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Sustainability
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High-Speed Rail, Equity, and Inclusion
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High-Speed Rail, Equity, and Inclusion

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Transportation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 11550

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Francesca Pagliara

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Guest Editor
Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Corso Umberto I, 40, 80138 Napoli, NA, Italy
Interests: urban planning; mobility; transportation planning; traffic engineering; transport management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Yoshitsugu Hayashi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Chubu Institute for Advanced Studies, Chubu University, 1200 Matsumoto-Cho, Kasugai-City, Aichi 487-8501, Japan
Interests: individual’s QOL; aggregated GNH based project evaluation method; sustainable land use; transport planning; real, cyber integrated transport design
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. K.E. Seetha Ram

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
The Center for Spatial Information Science, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo City, Tokyo 113-8654, Japan
Interests: transport; water; sanitation; urban and regional planning; sustainable development

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Equity and inclusion are important issues for a sustainable society, so we should promote transport infrastructures that are inclusive.

The socioeconomic impacts of high-speed rail (HSR) systems are important considerations for policymakers when planning new lines, assessing their feasibility, and identifying financing sources for sustainable mobility. However, little attention is paid to their effects on equity, outside of studies of facility and service access and economics. A greater focus on HSR and equity issues by governments could help to advance solutions that reduce the negative effects of new projects in favor of more inclusive development.

ADBI is seeking high-quality original, unpublished research papers featuring qualitative and quantitative analyses, case studies, and policy insights on the impacts of HSR on equity, to be presented at a related conference. Papers focused on Asia and the Pacific and country-level research are welcomed, particularly those from experts in academia, industry, and the public sector that can help to promote more-informed HSR policy and investment decisions. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • HSR systems and equity for sustainability;
  • The socioeconomic profiles of HSR users;
  • Factors deterring non-HSR users from choosing HSR as an alternative transport mode;
  • Policies and governance for making HSR more safe, inclusive and sustainable;
  • Mechanisms and investments for affordable HSR systems;
  • HSR growth’s effects on wellbeing, tourism and economic development;
  • Other related topics.

Prof. Dr. Francesca Pagliara
Prof. Dr. Yoshitsugu Hayashi
Prof. Dr. K.E. Seetha Ram
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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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

  • high-speed rail systems
  • transport infrastructures
  • investment
  • equity
  • sustainability

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Editorial

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4 pages, 193 KiB  
Editorial
High-Speed Rail, Equity and Inclusion
by Francesca Pagliara, Yoshitsugu Hayashi and Kallidaikurichi Seetha Ram
Sustainability 2022, 14(11), 6710; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116710 - 31 May 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1765
Abstract
Today, the question of inequality related to transport systems is becoming an issue that governments, at the different territorial scales, should confront in order to find solutions and restrict the consequences [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Speed Rail, Equity, and Inclusion)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

