The concept of solar parking lots aims at coupling the development of clean solar electricity and electric mobility. Solar panels provide shade and generate electricity to charge parked electric ...vehicles. In a vehicle-to-grid approach, the vehicles may also feed the grid and support it with ancillary services.
In this paper, we explore the potential of this solution, starting with a concise overview discussing the technical, environmental and financial issues constraining the development of solar parking lots. A comprehensive review of the literature follows, and finally open issues and prospects for future work are identified. It is intended that this paper may serve as a standalone summary of the most important work on this topic to date.
•Solar parking for electric vehicles charging offer great environmental and technical benefits.•They are not yet economically viable but have large potential.•Smart charging decreases injected solar power into the grid and maximizes revenues.•Incentive schemes ought to include parking lot stakeholders.
The global COVID pandemic changed how we work. Telework has become the “new normal” in suburban and rural areas. National and regional transport policies have been using these new trends of work to ...address mobility problems and provide development of low-traffic cities and regions. Companies face the challenges to lead and coordinate teleworkers. Private providers now offer spatial concepts for telework such as co-working spaces in suburban and rural as well as urban areas. Moreover, less attention has been paid to the role municipalities play in adapting to the “new normal” of work in collaborating between stakeholders from different institutional spheres especially in suburban and rural areas. This study explores this lacuna by adopting a quadruple helix model. It integrates a focus group approach for qualitative data collection and uses two suburban cities in the Hannover region of Germany as a case study. The findings raise the question of how the role of municipalities can be strengthened to effectively adapt to a “new normal” of work in suburban and rural areas for the mobility transition. The study broadens the discussion about supporting the reduction of CO2 emissions from commuting through the implementation of co-working spaces in suburban and rural areas. Finally, a three-step collaborative innovation process is offered.
•Suburban and rural areas represent high potential for reducing commuting•Municipalities' roles need to be readjusted to promote sustainable mobility•Co-working spaces can support “new normal” of work in companies
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented measures changing travel habits in many countries. Many users have started to prefer traveling by private cars, which is against the sustainability ...policies of the European cities. The necessity of gaining a deeper understanding of road users’ travel habit changes, their feelings on public transport use, and their perceptions of using sustainable urban mobility modes has emerged for future transport planning. Considering these facts, the study in this paper aimed to investigate the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on road users’ perceptions, needs, and use of sustainable travel modes (i.e., public transport, walking, and cycling). An online survey was carried out during the period from March to May 2020 in the case study area, Sicily of Southern Italy. Regarding the population of the case study, the survey was representative, with 431 individuals. The survey included variables, namely gender, age, city of residence, private car ownership, walking and cycling frequency before and during the pandemic, public transport use frequency for leisure activities before and during the pandemic, need for remote working, and the stress and anxiety perception of using public transport during the pandemic. The analysis started with descriptive statistics and it was followed by correlation analysis in order to explore the characteristics of the dataset and relationship between variables. It was found that these were not statistically significantly correlated at a 95% confidence level. An ordinal regression model was applied for determining the predictions. The results suggested that women were less likely to walk during the pandemic than men. Participants were more likely to resume remote work even after the second phase in order to reduce their daily travel needs and keep their isolation. Participants have expressed a positive opinion on the use of micromobility during pandemic situations. These results can be considered as a basis for sustainable urban planning and a guide for decision-makers who aim to encourage the use of public transport, walking, cycling, and micromobility.
This paper reports on the development of a model for assessing transitions to sustainable mobility. The model uses the concepts of transition theory as a framework for assessing possible pathways by ...which a transition to a sustainable mobility society might happen. The modelling approach combines agent-based modelling techniques with a system dynamics structure. It is original in that there are two levels of agent. There are a small number of complex agents, which have an internal structure and are therefore subsystems within society, and a larger number of simple agents. Based on the UK data, the results show that Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCVs) come to dominate, but only in the very long run (after 2030), while biofuels and ICE (Internal Combustion Engine)-electric hybrids are the main alternatives to the regime in the next 10–30 years, because a) they are already developed and b) they fit better into current infrastructures. The model shows that technological transitions are most likely. Lifestyle change transitions require sustained pressure from the environment on society and behavioural change from consumers.
