Search Results (445)

Saudi Arabia currently lacks a nationally representative, multi-day National Household Travel Survey comparable to the US, UK, or New Zealand programmes; existing official data products focus on aggregate road-transport indicators or general household statistics rather than detailed day-to-day travel diaries. This study develops a benchmark-driven framework for NHTS–KSA by comparing Saudi demographic, geographic, infrastructure, climate, and mobility indicators with those of the United States, United Kingdom, and New Zealand, and by systematically assessing 15 survey-design indicators across their national household travel surveys. Context benchmarking identifies the United States as the closest for highway-oriented interurban structure and motorisation level, New Zealand for geography and demographic structure (in particular, near-identical physiological density on limited arable land), and the United Kingdom as the most aspirationally aligned benchmark for the multimodal mobility patterns Saudi Arabia aims to develop under Vision 2030. Design benchmarking shows that the three surveys are closely matched in aggregate similarity but lead on distinct elements: New Zealand on diary length and integrated passive tracking, the US on digital tools and emerging-behaviour modules, and the UK on interviewer-led recruitment and multimodal analysis, a pattern that proves robust to plausible variation in individual scores. The resulting NHTS–KSA blueprint specifies a statistically justified, stratified multistage annual household sample, a two-day diary with rolling 12-month fieldwork, interviewer-assisted recruitment, a digital-first diary with optional GPS tracking, and modules on long-distance travel, telework, e-commerce, gendered mobility, accessibility, safety, and environmental attitudes. While preserving international comparability, the framework provides the data foundation required to steer public-transport investment, demand-management measures, and land-use policies in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 objectives for sustainable, inclusive, and smart mobility. Full article

Shopping mobility accounts for a significant share of total travel, while the growth of e-commerce is reshaping consumer purchasing behaviour and retail dynamics. Comprehending how territorial and sociodemographic factors shape the choice between physical and digital retail channels is therefore a key issue for transport planning and sustainable urban mobility. In this context, it is important to understand how accessibility to different classes of retailers is configured and how it can impact purchasing choices. Through a discrete choice analysis, this study examines the sociodemographic and territorial determinants of purchasing behaviour, focusing on the clothing market. Four purchase alternatives are considered: medium-sized and small urban retail stores, shopping malls, online purchasing, and no purchase. This multi-alternative framework enables the direct estimation of substitution patterns not only between physical and digital retail, but also between distinct forms of physical retail. Data were collected through a survey conducted in Southern Italy, providing empirical evidence from a territorial setting that is structurally underrepresented in the existing literature. A multinomial logit model and a two-level hierarchical logit model incorporating pedestrian accessibility—measured as walking time from residence to the nearest clothing store—alongside sociodemographic and territorial attributes were calibrated to analyse alternative choice behaviour. The calibrated models show interesting results, highlighting the role of pedestrian accessibility in the choice of clothing stores in city centres. Age, income, and territorial variables further differentiate channel preferences across population segments. The findings offer relevant implications for policymakers, governance managers, urban planners, and researchers concerned with retail location, sustainable accessibility, and consumer behaviour. These insights are highly valuable for developing planning that addresses the United Nations 2030 Agenda, particularly Sustainable Development Goal 11. Full article

Demand-side management is increasingly important for low-carbon transport governance. However, many studies assume relatively stable travel preferences and pay limited attention to behavioural changes under sudden external shocks. This study proposes an Event–Behaviour–Resilience framework and applies Natural Language Processing to Sina Weibo data to examine travel responses to extreme heat and refined oil price adjustments. The results show asymmetric response patterns. Oil price increases were associated with cost-based low-carbon substitution, with new-energy vehicle intentions accounting for 64.4% of the share. In contrast, extreme heat was associated with both trip reduction and motorised travel. Travel reduction reached 52.4%, while ride-hailing or taxi responses accounted for 24.6%. A quadratic fitting analysis identified 38.0–39.0 °C as an observed transition interval, within which high-carbon motorised willingness began to exceed low-carbon slow mobility willingness. Group-level analysis showed unequal behavioural flexibility. While 80.0% of the general population reduced travel under extreme heat, the forced mobility group showed limited travel reduction and maintained a high level of low-carbon willingness at 86.87%. XGBoost-SHAP results indicated that temperature, emotional valence, and behavioural constraints contributed to low-carbon mobility intention. These findings suggest that behavioural responses can help identify spatial interventions for low-carbon transport, especially in relation to heat exposure, mobility flexibility, and access to adaptive travel options. Full article

