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The genus Willisornis is endemic to the Amazon Basin, inhabiting upland terra firme forest, with two species and seven subspecies currently recognized. Despite numerous systematic studies, a taxonomically-dense sampled phylogeny for Willisornis is still lacking, which, combined with evidence of paraphyly and gene flow between its recognized species, underscores the uncertainty concerning species limits and evolutionary history of the genus. Here we present phylogenies and population genetic analyses, including all currently recognized Willisornis taxa, relating them to patterns of plumage variation, and reconstructing the spatiotemporal context of diversification in the genus. Our analyses have uncovered 13 independent genetic lineages in the genus, and the monophyly of all currently named taxa, which also showed robust plumage diagnoses. However, deeply coalesced genetic lineages were also found within most Willisornis taxa, for which no consistent variation in plumage was found. The diversification of the genus Willisornis is related to hydrographic and climate change cycles across Amazonia since the Plio-Pleistocene, with most genetic lineages originating in the past one million years. Based on our findings, we recommend the recognition of a total of six species in Willisornis (one of which polytypic) based on the congruency between deeply coalesced lineages and consistent plumage diagnoses.

Accessibility is one of the key measures of urban transportation planning, which quantify how easy is the access to a facility. Public transport accessibility concerns of the access level of geographical locations to public transport. In this paper, accessibility is used as an indicator to estimate social exclusion based on the maximum distance that someone has to walk to reach the public transport. The concept of the 6-minute walking distance (6MWD) is applied to measure accurately the walking ability for different groups of the population. A real life case study is conducted to get insight into the transportation network of the Porto Metropolitan Area, Portugal. For this purpose, geographic, demographic and infrastructure data were collected and integrated. Also, webservices are used to measure walking distances between locations. The results of this study allowed to characterize regions by different levels of accessibility, providing insight into the social exclusion in public transport. This assessment is used not only to identify inequities but also to get an overview of the service quality of public transport.

Urban population is increasing fast. This is creating new challenges to public transport systems since some groups of citizens as elderly people may have sensory, cognitive or motor impairments that need to be addressed. This work explores the potential of a Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) system for people with reduced mobility in an urban environment. For this purpose, the Dial-A-Ride Problem (DARP) was implemented using a multivariable minimisation approach. In this approach, an Assigning Request to Vehicles (ARV) algorithm is used to obtain an initial solution. Then a Multi-Objective Tabu Search Algorithm (MOTSA) is applied to the initial solution to search for the non-dominated solution (optimisation phase). In this optimisation phase, the total travelled distance, the deadheading distance and the number of vehicles were minimised. The performance of the model was computed combining different parameters’ values of the number of requests, boarding time for each user, the number of seats in each vehicle, vehicle’s speed, the total number of iterations, and candidate threshold number (the algorithm’s parameter). The computational results found a strong positive correlation between the number of requests and the: total travelled distance (rs = 0.977, p-value

This work apply a deep learning artificial neural network model – the Multilayer Perceptron – as a regression model to estimate the demand of bus passengers. Transit bus ridership and weather conditions were collected over a year from a medium-size European metropolitan area and linked under the assumption: individuals choose the travel mode based on the weather conditions that are observed during (a) the departure hour, (b) the hour before or (c) two hours prior to the travel start. The transit ridership data were also labelled according to the hour of the day, day of the week, month, and whether there was a strike and/or holiday or not. The results show that the prediction error of the model decrease by ~9% when the weather conditions observed two hours before travel start is taken into account. The model sensitivity analyses reveals that the worst performance is obtained for a strike day of a weekday in spring (typically Wednesdays or Thursdays).

