Energy use in Urban Transport sector within the Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs) of three Italian Big Cities

Promising Renewable Energy solutions could be installed in cities, but they require specific morphological conditions as well as architectural integration. Transport sector is still neglected from a strong policy initiative. A first attempt along with a defined framework to attract economic resources as well as interested stakeholders is the Covenant of Mayors (CoM). Within this agreement, the Municipality has to design a plan, the so-called Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP). The plan must contain a clear outline of the strategy and relative actions to be taken by the local authority to reach its commitments in 2020, in terms of sustainability goals set by EU 20-20-20. The aim of this paper is to discuss and evaluate the differences of fuel usage and transport sector interaction in Italian urban scenarios, taking into account geographical and morphological constraints, and to compare the forecasts for 2020 and 2030scenarios, in accordance with European and National laws in force

Improving sustainable mobility in university campuses. The case study of Sapienza University

The pursue of sustainable mobility is one of the greatest environmental challenges nowadays. It requires a people mind shift, where the use of private vehicles give way to different modes of public transport like buses, bicycles, car sharing, electric cars, and walking lanes. This new call to make mobility sustainable has already been undertaken by policymakers and public managers in many urban contexts around the world, as well as, more recently, by the managers of university systems. The paper shows the work developed in 2018 for the Sapienza Sustainable University Mobility Plan (SUMP). The study stems from the need to understand and improve, in the sustainability direction, modes of travel for the students and staff of one of the oldest universities in the world, and one of the largest in Europe (112,142 students enrolled and 23,101 between academic staff and no academic staff), with its premises located in a complex and challenging urban context such as the city of Rome. The SUMP has been developed in two phases. The first one investigated travel patterns and the reasons for the modal shift and highlighted the main issues. The second phase defined strategies and interventions to be implemented in the short, medium, and long term to make students and staff's mobility more environmentally sustainable. The methodology used in the fact-finding stage was the online survey that was carried out through the use of a diversified questionnaire for staff and students of the University. The sample of students who participated in the survey amounted to 14,719 units, while the sample of faculty and staff was 9,403. The main questionnaire outcomes showed that the attitudes recorded were largely different between faculty and staff and students. While for the first ones the choice of private vehicles is the first option (36%), for students public transport is the prevailing preference (78%). According to the critical aspects found in this first stage, the SUMP objectives were defined, leading to the identification of macro-areas of intervention and specific actions. At a policy and strategic level, the attention was focused on the guidelines issued by the United Nations, the European Commission, and the Network of Universities for Sustainable Development, of which Sapienza University is a member. For this reason, the identification of strategies and interventions results from the combination of the first phase analysis, the Sapienza Governance objectives, and the national and international context in which the SUMP was drafted. Five macro-areas of intervention have been identified: Smart Strategies, Pedestrian Mobility, Cycling, Local Public Transport, Private Transport, and for each one specific intervention to be implemented in different time frames have been defined

Research and innovation in smart mobility and services in Europe: An assessment based on the Transport Research and Innovation Monitoring and Information System (TRIMIS)

For smart mobility to be cost-efficient and ready for future needs, adequate research and innovation (R&I) in this field is necessary. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of R&I in smart mobility and services in Europe. The assessment follows the methodology developed by the European Commission’s Transport Research and Innovation Monitoring and Information System (TRIMIS). The report critically assesses research by thematic area and technologies, highlighting recent developments and future needs.JRC.C.4-Sustainable Transpor

Long-term U.S transportation electricity use considering the effect of autonomous-vehicles: Estimates & policy observations

In this paper, we model three layers of transportation disruption – first electrification, then autonomy, and finally sharing and pooling – in order to project transportation electricity demand and greenhouse gas emissions in the United States to 2050. Using an expanded kaya identity framework, we model vehicle stock, energy intensity, and vehicle miles traveled, progressively considering the effects of each of these three disruptions. We find that electricity use from light duty vehicle transport will likely be in the 570–1140 TWh range, 13–26%, respectively, of total electricity demand in 2050. Depending on the pace at which the electric sector decarbonizes, this increase in electric demand could correspond to a decrease in LDV greenhouse gas emissions of up to 80%. In the near term, rapid and complete transport electrification with a carbon-free grid should remain the cornerstones of transport decarbonization policy. However, long-term policy should also aim to mitigate autonomous vehicles’ potential to increase driving mileage, urban and suburban sprawl, and traffic congestion while incentivizing potential energy efficiency improvements through both better system management and the lightweighting of an accident-free vehicle fleet

