Special Issue "Active Transport among University Students: Patterns, Motivations and Challenges"

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2022.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Socrates Basbas
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Transportation Planning, Transportation Engineering & Highway Engineering, Dept. of Transportation & Hydraulic Engineering, School of Rural & Surveying Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: transport planning; active mobility; walkability; accessibility; micromobility
Prof. Dr. Nick Stamatiadis
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Kentucky, 265 Raymond Bldg.University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0281, USA
Interests: transport planning; road safety; vulnerable road users; active mobility; micromobility
Prof. Dr. Tiziana Campisi
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, University of Enna Kore, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy
Interests: sustainable and resilient mobility; shared mobility; microscopic traffic simulation; active mobility; planning for accessibility
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Kh Md Nahiduzzaman
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Engineering, The University of British Columbia—Okanagan, Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7, Canada
Interests: smart cities; urban spatial transformation; climate challenge and environmental studies
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Mr. Andreas Nikiforiadis
E-Mail
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Transportation Planning, Transportation Engineering & Highway Engineering, Dept. of Transportation & Hydraulic Engineering, School of Rural & Surveying Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: transport planning; active mobility; shared mobility

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Universities can be seen as important poles of attraction of trips within a city, but also as an entity with its own mobility characteristics. In some cases, universities are located close to city centres and consequently they largely affect the urban environment and urban transport systems. In other cases, they are located in the suburbs, and therefore they create the need for extended transport networks for the provision of sufficient accessibility. University students are a group of people that more or less share common attributes (e.g. age, status, occupation, income) and mobility needs. It has also been proven that the mobility behavior of university students presents different characteristics compared with the rest of the population.
Considering the above, the Special Issue aims to contain insights into university students’ mobility patterns, motivations, and challenges. This Special Issue particularly focuses on the attitudes of students towards active modes of transport, as well as on their behavior while using them during regular, COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 times.  
More specifically, the scope of the Special Issue includes the following:

  • Mobility challenges of university students
  • Mobility preferences (mode and route choice) of university students
  • Road safety behavior of university students as active mode users
  • University students’ attitudes towards active mobility and emerging mobility schemes
  • Behavioral change activities focusing on university students
  • Universities and sharing mobility schemes
  • Universities’ mobility plans
  • Accessibility and walkability of university campuses/university cities

Prof. Dr. Socrates Basbas
Prof. Dr. Nick Stamatiadis
Prof. Dr. Tiziana Campisi
Prof. Dr. Kh Md Nahiduzzaman
Mr. Andreas Nikiforiadis
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 papers will be 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 1900 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

  • active mobility
  • university students
  • behavioral analysis
  • vulnerable road users
  • road safety
  • micromobility
  • walking
  • cycling
  • e-scooters

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
Public Transport Use and Satisfaction by International Students and Researchers
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8417; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158417 - 28 Jul 2021
Viewed by 420
Abstract
Travel behavior adaptations resulting from international temporary relocation is understudied, despite their increasing relevance. The scarce published literature on the subject overlooks the local contexts and ignores aspects related to the adaptation processes and motivations. This study aims to partially fill this gap [...] Read more.
Travel behavior adaptations resulting from international temporary relocation is understudied, despite their increasing relevance. The scarce published literature on the subject overlooks the local contexts and ignores aspects related to the adaptation processes and motivations. This study aims to partially fill this gap by addressing the travel behavior adaptation of international students and researchers, focusing on public transport (PT) frequency of use and satisfaction. To investigate this, a Bayesian Structural Equation Model was estimated using data collected from a tailor-made online survey answered by temporary international exchange students and researchers. The model confirms that (i) travel behavior habit in the city of origin influences the residential location choice in the host city; (ii) the higher the frequency of PT use in the city of origin, the higher the PT use in the host city; (iii) the residential location in the host city affects individuals’ frequency of PT use and satisfaction; (iv) perceiving technology as helpful to move around leads to perceiving the PT system as easier to use at the beginning of the stay; (v) perceiving the PT as easier to use, leads to a higher frequency of its use and a higher level of satisfaction with the PT system. Full article
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Article
Predicting Increase in Demand for Public Buses in University Students Daily Life Needs: Case Study Based on a City in Japan
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 5137; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13095137 - 04 May 2021
Viewed by 489
Abstract
Accessibility and economic sustainability of public bus services (PBS) have been in a continuous decline in Japan’s countryside. Rural cities also suffer from population transformation toward industrial centers experiencing rapid economic growth. In the present study, we reviewed the current demand status of [...] Read more.
Accessibility and economic sustainability of public bus services (PBS) have been in a continuous decline in Japan’s countryside. Rural cities also suffer from population transformation toward industrial centers experiencing rapid economic growth. In the present study, we reviewed the current demand status of PBS in Kitami, a rural city in Japan that hosts a national university. The investigation was performed by examining students’ daily lives using a survey to collect data representing a portion of the population. The objective was to predict the change in demand rate for PBS concerning the necessities of everyday life from the perspective of university students as potential users of PBS. Intuitively, decision-makers at every level display a distinct prejudice toward alternatives that intend to change the long-lasting status quo, hence in the question sequence, a two-step verification probe was used to reveal a person’s actual perceived opinion. Accordingly, the respondents’ initial demand rate for PBS was around 60%; however, this score increased to 71% in the secondary confirmation. Afterward, using machine learning-based prediction methods, we could predict this demand at over 90% of F-measure, with the most reliable and stable prediction method reaching 80% by other daily life indicators’ weight. Finally, we supplied thorough evidence for our approach’s usability by collecting and processing the data’s right set regarding this study’s objective. This method’s highlighted outcomes would help to reduce the local governments’ and relevant initiatives’ adaptability time to demands and improve decision-making flexibility. Full article
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