Sustainable Transport Indicators Research Articles

Developing two-dimensional indicators of transport demand and supply to promote sustainable transportation equity

Inadequate supply of transport infrastructure is often seen as a barrier to a sustainable future for cities globally. Such barriers often perpetuate significant inequalities in who can and who cannot benefit from sustainable transport opportunities, and as a result there is momentum for transformative urban planning to promote sustainable transportation equity. This study introduces a new set of two-dimensional indicators, merging elements of supply and demand, to identify barriers and imbalances in sustainable transport equity. The accessibility indicators, which are generated for bus, rail, and cycle infrastructure, consider the proximity of administrative areas to good quality transport infrastructure, as well as mode-specific demand, to clearly identify areas where the supply of infrastructure is inadequate to support local populations. We present a policy case study for Liverpool City Region, which demonstrates how these indicators can be used in an analytical framework to support transformative urban planning in long-term. In particular, the indicators reveal policy priority areas where demand for sustainable transport is greater than supply, as well as neighbourhoods where multiple transport inequalities are intersecting spatially, highlighting the need for specific types of infrastructure investment to promote sustainable transport equity (e.g. more frequent services, additional cycle paths). Our framework lays the foundations for improved decision-making in urban systems, through development of mode-specific sustainable transport indicators at small area levels, which harmonise elements of supply and demand for the first time.

Evaluating the traffic characteristics of the road network in Ramadi city using sustainable transportation indicators (Hazard Index)

Evaluating the traffic characteristics of the road network in Ramadi city using sustainable transportation indicators (Hazard Index)

Energy transition policy via electric vehicles adoption in the developing world: Tunisia as a case study

In this study we developed a Sustainable Transport index (IST) to evaluate the impact of public policies on the sustainability of a transport system for different regions of a country. We focused on the energy transition policy via vehicular fleet electrification by analyzing the IST levels and their evolution in a country. The IST index was obtained from 89 sustainable transportation indicators representing the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainability.For the Tunisian case study, the transition to electric vehicles (EVs), made by substituting a proportion of conventional vehicles with EVs with proportions ranging from 0% to 50%, showed that 1 % EV increase induced 0.35%–0.45% increase in the IST. This induces −1.15% reduction in air pollution emissions, −1.15% in greenhouse gases emissions, −0.54% reduction in the fuels consumed by private cars, and an increase +0.27% on the electricity demand.Despite the visible impact of EV transition on the IST and related variables for all the Tunisian governorates, no incidence on the social component of the sustainability was obtained.

A structural equation modeling framework for studying sustainable freight transportation indicators in emerging economies

The movement of commodities in emerging economies is largely facilitated by freight transit. The major obstacle to developing sustainable freight transportation systems in emerging economies are multiple dynamic uncertainties and inherent sustainability risks. This study determines the major indicators responsible for the sustainability of freight transportation. Initially, 16 Sustainable Transportation Indicators (STIs) are identified through literature and discussed with experts under five sustainability parameters: reputation, overall service quality, resilience, economic model, and job satisfaction. The identified STIs are categorized under the economic, social, environmental, and risk categories. Later, a hypothetical conceptual Structural Equation Model (SEM) is employed to analyze and verify the data. The results from the study show that STIs such as Reputation, Employment Benefits, and Infrastructure and Technology are crucial for the development of sustainable freight transport in emerging economies as they can enhance the efficiency and productivity of transportation systems and, hence their importance must be considered for future deployment of freight transportation in these economies.

