Assessing perceptions of pedestrian-focused intervention in a car-dependent European island

Apart from the numerous social, economic, and environmental impacts of car dependence, the time people spend sitting in motorised vehicles has been identified as a sedentary behaviour that can negatively impact people's physical and psychological health. The climate breakdown and the COVID-19 pandemic have continued to expose the fragility and vulnerability of the urban environment and the imminent need for response, management, and radical re-thinking through innovation, especially within the transport sector. The incidence of the COVID-19 pandemic has also reiterated the need for urban centres to re-establish a sense of community, extend the benefits reaped from reduced motorised transport usage and boost small/medium-size businesses through the provision of active travel spaces. This paper investigates the role of pedestrian-focused intervention to encourage walking rather than car use for short-distance trips, within the context of the car-dependent small island state of Malta. The research includes the use of semi-structured interviews with a broad range of stakeholders to develop a virtual platform for citizen participation. The platform is an interactive space for participants to identify barriers that discourage walking and explore and evaluate options that encourage walking as a mode of transport. A discussion of preliminary findings sheds light on the impact of pedestrian interventions that encourage active travel and contribute policy-relevant outcomes based on the perceptions and direct feedback from citizens and stakeholders alike. © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.

Cyber-Physical Modeling of Intelligent Traffic Controllers Using Simulator for Urban Mobility (SUMO)

Transportation problems have always been a global concern. The challenges in traffic congestion were easily observed during pre-pandemic times. However, traffic congestion still persists even during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020 and present) where there has been less number of vehicles because of travel restrictions. The emergence of wireless communication technologies and intelligent transportation systems (ITS) pave the way for solving some of the problems found in the transportation industry. Subsequently, traffic control systems are used at various intersections to manage the flow of traffic and reduce car collisions. However, some intersections are better off without these traffic control systems. The proposed study will analyze a T-junction road in five different setups using different types of traffic controllers. The simulation tool used is SUMO. The study found that an adaptive or vehicle-actuated traffic controller is the ideal method for regulating traffic flow in a T-junction with a one-way or two-way main road. It was observed in the simulation that it reduced the potential car collisions in the non-TL junction. However, the average speed and completion time of the road network was affected by the method. © 2022 IEEE.

Urban mobility evolution and the 15-minute city model: from holistic to bottom-up approach

In recent years, urban planners have mentioned the importance of implementing alternative city models that encourage short trips and neighborhood-scale activities such as the 15-minute city model. Several studies show that improvements in the transportation networks encourage the citizens to move themselves into their neighborhoods' borders. People seem to respond to these actions by increasing their visits to many local places such as restaurants, bars, sports centres etc. Even though during the post-covid era, people decreased significantly their movements, it is vital to encourage the creation of friendly for walking transportation networks inside the neighborhoods of the cities, based on the concept of the 15-minute city model. Large cities are becoming bigger and bigger as they offer many job opportunities. However, the massive peoples' relocation in big cities has as a result the creation of huge transportation problems. Neighborhoods have been downgraded as they were not ready to offer several services in larger populations. The 15-minute city model is designed to ensure that each citizen has quick access (15 minutes on foot) to essential services of various types. Moreover, the implementation of the 15-minute city model demands the strengthening of transportation networks promoting sustainable solutions that can support the daily walking of the habitants. This paper focuses on a literature review of the implementation of the 15-minute city model in different big cities worldwide, starting from Paris where the model is indeed a well-suited concept and focuses to the need of a cultural change rather than urban planning. The research points out not only the fact that this model can help the neighborhoods to grow up socioeconomically but the fact that the citizens can cooperate with the local authorities and participate in the redesign of their neighborhood based on the 15-minute city model. © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.

