplace as having a trusting place.
You will hate the job that you’re spending all that time to get to and from.

Long commute and marriage

2011-09-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

Press release: Long-distance commuters get divorced more often.

Sandow, E. (2011). On the road: Social aspects of commuting long distances to work. Unpublished Ph.D Thesis, Umeå University, Sweden.

Abstract:

With its point of departure of increasing numbers of people being engaged in commuting, the aim of this thesis is to reveal prerequisites for and consequences of long-distance commuting in Sweden for the individual and his or her partner. Special attention has been given to prerequisites for long-distance commuting in sparsely populated areas, and to social consequences related to long-distance commuting in terms of gender differences in commuting patterns, earnings and separation. The thesis is based on four empirical studies, presented in different papers. Two studies draw on individual longitudinal register data on all Swedish long-distance commuters living with a partner. The other two focus on commuting behaviour in sparsely populated areas, one based on individual register data and the other on a survey. Long-distance commuting (>30 kilometres) has become an increasingly common mobility strategy among Swedish workers and their households. Results from the thesis show that 11 percent of Swedish workers are long-distance commuters and about half of them live in a relationship. Among these couples many are families with children, indicating the importance of social ties in households’ decisions on where to work and live. Most long-distance commuters are men, and it is also likely that long-distance commuters have a high education level and are employed in the private sector. For the majority, long-distance commuting gives higher earnings; however, men benefit economically more than women do. As long-distance commuting reduces available family time, the non-commuting spouse often takes on a larger share of household commitments. The thesis shows that men’s long-distance commuting may therefore serve to reproduce and reinforce traditional gender roles on the labour market and within households. On the other hand, women’s long-distance commuting can lead to more equalitarian relationships on the labour market and within households. For the majority of couples it seems as if long-distance commuting becomes more than a temporary mobility strategy, while for some couples it does not work out very well. Separation rates are found to be higher among long-distance commuters compared to other couples; especially the first years of commuting seem to be the most challenging. It is suggested that coping strategies are important to make the consequences of long-distance commuting easier to handle and adjust to in the daily life puzzle. For those unable to handle these consequences, long-distance commuting is not a sustainable mobility strategy and can even end a relationship. The extent of long-distance commuting is low in sparsely populated areas, and those who do long-distance commute are mainly men. Most people work and live within the same locality and do not accept longer commuting times than do those in densely populated areas. In this thesis it is argued that facilitating car commuting in the more sparsely populated areas of Sweden can be more economically and socially sustainable, for the individual commuters as well as for society, than encouraging commuting by public transportation.

Call for papers

2011-09-06T03:30:00.000-07:00

The 5th International Conference on Traffic and Transport Psychology

The 5th International Conference on Traffic and Transport Psychology will take place in Groningen, The Netherlands, from August 29-31, 2012. There will be at least three keynote presentations, and individual papers will be presented in thematic parallel sessions and poster sessions. The conference will take place at the University Medical Hospital premises (UMCG).

Important dates:

Call for Special sessions, workshops, symposia: September 1 2011
Submission abstracts: December 1 2011
Acceptance Notification: February 1 2012
Early registration: April 1 2012
Conference dates: August 29,30,31, 2012

2nd International Conference on Human & Social Sciences
March 23-24, ICHSS 2012, Tirane, Albania

Important Date:
Submission of abstracts: until December 15, 2011
• Notification of acceptance of abstracts: before December 30, 2011
• Payment of the Conference fee: until January 30, 2012
• Participation on the Conference March 23-24, 2012
• Submission of the full papers for Publication on the conference proceeding and the Special Issue of Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences until March 30, 2012
• Shipping free of charge of the Conference Proceeding and the Special issue of MJSS by the end of April 2012

Title: 14 pts. Centered, Garamond or Times New Roman
Abstract: 10 pts. Italic, Garamond or Times New Roman
Paragraphs: 12 pts. Numbered, alignment left. Garamond or Times New Roman
Text: 12 pts, single line, Justified, Garamond or Times New Roman
References: Use APA style for references
Tables and figures: Included in the text, centered and numbered

ICSSH 2012

The 2012 International Conference on Social Science and Humanity - ICSSH 2012, will be held during March 10-11, 2012, in Chennai, India.. ICSSH 2012, aims to bring together researchers, scientists, engineers, and scholar students to exchange and share their experiences, new ideas, and research results about all aspects of Social Science and Humanity, and discuss the practical challenges encountered and the solutions adopted.

Important Date:

Paper submission (Full Paper) Before November 5, 2011
Notification of acceptance On December 1, 2011
Authors' Registration Before December 15, 2011
Final paper submission Before December 15, 2011
ICSSH 2012 Conference Dates March 10 - 11, 2012

Each paper is limited to 5 pages normally, and additional pages will be charged

1st International Conference on Human Factors in Transportation 2012
21-25 July 2012
Hilton San Francisco Union Square, San Francisco, California

Important Date:

Paper presentations: Abstract Length: 500 words
Deadline for Abstract Receipt: 15 Nov 2011
Notification of Review Outcome: 15 Dec 2011
Deadline for Receipt of Accepted Proposal: 1 March 2012
Posters/demonstrations

Season of rage and disruption

2011-08-09T02:59:00.000-07:00

London riots mean more travel chaos for commuters
Mirror.co.uk 9/08/2011

Motorists and bus passengers had to contend with numerous road closures today following another night of violence on the streets.

Among roads that remained shut were routes in one of the worst-hit riot areas - Croydon in south east London.

Woolwich Arsenal main line station in south east London was shut, but many of the rail and Tube stations that had to close last night were open today.

London Road in Croydon was closed due to a building fire and the town's Duppas Hill Road was also shut.

A building fire caused Montacute Road in new Addington, south east London, to be closed, while another building fire meant Ripple Road in Barking, east London, was shut.

Other road closures included Tottenham High Road in north London; Madeley Road in Ealing, west London; Rye Lane in Peckham, south London, and Station Road in Barking.

There was better news for London Underground travellers, with Brixton station on the Victoria Line reopening today.

The Unite union's regional secretary for London and eastern region Peter Kavanagh called for urgent support for transport workers from Transport for London after reports that bus drivers had been caught in the middle of the riots.

He said: "We are extremely concerned for the safety of these workers and their passengers.

"Transport for London must now waste no more time. It must do what it was established to do, and that is take the lead on an integrated response to the capital's transport problems.

"This is too serious a matter to be left to the discretion of individual bus companies. We urgently need a consistent, cross-capital response which puts the well-being of the workforce and passengers first."

======================

Travel disruption (9 August 2011 Last updated at 10:02)
bbc.co.uk

In Barking, Ripple Road was closed at King Edward's Road, Movers Lane was closed northbound from the A13 towards Ripple Road and Station Parade was closed at Wakering Road near Barking Tube station.
Ealing Broadway is closed but Ealing Broadway station is open and First great Western has resumed its services.
In West Croydon, London Road remains closed between Sumner Road and North End on approach to West Croydon station.
Duppas Hill Road is closed at Warrington Road and there is no Tramlink between East Croydon and Wandle Park.
Peckham Rye Lane was closed between Peckham High St and Copeland Road.
In Queensway, Inverness Terrace was closed between Bayswater Road and Inverness Place.
Tottenham High Road and Bruce Grove remains closed between Monument Way and the Roundway Lordship Lane. Several bus routes are diverted.
In Enfield, Church Street is closed between Chase Side and Willow Road and there is no access to Silver Street from London Road.

The one closer to home...Ealing riots and looting

Farewell Bukit Timah and Tanjong Pagar....

2011-06-30T01:59:00.000-07:00

Bukit Timah Railway Station

Source: Wikipedia

Tanjong Pagar Railway Station - Four marble statues by Rudolfo Nolli
Source: Wikipedia

KTMB To End Train Service To Tanjong Pagar

By Nur Adila Abdul Wahab

BERNAMA KUALA LUMPUR, June 30(Bernama)

From July 1, Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) will end its train service to Tanjong Pagar and Bukit Timah in Singapore. Effective from then, the KTMB service's last stop in the island republic will be the Woodlands Train Check Point (WTCP).

Before handing Tanjong Pagar station back to Singapore's authorities, KTMB organised a 'Singapore Media Exploration' tour on 24-26, last May.

A group of 30 journalists took the opportunity to visit both stations, which bear special significance in KTMB's history in Singapore, in the years before and after the Second World War.

THE FIRST AND LAST

The writer felt a tinge of melancholy as this would be her first and last visit to the Tanjong Pagar station and Bukit Timah depot.

"History will enter a new phase after this," said KTMB's Corporate Communications Senior Manager, Mohd Fazil Ismail, during the railway trip to Singapore.

The media entourage boarded a special trolley at JB Sentral station, for the trip to Singapore. The open-side trolley is typically used to ferry workers for rail-maintenance and other tasks.

The trip to Singapore on the trolley that moved at a speed of 40 km per hour, started at 9.30am, last May 25.

BUKIT TIMAH STATION, RAILWAY DEPOT

Thirty minutes later, the trolley rolled into Bukit Timah station. The journalists were received by Bukit Timah's stationmaster, Atan Ahmad. Johor-born Atan has worked at the station for two years.

He said the station, located near King Albert Park, started operations in 1903. It operates only for the purpose of shunting of train coaches.

"We have no services for passengers at Bukit Timah station. Here, the shunting of trains is done and that is why, we only have two staff here. There are two shifts, 3am-3pm and 3pm-11pm," said Atan, who has served with KTMB for 20 years.
From July 1, Atan will start work in Johor Baharu. The media group was taken to visit the train depot, located close to the Bukit Timah station. The depot is a workshop that carries out maintenance and repair work on locomotives and coaches.

At this depot, the journalists witnessed how the 'turn table' procedure for locomotives was carried out for single-cab trains. The task needs at least two KTMB workers to perform it manually.

UNIQUE FEATURES AT TANJONG PAGAR

After spending about 30 minutes at the depot, the journalists boarded the open-sided trolley headed for Tanjong Pagar station.

This writer and other journalists were surprised by the sight of this unique railway station. Tanjong Pagar station was opened in 1932. About to 80 years old now, it still retains its old-world charm.

Its facade has neo-classical and art-deco features. The station has a large waiting area, ticket counters in the centre, and signage that uses old Malay Romanised spelling.

The waiting area has a classic barrel-vault roof, which is 72 feet high. A mural painting depicting images of 'old Malaya' decorates the station.

TWO OF THEIR KIND

Tanjung Pagar Station Master, Shamsul Bahri Sahari, 43, said this architecture was present at only two railway stations in the world - Helsinki in Finland and Tanjong Pagar, Singapore.

"Despite the fact that this railway station is located outside our country, I am still proud that it was once owned by Malaysia. I will never forget my experience in Singapore. I will tell my children and descendants that the Tanjong Pagar station once belonged to Malaysia," said Shamsul Bahari, who served at Tanjong Pagar for 15 years.

He travelled every weekend, from Tanjong Pagar to Gemas, to meet his family. Shamsul Bahari said, at exactly 11 pm on June 30, the last train will leave Singapore with all 91 KTMB employees deployed at Tanjong Pagar station and Bukit Timah depot. After years of travelling from Singapore and back, KTMB trains will stop plying from Tanjong Pagar and Bukit Timah, starting July 1.

============================

Singapore, Malaysia formalise land swap deal

Channel NewsAsia's Malaysia Bureau Chief Melissa Goh
27 Jun 2011 2001 hrs (GMT + 8hrs)

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia and Singapore have officially sealed the Points of Agreement (POA) on Malayan railway land in Singapore.

This heralds a new era in bilateral cooperation that includes the development of a rapid transit system and iconic wellness projects in southern Malaysia.

The historic signing on Monday officially marks an end to year-long negotiations on implementation details that kickstarted after the landmark announcement of the POA breakthrough by the prime ministers of both countries in May 2010.

At a short ceremony in Putrajaya, Malaysia was represented by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nor Mohamed Yakcop, while newly-appointed Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam signed on behalf of Singapore.

The mood was jovial between the ministers and they expressed optimism that the signing will usher in a new era in bilateral cooperation.

Mr Nor Mohamed said: "It's a very happy day. It's a new beginning for us in cooperation in attracting investment. It's excellent for both countries. We are confident this is a new beginning for good cooperation and plenty of investments. Certainly, not only Iskandar will do well but the whole of Malaysia will do well because of confidence factor in attracting foreign investment.''

Mr K Shanmugam said: ''It really takes the relationship to a different level. It's win-win....for both countries and promises much more. In that sense, in every sense, it's historic moment.''

Already, Singapore's investments in the southern economic region of Iskandar have tripled to over US$1.2 billion since May last year.

Under the land swap arrangement in the written instrument signed on Monday, Malaysia was given four parcels of land in Marina South and two more in Ophir-Rochor in exchange for giving up Malayan railway land in Singapore.

A 60-40 joint venture company, called M+S Private Limited, will be set up between Malaysia's Khazanah and Singapore's Temasek to undertake the development of the land parcels in Singapore.

Another 50-50 joint venture company will be set up to develop two iconic wellness projects in Iskandar Malaysia.

Mr K Shanmugam said: "This is a very substantial commitment, this is the first 215 acres; also, don't forget the projects in Singapore which are going to be (worth) billions (of dollars); it's a very significant start.''

Under the agreement, both countries also undertake to improve connectivity by expanding the rapid transit system (RTS) from Singapore to Johor Bahru by 2018.

A joint technical group is targeting to call the tender for a consultancy study on the RTS link by the fourth quarter of 2011.

Malaysia and Singapore are also working towards resolving their differences over whether development charges are payable on three parcels of railway land in Tanjong Pagar , Kranji and Woodlands. This has been referred to the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

Separately, as a gesture of goodwill, Singapore will be handing over the waterworks to Malaysia free of charge and in good working order after the expiry of the 1961 Water Agreement. A ceremony will be held to mark the event on 31 August this year.

Rail services to be fined over cattle-truck train services

2011-06-17T05:07:00.000-07:00

London Evening Standard, Tuesday 31 May 2011

Rail services to be fined over cattle-truck train services

Rail firms will be fined for running overcrowded trains under plans to ease cattle-truck conditions.

Ministers hope the proposal will force train companies to provide more carriages. Currently there is no incentive for firms to provide extra space because overcrowded services mean lower running costs.

The proposal is part of moves to make commuting more tolerable without taxpayers footing the bill and is set to be included in a Government White Paper later this year. A Whitehall source told the Standard: "We need to look at how we incentivise train companies to invest in new train carriages."

The 10 most overcrowded routes all serve London terminals. Some trains carry two thirds more passengers than they are designed for.

A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies said government changes to franchise agreements would help firms deal with the problem, adding: "Overcrowding is a big concern for train companies - as private sector operators their business relies on keeping customers happy."

Published

2011-05-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

N.D. Mohd Mahudin, T. Cox, & A. Griffiths. (2011). Modelling the spillover effects of rail passenger crowding on individual well-being and organisational behaviour. In A. PRATELLI & C.A. BREBBIA (Eds.), Urban Transport XVII, Urban Transport and the Environment in the 21st Century. WIT Transactions on The Built Environment. WIT Press, UK, pp. 227 - 238.

More details here

News

2011-04-18T03:06:00.000-07:00

The Miami Herald: Traffic crawling? Time to get some work done

Smart Growth Online: Texas A&M University Quantifies Psychological Effects of Commuting

Texas Transportation Institute: The 2010 Urban Mobility Report

Malaysia’s Seven Deadly Sins of Commuting

2011-04-13T01:35:00.000-07:00

22 Feb 2011
Source: Regus

Regus survey identifies the seven deadly sins of commuting

In a new survey by Regus, Malaysian commuters have identified the seven deadly sins of commuting that cause them the most stress on the way to work, and undermine their productivity and job satisfaction.

Kuala Lumpur, February 22nd 2011 - Malaysian commuters have identified the seven deadly sins of commuting that cause them the most stress on the way to work, and undermine their productivity and job satisfaction. In a new survey by workspace solutions provider Regus, Malaysian commuters topped the list with bad and dangerous drivers. However, road rage, loud mobile phone conversations and bad smells from other commuters also figured as major stress factors.

In Malaysia, the average one-way commute is 29 minutes, although 15% of Malaysians have to travel over three quarters of an hour each way. Yet the time taken to commute is less of an issue than the commuting experience. No business wants employees turning up to work already exhausted and stressed out, unable to function properly in the working day. The findings of the Regus survey help to identify the major causes of commuting stress across drivers and users of public transport.

William Willems, vice president Southeast Asia and ANZ, Regus, comments, “We can all recognise our own worst experiences in the findings of this survey. Road rage and dangerous driving is a real concern for drivers and pedestrians alike, hence their top billing. Being left in the dark about service interruptions or traffic jams is also a killer for the calm and productive working day. The mobile phone pest also evidently remains with us, with offenders not realising – or caring – that they are ruining many people’s day right from the start. And the insidious power of bad smells to get the day off to a bad start cannot be underestimated.

“Of course, at Regus we advocate flexible working location and hours to avoid all these stresses and strains which can have such an adverse effect on employee’s throughput, motivation and happiness. Travelling to a work location closer to home, especially outside of peak hours, is often the best way to avoid theses stresses for a happier, calmer and ultimately more fruitful days work.

Malaysia’s Seven Deadly Sins of Commuting

1. Bad/dangerous drivers
2. Delays and service interruptions
3. Pollution and overheating
4. Road rage
5. Lack of information from service providers
6. Other commuters’ body odour or bad breath or smelly food
7. People talking too loudly on their mobile phones

For more information contact:

Bryan Joseph
Bond PR
e: bryan@bondpr.com

London commuters 'face TfL upgrade burden'

2011-03-31T03:10:00.000-07:00

29 March 2011
By Tim Donovan Political Editor, BBC London

London passengers face years of above-inflation fare rises to pay for Tube and other transport improvements, it has emerged.

New figures show London's mayor and the coalition government plan to shift the burden of meeting the cost of modernising the capital's creaking transport system more firmly onto commuters.

London Mayor Boris Johnson has claimed his negotiations with government "protected" Crossrail, Tube upgrades and concessionary travel for children.

But his latest transport financial plans show that this will be done by insisting on above-inflation fare rises, cuts in staff and using nearly £200m in reserves next year alone.

In the next four years, the proportion of spending on transport shouldered by Tube and bus passengers - as opposed to the government - will increase by 10% to 60%.

And the figures show the extra income will come mainly from raising the price of tickets than through more people using the network.

In its newly-published business plan, Transport for London (TfL) has forecast that the number of journeys made by Tube and bus will rise by about 3%.

Yet income from fares across the transport network will rise by 28%.
'Record' investment

The mayor says "record" investment will help secure London's global competitiveness and economic growth, ensuring Tube upgrades while protecting front-line jobs.

Modernisation of the Jubillee and Victoria lines will be completed by the end of the year, that of the Northern Line by 2014.

"Through negotiations, savings and efficiencies we have done what many believed to be impossible. We have secured the greatest investment in London's transport network in 80 years," he said.

Government grants to London transport projects are being cut by more than £2bn over the next four years.

There's an 8% reduction next year alone.

The mayor has effectively guaranteed transport officials that he will raise fares by 2% above the rate of inflation for the next half decade.

TfL accepts the projected rise in passengers may be optimistic as unemployment and inflation increases.

