The role of road safety in a sustainable urban mobility: An econometric assessment of the Spanish NUTS-3 case

There has been a structural change in mobility in major Spanish cities in recent decades, with a switch to the pattern followed in other countries in the area. A shift has taken place from a traditional Mediterranean model to a North American city stereotype, with uncontrolled motorization and major implications for public health. This article specifically analyzes negative road safety-related externalities that result from this process, given that the trend seems to show a steady decline in road safety accidents on urban roads in Spain, with major differences among NUTS-3 provinces. The objective is to evaluate the factors that empirically explain these differences for the 2003–2013 period using a panel data analysis. Results show that a key role is played by urban development variables, such as population density and improvements in health services, with advances linked to more accessible and sustainable urban transportation, such as the Smart City concept. Not only does this article close a gap in the literature, but the findings can also serve as a practical guide for the development and implementation of urban mobility and road safety plans, and reveals the special needs of the most vulnerable groups.     

The global distribution of the burden of road traffic injuries: Evolution and intra-distribution mobility

This research examines the evolution of the distribution across 187 countries of mortalities per 100,000, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), years of life lost (YLL) and years lived with disabilities (YLD) due to road traffic injuries between 1990 and 2010 using the distribution dynamics approach. Fatal and non-fatal burdens of road traffic injuries display contrasting external shape dynamics and intra-distribution mobility. The results show that while the shape of the global distribution of YLD due to road traffic injuries (RTIs) has become tighter over time, the cross-country distributions of mortalities, DALYs, and YLL from road crashes have become more dispersed. The implication of the results is that international efforts should make a priority of targeting the prevention of a greater spreading out of the distribution of the burden of fatal RTIs. The exchange of relative positions within the distributions is substantial, but there is no linear relationship between a country's change in its relative position for the burden of fatal and non-fatal RTI distributions. Thus, further research is needed to determine whether policy interventions dealing with the burden of fatal RTIs also alleviate the burden of non-fatal RTIs and vice versa.     

Local authority and academic attitudes to urban road pricing: a UK perspective

Urban road pricing as an instrument of traffic management has generated a great deal of interest in the UK in recent years. Whilst this is the case there is still no urban road pricing scheme in operation in the UK. The reason for this is primarily one of ‘acceptability.’ This paper, through the use of a national survey, examines the attitudes of key stakeholder groups with respect to urban road pricing. How serious is traffic congestion and traffic related pollution perceived to be by Local Authority Councillors, Officials and the Academic community in the UK? How is urban road pricing viewed by this sub-group of the population in terms of its effectiveness and public acceptance when compared to other policy options? and how could the saleability of urban road pricing be improved? This raises issues in terms of how the revenue raised from urban road pricing should be utilised, the use of urban road pricing as part of a package of measures, the concerns expressed by the stakeholders with respect to urban road pricing, such as the invasion of road users’ privacy, and the type of technology which should be considered. Overall, the paper aims to further the debate among policy makers.     

Dually sustainable urban mobility option: Shared-taxi operations with electric vehicles

Electric vehicles (EVs) are energy efficient and often presented as a zero-emission transport mode to achieve long-term decarbonization visions in the transport sector. The implementation of a sustainable transportation environment through EV utilization, however, requires the addressing of certain cost and environmental concerns such as limited driving range and battery-charging issues before its full potential can be realized. Nevertheless, a specific type of use of EVs, namely in taxi services, may elicit positive public opinion, as it promises a commitment toward sustainability in urban life. In light of this, this study proposes an integrated approach that combines EV operation with a conceptual design for shared-ride taxi services. As some productivity loss may be naturally expected due to the time spent in charging, it is important to look at whether such performance loss from the passenger and system standpoints can be offset with ingenuity in operational design. In this study, an EV taxi charge-replenishing scheme that can be coupled with a real-time taxi-dispatch algorithm is designed. The proposed EV charging schemes for taxi services are studied via simulations and the effects of the limited driving range and battery-charging details are examined from a system performance viewpoint. The simulation study also reveals illustrative results on the impact of the EV taxi fleet's operation on the charging system. Next, a real-time shared-taxi operation scheme that allows ride sharing with other passengers is proposed to maximize the operational efficiency. The simulation results suggest that the shared-taxi concept can be a viable option to improve on the limitations caused by EV operation. In addition, the importance of projected charging demands and queue delays at different charging locations are also addressed. Some limitations and a future research agenda are also discussed.     

