CITIES AND ACCESSIBILITY: THE POTENTIAL FOR CARBON REDUCTIONS AND THE NEED FOR NATIONAL LEADERSHIP

This article begins by outlining the elements that should be included in the framework for understanding how people interact with their built environments. Part II describes how the framework might be made operational through the use of an emerging technique called land-use transportation scenario planning. Part III assesses how well land-use transportation scenario planning fits within the dictates and limits of U.S. transportation law. The analysis ultimately reveals that it holds substantial promise as a tool that could lead to meaningful cuts in carbon emissions

Achieving a sustainable automotive sector in Asia and the Pacific: Challenges and opportunities for the reduction of vehicle CO2 emissions

This working paper analyses the contribution of the Asia-Pacific automotive sector to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the challenges and opportunities facing the sector in efforts to reduce those emissions, primarily carbon dioxide (CO2). The main purpose of this paper is to identify recommendations for appropriate policies and strategies as well as for regional cooperation, to ensure that future developments in the automotive sector contribute to mitigating and adapting to climate change.climate change, vehicle carbon emission, automotive sector development, economic development

Encouraging Sustainable Urban Access: An Exploratory Student Approach to Design of Product Service Systems

Urban access is a key trans-disciplinary design axiom looking to ensure that every member of the society can reach those locations and resources one needs for a sustainable standard of living and productivity. This should be achieved in a way that does not deprive others from their right to access the same urban environment. Crafting the future of urban transportation design is a dynamic process that depends on developing a thorough understanding of the complexity of the human needs that associate with delivering ways to support urban access and, in particular, more sustainable and socially inclusive mobility patterns. New market demands and customer expectations force public and private organisations to expand their commitment to cross-border collaborations to provide attractive alternative transport modes. This paper discusses the challenge of utilizing design innovation as a tool for eco-branding and how an exploratory approach to this has been used in a post-graduate course in Visual Brand Identity and Product Design. Seven research teams, closely guided by the authors, were affiliated with designing an innovative hypothetical bike-sharing scheme for the city of Gothenburg, Sweden, with the potential to captivate road users’ acceptability. An overall description of the project concept and a brief summary of the results produced are presented herein. More specifically, this paper concentrates solely on one of the most innovative projects delivered within the course and discusses how the students adopted the challenge, as well as the actual project outcome and its contribution to the overall learning experience

Active Transportation for America

In this era of traffic congestion, high gas prices, climate change, an obesity epidemic, and fiscal constraints, federal transportation funding has reached a critical crossroads.Decades of car-centered transportation policies have dead-ended in chronic congestion, crippling gas bills, and a highly inefficient transportation system that offers only one answer to most of our mobility needs -- the car.Investment now in a more diverse transportation system -- one that provides viable choices to walk and bike, and use public transportation in addition to driving -- will lead to a far more efficient use of transportation resources.Active transportation is the missing piece in our transportation system

Innovative Bike-Sharing Design as a Research and Educational Platform for Promoting More Livable Urban Futures

Studying the viability of innovative urban access design is the key in achieving optimum results when attempting to transform dogmatism referring to conventional car-orientation into a meaningful driver of modal change founded on the actual societal needs for future transportation. An efficient public bicycle scheme could be the very definition of a system that could encourage and even facilitate, in real terms, such a transition. This paper is discussing how a post-graduate course embraced, through the means of a service-oriented design exercise, the potential introduction of such a system. More specifically, seven research teams, closely guided by the three authors, were affiliated with designing a new hypothetical bike-sharing scheme in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden more captivating than the existing one. The paper reports on: a) the novel educational approach the tutors employed, b) the taught experiences that helped the students utilize their potential as learners but also as inventive designers, c) the research in terms of design results and d) the overall transition from solely serving the needs of automotive mobility in urban environments, to creating a knowledge platform that actually illustrates an improved design-innovation process to tackle future urban demands and eventually have a real-life context impact on the city of Gothenburg

Carbon Free Boston: Transportation Technical Report

Part of a series of reports that includes: Carbon Free Boston: Summary Report; Carbon Free Boston: Social Equity Report; Carbon Free Boston: Technical Summary; Carbon Free Boston: Buildings Technical Report; Carbon Free Boston: Waste Technical Report; Carbon Free Boston: Energy Technical Report; Carbon Free Boston: Offsets Technical ReportOVERVIEW: Transportation connects Boston’s workers, residents and tourists to their livelihoods, health care, education, recreation, culture, and other aspects of life quality. In cities, transit access is a critical factor determining upward mobility. Yet many urban transportation systems, including Boston’s, underserve some populations along one or more of those dimensions. Boston has the opportunity and means to expand mobility access to all residents, and at the same time reduce GHG emissions from transportation. This requires the transformation of the automobile-centric system that is fueled predominantly by gasoline and diesel fuel. The near elimination of fossil fuels—combined with more transit, walking, and biking—will curtail air pollution and crashes, and dramatically reduce the public health impact of transportation. The City embarks on this transition from a position of strength. Boston is consistently ranked as one of the most walkable and bikeable cities in the nation, and one in three commuters already take public transportation. There are three general strategies to reaching a carbon-neutral transportation system: • Shift trips out of automobiles to transit, biking, and walking;1 • Reduce automobile trips via land use planning that encourages denser development and affordable housing in transit-rich neighborhoods; • Shift most automobiles, trucks, buses, and trains to zero-GHG electricity. Even with Boston’s strong transit foundation, a carbon-neutral transportation system requires a wholesale change in Boston’s transportation culture. Success depends on the intelligent adoption of new technologies, influencing behavior with strong, equitable, and clearly articulated planning and investment, and effective collaboration with state and regional partners.Published versio