Its hopes for planned investment will be knocked if the economy fails to recover quickly.

In his budget last week, Chancellor George Osbourne said unemployment would continue to rise to a peak next year, although recent trends suggest the capital suffering less than other regions.
'Soviet-style plan'

More than £150m in bus subsidy will be lost from next year and the subsequent three years although the service will remain "broadly constant".

For the first time, by 2014, TfL claims it will make an operating profit on the Tube - getting more in income than it spends on the day-to-day running of the network.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

These new cuts will drag the underground even deeper into the spiral of decline with breakdowns, failures and disruption a daily fact of life”

Bob Crow RMT General Secretary

The picture for commuters would be bleaker were it not for the huge "savings" the mayor says can be found in the way the capital's transport system is run.

London's transport commissioner Peter Hendy claims he can find cuts of £4bn over the next four years, dwarfing efficiencies of recent years.

The impact will fall, he claims, mainly on "non-operational staff" but unions say it indicates heavy job losses to come.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: "These new cuts will drag the underground even deeper into the spiral of decline with breakdowns, failures and disruption a daily fact of life.

TSSA leader Gerry Doherty said: "We welcome Boris's dreams for transforming the Tube over the next four years but it does sound more like the opening salvo of his re-election campaign than anything to do with the reality of travelling on the network today.

"They will take Boris's four year Soviet-style plan with a lorry load of salt."

London's Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy said: "The next four years will be among the busiest and most exciting in the history of London's transport network.

Hi added that TfL would insure it was "as efficient and effective as we can be through our £7.6bn savings programme."

Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit Project: Sungai Buloh - Kajang Line

2011-02-11T09:02:00.000-08:00

Taken from the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit Project website

The railway scheme for the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang line is currently being displayed for public viewing and comment for three months from 14 February 2011 to 14 May 2011 as required under Section 84(3) of the Land Public Transport Act 2010.

Members of the public can view the railway scheme and related documents of the line at the following locations:

Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat
Tingkat 13, Menara Dayabumi
Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin
50050 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603-2278 1222

Bangsar LRT Station
Concourse
Jalan Bangsar
59000 Kuala Lumpur

Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur
Menara DBKL
Jalan Raja Laut
50350 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603-2617 9000

Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam
Tingkat 1, Wisma MBSA
Persiaran Perbandaran
40000 Shah Alam
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel: +603 5510 5133

Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya
Jalan Yong Shook Lin
46675 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel: +603 7956 3544

Majlis Perbandaran Kajang
Menara MPKj
Jalan Cempaka Putih
Off Jalan Semenyih
43000 Kajang
Tel: +603-8737 7899

Majlis Perbandaran Selayang
Menara MPS, Persiaran 3
Bandar Baru Selayang
68100 Batu Caves
Selangor Darul Ehsan

More info:
Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat / Land Public Transport Commission
Address : Level 19, 1Sentral, Jalan Travers, Kuala Lumpur Sentral, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Hotline: 1800 82 6868 (Mondays – Fridays, 9.00am – 5.00pm)
E-mail: feedback@kvmrt.com.my

Fourth Tube Strike

2010-11-26T02:10:00.000-08:00

The fourth tube strike is scheduled on 28th - 29th November. In the span of 8 months since I started commuting in London, there has been three series of 24-hour strikes: 6 September, 3 October, 2 November; all mostly because of job cuts. Travel chaos is still expected although TfL are putting on extra buses and boats, deploying extra staff and volunteers to give alternative travel options and assist passengers information, and curtailing some roadworks. With three strikes already in place, one wonders if the authorities could save taxpayers cash in unnecessary expenses by dealing directly with RMT and TSSA related issues, instead of investing so much time/effort/money in putting on these 'extra' measures.

Train overcrowding - trending again

2010-11-23T05:39:00.000-08:00

With the release of the "Increasing Passenger Rail Capacity" report by the Committee of Public Accounts appointed by the House of Commons, the issue is trending again for the past few days. This report should be read together with the earlier report by the Department for Transport, UK.

More on this report:

BBC News: Commuters 'priced off' overcrowded rail routes
BBC News: Unacceptable train overcrowding to get worse, MPs say
The Telegraph: Rail chaos: the most overcrowded lines
The Guardian: This is the age of the overcrowded train
The Independent: Rail commuters face 'intolerable' overcrowding by 2014, warn MPs
Public Finance: PAC slams DfT over train overcrowding
Daily Mail: Get used to cattle class: MPs warn rail commuters face 'intolerable' overcrowding by 2014
Mirror.co.uk: Seat failure to make rail chaos worse
Yahoo News, UK: Rail over-crowding to be 'ever more intolerable'
The Northern Eco: MPs’ support for new trains deal
Railnews, UK: Peak time rail demand must be dampened, say MPs
this is Bristol: Fresh call for carriages to ease crush on commuter trains

Avoiding biased language in Transportation

2010-10-29T02:25:00.000-07:00

Source: The City of West Palm Beach: Transportation Language Policy

Summary
Biased Terms	Objective Terms
improve	change, modify
enhance, deteriorate	change, increase, decrease
upgrade	change, re-designate, expand, widen, replace
level of service	level of service for ............................
traffic	motor vehicles
traffic demand	motor vehicle use
accident	collision, crash
protect	purchase, designate
efficient	fast

De Clarke's Personal Opinion: Revising Carcentric Language

Michael Wright and Dom Nozzi: Sustainable, Unbiased Transportation Terminology

FHWA.gov: Biased Language

Ian Lockwood (2004): The Conventional Transportation Culture and Language

RIDE Solutions: Language of Change

Urban Transport 2011

2010-10-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

We have had a paper accepted for the Urban Transport 2011 Conference, June 6-8, 2011 at University of Pisa, Italy. The conference is organised by University of Pisa and Wessex Institute of Technology, UK.

Modelling the spillover effects of rail passenger crowding
on individual well being and organisational behaviour

The challenge of rail passenger crowding has not been fully addressed in the scientific literature. This paper describes a study which explores the relationships among the different psychological components of crowding and their effects on commuters’ experience of stress and feelings of exhaustion. The study also considers possible spillover effects in terms of individual and work outcomes. Data were collected from 525 commuters by questionnaire survey and explored using structural equation modelling techniques. The results make clear the relationships among passengers’ evaluation of the crowded situation and its ambient environment, their affective reactions to it, and the relationships among these psychological components of passenger crowding and passenger density. The results demonstrate, among other things, the imperfect relationship between the more psychological components of crowding and passenger density. They also reveal different patterns of spillover effects for passenger stress and exhaustion although both affected commuters’ report of somatic symptoms of ill-health. In addition, stress spilled over in terms of passengers’ propensity for lateness for work but, not in terms of their job or life satisfaction. Exhaustion, in contrast, negatively affected passengers’ life satisfaction scores and was a significant predictor of their intention to quit their job. Some theoretical and research implications of these findings are discussed which could lend support for future crowding research and management.

New York Subway Issue

2010-10-24T02:56:00.000-07:00

The Subway Issue

A special edition of the Metropolitan section devoted to New York City’s subway system, which turns 106 this week.

Transport News : Malaysia - Sept 2010

2010-09-23T06:33:00.000-07:00

The Star: ETP and MRT network
PEMANDU: Expert: MRT should be managed by a single body
The NST: RM36b proposed MRT on track
The NST: Transport operators all for high-speed rail link
The Star: KL-S'pore high-speed rail link project may come back
The Star: Gamuda, MMC shares up on Govt’s development plan
The Star: Government urged to speedily implement major projects
The Edge: Dialog, Gamuda, GentingM, Glomac, Sunway
The Business Times: M'sia identifies major projects to spur growth
MySinchew: The high-speed era
Malaysia Today: Scomi Group: From survival to success
The NST: RM30b MRT plan
The Malaysian Insider: Gamuda hopeful KL MRT work can start next year
The Malaysian Insider: Putrajaya mulls multi-billion rail deals
The Star: Cost of rail projects may top RM50bil
The Star: MRT offers wider coverage

Update: Transport News

2010-09-09T06:20:00.000-07:00

Long-distance commuting is still the norm in spite of progress in flexible working
David Woods, 25 August 2010

According to research from Regus, 20% of commuters travel for longer than 90 minutes every day on their way to work.

Although the average commute length is 25 minutes, one in ten commuters travel more than an hour to and from the place of work. Cars are by far the most popular form of commuter transport (64%).

For 66% of UK workers those long commutes are spent stuck in a car while the public transport system is the best option for another 19%. Only 9% of workers are close enough to their place of work to be able to cycle or walk.

In the USA car use is much more wide-spread (85%) shortly followed by South Africa (83%) High density and excellent transport infrastructure make Japan the country least reliant on driving to get to work (23%). Cycling in to work was as unpopular as car pooling (2%) on a global level with only the Netherlands significantly bucking this trend (8%).

Mark Dixon, CEO, Regus, said: "As traffic congestion in cities increases it is disappointing to see that too many workers are still jamming the roads in the rush hour when they could be spending their time more enjoyably or more productively elsewhere.

"To tackle the damaging effects of commuting on staff health and morale, savvy businesses are introducing more flexibility in their working practices and are seeking workplace solutions that allow their staff to work closer to home. Remote working and flexi-time can provide a much needed break in the weekly commuting routine and also translate into office space and maintenance savings."

Further pain commuters are forced to face is in the cost of travel. While on average 7% of commuters globally spend 10% or more of their salary on commuting, this peaked in car-reliant Mexico where 13% of respondents spend more than 10% of their salary to fund their commute.

############

'Britons waste 4.6 million hours-a-day commuting'
Metro UKMETRO NEWS REPORTER - 9th November, 2009

Working Britons waste a massive 4.6 million hours-a-day commuting to their place of employment, according to new survey.

Nearly two thirds of UK employees wish to reduce their time spent travelling to and from work with being stuck in traffic and delays to public transport given as the biggest frustrations.

And a report carried out as part of National Commute Smart Week claims 46 per cent of commuters say their bosses refuse to be flexible to allow them to reduce their travel time.

British workers believe they could significantly reduce the 26 million hours they spend commuting every day by working from home, varying start and finish times and using technology to enable remote working.

The survey of 2,000 adults found that 62 per cent of commuters wanted to reduce the time they spent travelling to and from work with 42 per cent claiming the biggest waste of their time was caused by being stuck in traffic while 38 per cent complained of public transport issues.

The report suggested that so-called 'smart commuting' could have a positive impact on the British workforce, helping them to become fitter, healthier and more relaxed.

More than a third of commuters said they would spend more time with their family if they could reduce their travel time to work while 31 per cent said they would take more exercise and 22 per cent said they would make healthier meals.

Commute Smart Week is a national initiative, organised by Work Wise UK, aimed at encouraging workers to reduce or even eliminate their daily commute to improve health, wellbeing and productivity.

Work Wise UK's CEO Phil Flaxton said: "Commute Smart week is all about looking at ways UK workers can improve their work-life balance by reducing the strain and stress caused by commuting."

And internet psychologist Graham Jones said smart commuting could have a positive impact on businesses and profits.

He said: “Bosses who insist that people all go to work at the same time and stick to a set routine are actually weakening their business.

"That's because people generally don't like being told how to run their life; they feel their boss is controlling them and therefore are actually less motivated."

He added: "Using the Internet, for instance, to gain increased flexibility means that motivation levels in office staff could rise as people feel more in control of their own destiny."

###########

Unsociable hours and commuting turn Britain into nation of snackers
By Maxine Frith, Social Affairs Correspondent
Friday, 14 January 2005

Britain is a nation of snack-eaters, spending more on crisps and chocolate than any other country in Europe, a survey shows. An average of £204 per person is spent on snacks every year, research by the market analyst Datamonitor found.

Britain is a nation of snack-eaters, spending more on crisps and chocolate than any other country in Europe, a survey shows. An average of £204 per person is spent on snacks every year, research by the market analyst Datamonitor found.

Spaniards spend just £55 a year, the French, £146 and Italians, £115. The total snacks market in Britain is now worth £12.3m a year.

Analysts blamed the rise of snacking on unsociable working hours, changing shift patterns and the number of journeys people make each day. Britons recorded the highest number of journeys per day in Europe last year. The average adult made 6.4 trips a day, compared to a European daily average of 4.5.

Danielle Rebelo, a consumer markets analyst at Datamonitor, said: "Stress levels are often higher while people are commuting, and transport problems and cramped conditions during the rush-hour mean consumers are seeking comfort from eating and drinking on the move.

"Driving generates most of the on-the-move consumption because consumers are more likely to eat and drink when a car journey includes a stop at a petrol station, since they then have the opportunity for impulse purchases."

Sales of crisps, nuts and other "bagged snacks" amount to £1.77bn a year. Cake sales rose by 5 per cent in 2004, to £800m a year and Britons now spend an average of £45 per annum on chocolate.

The rise of snacking has been blamed for increasing rates of obesity, particularly among children.

With increasing numbers of people now "desk-fasting" - eating the first meal of the day at work - sales of cereal bars rose 31 per cent last year. But the news is not all bad. The Datamonitor report also identifies the rise of "healthy" snacks, such as rice crackers and products marketed under the Atkins Diet label. Fewer than one in four people believes eating between regular meals is intrinsically unhealthy.

Ms Rebelo said: "Consumers desire healthy, convenient products that provide guilt-free satisfaction. They are becoming more health-conscious and this influences product choice."

Latest additions to the market include doner kebab and balti curry-flavoured crisps. Over the Christmas period, sales of pies and sandwiches are said to have jumped 5 per cent.

PGR Awayday 2010

2010-07-28T03:10:00.000-07:00

IWHO PGR Awayday 14 July 2010 Kestrel Inn at Marehay, Ripley

A walk around Cromford Village, the first village of the industrial revolution. Also around Scarthin and Chapel Hill.

Short stop at Derwent Valley Mills: Cromford Mill World Heritage Site.

TRANSIT's Rapid Survey on MRT Proposals

2010-06-30T07:16:00.000-07:00

All,

For those in Malaysia, especially in Kuala Lumpur, you might have read or heard about the new MRT proposals that will, to large extent, affect public transportation in KL. TRANSIT is currently conducting a rapid survey to get a broad and initial feedback on the rail network that can best cater for the needs of the Klang Valley.

Please read their critical evaluation on this issue here:

Have your say and take the poll here:

More on commuting in the news

2010-06-25T07:48:00.000-07:00

The Age: Commuters defend against the attack of the space invaders - Jared Thomas's research

Physorg: Public transport behaviours explained

DiscoveryNews: Public Transportation Passengers Avoid Getting Social

AKT: How We Choose Who To Sit Next To

Fast Company: Is Public Transportation Too Public?

Daily Mail: Two years, £500,000 and 178 pages to tell us that we want our trains to be on time and uncrowded - Davis Associates' research

The Evening Standard: Overcrowded trains are 'shaming Britain'

The Temasek Review: Singaporeans dismayed with SMRT CEO’s reply on train overcrowding

Businessweek: Extreme Commuting: More workers are willing to travel three hours a day. But what is the long-term cost?

The Connexion: Companies hit by commuting stress

WHYY: Quiet please!

HP: Why commuting is bad for business

HP: Rescue your staff from commuting hell

News8 WTNH.com: How's Your Commute?

Loudoun County Government: Commuting Options Employer Services

BBCh2g2: Public Transport Etiquette

Why commuting could be making you fat

2010-06-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

From Weight Loss Resources

According to new research, our daily commute to work could be adding inches to our waistlines as we seek comfort in high-fat snacks such as crisps and chocolate. The study, carried out by market analyst Datamonitor, discovered that in Britain we spend more money on snacks than any other country in Europe – on average £204 per person each year. But at the same time, we’re also making more journeys each day – 6.4 trips a day compared to just 4.5 trips each day in the rest of Europe. Datamonitor analyst Danielle Rebelo, says, “Stress levels are often higher while people are commuting and transport problems and cramped conditions during the rush hour mean consumers are seeking comfort from eating and drinking on the move.”

Weight Loss Resources says…

The boredom of waiting for a bus or train – followed by the journey – means many of us resort to chocolate or crisps to keep us going. Even car journeys can see us munching on sweets as we get stuck in a jam or grabbing a high-fat snack when we fill up with petrol. The best solution is to always keep a piece of fruit in your bag for times when hunger – or boredom – hits.

Better still, turn your commute into a workout. Walking or cycling to work instead of driving or using public transport is one of the easiest ways to build the recommended 30 minutes of exercise five times a week into your life. Plus it will give you time to prepare for the day ahead or help you wind down after a hard day in the office – without you feeling the need to fill up on sugary or fatty snacks. Check out how many calories you could burn each working day.

Commuting method (Calories burned in 30 minutes)
Sitting in a bus, car or train (45)
Brisk walking (168)
Cycling (269)

PsyPAG 2010

2010-06-02T02:43:00.000-07:00

Abstract accepted by the 25th PsyPAG Conference 2010 for oral presentation. PsyPAG is a national organisation for all psychology postgraduates and is funded by the Research Board of the British Psychological Society. The conference will be conducted from 21st to 23rd July 2010 at Sheffield University and Sheffield Hallam University.

Commuting stress: Consequences and implications for employee well-being

Unlike research on environmental variables, interpersonal relationships, personal characteristics, and organisational factors, all of which have been empirically supported as the common sources of employee stress, evidence on the effects of commuting on their well-being is relatively scarce. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between commuting and individual and organisational well-being among employees who commute to work using light rail transits or commuter services on a regular basis. It is predicted that employees with high commuting stress levels would report commuting for longer duration, and workers with high commuting stress levels would report higher levels of commute displeasure, physical or somatic symptoms experienced, and intention to quit but lower levels of job and life satisfactions. A passenger survey, which comprised of questions on commute duration, transportation mode, demographical data, and variables regarding overall commuting experience as well as general work and life activities, was completed by 660 employees in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Preliminary correlational analyses showed that commute duration was significantly correlated with commuting stress, and the impacts of commuting stress were evident in terms of increased commute displeasures, more physical or somatic symptoms experienced, and more intention to quit. However, contrary to expectations, there were small but significant correlations found between commuting stress and job and life satisfactions. Theoretical and practical implications for understanding the overall commuting patterns as well as traveling behaviors are discussed. Some recommendations for future research are also offered.