WILLISORNIS POECILINOTUS POECILINOTUS (CABANIS, 1847) Taxonomy As discussed below, genetic lineages possessing the plumage attributes described below can be unequivocally assigned to the nominate W. poecilinotus (type locality: ‘British Guiana’; Peters, 1951), distributed in north-eastern Amazonian Brazil, the Guianas and southern Venezuela (Gill et al., 2022). Plumage attributes Males with overall grey colour and a slightly paler ventral region. Presence of ‘lace’ (see Plumage analyses above). Black tail with white markings and white tips. Females with rufous upperparts overall and underparts mostly grey. ‘Lace’ on the dorsal region similar to that in males, but in black and rufous (instead of white) colours. The tail is black with terminal and intermediate markings also rufous. Genetic differentiation Specimens exhibiting the plumage characteristics above belong to a distinct genetic lineage completely sorted for their mitochondrial DNA, but less so for the nuclear genes, and which is distributed on the eastern part of the Guiana Shield, from Amapá in Brazil and the Guianas westward to the lower east bank of the Rio Negro (Fig. 1). We found significant genetic structure within this group, roughly across the Trombetas River near the Amazonas/Pará border, which prompted us to distinguish them as W. p. poecilinotus A (east of the Trombetas) and W. p. poecilinotus B (west of the Trombetas) (Fig. 1). Our genetic sampling does not allow for a resolution of the relationships in the contact zones between W. p. poecilinotus A and W. p. poecilinotus B, nor between W. p. poecilinotus as a whole and the neighbouring Willisornis lineages. Plumage variation We did not identify noticeable variations in plumage that were consistent with the genetic structure found for this group., Published as part of Quaresma, Tânia Fontes, Cronemberger, Áurea A., Batista, Romina & Aleixo, Alexandre, 2022, Diversification and species limits in scale-backed antbirds (Willisornis: Thamnophilidae), an Amazonian endemic lineage, pp. 1408-1430 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 196 (4) on page 1417, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac011, http://zenodo.org/record/7386680, {"references":["Cabanis J. 1847. Ornithologische notizen. Archiv fur Naturgeschichte 13: 186 - 256.","Peters JL. 1951. Check-list of birds of the world. In: Museum of comparative zoology, Vol. 7. Cambridge: Harvard University.","Gill F, Donsker D, Rasmussen P. 2022. IOC World Bird List (v. 12.1). Available at: https: // doi. org / 10.14344 / IOC. ML. 12.1. Accessed 21 February 2022."]}

WILLISORNIS VIDUA VIDUA (HELLMAYR, 1905) Taxonomy Genetic lineages with plumage characteristics discussed below can be assigned to W. v. vidua (type locality: Igarapé-Açu, state of Pará, in the Belém area of endemism; Peters, 1951). Plumage attributes Males similar to W. v. nigrigula overall, but without a black throat patch. Ventral region grey, with lighter throat. Females are also similar to those in W. v. nigrigula, but with the white interscapular spot absent or inconspicuous. Genetic differentiation Specimens with the plumage characteristics above belong to a genetic group with some geographic structuring recovered for the mitochondrial genes across the Tocantins River and which are referred herein as W. v. vidua A and W. v. vidua B. These groups are completely sorted for their mitochondrial DNA, but less so for the nuclear genes, occupying together the area comprised between the east bank of the Xingu eastward to Maranhão in easternmost Brazilian Amazonia (Fig. 1). Plumage variation We did not detect any conspicuous geographic variation in plumage that could be related to the comparatively shallow level of genetic structure recovered within this group., Published as part of Quaresma, Tânia Fontes, Cronemberger, Áurea A., Batista, Romina & Aleixo, Alexandre, 2022, Diversification and species limits in scale-backed antbirds (Willisornis: Thamnophilidae), an Amazonian endemic lineage, pp. 1408-1430 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 196 (4) on page 1421, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac011, http://zenodo.org/record/7386680, {"references":["Hellmayr EC. 1905. Notes on a collection of birds, made by mons. A. Robert in the district of Para. Novitates Zoologicae 12: 269 - 305.","Peters JL. 1951. Check-list of birds of the world. In: Museum of comparative zoology, Vol. 7. Cambridge: Harvard University."]}

