Evaluation of impacts on intercity corridors for efficient and sustainable mobility: innovative ways to address corridors pricing

• Autor(a) principal: Sampaio, Carlos Jorge Batista
• Data de Publicação: 2024
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10773/41443
• topic: Intercity corridors; Transport-related external costs; Demand management measures; Pricing strategies; Sustainable transport

The transportation of people and goods is crucial for the functioning of the economy and society. An efficient transportation network reduces costs and boosts overall productivity. However, despite the benefits, the transportation sector also brings adverse consequences for the environment and society, such as climate change, air pollution, and road accidents. These impacts are prevalent in interurban areas, and this thesis aims to address these specific issues. The primary objective of this doctoral thesis is to propose a methodology that integrates the effects of both individual and collective traffic with effective pricing structures. The research examines the potential of demand management measures, mapping, behavioural changes, and new pricing strategies and structures in mitigating the negative impacts of transportation in interurban areas. The research methodology aims to comprehensively integrate the external costs of transportation in interurban areas. This involves a macroscopic methodology for estimating emissions, road accidents, noise, congestion, and well-to-tank emissions tailored to each corridor and segment. This approach allows for spatial analysis, identifying areas of impact and roads with higher external costs. Furthermore, there is an analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on emissions, considering post-pandemic scenarios such as reduced carpooling and decreased use of public transportation, along with a simulation of the widespread telecommuting impact. Finally, a tool has been developed to assess various pricing structures in interurban corridors, sustaining the identification of the best pricing strategy to either minimize external costs or enable free public transportation in specific scenarios. The research found that promoting public transportation reduces external costs in interurban corridors because trains have lower external costs than individual vehicles (up to 89% less in external costs per passenger compared to private transport on national roads) and buses (up to 79% less in external costs per passenger). Areas with high population density along national roads experience the highest external costs (areas with no population around network segments incur 80% lower external costs compared to areas with high population density), underscoring the importance of considering population exposure in impact assessments. It was also observed that behavioural changes result in reduced use of public transportation led to increased emissions (with CO2 emissions potentially increasing by around 13%). A tool was developed to assess pricing structures in interurban corridors, revealing environmental benefits and more sustainable modes of transportation. The research provides valuable insights into reducing external costs and promoting sustainable corridors, suggesting a focus on promoting public transportation and pricing structures that incentivize more sustainable modes. Optimizing pricing structures can lead to reductions in external costs of approximately 3 to 6%.