Search Results (12)

Benchmarking railway infrastructure managers (RIMs) has become a crucial tool in the context of European transport market liberalization, facilitating efficiency improvements and strategic decision-making. RIMs face challenges in increasing capacity, optimizing operations, and ensuring competitive, safe, and economically sustainable services. To address these challenges, this study proposes a hybrid benchmarking model that integrates Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) and reduce data dimensionality, the Grey Best–Worst Method (G-BWM) to determine KPI weight coefficients based on expert evaluations, and Assurance Region Data Envelopment Analysis (AR-DEA) to assess the relative efficiency of RIMs while incorporating real-world constraints. The research findings confirm that RIM8 is the most efficient unit, driven by high electrification levels, strong accident prevention measures, and optimal use of infrastructure. In contrast, RIM2 and RIM4 record the lowest efficiency scores, primarily due to poor safety performance, high infrastructure-related delays, and suboptimal resource utilization. By introducing weight constraints through AR-DEA, the model ensures that efficiency assessments reflect actual operational conditions, rather than relying on unrestricted weight allocations. The main contribution of this study lies in developing a systematic and objective framework for evaluating RIM efficiency, ensuring consistency and reliability in performance measurement. The practical implications extend to policy development and operational decision-making, providing insights for infrastructure managers, regulatory bodies, and policymakers to optimize resource allocation, enhance infrastructure resilience, and improve railway sector sustainability. The results highlight key efficiency factors and offer guidance for targeted improvements, reinforcing benchmarking as a valuable tool for long-term railway infrastructure management and investment planning. By offering a quantitatively grounded efficiency assessment, this model contributes to the competitiveness and sustainability of railway networks across Europe. Full article

The processes of information exchange and the movement of material flows form a communication space that reflects the relationship of complex intersystem interactions in various spheres of our life within the framework of the concepts of information-theoretical theory. One of these concepts, reflecting the mutual influence between processes at a qualitative level, is the transfer of entropy. The direction and intensity of these flows reflect the main social and economic processes. As it is known, air transport is one of the most reliable and high-speed modes of transport, influencing the processes of socio-cultural interaction between different regions. This indirectly affects the development of industrial relations, the development of technology and intercultural exchange. New technologies in aviation improve the flight performance of airliners and reduce the costs of transporting passengers. The size and range of modern airliners are increasing, and ticket prices are being optimized. The processes of the liberalization of developing air transportation markets, the emergence of low-cost air carriers, open skies agreements, and the reduction in restrictions on the nomenclature of carriers and routes have led to the growth and diversity of air transport links. This article considers air transport as a complex system that takes into account the interconnectedness of the elements of the transportation system and the influence of some subsystems on others, which are not always obvious. The object of the study was the communication space formed on the basis of air transportation between regions of the world. To assess the dynamic properties of the world communication space, ICAO data for the period of 1970–2021 were used. The subject of the analysis was a time series reflecting the flows of passengers and cargo over the considered time horizon. The entropy transfer algorithm was used as an analysis tool. In the course of the research, the features of dynamic changes in the properties of the communication space were revealed. The analysis showed that the flows of entropy transfer between regions of the world change depending on political, economic, social, and technological factors. Examples of the application of the proposed approach are considered: an analysis of the cognitive model of the air transport flow structure, an analysis of the regional communication space, and an analysis of changes in the global communication field. The results of the analysis can be useful for assessing the development of the communication field of various regions, which will allow us to solve the problems of forming forecasts and effective scenarios for the development of transport flows at different hierarchical levels of economic management. Full article

This article discusses the impact of rail market liberalization on the energy intensity of rail in relation to the export of goods, as well as the identification of multidimensional cause-and-effect relationships between rail energy intensity and the importing country’s economic condition, transport performance, and transport distance. Three research questions were formulated: (1) Does the liberalization of the EU transport market and the implementation of a sustainable transport policy contribute to minimizing the energy consumption of rail transport? (2) Does the pursuit of economic growth allow for reducing the energy intensity of goods exported by rail transport in global trade? (3) Is there a justified paradigm for shifting long-distance freight transport from roads to rail? This study concerned 21 directions of the export of goods transported by rail from Poland to partner countries (worldwide) in 2010–2020. A panel model of rail transport energy consumption with random effects was constructed. As a result of rail market liberalization, the export of goods transported by rail across great distances occurs without harming economic development and leads to a reduction in energy intensity. On this basis, key strategies were formulated to promote rail transport in reducing the energy intensity of the transport sector. The authors filled the research gap by identifying the relationship between the energy intensity of exports of goods by rail transport in value terms, depending on the European transport market’s liberalization process, the importing countries’ economic situation, transport volume, and distance. The presented approach is innovative and can be adapted to the analysis of other modes of transport, including road transport, and other countries (and their structure and export directions). Full article

