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Evaluation of traffic control measures in Oslo region and its effect on current air quality policies in Norway
Get PDFUrban air pollution is a challenge in several European cities. For most Norwegian cities, the major challenge is the reduction of the NO2 annual mean concentration in order to comply with the limit value in the European Directive 2008/50/EC, but also too many high NO2 hourly values occur during strong inversions in cold winter periods. In Oslo, the main contributor to NO2 concentration levels is diesel exhaust and hence the proposed measures in this study are targeting road traffic. An extensive array of individual and grouped measures were constructed and we studied the change in traffic and NO2 concentrations by performing consecutive modelling studies which included traffic, emissions, and dispersion models. These measures were intended for permanent and temporary action. They included increases of the tolls that give access to the inner parts of the city, the establishment of low emission zones (LEZs), allowing for temporary free public transport, odd-even driving, defining priority lanes for low emission vehicles, and imposing higher parking fees. We concluded that the most efficient measures were the creation of LEZs and the increase of parking fees. We also explain how the findings from this work have helped to implement Norwegian air quality control policies.publishedVersio
Speeding and impaired driving in fatal crashes—Results from in-depth investigations
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Micromobility – Regulatory Challenges and Opportunities
No full textShared, dockless micromobility is causing concern across the globe. The phenomenon started with shared bikes and e-bikes. More recently, e-scooters (or electric kickbikes), the focus of this chapter, have flooded cities in unprecedented speed and volume – and have caught virtually every city and competent authority off guard. The failure of current regulatory frameworks to address new challenges posed by e-scooters is explored. This chapter first briefly describes major developments of the shared e-scooter market. It then presents rationales for, and to some extent against, e-scooter regulation as well as policy tools available for e-scooter regulation. E-scooters open the door for new and innovative – and potentially efficient – ways to regulate, including geofencing, zoning, mandatory data sharing and mandatory cooperation. Against this backdrop, the chapter discusses regulatory dilemmas, challenges, opportunities and possibilities.acceptedVersio
Traffic volume and crashes and how crash and road characteristics affect their relationship – A meta-analysis
Get PDFThe present study has investigated the relationship between traffic volume and crash numbers by means of meta-analysis, based on 521 crash prediction models from 118 studies. The weighted pooled volume coefficient for all crashes and all levels of crash severity (excluding fatal crashes) is 0.875. The most important moderator variable is crash type. Pooled volume coefficients are systematically greater for multi vehicle crashes (1.210) than for single vehicle crashes (0.552). Regarding crash severity, the results indicate that volume coefficients are smaller for more fatal crashes (0.777 for all fatal crashes) than for injury crashes but no systematic differences were found between volume coefficients for injury and property-damage-only crashes. At higher levels of volume and on divided roads, volume coefficients tend to be greater than at lower levels of volume and on undivided roads. This is consistent with the finding that freeways on average have greater volume coefficients than other types of road and that two-lane roads are the road type with the smallest average volume coefficients. The results indicate that results from crash prediction models are likely to be more precise when crashes are disaggregated by crash type, crash severity, and road type. Disaggregating models by volume level and distinguishing between divided and undivided roads may also improve the precision of the results. The results indicate further that crash prediction models may be misleading if they are used to predict crash numbers on roads that differ from those that were used for model development with respect to composition of crash types, share of fatal or serious injury crashes, road types, and volume levels.publishedVersio
Commuters' satisfaction with public transport
Get PDFIntroduction: Previous studies have shown that people’s satisfaction with their commute can have an impact on their subjective well-being and general quality of life. Public transport users tend to be less happy with their commute than pedestrians, cyclists and car users. A relevant question then is what explains the low satisfaction among public transport users, and what can be done to make public transport commuting more satisfying. Methods: This study measures commuters’ satisfaction with their last trip to work, to investigate how different public transport journey characteristics affect commute satisfaction. Characteristics included in the analysis are distance to public transport stations, whether commuters have to transfer modes along the way and waiting time while transferring. The study is based on a comprehensive travel survey in Oslo, Norway (N ¼7.630). Results: Findings indicate that efficient transport routes with short waiting time and reliable time use are more important than short distance to stations and direct routes. However, these characteristics have a stronger effect on satisfaction among people with long commutes. Conclusion: The findings in this study are useful for policy makers planning public transport services. Both to make the service more satisfying for the current users, and also in order to make public transport an attractive alternative to car use.acceptedVersio
