Intelligent Solutions for Cities and Mobility of the Future

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of information and usage asymmetry among representatives of different generations regarding shared mobility services. This paper is based on the literature review and survey that was carried out on people belonging to different generations (Baby Boomers and Generations X, Y, Z). The conducted research confirmed the hypothesis that younger people have more information about shared mobility services and more often use these solutions in everyday life. Differences in asymmetry were also observed - the most popular concepts (carsharing, bikesharing, scootersharing, carpooling) are characterized by left-handed asymmetry, while the less popular concepts (vanpooling, ridesharing, ride - hailing) are right-sided. The main limitation of the study was the origin of the respondents from only one urban area, the snowball sampling method and use of the English nomenclature.

This research investigates the modal split of passengers’ transport in a new approach different from the dominant methodology of four-step demand model, using accidents data in calculation, assuming that the more accidents for a mode (cars, public transport, and bicycles), the more passengers who are using it. More than 100,000 road accidents are analyzed for consecutive four years in Hungary. Drivers, front-seat and rear-seat passengers are categorized through age intervals. Age distribution profiles for each mode of private cars, public transport, cycling, motors are developed after normalized the intervals with their corresponding population. Hypothesis of using the approach of finding passenger modal split through road accident data is tested as overall percentages in macro level as Hungary scale and selected cities in micro level for cities of Budapest, Miskolc, Pecs, and Szeged. Forecasting of the passenger cars split ratio is developed for four years ahead depending on time-series decomposition method. Results show that modes of passenger cars, and walking and cycling percentages are acceptable with limitations in reality, unlike public transport which is rejected at all times to be estimated through road accidents data, while forecasting passenger cars is convenient.

To meet continuous and sustainable improvement on road infrastructures, new technologies and smart devices are encouraging the development of a mobile crowdsensing system for collecting and monitoring data to be used in efficiency assessment. In this view, the paper proposes a methodological approach that employs in an integrated way vehicle trajectory data collected in the field, the Vehicle Specific Power methodology and a microscopic traffic simulation model for estimating emissions at urban roundabouts. For a first characterization of the emissive phenomenon reference was made to an existing two-lane roundabout in Palermo, Italy, where vehicle trajectory data were collected using a smartphone app in a test vehicle. The case study addresses the issue of converting existing roundabouts into turbo roundabouts, and gives an insight into how to assess the impacts of alternative designs from an environmental perspective.

European environmental and transport policies commit, among others, to increasing the number of zero-emission vehicles in cities and agglomerations. Strategic documents at the national level also set out similar commitments. One of the available options is the increasing use of electric buses. This requires a transition to a fleet consisting at least in part of electric buses. Conducting a conversion process to restructure a public transport bus fleet without proper planning is often a difficult task. The process of such conversion is usually long and should be well planned in technical, economic and organizational dimensions. This paper presents selected management dilemmas of the planning process and a set of tools to help in planning the conversion process of a city bus fleet. It also discusses the influence of geo-information input data on the proper functioning of IT applications.

The presented article examines the problems that arise in the interaction of subjects of the transport and logistics process and suggests ways to solve them. The existing process of interaction of modes of transport in transport hubs is considered, which does not meet the modern requirements of subjects of interaction, in connection with this situation, an analysis of information integration into transport services in ports and port stations is carried out. The latest information technologies make it possible for the subjects of interaction to work in a single information field, which guarantees the relevance, integrity and consistency of information that will be used to make the necessary management decisions by all participants in the transportation process.

Approbation and economic justification of measures based on the implementation of an information system at the port station in cooperation with the port showed a positive economic effect. The developed methodology is focused on determining the information integration effectiveness for transport services in ports and port stations based on the organization of a common or unified information field. The introductory part of the article describes the traditional and modern systems of information interaction. The second part examines the evolution of information interaction between seaports and the railway. The second part also considers the outcomes of Road Information and Logistics System (DILS) implementation as well. The third part presents the results of the economic effect calculations based on information interaction improvements and vehicle downtime reduction .

Electric vehicles are increasingly appearing in underground garages. They pose a significant risk when a fire breaks out. Risks to the building structure and to the people safety increase. It is very difficult to extinguish an electric vehicle fire, and in addition, large amounts of hydrogen fluoride are released when the lithium-ion battery is burning. Substances released during an electric vehicle fire pose a threat to rescue teams, contaminate garage surfaces and contaminate the extinguishing water. The article presents numerical analyzes of the spread of hydrogen fluoride and temperature distribution during a fire of a small electric vehicle in a ten-car underground garage. The calculations used the Fire Dynamics Simulator program, which is very often applied to analyze the conditions during a fire in a confined space. Calculations show that even a fire of a small lithium-ion battery produces an amount of hydrogen fluoride that is hazardous to the health of people which could be near the fire.

Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) will impact the current travel behavior of people because the characteristics of AV are different than conventional cars. In AV, the machine takes the role of driving rather than a human driver. This study adds a new contribution to the literature by studying privately-used autonomous vehicle (PAV) and public transport (PT) considering multitasking availability. The focus of this research is on the influences of multitasking options availability, travel time, and travel cost on the travelers’ behavior. In this research, six options of multitasking are defined, such as reading, writing, talking, using social media, eating-drinking, and doing other things. A stated choice experiment is designed, where people are asked to choose either PAV or PT based on their preferences and the characteristics of each transport mode. A sample size of 4366 observations is collected in Budapest, Hungary at the beginning of 2020. A discrete choice modeling approach is applied through the Conditional Logit model to develop a transport choice model and find the impact of attribute’s changes on the choice of travelers. In this research, the main daily trip inside urban areas is only studied. The results show that only writing onboard adds a negative utility in choosing a transport mode, while others add a positive utility. Moreover, gender and car ownership variables impact the selection of a transport mode. In conclusion, people are more likely to choose PAV over PT inside urban areas because the margins show a larger modal share of PAV than PT at the same trip time and trip cost.

Trajectory elements of train movement, such as departure and running times, are subject to random influences, which can lead to disruption of the arrivals. Analysis of the corresponding probability distributions and their changes, which arise depending on intermediate stations, makes it possible to identify the degree of influence of various factors on the movement process, as well as to assess the quality of train traffic control. This article provides an approach for calculating the distribution of the arrival time deviations and investigates the evolution of this distribution when trains travel on an extended section of a main railway line. Historical data on the scheduled freight train traffic at the Russian Railways are used to verify the proposed model.

The paper describes a new approach to background/foreground estimation in images from a video stream. The proposed method is based on the analysis of small gradients in images. The video stream is recorded with the camera mounted in the measuring station above the road and directed along the road. Input images are converted into binary form and divided into square blocks. For each block the sum of binary values is calculated. Blocks are assigned to the background or to the foreground of an input image. Background/foreground assignment depends on sums of binary values within individual blocks. Vehicle detection is carried out through the analysis of blocks assigned to the foreground. The proposed method of background/foreground estimation is intended for systems of traffic measurements and surveillance.

The article is a theoretical consideration of identifiable areas of the circular economy in passenger air transport and its determinants, taking into account its ecological character. The article describes forms of aircraft financing that allow the operation of a given aircraft by several carriers in the long term of the aircraft's airworthiness. It also uses a case study to present the advantages of recycling and upcycling aircraft and presents data on CO₂ emissions, which may depend on the class of travel in passenger air transport. The closed-loop economy can be an interesting model for the management of aircraft, their components within the recycling and upcycling processes because by its pro-environmental character it can indicate the optimal lifetime of a given good and point to the possibility of using this good in a different, utilitarian way for humans. Air passenger transport is an example of a market where circular economy areas can be identified. The process of financing aircraft fleets is also an area of influence of the circular economy Thanks to recycling and upcycling processes, used components of passenger aircraft construction can be recycled and used both in the aviation industry and in other branches of the economy. The circular economy model can be an effective solution for resource management in passenger air transport.

Railway transport is an integral part of the unified transport system and to be considered a key link within the Russian Federation economy. The general trend in the transport companies’ development is to increase the transport services efficiency to benefit country’s economy. The purpose of this scientific article is to identify aspects of the non-transport effect, considering the railway transport enterprises performance quality and efficiency. The analysis was performed to highlight the relationship of environmental and economic indicators in the activities of transport companies. There were efficiency calculation methods, and the environmental protection measures relevant to transport companies’ operational processes described. The analysis of the JSC “Russian Railways” key performance indicators (KPIs) within 2017–2019 was carried out. The main directions of the organizational development and technical measures to improve the non-transport effect are presented.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an example of a “black swan”, an unexpected event with a huge impact on the global economy. The introduced restrictions, aimed at reducing the level of virus emissions, influenced not only the economies of countries, but also the everyday life of their inhabitants. For this reason, it is currently one of the most up-to-date research topics of scientists around the world. One of the important areas of research is the impact of COVID-19 on the transport behaviour of the population. For this reason, the aim of the article is to present the results of the literature research on changes in the transport behaviours of residents during the COVID-19 pandemic and to characterize the changes in the functioning of the public transport system in one of the large cities in Poland. On this basis, regarding guidelines related to the future functioning of public transport in the city, conclusions will be formulated.