Urban Low-carbon Transportation Research Articles

Enabling gender responsive low-carbon transport in India using SDG5 framework

<p>Gender and mobility are strongly related and address challenges of safety and accessibility for women. Studies worldwide highlight the need to create more gender-responsive transport systems that maximize women’s mobility, civic participation, and safety. Gender inequality in urban transport is evident in Indian cities in terms of women’s longer walking trip lengths, longer time spent in commute and hence time poverty, impoverished health, and compromised personal safety. Even the public transport systems, often perceived as more gender-equal, overlook women’s needs and mobility concerns such as affordability and scheduling. This article presents transportation challenges faced by women (recorded through primary surveys and focus-group discussions) and further investigates how low-carbon urban transport, as perceived under the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), can be delivered with gender-equitable outcomes. For a more holistic perspective, the assessment is grounded in two Indian cities, Surat (4.5 million population), a fast-growing industrial metropolis, and Udaipur (0.5 million population), a small but important tourist destination in the nation.</p>

Design of urban low-carbon green transportation demonstration area in the context of "dual carbon" --Taking Wuhua District of Kunming City (Zhengyi Road and Sanshi Street area) as an example

In the context of "dual-carbon", by reconstructing the relationship between people and vehicles, optimizing spatial quality, and taking street space renovation as a starting point, we can continuously improve the travel experience of human-centered neighborhoods, build a higher-quality living environment, and guide green travel. Under this context, this study takes Wuhua District, Kunming, Zhengyi Road and Sanshi Street as a case to explore the design of urban low-carbon green transportation demonstration area under the background of "dual-carbon". By analyzing the "dual-carbon" strategy and related policies, and taking into account the current transportation situation in Wuhua District, Kunming, it is found that there are problems such as traffic congestion, chaotic parking, and poor bus routes in this area. To address these challenges, this study proposes a series of optimization measures based on successful cases at home and abroad, including improving the transportation network, strengthening non-motorized parking management, introducing intelligent traffic management systems, and optimizing the connection between bus routes and rail transit. These measures will help improve transportation efficiency, reduce congestion, promote green travel, and provide useful lessons and references for the construction of low-carbon transportation demonstration zones in other cities.

Evaluation method for urban low carbon transportation development based on integrated weighting

Evaluation method for urban low carbon transportation development based on integrated weighting

Evaluation method for urban low carbon transportation development based on integrated weighting

Evaluation method for urban low carbon transportation development based on integrated weighting

Passenger Flow Forecast for Low Carbon Urban Transport Based on Bi-Level Programming Model

<p>In the context of low-carbon city development, this paper further implements a rail transit passenger flow forecasting method to optimize energy consumption by combining the MMA allocation model with a two-tier planning model for carbon emission control. Through this approach, this paper not only fills the gap of rail transportation planning theories and methods compatible with low-carbon city development, but also emphasizes the importance of energy consumption in transportation planning. Based on a two-tier planning model, this paper considers the Starkberg game between multi-modal and multi-type passenger flow forecasting of rail transit and CO2 emissions of integrated transportation systems. By optimizing the allocation of users in the transportation network from the perspective of both users and planners, while optimizing the CO2 emissions of the integrated transportation system, the dual optimization of energy consumption and environmental benefits is achieved. The method will also be tested in Shanghai, and this paper will comparatively study three different carbon emission control schemes. By assigning passenger flows to the entire transportation system network in Shanghai based on information from the Fourth Integrated Transport Survey, including passenger flows on each road in the road network, passenger flows on each rail line, and characteristic indicators, this paper provides a reliable data base. This study provides a solid foundation for planning the layout of rail transit in a low-carbon mode and makes a positive contribution to sustainable urban development by optimizing energy consumption.</p> <p> </p>

Research on the Effectiveness of Urban Low-Carbon Transportation under the Construction of Dual-Carbon Goals Based on the Perspective of Fuzzy Evaluation

Research on the Effectiveness of Urban Low-Carbon Transportation under the Construction of Dual-Carbon Goals Based on the Perspective of Fuzzy Evaluation

Energy consumption structure model considering urban green and low-carbon transportation

<p class="Abstract">The importance of energy conservation and emission reduction has become the consensus of the international community, and Iraq is also actively improving the urban public transportation system to control carbon emissions. This paper collects panel data of Tikrit city in Iraq in the past 3 years, constructs a random effect variable coefficient model, and studies the impact of the development of urban low-carbon transportation system on the energy consumption structure. The study finds that the government can use public transportation pricing strategies to influence consumers. In order to realize the optimization of energy consumption structure, the impact of electric vehicles on energy consumption structure will decrease with the increase of urban development. The transportation sector can increase the purchase and travel costs of traditional cars by restricting travel, purchases, and charging parking fees, which affects the number of private cars and reduces the obstacles to optimizing the energy consumption structure. The government should increase financial subsidies, improve rail transit and reasonable bus (electric) vehicle operation systems, increase investment in new energy vehicle research and development, and encourage high energy density and low power consumption technologies. development, increase residents’ demand for new energy passenger vehicles, and optimize the energy consumption structure.</p>

