Sustainable Transport Alternatives Research Articles

Sustainable selection of waste collection trucks considering feasible future scenarios by applying the stratified best and worst method

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management is vital in achieving sustainable development goals. It is a complex activity embracing collection, transport, recycling, and disposal; and whose management depends on proper strategic decision-making. The use of decision support methods such as multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) is widespread in MSW management. However, their application mainly focuses on selecting plant locations and the best technologies for waste treatment. Despite the critical role played by transport in promoting sustainability, MCDM has seldom been applied for the selection of sustainable transport alternatives in the field of MSW management. There are a few MCDM studies about choosing waste collection vehicles, but none that include the most recent green vehicles among the options or consider feasible future scenarios. In this article, different engine technologies for collection trucks (diesel, compressed natural gas (CNG), hybrid CNG-electric, electric, and hydrogen) are evaluated under sustainability criteria in a Spanish city by applying the stratified best and worst method (SBWM). This method enables considering the uncertainty associated with future events to establish various feasible scenarios. The results show that the best-valued options are electric and diesel trucks, in that order, followed by CNG and hybrid CNG-electric, and with hydrogen-powered trucks coming last. The SBWM has proven helpful in defining a comprehensive framework for selecting the most suitable engine technology to support long-term MSW collection. Considering sustainability among the criteria and feasible future scenarios in waste management collection decision-making provides more comprehensive and conclusive results that help managers and policymakers make better informed and more reliable decisions.

An Integrated Intuitionistic Fuzzy Closeness Coefficient-Based OCRA Method for Sustainable Urban Transportation Options Selection

Transportation systems play a key role in urban development by providing access for people to markets and education, employment, health care, recreation, and other key services. However, uncontrolled urban population and fast growth of vehicle mobility inevitably lead to unsustainable urban transportation systems in terms of economic, technical, social, and geographical aspects of sustainability. Thus, there is a need to select suitable sustainable urban transportation (SUT) alternatives, which can contributed to the technological advancement of a city and changes in societal necessities, mitigating the climate change impact from transport and transforming living habits, in the context of high urban population growth. Therefore, this paper aims to introduce an integrated multi-attribute decision analysis (MADA) framework for assessing and ranking the sustainable urban transportation (SUT) options under an intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs) context. In this regard, firstly IF-distance measures and their properties are developed to obtain the criteria weight. Second, an IF-relative closeness coefficient-based model is presented to find the criteria weights. Third, the operational competitiveness rating (OCRA) model is introduced with the IF-score function-RS-based decision experts’ weighing model and the relative closeness coefficient-based criteria weight determination model under the IFSs environment. To exemplify the utility and effectiveness of the developed IF-relative closeness coefficient-based OCRA methodology, a case study ranking the different SUT bus options is presented from an intuitionistic fuzzy perspective. A comparison with different models is made to prove the superiority and solidity of the obtained outcome. Moreover, the comparative analysis outperforms the other extant MADA models, as it can provide more sound outcomes than others, and thus it is more suitable and efficient to elucidate uncertain information in handling practical MADA problems. In this study, we analyze and determine the most suitable and sustainable SUT by considering the economic, technical, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability and also make a significant contribution to the current scientific knowledge by providing a novel decision support system from an uncertainty perspective.

The workplace parking levy: a review of its social benefits

Reconciling economic development with the provision of safe, affordable, accessible and environmentally sustainable urban transport networks is key to securing the future vitality of cities and the health and wellbeing of urban residents. Although increased automation and electrification may offer opportunities for decarbonising urban transport in the medium to longer term, more immediate and lower-cost policy interventions are also required to reduce reliance on private vehicles and fund sustainable public transport alternatives. One possibility exists as a result of enabling legislation to implement a workplace parking levy (WPL), which imposes a charge on employers providing liable car parking places at the workplace. The legislation stipulates that the net WPL-derived revenue is hypothecated to fund local transport improvements. As of late 2020, only one English city (Nottingham), has introduced a WPL although a growing number of English local authorities are considering introducing one. The aim of this paper is to examine the potential social benefits of a WPL and offer recommendations for future policy and practice.

