Sustainable Transport Network Research Articles

Associations between Public Transit Usage and Bikesharing Behaviors in The United States

Public bikesharing systems have rapidly expanded across many cities in the United States (US). Previous studies in the literature found that, in general, bikesharing is associated with public transit ridership. However, the interdependencies between public transit usage and bikesharing behaviors have been mixed and have not been fully understood. Therefore, the objective of this research is to examine the associations between the frequency of public transit usage and the probability and frequency of bikesharing usage in the US using data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey. The respondents were asked how many times they had used public transit and bikesharing in the last 30 days. Zero-inflated negative binomial regression models were conducted to assess the associations between the frequency of public transit usage and the probability and frequency of bikesharing usage. The results show that, in general, a one-unit increase in the frequency of public transit usage is significantly associated with a 4.0% increase in the probability of bikesharing usage and a 1.4% increase in the frequency of bikesharing usage. The significantly positive relationship between the frequency of public transit usage and the frequency of bikesharing usage is more pronounced among those living in areas with higher population density or with rail service. The empirical results demonstrate that public transit usage is significantly positively associated with bikesharing usage, and suggest policy implications that improving public transit usage tends to increase the usage of bikesharing. This study also provides significant empirical evidence for the formulation of interventions and policies targeting to promote integrated transportation systems that support multimodal transportation and mutually sustainable transport networks.

Evaluating sustainability and innovation of mobility patterns in Spanish cities. Analysis by size and urban typology

The development of sustainable transport networks is of particular interest in the field of smart cities, and many promising initiatives have been proposed over the years. However, there is still little agreement as to the appropriate definition of smart urban mobility. What is really meant by ‘smart’? The paper examines this question and assesses the notion of smart urban mobility as a combination of sustainability and innovation. This approach offers a comprehensive and practical framework for benchmarking cities in accordance with the smartness of their transportation systems. The methodology is based on the identification of quantitative indicators that evaluate urban mobility through a synthetic parameter known as the Smart Mobility Index. Although this Index can be applied to any city worldwide, the research focuses on the Spanish context, with a selection of six cases of different sizes and urban typologies. The results highlight the features that most influence the smartness of a city’s mobility, and can be used to design the appropriate transport policies. Finally, the cities are ranked according to the performance of their smart transportation systems.

ТРАНСФОРМАЦІЯ ПРИКОРДОННОГО СПІВРОБІТНИЦТВА ЗАКАРПАТТЯ У ТРАНСКОРДОННЕ: НАПРЯМИ, ФОРМИ, ІНСТРУМЕНТИ

The article analyzes the transformation of Transcarpathian region border cooperation in the transboundary region, analyzes the change of directions, forms and tools of Transcarpathian interrelations with neighboring regions during the second half of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century. It is determined that the main directions of the TCS with the participation of Transcarpathia are: forestry, tourism, transboundary ecological-economic cooperation, development of local culture and preservation of the historical heritage; protection of the environment, mitigation and adaptation to climate change; improving access to the regions, developing sustainable and climate-friendly transport and communications networks and systems; common challenges in the field of security and protection, growth of the welfare of the population of the border areas, activation of foreign economic relations, etc. The main organizational forms of TKS include: clusters, urban agglomerations, regional networks, transport corridors, interregional industrial alliances, interregional business associations, interregional corporation, regional agreements and projects, Euroregions, etc. stressed that the most promising direction of activation of foreign economic relations in the studied territory is the expansion of the network of cross-border tourist clusters in the Ukrainian-Slovak, Ukrainian-Hungarian, Ukrainian-Romanian and Ukrainian-Polish transboundary regions. One of such projects may be a tourist cluster covering the Transcarpathian region of Ukraine and the border areas.

Mitigating the Effects of Transport Infrastructure Development on Ecosystems

Transport infrastructure is one of the most important ways to help a country drive economic growth and alleviate poverty, but it can also have devastating effects on the surrounding ecosystems and wildlife. Habitat fragmentation and degradation, vehicle-wildlife collisions, population and genetic isolation, and loss of ecosystem services are just some of the effects roads can have on ecosystems and wildlife. This synthesis paper seeks to explore these effects and look at different ways to mitigate them to help restore ecosystems and the services they provide. Some ways to mitigate these effects include green infrastructure, corridors, and wildlife crossings. Green infrastructure provides more natural or semi-natural space for various ecosystem services, wildlife, and humans. Corridors connect the natural spaces created by green infrastructure and protected areas and allow movement of wildlife between these areas. Wildlife crossings can be overpasses or underpasses that lessen the barrier effects of transport infrastructure. Collaboration between multiple sectors, including governments, policy makers, transport infrastructure planners, ecologists, and geographers, is needed to create successful and both sustainable transportation networks and green infrastructure that support ecosystem services and functions.