The liberalization of energy retail markets empowered consumers with the ability to be part of new emerging entities, such as Citizen Energy Communities. With the increasing penetration of decentralized variable generation, communities have the advantage of incentive local carbon neutrality and sustainability. Local generation reduces transport grid usage and costs to consumers. Furthermore, worldwide legislation incentives energy communities by providing them discounts to other fee parts of the tariff apart from wholesale prices. This paper presents a model of strategic behavior, investment, and trading of energy communities. The model comprises the investment in local renewable generation, the design of competitive tariffs, and strategic bidding on wholesale markets. Consumers have an optimization model that selects the retail tariff that minimizes their costs with energy. These models are tested using data from Portuguese consumers and the Iberian electricity market. Results from the study indicate that inflexible consumers may reduce their costs by 29% by being part of the community. Furthermore, they have the potential to reduce their costs above 50% when using demand–response, adapting themselves to local production and wholesale prices. Full article

Fruit and vegetable products, integral to human nutrition, play a vital role in dietary patterns. Moreover, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) region, a critical market for Chinese fruit and vegetable exports, has observed the growing presence of these Chinese produce groups. The ratification of the RCEP bolsters the liberalization of fruit and vegetable commerce in the region, consequently fostering opportunities for its development. Nonetheless, existing studies have insufficiently addressed fruit and vegetable commerce in the region and its consequent effect on trade expansion. In this context, it is crucial to analyze the trade pattern associated with the swift export growth of fruit and vegetables. This study employs binary marginal analysis and the stochastic frontier gravity model. This study’s findings reveal that, with respect to the growth effect, the expansion of China’s fruit and vegetable exports to RCEP countries in recent years primarily stems from the contribution of the extensive margin. Considering the factors influencing trade, metrics like free trade agreements (FTAs), the extent of trade liberalization, political expenditure levels, government transparency, and liner transport connectivity significantly impact China’s fruit and vegetable exports. Regarding trade efficiency, the current efficiency value of China’s fruit and vegetable exports to RCEP countries is relatively low, characterized by substantial country-specific variations and immense future trade potential. The insights gleaned from this research can offer decision-making support for the collaboration on fruit and vegetable trade between China and the RCEP region. Full article

The globalisation of the beer market forces brewers to have methodologies that rapidly evaluate the evolution of beer flavour stability. Commonly used forced ageing methods have limitations since temperature and transportation conditions (temperature, vibrations, long-distance travel, and other factors) impact beer quality. This study assessed the prediction power of a forced ageing methodology on the evolution of aldehydes during maritime transportation across four sample groups (maritime transport, storage simulation, and three ageing periods: 7, 21, and 28 days at 37 °C), which differed in their bottle-opening system (either crown cap or ring pull cap). The results revealed that forced ageing up to 28 days could estimate the evolution of phenylacetaldehyde, 3-methylbutanal, 2-methylpropanal, and hexanal during maritime transport. In contrast, the benzaldehyde content was consistently underestimated, on average, 0.8 times lower. In general, the ageing conditions significantly favoured the formation or liberation from a bound state, up to 2.2 times higher, of trans-2-nonenal, acetaldehyde, and 5-hydroximethylfurfural in comparison to the levels registered on exportation simulation beers. Moreover, forced-aged beers with ring pull caps developed quantifiable levels of nonanal and increased phenylacetaldehyde, benzaldehyde, and acetaldehyde content over time. Moreover, thermal stress induced a continuous increase in the extent of beer staling, up to seven times higher, in most samples. Full article

This paper examines an assessment of the level of air transport services liberalization in Australia in order to generate recommendations on what key market access features of Air Services Agreements should be revised to reflect the changes in air transport characteristics, including the increase in air cargo traffic during the COVID-19 period. The different variants of the key market access features of ASA, levels of air transport liberalization and the extent of air transport service liberalization between Australia and 104 partner countries were analysed using descriptive study, comparison analysis and the ALI index. The ALI index is calculated for four different weighting schemes. Passenger capacity in 41 bilateral agreements contain restrictions of frequency, capacity and aircraft type. The analysis of cooperative arrangements indicated that Australia has a single aviation market only with New Zealand. The cargo capacity analysis identified different types of capacity restrictions based on weekly cargo service, volume, destinations, designated airline and aircraft types. In conclusion, cargo capacity analysis illustrates that the level of liberalization is high, but the air services agreements between Australia and other countries in the first and second cargo capacity groups should be revised to reflect the increase in air cargo traffic during COVID-19. Full article

This paper explores the concept of social sustainability in Ulaanbaatar’s ger districts in relation to access and mobility. Although ger districts are well-established in Mongolian culture as ephemeral encampments with transient residents, contemporary ger districts have become large and permanent residential districts that are now home to an estimated one-third of the country’s population. The more recent growth of the ger districts has taken place in three decades since Mongolia embraced market-based liberal economics, coinciding with waves of socially and economically-motivated urbanisation. More recently, difficult environmental conditions in rural Mongolia have created new waves of migration. The unfolding situation means that the ger districts have grown with little of the forward planning present in other built areas of the city. In turn, this has led to significant imbalances in the provision of transport services into the ger districts and the problems of access and mobility that this paper has highlighted. This paper has identified community-based local transport and delivery services as one potential means for addressing existing access and mobility shortcomings. Such approaches could provide temporary or complementary services alongside other public policy approaches. Full article

