What's A Dongle Driver

evasion The transport engineering is dead

by Freddy Ponce Badilla [1]


After nearly a year of implementing the Plan for Modernization of Transportation Santiago there are several sequels and victims of the 11 months of operation of Transantiago. For the moment, users of a system that clearly was not ready to start its operation.

In government should leave office, a Minister of the Interior, a Ministry of Transport, a Transantiago Coordinator and the Manager of the Consortium of Banks and Financial Institutions as part of the AFT. Also, since the currency has already been announced in the coming days will be renewed sector teams have been involved in every stage of Transantiago. Also, you can not fail to mention that the problems of public transportation in Santiago have triggered a political crisis never before seen in the 17-year rule of the Coalition.


However, one of the largest homeless, and about which very little has been said, is the Civil Engineering degree in Transportation. In fact, the implementation of Transantiago meant to Engineering Transport as has hitherto been taught at the universities of our country, mainly at the Universities of Chile, Catholic and Concepción.

Before going into details and arguments, and as a reference to those unfamiliar with this professional and academic, some background that can illustrate better the understanding of this article:

• In its infancy, civil engineering, transport derived from civil engineering works as a specialization in construction related to transport infrastructure. Indeed, this branch of knowledge arises from the need for civil engineering professionals to specialize in the design, planning and execution of works whose special features made them different from other civil works construction. Thus was born the specialization in transport for those civilian engineers and professional whose specialty is the construction of airports, ports, roads and railways.

· Rear, advances in knowledge and needs a greater degree of understanding of the phenomena, but most of the externalities caused by transport, possible that the resulting engineering expertise for research, development and teaching of specific topics such such as transport economics, the theory of traffic flow, transport demand and transport networks, leaving a junior level teaching materials, and construction management issues.

· In the late seventies and early eighties, leading academics and researchers from the traditional universities of our country went abroad (England and USA [2], in most cases) to improve knowledge of transport. Thus, in light of the review of developments that have experienced the curricula of civil engineering transportation provided by traditional universities of our country, the result is clear and obvious: transport teaching definitely led to theoretical and conceptual aspects of civil engineering, transport, focusing on education and discussion of simulation models, apart from matters related to the case study, the traffic engineering and management of transport companies.

· Without any doubt, the universities and academic training led this bet, got what you deserve. Proof of this is that:
o Most teachers who teach in the classrooms of our country's leading universities have master's degrees and doctorates.
or are part of the international circuit of conferences and seminars of transport, as the organizers, exhibitors and / or referees.
or international media frequently publish specialized reference, in most cases, issues arising from the discussion of transport models.
or are frequently cited by researchers in other countries, articles and periodicals in transportation research related discussion of transport models.
or were able to create / adapt special simulation models for the mobility conditions of our country.

Notwithstanding all these "achievements", there can be no Transantiago doubt meant not only the death of Civil Engineering degree in Transportation, but also the need to reinvent the academic models on which to base the training of new professionals in the future will dare to explore this question race engineering.

First, and to support this claim, it is worth mentioning that the need for a quality public transport is a requirement that must be permanently manned by the government, which is enshrined in the Constitution and should not, or may be the poor relation of public policy. Indeed, there is no place in the world where policies, plans and environmental programs, energy, health and road safety can not be sustained on a public transport system that is not only attractive, but efficient, effective and good quality for its users.

While at this point, there are reasonable doubts about the need in the Government to reform the old system of transportation in the capital, is worth remembering that it was a service that was poorly rated by users, which was responsible an important part of air pollution and brought a lot of people died in traffic accidents in which they saw involved.

The obvious need for reforms transport system was met with which, at that moment, were recognized as top specialists. Those who constantly write in journals, participating in conferences and seminars and were the authors of the simulation models dealing permanently for evaluating investments in transportation infrastructure upgrades such as Metro and urban concessions. It was they who convinced the authorities of the need to re-organize the existing routes mesh until then and that was the fruit of 50 years of adjustment and operation. The reasons given were technical and economic irrationality of the mesh of routes.

However, the strength of their the technical arguments [3], the fact is that these same explanations could not be displayed with the same forcefulness minute walk Transantiago casting. One reason for this situation was the rigid conceptual and intellectual arrogance that was met solving a complex problem, which resulted in the mesh of route transit, without scales, from an irrational to another.

