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Implementing Car-Free Cities: Rationale, Requirements, Barriers and Facilitators: A Framework

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Abstract

Cities across the world are beginning to shift away from private cars and towards more sustainable, healthy, just and inclusive mobilities. Hamburg, Oslo and Madrid have recently announced their plans to become (partly) car free. Despite the accepted importance of moving towards such transport systems, many cities struggle with the transition towards becoming car free. We describe the rationale, prerequisites, barriers, facilitators and strategies for car free cities. We describe 9 prerequisites to facilitate the transition towards becoming car free. Compact cities may be easier to refit to car free cities than sprawled cities. The main challenges will be how to change existing infrastructure that was mainly designed for cars to infrastructure for active and public transport, and how to change people’s perceptions, attitudes and behaviors. Retail interest and the car industry may be some of the biggest barriers. More research on cities in the vanguard of becoming car free is needed to urge this transition. Some cities have initiated strategies to create car free spaces. There is a need for creating good and feasible strategies and scenarios, and research evidence which can facilitate the move towards healthier cities.

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... Several studies have looked into the challenges during the implementation of car-free day initiatives, and the requirements that need to be considered when planning the next car-free day event (Doheim et al., 2020;Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2019;Marleau Donais et al., 2019). However, these studies only covered a limited number of factors. ...
... In their research on the rationale, requirements, barriers, and facilitators of implementing car-free cities, Nieuwenhuijsen et al. (2019) present nine fundamental requirements for transitioning to car-free urban environments. In their work, Doheim et al. (2020) conducted an examination of indicators of success in transitioning to car-free urban areas. ...
... Before the Delphi process is implemented the first step was to conduct a desk study to identify preliminary items to be included in the set of criteria for streets identification during car-free day initiatives. Although the literature is scarce, the works of Nieuwenhuijsen et al. (2019), Doheim et al. (2020), andMarleau Donais et al. (2019) and the Car-free day toolkit developed by the WRI and TMA (Addis Ababa Traffic Management Agency (TMA), 2021), served as the main input sources during the desk study in addition to the literature on the impact assessment as explained in section 2 (literature review) in this study. A set of preliminary criteria was identified from these combined sources. ...
... However, the book of Crawford is mainly theoretical, as there is a lack of applied examples. Although several papers analyzed the theoretical aspect of these car-free cities (e.g., Crawford, 2000;Crawford, 2009;Minh, 2016;Nieuwenhuijsen, Bastiaanssen, et al., 2018), there are very few cities in which this complete car-free concept has been implemented (Alameri, 2011). Results from the study have to do with the factors related to congestion and reducing the number of cars in areas to counter this congestion (e.g., Bonnel, 1995;C. ...
... Environmental results are often mentioned, with effects like countering the carbon emissions caused by traffic. Nieuwenhuijsen, Bastiaanssen, et al. (2018) explained, "Despite emerging initiatives and a growing awareness of the environmental, health and social benefits of carfree cities, the academic literature on how to make this transition (...) remains scarce." However, this statement is strongly related to how car-free cities are defined. ...
... There are also various examples of car-free or car-reduced residential developments, such as several areas in Amsterdam, Vauban in Freiburg, and Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm (Foletta & Henderson, 2016). However, the literature lacks a comprehensive road map for car-free cities (Nieuwenhuijsen, Bastiaanssen et al., 2018). Several high-level strategies are commonly proposed, such as restricting car access to city centers, implementing urban tolls, and promoting public transport (Bonnel, 1995). ...
... One of the key themes in their dialogue is urban experimentation, which has been seen as an essential seed for more radical changes. Largely as a response to climate change challenges, but also connected to the aim of improving health in cities through healthier environments and promoting socially inclusive cities, urban experiments concerning car-free streets or small, car-free districts have become more popular in the last two decades [24]. Although promising, Bertolini [25] (p. 1) states that, currently, "their potential as triggers of greater systemic change is unclear." ...
... For that, people reported that they needed to know the city very well (int. 24,5). The municipalities seem to have facilitated the use of cars with the construction, maintenance, and extension of roads [36]. ...
... This was intended to ease the circulation of buses around the city despite the crowded roads, which were significantly delayed by it (int. 13,24). However, the bus lane policy was ineffective, because (1) later parts of the plan were halted because of lack of funding, and (2) the number of bus lanes was limited compared to the ample space for cars, and, therefore, their impact. ...
Article
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Current urban mobility systems in Europe, characterized by high car mobility shares, have negative environmental and health impacts but struggle to mitigate these for fear of sacrificing accessibility. Ironically, before the car mobility transition (in the 1950s and 1960s in Western countries and the 1990s in Eastern Europe), most cities were accessible by walking, cycling, public transport, and by the few cars there were. Through a longitudinal case study of a medium-sized urban area in Clermont-Ferrand, France (1950–2022), this paper explores the potential to ‘de-transition’, i.e., to reverse the urban transition process towards ‘accessible, low-car cities’ by reshaping infrastructures to constrain car use whilst accommodating walking, cycling, and public transport. We answer the following questions: To what extent can cities reverse the urban car mobility transition? How could such a process be further encouraged? Our analysis adopts a social practices perspective and uses a mixed-methods approach by combining semi-structured interviews, a survey, and a document analysis. On the one hand, our findings highlight the difficulty of an urban modality shift to car alternatives: (1) the limited reach of public transformation networks (in Clermont-Ferrand, the tramline); (2) the fact that many feel unsafe or assume they need excellent health conditions to cycle, which is associated with leisure and sports; and (3) strong convictions concerning the usefulness of vehicle ownership, which is believed to maximise comfort. On the other hand, based on a historic analysis, we offer practical recommendations to de-transition to low-car urban areas: (1) the creation of an extensive regional tramway network; (2) the development of a full cycling network; and (3) the promotion of an extensive car-free city centre.
... The car-free or car-reduced city can be considered a counter-model to the planning paradigm of the caroriented city in order to tackle pressing issues such as pollution, climate change, public health, social injustice, or livability (Glazener & Khreis, 2019;Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2019). This concept dates back to the 60s and 70s with the first wave of pedestrian zones in central parts of European cities (Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2019;Orski, 1972). ...
... The car-free or car-reduced city can be considered a counter-model to the planning paradigm of the caroriented city in order to tackle pressing issues such as pollution, climate change, public health, social injustice, or livability (Glazener & Khreis, 2019;Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2019). This concept dates back to the 60s and 70s with the first wave of pedestrian zones in central parts of European cities (Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2019;Orski, 1972). It is worth noting that most European historic centers were originally designed with a primary orientation towards walking, evident in their narrow streets and mixed, compact land uses, and that they had functioned without automobiles prior to the 20th century (Gehl, 2010). ...
... Thus far, substantial knowledge has been gathered on the potential environmental, social, and health benefits of car-independent cities (Nieuwenhuijsen & Khreis, 2016) as well as on the barriers and drivers of the transition (Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2019). Melia et al. (2010) examined some of the early findings of the 2000s regarding the impact on mobility, social benefits, and issues of new car-reduced residential settlements. ...
Article
Full-text available
Car-independent neighborhoods can be seen as a planning strategy for overcoming car dependency and achieving urban sustainability goals. This implies a structural and psychological car independency of people, which manifests itself into positive attitudes and perceptions towards sustainable mobility, acceptance of corresponding measures, and a shift from private cars to active transport, public transport, and sharing modes. Despite their relevance, knowledge regarding the actual implications of the various existing strategies remains scarce. This gap is addressed in this literature review, which aims to: (a) identify types of implemented car-independent neighborhood policies; (b) explore their rationales, main characteristics, and implications for mobility behavior, psychological factors, perceptions, and acceptance; and (c) investigate how they have been evaluated. Existing implementations in Europe can be divided into four types: car-independent central areas, residential developments, citywide implementations, and temporary interventions, which differ in their rationales and scope. Overall, little research was found on this topic, with most studies focusing on newly built residential developments, compared to the other types. There is evidence of positive impacts on sustainable mobility behavior in the relevant use cases. However, it is often unclear whether this is a causality or correlation due to the absence of comprehensive (longitudinal) evaluations. Less is known regarding the implications of implementations for psychological factors and perceptions and their interplay with mobility behavior. For future research, it is recommended to evaluate other types of car-independent interventions beyond newly built developments through long-term observation of attitudinal and behavioral changes.
... In Kraków, Poland, and Oslo, Norway, businesses were opposed to new car-free areas being established in the city center [92][93][94][95]. Indeed, such opposition from businesses (including the car manufacturing lobby) has been shown to result in the reversal of measures to reduce car use [96,97]. While businesses can indeed be a barrier to car-free measures, McKibbin (2014) notes that businesses can be supportive of car-free days, potentially due to the increased economic activity often seen during car-free days [84,92]. ...
... Political will, specifically at the municipal level, is crucial to adopting car-free initiatives. The political will for car-free initiatives is often influenced by specific motivations such as improving air quality, providing opportunities for physical activity, reducing traffic congestion, or cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change [97]. Political will is substantially hindered if there is a lack of coordination between municipal departments and agencies (transportation, police, etc.), which we have identified as a potential barrier to the implementation of car-free initiatives. ...
... Access-both to the car-free event and to destinations within a car-free city area-is central to the formation and adoption of car-free initiatives. One paper that discussed barriers and facilitators to car-free initiatives recognized several factors related to accessibility that are essential for car-free policy implementation, including: a paradigm shift in transportation planning to prioritize accessibility over mobility, providing convenient transportation alternatives to maintain access, and securing support from stakeholders by ensuring an acceptable level of access is maintained [97]. ...
Article
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Purpose of review In this paper, we seek to elucidate the impact of car-free days and events on human health. Car-free days and events are often designed to alleviate the impact of transportation-related air pollution, noise, physical inactivity, traffic congestion, or other detrimental externalities of private motor vehicle travel. We reviewed existing peer-reviewed and gray literature to understand the variety of potential public health impacts that have been measured as a result of car-free days or events and associated changes in environmental exposures and lifestyles. Recent findings The impacts of car-free days and events are highly variable and seem to depend on the scope (frequency, duration, and geographic size) and goals of each car-free day and event. Most of the existing literature measures impacts in terms of air and noise pollution and some studies focus on physical activity metrics. In some cases, car-free days and events were successful in reducing the concentration of certain air pollutants but had little or adverse impacts on the concentration of others. Often, traffic is diverted from cordoned areas to surrounding streets, displacing traffic congestion and adverse environmental exposures to other areas of a city, with potential understudied implications to environmental justice. Summary Car-free days and events are often an attractive policy option; however, they require intensive planning to be successful. The organization and execution of car-free days and events, as well as public support and stakeholder engagement, greatly influence the level of success and the sustainability of such initiatives. Health benefits may be a palatable and convincing argument to the general public. However, very few studies focus on actual health impacts associated with car-free days and events. Future research could be most useful if it focused on measuring health outcomes associated with car-free days and events through longitudinal studies.
... It follows that the design of streets is an essential task of urban design [1,2,[15][16][17][18]. Starting from this assumption, this paper questions how the potentially multifaceted role of streets in the organization of urban systems has been or can be reinterpreted from the perspective of making cities more sustainable and resilient [19], a challenge that implies overcoming the still prevailing car-based model of urban transportation and moving towards a multimodal, post-automobile city [20][21][22][23]. The aim is to provide both a key to projects and initiatives prefiguring new street types and landscapes that already consider this perspective and a conceptual framework for urban design, seen as a tool and driver of the sustainable regeneration of settlements, to get the most from the most widely available and generally misused urban space-the street. ...
... In the Car-free and Walkable City, the focus is on ensuring the accessibility, on foot and by other environmentally sustainable means, of the main urban places and facilities as a prerequisite for traffic restriction or prohibition in large parts of the city [23,115,116]. The design of a pedestrian-friendly and attractive environment enhances the role of the street as a public space, where, besides walking, people can stop, stroll, meet, enjoy the urban landscape, play, and exercise-thus also promoting a healthier lifestyle [117,118]. ...
Article
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The subject of the paper is the street, seen as a structuring and emblematic element of urban settlement. The topic is addressed from the lens of regenerative design, whose underlying whole-system, multi-scalar, and dynamic approach can find urban connections to be a fruitful field of experimentation from the perspective of the post-automobile city. The first part of the paper traces the stages of the transport mechanization process and related impacts on urban patterns, emphasizing the voices critical of reducing streets to mere traffic channels that have accompanied it until the sustainability discourse led to a general rethinking of how mobility should be planned in cities. The second part of the paper reviews alternative urban visions to the still prevailing car-oriented model, which re-actualize the idea of the street as a multifunctional space, providing social and environmental ‘returns’ in addition to its role as a transport infrastructure. The notion of the street as a ‘space of potential’ is then developed through an inductive classification of regenerative actions at different scales, both material and immaterial, as well as permanent and temporary, thus providing a unifying conceptual framework for further research and practical applications in the fields of urban design and sustainable mobility.