Soft sustainable mobility measures can help achieve climate change goals in the Lithuanian context. To provide recommendations for the most effective measures, researchers are developing and testing ...interventions of various scales and types. As this practice is not widely used in Lithuania, it is useful to rely on research conducted by foreign researchers for the development and application of soft sustainable mobility measures in the Lithuanian context. In the literature, travel behaviour interventions are often classified according to the internal variable to which they are directed. As an alternative, this article proposes a classification according to the decision-making process - conscious and automatic. It is argued that such a classification allows for the development of more comprehensive tools. Quantitative literature analysis is often performed to compare the effectiveness of different interventions. However, the effectiveness of soft travel behaviour interventions and the indicators that reflect it are often determined by circumstances that cannot be quantified. This makes it difficult to predict the potential impact of a particular intervention in different contexts. Therefore, an analysis of 20 soft travel behaviour interventions was performed, which qualitatively analysed the effectiveness of the interventions targeting both decision-making processes and identified the factors influencing it.The results revealed that the effectiveness of soft interventions is influenced by the social and infrastructural contexts in which the study was conducted, the participants' initial mobility behaviour, recent changes in their living circumstances, and the relevance of the information provided. Furthermore, the results of the intervention are determined by when the effectiveness was measured and the types of trips analysed. These factors make it difficult to compare the effectiveness of interventions that target different decision-making processes. However, the results of the study support the claim that both types of measures are necessary to promote sustainable mobility behaviours and should therefore be used together. Based on the results, recommendations for the development of soft travel behaviour measures in the Lithuanian context are presented.
Urban mobility plays a key role in any modern society. The advent of digital platforms and dedicated mobile apps, as well as new business models based on the concept of access over ownership and ...sharing economy (sharing mobility and Mobility as a Service), promises to reshape this sector. It will facilitate and speed up the diffusion of more sustainable and efficient means of transportation based on an intermodal mobility management perspective. The main goal of this paper is to examine the current state of smart mobility together with those factors that may influence the extent of modern sharing mobility proliferation and penetration through ICT applications and social media. The authors applied the content analysis using a sample of more than 1000 citizens' and visitors' reviews published on the official digital platforms of the smart city of Milan. The paper includes a comparison with data drawn from the public urban mobility services users. Based on the nodes resulting from the content analysis, the STEEP method was adopted in order to apply a more complex perspective concerning social, technological, environmental, economic and political issues. This strategic analytical tool was combined with the SWOT analysis dimensions to provide a comprehensive practical contribution to modern municipal smart mobility management systems. The results highlight the need for both smart mobility solutions suppliers and institutions to properly understand and communicate how digital services can be implemented across different users' touchpoints and communication channels to increase the value-added provided to citizens and visitors alike.
•Urban mobility services assessment in a smart city context•Analyses of digital platforms and mobile apps for sharing mobility services•Content analysis and Network analysis of the reviews of mobility services' users•Multilevel approach based on the integration of STEEP and SWOT analyses•Theoretical contribution and strategic insights for policy-makers
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly influenced people’s lifestyles including their travel choices. The pandemic resulted in placing restrictions in travelling throughout Italy due to the ...obligatory need for social distancing and changes in public transport services. City residents changed their mobility patterns and started using their private vehicles more often instead of public transport, while choosing to walk or cycle for short distance trips. Governments and local authorities encouraged citizens to use sustainable travel modes, particularly walking, during the pandemic period. However, the high number of infections and deaths, especially in Italy, has strongly influenced the propensity of walking due to the emotional aspects of travelling. This paper presents a statistical analysis based on data gathered through a questionnaire in urban areas of Sicily focusing on travel by walking for either leisure or work. The evaluation of negative emotions that people who habitually walk for short distances in the study areas is the main focus of the present work.The data indicated a variation between three emotions: anxiety, stress, and fear. These emotions had a potential to influence people’s daily life and, as a result, their travel habits.
Walking is a sustainable mode of transport and a healthy way of doing physical activity. Walkability is a concept that has gained enormous popularity in recent years due to its potential to promote ...more sustainable urban environments and healthy lifestyles. This paper provides a literature review to analyze the influence of built environment attributes on walkability. The Scopus and Web of Science databases were chosen to survey the peer-reviewed documents published up to June 2020. A total of 132 documents were selected by the search. The review of these 132 documents showed that various built environment attributes were differently analyzed and assessed. More specifically, the search identified 32 built environment attributes that were assessed by using 63 measures. Intersection density, residential density and land use mix were the most used attributes for assessing walkability, namely by using objective methods, such as ratios and spatial score tools. In turn, attributes related to streetscape design and security were much less adopted in walkability assessments. This paper provides additional insights into how built environment attributes influence walkability and identifies gaps and issues that should be analyzed in-depth in the future. The review could be helpful for researchers and urban planners in developing walkability studies and in defining policies to improve walkability.
PDF