Understanding how consumers perceive the value of travel packages is essential for pricing and product design. Grounded in behavioral economics frameworks, such as Prospect Theory and Mental Accounting, this study analyses satisfaction across three progressive travel packages before and after explicit price disclosure, exploring multi-attribute service valuation and the moderating influence of traveller profiles. Using a quantitative approach with 387 higher education participants, expected satisfaction was measured through a two-phase price disclosure design. Inferential statistical analyses revealed that satisfaction levels decreased significantly for all packages once prices were revealed, with the sharpest decline occurring in the highly comprehensive, all-inclusive option, validating a psychological threshold of value saturation. Packages comprising only essential elements (flights, accommodation with breakfast and insurance) yielded the highest consistent post-price satisfaction, with these core structural components identified as the absolute most valued attributes. Findings suggest that explicit price disclosure acts as a negative moderator of expected satisfaction, triggering an immediate psychological pain of paying, particularly among independent travellers who exhibit higher price sensitivity and remain more analytical of bundled configurations than users of physical travel agencies. This study provides a framework for stakeholders to avoid over-bundling and optimize product efficiency. Furthermore, it contributes to academic discourse on generational consumer behaviour by highlighting how individual travel organization profiles within an emerging European cohort shape the perceived utility and fairness of tourism pricing. Full article

Autonomous mobility is reshaping how travel time is perceived, experienced, and monetised. Most existing studies have examined the value of time (VOT), willingness to pay (WTP), comfort and safety perception, digital services, and user perception as isolated phenomena, with limited efforts to integrate these dimensions into unified analytical frameworks. This study aims to address the fragmented nature of existing research by developing an integrated understanding of user behaviour in autonomous mobility, linking VOT, WTP, psychological constructs, and service-related factors within a unified analytical perspective. A systematic review methodology following PRISMA 2020 guidelines was applied. A total of 81 peer-reviewed studies published between 2015 and 2026 were included and analysed, focusing on Private Autonomous Vehicles (PAVs) and Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAVs). The results reveal three main trends. First, autonomous travel introduces greater flexibility in time use and enables productive or leisure activities during travel. Second, behavioural aspects of VOT and WTP are strongly influenced by psychological constructs such as trust, safety, and risk perception. Third, notable differences emerge between PAV and SAV contexts, particularly in terms of comfort, control, and safety perception. The literature predominantly employs stated preference surveys, discrete choice models, and hybrid models incorporating psychological factors. However, fragmentation persists in modelling behavioural aspects of time perception and shared mobility services. This study provides a structured synthesis of existing evidence and highlights key research gaps by integrating economic, psychological, and service-related dimensions. The findings emphasise the importance of context-specific and psychologically informed modelling approaches to better understand user acceptance and behavioural adaptation in autonomous mobility systems. Full article

