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Sustainability in Transportation and the Built Environment

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Engineering and Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2019) | Viewed by 67688

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Justin Bishop

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Guest Editor

Arup, 13 Fitzroy St, London W1T 4BQ, UK
Interests: transport; built environment; air quality; electric power generation; sustainability and sustainable development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Most of us live in an urban environment. The increase in both vehicle use and urbanization will result in more of us being exposed to long-term harmful, transport-related emissions. There are additional externalities, such as noise, congestion and accidents, which affect human health and well-being. However, motorized transport is necessary for the city, supporting flows of people and goods over medium to long distances. Moreover, efficient and affordable transport links are essential for ensuring fair access to opportunities for citizens across the socio-economic spectrum. The challenge remains how to deliver cities which can grow economically, remain well-connected and be attractive and healthy places to live.

This Special Issue is focused on real-world case studies demonstrating solutions to overcome this challenge. Examples include technology and/or policy interventions in vehicles, fuels, network operation, building fabrics, urban/land use planning and the natural environment.

Authors should identify clearly:

The novelty of their approach;
The scale of the impact, testing for sensitivity and accounting for uncertainty;
How unintended consequences and problem shifting may be accounted for and mitigated;
Gaps in technology or policy necessary to deliver the research outcomes; and
The relevance of the research outcomes to other cities.

Dr. Justin Bishop
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

sustainability
sustainable development
air quality
human health and well-being
externalities
buildings and materials
urban planning
natural environment
vehicles
public transport
freight

Published Papers (13 papers)

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Research

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28 pages, 3932 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influential Factors on Injury Severity for Drivers of Light Trucks and Vans with Machine Learning Methods

by Giovanny Pillajo-Quijia, Blanca Arenas-Ramírez, Camino González-Fernández and Francisco Aparicio-Izquierdo

Sustainability 2020, 12(4), 1324; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12041324 - 12 Feb 2020

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3549

Abstract

The study of road accidents and the adoption of measures to reduce them is one of the most important targets of the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. To further progress in the improvement of road safety, it is necessary to focus studies on specific groups, such as light trucks and vans. Since 2013 in Spain, there has been an upturn in accidents in these two categories of vehicles and a renewed interest to deepen our understanding of the causes that encourage this behavior. This paper focuses on using machine learning methods to explain driver-injury severity in run-off-roadway and rollover types of accidents. A Random Forest (RF)-classification tree (CART) approach is used to select the relevant categorical variables (driver, vehicle, infrastructure, and environmental factors) to obtain models that classify, explain, and predict the severity of such accidents with good accuracy. A support vector machine and binomial logit models were applied in order to contrast the variable importance ranking and the performance analysis, and the results are convergent with the RF+CART approach (more than 70% accuracy). The resulting models highlight the importance of using safety belts, as well as psychophysical conditions (alcohol, drugs, or sleep deprivation) and injury localization for the two accident types. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Transportation and the Built Environment)

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17 pages, 1723 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Taxi Downsizing: A New Approach to Efficiency and Sustainability in the Taxi Industry

by Majid Zahiri, Jielun Liu and Xiqun (Michael) Chen

Sustainability 2019, 11(18), 4944; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11184944 - 10 Sep 2019

Viewed by 4446

Abstract

Taxis are considered one of the symbols of urban transportation systems due to their large daily traveling mileage. Taking into account hatchback cars with two rows of seats, this paper presents a new approach to taxi efficiency by decreasing the vehicle size. The policy’s influences on fuel consumption, emission, safety, and economic efficiency are comprehensively analyzed. With supplementary surveys of taxi passengers, a total of 1110 taxi trips are observed at nine busy locations. The results show that the trunk is not used in 88% of taxi trips in Hangzhou. It is estimated that downsizing each taxi results in annual decreases in fuel consumption by 1600 L, CO by 311.9 kg, HC by 15.4 kg, and NOx by 8.9 kg. By using a small car as a taxi instead of a standard car, the annual fixed cost plus the fuel cost will be reduced by 38%. By analyzing GPS data of 7081 taxis in Hangzhou, we found a network-wide average taxi speed of 23 km/h. Since the average speed of taxis is relatively low in urban areas, the use of small cars could provide drivers with higher maneuver capability, while increasing the safety of small cars. According to the findings of this paper, using small cars will increase the efficiency and sustainability of the taxi industry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Transportation and the Built Environment)

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10 pages, 1158 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Investigation on the Possibility of Increasing the Environmental Safety and Fuel Efficiency of Vehicles by Means of Gasoline Nano-Additive

by Elena Magaril, Romen Magaril, Hussain H. Al-Kayiem, Elena Skvortsova, Ilya Anisimov and Elena Cristina Rada

Sustainability 2019, 11(7), 2165; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11072165 - 11 Apr 2019

