The business of sustainable mobility
Philip Vergragt
Sign up for access to the world's latest research
checkGet notified about relevant papers
checkSave papers to use in your research
checkJoin the discussion with peers
checkTrack your impact
Abstract
The international Greening of Industry Network (GIN) has, for more than ten years, been working to bring together experts and thinkers from business, industry, academia, government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Its main aim is to deal with issues of how to build a more sustainable industrial culture by combining the conceptual with the practical. The Network's 2003 conference, held that year in San Francisco, saw sustainable mobility designated as a key theme: this book is based on that conference. It develops and updates some of the papers presented at San Francisco and includes a number of additional chapters to capture many of the themes to emerge from the 2003 conference. We hope this publication makes a significant contribution to the ongoing sustainable mobility debate. Crisis, what crisis? In many parts of the world, there is a crisis of mobility. The choices we have made over the past 200 years about modes and technologies of transportation have brought us
Related papers
Meeting the Challenge of Sustainable Mobility
Springer eBooks, 1999
This work is subject 10 copy ri ght. All ri ghts are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is co ncerned, specifically the rights of translation, rcprint ing, reuse o f iIlu$tratiom, recilations, broadcasting. reproduction on microfilm or in any othe r way. and st orage in data bank!. Duplication o f this publication or parts thereo f is permitted only under th e provisions of the German Copyright law of September 9. 1965, in its current vCTsion, and pe rmiss ion for use must always be obtained from Springer-Verlag. Violations are liable fo r prosecution under the Ger man Copy right i.;!w. © Sp rin ger_Ve rlag Berlin Heidelberg 1999 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1999 The usc of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the abscn ccof a spt"cificst~tement ,lhat such namesan: exempt from the rdevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free general use.
Sustainable Mobility: A Review of Possible Actions and Policies
Sustainability, 2020
In this paper, a review of the main actions and policies that can be implemented to promote sustainable mobility is proposed. The work aims to provide a broad, albeit necessarily not exhaustive, analysis of the main studies and research that from different points of view have focused on sustainable mobility. The structure of the paper enables the reader to easily identify the topics covered and the studies related to them, so as to guide him/her to the related in-depth studies. In the first part of the paper, there is a preliminary analysis of the concept of sustainable mobility, the main transport policies implemented by the European Union and the USA, and the main statistical data useful to analyze the problem. Next, the main policies that can promote sustainable mobility are examined, classifying them into three topics: Environmental, socioeconomic , and technological. Many of the policies and actions examined could be classified into more than one of the three categories used; for each of them, there is a description and the main literature work on which the topic can be analyzed in more detail. The paper concludes with a discussion on the results obtained and the prospects for research.
Sustainable Mobility – Editorial Introduction
Sustainable Mobility, 2020
The sustainable mobility paradigm
This paper has two main parts. The first questions two of the underlying principles of conventional transport planning on travel as a derived demand and on travel cost minimisation. It suggests that the existing paradigm ought to be more flexible, particularly if the sustainable mobility agenda is to become a reality. The second part argues that policy measures are available to improve urban sustainability in transport terms but that the main challenges relate to the necessary conditions for change. These conditions are dependent upon high-quality implementation of innovative schemes, and the need to gain public confidence and acceptability to support these measures through active involvement and action. Seven key elements of sustainable mobility are outlined, so that public acceptability can be more effectively promoted. r
Sustainable mobility. Challenges, opportunities and conflicts - a social science perspective
International Social Science Journal, 2003
A roadmap to sustainable mobility
Currently, the transportation sector is responsible for about 30% of the CO2-emissions. In the near future, this percentage is expected to increase. CO2-reduction in the mobility sector is difficult to achieve as mobility related carbon emissions are not location-specific and therefore difficult to assign. This article describes a case study performed in the city of Breda, the Netherlands in its goal to become completely carbon-neutral by the year 2044. By using traffic models and discussing the results in workshops with a diversity of municipal departments we gained a quantitative insight in assessing the potential for realizing the goal of a carbon neutral mobility system by the year 2044. The results led to the preparation of a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) including new bicycle and public transport action plans. This plan was incorporated in the new spatial development plan Breda 2030. Next to this climate action plans were set up between the municipality and private stakeholders.
Sustainable mobility in context
Transport Policy, 1994
Uncertainty surrounding the plausibility of predicted increases in traffic on the UK's roads highlights the need for an alternative to unconditional forecasting in transport planning. A scenario-based method, capable of dealing with this kind of uncertainty, is used to explore three alternative scenarios for the development of transport in the UK up to 2025. By analogy with long-term trends in energy efficiency, the analysis generates a workable interpretation of sustainable mobility which is translated into a quantitative target scenario for 2025.
Sustainable Transport
2012
The EcoProduction Series is a forum for presenting emerging environmental issues in Logistics and Manufacturing. Its main objective is a multidisciplinary approach to link the scientific activities in various manufacturing and logistics fields with the sustainability research. It encompasses topical monographs and selected conference proceedings, authored or edited by leading experts as well as by promising young scientists. The Series aims to provide the impulse for new ideas by reporting on the state-of-the-art and motivating for the future development of sustainable manufacturing systems, environmentally conscious operations management and reverse or closed loop logistics. It aims to bring together academic, industry and government personnel from various countries to present and discuss the challenges for implementation of sustainable policy in the field of production and logistics.
