Suchergebnisse

PUBLISHED ; Many drivers support the push towards the automation of transportation. Technology and automotive companies, the general public, and governments are all seen as the main groups pushing the automation revolution forward. The key to this revolution's success will rest with the perception of the professionals in the field as their perception will affect the way that Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) are adopted. This study surveyed 185 experienced industry professionals to gather their comments and opinions on AVs' purported safety benefits and drawbacks. The results in this paper illustrate that the 'incorrect understanding of the surrounding objects by AVs' could be the most significant technical concern and may lead to accidents. Some professionals had concerns about trusting the AVs' safe operation without steering wheels, while some others believed that there is a chance that having steering wheels may increase safety concerns. The findings also suggest that while AVs might reduce the number of accidents, this may not necessarily be the case for the severity of any accidents. The severity may remain unchanged or even increase as a result of the adoption of AVs. This paper's results show that the majority of the professionals consulted agreed that AVs have the potential to increase road safety significantly. However, the consensus was that more research and testing is needed in this field.

PUBLISHED ; Since late 2019, COVID-19 has devastated the global economy, with indirect implications for the environment. As governments? prioritized health and implemented measures such as the closure of non-essential businesses and social distancing, many workers have lost their jobs, been furloughed, or started working from home. Consequently, the world of work has drastically transformed and this period is likely to have major implications for mobility, transportation and the environment. This paper estimates the potential for people to engage in remote work and social distancing using O*NET data and Irish Census data and calculates the potential emission savings, by commuter type from a switch to remote working and occupational social distancing. The results show that while those who commute by car have a relatively high potential for remote work, they are less likely to be able to engage in social distancing in their workplace. While this may be negative for employment prospects in the short run, our analysis indicates that this pattern has the potential for positive environmental implications in the short and long run.

PUBLISHED ; Introduction: This paper explores the spatial burden in healthcare accessibility of low-income families in rural Northeast Brazil. The Northeast region accounts alone for more than half (63%) of the population living in extreme poverty in Brazil and the majority of these people (57%) live in rural areas. To overcome the scarcity of geospatial data in such context, this study proposes an innovative proxy for tracking the location of the rural low-income households. Methods: A dataset composed of the location of almost half a million cisterns provided by the Federal Government to low-income households of this region is evaluated in terms of accuracy and Euclidean distance to healthcare centres (Primary care, Emergency Care and Hospitals) by means of statistical and GIS tools. Results: Evidence shows that such dataset, beyond having an inaccuracy of less than 105?m, is also substantially representative. The findings on healthcare accessibility show that 53.5% of the rural low-income population in Northeast Brazil are living farther than 5?km from the nearest Primary care centre and over 60% are at a distance greater than 10?km from the closest higher complexity healthcare centre (Hospitals and Emergency care units). Conclusions: These results emphasise that the majority of this rural low-income population, who mostly live in a walking world (Porter, 2002), experience an insurmountable spatial burden preventing them from accessing public health services. It is argued that the availability of geo-location of low-income households registered in Social Programs (like the Cisterns Program) would enable a significant step forward in the Brazilian Transport and Public health planning. This study not only calls attention to the major hurdle faced by low-income families in Northeast Brazil but also offers a direction to where and for whom new transport and health interventions are particularly needed in the Latin American context.

PUBLISHED ; Many countries have recently set out policy frameworks to support the growth of cycling. However, increased cycling can mean more collisions, injuries and even fatalities. This paper discusses the role of safety in cycling policy in the particular case of Ireland, which is one of the countries that has a government - endorsed policy to increase cycling. It examines available information on cycling , including police - reported accident data over the las t fifteen years and more recent hospital accident data. Comparisons are made for injuries between the two sources and data matching and capture - recapture methods used to estimate injuries. The deficiencies in data are analysed and suggestions for improveme nts made. It is argued that gaps in available data have led to accident risks being poorly understood. The paper discuss es how a convergence in cycling and safety policy can be achieved and suggests additional measures including a cycling safety target, in creased communication on cycling safety, lower urban speeds and compulsory wearing of helmets for children.

PUBLISHED ; Washington, D.C. ; Over the past decade the Irish government has invested intensively in a large national motorway network. One of the side effects of this investment has been that inter-city travel is now considerably cheaper and quicker by car compared any other mode. The main objective of this research is to identify and examine the barriers to sustainable inter-city transport in Ireland. The majority of sustainable transport research takes place in an urban context with very little research has focused on understanding the factors to encourage alternative modes on inter-city trips. A stated preference study was conducted to determine what are the factors that impact upon individuals? mode choice when conducting an inter-city trip. The results of this paper demonstrate that there are several factors that impact upon individuals? mode choice decisions when undertaking an inter-city trip. The main factor that was found to impact upon mode choice was the requirement to have a car in the destination city.