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3436

Abstract

Environmental safety problem originated from vehicles requires development and exploration of integrated and effective solutions, which considers the development level of technologies, the cost of their widespread use, the legislation requirements and other relevant aspects. One improvement method of the petroleum-derived fuels characteristics is the use of additives that complement the refining methods and provide ample opportunities to influence the individual characteristics. The aim of this work is to study the influence of the developed multifunctional surface-active nano-additive on the gasoline characteristics and engine performance. The measurement results confirmed the effective reduction of the surface tension of gasoline at the boundary with air, improving the mixture formation in the engine. On the other hand, the saturated vapor pressure was significantly decreased, which dramatically reduces evaporation losses and air pollution by light hydrocarbons. The use of the additive, due to a combination of its surface-active and catalytic action, significantly increases the fuel efficiency of engines and reduces octane requirements, greenhouse gases emissions, as well as noise level during operation of vehicles, and the environmental safety of vehicle operation increases. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Transportation and the Built Environment)

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28 pages, 5141 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modelling Sustainable Urban Transport Performance in the Jakarta city Region: A GIS Approach

by Puji Adiatna Nadi and AbdulKader Murad

Sustainability 2019, 11(7), 1879; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11071879 - 28 Mar 2019

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4919

Abstract

Measuring performance of Sustainable Urban Transport is an important effort to face the challenges of future trends. This study used Geographic Information System (GIS) application for modelling the performance of Sustainable Urban Transport (SUT) in the Jakarta city Region (JCR). The GIS applications include identifying the existing performance of SUT in Jakarta city, exploring the relationships between indicators of SUT, and producing a prediction model of SUT. Research methods used in this study were GIS techniques with geo-reference, classifications, polygon to raster, re-classifications, sum-weighted, ordinary least square (OLS), exploratory regression, and geographic weighted regression (GWR). The results revealed that the SUT model have more capability in measuring the performance of SUTs spatially and simply. This model is to visualize the effect of the indicator on the SUT performance and its influence, respectively. The results of this study also discovered that the JCR’s Sustainable Urban Transport Performance was in medium level. The outputs of this modelling were useful for evaluating the level of SUT performances in the city based on districts area. Overall, this study provides valuable information on the SUT performance of the JCR, also highlights some important challenges faced in the future of SUT program development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Transportation and the Built Environment)

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20 pages, 10909 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Highway Maintenance: Optimization of Existing Highway Vertical Alignment Considering Pavement Condition

by Mohammad Mahanpoor, Saeed Monajjem and Vahid Balali

Sustainability 2019, 11(6), 1659; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11061659 - 19 Mar 2019

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3533

Abstract

Any change in the geometric configuration of the existing road affects other dependent elements such as travel time, fuel consumption, and existing pavement. This paper quantifies these effects and finds an optimum geometric configuration. Three separate models are developed in this research: (1) the travel time model which predicts vehicles flow speed on the specified geometric condition, traffic composure, and evaluates the imposed costs to the road users; (2) the fuel consumption model, which estimates needed propulsive force and anticipated fuel for vehicles passing through the road; and (3) the pavement rehabilitation cost model considering two main constraints of existing pavement condition and project line elevation. The developed pavement rehabilitation model proposes the best solution for pavement rehabilitation practice and computes associated costs. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is used to find the optimum solution in a minimization problem search space. The proposed model is applied to a real-world case study. Results show that there is an extremely less tendency for change, even with the existence of adverse geometric conditions, when there is a relatively good pavement condition. In the case of deteriorated pavement conditions, economic justification for geometric modification is required. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Transportation and the Built Environment)

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18 pages, 2550 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Association between Urban Public Transport Infrastructure and Social Equity and Spatial Accessibility within the Urban Environment: An Investigation of Tramlink in London

by Neil Cuthill, Mengqiu Cao, Yuqi Liu, Xing Gao and Yuerong Zhang

Sustainability 2019, 11(5), 1229; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11051229 - 26 Feb 2019

Cited by 40 | Viewed by 6618

Abstract

The pursuit of sustainability has been at the forefront of contemporary planning initiatives. However, most recent research has focused on the environmental and economic aspects of developing sustainable urban environment, whilst largely neglecting the social aspects. Contemporary political thinking in the UK often disregards the potential of the urban infrastructure to improve social equity. The aim of this study was to analyse the impact of transport infrastructure on a variety of social measures, in an empirical and ideologically unbiased fashion, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. We selected “Tramlink” as a case study: a light-rail system in the London Borough of Croydon which began operation in 2000. We used quantitative methods, including advanced spatial statistics, to produce a more detailed analysis of social equity than has been previously published. This acknowledges that determining localised issues can produce more informed and effective policy interventions. Our results demonstrate that the physical properties of transport infrastructure and the non-physical attributes of society, in combination, help to create opportunities for individuals to succeed. We also find that in order to reduce the negative effects of austerity, public money could be more effectively spent if diverted to areas that are most in need which can be highlighted through localised investigations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Transportation and the Built Environment)