Wheelchair users face significant mobility limitations related to both medical issues (e.g., musculoskeletal strain, pressure ulcers) and urban accessibility challenges. This pilot study introduces a sensor system integrating an inertial measurement unit (IMU), GPS (Global Positioning System), and a pressure-measuring seat to monitor distance travelled, speed, and posture in relation to real-world conditions. Seven participants navigated an approximately 800-metre outdoor course, divided into 13 sections, while real-time data were recorded. The results showed an average speed of 1.24 ± 0.41 m/s with peak speeds of up to 2.67 m/s. The centre of pressure on the seat fluctuated by an average of 25 mm in the x and y directions (left-right: COPx, back-forward: COPy). The data for average speed, COPx, and COPy showed significant differences between most of the 13 sections, with large, very large, and huge effect sizes. Comparing the speed, COPx, and COPy data with respect to distance travelled, and correlating them between the seven participants by applying the rank-sum method to the mean R² and calculating Kendall’s W, revealed that speed, COPx, and COPy were influenced by course conditions (R² medians between 0.013 and 0.499; W = 0.7857, strong agreement; χ²p = 0.0281). Small R² values indicate more individualised participant behaviour, while large R² values highlight the stronger influence of course conditions on the parameters. This non-invasive and cost-effective system provides objective motion data that can be used for future research in wheelchair design and rehabilitation strategies. Despite its advantages, this study was limited to able-bodied participants, so further clinical trials with individuals with mobility impairments are needed. Full article

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic triggered unprecedented mobility disruptions worldwide as governments imposed strict lockdowns to contain the spread of the virus. In India, prolonged restrictions severely affected economic activity, particularly for migrant workers, leading to a large-scale and unplanned exodus from urban employment centres to native places. This sudden population movement undermined containment efforts and contributed to the spatial diffusion of infections. Understanding evacuees’ behavioural responses during such crises is therefore critical for effective emergency logistics and evacuation planning. Methods: This study examines the determinants of transport mode and shelter choice decisions made by migrants during the COVID-19-induced evacuation in India. Using primary survey data, a multinomial logistic regression model is developed to analyze how socio-economic characteristics influence evacuees’ choices of travel mode and shelter type. Results: The results reveal significant heterogeneity in decision-making, highlighting the role of economic vulnerability and accessibility constraints in shaping evacuation behaviour. Conclusions: The findings offer actionable insights for policymakers and emergency planners to design inclusive evacuation strategies, improve crisis-responsive transportation planning, and enhance shelter provisioning in future pandemics or large-scale disruptions. The study contributes to the logistics and humanitarian operations literature by providing empirical evidence on evacuation behaviour under public health emergencies. Full article

Given the growing popularity of pet ownership, this study aimed to examine the effects of pet owners’ tourism constraints on learned helplessness, travel avoidance with pets and behavioural intentions to travel with pets. The relationship between learned helplessness and travel avoidance with pets was also analysed. More importantly, the serial paths from pet owners’ tourism constraints to travel intentions with pets were tested. Considering the importance of decision-making style (i.e., head vs. heart), it was used as a moderator. Data were collected in Türkiye from 341 pet owners who owned at least one dog, one cat, or both. Data analysis was conducted using PLS-SEM. The results showed that the indirect effects of the pet’s specific constraints, the pet’s interpersonal constraints, and the pet’s structural constraints on behavioural intention to travel with pets via learned helplessness and travel avoidance were significant. However, decision type did not have a moderating role. Both pet attachment and guilt over leaving pets alone had positive and significant effects on behavioural intention to travel with pets. The findings contributed to the understanding of both pet owners’ tourism constraints and learned helplessness through examining serial mediation paths. Full article

Urban accessibility is commonly evaluated using static spatial indicators, which assume stable travel conditions throughout the day. Road congestion, network saturation, and service variability change the function and experience of the built environment (BE). This study tests the Temporal City Framework (TCF) by examining how time of day (TOD) reshapes urban accessibility and travel behaviour with varying levels of congestion. Using 30,288 trip records from the 2022 US National Household Travel Survey (NHTS), duration is operationalised as a sixth dimension of the BE. A time-normalised impedance metric, measured in minutes per mile (MPM), is used that captures realised congestion independently of distance. Temporal impedance (TI) varies strongly with TOD, with substantially higher MPM during peak and midday periods than at night. Compared with nighttime conditions, midday travel requires approximately 19% more time per mile. This indicates a measurable contraction in functional accessibility under identical BE conditions. The TI model outperforms duration-only models, with impedance remaining dominant when both measures are included. These results support interpreting duration as a structural dimension of urban accessibility. TI significantly increases the relative likelihood of active and public transport compared to private cars, even after accounting for absolute trip duration. Hired transport modes (taxi and ride-hailing services) are most prevalent at night, reflecting a greater reliance on on-demand services outside regular daytime schedules. This study tests duration as a structural dimension of the BE by operationalising time-normalised TI. Associations are interpreted as trip-level behavioural constraints rather than causal effects. Planning frameworks based on static travel times systematically misrepresent exposure, equity, and travel mode feasibility. Time-stratified accessibility metrics should therefore be integrated into transport and land-use evaluation and associated policies. Full article