Urban Mobility in the Postpandemic Stage: A Comprehensive Investigation of a Variety of Cities in China

The global outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected the urban mobility of nations around the world. The pandemic may even have a potentially lasting impact on travel behaviors during the post-pandemic stage. China has basically stopped the spread of COVID-19 and reopened the economy, providing an unprecedented environment for investigating post-pandemic travel behaviors. This study conducts multiple investigations to show the changes in travel behaviors in the post-pandemic stage, on the basis of empirical travel data in a variety of cities in China. Specifically, this study demonstrates the changes in road network travel speed in 57 case cities and the changes in subway ridership in 26 case cities. Comprehensive comparisons can indicate the potential modal share in the post-pandemic stage. Further, this study conducts a case analysis of Beijing, where the city has experienced two waves of COVID-19. The variations in travel speed in the road network of Beijing at different stages of the pandemic help reveal the public's responses towards the varying severity of the pandemic. Finally, a case study of the Yuhang district in Hangzhou is conducted to demonstrate the changes in traffic volume and vehicle travel distance amid the post-pandemic stage based on license plate recognition data. Results indicate a decline in subway trips in the post-pandemic stage among case cities. The vehicular traffic in cities with subways has recovered in peak hours on weekdays and has been even more congested than the pre-pandemic levels;whereas the vehicular traffic in cities without subways has not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. This situation implies a potential modal shift from public transportation to private vehicular travel modes. Results also indicate that commuting traffic is sensitive to the severity of the pandemic. This may be because countermeasures, e.g., work-from-home and suspension of non-essential businesses, will be implemented if the pandemic restarts. The travel speed in non-peak hours and on non-workdays is higher than pre-pandemic levels, indicating that non-essential travel demand may be reduced and the public's vigilance towards the pandemic may continue to the post-pandemic stage. These findings can help improve policymaking strategies in the post-pandemic new normal. © 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Assessing the Impact of Disruptive Events on Urban Mobility: A Case Study of Chicago Taxis during COVID-19

The rise of Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) over the last decade has significantly disrupted the taxi industry. Studies have shown that taxi ridership has plummeted, and their capacity utilization rates are lower than 50% in five major U.S. cities. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a severe blow to the already struggling taxi industry. To monitor the evolution of the taxi industry and its impacts on society, our study evaluates changes in the utilization rates, fuel consumption, and emissions among Chicago taxis, using taxi data with rich information on trip profiles from pre-pandemic and pandemic times. Our findings indicate that the taxi utilization rate decreased during the pandemic. While fuel consumption and emissions per kilometer decreased thanks to the reduced traffic during the pandemic, the overall fuel consumption and emissions increased due to increased deadhead travel. The methods developed in this study can be applied to monitor and evaluate the impact of future disruptive events on urban mobility and transportation systems more effectively. By utilizing mobility data to better understand transportation systems, we can develop more efficient, sustainable, and resilient mobility solutions for smart cities. © 2023 ACM.

Impacts of COVID-19 on Bike-Share Usage: The case of Daejeon, Korea.

After COVID-19 began spreading through fecal-oral routes, crowded cities introduced social distancing policies. Mobility patterns in urban also changed because of the pandemic and the policies to reduce the infection of it. This study investigates the impact of COVID-19 and related policies such as social-distancing by comparing bike-share demand in Daejeon, Korea. By using big data analytics and data visualization, the study measures differences in bike-sharing demand between 2018-19, before the pandemic, and 2020-21, during the pandemic. According to results, (1) bike-share users tend to travel long distances and cycle more than before the pandemic, (2) bike users choose cycling not for commuting but for transportation during the pandemic, and (3) the pandemic has broadened the spatial borders bike-usages. These results provide meaningful implications for urban planners and policymakers by identifying differences in the ways people use public bikes during the pandemic era.