... This relevance can be explained by the vast potential of cycling for mitigating negative effects of car-oriented transport systems. Cycling efficiently meets mobility demands especially in compact areas [2], contributing to healthier [3], less polluted [4] and more livable environments [5]. In addition, the cost-benefit ratio of cycling is proved to be positive [6], in contrast to motorized road transport [7]. ...
... For linking the diverse data sources, we propose a systematic approach based on semantic categorization. We identified five stages of data and information flow and semantic enrichment, which are illustrated in Figure 2: Originating from a data source or sensor (1), one or more data sets (2) are obtained that in conjunction with additional context form a semantically enriched information layer (3) derived from a single data source. By joining this information layer (3) with data sets and information layers from other data sources, integrated information layers (4) are generated that again raise the semantic value. ...
Article
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Cycling mobility contributes to better livability in cites, helps societies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and their dependency on fossil fuels, and shows positive health effects. However, unattractive conditions, primarily inadequate infrastructure, hinder the further growth of cycling mobility. As interactions of cyclists with the (built) environment are complex, assessing potential impacts of an intervention aimed at improving physical conditions is not trivial. Despite a growing body of literature on various facets of cycling mobility, assessments are widely limited to a single method and thereby either focus on one detailed aspect or on one perspective. While multi-method and mixed methods studies are emerging, they are not embedded into a structured, integrated framework for assessing systemic effects of interventions yet. Therefore, we propose a conceptual integration of several relevant methods such as questionnaires, interviews, GIS analyses and human sensing. In this paper, we present a generic, extensible framework that offers guidance for developing and implementing case-specific mixed methods designs for multifaceted assessments of interventions. The framework supports domain experts and researchers across different stages of conducting a study. Results from this research further indicate the added value of mixed methods studies compared to single-method approaches.
... Although IMCs appear to have many positive impacts, few studies analyse their effects on resulting transport, and no study has explored their effects on land consumption. Researchers have investigated IMCs implemented in car-free and low-car neighbourhoods either by examining overviews of several case studies at once (Baehler, 2019;Foletta and Henderson, 2016;Kushner, 2005;Melia, 2014;Scheurer, 2001;Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2019) or by performing a more detailed analysis of single examples (Borges and Goldner, 2015;Loo, 2017;Ornetzeder et al., 2008;Nobis, 2003;Foletta and Field, 2011;Moser and Stocker, 2008). The results suggest that IMCs have positive effects on mode shares of public and active transport and decrease car ownership levels. ...
... This study corroborates other findings which have shown that in order to transform mobility, restrictions on the possession and use of cars are needed, combined with the provision of environmentally friendly alternatives (Nieuwenhuijsen, 2020). When designing such concepts, it is important to monitor them with empirical analyses such as residential surveys, data analyses and transport modelling, as well as to include expert views such as those reported here (Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2019). Bringing expert knowledge and public ideas together to create IMCs can increase the acceptance of policies and interventions and contribute to transforming mobility to the human scale. ...
... Some of the main challenges will be how to change existing infrastructure that was mainly designed for cars to infrastructure for active and public transport, and how to change people's perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours. 106 The transition to car-free cities may substantially improve the liveability of neighbourhoods-especially in those neighbourhoods that bear disproportional burdens of pollution, social disadvantage, crashes, and public transport disinvestment. A transition from car-dominated urban landscapes and transport policies towards car-free cities that are considering the mobility needs of all people to access key destinations, regardless of their access to private cars would, therefore, constitute an important step towards a more inclusive and just urban environment that is also more sustainable and healthier. ...
... A transition from car-dominated urban landscapes and transport policies towards car-free cities that are considering the mobility needs of all people to access key destinations, regardless of their access to private cars would, therefore, constitute an important step towards a more inclusive and just urban environment that is also more sustainable and healthier. 106 The new paradigms and tools ...
Article
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The world's population is estimated to reach 10 billion by 2050 and 75% of this population will live in cities. Two-third of the European population already live in urban areas and this proportion continues to grow. Between 60% and 80% of the global energy use is consumed by urban areas, with 70% of the greenhouse gas emissions produced within urban areas. The World Health Organization states that city planning is now recognized as a critical part of a comprehensive solution to tackle adverse health outcomes. In the present review, we address non-communicable diseases with a focus on cardiovascular disease and the urbanization process in relation to environmental risk exposures including noise, air pollution, temperature, and outdoor light. The present review reports why heat islands develop in urban areas, and how greening of cities can improve public health, and address climate concerns, sustainability, and liveability. In addition, we discuss urban planning, transport interventions, and novel technologies to assess external environmental exposures, e.g. using digital technologies , to promote heart healthy cities in the future. Lastly, we highlight new paradigms of integrative thinking such as the exposome and planetary health, challenging the one-exposure-one-health-outcome association and expand our understanding of the totality of human environmental exposures.
... Although IMCs appear to have many positive impacts, few studies analyse their effects on resulting transport, and no study has explored their effects on land consumption. Researchers have investigated IMCs implemented in car-free and low-car neighbourhoods either by examining overviews of several case studies at once (Baehler, 2019;Foletta and Henderson, 2016;Kushner, 2005;Melia, 2014;Scheurer, 2001;Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2019) or by performing a more detailed analysis of single examples (Borges and Goldner, 2015;Loo, 2017;Ornetzeder et al., 2008;Nobis, 2003;Foletta and Field, 2011;Moser and Stocker, 2008). The results suggest that IMCs have positive effects on mode shares of public and active transport and decrease car ownership levels. ...
... This study corroborates other findings which have shown that in order to transform mobility, restrictions on the possession and use of cars are needed, combined with the provision of environmentally friendly alternatives (Nieuwenhuijsen, 2020). When designing such concepts, it is important to monitor them with empirical analyses such as residential surveys, data analyses and transport modelling, as well as to include expert views such as those reported here (Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2019). Bringing expert knowledge and public ideas together to create IMCs can increase the acceptance of policies and interventions and contribute to transforming mobility to the human scale. ...
Conference Paper
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Neighbourhood-based mobility services (such as car sharing for residents, bicycle rental systems, mobility stations) are currently being discussed in science and practice as new and alternative forms of urban mobility. Alternative mobility services are often considered to have the potential to promote modes other than motorised private transport, relieve infrastructures, and achieve cost advantages in housing construction which can directly affect rents. When combined into an integrated mobility concept, such services can support space-efficient land use and sustainable transport and, ultimately, the well-being of the inhabitants of new residential development. In our contribution, we want to present and discuss neighbourhood-based mobility services considering the following questions: - Which different mobility services and measures exist to foster sustainable mobility in residential areas? - What challenges and opportunities are related with implementing mobility services in residential areas? - What are the potential impacts of mobility services on transport and space-efficient land-use? We present experience and assessments of three stakeholder groups involved in the implementation of mobility services in new residential neighbourhoods: public administration, housing companies and private planning offices. The results are based on a case study in a new residential area at the outskirts of Berlin, Germany, and a Germany-wide expert survey with around 200 participants. The findings show that a wide range of measures in different action fields, including public transport, sharing mobility, logistics, and information is necessary to enable residents to be mobile without their own car. In the view of the experts, the development of cycle paths and cargo bike sharing contributes most to traffic reductions. Furthermore, reducing car parking space is assessed to have the highest positive impact on space efficiency. With our contribution we want to discuss how neighbourhood-based mobility services can contribute to sustainable urban mobility, space-efficiency and thus the well-being of the inhabitants.
... However, a notable caveat regarding technical feasibility needs to be discussed. In Copenhagen, it might not be realistic to dynamically widen protected bicycle tracks because the city is locked into a model of raised bicycle tracks [5,12,13,74]. This track infrastructure is safe, but it does not allow the flexibility of easy widening as in, e.g. ...
Article
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Bicycle infrastructure networks must meet the needs of cyclists to position cycling as a viable transportation choice in cities. In particular, protected infrastructure should be planned cohesively for the whole city and spacious enough to accommodate all cyclists safely and prevent cyclist congestion—a common problem in cycling cities like Copenhagen. Here, we devise an adaptive method for optimal bicycle network design and for evaluating congestion criticalities on bicycle paths. The method goes beyond static network measures, using computationally efficient adaptation rules inspired by optimal transport on the dynamically updating multilayer network of roads and protected bicycle lanes. Street capacities and cyclist flows reciprocally control each other to optimally accommodate cyclists on streets with one control parameter that dictates the preference of bicycle infrastructure over roads. Applying our method to Copenhagen confirms that the city’s bicycle network is generally well-developed. However, we are able to identify the network’s bottlenecks, and we find, at a finer scale, disparities in network accessibility and criticalities between different neighbourhoods. Our model and results are generalizable beyond this particular case study to serve as a scalable and versatile tool for aiding urban planners in designing cycling-friendly cities.
... To drive this change, a range of demand-side measures are available to policymakers, such as incentives for public transport, non-motorized transport, and zero or low-carbon vehicles, eco-driving and other awareness measures, road charges and taxes [7]. Measures to decarbonize the transport sector may impact peoples' everyday life significantly, both positively and negatively [8][9][10], and they are likely to have differentiated impacts across society, potentially reproducing or deepening existing inequalities [11][12][13]. Therefore, how to effectively integrate technological changes and economic measures with a broader social, institutional and cultural transformation to enable a shift to a low-carbon transport system, while also enhancing well-being and quality of life, has become a key issue in transport and climate policy [14][15][16]. ...
Article
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To meet the goals set in the Paris Agreement, the transport sector requires transformative changes, not only in terms of prevailing technologies but also with regards to reducing the need for fossil-based transport and increasing the share of public and active transport modes. Policies to enable this transformation are likely to have differentiated impacts on quality of life across society and have the potential to reproduce or deepen existing inequalities. When identifying potential losers from the low-carbon transition, it is important to consider a diverse set of loss categories, including social support networks and attachments a person has to particular people, material things, places and traditions. A key assumption here is that individuals’ perceptions of loss derive from their lived values, i.e., what they consider important in their life. Through a mixed-method approach consisting of a literature review and a survey, this study explores modal choices for realizing activities central to quality of life in Sweden, with a particular focus on societal groups at disadvantage in the transport transition. This article provides new insights on potential losses associated with the low-carbon transition in the transport sector and their distribution across society and reflects on the implications for transitional assistance policy.
... The scientific study of Superblocks has expanded quickly in recent years, summarized in a review by Nieuwenhuijsen et al. (2024). The planning and implementation of Superblocks is an intricate process, requiring extensive stakeholder involvement and careful consideration of trade-offs (Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2019;Stadt Wien, 2021; Transport for London, 2020). New computational tools and data sets, such as the osmnx Python library (Boeing, 2017) and OpenStreetMap (OpenStreetMap contributors, 2023), provide the opportunity to simplify this process by allowing to easily analyze and visualize urban street networks computationally. ...
... One of these regulations advocates the establishment of car-free zones and prevention of through traffic in the city centre, enabling the promotion of public transport and the development of pedestrian-friendly areas. While these measures trace their origins back to the 1960 s and 1970 s (Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2019), they have recently attracted renewed interest from city planners (Aumann et al., 2023). For instance, authorities in Lisbon proposed a three-months trial period during the summer of 2023 to ban cars from driving through the city centre (Municipality of Lisbon, 2023). ...
Article
There has been a growing interest from public authorities around the world in implementing measures aimed at preventing through traffic in city centres and establishing car-free zones. One of these initiatives has recently been proposed by the City of Bergen, aiming to zone the city centre in such a way that, in the long run, only public transport and emergency vehicles can pass through. While the zoning is primarily focused on mobility to make the city centre more attractive to residents by reducing traffic and parking, its effects on freight delivery in relation to city liveability is not thoroughly discussed. This paper investigates the implications of this zoning decision on freight transport, offering authorities a broader understanding of its impact through the utilization of clustering and routing models of freight carriers at a holistic level. Our analysis reveals that alongside the anticipated increase in total driving for freight deliveries throughout the city, there would also be a rise in traffic within the city centre itself, which may not have been intended or expected. As a remedy, we analyse the effect of introducing a micro-hub for consolidation, and bicycles for the last mile delivery, another policy that is presently being considered by the city. Our study highlights the importance of integrating freight transport into decision-making processes from the initial stages, rather than treating it as a secondary concern relative to mobility.