Sustainable City Transport Strategies: Tourist Perspectives on Dubai

In any tourist destination, a functioning transport infrastructure and system is vital. Transportation systems provide tourists the means for moving within and among cities. For the Emirate of Dubai to continue to be a major hub of tourism and business while still maintaining a healthy living environment for its residents, direction towards sustainable transport network and facilities is inevitable. In Dubai, transportation experts, city planners, and tourism bodies often seek the most sustainable modes of transportation for tourists and sustainable-development transport strategies. One key component missing from information in such endeavors is the opinions and thoughts of tourists themselves on sustainable transport in the study area. The primary objectives of this study was to investigate the views and opinions of the visiting tourists in their usage of different transport modes, as well as the distances they travel within the city and their views on the best strategies of sustainable transport for the city of Dubai to pursue. A systematic random sampling approach was used to collect information from 1000 tourists using self-administered questionnaires with closed and open-ended questions. The results revealed diverse opinions that varied widely across their geographic region of origin: bicycle was a preferred mode of transport for people coming from Africa, Asia, and Australia, while bus usage rated high for people from Africa, Asia, and South America, and Europeans preferred private or rental cars. Tourists’ opinions regarding adoption of sustainable transport showed that the majority, 60.1%, preferred different transport modes for sustainable development, while 23.4% preferred vehicle/technological changes. It is interesting to note that respondents with higher levels of education ranked buses/trains as the most sustainable mode of transport for Dubai, while respondents with high school and Bachelor’s degrees believed that taxis were the most optimum.

Integrated optimization of sustainable supply chains and transportation networks for multi technology bio-based production: A decision support system based on fuzzy ε-constraint method

Developing and employing effective design methodologies can significantly improve the economic and environmental viability of renewable production processes. This study contributes by presenting a novel bi-level decision support system (DSS) to aid modelling and optimization of multi technology, multi product supply chains and co-modal transportation networks for biomass based (bio-based) production combining two multi-objective mathematical models. Considering the supply chain configuration optimized by the first level of the DSS, in the second level, the transportation network is designed specifying the most appropriate transportation mode and related transportation option under transfer station availability limitations. A hybrid solution methodology that integrates fuzzy set theory and ε-constraint method is proposed. This methodology handles the system specific uncertainties addressing the economic and environmental sustainability aspects by capturing trade-offs between conflicting objectives in the same framework. To explore the viability of the proposed models and solution methodology, a regional supply chain and transportation network is designed using the entire West Midlands (WM) region of the UK as a testing ground. Additionally, scenario and sensitivity analyses are conducted to provide further insights into design and optimization of the biomass based supply chains.

Sharing riders: How bikesharing impacts bus ridership in New York City

The objective of this research is to quantify the impact that bikesharing systems have on bus ridership. We exploit a natural experiment of the phased implementation of a bikesharing system to different areas of New York City. This allows us to use a difference-in-differences identification strategy. We divide bus routes into control and treatment groups based on if they are located in areas that received bikesharing infrastructure or not. We find a significant decrease in bus ridership on treated routes compared to control routes that coincides with the implementation of the bikesharing system in New York City. The results from our preferred model indicate that every thousand bikesharing docks along a bus route is associated with a 2.42% fall in daily unlinked bus trips on routes in Manhattan and Brooklyn. A second model that also controls for the expansion of bike lanes during this time suggests that the decrease in bus ridership attributable to bikesharing infrastructure alone may be smaller (a 1.69% fall in daily unlinked bus trips). Although the magnitude of the reduction is a small proportion of total bus trips, these findings indicate that either a large proportion of overall bikeshare members are substituting bikesharing for bus trips or that bikesharing may have impacted the travel behavior of non-members, such as private bicyclists. Understanding how bikesharing and public transit systems are interrelated is vital for planning a mutually reinforcing sustainable transport network.