Unique times, unequal mobilities: Daily mobility during the de-escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic

Scholars have highlighted drastic reductions in daily mobility during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. But what happened when restrictions were relaxed though risk remained ubiquitous? How did patterns of mobility change and how were they structured by socioeconomic resources and social roles? We address these questions using a cross-sectional representative sample (n = 2942) of the population of Andalusia, Spain, after a month and a half of severe lockdown in 2020. We find that older people were the least mobile group and that people living with children and in extended households were less likely to move to take care of others, unlike before the pandemic. Men were more likely to carry out daily mobilities for which women had been traditionally responsible, such as care mobilities. Women were also more likely to be immobile and less likely to commute. Finally, manual and nonqualified workers were more likely to commute, but they were just as likely as any other group to carry out other types of mobility. These results highlight the social character of mobility in a unique context. We emphasize the need to disaggregate daily mobility based on different purposes as well analysing how these are practised by different sociodemographic groups if we want to provide rigorous descriptions of a core component of individuals' daily life.

Evolvement patterns of usage in a medium-sized bike-sharing system during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The global outbreak of COVID-19 has fundamentally reshaped human mobility. Compared to other modes of transportation, how spatiotemporal patterns of urban bike-sharing have evolved since the outbreak is yet to be fully understood, especially for bike-sharing systems operating on a smaller scale. Taking Pittsburgh as a case study, we examined the changes in spatiotemporal dynamics of shared bike usage from 2019 to 2021. By distinguishing between weekday and weekend usage, we found different temporal patterns between trip volume and duration, and distinct spatial patterns of within- and between-region rides with respect to naturally separated regions. Overall, the results illustrate the resilience and the vital role of bike-sharing during the pandemic, consistent with previous observations on bike-sharing systems of a larger scale. Our study contributes to a comprehensive understanding of bike-sharing that calls for more research on smaller-scale systems under disruptive events such as the pandemic, which can greatly inform decision-makers from smaller sized cities and enable future studies to compare across different urban regions or modes of transportation.

How COVID-19 Changed Mobility: A Life-Oriented Approach to Travel Behavior Change in Flanders, Belgium

This research regards the COVID-19 pandemic as a major life event with the ability to affect daily activity-travel behavior, and investigates if specific activity participation (work/study, shopping, social contact, free time) is associated with different travel modes (walk, cycle, car, public transportation), with attention paid to residential neighborhood using survey data (n = 854) in Flanders, Belgium. Through mean-comparison tests and regression analyses, evidence was found of (1) compensation for changed working/studying time with walking time, (2) compensation for changed social contact with cycling, and (3) similarly affected travel behavior regardless of residential neighborhood, though suburban residents may have more mode-resilience and less reliance on public transportation. Further evidence indicate that those working/studying may have taken advantage of decreased traffic and congestion with an increase in car and public transportation use and that older respondents may be more likely to hold flexible, teleworkable jobs and treat the pandemic with greater caution. Some travel behavior changes are expected to persist post-pandemic, therefore understanding which life domains are associated with which travel modes can inform policy aiming to decrease motorized and increase active mode use (e.g., for health or sustainability goals). © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Car Ownership and Post-COVID Urban Mobility across European Cities

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected households' mobility habits and choices in the past two years. Scarce evidence is available concerning medium term decisions such as the purchase or sale of a private vehicle. This work aims to explore the factors that have influenced households' decisions to buy or sell a private car due to the pandemic and foresee how these decisions might influence their travel behaviour in the next few years. To achieve this goal, an EU-wide survey gathering information from 21 European cities was carried out during the second term of 2021, when lockdowns were no longer in place, but some mobility and sanitary restrictions were still maintained. The survey focuses on the impact of the pandemic and the consequent mobility restrictions on the transport habits and preferences of the respondents. The questionnaire collected socio-economic characteristics and mobility habits of 10,152 individuals. Interestingly, the analysis of the survey does not provide any evidence of a reduction of motorization rates for teleworkers. On the contrary, both partial and full-time teleworkers have bought significantly more cars than the rest of the groups. These findings greatly contrast with the fact that changes in daily habits resulting from the adoption of teleworking regimes are the main cause of reductions in car use among car buyers. This result suggests that further incentives for car ownership reduction are needed to harness the full potential of teleworking for decreasing car dependency. A positive relation between number of cars owned before COVID and car purchases has been found, pointing out that these purchases are probably not solving accessibility limitations for car-less households. Finally, a positive relation is also observed between car purchases and increased use of shared mobility services. © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.