Sustainable Transport Futures Transition of Belgrade to Low-Carbon Urban Transport

Sustainable Transport Futures Transition of Belgrade to Low-Carbon Urban Transport

Potential for Transition to Low-Carbon Urban Road Transport in Developing Countries: Insights from Literature

It is projected that if no actions are taken to cut down the current rate of global warming, global temperatures will rise to irreversible levels between the years 2030 and 2050. Consequently, climate-induced risks to health, livelihoods, food and water supply/security, economic development, and human security will increase. However, although many efforts have been put in the developed nations to enhance sustainability in cities through the development of a Low-carbon transportation system, the situation is different in the developing nations. These countries are, for some reason, reluctant to adopt the concept of Low-carbon cities. For example, in Kenya, despite the evident climate threat associated with rising urban carbon emissions in the country, very little action to curb the emissions is observed both at individual and government levels. This is especially so in the transport sector. Therefore, it is critical that suitable low-carbon transition pathways are identified and adopted in the sector in order to cut down the emission levels. Although the transition to low-carbon transport is faced with a myriad of challenges, transitions bring about an enormousness of environmental and societal benefits through the development of environmentally sustainable systems. Policy instruments are governance tools that can be used to enhance the environmental sustainability of urban transport options. However, climate change targets cannot be realistically attained by a single policy instrument. Instead, research indicates the need for more integrative and strong policy packages that can stimulate low-carbon transitions. In view of this, there is a clear need for the envisioning of sustainable future cities and potential transition pathways towards the realisation of these futures, as it is considered advantageous to various disciplines. This study provides information that can be used to develop an integrated urban transportation system that is environmentally sustainable and which efficiently incorporates all modes of transport; based on the theory of transitional management

Comprehensive evaluation model of the urban low-carbon passenger transportation structure based on DPSIR

Optimizing urban passenger transportation structure is an effective way to promote the low-carbon development of cities. Effective evaluation is an important basis for optimization. To improve the validity of the evaluation, a dual-criteria layer evaluation model of the urban low-carbon passenger transportation structure based on the Drive-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) model and life cycle theory is proposed. The Decision-making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method and the G1 method were combined to determine the subjective weight. The Criteria Importance Though Intercrieria Correlation (CRITIC) method and the Entropy method are used to determine the objective weight. The equilibrium weight, which reaches a compromise between the subjective weight and the objective weight through the idea of game theory, can be regarded as an optimal equilibrium based on the DEMATEL-G1 method and the CRITIC-Entropy method. The comprehensive value can be obtained based on the equilibrium weight. The validity of the model is verified by taking Qingdao as an example. The research results indicate that the structure of urban passenger transportation in terms of low carbon in Qingdao from 2015 to 2020 has improved significantly. The length of urban rail transit lines is the key influencing factor and the restricting factor for the optimization of urban passenger transportation structure in Qingdao. The evaluation results provide a reference basis for evaluating and optimizing the urban passenger transportation structure in large and medium-sized cities, especially in coastal and hilly cities.

Double energy vulnerability in the Norwegian low-carbon urban transport transition

Double energy vulnerability in the Norwegian low-carbon urban transport transition

Assessing the transition to low-carbon urban transport: A global comparison

The transition toward low-carbon urban transport is essential for achieving the global goal of “carbon neutrality”. However, a global comparison of urban transport CO2 emissions is still insufficient due to the lack of comprehensive, comparable, and consistent data on transport at the city level. To assess the transition to low-carbon urban transport globally, this study measures the total CO2 emissions, CO2 emissions per capita, and CO2 emissions per GDP of urban transport in 180 global cities using a unified method based on extensive data collected in 44 countries across 6 continents from 1960 to 2012. Then, the regional disparity and historical trend of the three indicators are analyzed to characterize the transition to low-carbon urban transport. Finally, the transition progress of low-carbon urban transport in the 180 cities is assessed with a multiphase framework that consists of pre-development phase, take-off phase, acceleration phase, and stabilization phase. The results show that the changing patterns of urban transport CO2 emissions vary across continents. There is a common trend that the peak times of CO2 emissions per GDP, CO2 emissions per capita, and total CO2 emissions usually occur in sequence. Historically, cities in North America began the low-carbon transition earliest, followed by cities in Oceania, Europe, and Asia. Currently, the transition progresses in most developing cities are relatively slow and are still at the take-off phase of transition. Overall, this study can help cities better manage the transition to low-carbon urban transport for the goal of “carbon neutrality”.