Sustainable Transportation Managing in University Campuses: The Case of Middle East Technical University

As the level of income of countries rises, sustainability-related issues are improved in general; however, problems regarding the increase in the amount of waste and carbon emissions worsen. The increasing level of wealth in both developing and developed countries, as well as cultural transformations that encourage the use of personal vehicles, threaten sustainability on a global scale. Generally, higher education institutions are places of great mobility thanks to their students, personnel, and visitors. For this reason, creating eco-friendly ways of transportation in these places is one of the most important aspects of having sustainable campuses. The reason why it is crucial is that creating a livable environment by providing sustainable transportation alternatives on campuses leads students to potentially continue with these practices in their lives afterward. Although there are various widely accepted practices of managing sustainable transportation implemented in higher education institutions, it is of great importance for these institutions to conduct a comprehensive situation analysis first so that their sustainable transportation policies can be shaped correctly. In this way, it can be possible for the universities to evaluate their current situations thoroughly and thus implement their own practices in accordance with their conditions. This study endeavors to examine the issue of eco-friendly transportation for sustainable campuses, evaluate the practices of Middle East Technical University in this respect, and raise suggestions for higher education institutions.Keyword: Sustainability, Transportation Management, University Campus

Identifying and Selecting Key Sustainable Parameters for the Monitoring of e-Powered Micro Personal Mobility Vehicles. Evidence from Italy

The recent invasion of electric-powered personal mobility vehicles (e-PMVs) in many cities worldwide has disputed the transport sector and captured the attention of academics, practitioners, and public administrators. Indeed, these vehicles are believed to be sustainable transport alternatives. Therefore, understanding how to evaluate and monitor the related performance is crucial and may be addressed by suitable key sustainable parameters (KSPs) to inform on the excellences and criticalities of e-PMVs. Previous research has focused largely on “how to measure and manage” KSPs rather than “what to measure”. Conversely, as far as the authors know, no study investigated objective methods for identifying and selecting top KSPs. This paper covers this gap by proposing a cohesive approach, which identifies a long list of KSPs, defines their properties, involves experts to elicit judgments for each KSP, evaluates the long list, and returns the most promising set. This approach is demonstrated with an application based on an Italian survey. A circumscribed and relevant set of six overlapping KSPs is derived by merging two different approaches. These results may support the opportunity to assess the performance of e-PMVs among cities according to a common set of KSPs.

Sustainable Public Transportation Evaluation using a Novel Hybrid Method Based on Fuzzy BWM and MABAC

Background: The transportation sector has wide-ranging effects on the human societies. Public transportation has a key and undeniable role in the lives of people in society and affects important aspects such as economic, social, cultural and environmental. Therefore, assessing the sustainability of public transportation in urban areas can be considered as a challenge for transportation policy makers. Methods: In this study, a novel hybrid multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method is proposed to evaluate sustainable public transportation in Tehran. Evaluation criteria have been identified using the literature and experts’ opinion. The proposed method integrates the fuzzy best-worst method (FBWM) and the multi-attributive border approximation area comparison (MABAC) method. a group of three experts determined the weight and importance of each criterion using FBWM. The MABAC method was then used to rank sustainable public transport alternatives. Results: The results indicate the reliability of the proposed method. Also, we can see that the results are congruent with the actual conditions of public transportation. The studied alternatives have been evaluated, and according to the decision criteria, metro and e-hailing have been the most sustainable alternatives. It is noteworthy that the economic and financial sustainability, service availability and environment sustainability have been the most important criteria. Conclusion: The proposed framework in this study can be used by public transportation planners and policy makers to identify sustainable options in order to consider facilities and implement incentive policies in this field. Also, the results of the proposed method used in this study can be used as a suitable guidance to assess the sustainability of public transportation.

