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Sustainable Urban Mobility: 2nd Edition
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Sustainable Urban Mobility: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Transportation and Future Mobility".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 September 2026 | Viewed by 1334

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Mihaela Popa

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Guest Editor
Doctoral School of Transport, National University of Science and Technology “Politehnica” Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
Interests: transport service scheduling; strategical decisions in transportation; urban/peri-urban transportation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Șerban Raicu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Doctoral School of Transport, National University of Science and Technology “Politehnica” Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
Interests: sustainable mobility; public transportation; city logistics; spatial analysis; road congestion
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Dorinela Costescu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Doctoral School of Transport, Polytechnic University of Bucharest, Splaiul Independentei 313, 060042 Bucharest, Romania
Interests: sustainable mobility; public transportation; city logistics; spatial analysis; network design
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Grzegorz Karoń

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Transport Systems, Traffic Engineering and Logistic, Faculty Transport and Aviation Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Krasinskiego 8 St., 40-019 Katowice, Poland
Interests: modelling of transportation systems and processes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mobility is a polysemic concept used in several sciences. Originally specific to sociology and geography, the concept has expanded into traffic science due to the rapidly increasing use of cars. Now, this widely accepted concept includes social mobility, spatial mobility (residential relocation and mobility as travel traffic), intellectual mobility, and professional mobility. Between these components/understandings of mobility are inter-conditions that have become much more complex with the evolution of technological progress and the information society.

Mobility is a complex concept requiring multidisciplinary investigations, with a pronounced emphasis on interdisciplinarity.

In essence, mobility is the expression of the form and structure of activities and the way of life within an urban system. For the mobility of individuals, the essential component of ensuring mobility rights is represented by public transportation. For goods mobility, sustainable urban distribution logistics still present challenges for research.

We find mobility is a crucial component in the quality of life of the city's inhabitants and their desire for a higher common good. Therefore, we highlight the theme of Sustainable Urban Mobility to reflect an integrative treatment of mobility in relation to the requirements of sustainable development. Consequently, we invite engineers, computer scientists, urban planners, sociologists, economists, geographers, ecologists, statisticians, and other researchers who are interested in the correct, integrative, and systemic promotion of sustainable urban mobility to participate in the development of the theme. Topics of interest include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Interaction between mobility and urban planning: daily mobility vs. residential mobility;
  • The coherent city: correlations between urban patterns and available travel/ transport-mobility options;
  • Integrated urban networks for sustainable and smart mobility and reliability and resilience of integrated mobility networks;
  • The effects of urban space fragmentation on proximity travel;
  • Public urban transportation: the impact of the transit network on real estate prices;
  • Accessibility and attractiveness in urban space (without cars);
  • Solutions to limit car dependence;
  • Funding of the public transportation system;
  • Equity/inclusiveness, effectiveness, and efficiency in urban public transportation;
  • The success of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and intellectual mobility;
  • Modeling of sustainable urban mobility;
  • New techniques and technologies for sustainable city logistics.

Prof. Dr. Mihaela Popa
Prof. Dr. Șerban Raicu
Prof. Dr. Dorinela Costescu
Dr. Grzegorz Karoń
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • urban mobility
  • public transportation
  • integrated urban mobility networks
  • smart mobility
  • modeling of urban mobility
  • sustainable city logistics