The limits of technology: achieving transport efficiency in developing nations

Emissions from the transport sector represent the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. There is little prospect that this situation will be resolved with a single technological fix. As developing nations quickly move to catch up with the motorisation levels of developed nations, the sheer number of private vehicles on the roadways will overwhelm any advances made by cleaner fuels. By the year 2030, there is projected to be more vehicles in the developing world than in developed nations. However, most developing cities today still have the basis for a more sustainable future. Public transport and non-motorised transport (walking and cycling) still command a dominant share of travel in developing cities. Thus, a key objective for local and international initiatives is to preserve existing mode shares. Unfortunately, most investment in reducing transport emissions relies exclusively upon achieving costly reductions only through fuel and propulsion system technologies. Bogotá (Colombia) represents one of the best examples of a city that has developed a package of complementary measures to substantially reduce vehicle emissions and congestion. Bogotá’s implementation of a high-quality bus rapid transit (BRT) system, bicycle infrastructure, pedestrian improvements, car-free events, and auto restriction measures all have contributed to an urban transformation in a period of just a few years. Initial projections of greenhouse gas reductions during the first 30 years of the BRT system’s operation indicate reductions of approximately 14.6 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents. This research presents a framework for evaluating the greenhouse gas emission reductions in the transport sector. This framework highlights three principal areas of emission reduction potential: 1.) Mode share (behaviour); 2.) Distance travelled (land-use/design); and 3.) Fuel efficiency (technology). Only by addressing all three components an optimum transport energy path can be achieved

STRUCTURE, AGENCY AND CHANGE IN THE CAR REGIME. A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

This paper is aimed at filling the gap between the already well structured literature on the 'car regime' and the debate on policies for sustainable transport. Two main results emerge from the literature on the past and current evolution of the car regime: ? the car regime was established thanks to the ability of purposeful private actors to use the technology of internal combustion to influence markets and institutions, and finally society as a whole; ? previous attempts to make urban and regional mobility more sustainable fail because multiple – and mutually reinforcing – path-dependence phenomena lock the society into the car regime. For the future, the dominant scenario appears to be the internal transformation of the existing car regime, which is currently driven by the automotive industry and based on hybrid technology; the emergence of an alternative electric car regime – driven by producers of batteries and managers of electric utilities – remains a secondary option. Further research is needed to understand how – starting from the existing alternatives to the car and the innovations in the car itself – a coalition of public and private actors may be promoted and sustained to create a new regime of sustainable mobility.Car-based mobility; Regime; Sustainable Transport; Transport Policy

Social Equity Impacts of Congestion Management Strategies

This white paper examines the social equity impacts of various congestion management strategies. The paper includes a comprehensive list of 30 congestion management strategies and a discussion of equity implications related to each strategy. The authors analyze existing literature and incorporate findings from 12 expert interviews from academic, non-governmental organization (NGO), public, and private sector respondents to strengthen results and fill gaps in understanding. The literature review applies the Spatial – Temporal – Economic – Physiological – Social (STEPS) Equity Framework (Shaheen et al., 2017) to identify impacts and classify whether social equity barriers are reduced, exacerbated, or both by a particular congestion mitigation measure. The congestion management strategies discussed are grouped into six main categories, including: 1) pricing, 2) parking and curb policies, 3) operational strategies, 4) infrastructure changes, 5) transportation services and strategies, and 6) conventional taxation. The findings show that the social equity impacts of certain congestion management strategies are not well understood, at present, and further empirical research is needed. Congestion mitigation measures have the potential to affect travel costs, commute times, housing, and accessibility in ways that are distinctly positive or negative for different populations. For these reasons, social equity implications of congestion management strategies should be understood and mitigated for in planning and implementation of these strategies

Future “greener” urban transport: accessible, mobile and resilient cities?

Geographers, amongst others, have been considering urban futures for some time now. They all try to conceptually understand what a “sustainable city” in Europe / the UK / globally might look like. oncepts such as liveable, “green”, sustainable and resilient are being discussed, with carbon emissions and transitions, including from transport. Mobility (or what some authors call motility) is one strand, with lifecycle assessment of vehicles and fuels being applied . This article reviews visions and policies for more resilient urban transport