Examining public perception over outcome indicators of sustainable urban transport in Dhaka city

A sustainable city is an elusive goal without a sustainable transport network. A sustainable urban transport system balances social, economic, and environmental goals through inclusive decision-making. Public acceptability of sustainable transport measures is a challenge for developing cities such as Dhaka, where mobility to all income groups of the society needs to be ensured without hampering environmental balance and road safety condition. This paper sets out a comprehensive analysis of how people perceive different attributes of sustainability of the existing transport operation in Dhaka. Considering the unavailability of a standardized set of indicators to evaluate transport sustainability performance in Dhaka, this research identified a set of 14 subjective indicators based on an extensive literature survey and local expert opinion. The study explored a high level of user displeasure over the transport sustainability performance in the city. Travel time, women accessibility, and safety were identified as the top priority indicators in terms of user disgruntlement where cost issue generated fewer complaints. Variation of perception of different social groups have been explored to find that young, educated, and high-income respondents are the most concerned about sustainability issues. The research concluded discussing the probable acceptability or risk of a few transport policies based on the findings. The study developed a framework for investigating transport sustainability performance with subjective indicators that may assist policy makers in promoting inclusive decisions through the efficient use of resources.

BUILDING ON EUROPEAN SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE TO DEVELOP AN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM ON INTERMODAL CONNECTIONS FOR LATVIA AND THE REGION

Economic and social factors, including existing trends in urban population and employment growth combined with urbanization, have led to enhanced consumption and thus, increasing freight flows in the cities. Mitigation of transport impacts has led to plans towards a more sustainable urban environment. However, managerial and regulatory barriers restrict the incorporation of technological instruments and solutions to the sustainable dimension of decision-making and planning. This paper has sought to bridge this gap by organizing an educational and training program, which involves the participation of todays and tomorrow’s researchers, decision-makers and practitioners. Towards this direction, a methodology is developed that identifies existing gaps between the transport industry and the existing research, education and training programs and converts identified requirements and gaps into training courses. The paper addresses the context of intermodal interconnections for the case of Latvia and the region for stimulating and strengthening its scientific and technological capacity by providing knowledge in the field of smart interconnecting sustainable transport networks. The 2-level gap analysis that was developed and implemented with respect to the thematic areas of (1) ‘Governance and policy development’, (2) ‘Smart solutions’, and (3) ‘Decision-making’, and the validation process that followed, has revealed several requirements that exist currently for passenger and freight interchanges and educational programs for Latvia and the region. Based on the identified educational requirements for Latvia and the region, 20 educational areas were created that resulted in 12 courses for passenger and freight transport interchanges that are going to be used for training and education in Latvia.

Discourses, Travel Behaviour and the 'Last Mile' in London

The concept of 'sustainable travel' has been well discussed for over three decades; yet the meaning of sustainability in travel remains interpreted in many different ways. A transition to more environmentally sustainable travel has proved difficult to achieve, particularly in suburban areas. For individuals in society there are many different aspirations for, and constraints on, travelling in an environmentally sustainable manner. Lack of modal choice, route options, the cost of using public transport, and wider cultural norms are a few of the barriers to realizing a more sustainable transport network. Compounding this is the 'last mile' problem, concerning the facilities linking the main mode to the home, workplace or wider destination, which are often poor. This paper explores both the perceptions and opinions of everyday commuters in Ealing, London, including consideration of their localized lastmile issues. An in-depth study is undertaken with thirty-five employees of Ealing Council, using Q methodology to investigate the participants' perceptions towards, and awareness of, their respective journeys. The Q method analysis undertaken highlighted four major discourses associated with travel and the last mile problem in Ealing: 'the public transport user', 'the committed cyclist', 'the multi-modal traveller' and 'the frustrated traveller'. Understanding these different discourses and their unique characteristics has significant potential for assisting policy-makers and planners in developing more targeted investment priorities, policies, and stakeholder engagement strategies.

Density and Scale Economies in the Public Road Transport: Empirical Evidence for Tunisia

This paper examines economies of scale and density in road transport. This study seeks to broaden the knowledge in the impact of the economies of scale and density drawn in and by the road transport sector in Tunisia. This investigation aims to not only grasp the possibility of a substitutability of the production factors used but also highlight the importance of the global productivity achieved in the operation of means of transport for the users and the community. The investigation of the 12 road transport companies in Tunisia reveals the existence of a homogeneity in the total production of these companies which vary with the size of the networks, the number of stops, and the number of employees, although it exists a strong heterogeneity concerning. This study shows the importance of enhancing a number of policies recommendations for the Tunisian road transport system through the joint improvement of the road infrastructure policy, of the fuel price policy, and of the fuel-efficient road vehicle policy in order to maintain sustainable road transport network.