Sustainable urban mobility: One definition, different stakeholders’ opinions
Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 2020
During recent decades, the debate on how to sustain urban mobility has accelerated. Transport decision-making has been more reflective of sustainability issues and quality of life in cities; this process has especially accelerated with the setting of modern urban mobility planning concepts, substantially focusing on transport demand regulation and management, and Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans taking over the role of cities' primary transport-related strategic documents. The approaches to sustainable mobility visioning and planning differ within cities, as do their key stakeholders' opinions. Our research aims to reveal the main shared viewpoints on the preferred paths towards sustainable urban mobility. We use the Q method, which is a statistical method to study subjectivity. It enables determination of characteristic shared viewpoints on a particular subject. A qualitative analysis assessing subjective opinions is combined with the quantitative approach of a factor analysis of statements ranked by respondents. The study was undertaken on 36 carefully selected stakeholders situated within the Czech Republic. Our results indicate that even stakeholders sharing the same definition of sustainable urban mobility may substantially differ in regard to their ideas on how to achieve it. Furthermore, we show that some of the attitudes expressed and measures appreciated by our respondents would not be recognised as sustainable by environmentalists. There is still a wide gap between sustainable mobility theory and its implementation in practice. All these findings represent barriers to sustainable mobility development in urban areas. Therefore, the paper also conveys relevant policy implications. 1. Introduction Transport greatly influences sustainability and quality of life in cities. Above all, urban areas are confronted with transport-related air pollution, noise, congestion, occupation of public space by traffic, and increased morbidity and mortality rates caused by traffic accidents and pollution (Bosetti et al., 2014; EC, 2011; EC, 2017; IEA, 2019). Furthermore, using fossil fuels in internal combustion engines extends the harmful effects of urban transport far beyond city limits by contributing to global climate change; emission levels are growing rapidly and have been projected to double globally by 2050 (IPCC, 2014). These negative transport effects impact unequally on society, and accidents and air pollution particularly burden the most disadvantaged groups (
‘ Tactical Sustainable Mobility ’ : The Opportunities And Challenges of Using Tactical Approaches to Advance the Implementation of Sustainable Mobility Projects
2017
The referencing format has throughout this project been the Harvard Style. The project is divided into numbered chapters. Figures and tables are presented in chronological order. A full reference list can be found at the end of the report, alongside a written transcription of all interviews undertaken. The European Commission have set ambitious goals in terms of alternative fuels and emission reduction in urban areas (EC, 2011), which municipalities are under pressure to meet. A general acceptance of the need for increased sustainable mobility exists in political arenas and at a municipal level, however the implementation of sustainable mobility projects can often be hindered by budgetary restraints and the lack of political backing for innovative solutions.
Related papers
Operationalizing the Concept of Sustainable Transport and Mobility
Environmental Practice, 2006
Transport is the lifeblood of modern day economies. Simultaneously, however, transport is also the source of many social and environmental problems. One of the biggest problems is the level of mobile-source emissions from the transport sector—in particular, road ...
COMMENTARY: Operationalizing the Concept of Sustainable Transport and Mobility
Environmental Practice, 2006
Sustainable development has become a central objective of policy worldwide. However, although the term is widely used, there is little agreement on what it means in practice, and how progress toward it can be measured.
Grand Narratives for sustainable mobility: A conceptual review
Energy Research & Social Science, 2020
The concept of sustainable mobility has had a relatively short life, first being used about 30 years ago. In that time, some progress has been made, but transport is still not contributing enough to the internationally set reduction targets for carbon emissions. This paper provides a conceptual review that presents nine narratives addressing elements of sustainable mobility, each of which has been derived from a review of the agents and strategies taken over the last 30 years. From these narratives, we develop three Grand Narratives that bring together the key elements identified from the wider set of narratives-low mobility societies, collective transport 2.0, and electromobility. We then assess each of the three Grand Narratives in terms of its feasibility, acceptability, centrality, and compatibility. We conclude that each of the Grand Narratives provides a necessary but insufficient condition for achieving sustainable mobility. Thus, although each one has the potential to make significant contribution to sustainable mobility, it is only through the strong and immediate application of all three that the goal of sustainable mobility can be achieved.