Commuting in knowledge intensive organizations: An outline of six different practices
No full textThis article investigates car-based commuting habits among employees in four knowledge intensive organizations (KIOs) in the greater Oslo region in Norway. This region has experienced a growth in KIOs and knowledge workers over the last few decades and, like many other European urban regions, it struggles with high levels of car-based commuting. This article suggests designing policy measures based on a deeper understanding of the various ways that commuting is performed. Based on inductive statistical methods, groups with different sets of commuting practices are defined, which is used to create commuting profiles across and within the enterprises. The six key commuting practices suggests that targeted policy-mixes should be applied to support shifts toward more sustainable commutes.acceptedVersio
Vulnerability and vulnerable groups from an intersectionality perspective
Get PDFIn general, the identification and protection of vulnerable groups in the case of hazards or when a crisis unfolds is an issue that any crisis and disaster risk management should address, since people have different levels of exposure to hazards and crises. In this article, we promote the application of the intersectionality perspective in the study of vulnerable groups, and we call for intersectionality as a guiding principle in risk and crisis management, to provide a better and more nuanced picture of vulnerabilities and vulnerable groups. This can help national and local authorities and agencies to formulate specific guides, to hire staff with the skills necessary to meet particular needs, and to inform vulnerable groups in a particular way, taking into account the differences that may coexist within the same group. Intersectionality allows us to read vulnerability not as the characteristic of some socio-demographic groups. It is rather the result of different and interdependent societal stratification processes that result in multiple dimensions of marginalisation. In this vein, we argue that research should focus on 1) self-perceived vulnerability of individuals and an intersectionality approach to unpack vulnerable groups; 2) cases of crises according to the level and/or likelihood of individual exposure to hazards, to better nuance issues of vulnerability.publishedVersio
Net CO2-emission effects of relocating freight facilities to free up land for urban development in central and semi-central urban areas
No full textThis article investigates net CO2 emissions effects of relocating freight facilities (wholesale warehouses) away from central areas and replacing them with more area-effective activities (mix of dwellings and workplaces) that would otherwise have been located more peripherally. This development is ongoing in many urban regions, and it is often part of land use strategies aimed at reducing CO2 emissions from transport. However, whether this strategy is efficient has not been investigated much. The study contributes empirical research on two Norwegian regions, where net differences in total CO2 emissions between two scenarios were analysed. In Scenario 1, wholesale warehouses have remained in their central location, and new dwellings and workplaces have been developed in relevant peripheral areas. In Scenario 2, centrally located warehouses have relocated to peripheral areas, and they have been replaced by dwellings and workplaces. The main finding is that relocating warehouses away from central and semi-central urban areas, to make land available for dwellings and workplaces, results in reduced net transport-related CO2 emissions. The effects are stronger when the warehouses were originally more centrally located and the alternative locations of dwellings and workplaces are more peripheral. If warehouse relocations cause detours, the effects are somewhat reduced.publishedVersio
The demand for automated vehicles: A synthesis of willingness-to-pay surveys
Get PDFThis paper synthesises the findings of surveys of consumer willingness-to-pay for vehicle automation. Some studies report only mean or median estimates of willingness-to-pay for vehicle automation. Other studies provide data enabling demand functions to be derived. Six demand functions have been estimated and are compared. Maximum willingness-to-pay (around 25,000 to 40,000 US dollars) exceeds low estimates of the added costs of automated vehicles (around 10,000 US dollars). On average, close to 30% of respondents state zero willingness to pay more for an automated car than for a conventional car. Based on current knowledge, it is likely that a majority of consumers will initially find automated vehicles too expensive. However, the price of automated vehicles can be expected to fall as technology matures and vehicles are manufactured in larger numbers.publishedVersio