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A special issue of Infrastructures (ISSN 2412-3811). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Infrastructures".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 14847

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Benedetto Barabino

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Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture, Land, Environment and Mathematics, University of Brescia, 25121 Brescia, BS, Italy
Interests: advanced public transportation systems; quality of service; fare evasion in public transport; public transport network design
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Giulio Maternini

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Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture, Land, Environment and Mathematics, University of Brescia, 25121 Brescia, BS, Italy
Interests: urban space and mobility; road and public transport; road safety; quality of service; personal vehicle mobility
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Roberto Ventura

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture, Land, Environment and Mathematics, University of Brescia, 25121 Brescia, BS, Italy
Interests: bridge risk analysis; economics evaluations of infrastructure and services projects; traffic analysis; transport infrastructures; weight-In-motion systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is based on the XXVI International Conference “Living and Walking in Cities” (LWC), held from 6 to 8 September 2023 in Brescia, Italy.

In line with its tradition, the LWC International Conference focused on urban mobility and quality of life in urban areas, with a specific emphasis on vulnerable road users. Its goal was to define new challenges for sustainable urban mobility. The topic was approached from four perspectives: transport systems and pedestrian mobility, urban planning, public transport and its technological influences, and urban safe mobility.

From the transport systems and pedestrian mobility perspective, discussions ranged from waiting spaces to policy considerations and delved into paradigms of infrastructural accessibility, as well as the concept of mobility in emergency scenarios. From the point of view of urban planning, the social and temporal implications of the necessary changes for achieving more active and sustainable urban mobility were examined. Moreover, with regard to public transport and its technological influences, the relevance of data usage, economic and ethical concerns, and shifts in mobility paradigms encapsulated in the concept of mobility as a service (MaaS) were focused on. Finally, regarding urban safe mobility, risk analyses were conducted, ranging from general infrastructure assessments to pedestrian-specific cases, as well as accident rates and socio-psychological analyses of user behavior.

This Special Issue not only features selected papers from the LWC Conference but also welcomes high-quality contributions from the broader research community. It aims to offer an interactive platform for researchers and practitioners to present and discuss new and emerging ideas. The exploration of new challenges in infrastructure design and management is central, with sustainability intrinsic to this. Specifically, the Special Issue seeks to investigate various topics, including novel models, methods, systems, and tools that are applicable to infrastructural assets. This encompasses techniques for accident analysis, procedures for risk assessments and management, economic evaluations, and infrastructures for the optimization of public transport. Innovative elements such as Intelligent Transportation Systems, Machine Learning, and Big Data Analytics, which may be applied in real-world settings, are also of interest.

Dr. Benedetto Barabino
Prof. Dr. Giulio Maternini
Dr. Roberto Ventura
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Infrastructures is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

accessibility
accident analysis
advanced infrastructures for public transport
big data and analytics in infrastructures and services
economics evaluations of infrastructure and services projects
infrastructure risk assessment and management

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 2789 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of E-Scooter Crashes in the City of Bari

by Paola Longo, Nicola Berloco, Stefano Coropulis, Paolo Intini and Vittorio Ranieri

Infrastructures 2024, 9(3), 63; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures9030063 - 19 Mar 2024

Viewed by 981

Abstract

The remarkable impact that e-scooters have had on the transportation system drives research on this phenomenon. The widespread use of e-scooters also poses several new safety issues, which should be necessarily studied. The aim of this paper points in this direction, investigating the main contributing factors, causes, and patterns of recorded e-scooter crashes, considering also different crash types and severity, using the City of Bari (Italy) as a case study. The crash dataset based on police reports and referring to the period July 2020–November 2022 (i.e., the first period of e-scooter implementation in the City of Bari) was investigated. Crashes were clustered according to several variables. No fatal crashes occurred, even though crashes mostly resulted in injuries (70%). Considering road type, divided roads were found to be less safe than undivided ones, due to higher mean speeds than on other roads and to a less constrained e-scooter driving behavior. Calm (off-peak) daytime hours seem to lead to more frequent e-scooter crashes with respect to both peak and nighttime hours, even if the latter hours are associated with an increased severity. Once controlled for exposure, season, lighting conditions, and the private/sharing ratio do not seem influential. E-scooters are more prone to be involved in single-vehicle and pedestrian crashes at segments than other vehicles, but they show similar crash trends than other vehicles (i.e., angle crashes) at intersections. As emerged from traffic surveys, not all e-scooter users were found to use cycle paths. Combining this information with crash data, it seems that not using cycle paths is considerably less safe than using them. Besides engineering measures and policies, awareness campaigns should be promoted to elicit safe users’ behavior and to tackle the several violations and misbehaviors emerging from the crash data. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Infrastructures for Urban Mobility)