LIST OF SOME TRANSPORTATION JOURNALS

2010-05-28T07:34:00.000-07:00

Source: Portland State University

* Access Magazine
* Accident Analysis and Prevention
* Annals of Regional Science
* Computers, Environment and Urban Systems
* Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering
* European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research
* European Transport
* Growth and Change
* IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems
* International Journal of Logistics Management
* International Journal of Sustainable Transportation
* International Journal of Transport Management
* Internet Journal of Cooper@tive Tr@nsport@tion Dyn@mics
* ITE Journal
* ITS International
* Journal of the American Planning Association
* Journal of Advanced Transportation
* Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering (ASCE)
* Journal of Engineering Education
* Journal of Infrastructure Systems (ASCE)
* Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems: Technology, Planning and Operations
* Journal of Maps
* Journal of Public Transportation
* Journal of Safety Research
* Journal of Transport and Land Use

Source: Queen's University Belfast

TRANSPORT RESEARCH JOURNALS
* Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Journal
* International Journal of Transport Management
* Journal of Advanced Transportation
* Journal of Transport Economics and Policy
* Traffic Engineering and Control
* Transportation
* Transport Policy
* Transport Reviews
* Transportation Planning and Technology
* Transportation Research Part A, Policy and Practice
* Transportation Research Part B, Methodological
* Transportation Research Part C, Emerging Technologies
* Transportation Research Part D, Transport and Environment
* Transportation Research Part E, Logistics and Transportation Review
* Transportation Research Part F, Traffic Psychology and Behaviour
* Transportation Science
* Journal of Transport Geography
* Journal of Transportation and Statistics
* Journal of Transport Economics and Policy
* Journal of Transportation Engineering (ASCE)
* Journal of Transportation Planning and Technology
* Journal of the Transportation Research Forum
* Journal of Urban Economics
* Journal of Urban Planning and Development (ASCE)
* Mass Transit
* Metropolitan Universities Journal
* Mobilities
* Public Roads
* Research & Technology Transporter
* Traffic Engineering and Control
* Traffic Safety Digest
* Traffic World
* Transport Geography
* Transport Policy
* Transport Reviews
* Transportation
* Transportation Journal
* Transportation Quarterly

OTHER JOURNALS WITH SOME TRANSPORT CONTENT
* ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering
* Journal of Urban Economics
* Networks
* Networks and Spatial Economics

OPERATIONS RESEARCH & MANAGEMENT SCIENCE JOURNALS that carry transport related articles
* Computers & Operations Research
* European Journal of Operational Research
* International Transactions in Operational Research.
* Journal of the Operational Research Society
* Management Science
* Omega
* Operations Research
* Operations Research Letters
* OR-Spektrum

Management Science, Operations Research and Operations Research Letters are published by the OR/MS society, INFORMS.
International Transactions in Operational Research is published by IFORS, the International Federation of Operational Research Societies.

ONLINE TRANSPORT JOURNALS
* Journal of Railway Operations Research, (JROR), currently free
* World Transportation Policy and Practice

SOME OTHER RELEVANT JOURNALS
* SIAM Online Journals
* The SIAM Joural on Optimisation, from the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM).
* Transportation Research. Part A, Policy and Practice
* Transportation Research. Part B, Methodological
* Transportation Research. Part C, Emerging Technologies
* Transportation Research. Part D, Transport and Environment
* Transportation Research. Part E, Logistics and Transportation Review
* Transportation Research. Part F, Traffic Psychology & Behaviour
* Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board
* Transportation Science
* Urban Studies
* World Transport Policy and Practice

Source: University of Lancaster
Transport & Logistics Journal Rankings

Transport News- Malaysia

2010-05-26T03:03:00.000-07:00

The Malay Mail: SPAD - Super transport service

BERNAMA: SPAD Expected To Be Implemented In September - Muhyiddin
BERNAMA: EFFICIENT PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION KEY TO NATION'S GROWTH, SAYS SYED HAMID

Office of The Prime Minister: PERLANTIKAN PENGERUSI SURUHANJAYA PENGANGKUTAN AWAM DARAT (SPAD)

The Star: SPAD tasked with public transport service duties
The Star: Syed Hamid Albar is head of public transport commission
The Star: Syed Hamid gets SPAD job
The Star: Making progress in Urban Transport
The Star: The lifeline of a nation
The Star: KL Draft Plan complaints still accepted
The Star: Mohamad Nur tipped to be SPAD head
The Star: CVLB should stay out of transport commission
The Star: Bumpy road before a smooth drive
The Star: Bill to restrict traffic at peak hours tabled
The Star: Huge fine for killer buses
The Star: Body to monitor and enforce service standards ready next year
The Star: Commission to operate as a single authority to ensure better public transport
The Star: Bus crashes: Stiffer fines for drivers, bosses

Utusan Malaysia: Daripada LPKP kepada SPAD
Utusan Malaysia: SPAD bukan penyelesaian
Utusan Malaysia: 41% bantahan isu pengangkutan

Psychological distance

2010-05-24T03:10:00.000-07:00

Trope, Y., Liberman, N., & Wakslak, C. (2007). Construal Levels and Psychological Distance: Effects on Representation, Prediction, Evaluation, and Behavior. JOURNAL OF CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY, 17(2), 83–95.

Psychological distance. Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (2nd ed.).
Liberman, Nira; Trope, Yaacov; Stephan, Elena Kruglanski, Arie W. (Ed); Higgins, E. Tory (Ed). (2007). Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (2nd ed.). (pp. 353-381). New York, NY, US: Guilford Press. xiii, 1010 pp.

Psychologically distant things are those that are not present in the direct experience of reality. There are different reasons for things not to be present in the immediate reality experienced by me. Things may belong to the past or to the future (e.g., my first year of marriage, my first year of school), to spatially remote locations (e.g., my parents' house, the North Pole), to other people (the way my best friend or a person from another culture perceives the present situation), and to hypothetical alternatives to reality, what could or might have been but never materialized (e.g., had I married another person or had I had wings). These alternatives to the directly experienced reality define, respectively, four dimensions of psychological distances--temporal distance, spatial distance, social distance, and hypotheticality. In each pair of examples of distal things, the first example is more proximal than the second. We would like to propose that in relation to psychological distance, these various distance dimensions are anchored on a single starting point (zero distance point), which is my direct experience of the here and now. Anything else--other times, other places, experiences of other people, and hypothetical alternatives to reality--is a mental construct. This analysis suggests a basic relationship between psychological distance and construal; that is, any distancing (i.e., moving beyond direct experience) involves construal. Based on construal-level theory, we distinguish between extents (levels) of construal and propose that more distal entities, which are more remote from direct experience, are construed on a higher level (i.e., involve more construal). The second section of this chapter discusses in more detail the concept of level of construal and the association between level of construal and psychological distance. That section addresses two implications of this association, namely, that psychological distance would produce higher levels of construal and that, conversely, high levels of construal would enhance perceived distance. The third section examines the effects of psychological distance on confidence in prediction, intensity of affective reactions, and evaluation and choice. We present evidence suggesting that the effects of various distance dimensions are similar to each other and are mediated by level of construal. The fourth section further proposes that the different psychological distances are interrelated and to some extent interchangeable. That is, distancing an object on one dimension may be exchanged for distancing the object on another dimension.

THE DEVELOPMENT AND MEANING OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTANCE

The Association Between Psychological Distance and Construal Level: Evidence From an Implicit Association Test

Effects of Fluency on Psychological Distance and Mental Construal (or Why New York Is a Large City, but New York Is a Civilized Jungle)

Book: "The Development and Meaning of Psychological Distance" by Rodney R. Cocking and K. Ann Renninger

Fun Life Development

11th Annual Graduate Conference, LSE

2010-05-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

21-22 May 2010
Institute of Social Psychology
London School of Economics (LSE)
Conference Website

Random notes:
ALCESTE analysis
Statistical textual analysis was conducted with specific scientific software (ALCESTE, University of Toulouse, France). Statistical Textual Analysis is grounded on lexicometrics. The basic hypothesis is that language levels and texts' structure can be inferred from recurrent distributions of words. The software used in this study (ALCESTE) is based on three approaches: lexicometrics, "content analysis" and data analysis (LESCURE 1999).

Photovoice
Photovoice is a process by which people can identify, represent, and enhance their community through a specific photographic technique. As a practice based in the production of knowledge, photovoice has three main goals: (1) to enable people to record and reflect their community's strengths and concerns, (2) to promote critical dialogue and knowledge about important issues through large and small group discussion of photographs, and (3) to reach policymakers. Applying photovoice to public health promotion, the authors describe the methodology and analyze its value for participatory needs assessment. They discuss the development of the photovoice concept, advantages and disadvantages, key elements, participatory analysis, materials and resources, and implications for practice.
Wang, C., & Burris, M.A. (1997). Photovoice: Concept, Methodology, and Use for Participatory Needs Assessment. Health Educ Behav, 24: 369-387

Modular questionnaire
Modular questionnaire structure. A modular structure delivers efficiencies in code maintenance, division of labor, and data model preparation (compilation). In addition to these advantages, a modular structure facilitates the code generating and updating capabilities of a tool such as QSD.

Naz Project London

Americans lead the World in Car Ownership, China and India fast catching up in absolute number of cars owned

2010-05-20T07:39:00.000-07:00

Automotive manufacturers tap into the enormous China Market devoting close to Half the Region's automotive advertising spend

Press release in Bahasa Melayu
29 May 2007
Kuala Lumpur

As economies continue to thrive hand in hand with consumers’ propensity to spend, the race to drive car ownership is on, according to a 2006 Media Index study published by The Nielsen Company.

As the study reveals, nearly nine in 10 Americans claim to own a car, representing 190.3MM people, making it the world’s largest in terms of car penetration and absolute numbers. Further, the USA has enjoyed an increase of eight percentage points over the past 5 years – the highest recorded growth globally. Saudi Arabia follows the USA with the second highest car ownership (86%) . (Table 1)

In the Asia Pacific region, New Zealand, South Korea, Australia and Malaysia have the highest automotive ownership in the region, at 82 percent, 74 percent, 70 percent and 67 percent respectively. (Table 2) Car penetration in New Zealand ranks third after the USA and Saudi Arabia. Australia and Malaysia have enjoyed increases of seven percentage points over the past 5 years outperforming the other markets where year on year car penetration has remained quite stable.

The real opportunity lies with the two fastest growing countries: India and China. While having seemingly low penetration, India (9%) and China (6%) rank among the world’s top 10 markets in absolute numbers of cars owned.

“With these kinds of numbers, China’s market for car parts and accessories is already huge, and car manufacturers will be tapping into that potential. In addition, with current penetration sitting at the world’s lowest, the opportunity to entice the emerging and growing affluent Chinese consumers into car ownership is immense,” said Mr. Richard Basil-Jones, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Nielsen Media Research, The Nielsen Company. “And because of China’s size, increasing penetration by one or two percent would bring tremendous rewards for the automotive industry.”

According to Nielsen’s Advertising Information Service, the world’s car manufacturers invested a sizeable US$1.85 billion advertising in China alone in 2006 – amounting to nearly half the region’s total automotive advertising - to grow their share of the country’s valuable, and burgeoning, car market.

In total, automotive and related companies spent over US$3.95 billion on advertising in 2006, of which China took the lion’s share of 47 percent, followed by Australia (17%), India (15%) and South Korea (6%). Car manufacturers invested over US73.7 million in Malaysia, with the least investment, being in the Philippines, spending only US$27MM on advertising in 2006. (Table 3)

The top 10 car brands contributed to one half of the total automotive advertising expenditure in 2006 with Toyota, the region’s biggest advertiser in automotive-related advertising in 2006, spending US$292MM, followed at a distant second by Hyundai ($197MM) and Nissan ($154MM) in third place. (Table 4)

“Affordability is obviously a consideration in some countries: as economies rebound, people are likely to indulge themselves by acquiring a car or upgrading to a new model,” commented Basil-Jones.

Media Index is a single source multi-media survey from The Nielsen Company, providing insight into consumers’ media consumption of newspaper/magazines reading, TV viewing, radio listening, cinema visits, internet surfing; their lifestyles, attitudes, transport usage and product consumption across nine markets in Asia Pacific.

Global TGI (Target Group Index), a partner of The Nielsen Company, is a global network of single source market research surveys, providing data and marketing insight from over 50 countries across six continents. TGI is operated by the KMR Group (Kantar Media Research) www.kmr-group.com

About The Nielsen Company
The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognized brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek), trade shows and the newspaper sector (Scarborough Research). The privately held company has more than 42,000 employees and is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.

====================

Other Nielsen's reports and studies
Tomorrow is a new consumer! Who is the future Asian consumer?
Money-Saving Measures: A Global Consumer Report April 2006

Bid for LRT extension

2010-04-29T09:15:00.000-07:00

Business Times: 17 qualify to bid for RM7b LRT contracts

Reducing the stress of using public transport

2010-04-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

Pete Davis and Dr Russ Marshall

From 'The Ergonomist', July 2009

The use of public transport can be a stressful experience, especially if you’re making a journey for the first time. There are so many uncertainties such as knowing which bus or train to take, the location of bus stops or platforms, the time the bus or train leaves; whether you have enough money; whether connections will be made in time; and so on. Uncertainties cover every element of a journey and whilst most can be minimised through planning, and detailed, up-to-date information about services, many have to be managed en-route. This management requires a degree of adaptability, to be able to modify a journey to overcome some form of barrier. For older people or people with disabilities there may be additional concerns combined with a reduced ability to adapt. Issues such as the presence of steps at a station; whether there is a lift; appropriate accessibility (level access, hand rails, etc.) to the train or bus; how to tell if the correct train has been boarded; if there are locations to sit and rest; and the potential for contributing factors such as heavy crowds all add to the potential for stress.

All of these uncertainties can be collectively called ‘anticipatory stressors’, and they have the potential to cause stress even before a journey starts. One potential response to this stress, particularly for those who have an alternative or for whom the journey is not a necessity, is to avoid making the journey altogether. Therefore people can experience exclusion from public transport even if they are capable of using it. Even on a familiar journey, there are a host of potential stressors that may be encountered. Activities like crossing roads, using ticket machines, negotiating ticket barriers, steps, escalators and lifts, reading and hearing information, and getting on and off vehicles, can all be ‘acute stressors’ depending on an individual’s abilities and experience. Similarly, environmental factors such as noise, crowds, isolation, litter, graffiti and the movement of a travelling vehicle are all ‘ambient stressors’ that affect different people to a greater or lesser extent.

What all of these stressors have in common is their inconsistency. All of them have the potential to range from unnoticeable to catastrophic depending on the conditions encountered on a particular journey. At its best, public transport can be an affordable, sustainable and liberating mechanism for social inclusion. However, the stress of travel is a genuine health risk, and commuters show increases in psychological and physical illness. This risk increases if the journey is more complicated. It has been shown that it is not duration or distance, but the ‘impedance to travel’ that has a direct link to stress; i.e. a person travelling a long distance on a mainline train will be less stressed than someone travelling across a city with several changes. The more stages there are in a journey, the more stressors are likely to be encountered. It is therefore essential to eliminate the stressors that make travel problematic for so many people. As part of the AUNT-SUE project, Loughborough University is developing two tools that apply this stressor elimination philosophy to improving public transport.

The Inclusive Journey Planner
Existing online journey planners can go a long way to reducing uncertainty about a journey. Just knowing when and where vehicles depart may be enough for most people to set off on a journey without a prohibitive level of anticipatory stress. The aim of the Inclusive Journey Planner is to demonstrate the extent to which the use of a journey planner prior to travel could eliminate pre-travel uncertainty for all users, including those who are disadvantaged by disability or circumstance. Interviews and trials with a range of inexperienced users based around existing journey planners and proposed design improvements, has lead to a number of recommendations that are largely encompassed by three main design concepts: Personal Profiles, Genuine Journey Choice and Rich Journey Plans.

Although many existing journey planners offer a number of ‘advanced options’ that can be used to customise a journey search, the approach seems to be one of providing every single option, then, realising that most people won’t want to look through them all, designing the layout so users can ignore them easily. Personal Profiles is a means to support users by exposing them to a relatively small list of the most relevant options to ensure only suitable journeys are provided. Enabling the user to personalise and then save their options for future use means that most users will only have to do this once in order to get personalised accessible journeys every time.

The journey options that existing journey planners provide are very limited, commonly just repetitions of one or two routes at different times. Given that the user has specified their time of travel, this is not especially helpful. A Genuine Journey Choice system would present alternative routes that suit the Personal Profile at the required time and give essential information about each route: modes, duration, cost and walking time (see image below). This allows the user to make a rational decision about which way they would prefer to make the journey. A good journey planner, such as the Transport for London Journey Planner, shows where there are steps, escalators, lifts and ramps and provides maps. The addition of showing level access to vehicles, warnings about likely crowding, extra information about stations and even weather forecasts would be welcomed by many users. Using dynamic web design can help to deliver such Rich Journey Plans without overloading the screen, enabling the user to get the information they need to travel with confidence.

The prototype Inclusive Journey Planner will be made available as an exemplar along with the results of the trials and guidance documentation. AUNT-SUE is also actively seeking to assist transport organisations in the design of journey planners that reduce stress and promote inclusion.

The HADRIAN Journey Stresstimator
HADRIAN is an extension to the SAMMIE 3D Human Modelling system. The purpose of HADRIAN is to carry out virtual user trials using models based on a varied sample of real people rather than population data. This allows practitioners to look at how people with different sizes, shapes, abilities and behaviours interact with products and environments. In addition to physical data, the HADRIAN Database includes information about activities at home, in urban environments and on transport, creating a rich profile of each of the 102 participants. Using this information it is possible to predict the level of stress that each participant would experience as a result of common acute and ambient stressors that occur whilst using public transport. The HADRIAN Journey Stresstimator is a spreadsheet-based application that enables a transport practitioner to interrogate these stress levels for any known journey. It effectively sends all of the participants on a journey and records every stress transaction providing results that can be used in many different ways. A practitioner could compare the inclusiveness of different routes, find out which people are most likely to be excluded, see which stages in a journey cause most stress, find out which stressors are causing the most stress and explore the effect that eliminating different stressors would have on a journey.

Whilst using the Journey Stresstimator is no substitute for thorough accessibility auditing, it may prove useful as a quick way to identify and prioritise opportunities for improvement. Because HADRIAN enables this analysis to be based on the real concerns of real people, it is also unique in its ability to deliver an empathic understanding of the importance of problems that might otherwise be overlooked.

Women-only train coaches

2010-04-27T03:55:00.000-07:00

Will be launched on April 28th, 2010
KTMB: Koc Wanita Pertama Di Malaysia Bermula Pada 28hb April 2010
FAQ on women-only coach

The next big population bogeyman could well be 'overcrowding'. Should we worry?

2010-04-23T02:38:00.000-07:00

Vincenzina Santoro | Wednesday, 3 February 2010

Monaco to Mongolia: population density and prosperity

Stop the World -- I Want to Get Off” was the title of a hit Broadway play some years ago. Today, getting people off the planet is what the United Nations population control crowd would like to do in order to “save” it. After the failed Copenhagen climate control confabulation last December, they will be refocusing their strategy and may target the presumed horrors of overpopulation in the form of large concentrations of people in any given place.

The constantly updating “population clock” of the U.S. Census Bureau showed that the U.S. population was over 308 million and world population not quite 6.8 billion as I write. To the population worriers, these numbers are far too many. Population nihilists conjure up horrendous stories of hordes of people living extremely closely together in dire poverty, clamoring for scarce resources. Fewer people equals less carbon footprints, they claim.

What about “overcrowding?” China’s coercive one-child policy to explicitly curb population is well known, but is China that densely populated? Not at all, when one looks at the relevant data. While the population of China at 1.3 billion is the highest of any country in the world, China ranks only 53rd out of 192 countries in terms of population density, as can be observed in data assembled by the CIA.

This begs the question: Which is the most densely populated country on earth? It happens to be Monaco – that wonderful principality bordering France on the Mediterranean. Monaco is by far the most densely populated country, with a population of only 32,140 but a population density of 41,971 per square mile. Singapore is the distant second, followed by Malta.

What is life like in Monaco? Certainly not what the population doomsayers would predict. The tiny country has one of the highest standards of living, quality of life and personal wealth anywhere on earth. Per capita income is the 20th highest in the world, according to the World Bank. Monaco’s population density is 2.5 times that of next ranking Singapore, which is also among the most prosperous countries, and life in Malta is equally pleasant.

