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2021 | Book

Advances in Mobility-as-a-Service Systems

Proceedings of 5th Conference on Sustainable Urban Mobility, Virtual CSUM2020, June 17-19, 2020, Greece

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About this book

This book gathers together innovative research and practical findings relating to urban mobility transformation. It is especially intended to provide academicians, researchers, practitioners and decision makers with effective strategies and techniques that can support urban mobility in a sustainable way. The chapters, which report on contributions presented at the 5th Conference on Sustainable Urban Mobility, held virtually on June 17-19, 2020, from Greece, cover the thematic areas of: social networks and traveler behavior; applications of technologies in transportation and big data analytics; transport infrastructure and traffic management; and transportation modeling and impact assessment. Special attention is given to public transport and demand responsive systems, electromobility, micromobility and automated vehicles. The book addresses the challenges of the near future, highlighting the importance of knowledge transfer, and it is intended to foster communication among universities, industries and public administration.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter

Public Transport and Demand Responsive Systems

Frontmatter
Gender Impact on Transit Quality of Service Importance and Performance Assessment

This paper examines the impact of gender on transit travelers’ quality assessment considering 26 indicators’ importance and performance ratings. Through an online survey and using a 5 point Likert scale, transit travelers were asked to rate both the importance and the performance they recognize for the examined quality indicators. The online survey was distributed to a list of contacts, organizations, businesses, universities and operations’ websites in three Greek cities (Athens, Thessaloniki and Volos), aiming to cover all modes and quality conditions someone may face in Greek transit operations. In total, 211 PT users (96 male and 116 female transit travelers) provided their feedback that was further analyzed, aiming to underline the impact of their gender on transit quality importance and performance assessments. Research results, showed that women attribute a higher importance than men on route and service related characteristics, cleanliness and safety and security related indicators, along with the availability of shelter and benches at stops, the ease of purchasing ticket and the use of ecological vehicles. Similarly, women recognize a higher performance for the ease of purchasing ticket. Research results explicitly analyze the gender impact on transit quality assessment, providing useful knowledge and insights for decision makers planning and operations.

Maria Tsami, Eftihia Nathanail
Investigation of Minibus Public Transport Service Characteristics in an Urban Area Through the Use of a Stated and Revealed Preference Survey

The operation of minibuses as public transport modes worldwide is considered as a both efficient and effective way to meet the mobility needs of special population groups in urban areas. Minibus services are more flexible in terms of routing and scheduling as well as more affordable compared to regular bus public transport. This paper investigates the potential introduction and the characteristics of a minibus transit service in the Municipality of Kalamaria (~90,000 pop.) in Thessaloniki Greater Area, Greece. The research is based on a joint revealed and stated preference survey, which took place in 2015 and was addressed to the citizens of the Municipality, where such a minibus service was formerly active. The revealed preference survey mainly explored the current travel behavior of citizens and their level of acceptance for such a service in case of its reopening. The stated preference survey investigated the intentions and travel preferences of the respondents under different scenarios of travel time, service frequency and travel cost. A total of 140 questionnaires was collected and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Causal analysis was conducted to reveal interrelations of respondents’ willingness to use the service depending on the above attributes. According to the research findings, the perceived “quality of service” is strongly associated with safety, reliability and comfort of the transport mode used. Additionally, travel time is considered more important than cost. Although respondents seem to prefer a free of charge service, it was found that Willingness-to-Pay for minibus services ranges around 0.5 euros.

Maria Akrioti, Socrates Basbas, Georgios Georgiadis, Eftihia Nathanail
Effect of Self-driving Buses on Vehicle Scheduling

We are more and more close to the time when a higher number of autonomous vehicles are appearing in road traffic. The number of unanswered questions does not diminish but grow. One such issue is the role of autonomous vehicles in public transport. When talking about autonomous vehicles we often think of only cars and we think less about self-driving buses. But the economic potential inherent in autonomous buses is huge. In the Hungarian vehicle and crew scheduling practice (and also in other countries) the one driver-one vehicle control is typical. This method closely links the vehicles and the drivers. Vehicles should therefore adapt to the rest time of the crew and the employment rules. Unused reserves are generated in the system. Autonomous vehicles can release this overcapacity. Thanks to that, fewer vehicles can carry out public transport tasks and we can save extra rides. It also provides a solution to the lack of drivers, which is a basic problem in many countries. In our study we show the reserves that can be recovered from the system in the case of three Hungarian cities (Eger, Dunaújváros, Győr). We show how much savings can be achieved by running autonomous buses in European cities with a population of 45 000, 54 000 and 130 000 inhabitants. The results are promising. In smaller cities we could achieve about 20% of economical savings but in bigger cities 40% is also realistic. Our statements are based on only rough calculations and they try to help in preparation for the future.

Viktor Nagy, Balázs Horváth
Sustainability of Public Transport in Nottinghamshire: A Look at Bus Service Quality

Sustainable urban development entails decreasing reliance on private cars as a means of transportation and endorsing public transport use. Nevertheless, consistent evaluation and enhancement of quality of service is needed if public transport is to be made more appealing particularly to car owners. A comprehension of customers perceived and expected quality of service can highly benefit in knowing areas of incapability needing precedence for upgrading.This paper uses the SERVQUAL model to analyze quality of service of public bus transport by evaluating perceptions and expectations of the quality of service to customers, and its influence on general customer contentment about Nottinghamshire’s public bus transport service.An online survey resulted in 1306 responses, which was deemed statistically suitable for evaluation and it constituted 42.8% males and 57.2% females.Findings from the study showed the existence of significant differences between customers perceived and expected quality of service ensuing in a level of dissatisfaction with the bus service. The most disapproval from respondents were in relation to the courteousness of drivers, fare and the punctuality of the service having −1.18, − 2.07 and −1.17 gap scores respectively. Of prime concern to respondents were the responsiveness of the service and reliability. Customers’ perceptions of quality of service was found to be more pivotal at improving the general contentment in the service. Perceptions of the frequency of the service and timeliness had notable association with general contentment.Limitations of the research, suggestions to policy makers and for further work are indicated.

Agnes Boscoe-Wallace, Sunday Chizoba Okafor
Demand Responsive Public Transport System in Airport Travel: Case Study of Delhi

Air travel due to its inherent advantage over other modes, is on the path of rapid growth in India. All over the world, airport travel is predominantly by private modes and Delhi is no exception. With 66% of trips by cars/taxis, the airport has started experiencing congestion whereas metro connectivity to Delhi’s IGI airport suffered due to ridership issues.Literature study suggests that all over the world, there is a gradual shift to public transport (PT) in airport travel. This paper, realizing the need to increase public transport share in airport travel, attempts to understand the user behavior, reasons for preference to private transport, status of existing PT connectivity etc. and suggests feasible solution. A data intensive study was conducted at IGI. Field surveys including OD cum opinion survey with sample of 11000 passengers was done at all airport terminals of IGI, metro stations, Public Transport Center and parking lots to identify the issues that will facilitate movement from private to public transport.The paper identifies issues with existing metro connectivity and suggests demand responsive bus system with dynamic routing to fill the current PT void at IGI airport. The service, Satellite Airport Service (SAS), is proposed to connect all the terminals of IGI with major origin destination points in Delhi. The SAS service will be linked with a web-based journey planner to plan access/dispersal trips at the time of ticket booking. These measures will help in increasing share of public transport in airport travel in Delhi.

Sujata Savant, Neeraj Sharma, Amit Singh Baghel
Sustainable Mobility and Public Transportation Systems in Medium-Sized Cities

The subject of this project is the elaboration of a sustainable public transportation systems plan in a mid-sized city. The study aims to maximize the benefits of an urban area in order to improve the quality of life for both residents and visitors, with participatory planning and the principles of sustainable development. Sustainable mobility is defined as the movement of people and goods both in the urban and suburban axes of cities, which is based on three main pillars: environment, society and economy. These pillars also outline the key objectives of a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan, which are none other than providing urban mobility for all, providing safety while adopting environmental transport standards. Furthermore, the financial element is also taken into account, contributing to increased efficiency. For the reasons mentioned above, sustainable mobility aims to create ideal public transport conditions, contributing to improving the quality of city life. This research demonstrates the necessity of adopting a Sustainable Urban Transport Plan by the Municipality of Xanthi, in northern Greece, as evidenced by the recording of the current situation. Therefore, the main scope of the study is to formulate policies and implement measures that will gradually strengthen the use of public transport changing the mentality of citizens who move around using the car.

Elias Papastavrinidis, George Kollaros, Antonia Athanasopoulou, Vasiliki Kollarou
Case Studies in the Emilia Romagna Region in Support of Intermodality and Accessibility of Public Transport

The concept of intermodality is becoming increasingly important for the development of global communication and environmental sustainability. Creating an intermodal network capable of expanding connections between inland and coastal areas of the same country or between different countries, is fundamental in order to improve mobility and the level of service offered. In Italy numerous projects have been presented to increase national intermodality. An example is the Emilia-Romagna Region which, thanks to the Inter-Connect project, aims of enhancing the accessibility of passengers between the city of Bologna and the coastal areas, by promoting the use of collective transport. In this study, an analysis was carried out on the connectivity between Bologna and Ravenna to reduce the journey time on the railway line and increase the use of collective transport. The analysis included the redesign of the railway stops for a faster and more efficient service, as well as improving user satisfaction. In addition, an integrated bus-train ticket was created to promote the use of public transport. The results showed that this new solution led to have less delays on the line, although the reorganization of the stops involved the cancellation of some of them. Moreover, numerous surveys have shown that the use of an integrated bus-train ticket helps to improve intermodality within cities. The study has also highlighted the need for more efficient ticket advertising campaigns to better inform users.

Margherita Pazzini, Claudio Lantieri, Valeria Vignali, Andrea Simone, Giulio Dondi, Giuseppe Luppino, Denis Grasso
Forecasting of Urban Public Transport Demand Based on Weather Conditions

Weather conditions have a major impact on citizens’ daily mobility. Depending on weather conditions trips may be delayed, demand may be changed as well as the modal shift. These variations have a major impact on the use and operation of public transport, particularly in transport systems that operate close to capacity. However, the influence of weather conditions on transport demand is difficult to predict and quantify. For this purpose, an artificial neural network model – the Multilayer Perceptron – is used as a regression model to estimate the demand of urban public transport buses based on weather conditions. Transit bus ridership and weather conditions were collected along a year from a medium-size European metropolitan area (Oporto, Portugal) and linked under the assumption that individuals choose the travel mode based on the weather conditions that are observed during the departure hour, the hour before and two hours before. The transit ridership data were also labelled according to the hour, day of the week, month, and whether there was a strike and/or holiday or not. The results demonstrate that it is possible to predict the demand of public transport buses using the weather conditions observed two hours before with low error for the entire network (MAE = 143 and RMSE = 322). The use of weather conditions allow to decreases the error of the prediction by ~8% for the entire network.

Ricardo Correia, Tânia Fontes, José Luís Borges

Reshaping Transport Modelling

Frontmatter
Attitudes of E-Scooter Non-users Towards Users

Micromobility aims to provide environmentally friendly options for trips that cannot be accomplished with public transport and reduce automobile dependence. The most recent transport mode for accomplishing such trips is the electric scooter (e-scooter) and they have flooded several countries and cities taking a significant share of trips. However, there is little guidance regarding their operations and initial observations demonstrate public disdain. This article deals with the evaluation of the public opinion in regard to e-scooters based on those who do not use them. To solicit input, an in-person and an electronic questionnaire were used in Thessaloniki, Greece. Statistical analysis of the collected data was undertaken to establish possible pattern of public opinion and identify situations of e-scooters that cause problems in pedestrian and motor vehicle traffic. Furthermore, the lack of infrastructure, which is a deterrent to e-scooter use, and the absence of a legislative framework that sets out the rules for traffic seem to be main concerns. Finally, the surveys noted that e-scooters will be promoted and integrated into traffic by designing and building adequate infrastructure, training users in Highway Code and imposing fines on offenders.

Athanasia Kostareli, Socrates Basbas, Nikiforos Stamatiadis, Andreas Nikiforiadis
Evaluating the Performance of Reinforcement Learning Signalling Strategies for Sustainable Urban Road Networks

Smart Cities promise to their residents, quick journeys in a clean and sustainable environment. Despite, the benefits accrued by the introduction of traffic management solutions (e.g. improved travel times, maximisation of throughput, etc.), these solutions usually fall short on ensuring the environmental sustainability around the implementation areas. This is because the environmental dimension (e.g. vehicle emissions) is usually absent from the optimisation methodologies adopted for traffic management strategies. Nonetheless, since environmental performance corresponds as a primary goal of contemporary mobility planning, solutions that can guarantee air quality are significant. This study presents an advanced Artificial Intelligence-based (AI) signal control framework, able to incorporate environmental considerations into the core of signal optimisation processes. More specifically, a highly flexible Reinforcement Learning (RL) algorithm has been developed in order to identify efficient but -more importantly- environmentally friendly signal control strategies. The methodology is deployed on a large-scale micro-simulation environment able to realistically represent urban traffic conditions. Alternative signal control strategies are designed, applied, and evaluated against their achieved traffic efficiency and environmental footprint. Based on the results obtained from the application of the methodology on a core part of the road urban network of Nicosia, Cyprus the best strategy achieved a 4.8% increase of the network throughput, 17.7% decrease of the average queue length and a remarkable 34.2% decrease of delay while considerably reduced the CO emissions by 8.1%. The encouraging results showcase ability of RL-based traffic signal controlling to ensure improved air-quality conditions for the residents of dense urban areas.

Haris Ballis, Loukas Dimitriou
Community Participation Towards Sustainability Enhancement of Transportation Sector for Baghdad City

Population opinions and preferences are one of the requirements that city planners strive to meet. Regulating the vital sectors in the city, including the transportation sector, without paying attention to its residents’ viewpoints, may lead to the failure of this organization process.This research represents an analysis of many aspects of the use of mass transit and automobiles in the city of Baghdad, depending on Baghdad’s residents’ point of view. In order to determine the most critical aspects that transport planners and traffic engineers should focus on, to developing the transport sector in the city and achieving sustainable urban mobility. To achieve the research goal, 200 questionnaires were distributed to a group of Baghdad residents who had even a slight knowledge of the characteristics of the city’s transportation sector. A set of relationships was built based on distributed forms highlighting the essential aspects that city residents want to develop in the transport sector.

Firas Alrawi, Khalid Alwani, Hamid Alacash, Seda Mesrop
Impact of Congestion Pricing Policies in Round-Trip and Free-Floating Carsharing Systems

Carsharing is a short-period car rental system where being member is the first step to have access to its services. In a previous study a membership choice model of the city of Berlin was estimated using the agent-based model MATSim and discrete choice theory. Results have shown two distinct member profiles: two-way members use the system for primarily pre-planned long trips while free-floating members usually employ the service as a substitute to private cars in pursuing daily activities. Starting from the developed membership model this study investigates how congestion pricing policies affect carsharing mode choice by implementing different price ranges and applying them in MATSim on the synthetic population of Berlin in order to assess the system behaviour during an ordinary day. Results show an increase of carsharing choice with different impact and a decrease of car mode usage. Free-floating service customers decreased their travel distance, as congestion pricing impacts their choices more than travel cost in a daily user’s plan, instead they do not change their willingness to access to the service. Two-way customers are not affected by congestion pricing as the service is used as a substitute of both public transport and private car.

Carolina Cisterna, Giulio Giorgione, Francesco Viti
Spatiotemporal Diversifications of Urban Activities and Travels in Egaleo Municipality, Attica Region

This paper presents diversifications of systematic activities and correlated systematic travels, within 12 years a period. As systematic activities and correlated ssystematic travels are defined those urban activities and travels that are frequently repeated, have same start and end time, travels have same origin and destination, using same transport means and activities take place in the same spatial location. Data derive from qualitative questionnaire survey, Systematic Activities – Travels (SAT) Survey, specifically designed for easy and fast implementation, resulting to large volumes of data on systematic activities and correlated systematic travels characteristics. As 2004–2005 initial SAT Survey covered the Greater Athens Metropolitan Area and for the 2018 survey Egaleo was selected as a low income, high population density. Municipality facing the outcomes of Greece’s recent economic crisis. Egaleo is also a typical example of Metropolitan’s Area deprived western region. Research results indicate significant changes in transport mode choices, travels’ length and duration, as well as changes to activities’ participation, due to the economic recession. At the same time, the Metro Line 3 expansion and the operation of the new Egaleo Metro Station has a significantly positive impact in systematic activities participation choices, especially in the economic recession period.