Eco-mobility Approach for a Sustainable Neighbourhood Road Infrastructure within a Mixed-use Community: The Searchlight on Festac Town, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos

In major cities in Nigeria, the current modes of transportation are generally chaotic and unsustainable. We therefore have to rethink how to adopt the seamless integration of sustainable transportation alternatives. Poor maintenance is one of the factors adduced to be responsible for the current deteriorated state of mobility corridors and the existing road infrastructure. Overpopulation and increasing socio-economic activities of Festac Town exerts undue pressure on the infrastructure, thereby accelerating deterioration. The study is underpinned by Eco-mobility principles. This study is aimed at assessing the eco-mobility approach for a sustainable neighbourhood road infrastructure within a mixed-use community. Developing a sustainable mobility strategies that brings the neighborhood streets back to the people is an objective which this study pursue. A multi-staged sampling technique was adopted for the study. On-site qualitative approach was majorly employed through the interviews conducted assessing the major mobility corridors and streets from 1st to 7th avenues. A sample frame of 15 major roads with outdoor open spaces along the selected roads all within the selected avenues and major street roads. The instruments for data collection were oral interviews and personal/physical observations. The activity profiles, locational data and geospatial coordinates of each avenue were imported into ArcGIS (Version 10.5, ESRI) for various land-use analysis. The sustainable eco-mobility strategies will reduce transportation impacts, create civilized streets that meets environmental design standards of commuter’s safety and comfort that are compatible with the unique urban structure and culture of metropolitan Lagos. This study evaluated the issues relating to sustainable eco-mobility, the connection between climate change and transportation systems, the impact of urban mobility on public health and wellbeing. It further outlined policy frameworks to be considered in other to have a sustainable neighbourhood streets mobility networks within a mixed-use community.

When you are born matters: An age-period-cohort analysis of multimodality

Multimodality – the behavioural phenomenon of using multiple modes of transport – has been suggested to be a useful indicator of an individual’s willingness to adopt more sustainable transport alternatives. Analysing temporal patterns in multimodality provides the opportunity to understand the formation of multimodal practices. Yet the existing studies on this topic share one limitation: they fail to simultaneously incorporate into their analysis the three interconnected temporal dimensions: age, period, and (birth) cohort. Given that age, period, and cohort are mathematically intertwined, the omission of any of these three variables may lead to biased explanations.Using the National Travel Survey in England, from 2001 to 2017, this research explored the extent to which individual multimodality varied by age, period, and cohort. We adopted the hierarchical age-period-cohort model to estimate the net effects of age, period, and cohort on multimodality. Our analyses showed that travellers tend to be less multimodal as they get older. The age effects may be moderated by work or physical mobility constraints, which accelerate the decrease in multimodality before or after reaching 30 years old, respectively. Individual multimodality exhibited significant variation across periods and cohorts. The total variance in multimodality accounted for by cohorts was larger than that explained by periods. Multimodality reached the lowest level for cohorts born between 1945 and 1969. This may be partially explained by the joint influence of multiple spatial mobility constraints as well as by the distinctive early life conditions and formative experience of baby boomers in terms of driving during the post-war economic expansion.

Strategic port competition in multimodal network development considering shippers’ choice

Ports are developing dry ports in overlapping hinterland to gain competitive edges and relieve congestion. However, the impact of sequential port competition in multimodal network design where two ports sequentially locate dry ports considering dry port capacity is under-investigated. The possible correlation of inland transport routes to a port due to unobserved attributes and parameter calibration are overlooked in shippers' choice model. We formulate a nested logit model to describe the joint choice of shippers on port, transport mode and dry port considering dry port service and range, custom clearance time, reliability, freight shipment size, and ship call frequency using calibrated parameters based on data collected by revealed preference and stated preference techniques. A Stackelberg game theoretical model is established for the two ports, and two algorithms are adapted to obtain Stackelberg equilibrium solution. We find that inland transport cost, inland transit and custom clearance time are more appreciated in multimodal transport than in road transport. Reliability and large-scale freight shipment are key factors for choosing multimodal transport. When the dry port location strategy of one port in Stackelberg equilibrium is its only dominant strategy in Nash game, Stackelberg equilibrium solution would be the same as pure Nash equilibrium solution. Leader port's dry port location strategy in Stackelberg equilibrium could be different from its dominant strategies in Nash game. Dry port location strategy could be affected by port service charge and waiting time. The methodological approach and outcomes can provide a framework for competitive ports sequentially developing multimodal networks in overlapping hinterland and help identify modal shift policies towards sustainable inland transport alternatives.

