Why cycling matters for Smart Cities. Internet of Bicycles for Intelligent Transport

This article develops the concept of “smart velomobility” that is concerned with networked practices, systems and technologies of cycling. The concept draws on velomobility, Smart Mobility/Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), Smart Cities and the Internet of Things (IoT). The article presents results from an empirical study, where 80 riders of a networked fleet of e-bikes discuss their experience of smart velomobility. The results show how digital and physical mobilities merge, the way riders of the networked fleet interact with the data, how they share the data and how they feel tracked (privacy). The conclusion sketches out future research of “smart velomobilities” and also points out the policy and innovation potential of cycling as active, sustainable and networked mode of transport in the context of Smart Cities and the Internet of Things.     

Citizen participation for sustainable transport: the case of “Living City” in Santiago,Chile (1997–2012)

Twentieth century citizen “revolts” against urban highway projects have influenced thinking about public transport (Toronto, Vancouver, New York), governance (Portland), and cycling (The Netherlands) to this day. Less is known, however, about how these emerge in developing countries, and what they can tell us about citizens’ role in innovation to achieve more sustainable transport systems. This case study examines a social movement that emerged in opposition to the country’s first major highway concession, in Santiago, Chile (1997), challenging and changing urban planning paradigms. In 2000, the anti-highway campaign founded a citizen institution, Living City (Ciudad Viva). Twelve years later, it has become a prize-winning, citizen-led planning institution.Although the role of citizen participation in improving transport systems has become increasingly recognized in recent years, it still tends to be rather ritualistic. This experience offers insight into how strategic approaches to participation can reinforce the role of self-organizing civil society organizations in introducing innovation into existing systems. Findings suggest that traditional large movements, which are mainly useful for one-way communication of information, require support from small groups able to deliberate in a transformative sense, with more attention paid to how new consensuses can be transmitted through the relational networks of those involved. Moreover, this experience suggests that thinking about citizens as planners in their own right, rather than as mere participants at specific points in a planning process, opens the way to more effective strategies for innovating in transport, to address the social, environmental, and other challenges humanity faces today.     

Transforming mobility justice: Gendered harassment and violence on transit

Mobility justice scholarship has shown that socially disadvantaged people experience uneven access to movement through various spaces and even ‘immobility’ based on their differential hold on resources and power. Scholarship on gendered mobilities demonstrates that public spaces, such as public transit, are structured in ways that serve to reproduce gender hierarchies. While much important work on gendered mobilities has focused on the unique limitations to mobility women experience in spaces such as public transport, there is little work that considers how other gender minorities experience mobility in these spaces. Drawing from 25 qualitative interviews with transgender and gender nonconforming public transit users in Portland, Oregon, this paper demonstrates that gender minorities experience significant challenges to their routine mobility on public transit. The consistency with which participants in this study experienced harassment, discrimination, and violence while attempting to use public transit suggests that scholarship on gendered mobilities must begin to theorize from a more expansive understanding of gender. Transport justice studies broadly, and the scholarship on gendered mobilities specifically, must move toward a more comprehensive understanding of the spectrum of gendered experiences that impact mobility and accessibility. The paper concludes with specific policy recommendations that could make direct impacts on the safety and comfort of transgender riders. While larger cultural and societal change is necessary to fully address these inequities, these smaller efforts would likely increase transgender people's use of public transportation.     

Perceptions of cycling among high school students and their parents

Cycling is a healthy, low-cost, and low-carbon alternative to motorized transport. As a relatively fast active mode of transport, cycling can overcome the distance barrier of walking, while also providing cardiovascular exercise and reducing demand for motor vehicle travel. The “cycling renaissance” has seen an increase in the number of cyclists in urban spaces, and there is evidence of increased investment in cycling infrastructure and cycle skills training in some places. Yet the number of high school students cycling to school is declining in many industrialized countries. Transport to school is a major contributor to daily traffic congestion, resulting in both local and global environmental concerns, and high school students have been relatively overlooked in research to date. In this paper, we present empirical material from a qualitative study of high school students and parents in Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand. Focus group sessions were conducted during 2014 and 2015 with students and parents separately, to explore their perceptions of modes of transport and transport to school decision making. Key findings relate to perceived safety, implicit messages, and social norms. We find that a complex range of factors contribute to perceptions of cycling safety, including features and perceptions of the built environment, traffic safety (including behaviors of other road users), previous cycling experiences (including accidents), and adolescents' cycling skills and on-road experiences. Overcoming concerns through behavioral and cultural interventions coupled with upskilling and thoughtful infrastructure may present a pathway to increasing rates of cycling.     