WILLISORNIS POECILINOTUS LEPIDONOTA (SCLATER & SALVIN, 1880) Taxonomy Genetic lineages with plumage characteristics described below are apparently related to W. p. lepidonota (type locality: Sarayacu, Pastaza, Ecuador; Peters, 1951; Isler & Whitney, 2011), distributed in southern Colombia, eastern Ecuador and eastern Peru (Isler & Whitney, 2011; Gill et al., 2022). Plumage attributes Due to logistical constrains (see Discussion), we analysed the plumage of only one female specimen within the known range of W. p. lepidonota. This particular specimen presents an intense rufous colour above, but with slightly paler underparts, resembling females of W. p. gutturalis. In comparison with females of W. p. duidae, the rufous colour of the examined specimen is noticeably less intense. The ‘lace’ is present and is similar to those in males (i.e. in black-white colour; as in Zimmer et al., 2020). Tail rufous, with terminal and intermediate white dots. Genetic differentiation The female plumage characteristics described above belong to a specimen (MPEG 54179) obtained from a locality (Peru, Amazonas, Rio Comaina) within the range of W. p. lepidonota lineage A (Fig. 1). Along with W. p. lepidonota B (which apparently replaces W. p. lepidonota A across the Huallaga River), these lineages are completely sorted for their mtDNA, but less so for the nuclear genes (Fig. 1). Together, they occupy the foothills of the Andes from eastern Ecuador to central Peru eastward to the Ucayali and possibly the Napo rivers, respectively, in southern and northern Amazonia (Supporting Information, Table S1; Fig. 1). Plumage variation Because only one female specimen was examined, no plumage variation within and between W. p. lepidonota A and W. p. lepidonota B could be assessed. As discussed above, four Peruvian specimens sequenced by us from the north bank of the Amazon and Napo rivers (and thought previously to belong W. p. lepidonota; Isler & Whitney, 2011) grouped, in fact, with W. p. duidae C, suggesting either introgression or lack of consistent plumage diagnoses between these taxa., Published as part of Quaresma, Tânia Fontes, Cronemberger, Áurea A., Batista, Romina & Aleixo, Alexandre, 2022, Diversification and species limits in scale-backed antbirds (Willisornis: Thamnophilidae), an Amazonian endemic lineage, pp. 1408-1430 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 196 (4) on pages 1419-1420, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac011, http://zenodo.org/record/7386680, {"references":["Sclater PL, Salvin O. 1880. On new birds collected by Mr. C. Buckley in eastern Ecuador. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1880: 155 - 161.","Peters JL. 1951. Check-list of birds of the world. In: Museum of comparative zoology, Vol. 7. Cambridge: Harvard University.","Isler ML, Whitney BM. 2011. Species limits in antbirds (Thamnophilidae): the scale-backed antbird (Willisornis poecilinotus) complex. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 123: 1 - 14.","Gill F, Donsker D, Rasmussen P. 2022. IOC World Bird List (v. 12.1). Available at: https: // doi. org / 10.14344 / IOC. ML. 12.1. Accessed 21 February 2022.","Zimmer K, Isler ML, Kirwan GM. 2020. Common scalebacked antbird (Willisornis poecilinotus). In: Del Hoyo J, Elliott A, Sargatal J, Christie DA, de Juana E, eds. Birds of the world. Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology."]}