The least densely populated country is Mongolia, sandwiched between China and Russia, which has a density of only five persons per square mile and a total population of 2.8 million. A mountainous and cold country, it too has a vast territory, though much smaller than its two mega-neighbors, and its partly nomadic people rank among the world’s poorest in per capita income.

Of the five most populous countries – China, India, USA, Indonesia, and Russia – India, China, and Indonesia rank 18th, 53rd, and 60th in population density, respectively. India and China each have a population exceeding one billion, but they are not nearly as crowded as other places. The USA with a fertility rate that currently is at the replacement level of 2.1, ranks number 142 on the list, while Russia, the world’s largest country in land area, with an extremely low fertility rate of 1.4 and a population already in decline, ranks as low as 177.

Although Africa is often the target of the population monitors, data do not corroborate their concerns. The United Nations population counters let it be known recently that Africa’s population had just reached the one billion mark. Even so, Africa accounts for only 15 per cent of global population, compared with 60 per cent for Asia. Among the 50 least densely populated countries, 19 are African. Of the 50 most densely populated countries only two are on the African continent: Rwanda and Burundi, and four are small island nations – São Tomé and Principe (in the Gulf of Guinea) and Mauritius, the Comoros and the Seychelles (in the Indian Ocean) which are considered part of Africa.

At a conference in New York on January 22nd, a highly acclaimed demographer who formerly headed the Population Division at the United Nations asked the hypothetical question: What would happen if all the 6.8 billion people currently on earth were to move to the United States? His answer was that the U.S. population density would become the same as that of the Netherlands! Moreover, New York, the most populous city in the United States with a population of 8.5 million has a population density of 26, 403 per square mile – less than that of Monaco.

And a final word about Monaco. Land-wise, all of Monaco can fit comfortably into the 1.32 square miles of New York City’s Central Park.

So, when we hear the cry that there are “too many people” here or there, we should ask, “Too many people for what?” It is all relative to the culture and the economy of the place. Those are the things we should be working to change, if necessary, not the number of people.

Vincenzina Santoro is an international economist in New York City. She represents the American Family Association of New York at the United Nations.

******
Comments (4)

Petunia

"So, when we hear the cry that there are “too many people” here or there, we should ask, “Too many people for what?” It is all relative to the culture and the economy of the place. Those are the things we should be working to change, if necessary, not the number of people."

First of all, we do not blame the problem on "having too many people" per se but the effect of having such a condition. True that it is relative but we cannot just totally ignore the effect of population on a locale's economic growth. The primary thing we have to look at here is the amount of resources available in a particular place since this will dictate the population that that area could support. The author's main example for a densely populated place is Monaco but she failed to consider the fact that Monaco's economy is booming due to the many hotels and casinos in that area. With the amount of money put in by rich tourists and richer locals, there is no doubt that Monaco could support its population. And then Mongolia... Well most of it is dry, non-arable land. Second, it's landlocked. These geographical features all prove to be major obstacles for economic growth. Hence, poverty. Using the most populous countries as example, is also not exactly valid since most of these have gargantuan land areas. Thus, the population density of that country will not be totally reflective of the actual condition in major cities where overcrowding is actually proving to be a threat on resources.

Totally ignoring "the number of people" factor is both arrogant and foolhardy. When considering global wellbeing, one cannot just tease out and eliminate a certain component just because it does not sit well with one's beliefs. More objectivity is needed in these situations. Especially since the sake of the entire world and all of humanity are at stake.

Dr Susan Moore

Fascinating observations, with a factual grounding most of us lack.
This issue is certainly being discussed by older Australians, who expect a huge, worrying influx of migrants or would-be migrants from world trouble spots. They are worried because of our water and drought problems. We're the hottest continent on earth, and despite our land size (similar to America's) we have many unpopulated desert regions. Demographic issues like these figure in long-term calculations.

Rob De Witt

The world population (6,793,593,686 on New Years,) if miraculously moved to Texas, would result in a population density of 25,292.5 souls per square mile, or somewhat greater than 1/3 as dense as the current situation in Manhattan, which amounts to 70,994.75 strivers per mile.

The same Chicken Littles shrieking about overpopulation are busily constructing fantasies about the invasion of other planets while lacking the imagination to explore Utah.

George Bartholomew

Thinking of Petunia's reply, I think that one needs to respect the figures expressing expected population numbers. That's just about it. The rest should be how to educate human capital and inject money for resource mobilisation, then transfer technology and presumably have the people know that good management of their communities MAY lead to peace and well-being. Don't cut down the population. If you would then start with yourself.

Secret of Annoying Crowds Revealed

2010-04-10T09:05:00.000-07:00

Science NOW
by Dave Mosher on April 7, 2010

Push, shout, or politely excuse yourself all you want, but those slowpokes in your way just won't budge. A new study shows a long-neglected reason why: Up to 70% of people in crowds socially glue themselves into groups of two or more, slowing down traffic. What's worse, as crowds gets denser, groups bend into anti-aerodynamic shapes that exacerbate the problem. The study may be a boon to urban planners.

Crowd physicists already understand the effects of bottlenecked entrances, dueling streams of pedestrian traffic, and even "turbulence" in shoulder-to-shoulder mobs. In the past 15 years, this work has led to decent mathematical models that architects, city planners, and pretty much anyone dealing with crowds can use to make their spaces safer and more flock-friendly.

Trouble is, the simulations treat people as independent particles—ignoring our love of sticking in groups and blabbing with friends. Small groups of pedestrians change everything, says Mehdi Moussaid, the study's leader and a behavioral scientist at the University of Toulouse in France. "We have to rebuild our knowledge about crowds."

Moussaid and colleagues videotaped two types of posses in Bordeaux, France, from above: the weekday rush and the weekend stroll. Weekday crowds turned out to be about half individuals and half groups (of two or more), whereas weekend footage showed that 70% of people were in groups. Groups of more than four were rare, leading the researchers to conclude that big groups split into smaller ones. In total, the researchers tracked and measured the intricate movements of more than 4500 French pedestrians—data they crunched to build more accurate simulations of crowds.

The researchers found that socializing groups slowed crowd traffic down by about 17%, compared with models in which pedestrian groups didn't interact. They also reveal today in PLoS ONE, that groups of three or more flex into V and U shapes as crowds get denser, with central group members falling back relative to flanking members. This adds insult to injury for pedestrian traffic that is already gummed up, Moussaid says, but it allows the chitchat to continue. "We're not so different from sheep when it comes to crowding. What sets us apart is social interaction," he says. "Walking backwards is not exactly practical, so we form V and U shapes at the cost of speed."

"I'm in discussion with planners from all over the world, ... and the realistic simulation of [group] effects is one of the hottest topics for application," says Tobias Kretz, a software engineer at PTV AG, a company in Karlsruhe, Germany, that consults planners on traffic mobility logistics. Kretz uses a program called VISSIM to model crowd traffic for his clients, and he says Moussaid's work is precisely what he's been waiting for. "We are definitely planning to include the model in ... VISSIM's simulation of pedestrians and make it globally available for traffic-planning projects."

Applications for improving pedestrian traffic on sidewalks, train platforms, malls, and other public spaces aside, Moussaid says he noticed something else during the work: Renegades who rush around lollygagging pedestrians only make things worse. "You're contributing to chaos," he says. "Crowds are self-organized systems, so when you don't cooperate, the system breaks and you slow everyone down."

Is commuting dangerous to health?

2010-04-06T13:54:00.000-07:00

Bupa investigative news - 16 January 2003
written by Rachel Newcombe, Bupa health news reporter

Daily commuting can prove an unpleasant chore for some people, especially when trains are delayed and overcrowded. Recent reports suggest the strain of regular journeys can have an effect on one's health, causing some people to suffer dangerous levels of stress. But is this really the case, is there anything that can be done to overcome it or is it out of our control?

KEY POINTS
Train commuting is used by thousands of people a year. In fact, figures from the Rail Passengers Council (RPC) reveal that 471,388 people made the regular daily commute to London in 2001.

Recent reports suggest that a university study found commuters had high stress levels causing the RPC to launch research into the situation.

In reality, the University of Nottingham merely reviewed existing stress research and found a lack of information about train stress. Plus, the RPC haven't yet launched a research project, but they are thinking about it.

Experts say commuting can be hard, but can be made better through positive thinking, relaxation and by taking control.

What were the headlines?
Reports relating to train and commuter stress were recently featured in a variety of newspapers and news websites, and within days, the story had made worldwide headlines in countries as far flung as Australia, India and Singapore. Typical UK headlines included, "Packed trains 'bad for health'" and "Commuting is bad for you," while in India and Singapore they wrote, "Overcrowded trains cause high stress," and "Blame them on crowded trains". The majority of reports claimed that a preliminary study carried out at the University of Nottingham had discovered many commuting train passengers were suffering from high levels of stress. As a result, it was reported that the Rail Passengers Council would be funding a much larger study into the matter.

Details of the proposed study were included, telling of how the researchers would measure travellers' heart rates and blood pressure in an attempt to be the first organisation to scientifically record the stress levels of passengers and fully assess the impact of overcrowded, busy trains.

The news stories gave the impression that the study was the result of lengthy plans, was fully finalised and had already been launched or was about to be launched.

"Of course the fact that trains can be crowded, late and not very clean is stressful. When you put people in a confined space, it's a pressure, and trains that are late or dirty add to that. Coping with it is a lot about attitude - we would all love it if all trains were clean, tidy and on time, but they aren't, so we have to adjust our attitude. If you do suffer from a stress-related illness, it's important to pinpoint exactly what it is, then concentrate on treating the condition and reducing the underlying stress." Alyssa Armstrong, Stress management consultant, Bupa Wellness

What is the bigger picture?
Despite these fascinating claims, the reality is rather different.

The Rail Passengers Council (RPC) described the newspaper and website reports as making "a mountain out of a molehill," exaggerating their comments and misreporting their actions. "We haven't actually commissioned research yet," explained a spokesperson. Neither has a full-blown study been carried out by researchers in Nottingham - they merely gathered together information about existing stress studies. "We did ask the University of Nottingham to look at any previous research on stress relating to trains and overcrowding. However, we found out that not a lot of research has been done on this issue," he said.

"We've said on record that there ought to be more studies conducted and we are considering future investigations on the topic. If we do decide to go ahead, we'd be most likely to commission the project to an outside research body. However, we are not conducting a report just yet and nothing is 100 per cent certain," the RPC's spokesperson added.

It's likely the stories arose following a recent inquiry, made up of a committee of MPs, into train overcrowding. The notion that passengers are being crammed into trains like cattle (what the papers referred to as cattle-truck syndrome) was mentioned at the inquiry by John Cartledge, deputy director of the London Transport Users Committee (LTUC). Anthony Smith, director of the RPC also shared his concerns and suggested that the situation should be changed for the sake of passengers.

The idea that commuting is a stressful factor for many people isn't entirely new however, and is backed up by some previous research. A survey produced for the International Stress Management Association's year 2000 National Stress Awareness Day found that 44 per cent of 400 people surveyed thought that rush hour the single most stressful part of their life.

A MORI poll conducted on behalf of Mitel Networks in 2001 found a similar situation, with 41 per cent of workers rating travel as the most stressful part of their job.
What does this mean?

Although the reports don't all paint exactly the same picture, the basic themes about stress are still important.

"I thought this was a really interesting story because clearly you don't have to be Einstein to work out that trains that are delayed, late and crowded are going to cause people stress," noted Bupa Wellness stress management consultant, Alyssa Armstrong.

"It just goes to show that anything on stress seems to be of public interest at the moment. It's probably because it is true that our stress levels are rising, or we perceive them to be, so we're interested to know more," she added.

According to Carole Spiers, chair of the International Stress Management Association (ISMA), "Commuting certainly puts pressure on individuals, there's no question of that." However, she believes it can be overcome. "People can control their pressure levels, so therefore it's not really the situation in itself - commuting - that's the problem, it's one's attitude towards the situation."

ACTION POINTS

If you think you could have a stress-related illness, consult your GP or a stress counsellor.
If you feel stressed while travelling, try simple relaxation techniques and positive affirmations.
Rather than thinking negatively, try to be positive and make the most of the situation.
Think about how you can practically use the time spent travelling - by working, reading a good book or listening to music.

What does this mean to me?
If you're concerned about the effects of daily commuting or are worried about feeling stressed, the advice from experts is to not panic, as it can be avoided.

For stressed-out travellers, says Alyssa Armstrong, "The sooner you accept the service is quite likely to be poor, late and crowded, then you'll be a lot better off. You won't be disappointed and you won't feel so stressed about it."

"It's also really important to concentrate on relaxation," adds Alyssa. She believes simple exercises are ideal and can easily be carried out without anyone else knowing. The idea is to focus on your breathing by taking full relaxed breaths and then gradually relax all the muscles in your body, particularly the eyes, jaw and forehead where a lot of stress can be held. When you're fully relaxed she suggests silently saying affirmations to yourself, such as, "Even though this is uncomfortable, in the scheme of things it's really not that bad," or "I do this commute and accept it as part of a job I love."

Other practical ways of coping, suggests Carole, include, "planning your time and using it effectively to your own benefit".

If you do end up suffering from a stress-related illness the Mental Health Foundation says that it's important to seek professional help.

"Stress manifests itself in a lot of different ways and the treatments are as varied as the illnesses," says Alyssa. Types of help include stress management techniques, complementary therapies - such as counselling, hypnotherapy or aromatherapy - and, in some cases, medication.
Summary

Stress can be a key concern for commuters, but while travelling can be an unpleasant experience, it's a necessity for many. Simple changes to attitude could make a vast difference, but if stress does become a problem, professional help is at hand.

Commuting stress may worsen health woes

2010-03-24T06:14:00.000-07:00

Getting sick of long rides on the train
Study: Commuting stress may worsen health woes
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
BY JUDY PEET
Star-Ledger Staff

For years, the prevailing New Jersey commuter philosophy has been: When the driving gets tough, the tough get a railpass.

But commuting by train is also stressful, according to a new study that found the longer the rail commute, the higher the strain. With every passing mile, there is an impact not only on physical and psychological well-being, but also on the ability to complete simple tasks, the study concluded.

"With this study, we are suggesting that the stress of long train commutes may pose a similar health problem," added Wener, who commutes by train every day from his Maplewood home to his classes in Brooklyn. "Trains are not as stressful as cars at rush hour, but even a relatively minor stressor, several hours a day, every day of the year, can build to a health risk."

New Jersey commuters were studied because rail commuting here is "worse than in most places," Wener said. The expansion of suburbia here also means the average rail commute is getting longer and longer.

Sitting on the train last night, returning from a hard day in Manhattan, few commuters were surprised at the study results.

"Of course the ride is stressful; everybody is pretty much in a daze after they get off the train," said accounting firm manager Mike D'Angelo, whose commute between Denville and Manhattan takes about 70 minutes. "If I could afford to move closer, like to Summit, of course I would."

Food buyer Joseph Cammarta, who commutes to New York from Dover, complained that the seats are too tight and passengers are jammed between bags, but added that the real bother "is cell phones. That's where the stress comes in."

The researchers studied 208 commuters taking trains from New Jersey to Manhattan on the Midtown Direct line. The subjects, who ranged in age from 25 to 60, commuted at least three days a week and had been on the same route for at least 12 months.

The trips ranged from 59 minutes, door-to-door, to 104 minutes.

The participants were about evenly split between men and women, but of similar education and socio-economic backgrounds. Eighty percent were college graduates, and the median income approached $100,000.

Wener and Gary Evans, a professor of environmental analysis at Cornell University, used several methods to evaluate stress levels.
The commuters' saliva was tested for the stress hormone cortisol at the end of the commute, and, for comparison, during a weekend at home. The commuters and their spouses also filled out questionnaires rating their stress levels, and the riders were asked to proofread a simple office memo at the end of a long commute.

The study found that average cortisol levels rose in direct proportion to the length of time on the train. People who had a 100-minute commute had, on average, more than three times the cortisol levels of people who had only a 60-minute commute.

The ability to pick up errors proofreading declined in a similar pattern, the researchers found. Self-reporting responses supported the increased frustration and irritability of the long commute.

"Ethnicity, profession and gender didn't seem to matter, although mothers with children at home had the highest stress levels," Wener said, adding that the study sponsored by NJ Transit did not take into account factors such as train conditions, seat locations or train changes.

Wener said the potential impact on work productivity following a long commute "should be of concern to employers and infrastructure planners."

New Jerseyans are tough, however, and a number of passengers polled by The Star-Ledger simply shrugged and agreed with Larry Sobol, a financial adviser from Morristown, who said: "Deal with it."

That does not mean they don't have suggestions. The overwhelming favorite was to take out the middle seat. People would rather stand than sit there.

Other rider suggestions included more cars, more space, electric hookups and wireless Internet connections on the cars, better lighting, club cars and better notification of train delays at the stations.

NJ Transit spokesman Dan Stessel said the agency is making several improvements that passengers have requested.

He noted 234 new cars are expected to go on line beginning later this year, with better amenities, better lighting and, best of all, no third seat.

Critics noted, however, there will not be enough new, amenity-filled trains, and most riders will still be forced to use the old, crowded cars. They said the pace of improvement is too slow and it will be up to commuters to manage their stress.

More on commuting and crowding

2010-03-23T05:38:00.000-07:00

UoN: Let the train take the strain?

london.gov.uk: Too close for comfort on the London Underground
Report: here

Times Online: Railways hitting capacity limits, say companies

Times Online: Railways reaching peak of capacity

Times Online: How to beat stress on that ‘crush hour’ train to work

The Guardian: Report says tube travel makes Londoners more aggressive

The Guardian: French commuters are the envy of us all

The Guardian: Crush on train led to loss of baby

The Guardian: Rail overcrowding sparks safety probe

The Guardian: 'There is no hell but this'

The Guardian: 'Lack of information can turn a passive crowd into a stampede'

The Guardian: Rail misery? It's one long party on my train

The Guardian: Holidaymakers face summer of chaos on Britain's failing railways

The Connexion: Companies hit by commuting stress

The Chronicle Online: Angst and the rail commuter: longer the trip, greater the stress, study finds

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Spitting image of road stress

Times Online: How to beat stress on that ‘crush hour’ train to work

Industry Market Trends: Reduce the Stress of Your Commute

EzineArticles: 10 Ways to Reduce Commuting Stress

The Associated Press: Commuting times get shorter

The Associated Press: Commutes Now Longer, Lonelier, Analysis Finds

The Associated Press: Commuter trends show more early birds, longer rides

The Associated Press: More drivers are making solo commutes

The Portland Online: Carpooling, Motherhood and Stress

Morning Star: Tube crowding 'causes ruthless attitude'

Mail Online: £35bn upgrade by Network Rail 'will make trains run on time and end over-crowding'

Mail Online: Commons motion in attempt to end rail crowding

Mail Online: Is your rail journey really necessary?