Composite indicators of sustainable urban mobility: Estimating the rankings frequency distribution combining multiple methodologies

The contribution of this paper consists in applying several techniques to estimate a composite indicator of sustainable urban mobility for 116 Italian provincial towns, as proposed by Luzzati and Gucciardi (2015). The aim is to provide the decision-maker with a richer set of information on sustainable mobility, making explicit the impact of the techniques used on the values obtained. A set of 16 indicators with a nested structure has been selected and 33 combinations of normalization, weighting, and aggregation techniques are applied. The results are presented by city, by city groupings (size and location), and focusing on the ten largest Italian cities. It is found that small cities perform better in terms of sustainable mobility than medium or large cities. As expected, in some cases (e.g., Milan) the intervals of the results obtained are quite large, indicating that the techniques used to normalize, weight, and aggregate the indicators highly affect the performance indexes. In other cases (e.g., Rome) the results are stable across methodologies.     

Attitudes,norms and difficulties underlying road sharing intentions as drivers and cyclists: Evidence from the Czech Republic

Cycling-inclusive urban planning is attracting attention worldwide because of the environmental, health, economic, and transport benefits inherent to cycling from the individual and the societal perspectives. The Czech Republic is one of the emerging cycling countries that are trying to promote and support cycling, but cycling mode shares are low because of the poor quality of the scarce infrastructure and the psychological barrier of the perceived lack of safety when cycling in mixed traffic. This study takes a multimodal approach based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and focuses on the factors underlying the willingness to share the road from the perspective of cyclists and drivers: positive attitudes toward cycling, positive attitudes toward cyclists’ behavior, social norms toward cycling and anxiety to share the road. A web-based questionnaire was tailor-designed and administered in the Czech Republic via social networks, web forums, and the Civinet network, and a hybrid bivariate-ordered model tested the behavioral framework. Results show that the willingness to share the road as a cyclist or as a driver relates positively to positive attitudes towards cycling and cyclists’ behavior, and negatively to the anxiety of sharing the road. Moreover, mediator effects are observed and a clear relation emerges between the experience on the road as both a cyclist and a driver on the willingness to share the road as a cyclist. Lastly, results show that the factors underlying road sharing intentions are related significantly to gender, travel habits, and perceived personal and infrastructure-related barriers to cycling.     

A network-based analysis of the impact of structural damage on urban accessibility following a disaster: the case of the seismically damaged Port Au Prince and Carrefour urban road networks

The magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010 led to an unprecedented effort in collecting and providing geographical information in support of humanitarian aid. Although most of the compiled datasets and generated maps were able to provide specific and detailed information regarding the location of damaged buildings and road interruptions, none or little information was available to describe the accessibility—or otherwise—of the urban space. Here we try to offer an alternative method to define the urban accessibility landscape in the aftermath of earthquake damage, by combining simple graph theory concepts and GIS-based spatial analysis to assess how the urban space accessibility decreases when the road network is damaged.     

Impacts of urban sprawl and commuting: a modelling study for Italy

This paper aims to analyse empirically the intricate relationship between urban sprawl and commuting, a process that started a few decades ago in Italy. Using a mobility impact index based on commuting data for 1981 and 1991, we quantify the impact of commuting for seven major Italian urban areas, comprising in total 739 municipalities (communes). Our modelling experiment highlights the effect of sprawl at the commune level, while taking into account the variability of communes across geographical location and level of polycentrism. Causal relationships between spatial developments and explanatory factors related to changes in urban density are analysed using multivariate cross-section regression analysis and Causal Path Analysis (CPA). Our empirical results confirm the expectation that sprawl is accompanied by intensive travel movements and associated environmental effects.     