WILLISORNIS POECILINOTUS GUTTURALIS (TODD, 1927) Taxonomy Genetic lineages with plumage characteristics described below can be unequivocally assigned to W. p. gutturalis (type locality: São Paulo de Olivença, on the south bank of the upper Amazon; Peters, 1951), distributed in south-western Amazonian Brazil and north-eastern Peru (Gill et al., 2022). Plumage attributes Males are similar to those of W. p. duidae lineages, but readily distinguished by a conspicuous a narrow black throat patch. Females are pale rufous above and below, paler underneath. ‘Lace’ similar as in males, in black−white colour. Tail pale rufous, with white spots in the middle part and on the terminal edges. Genetic differentiation Specimens with the plumage characteristics above belong to a highly distinct genetic lineages that is completely sorted for their mitochondrial DNA, but less so for the nuclear genes and which is distributed in a restricted area between the Juruá and Amazon/ Solimões rivers (Fig. 1). Plumage variation We have not identified conspicuous variations in plumage., Published as part of Quaresma, Tânia Fontes, Cronemberger, Áurea A., Batista, Romina & Aleixo, Alexandre, 2022, Diversification and species limits in scale-backed antbirds (Willisornis: Thamnophilidae), an Amazonian endemic lineage, pp. 1408-1430 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 196 (4) on page 1420, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac011, http://zenodo.org/record/7386680, {"references":["Todd WEC. 1927. New gnateaters and antbirds from tropical America, with a revision of the genus Myrmeciza and its allies. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 40: 149 - 178.","Peters JL. 1951. Check-list of birds of the world. In: Museum of comparative zoology, Vol. 7. Cambridge: Harvard University.","Gill F, Donsker D, Rasmussen P. 2022. IOC World Bird List (v. 12.1). Available at: https: // doi. org / 10.14344 / IOC. ML. 12.1. Accessed 21 February 2022."]}

WILLISORNIS POECILINOTUS DUIDAE (CHAPMAN, 1923) Taxonomy Genetic lineages possessing the plumage attributes discussed below can be unequivocally assigned to W. p. duidae (type locality: ‘ Mount Duida, Amazonas, Venezuela’; Peters, 1951), distributed in north-western Amazonian Brazil, southern Venezuela and eastern Colombia (Gill et al., 2022). Plumage attributes Males similar to W. p. poecilinotus, but distinguished by an overall darker colour, both in the dorsal and ventral regions. Females distinguished from those in any other Willisornis taxon by an intense rufous colour below, with a slightly paler quality in the upperparts. ‘Lace’ similar to those in males (i.e. in black-white colour). Tail rufous as well, with terminal and intermediate white dots. Genetic differentiation Specimens with the plumage characteristics above belong to three distinct and closely related genetic lineages that are completely sorted for their mtDNA, but less so for the nuclear genes and which are distributed from both sides of the Middle and Upper Rio Negro, all the way to the north bank of the Amazonas / Solimões (Fig.1). The three lineages within this group were named W. p. duidae A, W. p. duidae B, W. p. duidae C and appear to replace each other across the Japurá / Caquetá and Içá rivers (Fig. 1). Interestingly, four specimens sequenced from northern Peru obtained from the north bank of the Amazon and Napo rivers (and previously attributed to W. p. lepidonota; Isler & Whitney, 2011) also clustered in this lineage (see Discussion below). Plumage variation Females of W. p. duidae C (which extends from northernmost Brazil to northern Peru on the north bank of the Amazonas and Napo rivers) have a lighter brown colour, less intense than in the other females of W. p. duidae A and B, and approaching those in W. p. gutturalis. Males belonging to W. p. duidae C are similar to those in W. p. duidae A and W. p. duidae B., Published as part of Quaresma, Tânia Fontes, Cronemberger, Áurea A., Batista, Romina & Aleixo, Alexandre, 2022, Diversification and species limits in scale-backed antbirds (Willisornis: Thamnophilidae), an Amazonian endemic lineage, pp. 1408-1430 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 196 (4) on pages 1418-1419, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac011, http://zenodo.org/record/7386680, {"references":["Chapman FM. 1923. Descriptions of proposed new Formicariidae and Dendrocolaptidae. American Museum Novitates 86: 1 - 20.","Peters JL. 1951. Check-list of birds of the world. In: Museum of comparative zoology, Vol. 7. Cambridge: Harvard University.","Gill F, Donsker D, Rasmussen P. 2022. IOC World Bird List (v. 12.1). Available at: https: // doi. org / 10.14344 / IOC. ML. 12.1. Accessed 21 February 2022.","Isler ML, Whitney BM. 2011. Species limits in antbirds (Thamnophilidae): the scale-backed antbird (Willisornis poecilinotus) complex. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 123: 1 - 14."]}

