More on commuting in the news

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

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Why commuting could be making you fat

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)

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PsyPAG 2010

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.

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LIST OF SOME TRANSPORTATION JOURNALS

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

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Transport News- Malaysia

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

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Psychological distance

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

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11th Annual Graduate Conference, LSE

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

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

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.




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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

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