The operation of roads under modern conditions associated with high speeds and traffic density results in wear of pavement and formation of a rut. When crossing the ruts, instability can occur when relatively small steering inputs lead to large changes in the trajectory. The lateral force acting on a wheel of a car is of particular importance in the study of stability and controllability. The magnitude of this force is determined by various factors: tire stiffness, speed, change in the angle of rotation of the wheel, the geometry of the transverse profile of the rut.
The objective of the study refers to the problem of determining the angles of inclination of side walls of the rut that are safe for movement at different speeds. The paper considers the interaction of a car wheel with the road surface, proposes a mathematical model for interaction of a tire with ruts, considers the angle of the wheel running on the rut wall. To describe the elastic response of a tire in contact with a rut, an elastic foundation model and a plane section method are used. The lateral force was estimated based on equations of motion of the wheel when crossing the rut. The dependences of the ratio of the lateral force to the normal load for various rut depths and angles of inclination of its walls on the angle of rotation of the wheel and the speed of the vehicle were obtained. It is shown that at a rut inclination angle exceeding five degrees, the lateral force begins to increase significantly with an increase in the angle of rotation of the wheel, as well as the speed of the vehicle, and may exceed the applied normal load. According to the condition of vehicle stability against skidding on a wet surface, limiting average angles of inclination of the side walls of the rut are estimated for various values of the vehicle speed and wheel rotation angles.

The analysis of the well-known designs and technologies for manufacture of rail tracks for light rail transit (LRT) allows to assess trends in development of this type of transportation, as well as to reveal an underestimation of public rail transport referring to the existing «tendency to eliminate tram traffic» in several Russian cities, despite the problems of urban ground passenger transport associated with a limited resource of urban space.
The prospects for development of urban ground passenger transport systems of LRT type were considered regarding adoption of new types of rolling stock, infrastructure development, reduction of costs and time of renewal of existing and construction of new tracks.
The objective of this article is to present an option of a rail track design for LRT considering its structural and technological features, as well as comparative assessment of its technical and economic indicators. The research method is based on the analysis of the current state, prospects, and trends in development of LRT in Russia, which made it possible to propose a solution to the existing problem of urban passenger transport. Research was reflected in relevant patents, in pending applications for alleged inventions, as well as in experience of manufacturing full-scale samples.
Comparative assessment referred to the known designs of sleeper and sleeperless, ballast and ballastless track used for light rail transit.
A prefabricated, two-level structure of a ballastless rail track for light rail transit is suggested. The design consists of a pile foundation with superposed longitudinal sleeper track connected by transverse braces. The design and technological features, as well as advantages of the proposed design in terms of essential indicators are shown in comparison with the known rail track designs for light rail transit. It is shown that the proposed track design makes it possible to develop a self-sufficient, self-organising logistics system and to quickly proceed with permanent construction, processing passenger traffic and cargo flows. Since the concept of «from infrastructure to facility» is replaced by the concept of «from facility to infrastructure», it allows development of the facility to outpace development of transport infrastructure, as a costly system with a distant payback.

The development of the infrastructure of transport interchange hubs is currently necessary to meet the growing demand for passenger services and to prevent infrastructural constraints on technological modernisation of entire transport system. Large-scale infrastructure projects are of a pronounced complex nature, involving many related industries in their sphere, which ultimately leads to an additional increase in GDP. A modern transport interchange hub is a public and business centre that ensures the quality of services, safety, technological reliability and creates an active business environment based on development of passenger infrastructure. Considering the latest global trends in the field of passenger transportation that englobe multimodality, speed, comfort and safety of passenger transportation, there is a pronounced need to develop modern transport interchange hubs.
Minimisation of passenger transfer time between interacting modes of transport at TIH can be achieved by coordinating contact timetables of different modes of transport. To do this, it is necessary first, to solve the problem of determining the optimal mode of interaction between ground urban passenger and rail transport.
The objective of the study described in the article is to determine the mode of supply of the units of ground urban passenger transport, which ensures the minimum time for a passenger to stay at TIH in accordance with the timetable of electric trains regarding the considered TIH. To reduce the dimension of the problem, it is assumed that all electric trains will have the same composition.
The methods of scheduling theory were used to solve the problem in the context of the study that resulted in a formalised problem of determining the optimal mode of interaction between ground urban passenger transport in transport interchange hubs illustrated by the example of interaction of rail and urban road transport and considering all existing constraints.