Evaluation of the Perceived Pedestrian Level of Service in the post COVID-19 era: The case of Thessaloniki, Greece

The promotion of active transportation modes in urban areas is a key challenge towards the minimization of motor traffic externalities. After the COVID-19 outbreak, cities around the world started investing heavily in infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists towards the enhancement of social distancing. However, infrastructure adequacy in the post COVID-19 era needs to be evaluated. Level of Service (LOS) as it is proposed by the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) is the most common methodological tool to assess pedestrian facilities. Nonetheless, pedestrians' perceptions are more than needed especially in the post COVID-19 era. In this paper an online survey is conducted for the assessment of the main pedestrian facilities in the city of Thessaloniki, Greece. Respondents' sociodemographic characteristics, their social distancing perception as well as their travel habits after the COVID-19 outbreak are concerned. The main research goal is to reveal the most significant factors that affect pedestrians' perceived level of service (PLOS) using regression modeling. The results can shed light on respondents' perceptions about PLOS in the post COVID-19 era. Last, results can assist in policy making for the promotion of active transport modes in urban areas with respect to the current health recommendations for public spaces. © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.

Assessing perceptions of pedestrian-focused intervention in a car-dependent European island

Apart from the numerous social, economic, and environmental impacts of car dependence, the time people spend sitting in motorised vehicles has been identified as a sedentary behaviour that can negatively impact people's physical and psychological health. The climate breakdown and the COVID-19 pandemic have continued to expose the fragility and vulnerability of the urban environment and the imminent need for response, management, and radical re-thinking through innovation, especially within the transport sector. The incidence of the COVID-19 pandemic has also reiterated the need for urban centres to re-establish a sense of community, extend the benefits reaped from reduced motorised transport usage and boost small/medium-size businesses through the provision of active travel spaces. This paper investigates the role of pedestrian-focused intervention to encourage walking rather than car use for short-distance trips, within the context of the car-dependent small island state of Malta. The research includes the use of semi-structured interviews with a broad range of stakeholders to develop a virtual platform for citizen participation. The platform is an interactive space for participants to identify barriers that discourage walking and explore and evaluate options that encourage walking as a mode of transport. A discussion of preliminary findings sheds light on the impact of pedestrian interventions that encourage active travel and contribute policy-relevant outcomes based on the perceptions and direct feedback from citizens and stakeholders alike. © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.

Urban mobility evolution and the 15-minute city model: from holistic to bottom-up approach

In recent years, urban planners have mentioned the importance of implementing alternative city models that encourage short trips and neighborhood-scale activities such as the 15-minute city model. Several studies show that improvements in the transportation networks encourage the citizens to move themselves into their neighborhoods' borders. People seem to respond to these actions by increasing their visits to many local places such as restaurants, bars, sports centres etc. Even though during the post-covid era, people decreased significantly their movements, it is vital to encourage the creation of friendly for walking transportation networks inside the neighborhoods of the cities, based on the concept of the 15-minute city model. Large cities are becoming bigger and bigger as they offer many job opportunities. However, the massive peoples' relocation in big cities has as a result the creation of huge transportation problems. Neighborhoods have been downgraded as they were not ready to offer several services in larger populations. The 15-minute city model is designed to ensure that each citizen has quick access (15 minutes on foot) to essential services of various types. Moreover, the implementation of the 15-minute city model demands the strengthening of transportation networks promoting sustainable solutions that can support the daily walking of the habitants. This paper focuses on a literature review of the implementation of the 15-minute city model in different big cities worldwide, starting from Paris where the model is indeed a well-suited concept and focuses to the need of a cultural change rather than urban planning. The research points out not only the fact that this model can help the neighborhoods to grow up socioeconomically but the fact that the citizens can cooperate with the local authorities and participate in the redesign of their neighborhood based on the 15-minute city model. © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.

