ITS Monday: Edition 6, 2025

Who doesn’t like a battery electric truck? Heterogeneous motivations in the uptake of low-emissions trucks in Australia

A new academic paper co-authored by Magnus Moglia, Sorada Tapsuwan, Hadi Ghaderi, Christian A Nygaard, Hussein Dia, and Dia Adhikari Smith, springing from an iMOVE project, Zero emissions heavy vehicles: Analysis, planning and policy.

The abstract:

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the freight sector requires greater use of Battery Electric Trucks (BETs) and/or Hydrogen Fuel Cell Trucks (HFCTs). There is limited evidence on freight operator willingness to pay (WTP) for such trucks, or which factors may influence preferences. This study addresses this by reporting on a Choice Experiment survey of 199 decision-makers across Australia in various freight services sectors during mid-2023.

Results show high WTP, but more so for HFCTs compared to BETs. Reasons for these preferences appear to be linked to a combination of business context, perceived performance for the transport task, including misconceptions that are confounded by limited experience with and exposure to these types of vehicles. The greatest influence on preferences remains purchase price and ongoing costs.

Using Latent Class analysis, we identify three clusters of respondents. One group prefer to buy diesel trucks. A second group prefer HFCTs but is less positive about BETs. A third group prefer anything but diesel trucks. An implication of these findings is that BET/HFCTs transitions requires both financial and non-financial policies.

Related iMOVE articles:

• Electric Vehicles: Info, Projects & Resources
  
• Alternative Fuels: Info, Projects & Resources
• FACTS: A Framework for an Australian Clean Transport Strategy
• The Conductor Series: The electrification of transport

Do left-wing voters cycle more than right-wing voters?

Co-written by two academics from the University of Lausanne.

The abstract:

Cycling is political when it comes to implementing cycling infrastructure. But what about riding a bike itself? Based on a representative survey in Switzerland, this paper shows the effect of political values on the frequency and reasons for cycling. All things being equal, Green voters cycle the most, especially for transport. Center and left-wing voters also cycle more than average. Right-wing voters are the least likely to cycle. However, the proportion of cyclists among their supporters is not negligible, which may indicate a dissonance with these parties’ position on cycling as a mode of transport.

Related iMOVE projects:

• Safer cycling and street design: A guide for policymakers
• Road use activity data: Cyclists, pedestrians and micromobility
• Modelling cycling investments in regional areas

Related iMOVE articles:

• Active Transport: Info, Projects & Resources
• Vulnerable Road Users: Info, Projects & Resources

The mobility pyramid: A roadmap for a future of sustainable urban transport

“Cities worldwide are grappling with congestion, pollution, and inefficient transport systems that have historically been planned to benefit individual vehicle users. The mobility pyramid, modelled after the food pyramid, and originally published by Danish architecture firm JAJA, is a conceptual framework that prioritises transport modes based on sustainability and societal benefits, offering a structured approach to redesigning urban transport.”

Mind the gap: Expanding proximity theory to understand network failure in transport systems

Co-authored by James Bushell, Rico Merkert, and Catherine Sutton-Brady, all of the University of Sydney Business School.

The abstract:

Bringing together the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) perspective and proximity theory, we investigate network failure in business markets, specifically, how collaboration failure leads to network failure. With shared focus on the relational dynamics within industrial networks, the IMP perspective emphasises the importance of long-term relationships between actors, where interactions and collaborations shape business practices and strategies.

Proximity theory adds depth by exploring how various proximities affect these relationships. We find that collaboration failure is a critical driver of network failure. To expand proximity theory and gain insights into unexplained collaboration failure and network failure, we introduce the concept of commercial proximity. This new dimension sheds light on specific collaboration challenges, particularly those arising from conflicting value generation objectives among actors, which existing proximity dimensions do not fully address and can result in non-collaboration and thus network failure.

Understanding the interplay between IMP research and proximity theory is a significant outcome of this paper, as it can help businesses understand and more importantly strategise their networking approaches. By recognising the specific ways in which proximity influences relationship dynamics, actors can strategically position themselves within their networks, thereby enhancing their competitiveness and innovative capacity.

Should commuter parking at train stations be free?

An opinion piece from the Transport Leader blog, written by by Russell King. “A topic that has been rattling around in the back of my mind for years is how to reform free or very cheap commuter car parking.