Sustainable Urban Transport: Volume 7

Cover of Sustainable Urban Transport
Subject:

Table of contents

(21 chapters)
Purpose

This chapter addresses the economic assessment of health benefits of active transport and presents most recent valuation studies with an overview of progresses made towards the inclusion of health benefits in the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of active transport.

Methodology/approach

It is built upon the contracted study for the World Health Organization (WHO) on the economic appraisal of health benefits of walking and cycling investments at the city of Viana do Castelo, the former pilot study in Portugal for evaluating the health benefits of non-motorized transport using the WHO Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT). The relative risk values adopted in the HEAT for walking refer to adult population of the age group 20–74 years and the assessment focus in on average physical activity/regular behaviour of groups of pedestrians and all-cause mortality health impacts. During the case study, it was developed and implemented a mobility survey which aimed to collect behavioural data before and after a street intervention in the historic centre.

Findings

Most recent appraisal guidance of walking and cycling and health impact modelling studies reviewed confirm that further research is expected before a more comprehensive appraisal procedure can be adopted in Europe, able to integrate physical activity effects along with other health risks such as those related to road traffic injuries and exposure to air pollution.

Social implications

The health benefits assessment of walking investments helped local decision-makers to progress towards sustainable mobility options in the city. Making the population aware of the potential health benefits of regular walking can encourage more people to uptake active transport as part of their daily activities.

Originality/value

This study provides a useful review of the health benefits of active transport with a comprehensive analysis of valuation studies, presenting value-added information. It then reports a former assessment of the health effects of active transport in the Portuguese context (case study) using the state-of-the-art economic analysis tool (HEAT) of the World Health Organization which is believed to contribute to a paradigm shift in the transport policy and appraisal practice given the need of shaping future cities (and their citizens) for health through more investments in active transport.

Purpose

Theoretical assumptions for explaining travel behaviour changes are frequently limited to disciplinary boundaries. By combining the occurrence of key events with attitudinal dimensions in the ROA model and, furthermore, drawing on the model of cognitive dissonance, an integrated theoretical framework is presented.

Methodology/approach

We review several streams of research in different fields of travel behaviour research and develop a theoretical framework for guiding future empirical work on travel behaviour research.

Findings

The theoretical framework proposes that due to a key event a window of opportunity opens for behavioural change and adaptation processes of attitudes and behaviour.

Research limitations/implications

Further empirical research will have to show the validity and usefulness of the theoretical framework developed. A panel data analysis is proposed with attitudinal variables before and after a certain key event.

Purpose

This chapter investigates the impacts of households’ residential self-selection, parents’ perceptions and travel patterns on their children’s daily travel mode shares, among single parent households.

Methodology/approach

To capture the complexity of the relationships between parent and children daily travel mode choices, an integrated model structure is introduced and the model estimated with simultaneous equation modelling.

Findings

The results show that, beside the daily activity-travel engagements of the parent, both parent’s perceptions and his/her residential self-selection reasons play significant roles in influencing their children daily travel mode shares. The parent’s perceptions play more significant roles in influencing children’s travel modes shares, whilst the residential self-selection reasons have more significant influence on the parent’s travel mode choice.

Research limitations/implications

The finding of this study reveals a fact that wherever the children live, their travel behaviour tend to be ‘neutral’ and open to influence by their parents throughout their childhood.

Originality/value

This study adds to our understanding of the interactions between parents’ attitudes and behaviours with their children’s travel patterns. This study focuses on single parent households, on which there is very little literature.

Purpose

The purposes of this study are to explore children’s independent mobility, that is the degree to which children of different ages are allowed to make trips to school, friends, shops, and other destinations unaccompanied by adults within the Arab communities in Israel and to study the influence of the demographic and socio-economic characteristics, built environment, geographical location, cultural context, and risk perceptions on children’s independent mobility.