... The scientific study of Superblocks has expanded quickly in recent years, summarized in a review by Nieuwenhuijsen et al. (2024). The planning and implementation of Superblocks is an intricate process, requiring extensive stakeholder involvement and careful consideration of trade-offs (Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2019;Stadt Wien, 2021;Transport for London, 2020). New computational tools and data sets, such as the osmnx Python library (Boeing, 2017) and OpenStreetMap (OpenStreetMap contributors, 2023), provide the opportunity to simplify this process by allowing to easily analyze and visualize urban street networks computationally. ...
Preprint
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superblockify is a Python package for partitioning an urban street network into Superblock-like neighborhoods and for visualizing and analyzing the partition results. A Superblock is a set of adjacent urban blocks where vehicular through traffic is prevented or pacified, giving priority to people walking and cycling. The Superblock blueprints and descriptive statistics generated by superblockify can be used by urban planners as a first step in a data-driven planning pipeline, or by urban data scientists as an efficient computational method to evaluate Superblock partitions. The software is licensed under AGPLv3 and is available at https://superblockify.city.
... Mobility systems require not only an understanding of the physical infrastructure, economic development, and services necessary to facilitate movement, but also a consideration of 'soft' processes such as meaningful participation in decision-making processes (Nieuwenhuijsen, Bastiaanssen, Sersli, Waygood & Khreis, 2019;Loo, 2018). This kind of mobility system considers on what grounds civil society can effectively voice opinions and concerns and the degree to which these perspectives are considered. ...
... The reality is that any of these aforementioned synergies can potentially overshadow ITTRC as a legitimate concern: for example, emphasis on active transportation can lead to construction of bike lanes, which do not reduce everyday travel time, cost, nor risk for people living with disabilities. Reduction of ITTRC requires a significant degree of re-orienting the urban planning process, and this reorientation does not always serve to maximize the profits of the real estate nor automobile industries (102). The multitude of synergistic health impacts which are easier to accomplish as low-hanging fruit can create a sense of success which decreases the perceived need to reduce ITTRC. ...
Article
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Background: inequalities in travel time, travel cost, and travel risk (ITTRC) can consistently affect access to primary care and social services for disadvantaged and marginalized patients. At the same time, the most disadvantaged patients may face the highest travel time, travel cost, and travel risk due to pre-existing disability, poverty, or other intersectional marginalization. Case Report: to study ITTRC as a confounder which reinforces social and health inequalities, key-informants in the World Health Organization Healthy Cities program, Age-Friendly Cities program, and global EcoCities research initiatives (n=5) were engaged to validate a city planning model towards minimizing ITTRC. A case review of Vancouver, Canada, shows developments which help minimize ITTRC have increased over the last decade, but are not financially-accessible for disadvantaged and marginalized patients. Conclusion: ITTRC can be reduced through city planning, but underlying classism and capitalism must be acknowledged and addressed towards equitable physical access to life opportunities.
... According to the presented data, various modes of transport are considered, with a heavy reliance on walking, cycling, and minimizing the use of private cars [13][14][15][16]. An analysis of 13 urban streets redesigned to be humanoriented across the globe demonstrates the average proportion of spaces allocated to each mode [17]. ...
Article
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Enhancing public health through sustainable urban design: An examination of transportation and green space integration," Abstract: In the pursuit of urban sustainability, the incorporation of design elements conducive to public health, safety, comfort, and well-being is investigated within this study. Focusing on Kufa City, Iraq, significant indicators of urban design are identified that may contribute to the enhancement of human health. Among these, multiple modes of transport, walkability, cycling infrastructure, and the promotion of green spaces are emphasized. An examination was conducted within three distinct urban spaces in Kufa City, each representing a different spatial level to provide a comprehensive reflection of the city's design. It was found that the current design does not generally support public health, characterized by an overwhelming dependence on private automobiles and a lack of provisions for walking and cycling. Variations were observed across different spatial levels, with the sectoral and neighborhood levels containing parks that offer comfortable and safe pedestrian paths and green spaces that potentially ameliorate the overall atmosphere. Such provisions were found lacking at the regional level. The findings illuminate key areas for intervention and serve as a valuable reference for urban planners seeking to promote public health through the strategic design of urban spaces. In maintaining consistency with professional terminology used elsewhere in this article, the selected terms are carefully employed to articulate the complex interplay between urban design and public health. The expanded content provides a richer understanding of the subject while preserving originality and adherence to academic rigor.
... According to the presented data, various modes of transport are considered, with a heavy reliance on walking, cycling, and minimizing the use of private cars [13][14][15][16]. An analysis of 13 urban streets redesigned to be humanoriented across the globe demonstrates the average proportion of spaces allocated to each mode [17]. ...
... Concepts of changing the land use policy come under various names: Some of the most prominent representatives are Low Traffic Neighborhoods (LTNs), traffic islands, and superblocks. Planning of LTNs is a long an tedious process which encompasses several factors [Nie+19]. Additionally, to the logistics of LTN implementation, governments first need to involve local stakeholders that are directly affected. ...
Thesis
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This thesis investigates the impact of the spatial order of cities on the performance of presented, data-driven partitioning approaches. The study addresses two research questions: 1. How does the travel time change if all neighborhoods were Low Traffic Neighborhoods (LTNs)? 2. What LTN configuration can we suggest for different types of cities? We present a framework to analyze the impact of LTNs on travel time that utilizes Open Street Map (OSM) street data, and GHSL population data to calculate network measures, such as directness, global efficiency, average circuity, street orientation order. Central components of this work are the LTN generation, evaluation, and visualization. The evaluation of 100 global cities and 80 cities in Germany reveals that both a residential-based approach and a betweenness-based approach yield positive results, with minimal travel time increases. This research contributes to the understanding of the impact of LTNs on travel time and provides a framework for the simplified generation and evaluation of LTNs.
... Besides, this study also finds the positive correlation between bikes and human stress response in the commercial space and blue space. Researchers suggest using a context-sensitive approach to enhance bike-friendly design and improve urban management of parked bikes [82,83] and have suggested strategies for creating car-free zones [84] to improve urban livability and human health. ...
Article
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Overcrowding in densely populated urban areas is increasingly becoming an issue for mental health disorders. Yet, only few studies have examined the association between overcrowding in cities and physiological stress responses. Thus, this study employed wearable sensors (a wearable camera, an Empatica E4 wristband and a smartphone-based GPS) to assess the association between overcrowding and human physiological stress response in four types of urban contexts (green space, transit space, commercial space, and blue space). A case study with 26 participants was conducted in Salzburg, Austria. We used Mask R-CNN to detect elements related to overcrowding such as human crowds, sitting facilities, vehicles and bikes from first-person video data collected by wearable cameras, and calculated a change score (CS) to assess human physiological stress response based on galvanic skin response (GSR) and skin temperature from the physiological data collected by the wristband, then this study used statistical and spatial analysis to assess the association between the change score and the above elements. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using sensor-based measurement and quantitative analysis to investigate the relationship between human stress and overcrowding in relation to different urban elements. The findings of this study indicate the importance of considering human crowds, sitting facilities, vehicles and bikes to assess the impact of overcrowding on human stress at street level. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12942-023-00334-7.
... Despite this rarity, our sample illustrates in its narrative and also its socio-spatial structures how demotorized households may appear in different kinds of places and how they do not necessarily differ from motorized households in any respect other than car ownership. This may help us to understand the drivers of lasting demotorization and how to foster demotorization by still-motorized households, one of several prerequisites to achieving car-free cities (Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2019). ...
Article
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Although car ownership continues to rise worldwide, temporary or more lasting phases of demotorization (reduction in the number of vehicles owned) are taking place at the household level. Existing studies show that the probability of demotorization increases at certain stages of the life cycle, for example, associated with a reduction in household size or income, or a move to a neighborhood with better transit provision. However, the rationale and temporalities of the decision-making processes involved remain obscure. This knowledge could be useful in informing public action on the measures needed in different categories of territories and populations to encourage a steady and sustainable fall in car ownership. As its contribution to these questions, this article focuses on the influence of spatial factors on household demotorization. The methodology draws on 51 interviews conducted in 2018 with demotorized households in four French urban areas (Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, and Dijon). The findings highlight the role of the characteristics of the current place of residence, changes in the place of residence or place of work, and the spatial dimensions of travel socialization. If, as things stand, permanent and voluntary relinquishment of the car is only possible in very dense urban areas, our results show firstly that there is a strong case for working on mobility representations and practices from a very early age and, secondly, the importance of implementing planning policies and alternatives to the private car that are credible in areas of lower population density.
... In sustainable mobility literature, the design of just, car-lite mobility systems entails spatial planning (Williams, 2005), housing justice (Padeiro et al., 2019;Crommelin et al., 2017), intersectionality (Uteng, 2009;Enright, 2019;Green et al., 2014), commoning mobility (Nikolaeva et al., 2019), collective transportation and infrastructure for walking and cycling (Holden et al., 2020), understanding social practices (Cass and Faulconbridge, 2016) and removing cultural and symbolic barriers (Fitt, 2018;Ashmore et al., 2019;Beirao and Cabral, 2007). In addition, measures restricting automobility have proven effective in many cities, including congestion tolls, car-free streets, and removal of parking (Creutzig et al., 2020;Buehler et al., 2017;Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2019). Notably, it is widely recognized within this literature that mobility transitions are political and require social change to be successful (Gallo and Marinelli, 2020;Haarstad, 2020;Holden et al., 2020). ...
... While politically contentious, car-lite/car-free policies are gaining traction in, e.g., Hamburg, Helsinki, Oslo, Paris, and Madrid (Cathkart-Keays, 2015), and Barcelona's superblocks have demonstrated success (Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2019). The gap between planning visions and lived realities of car-free zones (CFZs) is shrinking (Selzer, 2021) and parking regulations have demonstrated net positive impacts in 'everyday lives' (Antonson et al., 2017). ...
Article
Transitioning to sustainable mobility systems is generally thought to require three approaches: avoid, shift and improve. We examine a combination of these in a city at the forefront of implementing transition policies, focusing on how the approaches interact and impact social inclusion. The Norwegian city of Bergen has pursued ambitious targets to reduce car use and promote walking, cycling and public transportation (avoid and shift). National subsidies have achieved more electric vehicles per capita than any other country (improve). Tensions between policies to avoid and displace automobility, and to accelerate electric automobility, center on the relationship between mobility transitions and social inclusion. Based on an in-depth qualitative study during 2020–2021, we analyze key examples of avoid, shift and improve approaches. We show that urban electric automobility risks undermining, not complementing, avoid and shift goals. We further demonstrate how populist politics mobilized around automobility reinforce elite narratives and pose a challenge to the legitimacy of transition planners and policy makers. We recognize different forms of depoliticization and argue that if socially inclusive mobility systems require overcoming the strong vested interests embedded in cultural attitudes around automobility, then depoliticizing an agenda to reduce car dependence – not just cars – can be progressive.
... Car-free city designs have gained popularity as a result of current traffic and infrastructural issues, as well as projected environmental and quality-of-life benefits. [19,20]. Environmental: One of the environmental benefits is the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. ...
Article
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The world today, recovering from a pandemic crisis, has witnessed a complete change in everyday challenges and routines. Following the COVID-19 crisis, the world was forced to face the challenge of preserving human life. Today, city planners and urban designers have to establish cities that can mitigate the impact of health problems; in other words, the city's urban product must be more resilient against health problems. The condition of completely shutting down urban areas and transforming them into infirmities has led to great economic and social crises. Economically, the world has lost at least 3.7 trillion dollars, equivalent to 4.4% of the Global Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The present paper aims at developing a tool that has the ability to measure the resilience of the Egyptian urban settlements against pandemic crises; thus, helping planners and urban designers to establish and promote pandemic cities. Based on profound theoretical and analytical studies, the concept of pandemic cities was studied and analyzed composing a list of indicators that illustrate the ability of existing urban settlements to face pandemic crises. Then, based on the findings of an empirical study that targeted Egyptian experts, the most relevant indicators were identified. Using relative importance index (RII), the relative weights of indicators were calculated and utilized as a tool that can measure the resilience of Egyptian urban settlements against pandemic crises.
... Travel behavior and travel behavior change have been studied for many decades. Recently, with issues related to climate change and health, research on how to move away from excessive car use has been increasing (Gallo & Marinelli, 2020;Kormos, Sussman, & Rosenberg, 2021;Nieuwenhuijsen, Bastiaanssen, Sersli, Waygood, & Khreis, 2019;Semenescu, Gavreliuc, & Sarbescu, 2020;Thaller, Posch, Dugan, & Steininger, 2021). A quick search on the Web of Science shows that studies on behavior or behavior change related to active travel (e.g., walking, cycling) are nearly three times as common as those on public transport (e.g., bus, metro, train, Bus Rapid Transit, Light Rail Transit). ...
