Infrastructure Options Research Articles

THE EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PECULIARITIES ON TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE PERFORMANCE IN LAGOS METROPOLIS, NIGERIA: RESIDENTS' EXPERIENCES

Efficient transportation infrastructure is pivotal for the seamless functioning of global cities, with coastal cities facing unique challenges due to environmental peculiarities. This study delves into how Lagos' environmental peculiarities impact transportation infrastructure performance, shedding light on both positive and negative implications. A comprehensive survey involving 1284 residents within Lagos Metropolis was conducted using multistage sampling techniques. A combination of descriptive (percentage and mean-weighted analysis) and inferential (Fisher’s exact test and Phi Cramer's V Test) statistics was adopted for data analysis. Major findings revealed that the environmental peculiarities in Lagos foster the use of multimodal infrastructure options and concurrently exert adverse effects on various facets of transportation infrastructure performance, including travel cost, commuting time, fare charges, wear and tear of infrastructure, and the overall cost of maintenance and repairs. The results of the Fisher’s exact test underscore the undeniable impact of Lagos' environmental peculiarities on transportation infrastructure performance (p = 0.000 < 0.05). This study concludes that high water tables, as a representative environmental peculiarity, substantially influence transportation infrastructure performance, shaping the mobility needs of residents. In light of these findings, the study advocates for the full implementation of sustainable infrastructure solutions. Recommendations include establishing robust drainage systems, incorporating corrosion-resistant materials, and adopting innovative technologies to mitigate the repercussions of rising sea levels on critical transportation infrastructure, enhancing its resilience in the face of environmental challenges.

Public reaction to public-private partnerships (PPPs): citizen assessments of four different types of PPPs and policy support

ABSTRACT Solving problems through collaborative efforts of public, private, and nonprofit groups has become more important in recent years. One type of public-private partnerships (PPPs) has been studied in some depth – government-business contracts for transportation infrastructure. Little is known, however, about other types of partnership arrangements that deal with other community issues or services and may involve different combinations of actors. And there is little information on how the public views any of the available PPP options and arrangements for possible transportation infrastructure design, development and implementation. This article focuses on the public's views of four PPP transportation infrastructure options. The overall results show that respondents’ do differentiate between types of PPPs and that respondents’ PPP preferences are associated with their views on community engagement policy on infrastructure.

Zero-Emission Truck Powertrains for Regional and Long-Haul Missions

Zero-emission trucks for regional and long-haul missions are an option for fossil-free freight. The viability of such powertrains and system solutions was studied conceptually in project ESCALATE for trucks with GVW of 40 tonnes and beyond through various battery electric and fuel cell prime mover combinations. The study covers battery and fuel cell power sources with different degrees of battery electric as well as H2 and fuel cell operation. As a design basis, two different missions with a single-charge/H2 refill were analysed. The first mission was the VECTO long-haul profile repeated up to 750 km, whereas the second was a real 520 km on-road mission in Finland. Based on the simulated energy consumption on the driving cycle, on-board energy demand was estimated, and the initial single-charge and H2 refill operational scenarios were produced with five different power source topologies and on-board storage capacities. The traction motors of the tractor were dimensioned so that a secondary mission of GVW up to 76 tonnes on a shorter route or a longer route with more frequent battery recharge and/or H2 refill can be operated. Based on the powertrain and vehicle model, various infrastructure options for charging and H2 refuelling strategies as well as various operative scenarios with indicative total cost of ownership (TCO) were analysed.

Epistemic justice in flood-adaptive green infrastructure planning: The recognition of local experiential knowledge in Thorncliffe Park, Toronto