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 4955 KB  
Article
Beyond Time to Collision: The Point of No Return as a Reliable Safety Indicator in Rear-End Vehicle Conflicts
by Adrian Soica
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(8), 3869; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16083869 - 16 Apr 2026
Viewed by 223
Abstract
This paper introduces the concept of the Point of No Return as a physically grounded safety indicator for rear-end vehicle conflicts, addressing fundamental limitations of the widely used time-to-collision metric. Unlike purely kinematic approaches, the proposed formulation incorporates braking capability and reaction constraints, [...] Read more.
This paper introduces the concept of the Point of No Return as a physically grounded safety indicator for rear-end vehicle conflicts, addressing fundamental limitations of the widely used time-to-collision metric. Unlike purely kinematic approaches, the proposed formulation incorporates braking capability and reaction constraints, enabling a direct assessment of whether a collision can still be avoided. To illustrate the applicability of the concept, a vision-based framework using a single camera is developed based on dashcam data, combining YOLO-based object detection, Kalman-filter tracking, and geometric distance estimation derived from bounding-box features and camera projection models. The estimated distance is further processed to obtain relative motion, allowing a unified analysis of time to collision and the Point of No Return within the same evaluation pipeline. Experimental results on real-world driving sequences show that the Point of No Return consistently precedes critical conditions identified by time to collision and provides a more stable and physically interpretable characterization of the transition toward collision inevitability. The results also highlight the sensitivity of the proposed indicator to braking capability, while showing lower sensitivity to variations in relative speed. Overall, this study demonstrates the relevance of the Point of No Return as a complementary indicator for collision risk assessment, offering a physically meaningful basis for decision-making in driver assistance systems and improving the interpretation of critical traffic situations. The proposed approach supports sustainable urban mobility by enabling earlier and more reliable intervention strategies, contributing to improved traffic safety, smoother traffic flow, and reduced environmental impact. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Mobility: 2nd Edition)
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23 pages, 2163 KB  
Article
A Comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment of Electric Vehicle Operations in the District of Columbia: Analyzing the Impact of Fuel Mix Scenarios
by Michael Somersall and Sabine O’Hara
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(7), 3372; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16073372 - 31 Mar 2026
Viewed by 351
Abstract
Electric vehicles (EVs) have emerged as a vital component of sustainable urban mobility. In this life cycle assessment, the GREET model (Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies) is used to compare three EV scenarios for Washington, DC, the capital of [...] Read more.
Electric vehicles (EVs) have emerged as a vital component of sustainable urban mobility. In this life cycle assessment, the GREET model (Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies) is used to compare three EV scenarios for Washington, DC, the capital of the United States. We compare these three scenarios to a 2022 baseline scenario that describes the current state of EV utilization in Washington, DC. The three future scenarios we examine are based on policy assumptions that differ in the extent to which they integrate renewable energy into the EV future of Washington, DC. Our findings suggest a significant decrease in greenhouse gases between 52 and 66 percent by 2050 and a similar decline in other air-pollutants associated with all three future scenarios. This confirms the advantages of EVs for urban air quality. However, two important aspects of the analysis suggest that there is (1) the threat of emissions leakage associated with electricity imports into DC, which complicates the overall assessment of local environmental benefits; and (2) an increase in non-exhaust emissions of particulate matter attributable to tire and brake wear. These emissions cannot be removed through electrification and tend to increase due to the increased weight of EVs. Our analysis shows that the full capabilities of electric vehicles can best be realized through grid decarbonatization. Achieving genuine sustainable mobility therefore requires complementary strategies that address transboundary emissions and vehicle-specific non-exhaust particulates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Mobility: 2nd Edition)
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21 pages, 1552 KB  
Article
Evaluating Urban Mobility Transitions: A Dual-Track Framework for City-Scale and Local Assessment
by Javier A. Cuartas-Micieces, Raquel Soriano-Gonzalez, Majsa Ammouriova and Angel A. Juan
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(6), 2837; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16062837 - 16 Mar 2026
Viewed by 434
Abstract
Evaluating urban mobility transitions is essential to determine whether local transport interventions support broader sustainability goals. Cities increasingly implement initiatives to promote public transport, active mobility, and low-carbon transport systems. Still, assessing their impact on city-scale structural change remains challenging. Existing evaluation approaches [...] Read more.
Evaluating urban mobility transitions is essential to determine whether local transport interventions support broader sustainability goals. Cities increasingly implement initiatives to promote public transport, active mobility, and low-carbon transport systems. Still, assessing their impact on city-scale structural change remains challenging. Existing evaluation approaches often rely on project-level monitoring or fragmented indicators, which limits cross-city comparison and the assessment of long-term system transformation. This paper proposes a dual-track methodology to evaluate sustainable urban mobility interventions. The first track uses city-defined key performance indicators to capture local implementation processes, governance dynamics, and perceived outcomes. The second track relies on publicly available open data to assess city-scale changes in mobility indicators, including public transport accessibility, cycling infrastructure provision, and traffic-related air pollution. The methodology is applied to ten European cities using open data and satellite-based environmental indicators. Results indicate that while cities report progress at the project level, external indicators show limited short-term structural change in city-wide mobility systems. These findings highlight the value of open data as an independent evaluation layer that contextualises local results and supports transparent assessment of urban mobility transitions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Mobility: 2nd Edition)
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