Sustainable Transport: Safer, Greener, and More Efficient

Dear Colleagues,

Road and rail transport face increasing demands around safety, environmental impact, and efficiency. Rising traffic volumes, climate change, and the rapid uptake of new modes such as e-scooters, shared bikes, and autonomous vehicles call for fresh approaches to planning, designing, building, and operating transport infrastructure. The sector is undergoing rapid transformation: artificial intelligence, digital twins, IoT-based condition monitoring, and predictive maintenance are reshaping infrastructure lifecycles, while green and recycled materials, low-carbon construction, and energy-efficient mobility are gaining ground.

This Special Issue, ‘Sustainable Transport: Safer, Greener, and More Efficient’, gathers advances across road, rail, and multimodal transport that respond to these challenges. Drawing on civil and transport engineering, traffic safety, environmental science, materials engineering, and intelligent transport systems, it highlights techniques, technologies, and policies that support the transition to sustainable mobility. Topics include railway infrastructure modernization, vulnerable road users, decarbonization pathways, noise and air quality, climate-resilient infrastructure, circular economy materials, micromobility, and integrated multimodal networks.

This Special Issue welcomes contributions on topics including, but not limited to:

• Road and intersection safety, vulnerable road users, and pedestrian/cyclist protection;
• Micromobility (e-scooters, bicycles, shared mobility) and its integration into urban networks;
• Sustainable and modern railway infrastructure—track design, monitoring, noise and vibration mitigation, and predictive maintenance;
• Rail-based passenger and freight transport as part of low-carbon multimodal systems;
• Environmental noise, air quality, and emission reduction in road and rail transport;
• Decarbonization, electrification, and alternative fuels for road and rail;
• Recycled and circular economy materials in pavement and railway infrastructure engineering;
• Climate-resilient transport infrastructure and adaptation strategies;
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning for traffic management, safety analytics, and infrastructure decision-making;
• Digital twins and BIM for the design, construction, operation, and renewal of road and rail infrastructure;
• IoT-based condition monitoring, sensor networks, and predictive maintenance of transport assets;
• Intelligent transport systems (ITSs), connected and autonomous mobility, and digital twins for safety and efficiency;
• Sustainable urban mobility planning, multimodal integration, and active travel.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Stjepan Lakušić
Dr. Ivo Haladin
Dr. Katarina Vranešić
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. Future Transportation 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 1200 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.

• sustainable transport
• road safety
• rail transport
• railway infrastructure
• vulnerable road users
• micromobility
• environmental noise
• air quality
• decarbonization
• climate-resilient infrastructure
• circular economy
• intelligent transport systems
• multimodal mobility
• digital twin
• IoT-based condition monitoring