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18 pages, 4879 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assembling Transit Urban Design in the Global South: Urban Morphology in Relation to Forms of Urbanity and Informality in the Public Space Surrounding Transit Stations

by Nastaran Peimani and Hesam Kamalipour

Urban Sci. 2022, 6(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci6010018 - 7 Mar 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 7002

Abstract

The imperative to address the challenge of transforming car-dependent cities and promoting sustainable mobilities requires that we engage with the relationships between urban morphology and forms of urbanity in public spaces surrounding transit nodes. While there has been a surge of interest in [...] Read more.

The imperative to address the challenge of transforming car-dependent cities and promoting sustainable mobilities requires that we engage with the relationships between urban morphology and forms of urbanity in public spaces surrounding transit nodes. While there has been a surge of interest in investigating the agency of urban planning and design in mitigating urban sprawl and its environmental impacts by creating mixed-use, dense, and walkable places, the extent to which the public space can enable streetlife intensity in proximity to transit remains underexplored. Through extensive urban mapping and comparison of two transit nodes in Tehran, this paper articulates the key morphological elements of building density, functional mix, and access networks, how they work in relation to forms of urbanity and informality in public space around stations, and what inferences can be made on how public space within station areas work in the context of rapidly urbanising cities compared to those in Western contexts. The nexus between functional mix, retail edges, and forms of urbanity has been found critical to the spatial configuration, performance, and transformation of transit station areas. Forms of informality have also been found integral to how public space works in the context of transit urban design. This paper contributes to the newfound accent on urban design dimensions concerning TODs in the context of less formal and more congested cities of the global South. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Future of Urban Transportation and Mobility Systems)

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39 pages, 10232 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Anatomy of an Informal Transit City: Mobility Analysis of the Metropolitan Area of Lima

by Franco Jauregui-Fung, Jeffrey Kenworthy, Samar Almaaroufi, Natalia Pulido-Castro, Sara Pereira and Kathrin Golda-Pongratz

Urban Sci. 2019, 3(3), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci3030067 - 11 Jul 2019

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 13028

Abstract

Lima, as the capital of Peru, has become its first megacity with more than 10 million people in an area that extends over 80 km in a North-South direction. As a city of this size, it faces complex mobility issues with a strong [...] Read more.

Lima, as the capital of Peru, has become its first megacity with more than 10 million people in an area that extends over 80 km in a North-South direction. As a city of this size, it faces complex mobility issues with a strong reliance on informal transport modes (buses, minibuses, and paratransit vehicles) due to the deterioration of its transit system quality during the 20th century. This paper examines the current urban situation in Lima through an analysis of the city’s structure, with an emphasis on its transport history and the resulting types of walking, transit, and car-oriented fabrics that can be identified. The mobility analysis was made through data collection, including daily trips by public and private modes, annual passenger kilometers and vehicle kilometers of travel, length of exclusive lanes for public transport and freeways, car and paratransit modes ownership, transport emissions, and safety. These data are used to position Lima in a comparative global context showing its relative strengths and weaknesses in urban form and mobility and providing suggestions for a more sustainable transport and land use system. It is asserted that Lima is an informal transit-oriented city, as distinct from recognized transit metropolises (e.g., Tokyo or German cities such as Berlin or Munich), which often involve private companies, operating under an umbrella of strong government regulation, fare setting, and high service standards. Lima is shown to have some important qualities such as a high density, comparatively low car ownership and freeway provision and still healthy levels of transit and non-motorized mode use despite non-ideal conditions for either. These qualities, if combined with effective governance structures, government commitment to higher quality formal transit systems, which better integrate the important informal transit sector, cessation of high capacity road building, greater protection and encouragement for non-motorized modes and some effective controls over growing car and motorcycle ownership, would see Lima develop a more sustainable transport system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Future of Urban Transportation and Mobility Systems)

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13 pages, 248 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Autonomous Road Vehicles: Challenges for Urban Planning in European Cities

by Nikolaos Gavanas

Urban Sci. 2019, 3(2), 61; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci3020061 - 3 Jun 2019

Cited by 49 | Viewed by 7618

Abstract

Autonomous vehicles will significantly affect mobility conditions in the future. The changes in mobility conditions are expected to have an impact on urban development and, more specifically, on location choices, land use organisation and infrastructure design. Nowadays, there is not enough data for [...] Read more.

