A Multitier Approach to Estimating the Energy Efficiency of Urban Passenger Mobility

Daniel Neves Schmitz Gonçalves, Renata Albergaria de Mello Bandeira, Mariane Gonzalez da Costa, George Vasconcelos Goes, Tássia Faria de Assis, Márcio de Almeida D’Agosto, Isabela Rocha Pombo Lessi de Almeida and Rodrigo Rodrigues de Freitas
Additional contact information
Daniel Neves Schmitz Gonçalves: Program of Transportation Engineering COPPE/UFRJ. Technology Center, Building H–Room 117, University City–Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 999074, Brazil
Renata Albergaria de Mello Bandeira: Military Institute of Engineering, Praça General Tibúrcio 80, Praia Vermelha, Rio de Janeiro 999074, Brazil
Mariane Gonzalez da Costa: Program of Transportation Engineering COPPE/UFRJ. Technology Center, Building H–Room 117, University City–Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 999074, Brazil
George Vasconcelos Goes: Program of Transportation Engineering COPPE/UFRJ. Technology Center, Building H–Room 117, University City–Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 999074, Brazil
Tássia Faria de Assis: Program of Transportation Engineering COPPE/UFRJ. Technology Center, Building H–Room 117, University City–Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 999074, Brazil
Márcio de Almeida D’Agosto: Program of Transportation Engineering COPPE/UFRJ. Technology Center, Building H–Room 117, University City–Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 999074, Brazil
Isabela Rocha Pombo Lessi de Almeida: Program of Transportation Engineering COPPE/UFRJ. Technology Center, Building H–Room 117, University City–Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 999074, Brazil
Rodrigo Rodrigues de Freitas: Federal Center of Technological Education Celso Suckow da Fonseca, Rio de Janeiro 999074, Brazil

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 24, 1-18

Abstract: As society has experiences new modes of mobility in recent years, cities have planned to increase their energy efficiency as a way of reducing environmental impacts and promoting economic development. However, governments face difficulties in establishing mechanisms to determine the best actions in the management of urban mobility regarding energy efficiency and to elaborate a ranking of cities based on energy efficiency in order to better allocate resources. This is due to the complex nature of obtaining a wide range of activity and energy data from a single municipality, especially in data-scarce regions. This paper develops and applies a model for estimating the energy efficiency of urban mobility that is applicable to different contexts and backgrounds. The main contribution of the article is the use of a multitier approach to compare and adjust outputs, considering different transport configurations and data sets. The results indicate that variations in vehicle occupancy and individual motorized transport rates have a significant impact on energy efficiency, which reached 0.70 passenger-kilometers/MJ in Sorocaba, Brazil. However, as the use of electric vehicles increases in this city, this scenario is expected to change. Additionally, the method has been proven to be an important mechanism for benchmarking purposes and for the decision-making process for transport investments.

Keywords: energy efficiency; energy intensity; transport activity; urban mobility; passenger transport; carbon emission (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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