Methodology

This study is based on a questionnaire given to children between 9 and 15 years old studying in 4th to 9th grades and to one parent or primary caregiver. The methodology of this study is based on descriptive statistics comparing independent mobility licenses and travel behavior of two school children groups: Arab and Jewish children. In addition logistic regression models were developed to study the influence of different factors on independent mobility such as: car availability, gender, age, social class, and so on. In order to examine whether children with independent mobility do more and have access to a wider range of activities than those who do not, a linear regression analysis was performed with the dependent variable being the number of unaccompanied journeys to the various activities in the weekend.

Findings

Results clearly show that boys were granted greater freedom in terms of mobility licenses, as were secondary school children compared with those attending primary school. Walking is still the main commuting mode to school. One of the important findings in this study is that children are not interested in walking. That is, regardless of the built environment and parents driving options, children prefer to be driven.

Social implications

This study will provide essential information for the development of policies and interventions in urban planning, transport planning, community development, community safety initiatives, and health planning.

Originality/value

This study is among the first to examine levels of independent mobility among the Arab school children in Israel, as well as their participation in active transport (e.g., walking/cycling) during journeys to school and to other local destinations.

Therefore, this study will hopefully provide a baseline for future studies in this area and act as a catalyst for more research into independence and mobility, and how this impacts sustainability.

Purpose

To explore people’s attitudes towards bus service quality and bus use.

Methodology/approach

The study is a natural experiment that uses primary data collected from questionnaires, which were conducted to Maltese residents. The information was collected two months before the bus service reform and one year afterwards.

Findings

Results cast doubt on whether current policy measures regarding bus service quality are adequate to contribute to a modal shift from car to bus use.

Practical implications

Provides insight on whether current policy measures are sufficient in order to obtain an increase in bus patronage.

Originality/value

The case study of the Malta bus service reform provides an opportunity to study people’s attitudes in a quasi-experimental situation. Additionally, the research sheds light on the possible impact that bus service reforms have on people’s attitudes.

Purpose

In the United States, many arguments for mass transport often focus on its benefits to the environment or in terms of congestion relief. This chapter instead looks at direct micro-scale and meso-scale economic and social benefits by identifying occupations, industries, and demographic groups that are both growing and can benefit from transit. In using this form of local-scale identification of unique economic circumstances, government planners, elected officials, and academics can create a practical, GIS-focused approach to increase the utility and acceptance of mass transportation in the United States.

Methodology/approach

Using a GIS-based approach with US Census and US Labor Department data, the chapter focuses on local growth sectors in the economy, then identifying their transit-usage patterns. Additionally some GIS are used to identify concentration areas of both occupations and transit usage, along with areas of likely employment for those individuals. Locally this creates “micro-climates” or hot spots for favorable views and usage of transport. These micro-climates can be duplicated in other similar areas to increase utilization, and therefore return on investment, of public transportation.

Findings

For denser areas, affluent downtowns, and areas which are accessible to hospitals and universities, the primary growth engines of the current US labor market, transit has a positive correlated relationship. Additionally, recent immigrant groups, particularly those with limited English speaking ability, have also shown a correlated growth in transit usage. By identifying these areas with GIS, transit can better align its services to needs and improve it return on investment.

Social implications

The United States has had a fifty-year-long negative view of public transport outside of major urban areas. By identifying groups with positive correlated use of transit, the return on investment and public perception of its use and environmental sustainability can mesh with land use planning and perceived quality of the service. In so doing, transit use may be encouraged.

Originality/value

The United States is faced with very high petrol prices relative to its history, and somewhat lesser incomes among its sub-age-30 work cohorts. This has encouraged density. However, in order to provide for this increased demand, there must be an increase in both supply and politically perceived value in its investment. This chapter seeks to be an early pragmatic model in valuing public transport at a local level.

Purpose

This chapter focuses on strategies to initiate a shift in mobility behaviour away from private cars towards a combination of more environmentally friendly transport modes including public transport, ride- and car sharing or even completely carbon-free modes like walking and cycling. The requirement for such a shift is that people must be able to actually choose between different travelling options and combine them within an intermodal mobility network. Here, shared mobility has a considerable potential to fill the gap between public and individual transport options.

