RP2009: Journal Article: Special issue on low carbon mobility

Low carbon mobility (LCM) features strongly in the debates about the sustainability of cities and their resilience in the face of demographic, economic, and climate change. Transport is a major source of carbon emissions and there are indications that these continue to increase, despite the considerable recent advances in vehicle, engine, and fuel technologies. Reducing carbon emissions from transport may be becoming more difficult, not easier. Further, just what constitutes low carbon mobility is a key concern for researchers, policy makers, and analysts alike. There is an emerging international consensus that significant research on low carbon mobility is needed, largely because of the complexity of the topic and the need for packages of mutually reinforcing policies and strategies. An optimum blend of technological development, infrastructure planning, innovative policy developments, and community behavior change is apparent. Each of those areas requires substantial research in its own right, and then the optimum combination needs to be explored. One major question is just what policies should be considered and how the policy settings can be optimised. For example, the specific development processes of individual cities may significantly affect the feasibility and effectiveness of different policies.

This article reveals some of the research issues identified as important for low carbon mobility include health co-benefits of active transport modes, demand estimation and forecasting accounting for travel behavior change, the utilisation of electric and alternative fuel vehicles and implications for infrastructure provision, mechanisms for decoupling economic performance and transport emissions, urban form and land use–transport integration, and travel substitution. The specification, formulation, and development of LCM modeling, interpretation, and visualization tools also need attention.

This article is an introduction of the special issue of International Journal of Sustainable Transportation. It is intended to provide a coherent overview of current research on low carbon mobility and the implications for future urban developments. It contains six articles that cover a number of these topics, as well as a critical review of some of the present policies related to low carbon mobility.

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DOI: 10.1080/15568318.2015.1106263

RP2009: Journal Article: Low carbon transport strategy in Europe: a critical review

The purposes of this article are to depict ongoing trends regarding the transport system in Europe, to introduce readers to the challenges that Europe (and the rest of the world) will face in the future, to show which strategies Europe plans to deploy to mitigate the negative impacts the transport system imposes on the overall system, and finally to discuss the potential of these suggested strategies to contribute to the objectives of the European Union in the long run.

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DOI: 10.1080/15568318.2015.1106246

RP2009: Journal Article: Assessing greenhouse gas emissions from electric vehicle operation in Australia using temporal vehicle charging and electricity emission characteristics

Significant interest exists in the potential for electric vehicles (EVs) to be a source of greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement. In order to establish the extent to which EVs will deliver abatement, however, a realistic understanding of the electricity and transport sector GHG emissions impacts arising from different approaches to integrating EVs into the power system is required. A key issue in this regard is the extent to which GHG emissions are a function of where and when EV charging will be enabled (or disabled) by the provision of recharging infrastructure and implementation of charging management strategies by the electricity industry.

This article presents an investigation of the GHG emissions arising from electricity and gasoline consumption by plug-in hybrid EVs under a range of standard EV-power system integration scenarios. An assessment framework is presented, and GHG emissions from EV use are assessed for the New South Wales (NSW) and South Australian (SA) pools of the Australian National Electricity Market (NEM) using retrospective electricity system generation data for 2011.

Results highlight that there is a range of possible outcomes depending on the integration scenario and emissions accounting approach used. This range illustrates value of a temporally explicit assessment approach in capturing the temporal alignment of electricity sector emission intensity and EV charging. Results also show the importance of a clean electricity generation mix in order for EVs to provide a GHG abatement benefit beyond what would be achieved by a hybrid (but non-plug-in) vehicle. The extent to which overnight charging in NSW is observed to produce higher emissions relative to unmanaged charging also illustrates a possible trade-off between GHG emissions and benefits for electricity industry from EV charging at times of low demand.

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DOI: 10.1080/15568318.2015.1106243

RP2009: Journal Article: Dense, mixed-use, walkable urban precinct

Within the majority of the literature on sustainable transport, it is accepted as ideal to arrange new urban growth in close proximity to major public transit services. While the literature on this subject of transit-oriented developments (TOD) is positive and optimistic, for the most part such assertions are conjectural.

This article will attempt to fill this gap by revealing a modeling process undertaken for a local area’s reurbanisation project to understand the potential and limitations of several modes of transport to support the increased activity density in the precincts. Several of the most standardised policy levers were employed, such as parking ratios and mix of use and building height, and contrasted with the trip generation and transit mode’s hourly capacity to reveal potential real-estate yields. The outcomes indicate not only the immediate yields but also the capacity for urban transformation due to each level of sustainable transport investments. The model is unique in that the capacity, parking ratios, and assumptions are highly transparent.

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DOI: 10.1080/15568318.2015.1106225

RP2009 Journal Article: Research agenda for low-carbon mobility: Issues for New World cities

Low-carbon mobility (LCM) features strongly in debates about the sustainability of cities and their resilience in the face of demographic, economic, and climate change. Transport is a major source of carbon emissions and there are indications that these continue to increase, despite the considerable recent advances in vehicle, engine, and fuel technologies.

Reducing carbon emissions from transport may become more difficult, not easier. A particular issue relates to the New World cities, typified by those of North America and Australasia, which largely developed from the latter half of the nineteenth century onward and whose transportation systems were largely based around private vehicle ownership and usage. These cities are typically composed of low-density, dispersed suburbs, which are highly car dependent and resource and carbon emission intensive.

This article develops a research agenda directed at determining and testing policy and planning measures relevant to the quest for low carbon mobility in New World cities. It suggests a rich agenda for essential research on LCM. Much of this agenda falls within the realm of the integration of transport and land use, with attention to urban design details to enhance the perceptions of and opportunities to use low carbon transport alternatives. Research topics identified for LCM research include (1) urban design and land use–transport integration (LUTI), (2) low carbon mobility policies directed at achieving widespread behavior change, (3) opportunities for new technology and its application, including requirements for systems and infrastructure, and (4) analysis and tools for informed decision making, including modeling, measurement, visualization, and especially assessment.

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DOI: 10.1080/15568318.2015.1106261

RP2009: Research synthesis report: A research agenda for low carbon mobility

Low carbon transport (LCT) or low carbon mobility (LCM) have featured in many  CRC for Low Carbon Living coversations, particularly for Research Programs 2 (Low Carbon Precincts) and 3 (Engaged Communities). The CRCLCL has specific milestones related to travel demand and transport activity.

What has been missing is a research agenda to inform the CRC about relevant research topics on low carbon mobility which fit under its broad research strategy, and which can provide outcomes that will assist the CRC to meet its objectives

The CRCLCL conducted a national workshop in Adelaide on 29-30 October 2013 to debate these issues and develop a research agenda. Workshop participants included CRCLCL researchers and industry partners, as well as other interested parties. This report summarises the workshop proceedings and presents a research agenda developed from those proceedings and a review of the literature in the field.

RP2009: Research synthesis report: A research agenda for low carbon mobility (1470513 PDF)