Mail Online: Filthy and overcrowded, the verdict on our trains

Mail Online: Commuters face more packed trains as Government changes definition of 'overcrowding'

Mail Online: Rail White Paper 'must address overcrowding and punctuality', demands watchdog

Mail Online: MPs slam 'trauma' of public transport

Health & Science Blog: Commuting to work can be good for your health

Los Angeles Times: Commuting to Work Above the Madding Crowd, Via Helicopter

Personnel Today Magazine: Floods could bring wave of homeworking

BBC News: Commuting is 'biggest stress'

BBC News: Web poll to probe commuter stress

BBC News: Commuter stress? Just plan better

BBC News: 'It's a war on commuters'

NTU: Study to target root of commuting stress

Herald Sun: Commuting on public transport 'too stressful'

RAC Foundation Blog: Commuting…the stress continues but help is at hand

Monitor on Psychology: Longer train commutes are more stressful, study finds

BusinessWeek: Extreme Commuting

GOOD Blog: Understanding The Commuting Paradox

ecovelo: The Commuting Paradox

Safe Workers UK: Effects of Long Commutes to Work

Annals of Transport: There and back again

bizjournals: Commuting survey

The Frontal Cortex: Commuting

BBC News: Average commute 'now 139 hours'

IET: The commute to hell and back

The Guardian: Balancing work and life. Some people commute hundreds of miles to work, some even live abroad.

Transport Visions: Long Distance Travel

Tube overcrowding creating 'ruthless' travellers

2010-02-21T00:37:00.000-08:00

Source: itnnews - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPWhK6P79Tc

Tube Overcrowding 2 December 2009

2010-02-21T00:30:00.000-08:00

The Telegraph: Tube overcrowding creates 'dog eat dog' commuters
Overcrowding on the Tube has created a ruthless, survival-of-the-fittest mentality among passengers, a report claims.

''Dog-eat-dog'' travellers sometimes suspend normal behaviour to grab seats at the expense of pregnant women and people carrying babies, the report from the London Assembly found.

Some passengers have to psyche themselves up to prepare for the ''struggle to clamber on board, with 80% of those surveyed for the report experiencing ''discomforting overcrowding'' on the Underground. Other travellers ''shut down'' by listening to music and ignoring other passengers.

The report also found that more than half of the 716 people polled were sometimes unable to board the first train because of the overcrowding.

The report also criticised what it described as the ''chaotic'' Tube Jubilee line upgrade which has seen sections - and sometimes the whole line - shut at weekends.

The report, from the London Assembly's transport committee, highlighted passengers' ''coping strategies'' for dealing with the daily commute. These included:

:: Mental preparation - psyching oneself up for the ''struggle to clamber on board'';

:: A dog-eat-dog or survival-of-the-fittest attitude;

:: Suspension of the normal codes of behaviour - for example, going after a seat regardless of who else might want it, ignoring pregnant women and people carrying babies;

:: Adopting a Tube persona, more ruthless and selfish. One passenger said: ''I'm a different animal on the Tube to normal life. I'm not me. I'm a bit less interested in others.''

:: Switching off/shutting down - ''going into an automatic pilot routine'', listening to music, turning one's back;

Making sacrifices one would not usually consider - for example, losing personal space and comfort to be at a meeting on time;

:: Deliberately going the wrong way for one or two stops in order to get a seat.

The report took evidence from the Madrid metro system where upgrade work involved far fewer line closures than has been the case with the Jubilee line.

The transport committee's chairman Caroline Pidgeon said: ''Our report highlights shocking levels of overcrowding on the Tube and the impact this has on people. London Underground cannot be complacent about finding ways to make the situation more bearable.

''We are also calling for new thinking on how Tube upgrade work is managed. We cannot have a repeat of the way the Jubilee line upgrade works have been handled when it comes to upgrading other lines. There is an assumption that seemingly endless line closures are inevitable but, as our report and the evidence from Madrid shows, this is simply not the case.''

A Transport for London spokesman said: ''The committee rightly acknowledges that more and more people are travelling on the Tube which is why it is so crucial that we deliver the much-needed improvements.

''We are spending billions to increase capacity on the Tube by 30% in what is the biggest investment in decades.

''This will mean more trains, able to carry more passengers, with faster journeys and larger stations.

''Even today, the improvement in reliability means that more people are carried on the Tube compared with three years ago with no additional crowding caused.

''With new trains running on the Victoria line, the opening of a new ticket hall at King's Cross St Pancras and the first new air-cooled train due to enter service on the Metropolitan line by next June there are tangible improvements for customers.''

*******************
BBC News: Tube crowds 'at shocking levels'

"Shocking" levels of overcrowding on the Tube network means passengers often have to psych themselves up to travel, a London Assembly report has claimed.

More than 80% of Tube users said they experienced "overcrowding which caused them discomfort", the study suggested.

It called for a "traffic-light" system in ticket halls so people can judge exactly how packed the trains will be.

Transport for London (TfL) said it was spending "billions" of pounds to increase space on the Tube network.

"This will mean more trains, able to carry more passengers, with faster journeys and larger stations," a spokesman said.

The report said some passengers developed a ruthless "dog-eat-dog" mentality when boarding trains because they knew it would be difficult to find a seat.

Sometimes they would grab seats at the expense of pregnant women and adults carrying children, it added.

Others came up with "coping strategies" to deal with the lack of space, such as listening to music or turning their backs on fellow passengers so they would not see the crowded carriage.

Some admitted they had to psych themselves up for the "struggle to clamber on board", while others said they had to make sacrifices - such as a loss of comfort - to ensure they arrived at work on time.

Caroline Pidgeon, the London Assembly member who chairs its transport committee, warned TfL that it must not be "complacent about finding ways to make the situation more bearable".

The report also criticised the "chaotic" upgrade of the Jubilee Line extension, which has resulted in sections of the line being closed for whole weekends several times in recent months.

"We are calling for new thinking on how Tube upgrade work is managed," Ms Pidgeon said.

"We cannot have a repeat of the way the Jubilee line upgrade works have been handled when it comes to upgrading other lines."

A TfL spokesman said the committee "rightly acknowledges that more and more people are travelling on the Tube, which is why it is so crucial that we deliver the much-needed improvements".

"We are spending billions to increase capacity on the Tube by 30% in what is the biggest investment in decades.

"This will mean more trains, able to carry more passengers, with faster journeys and larger stations."

He pointed to new trains on the Victoria Line, a revamped ticket hall at King's Cross underground station and the promise of air-cooled trains on the Metropolitan Line next year as "tangible improvements for customers".

The survey conducted by the assembly talked to 716 people in September.

The assembly also commissioned Andrew Irving Associates to conduct detailed focus groups with 57 commuters on how they coped during the rush hour.

Responses from BBC's readers on tube overcrowding: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8389000/8389376.stm

************
theage.com.au: It's 'dog eat dog' on London's overcrowded Tube: report

Chronic overcrowding on London's Tube network turns people into animals who adopt a "dog eat dog" attitude to fellow passengers, according to a report released Tuesday.

Travellers ignore pregnant women or parents with babies in a "survival of the fittest" atmosphere on the underground train system, which is struggling to cope with never-ending tides of commuters and tourists.

"I'm a different animal on the Tube to normal life. I'm not me. I'm a bit less interested in others," one person told researchers for the study, compiled for City Hall bosses.

The British capital's vast underground network - embodied in the iconic London Tube map, much pored-over by tourists - is a perennial source of grumbling for London's weary workers.

Some parts draw more gripes than others. The Northern Line has the worst reputation, but many others can be hellish at rush-hour, with packed platforms and even more sardine-line trains, often so full that no-one else can get on.

Other examples of how people cope with the daily Tube grind include:

- "Suspension of the normal codes of behaviour - for example, going after a seat regardless of who else might want it, ignoring pregnant women and people carrying babies;

- "Adopting a Tube persona, more ruthless and selfish;

- "Switching off/shutting down - going into an automatic pilot routine, listening to music, turning one's back;

- "Developing strategies to reduce the impact of overcrowding - for example, by going the opposite direction for one or two stops in order to get a seat."

Transport for London, which runs the Tube network as well as London's buses and other travel infrastructure, insisted it welcomed the report.

"More and more people are travelling on the Tube, which is why it is so crucial that we deliver the much-needed improvements," said a spokesman.

"We are spending billions to increase capacity on the Tube by 30 percent, in what is the biggest investment seen in decades. This will mean more trains, able to carry more passengers, with faster journeys and larger stations."

But the report's authors said: "The overwhelming majority of passengers perceive the experience of overcrowding as a highly unpleasant and abnormal situation... Some commuters are left feeling tired and stressed out.

"It can take an hour or two to calm down," it said.

**********

Extreme Commuting: Not Exactly the Sporting Life

2010-02-18T20:43:00.000-08:00

March 31, 2005
Original post: Jon Coppelman

There is a relatively new phenomenon for a growing number of working Americans: extreme commuting. According to Business Week, 3.4 million Americans have a commute to work that takes 90 minutes or longer each way. Fueled by outrageous inflation in housing prices, American workers find themselves driving until they qualify that is, driving out from their jobs until they reach a community where they can afford a house. The Blue Ridge Mountains have become a bedroom community of Washington, D.C., New Hampshire is now an exurb of Boston, and Modesto, Calif. is an outpost of Silicon Valley. (If you are interested in learning where your state ranks for extreme commuting, check out the chart in this USA Today article.)

The average commute in America is still only 25.5 minutes. In the not-too-distant past, people drew the line at 45 minutes. But economic necessity has caused that number to double, with no end in sight. When you combine tremendous commuting distances with the inevitable congestion as you near centers for employment, you have a recipe for serious anguish.

The Business Week article tells the story of a Whirlpool employee who crosses a time zone to get to his job. Waking at 3 a.m., the employee drives 105 miles from Chicago's West Side to company headquarters in Benton Harbor, Mich. During the drive he conducts business on his cell phone. He started the job with a brand new Range Rover, racking up 62,000 miles in the first year. Now he drives an $84,000 Mercedes sedan. My question for the employee, and his deep-pocketed employer, is whether his prolific cell phone use puts this employee at higher risk for an accident and if so, is the employer comfortable with this open-ended liability?

Commuting Stress and Workers Compensation
So are all these stressed out commuters ripe for workers compensation claims? Under most state laws, they are not. Comp does not ordinarily cover the to and fro of commuting. Coverage generally begins when you get to your workplace and ends when you leave it. Indeed, the state of Missouri recently changed its to and fro rule to eliminate coverage for drivers in company cars, closing the loop on an unusual and ill-advised definition of working.

Indeed, not only are most extreme commuters not covered by comp, the stress of their (non work-related) commute is so great, they are unlikely to qualify for any comp stress claim because they will be unable to prove that work comprises at least half of the stress in their harried lives! The stress of their commute is likely to dwarf any stress that occurs in the workplace.

Some employees may be covered by workers comp during the commute. If people routinely take work home, using their homes as an office, in some states the definition of the workday may expand to incorporate their commute. For these workers, and for on-call workers, coverage may be door to door. Nevertheless, even if they are working while commuting, they will face a very high standard to establish that any serious stress problems are work related.

For those of us fortunate enough to face a modest and possibly even pleasant commute each morning, let's take a moment to sympathize with our fellow workers who face the challenges of extreme commuting. It's no sport and it's no fun. Here's wishing that their next job involves a five minute walk up the street.

Urban public transport lab

2010-02-17T19:37:00.000-08:00

Sunday February 14, 2010
On the right track for change
By LEONG SHEN-LI
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

The use of laboratories to identify problems and provide solutions has proven successful in drawing up the Government Transformation Programme roadmap.

WHEN Mohamad Nur Kamal was told that he was going to head the laboratory tasked with finding solutions to the country’s urban public transport problems, the first thing that crossed his mind was “Why me?”

Then he tried to recall the nasty things he could have done in the past to deserve such punishment.

“I really thought of it as a curse,” the special advisor to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat says.

And who could blame him for thinking that way? It was, after all, something new as far as the Government was concerned.

“In Government, we are used to a particular way of doing things. It is always menurut perintah (following instructions),” he explains.

“I was to manage a group of people who theoretically did not need to work together. They could have given me a very difficult time,” he adds.

Mohamad Nur’s lab was one of six set up as part of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s move to overhaul the Government under the Government Transformation Programme (GTP).

Under the GTP, six critical areas – identified as National Key Result Areas – were targeted for improvement. The labs were set up for each of the areas to identify problems and brainstorm for solutions.

Improving urban public transport is one of the NKRAs, the other five being reducing crime, reducing corruption, improving the quality of education, improving rural infrastructure and improving the living standards of the poor.

Twenty-five people were chosen for the urban public transport lab and they began their daily sessions for six weeks beginning in October last year.

Instead of the ordeal that everyone expected, the whole experience turned out to be rather pleasant.

“When we were approaching the end of the exercise, we felt a bit sad that it was all going to be over,” says Mohamad Nur.

Those who attended the lab were representatives from all bodies connected with public transport, namely the operators such as Keretapi Tanah Melayu and RapidKL; relevant government agencies such as the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board and Road Transport Department; academics and other stakeholders such as the local authorities.

Mohamad Nur says gathering the group together was the hardest part of his job.

“They were from various agencies and parties and they had to be of a certain level to be aware of the issues and to commit to solutions,” he says.

An interesting thing was the choice of the Transport Ministry as the ministry in charge of the urban public transport NKRA.

“If you really look at it, the Transport Ministry has the least among the various agencies when it comes to public transport,” he points out. Nevertheless, he says, the support given by Ong was nothing short of “fantastic”.

The members of the lab were all locked in from 8.30am to 8pm. Some sessions lasted until the early hours of the morning, a fact which Najib got to know about and openly praised when launching the GTP Roadmap at the end of last month.

Open discussion

Problems were discussed and solutions deliberated in an open and honest manner. No one felt the need to downplay problems or were compelled to opt for certain solutions.

“They just put everything on the table and discussed enthusiastically. No one cared where the idea came from,” he says.

As such, Mohamad Nur is confident in saying that the urban public transport laboratory was one of the more successful ones.

“We came up with realistic solutions. There were no airy-fairy ideas and almost 100% of our solutions were accepted,” he says.

The solutions from the lab were also among the first to be rolled out. At the end of last year, four-car light rail transit trains which can carry double the number of passengers compared to the old trains began operating along the Kelana Jaya LRT route.

Then last month, a new concept in bus travel – the Bus Express Transit which used tolled expressways and limited stops – began running, cutting travel time between the suburbs and KL city centre by half.

All these moves are aimed at encouraging more people to use public transport, and the improvement of public transport usage will be used to measure the success of this NKRA.

While common in the business world, the use of labs by the Government in the quest for solutions is certainly a first in Malaysia. Mohamad Nur believes this methodology is the right one to be adopted for the GTP.

“You know the usual way in which the Government would have tackled the task? It would have set up a task force. Meetings would have been held every two weeks.

“Before every meeting, everyone will be frantically reading the minutes of the last meeting and scrambling to do what he or she was supposed to do.

“The meetings will drag on for hours because more often than not, the same things will be discussed as nothing would have moved from the last meeting,” he says as a matter of fact.

Mohamad Nur says his background as a management and financial consultant brought a fresh perspective to the task. Prior to joining Government, he held positions like the strategy and business architecture group manager at Accenture’s Kuala Lumpur office, head of DRB-Hicom’s management support and group synergy division, and associate with US management consultancy A.T. Kearney’s Chicago and South-East Asian practices.

“Many are not familiar with business and economic elements when handling issues. When you bring in things like cost benefit analysis and returns on investment, you will very quickly be able to get your point across to the leadership,” he says.

And he believes the new approach also helped bring the best out of the participants.

“When a person is put under a menurut perintah situation, he is going to give you just enough to fulfil the perintah.

“My group did not need to listen to me nor work together. Yet, I think they gave virtually everything they had,” he says proudly.

The whole GTP exercise certainly broke a few records. The labs got together and began their work in October and by mid-December, their findings were completed.

Instead of just passing the results to the Government, the findings were presented to the public in the form of a stylish exhibition at a suburban convention centre. It was deliberately held on a public holiday so that working people could come.

An essential part of the exercise was getting the public’s feedback. The lab leaders were required to make presentations and many of them were grilled for hours by those attending the sessions.

At the end of the day, although there were those who were cynical about the ability of the Government to implement the findings, most if not all who visited the exhibition were impressed by the new approach that it is taking to improve its performance.

Looking back at the whole experience, Mohamad Nur says he would miss the adrenaline push, the constant get-the-job-done feeling, and the amazing team spirit of the lab.

Those elements made the job very addictive. He adds: “I am almost ready for more such challenges.”

But what really pushed everyone on was the feeling that they were bringing change for the better. “That made everything we did worthwhile.”

Why does this boggle me?

2010-01-28T21:36:00.000-08:00

On the KTMB's DMU Purchase

The News Straits Times:
The Star:
Utusan Malaysia:
Yahoo News:
The Malaysian Insider:
The Sun:
The Government Transformation Programme (GTP):

NKRA Public Transport: 2010 and beyond

2010-01-01T02:07:00.000-08:00

The Star Online > Nation
Friday December 18, 2009

KL to have dedicated bus lanes from 2011

FOR the first time ever, the Government will introduce dedicated bus lanes which are separated from normal roads by barriers as part of the move to encourage the use of public transport.

Transport Ministry special adviser for transport Mohamad Nur Kamal said Kuala Lumpur’s bus rapid transit Corridor One would be introduced in 2011.

This would be followed by Corridor Two and Corridor Three the following year.

Unlike earlier dedicated bus lanes introduced by Kuala Lumpur City Hall, the lanes are different as they will be separated from normal roads and only buses will have access to them.

Mohamad Nur, who is the team leader for the Urban Public Transport Laboratory, said four bus expressway transit routes would be built next year.

These would allow buses to travel along under-utilised highways to Kuala Lumpur city centre with limited stops along the way.

For rail services, Mohamad Nur said there would be 26 new four-car light rail transit train sets for the Kelana Jaya line next year. An additional 35 would be available in 2011.

“The LRT extension to Putra Heights in Subang Jaya will also be completed and there will be 14 new trains for the Ampang LRT line,” he said, adding that the capacity for monorail service will be doubled.

By 2011, he said 15 refurbished electric multiple units would be available for KTM Komuter.

“Currently, there are 23 to 25 running train sets for KTM Komuter and the figure is expected to increase to 80 sets by 2012. We hope to reduce the Komuter headways to 7.5 minutes in 2012.”

Next year, Mohamad Nur said there would also be discounted fare rates by all operators for commuters who used Touch ’n Go cards.

He said drivers with outstanding summonses would be refused road tax renewals next year to reduce the number of vehicles on the road.

Muhamad Nur Ismal bin Mohamed Kamal
Special Transport Advisor
03-8886 6017
mnkamal@mot.gov.my
Fax No: 03-8889 1675

ERL Educational Depot Tour

2009-12-17T02:47:00.000-08:00

I went to KLIA Express Depot Tour with TRANSIT and the (KTM) Railway Fan Club on Wednesday 9 December 2009. The tour, which took about 2.5 hours, started from KL Sentral station to Express Rail Link depot at Salak Tinggi.

Thank you to all ERL Maintenance Support Sdn Bhd (E-MAS)'s staff for the interesting and informative tour. And many thanks to Moaz and TRANSIT for arranging the visit.

If you are interested in organising similar study visits, here is the contact for the ERL Marketing & Sales Management:

Ms Raihanah Busu Leman
Executive
Ekspress Rail Link Sdn Bhd
Level 2, KL City Air Terminal
KL Sentral Station
50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
(T): + 60 3 2267 8888
(Fax): + 60 3 2267 8918
E-mail: sales@KLIAekspress.com

A Japanese Perspective on Crowding: How Well Have the Japanese Adjusted to High Density?