D. G. Perperidou, M. Sfakianaki
Travellers’ Propensity to Cycle: The Case of Dublin and Athens

The aim of this study is to identify the factors that affect a person’s propensity to cycle in urban areas. A survey was conducted in two European cities: Dublin and Athens. Dublin boasts a substantial increase in cycling during the past years as a result of the implementation of targeted measures promoting cycling. While, in Athens the design of dedicated cycling infrastructure has commenced only recently, and Athenians’ attitudes towards cycling are still rather negative. Cycling propensity was investigated through the design of a stated preference questionnaire, in which participants were asked to state their willingness to cycle in specific scenarios, with trip purpose, trip distance and infrastructure quality being the parameters defining those scenarios. Probit models were designed and results highlighted both similarities and differences between the two sub-populations. This isolation of specific parameters defining the cycling propensity both regionally and internationally could prove important to design a future suitable transport system for each city, focused on more sustainable transport modes.

Konstantinos Tsepenta, Ioanna Spyropoulou, Aoife Ahern
The Role of Transport in Urban Planning in Greece: How to Integrate Sustainable Mobility Planning in Local Spatial Planning?

Urban planning in Greece was an unclear and multifaceted procedure, failing to produce clear results. Such an example is related to various traffic problems recorded in several Greek cities. Indeed, urban planning, which was mainly applied through the implementation of General Development Plans (G.D.Ps.), has failed to examine the aspects of transportation. To face this problem, Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (S.U.M.Ps.) are on the forefront of urban planning process and many Greek cities tend to implement such plans, in the near future. Meanwhile, urban planning legislative framework has been modified and G.D.Ps. have been replaced by another similar type of tool: Local Spatial Plans (L.S.Ps.). This change reveals an opportunity, as a holistic-comprehensive planning approach is emerged. In that context, measures and solutions, whose viability will not be questioned, in practical terms, over a few years, can be proposed in order for L.S.Ps. and S.U.M.Ps. to function effectively. This is the main topic of this paper that tries to approach the potential problems that may arise at legal and practical level from the coexistence of S.U.M.Ps with L.S.Ps which are new planning tools of urban design. This knowledge is derived by analyzing the way in which S.U.M.Ps. have already been implemented in Greece and the problems emerged by the previous institutionalized plans. Concerning the institutional provision for S.U.M.Ps and L.S.Ps, we attempt to identify some cases where problems may arise during the planning procedure, in order to give additional directions to the studiers of both plans, during the study process.

Efthimios Bakogiannis, Vasilios Eleftheriou, Charalampos Kyriakidis, Ioannis Chatziioannou
A Vision for Urban Micromobility
From Current Streetscape to City of the Future

As urban transport technology accelerates, various novel modes of electric-assisted personal transportation are emerging. These create both opportunities and constraints for transportation engineers and urban designers. Our research suggests that it is becoming increasingly clear that traditional road designs and public transportation infrastructures are struggling to accommodate the challenges. Micromobility (MM), including e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards, Segways and hoverboards, is becoming more popular and acceptable by people in the urban environment. Benefits include portability, ease of use, and affordability through shared services. Yet questions abound: How can the increased presence of MM be part of the necessary mixed streaming on urban streets? How can existing infrastructure and spatial allocations be more accommodating of MM, while not unduly disadvantaging other transport forms? Using a case study from the core of Washington, DC, we model the possibilities for adaptable road features that might be implemented for MM based on different traffic loads and infrastructure configurations. We conclude with a brief examination of how micromobility accommodation is poised to leverage urban transformation more broadly, including as it relates to sustainable green infrastructure and stormwater management opportunities.

Shengwei Tan, Ken Tamminga

Transformational Technologies

Frontmatter
Deep Bidirectional and Unidirectional LSTM Neural Networks in Traffic Flow Forecasting from Environmental Factors

The application of deep learning techniques in several forecasting problems has been increased the last years, in many scientific fields. In this research, a deep learning structure is proposed, composed mainly of double Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (Bi-LSTM) Network layers, for the prediction of the traffic flow in the study area. Also, traffic flow-related environmental factors were taken into consideration in order to construct the deep learning forecasting model. The final results have showed an increased accuracy of the proposed deep learning Bi-LSTM – based model compared to other machine learning models that were tested such as unidirectional LSTM networks, Support Vector Machines and Feedforward Neural Networks.

Georgios N. Kouziokas
Accelerating the Deployment of Electric Light Vehicles for Sustainable Urban Mobility: A Harmonized Pilot Demonstration Methodology

The development of sustainable, smart mobility has been accelerated by the arrival of innovative technologies. With the paradigm shift towards transport electrification, Electric Light Vehicles (EL-Vs) represent a very promising pathway to smart urban mobility. Still, the current market penetration of EL-Vs is relatively low compared to that of conventional vehicles. Via one-year long demonstrations of such vehicles in six different European cities (Rome, Genoa, Bari, Málaga, Trikala and Berlin) ELVITEN EU funded project proposes a holistic approach to boost the EL-Vs usage by addressing all of the issues hindering the wide market penetration of EL-Vs, which are the Users’ Low Awareness, the Consumers’ Concerns and the Inadequate Mobility Planning for EL-Vs. This paper presents the harmonized, user-centered, controlled, step-by-step methodology that has been followed in order to prepare and set up the pilot in each City, to create awareness among users and to collect and analyse data from the different Cities so that the findings can be comparable and thus being able to derive recommendations and guidelines to accelerate the deployment of EL-Vs in complex and demanding urban environments. The demonstration activities target the collection of appropriate sizes of various types of data, based on the methodological triangulation concept and a blended qualitative and quantitative study approach, in order to increase the credibility and validity of the results.

Anna Antonakopoulou, Evangelia Portouli, Nikolaos Tousert, Maria Krommyda, Angelos Amditis, Maria Pia Fanti, Alessandro Rinaldi, Bartolomeo Silvestri
Investigating the Impacts of Additive Manufacturing on Supply Chains

Additive manufacturing is an emerging technology that is gaining more ground in various production areas, like medicine, industrial production, and consumer product printing. Aim of this paper is to analyze the applications of this technology on supply chains, investigate how it affects the structure and characteristics of the traditional supply chain, and finally, develop a business model for its optimal use, through the case study of the LEAP-1A jet engine fuel nozzle supply chain. This was achieved in three steps. First, current literature was reviewed, to fully understand the technology, its applications and the production processes it affects. Second, three different supply chain scenarios, i.e. conventional supply chain, centralized 3D printing and decentralized 3D printing were developed and elaborated, so as to allow the easier identification of the differences of the supply chain processes among the scenarios. To select the most effective scenario, an online survey with the participation of experts was conducted, to attribute weights to indicators identified through the literature review. Finally, a business model for the chosen scenario was developed using the Business Model Canvas. The analysis and evaluation of the indicators revealed that the most effective supply chain model is a decentralized additive manufacturing model. Based on the overall results it can be concluded that additive manufacturing simplifies the supply chain, increases flexibility in design and production and reduces transport and logistics costs.

Vissarion Manginas, Eftihia Nathanail, Ioannis Karakikes
Modelling MaaS Plans and Commitment Length: Experience from Two European Cities

Mobility –as –a Service (MaaS) is a novel concept in transportation, which is received with enthusiasm and its rising popularity is met by a growing number of studies. Exploring potential user and early adopters’ preferences is an imperative step towards the formulation of realistic, sensibly priced MaaS plans. This paper explores user preferences of MaaS plans, focusing on the duration of the plan (user commitment); adjusting pricing for duration. This type of research provides insight into the decision-making process, especially the trade-off between longer commitment and unit prices of included travel modes in the plans. To perform the described research, data from over 500 individuals from Budapest, Hungary and Manchester, UK was utilized. Collected data includes socio-demographic characteristics, attitudinal data, habitual travel patterns and stated preferences towards various MaaS plans with different commitment duration. Model estimation results indicate a general preference for MaaS packages instead of pay as you go. Additionally, the paper explores user heterogeneity and identifies different segments of the sample which have different reactions to a longer commitment. Results indicate certain willingness-to-accept values for longer commitments which may drive stakeholders (for example a MaaS operator) decisions on pricing packages of longer duration.

Athena Tsirimpa, Ioannis Tsouros, Ioanna Pagoni, Amalia Polydoropoulou
A Regional Competence Centre for SUMPs in Central Macedonia, Responding to the Identified Local Needs

The municipalities of the Region of Central Macedonia (RCM) still face significant problems in their SUMP launch and implementation. Unclear jurisdiction on sustainable urban mobility within the city departments, incomplete knowledge and/or limited in-house capacities for SUMP development, ‘silo’ approaches in the political level of SUMP planning and limited synergies with inter-municipal/ regional strategies are some of the issues that hinder the wide deployment of SUMPs in RCM. The Hellenic Institute of Transport, the Regional Development Fund of Central Macedonia and RCM have been working closely during the last 3 years through the Interreg Europe REFORM project cooperation in order to involve regional municipalities in an exchange of experience and capacity building process regarding SUMPs. Through this synergy, they have gained insight into the real problems that the city staff members face (through dedicated learning events and surveys) and they launched a Competence Centre for supporting the technical implementation of SUMPs and providing a ‘stage’ for dialogue between municipalities, regional authorities and scientific/knowledge experts. The Competence Centre of RCM was built as an online tool providing up-to-date technical guidance, based on the official EU SUMP guidelines, information on the recent developments in SUMP in the region and beyond, a library of useful documents and Greek good practices, a forum for exchange of experience between staff members of RCM’s municipalities and the opportunity for tailor-made SUMP training courses. Its overall aim is to align the local SUMPs into a wider, regional planning.

Maria Chatziathanasiou, Maria Morfoulaki, Konstantia Mpessa, Lambrini Tsoli
Mobility as a Service (MaaS): Past and Present Challenges and Future Opportunities

Recently, Mobility as a Service (MaaS) concept and its main theoretical approaches have been under discussion, to positively influence the future of mobility. Namely, by contextualizing MaaS’s role in modern societies explaining its main functions, characteristics, and attributes, as well as identifying all the stakeholders involved in this comprehensive challenge towards ensuring its widespread implementation. The environmental, societal, technological and cultural changes needed to ensure a sustainable mobility ecosystem are an utmost challenge that requires an intense effort and involvement of all different types of stakeholders within their perspectives, roles, responsibilities and contributions to the mobility system overall behavior and performance. Notwithstanding, the global tendency of digital transformation, also referred as digitization, in society and businesses are upbringing a new technological evolution that will lead to a new mobility paradigm bringing together MaaS and the internet of Mobility (IoM), thus creating what we call the Internet of Mobility as a Service (IoMaaS). The future trends of mobility will have to be ‘human-centric’, to properly balance the amount of technology requested into the ecosystem to ensure the whole system’s universality, to be inclusive, as well as developing the appropriate amount of technology, accordingly to the different users’ technological skills. Furthermore, different types of incentives and penalties need to be included in supporting a broad cultural shift regarding citizen’s mobility routines habits. This will be of great importance to ensure the sustainability of this new mobility paradigm as well as of the ability to attain all its benefits.

António Amaral, Luís Barreto, Sara Baltazar, Teresa Pereira
Planning the Urban Shift to Electromobility Using a Cost-Benefit-Analysis Optimization Framework: The Case of Nicosia Cyprus

Electromobility is considered the foreseeable future of road transportation and a significant shift to vehicles' consumer behaviour. Electric Vehicles (EV) adoption has environmental benefits linked to lower emissions and noise levels, that improve the quality of life, especially in urban areas. Nevertheless, to reap these benefits, both the energy and the transport sector have to be reformed. However, the combination of both sectors provides a complex system within which electromobility adoption has to be planned. The work herein proposes a framework to plan the shift to electromobility on the urban level. The proposed framework uses system theory and the Cost-Benefit-Analysis (CBA) tool to plan the shift to electromobility. An application of the framework is provided for the case of Cyprus’s capital, Nicosia, within a 20-year scope. The results of the do-nothing scenario presented herein, indicate that increased socio-environmental benefits can be anticipated by embracing electromobility, providing room for optimal policies.

Filippos Alogdianakis, Loukas Dimitriou

Connected and Autonomous Vehicles and Fleets

Frontmatter
Εx-Post Evaluation of an In-Vehicle Warning System for Rail-Road Level Crossings: The Case of Taxi Drivers

Connected and autonomous mobility are of great interest in transport research. Furthermore, Rail-Road Level Crossings represent high-risk locations of the network and the accidents that take place at them are considered as one of the most significant accident categories that occur at rail infrastructure. Hence, the evaluation of cooperative systems with the aim of increasing safety at Rail-Road Level Crossings is a crucial issue especially towards the evaluation of the system’ objectives as well as decision making for investments regarding in-vehicle warning systems. However, there are many barriers regarding the ex-post evaluation of these systems such as difficulty in collecting and analyzing quantitative data as well as GPS low accuracy. The present research examines the ex-post evaluation of an in-vehicle warning system for Rail-Road Level Crossings developed within the Horizon 2020 project “SAFER-LC” and tested in the city of Thessaloniki, Greece. The evaluation made with a questionnaire-based survey which was carried out in August-October 2019. Statistical analysis revealed numerous interesting findings between drivers’ socioeconomic attributes and the way they assess the in-vehicle warning system, indicating the high level of acceptance towards the tested driver assistance system, by a demanding professional drivers’ group.

Anastasios Skoufas, Neofytos Boufidis, Josep Maria Salanova Grau, Georgia Ayfantopoulou, Socrates Basbas
A Conceptual Model for the Simulation of the Next Generation Bike-Sharing System with Self-driving Cargo-Bikes

Car- and Bike-sharing systems have dramatically altered mobility services in metropolitan areas in recent years. They improve flexibility and convenience for non-private car-based mobility. This transformation seems to be further revolutionized by the introduction of self-driving vehicles. Indeed, Autonomous Mobility-on-Demand (AMoD) systems are gaining a huge research interest as they allow to address conventional system problems such as fleet imbalance. In this context, we present our AuRa (Autonomous Rad) project which aims to develop an on-demand shared-use self-driving bikes service (OSABS). Unlike the AMoD systems with car fleets, the AuRa concept highly reduces space occupancy, energy consumption, and air pollution by leveraging bikes. It can be further integrated with public transportation. This work describes the AuRa system design from a logistical perspective. Furthermore, we represent this system with a conceptual model that can be used to develop an agent-based simulation model in Anylogic software.

Imen Haj Salah, Vasu Dev Mukku, Stephan Schmidt, Tom Assmann
An Image-Based Approach for Classification of Driving Behaviour Using CNNs

In this work we present an approach for the classification of driving behaviour using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), based on measurements that have been obtained by the internal CAN-bus of the vehicle. As is the case with different driving behaviours, CAN-bus sensor data reflect the driving patterns associated with different types of vehicles. The experimental evaluation is performed on a real-life dataset composed by measuring 27 attributes, for 4 different car types, namely vacuum, car, truck and garbage truck. These features are processed to form pseudocolored images, capturing both temporal and qualitative features of parts of routes. For classification, we use a deep CNN architecture. Results indicated an accuracy of 91% and increased performance compared to other neural network-based approaches.

Evaggelos Spyrou, Ioannis Vernikos, Michalis Savelonas, Stavros Karkanis
Introducing Automated Shuttles in the Public Transport of European Cities: The Case of the AVENUE Project

Our current mobility paradigm has reached a tipping point. Individual mobility, based on cheap fossil fuel and high CO2 emissions no longer meet the needs posed by a globally increasing demand for passenger mobility, neither corresponds to the climate agenda.In this regard, innovations and technologies play an important role to shape the future mobility and provide solutions for more efficient, affordable, accessible, and sustainable mobility in cities.This paper aims to explore how innovations on mobility, such as shared automated electric vehicles (SAEV) can contribute to a positive change in the mobility paradigm and sustainable mobility, and to this end, which are the current obstacles to be overcome and the key factors related to SAEV’s deployment. Thereby, it presents the case of the Autonomous Vehicles to Evolve to a New Urban Experience - ‘AVENUE’, a European project that has implemented pilot trials to test automated shuttles within the public transport of Lyon, Geneva, Luxembourg, and Copenhagen.Based on primary data from the project and secondary data from AVENUE public reports, the study reports on the project implementation in the four cities and first learnings through obstacles and key factors to accelerate the deployment of automated shuttles in cities. It contributes to the discussion on technical & operational, social, and legal obstacles as well as key elements in the deployment of automated shuttles.