Evidence shows that green infrastructure planning relies on technocratic and economic valuation approaches to protect lands of high monetary value against flooding without considering climate justice. Contrasting epistemic justice against recognition and socio-cultural valuation of ecosystem services, this study explores how flood-adaptive green infrastructure planning may recognize and include the local experiential knowledge of under-represented groups. We focus on Thorncliffe Park, a dense tower neighborhood with a low-income immigrant population in Toronto, Canada, to explore: (1) the local experiential knowledge of residents about floods, climate-adaptive green infrastructure, and structural vulnerabilities; (2) the root causes of epistemic injustice in previous adaptive green infrastructure interventions; (3) siting options for future adaptive green infrastructure. The methodology includes 199 online surveys -among Thorncliffe Park's residents and 20 in-depth interviews with local community leaders and Toronto-based planning experts, policy reviews. Additionally, a spatial component consists of 120 online participatory mapping activities and spatial analysis of surface run-offs. Our findings -reveal that Thorncliffe Park residents are excluded from adaptive green infrastructure planning because flood management -remains a technocratic process -grounded in economic valuation approaches and technical justifications. Our findings -indicate that decision-makers have not credited residents’ needs and testimonies over decades due to -historical racial and socio-economic prejudice toward Thorncliffe Park's residents. We also -identify four hermeneutical barriers that prevent residents from impacting decisions, namely a lack of: social networks, citizenship rights, climate awareness opportunities, and communicational tools.

Mind the perception gap: The impact of bus rapid transit infrastructure on travelers’ perceptions of affective subjective well-being

Over the past 20 years, bus rapid transit (BRT) has been increasingly promoted as an affordable way to improve public transit services in cities around the world. In many places, however, BRT projects have faced community opposition for a range of reasons, such as concerns around loss of private transport space and parking, demand for improved pedestrian and cycle infrastructure, and impacts on streetscapes. This research informs the selection of BRT infrastructure options by considering the perspective of travelers’ affective subjective well-being (SWB). Specifically, in a randomized control trial framework, individuals are presented with photo-simulations of various BRT infrastructure alternatives, and report their psychometric indicators of happiness or perceived safety. We test this approach using an urban corridor approximately2 km in lengthin Boston, exploring the impact of 65 different BRT infrastructure alternatives. We find that: (1) compared to regular bus services, a ‘standard BRT’ consisting of a painted bus lane and the addition of a cycle lane significantly enhances SWB; (2) an ‘SWB infrastructure’ option that replaces car parking with improvements for cyclists and pedestrians and adds street amenities further enhances SWB; and, (3) the BRT infrastructure elements most effective in enhancing affective SWB for users of all transport modes are the addition of green spaces, improvement of crosswalks, and provision of more space for pedestrians and cyclists. This study shows the importance, for citizens’ emotional well-being, of moving from a traditional bus-only approach to multi-modal BRT infrastructures. Future research could integrate this technique into actual participatory planning processes to select the most effective BRT infrastructure in corridors of specific interest, in Boston and beyond.

Operations Eclipse Sequencing in Multipurpose Dam Planning

AbstractA resurgence of dam planning and construction is under way in river basins where untapped hydropower potential could meet growing energy demands. Despite calls for more comprehensive evaluation of dam projects, most dams continue to be planned with traditional methods that neglect interdependencies between planning and management and cumulative impacts of multiple new dams. Using the transboundary Zambezi Watercourse as a case study where competing demands for water, energy, and food are increasing, we contribute to a novel dam planning approach that integrates sequencing of planned reservoirs with adaptive operations. While additional hydropower capacity reduces structural energy deficits, operating polices emerge as the main driver of human‐environmental tradeoffs, so much so that single‐objective operating policy selection may lead to erroneous perceptions of tradeoffs across infrastructure options. Furthermore, compared to an operation and sequencing strategy that singularly maximizes hydropower, seeking compromise through operations while constructing dams early improves environmental and irrigation objectives by 50% and 80% with an 8% loss in hydropower. Alternatively, seeking compromise only through delayed dam construction yields modest environmental and irrigation improvements of 6% and 9%, respectively, with a 22% loss in hydropower. The robustness of this result is tested under an ensemble of stochastic streamflow where environmental flow and irrigation deficits are found more sensitive to operations than shifts in water availability. The predominance of operating policies is relevant for improving multi‐objective dam planning in other river basins already fragmented by dams built in the twentieth century.