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14 pages, 3268 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessing the Operation of a Multimodal Hub: A Traffic Impact Microsimulation Analysis

by Georgia Charalampidou, Aristomenis Kopsacheilis and Ioannis Politis

Infrastructures 2024, 9(3), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures9030055 - 09 Mar 2024

Viewed by 1097

Abstract

Creating new multimodal infrastructure in an existing transport network of an urban city is a challenging process. The responsible transport authorities have to pay special attention to the details regarding the accessibility and effectiveness of the new development, to avoid travelers’ confusion and network congestion. The subject of this paper is the assessment and optimization of the traffic network in the surroundings of the new multimodal depot of Thessaloniki’s future metro system with the use of the microsimulation software PTV VISSIM (version 2022). Five different scenarios were developed in collaboration with the city’s transport authority and evaluated into two stages, beginning with the whole traffic network, and then continuing with the analyzed intersections separately. The evaluation is based on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which were extracted by the software. According to the results of the base case scenario, the network functions satisfactorily, with slight delays. Regarding the future network, the operation of the new hub will strongly increase the traffic demand, while the proposed traffic network adjustments by the local authorities seem to cause significant delay problems. This paper aims to highlight the importance of using modeling tools during the design phase of a new infrastructure to create efficient, accessible, and sustainable infrastructures that enhance the public transport system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Infrastructures for Urban Mobility)

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23 pages, 4148 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mega-Events: Assessing Road Safety through an Operating Framework. An Application for the Milano–Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games

by Tommaso Cigognetti, Martina Carra, Andrea Ghirardi, Nuhamin Gezehagne Assefa, Laura Ferretto, Roberto Ventura, Giulio Maternini and Benedetto Barabino

Infrastructures 2024, 9(3), 51; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures9030051 - 06 Mar 2024

Viewed by 1397

Abstract

To meet the United Nations and European Union goals of reducing road crash fatalities and injuries, it is also relevant to address the negative externalities due to mega-events on the road network and the local communities, to assess the safety of the road network involved, and to implement appropriate measures for different road environments. Despite their relevance, the literature often overlooks social costs and risks associated with mega-events. This study presents an operating framework for rapidly assessing the safety of the Milano–Cortina 2026—“Via Olimpica” road—which will host a significant proportion of the traffic during the Winter Olympic Games in 2026. The framework proposes a simplified Road Infrastructure Safety Management (RISM) to address the unique challenges posed by the limited time available for screening and implementation by local authorities. The framework integrates four data sources and follows a seven-step procedure. It provides recommendations for improving road safety by identifying critical road sections and blackspots. Road authorities, practitioners, and public administrations may all benefit from the framework, as it makes it easier to prioritise safety improvements within time constraints. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Infrastructures for Urban Mobility)

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15 pages, 11326 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Walkability Infrastructures and Urban Rebalancing: The Case Study of L’Aquila City under Post-Earthquake Reconstruction

by Federico Eugeni, Sara Sacco, Donato Di Ludovico and Gino D’Ovidio

Infrastructures 2024, 9(3), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures9030042 - 26 Feb 2024

Viewed by 1147

Abstract

This paper describes the first results of the application of an innovative methodology for the development of a walkability overall index for urban street infrastructure, aimed at the application of urban design techniques to improve the urban form and its use by pedestrians. The general objective of the research is to identify the performance of the current city walkable network, to structure public policies and strategies consistent with it aimed at rebalancing settlements and infrastructure, and above all at the development of active mobility. The methodology defined integrates three approaches on walkability analysis: geometric–morphological, proximity, and sociality. In this paper, the analysis process related to the geometric–morphological component and partly to that of proximity will be described. It will be applied to the case study of the city of L’Aquila (Italy), a city undergoing reconstruction after the 2009 earthquake. From the first results of the application of the methodology to the case study, it emerges that the urban area analyzed is not capable of hosting walkable infrastructures unless urban design interventions are aimed at structuring an efficient network of pedestrian paths. In the future development of the study, it is expected to conclude the analysis of the proximity and social components, the other two groups of analysis considerations for walkability, which will complete the experimentation of the general methodology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Infrastructures for Urban Mobility)