Data enabling digital ecosystem for sustainable shared electric mobility-as-a-service in smart cities-an innovative business model perspective

Increase in urbanization drives the need for municipalities to make mobility more efficient, both to address climate goals as well as creating a smart living environment for citizens, with less noise congestion, and pollution. As vehicles are being electrified, further advances will be needed to meet social, environmental, and economic sustainability targets, and a more efficient use of vehicles and public transport is central in this endeavor. Accordingly, Electric Mobility as a Service (eMaaS) has developed as a concept with the potential to increase sustainability mobility in cities and been designated as a phenomenon with potential to radically change how people move in the future. But presently there is the lack of a common business model that supports complex integration of all actors, digital technologies, and infrastructures involved in the eMaaS business ecosystem. This study aims to support the further development of eMaaS by providing a state of the art of eMaaS and further proposes a digital ecosystem as a business model for eMaaS sharing in smart cities. Accordingly, a systematic literature review was adopted grounded on secondary data from the literature to offers a new approach to urban mobility and demonstrate the suitability of the eMaaS concept in smart communities. The digital ecosystem is designed based on system design approach. Findings from this study provides a sustainable policy perspective, discusses the challenges and opportunities towards the development of eMaaS and its impact on electrification of vehicles. Overall, findings from this study considers the role of electric vehicles as part of the mobility sharing economy. Recommendations from this study provides designs and strategies for eMaaS, the interrelations between eMobility and other everyday practices, strategically highlighting the positive benefits of eMaaS and broader policies to limit private car usage in cities.publishedVersio

Improving Sustainable Mobility through Modal Rewarding: The GOOD_GO Smart Platform

Private car mobility registers today a h igh accident rate and around 70% of the overall CO2 emissions from transport were generated by road mode split (European Commission, 2016). Moreover, in urban areas they occur 38% of the overall fatalities from road transport, and 23% of the overall CO2 emissions (European Commission, 2013). As a result, a modal shift of at least a part of passenger transport in urban areas, from private car to sustainable transport systems is desirable. This research aims to promote sustainable mobility through two mutually reinforcing "main actions": firstly, there is a r ewarding Open-Source platform, named as GOOD_GO; secondly, there is the SW/HW system connecting to the wide world of private and/or shared bicycles. Through the GOOD_GO platform Web portal and App, a user enters a so called 'social rewarding game' thought to incentive sustainable mobility habits, and gets access to the second item consisting of a system to disincentive bike-theft and based on the passive RFID technology. The low-cost deterrent bike-theft and bike monitoring/tracking system is functional to bring a big number of citizens inside the rewarding game. In 2018, a pilot test has implemented in the city of Livorno (Tuscany, It), and it involved around 1,000 citizens. Results were quite encouraging and today, the cities of Livorno, Pisa and Bolzano will enlarge the incentive system both to home-to-school and home-to-work mobility. The Good_Go platform is an actual M-a-a-S (Mobility-as-a-Service) application, and it becoming a Mobility Management decision system support, jointly with the opportunity of organizing more incentive tenders and rewarding systems types

Sustainable mobility governance in smart cities for urban policy development – a scoping review and conceptual model

Purpose The aim of this study is to propose a governance model and key performance indicators on how policy makers can contribute to a more accessible, inclusive, and sustainable mobility within and across smart cities to examine sustainable urban mobility grounded on the rational management of public transportation infrastructure. Design/methodology/approach This study employed desk research methodology grounded on secondary data from existing documents and previous research to develop a sustainable mobility governance model that explores key factors that influence future urban policy development. The collected secondary data was descriptively analyzed to provide initiatives and elements needed to achieve sustainable mobility services in smart cities. Findings Findings from this study provide evidence on how cities can benefit from the application of data from different sources to provide value-added services to promote integrated and sustainable mobility. Additionally, findings from this study discuss the role of smart mobility for sustainable services and the application for data driven initiatives towards sustainable smart cities to enhance mobility interconnectivity, accessibility, and multimodality. Findings from this study identifies technical and non-technical factors that impact the sustainable mobility transition.acceptedVersio