New Approach to Effective and Sustainable Urban Transport

Author(s):  
Martin Lowson

An effective and sustainable transport system has been devised to meet public transport demand. Urban light transport (ULTra) is an innovative form of personal rapid transit. In contrast to other forms of public transport, there is no waiting, stopping, or transferring. In many situations, the new system can offer better transport than available by other means. ULTra has been designed to demanding sustainability requirements. Typically, ULTra reduces energy use and emissions by a factor of three compared with existing transport systems and also complements those systems. By providing a network link to major rail and bus stations, ULTra can make current transport services more attractive to passengers. The new system is also well suited for other major activity centers such as airports. In essence, ULTra replaces the old mass transit paradigm for transport with a new paradigm based on just-in-time transit. ULTra is now undergoing engineering development funded by the U.K. Department for Transport on a 1-km test track in Cardiff, Wales. The Cardiff County Council has received funding commitments by the National Assembly of Wales that could lead to system implementation by 2005. The system offers a new approach to public transport, with a real prospect of significant gains in effectiveness and sustainability.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 6390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Grzelec ◽  
Aleksander Jagiełło

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).


ASTONJADRO ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 150
Author(s):  
Muhammad Nanang Prayudyanto

<p>The growth and concentration of motor vehicles in developing cities has led to increased demand for urban mobility. Renewed commitments of Asian cities are required in order to achieve the SDG target on urban mobility as well as to enhance overall sustainability of urban transport systems and services. Cities and countries need to track the progress in improving urban mobility. With a view to support evidence based decision, the paper introduces the Sustainable Urban Transport Index (SUTI) of urban transport services, to help summarize, track and compare the state of urban mobility in Asian cities, as model for developing cities in the world. It also presents the results of pilot application of SUTI in four Asian cities: Greater Jakarta; Kathmandu; Hanoi; and Colombo. The four pilot cities were able to collect data, analyzed and assess the state of urban mobility in their city using SUTI. The assessment result supported policy makers to identify policy gaps, prioritize additional measures and investment strategies required to improve urban transport systems and services in each city. The visual output display in spider diagram was useful to comprehend state of all 10 key indicators in a glace. The pilot study demonstrated the usefulness of SUTI tool and the pilot cities were already using the results of SUTI analysis. In Kathmandu additional efforts are required to improve pedestrian infrastructure and facilities, Colombo needed to improve quality and reliability of public transport system, while Hanoi and Greater Jakarta need to put additional efforts to increase mode share of public transport system.</p>


Urban Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Kenworthy

Urban transport is critical in shaping the form and function of cities, particularly the level of automobile dependence and sustainability. This paper presents a detailed study of the urban transport eco-urbanism characteristics of the Stockholm, Malmö, Göteborg, Linköping, and Helsingborg urban regions in southern Sweden. It compares these cities to those in the USA, Australia, Canada, and two large wealthy Asian cities (Singapore and Hong Kong). It finds that while density is critical in determining many features of eco-urbanism, especially mobility patterns and particularly how much public transport, walking, and cycling are used, Swedish cities maintain healthy levels of all these more sustainable modes and only moderate levels of car use, while having less than half the density of other European cities. Swedish settlement patterns and urban transport policies mean they also enjoy, globally, the lowest level of transport emissions and transport deaths per capita and similar levels of energy use in private passenger transport as other European cities, and a fraction of that used in lower density North American and Australian cities. Swedish urban public transport systems are generally well provided for and form an integral part of the way their cities function, considering their lower densities. Their use of walking and cycling is high, though not as high as in other European cities and together with public transport cater for nearly 50% of the total daily trip making, compared to auto-dependent regions with between about 75% and 85% car trips. The paper explores these and other patterns in some detail. It provides a clear depiction of the strengths and weaknesses of Swedish cities in urban transport, some key policy directions to improve them and posits possible explanations for some of the atypical patterns observed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Alberto Moncada A. ◽  
Peter Jones ◽  
Diego A. Escobar

