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Innovative and Sustainable Urban Mobility Solutions in the Cities of the Adriatic-Ionian Region

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Transportation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (24 November 2023) | Viewed by 6891

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Pierluigi Coppola

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, 20156 Milano, Italy
Interests: sustainable urban mobility planning; travel demand forecasting; transport modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

City transport is facing the challenges posed by the new technological advances and by the undergoing socio-economic and demographic changes, seeking more efficient solutions and mobility services tailored to citizens’ new travel behaviors and needs. The case of the Adriatic-Ionian (AI) Region is of specific relevance since the region includes cities of EU and non-EU countries with great disparities. This poses the question of how to bridge the gap in mobility and accessibility levels, taking advantage of the experiences coming from a number of European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) projects devoted to the area (e.g. the Interreg ADRION projects).

With this Special Issue we are looking for best practices aiming at creating and testing innovative actions, following participatory approaches that involve governmental institutions, businesses, researchers, and citizens (i.e., the quadruple helix). We are especially interested in findings from pilot actions that are transferable to other cities, and that could contribute to harmonized policy recommendations (to both policymakers and planners) for an integrated and sustainable urban mobility in the AI Region.

Areas of interest may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Innovative public transport services, such as on-demand responsive services;
  • Smartphone applications to provide users with real-time public transport data analytics;
  • Introduction of low-emission vehicles (i.e., battery electric or hydrogen fuel cell powered);
  • Data-driven planning for new urban cycling routes or public transport services;
  • Decision support systems (DSSs) to manage highly congested road corridors.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Pierluigi Coppola
Guest Editor

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Sustainability 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

  • Adriatic-Ionian cities
  • sustainable urban mobility
  • quadruple helix
  • European Territorial Cooperation
  • EUSAIR

