F1ES 4405 - Sustainable Transport

This interdisciplinary course aims at presenting the technological, economic and policy aspects related to a sustainable transport system. While “sustainable” is often associated to climate change, many other aspects are involved in sustainability, including energy efficiency, local pollution, fair access to mobility, health, safety and land use. The transport sector is responsible for roughly one third of global final energy consumption, and one quarter of global energy-related carbon emissions. Transport includes very diversified segments and modes, with specific issues to be tackled and a range of alternative solutions and technologies. Different drivers are at play for passenger and freight, rural and urban, road, rail, sea and air transport. Moreover, there are huge variations across world regions in modal shares, fuels, infrastructures, urban densities, transportation policies and access to mobility options.

Learning Outcomes:

• Identify and discuss the main aspects needed for an efficient, just and sustainable mobility system
• Understand the advantages and limitations of different transport systems and solutions
• Analyze in detail a specific case study of transport policy/system, and present in a synthetic and effective way the main outcomes of the analysis
• Develop a critical thinking attitude towards how data are presented and used to support claims and policies

Professional Skills:

Oral and written communication, understanding stakeholders, research and analysis, critical thinking.

Every second week, the students will be given access to reading material before the lesson. The classroom time will be dedicated to an hour of presentation on the topic, followed by further discussion, analysis of case studies and Q&A. A dedicated space will be made available on Moodle to share resources and encourage the participation of students in forum discussions.

In parallel, students will work in groups of 4-5 people on specific transport topics, and each student will further analyze the topic on a specific case study (e.g. a country or a city).

Feedback on students’ work will be provided after the mid-term oral presentation as well as after the submission of the final paper.

In parallel to the lessons, students will be divided in groups to work on specific topics, and each of them will analyze the topic on a case study (e.g. a city or a country). This case study will be the object of a mid-term presentation to the class (25% of the final grade), as well as a final paper (3000-5000 words, 60% of the final grade). Active participation in the course and the discussions, as well as on Moodle forum, is encouraged (15% of the final grade).

• In Class Presence: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Online learning activities: 3 hours a week / 36 hours a semester
• Reading and Preparation for Class: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 5 hours a week / 60 hours a semester