“Ideal” decision-making processes for transport planning: A comparison between Europe and South East Asia

In a recently completed research project on the decision-making process of sustainable urban transport planning issues for the European Union (EU) – entitled PROSPECTS (Procedures for Recommending Optimal Sustainable Planning of European City Transport Systems) – an “ideal” decision-making process for sustainable transport planning decisions in the European context was identified. A further EU-funded networking project (SPARKLE (Sustainability Planning for Asian Cities making use of Research, Know-How and Lessons from Europe)) considered the relevance of the PROSPECTS process to South East Asia, through seminars and workshops in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. This paper summarises various conclusions reached in these events. Whilst it was generally found that the basic element of the PROSPECTS approach transferred reasonably well to South East Asia, various key factors require revisions to be made to the approach. The most important of these factors are: differing traditions in planning; different weights in the transport-related objectives, use of only a limited set of potential policy instruments, fast growth rates (in both economic and travel terms); differences in types of vehicle used; and lack of data for use in assessment and modelling. These factors could be addressed in more detail in future research projects.     

Policy integration: What will it take to achieve more sustainable transport solutions in cities?

There has been a rhetorical shift in paradigm from predict and provide for road transport to one which addresses sustainable mobilities. This paper explores the organizational and institutional issues of policy integration and the implementation mechanisms which could bring about a sustainable transport system predicated on the reduction of CO₂ emissions and non-renewable resource use and which produces more socially equitable outcomes. The paper first outlines the English policy context in terms of responsibilities, powers and resources available to local transport planners, and identifies the tools of government that can be more efficiently applied to effect a more sustainable transport system which specifically reduces CO₂ emissions. A snapshot of transport decision-making in five local transport authorities in England is presented, using a case study methodology, which explores the joint working practices of practitioners in five public policy sectors that influence accessibility patterns. The case study highlights the norms and values of the local public administrators who affect local transport mobility and how they in turn are hindered both by the rigidity of central government direction and an insufficiency of implementation tools.     

Urban transport policy transfer: “bottom-up” and “top-down” perspectives

The paper provides insights into the urban transport policy transfer process, focusing particularly on the transfer of the transport policy within the EU. The themes of the paper are structured according to five of the “Dolowitz and Marsh questions”: what is transferred?; why do actors engage in policy transfer?; who are the key actors involved in the policy transfer process?; from where are the lessons drawn?; and what restricts or facilitates the policy transfer process? The methodological approach taken for considering each question involves two steps. Firstly, a “bottom-up” step considers the views of policy transfer from a “city perspective”, for which use is made of results from interviews recently carried out within the EU project “Transport Research Knowledge Centre” (TRKC). These interviews were intended to ascertain the information needs of seven “representatives” of European cities, all of whom were involved in the Cities Reference Group of the EU project “Citymobil”. These seven cities have widely varying characteristics in terms of size and geographical location (across Europe). By discussing information needs, the interviewees provided many insights into the transport policy transfer process. Secondly, a “top-down” step considers the policy transfer questions from an “EU perspective’; use here is made of various transport policy documents published by the European Commission (EC). For each of the five questions, “bottom-up” and “top-down” perspectives are examined and compared. The final section of the paper draws conclusions, providing a number of recommendations to both city authorities and the EU on how urban transport policy transfer might be enhanced in the future.     

