Using Decision Support Systems to Help Policy Makers Cope with Urban Transport Problems

More than 70% of Europe’s population lives in urban areas. Transport pollution contributes significantly to severe health problems in many European cities. The impacts of air pollutants are particularly severe in busy city centres, where congestion creates long queues of stationary traffic pumping fumes onto streets crowded with pedestrians. Although improvements in vehicle technologies have led to steady reductions in pollutant emissions, the decrease has been slower than expected due to the ever-increasing transport demand. Getting urban transport “right” is a challenging task for decision-makers given the number of policy areas affected, the large range of stakeholders and the high political sensitivity of almost any option adopted (including “do nothing”). Ultimately any decision must rest with the skills and informed judgement of the decision-maker or decision college. It remains difficult. The work presented shows the development of a DSS called Navigate Utopia. It is a web-style tool based on Multicriteria Analysis which has been developed to allow policy-makers to explore and evaluate the numerous new transport technology options already available or on the point of entering the market. Navigate Utopia draws on practical experience derived from previous case studies in Europe, giving guidance on how these can best be applied to specific urban situations and providing tools to understand what the effects might be. It considers also the wide range of new and improved propulsion systems currently coming on stream and draws together findings from a wide range of disciplines to address the complex issue of how to ensure successful market entry of new transport technologies.

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Smart Cities in Turkey: Approaches, Advances and Applications with Greater Consideration for Future Urban Transport Development

Energies ◽

10.3390/en12122308 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (12) ◽

pp. 2308 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Can Bıyık

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Planning Process ◽

Smart Cities ◽

Radical Change ◽

Urban Transport ◽

Transport Systems ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Comprehensive Survey ◽

Future Vision

The smart city transport concept is viewed as a future vision aiming to undertake investigations on the urban planning process and to construct policy-pathways for achieving future targets. Therefore, this paper sets out three visions for the year 2035 which bring about a radical change in the level of green transport systems (often called walking, cycling, and public transport) in Turkish urban areas. A participatory visioning technique was structured according to a three-stage technique: (i) Extensive online comprehensive survey, in which potential transport measures were researched for their relevance in promoting smart transport systems in future Turkish urban areas; (ii) semi-structured interviews, where transport strategy suggestions were developed in the context of the possible imaginary urban areas and their associated contextual description of the imaginary urban areas for each vision; (iii) participatory workshops, where an innovative method was developed to explore various creative future choices and alternatives. Overall, this paper indicates that the content of the future smart transport visions was reasonable, but such visions need a considerable degree of consensus and radical approaches for tackling them. The findings offer invaluable insights to researchers inquiring about the smart transport field, and policy-makers considering applying those into practice in their local urban areas.

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Informal park-and-ride behaviour

Put i saobraćaj ◽

10.31075/pis.66.01.02 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 66 (1) ◽

pp. 9-13

Author(s):

Jelena Simićević ◽

Vladimir Molan ◽

Nada Milosavljević

Keyword(s):

Public Transport ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Central Area ◽

Travel Behaviour ◽

Urban Transport ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Final Destination ◽

Park And Ride ◽

Last Mile ◽

Parking Management

Sustainable parking management in central urban areas typically involves implementation of restrictive parking measures. Discouraged by parking measures users seek for an alternative option. Some of them self-initiatively found a way not to completely abandon driving: they drive and park outside the central area and reach the final destination by public transport. This travel pattern is known as “informal Park-and-Ride“ (PnR), and should be estimated as relatively positive because the critical “last mile” is travelled by public transport. As PnR demand grows, policy-makers should consider its formalisation and integration into the urban transport policy. This paper aims to identify informal PnR users in Belgrade and to investigate their motives, requests and preferences towards this option. The findings should be of importance when planning and developing formal PnR sites, which can largely increase user willingness to accept restrictive parking measures, i.e. to adopt more sustainable travel behaviour.

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Velomobiles and Urban Mobility: Opportunities and Challenges

Small Electric Vehicles ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-65843-4_3 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 29-39

Author(s):

Geoffrey Rose ◽

Alex Liang

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Design Guidelines ◽

Urban Transport ◽

Motor Vehicles ◽

Urban Mobility ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Radar Screen ◽

The Social ◽

Challenges And Opportunities ◽

Independent Travel

AbstractAs the transport challenges facing urban areas intensify, innovative solutions are required to address the social, economic and environmental impacts arising from overreliance on private motor vehicles. Velomobiles offer a range of advantages but do not feature on the radar screen of urban transport policy makers. This chapter explores the challenges and opportunities of increased adoption of velomobiles as an urban mobility option. A scan of existing velomobiles is used to define typical characteristics of these vehicles and place them into perspective against relevant travel options before they are assessed in the context of typical vehicle regulations and facility design guidelines. The opportunities and challenges associated with greater adoption of velomobiles in the context of urban travel are examined through the lenses of technology adoption and the sociotechnical framing of independent travel options. Shared mobility is identified as one potential way of broadening the base for velomobile adoption in urban areas.