Robust Multicriteria Sustainability Assessment in Urban Transportation

Developing methodologies to facilitate the planning of sustainable transport systems for decision makers (DMs) is becoming more critical. This study proposed a methodological framework for sustainable urban transportation to make decisions during urban transportation’s design and planning stages. Urban transportation alternatives were evaluated by sustainability indicators that considered a triple bottom line approach’s environmental, economic, and social aspects. To choose the best alternative sustainable transportation scenarios, two multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) methods, for example, a hesitant fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (HF–AHP) and multiple attribute utility model (MAUT), were integrated. First, eight sustainable transportation indicators that considered data availability from the transport sector were selected. The weights of the selected indicators were calculated using an HF–AHP. These indicators included carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, energy consumption, depletion of nonrenewable resources, operational and maintenance costs, fuel and taxes, the number of fatalities or injuries, and motor vehicles for public transport per 10,000 population. Finally, sensitivity analysis was applied to validate the robustness. Based on HF–AHP results, the number of fatalities or injuries was the most significant among the eight indicators, with a 0.158 normalized weight (Ni). The results of this integrated methodology highlighted that Alternative 11, which was dominated by low-motorized vehicles (low-MVs), was the best sustainable alternative and Alternative 1 was the worst sustainable alternative, which was dominated by high-MVs with 0.69 and 0.27 total utility values, respectively. Low-motorized urban transportation alternatives showed higher sustainable performances than the motorized and high-motorized alternatives. This study proposed a novel and robust methodology for decisions on sustainable urban transportation projects and renovating current urban transportation systems.

Assessing progress towards achieving the transport dimension of the SDGs in China

Transport is an important service industry in the national economy. Sustainable transport is central to sustainable development. Currently, investigating the sustainable development process and trade-offs in China's transport sector is urgent. In this study, 11 transport indicators were selected and constructed for the sustainable development goals (SDGs) under the UN indicator framework. The scores of each indicator were calculated, and spatiotemporal patterns and interactions were analyzed. The results revealed that China's transport infrastructure performed well in large transportation volumes and guaranteed traffic safety and strict land use control, with scores above 75. However, China's transport sector currently faces a challenge in using clean energy, and a more balanced development of bus ownership among the provinces is expected. The interaction analysis revealed three pairs of indicators with synergy (ρ > 0.5), but both the significant negative and positive relationships among the selected indicators accounted for approximately half, indicating the development of sustainable transport in China would move in zigzags. Road accessibility was an indicator interacting with most sustainable transport indicators. We suggest that more SDG indicators with indirect impacts should be included in future sustainable transport research.

Evaluating Sustainable Transport Indicators for Metropolitan Areas in Developing Countries: The Case of Greater Jakarta

Background: Sustainable transport is fundamental to progress in realising the agenda of sustainable development, as a quarter of energy-related global greenhouse gas emissions come from the transport sector. In developing countries, metropolitan areas have adopted the agenda to better serve the urban population with safe, affordable, and environmentally-friendly transport systems. However, this drive must include relevant indicators and how their operationalisation can deal with institutional barriers, such as challenges to cross-sectoral coordination. Objective: This study aims to explore context-specific indicators for developing countries, focusing on the case of the Jakarta metropolitan area. Methods: Expert judgement was used to assess the selection criteria. The participants were experts from government institutions, non-government organisations, and universities. Results: The findings show that safety, public transport quality, transport cost, air pollution, and accessibility are contextual indicators for application in developing countries. Similarities are shown with the research results from other indexes/sets of indicators for developing countries, for example, the Sustainable Urban Transport Index (SUTI) of UN ESCAP. However, some of these indicators leave room for improvement, such as the balance between strategic and operational levels of application. Conclusion: Therefore, this research suggests that global sets of indicators should be adjusted before being implemented in particular developing country contexts.

A macro-scale sustainability assessment of micro-scale traffic smoothing projects in highways

ABSTRACT Generally, urban traffic management evaluates micro-scale projects based on traffic indices, such as travel time, that ignore the sustainability criteria and impacts of changes on adjacent areas. Therefore, the aim is to assess the sustainability of micro-scale traffic congestion removal projects on highways with a wider vision. Five proposed scenarios were evaluated using ten sustainable transportation indicators (STIs) that represent various aspects of sustainability. Scenarios were simulated in Aimsun, and STIs were derived directly and indirectly from the outputs. The results showed that even small changes could improve the operation of the network. Finally, a decision-making method was implemented to prioritize the scenarios. The combination of STIs based on the criteria for the Tehran 2025 horizon as a composite sustainability index (CSI) helped to determine impacts of each scenario. Although all scenarios improved traffic indices of the network, some failed sustainability criteria.

