Search Results (4,618)

The article provides a comprehensive overview of the role of hydrogen as a key vector in the decarbonization of the global transport sector. The study situates hydrogen within the broader context of energy transition and climate neutrality targets, emphasizing its potential to replace fossil fuels in road, rail, maritime, and aviation applications. The analysis integrates a review of current technological, infrastructural, and policy developments, covering both combustion-based and fuel-cell hydrogen propulsion systems. Quantitative and qualitative data were assessed from international reports, scientific publications, and ongoing industrial projects to evaluate performance, efficiency, safety, and cost parameters such as Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). The results indicate that while hydrogen remains economically challenging, technological progress in electrolysis, fuel cells, and refueling infrastructure significantly improves its competitiveness, particularly in heavy-duty and long-range transport. The paper highlights the critical role of international strategies, including the European Hydrogen Strategy and Fit for 55 package, in driving market adoption and regulatory alignment. The conclusions suggest that by 2050, hydrogen could contribute up to one-quarter of total transport energy demand, positioning it as a cornerstone of sustainable mobility and a bridge toward a fully decarbonized transport ecosystem. Full article

Background/Objectives: Traumatic spine injury is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in low- and middle-income countries, yet detailed epidemiologic data from sub-Saharan Africa remain limited. We used a fracture registry to characterize injury patterns, care pathways, and short-term outcomes among patients presenting with traumatic spine injury at a tertiary referral center in Ethiopia. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of a prospectively maintained fracture registry at a tertiary referral hospital in Ethiopia from June 2023 to July 2025. Patients with traumatic spine injury were included. Variables included demographics, injury mechanism and context, injury region, AO morphology, neurologic status (ASIA), referral status, mode of transportation, time to presentation, treatment, and 30-day outcomes. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the cohort. Bivariate associations were assessed using chi-square or Fisher’s exact tests, and crude odds ratios were calculated for prespecified 2 × 2 comparisons. Results: A total of 252 patients were included (mean age: 33.1 ± 13.6 years; 81.3% male). Falls (45.2%) and road traffic accidents (26.2%) were the most common mechanisms, and injuries most often occurred on farms (40.1%) and roads/streets (33.7%). The thoracolumbar (31.3%) and cervical (30.6%) regions were most frequently affected. Complete spinal cord injury (ASIA A) occurred in 36.5% of patients. Most patients were referred (88.5%), 62.7% presented >24 h after injury, and 65.5% were managed non-operatively. Referral status was strongly associated with delayed presentation (OR: 10.49, 95% CI: 3.84–28.64). Thirty-day mortality was 22.2%. Complete SCI (OR: 6.17, 95% CI: 3.23–11.90) and cervical/thoracic injuries (OR: 6.54, 95% CI: 3.12–13.70) were associated with higher mortality. Conclusions: Traumatic spine injury in this Ethiopian cohort disproportionately affected young adults and was marked by severe neurologic injury, delayed presentation, and high early mortality. Full article

Complex environments, such as underground pipe galleries, subway tunnels, and bridge piles, seriously affect the construction of underground passages. Reducing the disruption of the surrounding environment and road traffic during the construction of underground passages in urban transportation hubs is very important for underground passages. Overcoming these difficulties is a problem that we constantly strive to solve. In this paper, we innovatively propose an open-shield construction method (OSM) without a support structure. It simplifies the construction process, is very adaptable to low soil cover depth and complex construction environments, and has minimal impact on traffic disruption during construction. We first analyze the main problems in the construction of urban underground passages and then elaborate on the OSM in detail. Then, an example of an actual project is used to explain the requirements for prefabricated pipe segments and the waterproof structure. Finally, the effect of applying this method is evaluated by using numerical simulation technology and actual monitoring data. This method provides practical engineering application references for the construction of urban underground passages. Full article

The transition to low-emission road transport in Europe depends not only on the growth of plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) uptake, but also on the timely expansion of publicly accessible charging infrastructure. This article provides a descriptive and diagnostic assessment of the relationship between electrification dynamics and public charging infrastructure development in Europe. The analysis combines a long-run descriptive window (2015–2024, with 2025 treated separately as a scenario observation) and a core diagnostic window (2020–2024) for which a consistent proxy of potential infrastructure strain—plug-in vehicles per public recharging point (VPP)—is available. The results show a strong increase in PEV share in new registrations, from 1.0% in 2015 to 20.92% in 2024, while the number of public recharging points rose from 67,064 to 900,000 over the same period. In the core sample, VPP declined from 15.24 in 2020 to 13.92 in 2024, which is consistent with a catch-up phase in infrastructure deployment after 2021. At the same time, the short-window relationship between PEV share, infrastructure scale and average CO₂ emissions of newly registered cars remains weak and unstable, indicating the role of additional structural factors. The article contributes a transparent, replicable indicator-based framework for describing infrastructure strain in aggregate European data. In policy terms, the findings support a shift from simple point-count targets toward functionally and spatially differentiated infrastructure planning, including interoperability, power structure, and accessibility in underserved areas. Full article

