One of the stated objectives of various international development organizations is “to reduce poverty through sustainable economic development.” Therefore, the question is how can transport systems best contribute to poverty alleviation? There are no direct and easy answers for this question. There are considerable changes in the transport system operations in the West Bank during the years of the Intifadah and due to the Israeli Occupation Authorities (IOA) measures on the road network. So it is important to study the impact of the current transportation system on poverty and standards of living. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the impact of current conditions of the transport system on the socio-economic aspects of the Palestinian life, particularly poverty and quality of life (in terms of transport accessibility, expenditures on transport, travel time and cost, affordability of public transportation, and access to markets and employment). The methodology of this research is based (a) reviewing related studies at the local and international levels, (b) surveying related existing conditions (related transport and socio-economic indicators), and (c) field surveying of transport and living conditions of selected communities. Nablus City was taken as a case study in this project. The main findings of this project are: 1. West Bank is facing great numbers of IOA measures, which had a devastating impact on the life of Palestinian people (economic, social, service, and other sectors). 2. Travel time and cost increase in the West Bank are results of closures and checkpoints, which have lead to income decrease and high levels of poverty rates in the Palestinian society. 3. Economic and social issues of the Palestinians have greatly been affected by these measures. 4. Poverty rates have sharply increased during the years of the Intifadah due to multidimensional reasons of unemployment, income decrease, and inaccessibility to work opportunities. 5. The field survey analysis indicates an increase in travel time and cost, decrease in income, change in home style, increase in transport expenditure, and difficulties in access to hospitals, educational institutions and general services. All were results of the closures regimes imposed by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). 6. Drivers were also affected by the imposed measures. Less daily trips were made, income has decreased, vehicle maintenance frequency and cost has increased, and travel routes have constantly been changed to pass by the IOF road blocks and closures. 7. The Separation Wall has destructive effects on Palestinian life; isolating communities of each other, inaccessibility to work places, and access difficulties to social and service sites. Based on these results, it is recommended to continuously consider these closures in negotiating with the Israelis. The Palestinian Authority should continue working hard to remove Israeli checkpoints. Furthermore, the Palestinian Authority should establish measures to counter these effects on Palestinians. The Palestinian Ministry of Transport should also consider supporting the transport sector and re-establishing public transport fares to make the public transport more affordable. Nablus City was hardly hit by these closures. Therefore, every effort should be made at the official level to encourage investment in the city to strengthen its economy and reduce these effects.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Utilization of Olive Husk as a Replacement of Fine Aggregate in Portland cement Concrete Mixes for Non-Structural Uses
This research aims at partially solving the environmental problem of olive oil wastes (husk & ash) by utilizing this waste in non-structural concrete mixes. On the other hand, this research aims at studying the effects of using olive oil wastes (husk & ash) on the physical properties of Portland cement concrete. To achieve the purpose of this thesis, the following methodology will emphasize and express the physical characteristics of Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) when olive oil waste (Husk) and Burned Husk (Ash) are used in the production of lightweight concrete, the following tests were done: sieve Analysis and specific gravity for coarse aggregate, fine aggregate, olive husk, olive ash. Different percentage replacements of olive husk or ash were used (0, 25, 50, 75, 100) % for concrete grades (PCC150, PCC200, PCC250, PCC300, PCC450), for each grade four samples for each proportion were done to test slump, density and compressive strength. In addition, three samples were prepared for testing absorption, abrasion, noise insulation, and thermal insulation. Results for all percentage replacements of olive husk and ash for all grades were ranging from (23-29) mm for slump. For olive husk and ash (density & compressive strength) are decreased as percentage replacement increases. For water absorption, as percentage replacement by olive husk and olive ash decrease, water absorption increases. For abrasion test, losses in weight due to abrasion increase as a percent replacement of olive husk or ash increases. For noise insulation, sound reduction increases as the percentage replacement of olive husk or ash increases. For thermal insulation, it increases as percent replacement of olive husk increases; however, it decreases as percent replacement of olive ash increases.
Utilization of Waste Tires in the Production of Non-Structural Portland Cement Concrete
This thesis, generally, aims to explore the potential utilization of waste crumb tires in various Portland Cement Concrete categories for the production of non-structural Portland cement concrete to study the structural behavior of concrete, and to help partially solving environmental problem produced from disposing waste tires. Raw materials of coarse and fine aggregate used in this thesis were tested, fine aggregate (sand) was replaced using volumetric method by waste crumb tires with 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% replacements for the various PCC categories of B-150, 200, 250, 300, and B-450 kg/cm2. Several tests were made on fresh and hardened concrete, like compressive strength, slump, water absorption, density, modulus of elasticity, noise and thermal insulation tests, and abrasion resistance, Compressive strength, density, and modulus of elasticity decreased as the percent replacement by waste crumb tires increased; water absorption initially decreased and started to increase after an increasing in the percent of replacement, slump showed no significant change. Abrasion resistance, noise and thermal insulation increased as the percent replacement increased. Finally it is recommended to use waste crumb tires for non-structural Portland cement concrete, such as floor rips, partitions, back stone concrete, concrete blocks, and other non-structural uses.