This paper presents the evolution of Latin-American transport policies in cities framed in terms of a conceptual model of three Stages recently developed to analyse policy initiatives in Western Europe cities, but probably suitable for developing countries. Stage one is identified as the accommodation of the steady growth of cars through urban road construction. Stage Two is connected to the improvement of public transport services and the shift to more efficient transport systems. Then Stage Three is based on concepts of liveable cities focused on well-being and social inclusion. Latin-American examples and specific cases of policy instruments’ implementation are used to test the validity of this three-stage model in a South American context. Comparative data for different cities are presented, shows results and consequences in terms of congestion reduction, transport systems improvements and some early sustainable transport initiatives. The work depicts the evolving policies of some Latin-American cities, first implementing major road improvements, next the implementation of car controls, and then, the switch to improved public transport systems. Finally the implications for cities in developing countries for the upcoming challenges in transport policies are considered. The paper discusses whether there is or not a transition process in Latin-American urban transport policies, and their success and efficiency on a worldwide comparative basis. As will be shown in this paper, transport policies in Latin-American cities can be characterised in one of these identified Stages of the evolution. Some of them are in Stage Two, while others are still under the influence of car-oriented planning in Stage One. Nevertheless, every policy instrument has impacts resulting from mutations in behaviour after years of application, and those impacts can make the difference between successful and unsuccessful transformations.


2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 954
Author(s):  
Jeffrey R. Kenworthy ◽  
Helena Svensson

Transport energy conservation research in urban transport systems dates back principally to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) “Arab Oil Embargo” (1973–1974) and the Iranian revolution (1979), when global oil supplies became threatened and costs rose steeply. Two subsequent Gulf Wars (1991 and 2003) highlighted the dangerous geo-political dimensions of Middle-Eastern oil. In latter times, the urgency to reduce global CO2 output to avoid catastrophic climate change has achieved great prominence. How to reduce passenger transport energy use therefore remains an important goal, which this paper pursues in ten Swedish cities, based on five scenarios: (1) increasing the relatively low public transport (PT) seat occupancy in each Swedish city to average European levels (buses 35%, light rail 48%, metro 60% and suburban rail 35%); (2) doubling existing PT seat occupancy in each Swedish city; (3) increasing existing car occupancy in each Swedish city by 10%; (4) decreasing existing energy use per car vehicle kilometer by 15%; (5) increasing existing modal split for daily trips by non-motorized modes to 50% in each city. A sixth “best-case scenario” is also explored by simultaneously combining scenarios 2 to 5. The data used in the paper come from systematic empirical research on each of the ten Swedish cities. When applied individually, scenario 2 is the most successful for reducing passenger transport energy use, scenarios 1 and 4 are next in magnitude and produce approximately equal energy savings, followed by scenario 5, with scenario 3 being the least successful. The best-case, combined scenario could save 1183 million liters of gasoline equivalent in the ten cities, representing almost a 60% saving over their existing 2015 total private passenger transport energy use and equivalent to the combined 2015 total annual private transport energy use of Stockholm, Malmö and Jönköping. Such findings also have important positive implications for the de-carbonization of cities. The policy implications of these findings and the strategies for increasing public transport, walking and cycling, boosting car occupancy and decreasing vehicular fuel consumption in Swedish cities are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 321
Author(s):  
Alessandro Emilio Capodici ◽  
Gabriele D’Orso ◽  
Marco Migliore

Background: In a world where every municipality is pursuing the goals of more sustainable mobility, bicycles play a fundamental role in getting rid of private cars and travelling by an eco-friendly mode of transport. Additionally, private and shared bikes can be used as a feeder transit system, solving the problem of the first- and last-mile trips. Thanks to GIS (Geographic Information System) software, it is possible to evaluate the effectiveness of such a sustainable means of transport in future users’ modal choice. Methods: Running an accessibility analysis of cycling and rail transport services, the potential mobility demand attracted by these services and the possible multimodality between bicycle and rail transport systems can be assessed. Moreover, thanks to a modal choice model calibrated for high school students, it could be verified if students will be really motivated to adopt this solution for their home-to-school trips. Results: The GIS-based analysis showed that almost half of the active population in the study area might potentially abandon the use of their private car in favour of a bike and its combination with public transport systems; furthermore, the percentage of the students of one high school of Palermo, the Einstein High School, sharply increases from 1.5% up to 10.1%, thanks also to the combination with the rail transport service. Conclusions: The GIS-based methodology shows that multimodal transport can be an effective way to pursue a more sustainable mobility in cities and efficiently connect suburbs with low-frequent public transport services to the main public transport nodes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3086
Author(s):  
Marcin Jacek Kłos ◽  
Grzegorz Sierpiński