The needs for innovative development of the transport system, which is not only the most important, but also an indispensable condition for implementation of the Transport Strategy of the Russian Federation until 2030 with a forecast until 2035, determine the necessity for a important change in fundamental approaches to building a system of legal support for organisation of road traffic, historically based on the postulate of obligation the driver to ensure constant control over the traffic situation for the entire period of the vehicle’s movement. In this situation, the problem of legal regulation of admission to operation and subsequent operation of vehicles equipped with an automated driving system that does not provide for participation of the driver in the dynamic control of the car acquires special theoretical and practical significance.
The objective of the study, some of the results of which are suggested in the article, was a critical comprehension of the problems of legislative environment referring to the use of cars with an automated driving system, those problems being associated with ambiguities and gaps in the legislation in terms of codifying the basic terms and definitions.
The tools of formal dogmatic analysis were used to investigate the problematic issues of legalising the concept of «automated driving system», which is the most important, basic category in the system of legal regulation of the relations under study.
On this basis, the application of methods of systemic legal analysis contributed to identification of possible options for eliminating the identified gaps and contradictions in legislation, to formulate author’s definitions and to suggest guidelines for building an ordered system of legal terms to be entrenched in legal acts regulating the use of highly automated vehicles.
The implementation of the proposals formulated by the author can contribute to the improvement of the system of legal regulation of relations related to the use of highly automated vehicles.

Creation of price in road freight transport in Central Europe has undergone significant changes in the last 30 years. Transporters in regulated economy used mandatory tariffs, after the liberalisation of the market they were subsequently not prepared for their own price creation. Price calculation has gone through several stages of development. At present, there are existing cost calculations that are based on the division of costs into variable and fixed ones. After the accession of Central European countries to the European Union, competition in this sector has increased significantly. When calculating the price for transport, transporters use a coefficient of exploitation of journeys, which adjust the costs associated with the transport so that the costs also take into account the journey with the vehicle, which the transporter must carry out without the shipment.
The aim of this paper is to prove that from the point of view of the competitiveness of price creation it is not economically correct to use the coefficient of exploitation of journeys as a constant coefficient. The authors prove in the article that the value of the coefficient depends not only on the route of consignment transport but also on the time of transport realisation.

The article presents various options for technical and technological provisions to develop the capacity of railway lines, where there is a need to master the increasing volumes of traffic caused by various factors, for example, changes in national and world cargo flows, passenger flows.
The paper considers provisions undertaken to adopt and effectively implement a new technology of virtual coupling in the interval regulation of train traffic in the conditions of limited railway capacity which makes it possible to reduce inter-train intervals, electricity costs of traction as well as of infrastructure maintenance. This type of interval control allows controlling the following locomotive considering the information that is transmitted over the radio from the locomotive of the pilot train in front. The problems that arise during the traffic process controlled through virtual coupling mode are also identified followed by the model calculations referring to a system being introduced of stimulation and bonuses awarding intended for assistant station masters and traffic dispatchers of traction divisions respective of the number of dispatched and transit trains controlled through virtual coupling mode.

