CISMOB - Cooperative information platform for low carbon and sustainable mobility: ICT towards low carbon and sustainable mobility: a multiscale perspective

The transport sector has an important contribution to the economy, employment and to the citizens’ mobility. However, it is also a major contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, representing almost a quarter of Europe's GHG emissions, and air pollution, which reduces air quality in cities with direct effects on public health. In particular, road transport is responsible for almost a fifth of total EU emissions and 73% of emissions from transport (European Commission, 2017). Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) is the application of sensing, analysis, control and communications technologies for the management of the transport process to improve safety, mobility and efficiency, increase security and reduce environment impact. The use of ITS tools in transport has brought significant improvement in transport systems performance and it is a key element in reducing carbon footprint, as well as increasing the sustainability on an urban scale. The increasing road transport volumes in the EU are the primary cause of growing congestion and energy consumption, as well as a source of environmental and social problems (Tafidis & Bandeira, 2017). According to EC, ITS can contribute to the main transport policy objectives by reducing environmental impacts and save energy through better demand management. Therefore, the primary goals for urban transport should be the promotion of cleaner cars and fuels and the reduction of road accidents and traffic congestion. ITS tools can have a significant role to a cleaner, safer and more efficient transport system. EC with the ITS Directive (2010/40/EU) gave the necessary legal framework to their member states to accelerate the implementation of smart technologies in transport sector, giving each country freedom to decide their priorities (Urban ITS Expert Group, 2013). Regarding the mobility sector, there is a clear lack of well-structured policy guidelines that leverage the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), sensing systems and big data to promote a more sustainable use of infrastructures. Specifically, there is still a waste of available resources for estimation real time mobility impacts and an even more obvious inability to use this information to implement sustainable mobility policies. The concept of sustainability in CISMOB concerns not only the carbon footprint but also the local economy and the social dimension, including active transport networks, users and the rest of citizens. Against this background, CISMOB partnership was developed in order to collect new ideas and practical experience.CISMOB Project Index Number: PGI01611, co-funded by the Interreg Europe Programmepublishe

CISMOB - Cooperative information platform for low carbon and sustainable mobility: baseline assessment report

CISMOB main vision is to promote innovative ways to reduce carbon footprint and increase the sustainability of urban areas by improving the efficiency in the use of urban transport infrastructure through ICT. In a context of increasing availability of sensor technology to monitor and record large amounts of data, a common challenge to policy makers is to identify the best practices to take advantage of these new sources of data and use them to prioritize intervention areas, to manage efficiently current road networks, to inform citizens and motivate them to choose more sustainable mobility options. CISMOB will focus on improving the implementation of regional policies and local mobility programmers by having a thorough understanding about the different transport-related impacts and the main vulnerabilities associated to different zones of the territory. CISMOB partners consider that policy and local mobility programs should not be focused in minimizing a particular parameter (ex. Levels of congestion), but rather to promote holistic approaches capable of responding to the questions: what (to minimize)? why? when? where? and how? Regional and Policy instruments should also provide a framework of indicators to assess and inform the costs and benefits of environmentally effectiveness of different mobility solutions. CISMOB integrates a set of cities and regions of heterogenic characteristics, which are represented by institutions with complementary profiles. All partners will cooperate together in order to learn best practices of sustainable management of urban transport taking advantage of ICT. Workshops, staff exchange-programs and dissemination actions will be carried out with the aim of exchanging local experiences, learning best practices and enhancing the citizen’s participation.CISMOB Project Index Number: PGI0161

Decision support system for accessing costs and risks of connected and autonomous vehicles as mobility service in urban contexts

A predicted increase of connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs) in our roads paved the way for new opportunities and challenges towards the promotion of sustainable mobility. However, the impacts of CAVs on the road environment and its implications are widely dependent on technological choices and public policy [1,2]. Therefore, this research (PhD Workplan) intends to assess whether CAVs could be effective mobility solutions for improving social, economic and environmental efficiency [4]. This question will be addressed by developing a decision support tool driven by comprehensive data analysis and modelling processes. The outputs achieved will integrate a tool that will support transport system’s planning and the implementation of urban strategies to introduce CAVs [3,5]. Thus, the research’s main focus encompasses the development of a model-driven decision support system (DSS) that allows assessing the costs and risks of implementing CAVs in urban context [3,4]. Three specific research objectives are assumed: I) Predicting impacts of CAVs operation in urban contexts, by analyzing cost-efficiency, transportation demand and mobility patterns considering market penetration scenarios of CAVs in Portugal; II) Conceiving a hybrid transport planning tool to assess possible restrictions to CAVs on different types of links through field data testing and simulating scenarios using a microscopic traffic model. Data will support the development of a macroscopic model for a full network assessment performance; III) Developing a multidimensional decision tool directed to a wide range of stakeholders, both from public or private sectors, to compute the benefits, costs, constraints and risks of implementing CAVs on urban mobility systems. Preliminary results from different urban arterials indicate that CAVs can have negative or negligible impacts in some urban contexts. However, if the impact on the traffic flow’s energy performance is considered into the internal car following algorithm, global energy savings of up to 12% can be achieved.publishe