Towards a holistic framework for road safety in Australia

Current road safety programs and thinking in Australia are constructed within a paradigm that tends to accept existing cultural arrangements. Such programs therefore, favour symptomatic solutions and technical and/or physical solutions as a way forward. Fundamental redesign of cultural arrangements is necessary in order to challenge the “culture of speed”. Our research is developing a holistic, social ecological model for reconnecting road safety with communities that value quality of life and slower ways of being. Improving road safety through reduction in the volume and speed of motorised traffic is integrally related to enhancing health and fitness, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and improving neighbourhood planning and community cohesion. In this regard, community-based travel behaviour change initiatives are deserving of much greater attention in the road safety area. As well as these changes at the personal and community scale, policy changes to urban and transport planning that address the broader issues of sustainability in an era of climate change and peak oil can also be linked to improvements in road safety.     

Research agenda for low-carbon mobility: Issues for New World cities

ABSTRACT

Low-carbon mobility (LCM) features strongly in debates about the sustainability of cities and their resilience in the face of demographic, economic, and climate change. Transport is a major source of carbon emissions and there are indications that these continue to increase, despite the considerable recent advances in vehicle, engine, and fuel technologies. Reducing carbon emissions from transport may become more difficult, not easier. A particular issue relates to the New World cities, typified by those of North America and Australasia, which largely developed from the latter half of the nineteenth century onward and whose transportation systems were largely based around private vehicle ownership and usage. These cities are typically composed of low-density, dispersed suburbs, which are highly car dependent and resource and carbon emission intensive. This article develops a research agenda directed at determining and testing policy and planning measures relevant to the quest for low carbon mobility in New World cities. It suggests a rich agenda for essential research on LCM. Much of this agenda falls within the realm of the integration of transport and land use, with attention to urban design details to enhance the perceptions of and opportunities to use low carbon transport alternatives. Research topics identified for LCM research include (1) urban design and land use–transport integration (LUTI), (2) low carbon mobility policies directed at achieving widespread behavior change, (3) opportunities for new technology and its application, including requirements for systems and infrastructure, and (4) analysis and tools for informed decision making, including modeling, measurement, visualization, and especially assessment.     

The impacts of road tolling: A review of Norwegian experience

Road tolling has been used extensively for funding of national roads in Norway since 1982. The article, which is primarily based on review of literature, identifies the impacts of tolling in four key policy areas: economic efficiency, regional development, regional redistribution and democracy. Toll financing may change the ranking of projects but does hardly reduce construction costs. The recurrent budget has been quite stable and toll revenues therefore represent net additional resources for road investment. Regionally, tolling has led to a shift of road investments to more central areas. Tolling has increased local political influence compared to national influence.     

The value of time and transport policies in a parallel road network

One of the key questions in the evaluation of transport policies and investment decisions is the valuation of the time savings or losses arising from such decisions. This paper uses the stated preference method to determine the value of time in a given traffic context characterised by a road parallel network. The values obtained are higher than usual in Spanish project evaluation which, among other things, points out the need for specific studies of all transport projects whenever possible. Finally, two cases are described which illustrate the relevance of the value of time. The first evaluates time savings related to the pricing policies of a motorway competing with a trunk road. The second establishes the minimum amount of traffic that justifies the replacement of a single carriageway by a dual carriageway.     

TRIBUTE: Trip-based urban transportation emissions model for municipalities

This research aims at developing modeling and scenario-comparison tools to explore the impacts of various transportation and land use planning policies on changing travel behavior and eventually greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A Trip-Based Urban Transportation Emissions (TRIBUTE) model is developed. Data required for TRIBUTE comes from household travel surveys and emissions inventories, which is a major advantage in cases where a detailed transportation network model is unavailable. TRIBUTE is composed of two main parts: a mode choice model and an emissions forecasting model. The mode choice model is responsible for estimating modal shares of alternative modes of travel in response to changes in personal, modal, and land use attributes. The emissions forecasting model translates the modal shares into vehicle kilometers traveled, and subsequently GHG emissions. TRIBUTE is a macroscopic model intended to assist municipalities evaluate alternative transportation and land use policy scenarios and eventually select the one(s) that help them meet their future GHG emission targets. This paper reports on the conceptual framework of the developed model and presents a case study.     