Autonomous vehicles will significantly affect mobility conditions in the future. The changes in mobility conditions are expected to have an impact on urban development and, more specifically, on location choices, land use organisation and infrastructure design. Nowadays, there is not enough data for a real-life assessment of this impact. Experts estimate that autonomous vehicles will be available for uptake in the next decade. Therefore, urban planners should consider the possible impacts from autonomous vehicles on cities and the future challenges for urban planning. In this context, the present paper focuses on the challenges from the implementation of autonomous road vehicles for passenger transport in European cities. The analysis is based on a systematic review of research and policy. The main outcome of the analysis is a set of challenges for urban planning regarding the features of urban development, the local and European policy priorities, the current lack of data for planning and the potential for autonomous vehicles to be used by planners as data sources. The paper concludes that tackling these challenges is essential for the full exploitation of the autonomous vehicles’ potential to promote sustainable urban development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Future of Urban Transportation and Mobility Systems)

21 pages, 1808 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Towards a Better Understanding of Public Transportation Traffic: A Case Study of the Washington, DC Metro

by Robert Truong, Olga Gkountouna, Dieter Pfoser and Andreas Züfle

Urban Sci. 2018, 2(3), 65; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci2030065 - 7 Aug 2018

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4710

Abstract

The problem of traffic prediction is paramount in a plethora of applications, ranging from individual trip planning to urban planning. Existing work mainly focuses on traffic prediction on road networks. Yet, public transportation contributes a significant portion to overall human mobility and passenger [...] Read more.

The problem of traffic prediction is paramount in a plethora of applications, ranging from individual trip planning to urban planning. Existing work mainly focuses on traffic prediction on road networks. Yet, public transportation contributes a significant portion to overall human mobility and passenger volume. For example, the Washington, DC metro has on average 600,000 passengers on a weekday. In this work, we address the problem of modeling, classifying and predicting such passenger volume in public transportation systems. We study the case of the Washington, DC metro exploring fare card data, and specifically passenger in- and outflow at stations. To reduce dimensionality of the data, we apply principal component analysis to extract latent features for different stations and for different calendar days. Our unsupervised clustering results demonstrate that these latent features are highly discriminative. They allow us to derive different station types (residential, commercial, and mixed) and to effectively classify and identify the passenger flow of “unknown” stations. Finally, we also show that this classification can be applied to predict the passenger volume at stations. By learning latent features of stations for some time, we are able to predict the flow for the following hours. Extensive experimentation using a baseline neural network and two naïve periodicity approaches shows the considerable accuracy improvement when using the latent feature based approach. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Future of Urban Transportation and Mobility Systems)

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10 pages, 688 KiB

Open AccessArticle

“Smart” Tools for Socially Sustainable Transport: A Review of Mobility Apps

by Mahtot Gebresselassie and Thomas W. Sanchez

Urban Sci. 2018, 2(2), 45; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci2020045 - 30 May 2018

Cited by 24 | Viewed by 8118

Abstract

In the smart city, information and communications technologies (ICTs) are proposed as solutions to urban challenges, including sustainability concerns. While sustainability commonly refers to economic and environmental dimensions, the concept also contains a social component. Our study asked how smartphone applications (apps) address [...] Read more.

In the smart city, information and communications technologies (ICTs) are proposed as solutions to urban challenges, including sustainability concerns. While sustainability commonly refers to economic and environmental dimensions, the concept also contains a social component. Our study asked how smartphone applications (apps) address social-sustainability challenges in urban transport, if at all. We focused on transport disadvantages experienced due to low income, physical disability, and language barriers. A review of 60 apps showed that transport apps respond to these equity and inclusion issues in two ways: (a) by employing a universal design in general-use apps, including cost-conscious features, and providing language options; and (b) by specifically developing smartphone apps for persons with disabilities. The article discusses the study by positioning it in the literature of smart cities as well as socially sustainable transport. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Future of Urban Transportation and Mobility Systems)

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11 pages, 222 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Developing Policy for Urban Autonomous Vehicles: Impact on Congestion

by David Metz

Urban Sci. 2018, 2(2), 33; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci2020033 - 13 Apr 2018

Cited by 56 | Viewed by 11730

Abstract

An important problem for surface transport is road traffic congestion, which is ubiquitous and difficult to mitigate. Accordingly, a question for policymakers is the possible impact on congestion of autonomous vehicles. It seems likely that the main impact of vehicle automation will not [...] Read more.