Airports are important air transportation facilities, providing cargo transportation, aircraft takeoff and landing, and passenger services. Trade liberalization and globalization along with shifting economies and trading focuses have led to the rapid growth of airline and cargo transportation in Asia-Pacific regions. Therefore, Asian countries are constantly expanding and improving their airport facilities. Thus, improving and measuring airline service quality has attracted significant research attention in recent years. The Chinese Government has also actively promoted low-cost tourism, although competition in low-cost carrier markets was bound to be fierce. This not only promoted tourism industries but also attracted many foreign visitors to taking low-cost carriers to China for sightseeing. With international oil prices and regional economy issues, full-service carriers face considerable operational pressure on cost and competition. This study used the fuzzy delphi and decision making trial and evaluation laboratory methods to explore and analyze key factors for passengers choosing low-cost airlines. We considered passengers using U Airlines to travel from Shanghai to Taiwan (Taoyuan, Kaohsiung Far) and investigated service quality, low-price strategies, switching costs, and boarding willingness factors. We found that boarding willingness and service quality were strongly relevant to passenger satisfaction. Service quality should be prioritized, followed by switching cost, to enhance passenger boarding willingness. Low-cost regional airlines need to prioritize improving service quality empathy and service quality responsiveness with limited resources. Performance indicators such as willingness, service quality assurance, and service quality reliability showed significant benefits for overall service performance and passenger boarding willingness. Full article

The promotion of efficient and sustainable means of transport has been a key issue of public debate across the European Union (EU). Particularly, transport needs in peripheral and remote areas have a great importance for EU transport policies in order to ensure the mobility of goods and persons in these regions, and thus to achieve greater territorial cohesion in the member states concerned. Despite the remarkable efforts to improve the competitiveness of aviation in the EU single market, certain regional routes have traditionally suffered a lack of scheduled air routes. The internal market, once liberalized, has provided an instrument in order to ensure adequate transportation for the carriage of goods and persons in special cases. When this occurs, according to Regulation (CE) no. 1008/2008, national civil aviation authorities may impose a public service obligation (PSO) on specific air routes. In addition, this form of public intervention can lead to restriction on market access to one carrier, and even to the payment of compensation to the awarded airline through the launching of a tendering procedure for the operation of the required air service. In the case of Spain, this type of administrative concession has been shifting towards e-procurement processes by providing transparent electronic portals. This research aims, precisely, at encouraging a better understanding of how information technology may have systemic benefits to public bodies aiming to efficiently conduct a digital procurement ecosystem. To do this, the authors have analyzed the 23 PSO routes imposed so far, and the corresponding administrative procedures. The findings suggest that e-procurement has led to greater public transparency. Full article

Nasal drug delivery has become a popular research field in the last years. This is not surprising since the nose possesses unique anatomical and physical properties. Via the nasal mucosa local, systemic, and directly central nerve systemic (CNS) effect is achievable. Powders have favorable physicochemical properties over liquid formulations. Lamotrigine (LAM) is an antiepileptic agent with a relatively mild side effect spectrum, but only available in tablet form on market. Reducing the particle size to the nano range can affect the bioavailability of pharmaceutical products. The aim of this article was to continue the work started, compare the in vitro properties of a nanonized lamotrigine containing nasal powder (nanoLAMpowder) and its physical mixture (PM) that were prepared by dry milling. Moreover, to study their trans-epithelial absorption to reach the blood and target the brain by axonal transport. Due to the dry milling technique, the particle size of LAM, their surface and also their structure changed that led to higher in vitro dissolution and permeability rate. The results of the in vivo tests showed that the axonal transport of the drug was assumable by both intranasal formulations because the drug was present in the brain within a really short time, but the LAM from the nanoLAMpowder liberated even faster. Full article

Increased rail competitiveness has been the objective of many countries around the world, including member states of the EU. Although railway market liberalization has always been accompanied by high expectations of increased efficiency and competitiveness, the overall impact of such decisions can be considered controversial. This paper aims to contribute to the scientific debate by conducting a factor analysis of some East-Central European countries from the aspect of rail freight competitiveness. Since many highly correlated factors influence competitiveness, its mathematical–statistical representation and analysis is difficult due to the high number of dimensions of the factor space. Moreover, competitiveness cannot be measured directly only as a latent variable which is a feature of Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The introduced PCA, model by way of reducing the number of dimensions, can highlight the relations among the attributes and determine the most crucial issues capable of increasing rail competitiveness in the given countries and also of clustering those national railway markets. Recommendations for structural changes in national rail freight markets of the region are also supplied. Our results show that international rail competitiveness depends rather on market efficiency than on market liberalization due to the fact that the Global Competitiveness Index and Export/Import attributes did not significantly correlate with market concentration. As for the larger domestic rail freight sectors, small freight forwarders—spawned by liberalization—are shown to play a significant role in increasing competitiveness. Full article