Shared Bicycle Distribution Connected to Subway Line Considering Citizens’ Morning Peak Social Characteristics for Urban Low-Carbon Development

The transport sector has produced numerous carbon emissions in China, and it is important to promote low carbon commuting. As an emerging mode of urban low-carbon transportation in China, shared bicycles have been used by more and more citizens on a daily basis, with advantages of green and low-carbon emissions to environment, flexibility for short trips, and convenience for covering the distance between the normal low-carbon transportation and destinations. However, the imbalanced distribution of shared bicycles along subway lines, especially during the morning peak hours, has directly restricted their performance in urban traffic. In this paper, an integer linear program model (ILPM) is proposed to obtain an optimal low-carbon distribution plan of shared bicycles connecting with the subway line (SBCSL) during the morning peak hours. First, an objective function is built to improve the carbon emission reduction of SBCSL. Second, constraint functions are extracted considering the quantity of bicycles to be distributed to the subway line as well as the distribution limits of each subway station. At last, a case study is conducted on the distribution of shared bicycles in Beijing Subway Line 13 of China during the morning peak hours. The results show that the ILPM is of significance to provide optimal distribution scheme of shared bicycles in subway line with different station types including office-oriented, residential-oriented, and hybrid-oriented stations.

Developing a system dynamics approach for CNG vehicles for low-carbon urban transport: a case study

Abstract Today both the economic growth and expansion of urbanization have increased community access to private cars. Thus, the urban transportation has become a critical part of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The excessive dependence of urban transportation on high-emission fuels is the main obstacle to develop a low-carbon transport. Meanwhile, natural gas is a bridge fuel to develop a low-emission transport. To the best of our knowledge, there has been little attention towards the association between the development of natural gas-fueled vehicles and the CO2 emission. Therefore, the problem we studied is the role of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles in replacing high-emission fuels. In this study, we aimed to study this association by selecting the system dynamics approach due to the complexities of the social-economic system of transportation. In this modeling, different subsystems of the transport fleet were employed including CNG vehicles and urban transportation subsystems. Iran has used CNG as an alternative fuel in the transportation sector, making it one of the three leading countries in the use of natural gas in the urban transportation system. Our case study is focused on Tehran, which is the capital and the largest city of Iran. In this paper, we considered several scenarios to replace the gasoline fuel in the private car sector and taxis and diesel fuel in the bus fleet with natural CNG fuel. The results show that the replacement of CNG fuel with high-emission fuels can have a significant effect on reducing CO2 emissions. In the synthetic scenario, CO2 emission will be decreased by 11.42% in 2030, as compared to the business as usual (BAU) scenario in this year. According to Iran’s commitment to the Paris Agreement, the emission of CO2 in Iran should normally be reduced by 4% in 2030, as compared to its amount in the BAU scenario. Therefore, Iran can easily fulfill its obligations in the urban transport sector only by replacing gasoline and diesel fuel with CNG.

Application of APP Technology to Promote Urban Low-Carbon Transportation

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual ranking of cities in the liveability index, bicycle penetration is one of the top indicators of liveability in the world. As one of the transportation tools of low-carbon life, bicycle can provide convenient travel tools and leisure activities, effectively reduce the burden of man-made development on the environment, meet the spirit of relaxation, is both pollution-free, economic, convenient and other advantages of transportation. The 21st century is an era of smart technology, and the rise of APP has changed people’s life pattern and the way of obtaining information. However, it has become a current trend to take people and environment as design considerations [1]. The successful bike APP can meet the needs of cyclists of different ethnic groups when riding, improve the convenience of cyclists, so as to attract more people to use bicycles and promote low-carbon and energy-saving lifestyle. Based on a literature review and a survey of 50 existing bicycle apps, this study concluded that the “seven major functional categories, two navigation modes and two interface aesthetic” of the apps were the most important factors affecting users’ preferences and download intention.