Social Justice in the Green City

The Covid-19 pandemic and energy, climate, and demographic crises have shown how cities are vulnerable to these impacts and how the access to green and blue spaces has become highly relevant to people. One strategy that we can observe is the strong focus on the resilience discourse, meaning implementing more green and blue spaces in urban areas, such as at previous brownfield quarters. However, social justice implications of urban greening have been overlooked for a long time. The implementation of strategies to improve the quality and availability of the green and blue infrastructures may indeed have negative outcomes as far as housing accessibility is concerned by trigging gentrification processes. Issues related to environmental justice and socio-spatial justice are increasing in contemporary cities and call for a better understanding of the global and local mechanisms of production and reproduction of environmental and spatial inequalities. This thematic issue includes eleven articles with different methodologies, with examples from Europe and North America as well as different lenses of green gentrification. Some articles focus more on the question of costs, benefits, and distributional consequences of various infrastructural options for urban greening. Others, instead, discuss how the strategic urban planning tools and policy processes take into account distributional consequences, with specific attention on participatory processes.

Data Privacy using Multi-Keyword Search and Coordinate Matching over Encrypted Documents

Abstract: With cloud computing, businesses have access to notjust data storage but also to networks and computers. Most cloud service providers operate on a pay-as-you-go basis, which means that their customers no longer have to invest much in infrastructure to take use of their services. As these services are not hosted on the company’s local network, they are far simpler to administer and implement than more conventional infrastructure options. Cloud computing’s appeal stems from these aspects, explaining its ever- increasing popularity. The benefits of storing information and programs on the cloud outweigh the disadvantages. As such, it raises issues that must be addressed head-on to guarantee a safe cloud computing setting. With more and more sensitive information being stored on the cloud at present, there are growing privacy and security issues about this information. The data is encrypted before being saved in the cloud to avoid this problem. An effective search methodis also required since the quantity of data typically kept is quite large. The two most important components of cloud computing that we cover here are encryption and searching. We propose a multi-keyword search method to search through encrypted clouddata in addition to a safe and efficient encryption technique for the data and queries stored in the cloud.

Analyzing Urban Travel Behavior Components in Tehran, Iran

This research is an attempt to explore the nature and characteristics of urban travel behavior in the metropolitan area of the Iranian capital, Tehran. To this end, using the perspectives of 822 participants via a questionnaire survey, we assessed six major Travel Behavior Components (TBCs)—namely, travel mode, travel time, travel destination, travel frequency, travel choice, and travel purpose—from the lens of five different sociodemographic characteristics—that is, gender, age, family structure, and educational and occupational groups. Using SPSS-26, MAXQDA, and Structural Equation Model (SEM) via AMOS software, we analyzed priorities and preferences related to TBCs across different social groups and explored the impact of preferences of different social groups on TBCs in the Tehran metropolitan area. The results indicate that firstly, the tendency to travel by private transport has the highest share among all groups compared with other modes of travel. Secondly, we identified four major challenges affecting urban travel behavior in Tehran: lacking diverse options for urban traveling, old vehicles and infrastructure, traffic congestion, and unequal access to travel facilities in the city. Finally, we found that sociodemographic characteristics have a relatively strong and significant impact on TBCs. The study highlights the role of sociodemographic characteristics in travel behavior transformations and gives more insights into the travel behavior preferences of urban residents. Such insights would be effective for city policymakers and planners to enhance the quality of urban transportation.

Infrastructure development, human development index, and CO2 emissions in China: A quantile regression approach

This study investigates the relationships between infrastructure development, human development index (HDI), and CO2 emissions in China. Infrastructure has played an essential role in achieving social and economic developmental goals in China, but environmental pollution has significantly increased in the country in the last two decades. Our analysis uses time series data from 1990 to 2021 and quantile regressions, and we find that infrastructure has positive and statistically significant relationships with HDI, CO2 emissions, and GDP in all quantiles. Recent infrastructure upgrades improve living standards and increase HDI but damage the environment, and infrastructure is the main source of CO2 emissions in the country. Therefore, the government should invest in sustainable infrastructure to mitigate CO2 emissions. The government may consider infrastructure options such as low carbon transportation, including railway infrastructure, urban metros, and light rail.

