Promoting Intermodal Connectivity at California’s High Speed Rail Stations

High-speed rail (HSR) has emerged as one of the most revolutionary and transformative transportation technologies, having a profound impact on urban-regional accessibility and inter-city travel across Europe, Japan, and more recently China and other Asian countries. One of HSR’s biggest advantages over air travel is that it offers passengers a one-seat ride into the center of major cities, eliminating time-consuming airport transfers and wait times, and providing ample opportunities for intermodal transfers at these locales. Thus, HSR passengers are typically able to arrive at stations that are only a short walk away from central business districts and major tourist attractions, without experiencing any of the stress that car drivers often experience in negotiating such highly congested environments. Such an approach requires a high level of coordination and planning of the infrastructural and spatial aspects of the HSR service, and a high degree of intermodal connectivity. But what key elements can help the US high-speed rail system blend successfully with other existing rail and transit services? That question is critically important now that high-speed rail is under construction in California. The study seeks to understand the requirements for high levels of connectivity and spatial and operational integration of HSR stations and offer recommendations for seamless, and convenient integrated service in California intercity rail/HSR stations. The study draws data from a review of the literature on the connectivity, intermodality, and spatial and operational integration of transit systems; a survey of 26 high-speed rail experts from six different European countries; and an in-depth look of the German and Spanish HSR systems and some of their stations, which are deemed as exemplary models of station connectivity. The study offers recommendations on how to enhance both the spatial and the operational connectivity of high-speed rail systems giving emphasis on four spatial zones: the station, the station neighborhood, the municipality at large, and the region

Understanding the socioeconomic adoption scenarios for autonomous vehicles: A literature review

There is great and growing interest in autonomous vehicles (AVs), both in relation to rapid technological developments and the trialling of these developments, and the potential for their far reaching impacts on transport systems and society. The present report examines scenarios and policy and practice challenges for the adoption of AVs. Whilst it has broad relevance for societies, in the industrialised democracies at least, there is a particular focus on the UK context

Transport sector decarbonisation - a social sciences and humanities annotated bibliography

The challenge: * By 2014, transport had overtaken power companies as the sector with the highest carbon emissions across the European Union (EU). * From 1990 to 2014, EU road transport emissions rose by 17% and aviation emissions by 82%. Road transport accounted for 70% of EU transport emissions in 2014. Aim: * European energy policy has so far mainly relied on research from Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Energy-related Social Sciences and Humanities (energy-SSH) have been significantly underrepresented. This bibliography provides a broad overview of SSH perspectives on transport decarbonisation. It is not intended to be comprehensive, but rather aimed at presenting initial insights into the variety of questions posed, areas explored, and methods used by SSH scholars and demonstrating their relevance for EU energy policy. Coverage: * This bibliography presents publications from History, Human Geography, Sociology, Urban Planning, Political Science, Psychology, Anthropology, Theology, Economics, Philosophy and Ethics, Criminology, as well as intersectional disciplines such as Transport, Tourism, and Gender studies. * In order to better represent SSH debates, some transport publications which were of wider relevance to decarbonisation (but did not solely focus on it) were included. Key findings: * Much research concerns technological fixes and individual consumer choices. Consumer research tends to focus on attitudes towards technologies or policies, what determines transport mode preference, or what might prompt mode shift. There is less research on institutional and systemic issues, as well as the role of corporations. * Since the 1990s, the so-called ‘Mobilities turn’ has become dominant, associated with Miriam Sheller, John Urry, Tim Cresswell and Marc Augé. This paradigm emphasises the role of travel, globalisation and movement for our contemporary world. * A large volume of research was found on the car (including electric cars), cycling, commuting, and short distance urban travel. * Underrepresented topics include rural mobility, long distance travel, and shipping and freight. Walking has received far less decarbonisation focused enquiry than cycling. * Whilst not all EU research could be represented, intra-EU differences were noted: e.g. the greater importance of two wheelers in Latvia; how more children to walk to school in Eastern European countries; the renaissance of the tram in France; and the large proportion of urban Finns frequently driving to their rural second home. * Across the span of SSH, researchers frame the problem of transport decarbonisation differently (both from each other, and from more technical disciplines). These framings often point towards different solutions. For instance, they ask: what is the effect of technological, demographic and economic trends on transport emissions?; why do policymakers/scholars focus on certain transport solutions over others?; how do transport modes ‘compete’?; how does the meaning of transport change over time?; and why do we travel

Poor choices: the limits of competitive markets in the provision of essential services to low-income consumers

A major study of the problems faced by the poor in the market for seven essential services in the UK - energy, food, housing, water, telecoms, transport, and financial services. Together these represent 60% of spending by the poorest 30% of households