Using an analogy of the air transport market, the old mesh of routes [4] would be the equivalent of having available a flight from Santiago to anywhere in the world, at any time, without a stopover anywhere . While this may be a nice dream everyone knows that the flights are scheduled according to the demands of passages that are the origins and destinations. Indeed, though the wicked are a paradise islands that anyone would know, the truth is that anyone who wants to travel to that destination, knows that at least should make a stopover in Europe or Oceania. Any other situation would be unsustainable from the standpoint of technical and economic.

Following the same analogy, the new mesh of paths represents the other extreme of what would be unwilling to do or to tolerate a trip on a commercial airline. This mesh of paths [5] that we might, for example, travel to Buenos Aires, not only by scale but by changing planes in Mendoza and Cordoba then.

Despite evidence of failure, defended the simulation model to absurdity, causing immeasurable inconvenience to users, a serious political crisis and a loss of credibility in the technical support which has been based coalition to govern these 17.

Regarding this last point, Transantiago broke a balance that has allowed the ruling coalition is the most successful in the history of Chile: politics and technocracy. Indeed, the equation that combines the one hand, respect of technical the difficult art of governing a country and, secondly, the political confidence of the technical solutions to structural problems arising in our society, was severely affected by poor design and implementation of public policy. Transportation engineers must take responsibility that they bear in the alteration of this formula no longer enjoys the confidence of the main actors of society.

Cortázar Minister's efforts have meant, among other things, add new routes to the grid without the need to wait years the results of the simulation model, but with common sense and the demands of users public transport. The result is that the valuation of the New Transantiago is rising among whom use the system [6].

The challenge is great. Not only is re-inventing a professional area that has been seriously affected, it is also necessary to see how to put back the trust between the political and technical. On this occasion, transportation engineers have the floor again.


[1] Civil Engineering in Transportation, University of Chile and Master of Transport of the same university. -----


[2] It is noteworthy that, unlike what happened in those moments in our country the distribution of different types of travel (modal split) widely favored private transportation on the public. In fact, government efforts, scholars and technicians in these countries were focused mainly on transferring trips from cars to mass transit systems. By contrast, in our country travel on buses accounted for 70% of motorized trips in the city of Santiago.

[3] demonstrated through the results of simulation models, economic indicators and complex theoretical concepts.

[4] Under the old system for less than 10% of users to make transfers in their travels.

[5] The mesh of paths that users faced on February 10, 2007 contemplated transfers by over 60% of trips.

[6] The assessment of Transantiago is greater among those using the system than among those who do not use. The influence of the media is vital for this condition occurs.

Point And Shoot Camera Fastest Shutter Speed

Transantiago aftermath of Experts advise

René Cortázar announced the creation of a panel of experts who advise to improve Transantiago.

The invited are:

- Paul Allard, a professor at the Catholic University
- Leonardo Basso, a professor at the University of Chile
- Juan Enrique Coeymans, a professor at the Catholic University
- Ana Luisa Covarrubias , Libertad y Desarrollo researcher
- Joaquín de Cea, a professor at the Catholic University
- Louis de Grange , professor at the Universidad Diego Portales
- Juan Esteban Doña , Consultant
- José Enrique Fernández , professor at the Catholic University
- Rodrigo Fernández , professor at the University of the Andes
- Gloria Hutt, consultancy Steer Davies Gleave
- Marcela Munizaga , Professor at the University of Chile
- Juan Carlos Muñoz , professor at the Catholic University

The group is composed mainly of academics and researchers in the field of transportation engineering, which seems to be an opportunity to "redeem" the profession, which has recently fallen somewhat out of favor with the public for obvious reasons. This is a good opportunity for the technical criteria (aimed at improving the system from a standpoint of social benefit and not just the economic feasibility) can be heard and (hopefully) implemented.

The team will work until March, when that will deliver a report on its findings and recommendations ... I look forward to.

Sorority Community Service

Cortázar Vespucio Oriente, development and citizen participation: The case of The Queen

(Mercury)

By Arturo Didier

Building Vespucio Oriente highway has attracted the interest of the majority of the districts of the eastern Santiago. However, different communities have asserted their positions in different ways, from the millions provided by communities such as Las Condes and Vitacura to strong advertising campaign made in The Queen.

