{"title":"Decarbonizing Urban Logistics: Perspectives for Low- and Middle-Income Countries","authors":"J. Fransoo, Camilo Andrés Mora-Quiñones","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3943360","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3943360","url":null,"abstract":"What initiatives abate urban logistics’ carbon emissions more efficiently and effectively? Numerous theoretical and practical studies address the challenge of reducing carbon emissions from the logistics sector while ensuring the flow of goods to highly urbanized areas. In this position paper, we present and discuss various initiatives seeking to abate urban logistics carbon emissions in the domains of (1) reducing the demand for freight transport or moderating/arresting its growth, (2) shifting freight to lower-carbon transportation modes, (3) optimizing vehicle loading, (4) increasing vehicle energy efficiency, and (5) switching to lower-carbon energy sources. The solutions that we discuss herein range from regulatory to operational and technological. We adopt a holistic approach underlining that urban transport is strongly related to the choices made in the logistics operation, including aspects like consolidation and deconsolidation in the supply chain, as well as how cities may leverage public space to support logistics operations. By conducting a thorough literature review, we illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of each initiative, case studies, and practical recommendations. We find that regulatory measures yield better performance in carbon emissions abatement potential and ease of implementation. Thus, we identify the initiatives that have more applicability across the developing world.","PeriodicalId":275204,"journal":{"name":"TransportRN: Urban Transportation Challenges (Topic)","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126200297","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Big-City Life (Dis)satisfaction? The Effect of Urban Living on Subjective Well-Being","authors":"David Loschiavo","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3432541","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3432541","url":null,"abstract":"This paper investigates the effect of big-city life on individuals' well-being. Combining data on Italian municipalities' characteristics with individual-level survey data, I find that city size negatively affects subjective well-being. This association is not driven by omitted variable bias or by spatial sorting of citizens. Commute time accounts for most of the differences in subjective well-being among cities of different size. There is suggestive evidence that the negative effect of commuting on well-being is caused by reduced time availability for fostering personal relationships and engaging in leisure activities. This finding suggests that interventions reducing the amount of time people spend in an unpleasant state can spur agglomeration economies and their contribution to aggregate productivity and growth.","PeriodicalId":275204,"journal":{"name":"TransportRN: Urban Transportation Challenges (Topic)","volume":"272 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122935796","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Physical Model of Street Ride-Hail","authors":"Hongyu Chen, Kenan Zhang, Marco Nie, Xiaobo Liu","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3318557","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3318557","url":null,"abstract":"In this study, we show that the passenger-driver matching process in street ride-hail is dictated by the physical limitation of a passenger's average eyesight and the preference of cruising taxi drivers for certain locations. Together, these two spatiotemporal features, called effective hail distance (EHD) and local area attractiveness (LAA) respectively, define the number of vacant taxis that a passenger can reach, and accordingly the distribution of her waiting time. To calibrate the waiting time distribution, we extract maximum possible waiting times from taxis GPS trajectory data, by tracking the movements of vacant taxis cruising around a pickup location. Then we prove that, for a given EHD, the extracted maximum possible waiting time follows the same distribution as passenger waiting time. The proposed matching mechanism, along with the novel calibration method, leads to a general model of street ride-hail that can produce reliable estimates of passenger waiting time under a wide variety of market conditions. Moreover, the matching process in the phone-based ride-hail is shown to be a special case of the proposed model, when EHD approaches infinity. This result lays the foundation for understanding and comparing the performance of ride-hail services. It can also help address regulatory and operational questions facing key stake holders in this industry.","PeriodicalId":275204,"journal":{"name":"TransportRN: Urban Transportation Challenges (Topic)","volume":"75 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122721546","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"First Utafiti Sera Forum Report on Urban Governance and City Transformation: The Case of Kigali, Rwanda","authors":"A. Tsinda","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3189764","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3189764","url":null,"abstract":"The First Utafiti Sera Stakeholders’ Forum on Urban Governance in Kigali was held on January 18, 2018 in Marasa Umubano Hotel, Kigali, Rwanda. The forum brought together 40 stakeholders from local, national and international institutions concerned with research, urban governance and transformation, and policymaking (see list of participants in Annex 2). The aim was to introduce Utafiti Sera to the stakeholders in the urban governance in Rwanda, to constitute an Utafiti Sera house and to determine key areas of focus under the Project “Utafiti Sera on Urban Governance and City Transformation: The Case of Rwanda”. The project is being implemented by IPAR-Rwanda in partnership with PASGR. Ms Kayitesi, Executive Director of IPAR-Rwanda and Prof. T. Aina, PASGR’s Executive Director gave welcoming remarks, with a brief overview of IPAR Rwanda and PASGR respectively. Ms Kayitesi further highlighted the objectives of the project, noting that the project marked an important beginning of a partnership with PASGR and other stakeholders in contributing to a better Kigali City. Dr Martin Atela, PASGR’s, Research Uptake & Policy Engagement Manager presented on the ‘concept of Utafiti Sera’, highlighting the links between evidence and policymaking. Dr Atela noted that policymakers faced numerous challenges such as complete lack of access to evidence, poor packaging, and inappropriate evidence among other issues, all which inhibited policymakers from using evidence in their policy work. He noted that PASGR’s Utafiti Sera is aimed at addressing these challenges bridging the gap existing between policymakers and researchers. Dr Aime Tsinda, IPAR’s Senior Research Fellow, provided a framework for the Kigali Urban Governance Utafiti Sera House’s activities, including highlighting the specific objectives of the house namely: i. To map the key stakeholders in the area of urban governance in Kigali; ii. To synthesis the evidence in existing studies on urban governance in Rwanda; and iii. To organise forums on urban governance in Kigali based on research evidence generated from the synthesis in objective (ii) above and other evidence presented in the house in order to guide policy and programme action. Finally, Dr Tsinda outlined the three major objectives of the initial forum as follows: i. To introduce Utafiti Sera to the stakeholders in the urban governance in Rwanda and constitute an Utafiti Sera house; ii. To identify the focus areas on urban governance and city transformation in Rwanda based on the views of stakeholders and research evidence; iii. To agree on key areas of focus to be discussed in subsequent forums on urban governance. The presentations were followed by lively discussions in a plenary session that generated valuable contributions from a wide range of participants as detailed in this report. The forum identified the following action points: i. To conduct a study on the performance of One Stop Centres; ii. To adopt a multi-sectoral approach to urban g","PeriodicalId":275204,"journal":{"name":"TransportRN: Urban Transportation Challenges (Topic)","volume":"48 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132146093","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}