Is marginal emission cost pricing enough to comply with the EU CO2 reduction targets?

From transport economic literature it is known that pricing (environmental) externalities can improve the efficiency of a transport system. However, in real-world politics, policy setting often follows so-called `backcasting' approaches where predefined goals are set, and policy measures are implemented to reach those goals. This study presents, for a specific case study, an parametric approach to identify the gap between toll levels derived from environmental damage cost internalization and toll levels from the goal to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector until 2020 by 20% (avoidance cost approach). For this purpose, the damage costs internalization is applied to a real-world scenario of Munich metropolitan area. The results indicate that the desired reduction in CO2 emissions is not reached. This parametric internalization approach with damage cost estimates from the literature yields toll levels that are by a factor of 5 too low in order to reach the predefined goal. When aiming at overall emission cost reductions by 20%, the damage cost estimates are even by a factor of 10 too low. Furthermore, it is shown that the major contribution to the overall emission reduction stems from behavioral changes of (reverse) commuters rather than from urban travelers; under some circumstances, the latter even increase their CO2 emission levels. Finally, the study indicates that there might be conicting trends for different types of pollutants, i.e. pricing emissions does not necessarily result in a reduction of all pollutant types

Assessing spatiotemporal bikeability using multi-source geospatial big data:A case study of Xiamen, China

This study focuses on the development of a new framework for evaluating bikeability in urban environments with the aim of enhancing sustainable urban transportation planning. To close the research gap that previous studies have disregarded the dynamic environmental factors and trajectory data, we propose a framework that comprises four sub-indices: safety, comfort, accessibility, and vitality. Utilizing open-source data, advanced deep neural networks, and GIS spatial analysis, the framework eliminates subjective evaluations and is more efficient and comprehensive than prior methods. The experimental results on Xiamen, China, demonstrate the effectiveness of the framework in identifying areas for improvement and enhancing cycling mobility. The proposed framework provides a structured approach for evaluating bikeability in different geographical contexts, making reproducing bikeability indices easier and more comprehensive to policymakers, transportation planners, and environmental decision-makers.</p