Sustainable mobility: from technological innovation to societal learning
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2007
This paper addresses a persistent and worsening societal dilemma worldwide: the ecological unsustainability of the automobile as the primary means for providing personal mobility. The solution to this problem will require input from all segments of society, and must include technological innovation, changes in the physical infrastructure and land use, and social, cultural, and institutional changes. A fundamental rethinking of the entire system of personal mobility is necessary. Governments can play a significant role in promoting change: by stimulating technological innovation through regulations, incentives and subsidies, by investing in the infrastructure, by providing leadership, and by organizing and supporting a debate with a focus on the system as a whole: its spatial characteristics, the motives for transport, and the alternatives that are presently not developed. From the technological perspective, one of the much-discussed solutions is a hydrogen-powered automobile. We argue that the future of this approach is questionable, and propose a fundamental re-framing of the significance of hydrogen: from viewing it as a solution to the personal mobility problem to seeing it as a medium for transporting and storing energy that has been generated elsewhere (preferably by renewable resources). A new and radically different way of seeing the problem of individual mobility, and of the roles of various stakeholders in finding solutions, is also necessary. This is the essence of higher order learning. To facilitate such learning among various societal groups, we advocate a combination of multi-stakeholder visioning processes, scenario building, backcasting exercises, and small-scale socio-technical experiments. These approaches may be practiced at various levels, from local to national, with experimentation probably being best suited for a smaller scale. An ongoing process of visioning future mobility in the Boston Metropolitan area illustrates how such approaches may be used.
Evolutive Scenarios For A New Concept Of Sustainable Mobility
SIM Sustainable Design and Manufacturing Conference, 2016
The present paper reports on an investigation of new mobility and manufacturing concepts, carried out in the framework of a research project funded by the Regional Government of Campania for an innovative development of the automotive supply chain. With reference to a new concept of sustainability that involves citizens and communities, the scenario depicted is characterised by an integrated innovation that affects people, new technologies and, generally speaking, as well as by the appearance of alternative models generated by individuals and by the small production realities scattered across the territory. Just like the manufacturing industry is increasingly moving towards new forms of production, the mobility sector is also undergoing deep transformations. It is with this approach of radical renewal that the present research tries to re-imagine the new systems of interaction and involvement of users – co-designed models, and digital manufacturing modes leading to the efficiency of services and production processes in the automotive sector.
Sustainable Mobility as Essential Ingredient for Vibrant Cities: 3 Cases in Point
2015
5-7 May 2015,Ghent, Belgium. http://www.corp.at ISBN: 978-3-9503110-8-2 (CD-ROM); ISBN: 978-3-9503110-9-9 (Print) Editors: M. SCHRENK, V. V. POPOVICH, P. ZEILE, P. ELISEI, C. BEYER 889 Sustainable Mobility as Essential Ingredient for Vibrant Cities: 3 Cases in Point Pierre Laconte (Pierre Laconte, President Foundation for the Urban Environment, Hon. Sec. Gen. International Association for Public Transport – UITP)
Towards an operational concept of sustainable mobility
International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning, 2009
The magnitude of the social and environmental costs owed to transport in the European Union (EU) has shown the urgent need to introduce measures for the internalization of externalities and to advance, this way, towards a more effi cient transport system. The growing development of the theory of externalities and the most efficient instruments for its internalization have contributed to the introduction of road transport charges in some countries like Switzerland, Austria or Germany. In spite of this, the infrastructure pricing seems insuffi cient to cut off urgent environmental problems such as climate change and the depletion of natural resources. Taking the limitations of the conventional transport policy as a starting point, this article aims to advance an operative defi nition of the concept of sustainable mobility, and to set a framework capable of assuring that sustainable mobility becomes a useful and effi cient tool for transport policy in the 21st century. In this context, instruments that traditionally were out of transport policy, such as land use or urban planning, acquire great importance. The Basque Country, a region in the western Pyrenees Mountains that spans the border between France and Spain, will be used as an example because of sharing with many regions of the EU similar transport and environmental problems.
Sustainable Urban Mobility
Energy, Transport, & the Environment, 2012
For many cities, traditional transport comprises a sizeable percentage of total carbon emissions. It also contributes to air pollution, poorer health, and resource inefficiencies in the form of higher oil prices, traffic jams, etc. Often city policy-makers do not account for climate change impacts and natural disasters or consider alternative transport options and networks. It does not have to be like this. Cities can continue to develop and grow, attracting industry, high-skilled workers, tourists with sustainable urban design, and mobility. With walking, cycling, green public transport, and shared vehicle use taking the lead, and supported by ICT, cities can become less reliant on traditional and personal transport. Instead, city policy-makers can aim to increase accessibility and convenience to their residents and visitors alike, including rapid and safe mobility in times of emergency. This can be done with good urban design, behaviour change, advance technology, supportive policies, economic incentives, and city engagement and leadership.
Sustainable Mobility in the Cities and Agglomeration Areas
Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae
The aim of this publication is to present the relationship between the dominant forms of urban mobility and the environmental pressures of the transport sector as well as the quality of life of the inhabitants of large cities and urban agglomerations. The presentation of trends and scenarios is based, on the one hand, on statistics describing current development trends and, on the other hand, on scenarios, recommendations, and commitments defined in European, national, and local governmental documents programming the socio-economic development of urbanised areas and the directions of climate transformation in their area. The article consists of a brief introduction, background on the latest regulations in the field of sustainable urban mobility, and a comparative analysis of environmental demands, along with actual trends observed in the transport sector in urbanised areas. It closes with conclusions relating to the validity and effectiveness of current transport and environmental p...
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.