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Comparative analysis of transport services development in the capital cities moscow and colombo

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/201913502021 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 135 ◽

pp. 02021

Author(s):

Nina Danilina ◽

Champa Navaratne ◽

H.A.C. Priyankara

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Urban Areas ◽

System Development ◽

Urban Transport ◽

Service Systems ◽

Population Mobility ◽

Transport Service ◽

Capital Cities ◽

Transport Services ◽

Wide Range

The study of urban transport service systems covers a wide range of issues connected with sustainability of urban areas, provision of high quality services and administrations in the cities and urban agglomerations that have transport problems related to population mobility. Each city develops its own particular concept of the transport service system development, based on a variety of external and internal factors. The article deals with transport development policies of two cities - Moscow and Colombo completely different in almost every aspect such as history, geopolitics etc, except one: both are the biggest capital cities of the Corresponding states, Russian Federation and Sri Lanka. The task of the authors was to make theoretical comparative analysis of the most significant tendencies, processes and effects in the field of modern urban transport development of the above mentioned cities in order to identify their context specifics and factors that could determine the relationships between the development of the settlement system and the level of development of the transport system that allow to dialogue enrichment in strategic planning and practical decisions. The article presents the methods of analysis, statistical data, the results of a retrospective analysis of the relationship between the historical process, the modern management system and the level of development of urban transport service systems.

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Public Transport-Based Crowdshipping for Sustainable City Logistics: Assessing Economic and Environmental Impacts

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11010145 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 145 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Valerio Gatta ◽

Edoardo Marcucci ◽

Marialisa Nigro ◽

Sergio Patella ◽

Simone Serafini

Keyword(s):

Public Transport ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Stated Preference ◽

Point Of View ◽

Pollutant Emissions ◽

Local Policy ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Transit Network ◽

The One ◽

The City

This paper aims at understanding and evaluating the environmental and economic impacts of a crowdshipping platform in urban areas. The investigation refers to the city of Rome and considers an environmental-friendly crowdshipping based on the use of the mass transit network of the city, where customers/crowdshippers pick-up/drop-off goods in automated parcel lockers located either inside the transit stations or in their surroundings. Crowdshippers are passengers that would use the transit network anyhow for other activities (e.g., home-to-work), thus avoiding additional trips. The study requires firstly, estimating the willingness to buy a crowdshipping service like the one proposed here, in order to quantify the potential demand. The estimation is realized adopting an extensive stated preference survey and discrete choice modeling. Then, several scenarios with different features of the service are proposed and evaluated up to 2025 in terms of both externalities (local and global pollutant emissions, noise emissions and accidents reductions) and revenues. The results are useful to understand and quantify the potential of this strategy for last mile B2C deliveries. Moreover, it provides local policy-makers and freight companies with a good knowledge base for the future development of a platform for public transport-based crowdshipping and for estimating the likely impact the system could have both from an economic and environmental point of view.

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Biscogniauxia (Hypoxylon) Canker or Dieback in Trees

EDIS ◽

10.32473/edis-fr407-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 (6) ◽

Author(s):

Claudia Paez ◽

Jason A. Smith

Keyword(s):

Water Stress ◽

Tree Species ◽

Soil Compaction ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Root Disease ◽

Poor Health ◽

Green Spaces ◽

Opportunistic Pathogens ◽

Wide Range ◽

Quercus Spp

Biscogniauxia canker or dieback (formerly called Hypoxylon canker or dieback) is a common contributor to poor health and decay in a wide range of tree species (Balbalian & Henn 2014). This disease is caused by several species of fungi in the genus Biscogniauxia (formerly Hypoxylon). B. atropunctata or B. mediterranea are usually the species found on Quercus spp. and other hosts in Florida, affecting trees growing in many different habitats, such as forests, parks, green spaces and urban areas (McBride & Appel, 2009). Typically, species of Biscogniauxia are opportunistic pathogens that do not affect healthy and vigorous trees; some species are more virulent than others. However, once they infect trees under stress (water stress, root disease, soil compaction, construction damage etc.) they can quickly colonize the host. Once a tree is infected and fruiting structures of the fungus are evident, the tree is not likely to survive especially if the infection is in the tree's trunk (Anderson et al., 1995).

