A study into urban roadworks with shuttle-lane operation

In urban areas where roadworks are required, single lane shuttle operation is applied, especially where there is limited road space. There are operational problems relating to the site such as site geometry, visibility, length of roadworks zone, position of signs with other traffic control devices and signal timing. Other problems are mainly related to drivers’ behaviour and their compliance with traffic controls on site. The reduced road width caused by the works will interrupt the free flow of traffic and it can also add to the risks to road users. In addition, shuttle operation may introduce long queues and increase delays especially during peak periods. There is a need to identify those parameters and behaviours which might influence traffic performance in terms of safety and capacity. An investigation of four roadworks sites in urban roadworks within the Greater Manchester area was undertaken for this purpose. Parameters included in the examination were position of the STOP sign, signal timing, weather conditions, time headway, vehicle speed and percentages of heavy goods vehicles (HGV) in the traffic stream. Statistical analysis and comparisons between sites were conducted. Other factors related to the operation of the shuttle-lane were provided based on site observations

A network mobility indicator using a fuzzy logic approach

This paper introduces a methodology to assess the mobility of a road transport network from the 3 network perspective. In this research, the mobility of the road transport network is defined as the 4 ability of the road transport network to connect all the origin-destination pairs within the network with 5 an acceptable level of service. Two mobility attributes are therefore introduced to assess the physical 6 connectivity and the road transport network level of service. Furthermore, a simple technique based 7 on a fuzzy logic approach is used to combine mobility attributes into a single mobility indicator in 8 order to measure the impact of disruptive events on road transport network functionality. 9 The application of the proposed methodology on a hypothetical Delft city network shows the ability of the technique to estimate variation in the level of mobility under different scenarios. The method allows the study of demand and supply side variations on overall network mobility, providing a new tool for decision makers in understanding the dynamic nature of mobility under various events. The method can also be used as an evaluation tool to gauge the highway network mobility level, and to highlight weaknesses in the network

Climate policies for road transport revisited (II): Closing the policy gap with cap-and-trade

Current policies in the road transport sector fail to deliver consistent and efficient incentives for greenhouse gas abatement (see companion article by Creutzig et al., 2010a). Market-based instruments such as cap-and-trade systems close this policy gap and are complementary to traditional policies which are required where specific market failures arise. Even in presence of strong existing non-market policies, cap-and-trade delivers additional abatement and efficiency by incentivizing demand side abatement options. This paper analyzes generic design options and economic impacts of including the European road transport sector to the EU ETS. The point of regulation in a road transport cap-and-trade system should be upstream in the fuel chain to ensure effectiveness (cover all life-cycle emissions and avoid double-counting), efficiency (incentivize all abatement options) and low transaction costs. Based on year 2020 marginal abatement cost curves from different models and current EU climate policy objectives we show that in contrast to conventional wisdom road transport inclusion would not change the EU ETS allowance price. This puts concerns over industrial carbon leakage as a consequence of adding road transport to the EU ETS into perspective.Climate Policy, Road Transport, Cap-and-trade

Paradoks efektywności w zakresie potrzeb energetycznych transportu drogowego w Unii Europejskiej

With quantitative and qualitative data, and knowing, at a glance, goal, it was an attempt to examine the relationship between the development of road transport and the efficiency of resource use. The analysis has shown that road transport now gained a special status in people’s daily lives. The increased mobility of European citizens caused the greatest responsibility for the transport of energy. This spite of improving the efficiency of these cars and freight transport growth. The projected continued growth of freight transport will contribute to the further changes in the structure of energy consumption by road transport. Despite the high growth rate of energy efficiency improvement of truck drives, the share of demand for fuel by those vehicles will increase in total fuel demand for road transport sector. At the same time the energy consumption of cars will reduce its share in total fuel needs transport. Improvmrnt of energy efficiency of passenger and truck will not offset the increase in demand for energy in road transport. The above regularities define a key challenge facing the transport system – meeting the ever growing demand for energy.Posiadając dane ilościowe i jakościowe, podjęto próbę zbadania zależności i związków zachodzących między rozwojem transportu a efektywnością wykorzystania zasobów paliwowych, co stanowiło zasadniczy cel artykułu. Przeprowadzona analiza pozwoliła stwierdzić, że transport drogowy zyskał obecnie szczególny status w życiu codziennym społeczeństwa. Wzrost mobilności mieszkańców Europy spowodował, że samochody osobowe są aktualnie w największym stopniu odpowiedzialne za potrzeby energetyczne transportu drogowego. Stało się tak mimo poprawy efektywności energetycznej tych samochodów oraz wzrostu przewozów towarowych. Prognozowany wzrost przewozów towarowych spowoduje dalsze zmiany w strukturze zużycia energii przez transport samochodowy. Poprawa efektywności energetycznej transportu osobowego i ciężarowego nie zrównoważy wzrostu zapotrzebowania na energię w transporcie drogowym. Przedstawione powyżej prawidłowości wyznaczają kluczowe wyzwanie stojące przed systemem transportowym – sprostanie ciągle rosnącemu zapotrzebowaniu na energię

