Underground station passenger flow is large, the number of parcels carried by passengers is large and varied, and the parcels carried have an impact on the fire hazard and evacuation of the station. In order to determine the weights of the passenger luggage risk and environmental factor index system in the fire risk evaluation of underground stations in a more realistic way, an optimized and improved hierarchical analysis method for determining the judgement matrix is proposed, which improves the traditional nine-scaled method and adopts the three-scaled method for the four major categories of luggage, namely, handbags, rucksacks, portable power tools and trolley cases. The advantage of this method is that there is no need for consistency judgement in determining packages with a wide range of types and uncertain contents, thus simplifying the calculation. Meanwhile, the reasonableness and reliability of the method is verified by combining it with an actual metro station fire risk assessment system.

This study investigated the relationship between telecommunications development, trade openness and economic growth in South Africa. It determined explicitly if telecommunications development and trade openness directly impact economic growth or whether telecommunications strengthen or weaken the link between trade openness and economic growth using the ARDL bounds test methodology. The findings reveal that both telecommunications development indicators and trade openness significantly and positively impact South Africa’s GDP in the short and long terms. The study also found that control variables like internet usage and gross fixed capital formation significantly and positively influence GDP. Conversely, inflation was found to consistently affect GDP negatively and significantly. The findings from the ARDL cointegration analysis affirm a long-run economic relationship between the independent variables and GDP. The study also established that telecommunications development slightly distorts trade in the foreign trade-GDP nexus in South Africa. Despite this, the negative interaction effect is not substantial enough to overshadow the positive impact of trade openness on economic growth. From a policy perspective, the study recommends that South African policymakers prioritise enhancing local goods’ competitiveness in global markets and reducing trade barriers. It also advocates for improving the accessibility and affordability of telecommunications technologies to foster economic development.