Fully volumetric modular mining structures offer a partial solution to achieving sustainable construction at remote mine sites. Significant logistical challenges arise during road and sea transportation, depending on the size of the prefabricated modules and the remoteness of the site. As an alternative, hybrid modular mining structures comprising various non-volumetric prefabricated components of transportable size, assembled on-site to form complete structures, have previously been proposed. To facilitate hybrid modular structures in the mining industry, the paper reviews the design actions to which mining structures are subjected and evaluates the corresponding structural responses. It also examines existing connections that may be suitable for the hybrid module structures, assessing their effectiveness and safety in connecting prefabricated structural components. Finally, key requirements for connection design are identified to facilitate hybrid assembly. Full article

Background: To address the critical challenges of hazardous material (HAZMAT) incidents in dense urban areas, this study develops a hybrid framework for spatial emergency response optimization tailored for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITSs). Methods: Our approach integrates the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) with a rigorous technical benchmarking of multiple navigation APIs to improve routing decisions under volatile Bangkok traffic. By employing a normalized cost function (scale 0–1), we evaluated the performance of localized (Longdo Map) versus global (Google Maps and OpenStreetMap) platforms across day and night scenarios. Results: Experimental results, yielding normalized costs between 0.464 and 0.748, identified Bon Kai as the optimal response node, whereas Chan Road showed the lowest efficiency. Interestingly, OpenStreetMap provided the highest temporal consistency for emergency logistics. Conclusions: These findings offer a practical decision-support tool for authorities, proving that integrated API assessment is essential for building resilient and responsive urban mobility infrastructures. Full article

Hydrogen refueling stations (HRSs) are a critical enabling infrastructure for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), yet their deployment in dense metropolitan areas often faces a dual challenge: limited travel-time accessibility for users and low public acceptance driven by perceived safety risks. This study develops an integrated, city-scale framework to quantify HRS accessibility and resident acceptance and to identify expansion priorities for Seoul, South Korea. We combine (i) an online perception survey of 1000 adult residents (October 2024) capturing environmental awareness, perceived safety, siting preferences, and willingness-to-travel distance; (ii) spatial demand data on FCEV registrations by administrative dong (n = 2443 vehicles, 2022); and (iii) network-based travel-time analysis using the Seoul road network and the current HRS supply (n = 10, 2024). Accessibility is evaluated under three travel-time thresholds (10, 15, and 20 min), with service-area delineation and demand-weighted underserved-area diagnosis. Candidate expansion sites are generated and screened using operational and regulatory constraints (e.g., site area and proximity to protected facilities), followed by a p-median location-allocation optimization to select five additional sites that minimize demand-weighted travel impedance. Results indicate that, under the 20 min threshold (7.7 km at an average operating speed of 23.1 km/h), 50 of 425 dongs (11.8%) and 244 of 2443 FCEVs (10.0%) are outside the baseline service coverage. After adding five sites (total n = 15), underserved dongs decrease to 5 (1.2%) and underserved FCEVs to 26 (1.1%) for the 20 min threshold, with consistent improvements across shorter thresholds. Survey responses further reveal that only 12.5% of respondents perceive HRSs as safe, while 46.5% report a maximum willingness-to-travel distance of up to 5 km, underscoring the need for both accessibility enhancement and risk-aware communication. The proposed workflow offers a transparent, reproducible approach to support equitable and risk-informed HRS planning by jointly considering network accessibility, demand distribution, and social acceptance, thereby contributing to sustainable urban mobility, low-carbon transport transition, and socially acceptable hydrogen infrastructure deployment. Beyond local accessibility improvement, the study is framed in the broader context of sustainability, as equitable and socially acceptable hydrogen refueling infrastructure can support low-carbon urban transport transitions and more resilient metropolitan energy-mobility systems. Full article