Eliane Horschutz Nemoto, Ines Jaroudi, Guy Fournier
Strategic Planning for Urban Air Mobility: Perceptions of Citizens and Potential Users on Autonomous Flying Vehicles

World’s current mobility systems are often inefficient and unsustainable, therefore the need for new schemes to satisfy mobility needs appears. This quest has given the impetus to the industry to invest in new technologies such as autonomous systems enabling self-driving vehicles. In this context, the concept of Urban Air Mobility (UAM), a term used for short-distance, on-demand, highly automated, passenger or cargo-carrying air mobility services, has arisen. This paper presents the introduction phase of strategic planning for the era of urban air mobility focusing on user and citizen acceptance of the system required for its operation. A survey is designed to capture the perception of citizens and potential users on aspects such as safety, security, well-being of the society (including issues of aesthetics, quality of life, social impacts), driving behaviour, mobility behaviour, expected benefits and their impact on the acceptance and the intention to use these systems. The acceptance of citizens and potential users (considered as two different groups) is analysed in terms of its potential uses (e.g. health emergencies, leisure, connectivity to remote regions). The survey is applied to the Metropolitan area of Lisbon and 207 responses were gathered. The collected data was analysed through correlation analysis and non-parametric tests. Conclusions are made on perceptions of citizens over different adoption and embracement levels.

Tomás Ferreira, Sofia Kalakou
How Autonomous Vehicles May Affect Vehicle Emissions on Motorways

Τhe objective of the present research is to investigate the vehicle emissions that may be produced in mixed traffic conditions of autonomous vehicles and human drivers on motorways. For this purpose, simulation scenarios will be developed in a specific part of Attiki Odos motorway, a modern motorway extending along 70 km, which constitutes the ring road of the greater metropolitan area of Athens and the backbone of the road network of the whole Attica prefecture. Attiki Odos is an urban motorway, with two separate directional carriageways, each consisting of 3 lanes and an emergency lane. For the purpose of the present research, peak hour traffic demand is estimated from 7:00 to 9:00, while both congested, as well as uncongested conditions will be simulated. To achieve this objective, five simulation scenarios are developed, including different percentages of automated and human driven vehicles (0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of AVs) while NOx and CO emissions are investigated in each scenario. Results indicate that Autonomous Vehicles have the potential to increase the emissions on the motorway. Additionally, the specific increase of emissions is estimated in all different scenarios of autonomous vehicles’ percentages in the mixed traffic scenarios.

Panagiotis Papantoniou, V. Kalliga, Constantinos Antoniou
A Taxonomy of Skills and Knowledge for Efficient Autonomous Vehicle Operation

The autonomous vehicles are expected to bring unprecedented changes in the labor sector and the workforce. Traditional jobs will be alleviated, new will be created while people involved in the autonomous vehicle operation should be qualified with additional skills and knowledge in order to be able to deal with the new technology and the various systems. Furthermore, the impact on the role of the ‘driver’ is anticipated to be significant in all transportation modes. The purpose of the present research is to identify the skills and knowledge required for an efficient and proper operation of any autonomous vehicle. Both professional and private operators and all transportation sectors (road, rail, maritime, aviation) and autonomous levels will be considered as each one has different requirements.

Foteini Orfanou, Eleni Vlahogianni, George Yannis
Towards the Adoption of Corporate Mobility as a Service (CMaaS): A Case Study

The increasing level of awareness gained, by citizens in general and companies in particular, around the sustainability issues and of the climate change are producing changes in how organizations are dealing and projecting their future vision. Therefore, new managerial approaches are being embraced towards adopting a set of a strategies fully aligned with the reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions. Due to this increase evidence of sensitivity, organizations are embracing their role as stakeholders that need to contribute, throughout its corporate social agenda, to a responsible and smart policy promoting the implementation of strategies that could endeavor the cultural shift of their workers, clients, suppliers, among others, towards effectively contributing to sustainability and social responsibility. The case study of a medium size company reported is related to a structural change in how the organization foresees its mobility behavior and how it intends to follow the concepts of Corporate Mobility as a Service (CMaaS). This case study discloses the strategies that have been implemented and the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) platform that has been developed towards having a broader view about the impacts of the mobility requested by all the organization. In addition, it is presented a group of Key Performance Indicator (KPI) that point the benefits attained with this effort as well as projecting the following steps that will support the CMaaS roadmap implementation in the future.

António Amaral, Luís Barreto, Teresa Pereira, Sara Baltazar

Accelerating Deployment: Governance and Business Models

Frontmatter
Creating Smart(er) Cities by Accelerating Innovation in Transport Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs): The Case of West Midlands Region

Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) at present employ 55% of the European workforce in transport and their essential role in the value chain will increase [1].The rigid value chain of the transport sector is preventing innovation. Tier 2 SMEs generally find it difficult to interact with vehicle manufacturers as they tend to have short-term supply contracts to Tier 1 companies. They have no collective voice or influence at European level and the EU is not supporting innovation in these companies [2].As part of a wider research project, this paper investigates this market failure at regional level and focuses on the opportunities for innovative and proactive transport SMEs. The main objective is to identify the innovation process of transport SMEs and the way to improve their capacity and capability to further develop and grow. Based on desk research of relevant literature and interviews with SMEs and Business Support organisations in the transport sector in the West Midlands region of England, this paper draws conclusions on the key future success factors that can boost transport innovation.

Eleni Anoyrkati, Alba Avarello
Policy Directions for Enhancing Transport Innovation Infrastructure for Smarter Regions

The European transport companies are leading innovators. Transport innovation can contribute to tackle major societal challenges, which are becoming more urgent by the day. However, budgets for transport are usually spent on maintaining or improving current infrastructure as statutory obligations drive the policy agendas for investment. There are opportunities offered by the rapid development of digital technology in 5G communications, connected and autonomous vehicles, alternative power sources and interconnected devices means that the transport sector is on the cusp of stochastic change. There are numerous issues around access to the technology as it becomes available and how to maximise the benefit to a region. This paper investigates the competitive advantage of five regions and explores the innovation potential along with the success factors needed in tackling any innovation obstacles. Policy suggestions are put forward in creating a funding strategy that builds upon existing and potential areas of competitive advantage, avoiding fragmentation and insularity and linking and leveraging the assets in new and different ways.

Tessa Lukehurst, Eleni Anoyrkati
Energy Consumption and Perspectives on Alternative Fuels for the Transport Sector: A National Energy Policy for Greece

During the last years, gasoline consumption, mainly for road transport, has dropped by more than 30% in Greece, while diesel consumption has seen a generally upward trend after 2013. In contrary, consumption of alternative fuels follows a positive trend. However, in 2016, the national use of Renewable Energy Sources in transport was at 1.4%, though the EU average was at 7,1%. The implementation of two National Action sub-Plans for Greece, one regarding the Renewable Energy Sources and the second about Energy Efficiency of Vehicles will boost the use of the alternative fuels and consequently the national production and distribution effort. This paper reviews the energy consumption over a period of years, defines the main pillars and describes the context of a rational energy policy plan for the transport sector.

Alkiviadis Tromaras, Dimitris Margaritis, Tatiana Moschovou
Building Capacity of Small-Medium Cities’ Local Authorities to Implement MaaS and Other Innovative Transport Schemes

Sustainable development requirements in combination with extreme technological evolution have changed the way mobility is considered, creating challenges to Local Authorities (LΑs) both in planning and implementation phases of mobility solutions. This paper focuses on the capacity building of LAs to deliver Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) and other innovative transport schemes as part of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs). It presents a methodological approach for the design and employment of an integrated learning tool that intends to increase the adoption rates of measures’ packages through LAs knowledge strengthening. The learning tool consists of a detailed facilitator guide to run an one-day classroom course along with the conceptual background and necessary training material. The methodological approach consists of a multilevel and multicriteria process that integrates the results/outcomes of the assessment of the cities capacity to implement SUMP through an evaluation framework. The classroom course has been structured in order to clarify the value of MaaS and other innovative measures for small-medium cities, analyze successful case studies under the spectrum of overcoming challenges efficiently, present tools and guidelines supporting collaboration between team members. The results of this work have been validated through the pilot application to six LAs. The overall evaluation of the pilots showed that content’s accuracy and achievement of workshop’s objectives was more than satisfactory (more than 50% of the participants gave the highest rate) and participants became more engaged with SUMP measures implementation.

Anastasia Founta, Olympia Papadopoulou, Sofia Kalakou, Georgios Georgiadis
Mapping and Analyzing the Transport Innovation Framework of the Region of Central Macedonia, Greece

The regions of the European Union (EU) countries could play a significant role in implementing European and national policies towards the enhancement of innovation and competitiveness of the transport-related ecosystem of key stakeholders and actors. Regional policies may cover a wide spectrum of fields, such as investments in enhancing main innovation capacities, funding schemes for the expansion of transport-related entrepreneurship, institutional changes, etc. Thus, understanding the regional transport innovation framework through a structured and systematic approach is required in order to inform the relevant decision-making process at a regional level. In this paper, we explore the transport innovation framework of the Region of Central Macedonia (RCM) in Greece. Based on desk research, we identify and list the main transport innovation capacity-related cases that have already been, are ongoing to be, or are planned to be implemented in the future. Then, we analyze the transport innovation context by investigating the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis, through which the main existing and potential areas of competitive advantage, as well as the barriers and enablers of transport innovation in the RCM emerge. For this purpose, we apply a qualitative research method. In particular, we conducted ten (10) in-depth personal interviews with key individuals, coming from various bodies of the “triple helix.” The approach adopted and followed provides a framework, based on which more targeted regional policy interventions could be promoted, aiming to leverage the transport innovation potential at the regional level.

Evangelos Genitsaris, Vasiliki Amprasi, Aristotelis Naniopoulos, Dimitrios Nalmpantis
Integrated Parking Management Plan in Medium-sized Cities

The expected benefits of implementing an integrated plan with controlled parking zones in a mid-sized city centre will be manifold and readily visible to both traffic and pedestrian’s traffic and safety. More specifically, the pricing of on-street parking spots and the imposition of time constraints will discourage the unnecessary use of private vehicles and free up parking spaces while increasing their use, that is, the number of parking spaces serviced. In addition, it is proposed to organize and deploy special parking spaces exclusively for taxis, tour buses and trucks in the urban area, to serve the needs arising from existing uses and to improve citizens’ accessibility. Restricted parking both at home and at the trip destination combines to low possibilities of car use. Parking restrictions will have the greatest effect in compact cities. In Xanthi, Thrace, parking management has often remained a domain untouched by the authorities, unless parking problems have spiraled out of control and the city wants to gain financial revenue. This has led to a merely reactive and operational way of dealing with parking, mainly only responding when a specific problem pops up (at a certain location), and using an isolated approach, further facilitating car use. Thus, a “predict and provide” mechanism – often focusing on infrastructure – has dominated parking policy in the city for many years. An effort is made to face the problem with the aid of an analysis based on counts and questionnaires in different locations of Xanthi.

Elias Papastavrinidis, George Kollaros, Antonia Athanasopoulou, Vasiliki Kollarou
Factors Affecting the Adoption of New Technologies: The Case of a New Sharing Economy Application in the Transport Sector of Thessaloniki

Societies today invest in transport sustainability by developing and promoting smarter and greener transport solutions through targeted strategies. Among these solutions, sharing economy applications are increasingly gaining ground. In Greece, however, the use of such applications is still at a very early stage of adoption. Under this light, the present study aims to investigate citizens’ predisposition towards the adoption of a sharing economy application in light of the development of a new transport solution in the city of Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece. For the purposes of the study, a questionnaire survey was developed investigating current trip patterns and characteristics of the respondents, opportunities and barriers for adopting the new sharing system as well as a stated preference experiment. Discrete choice analysis was performed, and a model was developed describing the determining factors for the integration of a sharing economy concept in the existing transport system amongst the population. The results of this study aim to contribute to the identification of the target market as well as the maximization of the benefits for the users. Furthermore, the results of the study are expected to be useful for the design of appropriate promotion campaigns for the new transport sharing application, providing citizens/users of Thessaloniki with an opportunity for a quicker, less stressful way to arrive to their destinations, as opposed to the services currently provided (e.g. intra city buses).

Maria Konstantinidou, Erifili Christina Chatzopoulou
Carsharing in Greece: Current Situation and Expansion Opportunities

This paper aims to explore the potential of carsharing in Greece and to estimate its level of acceptance by the Greeks. The growth of carsharing services as a new and more sustainable way of transport is shifting mobility from private ownership to shared use. Cities and the lives of people are transformed by the sharing economy and collaborative consumption, affecting the transportation industry as well. Carsharing offers an ecological and economical alternative to private car ownership, providing significant benefits. In real-time, from anywhere, anytime, someone can book a car by a phone call or via an application that enables him/her to choose the closest vehicle. In order to evaluate the acceptance of carsharing by citizens, we conducted a survey in which 100 respondents participated. The participants responded to a structured questionnaire, and the results revealed the citizens’ daily mode of transport preferences, as well as the level at which they know and accept the new alternative of carsharing. Our results show that the Greeks think that carsharing is an economical, ecological, and attractive way to travel, ranked in descending order. They would use carsharing mainly for commuting, and they would prefer small-engine cars, an Internet application for booking, and charging per kilometer. No special preference was found for free-floating or station-based schemes. The findings also suggest other preferences of people who would probably make them choose carsharing in their daily lives and the fact that the Greek market seems to be ready for carsharing.

Alexandra Boutla, Chrysanthi Sfyri, Georgios Palantzas, Evangelos Genitsaris, Aristotelis Naniopoulos, Dimitrios Nalmpantis

Accelerating Deployment: Trials, Pilots and Case Studies

Frontmatter
Good Practice for Student Mobility in University of Pavia

Pavia is a city with 70,000 inhabitants 40 km south of Milan, the regional capital of Lombardy, one of the more populated and rich Italian regions. The University of Pavia was established in 1361 and until the 20th century has been the only university in the area of Milan and in Lombardy. Todays within the region there are 13 universities, 7 of which are located in Milan. Seven institutions, including Pavia University, are state universities.Currently, some 24,000 students study at the University of Pavia. About 21,500 students attend short first cycle courses (55%), that is undergraduate or Bachelors’ programmes, long first cycle (28%) and second cycle (16%) courses, that is graduate programmes equivalent to Masters’. The rest are doctoral students and students attending advanced specialised courses.Less than 10% of the students are from Pavia; about 55% of them come from other places within Lombardy, while 35% come from outside the region.Within Pavia, almost all the students walk around the city. More than 60% of them travel by bus and a considerable minority travel by car. About one out of four students travel by bicycle [1].As urban mobility is one of the most important aspect of student life, since 2003 the University of Pavia has developed a protocol with the municipality and the Urban Public Transport society for the student mobility at discounted tickets (20 Euros per year for students; 175 Euros for specializing and majoring students). About 50% of university students use it.

Davide Barbieri, Michele Rostan, Andrea Zatti
Willingness of Cruise Tourists to Use & Pay for Shared and Upgraded Sustainable Mobility Solutions: The Case of Corfu

Τourism and cruise tourism is an important economic activity in most Ionian Islands, such as Corfu, which is located at the northern part of the Ionian Sea at the entrance of the Adriatic Sea. All inhabitants of Corfu directly or indirectly are occupied with tourism which of course supports the economy of the island but also brings a lot of difficulties in the everyday life of the local community, such as traffic congestion, delays, noise, environmental pollution etc. The intense of these problems is even larger in the historical center, since it is the main destination of the island especially for the cruise visitors who have very limited time for sight-seeing and usually prefer a tour inside the city or in the nearby monuments and beaches. The current work is attempting to shed light on different aspects of the cruise tourism in Corfu as regards mainly the demographical characteristics of the cruise visitors, their most popular destinations, the mode that they usually use but also their willingness to use and to pay for a range of sustainable mobility solutions-that is to say a Bike and Car sharing system and an upgraded and reliable Bus-Based transport system. The analysis and results is based on a questionnaire survey that was realized in the Port of Corfu and was addressed to several cruise visitors during the summer period of 2019.

