Vetenskapliga artiklar

A fair distribution of accessibility to key activities is a central concern for distributive justice in transport planning. This implies that disparities in accessibility and the negative effects associated with a lack of accessibility should be mitigated. However, even though accessibility is not purely spatial or static, it is conventionally treated as if it were. Several studies have significantly advanced the spatio-temporal representation of accessibility. However, there is still a lack of focus on how these dynamics affect different groups of people with differing socio-economic and demographic characteristics and how these dynamics might influence their travel mode choice. The aim of this paper is to analyse how differences in accessibility to the workplace by public transport during multiple times of the day are associated with the time period in which different groups of people commute to work, and how the flexibility of individuals' time constraints might influence whether they can and do commute using public transport. Using a transport justice-focused time geography perspective, this study draws on the spatio-temporal aspects of people's real activities based on travel survey data for the Stockholm Region. This study contributes to the literature by highlighting the differences in accessibility to the workplace by public transport across multiple departure time periods; showing how these results compare with mode choice (if there is a choice); and revealing which socio-economic, demographic and geographical factors characterise these differences. This study also illustrates how a transport justice-focused time geography approach could help researchers have a more detailed and nuanced understanding of the relationship between accessibility and sustainable travel behaviour, and how this relationship might change at different times of the day.

Despite an increase in Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) initiatives that aim to pave the way for both public and private MaaS Operators, such MaaS models have received limited scholarly attention. Uncertainties therefore remain in terms of how public-private MaaS can be realized and governed. This paper addresses this problem through an exploratory case study of an attempt to reform the business ecosystem for mobility services in Sweden, which is conceptualized as a move towards public-private MaaS. Inspired by the What-is-the-Problem-Represented-to-Be approach, the paper analyzes what problem representations and assumptions underpin the proposed reform and outlines issues of conflict across the involved actors. Drawing on these findings, the paper highlights disagreements on problems, centralization, and responsibilities as challenges to public-private MaaS developments and proposes that an inclusive and pragmatic governance strategy is key for effective and democratic governance of MaaS. Additionally, three avenues for future research are identified: development of analytical tools that better represent the complexity of MaaS governance choices, studies of how the prevailing narrative around MaaS influences developments, and analyses of governance strategies’ effectiveness in relation to political objectives for MaaS developments.

Cars are nowadays being programmed to learn how to drivethemselves. While autonomous cars are often portrayed as thenext step in the auto-motive industry, they have already begunroaming the streets in some US cities. Building on a growingbody of critical scholarship on the development of autonomouscars, we explore what machine learning is in open environmentslike cities by juxtaposing this to thefield of mobilities studies. Wedo  so  by  revisiting  core  concepts  in  mobilities  studies:movement,  representation  and  embodied  experience.  Ouranalysis of machine learning is centred around the transition fromhuman senses to sensors mounted on cars, and what this impliesin terms of autonomy. While much of the discussions related tothis transition are already foregrounded in mobilities studies, dueto thisfield’s emphasis on complexities and the understanding ofautomobility as a socio-technological system, questions aboutautonomy still emerge in a slightly new light with the advent ofmachine learning. We conclude by suggesting that in mobilitiesstudies, autonomy has always been seen as intertwined withtechnology,  yet  we  argue  that  machine  learning  unfoldsautonomy as intrinsic to technology, as the space between thecar, the driver and the context is collapsing with autonomous cars.

Self-driving cars enable dynamic shared mobility, where customers are independent of schedules and fixed stops. This study aims to investigate the potential effects shared mobility can have on future transportation. We simulate multiple scenarios to analyze the effects different service designs might have on vehicle kilometers, on the required number of shared vehicles, on the potential replacement of private cars, and on service metrics such as waiting times, travel times, and detour levels. To demonstrate how simulation can be used to analyze future mobility, we present a case study of the city of Gothenburg in Sweden, where we model travel demand in the morning hours of a workday. The results show that a significant decrease of vehicle kilometers can be achieved if all private car trips are replaced by rideshare and that shared vehicles can potentially replace at least 5 private cars during the morning peak.

Only well-maintained railway systems can function without severe interruptions. However, maintenance activities can themselves cause train delays if they conflict with train movements. Trackwork refers to maintenance performed on a railway track. This study aims to investigate the effect of trackwork on train delays in Sweden. It presents a logistic regression analysis based on more than 225,000 planned trackwork and 25,600,000 train movements during 2017. The results show that trains that pass through trackwork on single-track segments were on average 44% more likely to be delayed than those that do not. The corresponding value for double-track segments was 25%, and the weighted average was an increased risk of 31%. With the number of trackwork set to increase over the coming years, these results highlight the importance of improved scheduling and performance of trackwork to reduce the conflicts between trackwork and train movements.

Space Syntax theory is a methodological framework for describing and analysing the relationships between spaces and buildings. The fundamental building blocks of Space Syntax are called axial lines, which represent lines of sight from a specific point in space. These lines can then be used to quantitatively analyse the integration (or attractiveness) of an area. However, many public squares and transport hubs are crossed by roads which prove a hinderance when walking although not impairing the sightlines of pedestrians. The aim of this paper is to test how this limitation affects the concept and whether Space Syntax is still useful to understand how people move in such areas. Seven public squares and transport hubs in Malmö (Sweden) were selected and their Space Syntax integration was calculated. These values were compared with pedestrian detections from the same areas based on video recordings from a drone. When aggregating the areas into several levels based on their integration value, the result shows a clear link between Space Syntax integration and the number of pedestrian detections made at each location, demonstrating how this measure could be useful for understanding micromobility usage on a small scale

Lean construction principles have been successfully adopted in a variety of industries to increase project management quality. This paper addresses maintenance planning in Sweden and analyses its effectiveness in the framework of lean construction principles. To investigate the status and improvement potential of maintenance contractors’ performance, the study focuses on the detailed planning process, which is mainly the responsibility of contractors. A literature review, a data analysis and interviews were used to reveal the possible barriers to the adaptation of lean principles to the maintenance industry. The study presents a developed theoretical framework for the analysing maintenance processes in the perspective of lean construction principles. We found that the application of lean principles has the potential for improvements in the planning process, but there are some barriers to effective implementation, including a lack of knowledge about lean principles at contractors’ sites. 

Efficiently planned railway maintenance helps ensure reliable infrastructure and the proper functioning of its components. The Swedish Transport Administration delegates maintenance work to contractors through a tender process. This paper analyses differences in communication and collaboration in the planning and execution of maintenance under two contract types. A document review and interviews with 22 project managers identifies issues in planning and scheduling related to knowledge transfer at contractor companies, booking time for maintenance and lack of trust between contractors and the client. The results show how the two types of contracts are perceived differently by the parties to the contracts.