Impact of Intercity Tolls in Portugal – An Environmental Perspective

Alternative road pricing schemes are promising strategies to alleviate congestion and other environmental problems related to urban and regional road transportation. However, in practice, environmental issues are not often taken into account, especially at regional level. In 2010, due to the financial crisis in Portugal, several tolls were introduced in some motorways that were previously financed by the government. One of these cases was the A29 motorway, which connects the cities of Aveiro and Oporto. After the introduction of tolls about 50% of the Average Daily Traffic shifted to alternative routes or modes. This paper discusses the impact that tolls had on route choice, and evaluates the consequences in terms of emissions and energy use on the road network after tolls were implemented. Experimental tests were conducted during off-peak and peak periods before and after toll implementation. Vehicle dynamics were measured using a high-sensitivity GPS data logger. Using more than 10 000 km and 174 hours of data, a micro-scale methodology based on the Vehicle Specific Power (VSP) concept was used to extract second-by-second emissions in four alternative routes. The changes in traffic distribution caused by the introduction of tolls did not cause a significant impact in terms of emissions factors on the alternative routes. However, the findings indicate that the diversion of traffic from A29 to local roads implies an increase in CO2 emissions and a reduction in local pollutants emissions such as CO and NOx

Plataforma de informação de tráfego para redução de consumos e emissões

Doutoramento em Engenharia MecânicaApesar das recentes inovações tecnológicas, o setor dos transportes continua a exercer impactes significativos sobre a economia e o ambiente. Com efeito, o sucesso na redução das emissões neste setor tem sido inferior ao desejável. Isto deve-se a diferentes fatores como a dispersão urbana e a existência de diversos obstáculos à penetração no mercado de tecnologias mais limpas. Consequentemente, a estratégia “Europa 2020” evidencia a necessidade de melhorar a eficiência no uso das atuais infraestruturas rodoviárias. Neste contexto, surge como principal objetivo deste trabalho, a melhoria da compreensão de como uma escolha de rota adequada pode contribuir para a redução de emissões sob diferentes circunstâncias espaciais e temporais. Simultaneamente, pretende-se avaliar diferentes estratégias de gestão de tráfego, nomeadamente o seu potencial ao nível do desempenho e da eficiência energética e ambiental. A integração de métodos empíricos e analíticos para avaliação do impacto de diferentes estratégias de otimização de tráfego nas emissões de CO2 e de poluentes locais constitui uma das principais contribuições deste trabalho. Esta tese divide-se em duas componentes principais. A primeira, predominantemente empírica, baseou-se na utilização de veículos equipados com um dispositivo GPS data logger para recolha de dados de dinâmica de circulação necessários ao cálculo de emissões. Foram percorridos aproximadamente 13200 km em várias rotas com escalas e características distintas: área urbana (Aveiro), área metropolitana (Hampton Roads, VA) e um corredor interurbano (Porto-Aveiro). A segunda parte, predominantemente analítica, baseou-se na aplicação de uma plataforma integrada de simulação de tráfego e emissões. Com base nesta plataforma, foram desenvolvidas funções de desempenho associadas a vários segmentos das redes estudadas, que por sua vez foram aplicadas em modelos de alocação de tráfego. Os resultados de ambas as perspetivas demonstraram que o consumo de combustível e emissões podem ser significativamente minimizados através de escolhas apropriadas de rota e sistemas avançados de gestão de tráfego. Empiricamente demonstrou-se que a seleção de uma rota adequada pode contribuir para uma redução significativa de emissões. Foram identificadas reduções potenciais de emissões de CO2 até 25% e de poluentes locais até 60%. Através da aplicação de modelos de tráfego demonstrou-se que é possível reduzir significativamente os custos ambientais relacionados com o tráfego (até 30%), através da alteração da distribuição dos fluxos ao longo de um corredor com quatro rotas alternativas. Contudo, apesar dos resultados positivos relativamente ao potencial para a redução de emissões com base em seleções de rotas adequadas, foram identificadas algumas situações de compromisso e/ou condicionantes que devem ser consideradas em futuros sistemas de eco navegação. Entre essas condicionantes importa salientar que: i) a minimização de diferentes poluentes pode implicar diferentes estratégias de navegação, ii) a minimização da emissão de poluentes, frequentemente envolve a escolha de rotas urbanas (em áreas densamente povoadas), iii) para níveis mais elevados de penetração de dispositivos de eco-navegação, os