The pricing policy of airlines is developed based on a retrospective analysis of the price dynamics of air transportation and forecasting the market situation of supply and demand. The price dynamics of passenger air transportation has a certain structure and patterns, the identification of which helps to develop a competitive price offer for consumers.
The objective of the work is to determine the structure of price dynamics and identify patterns of price fluctuations in passenger air transportation from 2008 to 2022, which is important to consider when developing the pricing policy of airlines and the range of tariffs. Studies of the price dynamics of airline tickets by econometric methods allowed to identify the structure of the time series of prices and develop several models.
The study of the price dynamics structure, first, identified and analysed the seasonal component of the dynamics of airline ticket prices. Its calculation was carried out using additive and multiplicative models. The range of seasonal changes was -8,5% to +12,5%. The autocorrelation function of the dynamics of average monthly prices showed that the time series of airline ticket prices contained a trend. In addition to trend and seasonal components, cyclical fluctuations were identified in the price dynamics, the modelling of which was carried out based on regression analysis. Cyclical changes in the dynamics of air ticket prices, identified from 2008 to the present, are not sustainable.
Analysed dynamics revealed several medium-term cycles with a duration of 4–6 years. The cyclical dynamics of air transportation prices largely coincides with the general economic medium-term cycles, but there are time lags or lagging growth and decline rates.
Thus, the change in prices for civil air transportation has a natural trend-cyclical character shaped under the influence of fundamental macroeconomic factors and new determinants, the effect of which may result in a stronger change but with shorter impact or lag effect. Additive and multiplicative models will help predict average annual prices.

The article deals with the issue of road safety in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation.
The analysis of road traffic accidents over the past 10 years that occurred in the Arctic zone of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) was carried out for the first time ever. The study refers to the total number of road traffic accidents, accidents due to the fault of pedestrians, accidents due to the unsatisfied condition of streets and roads, accidents involving children under 16 years of age, accidents involving drivers with signs of alcohol intoxication and accidents committed by drivers without the right to drive vehicles. Based on the data obtained, a coefficient K was proposed that characterises the state of road safety in the Arctic regions in comparison with traffic safety in general in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).
The analysis of road traffic accident statistics has shown that many accidents are the fault of drivers without a driver’s license and revealed the districts with respectively the highest and lowest number of accidents as per their types listed above.
Despite the huge territory and the small number of inhabitants, and consequently the low population density, the number of accidents in the Arctic zone of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) has been increasing every year necessitating efforts to improve road safety.

The article deals with some problematic issues of using hospital ships for transporting the wounded, sick and shipwrecked under the conditions of an armed conflict at sea.
A retrospective analysis refers to emergence and development of legal norms governing the use of hospital ships during armed conflicts. Particular attention is paid to regulation by the standards of international humanitarian law of the issues of protection of hospital vessels from attacks and capture, transport of certain categories of persons and cargo followed by a review of the relevant international legal norms and of the practices of individual states in matters of transporting the wounded and sick, as well as of providing them with medical care at sea. A particular task was to get Journal’s audience acquainted with the review of the selected legal commentaries of ICRS on the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea of August 12, 1949 (GC II) and some other provisions of the relevant international humanitarian treaties in the field of hospital ships. The commentaries first ever published in Russian were selected, structured, and additionally elaborated by the author according to the concept of the article, as well as supplemented by the references to the results of modern research.
Based on a study of modern realities, the conclusion is substantiated about the sufficiency of the existing norms of international humanitarian law and the obvious need for adequate use of their potential in relation to the conditions of our times.

The article substantiates the relevance of studying individual motivators of future civil aviation pilots and future railway employees in the context of their professional education and describes the results of the study that had the objective to determine degree of evidence and conjunction of mean group motivators of two categories of respondents, as well as influence of obtained motivational profiles on the peculiarities of perception of the future profession by students of transport educational institutions.
The chosen empirical research method was based on diagnostics according to the «Motivation profile» test developed by S. Ritchie and P. Martin. This motivation test is a reliable and valid tool for measuring person’s individual motivations for activity, based on the study of 1355 motivation profiles of an international group of respondents suitable for analysis. The authors of the test identified 12 factors, which are human needs that drive people at work, the severity of which is reflected in the motivation profile of a person or a group.
The present study involved 144 cadets of the 5th year at Ulyanovsk Civil Aviation Institute named after Air Chief Marshal B. P. Bugaev pursuing «Organisation of flight work» specialised study course, and 50 3rd year students at Ulyanovsk Railway College, pursuing the «Technical operation of rail rolling stock of railways: Assistant driver of a diesel locomotive» study course.
The diagnostic experiment namely allowed to develop mean group motivation profiles of these categories of respondents and to carry out their analysis in terms of the requirements for the future occupation of the respondents. Particular attention was paid to a comparative analysis of motivation profiles of future civil aviation pilots and future railway employees.
Recommendations based on the results of the study are aimed at improving the educational process of a transport educational institution.