This paper presents the toolset, methodology and procedure followed to create a dataset from battery electric vehicle trajectories, called DEVRT—Dataset of Electric Vehicle Real Trips. Understanding the behaviour of electric vehicles and their battery consumption under real-life conditions and journeys is required in the shift towards the electrification of transport of people and goods. This paper aims to contribute with the provision of real measurements in different types of routes and environmental contexts at the time of driving to support data analytics and modelling techniques, essential for extracting actionable insights from electric vehicle battery consumption. The preparation, on-route and post-processing steps of the followed methodology are depicted. The outcome dataset consists of probe data collected over 4 days following heterogeneous routes performed by four different drivers using two electric vehicles (one more suitable to city usage and the other one more suitable for longer trips). This probe data is complemented with associated road network characterisation information, traffic flow measurements and weather extracted from auxiliary data sources. The paper presents a comprehensive description of the geographical characteristics of the trajectories, qualitative and quantitative characterisation of planned routes to create these trajectories, and criteria used to select them. Full article

Small and medium-sized ports are currently underutilised within supply and logistics chains, yet many can be successfully integrated through optimisation. A significant share is located near large cities and industrial zones, a situation that can be exploited not only to make better use of the ports themselves but also to develop nearby cities and regions. The “integration” of small and medium-sized ports into the Motorways of the Sea (MoS) system encompasses technical, technological, organisational, and legal aspects. This article primarily analyses the adaptation of small and medium-sized ports to the MoS objectives from a technical and technological perspective. The adaptation of the technical capabilities of small and medium-sized ports, linking them with major ports, focuses on bypassing “overloading” in land transport systems, optimising the costs of transporting goods by up to 25–30%, and reducing environmental impact compared with road transport by up to 50%. The article presents a mathematical model for adapting small and medium-sized ports to the MoS system, assessing the cost of cargo transportation, the reduction in environmental impact, and the technical and technological utilisation of these ports. Full article

With the continuous development of cities, road reconstruction has become increasingly common. Work zones have become a typical type of urban road bottleneck. This paper develops an Environment Information-Based Behavior-Constrained Cellular Automaton (EIBC) model within the framework of Kerner’s three-phase traffic theory. The model is used to describe how mandatory lane-changing influences traffic flow near an urban work zone. It also considers the disturbance effect of transport trucks. Simulation results show that the proposed model can qualitatively reproduce synchronized flow and related congestion patterns reported in the literature. The model can also reflect the disturbance effect of transport trucks under work zone conditions. Therefore, the EIBC model provides a mechanism-oriented framework for interpreting traffic phase evolution near urban work zone bottlenecks. It may also support the discussion of traffic organization in such scenarios. Full article

Urban transportation systems are facing increasingly severe threats from extreme weather events such as rainstorms, which can trigger cascading failures and lead to regional traffic paralysis. The strategic location of emergency facilities to enhance system resilience has emerged as a critical proactive prevention strategy. This study proposes a multi-objective hierarchical coverage location model that integrates point and flow demands to improve the resilience of urban road traffic systems under rainstorm conditions. First, the resilience risk levels of road nodes were quantified using an entropy-weighted TOPSIS method that combines topological attributes, traffic flow performance, and indirect propagation intensity. Second, a flow-capturing mechanism was introduced to address the dynamic rescue demands of stranded vehicles in motion, enabling the pre-positioning of “safe havens” along critical travel routes. The model balances two objectives: maximizing the resilience risk value of the covered demands and minimizing facility construction costs. A case study was conducted in Jianghan District, Wuhan, a flood-prone area, and the NSGA-II algorithm was employed to solve the multi-objective optimization problem. The results demonstrate that the proposed model significantly outperforms traditional single-demand location models in terms of coverage effectiveness and cost efficiency, achieving improvements in resilience risk coverage of up to 311.6% and cost reductions of up to 63.6%. This study provides a systems science perspective for pre-disaster emergency resource allocation, shifting the paradigm from infrastructure-centric protection to human-centered rescue. Full article

Animal-vehicle collisions (AVCs) pose a significant threat to road safety, wildlife conservation, and transportation systems worldwide. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision have enabled intelligent detection and mitigation systems aimed at reducing such collisions. This review synthesizes the current state of AI-powered AVC prevention systems, examining deep learning architectures, multimodal sensor technologies, real-time processing frameworks, and system-level integration strategies. We analyze the transition from traditional computer vision methods to modern deep neural networks, evaluate sensor fusion approaches, and assess existing wildlife detection datasets and benchmarking practices. Key technical challenges are identified, including environmental variability, long-range detection constraints, dataset scarcity, cross-species generalization limitations, and real-time safety requirements. Rather than framing AVC prevention solely as an object detection task, this review conceptualizes it as a safety-critical perception and risk assessment pipeline operating under strict latency and deployment constraints. Persistent gaps in wildlife-specific detection, standardized evaluation protocols, and scalable edge deployment are discussed. To organize these insights, we present WildSafe-Edge as a conceptual reference architecture derived from the literature, synthesizing system-level design considerations and highlighting open research directions. Future research directions include transfer learning, synthetic data augmentation, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) integration, and edge-centric architectures to enable robust, real-world collision mitigation systems. Full article