18 pages, 815 KiB  
Article
Impact of High-Speed Rail on Social Equity—Insights from a Stated Preference Survey in Vietnam
by An Minh Ngoc and Hiroaki Nishiuchi
Sustainability 2022, 14(2), 602; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14020602 - 6 Jan 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2987
Abstract
This study investigated the impact of high-speed rail (HSR) on social equity, utilizing information from a stated preference survey conducted in Vietnam. Social equity was examined across the population of four cities representing the northern, central, and southern areas of Vietnam. In general, [...] Read more.
This study investigated the impact of high-speed rail (HSR) on social equity, utilizing information from a stated preference survey conducted in Vietnam. Social equity was examined across the population of four cities representing the northern, central, and southern areas of Vietnam. In general, the high price of HSR is one of the barriers to using HSR over inter-city buses and conventional trains. Low-income groups (less than VND 6 million per month) have 4.894 and 4.725 times the likelihoods, compared to higher income groups, of retaining the use of an inter-city bus or conventional train, respectively, after introducing HSR. Our findings reveal the fact that social inequity may occur, with the low-income group being especially vulnerable, due to the existence of HSR in the future. Furthermore, our results indicate that the interest of people towards inter-city buses and conventional trains varied among the four cities before and after the presence of HSR. More specifically, low-income groups in Vinh and Nha Trang were observed to have a higher feeling of staying away from HSR, as they prefer to use inter-city buses. The findings of this study suggest that planners and policymakers need to consider various components of HSR ticket planning, in order to achieve sustainable evolution of the passenger rail system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Speed Rail, Equity, and Inclusion)
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29 pages, 1663 KiB  
Article
Even Electric Trains Use Coal: Fixed and Relative Costs, Hidden Factors and Income Inequality in HSR Projects with Reference to Vietnam’s North–South Express Railway
by James Kaizuka
Sustainability 2021, 13(24), 13563; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413563 - 8 Dec 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3404
Abstract
High-Speed Rail is often advertised as a sustainable alternative to air travel, and accordingly numerous initiatives for the construction of new HSR infrastructure are currently being pursued across Southeast Asia and the globe. However, beneath promises of “zero-emissions travel” frequently lie numerous hidden [...] Read more.
High-Speed Rail is often advertised as a sustainable alternative to air travel, and accordingly numerous initiatives for the construction of new HSR infrastructure are currently being pursued across Southeast Asia and the globe. However, beneath promises of “zero-emissions travel” frequently lie numerous hidden factors—how much steel is needed to build the railway? What energy sources are being used to generate the electricity which drives the train? Moreover, how many passengers are required for the train to be efficient relative to other forms of transport? This paper seeks to examine these questions to uncover what “hidden factors” may be present in HSR, using Vietnam’s proposed North–South Express Railway (NSER) as an example. This study calculates the CO2 emissions likely to be produced by the NSER from the construction steel and the power consumed in operation using publicly available data on the technical standards of the railway and existing data on emissions per energy source, combining this data with market size analyses of the central provinces of the proposed line based on official population and income statistics across a range of scenarios to estimate what level of ridership will be required to outperform an equivalent-length air journey. The research finds that under current projections, the HSR may emit more CO2 per end-to-end journey than a plane, that even in per-capita terms the emissions may be worse depending on the seat fill rate, and that the market size of Vietnam’s central provinces will present significant challenges in ensuring that the railway is efficient enough to outperform the plane in ridership terms. This demonstrates both the outstanding impacts of coal and other fossil fuel use in the energy mix and the potential link between environmental performance and regional inequality which constitute the hidden costs in HSR projects, and the exacerbated risks to the environment posed by inequality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Speed Rail, Equity, and Inclusion)
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Graphical abstract

8 pages, 263 KiB  
Article
Consumer’s Surplus: An Equity Measure of High Speed Rail Investments
by Francesca Pagliara
Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4537; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084537 - 19 Apr 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1837
Abstract
An economic analysis identifies, measures, and compares the costs and benefits of alternative interventions, with the objective of supporting decisions concerning the best use of limited resources. The cost benefit analysis (CBA) has played a significant role within the entire decision-making process, and [...] Read more.
An economic analysis identifies, measures, and compares the costs and benefits of alternative interventions, with the objective of supporting decisions concerning the best use of limited resources. The cost benefit analysis (CBA) has played a significant role within the entire decision-making process, and is the principal assessment methodology. In recent years, equity issues in relation to transportation planning have become a hot topic at an international level. In this paper, the objective was to integrate equity within the evaluation of transport projects, specifically high speed rail projects. Here, consumer surplus is conceived as a monetized measure of both direct and indirect benefits for all zones, and for all socioeconomic categories served and not served by HSR, respectively. The added value of this paper is in rethinking these two shares in the computation of the total net present value as equity measures of the project itself. Specifically, the distribution of the HSR benefits among the different groups or zones in a given study area can be computed, and a comparison of the values for each zone of the study area and for each category makes it possible to assess the effects of equity between zones/categories. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Speed Rail, Equity, and Inclusion)
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