A model of environmental compliance is developed to determine the optimal enforcement strategy of an environmental agency when an operator may discharge more than one kind of pollutant. Specifically, an extensive game model is constructed, and the complete set of Nash equilibria is found. Examining the relative values of model parameters for Nash equilibria that produce desirable environmental results permits effective environmental policies to be identified and characterized.

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This paper addresses the need for the development of scientific methodology to analyze the process vitalizing rural declining areas. A systematic research perspective is proposed to achieve this goal, especially in terms of community vitalization. The three types of research that accompany this paper to constitute this special issue are categorized within the proposed perspective. We conclude by referring to further research efforts toward the development of community planning.

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This paper describes the ten-year history of the activation movement by a small group of residents in the Town of Chizu, Tottori Prefecture, a typical rural declining area in Japan. The basic facts of the ten year history of the Town of Chizu was documented and analyzed from a viewpoint of group dynamics (community dynamics). We show that the group of residents have successfully activated the area slowly but steadily, while overcoming strong resistance to change from the majority of residents. We also analyzed the involvement of influential persons into the community who have contributed to gradually overcome the resistance.

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This paper addresses a new analytical scheme for investigating the leadership norms for ‘grass-rooted’ community movements in depopulated areas. The social division between a leader and followers provides a mandate for a leader to engineer trust among their followers. The objectives of this paper is to answer the question: how a leader modifies the incentive structure perceived by a follower simply by associating different emotional penalties and rewards with the follower's various actions. We also discuss how alternative norms for leadership can foster the followership given different regional environments.

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This paper points out that part of a community's inactivity is attributable to insufficient stock of knowledge technology, and attempts to analyze the process of its accumulation and dissemination by highlighting a local community vitalization group called the Chizu Creative Project Team (CCPT), based in the Town of Chizu, Tottori Prefecture. It is shown that as the group built up a great deal of stock of intelligent technology over the last ten years, the town has become increasingly vitalized, together with another community called Yakodani, a depopulated village located deep in the mountain range of Japan's Chugoku Region.

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In this paper, network equilibria under state-dependently varying road pricing are analyzed. Our focus are upon the informational role of road prices; road prices convey information about road states to drivers, if they are announced to drivers ex ante. We show that drivers' welfare improvement can be always made by variable road pricing under zero-balanced constraints, while the Pareto improvement of network equilibria can be achieved by levying Pigouvian variable road prices.

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An important issue on urban transport planning is to predict future traffic generation from large-scale urban development, as a basis for adequate transport plans in and around development site concerned. The paper focuses on analysis on “trip-generation rate based on building floor”, a basic tool for predicting traffic generation. Based on a set of large quantity of survey data on existing large-scale office and commercial buildings, collected extensively as much as possible, presented herein are (i) statistical processing on basic characteristics of trip-generation rates, (ii) analysis on the relationship between trip-generation and various characteristics of development, and (iii) some considerations.

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A model system is developed for quantifying the utility associated with individuals' daily activity-travel patterns. Heterogeneity across individuals is accounted for by specifying the coefficients of the utility function as functions of psychological variables. Parameters of utility function are estimated using statedpreference data indicating preferences towards hypothetical daily activity patterns. Assuming that individuals allocate time to each activity while maximizing the total utility, the duration of each activity is determined and choice probabilities associated with alternative daily patterns are evaluated. This methodological framework is applied to the evaluation of alternative transportation improvement policies.

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The impression of aging differs with the pattern of appearance. In this paper, the investigation was conducted on the patterns of discoloration observed on surfaces of bridges and retaining walls, the pattern of discoloration were categorized into several groups. A series of psychological experiments was conducted on visual evaluation for the degree of discoloration, their degrees have been expressed by numerical scales.

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A model system that represents the effects that transportation control measures have on a commuter's daily activity patterns is presented. A commuter's daily activity is defined in terms of time use and trip frequency. These variables are contained as the engenous variables of the model system, which is specified as a structural equations model system. The parameters of the model system are estimated using activity diary data. The coefficient estimates have logically expected signs, and the fit of its trip frequency equations is better than that of a model which does not consider time use. As examples of policy analysis, the effects of commuting time or work schedules on daily activity patterns are estimated using the model system.

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Shinkansen is a big project, and has large impacts on land structure, therefore, accurate demand forecasting is required.
This study reviews the effectiveness of the demand forecasting methods applied to Shinkansen. And we discuss requisites for the demand forecasting of future Shinkansen such as Chuo Shinkansen.

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Since the calling ports of mother container vessels are quite limited, some container cargo are transported directly to a calling port and the others are gathered the nearest feeder port and shipped to a calling port. This paper proposes a modal choice model of feeder transportation of international container freight. Transportation cost is defined as a function of lot size. Inventory cost is defined as a function of required time and varies by commodity price. Feeder transportation mode is decided by lot size and commodity price. Applying the model to the real world, frequency of container services and container cargo demand are discussed.

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GPS is the system to decide a three dimensional position on the surface of the earth. The position is led by the 4 sets of distance between the GPS satellite and the observation place. In this system, the measuring error results from the choice of satellites and their distribution. This study reports that the number of the employing satellites can decrease the positioning error by using the method of least squares and some proposals how many satellites must be adopted in the practical necessity of positioning accuracy.

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In the previous paper, the authors proposed the forms and dimensions of noise barrier which is able to reduce not only road traffic noise but also wind load through scale model experiments in an anechoic room and two-dimensional wind tunnel. Furthermore, in this paper, a field test was done using a vehicle running at a constant speed in order to prove enough noise reduction before practical application. The barrier was 90cm high. The louver made of steel was covered with absorptive material of 3cm thickness and the intervals of its members were 45 or 50cm.

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