The Queen, despite being a community considered ostentatious has a very heterogeneous as far as socio-economic terms. The areas adjacent to Avenida Américo Vespucio are middle of Vicente Perez Rosales eastward intensive sectors coexist economic well north of Avenida Larraín, while to the south there is an area of \u200b\u200bpoverty as the historical and Villa La Reina .

Despite the heterogeneity, there is consensus in the historical areas of the district (especially in the middle adjacent to Vespucci, who formerly belonged to Providencia) in maintaining the friendly community spirit of small businesses and essentially low altitude. That's why it failed the process of modifications to the Zoning Plan initiated by the municipality in 2005, which basically trying to increase the maximum building heights and transform it into a commune type Las Condes and Vitacura. This process of change was found with a large citizens' movement that arose spontaneously about this radical change. The municipality, through loopholes, tried to circumvent public participation contained in the law governing changes to these community plans.

The major reaction of the neighbors persuaded the city temporarily stop the process. The new process changes to the master plan (2007) and is not intended transform the Queen in Las Condes, but two new factors pushing for amendments aimed in the opposite direction as requested by the neighbors: Americo Vespucio Oriente highway, and the entry into retail scene consortia.

While it is true that the city made a strong campaign against the construction of the highway surface or height was not defending the quality of life of the inhabitants of the commune, but in view of the future real estate development that residents had rejected the opposition to the regulatory plan of 2005. Neighbors, this time through civic organizations (1), were mobilized and deployed on numerous occasions the then Minister of Public Works Eduardo Bitran, demanding that this time not to occupy the cracks concessionaires attended other urban highways in the capital to not submit to their respective environmental assessment processes (just see the effects spatial segregation caused by these ).

The uncertainties associated to the change in Public Works

Bitrán change by Sergio Bitar raises doubts as to the process that the minister had committed to the community. According to information emanating from different media, Bitar said the importance of returning to reactivate concession that many projects were trapped in assessment systems. In fact, Hermann Chadwick noted the positive change of minister highlighting the excessive analysis being conducted on the public works concession projects and hoped that this situation will change under the administration Bitar. That is, the questions arise out of fear that the new guidelines of the ministry aimed to prioritize the investment of cocesionarias over the viability and proper evaluation of projects.

However, Bitran was not free from criticism. While working on a reform of the concession law, information on the draft Vespucci was not freely available. In fact, it generated much criticism by declaring that the Queen was densified for Vespucio Oriente highway fund. For residents, many questions: The Queen has a very poor road infrastructure. Has only four ways out of it: Bilbao, Prince of Wales, Echenique and Larraín. In the medium term, there is uncertainty regarding the announcement that construction of the highway would be in semi trench cover between Bilbao and Greece. That is, at some point cut trench construction on the road out of the commune. In the long term, there is concern about the collapse vial can cause extra incentive to fill car produced by urban motorways. We consider that the Queen, despite having pockets of poverty, is the third municipality with the highest rate of car ownership per household in the capital. Needless to say, the emergence of the highway in a sector that is purely residential short-term change in lifestyle of people in the sector, and in the long term, the highway will mean radical changes in the sector.

Malls: the new players that drive the urban transformation

The proposed new amendments to the Plan Regulator considers the possibility, not yet approved or subjected to public participation, some poles which increases the maximum height for buildings. This fact is being used, or caused - by the interests of retail companies that have set the Queen as the site for the location of their new projects.

D & S for months began with the major works of the project located where it was located the old disco Las Brujas. Despite opposition from neighbors and that the works do not have the respective permits, work has continued under the broad view of the authorities concerned (there's even a presentation to comptroller, which should act on the matter during the few days). You should consider the intersection in which it is located today and enjoy the day with periods of high congestion, particularly in Prince of Wales.

Plaza

The group announced this week its new project will be located in the Plaza Egaña sector, making use of the new amendment not agreed, and even announced that he would be running before the end of 2008. Added to the site of the highway, it is clear that Egaña Plaza residential sector, high pedestrian traffic between Queen and Providencia, will never be the same.

Proposal Egaña Plaza mall (La Tercera)

Certainly the process Urban renewal is inevitable. The only expectation you can have is that hopefully these changes have any relation with the choice they have made the residents of the community and try to be respected to some degree their quality of life. The inhabitants of the Queen is not in itself preclude the siting of new commercial or new infrastructure. While the market that will form the urban landscape of our city, it is expected that the relevant authorities to make vouchers their powers and functions, and no longer vulnerable to the inhabitants of the city.

