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Analysis in Urban Public Transportation Sustainability

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Urban and Rural Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 27606

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Xueming (Jimmy) Chen

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Guest Editor

Urban and Regional Studies and Planning Program, L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
Interests: urban planning; transportation planning and modeling; geographic information systems; sustainability; public policy and administration
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Suwei Feng

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Guest Editor

Department of Public Management, School of Public Economics and Management, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai, China
Interests: public management and policy; transportation economics and policy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability is not a new concept. Yet, sustainability in public transportation has a new connotation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the associated social tension, digital divide, as well as other crises. Public transportation in China, the US and other countries was profoundly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of modal share, passenger volume, origin–destination travel time, vehicle frequency, social distancing, and safety concerns. The survivability and sustainability of public transportation has been called into question.

In recognition of this timely and urgent issue, this Special Issue intends to provide an in-depth analysis on sustainability in public transportation along several dimensions, namely, planning and policy, financing and economics, technologies and big data, sociodemographics, modal and international case studies, etc. Based on these theoretical and empirical studies, some policy and planning recommendations may be put forward.

This Special Issue is centered on the analysis of urban public transportation sustainability in the contexts of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, rising social tension, rapid population aging, and new technological revolution. The topic, though old, has new contents and is becoming more complicated due to the rapidly changing circumstances. Topics include but are not limited to:

• Planning and policy of sustainable public transportation;
• New technologies for sustainable public transportation in the era of big data;
• The impact of COVID-19 on the sustainability of public transportation;
• Innovative financing and sustainable public transportation;
• Aging and elder-friendly sustainable public transportation;
• Racial equity and socio-environmental justice associated with public transportation;
• New methodologies and case studies.

Prof. Dr. Xueming (Jimmy) Chen
Prof. Dr. Suwei Feng
Guest Editors

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Keywords

sustainability
urban public transportation
COVID-19
aging
new technologies

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

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26 pages, 8176 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Built Environment Renewal Strategies Aimed at Improving Metro Station Vitality via the Interpretable Machine Learning Method: A Case Study of Beijing

by Zhenbao Wang, Shihao Li, Yushuo Zhang, Xiao Wang, Shuyue Liu and Dong Liu

Sustainability 2024, 16(3), 1178; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16031178 - 30 Jan 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1167

Abstract

Understanding the built environment’s impact on metro ridership is essential for developing targeted strategies for built environment renewal. Taking into consideration the limitations of existing studies, such as not proposing targeted strategies, using unified pedestrian catchment areas (PCA), and not determining the model’s accuracy, Beijing was divided into three zones from inside to outside by the distribution pattern of metro stations. Three PCAs were assumed for each zone and a total of 27 PCA combinations. The study compared the accuracy of the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) and several machine learning models under each PCA combination to determine the model to be used in this study and the recommended PCA combination for the three zones. Under the recommended PCA combinations for the three zones, the model with the highest accuracy was used to explore the built environment’s impact on metro ridership. Finally, prioritized stations for renewal were identified based on ridership and the built environment’s impact on metro ridership. The results are as follows: (1) The eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model has a higher accuracy and was appropriate for this study. The recommended PCA combination for the three zones in Beijing was 1000 m_1200 m_1800 m. (2) During the morning peak hours, the density of office and apartment facilities greatly influenced the ridership, with a strong threshold effect and spatial heterogeneity. Our research framework also provides a new way for other cities to determine the scope of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) and proposes a new decision-making method for improving the vibrancy of metro stations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis in Urban Public Transportation Sustainability)

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22 pages, 3356 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Activity-Travel Participation, Travel Mode Choice, and Multitasking Activities on Subjective Well-Being Using R

by Mujahid Ali, Elżbieta Macioszek and Dimas Bayu Endrayana Dharmowijoyo

Sustainability 2023, 15(23), 16338; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152316338 - 27 Nov 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1307

Abstract

Multitasking activities (MTA) are typically thought to enhance general subjective well-being (SWB). However, performing MTA while operating a private vehicle is frequently challenging. Public transportation (PT) can provide an additional option to engage in more pleasurable activities while traveling. Several studies have been conducted on the engagement of different activities while using different transport modes and its influence on physical, social, and mental health. Moreover, numerous studies have been carried out on motorized transport and MTA that resulted in accidents, fatalities, injuries, and even disasters. In addition, several experts studied the influence of health parameters on daily activities. There have, however, only been a few studies on MTA while on PT and its influence on SWB. Therefore, the current study aims to investigate the travel mode choice, the performance of onboard MTA, and its influence on overall SWB. Using random sampling techniques, data on 732 individuals and 191 households—representing 0.029% of the overall population of Bandung, Indonesia—were gathered. Two different models were developed between independent, intermediate, and dependent variables. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for descriptive statistics, whereas R software was used for the multilevel linear regression analysis. The model estimation results show that MTA mediates the relationship among socio-demographic and economic variables, built environment, trip and travel parameters, and SWB. A unit increase in PT lines can provide a 1.5% greater opportunity to participate in more onboard MTA; however, a unit increase in MTA can enhance SWB by 5.1% where both the models show satisfactory coefficient of determination (R²). A unit increase in motorized transport caused a 12.9% negative association with MTA and 10.9% with SWB. A unit increase in NMT and PT are 21.7% and 10.2% positively associated with MTA and 19.2% and 13.1% positively associated with SWB. The current study helps policymakers to develop a policy based on PT which allows the individuals to engage in more MTA that enhance SWB and target sustainable transportation system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis in Urban Public Transportation Sustainability)