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28 pages, 6636 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Urban Form and Mobility Choices: Informing about Sustainable Travel Alternatives, Carbon Emissions and Energy Use from Transportation in Swedish Neighbourhoods

by Todor Stojanovski

Sustainability 2019, 11(2), 548; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11020548 - 21 Jan 2019

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 8594

Abstract

The lack of mobility choices in many Swedish neighbourhoods and cities designed for automobiles hinders the possibilities to shift towards more sustainable travel alternatives. Urban designers and planners can help with redesigning these neighbourhoods and creating urban forms that encourage walking, cycling and increased use of public transportation if they are informed about the environmental performance and carbon implications of transportation systems in existing and newly planned neighbourhoods. This paper proposes a mobility choices model based on urban form and accessibility factors commonly used in urban planning and design practices. The mobility choices model produces heat maps and visually informs about the integration with walking, cycling, public transportation and private car, modal shares, carbon emissions and transportation energy use. This information can (potentially) trigger urban transformation or redesign to better integrate sustainable travel alternatives in these neighbourhoods and contribute to more sustainable cities. Many houses can have an excellent environmental performance as buildings but they can be located at a distance where it is impossible to walk, cycle or use public transportation. The benefits of energy efficient and carbon neutral home then disappears with extensive travel and commuting by automobile. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Transportation and the Built Environment)

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19 pages, 2546 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Noise Indicators for Size Distributions of Airborne Particles and Traffic Activities in Urban Areas

by Jin Yong Jeon, Joo Young Hong, Sung Min Kim and Ki-Hyun Kim

Sustainability 2018, 10(12), 4599; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124599 - 05 Dec 2018

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2972

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore the relationships among the particle number concentration (PNC), noise, and traffic conditions. Field measurements were conducted to measure the temporal variabilities of the noise levels and PNC over 24 h in a location adjacent to three main traffic roads in Seoul, Korea. The PNC was measured in the range of 0.3 to 10 µm. The noise data was measured by utilizing both the overall levels and spectral characteristics. Traffic data including volumes and speeds of vehicles on the roads were also collected. The results showed that the correlations among the three key parameters varied depending on changes in the noise frequency and particle size. The noise levels at 100–200 Hz were positively correlated with traffic volume and submicron particles. In contrast, they exhibited inverse correlations with the traffic speed and the number of larger particles (>2.5 µm). Compared to noise levels at 100–200 Hz, noise levels at 1–2 kHz exhibited reverse relationships between the traffic and PNC. Submicron particles (0.3–1.0 µm) tended to be more strongly associated with noise levels during the daytime, while those greater than 2.5 µm maintained relatively stable correlations with the noise throughout the day. The findings address the importance of temporal and spectral-specific monitoring of air and noise pollutants for a better understanding of the exposure of the community to air and noise pollution. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Transportation and the Built Environment)

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16 pages, 2210 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Prediction of Life Cycle Carbon Emissions of Sponge City Projects: A Case Study in Shanghai, China

by Xiaohu Lin, Jie Ren, Jingcheng Xu, Tao Zheng, Wei Cheng, Junlian Qiao, Juwen Huang and Guangming Li

Sustainability 2018, 10(11), 3978; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10113978 - 31 Oct 2018

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 5804

Abstract

In recent years, China has been vigorously carrying out the planning and implementation of Sponge City. Since the implementation of Sponge City projects involves substantial materials and energy consumption, it is significant to account corresponding carbon emissions and sinks. The existed studies about carbon emission of stormwater management measures, however, are not able to take the whole life cycle and different facilities into consideration. Therefore, this study develops a comprehensive accounting model based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines and life cycle assessment (LCA) method to predict carbon emissions and carbon sinks of Sponge City projects more comprehensively and accurately. The model is applied to an actual residential community in Shanghai as a case study. Results show that the total indirect carbon emission is estimated to be 774,277 kg CO₂ eq during a 30-year lifespan, among which carbon emissions from operation and maintenance phases are 2570 kg CO₂ eq/year and 7309 kg CO₂ eq/year, respectively, both directly proportional to the service life of the facilities. Three kinds of achievable carbon sinks are carbon sequestration in green space (5450 kg CO₂ eq/year), carbon sink from rainwater utilization (15,379 kg CO₂ eq/year) and carbon sink from runoff pollutant removal (19,552 kg CO₂ eq/year). Carbon neutrality is expected to be reached after approximately 19 years. The established carbon emission accounting model can contribute to better planning and construction of Sponge City in China and enhance further energy conservation and carbon emission reduction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Transportation and the Built Environment)

