The future of European communication and transportation research: a research agenda

Our mobility system is changing rapidly. We are at the crossroad of major changes in the way we travel and deliver goods. Research agendas are adapting to this changed environment with new challenges and opportunities. This paper presents a research agenda for the future of transportation research structured along eight cluster topics of the Network on European Communication and Transport Activities Research (NECTAR).  The research agenda firstly highlights the growing complexity and need for multi- and interdisciplinary transportation research. Secondly, sustainability needs to be addressed in transportation research in its full meaning, including relationships between policy-making investigations and environmental and equity effects. Thirdly, ICTs and digitalisation, the development of (shared) autonomous vehicles and shared mobility will have profound impacts on economies and spatial interactions all-around the world, and availability of high resolution spatial and transportation data. Digitalisation generates many new research opportunities but also give rise to new concerns about privacy, safety, equity and public health

Land-use/transport Interaction Models as Tools for Sustainability Impact Assessment of Transport Investments

Interest in the appraisal of the sustainability impacts of transport policies has grown the last few years, expressing the need for a balanced treatment of economic, environmental and social impacts. This paper represents a first step in creating a framework for Sustainability Impact Assessments; it will also review operational land-use/transport interaction models as assessment tools. An in-depth analysis of the potential impacts of land-use and transport policies, and scenarios, on the economy, society and the environment will present new challenges to land-use/transport interaction models. The first challenge is related to modelling behaviour: i.e. the model should estimate land-use, transport and accessibility impacts in a theoretically sound and consonant manner, and consistently link the full set of (long-term) land-use and (short-term) travel-behavioural responses to these policies. The second challenge is to improve methodologies to (better) include the wider (macro-)economic effects and the passive values. The third challenge is to generate more knowledge for understanding ecological and social impacts, and for the development of related indicators and methodologies to calculate them. A fourth, and final, challenge is related to the presentation and integration of the sustainability impacts, not only including the economic, ecological and social impacts, but also finding the ‘right’ balance between them. Although recent model developments facilitate a far more comprehensive analysis than is common practice today, there is certainly a need for theoretical and practical research for conducting Sustainability Impact Assessments of land use and transport policies and scenarios.&nbsp

The spatial–temporal dynamics in job accessibility by car in the Netherlands during the crisis

This paper analyzes the changes in spatial–temporal job accessibility by car in the Netherlands during the economic crisis (2009–14). It also assesses which component change is the most determinant in accessibility changes per municipality and part of the day. The paper shows that changes in job distribution reduced accessibility in almost the entire country, except around Amsterdam. Improvements in the road network capacity increased accessibility in the central provinces, particularly during peak hours. In summary, the values of job accessibility by car in the Netherlands became more transport dependent, except in the Amsterdam region.</p

Exploring the impact of household interactions on car use for home-based tours: a multilevel analysis of mode choice using data from the first two waves of the Netherlands Mobility Panel

While most studies on mode choice behaviour and households are typically based on individual travel behaviour decisions, less is known about how relations inside households affect mode choice. This paper addresses this topic by examining intra- and inter-household variation in car use. The decision to use the car is modelled for home-based tours, based on data from the 2013 and 2014 waves of the Netherlands Mobility Panel. A multilevel framework is used to investigate mode choice behaviour at tour, individual and household level to account for the impact of individual and household characteristics on travel mode choice, interdependencies of individuals within their households and variation in individual travel mode choice and other characteristics over time. The results show that variability between households and individuals accounts for more than one third of the total variation in the mode choice of home-based tours. In dual-income households, intra-household interactions have a larger effect on car use than interhousehold interactions. Although only two panel waves are used, the model results show significant time effects on mode choice: if the same tour was also conducted in the previous year and one person changed working hours or work location, car use is less likely