Quiet paths for people : developing routing analysis and Web GIS application

Altistuminen saasteille saattaa vähentää merkittävästi aktiivisten liikkumismuotojen, kuten kävelyn ja pyöräilyn terveyshyötyjä. Yksi liikenteestä johtuvista saasteista on melu, joka voi aiheuttaa terveyshaittoja, kuten kohonnutta verenpainetta ja stressiä. Aikaisemmissa tutkimuksissa ja selvityksissä melulle altistumista on arvioutu yleensä kotipaikan suhteen ja liikkumisen aikana tapahtuva altistus on jäänyt vähemmälle huomiolle. Koska liikkumisen aikainen (dynaaminen) melualtistus saattaa muodostaa merkittävän oan kaupunkilaisten päivittäisestä kokonaismelualtistuksesta, tarvitaan kehittyneempiä menetelmiä dynaamisen melualtistuksen arvioimiseen ja vähentämiseen. Tässä tutkielmassa kehitin kävelyn reititysmenetelmän ja sovelluksen, jolla voi 1) etsiä lyhimmän reitin, 2) mallintaa kävelyn aikaisen melualtistuksen ja 3) löytää vaihtoehtoisia, hiljaisempia reittejä. Sovellus hyödyntää OpenStreetMap-tieverkostoaineistoa ja mallinnettua aineistoa tieliikenteen tyypillisistä päiväajan melutasoista. Reitinetsintä perustuu kehittämääni melukustannusfunktioon ja alhaisimman kustannuksen reititysanalyysiin. Melukustannukset lasketaan sovelluksessa lukuisilla eri meluherkkyyskertoimilla, minkä ansiosta sovellus löytää useita vaihtoehtoisia (hiljaisempia) reittejä. Jotta eri reittien meluisuutta (melualtistuksia) voidaan vertailla, kehitin sarjan melualtistusindeksejä. Tapaustutkimuksessa tutkin Helsingistä tehtävien työmatkojen aikaisia melualtistuksia; selvitin rekistereihin perustuvien työmatkojen mukaiset joukkoliikennereitit ja tutkin reittien kävelyosuuksien aikaisia melualtistuksia reitittämällä kävelyreitit uudestaan kehittämälläni reitityssovelluksella. Lisäksi tutkin hiljaisempien reittivaihtoehtojen mahdollistamia vähennyksiä melualtistuksissa tapaustutkimuksessa mallinnetuilla kävelyreiteillä. Tapaustutkimuksen tulokset indikoivat, että tyypilliset dynaamiset melualtistukset vaihtelevat huomattavasti eri asuinpaikkojen välillä. Toisaalta merkittävä osa melulle altistumisesta on mahdollista välttää hiljaisemmilla reittivaihtoehdoilla; tilanteesta riippuen, hiljaisemmat reitit tarjoavat keskimäärin 12–57 % vähennyksen altistuksessa yli 65 dB melutasoille ja 1.6–9.6 dB keskimääräisen vähennyksen reittien keskimääräisessä melutasossa. Altistuksen mahdolliseen vähennykseen näyttäisivät vaikuttavan ainakin 1) melualtistuksen suuruus lyhimmällä (ts. verrokki) reitillä, 2) lyhimmän reitin pituus, eli etäisyys lähtö- ja kohdepisteen välillä reititysgraafissa ja 3) hiljaisemman reitin pituus lyhimpään reittiin verrattuna. Julkaisin hiljaisten kävelyreittien reitityssovelluksen avoimena web-rajapintapalveluna (API - Application Programming Interface) ja kehitin hiljaisten kävelyreittien reittioppaan mobiilioptimoituna web-karttasovelluksena. Kaikki tutkielmassa kehitetyt menetelmät ja lähdekoodit ovat avoimesti saatavilla GitHub-palvelussa. Yksilöiden ja kaupunkisuunnittelijoiden tietoutta dynaamisesta altistuksesta melulle (ja muille saasteille) tulisi lisätä kehittämällä altistusten arviointiin ja vähentämiseen kehittyneempiä analyyseja ja sovelluksia. Tässä tutkielmassa kehitetty web-karttasovellus havainnollistaa hiljaisten reittien reititysmenetelmän toimivuutta tosielämän tilanteissa ja voi näin ollen auttaa jalankulkijoita löytämään hiljaisempia, ja siten terveellisempiä, reittivaihtoehtoja. Kun ympäristöllisiin altistuksiin perustuvaa reitinetsintää kehitetään pidemmälle, tulisi pyrkiä huomioimaan useampia erillisiä altistuksia samanaikaisesti ja siten reitittämään yleisesti ottaen terveellisempiä reittejä.It is likely that journey-time exposure to pollutants limit the positive health effects of active transport modes (e.g. walking and cycling). One of the pollutants caused by vehicular traffic is traffic noise, which is likely to cause various negative health effects such as increased stress levels and blood pressure. In prior studies, individuals’ exposure to community noise has usually been assessed only with respect to home location, as required by national and international policies. However, these static exposure assessments most likely ignore a substantial share of individuals’ total daily noise exposure that occurs while they are on the move. Hence, new methods are needed for both assessing and reducing journey-time exposure to traffic noise as well as to other pollutants. In this study, I developed a multifunctional routing application for 1) finding shortest paths, 2) assessing dynamic exposure to noise on the paths and 3) finding alternative, quieter paths for walking. The application uses street network data from OpenStreetMap and modeled traffic noise data of typical daytime traffic noise levels. The underlying least cost path (LCP) analysis employs a custom-designed environmental impedance function for noise and a set of (various) noise sensitivity coefficients. I defined a set of indices for quantifying and comparing dynamic (i.e. journey-time) exposure to high noise levels. I applied the developed routing application in a case study of pedestrians’ dynamic exposure to noise on commuting related walks in Helsinki. The walks were projected by carrying out an extensive public transport itinerary planning on census based commuting flow data. In addition, I assessed achievable reductions in exposure to traffic noise by taking quieter paths with statistical means by a subset of 18446 commuting related walks (OD pairs). The results show significant spatial variation in average dynamic noise exposure between neighborhoods but also significant achievable reductions in noise exposure by quieter paths; depending on the situation, quieter paths provide 12–57 % mean reduction in exposure to noise levels higher than 65 dB and 1.6–9.6 dB mean reduction in mean dB (compared to the shortest paths). At least three factors seem to affect the achievable reduction in noise exposure on alternative paths: 1) exposure to noise on the shortest path, 2) length of the shortest path and 3) length of the quiet path compared to the shortest path. I have published the quiet path routing application as a web-based quiet path routing API (application programming interface) and developed an accompanying quiet path route planner as a mobile-friendly web map application. The online quiet path route planner demonstrates the applicability of the quiet path routing method in real-life situations and can thus help pedestrians to choose quieter paths. Since the quiet path routing API is open, anyone can query short and quiet paths equipped with attributes on journey-time exposure to noise. All methods and source codes developed in the study are openly available via GitHub. Individuals’ and urban planners’ awareness of dynamic exposure to noise and other pollutants should be further increased with advanced exposure assessments and routing applications. Web-based exposure-aware route planner applications have the potential to help individuals to choose alternative, healthier paths. When developing exposure-based routing analysis further, attempts should be made to enable simultaneously considering multiple environmental exposures in order to find overall healthier paths