The intense growth of cities affects their inhabitants to a considerable extent. The issues facing the traveling population include congestion and growing harmful emissions. Urban transport requires changes towards eco-friendly solutions. However, even though new forms of traveling (sharing services) are being implemented, their integration with public transport remains problematic. On account of the large number of available services combined with the absence of their integration, city inhabitants are faced with the dilemma of choosing between one or several transport modes which would enable them to make the given trip. The main goal of this article is to propose a model for integration of different transport services which could support those who intend to travel in the decision-making process. Therefore, the parameters of a model of urban sharing services were identified and classified. The parameters discussed in the paper with reference to an extensive literature review describe how individual sharing services are functioning. What has also been identified is the location-specific factors as well as those related to the potential area of operation which affect the integration with public transport. In order to take all the relevant parameters into account and find a solution to the problem at hand, a multi-criteria decision-making approach has been proposed. To this end, scores and weights determining their impact on the model have been established. For purposes of the solution in question, the relevant calculations were conducted by referring to an actual need to travel between selected locations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 2969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordan Stojić ◽  
Dušan Mladenović ◽  
Olegas Prentkovskis ◽  
Slavko Vesković

In free market conditions, if public passenger transport services are commercially unprofitable, there will be no interest for transport companies to perform them. However, directly because of the citizens’ interests, on the one hand, and indirectly because of the economy, passenger public transport services have become of a general public interest. The authorities must prepare appropriate legal fair market conditions, based on which public transport will be subsidized and conducted. In order to achieve that, for the mutual benefit of the public, users and transport companies, it is necessary that the right Public Service Obligation Model (PSO model or in some literature PCS—Public Service Compensation) be defined. Within this study, the optimal approach to assigning a PSC contract to transport companies for performing the PSO in integrated and regular public passenger transport systems is determined. A novel model, presented in this paper, can help national, regional and local authorities to choose and determine the way and level of PSCs for conducting the public transport of passengers and establishing a sustainable public passenger transport system.


Author(s):  
Sonnam Jo ◽  
Liang Gao ◽  
Feng Liu ◽  
Menghui Li ◽  
Zhesi Shen ◽  
...  

Robustness studies on integrated urban public transport networks have attracted growing attention in recent years due to the significant influence on the overall performance of urban transport system. In this paper, topological properties and robustness of a bus–subway coupled network in Beijing, composed of both bus and subway networks as well as their interactions, are analyzed. Three new models depicting cascading failure processes on the coupled network are proposed based on an existing binary influence modeling approach. Simulation results show that the proposed models are more accurate than the existing method in reflecting actual passenger flow redistribution in the cascading failure process. Moreover, the traffic load influence between nodes also plays a vital role in the robustness of the network. The proposed models and derived results can be utilized to improve the robustness of integrated urban public transport systems in traffic planning.


2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-131
Author(s):  
Maciej TARKOWSKI ◽  
◽  
Marcin POŁOM ◽  
Krystian PUZDRAKIEWICZ ◽  
◽  
...  

Identification of the role of the waterbus system in the development of tourism in a large coastal city – a tourist center of international importance. Cartographic materials, qualitative and quantitative data on the waterbus system, spatial development and tourist traffic were used. Quantitative temporal and spatial analyses were conducted, including GIS analyses. Service of the tourist traffic is the dominant function of the waterbus in Gdańsk. This is determined by three categories of factors: (i) the seasonal nature of the system and a low level of integration with the public transport system; (ii) low potential demand for transport services due to the fact that most of the stops are far away from large residential or work centers; (iii) proximity of most of the city’s main tourist attractions to the stops. The obtained results are helpful in programming the development of public transport systems, especially in large tourist coastal cities. The conditions of spatial development are of key importance for shaping the dominant function of the waterbus.


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