This study proposes a framework to analyze public discourse in Twitter to understand the impacts of COVID-19 on transport modes and mobility behavior. It also identifies reopening challenges and potential reopening strategies that are discussed by the public. First, the study collects 15,776 tweets that relate to personal opinions on transportation services posted between May 15 and June 15, 2020. Next, it applies text mining and topic modeling techniques to the tweets to determine the prominent themes, terms, and topics in those discussions to understand public feelings, behavior, and broader sentiments about the changes brought about by COVID-19 on transportation systems. Results reveal that people are avoiding public transport and shifting to using private car, bicycle, or walking. Bicycle sales have increased remarkably but car sales have declined. Cycling and walking, telecommuting, and online schools are identified as possible solutions to COVID-19 mobility problems and to reduce car usage with an aim to tackle traffic congestion in the post-pandemic world. People appreciated government decisions for funding allocation to public transport, and asked for the reshaping, restoring, and safe reopening of transit systems. Protecting transit workers, riders, shop customers and staff, and office employees is identified as a crucial reopening challenge, whereas mask wearing, phased reopening, and social distancing are proposed as effective reopening strategies. This framework can be used as a tool by decision makers to enable a holistic understanding of public opinions on transportation services during COVID-19 and formulate policies for a safe reopening.

This paper investigates the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on transport and land-use systems through understanding changes in households’ long-term choices, such as residential location choice, travel tool ownership and type choice. For that, it first develops two possible scenarios, which are, (i) without COVID-19 pandemic, (ii) with COVID-19 pandemic. Specific behavioural attributes of households associated with each scenario are modelled and simulated up to the year 2030 within an integrated transport, land-use and energy (iTLE) model. iTLE is an agent-based microsimulation model developed for Nova Scotia, Canada. Results show that, if COVID-19 persists, most people who do not own a car will continue restraining themselves from purchasing one up to the year 2027. Most households having heads aged between 30 and 75 years and a yearly income above $100,000 will purchase new vehicles in year 2022, making the vehicle purchase rate doubled in the province. In terms of vehicle type choice decision, the use of SUVs will increase by 25% and 27% by 2025 and 2030, respectively, compared to year 2020. The pandemic will cause a 0%–74% increase in vehicle ownership in suburban areas by 2030. Additionally, the ability to ‘work from home’ and online school facilities may influence people to live further away from downtown. The results of this study will offer transport and land-use planners insights into how households’ long-term decision making may evolve in the future due to the COVID-19 crisis and help develop policies to continue focusing on the sustainability goals for communities.

This paper explores the use of smartphone applications for trip planning and travel outcomes using data derived from a survey conducted in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 2015. The study provides empirical evidence of relationships of smartphone use for trip planning (e.g. departure time, destination, mode choice, coordinating trips and performing tasks online) and resulting travel outcomes (e.g. vehicle kilometers traveled, social gathering, new place visits, and group trips) and associated factors. Several sets of factors such as socio-economic characteristics and travel characteristics are tested and interpreted. Results suggest that smartphone applications mostly influence younger individuals’ trip planning decisions. Transit pass owners are the frequent users of smartphone applications for trip planning. Findings suggest that transit pass owners commonly use smartphone applications for deciding departure times and mode choices. The study also identifies the limited impact of smartphone application use on reducing travel outcomes, such as vehicle kilometers traveled. The highest impact is in visiting new places (a 48.8% increase). The study essentially offers an original in-depth understanding of how smartphone applications are affecting everyday travel.

Teleworking has been considered to be one of the emanating behaviors from the pandemic that may become long-lasting. Wider adoption of teleworking may fundamentally change urban mobility and spaces across cities. However, knowledge about the potential implications of teleworking on urban transport and land-use systems post-pandemic is limited. Through a comprehensive review of existing teleworking studies, this research identifies gaps in the literature, discusses major issues for exploration and suggests future research directions. It also explores ways to utilize teleworking as an effective travel demand management strategy. Analysis shows that teleworking has the potential to substantially change city landscapes and can assist in reducing traffic congestion, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy use. Priority areas for further research are identified, such as in-home activities, residential location choice, non-work trip patterns, and energy consumption decisions of teleworkers for a clearer understanding of the relationship between teleworking and urban systems. Analysis also reveals several planning and policy challenges surrounding teleworking, including digital divide, urban sprawling, and transformation of city centers, among others. To fully realize the benefits of teleworking, planners need to reconfigure community design principles to promote mixed-use, lively, and vibrant neighborhoods where people can both live and work. At the same time, governments should consider providing incentives to both organizations and employees with an aim to retain teleworking. Results of this paper will be highly beneficial to transport and land-use researchers, planners, and policy makers.

This paper presents a comprehensive evaluation of traffic impacts of a mass evacuation of the Halifax Peninsula under several flooding scenarios. Flood extent and associated damages to the transport network are identified through digital elevation modeling that intersects with the Halifax stream and transport networks. The resulting flood scenarios inform a traffic microsimulation model that uses a dynamic traffic assignment-based microsimulation approach and simulates the evacuation of 34,808 evacuees estimated from the Halifax Regional Transport Network Model. The simulation results suggest that flooding of the links by 7.9 m flood reduces alternative evacuation routes by 31.2%. It takes 15 hours to evacuate 83% of evacuees while the remaining 17% are not accommodated in the network due to reduced network capacity. The number of vehicles in the network has peaked at 13,000 in this flooding scenario. An evaluation of network performance reveals a sustained congestion prevailing from 4^th to 7^th hour of the evacuation. The novelty of this study is that it develops a comprehensive tool of flood risk and dynamic traffic microsimulation modeling to offer an in-depth evaluation of potential impacts during evacuation. The results will help emergency professionals in evacuation planning and making emergency decisions.

The impacts of climate change (CC) are intensifying and becoming more widespread. Greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) significantly contribute to CC and are primarily generated by transportation—a dominant segment of supply chains. City logistics is responsible for a significant portion of GHGs, as conventional vehicles are the primary mode of transportation in logistical operations. Nonetheless, city logistics is vital for urban areas’ economy and quality of life. Therefore, decarbonizing city logistics (DCL) is crucial to promote green cities and sustainable urban living and mitigate the impacts of CC. However, sustainability encompasses the environment, economy, society, and culture, collectively called the quadruple bottom line (QBL) pillars of sustainability. This research uses the QBL approach to review the extant literature on DCL. We searched for articles on SCOPUS, focusing on analytical scholarly studies published in the past two decades. By analyzing publication years, journals, countries, and keyword occurrences, we present an overview of the current state of DCL research. Additionally, we examine the methods and proposals outlined in the reviewed articles, along with the QBL aspects they address. Finally, we discuss the evolution of DCL research and provide directions for future research. The results indicate that optimization is the predominant solution approach among the analytical papers in the DCL literature. Our analysis reveals a lack of consideration for the cultural aspect of QBL, which is essential for the applicability of any proposed solution. We also note the integration of innovative solutions, such as crowdsourcing, electric and hydrogen vehicles, and drones in city logistics, indicating a promising research area that can contribute to developing sustainable cities and mitigating CC.