Tiziano Pavanini (p), Carolina Bruzzi , Tommaso Filì, Enrico Ivaldi

Krister Sandberg

This paper investigates the territorial disparities in the quality of Local Public Transport (LPT) across Italian regions, focusing on the relationship between service accessibility, user satisfaction, and transport usage.The study employs the DP2 method to construct a composite indicator that integrates heterogeneous variables from the ISTAT dataset, ensuring a robust, multidimensional assessment of LPT performance.The findings reveal significant regional differences: the northern and central regions generally exhibit superior service quality and accessibility, while the southern regions often face challenges such as limited infrastructure and lower satisfaction levels. A positive correlation emerges between the ease of access to essential services and user satisfaction, highlighting the importance of accessibility in shaping perceptions of public transport quality. However, the relationship between satisfaction and actual usage appears weaker, suggesting that external factors, such as car ownership or urban layout, may influence transport choices. Cluster analysis further distinguishes three regional profiles: areas with high accessibility but low usage, regions with poor access and low satisfaction, and densely populated contexts with high usage but moderate satisfaction. The study emphasises the necessity for targeted policies that enhance accessibility and service quality, particularly in disadvantaged areas. Policymakers are encouraged to adopt a data-driven approach using the DP2 index to monitor performance, guide investments, and promote sustainable mobility practices that reduce territorial inequalities and support environmental goals.

Krister Sandberg (p), Mikael Levin, Anette Myhr

Johannes Lohwasser

This study examines the adoption of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) in Sweden, focusing on socio-economic factors and consumer behavior from 2020 to 2024. The study is based on Sweden's official vehicle statistics and official household data. By matching data on households (approximately 4.5 million households) with data on BEVs (approximately 300,000), we are able analyze which socio-economic factors that are decisive for whether a household chooses to acquire an electric vehicle as well as whether they opt to purchase or lease the car.

Factors such as higher income, living in a house or condominium, and households with a predominance of men are positively associated with both buying and leasing. These households are largely located in metropolitan municipalities, though not typically in the central part of the municipality. Both households that buy and those that lease often already own a car. There is also a tendency for the oldest car owner in the household to be somewhat younger.

There is no observable secondary market spread over time from these metropolitan areas to less densely populated regions. This can be largely attributed to the age profile of the BEVs, which are still relatively new. Consequently, these vehicles have not yet permeated into municipalities with an older vehicle fleet.

Despite an impressive growth in sales over time, the rate of new BEV sales slowed in 2023, and sales figures for 2024 have shown a decline compared to 2023. The observed decline in new BEV sales can be explained by a reduction in private leasing. Those who have chosen to privately lease a car are generally younger, have lower incomes, and are more likely to live in multi-family dwellings compared to households that purchase a BEV. We conclude that private leasing customers have been more affected by the ongoing economic downturn, and therefore, they have opted not to acquire a new car during 2023 and 2024. These findings highlight the need for targeted policies to address regional disparities and economic vulnerabilities.

Johannes Lohwasser (p), Axel Schaffer, Sebastian Brun

Kuniaki Sasaki

The discussion on the adoption of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) often differentiates among attitudinal, socio-economic, and contextual factors. In this context our interest lies in the re-gional manifestation of these factors for BEV adoption in the full sample of 399 German dis-tricts and in two subgroups (independent city districts, counties). In contrast to earlier studies, the rich data allow for an analysis of actual purchasing decisions and a separated considera-tion of private and commercial BEV adoption. While the commercial BEV fleet is larger in the cities, and often related to a region’s economic wealth, BEV adoption in less urbanized regions is more dependent on private households and particularly affected by socio-demographic drivers (e.g., size of households). Furthermore, we find positive impacts of pro-environmental attitude for both segments, indicating that commercial BEV procurement is not solely driven by an economic rationale. Finally, BEV adoption relates to private and public charging infrastructure and to other transport modes and concepts (e.g., car sharing and public transport). Based on the empirical findings we offer three main policy implications: First, poli-cy should strengthen the pro-environmental aspects of e-mobility. Second, measures to im-prove the charging infrastructure should address both, public and private access in all types of regions. Finally, efficacy of policies to foster BEV adoption relate to other transport policies and should be embedded into an integrative mobility concept.

Tomohide Azami, Mizuki Sakurai, Ayako Taniguchi, Kuniaki Sasaki (p)

Tiziano Pavanini

In developed countries experiencing a decline in population, there is often a shortage of labor, particularly in public transport. This has resulted in significant disparities in activity participation among those residing in local areas. Concurrently, the development of autonomous vehicles is becoming a reality, and it is anticipated that this will address the labor shortage.
A review of the literature on the implementation of autonomous public transport in local areas identified three factors as crucial to its success: social acceptance, the business model, and the designated infrastructure. This study focuses on the first two factors. The first factor, social acceptance, was investigated through a survey on attitudes towards autonomous bus in Hitachi City, Japan, where a level 2 autonomous bus service has been introduced. The survey posed questions to respondents regarding the necessity of human assistance in the event of various problems, such as mechanical failure and human-related issues, for which respondents expressed a desire for immediate human assistance. However, the results of the survey indicated that the respondents' perception of the risks associated with autonomous buses may be mitigated by the provision of more detailed information about these risks.
Another topic of this study is the review of the business model of the autonomous taxi for a demand-responsive transport (DRT). To this end, we surveyed several DRT services in the local area of Japan and analyzed the profitable conditions of autonomous taxis, including various costs such as vehicle cost, fleet ownership, and maintenance cost, in addition to revenue from users. Our results, based on the latest vehicle cost, indicate that there are some cases in which the autonomous DRT will be profitable, including subsidies. The condition is found to depend on the number of users, thus the operation rate. It is anticipated that profitability will be attainable soon, owing to the projected increase in demand for DRT in the local area, concomitant with the ageing demographic of the community.
In conclusion, it is evident that the enhancement of social acceptance can be achieved through effective communication strategies and the promotion of social acceptance, which has the potential to enhance the profitability of autonomous public transport. Consequently, the introduction of autonomous public transport has the potential to facilitate social participation among individuals experiencing challenges in accessing transportation.