Підвищення ефективності функціонування нерегульованого перехрестя з круговим рухом

The analysis and empirical studies of conditional and unconditional parameters of the traffic model at an unregulated intersection with circular traffic in the city of Ternopil were conducted. The intersection "Zbarazke ring" in the city of Ternopil is an unregulated intersection with a circular traffic pattern and is located at the intersection of Stepan Bandera avenue, April 15 street, T. Protasevich street and Pidvolochyskyi highway. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed solutions, simulation models of the intersection "Zbarazke ring" with the existing and proposed traffic management system were created. The conducted traffic modeling using multi-parameter models made it possible to take into account various options for road infrastructure, restrictions and traffic parameters, which made it possible to justify optimal decisions regarding the improvement of the organization of traffic at the object of study. Five variants of traffic organization at the intersection with circular traffic are proposed, the best of them is modeled, analyzed and substantiated, and ways to improve the quality of functioning of this section of the street-road network are proposed. According to the results of the simulation modeling of the intersection "Zbarazke ring", the implementation of the proposed measures will lead to the following improvements compared to the existing traffic conditions at the intersection: the average speed of vehicles will increase by 30%; the average delay time will decrease by 28%; the average number of road transport stops will decrease by 21%; the average time spent in traffic jams will decrease by 50%.

Future Colorado River Basin Drought and Surplus

Historical and future drought and surplus periods in the Colorado River basin are evaluated based on eight climate scenarios. Unimpaired streamflow from 17 stations in the Colorado River are evaluated based on U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Reclamation, and Coupled Modeled Intercomparison Projection 5 downscaled data from 1950–2099. Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5 emission scenarios are considered for four climate models (HadGEM2-ES, CNRM-CM5, CanESM2, MI-ROC5). Drought (surplus) quantities, magnitudes, severities, and water year flows are compared for the historical and future periods. Results indicate that there is a significant difference between the historical record and future projections. The results are not consistent in terms of increase of drought or surplus; however, the intensity (as measured by magnitude and duration) will likely increase for both RCP 4.5 and 8.5. The CanESM2 and CNRM-CM5 models project wetter scenarios, and HadGEM2 and MI-ROC5 models project drier scenarios. For the critical Lees Ferry station, models indicate a chance of higher drought and surplus length and magnitude on the order of two times the historical period. In addition, basin wide flow at Lees Ferry had a shift in the future mean ensemble of approximately 3–10% for the water year. Future hydrologic changes will heighten the need for appropriate management and infrastructure options available to adapt to these changes.

Benefits and Costs of Managed Aquifer Recharge: Further Evidence

Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) provides an integrated solution that allows aquifer storage to complement surface water storage. Cost–benefit analysis provides a systematic method for comparing alternative water infrastructure options. When market valuations of water infrastructure are unavailable, levelised cost is a widely accepted method of comparing MAR with alternative solutions. Benefits of MAR can be estimated by the cost of the cheapest alternative source of supply or the value of production using MAR. This article presents quantitative analysis of levelised costs and benefit cost ratios of 21 MAR schemes from 15 countries, and qualitative assessment of additional social and environmental benefits. MAR schemes recharging aquifers with natural water using infiltration basins or riverbank filtration are relatively cheap with high BCRs. Schemes using recycled water and/or requiring wells with substantial drilling infrastructure and or water treatment are more expensive, while offering positive BCRs. Most MAR schemes have positive or neutral effects on aquifer storage and condition, water quality, and environmental flows. Energy requirements are competitive with alternatives. This paper demonstrates strong returns to investment in the reported MAR schemes. MAR provides valuable social benefits and contributes to sustaining groundwater resources where extraction is managed.

Integration of twin cities: A Delphi investigation of the urban areas on both sides of the Strait of Messina

ABSTRACT There are several cases of twin cities worldwide. In Europe, most of them came to attention after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when divided twin cities were still located on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain. Since then, many cases have been investigated, especially focusing on their functional and institutional integration, which turns out to be fundamental for their development. In this paper we deal with the case of Reggio Calabria and Messina, two large cities which face each other on the two banks of the Strait of Messina. Despite their proximity, they are poorly connected: socioeconomic interactions (e.g., commuting flows) are limited, and institutional coordination is lacking. However, they have a remarkable integrative potential, based on their complementary characteristics. By conducting a Delphi investigation, a technique which to date has never been used in this field, we analyze the potential, the scenarios, and the strategies to achieve the integration of these twin cities. Our findings show that integration may give back centrality to these two urban areas. This is a feasible scenario, which can be expected to materialize in a relatively short time even without full institutional coordination, focusing on transport services rather than on other infrastructural options (e.g., the Messina Bridge project).