Fleet tracking technology collects real-time information about geolocation of vehicles as well as driving-related data. This information is typically used for location monitoring as well as for analysis of routes, vehicles and drivers. From an operational point of view, the geolocation simply identifies the state of a vehicle in terms of positioning and navigation. From a management point of view, the geolocation may be used to infer the state of a vehicle in terms of process (e.g., driving, fueling, maintenance, or lunch break). Meaningful information may be extracted from these inferred states using process mining. An innovative methodology for inferring process states from geolocation data is proposed in this paper. Also, it is presented the potential of applying process mining techniques on geolocation data for process discovery.

Weather conditions have a major impact on citizens’ daily mobility. Depending on weather conditions trips may be delayed, demand may be changed as well as the modal shift. These variations have a major impact on the use and operation of public transport, particularly in transport systems that operate close to capacity. However, the influence of weather conditions on transport demand is difficult to predict and quantify. For this purpose, an artificial neural network model – the Multilayer Perceptron – is used as a regression model to estimate the demand of urban public transport buses based on weather conditions. Transit bus ridership and weather conditions were collected along a year from a medium-size European metropolitan area (Oporto, Portugal) and linked under the assumption that individuals choose the travel mode based on the weather conditions that are observed during the departure hour, the hour before and two hours before. The transit ridership data were also labelled according to the hour, day of the week, month, and whether there was a strike and/or holiday or not. The results demonstrate that it is possible to predict the demand of public transport buses using the weather conditions observed two hours before with low error for the entire network (MAE = 143 and RMSE = 322). The use of weather conditions allow to decreases the error of the prediction by ~8% for the entire network.

A set of processes, including the collection of heterogeneous data and in-depth knowledge on multiple dimensions, are required to enhance multimodal public transport services and address traveller needs in an effective and efficient way. The main purpose of this paper is to use reliability data to drive the planning and operationalisation of a multimodal metropolitan-wide network of public transport, covering the needs of authorities, transport providers and travellers. This will be achieved by a methodology using data from current public transport lines and design process to find the best combination of hubs, stops and connections, fully controlled by the transport authority and with the assistance of transport providers. The expect result is a more "predictable" network that maximises schedule reliability, while providing better information for travellers.

Air quality traffic-related measures have been implemented worldwide to control the pollution levels of urban areas. Although some of those measures are claiming environmental improvements, few studies have checked their real impact. In fact, quantitative estimates are often focused on reducing emissions, rather than on evaluating the actual measures' effect on air quality. Even when air quality studies are conducted, results are frequently unclear. In order to properly assess the real impact on air quality of traffic-related measures, a statistical method is proposed. The method compares the pollutant concentration levels observed after the implementation of a measure with the concentration values of the previous year. Short- and long-term impact is assessed considering not only their influence on the average pollutant concentration, but also on its maximum level. To control the effect of the main confounding factors, only the days with similar environmental conditions are analysed. The changeability of the key meteorological variables that affect the transport and dispersion of the pollutant studied are used to identify and group the days categorized as similar. Resemblance of the pollutants' concentration of the previous day is also taken into account. The impact of the road traffic measures on the air pollutants' concentration is then checked for those similar days using specific statistical functions. To evaluate the proposed method, the impact on PM2.5 concentrations of two air quality traffic-related measures (M1 and M2) implemented in the city of Beijing are taken into consideration: M1 was implemented in 2009, restricting the circulation of yellow-labelled vehicles, while M2 was implemented in 2014, restricting the circulation of heavy-duty vehicles. To compare the results of each measure, a time-period when these measures were not applied is used as case-control.