Social media effects on sustainable mobility opinion diffusion: Model framework and implications for behavior change

Opinions regarding emergent sustainable transportation alternatives, such as bikeshare and e-scooters, and more traditional green alternatives like public transit, spread through social networks via opinion diffusion mechanisms, like word-of-mouth and mass media. The impact of social media on diffusion of sustainable mobility opinions is not well-understood given the present lack of data. To address this gap, this paper introduces a modeling framework for the impact of social media on opinion diffusion. Inspired by Roger’s diffusion theory, the framework applies different learning mechanisms (e.g., word-of-mouth and mass media) in network architectures to explore the effects of network topology on acceptance of green travel alternatives using conceptual idealizations of the complex processes involved in diffusion interactions. We present a dynamic agent-based simulation methodology capturing the impact of information and communications technology (ICT) like social media on diffusion of environmentally friendly travel mode consideration through social networks. The agent-based models provide visual comparisons of the effects of network structure and social media influence on opinion diffusion, the way opinions spread, and which agents exhibit the strongest influence. We identify types of social media influencers that most effectively encourage adoption of sustainable transportation alternatives and present an illustrative framework of the mechanisms that drive opinion diffusion. Exploratory findings suggest that: (1) scale-free networks provide the slowest initial diffusion rate but the greatest overall diffusion over time, (2) the most effective behavior incentivization strategies depend on network structure, (3) in scale-free networks, increasing the number of initial opinion leaders improves diffusion, while increasing the number of communication encounters within the network over the first year following product deployment does not noticeably improve diffusion, and (4) providing smaller financial incentives to a greater number of opinion leaders is the best strategy.

Pedestrian level of service assessment in an area close to an under-construction metro line in Thessaloniki, Greece

Pedestrian mobility is one of the most sustainable transport alternatives as it offers significant environmental, social and economic benefits. In fact, the non-motorization contributes to the reduction of emissions and at the same time, walking is able to revive purchases and also sociality and communication between people. The present paper focuses on the assessment of a section of a pedestrian area located in the center of the Municipality of Kalamaria, which is one of the biggest Municipalities in the Thessaloniki Metropolitan area, Northern Greece. The pedestrian area which was examined includes the oldest and most important pedestrian street in the Municipality, as it is located in the central business district (CBD) and it serves a large number of pedestrian flows on a daily basis. Also, the construction of a metro station in the area is expected to further increase the pedestrian flows. The analysis of the paper includes the evaluation of the existing situation of the pedestrian street through Viswalk, which is a microscopic software for pedestrian simulation. The aim of the specific evaluation is the identification of variations in the Level of Service (LOS), as the pedestrian composition and flows change. The results of the simulation show that even tripling the pedestrian flow in the pedestrian area will not cause a significant drop in LOS, with the exception of specific sections of the pedestrian street, where bottlenecks are formed.