A comparative economic assessment of urban transport infrastructure options in low- and middle-income countries

Several innovative public transport (PT) projects have been developed in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where cars, motorcycles and buses share the facilities. However, there seems to be very little evidence on assessment methods to analyse the feasibility of different PT modes and identify the most cost-effective mixed transport system. To address this issue, this study develops a comparative economic assessment (CEcoA) based on the PT technologies’ characteristics and the conditions of local transport networks. The assessment integrates four models. First, a social cost model (SCM), that calculates the social costs of each mode and mixed transport systems, is the key model in the assessment. Second, an incremental elasticity analysis (IEA) evaluates changes in total demand by using the demand elasticity with respect to a composite cost. The IEA solves the first drawback of the SCM that demand is assumed to be fixed. Third, an incremental logit model (ILM) estimates changes in modal shares with respect to generalised costs. The ILM overcomes the second disadvantage of the SCM, where preferences of users for all alternative transport modes are not considered. Fourth, a microscopic simulation model (MSM) simulates all existing transport modes’ flows on the local network. The MSM solves the third drawback of the SCM, which only considers an isolated corridor without any interaction between the different modes and any junctions. The assessment was applied to compare an existing mixed transport situation and twelve options with an introduction of new PT technologies (Bus Rapid Transit - BRT, elevated Metro and Monorail) replacing the existing bus services; either wholly or partially, and with or without a congestion charge scheme for private transport (PRV) on a corridor in Hanoi, Vietnam in terms of average social cost (ASC), total demand and PT share. The results show that eight options with BRT or Monorail or Metro are feasible, whilst the BRT option that replaces all existing buses and includes congestion charging is the best alternative in terms of ASC. Transport planners and decision makers can draw on the findings of this research. A congestion charge scheme might be considered for the local conditions to meet specific objectives such as a reduction in ASCs and an increase in modal share of PT. The CEcoA can be a strategic tool for not only planning new PT technologies on corridors in the whole network but also retrospectively evaluating investments of PT modes. Moreover, the methodology of the CEcoA might be applied and modified to various transport networks with an abundance of motorcycles to assess the costs and benefits of new PT modes and mixed transport systems with or without the congestion charge.

Strategies to Promote Greenery in Urban Boundary Wall Facades: A Case Study in Residential Areas of Colombo district, Sri Lanka

Understanding the public perceptions towards green infrastructure can be instrumental in identifying effective strategies for greening. This research focuses on the less exploited green boundary walls among the different green infrastructure options. A questionnaire survey was conducted among three hundred twenty-eight residents in residential areas of Colombo district, Sri Lanka, to understand the public perceptions that affect green urban boundary walls. Using Likert scales, participants expressed their perception of benefits and challenges related to greening boundary walls along with socio-economic data. Relaxation effects, improvement of aesthetic appearance, becoming close to nature, and improving air quality were among the highest-rated benefits. Lack of knowledge and time and money requirement was identified as significant challenges. Misconceptions about property damages and nuisance to the owner are demotivators for nearly 38% of the sample as determined by the cluster analysis. Interventions such as providing relevant knowledge on methods of green wall construction and maintenance methods and subsidies can be recommended. Raising awareness through pilot programs and opportunities for experience sharing may motivate people towards greening boundary walls. The study concludes with strategies applicable in motivating residents towards greening their boundary walls.