Anxious Mobilities: A Visual Inquiry into Pandemic Disruptions of Urban Railway Mobilities in Tokyo

The COVID-19 pandemic has not just prompted the widespread deceleration and halting of human movement, but also reconfigured enduring mobilities. This visual essay examines work commutes on Tokyo's urban railway system as an example of an urban mobility practice that partially withstood the immobilizing effect of the pandemic. Combining text and comic-style drawings, it explores the viral transformation of passenger practices and experiences during Tokyo's first "state of emergency” (April–May 2020) to ask how passengers on one of the world's busiest urban railway systems learned to move with viral risk in a city that refrained from imposing official mobility restrictions. The essay introduces the notion of anxious mobilities to highlight how mobility experiences and practices in pandemic cities came to be characterized by a sense of unease. It calls attention to undulating processes of (de)sensitization to risk that mobile subjects may undergo when movement becomes associated with danger.

Changes in purchasing behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic and impacts on trip patterns

Consumer behavior has changed over time, influenced by the emergence of e-commerce and e-delivery services. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the use of technologies influencing people's behavior for shopping activities and access to services. This study aims to understand the changes in commuting patterns for purchases, trip chaining, and the decision of internet purchases during the pandemic, by identifying groups with similar behaviors and relationships with their socioeconomic characteristics. For this purpose, data were collected in May 2020, considering the travel patterns for purchases and the use of the Internet during this period. Shopping patterns, chained travel, and the decision to purchase over the Internet are characterized by descriptive statistical analysis. Next, cluster analysis is used to identify groups of individuals with similar behavior changes and subsequent analysis of socioeconomic variables related to the groups. Preliminary results showed that travel reduction due to purchases is higher among women and users of public transport. There has been a significant reduction in travel for the consumption of durable goods and chained trips for general purchases. Consumption of convenience products and essential goods over the Internet increased among people who had never bought such products online and started doing so during the pandemic. Among the factors of choice for internet purchase, the absence of direct contact with people during the purchase gained significant relevance during the pandemic. These changes in behavior bring to light the need for a reflection on the effectiveness of urban logistics solutions and a discussion of the impacts of reducing trips to purchases.

Air Pollution Modeling for Sustainable Urban Mobility with COVID-19 Impact Analysis: Case Study of Skopje

Air pollution is one of the major problems in today's urban areas. With increasing development and the need for the transport of goods and people, it has become imperative to seek sustainable urban mobility solutions. The impact of restrictive COVID-19 pandemic measures provides a unique insight into the possible reductions in air pollution. This paper presents a case study on the city of Skopje, North Macedonia, and attempts to identify the effect of traffic emissions on air quality. Resultant correlation analysis and linear regression models show the impacts of multiple factors contributing to air pollution. Finally, a discussion on the impact of COVID-19 measures on air pollution is provided. The main findings of this research are the observed drop in air pollution levels during COVID-19 measures, the effects on air pollution models, and the identification of primary pollutants in the city of Skopje.

The use of micromobility in different contexts. An explanation through the multilevel perspective and QCA

Micromobility can bring numerous benefits by providing solutions to the problem of first and last mile con-nectivity, while offering solutions to the social and economic disparities in terms of mobility. However, mobility in urban systems depends on actors, public and private institutions, and macro-level changes, which means that the use or non-use of micromobility can be influenced differently depending on the city. Therefore, through the use of the multi-level perspective and social-technical transition, and the application of Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (FsQCA) with the Two-Step Protocol and cluster analysis, this study aims to understand the combination of factors that promote the use or non-use of micromobility in a sample of 100 cities. The results obtained show that the use and non-use of micromobility services is explained by different configurations of conditions (2 and 6 respectively) and that the variables linked to the context (landscape and regime) are related to the emergence of an innovation (micromobility) in a given niche. Likewise, in relation to the different context it is not possible to extrapolate the recipes that explain the use of mobility solutions between the different continents, but it is possible to do so for the conditions that explain the non-use.