Hot or not? The role of cycling in ASEAN megacities: Case studies of Bangkok and Manila

The Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) recognizes the role of nonmotorized transport for sustainable urban development in its policy framework. National and local policymakers in Thailand and The Philippines, two tropical countries without a tradition of urban cycling, are increasingly paying attention to cycling as well. This article aims to assess the current situation and progress in cycling, using Bangkok and Metropolitan Manila as case study cities, and to describe the necessary conditions for advancing the significance of cycling in tropical megacities. This is done by operationalizing the so-called Technological Innovation Systems (TIS) framework, which has been used in transition studies since 2008, however, never for cycling. As such this article also “tests” this framework for its application in sustainable transportation. The two case studies are characterized with regards to the current role of cycling in the mobility system, its infrastructure, governance system, and existing research on the potential and barriers. We find that TIS can readily be applied to our cases, with the analysis showing that elements such as knowledge development, actor networks, e-bike adoption, infrastructure, resource mobilization and legitimation are not well developed; on the other hand, flat terrain, attention for cycling for health and environment, heavy congestion, expansion of public transport, growing bike industry, active university communities, and the emergence of advocacy coalitions, could open up opportunities for increasing its modal share.     

Exploring the social and spatial potential of an intermodal approach to transport planning

Gilbert and Perl (2007 Gilbert, R., &; Perl, A. (2007). Transport revolutions: Moving people and freight without oil. London: Earthscan. [Google Scholar]) established how different epochs in human history came with specific “transport revolutions.” Our research suggests that intermodal approaches could constitute an invisible transport planning revolution.

Based on a review defining “social” sustainability as it applies to urban passenger transportation, we consider the potential of an intermodal focus to better integrate non-motorized (walking-cycling) and public transportation. We start from the premise that rather than being a primary “mono-mode” such as buses or trains, sustainable transport is best understood as an ecology of modes with specific strengths and complementarities that can be mobilized through planning.

Using data from Metropolitan Santiago (Chile), we explore this potential, from a conceptual, mainly social, and spatial perspective. We find that paying more attention to different formats of cycling, public transport integration could significantly improve low-cost alternatives for individual and feeder trips. Moreover, adjusting land use to non-work trip purposes could yield substantial benefits. This approach also offers the possibility of developing relatively simple tools helpful for improving the deliberative aspects of participatory planning, thereby increasing buy-in as well as improving health, efficiency, safety, and other benefits of sustainable transport.     

Gastrodiplomacy in tourism

This conceptual paper articulates gastrodiplomacy in tourism as an area of study and policy. Gastrodiplomacy, the strategic use of cuisine in influencing perceptions of a nation, is positioned within the public diplomacy spectrum, and the intersections among food, tourism and diplomacy – in theory and practice – are investigated. The roles of food and tourism in nation branding are explored, leading to a detailed exposition on the multiple ways in which tourism is implicated in national gastrodiplomacy campaigns, as well as in grassroots “citizen diplomacy” involving food. The “ambassadorial” roles performed by people and the various “zones of contact” at which gastrodiplomacy in tourism is played out are identified as aspects of particular relevance for study. The paper calls for more integrated and holistic approaches to gastrodiplomacy in tourism, both in research and in policy, that address the tourism “foodscape” of a nation as a whole, as a realm of diplomatic potential.     

Managing motorization in sustainable transport planning: the Singapore experience

The primary objective of this paper is to make a connection between the Singapore story of land transport policy development and the pathway towards sustainable transport planning. Its innovation is to allow a parallel growth in motorization and public transit. The Singapore experience shows how a range of well-coordinated policies including efforts to control the number of cars in both ownership and usage, and at the same time increase the availability and rider-ship of public transit contribute to a sustainable transport system. The Singapore model provides a valuable reference for not only developing an alternative approach towards sustainable transport in countries where motorization is desired but also for understanding the various parameters important to the formulation of management policies. In particular, the paper contends the Singapore experience provides a model for Asian nations and cities.     

Making the connections between transport disadvantage and the social exclusion of low income populations in the Tshwane Region of South Africa