The impact of user heterogeneity on road franchising

A model is presented for analyzing Pareto-efficient build-operate-transfer toll road contracts. The formulation simultaneously allows maximizing social welfare and private profit when road users vary in their value-of-time (VOT). The failure rate and mean residual functions of the VOT distribution are used to characterize Pareto-efficient solutions. Service quality, measured in terms of the volume-to-capacity ratio, is shown to be better than, identical to, or lower than the socially optimal level depending on the curvature of the mean residual VOT function. The outcomes of various regulatory regimes are examined as well.     

Policies to attract drivers out of their cars for short trips

This paper examines the policies and personal actions that might attract motorists out of their cars onto the alternatives for short trips. The analysis is based on the results of surveys carried out on a project for the UK Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. The various events that car drivers say could attract them to an alternative are examined. The actions associated with each of the alternatives to the car are identified. According to the respondents, the most significant action to reduce the number of car trips would be to improve public transport. The potential impact of the implementation of all the actions identified on the number of short car trips nationally is calculated.     

Are individual preferences always a legitimate basis for evaluating the costs and benefits of public policy?: The case of road traffic law enforcement

This paper discusses if it is appropriate to include the benefits that offenders get by violating the law in cost-benefit analyses of police enforcement, in the form of a loss of benefits from violations. The discussion is cast in the context of traffic law violations, a very common type of crime, which is usually not very strongly condemned from a moral point of view. Three options for cost-benefit analysis of traffic police enforcement are compared. The three options differ with respect to the treatment of (a) violator benefits from violations, and (b) outlays for traffic tickets given to violators. The implications of the choice of option are shown by means of four case illustrations, all referring to different types of traffic police enforcement in Norway. It is shown that every type of enforcement becomes less cost-effective when violator benefits are included in cost-benefit analyses. The legitimacy of including violator benefits as a benefit to society is discussed. It is concluded that, as far as traffic violations are concerned, benefits obtained by committing violations of the law cannot be treated as a legitimate societal benefit.     

Visions for a walking and cycling focussed urban transport system

Walking and cycling can make a considerable contribution to sustainable transport goals, building healthier and more sustainable communities and contributing to traffic and pollution reduction. There have been many national and local initiatives to promote walking and cycling, but without a long term vision and consistent strategy it is difficult to see how a significant change may be achieved. This paper presents three alternative visions for the role of walking and cycling in urban areas for the year 2030: each vision illustrates a ‘desirable’ walking- and cycling-oriented transport system against a different ‘exogenous social background’. These visions have been developed through a process of expert discussion and review and are intended to provide a stimulus for debate on the potential for and desirability of such alternative futures. Each is based on the UK and represents a substantial change to the current situation: in particular, each of the visions presents a view of a society where walking and cycling are considerably more important than is currently the case and where these modes cater for a much higher proportion of urban transport needs than at present. The visions show pictures of urban environments where dependence on motor vehicles has been reduced, in two of the visions to very low levels. The methodological approach for devising visions is informed by work on ‘utopian thinking’: a key concept underlying this approach is one of viewing the future in social constructivist terms (i.e. the future is what ‘we’, as a society, make it) rather than considering the future as something that can be ‘scientifically’ predicted by the extrapolation of current trends.     

Subjective assessments of personal mobility: What makes the difference between a little and a lot?

Using survey data collected from 1358 commuting workers in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1998, this paper empirically explores the determinants of individuals’ subjective assessments of their mobility (measured on a five-point ordinal scale, for 10 different categories of travel). Linear regression was used to identify the relative importance of reported mobility in explaining the variance of the dependent variables. A variety of personal factors were also found to significantly influence such assessments: personality traits, travel-related attitudes, lifestyle characteristics, and affinity for travel. The study provides insight into the way individuals mentally process the amount of travel they do, which will increase our understanding of travel behavior and its motivations.