Preprint
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A scoping review of soft-pull measures for increasing public transport use.
... 'Mobility convenience' is provided (Gunnarsson-Östling, 2021) to increase public acceptability of restrictive policy measures, such as reducing car parking spaces, pricing them, and decoupling them from housing (Steg, 2003). Although incentive-based measures have a positive effect on the use of nonmotorized and public transport modes (Oostendorp et al., 2020), restrictive measures are also needed (Knoflacher, 2006;Melia, 2014;Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2019) to decrease car ownership and use (Erikson et al., 2008;Gärling et al., 2009;Klementschitz et al., 2007). However, Leibling (2014) does not observe a decline in car ownership for residential areas in outer London as a result of reduced parking spaces due to lack of public transport access and land use diversity. ...
Article
In the pursuit of sustainability, the concept of ‘car-reduced neighborhoods’ promises to decrease car ownership and increase car-independent mobility. However, mobility is not only designed from ‘above’ by planners and policymakers, but also shaped from ‘below’ by its practitioners and their contexts. Only a few studies currently bring together the perspective from ‘above’ and ‘below’ regarding car-reduced neighborhoods. This article therefore combines both perspectives by contrasting the narratives and the mobility-related practices of two German car-reduced urban residential areas. Firstly, we conduct interviews with various actors involved in the planning and implementation of both neighborhoods to identify the narratives. Secondly, we interview the residents to determine the mobility-related practices. Finally, we compare both empirical investigations to analyze the commonalities and differences of the ‘planning vision’ and the ‘lived practice’ of car-free living, car-independent mobility, and restrictive car parking. Although this study identifies differences between the two perspectives, the discrepancy is smaller than evaluated in earlier studies. After relocating to a car-reduced neighborhood, residents tend to maintain, strengthen, and adapt car-independent mobility practices rather than weakening car-independent mobility practices and maintaining car-dependent ones. Thus, residents seem to be encouraged to drive less and to leave their cars parked for most of the time. However, relocating to a car-reduced neighborhood does not automatically initiate full demotorization. Furthermore, residents' parking practices also sometimes deviate from the planning vision. Consequently, the article concludes that overcoming the ‘system’ of automobility for a ‘post-car system’ requires continuous (i) material and (ii) immaterial change fostered by political and planning readiness, as well as local willingness and public acceptability. In this regard, car-reduced neighborhoods can be seen as blueprints for a mobility transition.
... Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2018, p. 5;Orvañanos Murguía, 2018, p. 10). In this research, the concept of "car-free" mobility is, aligned to Nieuwenhuijsen (2018), focusing on the reduction or even exclusion of the necessity of private cars within urban centres. At the same time, it does not implicate the outright elimination of all motorized vehicles (M. ...
Thesis
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Across the globe, urban areas experience the phenomena of rising road-congestion, air pollution and car accidents. These are just a few popular quantified effects that arise due to rapid, uncoordinated urbanization on a car-centric city layout. There is an urgent need to consider new concepts of urban mobility development to combat these negative effects. Car-free mobility is one notion adopted in diverse formats by numerous cities to create a more inclusive, just, healthy and sustainable urban life. The focus of this thesis is to ex- amine whether a car-free mobility concept is applicable to the Maun Science Park, Bot- swana. Therefore, the idea of car-free mobility, its positive aspects as well as its con- straints, are described first. This illustrates the complexity of urban transport planning as it is intertwined with urban land-use, political vision and people’s perceptions and behav- iors. Secondly, examples and strategies on how to change existing structures are pre- sented. Following this, the smart developments in the field of sustainable urban mobility are considered to provide an insight into their assets and drawbacks. Then the local mo- bility conditions are examined before the car-free concept is exemplarily applied to the Maun Science Park via scenario construction. These scenarios give a first vision of how a car-free concept can be applied to the MSP and additionally provide a starting point for future strategic planning as well as inspiration for other cities to follow along.
... Entrance fees to the city In the case of this solution, a fee may be charged for entering an area of the city with high car traffic, whereas other solutions do not discourage drivers from traveling using other means of transport than car [24]. Traffic ban on the streets in the city center This solution consists in preventing the entry of vehicles into the city area, which is a critical point on the road network (e.g. in Oslo [25]). In Poland, city authorities have so far not decided to charge for entering the city. ...
Article
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The transport accessibility of cities decreases with the increase in road traffic. Planners, traffic engineers, and road managers are looking for solutions thatwill reduce congestion on city streets without limiting transport accessibility to the city center. The article presents an overview of solutions used in Poland and abroad thataim to encourage people whotravel by car to the city center to use other means of transport. The solutions were identified that can contribute to reducing road traffic in the city without limiting its transport accessibility based on the area inventory in Krakow. The next part of the article analyzes the use of P&R parking and the bike-sharing Wavelo system in Krakow in 2018. The results of the conducted analyses indicate that the most entrances to the P&R parking in Krakow were in the morning hours, whereasthe most exits from these parking werein the afternoon. The holiday monthswere characterized by a lower use of parking space compared withthe remaining months. These conclusions may indicate that the people using the analyzed parkinglotsare mainly commuters. On the contrary, the analysis of the use of the bike-sharing Wavelosystem in Krakow allows for the conclusion that a large number of people used rental bikes for short journeys. These trips can complement the journeys made with the use of public transport or as a continuation of the journey after leaving the car in the P&R parking. Investments and development of this type of solutions may be an incentive for people traveling by car to use another means of transport.
... The above-mentioned types of actions are neither exhaustive nor exclusive, and may indeed overlap each other. Nieuwenhuijsen et al. (2018) elaborate further upon this and propose nine prerequisites for a car-free city, emphasizing the need also to include retailers and the car industry in the equation. In the end, however, no car use reduction measure will work voluntarily if people are not motivated to make a change . ...
Chapter
Motorized transport has been around for over a century and has benefited people in various ways. As awareness has increased of the negative effects of car use, efforts to reduce pollution, congestion, noise, and accidents have increased. Some cities have taken drastic measures to reduce the number of cars. The starting point of this chapter is a balanced intervention ladder that includes interventions that can either increase or decrease autonomy. The authors introduce the “three-dimensional balanced intervention ladder” as a framework that can be used to describe autonomy relating to reduced car use, balancing this against perceived accessibility and wellbeing. The consequences of travel mode changes have been substantially explored; however, the consequences with respect to accessibility and wellbeing in life have only recently been recognized. By reviewing current research, they identify knowledge gaps in the implementation of balanced interventions and make recommendations regarding the continued development based on autonomy, perceived accessibility, and wellbeing.
... As a result, many related environmental sectors such as energy or agriculture production have adjusted their practices in order to integrate sustainability (Elzen et al. 2004). Transport is no exception; in response to the numerous documented negative impacts of the transport networks specifically designed for automobility (noise, air pollution, public health degradation, urban sprawl, traffic, social inequity, etc; Nieuwenhuijsen et al. 2019), the concept of sustainable transport1 has emerged and several definitions were proposed (Gudmundsson et al. 2016). The definition adopted in this paper is that of Holden et al. (2013) where sustainable transport is defined as a system of transport that safeguards long-term ecological sustainability, satisfies basic human needs and promotes intragenerational and intergenerational equity. ...
Article
Transport decision processes have traditionally applied cost–benefit analysis (CBA) with benefits mainly relating to time-savings, and costs relating to infrastructure and maintenance costs. However, a shift toward more sustainable practices was initiated over the last decades to remedy the many negative impacts of automobility. As a result, decision processes related to transport projects have become more complex due to the multidimensional aspects and to the variety of stakeholders involved, often with conflicting points of view. To support rigourous decision-making, multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) is, in addition to CBA, often used by governments and cities. However, there is still no consensus in the transport field regarding a preferred method that can integrate sustainability principles. This paper presents a descriptive literature review related to MCDA and CBA in the field of transport. Among the 66 considered papers, we identified the perceived strengths and weaknesses of CBA and MCDA, the different ways to combine them and the ability of each method to support sustainable transport decision processes. We further analysed the results based on four types of rationality (objectivist, conformist, adjustive, and reflexive). Our results show that both methods can help improve the decision processes and that, depending on the rationality adopted, the perceived strengths and weaknesses of MCDA and CBA can vary. Nonetheless, we observe that by adopting a more global and holistic perspective and by facilitating the inclusion of a participative process, MCDA, or a combination of both methods, emerge as the more promising appraisal methods for sustainable transport.
... For a daily commuter, public transport vehicles (e.g., buses, trains, and ferries) are cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternatives, providing easy access to major urban joints and alleviating the user from parking worries. On top of that, policymakers are working hard to achieve car-free cities [6], [7] through subsidies and awareness campaigns. In spite of these, the shift in the commuting mode is sluggish [8]- [10] and the transportation sector is in desperate need of a game changer. ...
Article
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Millimeter-wave (mmWave) transmission over the unlicensed 60 GHz spectrum is a potential solution to realize high-speed internet access, even inside mass transit vehicles. The solution involves communication between users and a mmWave-band on-board unit which aggregates/ disseminates data streams from/ to commuters, and maintains connection with the nearest terrestrial network infrastructure node. In this paper, we provide a measurement-based channel model for 60 GHz mmWave propagation inside a typical inter-city bus. The model characterizes power delay profile (PDP) of the wireless intra-vehicular channel and is derived from about a thousand data sets measured within the bus. The proposed analytical model is further translated into a simple simulation algorithm which generates in-vehicle channel PDPs. Different goodness-of-fit tests confirm that the simulated PDPs are in good agreement with the measured data. Finally, a tapped-delay-line (TDL) channel model is formulated from the proposed PDP model, and the TDL model is used to study bit error rate (BER) performance of mmWave link inside bus under varying data rates and link lengths.
Technical Report
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שינוי הפירמידה התחבורתית שחל בעת האחרונה במשרד התחבורה ובקרב מספר רב של רשויות מקומיות מציב את הולכי הרגל בראש סדר העדיפויו ת. כדי ליישם זאת נדרשי ם כלי תכנון ויישום קונקרטיים כדי לקדם את ההליכה הרגלית ואת הולכי והולכות הרגל מכלל הגילאים במגוון המרחבים הבנויים בישראל. חברת נתיבי איילון הפועלת מזה זמן רב במרחבים אורבניים מורכבי ם עם שלל פרוייקטים תחבורתיים המקדמים תחבורה ב ת-קיימא )כגון פרוייקט קישוריות לתחנות מתע"ן, פרוייקט מהיר לעיר, פרוייקט האופנידן ועוד( נענתה לאתגר זה ויצרה מסמך עקרונות בנושא ערים מוטו ת-הליכה, וכיצד ניתן להפוך את הערים הקיימות בישראל לכאלה. מסמך זה נכתב במטרה לשמש ככלי מפתח לקידום וביצוע פרוייקטים מוטי הליכה הן ברמה אזורית והן ברמה המקומי ת במרקמים עירוניים קיימים. מסמך זה כולל סקר ספרות בעברית המפרט את השינוי בגישה לנוכחות הרכב הפרטי במרחב העירוני לאורך השני ם, לא רק בישראל. שינוי זה בא לידי ביטוי הן בדגשים התכנוניים והתחבורתיים והן במחוייבות הציבורית לטובת עידוד ההליכה והשהייה במרחבים העירונים באופן מכיל ונעים למגוון אוכלוסיות. לצד סקר הספרות מפורט המצב הקיים בישראל בתחום ההזדמנויות והצורך בקידום הנושא. בהמשך מוצגות תועלות ישירות ועקיפות והצדקים לפרויקטים עירוניים מוטי הולכי רגל לצד הפניות למסמכים בינ"ל בנושא.
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This paper examines (i) the state of environmental conditions in two low-income urban communities in Accra, Ghana, using a Partic-ipatory Rapid Assessment (PRA) method, and (ii) changes in the environmental conditions in the two low-income communities over the years using the PRA method. The PRA was augmented with qualitative interviews with selected heads of household and other stakeholders from the study communities. The results showed that environmental conditions in the two study communities were poor as indicated by the computed average scores for the environmental problem areas. However, conditions were poorer in Chor-kor compared to La. The paper recommends that local governments units in Ghana must prioritise sustained, improved, and reliable funding for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) to ensure undisruptive implementation of environmental health programs and policies. This must be accompanied by improved community education and sensitization on proper sanitary practices, which have the potential to mitigate the effects of disease epidemics such as cholera in the two communities. The study also provides important perspectives on differentials in environmental conditions in low-income communities in urban Ghana.
