The restrictive measures implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have triggered sudden massive changes to travel behaviors of people all around the world. This study examines the individual mobility patterns for all transport modes (walk, bicycle, motorcycle, car driven alone, car driven in company, bus, subway, tram, train, airplane) before and during the restrictions adopted in ten countries on six continents: Australia, Brazil, China, Ghana, India, Iran, Italy, Norway, South Africa and the United States. This cross-country study also aims at understanding the predictors of protective behaviors related to the transport sector and COVID-19. Findings hinge upon an online survey conducted in May 2020 (N = 9,394). The empirical results quantify tremendous disruptions for both commuting and non-commuting travels, highlighting substantial reductions in the frequency of all types of trips and use of all modes. In terms of potential virus spread, airplanes and buses are perceived to be the riskiest transport modes, while avoidance of public transport is consistently found across the countries. According to the Protection Motivation Theory, the study sheds new light on the fact that two indicators, namely income inequality, expressed as Gini index, and the reported number of deaths due to COVID-19 per 100,000 inhabitants, aggravate respondents’ perceptions. This research indicates that socio-economic inequality and morbidity are not only related to actual health risks, as well documented in the relevant literature, but also to the perceived risks. These findings document the global impact of the COVID-19 crisis as well as provide guidance for transportation practitioners in developing future strategies.

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As largely documented in the literature, the stark restrictions enforced worldwide in 2020 to curb the COVID-19 pandemic also curtailed the production of air pollutants to some extent. This study investigates the perception of the air pollution as assessed by individuals located in ten countries: Australia, Brazil, China, Ghana, India, Iran, Italy, Norway, South Africa and the USA. The perceptions towards air quality were evaluated by employing an online survey administered in May 2020. Participants (N = 9394) in the ten countries expressed their opinions according to a Likert-scale response. A reduction in pollutant concentration was clearly perceived, albeit to a different extent, by all populations. The survey participants located in India and Italy perceived the largest drop in the air pollution concentration; conversely, the smallest variation was perceived among Chinese and Norwegian respondents. Among all the demographic indicators considered, only gender proved to be statistically significant.

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The "Ferry-free coastal highway route E39" project includes building several long tunnels along the southwestern Norwegian coast. The tunnelling operations will generate a large quantity of blasted rocks; these could be used in the road unbound layers close to the place of production to provide a sustainable cost-benefit application. The existing design guidelines define strength requirements for road unbound layers in terms of Los Angeles and micro-Deval tests. Even if the major part of the rocks has igneous origin and could potentially fulfil the standard tests, the damage induced by the confined heavy blasting makes the materials fail the check procedures. The research investigates how to enable the use of the "weak" rocks by investigating three possible techniques. The first approach is the mixture between the different types of rocks available in situ. The second approach is additive application; two different nontraditional additive types are examined: one is polymer-based, the other one is lignin-based. The third approach is the attempt to modify the rocks mineralogical structure by overheating. The research test campaign uses both the aforementioned standard tests and repeated triaxial load tests. Rocks mixture and additives application are viable and sustainable methods to improve the mechanical properties of the "weak" crushed metamorphic rocks. Overheating does not turn out to be an effective and convenient procedure.