Sustainable Means Of Transport Research Articles

Assessing the sustainability of mobile depots: The case of urban freight distribution in Rio de Janeiro

To encourage the provision and use of more sustainable means of transportation, cities and companies are implementing a variety of measures, such as strengthening the use of public transportation infrastructure and services to alleviate traffic congestion and to democratize the urban space. In these cases, literature shows that the combined use of smaller vehicles and mobile depots is a practice to be explored more deeply. This paper focuses on the use of motorized cargo tricycles alongside conventional trucks in a mobile-depot-based procedure to accommodate the restrictions imposed on conventional freight vehicle access in densely populated areas. Therefore, a new method is proposed to identify the impact on service level, emissions footprint and delivery cost of this distribution strategy. Moreover, we assess the environmental benefits of this new distribution strategy by estimating the reduction in various pollutant emissions attributable to the adoption of smaller, more agile last-mile delivery vehicles. The analyses have shown that greenhouse gas emissions and local air quality pollutants can be significantly cut by the use of cargo tricycles and mobile depots in the last mile delivery. With respect to cost, we can show that the mobile-depot-based delivery setup yields slight cost advantages over the traditional setups for neighborhoods that are characterized by low average delivery drop sizes.

EU STRUCTURAL FUNDS IN CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE: TRANSPORT AND URBAN MOBILITY OVERVIEW

Traffic congestion, rising pollution and urban sprawl all deeply affect the quality of life in cities of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), making investing in the transition towards a low-carbon economy a key priority. Only through the development of sustainable means of transport and urban mobility can healthy living environments be regained, and the impact of climate change mitigated, all the while bolstering local growth. In this context, the hereby article strives to analyse the overall transport investments and urban mobility investments in the CEE region. It provides a data-driven overview of the absorption and implementation of the EU Cohesion Policy, and distribution of EU Structural Funds invested in Central and Eastern Europe in the transport and urban mobility sectors, over the two EU financial programming periods of 2007–2013 and 2014–2020.

Does the service quality of urban public transport enhance sustainable mobility?

The main purpose of this paper is to assess and gain a deeper understanding of the role of service quality in sustainable mobility. Specifically, the study aims to understand user perceptions related to service quality in urban public transport systems and to investigate whether they induce the adoption of adopt more sustainable behaviours for mobility purposes by opting for alternative means of transportation such as car-sharing, bike-sharing, and car-pooling instead of using one's own private car. Indeed, it is becoming vital for cities to investigate the norm of owning a car as a solution and to break this norm to allow citizens to stop using their car as an environmentally friendly solution.On the basis of the above theoretical assumptions, we develop a theoretical framework that aims to fill the literature gaps and is therefore oriented towards understand the linkage among the service quality of the urban public transportation system, service loyalty to urban public transport, the intention to use one's own private car less, and the intention to use sustainable means of transportation, mainly car-sharing.An empirical investigation involving the city of Rome, Italy, is performed. The study proposes a territorial analysis and a qualitative and quantitative survey. The aim of this empirical study is two-fold: i) to learn the state of the art of the urban public transport system of the city under investigation and ii) to explore citizens' perceptions of the service quality of public transport and to understand their intentions to use public transport more, to use their own cars less and to adopt sustainable means of transportation such as car-sharing. PLS-PM statistical tools are used for data analysis. Our findings confirm that service quality has a direct effect on the intention to use public transport more and that this effect affects both the intention to use one's own car less and the intention to use sustainable means of transportation such as car-sharing more.

Planning and Design of Equitable Free-Floating Bike-Sharing Systems Implementing a Road Pricing Strategy

Promoting a more sustainable development of urban realities is one of the most important goals of the recent decades. One possible strategy to undertake in order to achieve this objective is the implementation of a road pricing: tolling private cars when passing by certain roads of the network could be a way to tone down the traffic congestion and, at the same time, encourage the shifting towards more sustainable means of transport. In this context, we suggest a method to distribute in a fair way the outcomes/revenues of this pricing strategy. In particular, we propose to design a free-floating bike-sharing system whose resources could be allocated in the territory according to spatial and social equity principles. The relation between the amount of the tolls, the number of days of application of the policy, and the pursued equity is investigated, and both a numerical application (to a test network and to a real case study) and a sensitivity analysis in support of the method are enclosed.

