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Trends in Transport Sustainability and Innovation

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2020) | Viewed by 27626

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Economics, University of Gdańsk, 80-309 Gdańsk, Poland
Interests: transport economics; quantitative methods; quality of life

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Transport is one of the crucial factors of socio-economic growth. With the use of various transport modes, people are able to satisfy their elemental mobility needs. At present, citizens participate in many activities connected with work and education, household management, culture, and recreation. These activities are often carried out in distant places, thus leading to a desire for transportation. Effective commute allows people to carry out their professional obligations but also to participate in social life and engage in self-development. Using various modes of transport allows people to be proactive in an economic society, while a lack of access to transportation may lead to social exclusion.

On the other hand, transport generates high costs, both directly and indirectly. A purchase of a car or a public transport ticket is connected with expenditures, and burdens a household budget. This is an important group of costs, however, from the point of view of transport policy, external costs are particularly important as they affect whole regions or countries. The use of transport modes is immanently connected with pollution, noise, congestion, and risk of accidents. In many developed countries, the personal car is the most widely used mode of transport even though it adds to the social costs of transport in the most significant manner. Therefore, the current transport policy and development of transport innovation should be focused on possible ways of changing this trend—either by reducing the share of cars in urban modal split or by reducing the environmental impact of car use, or possibly both.

Dr. Michał Suchanek
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • transport economics
  • mobility 4.0
  • modal split
  • sustainable transportation
  • shared mobility