Sustainability Measurement of Transportation Systems in China: A System-Based Bayesian Network Approach

Sustainability has been a challenging issue in the transportation industry, which necessitates obtaining a better measurement of transport sustainability performance. To appropriately measure performance, this paper presents a hybrid approach based on the hierarchical Bayesian network model (BNM) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The proposed BNM encompasses social, economic, environmental, and technological dimensions, where each dimension consists of various subdivisions. The Conditional Probability Table of the model is determined by PCA. Twenty-three sustainable transportation indicators involved in the different stages of traffic management are used to kick off the calculation and probability propagation. The results show that the overall transport sustainability of the selected cities is generally at a medium level, indicating that there is much room for further improvement. The sustainability-economic coupling analysis exhibits the nonlinear relationship between sustainability and economic level, revealing that economic growth does not necessarily lead to the enhancement of the transport sustainability. Additionally, the sensitivity analysis reveals that “Accessibility,” “Serviceability,” “Reliability,” and “Innovation” demonstrate an upward trend, indicating their great effect on transportation sustainability. Last, the policy implications of this study can not only offer a solution for the current needs of transportation systems but also serve as more transparent decision-making to develop a sustainable transportation system in the future.

Development of Road Freight Transport Indicators Focused on Sustainability to Assist Shippers: An Analysis Conducted in France through the FRET 21 Programme

The transport procurement process is based on criteria selected by shippers when soliciting tenders from carriers. Although sustainable transport indicators are not yet a formal selection criterion in France, some indicators are starting to be gradually considered in freight transport contracts between shippers and carriers. Dispersed information can be gathered regarding Euro 5 and Euro 6 standards compliance for trucks, their fuel consumption, the number of signatory shippers to the CO2 reduction charter, and the search for less-polluting alternative freight solutions. However, these elements are difficult to quantify, and it is often hard to formalise and evaluate their related performance. Therefore, the objective of this article is to draw up, at the request of ADEME (the French Environment and Energy Management Agency), a series of reliable, operational sustainable transport indicators that can be applied to all shippers regardless of their size or industry sector. As part of the FRET 21 charter deployment in France, this article proposes a list of measurable sustainability indicators to support transport buyers when selecting freight carriers.

Evaluating Hierarchical Diversity and Sustainability of Public Transport: From Metropolis to a Weak Transport Demand Area in Western Japan

A variety of transport options must be utilized to enhance public transportation sustainability. Previous studies have rarely developed quantitative methods for evaluating the performance of transport diversity. Thus, this study proposes measurement indicators to evaluate transport diversity on the basis of biodiversity indicators. For the hierarchy of public transport networks, we considered that the public transport system is analogous to ecosystems with a taxonomic hierarchy. The number of operation stations, route length, and operating frequency were used to evaluate the spatial and temporal coverage of the transport services. We analyzed the latent correlation between transport diversity and sustainable transport indicators and then examined the spatial distribution of transport diversity. By visualizing the spatial distribution of transport diversity, we found that high-speed railway stations are instrumental in the hierarchy of public transport networks. Furthermore, improving diversity would increase the modal share of public transport, which is considered crucial for developing sustainable transport, especially in the period of depopulation. Finally, this paper presents a demonstration experiment conducted in a regional city that introduced a variety of transport services integrated on a MaaS platform, attempting to provide a multimodal and seamless mobility service in a weak transport demand area.

