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This paper aims to present a linear mathematical framework for modeling and optimizing road transport infrastructure. The framework assesses and optimizes performance of existing transport facility rather than relying on building new roads for the ever-increasing travel demand.

The mathematical framework is built upon a traffic model called Cell Transmission Model (CTM). CTM describes the relationship and evolution of traffic flow and concentration over space and time. The model is parsimonious and accurate in predicting traffic dynamics. More importantly, the traffic flow model is piecewise linear with which the corresponding transport facility optimization problem can be formulated as a Linear Programming (LP) problem and solved by established solution algorithm for global optimality.

We select a section on England Motorway M25 as a case study. With traffic data, we first calibrate the CTM, and we are able to produce traffic estimation with a reasonable error rate of 12 per cent. The corresponding LP then seeks an optimal ramp metering strategy that minimizes the delay on the motorway. It is shown that an optimal and practical strategy can be derived which reduces the motorway delay by 10 per cent without significantly hurting the surrounding connectors.

Instead of the tedious microscopic models used by many traditional tools, the underlying CTM is parsimonious and reliable. The tools developed herein are based upon plausible traffic theory and will be accessible for a wide range of users. The LP formulation can be easily implemented and solved for optimal and practical control strategies for real-world transport networks by using existing computer software (CPLEX) within reasonable computational time. The present work will certainly contribute to the sustainable development of transport facility.

A smart city is a city that functions in a sustainable and intelligent way, by integrating all of its infrastructures and services in a cohesive way using intelligent devices for monitoring and control, to ensure efficiency and better quality of life for its citizens. As other countries globally, the UK is keen on economic development and investment in smart-city missions to create interest in monetary environment and inward investment. This paper aims to explore the driving forces of smart road transport transformation and implementation in the UK.

The study involved interviews with 16 professionals from the UK road transport sector. A semi-structured interview technique was used to collect experts' perception, which was then examined using content analysis.

The results of the study revealed that the technological advancement is a key driver. The main challenges faced during the implementation of smart-city elements in the UK road network are lack of investment, maintenance, state of readiness and the awareness of the smart road transport concept. The study concludes that an understanding of the concept of smart cities from a road transport perspective is very important to create awareness of the benefits and the way it works. A wider collaboration between every sector is crucial to create a successful smart city.

The study contributes to the field of digitalisation of road transport sector. This paper reveals the key driving forces of smart road transport transformation, the current status of smart road transport implementation in the UK and challenges of the smart road transport development in the UK.

Examines the possible ways of dealing with the problems caused in towns and cities by increasing car ownership. Discusses future traffic forecasts, the present shape of cities, future transport options, the need for new transport facilities, traffic control measures, and planning. Suggests that building development should be prepared to pay more for the transport infrastructure on which its successful use depends.

Detail research undertaken to determine the key differences in the performance of certain centralised (physical) and distributed (virtual) bibliographic catalogue services, and to suggest strategies for improving interoperability and performance in, and between, physical and virtual models.

Methodically defined searches of a centralised catalogue service and selected distributed catalogues were conducted using the Z39.50 information retrieval protocol, allowing search types to be semantically defined. The methodology also entailed the use of two workshops comprising systems librarians and cataloguers to inform suggested strategies for improving performance and interoperability within both environments.

Technical interoperability was permitted easily between centralised and distributed models, however, the various individual configurations permitted only limited semantic interoperability. Significant prescription in cataloguing and indexing guidelines, greater participation in the program for collaborative cataloguing, consideration of future functional requirements for bibliographic records migration, and greater disclosure to end users are some of the suggested strategies to improve performance and semantic interoperability.

This paper not only informs the library and information science research community and union catalogue administrators, but also has numerous practical implications for those establishing distributed systems based on Z39.50 and search/retrieve web services as well as those establishing centralised systems.

The paper moves the discussion of Z39.50‐based systems away from anecdotal evidence and provides recommendations based on testing, and is intimately informed by the UK cataloguing and systems librarian community.

A site dedicated to the 20th century composer, conductor and teacher Aaron Copeland; includes biographical information, music and photos.

Music Libraries Online is an eLib project to create a virtual union catalogue for music in the UK, based on the nine conservatoire libraries, using the Z39.50 protocol for information retrieval. The project has particularly tackled issues of common bibliographical standards which have a significant impact on the quality of results.

This paper seeks to examine the extent of real estate investment concentration in institutional industrial portfolios at these same two points in time.

To examine this issue two datasets are used at two dates, 1998 and 2003. The analysis is confined to England and Wales because of data considerations relating to the availability of comparable data for the rest of the UK. The first dataset relates to floor space and rateable value statistics for the so‐called “bulk classes” of commercial property at Unitary Authority and District (local authority area, LA) level. The more specific institutional real estate investment data for the study come from the IPD analysis “UK Local Markets”. This provides a detailed view of the performance of institutional real estate investment, by sector, in a number of localities across the UK. For the purposes of this study, IPD made data available showing (but with much less detail) other LAs where the number of properties held was greater than zero, but fewer than the four required normally for disclosure. The approach taken is to map the basic data and the results from a standardising measure of spatial concentration – the Location Quotient.

The findings show that industrial investment concentration is between that of retail and offices and is focused on LAs with high levels of manual workers in areas with smaller industrial units. It also shows that during the period studied the structure of the sector changed, with greater emphasis on the distributional (logistic) element, for which location is a principal consideration. Historically, the sector has provided consistently good total returns with low risk, and was the only sector to expand in terms of numbers of institutionally invested units over the study period. While industrial real estate assets generally do not attract as much capital growth as other sectors, especially in boom periods, rents continued to grow in the period under study. Taken together with the relative resilience in the sector's performance seen over successive cycles, it is not surprising that significant institutional enthusiasm was evidenced.

Using data sets that account for the entire “population” of observations at these two dates the paper demonstrates the relationships between economic theory and the market performance of the sector. The comparisons with the other main sectors also show the differences that would be expected between the sectors, emphasising the point that these markets are dynamic and that their structure, form and content can change dramatically even over quite short periods.

According to the CBI's Employee Relocation Council (set up in 1986 as an information exchange and lobbying body), around 250 000 people move home each year, at an average cost of £6600/person, either because their employers ask them to work in a new location, or because the company moves lock stock and barrel to a different part of the country. This involves a cost to British industry of over £250 million pa.

Discusses the disadvantages of CD‐ROMs and the Web from the perspective of professional information distributors and proposes an alternative solution. CD‐ROMs cannot easily be updated in a timely and cost‐effective way, whereas the Web compromises quality of graphics, sound and video. The information bottleneck caused by the Internet is predicted to get worse, adding to the problem. Bespoke hybrid CDs which allow updating of some CD‐ROM files by downloading from the Internet on to the local hard disk also have limitations. A new software product, SoftCD, overcomes the problems of bespoke hybrid CD‐ROMs, while retaining their advantages. It is identified as useful and cost‐effective for situations where there is a relatively high volume of volatile data. Potential markets are seen as remote business support, business‐to‐business reference information and computer‐based training updates.