Different forms of urban mobility have very different impacts on the urban environment and on the quality of the public spaces around them, from the "soft" pedestrian walkways and cycle paths, through the several modes of public transport to the extremely impactful mass use of private vehicles. This paper first analyses the different urban impacts of these forms of mobility, according to their characteristics, with regard to an extensive transport literature review, and they are put into relationship with the factors promoting urban quality and liveability in line with literature on urban design in terms of activity, image and form, among others. The results of this study are contrasted with the experience demonstrated in the case of Granada's metropolitan area, with its fairly adequate bus-based public transport system and the common mobility problems resulting from a high level of private vehicular use, i.e. congestion coupled with severe environmental pollution. However, a new light rail system (LRT) has been developed, with a major urban renewal along its track, and has proved to be very successful, in terms of the number of passengers, after its two years of operation. The LRT has the particularity of having an underground section, with three underground stations, and longer surface stretches with different cross sections, whereby the improvement in quality of public spaces along them can be evaluated. The high quality public spaces are those with no vehicular access whatsoever, providing a completely pedestrianized area, such as in the traditional urban road crossing axes in the towns, which have been completely freed from vehicles and now seem filled with people, for example Royal Street in Armilla, "Jacobo Camarero" Street in Albolote and "Blas de Otero" Avenue in Maracena, and the section along the university central campus which has no catenary.
The equitable accessibility to higher education favours social fairness in economic opportunities. This paper provides an empirical approach to the assessment of the (in)equity of accessibility from universities to sustainable transport modes: Light Rail Transit, Bus Rapid Transit, buses, and bicycle infrastructure in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (Mexico). In particular, the study designed and calculated an Access to Sustainable Transport from University Index by combining governmental and crowdsourced Open Access Data. It used spatial analysis techniques within a Geographic Information Systems environment, and multivariate statistical methods such as Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis. The findings highlight the weakness in the accessibility to sustainable transport modes from the universities in the Metropolitan Area. Furthermore, this study revealed an unfavourable bias in the location of sustainable transport stations/stops in the vicinity of public universities. The results provide a methodology and empirical evidence for transport policy makers to reduce inequalities and therefore transport-related social exclusion in this under-represented, but socially relevant, student community.
The Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara (MAG) experiences water shortage and overexploitation of aquifers. In addition, it suffers from seasonal flooding that is channeled towards inadequate sanitary drainage, creating a strong negative environmental impact. These problems are rooted in the waterproofing of the urban surface. Many cities around the world have used deep injection wells to recover aquifers and remove surface waters. Certain geohydrological conditions are required for the implementation of these deep injection wells, deeper than 30 m, such as significant surface runoff, acceptable water quality for infiltration, considerable depth in the phreatic levels, and good subsoil permeability. All of these conditions exist in the MAG or could be achieved without significant investment. An assessment is presented exploring the viability for a solution based on this technology, as a strategy to recover aquifers and reduce flooding. The first step was to identify, through map algebra, a micro-basin suitable for this technology. Then, mean runoff volumes were obtained and a stratigraphic profile was carried out based on 19 standard penetration tests (SPT). With these data, a numerical simulation of deep injection wells of different dimensions was performed, providing recommendations for a solution based on these calculations. The results show that both problems can be solved with this relatively simple and cheap technology supporting public health.
The protection of pedestrians, cyclists, and public transportation passengers from environmental pollution is a global concern. This study fills the gap in the existing knowledge of temporal exposure to air pollution in Latin American metropolises. The paper proposes a methodology addressing the relationship between two objects of study, i.e., the users of active modes of transport and air quality. This new methodology assesses the spatiotemporal concurrence of both objects with statistical analysis of large open-access databases, to promote healthy and sustainable urban mobility. The application of the empirical methodology estimated the number of users of active transportation modes exposed to poor air quality episodes in the Guadalajara metropolitan area (Mexico) in 2019. The study considered two pollutants, ozone (O3) and particulate matter (PM10), and two active modes, cycling and bus rapid transit (BRT). Spatiotemporal analyses were carried out with geographic information systems, as well as with numeric computing platforms. First, big data were used to count the number of users for each mode within the area of influence of the air quality monitoring stations. Second, the number of air pollution episodes was obtained using the air quality index proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (USA) on an hourly basis. Third, the spatiotemporal concurrence between air quality episodes and active mode users was calculated. In particular, the air quality monitoring data from the Jalisco Atmospheric Monitoring System were compared to users of the public bicycle share system, known as MiBici, and of a bus rapid transit line, known as Mi Macro Calzada. The results showed that the number of cyclists and BRT passengers exposed to poor air quality episodes was considerable in absolute terms, that is, 208,660 users, while it was marginal when compared to the total number of users exposed to better air quality categories in the study area, who represented only 10%. To apply the results at the metropolitan scale, the spatial distribution of the air quality monitoring system should be improved, as well as the availability of data on pedestrians and conventional bus passengers.
