Decarbonising mobility in port cities

Abstract

Ports play an important role in the European transport decarbonisation agenda. Due to the complex characteristics of ports, coordinated and holistic approaches between port authorities and municipalities are of utmost relevance to tackle greenhouse gas emissions reduction. This paper analyses the mobility challenges of a port city and associated carbon dioxide CO2 emissions. The specific objectives of this research are: firstly, to study the implementation of integrated mobility measures in ports to reduce the carbon footprint by promoting an efficient use of transport infrastructure and smart mobility strategies to/from/in the port; secondly, to define and implement electric mobility and digitalization solutions for transport in ports (including the connection between the city and the port). The traffic modelling software PTV VISSIM and the Vehicle Specific Power methodology were used to estimate the emissions of the vehicles present in the road network of a study area. The methodology was applied to the case study of Aveiro, Portugal, which has a port located 8 km from the city centre. The baseline scenario and three alternative scenarios: implementation of electric mobility; digitalization of work patterns through remote work; and mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) were defined. Results showed a reduction in pollutant emissions in all tested scenarios in comparison with the baseline scenario.