The aim of this research is the implementation of a GPS-based modelling approach for improving the characterization of vehicle speed spatial variation within urban areas, and a comparison of the resulting emissions with a widely used approach to emission inventory compiling. The ultimate goal of this study is to evaluate and understand the importance of activity data for improving the road transport emission inventory in urban areas. For this purpose, three numerical tools, namely, (i) the microsimulation traffic model (VISSIM); (ii) the mesoscopic emissions model (TREM); and (iii) the air quality model (URBAIR), were linked and applied to a medium-sized European city (Aveiro, Portugal). As an alternative, traffic emissions based on a widely used approach are calculated by assuming a vehicle speed value according to driving mode. The detailed GPS-based modelling approach results in lower total road traffic emissions for the urban area (7.9, 5.4, 4.6 and 3.2% of the total PM10, NOx, CO and VOC daily emissions, respectively). Moreover, an important variation of emissions was observed for all pollutants when analysing the magnitude of the 5th and 95th percentile emission values for the entire urban area, ranging from −15 to 49% for CO, −14 to 31% for VOC, −19 to 46% for NOx and −22 to 52% for PM10. The proposed GPS-based approach reveals the benefits of addressing the spatial and temporal variability of the vehicle speed within urban areas in comparison with vehicle speed data aggregated by a driving mode, demonstrating its usefulness in quantifying and reducing the uncertainty of road transport inventories.

Nowadays, mobile phones are ubiquitous systems of our society. Nevertheless, the adoption of this technology to perform mobile payments, namely in public transport, was only implemented in a few number of transport networks. Thus, this paper aims to understand which are the main factors that may influence the adoption of mobile payments in public transport. For this purpose, a survey was applied to different groups of population. The study was conducted on the public transport networks of a medium-sized metropolitan area (Oporto-Portugal) and of a big-sized metropolitan area (Beijing-China). The evaluation results of the current services of purchase and validation of public transport tickets almost never show significant statistical differences (p>0.05) for the traditional variables used by the literature. This is particularly true for age. Nevertheless, some mobility factors can sometimes play an important role in the assessment of ticketing systems. Moreover, although the high differences between the ticketing systems in both cities, Chinese and Portuguese have a similar opinion about the systems implemented in their cities. Still, Chinese reveal a higher motivation to adopt the new ticketing system. In general, such system is greatly accepted by the respondents and the potential market is expected to be high (30-68%). Although this technology cannot replace the traditional systems, it can contribute to increasing the overall efficiency of the transport networks. The improvement of the passengers’ appraisal, the reduction of operational and the maintenance costs of transport operators are the network impacts most expected. Convenience and time saving are the main advantages mentioned while questions about privacy, interaction and reliability are stated as the main concerns to adopt it.

Public transport networks were, in the past, mainly designed to maximize the efficiency of commuting trips. However, with such perspective there are considerable risks to marginalize some specific population groups (e.g. disabled, elderly, children, pregnant, people in poverty). For enhancing social inclusion and improving the accessibility of more vulnerable citizens, such networks are often redesigned and adjusted. Nevertheless, even with such adjustments, it is sometimes difficult to provide efficient services that fully address the real needs and capabilities of travelers, partially because of the failure in following the fast technological and demanding changes of modern societies. Taking in mind these challenges, we have developed a conceptual model to support knowledge sharing and decision-making in urban mobility, and to improve the way travel information is addressed. The multi-user integrated platform proposed in this work is supported by the idea that information from different channels must be centralized, organized, managed and properly distributed. This idea is grounded in two main principles: (i) past and real-time information from a wide range of sources is combined for knowledge extraction, and such knowledge is going to be used not only to allow travelers to better plan their trips, but also to help transport providers to develop services adapted to the needs and preferences of their customers; and (ii) information is provided in a personalized way taking into account socio-economical differences between groups of travelers.