Going further with smaller EVs: System-level battery range, emissions and charging infrastructure analysis

Electric vehicles are a necessary part of a zero-carbon future. However, one in five motorists worldwide depend on small petrol motorcycles for their transport needs — vehicles for which no satisfactory low-carbon substitute exists. Meanwhile, the rise in electric car ownership is not reducing GHG emissions as much as often thought, due to the significant emissions from producing ever-larger batteries. Both problems can be solved by uncovering the mechanisms of long distance EV travel, beyond battery range, where the interaction with recharging infrastructure governs vehicle performance.This study develops a new model for journeys involving multiple run-recharge cycles and introduces a novel metric for EV performance — Day Range. Not only does this allow a direct comparison between a wide variety of vehicle and infrastructure options but, by further manipulating the formulae, high level trends can be observed and specific quantitative guidelines extracted.In vehicle design, a strong emphasis on efficiency and recharge rates can drastically reduce both in-use and embodied energy while matching the touring performance of a conventional, resource intensive, heavy battery car. Meanwhile, the recharging network can be developed to better support this lower energy use. Taking the example of the UK motorway network, charge rates up to only 100kW should be installed with the focus instead falling on reliably reducing chargepoint intervals at least as far as the existing target of 28 miles, and ideally much further. In doing so, required battery capacity can be reduced from the 60kWh+ currently seen as necessary to as little as 25kWh.The resulting vehicles not only consume less energy in motion but emit far less greenhouse gases during manufacture and will cost less to produce, allowing a much wider uptake of electric vehicles than possible under the existing, energy intensive battery vehicle touring paradigm.

An environmental information system for the exploration of energy systems

The transition to renewable energy sources requires extensive changes to the energy system infrastructure, ranging from individual households to the national scale. During this transition, stakeholders must be able to make informed decisions, researchers need to investigate possible options and analyse scenarios, and the public should be informed about developments and options for future infrastructure. The data and parameters required for this are manifold and it is often difficult to create an overview of the current situation for a region of interest. We propose an environmental information system for the visualisation and exploration of large collections of heterogeneous data in the scope of energy system infrastructure and subsurface geological energy storage technologies. Based on the study area of Schleswig-Holstein, a federal state in Germany, we have set up a virtual geographic environment integrating GIS data, topographical models, subsurface information, and simulation results. The resulting application allows users to explore data collection within a unified context in 3D space, interact with datasets, and watch animations of selected simulation scenarios to gain a better understanding of the complex interactions of processes and datasets. Based on the cross-platform game engine Unity, our framework can be used on regular PCs, head-mounted displays, and virtual reality environments and can support domain scientists during assessment and exploration of the data, encourages discussions and is an effective means for outreach activities and presentations for stakeholders or the interested public.

Climate Resilience and Environmental Sustainability: How to Integrate Dynamic Dimensions of Water Security Modeling

Considering hydro-climatic diversity, integrating dynamic dimensions of water security modeling is vital for ensuring environmental sustainability and its associated full range of climate resilience. Improving climate resiliency depends on the attributing uncertainty mechanism. In this study, a conceptual resilience model is presented with the consideration of input uncertainty. The impact of input uncertainty is analyzed through a multi-model hydrological framework. A multi-model hydrological framework is attributed to a possible scenario to help apply it in a decision-making process. This study attributes water security modeling with the considerations of sustainability and climate resilience using a high-speed computer and Internet system. Then, a subsequent key point of this investigation is accounting for water security modeling to ensure food security and model development scenarios. In this context, a four-dimensional dynamic space that maps sources, resource availability, infrastructure, and vibrant economic options is essential in ensuring a climate-resilient sustainable domain. This information can be disseminated to farmers using a central decision support system to ensure sustainable food production with the application of a digital system.

Estimating the costs and benefits of protecting a coastal amenity from climate change-related hazards: Nature based solutions via oyster reef restoration versus grey infrastructure

This paper examines the recreational use values associated with a coastal walking trail under threat from increased episodes of storm surges and coastal erosion, and the cost of alternative grey and nature based infrastructure options that could protect it. These options involve restoring an oyster reef bar that would act as a natural breakwater versus an impermeable revetment. The results of an on-site survey of users of the amenity and a negative binomial travel cost model demonstrate that the coastal trail has considerable recreational use value to local communities. In terms of a cost benefit analysis it was found that both protection options resulted in a positive net benefit over a 20 year time horizon but the nature based solution had a benefit cost ratio multiple times larger than the grey infrastructure alternative. The conclusions of the analysis remain valid under sensitivity analysis. The results suggest a compelling case for embedding nature based solutions in climate adaption and flood management planning for low lying coastal areas where recreational resources are under threat as it can be not only more cost effective but may also offer other ecosystem benefits to coastal communities.