2009-11-03T21:30:00.000-08:00

M. Homma
Psychologia, 1990, vol. 33, pp. 128-137

At the present time, Japan faces many problems related to crowding or high density; shortage of housing, limited space, traffic jams, and urban problems. However, a number of scholars working in different fields have suggested that the Japanese tolerate high density because they have developed coping strategies to deal with crowding. This paper will review these strategies and relate them to the multidensity model of crowding (Paulus, 1980). This model will be used to analyze Japanese adjustment to high density. It is concluded that the Japanese view crowding as a negative experience. The increasingly high levels of density and recent cultural or social changes have inhibited the effectiveness of various coping strategies. There is a need for definitive research on the extent to which the Japanese experience a variety of negative consequences due to crowding.

Commuting Stress?

2009-11-03T19:15:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, 4 March 2009
From QoWL Helper

Almost whenever we get to chat to representatives of a client organisation we can guarantee that the issues that will get the most moans and groans from everyone in the room are 'parking' or 'travelling to work'.

When examined across all our data sets parking and travelling to work seem to have little effect on the average experience of quality of working life. However when we look at individuals these issues can have a major impact.

In almost all of our surveys where people are able to comment in an open question, parking or commuting comments are in the top 10 most mentioned issues and if the overall impression is negative, people's comments often show they are hopping mad about it!

Why should people be particularly upset about such peripheral aspects of a job?

Well, there are a number of reasons, but the best explanation appears to be related to the idea first suggested by Herzberg that there are certain elements of job satisfaction called Hygiene factors where the minimum level you expect is for them to be good. Such Hygiene factors are usually to do with access to the basic resources you need to do your job. For an office worker this might be having the email system up and working, but even extends to whether you are allowed to make personal phone calls at work. Perhaps counter-intuitively having such factors at a better than average level does not seem to improve QoWL by very much, but having them at a less than average level seriously reduces QoWL!

In addition to building more car parks and improving the roads generally, there are many ways organisations and individuals attempt to overcome problems with Parking & Commuting.

Flexi-time is a time honoured method for staggering travel and parking times, quite often commuting just one hour later or earlier can make all the difference. Allowing staff to stagger their start and end times can also have good effects on general home-work interface issues as well, such as not having to rush to drop the kids off at the start of the day.

Car pooling or car sharing potentially helps both travel times and parking issues, but can be frustrating and cause a perceived loss of control if someone wants to leave early and the other person does not!

If you really cannot change anything practically it might be that thinking about the problem in a different way, perhaps by trying to see the advantages of the situation (e.g. Getting fit by having to walk the last half a mile to work). Tony Cassidy has talked about this and other psychological approaches to dealing with commuting-related stress.

Finally, one of the reasons people feel free to voice a negative opinion about issues such as parking or travelling to work is that they are a shared gripe, and they won't be embarrassed moaning about it even to the big boss.

Selected Research Articles
# Herzberg, F. (1966). Work and the Nature of Man. Cleveland: World Press. 4 (2) 15-21.

# Cassidy, T.(1992). Commuting-related Stress: Consequences and Implications. Employee Counselling Today. 4 (2) 15-21.

Possible Implications Of Daily Commute And Mosquito-borne Diseases

2009-11-03T19:12:00.000-08:00

ScienceDaily (Sep. 21, 2009) — University of Hawaii at Manoa assistant researcher Durrell Kapan recently published a paper in PLoS ONE highlighting how daily commuting patterns in mega-cities may be a critically overlooked factor in understanding the resurgence of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever, infecting 50-100 million people annually.

Even a small number of infected people who remain active can move a virus such as dengue between different parts of the community, where it will be picked up by mosquitos and, after an incubation period, be passed on to another unsuspecting passerby," says Kapan. "Our research examined whether the standard practice of eliminating mosquito vectors at residences would be sufficient to control dengue if other areas in the community still had several large patches of mosquitos that could become infected by commuters."

To undertake this study, Kapan teamed up with mathematician Ben Adams from the University of Bath (UK), with support of UH Mānoa's Pacific Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Center of Biomedical Research Excellence program, and as participating faculty in UH Mānoa's National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Research Traineeship (IGERT) in Ecology, Conservation and Pathogen Biology.

"Our primary objective with this paper is to prompt researchers, public health practitioners and others concerned with vector control to look beyond the traditional epidemiological definition of a transmission cluster based on home address, and consider novel ways to control community transmission of vector-borne diseases that account for great morbidity and mortality worldwide," says Kapan. "Even a short visit to an infected patch of mosquitos, say at a lunch venue or open market, may be enough to keep the virus circulating."

Adds Adams, "When someone gets infected we need to look at their recent travel patterns to figure out from which group of mosquitoes they got the disease, and to which groups they may have passed it on."

Kapan works on this and other transdisciplinary research focused on applied evolution, ecology and insect genomics at the Center for Conservation and Research Training (CCRT), a research and training arm of the UH Mānoa Pacific Biosciences Research Center.

Read the full paper here:
Ben Adams, Durrell D. Kapan. Man Bites Mosquito: Understanding the Contribution of Human Movement to Vector-Borne Disease Dynamics. PLoS ONE, 2009; 4(8): e6763 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0006763

Commuting stress and noise

2009-11-03T19:04:00.000-08:00

Source

Research shows that a large increase in background noise at a constant, steady level is experienced as less intrusive as time passes; although prolonged exposure produces lasting elevations in blood pressure.1 If the noise is not only loud, but also intermittent, then people remain conscious of their heightened irritability even after an extended period of adaptation; and their symptoms of central nervous system distress become more pronounced.1

In a laboratory, subjects exposed to a loud, intermittent, and unpredictable noise experience not only showed physiological symptoms of stress but also behavioural symptoms. These subjects became less persistent in their attempts to cope with frustrating tasks, and suffered measurable impairments in performing tasks requiring care and attention.1

In another ingenious experiment, the Psychologist David Glass and his collaborators exposed two groups of subjects to a recording of loud, unpredictable noises. And, whereas subjects in one group had no control over the recording, subjects in the other group could stop the tape at any time simply by flipping a switch. These subjects were told, however, that the researchers would prefer that they not stop the tape, and indeed most of them honoured this preference. Following exposure to the noise, subjects with access to the control switch made almost 60 percent fewer errors than the other subjects on a proofreading task, and made more than four times as many attempts to solve a difficult puzzle.1

Similarly, commuting though heavy traffic is in many ways very stressful, and much more like exposure to loud, unpredictable noises than to constant background noise. Delays are difficult to predict, virtually impossible to control, and one never quite gets used to being cut up by other drivers who believe that their time is more valuable than anyone else’s. Thus, a large amount of scientific literature documents the many stress symptoms that result from protracted driving through heavy traffic.

One theme in this body of knowledge focuses on the experiences of Bus drivers, whose exposure to the stresses of heavy traffic is higher than that of most other road users, but who have also had greater opportunities to adapt to those stresses. Compared to workers in other occupations, a disproportionate share of the absenteeism experienced by Bus drivers stems from stress-related illnesses such as gastrointestinal problems, headaches, and anxiety.2 Many studies have found sharply elevated rates of hypertension among city Bus drivers relative to a variety of control groups, including, in one instance, Bus drivers themselves during their pre-employment physical examinations.3,4 And, additional studies have found elevations of stress hormones such as Adrenaline, Noradrenalin, and Cortisol in town Bus drivers.4 One study even found elevations of Adrenaline and Noradrenalin to be strongly positively correlated with the density of the traffic with which the Bus drivers had to contend.5 And, more than half of all urban Bus drivers retire prematurely with some form of medical disability.6

Your daily commute through heavy traffic is presumably less stressful than operating a bus all day in a busy town. And probably much less stressful than meeting an attractive member of the opposite sex somewhere. Yet, there is no question that the differences are one of degree rather than kind. Studies have shown that the demands of commuting through heavy traffic often result in emotional and behavioural deficits on arrival at home or at work.7 Compared to drivers who commute through low-density traffic, those who commute through heavy traffic are more likely to report feelings of annoyance.8 And at higher levels of commuting distance, time, speed, and months of commuting are significantly positively correlated with increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure.8

This prolonged experience of commuting stress also suppresses immune function and shortens longevity.9,8 Even spells in traffic as brief as fifteen minutes have been linked to significant elevations of blood glucose and cholesterol, and to declines in blood coagulation time (all factors that are positively associated with heart disease). Commuting by car is also linked positively with the incidence of various cancers, especially cancer of the lung, although this is probably because of higher exposure to exhaust fumes.10 Among people who commute to work, the incidence of these and other illnesses rises with the length of commute,10 and is significantly lower amongst those who commute by bus or rail,11 and lower still amongst non-commuters.12

In conclusion, there appears to be persistent and significant costs associated with long commutes through heavy traffic. And we can also be confident that Neurophysiologists would find higher levels of Cortisol, Norepinephrine, Adrenaline, Noradrenalin, and other stress hormones in a seducer who is in a situation that they feel they have no control over. Of course, nobody has done the experiment to discover whether poorly skilled seducers would report lower levels of life satisfaction than the rest of the population. But, because we know that drivers often report being consciously aware of the frustration and stress they experience during commuting, it is a plausible conjecture that subjective well-being, as conventionally measured, would be lower in those seducers. However, even if the negative effects of stress never broke through into conscious awareness, we would still have powerful reasons for wishing to escape them.

References:

1. Glass, D.C., J. Singer & J. Pennebaker, ‘Behavioral and Psychological Effects of Uncontrollable Environmental Events’ (1977) in Perspectives on Environment and Behavior, ed. D. Stokols, New York: Plenum
2. Long, L. & J. Perry, ‘Economic and Occupational Causes of Transit Operator Absenteeism: A Review of Research’ (1985) Transport Review 5:247-267
3. Ragland, D.R., M. Winkleby, J. Schwalbe, B.L. Holman, L. Morse, L. Syme & J.M. Fisher, ‘Prevalence of Hypertension in Bus Drivers’ (1987) International Journal of Epidemiology, 16:208-214; Pikus, W.G. & W.A. Tarranikova, ‘The Frequency of Hypertensive Disease Among Drivers in Public Transportation’ (1975) Terapevischeskii Archives, 47:135-137
4. Evans, G.W., M.N. Palsane & S. Carrère, ‘Type A Behaviour and Occupational Stress: A Cross-cultural Study of Blue-collar Workers” (1987) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52:1002-1007
5. Evans, G.W. & S. Carrère, ‘Traffic Congestion, Perceived Control, and Psychophysiological Stress Among Urban Bus Drivers’ (1991) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76:658-663
6. Evans, G.W., ‘Working on the hot seat: Urban Bus Operators’ (1994) Accident Analysis and Prevention, 26:181-193
7. Glass, D.C., & J. Singer, ‘Urban Stressors: Experiments on Noise and Social Stressors’ (1972) New York: Academic Press; Sherrod, D.R., ‘Crowding, Perceived Control, and Behavioral Aftereffects’ (1974) Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 4:171-186
8. Stokols, D., R.W. Novaco, J. Stokols & J. Campbell, ‘Traffic congestion, Type A Behaviour, and Stress’ (1978) Journal of Applied Psychology, 63:467–480
9. DeLongis A., S. Folkman, R.S. Lazarus, ‘The impact of Daily Stress on Health and Mood: Psychological and Social Resources as Mediators’ (1988) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54:486-495
10. Koslowsky, M., A.N. Kluger & M. Reich, ‘Commuting Stress‘ (1995) New York: Plenum
11. Taylor, P.J. & S.J. Pocock, ‘Commuter Travel and Sickness Absence of London Office Workers’ (1972) British Journal of Preventive and Social Medicine, 26:165-172; Koslowsky, M. & M. Krausz, ‘On the Relationship Between Commuting, Stress Symptoms, and attitudinal Measures’ (1993) Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 29:485-492
12. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, ‘The Journey from Home to the Workplace: The Impact on the Safety and Health of the Commuters/Workers’ (1984) Dublin: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.

Effects to mediate crowding on train's physical structure.

2009-11-03T18:58:00.001-08:00

PO ENV 9: XXIII INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
Madrid, July 17-22, 1994
HOMMA, Michiko; Japan Women's University, Tokyo, Japan.

One of the urban environmental problem is various phenomena occured (or caused) by crowded congestion. In Tokyo, the problem is particularly serious in many aspects. Crowds on commuting trains in the morning and evening rush hours shows this phenomenon.

Recently, the new model train for commuters have been developed seats were fold up in the carriages to provide more room for the commuters during the rush hours to relieve the congestion and to carry as many passengers as possible. However, we suspected whether such a train is effective or not. Because some researchers indicated that the social structure in order mediate feel crowding. Then,it's physical structure is hinder to construct the ordering arrangement of person.

Therefore,on a hypothesis that this new system doesn't seem to help to increase physical density and rather increase the passengers stress and crowding, we conducted quasi-experiment on manipulating 2 independent variables on differences of density and the differences of type the train. Subjects for this study were commuting trains running Yamanote-Line and their perceived density,perceived crowding and heart rate were measured.

As the result, the hypothesis was substantiated. This experiment has proved that this new model carriages for passengers could be obstacle to its proceedings of social structure.

How to reduce stress while commuting

2009-11-03T18:45:00.000-08:00

Aug 20th, 2009

Do you get out of your car with a queasy stomach, a headache and your blood pressure registering through the roof? If you do, that energy vulture called stress may have sent your pulse skyrocketing. In a study conducted at the University of California at Irvine, researchers found that the stress of commuting takes a major toll on health. According to the study, it has direct physiological effects of raising blood pressure and releasing stress hormones into the body. Not only that, long commutes (more than 18 miles one way) may also increase the likelihood of having a heart attack due to exposure to high levels of air pollutants, which appears to be a risk factor for heart disease.

Although there is no antidote to stressful commuting, there are lots of ways to shoo off the energy vulture. Here is how to thrive while you drive.

1. Prepare in advance
One of the best ways to lessen the strain of road rage is to prepare everything the night before. Clothes, documents, attache cases, and even packed lunches should be set the day before to avoid the morning rush. With everything champing at the bit, you would save plenty of time to do your morning routines, devour a good breakfast and enjoy special moments with the family. Best of all, you can dash out the highway free of traffic congestion.

2. Sleep well and wake up early
A good night's sleep rejuvenates the body. Make it a habit to have enough sleep and to rise early. If you are already stressed out the day before, an incomplete repose takes over cumulative stress effects into your life at work and at home. Your frustration levels at work eventually rises, your brainpower falters, and your mood at home sours. You have no energy left for enjoying life.

3. Juggle your work hours
Why pack the freeways with all the other "9-to-5"-ers when you can try a ten-to-six or an eight-to-four shift? Depending on your company's work policy, try to check out other shifts that fit your lifestyle. Choose one that would help you get rid of energy-depleting stress and allow you to lighten your highway woes.

4. Share your ride
It may be a hassle to coordinate your arrival and departure with another person or two, but carpooling is worth it. Studies show that ridesharing lowers commuter stress significantly. With carpooling, there is less air and noise pollution, less traffic congestion, and you can relax more while someone else does the driving.

5. "Cocoon" in your car
Instead of getting worked up when traffic is at a standstill, utilize your time wisely. Listen to the radio or pop in some music tapes to take your mind off the stop-and-go driving and traffic tie-ups. If you like to read but just cannot have time to flip pages of a book, check out books on cassette. Many libraries have full-length books on tape as well as abridged versions. You can even learn a new language or do some car exercises like shoulder rolls, neck extensions and tummy tucks to help you stay awake and relax.

6. Pillow your back and squirm
When you are standing, the lumbar area of your spine (the lower portion) normally curves inward, toward your abdomen. However, when you are sitting, it tends to slump outward squeezing your spinal disks and putting stress on them. Sometimes, it helps to support your back by tucking a rolled towel or a pillow in that lumbar section. In cases of longer drives, since sitting in one position for longer than 15 minutes gradually stiffens you even with a back pillow, make necessary adjustments for a comfy ride. For instance, you can try putting most of your weight on one buttock and then the other. Then, shift the position of your seat or your buttocks slightly. You may even try sliding down in your seat and sit up again for fun.

7. Work out after work
Since the evening rush is worse than the morning rush because of the compounded fatigue from the workday, it is best to wait out the traffic. Work out at a gym near your office or take meditation classes to relieve your stress. If you plan to go to dinner, see a movie or go shopping, try to do these things near work, delaying your departure enough to miss the maddening rush.

8. Give yourself a break
It may be a good idea to give yourself some days off from work. Many companies today offer compressed working hours or longer working days to give way to work-free days for you to unwind.

9. Move your office
If your job is a long drive ahead every day, inquire at work if the company would allow you to work at home some days of the week or if you can work near your place. An alternative work schedule would make you feel less tense and in control thereby reducing stress.

10. Occasionally change your routine
An occasional change of commuting habits may be advisable too. Try walking or bicycling sometimes for a change. There is nothing like a good walk to ease tension especially when it means you do not have to get in your car and fight rush hour traffic.

By lessening the stress of getting to work, you are conserving enormous amounts of energy that may be lost over stressful commuting. It does not only leave you a lot more energy to do your job and become more productive but it also makes you feel good and gives you a good reason to always start your day right.

More commuting news

2009-11-03T01:16:00.000-08:00

Nine steps to dealing with commuter stress
Rebecca Smithers, consumer affairs correspondent
Friday 20 April 2007The Guardian

Whether gridlocked in traffic, crammed on to public transport in unbearable heat or forced to sit next to someone with poor hygiene, most of us have experienced downsides to our commute. But now a study has revealed the secrets to avoiding commuter hell.

The findings, presented yesterday by researchers from Nottingham Trent University at the 1st Applied Positive Psychology Conference in Warwick, found travellers used up to nine types of coping strategies to avoid becoming victims of commuting stress.

Effective methods included singing or talking to oneself, doing laptop work, reading, making plans for after work, and "oral gratification" - which includes chewing gum. Talking to other commuters, admiring attractive fellow travellers, and making journeys outside rush hour where possible were also popular.

In contrast, some methods which had little success included venting anger at other commuters, smoking, or drinking alcohol on public transport.

The study, Resilience and Positive Coping as Protection from Commuting-Related Stressors and Strain, was carried out by researchers Glenn Williams and Rowena Hill from the university's school of social sciences. It found those individuals with high levels of resilience to stress were most likely to have the inner-strength to master their commuting environment.

The study included a variety of transport modes - notably car, bus, train, tube, bicycle and foot. About 14% of those who took part were found to have low levels of tolerance and so using simple coping techniques was likely to have little effect.

Worst problems highlighted by commuters included insufficient room, loud music, delays, and personal odours. Others highlighted smelly foods, terror alerts, unreasonable employers, lack of facilities for people with disabilities, and being molested.

**************************************************************

Coping with the daily grind
By David Millward
Published: 12:01AM GMT 15 Feb 2006

The first nationwide study into the daily stress faced by commuters is being carried out by researchers at Nottingham Trent University.

The team, led by Glenn Williams, senior lecturer in psychology, is trying to ascertain how Britons cope with the daily grind of getting to and from work.

Official figures show that Britons are commuting longer distances than in the past, in many cases by road adding to congestion.