An indicator-based integrated methodology for evaluating sustainability in transportation systems using multivariate statistics and fuzzy logic

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to quantify and evaluate transport sustainability from an integrated perspective. It is argued that transportation systems being interdisciplinary and complex, the integrated approach towards quantification and evaluation would present its sustainability goals’ attainment in a much better way.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed integrated methodology is divided into five major steps that are sub-divided. It adopts a three-tier classification system i.e. pillar, sub-division and indicator. In total, 116 sustainable transportation indicators (STIs) were classified into 10 subdivisions corresponding to three sustainability pillars. The weighting and aggregation of STIs were done using a combination of a statistical tool called principal component analysis/factor analysis, a machine learning tool called fuzzy logic and equal weighting method. The final output that the proposed integrated methodology generates is a new composite index called the integrated sustainable transportation index (IIST).FindingsTo check the credibility of the proposed integrated methodology, it was applied to 26 states and the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, India. Based on the computed IIST, 27 study zones were ranked and mapped. The results showed that while Tamil Nadu (0.643), Telangana (0.574) and Maharashtra (0.564) were the best-performing states, Goa (0.347), Chhattisgarh (0.436) and Meghalaya (0.439) were the worst-performing states, as far as the relative transportation sustainability is concerned.Practical implicationsThe proposed integrated methodology could be useful for transportation evaluators, planners and policymakers who can recognize, track and improve the strengths and overcome the weaknesses within a transportation system.Originality/valueThe novelty of this research work is that it uses a multi-stage multi-tool approach to quantify and evaluate transport sustainability that minimizes the demerits of single-stage individual tools while maximizing their merits.

Sustainable Transport Indicators in the Context of Introducing of Electric Passenger Cars

Sustainable development and sustainable transport are becoming of higher and higher importance. A scientific approach to sustainable development analysis means, first of all, identification of relevant indicators. Based on literature review and regional professionals’ view, a total of 90 indicators have been chosen. They have been structured in five hierarchic levels. A total of five personal transport means alternatives have been analyzed in the research. The AHP method of analysis has been employed in which 75 professionals from the Western Balkan countries have filled appropriate questionnaire. The research presents their opinion about the capacity of each of the alternatives to contribute to the sustainable transport in the region, but also puts a light on perception of the professionals on importance of chosen indicators. The results of this research could be used for further research and could also help to decision making levels regarding sustainable transport and sustainable development.

Sustainable Transportation Attainment Index: multivariate analysis of indicators with an application to selected states and National Capital Territory (NCT) of India

There is an increasing demand for quantifying, evaluating and reporting sustainability of transportation systems, especially in case of developing countries. However, sustainable transportation being a complicated area of concern is becoming equally challenging. In this concern, the quantification of the sustainable transportation attainment levels covering three pillars of sustainability (i.e., Environmental, Social and Economical) is useful. The main aim of this paper is to develop a model which can quantify and report the attainment levels of sustainable transportation and which is flexible, robust, comprehensive as well as transferable. In this line, a five-stage model is presented which produces a composite index called Sustainable Transportation Attainment Index (ISTA). Using ISTA, transportation system of various zones can be evaluated, compared and tracked. The shortlisting and finalizing of optimum number of zones and sustainable transportation indicators (STIs), in this study, were done by a proposed tool called Bargain Matrix. STIs were broadly classified into three sustainability pillars which were further divided into ten subdivisions. This study used a total of 116 STIs, which were normalized using rescaling method, weighted and aggregated using principal component analysis/factor analysis. The proposed five-stage model was applied to 26 states and National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, India (i.e., a total of 27 zones). Based on the computed ISTA, while Tamil Nadu (0.6002), Telangana (0.5613) and Andhra Pradesh (0.5580) showed “Best Relative Transport Sustainability Attainment,” Goa (0.3852) and Chhattisgarh (0.4278) showed “Weakest Relative Transport Sustainability Attainment.”

