[New Paper] The Influence of Passenger Car Banning Policies on Modal Shifts: Rotterdam’s Case Study

The influence of the Low Emission Zones and its traditional accompanying measures (i.e., park-and-ride, incentive schemes, and electric vehicles’ infrastructure) on the usage of other modes of transport has not been sufficiently researched in the academic literature. This creates a gap that leads to difficulty in defining the policy measures that can help users replace their polluting cars with a more sustainable option. In other words, it is not clear in the literature whether the exclusion of old passenger cars and vans from city boundaries leads to favourable shifts in traffic dynamics or adds a different sort of polluting traffic to city boundaries. Hence, this research introduces a novel topic and a unique case study that helps explain this specific issue by providing a well-structured, educational, evaluative framework and recommending a comprehensive package of policy measures for cities seeking low-emission mobility.

This researcher’s overall aim is to help steer future mobility plans and to guide cities to move towards low- and zero-emission mobility by answering the following research questions:
✅ Q1: What is the state of usage of Rotterdam’s passenger transport modes before and after applying the LEZ ban on passenger cars?
✅ Q2: To what extent did the supporting policy instruments that were provided influence the transition toward sustainable mobility?
✅ Q3: How do the currently applied passenger transport measures influence the modal shifts in Rotterdam?

The methodology of this research aims to compare Rotterdam’s modal share status by adopting an explanatory deductive approach, a single case study strategy, and a mixed data collection methodology. The comparison groups the data into two study cases: (1) before and (2) after the policy application. The results explain and indicate the extent of the influence of the LEZ policy and its packaging on the use of alternative modes of transport and show the variation in the users’ preferences and modal share choices.
Citation: Attia, M., Alade, T., & Attia, S. (2023). The Influence of Passenger Car Banning Policies on Modal Shifts: Rotterdam’s Case Study. Sustainability, 15(9), 7443.

📣 Read and share the 📄 article. The paper is available in Open Access format: https://lnkd.in/e54UZsqb

Maha Attia led this joint research as part of her master’s degree at Erasmus University in the Netherlands. The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the different data collection and transport management organizations in Rotterdam including the RET and Rotterdam Municipality. Thanks to the anonymous interviewees for dedicating their time and sharing their expertise.

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