Article
Many cities have adopted plans or policies to attain sustainable transportation objectives, including the redesign and rehabilitation of streets that favor active and public transportation. However, the implementation of any sustainable transportation plan is often riddled with various organizational and communicational obstacles. In order to understand the reasons behind these obstacles, a qualitative research study was conducted with professionals employed in eleven cities, ranging in size from 40,000 to 500,000 inhabitants, in the province of Quebec, Canada. The objective was to paint a picture of current decision-making practices, to describe the characteristics of the participants’ ideal decision-making process and to explore the suitability of spatial multicriteria decision support systems within sustainable transportation planning. Based on the findings, a series of guidelines are proposed to improve the integration of sustainable transportation concepts in street rejuvenation decision-making process.
Article
Car ownership is linked to higher car use, which leads to important environmental, social and health consequences. As car ownership keeps increasing in most countries, it remains relevant to examine what factors and policies can help contain this growth. This paper uses an advanced spatial econometric modeling framework to investigate spatial dependences in household car ownership rates measured at fine geographical scales using administrative data of registered vehicles and census data of household counts for the Island of Montreal, Canada. The use of a finer level of spatial resolution allows for the use of more explanatory variables than previous aggregate models of car ownership. Theoretical considerations and formal testing suggested the choice of the Spatial Durbin Error Model (SDEM) as an appropriate modeling option. The final model specification includes sociodemographic and built environment variables supported by theory and achieves a Nagelkerke pseudo-R ² of 0.93. Despite the inclusion of those variables the spatial linear models with and without lagged explanatory variables still exhibit residual spatial dependence. This indicates the presence of unobserved autocorrelated factors influencing car ownership rates. Model results indicate that sociodemographic variables explain much of the variance, but that built environment characteristics, including transit level of service and local commercial accessibility (e.g., to grocery stores) are strongly and negatively associated with neighborhood car ownership rates. Comparison of estimates between the SDEM and a non-spatial model indicates that failing to control for spatial dependence leads to an overestimation of the strength of the direct influence of built environment variables.
Article
Within a highly motorized context, urban public transit (PT) agencies have been trying to find effective ways to increase PT ridership, which is important in ridership retention and attraction. This study is designed to examine how perceived service quality, perceived value, corporate image, satisfaction, and complaints interact to influence passengers’ loyalty to PT, on the basis of a passenger segmentation approach according to the extent to which passengers are satisfied and dissatisfied with PT, i.e., a cross satisfaction-and-complaints classification approach. A four-step analysis procedure consisting of exploratory factor analysis, structural equation model, latent class cluster analysis, and multigroup SEM, is proposed. Passengers are segmented into three subgroups, each profiled by distinctive feature associated with passengers’ satisfaction and complaints about PT service. The multigroup analysis reveals significant differences about the relationships between factors of interest across the three subgroups. It is expected that the results would provide useful implications for transit agencies to enhance the passengers’ loyalty, where customized marketing measures and strategies towards groups holding diverse satisfaction and complaints with PT are necessary.
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Cities are centres of innovation and wealth creation, but also hotspots of air pollution and noise, heat island effects and lack of green space, which are all detrimental to human health. They are also hotspots of COVID19. COVID19 has led to a rethink of urban public space. Therefore, is it time to re-think our urban models and reduce the health burden? We provide a narrative meta-review around a number of cutting edge and visionary urban models that that may affect health and that have been reported over the past few years. New urban concepts such as the Superblocks, the low traffic neighbourhood, 15 Minute city, Car free city or a mixture of these that may go some way in reducing the health burden related to current urban and transport practices. They will reduce air pollution and noise, heat island effects and increase green space and physical activity levels. What is still lacking though is a thorough evaluation of the effectiveness and acceptability of the schemes and the impacts on not only health, but also liveability and sustainability, although they are expected to be positive. Finally, the COVID19 pandemic may accelerate these developments and stimulus funding like the EU Next Generation funding should be used to make these changes.
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Städtische Mobilität ist seit Jahrzehnten geprägt von motorisiertem Individualverkehr (MIV). Autos prägen die Gestaltung, das Leben und die Fortbewegung in unseren Städten. Das eigene Auto ist für viele Städter*innen das schnellste und komfortabelste Verkehrsmittel. Das Transportieren von Gegenständen und Personen ist mit dem PKW vermeintlich am einfachsten gewährleistet. Insbesondere seit der Corona Pandemie hat für viele Menschen das eigene Auto an neuem Wert gewonnen, denn es bietet einen individuellen Schutzraum vor Krankheitserregern und man kann gleichzeitig unabhängig mobil sein. Verbrennungsmotoren oder Reifenabrieb sind jedoch Ursache für diverse umwelt-und gesundheitsschädliche Schadstoffe, unter anderem Feinstaub (PM), Stickstoffoxid (NOx) und CO2. Zudem wird öffentlicher städtischer Raum durch ruhenden Verkehr besetzt und steht nicht für andere Zwecke wie Fahrradfahren oder Erholung zur Verfügung. Doch der Stellenwert des Autos in unseren Städten hat sich in den letzten Jahren gewandelt. Das Fahrradoder zu Fuß gehen gewinnt nicht zuletzt durch die Corona Pandemie an starkem Zulauf. Autofreie Konzepte, sowohl von Stadtbewohner*innen initiiert als auch auf städtischer Ebene geplant, sind vermehrt in den letzten Jahren in Deutschland diskutiert, geplant und auch umgesetzt worden. Insbesonderediskutiertwerden der Nutzen von autoreduzierten Städten für die Erreichung der Klimaziele, für gesündere und lebenswertere Stadträume und Flächengerechtigkeit. Neben bereits vielfach umgesetzten Push-und Pull-Maßnahmen, wie bspw. die Parkraumbewirtschaftung, gibt es zunehmendgroßflächigere Projekt(-ideen) für autoreduzierte Städte, sowohl auf Quartiers-als auch auf gesamtstädtischer Ebene. Doch wie sehen solche Projekte aus und wie werden sie umgesetzt? Welche Chancen und Hemmnisse gibt es in ihrer Umsetzung? Und inwieweit können sie zu einer lebenswerteren und gesünderen Stadt beitragen? Diesen Fragen hat sich ein Team von 18 interdisziplinären Bachelor-und Master-Studierenden im Rahmen eines forschenden Lernen Seminars (Q-Team) an der Humboldt Universität Berlin im Wintersemester 2020/2021 gewidmet. Die Studierenden haben als Urban Explorersdie Mobilität in Berlin und die Wirkungen der sie umgebenden Umwelt (Grün, Ästhetik, Abgase, Lärm) exploriert, Konzepteund Projekte zu autoarmen Wohngebieten und Quartieren diskutiert und Möglichkeiten eines autofreien Berlin erörtert. Dabei haben Fachexpert*innen Input zu verschiedenen räumlichen Ebenen von autofreien/-armen Konzepten gegeben. Die Studierenden erarbeiteten darauf aufbauend im Hauptteil des Seminars selbstständig und in Gruppen eine eigene Forschungsfrage zum Thema, entwickelten ein Forschungsdesign und setzten dieses in einer empirischen Phase ab Anfang Januar 2021 um. Die in diesem Sammelband erschienenen Kapitel sind die Ergebnisse der Studierenden-Projekte. Sie diskutieren aktuelle Maßnahmen, Perspektiven und Potentiale autofreier Konzepte am Beispiel Berlin.
Chapter
Greater possibilities of owning a car change the behavior of road users who use this means of transport more and more frequently when traveling. Traffic managers in the city are looking for solutions, the implementation of which may contribute to discouraging travel by car or encourage the use of alternative means of transport. For this purpose, city authorities in Poland are introducing Paid Parking Zones (PPZ), which also contribute to increasing the availability of parking spaces in the city center for a larger number of drivers. Traffic conditions near the parking are decreasing, due to the traffic generated by drivers of an empty parking space. Dynamic Parking Information (DPI) is used to reduce this problem. The purpose of which is to inform drivers about available parking spaces. The chapter presents the characteristics of PPZ and DPI in GZM cities. Next, isochrones of pedestrian accessibility for parking covered by DPI were determined. The pedestrian accessibility maps indicate that in the case of the analyzed parking in Gliwice (covered by PPZ and DPI), there are facilities nearby that do not require long-term stops from drivers. In the case of the analyzed parking in Piekary Śląskie (covered by DPI, without PPZ), the analyzed pedestrian accessibility variants include facilities that may encourage long-term parking. The analysis was performed as a part of research work entitled “Analysis of parking characteristics in the conditions of PPZ and DPI functioning in selected areas of GZM cities”.
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Mobilitätsangeboten in Wohnquartieren wird ein großes Potenzial für die Lösung von Verkehrsproblemen in Städten und für eine flächeneffiziente, nachhaltige Verkehrs- und Siedlungsentwicklung zugesprochen. Dieser Beitrag greift diese Diskussion auf und stellt auf Basis einer deutschlandweiten Expertenbefragung Erfahrungen und Einschätzungen unterschiedlicher Akteursgruppen aus der Praxis mit Mobilitätsangeboten in Wohnquartieren, deren Wirkungen auf Flächeneffizienz und Verkehrsaufkommen sowie mögliche Motive und Herausforderungen bei der Umsetzung vor.
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Changing travel behaviour requires a precise understanding of the decision-making processes at work in households, in order to target public policies more effectively. The objective of this paper is to conduct a literature review to identify new research directions in the field of household demotorization, defined as the process of reducing car ownership at the individual household level. We identify three main contributions in the current literature, concerning firstly the quantification of household demotorization, secondly the influence of key events and travel socialisation on the decision to demotorize, and thirdly the role of certain transportation policies. The fourth, concluding section of the paper identifies policy implications and proposes new challenges for research in this field, which we believe deserves greater attention in the near future.
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Despite limited experience with Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs), the general public has been developing beliefs and attitudes about them. These expected benefits, concerns, trust, and other psychological factors play an important role in the way of accepting and adopting this new technology and as such should be available to various stakeholders. This study surveys the Czech public perceptions and attitudes relevant to policy-making in the area of CAVs. Between November 2017 and January 2018, a representative survey was conducted among the general population in the Czech Republic. Overall, 1 065 randomly selected persons aged above 15 were personally interviewed. The sample, there were 523 (49%) women; the average age was 50 years (SD = 17). Results showed that more than 65% of participants (i.e. 693) heard about CAVs before the survey. At the same time, 87% of the respondents with previous knowledge of the topic (i.e. 586) declared only limited awareness regarding CAVs. When it comes to the general opinion on CAVs, almost 40% of the respondents stated "rather positive" or "very positive" view. Also, more than 50% of the respondents associated wide usage of CAVs with better traffic safety. The majority of those sharing the negative opinion was members of an older generation, achieved a lower educational level and having lower household income. When it comes to the policy recommendations, the first wave of implementation should focus on applications in the more structured and controlled environment such as airports or metro.
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Objective: To determine the implications of car ownership for physical activity and weight in a global city. Design: Quasi-experimental cross sectional study. Setting: Beijing, China, 2011-15. Participants: People aged 18 and older from a random sample of households who had entered a permit lottery to purchase a vehicle between January 2011 and November 2015. Interventions: Permit allowing purchase of a vehicle within six months of permit issuance. Main outcome measures: Transit use (number of subway and bus rides each week), physical activity (minutes of walking or bicycling each day), and weight, measured once in early 2016. Results: Of 937 people analysed in total, 180 had won a permit to purchase a new vehicle. Winning the permit lottery resulted in the purchase of an additional vehicle 91% of the time (95% confidence interval 89% to 94%; P<0.001). About five years after winning, winners took significantly fewer weekly transit rides (-2.9 rides (-5.1 to -0.7); P=0.01) and walked and cycled significantly less (-24.2 minutes (-40.3 to -8.1); P=0.003) than those who did not win the lottery. Average weight did not change significantly between lottery winners and losers. Among those aged 50 and older, however, winners' weight had increased relative to that of losers (10.3 kg (0.5 to 20.2); P=0.04) 5.1 years after winning. Conclusions: These data indicate that vehicle ownership in a rapidly growing global city led to long term reductions in physical activity and increase in weight. Continuing increases in car use and ownership in developing and middle income countries could adversely affect physical health and obesity rates.
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Children’s independent mobility (CIM) on school days (weekdays) and on the weekend are examined in this study. Previous studies have focused primarily on weekday trips, with a vast majority only examining trips to school. However, the types of trips and the available time differ between weekdays and weekends. Weekday trips are more regular and possibly more local, whereas on the weekend the children may have more free time (i.e., no school) to engage in activities. Parents (as a group) are also less likely to have work obligations, and thus potentially more time, on the weekend. Theoretically, each context for the weekend could facilitate more independent or active mode trips. Nonetheless, this may be linked to whether destinations are local, which is linked to the built environment. Using origin–destination data (2011) for the City of Québec, this paper will expand knowledge in the field of children’s travel by examining all trips during a weekday (n = 979) and weekend (n = 315) for children aged 9 to 11 across five built environment types. The findings show that weekend trips are rarely independent, and that the key explanatory factors for greater CIM are shorter distances, having an older sibling, and more urban environments. Other sociodemographic variables were not significant or were inconsistent between the two types of weekday.