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22 pages, 11072 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Contribution to Rail System Revitalization, Development, and Integration Projects Evaluation: A Case Study of the Zadar Urban Area

by Maja Ahac, Saša Ahac, Igor Majstorović and Željko Stepan

Infrastructures 2024, 9(2), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures9020032 - 13 Feb 2024

Viewed by 1353

Abstract

This paper aims to contribute to the process of evaluating urban rail infrastructure projects through the presentation of the methodology and the results of a preliminary feasibility study concerning the revitalization, development, and (re)integration of the rail with road, maritime, and air transportation in the Zadar urban area. The analysis included the identification and evaluation of rail infrastructure alignment variants that would ensure the revitalization of the existing railway infrastructure, relocation of freight rail traffic from the narrow and densely developed suburban coastal area, promotion of intermodal passenger and freight transportation, improvement of urban and regional accessibility and connectivity, increase of traffic safety, reduction of travel time and operating costs, and decrease of traffic impacts on the environment. By consulting legal frameworks, spatial planning documentation, and analyzing the socio-economic context and existing transportation infrastructure function, six variants for the (re)development of the rail infrastructure were designed. As their design approached the area’s transportation issues from different angles and could contribute differently to the area’s economic, social, and territorial issues, a multi-criteria analysis supplemented with a partial cost–benefit analysis was conducted to select the most suitable variant. The evaluation was based on seven weighted criteria quantified by the normalization of 32 indicator values, scored from 1 to 5, where a score of 5 was considered the highest. Weighting the scores according to the ratios determined through a consultation process with stakeholders resulted in ranking the best variant with a total score of 3.7 and the worst one with a total score of 2.6. To avoid potential objections that the set of criteria weights used was subjective and the result biased, a sensitivity analysis was carried out by systematically varying the weights among criteria. The results showed that the best-ranked variant was also the least sensitive to applied weight shifts, with a score range of 0.2. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Infrastructures for Urban Mobility)

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14 pages, 2802 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Innovative Energy Approach for Design and Sizing of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

by Daniele Martini, Martino Aimar, Fabio Borghetti, Michela Longo and Federica Foiadelli

Infrastructures 2024, 9(1), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures9010015 - 16 Jan 2024

Viewed by 1812

Abstract

In Italy, the availability of service areas (SAs) equipped with charging stations (CSs) for electric vehicles (EVs) on highways is limited in comparison to the total number of service areas. The scope of this work is to create a prototype and show a different approach to assessing the number of inlets required on highways. The proposed method estimates the energy requirements for the future electric fleet on highways. It is based on an energy conversion that starts with the fuel sold in the highway network and ends with the number of charging inlets. A proposed benchmark method estimates energy requirements for the electric fleet using consolidated values and statistics about refueling attitudes, with factors for range correction and winter conditions. The results depend on assumptions about future car distribution, with varying numbers of required inlets. The analysis revealed that vehicle traffic is a critical factor in determining the number of required charging inlets, with significant variance between different SAs. This study highlights the necessity of incorporating factors like weather, car charging power, and the future EV range into these estimations. The findings are useful for planning EV charging infrastructure, especially along major traffic routes and in urban areas with high-range vehicles relying on High-Power DC (HPDC) charging. The model’s applicability to urban scenarios can be improved by considering the proportion of energy recharged at the destination. A key limitation is the lack of detailed origin–destination (OD) highway data, leading to some uncertainty in the calculated range ratio coefficient and underscoring the need for future research to refine this model. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Infrastructures for Urban Mobility)

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23 pages, 3613 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Pedal towards Safety: The Development and Evaluation of a Risk Index for Cyclists

by Lama Ayad, Hocine Imine, Claudio Lantieri and Francesca De Crescenzio

Infrastructures 2024, 9(1), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures9010014 - 15 Jan 2024