Analysis for an Efficient Transport Network in Assiut City North of Ring Road, Egypt, Using GIS and Graph Theory

This study provides an analysis of accessibility and spatial interactions within Assiut City, Egypt, in order to develop a strategic plan for an efficient and sustainable transportation network. Graph theory, GIS and remote sensing techniques have been used to derive in-depth information about the existing and probable spatial network of transportation. Several indices were checked for compatibility with a possible future strategic plan on the basis of the findings of the study. Calculations show possible transport routes during disaster management and the degree of connectivity of the streets in the city, as well as details of ideal accessibility, spatial interactions and real-time variances. It is concluded that to ensure a sustainable strategic plan for a transportation network in Assiut City, it is important to analyze the data presented in matrices and to use the collation of this data for effective decision making.

AN INLAND WATERWAY FREIGHT SERVICE IN COMPARISON TO LAND-BASED ALTERNATIVES IN SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE: ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND AIR QUALITY PERFORMANCE

Towards the strive of developing sustainable freight transport networks in Europe, the EU and the developing South-Eastern Europe in particular, this paper initially examines the feasibility of establishing a navigable link along the Axios–Morava waterway, for freight transport between the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (via the Aegean) and the Danube River, and then proceeds with its energy and air quality comparison with the competing modes of rail and road. It was found that this waterway service is technically feasible and offers an energy and carbon efficient alternative to road-borne and rail-borne freight. However, the land-based services were found to be superior with regard to their impact upon the air quality of the region, mainly attributed to the stricter emission standards applicable to these transport modes. Finally, it is proposed to build on the ongoing international policy and funding interest in this project in order to implement all the necessary infrastructural and operational changes which will make the proposed waterway service a commercially and environmentally sustainable freight transport alternative in South-Eastern Europe.

Modeling Urban Transfer Stations Efficiency

Efficiency estimation of transit transfer stations (TTS) in densely populated urban areas is a mandatory step to define proper sustainable public transportation networks. However, due to the lack of data and the complexity of the operation patters, efficiency assessment is a cumbersome task in practice. This paper presents a novel approach to establish relative efficiencies in order to optimize TTS operation and design. Using the Data Envelopment Analysis method (DEA) three key efficiency dimensions are studied, which corresponds to the pillars of sustainability: technical, social and environmental. Efficiencies were computed using a database generated including 39 TTS located in Mexico City Metropolitan Area. Results show that none of the stations analysed are completely efficient considering the three dimensions simultaneously. Technically efficient TTS are those attending the highest number of passengers in a smallest given area. Social efficient TTS are those that provide enough services, such as automatization, multiple transport modes, and low transfer time, leading to high levels of users satisfaction. Finally, environmental efficient TTS correspond to those registering low values of air polluting emissions per passenger mainly due to the presence of non-oil fuel transport modes. In developing countries in Latin American and Asia, the application of this kind of models represent an excellent tool for the computation and understanding of TTS operations.

Developing Sustainable Disaster Transportation Network on Real-Time

Developing Sustainable Disaster Transportation Network on Real-Time

Optimisation of freight flows and sourcing in sustainable production and transportation networks

Global supply chains require integrated cost optimisation of sourcing, production and distribution through flexible networks of suppliers, manufacturers and logistics operators. The minimisation of environmental impacts of freight flows must be considered for sustainable development and should turn into a competitive advantage. To these aims, the paper presents a model integrating supply, production networks and sustainable freight transportation for strategic and tactical decision-making. Bill-of-Materials constraints are included in the model. The objective function considers sourcing, production and transportation costs as well as carbon dioxide emissions as environmental impacts of transport over a multimodal network. Computational experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the model for cost-emissions analysis.

Sustainable Transportation Network Design with Stochastic Demands and Chance Constraints

This article proposes a new model for design of sustainable bi-modal transportation networks under demand uncertainty, with chance constraints on emission and equity issues. The proposed model is formulated as a bi-level programming problem. The lower level is a reliability-based traffic assignment problem for bi-modal transportation network, in which the transfer waiting time and non-linear bus fares are considered explicitly so that the passengers' behaviors on mode choice and path choice are simultaneously taken into account under demand uncertainty. The upper-level design objective is to maximize the network reserve capacity in terms of the summation of weighted mean and standard deviation of travel demands. A heuristic solution algorithm based on the particle swarm optimization method is adapted to solve the bi-level model. It is found in the numerical examples that both network reserve capacity and optimal design solution are substantially dependent on travel time reliabilities. It is shown that the proposed model can be used to assess the effects of various emission and demand equity constraints for sustainable development.

