Expanding the VBN theory on succeeding the transportation demand management policies

The growth of the car fleet has caused many problems, such as environmental problems, uncontrolled energy consumption, and traffic congestion. To resolve the issues caused by transport-related activities, transportation planners should implement policies that reduce car use and move forward to sustainable transportation. The prerequisite of the efficiency of the policies that reduce car use is the acceptance of them by the entire community members. Previously a few studies have tested individuals’ environmental attitudes using the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) theory. This research aims to analyze and examine car use reduction policy using a comprehensive VBN and Norm-Activation-model (NAM) theories to consider more variables and provide a model with more analytical capability. To address this issue, 500 questionnaires were filled by travelers’ in Tehran, Iran, in the restricted traffic area to describe their behavior. The result shows that the biospheric value significantly affects car use reduction policy, associated with considerable environmental concerns. Besides, it was found that a high ascription of responsibility (A.R.) appeared as the strongest predictor of the policy. The findings have represented initial support for the VBN theory and revealed that the theory could explain the car use reduction policy’s Intention, according to Tehran’s respondents’ environmental behavior. This study’s findings can assist policymakers in adopting appropriate policies to reduce car use based on environmental advantages and could target biospheric values and ascription of responsibilities

Modeling the impact of logistic performance, economic features, and demographic factors of countries on the seaborne trade

The shipping industry continues to have strong growth prospects due to increased efficiency and economic liberalization. Through seaborne trade, port infrastructure and logistics impact economic growth in developing countries. This makes studying the factors affecting seaborne trade for such countries particularly important. The current paper aims at analyzing the impact of logistics, economic, and demographic variables on seaborne commodity trade between Qatar, Oman, Turkey, Pakistan, and Iran. Employing a gravity model, results show that a 1% improvement in Logistics Performance Index (LPI) consignments in the importing country can result in a 0.8% increase in total trade flows. Based on results, a 1% increase in the tariff rate reduces the value of trade by 0.4%. Furthermore, a 0.5% increase in trade is caused by the increase in population of the destination country. A sensitivity analysis also shows that logistics variables are more significant than economic and demographic variables. It can be concluded that trade policymakers in developing countries can get better results by improving logistics performance and investing on logistics infrastructure leads to more trade