Evaluating challenges to implementing eco-innovation for freight logistics sustainability in Nigeria

Globally, even as environmental protection and sustainability are becoming increasingly important, freight transportation firms are faced with the enormous need to reduce the significant environmental burdens that accrue from transport vehicles. Eco-innovation can aid freight transport firms through fostering sustainable transportation alternatives at best possible costs to ensure effective decision- making for freight logistics sustainability. Yet, freight logistics companies are faced with numerous difficulties when attempting to implement eco-innovation practices along their supply chains. This paper therefore identifies the challenges to implementing eco-innovation practices for freight logistics sustainability to aid management to take informed decisions to overcome these challenges before the environmental burdens become critical. The Best- Worst method is adopted to evaluate and rank these challenges in terms of their relative importance in Nigeria, an emerging economy, which is characterized by increased consumption due to huge population size coupled with government green requirements. The results depict that unavailable funds, lack of clarity on the financial benefits of eco-innovation practices, poor technology infrastructure and reluctant attitude towards eco-innovation practices are the most pressing challenges amongst the challenges faced by Nigeria freight logistics companies. These results will provide insight and guidelines for decision-makers and policymakers in the freight logistics sector who seeks to integrate eco-innovation initiatives to achieve sustainability.

An Analysis of the Tourist Mobility in the Island of Lanzarote: Car Rental Versus More Sustainable Transportation Alternatives

Studies have shown that certain modes of tourist development jeopardize the environment, as in the case of mass tourism, especially in areas that require special protection. The goal of this study is to apply a proposal for studying sustainability of tourist mobility to a protected space, the island of Lanzarote, which has been declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. This paper seeks to figure out the mobility patterns of tourists, the criterion used to select a mode of transportation, the attitude of tourists towards the sustainability of transport, and its environmental implications by analyzing secondary sources and interviewing tourists. The results show that the tourism model of the island is based on scattered natural resources that tourists want to enjoy in a tailor-made visit, which makes it hard to give up individual transportation. The only environmentally sustainable alternative is opting for electric vehicles with charging stations in the aforementioned tourist spots.

Análise multicritério da ecoeficiência do transporte de cargas com veículos leves

É crescente a busca por alternativas de transporte mais sustentáveis, com uso de menos recursos e que causem menos impactos ao meio ambiente. Esta pesquisa busca avaliar a ecoeficiência de veículos leves para transporte de cargas, através de métodos de apoio à decisão, para orientar a escolha da alternativa com melhor desempenho econômico e ambiental. A avaliação de desempenho destes veículos foi desenvolvida com a utilização de um modelo híbrido composto de duas técnicas de apoio multicritério à decisão conhecidas: AHP e TOPSIS, para a classificação das alternativas. O modelo AHP-TOPSIS foi considerado robusto e bastante adequado para resolver esse tipo de problema. Os resultados desta pesquisa ajudam a identificar o nível de desempenho dos veículos e elaborar um ranking com base na ecoeficiência, o que ajudará a orientar o julgamento dos decisores no momento da escolha do veículo.

Selection of sustainable urban transportation alternatives using an integrated intuitionistic fuzzy Choquet integral approach

Unrestrained urban development and rapid expansion of motorized vehicles inevitably lead to unsustainable transportation systems from economic, social and environmental points of view, not only endangering public health but also pressuring ecosystems. Trying to address these issues, transportation policy makers face major challenges in their attempts to identify sustainable transportation alternatives. To provide a systematic approach for such endeavors, this paper evaluates different public bus technologies as urban transportation alternatives. In order to incorporate expert opinion into the model environment, a set of sustainability related criteria is established and expert opinion regarding the sustainability of vehicle options are obtained based on each criterion. Since the fulfillment of a single criterion is not sufficient to deduct meaningful conclusions, the evaluation considered the dependencies among the decision criteria in search of compromising solutions. To address this, an aggregation method based on Intuitionistic Fuzzy Choquet Integral (IFCI) and Group Decision Making (GDM) techniques is proposed. A fuzzy pairwise-comparison measure identification method is used in IFCI in order to define its parameters. TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution), another multi-criteria method that ignores interactions, and 2-additive Choquet integral are also employed. The outcomes of IFCI, 2-additive Choquet integral and TOPSIS are compared with one another. The findings indicate that dependencies among decision criteria significantly affect the selection process of the most sustainable urban transportation system and can alter the rankings.