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This book has brought together people from different sectors and disciplines including urban and transport planning, environment, public health and social sciences to document how urban and transport planning and related environmental exposures affect health and what could be the solutions to create healthier cities. Although the language and terminology used at times differ substantially, the main messages that come across are that improvements in urban and transport planning are essential and possible to improve public health.
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Transport Justice develops a new paradigm for transportation planning based on principles of justice. Author Karel Martens starts from the observation that for the last fifty years the focus of transportation planning and policy has been on the performance of the transport system and ways to improve it, without much attention being paid to the persons actually using – or failing to use – that transport system. There are far-reaching consequences of this approach, with some enjoying the fruits of the improvements in the transport system, while others have experienced a substantial deterioration in their situation. The growing body of academic evidence on the resulting disparities in mobility and accessibility, have been paralleled by increasingly vocal calls for policy changes to address the inequities that have developed over time. Drawing on philosophies of social justice, Transport Justice argues that governments have the fundamental duty of providing virtually every person with adequate transportation and thus of mitigating the social disparities that have been created over the past decades. Critical reading for transport planners and students of transportation planning, this book develops a new approach to transportation planning that takes people as its starting point, and justice as its end.
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Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, and Zurich – the largest cities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland – have significantly reduced the car share of trips over the past 25 years in spite of high motorisation rates. The key to their success has been a coordinated package of mutually reinforcing transport and land-use policies that have made car use slower, less convenient, and more costly, while increasing the safety, convenience, and feasibility of walking, cycling, and public transport. The mix of policies implemented in each city has been somewhat different. The German cities have done far more to promote cycling, while Zurich and Vienna offer more public transport service per capita at lower fares. All five of the cities have implemented roughly the same policies to promote walking, foster compact mixed-use development, and discourage car use. Of the car-restrictive policies, parking management has been by far the most important. The five case study cities demonstrate that it is possible to reduce car dependence even in affluent societies with high levels of car ownership and high expectations for quality of travel.
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Background The majority of people live in cities and urbanization is continuing worldwide. Cities have long been known to be society’s predominant engine of innovation and wealth creation, yet they are also a main source of pollution and disease. Methods We conducted a review around the topic urban and transport planning, environmental exposures and health and describe the findings. Results Within cities there is considerable variation in the levels of environmental exposures such as air pollution, noise, temperature and green space. Emerging evidence suggests that urban and transport planning indicators such as road network, distance to major roads, and traffic density, household density, industry and natural and green space explain a large proportion of the variability. Personal behavior including mobility adds further variability to personal exposures, determines variability in green space and UV exposure, and can provide increased levels of physical activity. Air pollution, noise and temperature have been associated with adverse health effects including increased morbidity and premature mortality, UV and green space with both positive and negative health effects and physical activity with many health benefits. In many cities there is still scope for further improvement in environmental quality through targeted policies. Making cities ‘green and healthy’ goes far beyond simply reducing CO2 emissions. Environmental factors are highly modifiable, and environmental interventions at the community level, such as urban and transport planning, have been shown to be promising and more cost effective than interventions at the individual level. However, the urban environment is a complex interlinked system. Decision-makers need not only better data on the complexity of factors in environmental and developmental processes affecting human health, but also enhanced understanding of the linkages to be able to know at which level to target their actions. New research tools, methods and paradigms such as geographical information systems, smartphones, and other GPS devices, small sensors to measure environmental exposures, remote sensing and the exposome paradigm together with citizens observatories and science and health impact assessment can now provide this information. Conclusion While in cities there are often silos of urban planning, mobility and transport, parks and green space, environmental department, (public) health department that do not work together well enough, multi-sectorial approaches are needed to tackle the environmental problems. The city of the future needs to be a green city, a social city, an active city, a healthy city. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12940-016-0108-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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In the last decades research on the determinants of travel behaviour has been guided by the assumption that this behaviour is the result of reasoned and conscious intention. However, research on its habitual nature provides strong evidence that travel behaviour is also influenced by automatic impulsive processes activated by situational cues outside conscious awareness. This dual-system perspective has important implications for the development of interventions aiming to promote car-use reduction. Such interventions are probably most effective if they simultaneously attempt to change the contents of the reflective system, block the automatic activation of car-use habits, and create situational and dispositional circumstances that are conducive for effective self-regulation of behaviour change. Based on this insight prototypical intervention types are presented targeting changes in the content of the reflective system and blocking the automatic activation of car-use habits.
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The purpose of this paper is to model the travel behaviour of socially disadvantaged population segments in the United Kingdom (UK) using the data from the UK National Travel Survey 2002–2010. This was achieved by introducing additional socioeconomic variables into a standard national-level trip end model (TEM) and using purpose-based analysis of the travel behaviours of certain key socially disadvantaged groups. Specifically the paper aims to explore how far the economic and social disadvantages of these individuals can be used to explain the inequalities in their travel behaviours. The models demonstrated important differences in travel behaviours according to household income, presence of children in the household, possession of a driver’s licence and belonging to a vulnerable population group, such as being disabled, non-white or having single parent household status. In the case of household income, there was a non-linear relationship with trip frequency and a linear one with distance travelled. The recent economic austerity measures that have been introduced in the UK and many other European countries have led to major cutbacks in public subsidies for socially necessary transport services, making results such as these increasingly important for transport policy decision-making. The results indicate that the inclusion of additional socioeconomic variables is useful for identifying significant differences in the trip patterns and distances travelled by low-income.
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Background: The recent diesel scandal has again highlighted the impact that the transport sector can have on public health. Aim: To describe the current impact of transport planning on public health. Result: Transport is fundamental to our cities' economic and social development, but causes large health effects and impact through accidents, air pollution, noise, green space and lack of physical activity. Conclusion: There is an urgent need to rebalance and provide better and safer infrastructures and policy support for transport, and particularly, active transport modes, building a new culture for it. A parallel transition in transport and urban planning is needed to improve, in a global and structural way, the relations between urban mobility and health.
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Active travel can contribute to physical activity achieved over a day. Previous studies have examined active travel associated with trips in various western countries, but few studies have examined this question for the Asian context. Japan has high levels of cycling, walking and public transport, similar to The Netherlands. Most studies have focused either on children or on adults separately, however, having children in a household will change the travel needs and wants of that household. Thus, here a household lifecycle stage approach is applied. Further, unlike many previous studies, the active travel related to public transport is included. Lastly, further to examining whether the built environment has an influence on the accumulation of active travel minutes, a binary logistic regression examines the built environment’s influence on the World Health Organization’s recommendations of physical activity. The findings suggest that there is a clear distinction between the urbanized centers and the surrounding towns and unurbanized areas. Further, active travel related to public transport trips is larger than pure walking trips. Females and children are more likely to achieve the WHO recommendations. Finally, car ownership is a strong negative influence.
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The majority of mothers in Japan are not employed outside the home, but their role in chauffeuring and accompanying children on their trips is much less than in Western societies. Cultural expectations and the built environment in the Osaka region of Japan contribute to children as young as 10 and 11 traveling without adult accompaniment for the majority of trips. This independent travel in turn reduces the chauffeuring burden on parents. The chauffeuring of children in the United States and other Western countries is conducted mostly by mothers, but the role of mothers in the travel context of their children’s travel has not been investigated for Japan. Children ages 10 and 11, from nine different schools in varying neighborhoods, were surveyed about their travel by using a child-friendly diary. The survey results show that parents accompanied children for less than 15% of their trips on weekdays, whereas data from the United States indicate that children are accompanied by a parent on more than 65% of weekday trips they make. The average daily travel time was 40 min for children in Japan versus 72 min for their American counterparts, despite a similar number of trips per day. The paper further examines children’s trips with the accompaniment of parents, by sex of parent, by time of day and mode, and by destination. The influence of various built environment measurements and car ownership on accompaniment and the accumulated time burden on parents is also examined. This research contributes to land use planning through examining the built environment and mobility management through discussion on cultural values.
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Where do neighborhoods come from and why do certain resources and effects--such as social capital and collective efficacy--bundle together in some neighborhoods and not in others? From the Ground Up argues that neighborhood communities emerge from neighbor networks, and shows that these social relations are unique because of particular geographic qualities. Highlighting the linked importance of geography and children to the emergence of neighborhood communities, Rick Grannis models how neighboring progresses through four stages: when geography allows individuals to be conveniently available to one another; when they have passive contacts or unintentional encounters; when they actually initiate contact; and when they engage in activities indicating trust or shared norms and values. Seamlessly integrating discussions of geography, household characteristics, and lifestyle, Grannis demonstrates that neighborhood communities exhibit dynamic processes throughout the different stages. He examines the households that relocate in order to choose their neighbors, the choices of interactions that develop, and the exchange of beliefs and influence that impact neighborhood communities over time. Grannis also introduces and explores two geographic concepts--t-communities and street islands--to capture the subtle features constraining residents' perceptions of their environment and community. Basing findings on thousands of interviews conducted through door-to-door canvassing in the Los Angeles area as well as other neighborhood communities, From the Ground Up reveals the different ways neighborhoods function and why these differences matter.
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Many studies conducted during the last decade suggest the mental health benefits of green and blue spaces. We aimed to systematically review the available literature on the long-term mental health benefits of residential green and blue spaces by including studies that used standardized tools or objective measures of both the exposures and the outcomes of interest. We followed the PRISMA statement guidelines for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analysis. In total 28 studies were included in the systematic review. We found limited evidence for a causal relationship between surrounding greenness and mental health in adults, whereas the evidence was inadequate in children. The evidence was also inadequate for the other exposures evaluated (access to green spaces, quality of green spaces, and blue spaces) in both adults and children. The main limitation was the limited number of studies, together with the heterogeneity regarding exposure assessment. Given the increase in mental health problems and the current rapid urbanization worldwide, results of the present systematic review should be taken into account in future urban planning. However, further research is needed to provide more consistent evidence and more detailed information on the mechanisms and the characteristics of the green and blue spaces that promote better mental health. We provide recommendations for future studies in order to provide consistent and evidence-based recommendations for policy makers.
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Jong Youl Lee and Chad Anderson, “The Impact of the Restored Cheongyecheon on Quality of Life in Seoul,” Journal of Urban Technology, October 2013, 20(4): 3-22. Conservative mayor of Seoul, Lee Myung-bak, oversaw a project to restore the Cheonggyecheon stream from 2003 to 2005. The purpose of the restoration was to improve the quality of cultural and environmental life in central Seoul, thus making the urban environment more attractive for residents while creating a more favorable economic climate. The restoration was based on a top-down vision but leaders tried to win over residents by providing broad benefits. The project improved the air quality in the area, provided more green space and an artificial urban waterway, improved traffic flow through the area, and has contributed to the improvement of Seoul's image and helped promote its tourism. On the other hand, the project went over budget, met some protest, promoted gentrification, and involved more of an historical and environmental reimagining than a restoration. The perceived success of the project helped Mayor Lee win the presidency, but he was unable to replicate the project on a nationwide scale and the new environmental/cultural development model heralded by the project has quickly receded, replaced by a new focus on welfare.
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The ongoing growth of car traffic threatens the environment and urban quality oflife. Therefore, more policies aimed at reducing car use seem to be warranted toovercome these problems. In this paper, we examine whether reducing car use can beexplained from a moral point of view, because car use can be seen as a specific type ofprosocial behaviour. A commonly used model that deals with morals and pro-socialbehaviour is the Norm Activation Model (NAM; Schwartz, 1977). The NAM postulatesthat personal norms (PN) are activated when someone acknowledges that not actingprosocially will lead to negative consequences for others (Awareness of Consequences;AC) and when someone feels responsible for these negative consequences (Ascription ofResponsibility; AR). If the actor fails to activate PN, no actions will be recognized asappropriate and no prosocial action will follow. We examine to what extent AC, AR andPN as described in the NAM are successful in explaining the 1) acceptability of astringent policy measure to reduce car use (i.e., doubling the cost of car use) , and, 2)intention to reduce car use when this policy would be implemented. In contrast toprevious studies, we test the NAM by including egoistic, altruistic and biospheric valuesas well. An Internet survey among 490 respondents from different countries confirmedthe causal order of the variables in the NAM. As expected, PN mediated the relationshipbetween AR and acceptability of the policy and intention to reduce car use. Furthermore,as hypothesized, AR mediated the relationship between AC and PN. And, finally, ACmediated the relationship between biospheric values and AR. Implications andrecommendations for developing, adjusting or supplementing policies to reduce car useare discussed as to guarantee effective and efficient policy making.