The role of the public transport system as promoter of social inclusion is gaining increasing attention in the fields of transport policy and planning. This is especially relevant in areas traditionally characterized by high levels of poverty and structural inequalities where it can be a decisive element in the reduction of social exclusion. This paper evaluates the topic through an innovative methodology based on index comparison. Firstly, a traditional accessibility index is used which considers the access time to public transport stops, and secondly an Index of Transport Social Disadvantage is proposed. It includes the transport disadvantage factors of the populations, such as disability, old age, low income, unemployment and pre-school children. These transport disadvantage characteristics have been divided into two groups: the first includes the disadvantage characteristics distributed equally. In the second group, the disadvantaged groups in transport with an unequal territorial distribution are taken into account. The Gini index is used to ascertain the differences in these groups. This method facilitates the identification of the unequal distribution of transport disadvantage and therefore, social exclusion. The consideration of the two indexes, access time and transport social disadvantages, will find the areas not only with low accessibility levels, but also with high levels of population with transport disadvantages, thereby assessing social exclusion linked with public transport. This methodology is applied to the public operated transport system of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, Mexico. Its development reveals which areas are affected by the under provision of public transport as well as the population characterized by transport social disadvantage, which together give a clear indicator of the situation of social exclusion linked to the public transport system.
This paper analyses how SITEUR, the Mass Public Transport System (MPTS) in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (GMA), covers transport social needs, contributing to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 11.2. In order to facilitate this, an Index of Mass Transport Provision (IMTP) was measured through proximity, frequency, and capacity. Then, an Index of Social Transport Needs (ISTN) was calculated by means of transport disadvantage indicators. Finally, the Index of Social Transport Needs Covered (ICSTN) was calculated. The calculations used geographic information systems and principal component analysis in 1834 geographic sections. Findings highlight that 50.3% of the inhabitants have a very high level of social transport needs, while only 6.8% of the population have very low social transport needs. Results show that SITEUR promotes advancement in public transport systems within the GMA relative to quality, security, and reliability and it also contributes to tackling social exclusion in the GMA. A proposal related to transport systems integration is included, to address an important aspect of social exclusion in the city.
The urban environment and the quality of the urban spaces are greatly affected by different forms of mobility, from the extremely impactful mass use of private vehicles to the 'soft' pedestrian walkways and cycle paths, and also through the several modes of public transport. In this paper we first explore the different urban impacts of these forms of mobility and the interaction between the urban system and the transportation system, and we then analyse the relationship of factors promoting urban quality in accordance with literature on urban design. Next, an analysis of the street's cross section is made, as the quality of this space is inextricably linked to its grade of sustainable mobility. The results of this study are contrasted with the experience within Granada's metropolitan area, which has a high level of private vehicular use, for example its heavy congestion coupled with severe environmental pollution. A new light rail system (LrT) has been developed, with major urban renewal along its track. The LrT has the particularity of having varied cross sections, whereby the improvement in quality of urban space along them can be evaluated. The high-quality urban spaces are those with virtually no vehicular access whatsoever, providing a completely pedestrianized area, such as in the traditional urban road crossing axes in the outlying districts, which are now almost completely free from vehicles and are more greatly accessible to people. As a result of current social distancing required by the cOVID-19 pandemic, urban space, which can be configured in a very adaptable way, is changing in many cities including Granada, giving more space in their streets to sustainable mobility modes and, therefore, indirectly increasing their quality and longevity. The changes carried out in Granada reveal a requirement for the promotion of improvement in urban spaces and sustainable mobility on a metropolitan scale, since the LrT is not enough if it is not accompanied by other urban development and mobility integrated measures.
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