"Previous research has shown that commuting often brings about the same physical responses in us than if we were going into battle," said Dr Williams. "We want to see how commuting affects people's physical and emotional well being.

"Most importantly, we are interested in finding out the secrets to a relatively stress-free commute - is it found through going in your own car, walking or public transport?

"We want to capture the diversity of the nation's commuting experiences to provide the authoritative guide on what works to help commuters cope with the stress of getting to and from work."

The study will also take into account how Londoners' reaction to commuting has been chaged by the July tube bombings.

It is recognised that commuting can be stressful at the best of time, especially during the rush hour peaks when space on buses, trains and roads is at a premium.

It has even led to the the production of a beat travelling stress CD by Ashok Gupta, director of the Harley Street Stress Management Clinic.

Published and Launched

2009-10-27T23:02:00.000-07:00

GRIFFITHS, A., KNIGHT, A., & MOHD MAHUDIN, N.D. (2009). Ageing, Work-related Stress and Health: Reviewing the Evidence. London, UK: Help The Aged.

Launched at a seminar held at the Institute of Material, Minerals and Mining, 1 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5DB on 21 October 2009 (14:00 – 17:00).

Download the report here

For record

2009-10-12T22:42:00.000-07:00

National Summit On Urban Public Transport 2009
Theme: Integrating the Public Transport Network
Date: 15/10/2009 (Thursday)
Time: 08:00 - 17:00 p.m.
Venue: Prince Hotel & Residence Kuala Lumpur
Keynote Speaker: Y.B. Dato' Sri Ong Tee Keat, Minister of Transport
Organized by Asian Strategy & Leadership Incorporated Sdn Bhd (ASLI)
Website

Authors Workshop
Date: 04/08/2009 (Tuesday)
Time : 08:30 a.m. - 13:00 p.m.
Venue : Library Auditorium, Level 1, IIUM Library
Mr Amex Tan
Organized by IIUM Library with the collaboration of Emerald (Asia Pacific).
Emerald Literati Network

Briefing/Dialogue on LRT to Subang Jaya
Date : 25/07/2009 (Saturday)
Time : 16:00 -18:00 p.m.
Venue: 3K Multi-purpose Hall, 3K Sports Complex, Subang Jaya.
Co- organizers: SJRA, USJRA, BSRA, SJ Consumer Assn., Senior Citizen Club SJ, SJ Coffee Shop Assn., Persatuan Koir Song Ling,SJ
Initiated by : MCA Kelana Jaya
Speakers : Prasanara Group MD & Team
Wakil Rakyat YB Dato Seri Ong Tee Keat

Southeast Asia Psychology Conference (SEAP 2009)
Day: 09/07/2009 - 11/07/2009
Venue: Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Theme: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities in Southeast Asia
Jointly organized by the Psychology and Social Health Research Unit and School of Psychology and Social Work, Universiti Malaysia Sabah.

Workshop on How to Conduct Meta-analysis
Date: 17/06/2009 - 17/06/2009
Time: 09:00 a.m. - 05:00 p.m.
Venue: INSTED, IIUM
Professor Dr Mohamad Sahari Nordin
Organized by Centre For Professional Development

Seminar on Issues in Psychology No.1
Day: 18/05/2009 ( Monday)
Time: 12:00 - 13:00 p.m.
Venue: Psychology Seminar Room
Presenter: Nor Diana Mohd. Mahudin
Title: Quality of rail passenger experience: the effects of crowding on health, comfort & stress - a systematic review
Organized by Social Events Committee, Department of Psychology, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM)

Thank you to my RAs!

2009-10-08T17:55:00.000-07:00

To all these wonderful people:

Siti Rohaizu Ahmad Din
Nawwar Izyan Zulkifli
Mohd. Taufik bin Mohammad
Rabiatul Adawiyah Salleh
Nurzaihan Marzuki
Haniza Mat
Siti Fathimah Che Ani
Suharyati Mat Daud
Intan Sapura Aina Mohd Yusoff
Norwahida Che Abdul Halim
Siti Farhah Ahmad Sazali
Aliya Ahmed M. Yusuf Ahmed
Nuralyani Azlisyah
Munira Abdul Jalil
Mohd Fadzly Foji
Saidatul Akmar Abdul Rahim
Wan Husna Izzati Faharul Azmi
Anisah Zainab Musa
Mardiana Mohd Salleh
Reneilda Revisionery
Nurul Shazrina Muan
Rozita Karal
Nur Syarina Masri
Nabila Ain Ahmad
Nor Atekah Ismail
Nor Soufiah Mohd Musadik
Nur Hasinah Ahmad Akhir
Nurulhuda Ibrahim
Nurul Huda Mohamed Tahir
Aliya Nasruddin
Sharifah Aishah
Siti Zubaidah Mohamed
Saliza Samiran
Norwahidah Md Hata
Nur ’Aliah Amiruddin
Faatimah Salmyyah Raheem
Rozana Ahmad
Siti Rahmah Omar
Halimaatun Syakirah Omar
Hind Aldaw Nour
Aisyah Liyana Midine
Nurulhuda Md Hassan
Mohd Husaini Hussein
Shaera Iza Abdul Halim
Siti Fatimah Md Jaafar
Dayang Asma’ Munirah Awang Damit
Rahatul Asikin Mohd Tahir
Nur Elina Mohd Kamarudin
Nurul Maslizatul Ayu Ilies

I thank you for your support and keen interest in this research. Without your energy and assistance, this research simply could not do what it aims to accomplish. Your dedicated work have made the success of this research possible, and for this I am most grateful. May Allah SWT bless you always and grant you success for this marvelous contribution.

Stress takes toll on Moscow metro commuters

2009-10-08T17:49:00.000-07:00

Underground suicides expected to rise as more Russians lose their jobs
By Shaun Walker in Moscow
Friday, 27 March 2009

Problems at home, worried about losing your job in the economic crisis, or just feeling down? Russian medical experts have the answer – take the bus.

Travelling on Moscow's crowded metro system is provoking a wave of despair among commuters, psychologists in the city say.

About 150 people commit suicide on the metro each year and the figures are expected to rise as more Russians are laid off and confronted with money woes.

"The roar of the oncoming train compounds stress and people have the temptation to solve all their problems with one swift movement," psychotherapist Sergei Nazarov told the newspaper Novye Izvestia. He also said that using the metro for long periods each day could lead to panic attacks and a paranoid fear about being followed.

In neighbouring Ukraine, the authorities are also worried about the metro blues. Regular electricity shortages mean that often only half the lights in the metro are lit, and the Kiev operators are so worried about an increase in suicides that dramatic measures are being taken.

All the "No Exit" signs are to be removed, because of the negative moods they can induce in commuters, reports Novye Izvestia. And there are plans to re-record the on-train announcements that the doors are closing using a child's voice, to promote a happier atmosphere.

The Moscow metro, much of which was built during Stalin's reign, is one of the most efficient in the world. Many of the stations are stunningly opulent "people's palaces", built in a socialist realist style. Nevertheless, using the metro can be stressful because of overcrowding and poor air quality.

A metro spokesman, Dmitry Gaev, said the number of passengers each day has decreased by 200,000 over the past few months, probably as a result of recent job losses. But he added that about 9 million people still used the metro system every day, so the drop in passenger numbers was hardly noticeable.

Foreigners and Russians from the provinces who move to Moscow often complain about overcrowding on the metro. Considerations of personal space are put to one side as passengers rush to fill the cars before the doors close.

The tide of human traffic is such that the drivers often don't wait for everyone to board the train before shutting the doors, often leading to an undignified scrum.

Dizzyingly long escalators lead down to the stations, which are some of the deepest in the world. Many were built with the idea that they could function as shelters in the event of a nuclear attack. The air quality so far below street level is very poor – many of the ventilation shafts are positioned close to main roads, meaning that the air inside the metro stations is polluted.

The situation is even worse for metro workers, who clock up 12-hour shifts deep under the streets of the Russian capital.

In addition to the health risks of breathing in polluted air, they also suffer from the stress of being underground for so long. "Over time every single station employee or driver gets ill in some way or another," says Svetlana Razina, the leader of the Metro Workers' Union.

But for all the problems associated with the metro, Muscovites are sceptical about suggestions to use alternative forms of transport.

"Using the metro is really unpleasant," said Dmitry Sharapov, 29, who spends 45 minutes underground each morning and evening to get to and from work.

"But what's the alternative? Drive, or take the bus? It would take me twice as long and there would be just as much pollution. If it didn't lead me to suicide, it would probably lead me to murder."

****************************************

Trains run like clockwork but shoving babushkas drive you to point of insanity
By Shaun Walker in Moscow
Friday, 27 March 2009

As a seasoned traveller on both London's Tube and Moscow's metro, I find it difficult to say which one is worse.

Moscow has obvious advantages over London. The trains run like clockwork – a display records the time since the last train and it very rarely makes it to two minutes before the next one comes roaring into the station. In five years of living in the Russian capital, I can count the number of times I've been held inside a tunnel on the fingers of one hand. And the idea of whole lines experiencing "serious delays" for hours or days is unthinkable. Even when there were terrorist attacks on the metro in 2004, the affected stations were running as normal again the next day.

In a country where things so often don't work, it is a staggering model of efficiency. The unbroken human waterfall that comes cascading down the station escalators for hours on end is breathtaking. And some of the stations really are stunning – Revolution Square, with its life-size sculptures of Soviet archetypes, still leaves me speechless every time I pass through it. Komsomolskaya, with its ornate mosaics, chandeliers and gold trimming, is more Buckingham Palace than Green Park Tube.

On the other hand, the sheer level of pushing and shoving can drive you to the point of insanity. You soon realise that the worst offenders are the small but hardened babushkas, who can ruin your day with a carefully placed elbow to the kidney. Other hazards include unimaginably strong body odour, stray dogs, and ostensibly respectable businessmen who just happen to be necking four cans of 13 per cent watermelon-flavoured alcopops on their way to work at 8am.

Phase 3: The quality of rail passenger experience and its impacts on commuters' work and life survey is now closed.

2009-09-11T22:16:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to everyone who responded to our survey!

The survey has completed enrollment and the response has been very good. Only through such high response rates are we able to provide accurate analysis, interpretation, and feedback to the relevant organizations.

We will now get to work on the results, which we hope to share with you soon.

The honorarium will be mailed to your address which you have provided in the questionnaire or will be delivered to you by our enumerators/ research affiliates. Payment however, will be subject to correct completion of ALL sections in the questionnaire AND fulfillment of the 3 recruitment criteria.

You should receive your honorarium within 3-4 weeks. If for some reason you have not received your honorarium within this period of time, please contact us:

via e-mail at railpassenger0810(at)yahoo.co.uk or
call Diana at 0162876431, and we will resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

Thank you again for your kind assistance and Eid Mubarak to all!

The woman with no sense of personal space

2009-08-31T17:47:00.000-07:00

If I step aboard a crowded train and see that the only free space is a cramped mid-seat gap, sandwiched between two tired-looking commuters, and faced directly opposite by three further passengers squashed close under a detritus of newspapers and laptops, then I will invariably choose to stand. By seizing the free spot, the unavoidable encroachment into my personal space would soon spoil any comfort that might be derived from resting my legs.

A new study suggests my amygdala could be responsible for this aversion. This is the walnut-shaped brain structure, housed deep in the temporal lobe of each hemisphere, that's previously been associated with emotional processing, especially fear. In a new case report, Daniel Kennedy and colleagues have documented a woman, known in the clinical literature as S.M., who has damage to the amygdala on both sides of her brain, and who appears to have no sense of personal space.

When asked to indicate the interpersonal distance at which she felt most comfortable as a female experimenter walked towards her, S.M. chose a gap of 34cm - smaller than any of twenty control participants, whose average preferred distance was 64cm. Moreover, when asked to rate her comfort (from one, "perfectly comfortable", to ten, "extremely uncomfortable") when an experimenter stood in her face, nose-to-nose with direct eye contact, she scored the situation a "one". It was a similar story when an accomplice of the researchers stood unnaturally close to S.M. in a situation that she couldn't have known was part of the experiment. By contrast, the accomplice himself told researchers that he found his proximity to S.M. uncomfortable. S.M. does, however, understand the concept of personal space, and is aware that other people prefer more space than she needs.

Kennedy's team said their finding suggests the amygdala may be involved in the strong emotional reaction that underlies personal space violations. To support their case, they scanned the brains of healthy participants and tested what happened to amygdala activation when the participants were told that a researcher was standing nearer or further away from them in the scanning lab. Crucially, when the participants were told that the researcher was nearer to them, their amygdalae activation was increased.

An interesting question for future research is how a sense of personal space develops. "It is possible that the amygdala is necessary for learning the association between close distances and aversive outcomes," the researchers said, "rather than triggering innate emotional responses to close others."
_________________________________

Source:
Kennedy, D.P., Glascher, J., Tyszka, J.M., & Adolphs, R. (2009). Personal space regulation by the human amygdala. Nature Neuroscience : 10.1038/nn.2381

Further reading: A companion study published in the same issue of Nature Neuroscience and involving the same patient, S.M., suggests, contrary to prior research, that the amygdala is not needed for the rapid detection of fearful faces.

Why train designers should avoid three-seat rows

2009-08-26T19:35:00.000-07:00

Train companies should consider designing bigger carriages with pairs of seats only, and should avoid rows consisting of three seats. That's according to Gary Evans and Richard Wener whose new study demonstrates that it's not the overall number of people on a carriage that affects how cramped we feel, rather its the number of people in our immediate vicinity. That's why so many of the middle seats are left empty in three-seat rows.

One hundred and thirty-nine train commuters travelling from New Jersey to Manhattan, New York City were assessed after a typical journey into work. The researchers took two measures of crowding: overall carriage density, based on the total number of people on the carriage divided by the number of seats; and nearby density, based on the number of people in each participant's row, relative to the number of seats in that row.

Nearby density was found to have a significant impact on the participants' self-reported mood, concentration (based on a proof-reading task) and stress levels (measured via a cortisol swab). By contrast, overall crowding in the carriage wasn't significantly related to any of these factors.

As well as avoiding three-seat rows, the researchers advised public transport designers to include “territorial props” such as arm rests and small tables in between seats, to help prevent commuters feeling that their personal space is being infringed.
____________________________________
Source:
Evans, G.W. & Wener, R.E. (2007). Crowding and personal space invasion on the train: Please don't make me sit in the middle. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 27,90-94.

Emergencies inspire crowd cooperation, not panic

2009-08-26T19:29:00.000-07:00

Crowd plus emergency equals mass panic, or so urban myths and Hollywood films would have us believe. The reality, recognised by social psychology for some time, is that people in crowds often behave in remarkably cooperative and selfless ways. A new study by John Drury and colleagues suggests that this kind of collaborative behaviour emerges when people in a crowd acquire a shared identity. And contrary to the "mass panic" perspective, an emergency can be the very catalyst that brings people together.

If you've ever been on an underground train that gets stranded mid-tunnel, or on an aeroplane that's overstayed its welcome on a runway, you might have glimpsed a mild version of this feeling of a shared fate. With the temperature rising and information lacking, you and your fellow passengers stop feeling like strangers and start to feel united in your predicament.

Drury and his colleagues asked 21 survivors of mass emergencies about these feelings of unity and about how much helping behaviour and orderliness they'd witnessed. Between them, the participants had been caught up eleven emergency situations including the crush at Hillsborough, the Harrods bomb of 1983, and the over-crowding at the Fatboy Slim beach party in 2002.

Twelve of the disaster victims described feelings of unity among the crowd, whereas nine of them said it was more a case of everyone for themselves. In turn, the participants who said their crowd was united reported experiencing a sense of a shared fate; reported seeing and experiencing more examples of people helping others, including strangers; and they also reported more signs of orderliness such as queuing to escape.

"An aggregate of individuals becomes and acts as a psychological crowd when there is a cognitive redefinition of the self from a personal to a social identity," the researchers said. "...[W]e would suggest that in liberating us from the restrictions of individuality the psychological crowd is a crucial adaptive resource for survival in mass emergencies and disasters."

The authors did also caution that their study has a number of serious limitations. Other survivors, less willing to talk than the current participants, might have had a different story to tell. Also, we know that human memory is extremely unreliable at the best of times, and some of the events described here had happened over two decades earlier.
___________________________________
Source:
Drury, J., Cocking, C., & Reicher, S. (2009). Everyone for themselves? A comparative study of crowd solidarity among emergency survivors. British Journal of Social Psychology, 48 (3), 487-506 DOI: 10.1348/014466608X357893

Passenger Survey is ON!

2009-08-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

EPU Research Code: UPE : 40/200/19/2410
Third Phase: Passenger survey
Mode: Paper-and-pencil self-administered questionnaire.
Estimated time taken to complete: 30 minutes.

Recruiting participants NOW.

You are able to participate if:

You are currently employed in any companies or organizations (employed; self-employed; full-time, part-time, temporary etc), AND
You must commute to work at least 3 days per week using either the LRT (Kelana Jaya line or Ampang line) or KTM Komuter services (Sentul-Port Klang line or Rawang – Seremban line) AND have been using the respective rail line / route for at least 6 months.

As a token of our appreciation for participation in this study, upon receipt of the completed questionnaire, participants will receive RM20.00 each for their completed responses.

If you fit the criteria listed above and are interested in participating or if you know someone who might be, please send me an e-mail at railpassenger0810(at)yahoo.co.uk.

Collection of the questionnaire sets- to RAs / Enumerators

2009-08-18T08:02:00.000-07:00

Collections were done on the following days / dates from Department of Psychology, KIRKHS, Level 1, Human Sciences Building, IIUM:

Tuesday, August 11th 2009:
10:30 am - 1:00 pm OR 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm.

Wednesday, August 12th 2009:
10:30 am - 1:00 pm OR 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm.

Thursday, August 13th 2009:
10:30 am - 1:00 pm OR 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm.

RAs / Enumerators Briefing and Training Sessions

2009-08-18T07:40:00.000-07:00

Session 1:
Monday, August 3rd 2009: 12:30 - 1:30 pm at Computer Lab, Department of Psychology, Level 1, Human Sciences Building.

Session 2:
Wednesday, August 5th 2009: 12:30 - 1:30 pm at Computer Lab, Department of Psychology, Level 1, Human Sciences Building.

Session 3:
Wednesday, August 5th 2009: 2:30 - 4:00 pm at at Computer Lab, Department of Psychology, Level 1, Human Sciences Building.

Session 4:
Thursday, August 6th 2009: 10:00 am - 1:00 pm at Testing Lab, Department of Psychology, Level 1, Human Sciences Building.

Many thanks to all who attended the briefing. All attendees received a copy of the questionnaire administration protocol.

Key Result Areas (KRAs) On Public Transport

2009-07-27T17:53:00.000-07:00

Key Result Areas (KRAs) on public transport as announced by the Prime Minister of Malaysia: Source: The Star

The Kelana Jaya LRT line is to get 35 new four-car train sets by 2012 as part of the Government's efforts to increase public transport usage to 25% from the present 16%.

Minister in charged of meeting the targets: Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat for improving public transport in a moderate period of time.

For the upgrading of public transportation, Najib announced that the Kelana Jaya LRT line would get an additional 35 sets of “4-car” trains to boost the use of public transport among those residing in the Klang Valley.

He said that according to Transport Ministry’s statistics, only 16% of the people use public transport and the Government aims to increase this to 25% by the end of 2012.