Vulnerable road users in informal urban environments confront a distinct set of hazards that standard computer vision datasets are ill-equipped to represent: artisanal speed bumps constructed without regulatory compliance, deteriorated road markings, and the mototaxi—a three-wheeled motorized vehicle that constitutes the primary informal transport mode in intermediate Andean cities yet is absent from all major international repositories. This paper presents QHAWAY—from Quechua qhaway, a transitive verb meaning “to look; to observe”—an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) predicated on instance segmentation, monocular distance estimation via the pinhole camera model, and Time-to-Collision (TTC) computation, developed for the road environment of Ayacucho, Peru (2761 m a.s.l.), a city recognised by UNESCO as a Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art since 2019. A hybrid dataset comprising 25,602 images with 127,525 annotated instances across 12 classes was assembled by combining an original local collection of 4598 images (10,701 instances) captured through four complementary acquisition methods across the five urban districts of the Huamanga province with three established international datasets (BDD100K, BSTLD, RLMD; 21,004 images, 116,824 instances). A three-phase progressive training strategy with monotonically increasing resolution (640, 800, and 1024 pixels) was evaluated as an ablation study. A multi-architecture comparison spanning YOLOv8L-seg and the YOLO26 family (nano, small, large) identified YOLO26L-seg as the best-performing model, attaining mAP50 Box of 0.829 and mAP50 Mask of 0.788 at epoch 179. The integration of ByteTrack multi-object tracking with the pinhole equation $D=(H_{\mathrm{real}}\times f)/h_{\mathrm{px}}$ delineates operational risk zones aligned with the NHTSA forward collision warning standard (danger: <3 m; caution: 3–7 m; TTC threshold ≤ 2.4 s). The system sustains processing rates of 19.2–25.4 FPS on an NVIDIA RTX 5080 GPU. A systematic field survey established that 96% of the audited speed bumps fail to comply with MTC Directive No. 01-2011-MTC/14, constituting the first quantitative record of informal road infrastructure non-compliance in the Andean region. Validation was conducted under naturalistic driving conditions without staged scenarios. Grad-CAM explainability analysis, encompassing three complementary visualisation algorithms (Grad-CAM, Grad-CAM++, and EigenCAM), confirmed that model attention concentrates consistently on safety-critical objects. Full article

The European Union is currently focused on reducing non-exhaust emissions (NEE), a growing source of particulate matter (PM) pollution from road transport. This study presents the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of an innovative zero-emission magneto-rheological braking system specifically designed to meet new brake emission targets. Prototyped for A-segment passenger cars, the system uses magnetorheological fluids that modify their rheological properties when subjected to an external magnetic field. The environmental impacts of this innovative system are compared with those of a conventional disc brake, considering 16 environmental indicators across all life stages: raw material extraction, manufacturing, use, and end-of-life. In fact, although the system eliminates PM emissions during operation, it is crucial to assess whether it remains advantageous in terms of overall environmental impacts when the full life cycle is considered. As a prototype, this study also aims to inform design improvements that minimize environmental burdens. Results show that the innovative braking system performs better, particularly during the use and maintenance phases. Moreover, several eco-design strategies have been identified to reduce impacts related to materials and production. Overall, the magneto-rheological system demonstrates strong potential to meet future emission standards while improving the sustainability of vehicle braking technology. Full article

Based on observations of real-world transport systems such as bus-subway systems, street-motorway networks, and rail-air transport frameworks, in which high-speed layers are typically constructed above pre-existing low-speed networks to alleviate congestion and improve efficiency, this study proposes a method for constructing multilayer transport networks by strategically deploying the high-speed layer according to node betweenness centrality in the underlying low-speed network. The concept of speed ratio is introduced to quantify the speed difference within the multilayer network. The multilayer network is integrated into the following model: the user equilibrium flow assignment strategy model based on the Bureau of Public Roads function. Utilizing network efficiency, high-speed layer utilization ratio, and proportion of congested edges as metrics, we analyze the impact of: (1) inter-tier speed ratio, (2) low-speed layer topology, and (3) interlayer transfer costs on system performance. Key findings indicate: Under a given traffic demand, increasing the inter-layer speed ratio elevates network efficiency while shifting congestion from lower to upper layers; incorporation of long-range connections improves efficiency, alleviating traffic congestion; introducing interlayer travel speed may enhance efficiency in specific parameter regimes. Full article