Sustainable Urban Transport Indicators: Case of Mega Cities of India

The modern urban economies, in struggle to keep up with the pace of economic growth are suffering from issues of sustainability in transportation, imposing huge costs on the economy. Major reasons for the unsustainability in transportations can be listed as, a) issue of accessibility, b) lack of efficiency and c) diminishing air quality. This paper tries to evaluate these issues for megacities of India from dimensional principles of sustainability. The paper tried to evaluate the indicators of sustainability by adopting the famous three-dimensional principles to the major mega cities of the country. The findings from this paper are quite interesting to note that, the major mega cities are suffering from unsustainable transport system. To have a deeper look, Bengaluru, emerging mega city of Karnataka, is analysed by bringing new dimension called, institutional sustainability . By evaluating, economic, social, environmental and institutional sustainability with relevant benchmarks, the result showed that, in all respect mega cities of India and more specifically, Bengaluru city is experiencing unsustainable growth of transport sector which needs urgent attention of the policy makers.

Policy Model of Sustainable Public Transport Accessibility in Sukabumi City of Indonesia

Sustainable development concept is something a matter to be carried by every country within which must be followed up by the underneath sectors such as sustainable transportation, especially concerning the public transport accessibility. Public transport accessibility problem is crucial to be solved in particular of urban areas like travel distance, cost, and time of someone who conducting the mobility. Research objectives are: (1) analyze the sustainability status of public transport accessibility by using sustainable transportation accessibility criteria and indicators; (2) formulate actions for public transport accessibility priority activities in Sukabumi City; (3) designing a public transport accessibility policy model with a dynamic system; (4) arrange the direction of policies to improve accessibility of sustainable public transport. Each criteria’s indicator of public transport sustainability in Sukabumi City is determined by economic, social, environmental, institutional and legal approaches. Results of the sustainability index analysis show that for economic criteria, it is 47.96, social criteria 23.58, environmental criteria 82.95, while institutional and legal criteria are 43.61, so the average sustainability index is 49.61 and it can be said to be less sustainable. Activity programs to improve the accessibility of public transport in Sukabumi City, like in economic criteria is more directed at saving transportation costs, such as minimizing vehicle operating costs; social criteria is to increase public interest in switching to public transportation; environmental criteria is to fuel efficiency; and institutional and law criteria is more towards efforts to plan sustainable transportation programs. The dynamic model offers 4 scenarios of sustainable public transport accessibility policy models. The best scenario is implemented in 3 policies which consist of: optimization of vehicle operating costs, savings in fuel oil costs, and an increase in the number of people traveling with public transport. The results of this study are expected to be useful for stakeholders, especially the government as a reference in developing public transport sustainable city. Keywords : accessibility, mobility, sustainable transportation, vehicle operating costs DOI : 10.7176/JESD/10-8-10 Publication date : April 30th 2019

Constructing urban dynamic transportation planning strategies for improving quality of life and urban sustainability under emerging growth management principles

Since the beginning of twenty-first century, urban development worldwide has successively deviated from our ideal design and original plans. There have subsequently accompanied numerous urban problems, such as congestion, serious air pollution, urban endlessly sprawl and inappropriate land development with low urban density. All of these features we often called urban illnesses significantly created negative influence to our urban life. The growth management concepts were thus emerged firstly to confront such negative influence. Not uniquely, numerous developed countries also failed to achieve its initial development strategy goals and soon afterwards implemented a more specific and essential strategies in which it introduced three innovative growth constructions: smart growth, sustainable growth, and inclusive growth. They confidently claimed that urban development would certainly improve quality of life (QoL) if the concept of development may be replaced by the concept of growth. Following various innovative growth constructions or management principles, contemporary urban agents including practical planners or official decision units, thus could pursue urban sustainable development and QoL simultaneously.Based on the current status and development processes, this study aimed at the urban transportation planning strategy and its dynamics according to the advanced international experiences. Firstly, this study surveyed international experiences or researches related to quality of life concepts, growth management principles as well as sustainable transport issues. Secondly, we then make an effort to identify critical sustainable transportation indicators under various growth constructions or management principles through the Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) modeling results. The FDM requires repetitive surveys to confirm the final convergent values of all expert opinions and exclude less feasible sustainable transportation indicators at the same time. Thirdly, the Dynamic Network Process (DNP) was also applied to the expert survey to obtain four different weights during the period from 2014 to 2040 in response to actual changes or future trends of each indicator we selected. And then this research combined Gray Forecasting Model (GFM) to reflect changes or trends of each indicator over time by above several DNP surveys for making more realistic and suitable priorities or weights to achieve the efficiency of resource allocation. Finally, this study tried to conduct an empirical analysis with New Taipei City in Taiwan to indicate our planning philosophy and consequently validate planning strategies emphasized by this study. We believes that research frameworks and findings here not only provide new insights into the functioning of current growth constructions or management principles, but also could be used as a well reference basis for practical planners or official decision units to facilitate QoL and urban sustainability in further.