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 242 KiB  
Article
Mobility Behaviour in View of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic—Public Transport Users in Gdansk Case Study
by Adam Przybylowski, Sandra Stelmak and Michal Suchanek
Sustainability 2021, 13(1), 364; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010364 - 3 Jan 2021
Cited by 186 | Viewed by 12800
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic, like an earthquake, shocked our civilization and is still having a devastating effect on our lives. Guaranteeing an appropriate level of safety in the conditions of an epidemic is a highly problematic issue due to the subjectivism of social individuals, [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 pandemic, like an earthquake, shocked our civilization and is still having a devastating effect on our lives. Guaranteeing an appropriate level of safety in the conditions of an epidemic is a highly problematic issue due to the subjectivism of social individuals, their diverse attitudes, and past life experiences. Taking into account the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines regarding the pandemic, authorities all around the world have reacted by issuing the necessary sets of advice and legal acts. This resulted in immediate and severe implications on mobility styles. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on mobility behaviours with special regard to public transport users, in terms of their willingness to travel and their safety criteria perceptions. The city of Gdańsk, in Poland, located on the Baltic Sea, has been taken as an example. The hypothesis was as follows: the epidemic phenomenon may substantially affect mobility behaviours in terms of subjective levels of safety and the mental comfort of public transport users, resulting in avoiding this form of transport. In accordance with the survey results, carried out among the users, 90% of respondents resigned or limited their usage. Almost 75% of them plan to return to using public transport when the epidemic situation has stabilized. The others, unfortunately, have completely lost hope that public transport will ever be safe. These results indicate decisively that the future of public transport in cities, and the willingness of passengers to use it once the epidemic is over, depends majorly on the perceived comfort and safety during the epidemic. This means that transport policies should be focused on enhancing these perceptions and making sure that the image of public transport is not in further decline; otherwise, it could mean an almost impossible effort to encourage passengers to return to using sustainable modes of transport in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends in Transport Sustainability and Innovation)
25 pages, 2390 KiB  
Article
Transformation of Trolleybus Transport in Poland. Does In-Motion Charging (Technology) Matter?
by Marcin Wołek, Agnieszka Szmelter-Jarosz, Marcin Koniak and Anna Golejewska
Sustainability 2020, 12(22), 9744; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229744 - 22 Nov 2020
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3805
Abstract
Transport in cities is one of the most important sources of emissions. Electromobility is an essential element in the catalogue of activities of local authorities aimed at combating climate change. Over the years trolleybus transport has been characterised by both phases of development [...] Read more.
Transport in cities is one of the most important sources of emissions. Electromobility is an essential element in the catalogue of activities of local authorities aimed at combating climate change. Over the years trolleybus transport has been characterised by both phases of development and regression and is still an essential component of zero-emission urban transport in about 300 cities worldwide. The development of electricity storage technology, especially in the form of a battery, has opened up new prospects for this mode of transport. A trolleybus equipped with a battery (in-motion charging technology) gains unique characteristics for operation independent of the catenary. This study presents the approach for assessing the development of in-motion charging for trolleybuses in all Polish cities operating this means of transport. A set of KPIs has therefore, been set and analysed. The analysis covers a comparison between 2014 and 2019, aimed at showing the development of technological innovations in this field. The results clearly show that in-motion charging technology leads to the development of trolleybus transport, although this development has mainly a qualitative dimension. A key factor determining the development of trolleybus transport using in-motion charging technology is progress in the development of traction batteries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends in Transport Sustainability and Innovation)
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16 pages, 308 KiB  
Article
Built Environment Correlates of the Propensity of Walking and Cycling
by Longzhu Xiao, Linchuan Yang, Jixiang Liu and Hongtai Yang
Sustainability 2020, 12(20), 8752; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208752 - 21 Oct 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3579
Abstract
Walking and cycling are not only frequently-used modes of transport but also popular physical activities. They are beneficial to traffic congestion mitigation, air pollution reduction, and public health promotion. Hence, examining and comparing the built environment correlates of the propensity of walking and [...] Read more.
Walking and cycling are not only frequently-used modes of transport but also popular physical activities. They are beneficial to traffic congestion mitigation, air pollution reduction, and public health promotion. Hence, examining and comparing the built environment correlates of the propensity of walking and cycling is of great interest to urban practitioners and decision-makers and has attracted extensive research attention. However, existing studies mainly look into the two modes separately or consider them as an integral (i.e., active travel), and few compare built environment correlates of their propensity in a single study, especially in the developing world context. Thus, this study, taking Xiamen, China, as a case, examines the built environment correlates of the propensity of walking and cycling simultaneously and compares the results wherever feasible. It found (1) built environment correlates of the propensity of walking and cycling differ with each other largely in direction and magnitude; (2) land use mix, intersection density, and bus stop density are positively associated with walking propensity, while the distance to the CBD (Central Business District) is a negative correlate; (3) as for cycling propensity, only distance to CBD is a positive correlate, and job density, intersection density, and bus stop density are all negative correlates. The findings of this study have rich policy implications for walking and cycling promotion interventions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends in Transport Sustainability and Innovation)
18 pages, 954 KiB  
Article
The Effects of the Selective Enlargement of Fare-Free Public Transport
by Krzysztof Grzelec and Aleksander Jagiełło
Sustainability 2020, 12(16), 6390; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12166390 - 7 Aug 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 6276
Abstract
In recent years fare-free public transport (FFPT) found itself at the centre of attention of various groups, such as economists, transport engineers and local authorities, as well as those responsible for the organisation of urban transport. The FFPT is hoped to be the [...] Read more.
In recent years fare-free public transport (FFPT) found itself at the centre of attention of various groups, such as economists, transport engineers and local authorities, as well as those responsible for the organisation of urban transport. The FFPT is hoped to be the answer to contemporary transport-related problems within cities, problems which largely result from insensible proportions between trips carried out via personal mode of transportation and those completed by the means of public transport. This article reviews the motives and effects connected with the introduction to date of fare-free transport zones across the globe. It also presents, using data obtained in market research, the actual impact of a selective extension of the entitlement to free fares on the demand for urban transport services. The effects observed in other urban transport systems were then compared against those observed in relation to one, examined system. Analyses of observed FFPT implementation effects were then used to establish good and bad practices in the introduction of FFPT. The article also contains forecasts on the effect of the extension of entitlement to free fares and an increase in the public transport offer may have on the volume of demand for such services. The analyses have shown that an increase in the public transport offer (understood as an increase in the volume of vehicle-kilometres) would increase the demand for urban transport services more than the selective implementation of FFPT (assuming that the costs incurred by the local authorities remain unchanged). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends in Transport Sustainability and Innovation)
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