Who changed and who maintained their urban bike-sharing mobility after the COVID-19 outbreak? A within-subjects study.

The COVID-19 pandemic has remarkably impacted urban mobility. All non-essential movements were restricted in Valencia (Spain) to contain the virus. Thus, the transport usage patterns of Valencia's bike-sharing system (BSS) users changed during this emergency situation. The primary objective of this study was to analyse the behaviour patterns of BSS users in Valencia before and after the COVID-19 outbreak, specifically those who maintained or changed their transport routines. A within-subjects comparison design was developed using a group of BSS users before and after the onset of the pandemic. Data mining techniques were used on a sample of 4355 regular users and 25 variables were calculated to classify users by self-organising maps analysis. The results show a significant reduction (40 %) in BSS movements after the outbreak during the entire post-outbreak year. There was some recovery during the rest of 2020; however, this has yet to reach the pre-pandemic levels, with variations observed based on the activities performed in different areas of the city. Of the users, 63 % changed their BSS use patterns after the onset of the pandemic (LEAVE group), while 37 % maintained their patterns (REMAIN group). The user profile of the REMAIN group was characterised by a general reduction of approximately 35 % of journeys during 2020, with a slight increase in morning movements compared to those made in the evening. These users also presented an equivalent number of cycling days to those of the previous year, reduced the number of connections and increased the network's density and the travelling speed. These results can be useful in estimating the percentage of people who do not vary their usual behaviour during emergencies. Finally, several policy implications are outlined based on the findings.

Crises as incubators of sustainable mobility patterns? Evidence from two shock events

This paper promotes our understanding of how crises accelerate systemic sustainability-related changes in our transforming societies using the example of mobility. Not only is the magnitude of the mobility carbon footprint large, but its dynamics make reducing it very challenging. Our paper addresses the impact of crises on the transformation of mobility patterns, including short-distance mobility and holiday tourism. A first study was conducted after the 2008–2010 crisis using focus-group participatory systems mapping. This found that when people are forced to change their habits for financial reasons, they adapt holiday travel first. Nonetheless, participants were just as satisfied with domestic destinations, provided they could spend time with loved ones. The second study focused on the COVID-19 crisis. Participants missed foreign travel, so some rebound seems inevitable. However, the crisis has been an incubator of changes in urban mobility that could reduce carbon footprints in the longer term and offset the prospective increase in tourism. Recent changes have been more profound and innovative than those during the 2008–2010 crisis. © 2023 ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Challenges and opportunities regarding the COVID-19 pandemic on urban mobility in Constanta, Romania

The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on urban mobility in Constanta, Romania and other cities around the world. This has resulted in reduced travel, increased bicycle and pedestrian trips, fewer taxicabs, and shorter public transport hours. It has also generated increased challenges for local authorities regarding safety, hygiene, air quality, road network management and public trust in public transit systems. On the other hand, the pandemic presents many opportunities for cities to rethink their urban mobility plans and adopt more sustainable transport solutions. This paper will look at the challenges and opportunities posed by the pandemic on urban mobility in Constanta and the measures that can be taken to mitigate the negative impacts while taking advantage of the opportunities it provides. This paper aims to provide an overview of the perception of urban mobility in the city of Constanța, Romania. It draws upon the results of a survey conducted among citizens in the city, which asked respondents to assess their perception regarding the quality, availability, and efficiency of urban mobility services in their area. The results show that most respondents feel that the availability of urban mobility services is limited and that the quality and efficiency of these services are poor. Additionally, majority of respondents feel that the lack of public transportation options and the lack of bicycle lanes impede urban mobility in Constanța. The paper concludes by suggesting that the city should consider investing in improved public transportation options and bike lanes in order to increase its urban mobility. Additionally, public education surrounding urban mobility and transportation safety is recommended. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Technium Social Sciences Journal is the property of Technium Press Constanta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)