Maria Morfoulaki, Michail Agathos, Glykeria Myrovali, Maria Natalia Konstantinidou
Road Safety for School Zones in Medium-Sized Cities

Schools are social utility units where many people are gathered every day. The best for such organizations is to develop in campuses. However, in the urban environment of mid-sized cities, this is very rarely accomplished. School travel systematically addresses barriers for walking to school. The term “school travel planning” could be thought as a community-based model for implementing active school travel conditions. Students, parents and teachers could leave their cars at home and encouraged to increase walking, cycling, use of buses and carpooling. Also, school related trip times can be differentiated by for example picking up children later. Finally, it’s a great help for taking different route to avoid congested roads. Its primary goal could cost-effectiveness of the way to get more kids walking and wheeling to school. Xanthi is a medium-sized city in Greece with school units scattered in various areas. Most parents move kids to school by car, because they believe that pupils, on their own, cannot circulate safely. That creates a need for the establishment of safe routes that will encourage pupils to use methods and means of alternative transport to schools. This research includes two sections about the city of Xanthi: a) an analysis of the school’s educational, building, urban and traffic data, identifying road safety problems, and b) proposals for specific projects and practices that can improve the conditions and contribute to the sustainable operation of the school. The development of a school travel plan is expected to produce long-term benefits for the city of Xanthi.

Elias Papastavrinidis, George Kollaros, Ioannis Karamanlis, Antonia Athanasopoulou, Vasiliki Kollarou
A Multi-criteria-Based Methodology for Assessing Alternative Bicycle Lane Implementation Solutions in Urban Networks

In order for the bicycle usage to be increased, cities need to provide users, inter alia, with high-quality infrastructure. Yet, there is not a generally accepted approach to optimize placemaking of such infrastructure in the urban environment, especially on the micro-level. This paper presents a methodological approach for assessing alternative bicycle lane implementations in urban networks, from a micro perspective. Specifically, a multicriteria analysis-based methodology is proposed, which accounts for specific criteria, including geometric characteristics of road network (i.e. road width and slope), effect on on-street parking supply, public acceptance, land-use and built environment characteristics, etc. These criteria are weighted, in line with their relative importance, by micromobility and sustainable urban mobility experts. This methodology is applied to the city of Karditsa, Greece, where two (2) alternative streets were examined in terms of hosting a different type of bicycle lane that would complement the existing cycle route network. The MCA results suggested that safety forms the major factor that most heavily affect the final placemaking and type of the bicycle lane decision. The proposed methodology could contribute towards successful bicycle routing, forming a useful tool for traffic engineers and local authorities.

Ioannis Politis, Efthymis Papadopoulos, Ioannis Fyrogenis, Zoi Fytsili
Examination of the Level of Service of the 2K Bus Line in Thessaloniki, Greece, and Proposed Improvements

The purpose of this paper is to examine the level of service of the 2K bus line in Thessaloniki, Greece, and to make proposals for its improvement. The paper is divided into four parts. In the first part, a questionnaire survey that was answered online and on-field by 137 people is used to determine the current situation and level of service from the users’ perspective. According to the satisfaction score of users regarding certain factors (timeliness, security, comfort, and reliability) and how these affect their travel experience, the overall satisfaction score of traveling on the 2K bus line is calculated. In the second part, real data provided by the public transport operator are analyzed. In the third part, the problems based on the results of the questionnaire and the real conditions of the bus line are identified, and in the fourth and final part, possible improvements are proposed. The results show an overall satisfaction score of 26.7%, with the lowest satisfaction rate being related to the comfort factor and the highest one with reliability. The real data analysis leads to several conclusions such as low average speeds, deviations between the estimated and the actual travel times, and the fact that one out of three bus itineraries is not executed at all. The methodology followed in this paper can be used to examine the level of service of different bus lines or whole bus line networks, as it is possible to be adjusted to the specific needs of each research.

Christos Braziotis, Ioanna-Eirini Tsali, Evangelos Genitsaris, Aristotelis Naniopoulos, Dimitrios Nalmpantis
Using Alternative Fuel Vehicles in Medium-Sized Cities

Today many people are interested in vehicles that use alternative fuels or advanced technologies that can help reduce operating costs, meet emissions requirements, support sustainability and energy independence. Vehicle manufacturers are responding to this interest with a wide range of options across a steadily growing number of vehicle applications. The EU wants to phase out conventionally fueled vehicles by 2050 and move to-wards carbon neutral urban logistics by 2030. To achieve this ambitious objective, it developed legislation and provided financial incentives to encourage cities to use alternatively fueled vehicles and create related infrastructure. Nowadays many medium-sized cities in EU started to adopt policies promoting the use of alternative fuel vehicles. In Xanthi, northern Greece, local authorities recently developed policies promoting the use of electric vehicles as they upgraded their fleet and started using them in public services. However, there are additional actions that can be implemented for vehicle use with non-conventional and advanced fuels from residents and visitors. This project aims in an effort to face the problem with the aid of an analysis based on counts and questionnaires in different locations of Xanthi.

Elias Papastavrinidis, Vasiliki Kollarou, Antonia Athanasopoulou, George Kollaros
Investigating the Athens – Thessaloniki Door-to-Door Intercity Transport Connection by All Means from the Students’ Point of View

In Greece, Athens and Thessaloniki are the two largest cities with the largest universities and, therefore, with a large student population. Students are one of the groups with the higher, if not the highest, use of public transport, as most of them do not own private cars and need to travel long distances both in the city they study and to and from the city they came. Moreover, it is still very common for students of Athens and Thessaloniki to travel to and from Thessaloniki and Athens, respectively, both for recreational reasons and because the parents and friends of many of them live in the other city. This paper presents a general overview of the different transport means available in Athens and Thessaloniki and the ways the two cities are interconnected, followed by a comparison of the several ways the intercity trips can be realized. Emphasis is placed on how students choose to travel, which are their criteria, and how much time they make from the moment they leave their home to the point of arrival to the other city (door-to-door). For this reason, a questionnaire survey was conducted among students of Athens and Thessaloniki. The questionnaire was answered by 155 students from Athens and 166 students from Thessaloniki. A summary table presents the cost, time, number of means, and comfort for all the possible door-to-door intercity routes. As expected, considering the current financial conjuncture, the most important factor was found to be the cost of the trip.

Anna-Angeliki Sarantakou, Evangelos Genitsaris, Aristotelis Naniopoulos, Dimitrios Nalmpantis

System Performance and Assessment

Frontmatter
A Measure Generator Tool for Sustainable Urban Mobility

The present paper details the development of a designated software that facilitates the selection of the appropriate measures to achieve high level sustainable urban mobility. The main objective of this tool is to combine the capabilities of the city, the geographical location of the properties throughout the city and the expectations of stakeholders (i.e. budget, time horizon, hardness and objectives) to come up with a list of realistic measures and policies that will be ready to be implemented. A pilot version of the tool has been developed using Microsoft Excel formulas and Visual Basic scripts. A case study for the city of Volos, Greece was undertaken to assess the executability, robustness and efficiency of the framework in real-life conditions. The pilot trial revealed that the developed SUM Measure Generator Tool can successfully extract a variety of measures and solutions addressing stakeholders’ needs and their vision for the city.

Athanasios Karageorgos, Giannis Adamos, Eftihia Nathanail
Estimation of the Willingness to Pay for Road Safety Improvements and Its Correlation with Specific Demographic, Psychological, and Behavioral Factors

This paper attempts to investigate the correlation of the willingness to pay for road safety improvements with several factors, such as gender, age, involvement in traffic accidents, etc. The willingness to pay shows the determination of people towards the goal of drastically reducing traffic accidents. In order to estimate the willingness to pay for road safety improvements, a contingent valuation questionnaire survey took place, in which 452 drivers of different age groups, economic statuses, and levels of education participated. The main aim of the survey was to investigate the correlation of the willingness to pay for the implementation of three scenarios of road safety improvements, in the form of traffic accident reduction rate, with several factors. The main statistically significant results are the following: a) in regard to gender, women would pay more for road safety improvements compared to men; b) in regard to mental state, people who avoid driving when they are affected by strong emotions, such as anger and distress, would pay more for road safety improvements; and c) in regard to age, as the age increases the self-reported driving ability increases as well, a finding that was not expected. Another result is that there are indications that people who have been involved in traffic accidents would pay more for road safety improvements compared to those that have not been involved and, moreover, the amount of money they would pay increases according to the severity of the accidents; nevertheless, this finding needs further research regarding its statistical significance.

Evangelia Beli, Dimitrios Nalmpantis
Evaluation of a Ride-Sharing Service in Thessaloniki: The Perspective of Both the Service Provider and the Users

The concept of using shared transportation modes like bikes or cars, called as shared mobility, is a growing innovative trend in advanced cities. It aims at offering sustainable and effective transportation alternatives while improving air quality and congestion in urban environments. In the city of Thessaloniki, a shared mobility system was developed and tested for several months. This scheme is based on taxi/ride-sharing and offers shared trips from one suburb, Kalamaria, and one exurb, Thermi, to the city center and vice versa. The users are registered via a mobile app and are clustered into groups according to origin, destination and desired time of their trip. For each group, a trip is scheduled and broadcasted to the taxi association with all relevant details. The trip is assigned to a nearby vehicle, in order not to generate extra vehicle-kms. The service was monitored and assessed thoroughly by analyzing all the backend server data, a database with all requested and realized trips, taxi allocation details, notifications sent to users and drivers and delays with respect to the trip schedule. Further, floating car data are acquired from taxi OBUs and the users’ smartphones enabling detailed analysis of trips. From the customer perspective, a service assessment regarding perceived quality, rate of satisfaction, problems or improvement suggestions was performed via questionnaires distributed to users.

Georgia Ayfantopoulou, Maria Konstantinidou, Neofytos Boufidis, Josep Maria Salanova Grau
Discussing the Role of Traffic Safety in Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans Using Spatial Analysis Techniques

In recent years, EU has placed great importance on the safety of road users (real and perceived). In this context today in Greece, around 180 municipalities are implementing SUMPs for first time and therefore a primary identification of the hazardous points is made through the mapping of traffic incidents. This article presents the results of the mapping of traffic accidents in five metropolitan municipalities of Attica (Athens, Piraeus, Marousi, Kifisia, Chalandri), and their analysis using GIS tools. Network kernel density analysis was performed to determine the spots where a high concentration of severe accidents appeared, as well as spatial autocorrelation using Moran index and Hot-Spot Analysis in terms of time, driver’s age and type of vehicle involved. The results indicate the hazardous points in the study areas and their particular characteristics. Finally, it is noted that the aforementioned analysis can contribute to the design of feasible solutions in order to improve road safety and at the same time, create a safe and sustainable transport system in each of the study cities.

Panagiotis Tzouras, Stefanos Tsigdinos, Christos Karolemeas, Efthimios Bakogiannis
The Impact of Megatrends on the Transition from Car-Ownership to Carsharing: A Delphi Method Approach

The purpose of this paper is to examine the new reality that is formed through the gradual transition from car-ownership to carsharing and carpooling. In this new reality, car use is gradually detached from its ownership, and there are challenges and prospects that have to be examined in order to become opportunities. Everyone will be able to use a car without having it bought, either as a co-passenger or as a user of a carsharing or a carpooling service. The sharing economy is offering more and more possibilities towards this direction, exploiting the widespread use of smartphones worldwide. Carsharing services like DriveNow of BMW and Car2Go of Daimler, ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, and carpooling applications seem to change the landscape of car mobility radically. What are the megatrends that seem to be formed in the future? What are the challenges and the prospects of this newly formed reality? Regarding these and other relevant questions, this paper tries to give some insights by exploring the effect of megatrends on the demand for carsharing and carpooling services, after a questionnaire survey amongst experts using the Delphi method. It was found that the most critical megatrends for the next decade will be: a) Innovative and affordable technologies, b) Automation, and c) Internet of Things; the most important trend that will affect the demand for carsharing will be “Automation,” and the most important trend that will affect the demand for carpooling will be “Artificial Intelligence.”

Dimitrios Papanaoum, Georgios Palantzas, Theodoros Chrysanidis, Dimitrios Nalmpantis
Urban Mobility Transition to Sustainability: A System Dynamics Approach

Urban Mobility (UM) faces transition, in an era of global transformation under the pressures of increasing urbanization, aging and saturated infrastructures, extreme pollution levels, and technological disruption. Until now, researchers have analyzed the transition of UM through a variety of approaches, focusing mainly in technological issues. Existing studies are mostly qualitative, while quantitative ones usually have partial focus, without considering a whole system being in transition. Policies, initiatives and strategies may result in converging, conflicting or even competing outcomes, as a result of the interaction of the different actors belonging to the subsystems of an examining system. We consider UM as a socio-technical regime in transition, prone to external and internal pressures and equipped with adaptive capacity for a more or less successful transition towards new modes of UM. We illustrate the interactions of the system using system dynamics methodology that helps us capture the dynamics of the multiple interactions taking place at different levels and interacting helices (government, academia, industry, civil society) during the transition process.

Vasiliki V. Georgatzi, Yeoryios Stamboulis
Children’s Safe and Sustainable Independent Mobility
A Comparison of International Practices and the Situation in Greece

Children’s independent mobility (CIM), especially regarding their everyday travel to and from school, is an essential component of an equilibrated childhood. It affects positively many aspects of their lives: physical health, social and cognitive skills, and overall sense of wellbeing. In the postwar period the percentage of children travelling independently to school declined dramatically in developed countries, especially due to traffic danger. An urban environment that does not provide for safe routes to school intensifies the use of cars for short rides, creates congestion in school zones, renders streets even more prone to traffic accidents and it is certainly unsustainable, from a climate-change point of view. Due to its multilayered importance, research on CIM, originally a subject of environmental psychology, has lately been expanding in many other fields, such as public health, transport design, urban design, and planning, thus providing valuable qualitative and quantitative data that have steered changes in policies and practices around the world. Ιn Greece, children as pedestrians are killed or injured in road accidents in numbers that continue to be tragically high; at the same time, children are being chauffeured to and back from school by their parents on an everyday basis, in what we could call “ridiculous car trips”. However, CIM has so far been quite an overlooked area of research. The paper presents findings from studies and selected examples of good practices that have promoted children’s independent mobility around the world and compares them with existent situation in Greece.

Garyfallia Katsavounidou

Smart Cities

Frontmatter
Megatrends that Affect Sustainable Mobility Planning and Their Implications on Sports Tourism: The Case of the Authentic Marathon, Athens

The ongoing trends and future challenges faced by the increased mobility demand lead to the development of sustainability measures that would support greener, accessible and safer transport means.According to the World Tourism Organisation, Sports Tourism represents the fastest growing sector in global tourism contributing to a great extend to an increased need for sustainable mobility. Many destinations and host locations already possess the appropriate infrastructure for accessible and seamless mobility to enhance the tourists’ experience and capitalize on this global opportunity.This paper aims to analyse the importance of sustainable mobility implementation on the development of sports’ tourism sector integrating as a case study the Athens Marathon: The Authentic. Using the Delphi technique based on transport experts’ opinions, the Megatrends affecting sustainable mobility are identified and prioritized. The prioritized Megatrends were assessed by the Athens Marathon key stakeholders using standardized open-ended exploratory interviews to investigate to what extend the sustainable mobility Megatrends relate and affect the transport planning for the successful implementation of the Marathon. Policy recommendations were put forward to pave the way to the application of a sustainable mobility system that will also correspond to the needs of this event.

