• Energy Research
• 11. Sustainability close
• 1. No poverty close
• Transport Research close

Route game is recognized as an effective method to alleviate Braess’ paradox, which generates a new traffic congestion since numerous vehicles obey the same guidance from the selfish route guidance (such as Google Maps). The conventional route games have symmetry since vehicles’ payoffs depend only on the selected route distribution but not who chose, which leads to the precise Nash equilibrium being able to be solved by constructing a special potential function. However, with the arrival of smart cities, the real-time of route schemes is more of a concerned of engineers than the absolute optimality in real traffic. It is not an easy task to re-construct the new potential functions of the route games due to the dynamic traffic conditions. In this paper, compared with the hard-solvable potential function-based precise method, a matched Q-learning algorithm is designed to generate the approximate Nash equilibrium of the classic route game for real-time traffic. An experimental study shows that the Nash equilibrium coefficients generated by the Q-learning-based approximate solving algorithm all converge to 1.00, and still have the required convergence in the different traffic parameters.

The growing number of electric vehicles in recent years is observable in almost all countries. The country’s energy transition should accompany this rise in electromobility if it is currently generated from non-renewable sources. Only electric vehicles powered by renewable energy sources can be considered zero-emission. Therefore, it is essential to conduct interdisciplinary research on the feasibility of combining energy recovery/generation structures and testing the energy consumption of electric vehicles under real driving conditions. This work presents a comprehensive approach for evaluating the energy consumption of a modern public building–electric vehicle system within a specific location. The original methodology developed includes surveys that demonstrate the required mobility range to be provided to occupants of the building under consideration. In the next step, an energy balance was performed for a novel near-zero energy building equipped with a 199.8 kWp photovoltaic installation, the energy from which can be used to charge an electric vehicle. The analysis considered the variation in vehicle energy consumption by season (winter/summer), the actual charging profile of the vehicle, and the parking periods required to achieve the target range for the user.

Purpose. In modern conditions of energy consumption growth and a rapid increase in energy prices the actual problem is the development and implementation of energy efficiency programs and resource-saving conversion in to a source to provide the needs of industry and municipal power. The paper aims to solve the urgent problem of energy saving and efficient use of fuel-energy ones and heat supply system optimization on the basis of Uman National University of Horticulture (UNUH). Methodology. The work investigated the process of heating and hot water supply in the course of 2007-2015 years. Implementation of current problems of energy saving is grounded on the scientific-practical and efficient assurance of fuel and energy usage. At the same time energy-saving technologies are viewed as a priority direction of the energy sector development, reduction of man-induced impact on the environment and as a way of improving the competitiveness of the national economy. Findings. Statistical data acquisition and analyzing of gas flow and outside air temperature for nine years was carried out. On the basis of this analysis, the problem was identified and specific targets for its solutions were set. Originality. Scientific novelty lies in solving the problem of energy saving and efficient use of fuel resources in Ukraine through the use of a systematic approach, the methodology development of efficient use of different fuels and optimization of local heating operation, applying contemporary automation and control systems. Firstly it was in detail analyzed and conducted the comprehensive assessment of various factors influence on energy conservation. It takes into account the human factor, professionalism and responsibility of the operators of boilers and their superiors, as well as the relevant control services. Practical value. For UNUH campus hybrid use of solid fuel and gas boilers was carried out. Decentralization of the university heating system has been conducted through the restoration of 350 individual heating systems in residential buildings, remote departments and campus dormitories. The conclusions propose the list of activities upon the real economy of fuel and energy resources, and measures to overcome the economic and political crisis in the country.

As it is widely accepted, cycling tends to produce health benefits and reduce air pollution. Policymakers encourage people to use bikes by improving cycling facilities as well as developing bicycle-sharing systems (BSS). It is increasingly interesting to investigate how environmental factors influence the cycling behavior of users of bicycle-sharing systems, as users of bicycle-sharing systems tend to be different from regular cyclists. Although earlier studies have examined effects of safety and convenience on the cycling behavior of regular riders, they rarely explored effects of safety and convenience on the cycling behavior of BSS riders. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to investigate how road safety, convenience, and public safety affect the cycling behavior of BSS riders by controlling for other environmental factors. Specifically, in this study, we investigated the impacts of environmental characteristics, including population density, employment density, land use mix, accessibility to point-of-interests (schools, shops, parks and gyms), road infrastructure, public transit accessibility, road safety, convenience, and public safety on the usage of BSS. Additionally, for a more accurate measure of public transit accessibility, road safety, convenience, and public safety, we used spatiotemporally varying measurements instead of spatially varying measurements, which have been widely used in earlier studies. We conducted an empirical investigation in Chicago with cycling data from a BSS called Divvy. In this study, we particularly attempted to answer the following questions: (1) how traffic accidents and congestion influence the usage of BSS; (2) how violent crime influences the usage of BSS; and (3) how public transit accessibility influences the usage of BSS. Moreover, we tried to offer implications for policies aiming to increase the usage of BSS or for the site selection of new docking stations. Empirical results demonstrate that density of bicycle lanes, public transit accessibility, and public safety influence the usage of BSS, which provides answers for our research questions. Empirical results also suggest policy implications that improving bicycle facilities and reducing the rate of violent crime rates tend to increase the usage of BSS. Moreover, some environmental factors could be considered in selecting a site for a new docking station.