The volatile organic compounds benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) are emitted into the atmosphere at gas stations (GS) leading to chronic exposure of nearby residents, which raises public health concerns. This study aimes at determining the contribution of GS emissions to BTEX exposure in nearby residents. Three Control and Exposed areas to BTEX emissions from GS were defined in a medium-sized European city (Porto, Portugal). BTEX atmospheric levels were determined in Control and Exposed areas using passive samplers deployed outdoors (n = 48) and indoors (n = 36), and human exposure was estimated for 119 non-smoking residents using the first urine of the day. Results showed that median BTEX outdoor and indoor concentrations were significantly higher for Exposed than Control areas, with exception of ethylbenzene and xylene indoor concentrations, where no marked differences were found. Comparison of urinary concentrations between Exposed and Control residents demonstrated no significant differences for benzene and ethylbenzene, whereas levels of toluene and xylene were significantly higher in Exposed residents. No marked correlation was obtained between atmospheric BTEX concentrations and urinary concentrations. Data indicate the potential impact on air quality of BTEX emissions from GS, which confirms the importance of these findings in urban planning in order to minimize the impact on health and well-being of surrounding populations.

Contemporary urban transportation networks are facing challenges to address the growing needs of mobility, all the while improving their economic gains and environmental sustainability. Several studies demonstrate that competitive alternatives to individual private transport are able to address these challenges, such as public transportation services. Thus, the need for optimising their operational efficiency and offer user-centric service delivery arises, with a range of challenges related to the inherent complexity of urban transportation networks as well as the range of dynamic elements involved in such systems. An innovative approach to this problem leverages personal mobile devices in combination with collaborative exchange of information. In this study a system was developed to combine information provided by travellers with data from public transport operators. The result is a rich model of the transportation network that enables the distribution of information in a personalized way and in real-time: the Seamless Mobility solution. Large-scale and expensive infrastructures, such as existing ticketing systems, constitute a threat to such flexibility and traveller access to services. As a result, a distributed architecture was targeted with the goal of integrating personal mobile devices in the infrastructure, with benefits for travellers and transport operators. The proposed solution integrates a broad scope of challenges, including application of secure mobile payments methods, data aggregation from different components and distribution based on relevance techniques. With the implementation of this solution the authors expect to positively impact the way travellers and transport operators interact, and contribute towards mobility services that are more agile and adequate, taking into account that mobility patterns vary from person to person, seasonally, and even throughout a day.

In this paper the environmental impacts of fuel and toll pricing policies were evaluated for eight Portuguese motorways for the period between 2008 and 2011. To perform such study, firstly the analysis of the elasticity was done to assess the sensitive of traffic demand. Then emission costs were estimated considering an integrated approach of environmental and human health impacts. Two motorway groups were analyzed: one originally built with both conventional and electronic toll systems (G1); and another recently equipped with non-stop electronic tolls (G2). The results show that the elasticity of the system changes with the fluctuation prices, particularly influenced by toll prices variation. During the analysis period, traffic volumes decreased (8–11% in G1, and 15–41% in G2). About 75% of traffic flow shows a high statistical significance correlation (p

The National Emission Ceilings Directive 2001/81/CE (NEC Directive) was adopted in the European Community in 2001 and went through a revision process in 2005. One of its main objectives is to improve the protection of the environment and human health against the risks of adverse effects from ground-level ozone, moving towards the long-term objective of not exceeding critical levels proved to effectively protect the populations and ecosystems. Considering such objectives, national emission ceilings were established imposing the years 2010 and 2020 as benchmarks. Ten years later, what was the effectiveness of this Directive concerning the control of tropospheric ozone levels in Portugal? In order to answer the previous question, annual ozone precursors' emissions (NO x , NMVOC) and annual atmospheric concentrations (NO x and O 3 ) were analyzed between 1990 and 2011. The background concentrations were assessed in each environment type of air quality station (urban, suburban and rural) through their annual mean ozone concentration and the hourly information threshold exceedances (episodic peak levels). To evaluate the statistical differences in the inter-annual episodic peak levels, a Peak Ozone Index (POIx) was defined and calculated. The results show that, despite the achievement on the emissions NEC Directive goals, associated to the reduction of ozone precursors' emissions, and the decrease of ozone episodic peak levels, the mean tropospheric ozone concentrations significantly increased between 2003 and 2007 (p −3 ) has decreased. During the period of 1990–2000, before the implementation of the NEC Directive, the mean ozone values were 25% lower in rural stations, 26% in urban stations and 12% in suburban stations, demonstrating that the NEC policy based on NO x and NMVOCs emissions reduction does not lead to an effective overall reduction of ozone concentrations considering the reduction on these pollutants independently. Indeed, the mesoscale ozone production and/or the long range advection may play also an important role as the analysis of Mace Head ozone concentrations suggests. Above all, and due to its non-linear interactions in the ozone chemical balance, the NEC directive should impose emissions' reduction respecting the NO x /NMVOC ratio instead of consider it as a mere guideline value. The mesoscale photochemical ozone production should be carefully analyzed under the new policies, namely in coastal countries like Portugal where the mesoscale circulations play a crucial role in this type of phenomena.