Eleni Anoyrkati, Thanos Kenanidis, Kostas Alexandris
Co-creation Techniques and Tools for Sustainable and Inclusive Planning at Neighbourhood Level. Experience from Four European Research and Innovation Projects

This paper presents outcomes from the cluster workshop of the Horizon2020 SUNRISE, MUV, Cities4People and Metamorphosis projects, and specifically the workshop session for the use of co-creation tools and techniques across the four Horizon2020 projects. The workshop was organised by CIVITAS SATELLITE in cooperation with the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency of the European Commission on the 19th of November 2019 at the premises of INEA in Brussels. Several different participation techniques & tools are being used by the projects, including co-creation workshops, serious games, interviews, simple questionnaires at the place of the intervention, field trips, school scans and thematic walks/scans, cultural probes, focus groups, etc.. In general lines, the projects have opted for practical, hands-on tools rather than online and complicated tools. A series of key learnings about the practical use of those tools emerged; co-creation activities should try to incorporate diverse neighbourhoods and settings; it is preferable that only one challenge is addressed at a time; evidence is an excellent prompt for discussion; discussion topics should be important to the participants, rather than the organisers; silent observation helps achieve a deeper understanding; and methods and tools that involve the physical presence of the users at the place of intervention are most effective.

Angelidou Margarita, Fróes Isabel, Karachaliou Eleni, Wippoo Meia
Modelling Urban Mobility During the Recession: The Case of Athens

The Greek economy suffered a recession in the recent years, referred to as the Greek economic crisis, and as a result mobility was affected. The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of the economic crisis on urban mobility, represented through traffic conditions. As a reference case the city of Athens is employed; a city that relies heavily on private motorized transport modes. Towards this objective, the variation of traffic conditions, employing the quantity of traffic flow is explored. The investigated time period was between 2006 and 2018, including a period before and during the economic crisis, as well as a period that demonstrates slight economic growth. The analysis considers aggregate traffic flow, as well as flow sub-populations serving different trip purposes. Three trip purposes are explored: work, entertainment and holidays. For the needs of this study, specific arterials were selected which serve a large proportion of the commuting and entertainment trips performed in the city of Athens, and traffic data were collected from loop detectors at dedicated locations on these arterials. The collected data required thorough processing as it contained noise, and general linear models were designed to capture the effect of various parameters, including year, trip purpose, time of day and so on, on traffic conditions. The results from this analysis provided insights about the variation of traffic conditions, considering the explored parameters.

Christos Kokkalis, Ioanna Spyropoulou
A User Acceptance Survey of Pay-How-You-Drive Urban Pricing Schemes

Urban congestion pricing is widely regarded as an effective way of traffic management in order to relief metropolitan centers from heavy traffic, reduce emissions, air pollution and as a means to promote public transport usage. Until recently, pricing strategies were formed mostly by taking into account peak hours and exemption provisions (e.g., for taxis or clean-fuel vehicles). However, recent advancements in smartphone sensing have enabled the monitoring of driving behavior, a practice which can act as an additional parameter for the determination of urban tolls. The aim of this paper is to investigate drivers’ perception towards PHYD urban pricing schemes and identify factors that may affect their acceptance in the city of Athens using a questionnaire survey. Our preliminary results have shown that men tend to be more aggressive and exceed speed limits than female drivers do. The findings reveal that women are more likely to accept PHYD urban pricing schemes. In addition, commuters are also more likely to accept such a measure contrary to those travelling for other purposes. Finally, eco-minded drivers are more willing to accept PHYD pricing systems. Such results can be really useful for both researchers and decision and policy makers who are willing to design user friendly and easy acceptable pricing systems.

Kyriaki Christovasili, Eleni Mantouka, Eleni Vlahogianni
Evaluating Pedestrian Environments: Evidence from Small Cities in Greece

Sustainable urban mobility is now a well-established concept in European cities which, during the last decade, they continuously put significant effort into elaborating sustainable urban mobility plans and upgrading their systems in favor of environmentally friendly transport modes. Walking is being gradually established as a primary pillar of urban mobility by being promoted as an attractive transport solution for both door-to-door and last mile trips. In order to increase walking modal shares, cities should provide a high-quality pedestrian mobility environment both in terms of related services and infrastructures. This study presents several results from a structured walkability audit process for evaluating pedestrian mobility conditions in urban areas. The study examines the case of small cities in Greece which so far have been characterized by a more car-oriented transport development and experience comparatively higher difficulties into securing appropriate funding for sustainable transport investments. In this study’s context, the proposed walkability audit has been performed in three (3) small Greek cities which represent different urban development models, i.e. a city with a physical barrier (Trikala), a historical small city with particular town layout (Mesologgi) and a city with high inclinations (Kavala). For each city case, key pedestrian quality and quantity indicators, such as sidewalks operating width per reference network length, quality of sidewalk pavement and pedestrians’ perceived safety and security, are measured and discussed. Comparative analysis of these indicators demonstrates critical strengths and weaknesses in each city and assists into prioritizing appropriate pedestrian mοbility improvement actions.

Georgios Barmpas, Georgios Georgiadis, Anastasia Nikolaidou, Rafail Katkadigkas, Dimitrios Tsakiris
A Comparative Gap Analysis for Electromobility and Alternative Fuels

Electromobility and alternative fuels are considered as key solutions towards the reduction of emissions and energy savings in order to achieve more sustainable and environmentally friendly transportation systems. European countries are trying to achieve significant progress in promoting these new technologies in order to ensure better life and air quality for their residents. However, the number of electric vehicles is still low and not all European cities have made worth mentioning progress towards this direction. The objective of this research is to identify the gaps hindering the promotion of electromobility and alternative fuels in 9 European regions from 8 European countries: Italy, Slovenia, Greece, Finland, Norway, Latvia, Belgium and Romania. The analysis is focusing on three thematic areas: Business, Governance and Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialization (RIS3) and each area is divided in various aspects such as charging Infrastructure, e-Vehicle fleet, incentives, technology, campaigns, legislation, enforcement, education, research and Innovation. The analysis is based on estimating the progress achieved in each aspect using a scale from 1 to 10 (10 indicates the highest level of performance and level 1 the lowest). Results indicate that there are regions with significant progress in the field of electromobility and others that still should elaborate a lot to increase their performance in most of the analyzed aspects. The findings assessment will help policy makers to prioritize their effort on the areas that have the highest gap until the desired level in electromobility is achieved and identify other regions with similar electromobility issues.

Foteini Orfanou, Panagiotis Papantoniou, Eleni Vlahogianni, George Yannis
Defining and Prioritizing Indicators to Assess the Sustainability of Mobility Systems in Emerging Cities

Mobility and urban planning are among the main problems that cities face in order to achieve sustainable development. The significant economic and social changes in emerging cities, as well as the urgency of environment protection, make sustainable urban mobility planning a very critical issue. Although sustainability is difficult to be measured directly, it can be assessed through a system of parameters that attempt to reflect its multiple aspects. The definition of adequate indicators constitutes an essential part of this process, even if the literature is already abundant in available metrics. This research proposes a set of indicators, grouped in different dimensions, as a tool for the assessment of sustainability in mobility systems, for the specific context of emerging cities. These dimensions and indicators are based on a comprehensive literature review on sustainable urban mobility indicators, subsequently subjected to validation with experts through surveys, semi-structured interviews and statistical analysis, in order to identify the indicators significance and their priority within the selected dimensions.

Juan Camilo Medina, Jorge Pinho de Sousa, Edgar Jimenez Perez
Mobility as a Service: Implications for Spatial and Social Cohesion

The article discusses spatial and social cohesion in relation to what MaaS promises. It starts from general principles based on Aristotle in which citizens and the polis aim at the common good -ευδαιμονία- which is attainable along with the highest virtue, justice, guiding both individual and collective actions. Starting from spatial elements of collective urban life as the road and the square it is argued that for social cohesion common aims are necessary. Regarding digital information, which is crucial today and concerns MaaS directly, the important issue is whether the dissemination of information is guided or not by market criteria. It is concluded that MaaS can function properly only if it supplements mass transportation media and only thus can contribute to social and spatial cohesion.

Monika Themou, Foteini Mikiki, Maria Markou

Social Networks and Traveller Behavior

Frontmatter
Toward Active Transport as a Utilitarian and Recreational Form of Sustainable Urban Mobility

The ongoing growth of motorized transport modes poses serious challenges to urban environments such as air and noise pollution, adverse health impacts, and improper allocation of space in the city. Over time, the paradigms of transport planning have shifted gradually toward active transport as a utilitarian and recreational form of sustainable urban mobility with desirable ecological, economical, and social properties. Active travel modes, concerning the physical activity of locomotion, generally include walking and bicycling, which have environmental benefits such as a decrease of carbon and reduction of traffic congestions. Besides, active transport, as a form of an active lifestyle, is one of the most usual physical activities which have numerous benefits regarding health and wellbeing, including reducing risk factors of chronic diseases, such as overweight and obesity, and increasing happiness, contentment, and engagement. Therefore, active transport has been increasingly considered in transportation and urban planning studies as an alternative for motorized transport and a sedentary lifestyle. Studies have shown that the built environment can facilitate active transport by walking or cycling to destinations and accordingly contributes to residents’ physical activity. Hence, this study aims to explore and explain the association between the built environment and active transport by urban residents through a literature review. Insights such as there are important natural/physical and macro/micro environmental characteristics that encourage the tendency for active transport as well as socioeconomic and sociodemographic attributes differently affect this indicative relationship, are subsumed in a conceptual framework that can guide future empirical studies.

Parsa Arbab, Javier Martinez, Sherif Amer, Karin Pfeffer
How Public Transport Could Benefit from Social Media? Evidence from European Agencies

Currently, there has been a research focus on exploiting the information that can be extracted from social media platforms for scientific purposes. Social media data is dynamic, user-generated, and includes a combination of spatial, temporal, and textual information. Mining and analyzing transport information from social media is a relatively new field and it can be used during transportation planning and management, as well as for supporting the achievement of specific transport policy goals. In addition, social media provide public transport agencies with an unparalleled opportunity to connect with their customers. This paper explores the use of social media among public transport agencies in Europe. In this context, a relevant literature review was combined with original findings obtained from a survey on selected public transport agencies. Relevant information was derived from online sources, including blog posts, websites, online journals and publications. The survey results provided an integrated overview of the use of social media among the selected agencies. Public transport operators use social media mainly for: (a) real-time updates and information, (b) information to customers regarding services, fares, and services disruptions, (c) engaging citizens by handling complaints and inquiries, (d) employee recognition and recruitment of staff and (e) video entertainment and contests. Twitter was most commonly used for short communications and service updates, Facebook for short announcements and service updates, but also for community building and branding. Organizations employ YouTube and Instagram to build community support, whereas LinkedIn was used for networking and recruitment.

Georgios Georgiadis, Anastasia Nikolaidou, Ioannis Politis, Panagiotis Papaioannou
Improving Mobility Services through Customer Participation

In their quest for sustainability, cities design and deploy smart mobility solutions aiming to improve the efficiency and management of transportation systems and to provide better services to citizens. Those solutions are often based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and on digital services, but their maintenance and management are a greater challenge than their implementation. Problems can be difficult to identify since they can be exogenous or endogenous to the service provider. Usually, in their effort to maintain good service levels, companies implement complex and expensive information systems that use sensors to monitor infrastructure and hardware but ignore other sources of valuable information. In a digitalized world, customers easily report problems that are a cause of lower quality of service and worse user experience. However, for several reasons, service providers do not always pay due attention to these complaints. As communication channels are already open, we claim that customer participation through these reports can be used to significantly enhance the delivery and quality of mobility services. In this work we propose a methodology that takes advantage of customers’ participation in the maintenance and management of smart city solutions. With this methodology, we aim to redesign the process of customer interaction with service providers in order to improve the overall efficiency and the service experience. Our research is based on a case study from a public transport service in the metropolitan area of Porto, in Portugal.

Sérgio-Pedro Duarte, Marta Campos Ferreira, Jorge Pinho de Sousa, Jorge Freire de Sousa, Teresa Galvão
Engaging Residents of Thessaloniki on Sustainable Mobility Through a Citizens’ Panel: Considerations and Implications from a Methodological and Practical Perspective

The original core concept of sustainable mobility is based on shifting travelers from private and motorized vehicles to other soft and more eco-friendly modes of mobility. The fulfillment of this aim indicates the importance of the human factor in terms of knowledge, awareness, perceptions, attitudes, intentions, and behavior. Citizens’ Panels, comprised by a small group of people representative of different socio-demographic backgrounds, can be used as a managerial and planning “tool” by public authorities and planners on a medium or long term period and for a variety of reasons, such as: to challenge and test their infrastructure and services proposals and plans, collect people’s values, ideas, and opinions, co-shape future mobility visions, increase public’s engagement, form and train volunteering “ambassadors” of policies, etc. Since 2018, a local Citizens’ Panel on Sustainable Mobility, the case study of this paper, was formed in Thessaloniki in the frame of the PE4Trans/Interreg Europe project, accounting for three physical meetings and some social media actions so far. Following a brief review of the literature on the participatory planning processes, the general scope, and the process steps (recruitment, group characteristics, etc.) adopted for the establishment of this Panel are analyzed. Next, the special aim of each Citizens’ Panel meeting and the overall rationale of them are explained, accompanied by a description of the techniques and methods applied during the conversation and debating activities. Finally, the outcomes of each Citizens’ Panel are presented being critically discussed in relation to the initial targets set and the methodology adopted.

Vasiliki Amprasi, Evangelos Genitsaris, Aristotelis Naniopoulos, Dimitrios Nalmpantis
Investigating the Travel Information-Seeking Behavior for Daily Trips in a Greek Medium Sized City

The deployment of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have created new options for travel information seeking. Dissemination of travel information to travelers could have immediate benefits such as reduction of travelers’ uncertainty, congestion alleviation, reduction of travel time and cost. However, daily trips in a medium sized city are often based on habitual patterns and not on received travel information. By addressing the factors that urge the users to access travel information in a medium sized city, an information provision strategy could be developed, to serve the needs of the commuters and improve the daily traffic situation. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the factors that affect the travel information seeking in the urban environment of Volos city, in Greece. A digital questionnaire was formulated to investigate the seeking of travel information for daily trips and its impact on commuters’ mobility and travel choices. The final sample size comprised 108 users. The analysis of the data was done through descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that online sources of travel information are more preferable by the respondents. Moreover, information about traffic congestion or rerouting is often used by non-sustainable mode users, while sustainable mode users are more interested in information about public transport itineraries.

Maria Karatsoli, Eftihia Nathanail
The Rise of Run-Commuting as a Form of Transportation: Research on the Characteristics and Spatial Needs of These Trips

Running has been totally integrated into the daily life of many people around the world. Every year amateur runners participate in running competitions while they are training in urban public spaces. In this framework, a new transportation practice involves running trips for commuting purposes. Several studies highlight walking and running as activities of major importance for a healthy life and a livable city. Run-commuting is a new trend that uses running as a form of transportation. However, the spatial needs of run-commuting activity and the infrastructural necessities are fully unknown yet. The main objective of this study is to understand and critically evaluate running as a mode of transport. The paper commences with the role of running in active transportation. The benefits, risks, and characteristics of run-commuting trips are presented according to the literature review. In the second part of the paper, real trajectories of run-commuting trips are analyzed. Findings indicate the behavioral patterns and safety issues of these trips. The paper closes with a discussion of the conclusions, including recommendations for the design of running-friendly cities.

Apostolos Anagnostopoulos
Deployment of a Mobile Public Transport Information Application and the Operators’ Perspective

This paper discusses an innovative application for seamless transportation and an ecosystem of models and algorithms for Public Transport user choice simulation and data analytics, all developed within the Shift2Rail My-TRAC project. Its core is the understanding of the way travelers make choices for their trips. It is assumed that travel choices depend not only on the transportation system’s capabilities, but also on the user’s perception of the transportation service, as well as on their emotional state with respect to travelling. Furthermore, My-TRAC facilitates engagement of multiple stakeholders by seamlessly integrating services and creating connections between rail/bus operators and travelers. The My-TRAC project has developed the following components: 1. My-TRAC app: an advanced travel companion application; 2. Operators’ Portal (OP): interface for the Transport Service Providers (TSPs). The OP is a gateway for TSPs to connect and communicate with My-TRAC 3. My-TRAC platform: the orchestrator of the aforementioned components This paper focuses, first, on the OP description, the data needs of operators arising from the My-TRAC app and the possible uses of My-TRAC backend database for Public Transport planning operations. Secondly, this paper evaluates the findings from the Athens’ pilot, in comparison to the other project pilots conducted in Lisbon, Barcelona, and the Netherlands. A TSP subscribed to the OP portal can request anonymized and aggregated behavioral data stored in My-TRAC, and can provide data regarding real-time changes. The OP utilizes static and real-time GTFS information to achieve its functionalities, in accordance to the data requirements of Google.