To date, the majority of studies which consider transport from a social exclusion perspective have been conducted in the context of the developed world where both income poverty and lack of transport are relative rather absolute states. In a unique departure from these previous studies, this paper explores the relationship between transport and social disadvantage in the development context, the key difference being that income poverty is absolute and where there is much lower access to both private and public transportation generally. Thus, it seeks to explore whether the concept of social exclusion remains valid, when it is the majority of the population that is experiencing transport and income poverty compared with the minority who do so in advanced economies.The paper is based on a scoping study for the Republic of South Africa Department of Transport (RSA DOT), which primarily involved focus group discussions with a range of socially deprived urban and peri-urban population groups living in the Tshwane region of South Africa. In a second departure from previous studies which consider transport and social disadvantage in the development context, the study takes a primarily urban focus. The rationale for this is that theoretically low income urban settlements do not suffer from the lack of transport infrastructure and motorised transport services in the way that more remote rural areas do. The policy issue is therefore less a question of addressing a deficit in supply and more one of addressing particular aspects of public transit service failure, which are more readily amenable to relatively low cost, manageable, small-scale national and local policy interventions.A primary aim for the study was to reinvigorate cross-government debate of these issues in the hope of breaking South African government’s long-standing and persistent policy inertia in the delivery of equitable and socially sustainable urban transport systems.     

Sustainable public transport systems: Moving towards a value for money and network-based approach and away from blind commitment

Growing public transport patronage in the presence of a strong demand for car ownership and use remains a high agenda challenge for many developed and developing economies. While some countries are losing public transport modal share, other nations are gearing up for a loss, as the wealth profile makes the car a more affordable means of transport as well as conferring elements of status and imagery of “success”. Some countries however have begun successfully to reverse the decline in market share, primarily through infrastructure-based investment in bus systems, commonly referred to as bus rapid transit (BRT). BRT gives affordable public transport greater visibility and independence from other modes of transport, enabling it to deliver levels of service that compete sufficiently well with the car to attract and retain a market segmented clientele. BRT is growing in popularity throughout the world, notably in Asia, Europe and South America, in contrast to other forms of mass transit (such as light and heavy rail). This is in large measure due to its value for money, service capacity, affordability, relative flexibility, and network coverage. This paper takes stock of its performance and success as an attractive system supporting the ideals of sustainable transport.     

Cycling case closed? A situated response to Samuel Nello-Deakin's “Environmental determinants of cycling: Not seeing the forest for the trees?”

This paper responds to Samuel Nello-Deakin's (2020) recent viewpoint, where he provocatively states that we already know enough of what is necessary to get more people to cycle: taking road space away from motor vehicles and ceding it to cyclists is a simple formula applicable in most cities around the world, provided there is political will. Further research, he claims, is unlikely to deliver new policy insights. This paper cautions against universalising the experiences of European “cycling cities” and suggests that turning to cities of the global South can animate cycling research in promising new directions. Fundamentally, it argues that it is necessary to situate cycling research and proposes worlding cycling research as a strategy to move away from Eurocentric visions of cycling cities. In doing so, it proposes avenues for further enquiry that take seriously the complex political challenges faced by cities of the global South, as well as the particular desires, aspirations and innovations of their inhabitants.     

Applying the new appraisal approach to transport policy at the local level in the UK

In 1998 the UK government introduced a new, integrated transport policy signalling a move away from the principles of ‘predict and provide’ towards those of ‘new realism’. As part of this policy shift, transport strategies are now to be assessed under the New Approach to Appraisal (NATA) which is designed to promote sustainability and provide a sterner test for new road proposals. Despite this, it is already evident that the construction of new roads has remained a cornerstone of the government’s new transport strategy––albeit alongside considerable investment in public transport––which has been described as pragmatic multimodalism. This paper examines how the new appraisal approach has been applied at the local level in the formulation of the first Local Transport Strategy (LTS) for Aberdeen in north east Scotland and questions the effectiveness of NATA (and its Scottish equivalent, the New Appraisal Methodology, or NAM), as currently formulated, at promoting the delivery of genuinely integrated and sustainable local transport strategies. The analysis of Aberdeen’s LTS is used to inform a discussion about the possible implications for future local transport policies across the UK.     

Divided we stand: institutional collaboration in tourism planning and development in the Central Region of Ghana

This research is an exploratory study that examines collaboration at the institutional level in the tourism sector of the Central Region, Ghana. The research begins with a review of the key issues related to collaboration in tourism planning and development followed by an extensive exploration of three main issues related to institutional collaboration in tourism in the Central Region. The three main issues are the vision of tourism development shared among stakeholders, collaboration and coordination within the public sector and between the public and private sectors and the factors that constrain and facilitate collaboration and coordination. Using extensive interviews with key stakeholders and reviewing policy documents, the research indicates low levels of collaboration between tourism institutions both within the public sector and across the public–private sectors. This is notwithstanding a shared awareness of the benefits of collaboration among all actors. The research thus contributes interesting insights into the politics of collaboration in tourism destinations. Given tourism's contribution to the Ghanaian economy, it is imperative that efforts are made towards improving the levels of collaboration and coordination between tourism agencies and institutions.     

