Contribuciones al perfeccionamiento del sistema de transporte terrestre en Cuba

Introduction. There are some problems in the Cuban transportation system that require adequate responses. In its initial stage, the research was focused on the sugarcane transportation system in sugar mills of Holguin Province. At present, it includes the whole ground transportation system. Objectives: This research has been aimed at increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of ground transportation creating teaching and research software, and mitigating the environmental impact of transportation means. Methods. For the research, several automotive and railway transportation means of the province of Holguin were studied. Among the methods and tools used are bibliographic querying, data collection techniques, statistical processing, the use of the system approach in transportation planning, interviews with experts, and the use of mathematical modeling and simulation. Results. The mathematical models for sugar cane transportation are the main scientific contribution of the research. In all of them, the goal is to minimize the cost of transportation through a distinctive system approach. The most recent formulations take into account the probability of rain, the analysis for three days of harvest, and the minimization of the emission of pollutants into the atmosphere. Other results are methodologies for a comprehensive assessment of transportation and for the tractive effort-speed characteristics in ground vehicles, making software for teaching and research use. A technology was designed to recover diesel fuel filters of engines, an environmental management system was implemented in a bus repair shop, and a mathematical model for the distribution of medicines was also used. In a general sense, the research has value as a reference point in the fields of teaching and research.