Eleni Antoniou, Eirini Kastrouni, Ismini Stroumpou, Alexandros Papacharalampous, Alexandros Deloukas

Traffic Emissions and Environmental Impacts

Frontmatter
Emissions Estimation for Obsolescing Bus Fleets: Problems and Advances

When it comes to simulate traffic emissions, problems arise: which is the best model to use, which data are needed and whether they are all available, whether the process is time-consuming and/or calls for expert, etc. It is not surprising, then, that public transport operators might be hesitant in estimating the emission package of the bus fleets they manage. Moreover, the underestimation of the local fleet potential in producing pollution (in case of small fleets) on the one hand, and the reluctance to estimate it when the fleet is composed by a good amount of old-generation vehicles on the other, are further elements of uncertainty. However, transit operators’ obligation to manage and maintain clean bus fleets is becoming more and more imperative and in Italy recent regulations subsidize transit companies to purchase buses with cleaner performance. The assessment of how much pollutant is the fleet to renovate becomes, then, crucial. To this end, an emission-estimation model for bus fleets is developed and described in the paper, with the research goal to facilitate the emissions calculation among transit operators. The procedure is embedded in an already successfully-implemented software for the management and maintenance of bus fleets. The model moves from well-known assessment methods (namely COPERT and IVE) but addresses issues like long-protracted mileage and age of vehicles which make it especially useful when “old” fleets emissions are to be assessed. A case study, in a middle-size city in Italy, is also described to highlight the model development.

Maria Vittoria Corazza, Paulo Cantillano Lizana, Daniela Vasari, Enrico Petracci, Marco Pascucci
Evaluation of the Aesthetic Impact of Urban Mass Transportation Systems

Visual nuisance is one of the environmental consequences caused by the operation of an urban mass transportation system and especially that of a surface system, such as a tramway and a BRT (Bus Rapid Transit), or that of an elevated system, such as a monorail. It constitutes a design and construction parameter of the system and it entails the system’s aesthetics as a whole. It is of interest to the system’s users but mainly to all the residents of the urban area that the system will be running through. By studying the current approaches for evaluating visual nuisance as is conducted in large transport projects today, a lack of an objective evaluation method can be observed. This paper presents a relatively objective and numerical method for evaluating the visual nuisance caused by each of these three transportation systems. The methodology proposed is based on assigning points to each of the different structural elements of these systems and then evaluating the entire system based on its overall score. The findings of this research may be applied during the bidding process for or at the design stage of a new system, at the evaluation of an existing system, or finally for the evaluation of corrective interventions aimed at upgrading an existing system.

Christos Pyrgidis, Antonios Lagarias, Ioannis Garefallakis, Ioannis Spithakis, Michele Barbagli
A Methodological Approach for Estimating Urban Green Space: The Case of Thessaloniki, Greece

Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) are considered as one of the most valuable policy tools for adapting the Sustainable Development Goals to the urban level and alter the way people move and live towards more sustainable patterns. SUMPs are strategic plans that focus on the performance of the transport system, but contrarily to traditional transport studies, they also thoroughly examine the interactions between transport and its interdependent systems, such as land-uses. However, the transition from theory to practice points out that a considerable number of SUMPs give little attention to significant land-use related issues, such as the available green space, mainly due to the lack of available data and/or easy-to-use calculation tools. In this context, the current paper presents a methodological approach for estimating Urban Green Space (UGS). As the proposed approach aims at illustrating in an actual manner how “green” a city is, it moves beyond the areas that are characterised in urban development plans as green. Thus, it takes into consideration many different types of green spaces, e.g. public and private, street, institutional, residential, parks. The developed methodological approach is a semi-automated GIS-based process that utilises the robust method of the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and uses remote sensing imagery as well as cadastral data. The proposed methodological approach was implemented in the seven Municipalities of the urban agglomeration of Thessaloniki, and the results highlight significant differences in the available green space per capita between the examined areas.

Alexandros Sdoukopoulos
Evaluating Urban Mobility Sustainability Through a Set of Indicators: The Case of the City of Lamia, Greece

Sustainable mobility is the ability to meet society’s need to move freely, communicate, gain access, trade, and establish relationships without sacrificing other essential human or ecological values, today or in the future. Sustainable mobility includes both the transportation of goods and people. Sustainability, when applied to urban mobility, can be measured by various sets of indicators. This paper presents the application of the indicators produced by the Sustainable Mobility Project 2.0 (SMP 2.0) of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in the city of Lamia, Greece. Accessibility for mobility-impaired groups, affordability of public transport for the poorest, fatalities’ reduction, access to mobility services, mobility space usage, comfort, and pleasure are some of the 16 indicators calculated and estimated in the frame of this work. The indicators were calculated by a) conducting a relevant public opinion survey on a sample of 380 citizens, b) performing spatial data analysis, and c) studying existing transport studies and data. The set of indicators is used to evaluate the current situation of the mobility system in the city of Lamia, Greece, and to identify priority measures, practices, and policies for their improvement. By using them, the Municipality and other local authorities can identify where the strengths and weaknesses lie in the urban mobility system and assess potential actions. If repeated over time, this application will reveal the improvement or the worsening of the local urban mobility system, as well as the measures with the most significant impact on the system as a whole.

Maria Polyzou, Georgios Palantzas, Dimitrios Nalmpantis
Impact Assessment of Climate Change on Coastal Transport Systems in the Greater Thessaloniki Area

Long-term planning and operation of transport systems should more than ever consider climate change and extreme weather conditions. There are multiple risks such as coastal and urban floods, sea level rise, very high and extremely low temperatures, drought and wind. The aim of this article is to assess the impacts of sea level rise so as to identify the transport infrastructure vulnerabilities in the Greater Thessaloniki area, in a coastal zone of 60 km long and 2 km wide from the seashore, which is located within five different municipalities. Based on cartographic data obtained from Climate Central’s Surging Seas Risk Zone Map, land use data from Corine Land Cover and population data from Hellenic Statistical Authority, two sea level rise scenarios of 0.5 and 1 m were simulated using GIS. According to the most likely scenario introduced by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations, that is 0.5 m rise, until 2100 1.87% of the total length of the coastal road network will be covered by the sea, while in the worst-case scenario of the 1 m, the percentage will be 3.07%. At the same time, the interruption of the road access to the airport in both scenarios, the vulnerability of some parts of the port, and their potential inability to operate are highlighted. The research findings indicate the need to plan and construct resilient transport systems as well as to coordinate and implement specific climate change adaptation measures for transport infrastructures in Thessaloniki coastline.

Apostolos Papagiannakis, Konstantinos Ntafos
How Ready Are Greek Consumers to Use Electric Vehicles?

Sustainable urban mobility is evolving rapidly, attempting to facilitate mobility and goods’ transportation in an economic and environmentally friendly direction. Among the actions taking place worldwide to provide such solutions is the promotion of electromobility. In this paper, a systematic literature review is carried out focusing on the impacts of adopting Electric Vehicles (EVs) at a national and local (city) level and the incentives required to promote their adoption by future consumers. Some countries, such as Norway, have successfully established measures to foster the use of EVs and achieved remarkably high penetration rates. On the other hand, there are still countries, which face crucial issues regarding the adoption of EVs. One of them is Greece, where the low availability of charging infrastructure and the lack of incentives have created significant barriers towards the promotion of electromobility. To this end, a Pan-Hellenic survey was implemented addressing the beliefs, preferences and intentions of people to use electric vehicles in their daily life. The questionnaire was answered by 400 respondents and from the data collected, critical conclusions were revealed, as for the incentives needed to promote electromobility, the optimal location of charging infrastructure and the pricing of the provided services at a national and at a local (city) level.

Vasileios Lioutas, Giannis Adamos, Eftihia Nathanail
Traffic Calming Measures as a Tool to Revitalise the Urban Environment: The Case of Serres, Greece

Urban areas have a primary role in the world today. Almost half of the worldwide population lives in cities, while more than 80% of the global GDP is generated in these areas. On the other hand, cities account for 80% of the energy production and over 67% of the Greenhouse Gas Emissions. In this framework, city centres are generally considered as the most critical areas in urban and transport planning, as they attract a significant share of trips, and in tandem with the complex traffic problems and challenges such as congestion, they face serious environmental issues. In an attempt to mitigate the problems mentioned above, planners promote the sustainable mobility measures and principles, including the green modes of transport and the implementation of traffic calming interventions. In this context, the current paper presents a “before and after” study focusing on the traffic calming interventions that were implemented in the centre of the city of Serres, Greece during the last years. To this end, a traffic simulation model (VISUM), as well as a Road Emissions Calculating Model (COPERT), were developed, while an analysis of traffic accidents was also conducted. Moreover, the acceptance of the interventions among the citizens was also assessed through a questionnaire survey. The results pointed out that the interventions in the centre of Serres have met with great success as the quality of the environment and life, in general, was improved significantly.

Alexandros Sdoukopoulos, Eleni Verani, Anastasia Nikolaidou, Ioannis Politis, Foteini Mikiki
Development of an on-Spot Bio-Waste Screening Methodology with Vehicle Selection Using Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA): Implementation in the Municipality of Chalkis, Greece

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) creates many problems, which arise both from proper and unconstrained disposal. The purpose of this paper is to examine the new scenery that develops in the area of MSW collection while applying the on-spot screening method for bio-waste. Bio-waste could be defined as the food waste generated by households, restaurants, food sector services, the food retail sector, and food processing companies. It also includes biodegradable waste from parks and gardens. For this purpose, a case study is used, that of the Municipality of Chalkis, Greece. There is a short description of the current situation regarding the management of MSW in the Municipality of Chalkis. Next, a specific area of Chalkis, i.e., Nea Artaki, is located, and the bio-waste collection is examined as a separate current. In this frame, there is a description and evaluation of alternative systems of on-spot bio-waste screening at the source, followed by the definition of any equipment needed, such as road garbage bins, in-house garbage bins, biodegradable bags, etc. in a systematic way. Next, using a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) method, i.e., the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the appropriate transfer vehicle was chosen while taking into account the route and the deposition location, i.e., a vehicle with two separate garbage collector compartments of MSW and not a conventional garbage truck. The experience gained was standardized in a specific methodology formulated to be implemented by Greek municipalities in harmonization with the national waste management plan for the separate collection of bio-waste.

Konstantinos Gkoulias, Georgios Palantzas, Dimitrios Nalmpantis

Smart Urban Logistics Systems

Frontmatter
Validating Urban Freight Deliveries Through Traffic Microsimulation: An Experimental Study

Traffic microsimulation tools have been extensively used in evaluating urban freight transport systems. Aim of this paper is to develop a city wide urban traffic model that integrates the daily freight trips of a private courier company on the basis of a typical day. To achieve this, the traffic model is calibrated and validated based on travel time data from Volos’ taxis GPS devices. The validated traffic model is then enriched by freight vehicles’ routes in form of public transport lines so as to integrate the rest vehicular traffic with the considered freight traffic. Freight data were given by “ELTA Courier” company which provides door-to-door deliveries in the city of Volos, Greece. The produced model simulated the freight trips of six freight vehicles, four motorbikes and two minivans, performing 199 delivery stops in the examined typical day, during 09:00–20:00. The development of the urban freight traffic model is demonstrated through the case study of Volos, providing useful insights.

Ioannis Karakikes, Eftihia Nathanail, Maria Karatsoli
Technological Development in Small Intermodal Terminals: A Solution for a More Balanced Freight Transport?

Despite numerous efforts to balance the modal split of freight mobility, transalpine transport is mostly performed via road, causing negative consequences on the urban centres located along main infrastructural corridors. Combined Transport (CT) could contribute to a reduction of such pressure, but this form of transport is not considered competitive enough from operators. This paper assesses the role of technological development to improve the performances of CT. The analysis is focused on the transalpine corridor with the highest traffic volumes (Brenner) and considers both the linear and punctual infrastructure (respectively, the railway line and the intermodal terminal located near the city of Trento). After a description of the existing and planned infrastructural equipment and an analysis of the ITSs already adopted in other EU contexts, the suitability of the latter for Brenner is performed, distinguishing between a strategic and a tactical level. This analysis has relevant implications for urban mobility, since the infrastructure to access/leave the city suffers from huge congestion problems, also due to the coexistence of passenger and freight transport along the same routes. In this framework, the reduction of the road freight component can have positive effects on the overall circulation of vehicles.

Giulia Sommacal, Federico Cavallaro
Business Model Development Based on Sharing Systems and Data Exchange for Sustainable City Logistics

Transport is adapting to the rapid development of technology, adopting new trends and focusing on people and environment. At the same time, the needs of citizens’ mobility and goods’ transportation are complex, requiring the involvement of different stakeholders under the appropriate partnerships. To this end, the development of innovative integrated business models, including the principles of circular economy, is vital. The aim of this paper is to propose a new business model framework, which facilitates the incorporation of emerging trends in city logistics, i.e. sharing systems and data exchange and the development of synergies amongst private and public actors. Towards this direction, the main findings of a literature review are presented, including new and emerging trends in transport, as well as the content and applications of sustainable and circular business models. These findings feed the development of the proposed business model for sustainable city logistics.

Michail Koutras, Giannis Adamos, Eftihia Nathanail
Validating the Simulated Impacts of Urban Freight Transport

This paper provides a comprehensive guide for assessing the impacts of an urban freight transport system through traffic simulation software. Based on a calibrated and validated city wide urban traffic model that integrates the freight trips of six freight vehicles in the examined day, aim of the paper is to establish an impact assessment framework that evaluates model’s environmental and transport impacts.The analysis of the freight trips showed that they account for 22009.2 g of CO2 emissions and 84.17 h of total network delays on a daily basis. Other impact assessment indicators’ values such as average vehicle speed, first attempt successful deliveries, freight vehicles’ number of roundtrips, load factor, utilization factor, emissions, traffic throughput, etc. were also computed.

Ioannis Karakikes, Eftihia Nathanail
The Rise of the On-Demand Warehousing: Is the Greek Market Ready for This Change?

The necessity for creating flexible and agile supply chains and adapt on the continuously changing and quite competitive e-commerce logistics market, has made warehousing a strategically critical component of the supply chains. In response to that, new logistics concepts such as on-demand logistics and shared warehousing popped up recently, which with the help of the e-marketplaces offer innovative logistics solutions through a single access point and support the logistics actors to: easily optimize the capacity of their warehouse, avoid the fixed costs of owning a warehouse; implement short-term supply chain planning and finally come closer to the end-customer. Although several on-demand warehousing practices can be seen worldwide, the Greek economic crisis delayed until recently the emergence of such trends so, little is known on how the Greek market would respond to such changes. In response to that, this paper introduces briefly the first on-demand warehousing platform to be operating in Greece and closes the knowledge gap on the Greek market’s response following a three-step methodological process: conducting a dedicated questionnaire survey circulated to different types of businesses, arranging logistics expert groups and carrying out extensive desktop research. The paper shows that the Greek stakeholders are quite familiar to shared warehousing solutions and they are open to digital changes such as using an on-demand warehousing platform. However, they are less willing to apply such innovations to their daily business. Therefore, specific platform requirements for increasing the attractiveness of such tools to the Greek market are also highlighted.

Elpida Xenou, Leonidas Parodos, George Tsoukos, Georgia Ayfantopoulou, Zisis Maleas
Planning the Future: Innovative Technology for City Logistics

This paper describes the needs to develop proper infrastructure and improved solutions for reducing emissions of last mile distribution and determining vehicle routing optimization with emphasis in city logistics 4.0 that consider urbanization, volatility as well as quality of life and climate change. To this end, the development of an online application is proposed to automate the vehicle routing optimization of electric light goods vehicles (LGVs) in an attempt to enhance the design and management of city logistics.