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Increasing epidemiological studies have shown that a rapid temperature change within 1 day is an independent risk factor for human health. This paper aimed to systematically review the epidemiological evidence on the relationship between diurnal temperature range (DTR) and human health and to propose future research directions. A literature search was conducted in October 2013 using the databases including PubMed, ScienceDirect, and EBSCO. Empirical studies regarding the relationship between DTR and mortality and morbidity were included. Twenty-five relevant studies were identified, among which, 11 investigated the relationship between DTR and mortality and 14 examined the impact of DTR on morbidity. The majority of existing studies reported that DTR was significantly associated with mortality and morbidity, particularly for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Notably, compared with adults, the elderly and children were more vulnerable to DTR effects. However, there were some inconsistencies regarding the susceptible groups, lag time, and threshold of DTR. The impact of DTR on human health may be confounded or modified by season, socioeconomic, and educational status. Further research is needed to further confirm the adverse effects of DTR in different geographical locations; examine the effects of DTR on the health of children aged one or under; explore extreme DTR effects on human health; analyze the difference of DTR effects on human health in different locations and the modified effects of potential confounding factors; and develop detailed preventive measures against large DTR, particularly for susceptible groups.
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The late 1990s and early 2000s witnessed a growing interest amongst UK academics and policy makers in the issue of transport disadvantage and, more innovatively, how this might relate to growing concerns about the social exclusion of low income groups and communities. Studies (predominantly in the United Kingdom) began to make more explicit the links policy between poverty, transport disadvantage, access to key services and economic and social exclusion (see for example Church and Frost, 2000; TRaC, 2000; Lucas et al., 2001; Kenyon 2003; Kenyon et al., 2003; Hodgson and Turner, 2003; Raje, 2003).
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It has been reported that motor vehicle emissions contribute nearly a quarter of world energy-related greenhouse gases and cause nonnegligible air pollution primarily in urban areas. Reducing car use and increasing ecofriendly alternative transport, such as public and active transport, are efficient approaches to mitigate harmful environmental impacts caused by a large amount of vehicle use. Besides the environmental benefits of promoting alternative transport, it can also induce other health and economic benefits. At present, a number of studies have been conducted to evaluate cobenefits from greenhouse gas mitigation policies. However, relatively few have focused specifically on the transport sector. A comprehensive understanding of the multiple benefits of alternative transport could assist with policy making in the areas of transport, health, and environment. However, there is no straightforward method which could estimate cobenefits effect at one time. In this paper, the links between vehicle emissions and air quality, as well as the health and economic benefits from alternative transport use, are considered, and methodological issues relating to the modelling of these cobenefits are discussed.
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Transport demand models play a crucial role in the distribution of transport facilities, and hence accessibility, over population groups. The goal of this article is to assess the distributive impacts of the widely-used four-step, demand-based, transport model. This article starts from the hypothesis that the consecutive application of the four-step model over a number of years, and successive investments in transport infrastructure consistent with the model results, will widen existing gaps between high-mobile and low-mobile groups, in terms of transport facilities and accessibility available to each group. A simplified four-step model is then developed to test the hypothesis under different policy scenarios. The results are mixed. In each scenario, gaps between high-mobile and low-mobile groups are increasing and decreasing at the same time. Against expectations, the distributive implications of demand-based modelling seem to depend on the situation and the focus of analysis. Given the unpredictable distributive impacts, it is suggested that explicit justice indicators be incorporated in transport modelling if it is to contribute to a more just distribution of transport facilities and accessibility over population groups.
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This book has presented a case that automobile dependence is ending. It rose, it peaked, and it is now in decline. This represents the fall of one of the most transformative urban planning paradigms the world has ever seen, certainly of the twentieth century. It suggests that this is happening because of a combination of limits due to space and time as well as resources like oil, but most importantly because of economic and cultural change that is favoring more-intensive modes of transportation (rail, cycling, and walking) that thrive, along with the rapidly growing people-intensive economy, in areas with more intensive land use. In other words, these cultural and economic changes are happening in walking and transit city fabrics, but not in automobile city fabrics.
Chapter
The transport system, together with the land use-system allows people to participate in activities at different places, and transport goods between different locations. In case of people: it allows us to travel to work, friends and relatives, amenities, health care services, shops, schools, and many more destinations. This results in important economic and other accessibility related benefits for society. Despite the increasing awareness of the relationships between transport and health, there is no systematic overview of policies to influence the impact of the transport system on health. This chapter aims to reduce this knowledge gap. It is beyond the aims of this chapter to discuss all policies, but focuses on one important and less researched category: land use policies. Land use policies are the most relevant to the scope of the book (which is on urban development) in which this chapter is included. More specifically this chapter aims to answer the question: How can land use policies influence the impact of travel behavior on health? KeywordsTravel BehaviorInfluence Mode ChoiceInfluence LandPeople TravelParking PoliciesThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Article
Background Urban transport related exposures and practices are associated with a significant burden of morbidity and premature mortality, which could be prevented by changing current practices. Cities now have access to an increasingly wide range of transport policy measures which continue to expand. However, the health impacts of these measures are not always explicitly defined or well understood and therefore may not be sufficiently considered when selecting policy measures. Aims The aim of this paper is to qualitatively review 64 different transport policy measures indexed in the Knowledgebase on Sustainable Urban Land use and Transport (KonSULT), and provide an indication of their potential health impacts, based on expert judgment. Results We report that key health impacts of transport occur via pathways of motor vehicle crashes, traffic-related air pollution, noise, heat islands, lack of green space, physical inactivity, climate change and social exclusion and community severance. We systematically describe the expected health impacts of transport policy measures sourced from KonSULT and find that many, but not all, can have a positive impact on health. The magnitude of both the positive and negative impacts remains largely unknown and warrants further research and synthesis. Conclusions Urban transport is responsible for a large mortality and morbidity burden and policy measures that are beneficial to health need to be implemented to reduce this burden. There are considerable differences between these policy measures in terms of potential health impacts and this should be considered in any transport planning. It is important to monitor the health impacts of all policy measures to provide further evidence on whether they work as expected or not, to ensure that the most cost-effective solutions, with the largest benefits and the smallest health risks, are being adopted.
Article
Understanding children’s travel is an important part of drawing a complete picture of over-all well-being in society. Children’s active travel to school, independent travel, transport and physical activity, and crashes have been reviewed, yet it may not be a complete picture. If research on children’s travel has the ultimate goal of improving children’s well-being, there is currently no general synthesis on the research linking transport and child well-being. This integrative review asks, “what evidence is there that transport affects child well-being?” It organizes the findings by two key measures: the domain of well-being and the transport means-of-influence. The five main domains of child well-being are: physical, psychological, cognitive, social, and economic. The three means of transport influence are: as access, intrinsic, or external. Findings are identified as being consistent, inconsistent, or one-off (e.g. only one study). The results show that transport plays a role in all domains of children’s well-being. Most benefits identified are associated with active travel and independent travel. Most negative impacts are associated with traffic. While numerous one-off results exist which suggest that there may be many other impacts, research that repeats prior work is needed to support or refute these such results. Finally, potential relationships between transport and well-being are suggested.
Article
Introduction: Urban and transport planning have large impacts on public health, but these are generally not explicitly considered and/or quantified, partly because there are no comprehensive models, methods and tools readily available. Air pollution, noise, temperature, green space, motor vehicle crashes and physical activity are important pathways linking urban and transport planning and public health. For policy decision-making, it is important to understand and be able to quantify the full-chain from source through pathways to health effects and impacts to substantiate and effectively target actions. In this paper, we aim to provide an overview of recent studies on the health impacts related to urban and transport planning in cities, describe the need for novel participatory quantitative health impact assessments (HIA) and provide recommendations. Method: To devise our searches and narrative, we were guided by a recent conceptual framework linking urban and transport planning, environmental exposures, behaviour and health. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, and references from relevant articles in English language from January 1, 1980, to November 1, 2016, using pre-defined search terms. Results: The number of HIA studies is increasing rapidly, but there is lack of participatory integrated and full-chain HIA models, methods and tools. These should be based on the use of a systemic multidisciplinary/multisectorial approach and state-of-the-art methods to address questions such as what are the best, most feasible and needed urban and transport planning policy measures to improve public health in cities? Active citizen support and new forms of communication between experts and citizens and the involvement of all major stakeholders are crucial to find and successfully implement health promoting policy measures. Conclusion: We provided an overview of the current state-of-the art of HIA in cities and made recommendations for further work. The process on how to get there is as important and will provide answers to many crucial questions on e.g. how different disciplines can effectively work together, how to incorporate citizen and stakeholder opinion into quantitative HIA modelling for urban and transport planning, how different modelling and measurement methods can be effectively integrated, and whether a public health approach can bring about positive changes in urban and transport planning.
Article
Car-free development has been discussed in different parts of the world as a sustainable mobility strategy. Nonetheless, real efforts are limited temporally, such as on annual ‘car-free days’, and spatially, such as to car-free housing in the suburbs of small- to medium-scale European cities or car-free zones within the central business districts of large cities. The experience of Discovery Bay, Hong Kong, is analysed in this paper to demonstrate that car-free development can and has happened in compact cosmopolitan cities like Hong Kong since the 1980s. The population living in this car-free development reached more than 12 000 in 2014. A virtuous cycle of car-free development, building upon people's underlying environmental and social values, can be sustained by coordinated transport and land use planning to satisfy the diverse needs and through local participation. Nonetheless, many challenges of car encroachment still lie ahead.
Article
This research aims to quantify the effects of car sharing on car ownership, car use and CO2 emissions. The results are based on a survey amongst 363 car sharing respondents in the Netherlands. We found over 30% less car ownership amongst car sharers and they drove 15% to 20% fewer car kilometres than prior to car sharing. The shared cars mostly replace a second or third car. Due to reduced car ownership and car use, car sharers emit between 240 and 390 fewer kilograms of CO2 per person, per year. This is between 13% and 18% of the CO2 emissions related to car ownership and car use.
Article
The Integrated Transport and Health Impact Model (ITHIM) is a comprehensive tool that estimates the hypothetical health effects of transportation mode shifts through changes to physical activity, air pollution, and injuries. The purpose of this paper is to describe the implementation of ITHIM in greater Nashville, Tennessee (USA), describe important lessons learned, and serve as an implementation guide for other practitioners and researchers interested in running ITHIM. As might be expected in other metropolitan areas in the US, not all the required calibration data was available locally. We utilized data from local, state, and federal sources to fulfill the 14 ITHIM calibration items, which include disease burdens, travel habits, physical activity participation, air pollution levels, and traffic injuries and fatalities. Three scenarios were developed that modeled stepwise increases in walking and bicycling, and one that modeled reductions in car travel. Cost savings estimates were calculated by scaling national-level, disease-specific direct treatment costs and indirect lost productivity costs to the greater Nashville population of approximately 1.5 million. Implementation required approximately one year of intermittent, part-time work. Across the range of scenarios, results suggested that 24–123 deaths per year could be averted in the region through a 1–5% reduction in the burden of several chronic diseases. This translated into 10–63 million in estimated direct and indirect cost savings per year. Implementing ITHIM in greater Nashville has provided local decision makers with important information on the potential health effects of transportation choices. Other jurisdictions interested in ITHIM might find the Nashville example as a useful guide to streamline the effort required to calibrate and run the model.
Article
The world is currently witnessing its largest surge of urban growth in human history; a trend that draws attention to the need to understand and address health impacts of urban living. Whilst transport is instrumental in this urbanisation wave, it also has significant positive and negative impacts on population health, which are disproportionately distributed. In this paper, we bring together expertise in transport engineering, transport and urban planning, research and strategic management, epidemiology and health impact assessment in an exercise to scope and discuss the health impacts of transport in urban areas. Adopting a cross-disciplinary, co-production approach, we explore the key driving forces behind the current state of urban mobility and outline recommendations for practices that could facilitate positioning health at the core of transport design, planning and policy. Current knowledge on the health-related impacts of urban transport shows that motor vehicle traffic is causing significant premature mortality and morbidity through motor vehicle crashes, physical inactivity and traffic-related environmental exposures including increases in air pollution, noise and temperature levels, as well as reductions in green space. Trends of rapid and car-centred urbanisation, mass motorisation and a tendency of policy to favour car mobility and undervalue health in the transport and development agenda has both led to, and exacerbated the negative health impacts of the transport systems. Simultaneously, we also argue that the benefits of new transport schemes on the economy are emphasised whilst the range and severity of identified health impacts associated with transport are often downplayed. We conclude the paper by outlining stakeholders’ recommendations for the adoption of a cross-disciplinary co-production approach that takes a health-aware perspective and has the potential to promote a paradigm shift in transport practices.