The basis for developing logistics solutions in cities is to know the requirements and expectations of current and potential transport users and for decision makers to strive to meet them. In building an urban logistics strategy, it is therefore necessary to take into account different stakeholder groups. Building stakeholder relations should be aimed at involving them in the development of a sustainable transport policy for the city. It should be noted, however, that the importance of stakeholders in transport policy is diverse. This assumption was made in the paper, which aimed to identify the role of the various groups of urban logistics stakeholders in the sustainable movement of people. This challenge is subordinated to the methodology proposed in the paper, which combines the analysis of urban logistics stakeholders and the assignment of roles to them in the pursuit of sustainable flows of people in the city with the identification of tasks in which stakeholders characterized by a particular role should be involved. Achieving the stated goal required collaboration with experts. Research on the roles of stakeholders, as well as the tasks in which they should be involved, was conducted in Polish cities. Infrastructure managers, small mobility organisers, public safety organisations and public transport organisations turned out to be the development leaders who, as a result, were recommended to be included in most tasks by local government units of Polish cities. What deserves special attention in the results obtained, on the other hand, is the role of the unpredictable main player, which is other cities.

Efficient parking tends to be challenging in most large cities in China. Drivers often spend substantial amounts of time looking for parking lots while driving at low speeds, thereby resulting in interference with road traffic. This paper focuses on efficiently allocating parking spaces to the demanders. A double-objective model is proposed that considers both the utilizing rate and the walking distance. First, managers want to utilize parking resources fully. Therefore, they tend to prioritize the efficient distribution of parking spaces in response to parking demands. However, demanders typically choose parking spaces according to convenience. The second objective is the acceptable walking distance from the parking space to the destination. The particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to solve this model. We collected parking demand and supply data in a central business district (CBD) of Harbin in China and evaluated the feasibility of the model. The results demonstrate that the proposed model increases the occupying rates of parking lots in residential zones while decreasing the walking distance. The shared use of parking spaces maximizes the utility and alleviates the shortage of parking spaces in downtown.

Sustainable development requires ensuring the mobility of residents and must not cause deterioration of the quality of the environment in the selected area. The purpose of this study is to verify if the construction of a cross-regional highway through the city centre affected air quality in the neighbourhood of a newly built road. Air quality was assessed based on measurements of concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, which is considered to be typical for automotive sources air pollution. The spectrophotometric method with passive sampling was used in the 24 h NO2 measurements. The calculated mean NO2 concentrations in the periods before and after road construction were within the ranges of 23.2–31.9 μg/m3 and 22.3–28.9 μg/m3, respectively. The relative NO2 concentrations determined in the study for 10 out of 11 sampling points were lower than the unity, including 5 points markedly lower (0.82–0.89). The obtained results indicate that the construction of the new artery by the city centre, using appropriate technical solutions and traffic organization (tunnel, noise barriers, roundabouts, speed limit) likely contributed to an overall reduction in NO2 concentrations. The presented solution may serve as an example for other cities struggling with problems of low air quality associated with inefficient transportation systems.

Medium and heavy-duty battery electric trucks (BETs) may play a key role in mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from road freight transport. However, technological challenges such as limited range and cargo carrying capacity as well as the required charging time need to be efficiently addressed before the large-scale adoption of BETs. In this study, we apply a geospatial data analysis approach by using a battery electric vehicle potential (BEVPO) model with the datasets of road freight transport surveys for analyzing the potential of large-scale BET adoption in Finland and Switzerland for trucks with gross vehicle weight (GVW) of over 3.5 t. Our results show that trucks with payload capacities up to 30 t have the most potential for electrification by relying on the currently available battery and plug-in charging technology, with 93% (55% tkm) and 89% (84% tkm) trip coverage in Finland and Switzerland, respectively. Electric road systems (ERSs) would be essential for covering 51% trips (41% tkm) of heavy-duty trucks heavier than 30 t in Finland. Furthermore, range-extender technology could improve the trip electrification potential by 3–10 percentage points (4–12 percentage points of tkm).