Low-income countries (LICs) in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are investing in new railway lines to replace deteriorated infrastructure from the 19th and 20th century. These actions, despite financial and economic constraints, have been justified in common visions of continent-wide efficient networks to cope with the demands of growing populations. However, most of the recent rail infrastructure projects are driven by international suppliers’ preferences and financing rather than creating railways that match the requirements of interoperable regional networks. This paper therefore explores the current status of rail infrastructure in these LICs and the operational performance achieved to understand specific capability gaps in each regional network. Drawing from the experience of European countries in transforming regional future visions into applied research, a technical strategy for rail infrastructure in LICs is proposed. The strategy captures the key capabilities to be addressed in order to achieve future performance goals, while emphasizing the need for emerging technologies to be used in fit-for-purpose solutions. It is envisioned that the strategy will provide the basis for the development of continental technical strategy programs with specific technology roadmaps towards a common goal.
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Background: Despite their economic, social, and environmental advantages, HSRs are associated with some negative social impacts and controversy about their equitability. Gap: Very few studies have explored the relationship between HSR and social exclusion. Aims: This paper examines the relationship between HSR and social exclusion, and it focuses on China as a case study. Objectives: The objectives of the study are as follows; to identify the most important and favourable factors for choosing HSR from passengers' perspective; to reveal issues and reasons that inhibit passengers from using HSR and limit their accessibility to the service, and to propose some solutions and interventions. Methods: The study utilizes an online survey comprising a set of stated preference and revealed preference questions. A total of 3655 responses were collected, of which 3353 responses were complete and useful. Results: A key finding is that comfort is proven to be the most favourable factor for using HSR, followed by travel time and reliability. Another finding is that the economic exclusion followed by the geographical exclusion is prevailing across different age and monthly income groups of non-HSR users. Those who have the lowest income and the elderly experience the strongest levels of economic exclusion. Moreover, physical, time-based, and fear-based exclusions are also notable. Conclusion: To create a modal shift from other modes to HSR and allow more groups to access the service, HSR should be competitive in terms of affordability and accessibility. Possible solutions and policy interventions that may help to tackle categories of social exclusion in China are presented.
While micromobility has seen a significant rise of interest across policy, industry and academia, a detailed conceptualisation of it has so far been missing from the scientific literature. This paper develops a multi-dimensional conceptualisation of micromobility, in conjunction with a new socio-technical definition. To do so, it reviews related concepts; it analyses how the term micromobility has been used; and it critically engages with existing definitions most frequently cited in this literature. Building on these insights, we develop a multi-dimensional conceptualization of micromobility. Our definition of micromobility covers a wide range of mobility options that can typically be manoeuvred by one human without motor assistance, at least for short distances, and that are ‘micro’ in terms of energy demand, environmental impact, and use of road space, relative to automobility. According to our conceptualisation, micromobility modes comprise fully human powered, partially motor assisted and fully powered options. They typically do not exceed 25 kilometres per hour (or 45 for faster ones) and weigh (often significantly) less than 350 kilogram, while often providing some (public) health benefits. Trip lengths are typically less than 15 kilometres and daily distance travelled less than 80 kilometres. This new definition has relevance for future transport and mobility scholarship, as well as policy and evaluation. Advantages of a new and widely accepted definition and conceptualisation of micromobility could include more robust design standards, legislation, as well as evaluation metrics and methods, all leading to greater understanding of, and attention paid to, this form of mobility. This paper highlights the important role that micromobilities could play in moving beyond automobility, to create more sustainable and just mobility futures.
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