Editorial: Towards energy efficient and sustainable transportation networks

This special issue of the European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research comprises six papers, with a focus on energy efficiency and sustainability in transportation networks. Preliminary versions of those papers were presented during the EWGT 2012 Conference, the 15th meeting of the Euro Working Group on Transportation. The contributions have been selected to reflect the diversity of topics and approaches presented during the conference. They have been substantially extended by their respective authors and carefully reviewed and revised; this special issue contains the final selection of accepted papers. The editors are grateful to the authors and referees for their prompt and careful collaboration during the preparation of this special issue. This editorial first provides a few additional words about the Euro Working Group on Transportation and about the EWGT 2012 Conference, and then presents the selected contributions.

Sustainable road safety: A new (?) neighbourhood road pattern that saves VRU lives

Both the UN (2007) and World Health Organizations (2004) have declared the enormous social and economic burden imposed on society by injuries due to road collisions as a major global problem. While the road safety problem is not new, this prominent global declaration sends an important signal of frustration regarding progress to date on reducing road collisions. It is clear that governments, communities, businesses and the public must discover ways of reducing this burden, especially as it relates to vulnerable road users (VRUs), typically meaning pedestrian and bicyclist road users. Recent comparisons of global VRU collisions statistics suggest that, in addition to mixed land use density, the layout of neighbourhood roads plays a vital role in the encouragement of walkable, safe and quiet, yet accessible and sustainable communities. The purpose of this paper was to: (1) Review the literature concerning sustainable neighbourhood land use and transportation network patterns, increased VRU volumes, and road safety; (2) Present empirical research results on road safety related to VRU volumes; and (3) Present emerging research regarding more sustainable land use and transportation patterns, increased VRU volumes, and road safety. The Dutch Sustainable Road Safety (SRS) Program has produced a number of innovative land use and transportation initiatives for vehicular road users as well as non-vehicular VRUs. Following from the Dutch initiatives, these new 3-way offset, and fused grid neighbourhood patterns appear to not only have positive effects in encouraging mode split (i.e. increasing walking and bicycling, and transit), slowing traffic, and reducing energy consumption and GHG emissions; but also, to hold potential to improve road safety. To test the road safety hypothesis, UBCO researchers evaluated the level of road safety relative to five neighbourhood patterns – grid, culs-de-sac, and Dutch Sustainable Road Safety (SRS) (or limited access), 3-way offset, and fused grid networks. Analysis using standard transportation planning methodology revealed that they would maintain both mobility and accessibility. Analysis using standard road safety analysis methodology further revealed that these 3-way offset, and fused grid patterns would significantly improve road safety levels by as much as 60% compared to prevalent patterns (i.e. grid and culs-de-sac). It is important to note that these results ignore the road safety effects of providing convenient off-road trails along trip desire lines to shift mode choice from auto to non-auto VRU modes. Subject to further research, it is intuitive that shifting trips from auto to pedestrian/bike modes will lead to reduced auto collisions. Hence, these initial results should be considered as conservative estimates, subject to further research. In before and after studies to date, researchers have shown that increasing bicycle use does not lead to a commensurate increase in bicycle collisions, but no predictive relationship has been found in the literature. Therefore, the next steps in this research are to develop collision prediction models that provide insight on VRU mode split and overall road safety.

Sustainable transport strategy for promoting zero-emission electric scooters in Taiwan

In Taiwan, the government considers the zero-emission scooters to be a sustainable form of transport like walking, cycling and public transport, which play a vital role to support sustainable urban mobility. Therefore, the development of zero-emission scooters is an important strategy in constructing the sustainable transport network of Taiwan. It is also the government's priorities about the policy of emission-reduction and energy-conservation in the transportation sector. Recently, Taiwan launched a new program for subsidy of purchasing zero-emission scooters, which aimed to shift the petroleum-powered scooters to the electric scooters. The present paper is providing an update review of the promotional programs in developing zero-emission scooters in Taiwan. It introduces the status of the establishment and progress of policy, standards, subsidies to users and manufacturers, practice infrastructure, and technology development. Moreover, the contribution of replacing petrol scooters by zero-emission scooters such as battery-powered electric scooters and fuel cell scooters to reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and improvement in energy efficiency is evaluated.