Dynamic road pricing and the value of time and reliability

High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes that use dynamic pricing to manage congestion and generate revenue are increasingly popular. In this paper, we estimate the behavioral response of drivers to dynamic pricing in an HOT lane. The challenge in estimation lies in the simultaneity of price and demand: the structure of dynamic tolling ensures that prices increase as more drivers enter the HOT lane. Prior research has found that higher prices in HOT lanes increase usage. We find that after controlling for simultaneity HOT drivers instead respond to tolls in a manner consistent with economic theory. The average response to a 10 percent increase in the toll is a 1.6 percent reduction in usage. Drivers primarily value travel reliability over time savings, although there is heterogeneity in the relative values of time and reliability based on time of day and destination to or from work. The results highlight the importance of both controlling for simultaneity when estimating demand for dynamically priced toll roads and treating HOT lanes with dynamic prices as a differentiated product with bundled attributes.     

An economic assessment of informal recreation policy in the Scottish countryside

Countryside recreation policy in Scotland is currently delivered through numerous ad hoc arrangements. This paper assesses the economic effectiveness of these arrangements using cost‐benefit analysis. The benefits associated with recreation enhancements are measured using the contingent valuation method, while the costs are assessed through a survey of public and voluntary section expenditure on informal recreation. The analysis demonstrates that recreation policies are generally economically efficient in that they target enhancement programmes that are shown to generate high economic benefits. The exception to this is related to investments in visitor centres. The paper concludes that the cost‐benefit methodology adopted in this research can provide useful information for the strategic analysis of countryside recreation policy.     

The Highgate Cemetery Vampire Hunt: The Anglo-American Connection in Satanic Cult Lore

The purpose of this paper is the study and analysis of a fairly widespread false idea. I mean to take seriously one of these shreds of lore that are by and large known to everyone, and try to understand the traits that make it seductive and convincing. It seems to me that the main problem set by false ideas is that they are rooted in the collective consciousness.

The false idea chosen as an example asserts that the image of the murderer is retained on a victim's retina after death and can be retrieved through photography. In tribute to Edgar Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart, I have chosen to designate this assertion as “The Tell-Tale Eye.” Our journey through this false idea will lead us towards a legend built around a technical process, that of photography, but also towards the seductiveness of a magical thought, in which it is the victim's own body that accuses the murderer.     

Excavations and Survey at Bryn Cysegrfan,Llanfair Clydogau,Dyfed, 1979

THE EARTHWORKS of a group of pillow mounds in association with four buildings were surveyed and partially excavated during 1978 and 1979 in advance of destruction. Below the earthen mounds, on the former ground surface, were alignments of flat stones found to cover a network of artificial burrows for rabbits. A single radiocarbon date from burnt vegetation beneath one mound provided a date of a.d. 1375±60. The buildings were also excavated and found to be of typical Welsh upland form.     

The DEEPSAL Project: Using the Past for Local Community Futures in Jordan

ABSTRACT

The Deep Past as a Social Asset in the Levant (DEEPSAL) project, conducted in 2015–16 by the Council for British Research in the Levant, examined two communities in southern Jordan, Beidha and Basta, who live near significant Neolithic archaeological sites. The project collected information on the communities’ current socioeconomic conditions, their relationship with local cultural heritage and how that cultural heritage currently benefits or hinders them. The information was used to inform nascent strategies to utilize the sites sustainably as development assets and suggest alternative strategies as necessary. The results showed that a tourism-based strategy is suitable for Beidha but there was a need to focus on basic business skills. For Basta a tourism-based strategy is currently unsuitable, and efforts should rather focus on supporting educational activities. The results of the project are presented here within the context of archaeology’s increasing interest to use archaeological resource to benefit local communities, and outlines lessons for that effort.     

Public engagement in smart city development: Lessons from communities in Canada's Smart City Challenge

Quality of life is often touted as the main benefit of building smart cities. This, however, raises questions about the extent to which the public is engaged as part of the “smart” development process, particularly given the significant financial investments often required to meaningfully design smart city projects. To better understand approaches to public engagement in the context of smart city development, we draw upon three selected finalists of Infrastructure Canada's Smart City Challenge, which invited municipalities, regional governments, and Indigenous communities to enter a competition where the winning proposals would be awarded federal financial grants to complete their projects. Prizes of $5 million, $10 million, and $50 million were awarded. Specifically, we compare the public engagement experiences of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne (Quebec), the City of Guelph, and the Region of Waterloo. We carried out semi-structured interviews and reviewed documents in each community to better understand how finalists in each category engaged residents in proposal development. The paper addresses how communities are approaching public engagement in smart city development and the implications of these approaches. We conclude that, despite earnest attempts to publicly engage and become citizen-centric, municipal governments continue to see civic participation as a top-down tool.     