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3730 KiB  
Article
Designing Mobility Policies for Vulnerable Users Employing the Living Lab Approach: Cases of a Demand-Responsive Transit Service in Ljubljana and Maribor
by Pietro Mariano, Marco Trolese, David Kastelec, Mateja Bitenc and Deja Jurgec
Sustainability 2023, 15(20), 14698; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152014698 - 10 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1123
Abstract
In recent years, transport policy has strongly been oriented to develop more inclusive cities and to design mobility services aligned to specific users’ needs. In an attempt to guarantee an adequate level of accessibility, especially to vulnerable users, approaches based on the dialogue [...] Read more.
In recent years, transport policy has strongly been oriented to develop more inclusive cities and to design mobility services aligned to specific users’ needs. In an attempt to guarantee an adequate level of accessibility, especially to vulnerable users, approaches based on the dialogue between public administration, operators, citizens and researchers (so-called “quadruple helix”) have been proposed. The two case studies presented in this article refer to the development of a minibus demand-responsive transport system, devoted mainly to people with reduced mobility, in the cities of Ljubljana and Maribor (Slovenia) designed using a Living Lab participative approach. In fact, urban mobility stakeholders were engaged in this process during the design and monitoring phases of the pilot projects. Their involvement resulted in producing positive outcomes: citizens actively participated in the projects, and the designed service was perceived to be useful and effective. Both projects were successful, as statistics demonstrate, and are expected to be confirmed and strengthened over the next few years. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative and Sustainable Urban Mobility Solutions in the Cities of the Adriatic-Ionian Region)
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14 pages, 3700 KiB  
Article
Managing Urban Mobility during Big Events through Living Lab Approach
by Cristina Isabel Covelli Garrido, Alessandro Giovannini, Annalisa Mangone and Fulvio Silvestri
Sustainability 2023, 15(19), 14566; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914566 - 8 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1353
Abstract
Urban transportation systems encounter distinctive challenges during planned major city events characterized by large gatherings that disrupt traffic patterns. The surge in private car usage for attending such events leads to a sudden increase in traffic, unauthorized parking, pollutant emissions, and risks to [...] Read more.
Urban transportation systems encounter distinctive challenges during planned major city events characterized by large gatherings that disrupt traffic patterns. The surge in private car usage for attending such events leads to a sudden increase in traffic, unauthorized parking, pollutant emissions, and risks to pedestrian safety in the vicinity of the event venue. This study delves into the challenges and advantages of employing Decision Support Systems (DSSs) to manage urban mobility during special urban events with the goal of reducing car dependency and promoting sustainable transportation options. The proposed methodology for designing and testing the DSS is based on the living lab principles of co-planning, co-implementing, co-monitoring, co-validating, and co-reviewing with engaged stakeholders. Moreover, testing of the DSS measures in real-world cases (i.e., during a football match at the San Siro Stadium and a concert at the Alcatraz music hall in the city of Milan, Italy) highlights the potential of the DSS in reducing the use of individual private cars in favor of shared mobility and micro-mobility solutions. As a result, the living lab has proven to be a valuable tool for interacting with stakeholders from the outset of brainstorming ideas for potential transport policies to their practical implementation, with the goal of bridging the gap between what decision-makers believe should be done, what transport operators can feasibly do, and what users desire and expect to be done. The insights presented in this paper contribute to the debate on leveraging technology to cultivate more efficient, resilient, and livable urban environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative and Sustainable Urban Mobility Solutions in the Cities of the Adriatic-Ionian Region)
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17 pages, 4400 KiB  
Article
Assessing Cycling Accessibility in Urban Areas through the Implementation of a New Cycling Scheme
by Dimitra Chondrogianni, Yorgos J. Stephanedes and Panoraia Fatourou
Sustainability 2023, 15(19), 14472; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914472 - 4 Oct 2023
Viewed by 2129
Abstract
Cycling’s integration into the intricate facets of urban design, together with walking and public transportation, offers an effective solution to the mobility issues plaguing urban spaces, and is critical to the sustainability of modern cities. In this context, in this research urban cyclists’ [...] Read more.
Cycling’s integration into the intricate facets of urban design, together with walking and public transportation, offers an effective solution to the mobility issues plaguing urban spaces, and is critical to the sustainability of modern cities. In this context, in this research urban cyclists’ needs and preferences are analyzed through questionnaires, and bicycle accessibility to urban areas is assessed using multicriteria analysis. The public’s familiarity with the integration of novel mobility solutions (e.g., e-bicycles) that support accessibility and inclusiveness is tested and analyzed by recording cyclists trajectories on bicycle routes. The European hub of Patras was selected as the case study for a pilot scheme in this analysis. Similar to many medium-sized European cities, several mobility obstacles, including urban topography, hinder bicycle accessibility in the city, especially between the Modern and Old City areas. The research findings indicate that, addressing these obstacles, electric bicycles can substantially increase bicycle accessibility in the city center. The public usage of electric bicycles is encouraged in the pilot study, and the results indicate that it can increase accessibility to urban areas while reducing restrictions related to age, physical condition, and disabilities. Providing citizens access to e-bicycles can increase the number of daily bicycle users, leading to positive impact in urban cohesion, resilience, and sustainability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative and Sustainable Urban Mobility Solutions in the Cities of the Adriatic-Ionian Region)
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15 pages, 2864 KiB  
Article
Spatial Economic Impacts of the TEN-T Network Extension in the Adriatic and Ionian Region
by Francesco De Fabiis, Alessandro Carmelo Mancuso, Fulvio Silvestri and Pierluigi Coppola
Sustainability 2023, 15(6), 5126; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065126 - 14 Mar 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1656
Abstract
Investments in transportation infrastructure have been identified as one of the main factors to promote territorial economic growth. However, appraisal methods currently used in the planning practice do not consider spatial economic distributional effects, ignoring who within a given region would receive greater [...] Read more.
Investments in transportation infrastructure have been identified as one of the main factors to promote territorial economic growth. However, appraisal methods currently used in the planning practice do not consider spatial economic distributional effects, ignoring who within a given region would receive greater economic benefits from an investment than others (and eventually who might receive worse). In this paper, a modelling framework is proposed to assess the spatial economic impacts of transportation infrastructure investments; the method combines spatial regressions with transportation accessibility analysis, assuming Gross Domestic Product per Capita variation as a proxy of the economic growth. The application to the case study is related to the Adriatic and Ionian region, which includes both some EU (Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, and Greece) and non-EU countries (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, and Kosovo) and is characterized by huge disparities in terms of infrastructural assets. The models allow us to both statistically prove the importance of spatial modelling specifications and to forecast economic impacts that would be generated by ongoing infrastructure investment plans for the reconstruction of the road and railway networks in the region; this highlighted where current economic disparities tend to be bridged up, i.e., mainly along the foreseen extensions of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) corridors, and where not. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative and Sustainable Urban Mobility Solutions in the Cities of the Adriatic-Ionian Region)
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