Indian Transport Sector Research Articles

Assessment of Country-Specific GHG Emissions from Road Transport Sector in India

Assessment of Country-Specific GHG Emissions from Road Transport Sector in India

A Study on Bus Passengers Behaviour with Special Reference to Bangalore City

The transport system provides the basic infrastructure and it affects the economic activities of the country. The transport sector in India is divided into passenger and freight. The passenger services are available in both government private of bus category. At present private sector owns majority of the buses compared to government. In Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka also the private transport players dominating the passenger’s transportation market, especially if the travelling distance is more than 250 KM. Initially consumers (passengers) have been attracted with the facilities and service given by private bus operators. With the increasing competition and other policy issues, the private bus operators are implementing peak load pricing strategy. This pricing strategy is unexpected and unjustifiable to any passenger and even unbearable to them. And the facilities and service are same. Therefore a study has been made by the researcher to bring out the passengers behavior with peak load pricing by private operators with reference to Bangalore city in the state of Karnataka . By using judgment random sampling technique, 110 respondents were selected as sample size and information gathered through interview method. The outcome of the research has shown very interesting results such as customers’ dissatisfaction on Government failure to control the Private Bus operators and the price exploitation, in connection with their no alternative to avoid the services

Modeling commuters’ preference towards sharing paratransit services

The transportation sector in India faces significant issues, such as congestion and air pollution, and is in dire need of sustainable strategies. Sharing vehicles is one of the popular sustainable strategies. Sharing auto-rickshaws, a paratransit mode, currently informally operating with a significant mode share, offers an opportunity to tackle sustainability issues. There are several challenges to integrating and promoting auto-rickshaw system as shared transportation using a formal structure of policies. The primary reason is a dearth of studies on sharing auto-rickshaws, leading to policymakers lacking knowledge and focus. The present study contributes to the literature to divert focus on sharing auto-rickshaws in India, considering Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) as a study area. This study attempts to assess and model the intentions of users and non-users toward auto-rickshaw sharing using stated preference (SP) choice experiments and estimate Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) considering multiple socio-economic heterogeneities. Results highlight that the most critical attributes are travel time reliability and access time among different groups. Importance of having real-time information on trips among females and sharing auto-rickshaw users is high. The study provides a transparent direction toward ensuring efficient and integrated policymaking and guidelines for promoting auto-rickshaw sharing in urban areas of the Indian subcontinent with limited resources.

A reliability-based consensus model and regret theory-based selection process for linguistic hesitant-Z multi-attribute group decision making

In real-life decision making problems, reliability of information is one of the most concerning factors. Accordingly, to avoid the involvement of inconsistent information in a multi-attribute group decision making problem, this study aims to develop a consensus model by considering reliability of experts’ opinions in Z-number framework. To do so, first we reflect human uncertainty in the information system by linguistic hesitant-Z-number (LHZN) that has sufficient description power to express hesitancy, vagueness and reliability of evaluation information in a single form. Then, a novel normal cloud model is developed to handle LHZN information rationally without distorting its originality. Furthermore, we develop the Maclaurin symmetric mean operator based on normal cloud to take into account interrelationships among attributes. Thereafter, the weights of the experts are determined based on dynamic importance score of experts which consist of preference similarity score and reliability score. Afterwards, a group consensus degree is measured based on preference values and their reliability to identify the consensus level among experts. Then, to ameliorate the consensus efficiency, experts’ unreliable behaviours are identified and modified with reference to preference value and reliability. Lastly, a regret theory-based selection process is presented to detect the optimal alternative with respect to multiple attributes. The validity, superiority and advantages of the proposed model are exemplified by two case studies of sustainable zero-carbon measures prioritization for Indian transport sector, and failure mode and effect analysis, respectively.

