Navigating institutional complexity for the adaptation of urban transport infrastructure

Cycling and general sustainable mobility has become a topical issue around Europe, and gradually also in Latvia, including Valmiera – a medium size town, which is a research-base for this study where the governance and development of the municipal cycling infrastructure is analysed. The rapid growth of cycling in Valmiera not only highlights some deficiencies in urban infrastructure developments, but also reveals the management problems: the expectations and needs of users of different means of transportation and also pedestrians are not met. Looking towards solving various cycling development issues, it is necessary, first of all, to develop an understanding of system’s approach and the systemic governance of the cycling infrastructure. The urban transport/mobility system must be developed as a whole, integrating cycling mobility in it as an independently and continuously developing component, promoting a process of cooperation between all parties involved. Thus, to facilitate the cycling mobility of inhabitants in Valmiera, the involvement/participation of all the interested parties shall be pro-actively communicated – informed, educated/trained, pro-cycling behaviour encouraged. During this integrative case study, both quantitative and qualitative research methods were applied complementary: analysis of documents, infrastructure observations in the town with photo documentation, survey of inhabitants, also in-depth semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions. Additionally, a participatory observation was conducted through participation in cycling activities, forums, working groups, etc., elaborating suggestions for the municipal planning document - Transport Infrastructure Development Concept of Valmiera.

Download Full-text

PART 1: Finance: Transport Strategy for Polish Cities

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.3141/1576-01 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 1576 (1) ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Slobodan Mitric

Keyword(s):

Mass Transport ◽

Low Income ◽

Local Governments ◽

Large Scale ◽

Road Networks ◽

Cost Recovery ◽

Urban Transport ◽

Transport Infrastructure ◽

Rolling Stock ◽

Urban Road

A recent study requested by a group of mayors representing the largest Polish cities is summarized. The study was to be used as input into local and national debates about future directions of urban transport development in the country. The wider context is that of a major political and economic reform, begun in the late 1980s, involving no less than a rapidpaced transition from socialism to capitalism, featuring large-scale downsizing of the public sector, privatization, and a redistribution of political and resource powers from the state to local governments. Among the downstream effects of these changes has been an increase in private car ownership and use and a reduction in the market share of urban mass transit modes from between 80 and 90 percent of nonwalk daily trips to 70 percent or less. For transit operators, now owned by local governments, this has meant an added financial pressure coming after a decade of underinvestment in infrastructure, rolling stock, and other equipment. Large numbers of unemployed, retired, or otherwise low-income travelers, another consequence of restructuring the economy, have made it difficult to improve cost recovery by increasing fares. Traffic growth has generated congestion, since the structure and size of urban road networks were predicated on low car use. An urban transport strategy is proposed to respond to these problems. Its main short-term objective is to have an affordable and socially and environmentally acceptable modal split. In the longer term, the objective is to use the demand response to a much-reformed price system as the principal guide to how infrastructure and services should evolve. The key features of the strategy are as follows: ( a) evolution toward market-supplied services by a mixed-ownership mass transport industry; ( b) treatment of urban road networks as public utilities, focusing on cost recovery through pricing; ( c) linkage of pricing policies for mass transport and individual transport modes, in line with second-best thinking, aiming to reduce and even eliminate subsidies for both modes; and ( d) reliance on internally generated revenue leveraged by long-term borrowing to finance sectoral investments. It is therefore a counterpoint to a strategy wherein mass transport is a state-owned monopoly, the use of urban roads is subsidized as is mass transport, infrastructure investment is the instrument of preference as opposed to pricing, and sectoral investments and operating subsidies are financed from tax-generated budgets.

Download Full-text

Informality, urban transport infrastructure, and the lessons of history in Accra, Ghana

Routledge Handbook of Urban Planning in Africa ◽

10.4324/9781351271844-20 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 320-338

Author(s):

Jennifer Hart

Keyword(s):

Urban Transport ◽

Transport Infrastructure

Download Full-text

Assessing Sustainable Mobility Measures Applying Multicriteria Decision Making Methods

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12156067 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (15) ◽

pp. 6067 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jonas Damidavičius ◽