“We realise that to achieve this target would require large, sustainable and long-term investment.

“As Malaysia moves forward to achieve a developed nation status, the Government intends to provide the rakyat (people) with a comprehensive public transport system. To achieve this, we need to embark on a serious and long-term effort,” he said.

In response to this KRA, below are the key performance indicators as suggested by The Association For The Improvement Of Mass Transit (TRANSIT).
Reproduced from TRANSIT.my

The announcement made by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak for the Key Result area for public transport appears to focus on a single performance indicator, the implementation of 4-carriage LRT trains on the Kelana Jaya line by 2012.

TRANSIT sees this as unacceptable since it only looks at a fraction of the available and important and necessary changes that need to be done for public transport in this country.

By limiting public transport to one easily achievable performance indicator – the 4-carriage LRT trains – Najib has set the bar very, very low on improvements to public transport.

For the record, TRANSIT knows that as many as 5 of the 4-carriage trains have already been constructed and fitted out and at least 2 of these trains have undergone testing at the Lembah Subang depot.

How about implementing some real challenges for public transport?

TRANSIT would like to suggest a few other performance indicators that should be introduced along with the 4-carriage LRT trains, such as:

Governance (to complete before the end of 2010)

Fully convert the CVLB into the National Public Land Transport Commission, with hiring of additional personell including enforcement officers by the end of 2010;
Create a Local Transport Authority for the Klang Valley (KUTA) under the authority of the Federal Territories Ministry to handle the planning of public transport in the Klang Valley, by the end of 2010.
Create Local Transport Authorities in the Kinta Valley, Northern Corridor Economic Region and Iskandar Development Regionlso by the end of 2010;
Create Transport Councils (comprising the 4-stakeholder groups) in all areas identified above by the end of 2010;
Call for the elimination of the plainly illegal ‘pajak’ system by the end of 2010.

Enforcement (to complete by the end of 2011)

By the end of 2011, hire 400-500 enforcement officers for the National Public Transport Council, who will specifically concentrate on public transport issues;
By the end of 2011, hire at least 200 enforcement officers for the Klang Valley Local Transport Authority and at least 100 enforcement officers for all of the other Local Transport Authorities named above;
Authorize Public Transport Enforcement Officers and Local Council Enforcement officers to have overlapping enforcement authority to increase the number of active enforcement officers;
By the end of 2011, eforce the legislation to eliminate use of the plainly illegal ‘pajak’ system to the level that pajak use is reduced by more than 75% in Peninsular Malaysia.

Infrastructure and Rolling Stock (by the end of 2012-2016)

Universal Design & Accessibility

By the end of 2014, ensure that all stations on the KTM, LRT and monorail lines as well as all intercity bus hubs are accessible and refitted according to Universal Design Principles;
By the end of 2015, ensure that 75% of the urban buses in Malaysia are accessible and that all urban bus routes have accessible buses included in the fleet;
By the end of 2016, ensure that all pavements around LRT stations, intercity bus hubs (to a radius of1km) and bus stops (to a radius of 250m).

LRT/MRT Expansion

By 2012, convert the Kelana Jaya line to 4-carriage operations during all operations hours;
By 2013, construct and complete the extension of the Kelana Jaya line to Putra Heights;
By 2013, construct and complete the extension of the Ampang LRT line from Sri Petaling to Jalan Puchong and Petaling Jaya south (KTM lines);
By 2014, construct and complete a monorail line from Tun Sambanthan monorail station to MidValley and Bandar Sunway, following the Klang River, Old Klang Road, and Jalan Puchong;
By 2014-2015, construct and complete the extension of the Kelana Jaya line from Kelana Jaya to Shah Alam Stadium;
By 2014-2015, Construct and complete the extension of the Ampang LRT line from Sentul Timur to Jalan Kuching or Kepong Sentral;
By 2016, complete the central portion of the Sg. Buloh-Petaling Jaya-Kuala Lumpur-Cheras line from Pusat Bandar Damansara to Taman Connaught;
By 2016, begin construction on the suburban portions of the Sg. Buloh-Petaling Jaya-Kuala Lumpur-Cheras line from Sg. Buloh to Pusat Bandar Damansara and Taman Connaught to Plaza Phoenix;
By 2016, begin construction on the Kelana Jaya line, to expand the central core stations (from Universiti to Wangsa Maju) to cater to 8-carriage trains;
By 2016, begin construction on a line linking Kepong Sentral to Petaling Jaya south, through Taman Tun Dr. Ismail and Bandar Sri Damansara.

KTM Railway/Komuter Expansion

By 2012-2013, operate a KL-Butterworth Fast Train service;
By 2013, begin the construction of a KTM Komuter Utara service for the Northern Corridor Economic Region, from Taiping in Perak to Alor Setar & Sg. Petani in Kedah;
By 2014, begin the construction of a KTM Komuter Selatan service for the Iskandar Development Region, from Muar to Johor Baru;
By 2016, begin the construction of a KTM Komuter Timur service for the East Coast Economic Region, from Kuala Terrengangu to Kuantan;
By 2016, extend the KTM Komuter service from Seremban to Senewang and Port Dickson in the south, and from Batu Caves to Selayang in the north.

Integrated Transport Terminals

By 2015, construct fully-integrated multimodal public transport terminals at Sg. Buloh (serving the north), Gombak (serving the east), and Shah Alam stadium (serving the Klang Valley and Subang Airport);
These Integrated Transport Terminals should integrate at least 3-4 modes of public transport including at least 2 rapid-transit services, (such as KTM+LRT+Intercity Bus+ Taxi or KTM+LRT+Bus+Taxi+Intercity Bus)

Rolling Stock

By 2012, order 120 units of the 3-carriages Electric Multiple Unit trains (80 units of the 4-carriage Electric Multiple Unit trains) for use on the KTM Komuter service in the Klang Valley;
By 2013, order 20 more units of the 6-carriage Electric Multiple Unit trains for use on the KL-Ipoh and KL-Butterworth Fast Train Service;
By 2014, place an order for 20-30 additional 4-carriage trains for service expansion (to 8-carriage trains) on the Kelana Jaya line;
By 2016, order new trains for the KTM Komuter services in the NCER, ECER and IDR to replace original stock trains;

The list of performance indicators for public transport that we have posted above is a basic list that focuses only on the extension and expansion of rapid transit services that exist today.

The list may seem overwhelming and impossible at first glance but the truth is that everything on the list is achievable in the timelines given – with a political and financial committment from all levels of government and all stakeholder groups.

We have not even considered new services such as bus rapid transit or monorail in other communities, nor have we included the lines proposed in the KL City 2020 Draft Local plan.

We have also not considered basic improvements to bus operations and customer service. These are our rights as customers and should go without saying.

Public Transport and H1N1

2009-07-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

In the era where infectious illnesses and diseases are widespread, public transportation systems need to provide a safe and healthy environment for both passengers and workers. Gershon and colleagues (2005) carried out a structured review of scientific and grey literatures on subway safety from either the mass transit or passenger perspective. These literatures were sought out from Medline, Ovid, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Review, HealthStar, and CINAHL. They found that apart from general safety (e.g., injuries), violence, and noise (which are the major hazards potentially associated with subways), another major concern relates to the widespread of illnesses and diseases. Here is an excerpt of this article on this issue:

"Another potential health hazard related to subways is the transmission of infectious diseases communicable through close person-to-person spread, or indirectly, through contact with a contaminated fomite (inanimate object). Although it is not inconceivable that both respiratory and gastrointestinal pathogens could be spread this way, this has not been documented. Similarly, transmission of various diseases of the skin and hair [e.g., tinea capitis, ringworm of the scalp, and head and body lice (Pediculus humanus)] may also occur, either through direct contact with infected persons, or indirectly through contact with contaminated objects (e.g., seat backs, clothing). Again, this has been not documented to occur. Because rats may be a problem in some subway systems, it is important to consider diseases that may be spread by these rodents. In particular, Streptobacillus moniformis (rat bite fever), although uncommon in North and South America and most European nations, is a concern because it can be readily spread from infected rats to human through rat bites, which have been anecdotally reported to occur on subways.

Prevention of disease transmission includes maintenance of ventilation systems to lessen the likelihood of respiratory transmission of diseases and adequate sanitation of the system, including periodic disinfection of subway surfaces for other types of pathogens.

At the individual level, hand hygiene is important, including hand washing after leaving the subway and being careful to keep hands away from eyes and mouth during the trip. Control of rats is essential.

Source:
R. R. M. Gershon, K. A. Qureshi, M. A. Barrera, M. J. Erwin, and F. Goldsmith (2005). Health and Safety Hazards Associated with Subways: A Review. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, Vol. 82, No. 1: p.17.

Influenza A (H1N1): Guidelines for the public transport industry
Source: Ministry of Health Malaysia

A pandemic influenza a virus (H1N1) is a newly discovered strain of the influenza virus which has infected humans in many countries around the world. The virus is constantly spreading and it is imperative that measures are taken to control this spread among the people. The public transport industry deals with the movement of large numbers of people on a daily basis and measures have to be taken to ensure that the spread of the virus is kept in check.

On Board Measures

Where possible announcement to be made on board (train and bus) for passengers with the symptoms of influenza A (H1N1) to identify themselves.
Transport operators, conductors or drivers of public transport should be vigilant and take necessary precautionary measures if there are passengers displaying symptoms such as high fever, headache, coughing and difficulty in breathing.
Passengers identified as suspects are to be given appropriate protective masks and they should be isolated at the rear section of the bus allowing two rows of seats vacant in front and at the back.
Toilets should be cleaned regularly and adequate soap and tissues should be provided for the use of such passengers at all times.
Suspects should be advised to seek medical treatment.
Adequate signages should be present to inform passengers regarding precautionary measures.

Maintain good ventilation in vehicles

Open the windows whenever possible to ensure good ventilation.
For closed vehicle compartments, clean the air-conditioning system frequently to maintain a clean environment.

Keep Vehicle Compartments Clean

Make waste bins available for passengers’ use.
Wash/wipe vehicle compartments (surfaces, door handles, railings) with diluted sodium hypochlorite (mixing 1 part of sodium hypochlorite with 99 parts of water) regularly.
Make tissue paper available for passengers’ use when necessary.
Make vomit bags available for passengers' use.
If vehicle compartments are contaminated with vomitus or other body fluids, wash or wipe with diluted sodium hypochlorite (mixing 1 part of sodium hypochlorite with 49 parts of water) immediately.
Persons doing the disinfection of the vehicle should wear mask, disposable apron and glove.
Hygienic practices like washing of hands with water and soap or alcohol-based hand sanitizes after removal of the gloves should be practiced.
All protective equipment are to be disposed off with due care.

Advice to Passengers:

Observe personal hygiene.
Wash hands with soap and water
Avoid touching eyes and nose
Cover the nose and mouth with handkerchief or tissue paper when sneezing or coughing.
Dispose of used tissue paper appropriately.
Use a vomit bags to hold vomitus and dispose of it properly.
Consult a doctor promptly if they develop symptoms of respiratory tract infection.
Passengers with respiratory symptoms are advised to wear masks to reduce the chance of spread of the infection.

Advise to Drivers and Conductors

To observe personal hygiene.
Wash hands before and after work
Don’t rub eyes or nose
Do self temperature monitoring before and after work shift.
Inform management if he develops fever and other symptoms of Influnza A (H1N1)

Commuting Really is Bad for Your Health

2009-07-22T00:45:00.000-07:00

Source:

2004-11-01

UK Commuters Suffer from 'Commuter Amnesia' and Higher Stress Levels than Combat Pilots and Riot Police

LONDON, 30 November, 2004 ; New research* shows that even short journeys induce higher stress levels than those experienced by fighter pilots going into combat and police officers facing rioting mobs, confirming what millions of commuters already suspected; commuting really is bad for your health. The stress levels of volunteer commuters taking part in the study conducted on behalf of Hewlett Packard, rose drastically with their heart rate and blood pressure rising rapidly as they battled to and from work on packed trains and buses.

As part of the study, commission by HP to understand the extent to which commuting may prove harmful to your health, volunteer commuters were transformed into 'bionic' travellers. Electrodes attached to commuters scalps and chests revealed that the pressure and fatigue of even a short commute can result in the 'mind temporarily switching off'. This a phenomenon known as 'Commuter Amnesia' which is a psychological defence and in this case it was triggered against the discomfort and stress of their journeys.

''This is time lost out of their lives,'' explains psychologist Dr David Lewis who analysed the study's findings. ''Since many people spend at least a working day each week travelling to and from their jobs, it means over a working lifetime commuters could be obliterating some three years of their lives! People suffering from even small levels of stress and discomfort during their journey will experience Commuter Amnesia and unless something remarkable occurs they will remember absolutely nothing about their journey.''

Findings from a wider independent study of 800 UK commuters revealed that sixty per cent of commuters do not find commuting a relaxed, punctual or pleasant experience. Instead it is typically regarded as an 'ordeal' that varies from being sometimes stressful to an exhausting, highly stressful 'nightmare'. According to the research, the longer the journey the more stressful it tends to be, which is not good news for the majority of UK workers who travel for more than 45 minutes to and from work each day. The daily commute also has an effect on how we do our jobs with over two-third of commuters admitting that they couldn't do their jobs properly due to the effects of commuting - even when their journeys had been trouble free.

Graham Long, Small-Medium Business Director, HP UK & Ireland commented, ''These findings send out a very clear message; it is time for us all to reconsider the costs and benefits of the traditional 9 to 5 office-bound working day. We know that businesses who adopt smarter, more flexible working practices reap the benefits in terms of a more mobilised, productive and motivated workforce. The current mindset of employers has made a culture of 'presenteeism' prevalent in the UK. Bosses have to stop thinking that if someone is at their desk they are working and are skiving if they are working elsewhere. The tools, technology and support needed to make businesses and their employees more flexible exist; it will now take a leap of faith from employees who are willing and able to make it happen. This leap is something that HP, as one of the worlds leading innovator and developer of mobile technology, has already taken and benefited from in the UK.''

Digby Jones, Director General, CBI, commented, "This timely HP survey confirms the very real effects of poor transport infrastructure on peoples' everyday lives. Imagine the loss to the economy if two thirds of all commuters are unable to do their jobs properly because of the stresses and strains associated with simply getting to work.

Urgent delivery of an improved transport system must become a UK government priority. Employers also need to explore the many new and creative ways of helping their staff get the job done".

To speak to HP, Dr David Lewis or one of the Bionic Travellers who took part in the study, or to request photography please call Kerry Gaffney on 020 7853 2248 or Caroline Titmuss 020 7853 2278. Out of ours please contact Kerry on 07720 277169.

Bionic Travellers
Three measures of physical and mental changes during commuting were taken. Increases in blood pressure suggest rising levels of physical tension as does an increase in heart rate. The final measurements were taken of brain activity; high levels of Beta Waves coupled with a decline in Alpha Waves can indicate anxiety, apprehension and stress. Notes were also made of which side of the brain registered the most activity.

Paul, 30, Marketing
Paul's journey from his home in South London to his office near Paddington takes over an hour and involves a bus journey and three different, crowded tubes lines. Unable to sit for most of his journey, Paul spends most his time crushed together with other passengers. The tests found that his blood pressure rose significantly on both his journeys with his heart rate peaking at around 145 beats per minute. Paul said, 'I really do dislike commuting, I find it incredibly stressful and it makes me tense. Once I reach the office all I can think about it having a cup of coffee and trying to relax before starting my day properly'.

Anna, 31, Publishing
Anna undertakes a similar journey from South London to Leicester Square, her journey also takes an hour on a good day when there are no delays. Anna's blood pressure rose sharply on her daily journey and her brain wave pattern showed she almost totally switched off her decision making process whilst she travelled to work. Anna commented 'I never realised quite how much I go into a world of my own when travelling on the tube. That explains why I sometimes find it difficult to get going when I first get to the office, especially when it has been a difficult journey.

*Research was carried out for Hewlett Packard by Dr David Lewis Consultancy. The survey comprised 800 telephone interviews amongst UK Workers who travel to their place of work on a regular basis. The research was conducted during October 2004.

The 2007/08 Rail Evidence and Research Strategy

2009-07-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

Source:

The 2007/08 Rail Evidence and Research Strategy updates the strategy first published in August 2006. During the last year a Rail Technical Strategy has emerged through constructive dialogue between the rail industry and Government. This is helping to provide a vision for the railways in the UK over the next 30 years. The vision is for an affordable, safe and secure railway with enhanced environmental performance and increased capacity to respond to demand growth and customers’ needs. Research and evidence collection activities are starting to respond to these challenges:

On the environment, research projects are underway to develop on-train energy metering that will provide incentives to save energy and to investigate alternative fuels such as biodiesel. Regenerative breaking and hybrid trains also offer the potential to save energy. Collaborative research is underway to quantify the benefits of these approaches. The UK (through RSSB) has also led a bid for European funding on low impact trains which, if successful, will save energy and reduce wear and tear on the track. Research is also starting to quantify the impact of climate change on the railways.

On affordability, modelling work is helping to quantify the benefits of different investment options and is providing the evidence needed to inform the High Level Output Specification and long term policy. Research projects are looking at the value of environmental improvements (CO2, noise and particulates) and linking road and rail models.

On capacity, research is seeking to understand crowding better, to consider the health and safety aspects of overcrowding and to establish the limits of the current infrastructure. The value to the economy of being able to work on trains is also being evaluated.

On safety, a wide range of projects is underway including research to investigate how to improve the safety of level crossings and the development of practical tools for measuring and managing safety. On security, best practice on managing football fans is being studied.

On meeting customers' needs, evidence on customer satisfaction is gathered annually from passengers through the National Passenger Survey. Research is also investigating options for smart ticketing, learning from technology being developed in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.

Emerging research needs include:

Satellite positioning on trains
Benchmarking (against other countries as well as other industries)
Capacity limits
The impact of climate change
Lighter weight trains
Noise & air quality
The value of station improvements
Passenger's willingness to pay for reductions in crowding & journey time
Trains monitoring track routinely
End to end journey management
Improved accessibility
Assessment of test facilities
Novel energy (hydrogen, batteries)
Advisory speed to reduce congestion and save energy
Cost-effective anti-terrorism measures
Strategic freight routes

PDFC research priorities for 2007/08 and beyond

Capacity and Crowding

A complete overhaul of current crowding advice, reflecting design of rolling stock interiors, how crowding impacts on individual customer segments and their travel experience and ideal use of time. Reviewing the link between fare and crowding as a modelling approach and considering whether a simpler non-interactive approach can be used.

Flexibility, Price & Crowding

To look at how customers value flexibility, price and avoidance of busy services when selecting restricted, non-restricted and advance purchase tickets, and how this would relate to yield management strategies.

Evolution of Rail Demand Drivers

To look at how the relationship with external demand drivers is changing, including changing lifestyle and working practices, demographic factors and awareness of environmental issues, and how these changes will impact on future rail demand.

Regional Studies of Elasticities and Relationships with Demand Drivers

To undertake a series of case studies in towns and cities around the country and develop an understanding of how factors driving demand differ geographically.

New Services/Stations

To review advice on modelling potential demand for new stations and train services and services that have received major upgrades.

Demand Profiles

Research current demand profiles and journey factors to provide alternatives to the outdated profiles used by ORCATS and for season ticket suspense.