Developmental discourses of transition in the Indian transport sector: A corpus linguistic survey of the literature

India is a large nation state facing the twin challenges of economic development and the need to transition away from its path dependence on coal towards a low-carbon infrastructure. By applying corpus linguistics to a sampled literature on decarbonising India's transport sector, we explore three motifs of difference, viz. ‘change’, ‘decarbonisation’ and ‘transition’, and how these motifs are applied within the context of this academic literature to refer to potential opportunities to transform India's developmental trajectory. We find that rather than exploring such opportunities, the sampled papers tend to recirculate discourses influenced by eco-modernisation which, although proposing change to India's carbon footprint, leave the fundamental structure of India's neo-liberal economic model unchallenged, even though, from a developmental discourse perspective, this lies at the root of climate change, and for meaningful change to occur it must be addressed.

India's public transportation system: the repercussions of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has left scars on the Indian public transportation system. In order to regain its original momentum, policymakers will need to assess the barriers hindering the effectiveness of the public transportation sector. In this regard, this article analyzes the various factors affecting the public transportation sector in India and determines their interrelationships. The research is presented in three steps. First, we review the literature to identify the factors that affect the public transportation system in India. Next, we propose an integrated model of grey-DEMATEL and ANP, grey-DANP, to calculate the priority ranking and weight of the factors. The grey-DEMATEL method is used to find the interrelationships among the factors, while ANP determines the local and global weights of the factors to form a priority order. Then, we present the interrelationships in the form of influential relation maps. Furthermore, we provide a sensitivity analysis to enhance the credibility of our study. The paper reveals that governmental regulations are the most influential factors in India's public transportation system. The transportation authorities and policymakers must also focus on improving the financial stability and enhancing the customer's trust in the public transportation system. The framework provided in this paper can be applied to other countries where similar hindrances in the public transportation system have been caused by COVID-19.

Evaluating Biofuel Energy Policies for Sustainable Transportation Sector: A System Dynamics Approach

Energy is vital for techno-socio-economic development of global transportation sector. A country’s energy policy will aim to provide an appropriate mix of resources to meet its energy demand. Biofuels have emerged as an alternative to meet the energy requirements. The contribution of this study is the evaluation of sustainable biofuel energy policies to increase the usage of biofuels in the transport sector without affecting the country's food security and to achieve social, economic and environmental benefits. The successful implementation of complex relationship between the factors influencing the production and use of biofuels is also addressed. In the present work, a system dynamics model has been developed to evaluate biofuel production focusing food security and to assess its impact on the economy and the environment. Simulation results have shown that the maximum biodiesel blending between 3.03% to 11.01% is possible without impacting the food security. It has been noted that 20% or less of biodiesel blends can be used as direct replacements for diesel fuel in all heavy-duty diesel vehicles without any alteration or modification of their engines. It has been demonstrated that biofuel blending strategies have a positive impact on the reduction of CO2 emission in the Indian transport sector.

Production of Bio-CNG from sugarcane bagasse: Commercialization potential assessment in Indian context

Bio-CNG (compressed natural gas) is being actively promoted in India as a cleaner transportation fuel while also providing a sustainable option for agricultural waste management. This work assesses the commercialization potential of Bio-CNG production from sugarcane bagasse by performing a detailed techno-economic and life cycle assessment (LCA). The process under consideration uses hydrodynamic cavitation as pretreatment followed by anaerobic digestion based bagasse valorization and biogas upgradation using water scrubbing. Experimental data for cavitation and anaerobic digestion are combined with process simulation data for upgradation and compression. Process design and economics methods are used to perform techno-economic assessment (TEA) for plants producing 5 and 10 TPD Bio-CNG. For LCA, 1 kg of Bio-CNG is used as a functional unit. Inventory data were obtained from experiments, process simulation, and Ecoinvent® database v 3.3. The Bio-CNG production cost for a 5 TPD plant was $ 1.29 /kg (₹ 96/kg) which decreased to $ 1.18/kg (₹ 87/kg) for a 10 TPD plant. For a 5 TPD plant, the production cost could potentially reduce to $ 0.51 /kg (₹ 37/kg) if bagasse and electricity were available for free. The total climate change impact for 1 kg of Bio-CNG was 1.55 kg CO2 eq., and the electricity source significantly contributed to the total impact. Considering the source of CNG used in the transport sector in India, Bio-CNG provided a net benefit (reduction) of 3.96 kg CO2 eq. per kg Bio-CNG.

