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Smart Community Resilient Environment to Reduce Emissions from Road Surfaces and Vehicles

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 3758

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Civil Engineering (Highways & Transportation), Institute for Clean Growth and Future Mobility, School of Energy, Construction and Environment, Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5FB, West Midlands, UK
Interests: sustainable materials; vehicle emissions; resilient community; road maintenance

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Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Beira Interior, 6200-358 Covilhã, Portugal
Interests: pavement management systems (PMS); statistical data analysis and modeling in transport engineering and road safety; sustainable mobility and applications of GIS in transportation

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Guest Editor
Civil Engineering Department, Bayburt University, Bayburt 69000, Turkey
Interests: transport engineering; traffic engineering; highways engineering; pavement engineering; pavement design; concrete

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Guest Editor
College of Engineering and IT, University of Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Interests: big data analytics; Internet of Things (IoT); connected and autonomous vehicle; machine learning and Artificial Intelligence

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Air pollution, caused by vehicular traffic, as well as emissions from road construction and maintenance (which is often overlooked) has a detrimental effect on the environment and the health of the population. As a result of the demographic growth of large cities, urban air pollution has become increasingly affected by traffic-related emissions in recent years. Emissions of inhalable particulate matter (PM) from road traffic are responsible for most of the exceedances of the Air Quality Limit Values established by the European legislation for the protection of human health (2008/50/EC; EEA, 2010). These impacts are sometimes seen as localised matters and treated by reducing the levels of certain pollutants, rather than being viewed as a systemic problem that needs to be addressed at a policy and planning level. Vehicle electrification, as well as efficient engine and power management systems research, is currently aiming to reduce vehicular emissions. 

This Special Issue will combine research papers from a variety of backgrounds to address the air-quality challenge in the road–vehicle interface and the mechanism to improve the community’s resilience. It is unique in its consideration of infrastructure, vehicles and community resilience.

This Special Issue will address the following questions:

  • What is the impact of various emissions on the health of the population depending on the time they spend outside, their activities and their location during the day and night?
  • What is the impact of vehicular and road emissions on the indoor environment in both vehicles and buildings?
  • What is the impact of road surface and road maintenance operations on air quality?
  • What processes and materials could be used as alternatives to those currently used for road construction?
  • What is the level of accuracy of the model to be developed to simulate the impact of road traffic at the outdoor threshold?
  • How can the control measures be designed so that they do not add to the overall existing air-quality problem?
  • Can social media and big data be exploited to identify persons at risk due to poor air quality?

Original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Urban built environment and traffic congestion;
  • Modelling the interface between road-vehicle air-quality emissions, exposure and health impacts;
  • Traffic simulation and congestion;
  • Road construction and sustainable road materials;
  • Road work and traffic congestions;
  • Critical foresight into emerging air pollution challenges and the associated health risks;
  • Understanding and quantifying human behavioural change and practices and how to use communication and technology interventions to limit exposure routes and mitigate health risks;
  • Evidence-based tools through open data and tools in order to stimulate policy and regulatory innovation;
  • Sustainable products and services to reduce air pollution for vehicles and road construction;
  • Big data analytical tools to measure and control emissions;
  • Smart and sustainable management of road infrastructure;
  • Sustainable mobility for healthy cities (active transportation, public transport, etc.).

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Shohel Amin
Prof. Dr. Bertha Santos
Prof. Dr. Serkan Tapkin
Dr. Rahat Iqbal
Guest Editors

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

  • vehicle emission
  • sustainable urban development
  • traffic congestion
  • sustainable road materials
  • sustainable road construction technologies
  • big data
  • transport planning
  • air pollution

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 15792 KiB  
Article
Spatial Multi-Criteria Analysis for Road Segment Cycling Suitability Assessment
by Bertha Santos, Sílvia Passos, Jorge Gonçalves and Isabel Matias
Sustainability 2022, 14(16), 9928; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14169928 - 11 Aug 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2756
Abstract
The shift to low-emission mobility, embedded in a growing need for sustainable development, makes soft modes a highly promoted transport alternative in national and international mobility policies. Soft mobility modes, especially cycling, is an alternative capable of reversing the trend of private car [...] Read more.
The shift to low-emission mobility, embedded in a growing need for sustainable development, makes soft modes a highly promoted transport alternative in national and international mobility policies. Soft mobility modes, especially cycling, is an alternative capable of reversing the trend of private car use in urban areas, being one of the main strategies of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP). Several factors can influence travel mode choice, between them, demographic, economic, land use, travel distance and time, and climatic and physical factors are the most reported in the literature. This study presents a framework of the main European cycling strategies and focuses on the development of a methodological approach to assess the cycling suitability of existing road networks. The approach is based on a spatial multi-criteria analysis that combines population density, trip generation points service areas and road characteristics (hierarchy and slope). Consideration of the topography was particularly relevant in the cycling suitability model definition. The model was tested in the hillside city of Covilhã (Portugal) and compared with the recently planned and implemented city cycling network. The main conclusions point to the adequacy, flexibility, and applicability of the proposed model by municipalities, contributing to a more sustainable urban environment and healthier communities. Results obtained in the Covilhã case study also denote the possibility of implementing cycling mobility in hillside cities, especially using e-bikes. For future works, an expansion of the approach is proposed to include a detailed and sustained cycling network definition model and a process to assess cycling routes hierarchy/solutions. Full article
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