Using principles of justice to assess the modal equity of regional transportation plans

While equity has been an important consideration for transportation planning agencies in the U.S. following the passage of Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI specifically) and the subsequent Department of Transportation directives, there is little guidance on how to assess the distribution of benefits generated by transport investment programs. As a result, the distribution of these benefits has received relatively little attention in transportation planning, compared to transport-related burdens. Drawing on philosophies of social justice, we present an equity assessment of the distribution of accessibility in order to define the rate of “access poverty” among the population. We then apply this analysis to regional transportation plan scenarios from the San Francisco Bay Area, focusing on measures of differences between public transit and automobile access. The analysis shows that virtually all neighborhoods suffer from substantial gaps between car and public transport-based accessibility, but that the two proposed transportation investment programs reduce access poverty compared to the “no project” scenario. We also investigate how access and access poverty rates vary by demographic groups and map low-income communities within access impoverished areas, which could be the subject of further focused investments.     

Walking,cycling, and public transport for commuting and non-commuting travels across 5 European urban regions: Modal choice correlates and motivations

The objective of this study was to explore individual and contextual-level characteristics associated with active (walking and cycling) and public transport as main travel modes for both non-commuting and commuting purposes, in residents of five European urban regions. We also described participant-reported motivations for modal choice for each journey purpose. The study used multilevel models to investigate cross-sectional associations of individual (i.e. age, gender, educational level) and contextual (defined by a combination of residential neighbourhood characteristics in typologies) characteristics with the choice of active and public transport as outcome. Based on an online survey of 6037 residents of Ghent and suburbs (Belgium), Paris and inner suburbs (France), Budapest and suburbs (Hungary), the Randstad (including the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht in the Netherlands) and Greater London (United Kingdom), we observed associations with both individual and contextual characteristics.Results of the multilevel modelling show that the probability of using active or public transport as main mode varies depending on both individual and contextual characteristics. At individual level, relations with gender, age, education, weight status and having at least one child varied according to main transport mode and/or purpose. For example, overweight participants reported lower level of cycling for commuting and non-commuting travels than normal-weight participants. In the context of non-commuting travels, participants with one or more child reported less public transport use and more walking (vs participants without children). Among contextual-level variables, urban characteristics of the residential neighbourhood defined by four clusters (according to food environment, recreational facilities and active mobility opportunities) were associated with public transport and walking but not with cycling. For active transport the most important reasons were “I like to travel (on foot or by bike)” and “I want to be physically active” for both travel purposes. “Public transport facilities nearby” was indicated as the most important reason for public transport (for both trip purposes) – the second was “Journey time”.Our findings highlight the importance of exploring a combination of multiple correlates at individual and contextual level according to journey purposes and suggest that the role of health-related individual characteristics such as weight status need further exploration.     

Policy transfer and learning in the field of transport: A review of concepts and evidence

This paper presents a state-of-art review of why and how policies and policy lessons in the transport planning arena are transferred between cities. It begins by drawing on literature from the fields of political science, public administration, organisational learning and management to outline a conceptual framework for policy transfer and learning. This framework is then used to structure a review of policy transfer literature in the fields of transport and planning policy. Although there is only a limited amount of literature on policy transfer in this field, the findings suggest that transport has much in common with other areas of public policy in terms of the main aspects and influences on policy transfer. As well as being part of a process for introducing new ideas into countries or cities, policy transfer in the transport sector (as in other areas of public policy) can also be a highly politicised process that seeks to justify preferred solutions. Little is known about the relative importance of different parts of the transfer process or the extent to which learning about policies in other areas can influence the effectiveness of policy design in the transport arena and/or policy outcomes. The paper concludes with some research and methodological recommendations that may help to answer these questions. It is suggested that policy transfer concepts can be important to both practitioners and researchers in the transport arena, particularly given the pressures to seek solutions to accelerate progress to a more sustainable future.