Impact of COVID-19 on ports, multimodal logistics and transport sector in India: Responses and policy imperatives

The COVID-19 pandemic spread rapidly in 2020 and led to full or partial lockdowns worldwide. The restrictions led to most economies contracting in the April–June quarter of 2020. As per the IMF World Economic Outlook of June 2020, the global economy was expected to contract by 4.9% in 2020, whereas the Indian economy was expected to contract by 4.5%, affecting a population of more than 1.3 billion. This led to disruption in the global supply chain network, adversely hitting all modes of transport, including ports and multimodal logistics.Based on the survey results of 98 respondents in the Indian ports, multimodal logistics and transport (“PMT”) sector conducted during the lockdown in May–June 2020, an adverse impact on profitability, employment, operations and capital expenditure was identified, which is consistent with observations from previous economic crises. Additionally, we have estimated the financial impact on different categories of organisations in the industry. Based on these impacts, this study identified key factors required to support the sector and build resilience for the future through technology interventions, developing multimodal transport systems, and providing financial support and employment support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). By providing an analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on the different categories of organisations based on data collected during and shortly after the lockdown, the study makes a novel contribution to understanding the impact of such crises on the PMT industry at a granular level and the aggregate-level impacts with guidance for policy and managers and in particular, in an emerging economy context.

A comprehensive framework for analysis and evaluation of factors responsible for sustainable growth of electric vehicles in India

The Indian transport sector powered by fossil fuels is primarily responsible for creating severe issues like greenhouse gas emissions, foreign fuel dependency, economic burden, and chronic health effects. To mitigate these severe issues, electric vehicles (EVs) are positioned as an alternate green and clean technology, which can potentially enable the efficient transition to a sustainable low-carbon emission transportation system and preservation of natural scarce resources. Despite announcing favorable policy measures to encourage EV adoption, the multiplicity of potential factors with mutual interaction has resisted its penetration in several countries. Though researchers have identified the critical factors, the question “How do these factors mutually interact among themselves?” has remained largely unanswered in empirical research. Unpacking the relationship between the factors will empower manufacturers and policymakers in strategic planning, and devising suitable measures in controlling the factors. The primary goal of this research is to undertake a thorough assessment and give a brief understanding of the various factors responsible for sustainable growth of EVs market in India. Factors are identified from past academic literature and experts' interviews. Study further empirically validated the identified factors. Then integrated Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) – Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) approach has been used to demonstrate the interrelationship and hierarchal structure of the factors. The present study will be useful to the manufacturers, policymakers to focus on the gray area so that they can expedite the growth of EVs deployment in India.

Future mobility in India from a changing energy mix perspective

The article analyses the transportation sector in India with respect to the changing energy mix. A key objective is to contribute to the policy debate on electrification of the transportation sector. The article attempts to serve multiple sub-objectives. The aggregate size of vehicle fleet in operation is estimated. A vehicle survival model is calibrated using primary data collected from the field. Then, based on the extant literature, certain mobility-related parameters are estimated. Using these data passenger mobility is calculated. The estimate for passenger-km travelled in India obtained from the approach is thus a fairly correct estimate for the same. The values are in sharp contrast to some of the earlier studies. Further, future mobility is projected using an S-shaped curve. The mobility data is used to estimate the current energy demand and the consequential carbon emissions . Lastly, the e-vehicle penetration pathways for the future are modelled based on different scenarios. Based on the assumed scenarios, the future demand for the energy and the expected emissions for different electricity mixes are calculated. The adopted approach thus gives a set of plausible future scenarios of the Indian transportation sector making the study a valuable tool for the policymakers and managers. We conclude that the e-vehicle push may not give the desired environmental outcome unless the energy mix is drastically changed.