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The introduction of eco-routing systems has been suggested as a promising strategy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and criteria pollutants. The objective of this study is to scrutinize the impacts of an eco-routing guidance system on emissions through the use of a case study in a commuting corridor. This research aims at assessing the potential environmental benefits in terms of different pollutant emissions. Simultaneously, it addresses the extent of variations in system travel time that each eco-routing strategy implies. The methodology consists of three distinct phases. The first phase corresponded to the adjustment of a micro simulation platform of traffic and emissions with empirical data previously collected. Secondly, volume-emission-functions (VEF) were developed based on the integrated modelling structure. Finally, different scenarios of traffic flow optimization were performed at the network level based on a simplified assignment procedure. The results show that if the traffic assignment is performed with the objective of minimize overall impacts, total system environmental damage costs can be reduced up to 9% with marginal oscillations in total system travel time. However, if drivers are advised based on their own emissions minimization, total system emissions may be higher than under the standard user equilibrium flow pattern. Specifically, environmentally friendly navigation algorithms focused on individual goals may tend to do divert traffic to roads with less capacity affecting the performance of the remaining traffic. This case study brings new insights about the difficulties and potentials of implementing such systems.

Midblock pedestrian crossing areas between closely spaced roundabouts can affect traffic operations and may result in a trade-off between capacity, environment, and safety benefits. Even though research has been conducted on the impacts of traffic performance on pedestrian crosswalks located at isolated roundabouts, few studies have focused on how pedestrian crosswalks between closely adjacent roundabouts affect traffic operations. A microsimulation approach was used to examine the integrated effect of a pedestrian crosswalk on traffic delay, carbon dioxide emissions, and relative speed between vehicles and pedestrians at different locations between closely spaced two-lane roundabouts. The main purpose of the study was to develop a simulation platform of traffic (VISSIM), emissions (vehicle-specific power), and safety (surrogate safety assessment model) to optimize such variables. The fast nondominated sorting genetic algorithm NSGA-II was mobilized to identify an optimized set of pedestrian crosswalk locations for the roundabout exit section along the midblock segment. One acceptable solution that provided a good balance between traffic performance, emissions, and pedestrian safety benefits was locating the crosswalks at 15, 20, and 30 m from the exit section. Even at low pedestrian demand, crosswalk effectiveness (as determined by capacity and environment) gradually decreased near the circulatory ring delimitation (

Eco-routing has been shown as a promising strategy to reduce emissions. However, during peak periods, with limited additional capacity, the eco-friendliness of various routes may change. We have explored this issue empirically by covering about 13,300 km, in three different areas, using GPS-equipped vehicles to record second-by-second vehicle dynamics. This study has confirmed the importance of the eco-routing concept given that the selection of eco-friendly routes can lead to significant emissions savings. Furthermore, these savings are expected to be practically unchanged during the peak period. However, some potential negative externalities may arise from purely dedicated eco-friendly navigation systems.