Methodology/approach

This chapter summarises results from different studies on shared mobility from the providers’, the users’ and the political perspective. The user’s perspective is based on an empirical study comparing car sharers’, car drivers’ and public transport users’ attitudes and mobility patterns.

Findings

The empirical findings from the case study have shown that shuttle trips by car in general, and to the train station in particular, are an important field of action for improving the environmental impact of intermodal trips. The study has also shown that car sharing enables people to live without a private car by using different transport modes for different purposes. As the majority of car sharers report needing a car only one to three times a month, they have a very small carbon footprint compared to the average car owner.

Social implications

Mobility patterns are determined by local transport options as well as by personal routines. Hence, current changes due to new shared mobility options seem to have a considerable direct impact on how people organise their daily lives on the one hand and an indirect impact on their living costs on the other hand, since private cars have an important share of private household costs.

Originality/value

From an environmental perspective, any incentives to encourage people to choose alternative forms of transport over their private cars would seem to be particularly effective. Thus, understanding the behaviour and needs of multi- and intermodal travellers is an important step towards sustainable mobility. Acknowledging that most travellers still need a car every now and then, car sharing is an essential addition to public transport systems, supporting both public transport use and carbon-free mobility like walking and cycling.

Purpose

New mobility services, referred to here as car sharing services with electric vehicles fuelled by renewable energies, could serve as an essential part of energy and climate strategies to lessen the impact of transport. However operating a car sharing scheme with electric vehicles is more expensive and offers users less autonomy than car sharing powered by internal combustion engines. Thus municipalities and operators need to answer one critical question: how to identify and address target groups to make the scheme successful?

Methodology

We focus on user requirements and attitudes towards services that integrate electric vehicles and public transport. Firstly we argue, based on an extensive literature analysis, that attitude-based market segmentation is crucial for a successful implementation of integrated e-mobility services. In the literature review we compare 23 empirical studies that employ a segmentation approach concerning their content and methodologies. Secondly, we address this need by presenting a methodology to derive attitude-based mobility typologies developed during a two-year field trial of an e-car sharing service in Berlin (Germany).

Findings

We share results from a representative market segmentation survey in Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich (n = 2,400). Among the six clusters, six attitude-based mobility typologies, we separated three groups specifically inclined to use mobility services: ‘the innovative technology-loving multioptionals’ (20% of the sample), ‘flexible car-lovers’ (21%) and ‘the ecological bicycle and Public Transit-lovers’ (17%).

Social implications

Attitude-based approaches like the one used in this study could support the development of integrated mobility services by adding the view of a specific target group. A range of approaches exist which use different kinds of item batteries to measure mobility related attitudes with the aim to develop target group specific services.

Originality/value

This study will provide essential information for the development of policies and interventions in support of new mobility services.

Purpose

The dominance of road transport, both on passenger and freight movements, has reached alarming levels in what concerns their negative environmental impacts as well as societal and economic costs. To reverse this trend, a technology-driven approach and a behavioral change attitude need to be pursued. Promising results have been reported in Europe in the reduction of vehicle ownership, due to the introduction of an alternative transport mode known as car sharing. This work evaluates the contribution of car sharing to sustainable transport, based both in a technological shift and a potential behavioral change.

Methodology/approach

The state of the art on car sharing and policies presents the effects of these systems and how they have been promoted. As those effects can vary according to the geographical area, the users profile, and service characteristics, a worldwide analysis on car sharing systems covering more than 400 cities was performed. Average service indicators were quantified and characterization variables were accounted to those cities’ urban areas. Considering those normalized values, the authors performed an analysis of the car sharing system in Lisbon (Portugal). An initial assessment was made to estimate its current energy and environmental impacts. This outcome was then compared with the environmental and economic effects of using alternative vehicle technologies in car sharing. The results obtained enable a discussion of the more important variables for the success of the system and, consequently, to choose what policy instruments can help car sharing to succeed.