-------- (1) defend the Queen: http://defendamoslareina.blogspot.com/ Defendamoslareina@gmail.com
Friends of The Red Queen Environmental: amigosdelareina@yahoo.es
Queen Now
lareinahora@gmail.com


Related articles:

urban motorways, high-segregation speed ( Part 1, Part 2 )

Bad News for Santiago (more highways)

Multipation Chart 1-30

Transantiago, the view from the rampant ignorance

For Francisco Martínez (*)

What happened to the project has caused Transantiago a high level of local excitement, social and political, also capturing good deal of interest from academia (national and international) interested in public policy. To this have happened and will happen, several corrective actions, as the Minister has addressed the Cortázar, and attempts to understand and explain what happened, as is the case of the Chilean Parliament's Committee has issued a report of its investigation distributing responsibilities and justifications; come, certainly more political and technical reports, and other actions.

This is a case of great interest to be analyzed from the perspective of the evolution of economic and social systems, which monitor the systems with special focus on its dynamics. The apparent collapse in this case, coupled with the fact that we try to follow in the direction of the changes made, showing is a big deal in this regard, although much higher or lower settings, makes this experience very unique.

is necessary to begin describing our object of analysis. Due to its complexity, we can conceive of public transport (STP) in Santiago as a system composed of several subsystems, operators and consumers, with great interaction with each other in what the market called TP. In turn, STP interacts with other transport systems that define the urban transport system, and private (cars) and goods transport (trucks), all of which utilize a scarce resource that is the road infrastructure, that being poor causes congestion. Following the description, the STP is a part of the urban system, where several other systems interact, on one hand the commercial and residential activities, to compete for land use, and secondly the environment with which it interacts consuming part of its clean air. Finally, the urban system is embedded in the national system.

This brief and limited description sets out four in ascending hierarchies are agents, transportation, city and nation. It also defines responsibilities for the use of scarce resources: time (Congestion), space (infrastructure), air and economic resources. Among the systems there are flows of interaction between higher and lower levels, in that the total resources available in a subsystem depend on processes occurring at the top level, for example in the urban system and resources are distributed in the lower level occurs competition for resources between transportation subsystems. In the upper set and at the bottom, what processes are controlled by available resources.

A novel feature of the evolutionary view is that means not only financial resources but also several elements that restrict the ability of developing a system. In this case it should be mentioned, at least, financial resources (funding), the political-administrative (institutional), human capital (education, knowledge, experience) and infrastructure. Another feature of this view is its recognition that systems are subject to findings and different impulses that keep in constant movement. When these impulses are lower, the systems tend to recover, when they are older evolve to other states clearly differ in their use of resources and organization, a process that is accompanied by instability on the one hand and innovation on the other. Third feature: the impulse may come from internal actions system, external actions of other systems on the same level or higher-level external actions which modify the conditions substantially. Fourth feature, the systems are subjected simultaneously to slow and fast changes, the former are predictable and easy to adapt the latter are less predictable and accumulate until the system can not hold more in its original condition. Fifth and last, the socio-economic developmental systems have memory and anticipation, unlike other ecological systems.

Taking this conceptual description of the dynamics underlying the process faced Transantiago, we try to explain what happened and try to anticipate what is coming. Urban transport was at a well-balanced long. The description of a well to imagine stability and high resistance to change that had accumulated by way of private sector and the political structure and laws. Moreover, outside the well system, in particular the dynamics that have adopted other systems or markets in the country over the past 30 years, caused the balance shaft is slowly transformed into a top very unstable, even with a small well (no deeper) even in the top. Not a huge destabilizing force required for the system to prove its instability, was observed when Owners of buses (to their surprise) failed to use the classic mechanism of failure to return to the traditional balance, thereby unleashing a process of striking change, as are the transitions from one steady state to another.