Afroditi Anagnostopoulou, Evangelos Spyrou, Aggelos Aggelakakis, Maria Boile
Location Planning of Small Consolidation Centers in the City of Volos

As urbanization increases by the years the needs of the society, in terms of quantity of urban freight deliveries, become more demanding. Urban freight transport and goods distribution become the main challenges that a city has to address, owing to the impacts that such operations create to traffic, environment and economy. Decision makers and transport operators have to seek into implementing smart solutions towards alleviating traffic congestion, accidents and environmental deterioration, maintaining at the same time a good level of service. The establishment of small Urban Consolidation Centers (UCC) in strategically selected locations, along with the use of flexible and environmentally friendly vehicles for “last mile distribution” can contribute positively towards the city’s sustainable mobility. The paper studies the establishment of small UCCs in Volos city and assesses their performance, implementing facility location models and multi-criteria analysis and feasible location models for location/allocation problems. Results show that the operation of two small UCCs saves great costs per mile of freight distribution, while the operation of more than two is not profitable.

Konstantinos Mpogas, Eftihia Nathanail, Ioannis Karakikes

Human Factors

Frontmatter
Sustainable Travel Behavior and Perspectives on the Daily Commute – A Questionnaire Survey in a Typical Mid-Sized Greek City

This study examines the relationship between commuters’ travel behavior and sustainable transport modes infrastructure in the city of Volos (a mid-sized Greek city) during the years of economic crisis (2008–2017). The scope of this survey was to study how the travel behavior has changed during the examined years and if there is a preference to sustainable transportation. The study was based on a questionnaire survey conducted on a random sample of 293 individuals through personal interviews in the year 2017. The questionnaire was formed of 32 questions divided into four parts. This study supports that citizens have changed their travel behavior in the city during the examined years, favoring the use of sustainable transport modes. The recovery of Greek economy from economic crisis should not be an excuse to increase use of private vehicles but an opportunity to change commuters travel behavior in urban areas and promote sustainable transport modes with relative societal, environmental and economic benefits.

George Botzoris, Athanasios Galanis, Panagiotis Lemonakis, Maria Giannopoulou
A First Look at E-Scooter Users

Micromobility, defined as short-distance transport, is recently experiencing a global growth. The primary goal of this new mobility trend is to provide environmentally friendly options for trips that cannot be accomplished with public transport and reduce automobile dependence. A popular transport mode is electric scooters (e-scooters) and they have been making inroads in several countries and cities on a global scale. However, there is little guidance regarding their operations. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the users’ attitudes and behavior of e-scooters in Thessaloniki, Greece. In-person and electronic surveys were completed targeting persons who have used an e-scooter more than once. The findings indicate that users most frequently ride on bicycle lanes and on roads without bike lane, while they prefer to use them for recreational purposes and not for commuting. Concerning the issues that would prevent them from using an e-scooter, greater importance is assigned to the bad behavior of car drivers, while bicycle lanes is considered the most efficient way for improving the use of e-scooters. Finally, slight differences were found on the behavior of users based on their age and gender, but people of different age and gender share similar attitudes.

Alexandra Raptopoulou, Socrates Basbas, Nikiforos Stamatiadis, Andreas Nikiforiadis
Driving Behaviour and Road Safety at Signalised Intersections in Sicily and Thessaloniki

Road safety plays an important role in cities as far as sustainability and resilience are concerned. A large number of studies focus on the evaluation of the safety level of road users and especially vulnerable road users. In the framework of this paper an analysis was carried out concerning one of the most important problems at signalized intersections, which are the RLR (Red Light Running) and the YLR (Yellow Light Running) violations. This problem has to do with the behaviour and attitude of drivers as far as their compliance with Highway Code regulations is concerned. The existing situation in relation to RLR/YLR violations was investigated in the city of Thessaloniki, Greece and in Sicily, Italy. Field counts took place in each area followed by data analysis. Two sets of counts (Sicily and Thessaloniki) were used in the framework of this paper in order to investigate the above-mentioned phenomenon. Finally, a comparison between the results concerning both areas was made together with an attempt to investigate through inferential statistics the extent to which both the traffic volume and the category of vehicles affect RLR/YLR. The results can be used as a basis in order to calibrate behavioural models.

Socrates Basbas, Tiziana Campisi, Giovanni Tesoriere, Antonino Canale, Panagiotis Vaitsis
Recording and Evaluation of Motorcyclists’ Distraction of Attention in Urban Areas

Over the last years, distracted driving constitutes a considerably increasing road safety problem with disastrous results and it possesses a leading position among the accidents causes. The present study deals with motorcycle users’ distraction due to out of the vehicle factors. Considering exterior factors as the most significant, we can group them in four categories: built roadway, situational entities, the natural environment, and the built environment. All these contribute to the setup of a very dangerous environment by increasing driver’s distraction and inattention. This research is based on a medium scale experimental procedure which took place in urban areas in Greece. The distraction of the motorcyclist’ attention is evaluated via a continuous recording of his gaze which acts as the main indicator regarding driver’s performance. The main objective of this paper is to find out and evaluate the main factors of distraction of motorcyclists’ attention in urban road segments and intersections. The results of this type of research procedures are very useful as a tool to encourage the adaptation of more precise regulations with regard to the road infrastructure, the placement of roadside elements, etc.

Panagiotis Lemonakis, Myrofora Koroni, Eleni Misokefalou, Nikolaos Eliou
Urban School Travel – Understanding the Critical Factors Affecting Parent’s Choices

Travelling to and from school forms mobility habits and travel behavior aspects of students from a very young age, also adopted in later life. Parents are the key players of the whole mode choice process as in most cases they are the ones to decide how and by which transport mode their children will complete their everyday school trips. Understanding parents’ perceptions on different travel modes and studying the motives behind the mode choice decision in school trips, is a rather essential issue as it may provide useful information to policy-makers, transport and spatial planners on how to overcome possible barriers and difficulties in order to satisfactory cover all students’ future mobility needs. The paper provides an extensive literature review regarding a wide range of factors found to influence students’ travel, following a statistical exploratory factor analysis of a questionnaire survey took place in Thessaloniki, Greece. The initial analysis of the sample identifies key themes while it also develops a comprehensive picture of caregivers’ experiences about travel mode choice to school in a typical Greek urban environment. Some interesting findings verify that socio-economic and household demographic factors, built-environment variables, and parents’ attitudes regarding their daily trips and mobility habits, are important factors affecting the school mode choice procedure.

Kornilia Maria Kotoula, George Botzoris, Georgia Ayfantopoulou, Vassilios Profillidis
Comparison of Driver’s Behavior in Greece and Palestine (West Bank)

The Driver Behavior Questionnaire is one of the most widely used instruments for measuring self-reported driving behaviors. The aim of this research is to conduct a comparative analysis of driving behavior based on the results of the AUTh Driver Questionnaire (ADQ) in a representative sample of drivers in Greece and Palestine (West Bank). ADQ was created in order to find a new comprehensive form which includes several aspects relating the attitudes of drivers and evaluating their driving performance. Data on a range of attitudes towards road safety were collected using an online survey. A total of 830 responses were obtained for each country. The Questionnaire consists of two main divisions; the first section includes information regarding socio-demographic information of drivers in terms of gender, age category, level of education, etc. and the second section comprised of 50 questions relating characteristics of drivers’ behavior. The data analysis included of two main parts: descriptive analysis and factor analysis, which comprises of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Through EFA; the criteria used to determine the number of factors were the Kaiser criterion of eigenvalues over 1.0, the Cattell Scree plot, parallel analysis, and the interpretability of factors. The analysis resulted eleven and eight factors had eigenvalues over 1.0 in Greece and Palestine samples respectively. The results of the study highlight the differences in the drivers’ behavior indicating differences in national culture and the commitment of drivers to traffic regulations.

Jameel Al-Karablieh, Fotini Kehagia
Investigating the Correlation of Mobile Phone Use with Trip Characteristics Recorded Through Smartphone Sensors

The Internet of Things (IoT) constantly offers new opportunities and features to monitor and analyze driver behaviour through wide use of smartphones, effective data collection and Big Data analysis. In that framework, the aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of mobile phone use on driving behaviour and road safety through the investigation of driving analytics collected by smartphone sensors. For this purpose, a 100-driver naturalistic experiment was carried out and an innovative data collection scheme using a smartphone application was exploited in order to record the respective driving performance data. Statistical analyses were carried out using linear mixed binary logistic regression models in order to investigate the correlation of mobile phone use with trip characteristics, such as speed, duration, harsh events, etc. Exposure metrics found to be significantly associated with the probability of mobile phone use are total trip distance and driving on workdays and during rush hours. Additionally, the increase of the average speed is found to reduce the probability of mobile phone use while driving.

Panagiotis Papantoniou, Armira Kontaxi, George Yannis, Petros Fortsakis
Attitudes and Preferences of University Student Bicyclists: The Tale of Two Greek Cities

Recently, the share of bicycles among transportation modes has been rising. This is also the case in university campuses that have seen an increase of bicycling as a transport mode. Transportation authorities globally encourage bicycling as a way for pollution reduction and alleviation of traffic congestion. However, lack of bicycle facilities could significantly hinder increase in bicycling levels. This study used in-person surveys to evaluate the attitudes and desires of bicyclists in two university campuses in Greece: Thessaloniki and Volos. The goal of the survey was to identify barriers to bicycling in both cities and pinpoint facility aspects that could be improved. Descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing were utilized in the analysis of the survey data to determine the level of agreement among participant responses and document their attitudes and preferences. Lack of bicycling facilities was the main impediment that respondents in both cities identified: a finding that agrees with prior research. In addition, the aggressive behavior of car drivers is considered an important obstacle in both cities. The survey findings support to the notion that bicyclists everywhere have similar attitudes about what the types of improvements required for increasing bicycling and enhancing their experiences. In addition, local conditions and practices have an impact on the relevance of specific issues.

Nikiforos Stamatiadis, Andreas Nikiforiadis, Socrates Basbas, Pantelis Kopelias, Elpida Karantagli, Anastasia Sitra, Nikos Mantas

Infrastructure Resilience

Frontmatter
Urban Transport Plans in Chile: The Inclusion of Sustainable Modes of Transportation in Public Infrastructure Projects

The urban transport plans in Chile have had a successful development in the last decades, mainly due to economic growth and to better practices in public policies, but, above all, to the central administration’s need for planning and organizing the state’s traffic. This article aims to demonstrate how this country adopted an urban mobility culture to include more sustainable modes of transportations in its public infrastructure. Firstly, this study exposes the situation of urban transportation before the assumption of new policies by the central government, in which the main issue lied on poor management and a lack of organization. Followingly, an analysis of the results of projects developed after such reforms, is presented. Overall, deriving from these results, this study provides evidence for the following: an increase in the inclusion of sustainable modes of transportation in Chile’s infrastructure projects, and a slight decrease in the relative importance of private modes of transportation, compared to the past.

Marco Mendieta Ávila, Juan José Pons
Smart Infrastructure for Shared Mobility

Micromobility has emerged as a green mode of transport, which offers an innovative way to handle persistent traffic planning problems such as the last-mile connections with public transit. The integration of micromobility in urban infrastructure is a key challenge faced by public authorities, policy and urban planners. In this paper we present the results of a face-to-face street travel survey among e-scooter users in Paris about infrastructure-related issues. The great majority of the respondents are not owners of e-scooters, but they use the free-floating electric scooters (FFES), which is an increasingly popular shared mobility scheme. The responses have been analyzed statistically and cross-tabulations have been produced. They demonstrate that the users perceive riding on the cycle lane, the sidewalk (excluding cycle lane) and the sidewalk on a cycle lane as safe. On the contrary, they perceive as less safe driving the e-scooters on the cycle lane, the shared lane for bus/taxi/bicycle and the mixed traffic lane. Nonetheless, it is found that the users drive faster at the types of road infrastructure, which they consider less safe.

Christos Gioldasis, Zoi Christoforou
Assessing the Compliance of Existing Cycling Route Infrastructure Against National Guidelines in Greece

The eve of the 2020s finds European cities in a process of shifting citizens’ mobility preferences towards more sustainable transport means. Cycling is an emerging alternative to motorised modes, particularly due to its lower operating cost and its contribution to healthier lifestyles and containment of climate deregulation from transport sector. Towards establishing cycling as a commuting mode and decreasing private car use, city authorities are increasingly investing in delivering integrated cycling route networks, pro-cycling policies and related services. However, poor and inadequate network design may act as a deterrent to cycling, due to safety, accessibility or quality concerns. To address this, the Greek Ministry of Transport in 2016 issued a set of technical guidelines for cycling network infrastructures in order to standardize their design process. In response to these new guidelines, this paper proposes a methodology for the assessment of existing cycling infrastructure through the utilization of a structured checklist. This checklist considers critical components of bicycle networks, such as their signage, width, inclinations, lighting, intersections, types of separation and interface with other modes and examines them against the minimum requirements described in national standards. The methodology was piloted in the existing cycling networks of Athens and Trikala, Greece. Results indicated certain design flaws and the attributes that did not comply with national standards. The proposed methodology could assist planning authorities into monitoring the quality of cycling infrastructure in Greek cities and indicating the aspects that do not meet the national set thresholds along with highlighting the appropriate interventions.

Georgios Georgiadis, Efthimios Bakogiannis, Aristomenis Kopsacheilis, Georgios Barmpas, Ioannis Politis
New Challenges for Combined Urban Planning and Traffic Planning in Greek Cities. The Case Study of Karditsa

Over the last two decades, the center of gravity of urban-planning is thrown in sustainability and the various strategies that can be properly applied to transform modern cities into sustainable urban cores. The approach to sustainability is that the dominant capitalist mode of development exacerbates social and economic disparities within and among countries, leading to the destruction of significant natural resources. In that context, Greek cities should adjust their shot-term policies to a long-term strategy that contribute not only in improving their morphology and functionality but also their natural environment. This goal can be implemented by conducting a series of new strategic plans, like Local Spatial Plans (L.S.Ps) and Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (S.U.M.Ps.), that promote a combined and holistic planning approach which is something new in Greek urban-planning system and that is the reason why questions are raised about how can policy makers manage the transition from a car-centric city to a sustainable city, in terms of legislative framework. This paper attempts to enlighten this issue by focusing on a case study of Karditsa. Karditsa is a medium-sized city where large-scale cycling interventions have successfully been implemented fifteen years ago, changing, since then, completely the direction of urban planning in Greece. Thus, it serves as an ideal example to present how the new holistic planning approach will be applied. Proposals are made in order for the city to face emerged challenges and provide solutions on sustainable mobility by promoting mixed-use streets, as the next step toward the existing planning projects.

Vasilios Eleftheriou, Efthimios Bakogiannis, Avgi Vasi, Charalampos Kyriakidis, Ioannis Chatziioannou
Evaluating Fastest Path Procedures on Roundabouts by Extracting Vehicle Trajectories from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Unmanned aerial vehicles are one of the most emerging technologies being used recently in transportation field. The collection and analysis of high-resolution data such as vehicles’ trajectories are challenging concerning the analysis of driving behavior for use on optimal road design. At present, the expected speeds of vehicles on roundabouts are calculated based on fastest path analysis techniques that several guidelines provide. This paper presents the results of experimental research be conducted as a first step in developing a model for the prediction of vehicle paths on roundabouts. The research aims to define the basic path elements of vehicles maneuvers at multilane roundabouts on free-flow conditions. An analytical guiding framework regarding the use of UAVs for data acquisition in traffic analysis is presented. The proposed methodology follows a simple and low-cost way of extracting detailed naturalistic vehicle trajectories data through UAVs. Video image processing techniques and geographic information system methods are used and provide a useful tool for obtaining spatiotemporal phenomena at two multi-lane roundabouts. The level of accuracy of the method is evaluated by minimizing the errors due to camera instability and distortion effects. The results of the experiment highlight the usefulness of the proposed UAV and video processing technique for further driving behavior analysis. The analysis that was conducted indicates differences between observed vehicles trajectories and existing fastest paths procedures.

Apostolos Anagnostopoulos, Fotini Kehagia
Re-thinking Transport Infrastructure Investments: The Case of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

By examining the potential effects that the Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit (AALRT) project may have on city-dwellers, this paper aims to assess possible approaches to inclusive transport planning in rapidly growing cities of the Global South.