Modeling Pedestrian Behavior on Pedestrian Crosswalks
Ever since the revitalization of the central city area has become an urgent issue, especially for the countries where motorization accelerates the urban sprawl and the center of the city, there has been a tendency to emphasize the importance of studying the walking behavior and environment of pedestrians. Insight into walking behavior is essential for theory and model development describing the behavior of pedestrians on pedestrian crosswalks. In turn, combined models (Birth-Death process) can be used to test and compare different infrastructure designs, both from the perspective of efficiency and safety. To calibrate these models, simple data is required such as pedestrian arrival rate and pedestrian departure rate. This thesis deals with an approach to estimate the actual green time for pedestrian signal. The objective relates to the management of the pedestrians crosswalks to enhance utilization of traffic signals, which is considered one of the main issues facing transportation system especially inside the congested cities. A mathematical model was made to describe the behavior of pedestrians at and during the crossing of the roadway at signalized crosswalks. The queuing theory was utilized to model this process. The proposed model was derived and developed for CBD areas based on actual field measurements of key parameters at crosswalks in the urban area of Nablus-Palestine. The model was tested and calibrated on other locations in the city and the CBD area of the city of Ramallah and showed that it can be applied with significant efficiency which eventually will be reflected in the design of pedestrian signal.
The Impact of Ministry of Transport Policies on Public Transportation in Palestine
The evaluation of the Ministry of Transport (MOT) policies regarding public transport sector and studying the impacts of these polices is an important issue. The public transport sector in the Palestinian Territories suffered in general from deregulation and the absent of enforcement on the ground in many aspects. The number of permits granted for shared-taxis was more than enough. The public transport operators charged about 50% of fares identified by the MOT. The local bus companies did not apply the conditions of the exclusive rights they have. As a result, it was necessary to conduct a study that concerns with the evaluation of the impacts of these policies and to provide the proper tools and recommendations for the MOT to help them in regulating this vital sector. The main issues that were analyzed are: the current number of operating shared-taxis operating and the number of issued permits, the public transport fares equation and its components, and the exclusive rights awarded for bus companies and the related conditions. The study area was Nablus Governorate. Thirty three external shared-taxis routes, which link Nablus city with the surrounding villages and towns were studied. The related data needed was calculated based on the MOT, Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), and field survey. The main results of this study were: 1. A mathematical single equation linear model for calculating the number of shared-taxis on a certain route based on demand. The statistical analysis of the model was run using LimDep version 7.0 software. The exogenous (independent variables) in the model were; private cars, distance, number of services establishments, and employment. 2. The large number of shared-taxis permits granted by the MOT was analyzed. The MOT justified that the large number of permits was due to the hard economic conditions during the second Intifadah and the increase of the unemployment rate. However, the study recommended that the number of permits resumed should be based on the real demand and need. 3. The public transport service applied by the local bus companies is also studied and analyzed in this research. The results show that this service is not satisfactory. In general, the bus operators did not apply the exclusive rights conditions, the fleet in general is old, the quality of service is partially satisfactory, no clear schedule and frequency, etc. It is recommended that the MOT should regulate and ensure that bus companies apply the conditions in the exclusive rights. Therefore, MOT should warn the violating companies and re-tender the exclusive rights of the violators for competition. 4. Finally, public transport fare is another issue, which is stated and analyzed in this study. In general, the MOT fare formula is considered good. However, the fuel prices, maintenance costs, driver wages, average monthly earnings, and the cost of [rice index, should be taken into account on the annual increase or while reviewing the public transport fares. The study output (recommendations) is not considered worthy unless the related official bodies adopt it and follow the international procedures in regulating and organizing this vital sector (the public transport sector).
GIS as a Tool for Route Location and Highway Alignment
Selecting best route location and highway alignment process is a complicated one, due to the many variables that must be taken into consideration for achieving the best results. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can easily model such variables, including topography, environment, built-up areas, and geology variables. This study took advantages of GIS capabilities that offer the ability to overlay maps, merge them, and perform spatial analysis on various layers of information in either two or three dimensions. In this study, a GIS model for route location and highway alignment was developed and used to generate alternate highway route applications. After these alternatives were preliminarily designed using CADD software (Softdesk 8.0), the model was used to analyze, evaluate, and then select the alternative with least impacts on environmental, economical, and political aspects. In this study, the GIS model was tested on an application that aims to select the best alternative of three suggested highway alignments. This selected highway is supposed to connect two major cities in the north of the West Bank (Nablus and Jenin). In this application, the advantages of the developed model was clear in the preliminary stage of alternatives generation where it was possible to avoid impacting of the different sensitive areas. In addition, a lot of information can be concluded once the user identifies a suggested route because the profile can be developed and drawn immediately. In final stages of analysis and evaluation, the model showed high capabilities in analyzing the impacts of each alternative, using buffering and spatial relations between the different features and the suggested alternatives, and then evaluating these impacts. The results of this study clearly showed the applicability and potential of using GIS as a tool in route location and highway alignment with least potential impacts.