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22 pages, 2027 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Acceptability toward Policy Mix: Impact of Low-Carbon Travel Intention, Fairness, and Effectiveness

by Xue Wang, Suwei Feng and Tianyi Tang

Sustainability 2023, 15(20), 15070; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152015070 - 19 Oct 2023

Viewed by 1678

Abstract

Policymakers are implementing a combination of various travel demand management (TDM) policies to effectively reduce carbon emissions. Widespread acceptance of these policy mixes by residents plays a pivotal role in ensuring their successful implementation. Drawing upon the value–belief–norm (VBN) theory and policy-specific beliefs (perceived freedom, perceived fairness, and perceived effectiveness), this study evaluates the impact of low-carbon travel psychology and policy characteristics on the acceptability of a policy mix formed by the combination of mandatory measures and guiding measures within TDM. The empirical analysis leverages survey data obtained from 839 participants and employs a structural equation model. The results indicate that low-carbon travel willingness, perceived fairness, and perceived effectiveness significantly influence acceptability. Consequently, fostering low-carbon travel willingness among residents is essential for enhancing overall policy acceptability. Moreover, policy mixes that encompass incentives for the development of new energy vehicles (NEVs) are generally considered the most acceptable among residents due to their non-restrictive impact on private car usage. Given this analysis, policymakers should consider designing policy mixes that balance acceptability and effectiveness, such as incorporating policies for the development of NEVs, to address traffic pollution. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis in Urban Public Transportation Sustainability)

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19 pages, 1352 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Travel Demand Management in an Auto Dominated City: Can Travel Behaviour Be Nudged in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

by Ghada Alturif and Wafaa Saleh

Sustainability 2023, 15(11), 8942; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118942 - 1 Jun 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1802

Abstract

Car ownership and use in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) are very high due to the high income, the low fuel prices and the near absence of public transportation in the Kingdom. Currently, the Kingdom is going through a massive transformation and entering a new era of national reforms. One of the main aims of the national reforms is to reduce car dependency and enhance more sustainable options of travel such as public transportation in the KSA. In order to achieve such an aim, there are two hurdles: Firstly, there must be a provision of decent public transportation options, and secondly, there is a need to influence travel behaviour and encourage the shift from private cars to public transportation. For example, in Riyadh city, an impressive metro system is being constructed and will start operation in 2023. To influence travel behaviour, travel demand management measures (TDM), in particular pricing measures, can be adopted and implemented, in order to help and support achieving the target. The main aim of this paper, therefore, is to assess the attitudes of Saudi nationals towards—and willingness to accept—pricing measures and their possible impacts on their travel behaviour in the city of Riyadh. The methodology includes collecting data using an online survey on travel behaviour and attitudes in Riyadh and calibrating multinomial logit modal choice models. The participants in the survey were asked to report their support of the pricing measures for the objective of reducing congestion in the city, improving road safety or reducing travel time. The results show the highest support towards pricing measures for improving road safety, reducing travel times and, lastly, reducing congestion in the city. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis in Urban Public Transportation Sustainability)

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24 pages, 9262 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatially Varying Impacts of Built Environment on Transfer Ridership of Metro and Bus Systems

by Xiang Li, Qipeng Yan, Yafeng Ma and Chen Luo

Sustainability 2023, 15(10), 7891; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15107891 - 11 May 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2173

Abstract

Public transport, especially bus and metro, are fundamental elements of sustainable transport systems. However, a dearth of research has been devoted to exploring the correlation between the built environment and the intermodal transfer modes that link bus and metro. To address this research gap, this study aims to explore the relationship between the built environment and transfer ridership by examining transfer ridership across different modes. First, this study uses Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) and Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) data collected in the city of Chengdu to identify the ridership of Metro-to-Bus (M-B) and Bus-to-Metro (B-M) transfer passengers using dynamic transfer time thresholds. A multi-scale geographically weighted regression model (MGWR) is employed to examine the impact of the built environment on M-B and B-M transfer modes and their scale effects. The findings demonstrate that the MGWR model is effective in capturing the spatial heterogeneity and scale effects of the interrelationships between different built environment factors in the M-B and B-M modes. Furthermore, the impact of different built environment factors on transfer ridership varies. In particular, the number of bus stops and lines have a more pronounced positive effect on promoting transfer ridership, while the density of non-motorway lanes has a significant negative effect. This research provides valuable insights for public transportation management and supports the seamless integration of bus and metro systems to optimize transfer services. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis in Urban Public Transportation Sustainability)