Current Status and Future Trend of Urban Low-Carbon Transportation in China

<p>The concept and connotation of urban low-carbon transportation are put forward and expounded. The status of energy consumption and carbon emission of urban transportation since 2000 in China is analyzed. The analysis shows that the total energy consumption and CO2 emission of urban transportation has increased rapidly, and public transportation has the lowest carbon emission intensity among all kinds of motor vehicles. The construction of urban low-carbon transportation in China faces the following problems: the development speed of public transportation lags behind; the non-motorization degree of residents’ travel structure has decreased greatly; the lack of effective demand management, weak awareness of energy conservation and emission reduction; and the urban transportation management system is incompatible with the construction of urban low-carbon transportation Based on the analysis of the present situation, this article puts forward three strategic directions and five main measures for the construction of low-carbon transportation in Chinese cities. Transportation industry is a basic service industry and a key area of urban energy conservation and emission reduction. Effective measures should be taken to accelerate the development of urban low-carbon transportation from the aspects of urban transportation planning, construction and operation.</p>

Countermeasures and suggestions regarding the development of low carbon transport

The transport industry is the main sector of China’s energy consumption, while the urban transport is the main way of China’s carbon emissions. Therefore, the development of low carbon transport is not only the significant way to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, but also the inevitable trend for future development of transport industry. This paper introduces the present status and fundamental connotation, characteristics and implementation path of low carbon transport. On such basis, this paper illustrates the international experiences of low carbon transport, and analyzes the main problems existing in the development of urban low carbon transport in China. This paper also provides the countermeasures and suggestions regarding the development of low carbon transport in China.

Achieving low-carbon urban passenger transport in China: Insights from the heterogeneous rebound effect

The rapid increase in energy consumption and carbon emissions in China's passenger transportation sector threatens both the environment and the nation's energy security. Energy efficiency improvements, leading to lower fuel consumption, are therefore of considerable interest to policymakers trying to achieve low-carbon travel. However, it is well established that higher miles per gallon efficiencies can, by reducing the costs of travel, lead to some level of increased personal travel: the so-called ‘rebound effect’. This paper describes an empirical study to measure the size and also the variability in this effect at the provincial level and what this variability implies for a carbon tax policy. This rebound effect is quantified using a two-stage Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) model. A backfire effect (i.e. the rebound is ≫100%) is observed in urban passenger transport, with disparities in the size of the rebound effect ranging from 114% to 153% among China's provinces. The differences in economic development as well as related differences in consumers' behavior, especially in the behavior of “marginal consumers”, have contributed to this heterogeneity, with a larger carbon tax (more than 110Yuan/tonne) needed in richer provinces such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Fujian in order to bring about similar levels of carbon reductions nationwide.

Comparative evaluation of global low-carbon urban transport

Given increasing concern about climate change, the trend toward low-carbon urban transport development has global appeal. The evaluation of low-carbon urban transport is a prerequisite for a transition toward low-carbon urban transport. However, most of the existing research focuses only on the absolute evaluation of urban transport CO2 emissions, which do not represent the level of low-carbon urban transport. In addition, an absolute evaluation is not comparable across different cities over time because it ignores the effects of urban heterogeneity. Therefore, this paper develops a comparative evaluation method that considers the effects of urban population scale, population density and economic development. A benchmark model of per capita CO2 emissions for different cities with different properties is established based on the relationships between urban population scale, population density, and economic development. Then, a comparative evaluation index is derived from the benchmark model to independently evaluate the effects of policy factors, which may reflect the level of low-carbon urban transport. As a result, cities with low-carbon urban transport can be identified. Furthermore, four urban transport transition types are identified: stable high-carbon transitions, stable low-carbon transitions, low-carbon transitions, and high-carbon transitions. These methods are applied to 180 cities worldwide to verify their effectiveness. This is the first time that 180 global cities have been compared using a unified and quantitative evaluation index of low-carbon urban transport.

Towards a low carbon transition of urban public transport in megacities: A case study of Shenzhen, China

The urgent need to develop low carbon urban transport systems particularly in Asian megacities is facing the significant challenge of growing motorization following population increase and economic development. Sustainable urban public transport (UPT) plays a crucial role to fulfil the ambitious targets on carbon emission reduction. In this study, life cycle assessment was employed to quantify the environmental impacts (measured by carbon emissions) of UPT systems (including bus and subway) in Shenzhen, a leading megacity in South China, and then to examine corresponding carbon intensity reduction potentials. Results showed that the total carbon emissions from UPT in Shenzhen have increased rapidly from 0.70 Mt in 2005 to 1.74 Mt in 2015 due to the fast growth of the volume of transport turnover. However, current low-carbon UPT mode has only reduced 0.21 Mt CO2 e (cumulative value, from 2005 to 2015), and thus could not contribute proportionally to the city’s overall emission reduction target. Three advanced scenarios (from conservative to optimistic) were further simulated to estimate carbon emissions and their intensity reduction potentials over the next 15 years (2016–2030). Compared to the business-as-usual scenario, all these three low-carbon transition scenarios could significantly mitigate the rapid growth of carbon emissions and consequently help achieve Shenzhen’s carbon intensity reduction goal by 2030 (60%, compared to 2005 level). These findings could not only inform evidence-based policy making to facilitate the low-carbon transition of the urban transport sector in Shenzhen, but also shed light on sustainable urban transition in other megacities.