An important problem for surface transport is road traffic congestion, which is ubiquitous and difficult to mitigate. Accordingly, a question for policymakers is the possible impact on congestion of autonomous vehicles. It seems likely that the main impact of vehicle automation will not be seen until driverless vehicles are sufficiently safe for use amid general traffic on urban streets. Shared use driverless vehicles could reduce the cost of taxis and a wider range of public transport vehicles could be economic. Individually owned autonomous vehicles would have the ability to travel unoccupied and may need to be regulated where this might add to congestion. It is possible that autonomous vehicles could provide mobility services at lower cost and wider scope, such that private car use in urban areas could decline and congestion reduce. City authorities should be alert to these possibilities in developing transport policy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Future of Urban Transportation and Mobility Systems)

14 pages, 246 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Accessibility and the Implementation of Automated Vehicles: Identifying Critical Decisions

by Enrica Papa and António Ferreira

Urban Sci. 2018, 2(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci2010005 - 12 Jan 2018

Cited by 73 | Viewed by 11059

Abstract

The emergence of fully Automated Vehicles (AVs) is expected to occur in the next 10 to 30 years. The uncertainties related to AVs pose a series of questions about what the societal consequences of such technology are. Mainly, what are the consequences of [...] Read more.

The emergence of fully Automated Vehicles (AVs) is expected to occur in the next 10 to 30 years. The uncertainties related to AVs pose a series of questions about what the societal consequences of such technology are. Mainly, what are the consequences of AVs regarding accessibility? This paper uses Geurs and Van Wee’s definition of accessibility to give an exploratory answer to this question. Using a scenario-based approach which allows identifying critical decisions that will emerge shortly (or are already emerging) concerning automated travelling, this paper proposes that AVs have great potential to both seriously aggravate and considerably alleviate accessibility problems. A great deal will depend on how these critical decisions will be approached and the choices that will be made. This debate is most needed because existing research on AVs tends to focus on how to make them a commercially viable and safe technological enterprise, and on what their benefits and drawbacks are regarding variables such as carbon emissions, energy consumption, and total miles travelled. Narratives of this nature can be problematic, as they are unlikely to promote sufficient awareness about the real disruptive potential of AVs. It is crucial that stakeholders realise the extent to which—if the governance of AVs implementation processes is not taken very seriously, and the identified critical decisions are not carefully approached—these machines can materialise a dystopian mobility future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Future of Urban Transportation and Mobility Systems)

Review

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275 KiB

Open AccessReview

How Can Autonomous and Connected Vehicles, Electromobility, BRT, Hyperloop, Shared Use Mobility and Mobility-As-A-Service Shape Transport Futures for the Context of Smart Cities?

by Alexandros Nikitas, Ioannis Kougias, Elena Alyavina and Eric Njoya Tchouamou

Urban Sci. 2017, 1(4), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci1040036 - 30 Nov 2017

Cited by 96 | Viewed by 24117

Abstract

A smarter transport system that caters for social, economic and environmental sustainability is arguably one of the most critical prerequisites for creating pathways to more livable urban futures. This paper aims to provide a state-of-the-art analysis of a selection of mobility initiatives that [...] Read more.

A smarter transport system that caters for social, economic and environmental sustainability is arguably one of the most critical prerequisites for creating pathways to more livable urban futures. This paper aims to provide a state-of-the-art analysis of a selection of mobility initiatives that may dictate the future of urban transportation and make cities smarter. These are mechanisms either recently introduced with encouraging uptake so far and much greater potential to contribute in a shift to a better transport paradigm or still in an embryonic stage of their development and yet to be embraced as powerful mechanisms that could change travel behaviour norms. Autonomous and connected vehicles are set to revolutionise the urban landscape by allowing machines to take over driving that for over a century has been exclusively a human activity, while electrical vehicles are already helping decarbonising the transport sector. Bus rapid transit has been steadily reinventing and rebranding conventional bus services revitalising the use of the humblest form of public transport, while hyperloop is an entirely new, disruptive, and somewhat provocative, travel mode proposition based on the use of sealed tube systems through which pods could travel free of air resistance with speeds exceeding 1000 km/h. Shared use mobility mechanisms like car-sharing, ride-sharing, ride-sourcing and public bicycles can help establishing a culture for using mobility resources on an as-needed basis, while mobility-as-a-service will take this sharing culture a step further, offering tailored mobility and trip planning packages that could entirely replace the need for privately owned modes of transport. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Future of Urban Transportation and Mobility Systems)

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