Geographic features of zero-emissions urban mobility: the case of electric buses in Europe and Belarus

This article reviews the emerging phenomena of electric buses’ deployment in Europe and Belarus within the general framework of the concept of sustainable and electric urban mobility. The author offers a brief overview of electric bus technologies available on the market and a spatial analysis of fleet deployment in Europe. The analysis of the spatial structure of the distribution of e-buses in Europe indicated that, in terms of the number of vehicles in operation, the UK and the Netherlands are the regional leaders, while in terms of the number of cities testing e-buses – Germany, Sweden, and Poland are the leaders. The analysis showed that the main factors supporting the distribution of innovative technology and public support are legislative and regulative framework as well as clear strategic planning and cooperation between local administrations and transportation authorities. Other important aspects, such as network building features, and the location of the charging infrastructure were also discussed. The analysis of the case study of Minsk (the first city to introduce electric buses in Belarus) outlined the typical limiting factors for all types of markets: high battery costs and dependency on infrastructure; recommendations are given to emphasise bus fleet replacement (instead of trolleybus) and to develop a comprehensive sustainable urban mobility strategy

Geographic structure and regional socio-economic impact of low-cost airlines in selected cities of Central and Eastern Europe: the role model for Belarus.

The goal of this article is to analyse the structure of geographic presence and the socio-economic impact of low-cost carriers (LCCs) in the selected countries of Central and Eastern Europe (neighbouring the Republic of Belarus – Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine and Russia). The model of the current geographic configuration of the LCCs network from the cities and airports with the closest proximity to Belarus was designed. The current market trends show that the major LCCs on the market are Wizz Air and Ryanair, and they are increasing their share at the markets of the countries analysed (particularly after Ryanair entered Ukrainian market in 2018). The overview of socio-economic impact of LCCs is discussed with accent on the possible benefits and outcomes of LCCs entry to the Republic of Belarus

Mobilność bez kierowcy i analiza geograficzna współczesnego ekosystemu startupów pojazdów autonomicznych

Over 50 billion US dollars had been invested into autonomous vehicles (AV) technology in 2013-2017. Driverless cars of the level 4 and 5 are forecasted to be in mass production after 2028 and the annual direct and indirect social and economic input of the AV technology is estimated to be over US $1.8-2.8 trillion in 2030. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the geographic structure of AV startup ecosystem, which is considered as one of the most significant disruptive and game-changing innovations of the nearest decades. The geographic analysis was carried out for 265 AV tech companies and startups, working on solutions to the following problem areas: services, infrastructure, in-car assistance and intelligence, safety, security, autonomy, sensors, materials and manufacturing. The key findings outline that the USA is the leader on the innovative AV market ecosystem (accounting for 57% of all startups) with the highest concentration near San Francisco Bay Area Core (more than 27% of all startups), followed up with a significant gap by Israel, India, UK and Canada. The main factors that define the level of readiness for autonomous vehicles, and, thus, the geography of diffusion of AVs innovation are regulatory and legislative environment, level of transportation and communication infrastructure development and public perception