A perspective of the Malaysian highway energy consumption and future power supply

In this short communication, we discuss the energy consumption trends in the Malaysian road transport sector, with a special emphasis on the energy losses due to vehicle aerodynamic drag on highways. The recent trends of energy consumption in the Malaysian road transport sector are reviewed. It is evidently shown that the aerodynamic losses represented exceed 1.2. MTOE annually since 2002. A novel concept of vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) farms for harvesting aerodynamic energy losses on Malaysian highways is preliminarily proposed. The novel concept aims at providing a sustainable and green energy source for the lighting of the highway network in the country

Reducing Carbon emissions through transport taxation, GFC Briefing Paper 6

Road transport and aviation are, or are becoming, major sources of carbon emissions which will need to be reduced if the UK’s carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction targets are to be met. However, since 1980 the real costs of motoring have fallen while those of other transport modes have risen, and rising incomes have also increased transport demand, offsetting efficiency increases. Increased road transport taxation, which could be introduced as part of a green fiscal reform, will be essential if demand is to be managed and carbon emissions from road transport reduced. Taxes on vehicle purchase, ownership and use have different effects, and can be used to pursue different policy goals. For example, taxes on purchase and ownership can incentivise manufacturers to develop low carbon vehicles and people to buy them. Tax measures on vehicle use are needed to reduce congestion and overall energy use. This briefing discusses experience with road transport and aviation taxes in the UK and other European countries, and considers how they might develop to take account of increasingly stringent CO2 reduction targets and other issues such as the increasing diversity of road fuels, and the need to maintain government income. In particular, any shift to electric vehicles may require a parallel shift to road user charging if revenues from transport taxes, and incentives to reduce the damaging effects of road transport apart from emissions, are to be maintained. Each tax introduced will affect some people more than others. Increasing fuel duty is progressive overall because most low-income households do not have a car, but there are concerns about the impact on low income motorists, particularly in rural areas, which can be at least partially addressed if the revenues are recycled in a progressive manner. Increasing taxation on air travel is even more progressive because most leisure flying is by the wealthiest 20 per cent of the population and those on low incomes fly very little

Estimation method for emission of road transport

The sustainable development is a development, where the pace of technical development, the satiation of increasing supply and the raw materials and resources of Earth are poised so that the rate of living and opportunities of the next generations must not to be worse. Transportation cannot be replaced because it is part of the production chain. Societies are horizontally and vertically differential. The manpower, the stock, the semi finished and finished products must be transported. One of the most emphasized goals of the transport policy of the European Union is sustainable mobility. For this reason transportation systems must be developed and standardized, the effectiveness of transportation service must be increased, while the environmental pollution must be decreased or prevented. There are no harmonized guidelines for project assessment and transport costing at EU level yet. A critical issue when comparing appraisal practices across countries is to make sure the same definitions are being used. Theoretically, all benefits and costs should be accounted for in the cost-benefit analysis. In practice though, many effects are left out

Environmental impact of combined ITS traffic management strategies

Transport was responsible for 20% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in Europe during 2011 (European Environmental Agency 2013) with road transport being the key contributor. To tackle this, targets have been established in Europe and worldwide to curb transport emissions. This poses a significant challenge on Local Government and transport operators who need to identify a set of effective measures to reduce the environmental impact of road transport and at the same time keep the traffic smooth. Of the road transport pollutants, this paper considers NOx, CO2 and black carbon (BC). A particular focus is put on black carbon, which is formed through incomplete combustion of carboneous materials, as it has a significant impact on the Earth’s climate system. It absorbs solar radiation, influences cloud processes, and alters the melting of snow and ice cover (Bond et al. 2013). BC also causes serious health concerns: black carbon is associated with asthma and other respiratory problems, heart attacks and lung cancer (Sharma 2010; United States Environmental Protection Agency 2012). Since BC emissions are mainly produced during the decelerating and accelerating phases (Zhang et al. 2009), ITS actions able to reduce stop&go phases have the potential to reduce BC emissions. This paper investigates the effectiveness of combined ITS actions in urban context in reducing CO2 and BC emissions and improving traffic conditions