THE IMPACT OF FREIGHT VEHICLE ACCESS RESTRICTION ON THE SUSTAINABILITY OF JAKARTA INTRA URBAN TOLLWAY SYSTEM

Freight vehicle access restriction policy in 2011 has had an impact on the performance of Jakarta Intra Urban Tollway (JIUT) system. The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of the policy on Jakarta Intra Urban Toll way system before and after its implementation and to analyse the impact that occurs without the implementation of this policy by using the sustainable transportation indicators as the research parameters. The assessment results of the parameters (speed, amount of fuel consumption, cost of fuel consumption, fatality rate, cost of accident victim, amount of CO2 emissions, cost of carbon pollution, and noise level) indicate that freight vehicle access restriction policy has a positive impact on traffic smoothness and safety but does not support overall urban sustainable transportation in JIUT system. In addition, if the policy was not implemented, its impact would have been worse than the current condition. It implies that the implementation of the policy is a right decision though some parameters should be improved to attain sustainable transport system.

THE IMPACT OF FREIGHT VEHICLE ACCESS RESTRICTION ON THE SUSTAINABILITY OF JAKARTA INTRA URBAN TOLLWAY SYSTEM

Freight vehicle access restriction policy in 2011 has had an impact on the performance of Jakarta Intra Urban Tollway (JIUT) system. The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of the policy on Jakarta Intra Urban Toll way system before and after its implementation and to analyse the impact that occurs without the implementation of this policy by using the sustainable transportation indicators as the research parameters. The assessment results of the parameters (speed, amount of fuel consumption, cost of fuel consumption, fatality rate, cost of accident victim, amount of CO2 emissions, cost of carbon pollution, and noise level) indicate that freight vehicle access restriction policy has a positive impact on traffic smoothness and safety but does not support overall urban sustainable transportation in JIUT system. In addition, if the policy was not implemented, its impact would have been worse than the current condition. It implies that the implementation of the policy is a right decision though some parameters should be improved to attain sustainable transport system.

An indicator-based algorithm to measure transportation sustainability: A case study of the U.S. states

Nowadays, there is a growing interest in applying the concept of sustainable transportation around the world. However, measuring the level of sustainability of transportation for a particular territory is an issue which is not well addressed due to several numbers of various indicators. Sustainable transportation encompasses environmental, social and economical dimensions which each dimension is composed of various subdivisions. To comprehensively address all sustainability dimensions and their subdivisions, several indicators are required. The aim of this paper is proposing an algorithm as a framework to take into account various number of indicators in different dimensions and subdivisions of transportation sustainability. The method of Principal Component Analysis/Factor Analysis (PCA/FA) was used to overcome the limitations of other methods used in previous studies. The proposed algorithm composes composite indices in each of transportation sustainability dimensions as well as their subdivisions and develops the transportation sustainability index (ITS) to measure the sustainability of transportation. To put the algorithm into practice, 89 sustainable transportation indicators are used based on available data. As a case study, transportation sustainability indices were determined for 50 states and the Federal District of Columbia in the U.S. according to the proposed algorithm. Thereby, the relative sustainability of transportation among the U.S. states is demonstrated. Results showed while the District of Columbia, New York and Massachusetts were the most sustainable, Mississippi, Wyoming and North Dakota were the least sustainable states.