Viewed by 1646

Abstract

Cyclists are at a higher risk of being involved in accidents. To this end, a safer environment for cyclists should be pursued so that they can feel safe while riding their bicycles. Focusing on safety risks that cyclists may face is the main key to preserving safe mobility, reducing accidents, and improving their level of safety during their travel. Identifying and assessing risk factors, as well as informing cyclists about them may lead to an efficient and integrated transportation system. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to introduce a risk index that can be adapted to different road areas in order to measure the degree of how risky these areas are for biking. Cyclists’ behavior and demographics were integrated into the risk index calculation. The methodology followed to obtain the risk index composed of four phases: risk factor identification, risk factor weighting, risk index formulation, and risk index validation. Nineteen risk factors are categorized into four major groups: facility features, infrastructure features, cyclist behavior, and weather and traffic conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Infrastructures for Urban Mobility)

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16 pages, 2460 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Battery Electric Buses or Fuel Cell Electric Buses? A Decarbonization Case Study in the City of Brescia, Italy

by Fabio Borghetti, Michela Longo, Michela Bonera, Marco Libretti, Claudio Somaschini, Valentina Martinelli, Marco Medeghini and Renato Mazzoncini

Infrastructures 2023, 8(12), 178; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures8120178 - 11 Dec 2023

Viewed by 3054

Abstract

Nowadays, designing and adopting sustainable and greener transport systems is of upmost interest. The European Commission and different EU countries are developing plans and programs—but also delivering resources—aimed at the decarbonization of cities and transport by 2030. In this paper, the case study of the city of Brescia, a city of about 200,000 inhabitants located in northern Italy, is addressed. Specifically, a preliminary operational and financial feasibility study is performed assuming the replacement of the entire compressed natural gas (CNG) powered bus fleet of a specific line; the two alternatives considered are battery electric buses (BEBs) and fuel cell electric buses (FCEBs). For the comparison and evaluation of the two alternatives, specific economic parameters of the three alternatives (BEB, FCEB and the current solution CNGB) were considered: CAPEX (CAPital EXpenditure) and OPEX (OPerational EXpenditure). This allowed us to determine the TCO (total cost of ownership) and TCRO (total cost and revenues of ownership) along three annuities (2022, 2025 and 2030). For the BEB alternative, the TCO and TCRO values are between EUR 0.58/km and EUR 0.91/km. In the case of the FCEB solution, the values of TCO and TCRO are between EUR 1.75/km and EUR 2.15/km. Considering the current CNGB solution, the TCO and TCRO values range between EUR 1.43/km and EUR 1.51/km. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Infrastructures for Urban Mobility)

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14 pages, 4253 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparing Macroscale and Microscale Walkability Indicators to Establish Pick-Up/Drop-Off Locations for a Microtransit Service in a Suburban Area

by Gabriele D’Orso, Leonardo Minaudo and Marco Migliore

Infrastructures 2023, 8(12), 165; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures8120165 - 21 Nov 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1530

Abstract

Microtransit is a shared mobility service that operates between fixed-route transit and ride-hailing. It operates with a fleet of vans or minibuses within a service zone that is usually located in a rural or suburban car-oriented area with a transport demand that is temporally and spatially dispersed. Microtransit often expects customers to walk a short distance to pick-up/drop-off (PUDO) locations. The PUDO points need to be quickly, easily, and safely reachable by pedestrians. Thus, PUDO locations must be chosen after analyzing the walkability of the suburban area served by microtransit. This paper presents a comparison of macroscale and microscale indicators to assess the walkability of suburban neighborhoods where microtransit has to be introduced. We chose three suburban neighborhoods (Partanna Mondello, Tommaso Natale, and Mondello) in Palermo, Italy, as a study area, aiming to identify the best places to locate PUDO stops for a microtransit service. A GIS database has been built associating each link with a series of qualitative and quantitative attributes. Finally, we developed a walkability index that indicates the attractiveness of specific locations in terms of intermodal walkability. We also identified the critical pedestrian links that need actions to improve their walkability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Infrastructures for Urban Mobility)

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