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URBAN FACADE GEOMETRY ON OUTDOOR COMFORT CONDITIONS: A REVIEW

INDONESIAN JOURNAL OF URBAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY ◽

10.25105/urbanenvirotech.v4i1.7151 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 45

Author(s):

Elahe Mirabi ◽

Nasrollahi Nazanin

Keyword(s):

Thermal Comfort ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Natural Ventilation ◽

Flow Behavior ◽

Air Flow ◽

Urban Geometry ◽

Wide Range ◽

Low Energy Buildings ◽

Outdoor Comfort ◽

Solar Access

Designing urban facades is considered as a major factor influencing issues such as natural ventilation of buildings and urban areas, radiations in the urban canyon for designing low-energy buildings, cooling demand for buildings in urban area, and thermal comfort in urban streets. However, so far, most studies on urban topics have been focused on flat facades without details of urban layouts. Hence, the effect of urban facades with details such as the balcony and corbelling on thermal comfort conditions and air flow behavior are discussed in this literature review. Aim: This study was carried out to investigate the effective factors of urban facades, including the effects of building configuration, geometry and urban canyon’s orientation. Methodology and Results: According to the results, the air flow behavior is affected by a wide range of factors such as wind conditions, urban geometry and wind direction. Urban façade geometry can change outdoor air flow pattern, thermal comfort and solar access. Conclusion, significance and impact study: In particular, the geometry of the facade, such as indentation and protrusion, has a significant effect on the air flow and thermal behavior in urban facades and can enhance outdoor comfort conditions. Also, Alternation in façade geometry can affect pedestrians' comfort and buildings energy demands.

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Design Intervention Assessment of Urban Public Park for Physical Activity Promotion in Bangkok, Thailand

11th GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES - Global Conference on Business and Social Sciences Proceeding ◽

10.35609/gcbssproceeding.2020.11(4) ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 4-4

Author(s):

Sigit Arifwidodo ◽

Orana Chandrasiri

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Urban Landscape ◽

Physical Activity Promotion ◽

Well Being ◽

Pilot Project ◽

Public Park ◽

Activity Promotion ◽

Wide Range ◽

Design Intervention

Public Park is considered one of the essential settings for physical activity, especially in urban areas. Parks support physical activity through their accessibility, their provision to facilitate active pursuits; their capacity to provide opportunities to a wide range of users; and their semi-permanent nature. The paper explores the design intervention assessment of Benchakitti Park, which serves as the pilot project for active park and showcase during the past ISPAH 2016 conference. The objective of the paper is to understand the health and well-being benefits of an urban park in increasing PA levels of urban population and promoting a healthy and active lifestyle. Keywords: Public park; physical activity; urban landscape design; public health; SOPARC

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Occupational and Environmental Health

10.1093/oso/9780190662677.001.0001 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Occupational Health ◽

Environmental Health ◽

Health And Safety ◽

Practical Experience ◽

Global Perspective ◽

Clear Understanding ◽

Practical Case ◽

Environmental Sciences ◽

Wide Range

This thoroughly updated seventh edition is a comprehensive, clearly written, and practical textbook that includes information on both occupational health and environmental health, providing the necessary foundation for recognizing and preventing work-related and environmentally induced diseases and injuries. National and international experts share their knowledge and practical experience in addressing a wide range of issues and evolving challenges in their fields. A multidisciplinary approach makes this an ideal textbook for students and practitioners in public health, occupational and environmental medicine, occupational health nursing, epidemiology, toxicology, occupational and environmental hygiene, safety, ergonomics, environmental sciences, and other fields. Comprehensive coverage provides a clear understanding of occupational and environmental health and its relationships to public health, environmental sciences, and government policy. Practical case studies demonstrate how to apply the basic principles of occupational and environmental health to real-world challenges. Numerous tables, graphs, and photographs reinforce key concepts. Annotated Further Reading sections at the end of chapters provide avenues for obtaining further infomation. This new edition of the book is thoroughly updated and also contains new chapters on climate change, children’s environmental health, liver disorders, kidney disorders, and a global perspective on occupational health and safety.

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Urban Transport

10.1093/oso/9780190889760.003.0005 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

José van

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Urban Transport ◽

Transport Sector ◽

Public And Private ◽

Transport Services ◽

Ride Sharing ◽

The World ◽

Private And Public ◽

Selection Mechanisms

Platformization affects the entire urban transport sector, effectively blurring the division between private and public transport modalities; existing public–private arrangements have started to shift as a result. This chapter analyzes and discusses the emergence of a platform ecology for urban transport, focusing on two central public values: the quality of urban transport and the organization of labor and workers’ rights. Using the prism of platform mechanisms, it analyzes how the sector of urban transport is changing societal organization in various urban areas across the world. Datafication has allowed numerous new actors to offer their bike-, car-, or ride-sharing services online; selection mechanisms help match old and new complementors with passengers. Similarly, new connective platforms are emerging, most prominently transport network companies such as Uber and Lyft that offer public and private transport options, as well as new platforms offering integrated transport services, often referred to as “mobility as a service.”

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