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Perspectives on the Role of Powered Two-Wheelers in Future Road Transport

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Transportation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022) | Viewed by 7968

Special Issue Editors

Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Florence (UNIFI), 50121 Firenze, Italy
Interests: road injury prevention; PTW safety; active and passive safety; rider behavior
Center for Injury Biomechanics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
Interests: injury biomechanics; PTW safety; vulnerable road users; active and passive safety

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Powered two- (and in some cases three-) wheelers are light tilting vehicles for the transport of up to two (or more) riders and small goods. Originally gas-engine-thrusted, today, their fleet includes a growing proportion of electric vehicles.

There are an estimated number of 300 million PTWs at the global level. Their use spans a wide variety of connotations in a mix that changes from area to area, including predominantly as a means of road transport, consolidated commuting and working vehicles, unique transport vehicles enabling a low-cost reach for remote areas, as well as touring and leisure vehicles. 

Linked to the different applications, the technical design of PTWs covers the entire range from basic and low-cost solutions, reaching automotive cutting-edge technologies in top-end motorcycles.

PTWs have numerous potential advantages for the single user and the broader community, which relate to their potential low consumption and emission, affordable costs, and small ground occupancy. These advantages, however, have to be weighed against the downside of the high risk for the riders and the costs for society, which are due to factors that include the challenges of the vehicle control (especially of emergency maneuvering), the underdeveloped passive protection, the lack of crash compatibility with other vehicles and road infrastructure, and the limited adoption of active safety solutions even for high-end vehicles, just to mention a few.

This Special Issue offers the opportunity to address and discuss important questions among researchers, practitioners, and policy makers, on the suitability of PTWs to be part of a safer and more sustainable future mobility in different traffic contexts. The overarching and controversial question is on whether or not PTWs should be reasonably considered as an essential means of transport—and if so, under which contexts and conditions PTWs become sustainable for the society and their use may not be merely tolerated but rather promoted, together with an appropriate range of recommendations and countermeasures to foster a well-informed and safer riding practice among the population.  

Research should be related to powered two-wheelers (PTW) including motorcycles, scooters and e-bikes. Topics and research questions of the Special Issue may include the following:

  • Have PTWs been forgotten in the road safety debate?
  • What is the role of PTWs for the future?
  • Is it possible to include PTWs in the vision of the safe systems approach?
  • What is the opportunity for the use of motorcycles rather than more traditional (e.g., cars) or less traditional (e.g., electric scooters like Lime) modes of transportation?
  • Are PTWs essential in certain environments, e.g., LMIC countries or in high-density cities in HIC?
  • What are the barriers to widespread adoption of PTWs?
  • What are the limits for safety in PTWs, both in terms of active or passive safety?
  • Are there opportunities for a dramatic increase in PTW safety?
  • PTW riders wear much more personal protection equipment (helmet, armor, leg protectors, etc.) than riders of bicycles or e-bikes. Can PTWs be a safer transportation option than bicycles? Is there any difference in safety between e-bikes and PTWs at urban speeds?
  • How do users’ preferences, education or training and licensing affect PTW acceptance?

Methodologies may include, but are not limited to, epidemiological studies, economic studies, vehicle modeling, traffic modeling, new infrastructure assessment, safety benefit analysis, novel implementations of the safe system approach, human factors, surveys, rider behavior studies, naturalistic studies, riding/driving simulator studies, and field tests.

Dr. Giovanni Savino
Prof. Dr. H. Clay Gabler
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Powered two wheelers (PTWs)
  • Motorcycles
  • E-Bikes
  • Road safety
  • Personal transportation
  • Safe system
  • Active and passive safety
  • Future mobility