PUBLISHED ; UCC ; Over the past decade the Irish government has invested intensively in a large national motorway network. One of the side effects of this investment has been that now inter-city travel is now considerably cheaper and quicker by car over any other mode. The main objective of this research is to identify and examine the barriers to sustainable inter-city transport in Ireland. The majority of sustainable transport research takes place in an urban context with very little research has focused on understanding the factors to encourage alternative modes on inter - city trips. A stated preference study was conducted to determine what are the factors that impact upon individuals? mode choice when conducting an inter-city trip. The results of this paper demonstrate that there are several factors that impact upon individuals? mode choice decisions when undertaking an inter-city trip. The main factor that was found to impact upon mode choice was the requirement to have a car in the destination city.

PUBLISHED ; A shift to electric vehicles (EV) is seen as one of the main methods to decarbonise the transportation sector. However, issues have also been raised regarding charging infrastructure, EV reliability and range, as well as the battery environmental and social credentials. Notwithstanding governments, intergov- ernmental organisations, and research entities have ploughed ahead to promote this transition, but the challenge is the uptake and public acceptance. Grants and financial subsidies have been developed to facilitate this shift. Our study investigates the characteristics of the private EV household charger pop- ulation using a regression model and spatial analysis to determine the influences of income, car ownership and economic status on EV take up rates. Data on the installation of EV household chargers are used in this paper as a proxy for EV ownership, due to data limitations. The results indicate that 1) urban areas are more likely to see higher concentrations of EV ownership, 2) an income and equity gap exists between those that have adapted electric mobility. This finding is very important because it suggests that lower income categories may have a financial barrier to shifting to EVs.

PUBLISHED ; In recent years, it is becoming more frequent the occurrence of extreme weather events across Europe, such as rain induced landslides, river floods, winter storms and hurricanes. These hazards result in deterioration or fail of critical elements, and in the consequent disruption or disablement of the traffic networks. Therefore, developing tools and guidelines are mandatory to enhance safety and reliability of critical infrastructure networks, and address European policy in the areas of safety and security, intermodality and emergency response planning. With this goal, the European research project RAIN (Risk Analysis of Infrastructure Networks in response to extreme weather) presents a multidisciplinary approach, involving aspects as diverse as climatology, transportation, or sociology. The RAIN vision is to provide an operational analysis framework that identifies critical infrastructure components impacted by extreme weather events and minimise the impact of these events on the EU infrastructure network. The project focusses on land transport networks, and the energy and telecommunication systems to identify cascading and interrelated effects. Technical and logistic solutions are developed to minimise the impact of these extreme events, which include novel early warning systems, decision support tools and engineering solutions to ensure rapid reinstatement of the network. This paper presents an overview of the RAIN project including results and methods that can be applied globally to determine the impacts of increased extreme weather events.

A shift to electric vehicles (EV) is seen as one of the main methods to decarbonise the transportation sector. However, issues have also been raised regarding charging infrastructure, EV reliability and range, as well as the battery environmental and social credentials. Notwithstanding governments, intergovernmental organisations, and research entities have ploughed ahead to promote this transition, but the challenge is the uptake and public acceptance. Grants and financial subsidies have been developed to facilitate this shift. Our study investigates the characteristics of the private EV household charger population using a regression model and spatial analysis to determine the influences of income, car ownership and economic status on EV take up rates. Data on the installation of EV household chargers are used in this paper as a proxy for EV ownership, due to data limitations. The results indicate that 1) urban areas are more likely to see higher concentrations of EV ownership, 2) an income and equity gap exists between those that have adapted electric mobility. This finding is very important because it suggests that lower income categories may have a financial barrier to shifting to EVs.

A shift to electric vehicles (EV) is seen as one of the main methods to decarbonise the transportation sector. However, issues have also been raised regarding charging infrastructure, EV reliability and range, as well as the battery environmental and social credentials. Notwithstanding governments, intergovernmental organisations, and research entities have ploughed ahead to promote this transition, but the challenge is the uptake and public acceptance. Grants and financial subsidies have been developed to facilitate this shift. Our study investigates the characteristics of the private EV household charger population using a regression model and spatial analysis to determine the influences of income, car ownership and economic status on EV take up rates. Data on the installation of EV household chargers are used in this paper as a proxy for EV ownership, due to data limitations. The results indicate that 1) urban areas are more likely to see higher concentrations of EV ownership, 2) an income and equity gap exists between those that have adapted electric mobility. This finding is very important because it suggests that lower income categories may have a financial barrier to shifting to EVs.