impactos ambientais em todo o sistema podem ser maiores do que se os condutores fossem orientados por dispositivos tradicionais focados na minimização do tempo de viagem. Com este trabalho demonstrou-se que as estratégias de gestão de tráfego com o intuito da minimização das emissões de CO2 são compatíveis com a minimização do tempo de viagem. Por outro lado, a minimização de poluentes locais pode levar a um aumento considerável do tempo de viagem. No entanto, dada a tendência de redução nos fatores de emissão dos poluentes locais, é expectável que estes objetivos contraditórios tendam a ser minimizados a médio prazo. Afigura-se um elevado potencial de aplicação da metodologia desenvolvida, seja através da utilização de dispositivos móveis, sistemas de comunicação entre infraestruturas e veículos e outros sistemas avançados de gestão de tráfego.Despite recent technological innovations, transportation sector is still producing significant impacts on the economy and environment. In fact, the success in reducing transportation emissions has been lower than desirable due to several factors such as the urban sprawl and several barriers to the market penetration of cleaner technologies. Therefore, the “Europe 2020” strategy has emphasised the relevance of improving the efficiency in the transportation networks through the better use of the existing infrastructures. In this context, the main objective of this thesis is increasing the understanding of how proper route choices can contribute to reduce emissions output over different spatial and temporal contexts. Simultaneously, it is intended to evaluate the potential of different traffic management strategies in terms of traffic performance and energy/environmental efficiency. The integration of empirical and analytical methods to assess the impact of different traffic optimization strategies on CO2 emissions and local pollutants constitutes one the main contributions of this work. This thesis has been divided in two main parts. The first is predominantly empirical, using field data as the main source of information. Using GPS equipped vehicles, empirical data for approximately 13200 km of road coverage have been collected to estimate energy and emissions impacts of route choice in three different scenarios: a medium-sized urban area (Aveiro), a metropolitan area (Hampton Roads, VA) and an intercity corridor (Oporto-suburban area). The second part, predominantly analytical, is essentially based on the output of traffic simulators and optimization models. The analytical component was based on the capability of microscopic traffic models to generate detailed emissions information and to generate link-based performance functions. Then, different traffic management strategies were tested to evaluate road networks in terms of traffic performance and emissions. Both outcomes of the empirical and analytical approaches have demonstrated that fuel use and emissions impacts can also be significantly reduced through appropriate route choices and advanced traffic management systems. The empirical assessment of route choice impacts has shown that both during off peak and peak periods, the selection of an appropriate route can lead to significant emissions reduction. Depending on the location, potential emissions savings of CO2 up to 25% and local pollutants up to 60% were found. The analytical approach has demonstrated that it is possible to significantly reduce system environmental costs (30%) by modifying traffic flow distribution along a corridor with 4 alternative routes. However, despite the positive results in terms of the potential for emissions reduction based on appropriate route choices, a number of important trade-offs that need to be considered in future implementations of eco-routing systems. Among these trade-offs it is worth noting that: i) different pollutants may lead to different ecorouting strategies, ii) the minimization of pollutants emissions often involves choosing urban routes (densely populated), iii) for higher penetration levels of eco-routing devices considering local pollutants, system environmental impacts can be higher than if drivers were guided under the traditional devices focused on travel time. With this research, it has been demonstrated that road traffic management strategies focused on minimizing CO2 emissions and fuel consumption can be compatible with the minimization of system travel time. On the other hand the minimization of local pollutants may lead to considerable increases in travel time. However, given the trend rate of reduction in the emissions factors of local pollutants, it is expected that such trade-offs would tend to be minimized in medium term. Thus, the developed methodology has great potential for further real life application, either through the use of nomadic devices, infrastructures to vehicle communication or different advanced traffic management systems