Walkability has reemerged as a central interest within planning, public health, and built environment research, yet evidence demonstrates that new urban extensions or emerging New Towns across England continue to reproduce conditions of car dependency and limited active travel options. This paper examines the structural, spatial, and sociocultural factors shaping walkability through an in-depth analysis of five residential case studies. It draws on spatial analysis and assessment of resident behaviour using sociodemographic data. Findings indicate significant disparities in walkability outcomes, with some developments characterised by fragmented layouts, weak public transport integration, and environments that make walking impractical or undesirable. The paper argues that walkability must be understood as a multidimensional, relational property of place, rather than a static design feature. The current dominant planning practices continue to prioritise vehicular access and associated infrastructure, undermining national goals for decarbonisation, health equity, and sustainable mobility. Thus, this study identifies the spatial, governance, and policy conditions necessary to deliver genuinely walkable neighbourhoods and highlights the systemic barriers that continue to constrain progress. The findings offer critical insights for planners, policymakers, and developers seeking to create environments that support healthier, more equitable, and less car dependent futures. Full article

On the basis of data from ten semi-structured interviews and selected secondary data from surveys conducted by the Office for National Statistics in Great Britain, this paper explores how young men and women articulate attitudes and experiences related to sustainable transport, using gender as an analytical lens. The study is exploratory and qualitative. Both traffic safety and personal safety appear to have a much more limiting influence on women’s travel mode choices than on men’s. Perceptions of safety, comfort, distance, convenience and accessibility are defined and shaped by the surrounding urban environment and transport infrastructure, and emerge as important considerations in the narratives of the study participants. The use of the car by men and women is somewhat linked to barriers to sustainable transport, such as infrequent and unreliable public transport, and, in the case of women, safety concerns. Concern for the environment is largely similar across male and female participants. Full article

This study employs a reflexive autoethnography, guided by flow and place attachment theory, to examine how gaming experiences influence attachments to virtual environments and inspire real-world travel intentions. Data comprise reflexive journal notes written over a 10-month period after playing multiple video games and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis following a hybrid deductive–inductive approach. The analysis identified eight themes across three dimensions: temporal immersion, escapism, narrative immersion, and self-expression under flow; emotional, cognitive, and behavioural attachment under place attachment; and place-induced travel intention as the behavioural outcome. The findings establish flow as a critical antecedent to the development of place attachment within virtual environments. Consistent with emerging scholarship, the study confirms that attachment formation does not require physically tangible places; rather, it can emerge through digitally mediated presence and interaction, indicating that virtual environments are capable of eliciting place attachment. More significantly, it demonstrates that these virtual attachments can fluidly extend toward real places depicted in games, revealing a cross-environmental continuity in attachment processes. The integrated framework thus contributes a novel theoretical proposal linking flow, virtual and real place attachment, and tourism behaviour, an area that remains conceptually fragmented and empirically underdeveloped. Full article