Optimal recharging framework and simulation for electric vehicle fleet

Electrical vehicles are considered sustainable transport alternatives as compared to conventional combustion engine vehicles due to their lower energy consumption and less pollutants production. The increased penetration of electric vehicles in the market depends upon technology to overcome the driving range barrier. That can be achieved by significantly planning the use of available charging stations. In this paper, a planning simulation model is presented which evaluates the feasibility of electric vehicles driving range when recharging is considered at home, at work or at quick charging stations in Flanders, Belgium. The proposed procedure plans a charging strategy for each electric vehicle so that entire scheduled tours of the individual can be executed successfully. The simulation starts by activating an agent for each electric vehicle that takes the daily schedule of the driver, registered charging requests at each charging station, and devises a charging strategy that may or may not require a detour to a charging station. Detouring to a charging station causes the time loss that result in the utility drop due to decreased participation in the planned activities. The charging station that leads to the minimum detour travel time, waiting time and recharging time is selected to minimize the time loss. The simulation uses a realistic travel demand predicted by an activity-based model. The results show the percentage of the population that can drive electric vehicle with charging only at home and/or work location; it also shows those who need a stop for recharging at a charging station. The results indicate the use of all charging stations over the day and also the waiting time as function of charging points at each charging station.

Alternative Methods for the Calculation of Pedestrian Catchment Areas for Public Transit

Federal and local transportation policy aims to reduce vehicle emissions, improve air quality, and promote active lifestyles by investing in sustainable transportation alternatives. Investments in public transportation can be maximized by improving pedestrian connections to transit stops and stations. For pedestrian access to public transportation to be improved, enhancements must be within the pedestrian catchment area of a transit stop or station. This study explored three new approaches for identifying pedestrian catchment areas that incorporate topography, pedestrian facilities, and energy expenditure estimates: the network grade, pedestrian speed, and pedestrian energy methods. This paper includes a description of how to conduct the three spatial analyses and a comparison of results from these methods with the results from two methods widely used in practice: the Euclidian distance and network distance methods. The comparison was carried out by analyzing spatial data from the light rail Expo Line and its surrounding environment in Los Angeles County, California. The results demonstrate significant differences in the size, land use diversity, and transportation facilities captured by the new methods compared with those from the two existing methods.

Análisis de la accesibilidad en transporte público al Parque Nacional de Garajonay (Isla de la Gomera): propuesta para su corrección

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Sustainable Energy Alternatives Experimentation at SCT

Sustained energy generation is very important for any region's economic growth either developed or developing. As the growth of the country depends on sustainable and efficient power generation management, in order to attain the sustainable energy generation, experimentation, and explorations in the latest avenues for these generations have to be carried out. In this paper an attempt is made to report the experimentation carried out at Salalah College of Technology (SCT) in terms of sustainable energy generation using alternate energy resources. Experimentation carried out at SCT for solar harnessing in sustainable transportation and wind energy alternatives for hybrid power generation at decentralized levels is tested. Experimentation results for individual experiments are not disclosed. Whereas the overall efficiency in using such alternate technologies for sustained power generation and comparisons with other likewise locations are reported in this paper.

Parking availability influences on travel mode: Melbourne CBD offices

In Melbourne, Australia, there is currently interest in charging a levy on parking to reduce congestion and to encourage use of sustainable transport alternatives. This research aims to examine employees’ perceptions of their modal choice during journey to work, and considers the role of parking availability in modal choice, including whether people can be shifted to public transport. To investigate this, a survey was conducted in the CBD region of Melbourne consisting of 72 car and 91 public transport travellers. Fifty-three percent of car users said that they would not use cars if there were no parking, with 35% responding that they would shift to trains. The analysis suggests there is a link between reducing parking supply per employee, and promotion of sustainable travel modes. The results suggest a lack of understanding by policy makers about the wider effects of parking, with parking actions commonly contradicting achievement of wider transport and planning objectives for Melbourne. Furthermore, the analysis indicates that saving travel time, environmental issues and demographic changes all played a part in individual decisions to reduce car usage.