Modelo de uso do solo de Aveiro: impacto na mobilidade e qualidade do ar

Mestrado em Sistemas Energéticos SustentáveisO planeamento urbano e a política de mobilidade vêm assumindo uma crescente importância nos domínios da sustentabilidade do ambiente urbano, da eficiência energética e da qualidade do ar. Este trabalho visa avaliar através dos padrões de mobilidade da cidade de Aveiro, as implicações ambientais e energéticas que o seu modelo de desenvolvimento urbano impõe. Para este efeito procedeu-se a um processo de modelação sucessiva do uso do solo e transportes, emissões de poluentes e qualidade do ar. Pretende-se ainda estudar a adaptabilidade desta metodologia a cidades de média dimensão como Aveiro. O modelo de uso do solo e transportes baseia-se nas inter-relações de 4 sectores (população, solo, emprego de serviços e emprego básico). A comparação entre a monitorização de tráfego na hora de ponta matinal de um dia útil e os resultados da modelação em TRANUS demonstraram um desvio médio quadrático de 31%, sendo a EN109 a via com maior volume de tráfego. Os resultados da afectação de tráfego do modelo TRANUS foram posteriormente tratados e inseridos num modelo de emissões (TREM) permitindo estimar as emissões de vários poluentes e consumos na hora de ponta, para o cenário base (eg. CO – 100 kg, CO2 – 12000 kg PM10 - 2,5 kg e 7800 kg de combustível). Utilizando o modelo de qualidade do ar TAPM e através da aplicação do perfil de tráfego diário de Aveiro, estimou-se a qualidade do ar, nomeadamente analisando as concentrações de CO e PM10. No que diz respeito às concentrações de CO, a comparação entre os valores modelados e monitorizados demonstra que os resultados da simulação estão subestimados. No entanto, na simulação das concentrações de PM10, o modelo apresenta resultados coerentes com os dados monitorizados na estação de qualidade do ar. Este facto é encorajador tendo em vista o desenvolvimento e aplicação desta metodologia a áreas de estudo à mesma escala. Foram ainda simulados diferentes cenários constatando-se que futuramente o cumprimento das novas normas europeias de emissões mais exigentes é um passo fundamental na redução da poluição local, existindo reduções de 95% nas emissões de PM10, 83% para CO e 79% para NOx. Dentro dos parâmetros analisados, a implementação de políticas que favorecem o aumento da taxa de ocupação de veículos é um importante contributo para a redução de consumos e consequentes emissões de CO2.Urban planning, land use and mobility policies are becoming key factors for an urban sustainable environment, improving energy efficiency and air quality. In this work three models were run successively, land use and transports, traffic emissions, and air quality, in order to evaluate how land use influences the mobility patterns and subsequent energy consumption and air quality in Aveiro. Additionally this work aims to analyze the adaptability of this type of methodology in medium size Portuguese cities, such as Aveiro. To develop the land use model four sectors were defined: population, service employment, basic employment and land. Comparative analysis between modelled and observed traffic shows 31% of Root Mean Square. EN109 road is the most congested arterial. The modeling of the generated traffic for all roads with TRANUS has allowed to estimate fuel consumption and exhaust emissions of several pollutants during morning peak hour (eg.: CO – 100 kg, CO2 – 12000 kg, PM10 - 2,5 kg and FUEL - 7800 kg). CO and PM10 concentrations were estimated trough the application of daily traffic profile observed at traffic counts made in Aveiro. PM10 estimated concentrations were reasonably accurated, and CO concentrations were underestimated. General results are encouraging in order to develop and employ this methodology in a similar study area scale. Finally, some alternative scenarios were simulated and it was concluded that new European standards emissions fulfilment is a basic step in order to reduce local air pollution. The simulations point that in the future there could be a reduction of 95%, 83% and 79% of CO, PM10 and NOX emissions, respectively. Car pooling scenario showed that higher occupation rates of vehicles is an important factor that contributes for the reduction of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions

Propriedades de carvões activados produzidos a partir de diferentes materiais precursores