Yohanan Ermias Bekele
Addressing Street Network Accessibility Inequities for Wheelchair Users in Fifteen European City Centers

Although thirteen percent of the population living in European cities are affected by some kind of disability it is not evident whether pedestrian streetscapes efficiently support their mobility needs or more interventions are required in order to facilitate and ensure their equal access to city life and services. In this paper, we focus to people using wheelchairs and compare, in terms of accessibility, centrality measures (i.e., angular choice) for fifteen European downtown areas and for two types of networks. Namely, the city-center-wide and the wheelchair users’ street network and according to the following criteria: presence of sidewalks, pre-and-post crossing curb ramps, and efficient sidewalk width. To this end, we construct composite inequity indicators between the above types of spatial networks, based on bivariate spatial autocorrelation clustering of centrality analysis results and the share of wheelchair users’ street network per city. The findings of this work suggest that there is unequal spatial distribution between accessible and inclusive pedestrian streetscapes and thus decreased levels of centrality for people with the above disabilities are highlighted in eleven out of the fifteen studied European city centers networks.

Alexandros Bartzokas-Tsiompras, Yannis Paraskevopoulos, Aglaia Sfakaki, Yorgos N. Photis
Investigation of Vehicle Swept Path in Roundabouts

Due to their evident benefits roundabouts are widespread among the congested urban road networks. The primary aims of the roundabouts are to improve safety, traffic and environmental conditions, which derive from their proper design. Vehicle swept path analysis is considered a crucial parameter in the design of a roundabout. The accurate prediction of the vehicle’s movement ensures a safe route and identifies the conflict areas, at the entry, exit and along the circulatory roadway especially in a 2-lane roundabout where accidents are over-represented. The purpose of this paper is to investigate vehicle’s turning path in 2-lane roundabouts. The large trucks are of particular interest, because they demand more space in their motion. Consequently, the dimensions of the roundabouts are determined by the turning paths of the heavy vehicles and buses. Therefore, in order to perform swept path analysis, the turning paths of different type of large vehicles in roundabouts with different diameter have to be computed. Moreover, the overlap of the turning paths of two vehicles traveling simultaneously in a two- lane roundabout will be investigated. In the recent years, roundabouts have also become increasingly popular in Greece. In fact, in the city of Volos four roundabouts have been constructed in the last two years. The two of them have been chosen to be investigated in terms of geometry and safety based on the preceding analysis.

Andromachi Gkoutzini, Panagiotis Lemonakis, George Kaliabetsos, Nikolaos Eliou

Digitalization and Data Sharing

Frontmatter
Covid-19 Transport Analytics: Analysis of Rome Mobility During Coronavirus Pandemic Era

Dealing with emergencies is never an easy task. Coping with the Covid-19 emergency was and still is an incredibly tough and unprecedent challenge for mankind, not only from a healthy point of view, but also from a socio-economic point of view, where a key role will be played by a reliable and sustainable transport of people and goods. Professional and researchers from all disciplines have been required to adapt their models, methods and tools to support decision makers in coronavirus emergency days. This paper reports the experience of the authors for the analysis of the Rome mobility system to estimate the impacts of the progressive lockdown imposed by the government. It focuses on data available for monitoring, which have been used to carry out transport analytics both for private and public transport. Such analytics have been used for planning the reboot of the transport system to be ready for the post Covid-19 era.

Stefano Brinchi, Stefano Carrese, Ernesto Cipriani, Chiara Colombaroni, Umberto Crisalli, Gaetano Fusco, Andrea Gemma, Natalia Isaenko, Livia Mannini, Marco Petrelli
Digitalization in Freight Transport Services: Balkan Area

New information technologies and international digitalization trends have led to the shifting of the norm in recent freight transport systems. Electronic marketplaces and digital freight transport platforms have emerged since the early 2000s’ as a result of the advances in information technology, plus Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Customer (B2C) hubs have developed new tools to facilitate product and information exchange and support the negotiation, contracting, and settlement processes. In particular, freight logistics platforms have been largely investigated and operated by numerous members of the global freight industry, especially in North America, Australia, and Europe, focusing on load and truck booking/auctioning, load matching algorithms, and freight planning services. This paper proposes a categorization and analysis scheme which (i) presents the latest state of practice in freight transport platforms at a global level and (ii) focuses on their offered services in an attempt to categorize these platforms based on the applied services. In addition, the freight exchange platforms adopted in the Balkan region are analyzed following the proposed scheme. A mapping process is achieved, and critical issues are identified in developing a transnational freight logistics platform for the Balkan area.

Attila Akac, Afroditi Anagnostopoulou, Dimitrios Nalmpantis
Benchmarking Analysis of Road Safety Levels for an Extensive and Representative Dataset of European Cities

According to European urban sustainable planning guidelines, road safety corresponds to one of the most important elements of cities’ performance. Several methods have been developed over the years for supporting policy-making, towards the improvement of road safety levels mainly at the national level. In this study, a methodological framework is developed, extending the macro-level (national) analysis and focusing at a higher spatial resolution, that of urban regions. The methodological approach is based on benchmarking analysis, able to suitably rank alternative cases/regions with distinctive characteristics within a multivariate comparative framework and on the investigation of the components that affect their ranking. In particular, an extensive and representative dataset from 101 European regions is collected and analyzed, incorporating their socio-economic, demographic and road infrastructure characteristics. Then, Data Envelopment Analysis (suitably adapted to road fatalities framework) has been developed, evaluating the urban regions’ road safety performance over a period of 9 years. The resulted region ranking is further examined by using Tobit regression models for identifying the components that appear to affect their performance in different extents providing a valuable guiding ‘tool’ for experience/knowledge-transfer and policy-making. The datasets and the results are presented and discussed in detail, such as they will be useful not only for demonstration purposes but also they will be suitable as a benchmark for researchers and practitioners.

Katerina Folla, Paraskevas Nikolaou, Loukas Dimitriou, George Yannis
A Cloud-Based Big Data Architecture for an Intelligent Green Truck

The rapid growth of cloud computing in combination with the advances in the communication boosted the green and smart mobility. Smart mobility aims to reduce congestion and foster greener, cheaper and with less delay transportation. Many of the current options to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions have worked on light-duty vehicles but are not feasible for heavy duty vehicles. Reduction of emissions and consumables (e.g. urea) without sacrificing on emission standards is an important challenge for heavy-duty vehicles. The paper introduces a cloud-based system architecture exploiting the potentials of big data analytics to deliver an on-demand route optimization service reducing NOx emissions of heavy-duty vehicles. The system utilizes the information provided by the navigation systems, big data analytics such as predictive traffic and weather conditions, road topography and road network and information about vehicle payload, vehicle configuration and transport mission to develop a strategy for the best route and the best velocity profile. The performance evaluation attested the efficiency and effectiveness of the system, since the cumulative engine-out NOx has been decreased more than 13%.

Nikos Dimokas, Dimitris Margaritis, Manuel Gaetani, Alfredo Favenza
Connecting Cruise Lines with Local Supply Chains for Enhancing Customer Experience: A Platform Application in Greece

The Blue Economy constitutes a large and fast growing part of the European Economy. In 2017, it accounted for nearly € 74.3 billion in gross operating profit, and an annual turnover of approximately € 658 billion. Among all blue economic sectors, cruise tourism is one of the most important ones, with the Mediterranean region still accounting for the second most popular cruise destination in the world, after the Caribbean. The contribution of the cruise sector to the local economies of most ports of call however, proves to be quite limited, with negative externalities often surpassing derived benefits. Promoting and integrating ‘traditional’ products into cruise supply chains can be a promising solution addressing this situation. It may also provide passengers with an enhanced local-tasting experience that may make their journey even more memorable. Focusing on Greece and its numerous ports integrated into various cruise itineraries, this paper explores cruise network characteristics and identifies local products that can be promoted at different ports of call for boosting customer experience. Through a novel e-marketplace that is being outlined, cruise companies will be able to directly connect with local producers and suppliers and place their orders. Seamless information may also provide benefits with regard to improving transport and logistics processes.

Eleftherios Sdoukopoulos, Vasiliki-Maria Perra, Maria Boile, Leonidas Efthymiou, Evi Dekoulou, Yianna Orphanidou
Investigating the Prospect of Adopting Artificial Intelligence Techniques from Transport Operators in Greece

The bloom of computer engineering and data science unveils new potential for several business sectors, regarding the enhancement of their operational functions. Transport stakeholders can benefit from computer science advances, such as Artificial Intelligence (ΑΙ) or Data Mining (DM) techniques, which can contribute to the utilization of existing data and maximize their productive efficiency. Reduced operating costs, decreased travel times, as well as faster freight delivery times are among several gains that can be achieved through the adoption of such techniques. Analysing transport related social media content could also provide useful insight into customers’ needs and preferences based on their social media behaviour. However, the aforementioned computer science fields are relatively new and require advanced hardware as well as necessary expertise. Thus, the take – up from transport operators is not significant yet. In this paper, we provide an overview of the currently applied AI and DM techniques in corporate decision making, planning, and management practiced by various transport operators worldwide. Our literature review highlights original findings and case studies from selected freight and passenger transport operators in Greece. To further investigate their activities, a questionnaire survey was conducted to examine the existence of a systematic data collection system, the processes of data mining and analysis applied (if any) and most importantly the fields where the information derived from data analysis is exploited. Survey findings reveal the relative maturity of Greek transport operators for applying AI and DM techniques.

Aristomenis Kopsacheilis, Anastasia Nikolaidou, Georgios Georgiadis, Ioannis Politis, Panagiotis Papaioannou
Clustering of Urban Road Paths; Identifying the Optimal Set of Linear and Nonlinear Clustering Features

Urban traffic is undoubtedly a dynamic phenomenon presenting variations over both time and space, that in the majority of cases are the result of a mixture of, either well known (i.e. weather, seasonality) or not easily predictable (i.e. events, accidents) external factors. Identification of similarities in the performance of different urban road paths under different traffic states (different travel demand conditions) is the main subject of the current paper. Floating taxi travel time data (timeseries per road path) collected in the framework of Thessaloniki Smart Mobility Living Lab (initiated and operated by CERTH/HIT) consist the basic input for the hierarchical clustering that is applied. Clustering applies upon different combinations of road paths’ features (data points of travel time timeseries, descriptive statistics and mutual information of timeseries). The comparison of the clustering results based on average weekdays travel times per road path (from a six months period) with the respective results of a typical and an atypical day adds on the interpretability of underlying relations among paths under different states. The analysis reveals that resulting clusters can be a building block for the spatiotemporal understanding of urban traffic. Furthermore, it is shown that adding as clustering feature the criterion of mutual information of timeseries, therefore taking into account also non-linear dependences of the different road paths, the clustering interpretability is differentiated.

Glykeria Myrovali, Theodoros Karakasidis, Maria Morfoulaki, Georgia Ayfantopoulou
Exploring the Big Data Usage in Transport Modelling

Continuous growth of information and the increasing volume of data with high coverage in space and time open up new possibilities in the field of transport planning. In recent years, there is great research interest in how big data can be applied to the modelling and planning of transport systems. A literature survey of existing methodologies and applications of big dada in transportation is a useful tool for identifying strengths and capabilities for big data exploitation in different fields of application. The main objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of big data usage in transport planning, focusing on travel demand modelling. More specifically, the paper aims to examine whether analyzing big data can facilitate transport planning and to summarize the relative scientific discussion. Three big data sources have been examined: smart cards, mobile phones and social networks. Existing theories and studies are presented and classified according to the source of data, the methodology, the extracted transportation features and the validation of results. In the course of the review, the different big data sources are further analyzed regarding their special applications in the transport planning field. Finally, the paper concludes by presenting the barriers and gaps in the existing approaches as well as new research challenges.

Danai Tzika-Kostopoulou, Eftihia Nathanail

Modelling Emerging Transport Solutions for Urban Mobility

Frontmatter
Future Scenarios for Mobility Innovations and Their Impacts in Cities and Transport Models

Cities should try to combine the various conflicting interests in the field of urban mobility aiming to extract the maximum benefits of the different mobility options. Although this task concerns mainly the current situation, cities should also prioritize future mobility measures. The purpose of this paper is to explore how emerging mobility concepts would evolve under future mobility scenarios related to carsharing services, micromobility services, Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) services, Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs), Urban Air Mobility and Mobility-as-a-Service. Two diverging or complementary scenarios have been associated to each concept expected to transform future urban mobility. A Delphi poll has identified the future scenarios related to data sources and transport modelling and assessed the effects that each mobility innovation may have on urban transportation. The impacts of these emerging mobility solutions on transport planning tools and techniques are also investigated and prioritized. Finally, data sharing between operators and policy-makers and the lack of skills among transport planners are rated by the Delphi poll as the most important gaps in terms of transport data sources and barriers that hinder the modelling of the new urban mobility options respectively.

Javier Burrieza Galán, Rita Rodríguez Vázquez, Oliva G. Cantú Ros, Georgia Ayfantopoulou, Josep Maria Salanova Grau, Maria Konstantinidou, Rodric Frederix, Péter Pápics
Cataloging and Assessing City-scale Mobility Data

In the era of data-driven decision making, the under-utilization of available data sources prevents organizations and corporations from unlocking their full potential and might even threaten their existence. On a city level, public authorities typically have access to numerous heterogeneous data sources, which are either generated by proprietary infrastructure or by collaborating local stakeholders. However, the adaptation to modern trends and adoption of new tools and methodologies by a local authority or even corporation can be overly slow, given the exceedingly complicated nature and sheer size of implementation. To this end, the authors propose an efficient, well-structured methodology towards city-wide data analytics and data-driven decision support systems for the transport sector. The main focus is on the identification and cataloguing of mobility-relevant data sources along with both qualitative and quantitative metadata. Those metadata indicators are used for assessing the quality and appropriateness of data within a) the general context of mobility and b) in relation to specific tasks and objectives. Further, a case study for the city of Thessaloniki is presented, where all the available mobility-relevant data sources have been organized, cataloged and described according to the aforementioned methodology.

Georgia Ayfantopoulou, Javier Burrieza Galán, Antonio Masegosa, Josep Maria Salanova Grau, Neofytos Boufidis, Ignacio Martín Martínez, Pablo Fernandez-Muga, Oliva Cantú Ros
Integrating Modelling in Urban Policy Cycle and Decision Making

Urban mobility is subject to deep changes, imposed by technological advancements and new concepts of operation in transport and serious challenges on urban space are expected to be introduced. Transport modelling should follow the urban mobility trends to connect the new arrays of demands and the new services they will provide, guiding future mobility. The integration of urban mobility trends into mobility planning, through the 8 principles and the 4 phases of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) to support policy goals, is essential, as well. Modelling the complexity and uncertainty enforced by the urban mobility trends necessitate a move from common modelling techniques? How to accomplish a transition in mobility planning shifting from conventional and static planning approaches? Are current transport modelling approaches able to integrate urban mobility trends, to fulfil SUMP’s implementation? Traditional planning and modelling methods cannot face the challenges of urban mobility trends integration. Long-term planning, collaborative and participatory planning processes, co-creation of scenarios for the future and measure packages using specialized tools on the one hand, multi-sectoral and dynamic modelling approaches, the Big Data potentials on the other hand, are cases of on-going research for transport planning and modelling new requirements respectively, identified through an extensive literature review. The integration of transport modelling requirements, in the urban policy cycle is anticipated to guarantee the reliability of the modelled scenarios, ensure the accuracy of modeling outcomes and offer guidance on how to accomplish the integration of data-driven methods in participatory and collaborative planning approaches.

Georgia Ayfantopoulou, Maria Natalia Konstantinidou, Maria Chatziathanasiou, Josep Maria Salanova Grau
Correction to: Advances in Mobility-as-a-Service Systems

The original version of the book was inadvertently published with incorrect name of the author in Chapters 38, 49 and 108, which has now been amended. The book and the chapters have been updated with the change.

Eftihia G. Nathanail, Giannis Adamos, Ioannis Karakikes
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
Advances in Mobility-as-a-Service Systems
Editors
Prof. Eftihia G. Nathanail
Dr. Giannis Adamos
Ioannis Karakikes
Copyright Year
2021
Electronic ISBN
978-3-030-61075-3
Print ISBN
978-3-030-61074-6
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61075-3