Article
The world is currently witnessing its largest surge of urban growth in human history; a trend that draws attention to the need to understand and address health impacts of urban living. Whilst transport is instrumental in this urbanisation wave, it also has significant positive and negative impacts on population health, which are disproportionately distributed. In this paper, we bring together expertise in transport engineering, transport and urban planning, research and strategic management, epidemiology and health impact assessment in an exercise to scope and discuss the health impacts of transport in urban areas. Adopting a cross-disciplinary, co-production approach, we explore the key driving forces behind the current state of urban mobility and outline recommendations for practices that could facilitate positioning health at the core of transport design, planning and policy. Current knowledge on the health-related impacts of urban transport shows that motor vehicle traffic is causing significant premature mortality and morbidity through motor vehicle crashes, physical inactivity and traffic-related environmental exposures including increases in air pollution, noise and temperature levels, as well as reductions in green space. Trends of rapid and car-centred urbanisation, mass motorisation and a tendency of policy to favour car mobility and undervalue health in the transport and development agenda has both led to, and exacerbated the negative health impacts of the transport systems. Simultaneously, we also argue that the benefits of new transport schemes on the economy are emphasised whilst the range and severity of identified health impacts associated with transport are often downplayed. We conclude the paper by outlining stakeholders’ recommendations for the adoption of a cross-disciplinary co-production approach that takes a health-aware perspective and has the potential to promote a paradigm shift in transport practices.
Article
Incidental social interactions such as seeing a known person while travelling are theorized to contribute to community connections and social capital. It is argued in such work that walking may be a critical factor, but the frequency of such interactions is generally unknown. For children, these community connections may increase independent travel and contribute to their well-being. Previous research out of Japan found that walking was indeed more likely to result in children seeing people in general and seeing a known person. However, it is not clear whether that is a culturally anecdotal finding, or whether similar findings would occur in different cultural and transportation contexts. Reasons why it may be anecdotal include: in most cases, all elementary school children walk to school in Japan; many trips occur at a local level and are conducted by non-motorized modes in Japan; greeting others (aisatsu) is a cultural value in Japan. This study examines whether one’s transport mode relates to having incidental social interaction during their trips for children aged 10-11 in Canada (177), Japan (178), and Sweden (144). Further to previous work, the research carried out here asked the children what type of interaction occurred (spoke, waved, no interaction, or other) which would relate to building or maintaining community connections. The findings demonstrate that the results are internationally applicable and that most incidental social interactions result in a verbal communication in all three countries.
Article
PurposeThis chapter addresses the economic assessment of health benefits of active transport and presents most recent valuation studies with an overview of progresses made towards the inclusion of health benefits in the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of active transport. Methodology/approachIt is built upon the contracted study for the World Health Organization (WHO) on the economic appraisal of health benefits of walking and cycling investments at the city of Viana do Castelo, the former pilot study in Portugal for evaluating the health benefits of non-motorized transport using the WHO Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT). The relative risk values adopted in the HEAT for walking refer to adult population of the age group 20–74 years and the assessment focus in on average physical activity/regular behaviour of groups of pedestrians and all-cause mortality health impacts. During the case study, it was developed and implemented a mobility survey which aimed to collect behavioural data before and after a street intervention in the historic centre. FindingsMost recent appraisal guidance of walking and cycling and health impact modelling studies reviewed confirm that further research is expected before a more comprehensive appraisal procedure can be adopted in Europe, able to integrate physical activity effects along with other health risks such as those related to road traffic injuries and exposure to air pollution. Social implicationsThe health benefits assessment of walking investments helped local decision-makers to progress towards sustainable mobility options in the city. Making the population aware of the potential health benefits of regular walking can encourage more people to uptake active transport as part of their daily activities. Originality/valueThis study provides a useful review of the health benefits of active transport with a comprehensive analysis of valuation studies, presenting value-added information. It then reports a former assessment of the health effects of active transport in the Portuguese context (case study) using the state-of-the-art economic analysis tool (HEAT) of the World Health Organization which is believed to contribute to a paradigm shift in the transport policy and appraisal practice given the need of shaping future cities (and their citizens) for health through more investments in active transport.
Article
Interventions to change everyday behaviors often attempt to change people’s beliefs and intentions. As the authors explain, these interventions are unlikely to be an effective means to change behaviors that people have repeated into habits. Successful habit change interventions involve disrupting the environmental factors that automatically cue habit performance. The authors propose two potential habit change interventions. “Downstream-plus” interventions provide informational input at points when habits are vulnerable to change, such as when people are undergoing naturally occurring changes in performance environments for many everyday actions (e.g., moving households, changing jobs). “Upstream” interventions occur before habit performance and disrupt old environmental cues and establish new ones. Policy interventions can be oriented not only to the change of established habits but also to the acquisition and maintenance of new behaviors through the formation of new habits.
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Problem: Localities and states are turning to land planning and urban design for help in reducing automobile use and related social and environmental costs. The effects of such strategies on travel demand have not been generalized in recent years from the multitude of available studies.Purpose: We conducted a meta-analysis of the built environment-travel literature existing at the end of 2009 in order to draw generalizable conclusions for practice. We aimed to quantify effect sizes, update earlier work, include additional outcome measures, and address the methodological issue of self-selection.Methods: We computed elasticities for individual studies and pooled them to produce weighted averages.Results and conclusions: Travel variables are generally inelastic with respect to change in measures of the built environment. Of the environmental variables considered here, none has a weighted average travel elasticity of absolute magnitude greater than 0.39, and most are much less. Still, the combined effect of several such variables on travel could be quite large. Consistent with prior work, we find that vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is most strongly related to measures of accessibility to destinations and secondarily to street network design variables. Walking is most strongly related to measures of land use diversity, intersection density, and the number of destinations within walking distance. Bus and train use are equally related to proximity to transit and street network design variables, with land use diversity a secondary factor. Surprisingly, we find population and job densities to be only weakly associated with travel behavior once these other variables are controlled.Takeaway for practice: The elasticities we derived in this meta-analysis may be used to adjust outputs of travel or activity models that are otherwise insensitive to variation in the built environment, or be used in sketch planning applications ranging from climate action plans to health impact assessments. However, because sample sizes are small, and very few studies control for residential preferences and attitudes, we cannot say that planners should generalize broadly from our results. While these elasticities are as accurate as currently possible, they should be understood to contain unknown error and have unknown confidence intervals. They provide a base, and as more built-environment/travel studies appear in the planning literature, these elasticities should be updated and refined.Research support: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Article
Incidental community connections are important for children’s travel in several ways. If known people are present in the community, this reduces parental anxiety about letting their children travel independently. Seeing people while travelling can lead to improved social capital and contribute to a child’s social well-being. However, the relationship between modes of travel and seeing people, known or otherwise, has not previously been empirically studied. A unique survey conducted in the Osaka Metropolitan Area allows for examining potential correlations between seeing a known person while travelling between origin and destination with: mode, gender, independent travel, and the built environment. For the built environment, a global value of the daily percentage of seeing a known person while travelling is used. For the remaining considerations, individual trips not to school and connected to the child’s place of residence were used. Findings include: travelling by car is strongly negatively correlated with seeing people, while travelling by foot or independently are positively correlated with seeing a known person. The built environments that were more conducive to car travel (autonomous town & car-oriented mixed residential) had lower percentages of seeing a known person.
Article
This paper uses the results of household travel surveys from the Osaka metropolitan area in Japan from 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000 to explore how automobility progression was influenced by the characteristics of automobility cohorts, the age of individuals, the time period, and the residential area. In this paper, three measures are used to examine automobility: household car ownership, automobile modal share, and auto travel time. An age-period-cohort- residential area model is also developed to describe which effects significantly explain automobility characteristics. The results of a statistical analysis offer ample evidence that automobility cohorts do exist and, along with residential area and age, have a great impact on household car ownership and auto use.
Article
There is emerging evidence that personal daily travel, particularly by car, has ceased to grow in the developed economies. This can be attributed to saturation of demand, given high levels of access and choice now widely available, together with constraints on higher speeds. We are therefore at a time of transition from an era of growth of per capita travel to an era of stability, in which the future factors determining the growth of total travel demand are demographic — population growth, increasing longevity, and urbanisation. The peak car phenomenon, which marks this transition, is seen in successful cities that attract a growing population whose travel needs are increasingly met by investment in rail-based transport, the revival of which is a characteristic of the new era.
Article
Automobile use has increased significantly in most US cities for at least five decades. However, automobile infrastructure can consume significant amounts of land that could otherwise be used for non-transportation activities. Theory suggests that as automobile mode share increases in a city, the amount of land used for transportation also increases, whereas the land available for other uses decreases. This can result in a loss of activities from the city. This study compiles data from 12 cities in the United States to test these theoretical relationships. The findings suggest that on average each increase of 10 percentage points in the portion of commuters traveling by automobile is associated with an increase of more than 2500 m2 of parking per 1000 people and a decrease of 1700 people/km2. In quantifying these relationships, this work provides a basis for assessing the potential impacts of transportation policy decisions on land use and on the concentration of people in cities. These issues ultimately have an impact on the vitality and financial viability of cities.
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Germany has implemented many ambitious pedestrianization and traffic-calming schemes over the last 20 years, and has carried out quite large-scale research studies on their effect on retailing. The schemes implemented in the UK and the research carried out on them have been more modest. However, they broadly show the same picture. There is generally a positive effect on retailing, with shops inside pedestrian areas being more successful than those outside. Part of the increased turnover is transferred to the landlord, in the form of higher market rents. More extensive schemes have more substantial positive effects. However, there can be a reduction in turnover during a transition period of 1–2 years, and the effects can be unfavourable for fringe shops just outside the developed area, unless the scheme is carefully designed.
Article
Transportation touches almost every aspect of our lives and plays a pivotal role in shaping human interactions, economic mobility, and sustainability. Transportation provides access to opportunity and serves as a key component in addressing poverty, unemployment, and equal opportunity goals. This article examines the inequity that exists in the United States when it comes to transit, as the benefits from transportation advancements and investments are not distributed equally among communities, making transportation equity an issue of civil rights and social justice. This article frames transportation issues as a continuation of the civil rights movement and the wrestling with differential treatment that goes back to Plessy v. Ferguson and later Brown v. Board of Education and Rosa Parks. Communities today are disadvantaged when it comes to investments, enhancements and access to transportation resources, detailed in the article in various examples of disparate transportation spending. Measures taken to erase transportation inequities, including government response and fallout from the environmental justice movement attempt to eliminate unequal enforcement of the nation’s transportation systems and policies and combat burgeoning issues such as suburban sprawl and the shift of many jobs to the suburbs where public transportation is inadequate. Transportation continues to be divided along racial lines, but it is a key ingredient in building economically viable and sustainable communities and with the policy recommendations detailed in the article’s conclusion, these inequities can be addressed.
Article
The relative importance and relationship between psychological and situational factors in predicting commuter-transport-mode choice was tested by four hypotheses. First, the influence of individuals’ values on commuter behavior is mediated by their corresponding beliefs about the environmental threat of cars (mediation hypothesis). Second, the influence of these beliefs on behavior is moderated by individual consideration of future consequences and control beliefs (moderation hypothesis). Third, cost, time, and access factors contribute to individuals’ commuter choice (situational hypothesis). Fourth, situational and psychological factors jointly influence proenvironmental behavior (interaction hypothesis). A sample of 205 Australian university students completed a survey to measure these relationships. Regression analyses indicated support for the mediation, situational, and interaction hypotheses. It was concluded that to achieve a transport-mode shift to public transport, public policy strategies should focus on individuals’ transport-related environmental beliefs (personal control and environmental effect of cars) and situations (access to public transport at reduced cost).
Article
In 2003—04, the Cheong Gye Cheon elevated freeway in Seoul, Korea, was torn down and replaced by an urban stream and linear park. This bold initiative aimed to enhance the quality of central-city living by replacing a mobility asset that was also a nuisance with an attractive urban amenity. This research analyses the impacts of the freeway-to-greenway conversion on commercial and residential property values using multilevel hedonic price models. Specifically, for non-residential uses, it was found that there were land value premiums for parcels within 500 metres of the corridor for both the former freeway and the present-day urban greenway. However, premiums were notably higher for parcels within the 500-metre walkshed of the urban greenway entrance points than the freeway on-ramps. It is concluded that Seoul’s unique freeway disinvestment/greenway investment conferred net benefits to both residential and non-residential land markets.