Marija Burinskienė ◽

Jurgita Antuchevičienė

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Evaluation Model ◽

Multicriteria Decision Making ◽

Urban Transport ◽

Transport Infrastructure ◽

Transport Systems ◽

Sustainable Transport ◽

Sustainable Mobility ◽

Multicriteria Decision

An increasing number of recent discussions have focused on the need for designing transport systems in consonance with the importance of the environment, thus promoting investment in the growth of non-motorized transport infrastructure. Under such conditions, the demand for implementing the most effective infrastructure measures has a profoundly positive impact, and requires the least possible financial and human resources. The development of the concept of sustainable mobility puts emphasis on the integrated planning of transport systems, and pays major attention to the expansion of non-motorized and public transport, and different sharing systems, as well as to effective traffic management involving intelligent transport systems. The development of transport infrastructure requires massive investment, and hence the proper use of mobility measures is one of the most important objectives for the rational planning of sustainable transport systems. To achieve this established goal, this article examines a compiled set of mobility measures and identifies the significance of the preferred tools, which involve sustainable mobility experts. The paper also applies multicriteria decision making methods in assessing urban transport systems and their potential in terms of sustainable mobility. Multicriteria decision making methods have been successfully used for assessing the effectiveness of sustainable transport systems, and for comparing them between cities. The proposed universal evaluation model is applied to similar types of cities. The article explores the adaptability of the model by assessing big Lithuanian cities.

Download Full-text

Concepts of Development of Alternative Travel in Autonomous Cars

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12218841 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (21) ◽

pp. 8841

Author(s):

Vytautas Palevičius ◽

Rasa Ušpalytė-Vitkūnienė ◽

Jonas Damidavičius ◽

Tomas Karpavičius

Keyword(s):

Transport System ◽

Urban Transport ◽

Transport Infrastructure ◽

Transport Systems ◽

Intelligent Transport Systems ◽

Conceptual Tool ◽

Intelligent Transport ◽

Travel Planning ◽

Autonomous Cars ◽

Car Travel

Autonomous car travel planning is increasingly gaining attention from scientists and professionals, who are addressing the integration of autonomous cars into the general urban transportation system. Autonomous car travel planning depends on the transport system infrastructure, the dynamic data, and their quality. The efficient development of travel depends on the development level of the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and the Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS). Today, most cities around the world are competing with each other to become the smartest cities possible, using and integrating the most advanced ITS and C-ITS that are available. It is clear that ITS and C-ITS are occupying an increasing share of urban transport infrastructure, so the complex challenges of ITS and C-ITS development will inevitably need to be addressed, in the near future, by integrating them into the overall urban transport system. With this in mind, the authors proposed three autonomous car travel development concepts that should become a conceptual tool in the development of ITS and C-ITS.

Download Full-text

How Uneven is the Urban Mobility Playing Field? Inequalities among Socioeconomic Groups in Santiago De Chile

Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board ◽

10.1177/0361198119849588 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2673 (11) ◽

pp. 59-70 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Vicente Iglesias ◽

Francisca Giraldez ◽

Ignacio Tiznado-Aitken ◽

Juan Carlos Muñoz

Keyword(s):

Urban Transport ◽

Transport Infrastructure ◽

Income Quintile ◽

Socioeconomic Groups ◽

Playing Field ◽

Commercial Activities ◽

Santiago De Chile ◽

New Construction ◽

Private Car ◽

Negative Impacts

A central issue in urban inequity has to do with distributive justice in the costs and benefits associated with urban transport, and whether certain population groups are systematically disadvantaged about mobility, accessibility, affordability, and externalities, the preponderant factors in transport poverty. This article proposes a methodology for analyzing how investment in transport infrastructure and non-housing construction, mobility levels (trip distances, times, and speeds) and the associated trip costs (monetary, accidents, pollution, and energy consumption) are distributed across the different socioeconomic quintiles of a city. The methodology was applied to the real-world case of Santiago de Chile. The results showed that compared with the lowest income quintile, people in the highest income quintile made 1.2 times more trips at an average speed 1.6 times higher. In relation to costs, the richest quintile generated 6.7 times as much pollution and used 7 times as much energy but consumed a significantly lower share of their income (10% vs. 45%). In addition, the top quintile was the beneficiary of 2.5 times more investment in both transport infrastructure and new construction space for commercial activities and services over the period considered. Finally, private car use in the top quintile was 5.3 times greater. This transport mode accounts for 6.8 times more of the accident rate than public transport, bicycles, or walking combined. This clearly inequitable scenario points to the needs for progressive policies that target lower income groups and promote a more rational use of cars in view of their negative impacts on the city.

Download Full-text