Microplastics (MPs) and microfibres (MFs) are widespread contaminants that are found in natural environments worldwide. Although their presence has been documented in Arctic snow, sea ice and marine systems, data on their occurrence in Greenland glacier surface ice remain limited. Because of their small size, persistence, and mobility, MPs and MFs pose significant risks to both habitats and species, reaching even the most remote areas. Monitoring these environments is crucial for assessing the extent of pollution, while dissemination activities are essential for transferring scientific knowledge to local communities and fostering active engagement in adopting sustainable behaviours. A preliminary survey was conducted on a glacier in Greenland, collecting samples along the routes travelled by the Extreme E staff during the electric off-road racing series expedition in the region. Preliminary results confirmed the presence of MPs and MFs in the study area with high abundances. Fibrous and small-sized microparticles were the most prevalent types detected. The most common synthetic material was polyethylene terephthalate (PET), while natural and regenerated MFs were predominantly cellulosic. A deeper understanding of MP and MF contamination in extreme environments was achieved, highlighting the importance of environmental education and public awareness as key tools in mitigating pollution and promoting sustainable strategies. The integration of different sectors can synergistically promote sustainability efforts and address the urgent challenges of climate change and environmental pollution. Full article

This paper presents a comprehensive formulation of fuzzy path choice, based on representing utilities through fuzzy numbers. This approach advances the modelling of path choice problems in transportation systems. This model improves the ability to capture the uncertainty of travellers’ perceptions and behaviours, providing an alternative to traditional probabilistic frameworks. These models are the core of the assignment models used to simulate transport systems and calculate sustainability indicators. To support its use in assignment procedures, the paper set out the mathematical operations required for manipulating fuzzy quantities, ensuring internal consistency and operational feasibility. A key contribution is the combined use of normalised and non-normalised fuzzy numbers, which increases modelling flexibility and provides a novel way to simulate path overlap. The model is based on two approaches: the introduction of a factor that modifies the core of the fuzzy number, and an approach that modifies the confidence of the fuzzy number. The two approaches are specified and applied in a test network. Numerical applications demonstrate that the proposed method effectively accounts for path dependencies where traditional fuzzy operators fail. Full article

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health challenge, with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) causing significant morbidity and mortality mainly in high-burden countries. Following exposure to M. tuberculosis, individuals may become infected, developing TB infection (TBI) through inhalation of the bacillus: this affects approximately one-fourth of the global population and serves as a critical reservoir for potential disease reactivation and transmission. The risk of being infected with M. tuberculosis is shaped by bacterial load of people with TB, contact patterns, environmental factors, and host susceptibility, particularly in high-risk congregate settings. Elucidating these determinants is instrumental for optimising TB prevention and control strategies. Methods: A preliminary PubMed search was conducted on 25 August 2024, using the keywords “latent tuberculosis infection,” “risk factors,” and “systematic review.” Targeted reviews were then performed in November 2024 to examine factors influencing progression from exposure to M. tuberculosis to TBI. Systematic reviews published between January 2000 and November 2024 were included. Results: The scoping review analysed eight systematic reviews, grouping findings into three key themes: (1) proximity and behavioural risk factors; (2) environmental risk factors; and (3) host immune vulnerabilities. Close contact with people with TB in crowded settings, such as dormitories, healthcare facilities, and prisons, was strongly associated with an elevated risk of TBI. Healthcare workers travelling from low- to high-incidence regions faced the highest risk due to frequent exposure to M. tuberculosis, while military personnel and general travellers had lower risks. Environmental exposures, including second-hand smoke and inadequate ventilation, further heightened susceptibility among children and adults. Host immune risk factors, such as advanced age, low body mass index, lack of BCG vaccination, and metabolic disorders such as diabetes, markedly increase susceptibility to TBI. The interplay between proximity, behavioural and environmental risk factors, and host immune vulnerabilities highlights the multifactorial nature of TBI risk. Conclusion: Effective TBI control demands a multifaceted approach, combining robust infection prevention and control measures, comorbidity management, and mitigation of behavioural risk factors like smoking. Tailored strategies are crucial for high-risk settings such as healthcare facilities and prisons. Multisectoral collaboration is essential to address key risk factors and protect vulnerable populations from progressing to TBI. Full article