The article continues a series of papers by the authors of the results of the study on perception and interpretation by a pilot of visual information provided by flight instruments. The data presented refer to experiments conducted in 2021–2022 with a sample of 50 cadet pilots. According to V. A. Sychev, the wellknown aviation professor, in the piloting technique, perceptual errors are most common. Among many flight instruments important for piloting an aircraft, there is one whose influence on the «Loss of control in-flight» (LOC–I) problem is the greatest – this is the attitude indicator. Several catastrophes are associated with perceptual errors of the readings of attitude indicators. One of the most tragic accidents of this kind was the crash near Perm on September 14, 2008, of a Boeing‑737 aircraft.
The paper presents the results of a comparative study carried out to identify individual differences in perception and interpretation by tested cadet pilots of the roll indications on the attitude indicator with the «inside-out» and «outside-in» display options. During task performance, the participants were presented with a sequential series of images in the form of slides with roll indications of the attitude indicator with different display options. The experiment was carried out using a stationary Eye Tracker Tobii REX device. The analysis and processing of the data obtained was carried out using a special computer software developed by A. P. Plyasovskikh at the All-Russian scientific Research Institute of Radio Equipment. The participants to the experiment underwent also psychodiagnostics using Keirsey and MM‑1 socionic tests. Results were subject to mathematical processing with correlation analysis and G-sign test.
The arguments given by some authors in favour of the «outside-in» version of the indication were fully confirmed since the number of errors when determining the side of the roll on the «inside-out» display of the attitude indicator turned out to be seven times higher than on the «outside-in» display. The hypothesis that socionic characteristics are predictors of the pilot’s correct perception and interpretation of visual instrumental information has not been confirmed. It is possible that the absence of significant correlations was also influenced by the significant uniformity in the socionic characteristics of the surveyed persons.

Rail transport has a very significant impact on development of the economy and society. The objective of the study described in the article is to identify, using the methods of historical and statistical analysis, the relationship between development of the Russian railway network and the «big economic breakthrough» that took place from 1885 to 1914 and brought the country to a fundamentally higher level of development.
The analysis begins with a review of the previous period of 1861–1884, during which cardinal institutional changes were carried out and a large-scale railway network was created that connected all the main economic regions of the European part of Russia. Due to this, even then high rates of industrial growth were ensured, but the growth was very volatile.
It has been revealed that during the period of the «big economic breakthrough» it was possible not only to accelerate, but also to increase sustainability of economic development. These results were based on a significant level of availability of railway infrastructure for population already reached by the beginning of the «big economic breakthrough», allowing continuing dynamic development of railway transport and achieving growing intensity of employment of the railway network. The synergy of institutional and transport infrastructure development was of great importance. Due to this, the Russian economy during the period of the «big economic breakthrough» became the world record holder in terms of growth in industrial production and labour productivity, while a significant increase in the human development index was also achieved.
Thus, the study of the relationship between development of the railway network and the «big economic breakthrough» in Russia at the end of 19th – the beginning of 20th century has shown the importance of the synergy of institutional and infrastructural and transport development for successful economic and social modernisation and demonstrated the key role that railway transport in this process.

News from the archives The issue suggests a small collection of news from the Zheleznodorozhnoe delo [Rail Business] journal, that had reproduced them from other media of that period. The diversity of topics proves the existence of different issues that were relevant in 1912: adoption of round trips – similar to modern reduced fares for purchase of two way ticket, discussion of timeliness of emergence of rail bus in the Far East, accession of future Moscow Institute of Railway Engineers (now – Russian University of Transport) to the status of the institute of higher education. Style, lexis, punctuation are kept maximally authentic.