Genetic Algorithms (GA) are recognized as the solution of a discrete optimization problem as NP-hard problem, and many application researches have been accumulated in the infrastructure planning field. This paper aims to consider the future directivity of the application research of GA in the infrastructure planning field. Therefore, after arranging the present situation of GA-applied researches, subjects as the optimization algorithm, and the applications in the computational science, we propose the GA for strategy game as the adaptive learning algorithm. The future possibility of GA as the adaptive learning algorithm and the thought experiment system to dynamic interaction system is considered by the case study.

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On a real road network, traffic and travel time daily fluctuate due to various factors. One of the main causes of the fluctuation is variation of travel demand. We develop stochastic network equilibrium models, where the travel demand is normal-distributed and route flows assigned are also normal-distributed. The models enable us to assess network’s uncertainty or travel time reliability. We apply one of them to the Kanazawa road network, and evaluate its uncertainty. Furthermore, an effect analysis of providing traffic information to emergency vehicles is made based on the model.

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Under the ordinary circumstance without any accidents and disasters, the main causes of transportation network’s uncertainty are variations of travel demand and route choice behavior. We assume that travel demand and route choice are stochastic, and develop stochastic network equilibrium models. In the models, network flows and travel times are also stochastic due to stochastic travel demand and route choice. The models are promising for assessing uncertainty or travel time reliability of transportation network and analyzing its stochastic properties theoretically.

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Link flow data are convenient for estimating parameters on network equilibrium models because they are easy to access. The minimum square error method has been adopted for parameter estimation in many cases. The minimum square error method presupposes that link flows are mutually independent, but actual link flows are not independent, especially, correlation between adjacent links is very high. Therefore, the minimum square error method is not necessarily appropriate from the statistical standpoint and the estimated parameters might be biased although we may be able to estimate parameters using it practically. In this study, we propose a method for estimating parameters on network equilibrium models which considers the correlation between links. Also, we examine which conditions are needed for estimating them consistently.

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This study aims at exploring the residential location planning to realize an urban spatial configuration that improves Quality Of Life (QOL) within the context of the population decline and economic saturation in 21th century in Japan. A QOL index measured by the Quality Adjusted Life Year is introduced. A mathematical programming was employed to maximize QOL under the economic and equity constraints. The framework was applied in order to identify the planned retreat and re-concentration areas by the index for social cost effectiveness of QOL derived from the given maximization problem. The case study of a rural small-sized city shows that the clustered urban spatial configuration is appropriate in terms of social cost effectiveness of QOL although QOL in the suburban areas is higher than that of in the city center.

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In this paper, we comprehensively analyzed 31 Travel Feedback Program (TFP) projects carried out in Japan. TFP is one of the frequently used measures in Mobility Management (MM). MM is the soft measure to promote voluntary changes of individual mobility through communication, and practical projects are just started as pilot scheme recent years in Japan. We integrated the indicators of behavioral change in each TFP projects and analyzed them. We found that TFPs for inhabitant reduced car use by about 19% and increased the transportation use by about 32%. In addition, the result revealed that “Target Setting” is effective even if it is compared with other methods.

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This paper examines the roles of guarantees and monitoring systems to conquer moral hazard issues in PFI (Private Financial Initiative) projects. The moral hazard is classified into two types: technological and financial ones. The guarantees can deter moral hazard, but generates financial inefficiency caused by opportunity costs. The monitoring systems are valid for the deterrence of the financial moral hazard. The paper concludes the combination of the guarantee and monitoring systems end up with the efficient means to resolve the moral hazard issues, as far as the monitoring costs are sufficiently low.

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This paper presents a novel transportation demand management scheme that can completely eliminate traffic jam at a bottleneck. In the proposed scheme, a road manager issues “bottleneck permits” that allow road users to pass a pre-specified bottleneck at a pre-specified time, and they are traded (and priced) among road users in auction markets. We then prove that the introduction of the proposed system in morning rush-hour not only eliminates traffic jam but also can achieve Pareto optimality in equilibrium. Through this analysis, we reveal that the equilibrium problem of the proposed system is mathematically isomorphic to an equilibrium model of urban residential location.

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A few cases filed as litigation are indicating the importance of assuring the justification of planning decision in the field of transportation planning in Japan. In the paper, the justifiability of planning procedure is defined by six elemental conditions to be satisfied during the process. Those six elements are legality, fairness, procedural objectivity, procedural rationality, procedural integrity and procedural validity. The procedural validity is ideally conditioned by the inter-subjective social approval for the planning process. The procedural validity is assumed to be composed of four elemental conditions: transparency, accountability, dialogic sufficiency and acceptability to governmental reactions. The paper discusses on the structure and those elemental conditions and eventually concludes the appropriateness of the structure of procedural justifiability proposed in the paper.

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In this paper, the risk sharing structure between the firm providing transportation services and the customers of the pre- and post paid systems are theoretically investigated. The pre-paid systems refer to the complete contracts, which have to be established before service transactions, while the post-paid systems do the incomplete contracts where the application of the pre-specified fee structure is described in the contract, and the actual payments are conditional upon the actual consumption by the consumers. The three period contract model is formulated to investigate the impacts of the pre- and post paid systems upon the firm's profit and the consumers' welfare. The paper concludes that social welfare can be always improved by introducing the post-paid system in addition to the conventional price systems.

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This paper presents the case study on one of the major infrastructure component of urban areas: the solid waste management of Kathmandu valley, Nepal. The community survey conducted in Kathmandu revealed that the traditional solid waste management system lacks a complete awareness and involvement of the community from the planning stage. Planning and developing solid waste management system to date, as a purely technical perspective, has led to the failure of these ‘systems’ with catastrophic impacts. Hence, there is a need for a major shift in approach ‘the community-based’ instead of centrally managed to make the service more efficient pertinent to the local needs and conditions.

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