A BITUMINOUS ROAD CONSTRUCTION USING WASTE PLASTIC MATERIALS

The current challenges to meet the infrastructure development in transport sector in India is becoming vital. The transportation serve as backbone for the national development. The thousand km of road is need to lay down. The proliferation in population create an immense stress to meet the demand side of consumer. This gigantic population also create lot of polymer waste such as PET bottle, carry bag, garbage bag, and automobile tyres. The concept is to convert this discarded material into raw materials in various construction or in recycling if possible such as MRF technique. This paper focused on the study the used of discarded material into road construction. It reduces the waste and percentage of binder (Bitumen) used in road construction. It help in achieving the engineering parameter by increasing stiffness in summer and ductility in cold weather. The aim is to find the right percentage and composition to meet all desired parameter to withstand all weather

Total Cost of Ownership Analysis of the Impact of Vehicle Usage on the Economic Viability of Electric Vehicles in India

The road transport sector in India is on the cusp of a transition to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from internal combustion engines (ICEs). Government of India (GoI) has announced several policy measures to push the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). However, EVs involve a high capital cost but lower operating costs. Therefore, the economics of EVs vis-à-vis ICE vehicles depends on the extent of their daily use. The daily use, in turn, can vary significantly from context to context. In this paper, a model to compare the total cost of ownership (TCO) of an EV with different fuel variants (petrol, diesel, and compressed natural gas [CNG]) of their ICE counterparts is presented. It is found that, on an average, the TCO per km of electric two-wheelers (e-2Ws) and electric three-wheelers (e-3Ws) is less than their ICE counterparts at the typical average daily usage of the vehicles in Indian cities. In the case of hatchback and sedan cars, the TCO per km of electric cars (e-cars) is higher than their ICE counterparts. The TCO per km of electric bus (e-bus) is higher than diesel and CNG buses because of high initial purchase cost. Policymakers need to explore innovative business models and strategy for high vehicle utilization to improve the economic viability of EVs. Efficient planning of charging infrastructure and fast charging options will further help in accelerating the adoption of EVs in India.

Sustainable development and carbon neutrality: Integrated assessment of transport transitions in India

Dependence on crude oil imports, high correlation with economic growth, and contribution to air pollution cause the transformations in transport sector in India to have significant ramifications. Moreover, these transitions are to be steered through the global and domestic sustainable development and carbon neutrality goals. In this paper, we determine the energy-environment-economy implications of transport sector dynamics by undertaking an integrated analysis using a novel methodological approach involving two main aspects: soft-coupling the IMACLIM-IND and AIM/Enduse models; and back-casting approach with long-term benchmarks. We examine four scenarios: business-as-usual (BAU), development first (DEVF), carbon neutrality (CNT) and synchronous (SYNCH). Our synchronous scenario pathway reduces the crude oil and natural gas imports by 68% for the year 2050 compared to 2012 in the BAU scenario, leading to foreign exchange saving of 5.8 trillion US$ during 2013–2050. The envisioned transitions necessitate formulation of strategic policies which provide equitable access of transportation to all.

Intermodal and Intelligent Transportation Systems for Indian Transport Sector

Intermodal and Intelligent Transportation Systems for Indian Transport Sector

New Emission Inventory of Carbonaceous Aerosols from the On-road Transport Sector in India and its Implications for Direct Radiative Forcing over the Region

ABSTRACT In this study, we categorized detailed mass-based emission factors (EFs) by age, calculated new estimates of fuel use, and developed spatially resolved emission inventories of constituents (PM2.5, black carbon [BC], and organic carbon [OC]) in the fine aerosol generated by the on-road transport sector in India. On a national level, this sector released an estimated 355 (104–607) Gg y–1, 137 (47–227) Gg y–1, and 106 (34–178) Gg y–1 of PM2.5, BC, and OC, respectively, for the base year 2013, contributing nearly 7%, 17%, and 6% of the total emissions for each constituent. Although super-emitter vehicles comprised only 24% of the total traffic volume, they were responsible for 67% and 47% of the national PM2.5 and BC emissions, respectively, which indicates that eliminating these vehicles may rapidly reduce emissions from the on-road transport sector in India. To predict the direct radiative forcing (DRF) from BC emissions in this sector, we then input emission estimates for the carbonaceous aerosols into the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM5) global climate model and found a positive DRF of up to 6 W m–2 at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) and a negative DRF of up to 10 W m–2 at the surface, suggesting that as much as 16 W m–2 of energy remains trapped within the atmosphere. With the rapid economic growth and continued urbanization, the transport sector in India is likely to further expand in the future and hence requires immediate attention in order to reduce the BC burden and improve air quality in the nation.