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21 pages, 10251 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Karst Development Mechanism and Characteristics Based on Comprehensive Exploration along Jinan Metro, China

by Shangqu Sun, Liping Li, Jing Wang, Shaoshuai Shi, Shuguang Song, Zhongdong Fang, Xingzhi Ba and Hao Jin

Sustainability 2018, 10(10), 3383; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103383 - 21 Sep 2018

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3236

Abstract

Jinan is the capital of Shandong Province and is famous for its spring water. Water conservation has become the consensus of Jinan citizens and the government and the community. The construction of metro engineering in Jinan has lagged behind other cities of the same scale for a long time. The key issue is the protection of spring water. When metro lines are constructed in Jinan karst area, the water-inrushing, quicksand, and piping hazards can easily occur, which can change the groundwater seepage environment and reduce spring discharge. Therefore, we try to reveal the development conditions, mechanism, and mode of karst area in Jinan. In addition, we propose the comprehensive optimizing method of “shallow-deep” and “region-target” suitable for exploration of karst areas along Jinan metro, and systematically study the development characteristics of the karst areas along Jinan metro, thus providing the basis for the shield tunnel to go through karst areas safely and protecting the springs in Jinan. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Transportation and the Built Environment)

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18 pages, 1238 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multi-Criteria Life Cycle Approach to Develop Weighting of Sustainability Indicators for Pavement

by Shih-Hsien Yang, Jack Yen Hung Liu and Nam Hoai Tran

Sustainability 2018, 10(7), 2325; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072325 - 05 Jul 2018

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2906

Abstract

In the past decade, sustainable practices have been adopted in transportation infrastructure projects to reduce adverse environmental effects. To evaluate the sustainability levels of engineering projects holistically, rating systems have been developed to assess and reward points based on various sustainable best practices (indicators). This study aimed to establish a systematic methodology to weight indicators related to materials and resources most commonly used by various transportation infrastructure rating systems based on their contributions to sustainability. A multi-criteria approach for assessing the indicators based on three criteria, indicator performance, environment, and cost, was designed. The criteria were then used to evaluate the indicators and assessed points based on their contributions toward sustainability. Results revealed that state-of-the-art engineering practices could differentiate weighting of points from the typical linear point increase that is traditionally used. In addition, a maximum cap is crucial to ensure that some indicators do not end up being weighted disproportionately. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Transportation and the Built Environment)

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15 pages, 1463 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Built Environment and Parking Availability: Impacts on Car Ownership and Use

by Chaoying Yin, Chunfu Shao and Xiaoquan Wang

Sustainability 2018, 10(7), 2285; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072285 - 02 Jul 2018

Cited by 30 | Viewed by 3541

Abstract

Along with urbanization and economic development, the number of private cars has increased rapidly in recent years in China, which contributes to concerns about traffic congestion, hard parking, energy consumption, and emissions. This study aims to investigate the joint effect of built environment and parking availability on car ownership and use based on a household travel survey conducted in Changchun, China. The binary logistic model was first employed to investigate the determinants of the car ownership in Changchun. Next, this study examined the potential impacts of the built environment and parking availability on car use for the journey to work. The result shows that built environment and parking availability can be both significantly associated with car ownership and use after controlling for the socio-economic characteristics. Moreover, in contrast with the model ignoring the parking availability, the model for car use considering the joint effect fit the data better. The results indicate that car dependency depends on the joint effect of the built environment and parking availability. These results suggest that transit-oriented urban expansion and compact land use can contribute to reducing car commuting. Meanwhile, parking restrictions at both trip start and end would be effective for sustainable transport because parking oversupply could encourage more car dependency. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Transportation and the Built Environment)

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Review

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13 pages, 517 KiB

Open AccessReview

Bacterial Concrete as a Sustainable Building Material?

by Elżbieta Stanaszek-Tomal

Sustainability 2020, 12(2), 696; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12020696 - 17 Jan 2020

Cited by 64 | Viewed by 12428

Abstract

The right selection of building materials plays an important role when designing a building to fall within the definition of sustainable development. One of the most commonly used construction materials is concrete. Its production causes a high energy burden on the environment. Concrete is susceptible to external factors. As a result, cracks occur in the material. Achieving its durability along with the assumptions of sustainable construction means there is a need to use an environmentally friendly and effective technique of alternative crack removal in the damaged material. Bacterial self-healing concrete reduces costs in terms of detection of damage and maintenance of concrete structures, thus ensuring a safe lifetime of the structure. Bacterial concrete can improve its durability. However, it is not currently used on an industrial scale. The high cost of the substrates used means that they are not used on an industrial scale. Many research units try to reduce production costs through various methods; however, bacterial concrete can be an effective response to sustainability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability in Transportation and the Built Environment)

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