Multi-scale Pedestrian Navigation and Movement in Urban Areas

Sustainable transport planning highlights the importance of walking to low-carbon and healthy urban transport systems. Studies have identified multiple ways in which vehicle traffic can negatively impact pedestrians and inhibit walking intentions. However, pedestrian-vehicle interactions are underrepresented in models of pedestrian mobility. This omission limits the ability of transport simulations to support pedestrian-centric street design. Pedestrian navigation decisions take place simultaneously at multiple spatial scales. Yet most models of pedestrian behaviour focus either on local physical interactions or optimisation of routes across a road network. This thesis presents a novel hierarchical pedestrian route choice framework that integrates dynamic, perceptual decisions at the street level with abstract, network based decisions at the neighbourhood level. The framework is based on Construal Level Theory which states that decision makers construe decisions based on their psychological distance from the object of the decision. The route choice framework is implemented in a spatial agent-based simulation in which pedestrian and vehicle agents complete trips in an urban environment. Global sensitivity analysis is used to explore the behaviour produced by the multi-scale pedestrian route choice model. Finally, simulation experiments are used to explore the impacts of restrictions to pedestrian movement. The results demonstrate the potential insights that can be gained by linking street scale movement and interactions with neighbourhood level mobility patterns

Supporting an integrated transportation infrastructure and public space design: A coupled simulation method for evaluating traffic pollution and microclimate

Traditional urban and transport infrastructure planning that emphasized motorized transport has fractured public space systems and worsened environmental quality, leading to a decrease in active travel. A novel multiscale simulation method for supporting an integrated transportation infrastructure and public space design is presented in this paper. This method couples a mesoscale agent-based traffic prediction model, traffic-related emission calculation, microclimate simulations, and human thermal comfort assessment. In addition, the effects of five urban design strategies on traffic pollution and pedestrian level microclimate are evaluated (i.e., a “two-fold” evaluation). A case study in Beijing, China, is presented utilizing the proposed urban modeling-design framework to support the assessment of a series of transport infrastructure and public space scenarios, including the Baseline scenario, a System-Internal Integration scenario, and two External Integration scenarios. The results indicate that the most effective way of achieving an environmentally- and pedestrian- friendly urban design is to concentrate on both the integration within the transport infrastructure and public space system and the mitigation of the system externalities (e.g., air pollution and heat exhaustion). It also demonstrates that the integrated blue-green approach is a promising way of improving local air quality, micro-climatic conditions, and human comfort

A combined marginal social cost approach for automobile emissions and congestion

Increasing emissions from road transport is a growing concern for planners and policy makers. Concurrently, congestion is another major issue which affects user behavior, escalates emissions and other externalities, and thus, reduces system welfare. Recent contributions in the literature investigated the interrelationship between congestion and emission levels, and find them to be positively correlated. However, most studies focus on pricing strategies to mitigate one isolated externality, and examine impacts on the other externality. This paper continues this line of research by investigating the effect of congestion pricing on emission levels, and the effect of emission pricing on congestion levels for a large-scale case study of Sioux Falls (South Dakota, US). Going beyond existing studies, the paper then proposes a joint optimization approach of internalizing both externalities simultaneously, and analyzes the effect of different available choice dimensions for users (route, mode, and departure time choice) on the results. The findings for separate pricing of the externalities are in line with the literature, and indicate a positive correlation between congestion and emissions. Furthermore, it is found that simultaneous pricing of congestion and emissions yields a higher increase in system welfare than separate pricing of only one externality. Mode choice turns out to be the determining factor of this welfare change, and therefore needs to be included in the transport model. Finally, the case study shows that simply combining the toll levels obtained from the separate pricing strategies will most likely result in tolls above the economic optimum, and thus, reduce overall welfare