Admittedly, there was a degree of anticipation of interest in this process of instability by technical institutions (universities and government), who had expected a new well which could be achieved a new stable equilibrium, called the Program Santiago Urban Transport (PTUS) , within which was a well designed interior called Transantiago. It is remarkable that such a design, consider the dynamics systems that define the global context for the design, consisting of the urban system, and higher still, the economic system, social and environmental situation and the globe. For example, consider the improvement of school location (urban system), the need to optimize the use of cars (transport system), demands to reduce pollution (urban environmental system) and energy (global warming). It also addresses the institutional problem, as one of the main shortcomings to innovate in the urban system and achieve long-term goals set. Another interesting indicator is that defined an index to measure how positive New Balance which are crossed: the percentage of passengers on public transport Shall remain stable over time. The interesting thing about this indicator is that it responds to higher processes, such as economic growth very significantly affecting the increase in the purchase and use of cars, and other indicators such as the price system.

happened that the conditions for creating the well PTUS not materialized, but the well Transantiago materialize under a certain design. In this scenario, the evolutionary process of public transport started, but rolling down a concourse without finding that it would host PTUS well for stability. This continues today, ie Transantiago can evolve in many directions because it is immersed in a system that will give conditions for a stable equilibrium. To illustrate, there is no guarantee that Transantiago success in keeping the modal split at some level or rank, or the city with or without Transantiago evolve into a state of greater or smaller, or that operators be able to establish an attractive business, etc.

In my opinion, the main cause of failure in implementation lies in the precarious PTUS institutional component, ie the anticipation of the technicians could not change the political and institutional conditions to govern the process of change, even when they were established in PTUS own, but instead there was such a political component to drive change that destabilized urban transport. In the absence of the necessary institutions, Transantiago was developed project from the highest political level, which included the role of presidents and ministers. With these actors relevant variables were discussed at that level the political system, but concern was inhibited step (financial and technical resources) for a suitable design in detail and a change control process that ensure coordination actors that make up the Transantiago.

The year 2007 began with the implementation of the project is unleashed surprise the initial collapse of the system at the operational level, but simultaneously supports the participation and commitment of the operators and the Government. The latter has sought to reduce the instability of the system with emergency measures, while maintaining the orientation and overall project design. It has focused on contracts with operators, the upward adjustment of the fleet, the implementation of fleet management systems and the new form of integrated fare payment and electronic, and improve operations in some stops. Another issue of high political impact has been publicly funded. This describes a mature setting, governed by the vulnerability of actors and the emergence of innovation, not only in what had been designed, but in the form of a variety of proposals on how to organize the system to restore stability. The diaspora of views covering the entire spectrum, from nationalizing everything, including subsidies, through the restructuring of routes. The instability is observed not only in the in a variety of views, but still more in the fact that some of them break up fees deeper ideological parties where you wield, causing great instability in the parties themselves.

Could stability be reduced with more timely and gravitating action of some actors political or technical? This is the question I tried to answer the Parliamentary Committee. The evolutionary approach does not fully answer the question but does see that the decisions reached at the highest possible, thus integrating the entire political system of government. Second, the lack of predictability and surprise disaster, despite the conceptual advance that he shows to address a larger problem such as PTUS required to take a political risk also increased, on which there was no recognizable benefit or perception of increased cost was going to happen. Example of tasks for a new institutional framework are many, including address the issue of right of way for users of the transport system leading to policies of exclusive lanes and congestion pricing, tariffs and subsidies to public transportation, the disabled, students, and other items included in the PTUS.

This analysis suggests that our institutional system requires fundamental reform, giving it a more permanent capacity to adapt to innovation. This is the first lesson from the experience of Transantiago, and how it creates an effective change in the institutional order will depend not only how we face similar transformation processes, but imagine the possibilities of even deeply innovative new processes. Without an adequate institutional framework, to incorporate greater stakeholder participation, greater recognition of the expertise and greater decentralization of power, the natural reaction of an evolving system is to delay the changes, although they are clearly identified in light of the slow variables that observed in larger systems. Procrastination is a conservative policy that inhibits innovation in favor of stability, but at the cost of bringing the systems to the ends of their passing ability after the collapse.

The vision presented here puts its focus on long-term dynamics of the urban system and arises from both the reflection on evolutionary systems that integrate the economic, social and environmental, as the experience of Transantiago. That is, is itself part of the evolutionary process. I can not stress the importance of this perspective, since the current instability of the system is essentially a unique opportunity for our country that already pay the cost, which consists in learning to build more sustainable and adaptive systems, which have an impact on the way to make policy under changing external environments such as climate and the rapid growth seen in our economy.


(*) Academic Division Transportation Engineering, University of Chile
Member Millennium Institute for Complex Engineering Systems
Director of International Centre for Sustainable Urban Researcher
Chilean-German Project "Risk Habitat Megacities" .