The conundrum of the motorcycle in the mix of sustainable urban transport

Abstract Compared to cars motorcycles are potentially the more sustainable means of transport. Motorcycles need less space, consume fewer resources, and pollute less than cars with typically low occupancy. Thus, can the promotion of motorcycles potentially improve the sustainability of urban transport systems within an Asian context? The objective of this study is to investigate how pursuing this idea might impact urban transport systems beyond its apparent and immediate benefits by considering the wider consequences over an extended period of time. Chiang Mai, a medium-sized regional city in Thailand was chosen for the case study. The analysis carried out highlights the unique features of trips made by motorcycle and quantifies the effects of policies that promote motorcycle ownership and use. The result of the study is that despite its apparent benefits, promotion of motorcycle even can worsen the sustainability of a transport system. However, implementation of certain mitigations, such as parking organisation, can improve the outcomes. The findings emphasize the need to consider a systemic perspective in implementing urban transport measures. The urban transport system is complex and can react to certain intervention in an unexpected manner that may conflict with intended goals.

A gender analysis of everyday mobility in urban and rural territories: from challenges to sustainability

Gender differences in mobility patterns between women and men have long been acknowledged. This study analyses how these differences are reproduced in different urban and rural contexts. Using mobility data from a large travel survey taken in 2006 in Spain, we examine the differences between gender mobility through age, modal split and trip purposes. Special attention is paid to how territory shapes mobility and how these territorial settings differently affect gendered mobilities. The use of this data source allows the comparison of all trips made by the total population, including all means of transport. By taking a global view on mobility, the uneven relationships that men and women have with different means of transport become more visible. After disaggregating data by age and territorial settings, results show that women are using sustainable transport modes more often than men, and travelling for more diverse reasons. Gender is thus a fundamental variable in understanding modal split and, by extension, transport sustainability, in terms of energy consumption and the emission of greenhouse gases. From this point of view, we consider women's mobility knowledge and practices – typically related to the most sustainable means of transport – as factors with rising value that could effectively guide public policy in its way to promote more sustainable mobility patterns.

Optimal plug-in hybrid electric vehicles recharge in distribution power systems

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are new alternatives that meet the efforts to develop more sustainable means of transportation and decreasing oil dependence. However, this trend could bring negative consequences to electric power systems, such as limits violations, power losses increasing, harmonics, and thermal limits violation on distribution transformers and conductors. To cope with some of those problems, this paper proposes a recharging process with the help of Artificial Immune Systems, so the voltage level in all buses is kept within the operational limits and no overload is observed. For this sake, besides distributing the load along the recharging period, capacitors installation to decrease electric losses and improve voltage levels during vehicles recharging is also considered. The results obtained render the proposed methodology as effective. Two IEEE sample systems are used to test the idea, so the results may be reproduced for research purposes.

European Water Framework Directive and Its Impact on Water Transport in the European Union

As a result of the July 1999 European Summit held in Gothenburg, Sweden, all European Union policy areas are subject to the guiding principle of sustainable development. Within this context, the European Commission published a white paper on transport policy to 2010, focusing on the need to foster more environmentally and socially sustainable means of transport to achieve a modal shift away from road transport. The white paper mentions inland navigation as a mode with great potential to contribute to a shift toward more sustainable modes than roads and recognizes that among other measures, infrastructural improvements must be realized on the European waterways. However, European environmental legislation, namely, the Water Framework Directive (WFD), is likely to challenge the strategy of necessary improvements on European waterways. The target conflict arising from environmental legislation that is capable of contradicting efforts to ensure sustainability in the transport sector is examined. Within this context, several aspects of WFD are described: development; the current implementation status in the national law of European Union member states and the potential consequences for waterway infrastructure, dredging, and navigability; and the general role of inland navigation in a competitive transport market. Possible instruments foreseen in the WFD to balance the interests of environmental concerns and those of the navigation sector are also addressed.

European Water Framework Directive and Its Impact on Water Transport in the European Union

As a result of the July 1999 European Summit held in Gothenburg, Sweden, all European Union policy areas are subject to the guiding principle of sustainable development. Within this context, the European Commission published a white paper on transport policy to 2010, focusing on the need to foster more environmentally and socially sustainable means of transport to achieve a modal shift away from road transport. The white paper mentions inland navigation as a mode with great potential to contribute to a shift toward more sustainable modes than roads and recognizes that among other measures, infrastructural improvements must be realized on the European waterways. However, European environmental legislation, namely, the Water Framework Directive (WFD), is likely to challenge the strategy of necessary improvements on European waterways. The target conflict arising from environmental legislation that is capable of contradicting efforts to ensure sustainability in the transport sector is examined. Within this context, several aspects of WFD are described: development; the current implementation status in the national law of European Union member states and the potential consequences for waterway infrastructure, dredging, and navigability; and the general role of inland navigation in a competitive transport market. Possible instruments foreseen in the WFD to balance the interests of environmental concerns and those of the navigation sector are also addressed.