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 3750 KiB  
Article
Applicability Assessment of Active Safety Systems for Motorcycles Using Population-Based Crash Data: Cross-Country Comparison among Australia, Italy, and USA
by Paolo Terranova, Morgan E. Dean, Cosimo Lucci, Simone Piantini, Trevor J. Allen, Giovanni Savino and Hampton C. Gabler
Sustainability 2022, 14(13), 7563; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14137563 - 21 Jun 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1833
Abstract
The role of powered two-wheeler (PTW) transport from the perspective of a more sustainable mobility system is undermined by the associated high injury risk due to crashes. Motorcycle-based active safety systems promise to avoid or mitigate many of these crashes suffered by PTW [...] Read more.
The role of powered two-wheeler (PTW) transport from the perspective of a more sustainable mobility system is undermined by the associated high injury risk due to crashes. Motorcycle-based active safety systems promise to avoid or mitigate many of these crashes suffered by PTW riders. Despite this, most systems are still only in the prototype phase and understanding which systems have the greatest chance of reducing crashes is an important step in prioritizing their development. Earlier studies have examined the applicability of these systems to individual crash configurations, e.g., rear-end vs. intersection crashes. However, there may be large regional differences in the distribution of PTW crash configurations, motorcycle types, and road systems, and hence in the priority for the development of systems. The study objective is to compare the applicability of five active safety systems for PTWs in Australia, Italy, and the US using real-world crash data from each region. The analysis found stark differences in the expected applicability of the systems across the three regions. ABS generally resulted in the most applicable system, with estimated applicability in 45–60% of all crashes. In contrast, in 20–30% of the crashes in each country, none of the safety systems analyzed were found to be applicable. This has important implications for manufacturers and researchers, but also for regulators, which may demand country-specific minimum performance requirements for PTW active safety countermeasures. Full article
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16 pages, 530 KiB  
Article
A Multi-Perspective Assessment of the Introduction of E-Scooter Sharing in Germany
by Alexandra König, Laura Gebhardt, Kerstin Stark and Julia Schuppan
Sustainability 2022, 14(5), 2639; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14052639 - 24 Feb 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2450
Abstract
Electric scooter sharing (e-scooter sharing) is a new urban micro-mobility service that is expected to shape individual urban mobility. The introduction of e-scooter sharing systems poses challenging questions for cities and transportation planners regarding their effects on their transportation system. This study addresses [...] Read more.
Electric scooter sharing (e-scooter sharing) is a new urban micro-mobility service that is expected to shape individual urban mobility. The introduction of e-scooter sharing systems poses challenging questions for cities and transportation planners regarding their effects on their transportation system. This study addresses the question concerning the strategies which are applied for the introduction of e-scooter sharing systems in different operation areas in Germany. An interview study with 21 stakeholders with different backgrounds (local transport authorities, public transport providers, e-scooter sharing operators, municipalities, associations, planning offices and consulting companies, and other mobility providers) was conducted to reflect upon the introduction of e-scooter sharing systems in Germany and stakeholders’ involvement in planning. The qualitative content analysis provides insights into the stakeholders’ assessment of the introduction process and thus contributes to a multi-perspective understanding on the topic. Derived hypotheses and recommendations further contribute to knowledge sharing and learning from experience. The paper concludes with a description of three introduction styles: protective, pro-active, and laissez-faire. Full article
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16 pages, 3020 KiB  
Article
Towards the Future of Sustainable Mobility: Results from a European Survey on (Electric) Powered-Two Wheelers
by Sebastian Will, Claudia Luger-Bazinger, Marcus Schmitt and Cornelia Zankl
Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7151; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13137151 - 25 Jun 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2786
Abstract
Personal transport is of high importance in our society and the 2020 pandemic situation has reinforced this situation. At the same time, transport contributes to local emissions, which need to be reduced in the face of climate change. Changing from vehicles with internal [...] Read more.
Personal transport is of high importance in our society and the 2020 pandemic situation has reinforced this situation. At the same time, transport contributes to local emissions, which need to be reduced in the face of climate change. Changing from vehicles with internal combustion engines to light electric vehicles could be one promising approach. Therefore, we need to understand mobility patterns and attitudes towards E-mobility to create sustainable transport solutions that will be broadly accepted. An online survey with N = 432 participants across Europe was conducted. The majority of respondents came from Germany, followed by Italy, Austria and Sweden. Generally, cars are the main vehicle for personal transport. PTWs are used for commuting as well as leisure activity. Driving experience, easier parking and lower maintenance compared to cars are major reasons to choose a PTW. No differences between younger and elderly participants were observed. E-PTWs are primarily avoided due to high costs, range anxiety and expected problems with the charging infrastructure. To support sustainable mobility, these obstacles need to be overcome. One aspect is definitely the provision of better charging infrastructure or electric vehicles with increased range. Hence, given typical trip lengths and purposes, it might seem equally important to tackle prejudices and increase the knowledge about E-mobility with all its potential benefits in the population. Full article
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