Findings

The results of the existing car sharing schemes reveal the positive contribution of car sharing to fill a “mobility gap” in sustainable transport. It works as a complement to other sustainable transport options and it impacts positively both society and car-sharers in terms of mobility costs, environmental, and energy implications. These results are more significant if a technology shift to electric mobility is promoted. Within the case study in Lisbon, the adoption of electric mobility would allow decreases up to 47% and 65% in energy consumption and CO2 emissions, respectively. Moreover, the present value economic analysis revealed that, these systems will only be economically viable after approximately 7 years. A sensitivity analysis to the economic model was performed showing that the variables having higher influence were cost-related variables (reducing the break-even timeframe from 36% to 57%), such as vehicle purchase cost, insurance, maintenance and tax costs, and fuel cost.

Social implications

Car sharing systems generally present social benefits to society as it leads to the reduction of car ownership, with all the positive effects that has on a lower demand for parking space, less congestion, reduced local pollutants and emissions. If the technology used by car sharing vehicles shifts from conventional to another type of technology, the effects both for society and car sharers are even more appealing from a social point of view. In the particular case study approached in the chapter, given the small scale of the car sharing network and low usage patterns, the local results have a low social impact at the city scale. A larger promotion of the system either with a more aggressive marketing campaign targeting specific population niches (e.g., environmentally conscious people), larger vehicle and parking availability, or better integration with the city’s public transport system could foster the deployment of the system, similarly to other cities.

Originality/value

Overall, the results obtained from this research work quantify the contribution of car sharing to sustainable transport and highlights the positive effects of promoting a technological shift. These facts reinforce the need for public policies to support the integration of car sharing within the city’s solutions to promote a more sustainable mobility. The successful deployment of car sharing systems can be influenced by policies targeting features such as allocation of parking, the fees and complementarity with public transport, signage and markings, and marketing of social and environmental benefits.

Purpose

This study analyses the effect of fuel efficiency increase on travel demand in the city of Berlin. Vehicle technologies such as advanced driver assistance systems can help drivers to save fuel and thus lower exhaust emissions on a network level. In order to obtain high political endorsement among different stakeholders, the analysis of such effects which have an impact on overall fuel and emission savings are highly relevant. Recent testing of so called advanced driver assistance systems showed their ability to reduce fuel consumption and lower traffic emissions by giving driving recommendations to drivers.

Methodology/approach

Two effects on driving were simulated using a travel demand model: the increase in fuel prices which will take place in the coming years and a possible increase in vehicle fuel efficiency. Comparing these scenarios allowed us to calculate the effect of price change and the rebound effect of fuel efficiency gains using standard methods for transport elasticities. The simulation was run with the travel demand model TAPAS and the city of Berlin was the network used as a case study.

Findings

As fuel prices increase over time, driving tends to decrease. Driving increases, however, if vehicles become more fuel efficient and the result is the observed rebound effect. On a city network level, this also translates to lower emission savings than expected from the vehicle fuel efficiency gains. The rebound effect which we estimated matches similar findings in the literature, specifically in terms of their magnitude.

Practical implications

We used a simulation to compare scenarios of city travel demand. The result allowed us to estimate changes to the desired variables of fuel efficiency and fuel prices. For those interested in the effects of vehicle efficiency gains on city level these results are highly recommended for consideration.

Originality/value

The proposed framework for analysing rebound effects helped to assess the impacts of energy efficiency technologies on a city level.

Cover of Sustainable Urban Transport
DOI
10.1108/S2044-994120157
Publication date
2015-05-13
Book series
Transport and Sustainability
Editors
Series copyright holder
Emerald Publishing Limited
ISBN
978-1-78441-616-4
eISBN
978-1-78441-615-7
Book series ISSN
2044-9941