Book reviews

VIETNAMESE ANTI‐COLONIALISM. David G. Marr. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1972. 0–520–0813–3. xix, 322 pp. $US11.95.

SUKARNO: A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY. J. D. Legge. Allen Lane, The Penguin Press, 1972. 0–7139–0244–2. 431 pp. $10.50.

THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES 1781–1826. SCHEMER OR REFORMER? Syed Hussein Alatas. Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1971. 0–207–12282–2. 64 pp. $1.50 hard cover, $1.00 paper.

THE BUDGET AND THE PLAN IN CHINA: CENTRAL‐LOCAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS (A.N.U. Contemporary China Papers, No. 3). Audrey Donnithorne. Canberra, 1972. $1.00.

REPORT FROM PEKING: OBSERVATIONS OF A WESTERN DIPLOMAT ON THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION. D. W. Fokkema. Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1971. 0–207–123497. $4.95.

SIR GEORGE SANSOM AND JAPAN. A MEMOIR. Katherine Sansom. The Diplomatic Press, Tallahassee, Florida, 1972. 183 pp. $US15.00.

ALLIANCE IN DECLINE: A STUDY IN ANGLO‐JAPANESE RELATIONS 1908–23. Ian Nish. Athlone, London, 1972. 0485–13133–1. 424 pp. £7.50 (stg.).

PARTNERS IN PEACE: A STUDY IN INDO‐SOVIET RELATIONS. K. Neelkant. Vikas Publishing House, Delhi, 1972. 7069–0218–1. 192 pp.

INDO‐PAKISTAN RELATIONS (1960–65). Dinesh Chandra Jha. Bharati Bhawan, Patna, 1972. 418 pp. Rs.30.00.

THE LATIN AMERICANS. Victor Alba. Praeger, New York, 1969. 392 pp. $US3.95 paper.

CONSTRAINTS AND ADJUSTMENTS IN BRITISH FOREIGN POLICY. Michael Leifer (ed.). Allen & Unwin, London, 1972. 0–04–327039–5. 210 pp. £2.90 (stg.) paper, £5.00 (stg.) hard cover.

BILLION DOLLAR QUESTIONS: ECONOMIC ISSUES IN AUSTRALIA. J. O. N. Perkins. Sun Books, Melbourne, 1972. 0–7251–0147–4. 199 pp. $2.50 paper.

SECRECY. POLITICAL CENSORSHIP IN AUSTRALIA. Jim Spigelman. Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1972. 0–207–12543–0. 194 pp. $2.50 paper.

NEW ZEALAND AND JAPAN 1900–1941. M. P. Lissington. Government Printer (A. R. Shearer), Wellington, 1972. 206 pp. $NZ5.75.

NEW ZEALAND AND THE UNITED STATES: 1840–1944. M. P. Lissington. A. R. Shearer, Government Printer, Wellington, New Zealand, 1972. 114 pp. $NZ3.00.

SOUTHERN AFRICA IN PERSPECTIVE. ESSAYS IN REGIONAL POLITICS. Christian P. Potholm and Richard Dale (eds.). The Free Press, U.S.A. 1972. xiii, 418 pp. $14.25.

SOUTH AFRICA — SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES. Heribert Adam (ed.). Oxford University Press, London, 1971. 340 pp. $10.90.

THE COMMISSARIAT OF ENLIGHTENMENT. SOVIET ORGANIZATION OF THE ARTS AND EDUCATION UNDER LUNACHARSKY, OCTOBER 1917–1921. Sheila Fitzpatrick. Cambridge University Press, 1970, 521–07919–5. xxii, 380 pp. $13.20.

MILITARY MEN. Ward Just. Michael Joseph, London, 1970. 256 pp. $6.80.

NUKLEARE MITWIRKUNG: DEE BUNDESREPUBLEK DEUTSCHLAND IN DER ATLANTISCHEN ALLIANZ 1954–1970. Dieter Mahncke. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin and New York, 1972. 3–11–0018209. xvi, 274 pp.

WESTEUROPAISCHE VERTEIDIGUNGSKOOPERATION. Karl Carstens and Dieter Mahncke (eds.). Munich, R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1972. 3–486–43731–3. 256 pp.