Mestrado em Engenharia do AmbienteA crescente utilização de carvões activados nas mais diversificadas indústrias tem potenciado a procura de novas matérias-primas para a sua produção. Entre essas matérias encontram-se as lamas biológicas provenientes de estações de tratamento de águas residuais de indústria do papel. Todavia, são pouco conhecidas as características dos carvões com essa proveniência, pelo qual se procurou, com o presente estudo, dar um contributo para o seu desenvolvimento. Assim, e numa perspectiva comparada, a partir de diferentes matérias de origem, nomeadamente as referidas lamas mas também de carvão vegetal, prepararam-se várias amostras de carvão activado, usando diferentes variáveis durante o processo. As variáveis em estudo foram a granulometria do material de origem (1,0-4,0mm), o tempo de activação, (0,25h, 1h, 2h, 4h), a temperatura de activação (700ºC, 750ºC 850ºC 900ºC e 950ºC) e o agente de activação (H2O e CO2). Tendo em vista a caracterização dos carvões, foram analisadas a composição elementar e a composição das cinzas em várias fases do processo de preparação dos carvões, a área BET, a capacidade adsortiva dos carvões em relação ao n-hexano (modelos de isotérmicas de Langmuir e Freundlinch) e ainda a cinética de adsorção dos vários carvões em relação ao n-hexano. O estudo comparativo das propriedades dos carvões activados preparados permitiu concluir que a preparação de carvão activado produzido a partir de lamas biológicas provenientes de estações de tratamento de águas residuais é uma alternativa viável em aplicações menos exigentes, o melhor agente de activação é o vapor de água para a quase totalidade dos casos, tempos de activação de 4 horas e temperaturas mais elevadas possibilitam a preparação de carvões activados de maior capacidade adsortiva. O equipamento desenvolvido para a análise da capacidade adsortiva de n-hexano mostrou resultados coerentes com as análises de área BET. A utilização do n-hexano como adsorvato permitiu concluir que o modelo de isotérmica de Freundlich era adequado para representar o equilíbrio gás-sólido e que o modelo cinético de primeira ordem era apropriado para representar a velocidade de adsorção dos vários carvões activados ABSTRACT: The increasing use of activated carbons, in many kinds of industries, has intensified the demand for new raw materials. Among these are the biological sludges from wastewater treatment of paper industry. This study aims to better the knowledge of the characteristics of activated carbons produced from such raw materials. Several samples of activated carbon were prepared, from different raw materials, namely biological sewage sludge from two different wastewater industrial plants, using different variables during the trial. On the comparative analysis, additional samples were prepared for a vegetable charcoal and a commercial activated carbon. The variables in study were: particle diameter; (1,0 – 4,0 mm) activation time, (0,25, 1h, 2, 4h), activation temperature, (700ºC, 750ºC, 850ºC, 900ºC e 950ºC), and the activation agent (H2O and CO2). In order to characterize the activation carbon samples, the elementary composition and the composition of the ash in several phases of the preparation process, the BET area and the adsorptive capacity for n-hexane were analyzed. The adaptability of Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms models and a first order model for the adsorption were performed. The comparative study of the prepared activated carbons characteristics led to conclude that the production of activated carbon from sewage sludge is a viable alternative in less demanding applications. In the majority of the cases the best activation agent was the steam; 4 hours time activation and more elevated temperatures are the best options to make better quality activated carbon. The equipment developed to analyse the adsorptive capacity of nhexane showed coherent results with the BET area analysis. The model of Freundlich isotherm showed to be adequate. Good correlation coefficients were obtained, for the first order kinetic model

Liderança autêntica, segurança psicológica e criatividade em equipas

Mestrado em GestãoEste trabalho investiga como a Liderança autêntica explica a Criatividade das equipas através da mediação da Segurança psicológica. A amostra é constituída por 51 equipas. Os seus líderes descreveram a criatividade e desempenho. Os liderados (n=200) descreveram Segurança psicológica, Liderança autêntica e Liderança ética. Foram realizadas análises de correlação, análise fatorial confirmatória e análises de regressões hierárquicas. Os resultados sugerem o seguinte: (a) a liderança autêntica explica a segurança psicológica; (b) A liderança autêntica não traduz uma maior criatividade dentro da equipa de trabalho (c) a segurança psicológica não está positivamente relacionada com a criatividade e (d) A segurança psicológica não medeia a relação entre a liderança autêntica e a criatividade da equipa.This study aims to investigate how authentic leadership explains team´s creativity through the mediating role of psychological safety. The sample is composed by 51 teams. The leaders described the creativity and the performance. The followers (n=200) described the psychological safety, authentic leadership and ethical leadership. Different analyses were made such as correlation analyses, confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis. The results suggest the following: (a) authentic leadership explains psychological safety; (b) authentic leadership doesn’t lead to a major creativity within the working team; (c) psychological safety is not positively related with creativity and (d) psychological safety mediate the relationship between authentic leadership and team’s creativity