The authors carry out an experimental analysis of a number of shortest path (routing) algorithms investigated in the context of the TRANSIMS (Transportation Analysis and Simulation System) project. The main focus of the paper is to study how various heuristic and exact solutions, associated data structures affected the computational performance of the software developed especially for realistic transportation networks. For this purpose the authors have used Dallas Fort-Worth road network with very high degree of resolution. The following general results are obtained: (1) they discuss and experimentally analyze various one-one shortest path algorithms, which include classical exact algorithms studied in the literature as well as heuristic solutions that are designed to take into account the geometric structure of the input instances; (2) they describe a number of extensions to the basic shortest path algorithm. These extensions were primarily motivated by practical problems arising in TRANSIMS and ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) related technologies. Extensions discussed include--(i) time dependent networks, (ii) multi-modal networks, (iii) networks with public transportation and associated schedules. Computational results are provided to empirically compare the efficiency of various algorithms. The studies indicate that a modified Dijkstra's algorithm is computationally fast and an excellent candidate for use in various transportation planning applications as well as ITS related technologies.

The performance of current transport systems is inadequate when viewed in terms of economic efficiency, sustainability and safety. Drawing together key an impressive list of contributors from the vast field of transportation economics including Kenneth Button, David Banister and Juan Carlos Martín, this book investigates transport systems, and covers a wide range of topics such as: airline markets congestion charging speed control. This informative book, ideal for undergraduate and postgraduate students of economics, business and industrial studies examines the tools that are necessary to effectively measure transport systems and those that are required to improve them. Utilizing advanced tools of network analysis, the contributors challenge various pieces of conventional wisdom, in particular the view that intermodal transport is more environmentally benign than road transport.

Computational Science is the scienti?c discipline that aims at the development and understanding of new computational methods and techniques to model and simulate complex systems. The area of application includes natural systems – such as biology, envir- mental and geo-sciences, physics, and chemistry – and synthetic systems such as electronics and ?nancial and economic systems. The discipline is a bridge b- ween ‘classical’ computer science – logic, complexity, architecture, algorithms – mathematics, and the use of computers in the aforementioned areas. The relevance for society stems from the numerous challenges that exist in the various science and engineering disciplines, which can be tackled by advances made in this ?eld. For instance new models and methods to study environmental issues like the quality of air, water, and soil, and weather and climate predictions through simulations, as well as the simulation-supported development of cars, airplanes, and medical and transport systems etc. Paraphrasing R. Kenway (R.D. Kenway, Contemporary Physics. 1994): ‘There is an important message to scientists, politicians, and industrialists: in the future science, the best industrial design and manufacture, the greatest medical progress, and the most accurate environmental monitoring and forecasting will be done by countries that most rapidly exploit the full potential ofcomputational science’. Nowadays we have access to high-end computer architectures and a large range of computing environments, mainly as a consequence of the enormous s- mulus from the various international programs on advanced computing, e.g.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 33rd Conference on Current Trends in Theory and Practice of Computer Science, SOFSEM 2007, held in Harrachov, Czech Republic in January 2007. The 69 revised full papers, presented together with 11 invited contributions were carefully reviewed and selected from 283 submissions. The papers were organized in four topical tracks.

Complex systems analysis has become a fascinating topic in modern research on non-linear dynamics, not only in the physical sciences but also in the life sciences and the social sciences. After the era of bifurcation theory, chaos theory, syn- getics, resilience analysis, network dynamics and evolutionary thinking, currently we observe an increasing interest in critical transitions of dynamic real-world systems in many disciplines, such as demography, biology, psychology, economics, earth sciences, geology, seismology, medical sciences, and so on. The relevance of this approach is clearly re?ected in such phenomena as traf?c congestion, ?nancial crisis, ethnic con?icts, eco-system breakdown, health failures, etc. This has prompted a world-wide interest in complex systems. Geographical space is one of the playgrounds for complex dynamics, as is witnessed by population movements, transport ?ows, retail developments, urban expansion, lowland ?ooding and so forth. All such dynamic phenomena have one feature in common: the low predictability of uncertain interrelated events occurring at different interconnected spatio-temporal scale levels and often originating from different disciplinary backgrounds. The study of the associated non-linear (fast and slow) dynamic transition paths calls for a joint research effort of scientists from different disciplines in order to understand the nature, the roots and the con- quences of unexpected or unpredictable changes in complex spatial systems.

The seventh volume of this invaluable series focuses an applications — from Ising models to the formation of small clusters and phase ordering in fluids, to the structure of concrete, to the growth of cities built from it, to the traffic jams and the biology of life in the cities, and to the marketing of products to consumers. Thus the interdisciplinary research potential of computational physics is particularly well documented.

Geocomputation has come of age. The whirlwind of change experienced in Geographical Information Science (GIS) - developments in IT, and new data gathering and earth observing technologies - has taken GIS beyond mere data and towards its analysis, modeling, and use in problem solving. Geocomputation is now at the dynamic edge of this revolution. Bringing together the leading researchers in geocomputation, this volume provides an up-to-date overview of the development of new artificial intelligence principles and technologies (NN, CA, Multi-agent Systems and Evolutionary Algorithms) used for the analysis, development and evaluation of urban planning policies and programmes. Charting the new approaches to data-processing, the book provides pointers on how to harness these technologies, advancing the knowledge level of planning by multiplying the information capacity of GIS, and offering a new approach to territorial modeling and micro-scale descriptions of socio-economic, behavioural and micro-spatial theories of urban processes and land use change.

The Real and Virtual Worlds of Spatial Planning brings together contributions from leaders in landscape, transportation, and urban planning. They present case studies - from North America, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa - that ground the exploration of ideas in the realities of sustainable urban and regional planning, landscape planning and present the prospects for using virtual worlds for modeling spatial environments and their application in planning. The first part explores the challenges for planning in the real world that are caused by the dynamics of socio-spatial systems as well as by the contradictions of their evolutionary trends related to their spatial layout. The second part presents diverse concepts to model, analyze, visualize, monitor and control socio-spatial systems by using virtual worlds

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Algorithm Engineering and Experiments, ALENEX 2002, held in San Francisico, CA, USA in January 2002.The 15 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 34 submissions. Among the topics addressed are hewistics for algorithms, combinatorial optimization, searching, graph computation, network optimization, scheduling, computational geometry, sorting, and clustering algorithms.