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14 pages, 1577 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effectiveness Analysis of Public Transit Pandemic Prevention Strategy Considering Traveler Risk Perception

by Xiaodan Li, Binglei Xie and Di Gong

Sustainability 2023, 15(6), 4961; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15064961 - 10 Mar 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1354

Abstract

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, there have been hundreds of millions of confirmed cases in the world, and people can strongly perceive the risk of infection with the virus in their daily lives, which has seriously affected people’s life and travel, thus hindering the development of all sectors of society, especially the transportation sector. Taking China as an example, since the outbreak of the pandemic, China’s overall public transportation passenger volume has decreased by about 37%, seriously affecting the normal running of the public transit. Therefore, the ways of ensuring the normal running of the public transport system during the pandemic has become the focus of this paper. In order to solve this problem, this paper constructed a SEM model based on pandemic risk perception, analyzed the impact of public transit pandemic prevention strategies (TPS) on risk perception (RP) and travel mode use according to the personal trip survey data in Harbin, China during the pandemic. The results showed that people’s risk perception had a significant negative impact on car usage and transit usage. In other words, people’s risk perception of virus infection had a great impact on travel, especially on the use of public transit. The transit pandemic prevention strategy had a significant negative impact on risk perception, and had a significant positive impact on people’s use of transit. This showed that in the current pandemic outbreak period, the transit pandemic prevention strategy proposed by the Harbin authorities cannot effectively reduce transit usage, and can provide proven and effective transit pandemic prevention strategies. This provided an important support for ensuring the normal running of the public transit system and guiding the sustainable development of public transit during the outbreak of the pandemic. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis in Urban Public Transportation Sustainability)

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13 pages, 704 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rail-Induced Social Changes in Central Guangzhou, China

by Jianling Li, Changdong Ye and Jiangxue Yang

Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 13743; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142113743 - 24 Oct 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1993

Abstract

The economic benefits of rail development are well researched, but the social effects of rail are largely understudied, especially in China. We analyze the association between educational attainment level and urban rail development using the 2000 and 2010 census data from Central Guangzhou, China, and a linear mixed-effects modeling approach. Our results indicate that the change in education level is greater in rail neighborhoods than in non-rail neighborhoods in the central area of Guangzhou, and that the rail/metro-induced effect on educational attainment level is evidenced. This research contributes to the existing literature by exploring a new method for this line of research and providing empirical evidence of social changes in a city that has experienced rapid economic growth and pioneered rail development in China, a developing country. The limitations and implications of the research are discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis in Urban Public Transportation Sustainability)

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23 pages, 3227 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Blockchain Meets Sharing Economy: A Case of Smart Contract Enabled Ridesharing Service

by Shuchih Ernest Chang, Erik Chiaway Chang and Yijou Chen

Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 13732; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142113732 - 23 Oct 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4160

Abstract

The ideas of the sharing economy have facilitated innovative business applications, such as Uber and Airbnb. As an example of a sharing economy application, ridesharing services take advantage of underutilized resources to create economic value. However, the unruly design of ridesharing systems may make urban traffic more congested and cause other technology-organization-environment issues. This study explores the application of blockchain and smart contract technologies to enhance ridesharing services by harvesting the blockchain benefits of transaction traceability, process transparency, system automation and disintermediation. After presenting system design and implementation details for building and deploying a blockchain-based system to support the reengineered ridesharing service with required business functions, we conduct functionality/performance tests and theory-based comparative analysis to confirm its feasibility and applicability. The results reveal that our system with blockchain-enabled benefits is superior to incumbent ridesharing systems. Moreover, while prior research rarely reports the design and implementation details of blockchain-based systems to support sharing economy services, this paper primarily contributes to extant literature by not only proposing a layered system architecture adapting blockchain and smart contracts into the desired ridesharing service but also demonstrating the design and implementation details, covering the development tools, the deployment environment and the deployed smart contracts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis in Urban Public Transportation Sustainability)

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Review

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27 pages, 1946 KiB

Open AccessReview

Antecedents of Electric Vehicle Purchase Intention from the Consumer’s Perspective: A Systematic Literature Review

by Gulnaz Ivanova and António Carrizo Moreira

Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 2878; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15042878 - 5 Feb 2023

Cited by 30 | Viewed by 10052

Abstract

The growing demand for conventional internal combustion engine vehicles can aggravate the current energy and environmental crisis by presenting a higher dependence on fossil fuels and a higher level of greenhouse gases. The transition to electric mobility is a sustainable solution to mitigate the negative impact on the environment and energy security. In recent years, global sales of electric vehicles (EVs) have grown steadily; however, their worldwide market share is still less than 10%. The present study aims to improve and strengthen the knowledge base on consumer behavior toward EV purchases by investigating the antecedents of EV purchase intention, as well as their impact. This paper is based on a systematic literature review where 63 articles published between 1994 and 2021 were analyzed. The antecedents were classified into three main categories: consumer characteristics, EV characteristics, and EV-related policies. A summary model represents the impact information of each of the main antecedents. The descriptive results of the sample are also discussed. Finally, this study indicates directions for future research and recommendations for developing the most effective strategies and policies that will accelerate the transition to a more sustainable future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis in Urban Public Transportation Sustainability)

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