SECOND  IN-CLASS  TEST

Write your name in the space below.  Then answer all the questions below, in the spaces provided (use the back of pages, if needed — it may not be).  The points total 45.  This test is worth 10 points toward the quarter's total of 100 points, so your raw score will be multiplied by 0.222 to yield the number of points earned toward the 100.  You have 80 minutes.

Name:____________________________________
 

1.  [2 points]  Transportation infrastructure costs money.  Transportation planners have to balance the costs against the benefits.  An important type of benefit is the reduction in transport time that results from improved infrastructure.  But the value of the time saved has to be estimated.  How might a transportation planner place a value the time that people and that goods spend in transport?
 

2.  [4 points]  Define “fixed costs” of transportation and list three sources or types of fixed costs in transportation.
 
 

3.  [2 points]  Why is it that distance confers a limited monopoly on producers or venders?  Present one result of this.
 
 

4.  [1 point]  Holding mode and weight constant, the schedule of transport costs as a function of distance is usually curvilinear.  Why?
 
 

5.  [9 points]  Name and explain the three bases of interaction.  Relate each basis (loosely) to the simple spatial interaction model, I_ij = k P_iP_j d_ij^-a
 

6.   [6 points]  Define FOB, CIF, and uniform-delivered pricing.  How might these different pricing schemes affect the location and marketing decisions of producers?
 
 

7.  [1 point]  What are the constraints in a “doubly constrained” spatial interaction model?
 
 

8.  [7 points]  These questions refer to the figures and equations below.  It is possible that more than one figure satisfies the condition set out in a question.  Assume that these are "nonplanar" networks, in which edges that cross on the page don’t actually meet to form a vertex unless we specify that with a large dot.
 

 a.  Which figure(s) depict(s) a hierarchical network?

b.  Which network(s) is(are) minimally connected?

c.  Which network(s) is(are) maximally connected?

d.  Which network(s) is(are) a minimal circuit?

e.  Which network(s) has(have) a gamma = 1.0, where gamma = e/3(v-2)  ?

f.  Which network(s) has(have) a b = 1.0, where b = e/v ?

g.  Which network(s) has(have) a b = 0.8, where b = e/v ?
 

9.  [5 points]  How would you explain I_ij = k P_iP_j d_ij^-a to an intelligent, adult friend who's uncomfortable with math and with symbols?
 

10.  [8 points]  Answer one of the following three sets of questions.  Use an essay format, and do not misspell “its”  “it’s”  or “develop”.

What is the Crow Benefit subsidy?  Why was it begun?  What effect did it have on the amount of and market locations for prairie grain farming?  What have been the effects of its repeal?  Explain the effects of the subsidy and of its repeal, in terms of our elementary study of land use and of interaction.

Refer to (and use) our understanding of transportation and interaction to discuss the implications of steadily declining real (i.e., inflation-adjusted) costs of transportation in your own life (think about the various ways that transport and place-to-place interaction affect where you live, work, and shop, as well as what you buy and who you know).  What effect do you think electronic communication has on the demand for transportation?  Explain why and give an example.  Develop an argument that location no longer matters.  Then, develop an argument that location matters more than ever.

Present at least two justifications for government provision or regulation (distinguish the two terms) of transportation or communications.  Why (two reasons) have governments been privatizing and deregulating transportation and communications?  What are at least two effects of privatization and deregulation?  Make sure that, to the extent possible, you relate these reasons and effects to our basic understandings of transportation, development, and land use.