Articles

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.

Punctuality is an important aspect of train operations, highly valued by passengers. Both Swedish and Norwegian railways have introduced frameworks to systematically improve punctuality in their systems, inspired by an extensive literature on Total Quality Management. After about a decade with these frameworks, we can see that punctuality has risen by about 2-3 percentage points. However, this pace of improvements is slower than desired. We propose that there is a gap between what most individual improvement efforts deliver, and what can be detected by directly monitoring punctuality. This gap stifles the desired culture of constant improvements. We instead propose a methodology for how to monitor punctuality improvements, by focusing on the constituents of a train trip. Using 20 years of data from commuter trains in three metropolitan regions (Stockholm, Gothenburg & Malmö), we show the frequency of runtime and dwell time delays is directly related to punctuality. These delay frequencies are also easy to measure and target, and more easily capture the intended effects of specific improvement efforts. Our hope is that this framework and measures such as these will better enable systematic efforts to improve railway punctuality.

I denna sammanfattning ges en översikt över resultaten från forskningsprojektet Nypunkt2.0. Nypunkt2.0 har utförts av forskare vid VTI och LTH och finansierats av Trafikverket (TRV2019/70093). Projektet har pågått från november 2019 till juni 2021. Till projektet har också en referensgrupp varit kopplad som har samlats 7 ggr under projekttiden. I referensgruppen ingick representanter för organisationerna Tillsammans för Tåg i Tid (TTT), Trafikverket, Öresundståg, Västtrafik, Region Stockholm och MTR Pendeltågen.

De metoder som har använts inom Nypunkt2.0 är:

1. Intervjuer/workshops med intressenter inom området pendeltågens punktlighet
2. Bearbetning och analys av LUPP data på minutnivå gällande pendeltågsrörelser 317 miljoner observationer från de tre storstadsregionerna (Stockholm, Göteborg, Malmö) under åren 2001 2020.

Ett viktigt resultat från Nypunkt2.0 arbetet är det ramverk för punktlighetsindikatorer som vi utvecklat inom projektet. Ramverket beskriver hur indikatorer för punktlighet verkar på olika nivåer i en hierarki där det högsta målet är hög kundnöjdhet (nivå 1). För att nå hög kundnöjdhet behöver resenärer och tåg komma i tid (nivå 2). Indikatorer på nivå 1 och 2 mäts i efterhand som släpande indikatorer vilka ger en bild av hur väl uppsatta mål har nåtts. För att resenärer och tåg ska komma i tid behöver tågresans olika delar ske enligt plan i så stor utsträckning som möjligt (nivå 3) och för att de ska göra det krävs rätt förutsättningar hos infrastruktur, fordon, stationsutformning, tidtabell, väder m.m. (nivå 4). Indikatorer på nivå 3 och 4 mäts före eller under tågresans gång som ledande indikatorer att styra mot för att på sikt nå hög punktlighet.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a rapid change in travel behavior for different types of trips, including everyday social and recreational leisure trips. People have used adaptive travel behaviors to cope with the new circumstances for activities and transport. Due to the Swedish strategy focusing on more voluntary restrictions, people have had reason to consider which trips and activities to skip and which to keep. The overall aim of the study is to explore and deepen the knowledge about adaptive behaviors used and seek to understand its possible implications for future travel behavior change towards sustainable mobility through the use of qualitative interviews focusing on everyday leisure trips. The results illustrate how people have used a range of adaptive behaviors to cope with the implications of the pandemic, with cancellation and change of transport mode being the ones most reflected upon by the interviewees. Further, the results reveal how the overall label “everyday leisure trips” in fact includes a variety of trip purposes that differ in terms of flexibility and importance and must thus be approached in different ways in transport policy measures.

The dominating formof analysis in the transport sector is cost–benefit analysis (CBA). This study investigates the purpose and use of an alternative analysis intended to complement CBA in the Swedish high-speed rail project. According to CBA calculations, the project is
heavily unprofitable. While some politicians called for project termination, the project leadership launched an alternative benefit analysis that calculated only benefits (disregarding costs). This was intended to be a basis for decision making on station localization and financing agreements, but it was quickly downplayed due to its methodological inconsistencies. However, the project leadership still used the identified benefits opportunistically as a counterweight to the negative CBA results. They also engaged local-level civil servants and politicians in making the reports. This built political momentum and made the local-level civil servants and politicians adopt the mindset of the project. This study shows how a methodologically flawed analysis is used for political manoeuvring. From a scientific CBA perspective, this is alarming, but from a political perspective it is not surprising. The findings echo earlier research showing that analysis for decision making is often used for political purposes. The results suggest that future research should consider how opportunism in alternative benefit analysis can be limited.

The need to decrease emissions from the transport sector is getting urgent and public transport can play an important role in the transition to low emission fuels. To a large extent, public transport in Europe is provided by regional authorities who controls the traffic to a varying degree, from complete public monopoly to competitive tendering. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyse how the organisation of the public bus transport market influences the introduction of renewable fuels. The focus is on understanding what the motivation is for the use of different organisational forms and what challenges and opportunities the authorities in a region encounter during the introduction of renewable fuels. Interviews with authorities in ten Swedish public transport regions show that when functional requirements are used in competitive tendering it will exclusively result in the cheapest renewable fuel available. Thus, if new fuels or technologies should be able to enter the market, either it will be necessary for regional authorities to take more control using specific requirements or publicly management, or the national government must introduce policy instruments that enable new renewable fuels to become competitive on the market.

Green public procurement is believed to have the potential to contribute to environmental improvement and diffusion of green technologies. The aim of this paper is to compare and analyse how two Swedish regions use public procurement to promote the introduction of renewable fuels in their public bus transport systems. The method is a qualitative comparative case study, based on interviews and document studies. The paper addresses the questions of what the strategic motivations are for using public procurement to stimulate renewable fuels, and what the practical challenges have been in relation to five important factors identified from previous research: strategies, requirements, costs, size and knowledge. In one region, procurement is used in a strategic way to create a local market for biofuels, which poses higher demands on political backing, information and knowledge, the way requirements are set, and an acceptance of increased costs. In the other region, procurement is used instrumentally to increase the share of biofuels in a cost-effective way that gives room for more flexibility and reduces the demands on the procurers. This paper highlights the importance of context when assessing green public procurement schemes and analyses the case-specific influence of factors on the outcome of green public procurement. © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license