Urban Navigation Handling Openstreetmap Data for an Easy to Drive Route

Atualmente, os cidadãos podem escolher as suas opções de viagem com base no tempo, distância, emissões, consumo, entre outros parâmetros. Não obstante, a literatura indica que os sistemas de planeamento de rotas atuais têm, maioritariamente, por base a distância e o tempo. Com efeito, verificou-se uma falta de sistemas de planeamento de rotas que se preocupem com as preferências dos utilizadores num ponto de vista mais qualitativo. Este projeto de investigação desenvolve um framework de planeamento de rotas com a integração de diferentes atributos da rede rodoviária como semáforos, passadeiras e paragens de autocarro, com o objetivo de providenciar aos utilizadores a opção de evitar estes mesmos atributos, oferecendo uma opção easy drive, nomeadamente em ambiente urbano. O estudo foi conduzido através de dados georreferenciados da cidade de Lisboa, Portugal. No entanto, é transferível para qualquer outra cidade. O algoritmo providencia alternativas para a rota mais curta, easy drive e rota balanceada, considerando apenas um modo de viagem: carro/mota. O modelo foi desenvolvido no PostgreSQL com a extensão PostGIS e PgRouting, e os resultados foram visualizados no software QGIS. O software permite customizar pesos para cada uma das restrições para a escolha das rotas e estes pesos são modificados com o objetivo de encontrar o caminho ótimo consoante as preferências de cada utilizador.Currently, citizens can choose their travel options based on time, distance, consumption, emission, among other parameters. Nevertheless, the literature indicates that current route planning systems are based on distance and time. In fact, there is a lack of route planning systems which are concerned with users' preferences from a more qualitative point of view. This research project develops a route planning framework with the integration of different road network features like traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, and bus stops, to provide users with the option to avoid these features, offering an easy drive option, namely in an urban environment. The study was conducted using georeferenced data from the city of Lisbon, Portugal. However, it is transferable to any other city. The algorithm provides alternatives for the shortest route, easy drive, and balanced route, considering only one travel mode: car/motorbike. The model was developed in PostgreSQL with the PostGIS extension and PgRouting, and the results were visualized in QGIS software. The software allows to custom weights for each of the constraints for route choices, and these weights are modified to find the optimal route according to the preferences of each user

Simulating the Integration of Urban Air Mobility into Existing Transportation Systems: A Survey

Urban air mobility (UAM) has the potential to revolutionize transportation in metropolitan areas, providing a new mode of transportation that could alleviate congestion and improve accessibility. However, the integration of UAM into existing transportation systems is a complex task that requires a thorough understanding of its impact on traffic flow and capacity. In this paper, we conduct a survey to investigate the current state of research on UAM in metropolitan-scale traffic using simulation techniques. We identify key challenges and opportunities for the integration of UAM into urban transportation systems, including impacts on existing traffic patterns and congestion; safety analysis and risk assessment; potential economic and environmental benefits; and the development of shared infrastructure and routes for UAM and ground-based transportation. We also discuss the potential benefits of UAM, such as reduced travel times and improved accessibility for underserved areas. Our survey provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of research on UAM in metropolitan-scale traffic using simulation and highlights key areas for future research and development

Living cities : reconnecting environmental health and urban planning

While public health and urban planning were closely linked in the past, the relation has turned into a lock-in of two procedurally interrelated, but in fact disconnected domains of knowledge and action. In most cases, health intersects with spatial planning processes only through obligatory evaluations or restrictive environmental legislation. This institutionalization of health criteria in most western countries has difficulty in dealing with the rapidly changing spatial conditions of our complex society, the growing awareness of environmental impacts and the increasing empowerment and engagement of citizens. This dissertation aims to move beyond this lock-in and explores new approaches to deal with environmental health concerns in planning practice. Building on complexity theory, an environmental justice framework is proposed to localize environmentally unhealthy situations, and a matrix of planning strategies is presented to address these situations. To verify whether these theoretical insights could help to solve urban environmental health conflicts, an empirical research methodology was developed consisting of interviews, spatial data analysis, documentary analysis and a residents' survey. This research framework was applied to the city of Ghent (Belgium) in close collaboration with the city administrations and a local citizen initiative. By combining quantitative with qualitative results, case-specific and general policy recommendations were formulated that can lead to a more central place for health in urban planning