A sustainable car sharing concept for greater Lisbon

Dissertação de Mestrado em Design, com a especialização em Produto apresentada na Faculdade de Arquitetura da Universidade de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre.Mobilidade individual – não só é uma manifestação da necessidade humana, como também é um pré-requisito para a capacidade funcional e económica da sociedade atual. A mobilidade espacial, e posteriormente, a escolha de um meio de transporte, é de importância fundamental no que se diz a este respeito. O transporte de passageiros nas cidades europeias, como Lisboa, é atualmente ainda caracterizada pela predominância de automóveis, por motivos de disponibilidade constante e alta flexibilidade. Deste modo, estreitamente relacionados estão os inúmeros impactos ecológicos, econômicos e sociais, como poluição sonora, uso da terra, emissão de poluentes atmosféricos e, não menos importante, as emissões de gases de efeito estufa nocivos. Para neutralizar essas consequências negativas do aumento de tráfego, conceitos de mobilidade sustentável, estreitamente ligados ao desenvolvimento sustentável, precisam mudar mais ainda para o foco de interesse público. Carros de autosserviço, ou car sharing, podem oferecer uma abordagem altamente promissora, e ainda assim preservar a mobilidade individual. Para retratar uma contribuição positiva para um ambiente cada vez mais sustentável e inovador em Lisboa, um conceito de car sharing sustentável foi criado no âmbito da dissertação de mestrado. Um sistema de produto/serviço foi criado de acordo com um processo de desenvolvimento de produto ecológico holístico, com o objetivo de reduzir a poluição atmosférica, barulho e tráfego, causados pelo transporte na cidade. Para resolver a questão se um conceito de car sharing pode ser uma solução sustentável para o aumento de problemas do tráfego na Grande Lisboa, uma metodologia qualitativa mista foi usada. Com base em uma análise da literatura atual e pesquisas por entrevistas, a contextualização teórica foi discutida para uma compreensão mais profunda sobre a importância de um conceito sustentável de car sharing. Análise de estudo de caso de sistemas de produtos/serviços existentes também foi constituído como uma fonte de informação complementar. Além disso, baseado no conceito desenvolvido, uma metodologia qualitativa interventiva, a investigação ativa, contribui para a resolução da pergunta de pesquisa.ABSTRACT: Individual mobility – not only expression of human need, but also a prerequisite for the functional and economic capability of today’s society. The spatial mobility and, subsequently, the choice of a transport mode is of central significance in this respect. The passenger transport in European cities, such as Lisbon, is nowadays still characterized by a predominance of automobiles, for reasons of constant availability and high flexibility. Closely connected thereby are numerous negative ecological, economic and social side effects, such as noise pollution, land use, traffic accidents, air pollutant emissions and not least the emissions of harmful greenhouse gases. To counteract these negative consequences of increasing traffic, sustainable mobility concepts, closely linked to sustainable development, have to shift more and more into the focus of public interest. The property-less car use, the so-called car sharing could offer a highly promising approach while preserving the individual mobility. To depict a positive contribution for an increasingly sustainable and innovative environment in Lisbon, a sustainable car sharing concept has been designed within the scope of this master dissertation. A product-service system was designed according to a holistic environmentally friendly product development process with the aim to reduce air pollution, noise and traffic caused by transportation in the city. To solve the question, whether a car sharing concept can be a sustainable solution for the increasing traffic problems in Greater Lisbon, a mixed qualitative methodology was used. On the basis of the evaluation of current literature and surveys by interviews, the theoretical contextualization has been discussed for a deeper understanding of the importance of a sustainable car sharing concept. Case study analysis of existing product-service systems also constituted as a complementary source of information. Based on the developed concept, a qualitative interventional methodology, the active research, furthermore contributed in replying to the research question.N/

Integration of transport systems in the UK: fact, fiction or fantasy?

The study of integrated transport systems is not new; indeed in the UK there is a Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT:2006) which was set up in 1998 by the Government to assist in developing its transport policy including pursuing a sustainable transport agenda. It is an independent body which takes a broad view of integrated transport policy and its interface with wider Government objectives for economic prosperity, environmental protection, health and social inclusion. Physical integration - the principle of ensuring transport modes operate in conjunction with one another, is just one vital element of the bigger transport picture. The Commission provides expert advice supported by independent research (CfIT: 2006). There are similar organisations in other countries with major developed transport networks notably in Europe, the USA, Australia and Asia, and these will be researched in the Literature Review. The UK has been struggling with its policy of a sustainable transport agenda. Government‟s intent to promote sustainable transport was welcome, desirable policy outcomes have to date been minimal. As such, the time has come to ask whether the heralded ‟New Deal for Transport‟ is a chimera. (Docherty and Shaw: 2003). It is acknowledged that bringing about major change in the sector is a long term business. A contributory problem is the gap between political rhetoric and the realities of the policy progress notwithstanding the large government majority in Parliament (Docherty and Shaw:2003)

Prospects for Electric Mobility: Systemic, Economic and Environmental Issues

The transport sector, which is currently almost completely based on fossil fuels, is one of the major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Heading towards a more sustainable development of mobility could be possible with more energy efficient automotive technologies such as battery electric vehicles. The number of electric vehicles has been increasing over the last decade, but there are still many challenges that have to be solved in the future. This Special Issue “Prospects for Electric Mobility: Systemic, Economic and Environmental Issues” contributes to the better understanding of the current situation as well as the future prospects and impediments for electro mobility. The published papers range from historical development of electricity use in different transport modes and the recent challenges up to future perspectives