The global burden of transportation tailpipe emissions on air pollution-related mortality in 2010 and 2015

Emissions from the transportation sector are a major contributor to ambient air pollution, the leading environmental health risk factor globally. This study aims to quantify the contribution of tailpipe emissions from global transportation, disaggregated by four sub-sectors, to the global disease burden associated with ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ground-level ozone in 2010 and 2015. We use the GEOS-Chem global chemical transport model to simulate transportation-attributable PM2.5 and ozone concentrations, combined with epidemiological health impact assessment methods consistent with the Global Burden of Disease 2017 study to estimate the associated burden of disease. We estimate that emissions from the transportation sector were associated with 361 000 (95% CI, 258 000–462 000) PM2.5 and ozone deaths in 2010 and 385 000 (95% CI, 274 000–493 000) in 2015. These results translate into 11.7% of total global ambient PM2.5 and ozone deaths in 2010 and 11.4% in 2015. Together, PM2.5 and ozone concentrations from transportation tailpipe emissions resulted in an estimated 7.8 million years of life lost and approximately $1 trillion (2015 US$) in health damages globally in 2015. Among transportation sub-sectors, on-road diesels contributed most to the health burden from transportation tailpipe emissions in nearly all trade blocs, for both PM2.5 and ozone, though other sub-sectors also contributed substantially (particularly on-road non-diesel vehicles for ozone mortality, and shipping and non-road mobile sources for PM2.5 mortality). These results indicate that despite recent adoption of more stringent vehicle emission regulations in many countries, the transportation sector remains a major contributor to the air pollution disease burden globally. Future work may explore the degree to which currently adopted policies, as well as expected growth in the transportation sector in India, Africa, and other rapidly developing locations, will influence future transportation-attributable public health burdens.

Trusting Others When Looking Over One’s Shoulder: Accountability Pressures and Governance Choices

Why do managers deploy different governance modes for similar transactions? We examine this question using qualitative data from public-private collaborations (PPC) in the Indian transport sector. ...

Greenhouse Gas Inventorying: Estimation of Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Road Transport in a Central District in Kerala, India

The emissions of carbon dioxide from road transport sector in India are exceptionally higher than the targeted standards. Combining information on the extent to which a human activity takes place, that is, fuel consumption, along with the mass of the carbon dioxide emitted per unit of fuel consumed, the emissions of CO2 from the road transport sector is estimated for a central district in Kerala. The results show that about 9, 60, 830 tonnes CO2 released to the atmosphere from January to December 2016. The emissions from diesel contribute 64% (6, 28, 871 tonnes of CO2), whereas the remaining from Petrol. Seasonal-wise variation in fuel consumption was also observed. Average monthly emission in the summer months was highest whereas the emissions in the monsoon months were lowest. The study clearly shows that the amount of carbon dioxide produced each year is massive and stringent policies and technologies should be adopted to limit the GHG emissions.

Challenges of Transport Sector in India: A Dyadic Perspective

The objective of this research is to explore the diverse challenges faced by the customer as well transport providers through the selected modes of transportation of the second most populous country in the world – India. Two separate well-structured questionnaires administered to garner the opinions on different challenges. A random sample of 100 equally selected from the customers of 3 modes of transportation along with 30 transport providers. The collected data was analyzed in Microsoft Excel and R Studio platforms using Percentile Rank Tool and R Programming Language for Chi-square test respectively. Traffic congestion coupled with parking is the major problem in case of roadways while Safety and cleanliness in railways are the first amongst the problems to reckon with. High fares and lack of trained employees are the biggest challenges faced by aviation industry. The research is concentrated only in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in India with most widely used three modes of transportation viz., Road, Rail and Airways. This research paper is first of its kind which has collected the opinions of both customers as well transport providers on the problems faced. This research proffers information about the challenges faced by the customers which there will be an enormous possibility to review their strategies and plans.